Meme

 A meme I've seen recently.

America:  I'm your huckleberry

Iran: Fights not with you, America.

America: I beg to differ, sir.  We started a game we didn't get to finish. "Death to America", remember?

Iran: I was just fooling about.

America:  I wasn't.

Epic Fury

 Watching news this afternoon, we learn that at least five US service members have been killed as a part of the ongoing operations against Iran.  We mourn their loss.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that the freedom-loving Iranian patriots have nothing to fight with. How difficult would it be to gather a bunch of AKs, load them into gun cases with a couple of magazines, and "leaflet drop" them in areas where freedom-loving Iranians might find them. Sort of like what we did with the Liberator pistol in World War II?

I do mourn the loss of American service members and pray for their souls and that their sacrifice bears fruit.

Khamenei Dead

 The Iranian bully Khamenei is deceased.  It's about time.  I understand that Israel is claiming that  one of their planes dropped this particular warhead on him.

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.  I wonder how many of the other top leaders got taken out?  I'm sure that we will learn more as time goes on.

That whole "Death to America" crap should have conse1quences.

Daylight Raod

 It looks like US forces struck Iran in a daylight raid while we slept last night.  I awoke this morning to news of the raid. Iran stuck back, sending missiles to Israel and Bahrain.

It will take time to asses the damage, but it appears we struck more than military targets. One reporter was saying that the Iranian parliament and the Judiciary was hit as part of the raid. Other reporters were talking about the number of air assets we have staged in the region.  It's a fairly hefty force.

On the home front, I've been busier than a cat in a sandbox lately.  Lots of stuff going on. None of it worth reporting here.

Boosting the Signal

 Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned historian and he gives us some good perspective on the buildup in the seas around Iran.

There is a lot to consider.

Primers

 In our CFDA club, we go through a lot of primers specifically 209 shotshell primers.  Sourcing them can be problematic, so I let the internet handle the problem. A couple of years ago, I bought some primers at a shoot that were packaged, not in those nice little 100 packs, but in a much larger  box where each tray held 1000 primers.

Handling them in bulk became an issue, until I stumbled on to these little plastic containers that easily hold 1000 loose primers.  They are stackable and the club members are comfortable with them now, rather than the little 100 primer trays.  As in all things, buying bulk saves a few cents and I get these primers in the door at lees than 5 cents per shot.

My vendor is CAC Associates, out of Ebensburg, PA.  If you need primers, put them on your list.

Loader

 The loader is an indispensable part of a tank crew.  He is responsible for keeping the main gun fed and keeping the coaxial machine gun cranking. When not engaged, he is responsible for providing security on his side of the tank. Sometimes his hatch will have a machine gun mounted, sometimes not.

The loader is generally very junior enlisted.  Sometimes an E-3 or maybe an E-4.

 The video is here.  I wish YouTube would let me embed shorts, but they don't.

It appears that the ammo he is loading is service HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank). It's a shaped charge round that works good on lots of stuff. It's a general purpose "Fuck You" when the Tank Commander doesn't want to use up his sabot rounds.

Chaos in Mexico

 We awake this morning to find that Mexican officials undertook an operation that killed a high-ranking cartel leader. Violence erupted.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  CNN reports that the Mexican government had assistance from the US, but no details on the type of assistance.

Shop Heaters

 Ever since we built the shop, we've heated it with propane.  For several years w4 used those little round heaters that sit atop the propane bottle, and they did okay, but had some flaws.

Those did okay, threw a lot of heat, and sucked hard on a propane bottle. Normally, after three 8-hour days, they would suck a propane bottle dry.

I wanted an upgrade, so I went searching on Amazon and found this one.

It has three panels that can be turned on or off, it lights easily, and it is on casters.  Additionally, the propane bottle sits on a shelf in back.  We've been using it for a week now, and Belle really likes it.  It throws good heat, she can adjust it for more or less heat, and it seems to be pretty frugal on propane.   We've been using it for a week, and it is still on the same bottle we set it up with.

If you are in the market, click on the link above.

Crawfish Season

 It's officially crawfish season in Louisiana.  Today, I went to the local boiler and got five pounds with potatoes and corn.  Belle and I feasted on that for lunch.

It's also competition season in the CFDA.  In March, we get started in earnest, and that means loading ammo.  One of the rules of CFDA is that the host club furnishes the ammunition for sanctioned matches. This ensures that every competitor is shooting the same ammo.

I'm taking 10K rounds of loaded ammo to Texas State in late March.  They will use my brass, reload it, and bring it to Louisiana State in late May.  Loading CFDA ammo is completely different from standard ammo.  Technically, the only tool you need for CFDA ammo is a thumb. I can load, comfortably, about 500 per day.  I loaded 650 today before my thumb got sore and I decided to call it off.  I have about another 4K to load. It'll get done.

DC DEI Spill

It appears that our nation's capital just suffered the biggest raw sewage spill in the country's history.  Fromm reports, this happened in January and it dumped millions of gallons of raw sewer into the Potomac River. That ain't good.

They are trying to figure it out.  It seems that some of the blame can be laid at the feet of the chair of the Water Board, who is neither an engineer nor a water systems operator.  No, she's a DEI hire. Instapundit lays out the case.

Dr. Unique N. Morris-Hughes is a DEI bureaucrat, non profit “educator”, grant disperser of taxpayer money, & former asst head of a boys charter school

I'm sure that Dr. Morris-Hughes is a charming, educated person, but it this who the residents of Washington DC want running their water system?  Water systems are large, complicated, dirty infrastructure that is the backbone of modern civilization. Getting clean water into a city and dirty water out is a highly technical job. Just because someone has a PhD in Some Unrelated Bullshit, doesn't mean that they are a good candidate to run a water system.

Rest In Peace, Cowboy

 I see that one of my favorite actors died today.  Robert Duvall, at age 95.

He was one of my favorite western actors.  Many know him for his role in The Godfather, and he did a great job there, but I liked him better in western movies. My absolute favorite is Broken Trail, a movie based on a true story.  Of course, many people remember his role as Gus McCrae in Lonesome Dove.

Rest in Peace, Robert.

Sunday Music

Y'all have a great Sunday.

Beignets

 Beignets (ben-yay) are a New Orleans pastry, popularized by the Cafe DuMonde in New Orleans.. Normally eaten at breakfast with a cup of hot coffee, If you can't make it to the Big Easy, you can buy the mix on store shelves or from Amazon.

Or, you can make beignets yourself with what you have in the fridge.

Get a can of whop biscuits.  You know, the kind in the cardboard roll.  The kind you whop on the counter to open.  Yeah those.  Cut then into quarters, then drop them in hit oil until they are golden brown.  Drain on a rack or a paper towel lined tray and sprinkle confectioners' sugar across them.

Serve warm.  You are welcome.

Belts

 I used to own a number of belts.  Duty belts, dress belts, gun belts, casual belts and everyday belts. This morning, I was down to two.  A dress belt I used on dressy occasions, and an everyday belt that held the Model 60 on my waist.

That dress belt was bought, as I recall, sometime around 2004.  It hasn't been worn since I retired in 2019.  All the other belts that own, (excepting the competition rig that carries my Colt holster), went away over the years.  So, I'm down to three belts.  The dressy one, the everyday rig, and the competition rig.

Today, I had to go to a funeral.  I put on slacks and got out the dress bel.  Put it on and when I went to tighten it, broke that sumbitch in half. It had dry-rotted.  Just damn.  I put on the everyday belt and went to the funeral.

I need to go buy a dress belt, something that looks better than the plain, old everyday rig I normally wear.  And that pisses me off to no end.  It's just aggravating.  Now that I think about it, my everyday belt is about five years old.  It might use an update too. I guess it's time to go down to Boot Barn or Cavender's and see what they have hanging in the racks.

And that's where I am with that.

Harbor Freight

Referencing some recent comments on the previous post. 

Harbor Freight, or as I call it, Hobo Freight, is a constant in my shop.  I buy a lot of Harbor Freight tools, because they work.

My buddy, Jay, who died in December, had his A&P license and ran a small manufacturing business where he made tools for the helicopter maintenance trade.  Jay didn't mind spending money on tools, that is how he made his living.  His machine shop had big lathes, mills, all the high-dollar stuff.  In the welding room, I happen to notice one day that every bench had a cheap, Hobo Freight angle grinder on the bench.

I asked him about it.

"They work," he said. "And when they quit, I go buy another one for $15.00."  He appreciated high quality tools but realized the value in a cheap angle grinder that would work for him for two or three years. Sometimes there is value in cheap tools.

Twenty years ago, I didn't trust battery tools.  If I could find a plug and string an extension cord, I could work all day.  Nowadays I don't care to work all day.  When the battery needs a recharge, I take a break.

I can still do a full days work, it just takes me most of the week.

Any man who is 70 and works as hard as he did when he was 35, didn't do much when he was 35.

Mini Chainsaw

 I've run a bunch of chainsaws since my teens.  McCullough, Poulan, Husky, Stihl, Echo, you name it, I've run it.  As I approach my dotage, I am loathe to crank a gas chainsaw. I'm no longer felling timber or cutting firewood, I'm pruning trash trees on my little acre.

Battery technology has improved over the past decade, and the era of plug-it-in-the-wall power tools is about over..  I have gone almost solely to batter operated tools, and I use the yellow-black brand..  All my batteries are yellow-black.

Last week, I needed to do some pruning, so I stated looking around.  As it turns out, Amazon sells chainsaws.  Little handy saws that run on batteries and don't need pull ropes.  I did a little research and bought this one.  It's a no-name Chinese knockoff and uses those familiar yellow-black batteries.

The only thing that didn't come in the box was a syringe to put bar oil into the reservoir.  A quick trip to the feed store solved that problem.  This morning I filled it with bar oil, put in a fresh battery and went out to hairlip a little tree that is in the way.  Thirty minutes later, I wondered why I had waited so long to get one. The little tree is on the burn pile, the battery is on the charger and the saw is back it its case.

This little saw is On Time.  It may not last as long as the branded saws, but it proves the concept.

Weird Weather

 I'm out in the shop right now, with no heat on.  It's the middle of February and unseasonably warm.  The weather-weenies are predicting that the temps will be in the mid-70s this weekend.

The weather is teasing us.  Winter isn't over yet. It's not yet time to put away the propane heaters.

Belle and I are going to make a run to Sam's Club in a bit.  We need entertaining supplies, like paper plates and plastic flatware.  Later today, if Amazon cooperates, I'll be working on a project that should increase the comfort in the shop.

In short, it's just a standard Tuesday around here.

Tea Leaves

 This guy is reading tea leaves and it's interesting.  Watching military air traffic across the US and world.

Signals intelligence comes in many forms, and these days, air flight data can tell you a lot about what is coming. Or, he could b all wrong.

Nationals

 The Cowboy Fast Draw Association is shooting their national championship this weekend in St. Augustine, FL.   This championship moves around, and this is the first time it has been on the east coast.  About 150 shooters from all over the country are enjoying Florida weather and testing their skills.

Belle and I didn't make it this year, for a variety oof reasons.  It just didn't fit into our schedule.  We've pared our schedule back some this year.  We'll do Texas in March, Georgia in April, and we are hosting Louisiana in May.  We plan to go to Kentucky in September.

I'm told that there is some trifling football game tomorrow.   I don't follow football as much as I used to, but the Super Bowl was one game I always watched. I met Belle at a Super Bol party in 2001.   Back then, the big game was the last Sunday in January.  Sometime since then, it has moved to February.

More currently, today is Saturday and I have things on my list.

Quandry

 So I'm hearing about this kidnapping in Arizona and I admit that it is a compelling tale. The woman who has been abducted is in her 80s, and that simple fact alone puts this outside the standard bell curve. The locals and the Feds are working the case.  From what little I've seen of the local Sheriff, he seems to be straight-arrow.

Hopefully, they will find this lady and bring her home safely.

Newspapers

 Newspapers are a relic of a bygone era.  In the 20tth century, every town had a newspaper.  It's where we got the news, weather, and sports.  Classified ads and legal notices.  My hometown paper, the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, exists as a pale shadow of its former self. The press is gone; I'm not sure if they print anything at all. At one point, it was being printed in Lafayette, but now I'm not sure at all.

Other newspapers hang on, grimly.  The news earlier this week was that the Washington Post was eliminating positions and laying off staff.  That seems to be the trend in the newspaper business these days.  However, those journalists still have employment opportunities.

That's funny, right there.

Wednesday Wondering

 There is an old saying about "death and taxes" So far I've cheated death, but once again it is time to deal with the IRS. I despise those sonsofbitches.

Some ignorant twat I've never heard of was talking shit at the Grammys last weekend.  Something about illegals and stolen land.  Turns out, her house is on stolen land.

I can take the moral high ground here.  My land isn't stolen.  When this area was first colonized, a guy named Fulton bought a huge chunk of land from the Choctaw. Land north of the river was considered worthless, fit for nothing but pine trees and brambles.  Fulton bought it and started selling homesteads. The Choctaw are still around.  They own a casino north of here. That same tribe has a small reservation near Jena, LA.  When that area went dry, they opened a package liquor store.  That pleased the Baptists to no end.

Busy Monday

 I hit the ground running this morning.  Good stuff.  Got a lot of stuff done, made progress in a number of projects.

I have our annual state shoot in four months, and it's time to get busy on that. The only problem is that we can't start promoting it until we nail down some details and we simply could not nail then down in January.

The weather was beautiful today, the best we've had in weeks.  The weather weenies tell me that we're in for another cold snap. Maybe we are about to turn the corner for spring.  I think I saw the scouts for the local purple martin flock yesterday.  On the other hand, I have heard that our friends in Florida are having "falling iguana" alerts.  So, it's cold in Florida.

Winter ain't over yet.  We still have February to live through.

Renunion

 A bunch of guys I went to high school with showed up at the shop on Saturday to renew old friendships.

Food was consumed, cigars were smoked, and they hit the whiskey.  My bottle of Stranahan's is now defunct.

Friday Prepping

 I have a bunch oof high school buddies coming over tomorrow, some I haven't seen in 20 years.

This morning, I got a call from a CFDA shooter.  He's in town, enroute to a big shoot and wants to see my range.  He and his lady will be over this afternoon. He's retired Army, an old cavalry scout.  When we get together, no telling what is likely to happen.

I'm prepping a big gumbo for tomorrow, and i intend to violate the Ten Commandments of Gumbo. I am going to add shrimp to chicken and sausage.  Bless me Father, for I have sinned.

I will spend this afternoon and tomorrow entertaining. There will be laughter, lies told, and whiskey consumed. I have two very amusing American Single Malt whiskeys for those who choose to consume. There may be cigars, We'll see.

Right now, the chicken is boiling for stock.  Belle has gone to the grocer for last minute stuff.

Y'all have a very pleasant weekend.

Niche Cartridges

I've always had a fondness for niche cartridges. My very first centerfire rifle was a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington.  I preferred the 200 grain Remington load, and I carried that rifle for two decades.  It was my go-to choice for whitetail deer in central Louisiana. That rifle wore a 2.5 scope and was hot medicine for deer in our piney woods and hardwood bottoms. I never had to shoot a deer twice with it.

Ron Spomer talks about another niche cartridge, the 338 Federal.  It's nothing more than a .308 Win necked up to 0.338.  It throws big bullets.  Not far, but hard. It's not in the same category as the .338 Win Mag, nor the .338 Lapua, but it is not meant to be.  It's a cartridge for inside 200 yards.  Truth be told, that is where most North American game are taken.

Before Junior Doughty died, he and I talked about the 338 Federal.  At that time it was a new cartridge.  We thought that a good 200+ grain cast bullet would be the bees knees in this thing.  With hard linotype metal and a gas check, you could push it to 1900fps and get plenty of thump on the other end. In a short action, light bolt gun with a low powered scope, it would take anything we might point it at.

I'm glad to see that Ron highlighted this cartridge.  It is not for everyone, but niche cartridges never are.

Gumbo

 We successfully dodged the bullet of the ice storm.  Awoke this morning to clear skies and cold temps.  Belle said that she wanted some kind of soup or stew for lunch, and I started diffing in the freezer.  I found two partial packs of good Gulf shrimp that we could cook, so I chopped some onions and bell peppers and decided to make a shrimp gumbo.

Seafood gumbo is not my forte.  I am much more comfortable with a chicken/sausage gumbo, but I gave it a shot anyway. Toward the latter part of the process, I knew it needed something, but my palate would not give me the clue.  I had Belle taste it and we decided that a bit of red pepper flakes would help it.

Wehn the rice is done, we will get a bowl.

Monday Morning

We seem to have dodged the arctic bullet that is the Great Ice Storm of 2026. We lost power for all of abot four minutes The pipes are okay, and the roads are relatively clear.

Not so for our neighbors to the north. I understand that Oxford, MS took a major hit, with substantial damage to the electrical grid. Those folks are in a bind.

Drinking coffee with Belle this morning, we were talking about being cold, and the lessons we have learned over the years.  Both Belle and I grew up in the '60s and '70s.  I remarked that back in those days, girls would sometimes wear clothes that exposed a bare midriff. I seem to recall a universal trait, that when I would touch an ice cube to an exposed belly button, the lady would object.  Sometimes violently.

Moving to another survivor of the '60s, we come to the Air Force fleet of aging bombers, the old B-52.  During the '80s I was assigned to a unit in the Army Reserve.  Our headquarters building was just off the north end of the runway at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, LA.  Barksdale is a major hub for the B-52.  They were aging machines in those days, but it seems that the service life of those airframes may be 100 years.  The earliest of them were delivered in the 1950s and may still be flying in the 2050.  Incredible.

Ice

 We're getting a little ice, but the ground is not frozen, so it is not sticking.  The power is on, so we are warm and have light.  I've talked to all my kids and they are okay.  We are weathering the storm.

The weather radar has lots of pretty colors.

We're hanging in there.  This too will pass later today.

So It Begins

 We shot our January monthly match at the clubhouse today. Yes, there is a winter storm coming, but it ain't hare yet.  We decided to have some fun.

We had eleven (11) shooters this morning, not a bad turnout when you figure the weather.

The worst of it is supposed to roll in here later today, mainly in the form of ice and sleet, not so much snow. Many of the churches are closed tomorrow, and the news is saying that the state will close the Interstate (I-49) later today, mainly because so much of it is elevated across Alexandria.

Belle and I are hunkered down, with everything we need to ride this thing out.

Prepping Friday

The big news this weekend is the winter storm that is going to hit us over the weekend.  Yesterday there were lines at gas pumps and propane filling stations.   From all accounts, we are going to be on the southern edge of the storm, so how bad it may get is a matter of which weather app you are using.

The temps are all predicted to get into the mid-to-lower teens, so the temps will be there.  The question is how much precipitation we are going to get, and in what form. Snow, sleet, freezing rain are all in the mix.

I think we are ready, though one never really knows.  The gas cans are full, the generator is ready, the propane tanks are filled. Now it's just a matter of how closely the reality matches the forecast.

We will see.

Just Wednesday

 The big news is the Ice-mageddon we are going to get this weekend.  Lots of folk in panic mode.

For myself, younger son came by this morning and we went to Academy to look at scopes.  Picked out a nice Vortex Crossfire for the Winchester.  Mounted it, life is good.  We didn't go shoot simply because it rained all day, and I'm not ford of being in the rain.  When I was in the Army, the mantra was "If it ain't raining, we ain't training", but I'll wait for less precipitation.

The weather-weenies are prepping us for a huge ice storm this weekend.  I'm ready, but I am not yet convinced.  What concerns me is the insanely low temperatures they are talking about.  Louisiana does not need temps in the teens.  It ain't right.

Tomorrow, it is supposed to rain some more.  The menu in the shop tomorrow will be chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and cream gravy.  I may heat some english peas to go with that.  We'll see.

Optics

 My younger son came in for a visit today.  He'll be here for a week.  Belle and I picked him up at the airport and his brothers met us at the shop.

Stories were told, lies were explored.  At some point the conversation turned to optics.  I happened to have a rifle in the rack with an old Bushnell scope.  It will be upgraded tomorrow.  the boys took that scope off the rifle and began to disassemble it, exploring the mysteries of the internals of common optics.

That was interesting, and we concluded that young Philippine grills are better qualified to disassemble cheap scopes than middle aged rednecks from Louisiana.  They probably have specialty tools.  At one point, a pipe wrench was used in the disassembly, probably not something we would find in a technical manual. This was redneck gun-smiffing of the worst kind.  No alcohol was involved in this evolution.

For the record, the reticle was found in the second focal plane.

 We'll go get a new scope tomorrow and see how the rifle shoot.  It's a push-feed Winchester Model 70 in 257 Roberts.  More to follow.

Free Expression

 Just for giggles, let's take a look at the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That is fairly broad and well stated. 

Turns out, a bunch of Somali backers invaded a white church in Minnesota on Sunday, protesting and raising hell.  Nobody got hurt, but it disrupted the service.  Don Lemon, the disgraced CNN guy was there with a camera crew, supporting the disrupters.  So, what we have is a collision of free speech and free exercise of religion. It's a good question where the boundaries lie.

You can see Don interviewing the pastor here.

Interestingly though, there is this thing called the FACE Act, a Clinton-era law that makes it illegal to 

"intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere, any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship."

Oops.  Don and all those protesters may be in violation of federal law.  We note that journalism is also protected under the First Amendment, and this should further complicate an already complicated legal exercise.

A Fifth

 Those of us who grew up in the 20th century knew what a fifth of whiskey was.  One fifth of a US gallon.  A US gallon holds 128 ounces, so a fifth was 28.6 ounces. Nowadays we buy our hooch on the metric system, and a 750 ml bottle, we still call a fifth, but that holds only 25.36 ounces.

A jigger of whiskey was commonly known to be 1.5 ounces.  One of the legends ascribed to the game of golf was that the course standard of 18 holes was based on the fifth of whiskey.  If a gentleman limited himself to one jigger per hole, he could finish the course with fifth, retaining a wee bit to toast the course after the game.

Lately I have seen some of the online whiskey gurus saying that they didn't know why a 750 ml bottle is sometimes called a fifth.  Now, the education is complete.

You are welcome.

Greenland

 I haven't really been following it, but I have been noticing this whole Greenland kerfuffle.

President Trump seems to think that it is strategically important, Denmark owns it, and President Trump is making noise about buying it.

It seems that a NATO military contingent has gone to recon it.

LINKY

Thirty-seven (37) is barely an overstrength platoon.

Insurrection

 Should President Trump use the Insurrection Act to send federal troops into Minnesota?  I think not.

Better to use US Marshals.  The oldest civil law enforcement in the US, successfully used in many such cases, where the local authorities don't want to bend to federal law.  Like Lyndon Johnston used them to break Jim Crow.

The US Marshals are a better fit.  They are civil law enforcement, and you don't run into Posse Comitatus.

Record Breaking Tuna

 Oh, c'mon.  This is funny.

LINKY.

I bet that was a fine boat ride.

Fantasy

 I saw this meme earlier and didn't believe it.  It was too inane, too fantasy-driven, too problematic to be anywhere close to the truth.  Turns out, it is probably true.  As it turns out, the first words scrammed by the passenger in the vehicle of the woman shot by ICE, screamed, "Why did you have real bullets?"

Did she think that this was some play-action fantasy?

The problem with these folks is that they cannot differentiate between Instagram reels, TikTok shorts, and the real world.  In the fantasy of holding ICE accountable, everyone goes home safe.  In the fantasy of video gaming, there is a reset button.

This gal who was killed is not some "white chick George Floyd", as I've seen her described.  She is not a martyr to a cause.  She is just the latest example of a lethal force encounter going very bad, very quickly.

For my entire police career, as I was getting ready for my shift, I'd look in the mirror and ask myself if I were willing to take a human life that day.  We do a job in the real world with real consequences.  Thankfully, I never had to take a life.  I drew my weapon only four times in the line of duty.  I never had to fire.  For that I am thankful.

Today's "protestors" don't seem to understand lethal force. That is unfortunate, because the cops understand it very well. There is no reset button.  It is forever.

Justification

 I see that the news is awash with the tragic tale of a gal in Minnesota who was recently killed in an altercation with federal ICE officers in Minneapolis.

It's tragic.  The death of anyone is tragic.

In 37 years behind the badge, I was regularly trained on Use of Force during my yearly training.  It has become stenciled on my brain.  Louisiana law mirrors the law in much of the country.  Let's take a look at the law, shall we?  Louisiana Revised Statute 14:20 says in part:

A.  A homicide is justifiable:

(1)  When committed in self-defense by one who reasonably believes that he is in imminent danger of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm and that the killing is necessary to save himself from that danger.

There is nothing there that talks about the intent of the deceased. We cannot know what she was thinking, nor the state of her mind at the time of the incident.  All that is necessary is the perception of the officer that he was in danger of great bodily harm or death. 

Her death is tragic, no doubt. We will never know what might have happened if the officer did not use deadly force.  It is a question we need not ask. You might note that in Louisiana, at least, there is no difference in the law between a sworn officer and a common citizen.  The justification is there for anyone to use.

I'm just saying.

Upgrade

 When I built this shop back in the winter of 201-2018, one of the things I built of scrap lumber was a temporary table that we could use as a cook prep area and to use as a serving table. Built from scrap 2x4s and plywood, it was never meant to become a permanent fixture, but it is so damned useful that it keeps being used even today.

That old table has served us well, but lately, Belle has discovered warming mats that we can plug in to keep food warm while we entertain, and we wanted to upgrade the table.  I searched around and found a butcher block tabletop that would add a few inches to the table and give me some room to add a power strip underneath the table edge so that she could plug in those mats.

Today, elder son and I installed the new tabletop.

I think that looks a little more finished and gives me room to add the power strips. Belle comes home on Thursday.  Belle approved the upgrade before she left and when she gets back, the project should be compete.

Iran

 Have y'all been watching the crap going on in Iran over the past couple of days? It's hearting up and it looks like the people might overthrow the mullahs.

I'm sure that the violent spasms are not over yet, but it seems that the Iranian people might get their country back.

Let Freedom Ring

Road Trip

We went to Shreveport this morning to pick up Belle's daughter at the airport.  She's going with them on the cruise.  

We stopped in Natchitoches for a bit of history and a bite for lunch. Belle's favorite restaurant is closed this week for a thorough cleaning and remodeling.  We went around the corner to another restaurant and ate po'boys.

Front street in Natchitoches.  Momma's Restaurant. They make a passable shrimp po'boy. The girls will leave here tomorrow, heading for Galveston. They should have a lot of fun.

Full Proof

 Bourbon has a number of criteria that must be met before it can be called bourbon.  At least 51% corn, distilled in the US, aged in new oak barrels, barreled at no more than 125 proof. Straight bourbon is two years old.

Many of you know my fondness for Evan Willians Bottled in Bond.  It's my bouse whiskey, aged at least four years, bottled at 100 proof.  It's good hooch.

I also like Buffalo Trace.  One of the products of that distillery is Benchmark.  It's a bottom-shelf, straight bourbon whiskey.  Over the years, I have consumed my share.  I was in the liquor store today and found a bottle that they call Full Proof.  Bottled at 125 proof, this hooch is not watered down.

For $25 out the door, not a bad deal.  I brought a bottle home and we'll try it on in a little bit. If nothing else, it should be a good mixer for cocktails.

Nick Shirely Drops Another Video

If you've been watching Nick Shirley's expose of the corruption in MInnesota, it seems that it is just getting bigger.

The lesson here is that we have to keep an eye on welfare services, or the thieves will wreck the system.

I'm just trying to boost the signal.

Disaster Averted

 I walked out into the carport this morning and saw a little water on the floor near the carport door.  I wasn't really concerned, thinking it was condensation dripping from the humid weather and heavy dews we have had lately.  Looked closer and wasn't convinced, so I went inside and looked at the hot water heater. Found a drip, a very small drip, coming from the lie that brins hot water to the house.  Well, hell. Verdigris corrosion, that line was about to fail.

A trip to the lumber yard and an hour later, everything is fine.  Disaster averted.

Belle is prepping for a cruise.  She has an old friend, Sue, who recently won a cruise.  Sue's husband didn't want to go.  Belle knew Sue before she met me.  Old friends. So, Belle is going on the cruise with Sue.  Five days out of Galveston.  They'll drive to Galveston on Friday, spend the night in a motel, then meet the boat Saturday morning.  

I'm going to stay home and keep the dawg out of trouble.  I have no motivation to go on a cruise of any kind.

I don't even like to say the word "plumbing". Can't live without it, never learned to like it.  Maybe I'm done for this calendar year.  Hope springs eternal.

UN-Care

 Other than the usual Democrat handwringing about President Trump's flawless warrant sweep this weekend, the only thing that I see is that Tampon Tim is dropping out of the Minnesota governor's race.

Normally I would not care who the governor of Minnesota might be.  I just don't give a shit.  And now that I think about it, I really don't care.  It's just not something that gets on my radar. The only reason I know who Tampon Tim is, is because he ran a disastrous race with whatshername in 24.

Kudos to our folks in the Caribbean.  They did a bang-up  job this weekend.  No casualties in a very complicated evolution. Lots of aircraft moving around in hostile skies, and everyone came home safe.

Tweaker Geographic

 This guy makes tweaker shorts, funny as hell.

Like this one.

Or this one.

I like the accent.  

Hmmm

 It looks like President Trump gave the green light to capture Maduro last night. Kind of like when we captured Noreiga in 19889.

I bet that the politics in Caracas is interesting this morning.

UPDATE** Nick Freitas makes some good arguments on both sides of the question.

Cheeseburger

 What makes a great cheeseburger?  That's rather subjective, but people still try to rate them. For example, these guys think they have found the world's three best cheeseburgers.

I recall, in the latter years of the last century, there was a place in Derry, LA called Ruby's Cafe. Miss Ruby was a widow who ran a lunch place.  She served local, grass-fed beef that she had butchered to her specifications.  Her steaks were great, but her cheeseburgers were top notch as well.  She made something she called a Ranch Burger, and they were to die for.  I think she put a little ranch dressing powder in the burger mixture.

North of there about 15 miles was a place called the Rite Way Grocery. It was a convenience store with two gas pumps out front. Owned by John Gibson, he had a guy named Howard who did the sweeping and the stocking and anything else that needed doing.  Howard also manned the grill during the lunch rush. Howard made a magnificent cheeseburger.

Both Ruby's Cafe and the Rite Way Grocery have passed into the pantheon of places gone forever.

Today, if I'm looking for a great cheeseburger, I go to The Pelican in Pineville. It's right across the street from MacDonalds.  Run by a Korean family, they have an eclectic menu, but I'm convinced that their cheeseburger is the best in the parish..  And, it is less expensive than a Big Mac from across the street.

The search for the worlds greatest cheeseburger is never done.

New Years

 It's New Years Eve and I've been doing all manner of year-end chores.  The tax year ends at midnight.

I had a pork tenderloin in the smoker for a few hours.  It's resting now, and I'll slice it in a little bit.  It will become part of lunch tomorrow, along with blackeyed peas and cabbage. Cornbread, of course.

That reminds me, I need to change the battery in my red dot sight. I do that once a year on the New Year.

Tomorrow starts 2026.  I'm looking forward to a splendid year.  I hope all of you can say the same.

Remembering

 If you were an Armor of Caverly Officer in the70s or 80s, there were three places woven into the knowledge base of those who served.  Grafenwoehr in Germany, Camp Casey in Korea, and Area 5 North at Fort Knox.

I didn't know Belle when I was a soldier.  We met after I had retired.  I was reminiscing tonight about the times I spent at Knox and she commented that the next time we were in Kentucky, we needed to take an extra day and visit the post.  Knox is no longer the home of Armor and Cavalry, it is now some sort of Finance Center.  I pulled up Google Maps and started looking for places that were instrumental during my younger years.

My basic training barracks is gone.  The place where I billeted the company I commanded is gone. The housing area where I lived has been bulldozed. The one place that the Army could not bulldoze is still there.  Area 5 North, a maneuver area thoroughly revied by everyone who spent miserable weeks on that piece of ground.  The scars are still there and can be seen from space.

That is one small portion of it.  A platoon-sized maneuver area where I spent many a miserable day learning the trade.  About four grid squares in total, Big enough for a young officer to screw up, mire his tank, learn to recover it.  a joyous place of mud and cold and diesel fumes. Did I mention mudholes? Fond memories.

This was only one small portion of the training area, which encompassed several dozen square miles.  Still it seemed that this portion is the one I recall most vividly.

Winter is Back

 Awoke this morning to a chilly north breeze, requiring that I break out the flannel.  Yesterday, the high was close to the 80s.  Today, the high will stretch to make 50.  Belle has turned off the AC in the house and has lit the heater. We're expecting a frost tonight.

I know that up north, the Midwest is facing a severe winter storm.  My thoughts are with y'all.

We're in the slack time between Christmas and the New Year. 2026 is going to jump off busy, and I'm enjoying the down time. It's time to consider the piddling projects that are best done in the wintertime.

Diamondback and Wood

 Couple of months ago, I started looking for my binoculars.  I, at one time, owned a nice Japanese binocular. Back in the 80s, I paid about $100 for them. They went with me to the woods, and to the training fields.  10X, bright and clear.  The last time I recall suing them was on a deer lease in LaSalle parish, sometime after the turn of the century. I can't lay hands on them now, they seem to have gone away.

On Thanksgiving, I ordered a new set.  This time it is Vortex Diamondback.  For a bit over $200 from Optics Planet. They came in yesterday after Optics Plante's deplorable shipping methods.  We found them shortly after dark last night when checking the mail.

I was sitting on the back patio, playing with them, when I noticed what I thought was a planet in the southeast sky.  About 8:30 pm.   Sure enough, it was Saturn.  I could see the rings plainly through the lenses.  Neat!  They seem to have good glass at a fair price.  Not as good as the Steiner binocs with the artillery reticle, but good enough for my uses.

<snip>

Surfing the YouTube, I happened to see the noted English physicist Brian Cox talking about astronomical things.  He was saying that gold and diamonds are fairly common in the universe, but somewhat rare on Earth.  He thinks that one of the rarest things in the known universe is weed. Earth is the only place in the solar system that has wood, and he suspect that it is uncommon in the broader universe.  Interesting.

NO MAN’S LAND | Louisiana Public Broadcasting

This is interesting.

Louisiana is a blend of cultures.  Many people recognize the Cajuns in south Louisiana and the Creoles of New Orleans, but it is more than that. Western Louisiana represented a clash of cultures, from the Spanish, the French, the native tribes and the early Americans.

For a time in the late 1700s until the early 1800s there was a strip of ground that was not claimed by anyone. Under a gentleman's agreement where no government encroached and separated the land that Spain claimed and the land that the US claimed.  This became known as the Free State, or the No Man's Land.  Yet people lived there and because of the absence of government, banditry flourished.

This is the story of those people.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas morning, Belle and I are alone.  Not by chance, but by design.  We had our family celebration yesterday and today we're kicked back, enjoying life and a quiet day. For myself, I'm processing the carcass of the turkey for a gumbo this weekend, and trimming the remnants of the ham for snacks the rest of the week.

Lots of leftovers.  I won't cook this week, unless I want to.  This morning I stumbled on this video where the guy is telling us the difference between country ham and everything else.  I like his production style, so I thought I'd share it.

Y'all enjoy the rest of your day.

Dispatchers

 Ya gotta love a good dispatcher.  As a long-time street cop, we depended on dispatchers to tell us what was going on, and those folks could make or break a shift, simply through their ability to communicate and their knowledge of what we needed on the ground.

I worked the road before data links in the vehicle.  I didn't have a computer, only a radio. I couldn't see patrol notes or call volumes. All I knew was what the dispatcher told me.

So we come to this little lady, who professes to being a dispatcher.  And that's funny, right there.  Go ahead and click on it.

I never knew anyone who kept and alligator in his shop, but I did know one guy who kept a big, nasty gnarly cur in his shop.  During the day, the dog slept on a cushion in the office. During the night, the dog had the run of the place. Sometimes the owner would come in in the morning and find blood on the floor near an open window.

The yeast rolls are rising in the oven, and I have a ham in the smoker.  Family will start showing up closer to noon.  Y'all have a Merry Christmas.

Smoking a Bird

It's the 23rd, which means that our Christmas celebration is tomorrow.  It's been a busy season so far, and I haven't really gotten into the spirit but that will change soon enough.

Belle and I have for years hosted a Christmas Eve lunch, where we cook big and have family and friends over.  This frees up the kids to do whatever they will on Christmas Day.  It works for us.  Today, I have a bird in the smoker.  The smoker is running about 240F and I'm not going to mess with it.  The smoke is coming out of the seams of the box, and I have learned to trust the process.

One of my favorite carols is Allson Kraus and YoYo Ma playing the Wexford Carol.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Trip Around The Sun - Martina Mcbride Jimmy Buffett

Well, I've done it again. By my count, this is 72.

Brown Shooter Found Dead

 Everyone is reporting that some homeless guy gave police enough evidence to identify and begin tracking the Brown University shooting suspect.  As they closed in, he was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The same guy is also suspected of killing an MIT professor on Monday.  The police are trying to unravel the various threads that hold this case together.  It's a sordid tale.

This shooter, like many others of his ilk, was an execrable coward.  He is worth neither comment nor memory.

University Police

 The first 20 years of my career, I was based in Natchitoches, LA.  Natchitoches is the home of Northwestern State University, a state college that, at that time, educated approximately 5000 students. It was mainly a teacher college.  It is also my alma mater, where I did both undergrad and graduate work.

During the late 80s, I was asked by the Sociology Department to adjunct a class on Tuesday evenings.  Introduction to Probation and Prole.  One Tuesday I was working an investigation, probably a Pres-Sentence investigation, and realized that i had to go over to the college to teach.  I grabbed my lesson plan, went over, climbed the stairs to the third floor and started the lesson.  

In just a few minutes, I glanced toward the door and saw the Deputy Chief of the University Police in the doorway.

He looked at me, grinned, and said, "Oh, it's you."

I asked, perplexed, "Who are you looking for?"

"We got a report of some guy in a white shirt and tie coming in here with a big magnum on his hip."

University Police, in Louisiana at least, a fully trained, certified law enforcement officers with the same standards of training as the local, parish (county), or state police. They have a tough job on a very narrow beat. In this case they got a report of a man with a gun, rolled on the report and satisfactorily concluded it within minutes.

I don't know what standards Rhode Islan has for their University Police, but the Brown shooting does not engender confidence. There are a lot of questions being asked, with very few answers. Law enforcement is tougher now, simply due to the amount of technology available. Security cams, dash cams and vest cams are ubiquitous, but require funding, maintenance and monitoring.  Equipment and manpower costs. These are challenges that every police agency struggles with. These are challenges that every police administrator has to deal with.

The Brown Shooter

 Like much of America, I'm watching the manhunt for the lizard who shot up the students at Brown University over the weekend.  We're on day five of the investigation.

I've worked a few murders and if you don't catch the guy in the first 48 hours, you are in for a slog.  Investigators get tired, leads fissile out and at some point, you get some sleep and start over.

I'm not convinced that the local cops are up to this investigation, and that is not an indictment on their competence.  Sometimes we just need help and the sooner you ask for it, the sooner you get it.  If I were running the lead at this point, I'd be looking at geofences and seeing if the digital gurus could help me with digital identification.  That takes time, but there is no better time to get started than right now.

What we know right now is that the shooter appears to be a stocky white dude, which doesn't narrow the suspect pool much.

The longest murder I worked took about two years to run the guy to ground.

Aussie Madness

 It seems that in the wake of the Bondi shooting over the weekend, where Muzzie gunmen went berserk on a beach where Jews were celebrating, the Australian government is considering stricter gun regulations.

ABC News reports:

State and territory leaders have agreed to strengthen Australia's gun laws in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.

One of the two shooters had held a gun license for a decade and possessed six firearms. 

 Odd, I thought that murdering people was already against the law in Australia.

Optics Planet

 In 2007 I ordered a rifle scope from Optics Planet.  It took about four weeks for trhe scope to hit my mailbox.  I thought that was odd, but I wasn't that concerned about it.

I admit that I have been spoiled by Amazon. If you order something, it is dropped off three or four days later. Amazon has really revolutionized shopping in this country.

So, on November 28th I was looking for some optics and when to Optics Planet.  They had what I wanted at a good price, and their Black Friday deals were happening. The website claimed that the item was in stock. I ordered my product and went on to other things.  Today I checked and they don't expect to shop until December 18th.

In 2025 it takes 20 days to ship an item that is in stock?  I don't know about that. It seems to me that Optics Planet needs to step up their game on shipping orders.

Lepage Wax-Bullet Dueling Pistols

Surfing the net this morning, I found this video from Forgotten Weapons, talking about a French dueling pistol from the early 1900s.

As you know, I participate in the sport of Cowboy Fast Draw, which uses wax bullets against steel targets.  I had no idea that the French dueled with wax bullets.

Our club had its end-of-year banquet today where we gave away end-of-year awards.  We will start back shooting in January when we begin our competition season.

Thursday Thoughts

 Surfing the Net, I came across this poor woman counting her blessings.  She doesn't have earthquakes, hurricanes or alligators, but damn, she has snow.  Both Belle and I lived up north during our younger years.  She in Missouri, me i Kentucky.  As far as we're concerned, that is the Frozen North.  If I ever hit the Powerball and am burdened with uncountable cash reserves, I might build a small house in Missouri near an airstrip, but I will charter a flight out before the winter starts and return to the mud in Louisiana.

My Dad kept bees, so we stole honey from the hives.  I have probably slipped in more honey than many of you have eaten in the past ten years. Honey never goes bad if it is properly stored.  It may crystallize, but can be recovered by simply putting the jar of honey into a warm water bath.

This guy found some old honey and was surprised that it is still good. I can tell by looking at it that it was winter honey.  Winter honey is much darker than spring or summer honey. Honey does not normally take a flavor from the flowers used to produce it but we learned that honey made from tallow blooms is almost as clear as spring water.  Dad once put some hives in a field of jalapeno peppers.  The farmer asked Dad to bring the hives out to help pollinate the pepper plants.  We got about six gallons of honey from that crop and the honey was very clear and had a really surprising "kick" from the peppers.  No heat, just a little bite on the back of your tongue that made the honey really special.

Watching the News

 This whole Somali welfare scandal in Minnesota has me intrigued and amused. It seems that the Somalis looted the welfare system while the elected officials looked on with disinterest.

Ilhan Omar thinks it is racist to point out that the vast majority of those involved are Somali immigrants.  Whatshisname Walz seems to think that he is blameless in this whole thing.  He's pathetic, he really is, both as a governor and as a man. The guy is a caricature of himself.

We really need to re-do the immigration system.  I would like to propose a few rules.

1.  Have a working knowledge of the English language when you cross the border.  Don't learn it here.  Learn it at home before you come.

2.  No government benefits or government employment for ten years. None, not rent assistance, ot food stamps, not a cell phone.  Either make it on your own or starve.

I think those two would be a good place to start.

Tuesday Tidbits

 We went to my friends memorial service today.  He was cremated, as is fashionable these days, and I'm not sure what the final arrangements will be for his urn, but we went to the memorial service.

He led a full life, mainly making his living as a helicopter mechanic and much of it overseas.  In his younger years he worked in Egypt, Chile, Peru, Brazil and did one tour with the Chilean government in Antarctica.

One of his more memorable photos comes from Antarctica where penguins were a contestant companion.

Yep, that's my buddy, peeing on a penguin.   Not many men can claim to have done that.

He was an avid water skier, having skied both the Amazon and the Strait of Magellan.

While working in the oil field in the Gulf, he started making tools for his own tool box. This parlayed into a company, Helicopter Work Aids which makes tools for the aviation industry.  His sons have ben running it for a couple of years and are taking it to whole new levels.

We're going to miss him.

Cloudy, Cold

 It's cloudy and cold in central Louisiana this morning. Not a s cold as way up north, but for us, cold enough. In response to the weather, I needed something heart and robust, so I decided to make a poot of taco soup.

Taci Soup

1 lb ground beef

1 lb bulk sausage

2 cans red beans

2 cans pinto beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can petit diced tomatoes

1 can original Rotel

1 can diced green chilis

1 pack taco seasoning

1 pack ranch dressing mix

Brown off the meat and drain the grease.  Dump everything into a slow cooker and put it on high for an hour or so until it is heated through and the flavors get acquainted. Serve over corn chips, garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Taco Soup.  It's what's for lunch.

More Grief

 This week, we're going through Mon's succession and on Wednesday we got news that a very dear friend of mine had died.  A close friend, the shot with us and would come over occasionally just to hang out in the club house.  He loved Belle's red beans and her dumplings.   When she cooked those, he got an invite and he would come eat lunch with us.

His sons report that he went to bed on Tuesday night and failed to wake up on Wednesday.  Just like that. Gone.

He led a full life.  He was a mechanic, a tinkerer and an entrepreneur. He left a thriving business in his sons hands, and by all accounts, it's doing fine. He started to back-out of the business a couple of years ago and the kids were doing well with it.

In his early days he worked a stint in Antarctica as a maintenance guy.  He had photo evidence that he once peed on a penguin.   The penguin was curious and wandered in too close. He commented that may be the only penguin that had ever felt warm water.

We're going to miss him.

Venezuela

 What the hell is going on down there?  I'm seeing reporting that Trump has closed the airspace over the country and that there is an aircraft carrier battle group steaming close by.

Also, the Seditious Six are going crazy. Something about a drug boat that took two strikes to kill.

I also heard one report that Maduro has un-assed the country, heading toward Brazil, but that was unconfirmed. I also heard reports of B-52s and B-2s sortieing.   Seems like it is getting kind of  sporty down there.

It reminds me of the runup to Panama back in 1989.  That was in December, too, come to think of it.

Sucession

 It's a legal tern where we clean up the property of a deceased person and distribute the proceeds to the heirs.  I had offered, several years ago, to take that on, but Mom wanted someone else to handle it.  She made a good choice, as was her prerogative.  Another of my siblings is handling it and doing a fine job.

I spent most of the day filling out forms, responding to emails and getting folks the information they needed.  All this has to be done legal and proper.

This makes me think about things that I need to accomplish before my time is over.

C Rations

 C Rations were an individual field ration used in the US military during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.  The Army was still using the when I went through basic in 1973. Simultaneously beloved and loathed by the troops, it was what you had to eat in the field. Twelve meals to a box, a mixed carton of joy and loathing.

The worst meal in most troops opinion was the Ham and Limas.  It came with a dessert of fruitcake. Both were inedible, but this guy liked it. Each C Ration came with an accessory pack that contained toilet paper, a heat tab, paper matches, cigarettes, and a toothpick.

My favorite C was Poork Patties in gravy. One day on a break I was hungry, so I took out the Pork Patty can, lit a heat tab and was merrily heating the tin when the Drill Sergeant wandered by.

Him: "Private, what are you eating?"

Me:  "Pork Patties in gravy."

Him:  "When was that packed?  Look on the bottom of the can."

I lifted the can to look at the bottom. "Drill Sergeant, this says 1948."

Him: "Damn, Private, that pig has been dead longer than you have been alive.  I'm going to watch you close te rest of the day."

The Army later came out with LRRP rations, which were totally inedible, then followed those with MRE rations, which are still used today.  If I had my choice, I'd pick C Rations every time.

Cleaning My Turkey FRYING OIL with CORNSTARCH

Have y'all seen Bruce Mitchell's method of cleaning frying oil with corn starch and water? It works, I'm here to tell you it works.

I've used this method in the past.  I didn't have to use it today because it's been two days since I fried the turkey and the little crumbs had settled in the bottom.

I thought it was witchcraft the first time I tried it.  Go slow when pouring the corn starch mixture into that hot oil.  Go real slow.

Leftovers

 Yesterday we focused on leftovers.  That big ham was sliced off the bone. The bone is in the freezer for a pot of beans later this year, the ham will go sandwiches or omelets, or any other recipe where applicable.

The turkey carcass was boiled for stock and the leftover meat will go into a gumbo tomorrow.

The other odd bits will either be eaten or discarded.  One of the grandkids brought a big pot of queso dip.  I'm going to re-heat it in another hour and eat it over fried potatoes.

The weather outside is miserable.  Cold, clammy, rainy, the kind of cold that seeps into your bones.  It is altogether a good day to build a fire.  Those cheese fries are going to taste good later on.  Belle is looking at the weather report, and saying that a venison chili is in our future for Monday.

I see that folks north of us across this great country are having a rather intense winter storm.  As a young man, I lived in the snowy North for three years and snow lost all of its appeal for me.  I'll deal with the oppressive heat of summer, but I don't care if I ever see snow again.

Right now, though, I need to figure out how to save all that cooking oil in the turkey fryer.  I have four gallons to deal with.

Thanksgiving

 The turkey was moist, and the ham was savory.  The yams were sweet, and the cornbread dressing was delicious.  The green bean casserole, excellent. Yeast rolls, or course, with cranberry sauce and assorted desserts.  Let's not forget about the gravy

We fed, by my count, sixteen today.  I have much to be thankful for.  My friends, my family, and the bounty that the Lord has blessed me with. I hope that each of you had a remarkable Thanksgiving. Tomorrow begins the Christmas season.

For myself, I will be sorting thru the debris.  I have to put away the turkey fryer and clean that big pot that I use once a year.  Then Belle and I will eat leftovers. I'll put the turkey carcass in a pot and boil the bones for stock, saving the leftover meat.  This will become a traditional gumbo that I cook each Sunday after Thanksgiving.

It was a very good day and I am relaxing with a bourbon and counting my blessings.

This Factory Ammo

Surfing the intertubes and this video pops up. The guy is griping that factory ammo is not consistent. Imagine that.

This guy asked for recommendations, and I have one word for him.  Handload. For about $200 you can start making better ammo than you can buy. The thing about handloading is that the initial $200 investment turns into $1000 or more. Then you start chasing nodes, and Es and Sd and before long you wonder if you are a shooter who wants good ammo, or a handloader who has to shoot experimental ammo so that you can load it again.  You start chasing bug hole groups and find yourself down rabbit holes.

Don't get me started on making your own bullets.  That rabbit hole is so deep, you will wish you had mining equipment.

When I was running a SWAT team, my marksmen shot Federal God Medal ammo.  It was the most consistent factory ammo we could find. My agency required factory ammo, so we shot Federal Gold Medal.

The ammo companies make good ammo.  It goes bang and will generally do what it is intended to do, but the simple fact remains that theirs is a bulk manufacturing process, and they don't have the time to spend that a good handloader will spend on each round of ammunition. If you want the very ammo for your rifle, you have to build it yourself.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I have to prep a turkey.

Accountability

 So this whole kerfuffle over illegal orders has ginned up some controversy.  Senator Mark Kelly and whatshername Slotkin are being called to account for their indiscretion.   As well they should.

Slotkin gave an interview where she claimed that she knew of no illegal orders that the President had given. She acts as if the whole controversy was framed as an educational exercise, to let junior officers and enlisted know that they should check with JAG officers if they the ink an order is illegal.

Senator Mark Kelly, a retired naval officer, is in the limelight.  Supposedly, SecWar Hegseth is launching an investigation to see if Kelly violated any portion of the UCMJ by his participation in that video.  Captain Mark Kelly, USN (retired) may soon learn that he has not been relieved of his obligation. He may find himself before a board of his peers to explain himself. An officer might disagree with the President privately, but to do so publicly puts him at risk both criminally and financially.  

I was taught as a young officer that discretion is the better part of valor. You may disagree with your superiors, but you had better be damned sure that you are right, and you must be willing to suffer the consequences of being right.

I recall once that I was given an order that I thought was a bit shaky.  I asked for that order in writing.  When he asked my why, I simply explained that at my Courts-Martial, I could present an affirmative defense. He backed off and modified the order so that it would not conflict with regulation.

There are ways to "buck" an order. YouTube is not the way to do that.

Two Things

 The big political argument this week is rather specious.  A bunch of well-meaning Democrats came out with a video that reminds enlisted members of our military that they are not required to obey unlawful orders.  That is true, as the oath of enlistment spells out.

“I, ____________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice”. 

Patriots were outraged.  While it is true that our military members can refuse unlawful orders, it is also true what President Trump pointed out, that sedition is punishable by death. 

That is also true.  Sedition is considered a bad thing in military service. One can be hanged, or shot, for sedition.

Both sides of this argument are telling the truth.  No military member is required to follow an unlawful order.  And sedition can get you shot.

Both sides are being silly, and I'm glad I could clear that up for you.

Equal Opportunity

 Because those porch-pirate videos keep populating my feed, I am learning things about those miscreants who think it is okay to steal from others.  There is no demographic.  Old, young, skinny fat, well-dressed or tacky.

What surprises me is the outrage they inevitably exhibit when the trap is sprung.

Or, I'm all wrong and these are staged simply for the clicks and entertainment.

The parish (county) where I reside has its problems, but locally, porch-pirate doesn't seem to be a concern.  Perhaps it is our affinity for the 2nd Amendment and our general loathing of thievery. I'm not saying that I would shoot a thief, but depending on the details of the encounter, it is certainly an option.

Frying Turkeys

 I'm seeing a bunch of Turkey frying videos on my feed and the one thing they never cover is how much oil to put in the pot.

That depends on your pot and the size of the turkey.  Once you have chosen your oil, and your turkey, it's time to prep the turkey and make sure that the bird will not overflow the pot with the hot oil.

The turkey must be fully thawed.  Please, God, do not drop a frozen turkey into hot oil. It will explode and at a minimum, a trip to the Emergency Room will be necessary. Once the bird is thawed, season it however you will.  Inject it, or rub it, or whatever.  It's your bird.

The way I was taught to do it was to test it before you lit the burner.  Simply put the bird in the pot, add oil until it covers the bird, then take the bird out.  Then light your burner and heat the oil to the desired temp.  When putting the bird into the hot oil, go slowly. Painfully slowly. Wear gloves and take your time.

Let the turkey fry 3 minutes per pound.  A 12-pound bird takes 36 minutes.  After frying, let it rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Bon apetit.

Making Arrangements

 While we were off shooting this weekend, we got word that my mother had died. While it was unexpected, it was not totally unexpected.  You know it's cooing, but you are never really ready for the news.

She led a good life and I'm convinced that she is at peace.  She wanted to be cremated and that is going to take a few days, but there are still arrangements that have to be made.  Belle and i will go to the funeral home this morning.  She pre-planned her funeral several years ago and I'm going just to review the plans and try to insure that her final wishes are honored.

I'm okay, I really am.  We lost Dad on 2007 and we had Mom until Friday afternoon. They taught us how to live, and they showed us how to die.  Death is part of life, that is just the way it is.

Mom's favorite holiday was Thanksgiving, and her Thanksgiving menus were legendary. For the past several years I have hosted Thanksgiving at my place with Mom in attendance as the family matron.  That is probably when the grief will kick in hardest for me, not having her at the table.

So now, if you will excuse me, I have to play out the final chapter of an absolutely remarkable life.

Good Shoot

 We just finished up the shoot in Mobile, AL and we are ensconced in the hotel room. The host put on a very good shoot at his home range.  Hats off to the local club, Benders Bandits  Good shooting, good food, good people, who could ask for more.?

Your scribe, known here as PawPaw, is known as Major D in the CFDA.  We all have an alias, and because I am a retired US Army Major, and because that is what my troops called me during Desert Storm, I answer to that alias reflexively.

Today, I came in 7th place by the simple expedient of hitting the target.  In this game, one cannot miss fast enough to win. You gotta hit the damned target.

Not to shabby for an old, fat man.  We will head home in the morning.

Prepping Guns

 Belle and I are leaving tomorrow morning for a shooting competition in Mobile, AL on Saturday. I spent this morning getting the guns ready. A Colt SAA has 10 screws on the exterior of the gun.   I found at least one loose screw on each of the guns we're taking.  Nothing destroys confidence like having a gun come apart on the firing line.  It really throws off your timing.

Now, the guns are clean and tight, the ammo is packed and I'm working the list. Boots, guns chairs. Luggage, update the GPS. The list is fairly long, but we've been doing this for years.

This is a very minor competition, a Jackpot Shoot at a local club.  Those are normally the most fun, because there is less competitive stress.  Just people having fun. What I enjoy about these local shoots is getting to see folks I don't normally get to see.  It's like going to a family reunion with people we actually like.

Red Beans

 With this cool weather, it's time for a pot of beans. I use Camellia brand, I've learned to trust them over the years. I've been using them for 60 years and I've never found a piece of gravel in them.

In other parts of the country, it is pinto beans, or white beans, but in Louisiana, it's red kidney beans.  I've cooked them every way you can imagine.  I've used all sorts of sausage, salt pork, bulk breakfast sausage, ham, or anything pork.

These days, my recipe is simple.  Get out the Crock pot. Rinse your beans, cut up a pound of good sausage.  Drop the beans ad sausage in the Crock pot with a little salt and ten cups of water. One pound of beans, one pound of sausage, ten cups of water.  For two pounds of beans, 16 cups of water.  Put the lid on the Crock pot,  Set it on low, and go to bed.  When you get up in the morning, give them a stir.  At lunch, make a pot of rice.

Yesterday as I was prepping the beans, I realized that I had a half-rack of ribs left over from lunch.  I dropped that in the bean pot along with the sausage. This morning, I fished it out, removed the bones and shredded the pork. It will be just fine and cleaned up a leftover that I didn't want to deal with.

If I'm using bulk sausage, I brown it first. If you want to use an onion, dice it fine and drop it in the pot. For cheap, easy fixings, a pot of beans is hard to beat. I'm going to feed six folks today for less than $10.

Red beans and rice.  It's what's for lunch.

Veterans Day

 The eleventh day of the eleventh month, marking the armistice that ended the Great War.  Today, we call it Veterans Day.

I see that the Senate yesterday voted to end the shutdown.  Eight Democrats joined Republicans to put it over the finish line.  Tomorrow the House should vote and send it over to the White House.  Presumably, the troops will get paid and the Pore N' Starvin will get their food stamps.

That is a good thing, I reckon.  Although I have seen over the past few days, a number of the perennially broke types posting reels on Facebook and YouTube, complaining about not having food on the table.  Only in America can someone post on the internet about such things while enjoying ownership of a smartphone.  It's supposed to be Supplemental Nutrition, not the primary plan. To my mind, SHAP should be limited to basic food.  Dry beans, salt pork, flour, sugar and cornmeal. A box of milk powder.  Stuff like that. I understand that the US has huge stocks of cheese in underground caverns.  Let 'em eat cheese.

Later today I'm going to put on a pound of dry beans to make Red beans and rice for tomorrow.  I'm not too  good to eat red bens.

First Frost

 Happy Birthday, Marines.

I think we got our first frost this morning.  A light frost to be sure, but a frost nonetheless.

I made the first gumbo of the season yesterday, not so much that it was cold, but because it was the second weekend in November and I was ready for gumbo.  I never know how ay people I am going to feed for Sunday lunch, and I do not advertise my menu. Many times I don't know what I am cooking until I start cooking.  Still, people show up.  I fed 13 yesterday.

Today, Belle wants something warming, so I think I'll cook a potato soup for lunch. With diced tasso and lots of cheese.

If you'll excuse me, I'm off to the grocers.