Sunday Morning Dawg

 

Heh! Plausible

 Have you heard the latest about why Garland sent his minions to dig through Melania's underwear drawer?

Heh!  That is about as plausible as anything else I've heard.  I actually checked Insty's link to make sure it wasn't the Bee.  The Bee's take on it is pretty good, though.

Angel Outside Trump’s Empty Safe Tells FBI Agents, 'Behold! The Document You Seek Is Not Here!'

That's funny, right there.

Hinge Point

 Tim Alberta writes a piece at The Atlantic, where he makes the case that the FBI's raid on Mar-A-Lago may be a hinge point in American politics.  I know that Tim is a leftist for several reasons.  Once, he writes for The Atlantic.  Two, he wrote this sentence.

So why did I feel nauseous yesterday, watching coverage of the FBI executing a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate?

Because this country is tracking toward a scale of political violence not seen since the Civil War.

He's wrong.  We aren't there et. No one wants political violence.  What we want is even-handed justice.  Equal protection under the law.  A one-tiered system of justice, where the law is enforced without passion of prejudice, regardless of political affiliation.  What we are perceiving is a two-tiered system.

What we see is a two tiered system, where the director of the FBI can lay out a pima-facie case against Hillary Clinton for mishandling secure communications, then blithely say that no one will prosecute her for it.  What we are seeing is a system where the President's son can commit multiple felonies and continue his self-destructive ways without consequence.

What we see is an FBI that has lost the trust of the American people.  I see a federal system that is willing to harass political opponents.  What we see is an IRS that is out of control, about to hire tens of thousands of new enforcement agents to eat out our sustenance.

If the FBI wants to regain the trust of the American people, it needs to start at the bottom.  Good, honest cops who say NO to the political appointees, who reform the agency from the bottom up.  It can be done.  I've seen it done in local agencies, but it takes courage.  Right now I'm not convinced that anyone in the agency has that courage.

I was a cop for 37 years and I've seen it done.  So, to all the rank-and-file FBI agents who want to relaim their honor, it's time to stand up  Shoot me an email and I'll try to help.  If you are aware of corruption at any level, it's time to speak up.  If you don't, then you have no honor.

I Wouldn't Talk to Them EIther

 It's being widely reported that President Trump took the 5th today in a deposition in yet another witch-hunt.

"I once asked, 'If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' Now I know the answer to that question," Trump wrote in announcing his decision to invoke his right against self-incrimination. 

I don't blame him.  There is no reason to make any prosecutor's work easier.  The 5th Amendment protects the innocent and the guilty alike. 

The Blowback

It seems like FBI Director Wray and AG Merrick Garland are getting some plowback on the Mar-A-Lago raid.  Rightfully so.  Fox News reports:

Members of the federal law enforcement community across the country are beginning to grow frustrated, privately, with Attorney General Merrick Garland as he has remained silent since the search of the former President Donald Trump's Florida home.

 Meanwhile, there are growing concerns Wednesday about the safety of FBI agents, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Garland following the search of Mar-a-Lago on Monday. 

That is what they want you to think.  Oh, the horror!  They are getting death threats on the intertubes. 

No one wants there two dead.  What we want is them discredited, disbarred, bankrupt and unemployable.  So thoroughly discredited that people actively point and laugh at them as they pass on the street.  I detest these two assholes, but I don't want them physically harmed.

Their problem is that they pissed off 74 million Americans yesterday, And, they know that payback is coming. All they did was to elevate Donald J Trump in the minds of millions of Americans.

Raid

 So, the FBI served a search warrant on the Mar-A-Lago home of Donald Trump.  The premise for the warrant seems to be some documents that the National Archives claim may be classified.  Many on the right are outraged, using this as just another example of the political polarization in the country, and another example of the FBI harassing political opponents of the current administration.

Some on the left think that if Donald Trump is convicted of a felony, it will disqualify him from running for another term.  I have read the Constitution and see no such impediment.  I'm not a lawyer, and I may well have missed something.

I am concerned about the political weaponization of the FBI and the DOJ.  The Biden administration seems to have little reticence in jailing their political enemies.  These folks are setting up a political climate that they might not want to live in, in the coming years.  The pendulum always swings back.

Once again, the FBI seems to be doing the political bidding of the administration.  This does not bode well for the agency. So, the question becomes; what is the end game?   This cannot have been simply over some classified documents in a box.  There must be something else at play, or we have descended into banana-republic territory.

Wax Bullets - in COmments

 A commenter asks a question we get all the time in CFDA shooting.

Does shooting wax bullets extensively cause any issues with the bore? I imagine wax is easier to remove and clean out than lead and/or copper.

Wax does foul the bore, and competitive shooters clean the bore about every 20 shots. However, the common solvents for lead and copper don't work very well on wax.  So, we have developed our practice to match the problem. Hoppe's bore solvent is worthless for wax.

Brake cleaner, like you can buy at the auto parts store (or the Dollar Store) works well for wax.  As does carb cleaner.  Some people use WD-40, which seems to do as well as anything.

A fouled bore is not as accurate as a clean bore, and wax tends to foul faster than lead.  Much faster.  A competitive round is generally 6-8 shots, so every 3rd round, go run a brush through the bore.

Ammo Expenditure

In Cowboy Fast Draw, one of the rules is that for a major, titled match, the host club is responsible for providing ammo for the entire shoot. We all use .45 Colt revolvers, so it's all one caliber. At a major match, everyone shoots the same ammo, which levels the playing field.

Our ammo is specialty ammunition.  We generally shoot wax bullets in cases that have been modified to accept a 209 shotgun primer.  That primer provides sufficient propellant to discharge the wax bullet.  It is easy to reload.  The only equipment that is really needed is a human thumb, and most of us have thrums.  However, because it it specialty ammo, you can't buy it over the counter.  Belle and I have 5000 pieces of this brass.  Our cousin's club in Texas has 5000 pieces of this brass.  We help each other out, so that we can have 10.000 rounds of loaded ammo at the start of a big match.

At Louisiana State last month, we expended 3551 rounds of our ammo, and 3900 rounds of our sister club's ammo. If my math is correct, we shot 7451 shots in a 3-day match with 88 shooters.  I tell you all this because we are panning a big shoot next year, a tri-State match where we will shoot titled championships for Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas over a four day weekend.  We are still looking at venues, and they are starting to narrow down.

I basically just caught up on my sleep after Louisiana State, and we're planning next year's matches.

The Bombing

 In these early days of august, I'm seeing commentary on the final days of World War II, concerning the moral and military necessity of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that hastened the end of the war.

Hiroshima was bombed on August 5th.  Nagasaki on August 9th.  We generally consider VJ day as August 15th.

It is my opinion that the decision tree that led to the use of atomic weapons has to be viewed through the lens of the history that existed on the ground at that time.  The world was certainly awakened to the horror of nuclear war.  Just as the world was awakened to the horrors of fire-bombing major cities.  There is a lot of horror in war.

I do know that I had two uncles in the Pacific who were mightily relived when the Japanese surrendered.

Per Capita Murder Rate

 Which city has the highest per capita murder rate?  Chicago?  New York?  Not even close.

A new study of cities over 200,000 people shows a surprising list of cities.  Here is the top 10.

New Orleans.  Louisiana's very own third-world hell hole.  The current city administration seems bent on making New Orleans the most dysfunctional city on the North American continent.  Before hurricane Katrina, I enjoyed going to New Orleans for a weekend away.  Great food, good culture.  Nowadays I wouldn't go to New Orleans on a bet.

Sunday Morning Daeg

 Chasing the cat in the back yard.

Chicken Fried Steak

 Belle and I have played with chicken fried steak for as long as we've been together, and we think we have perfected the recipe.  It's a process and because you asked, we'll talk about it.

First of all, the steak.  We use "cube steaks".  Little steaks we get at the grocer that has been run through the tenderizer. You could buy a thin steak and pound it with a mallet to tenderize it, but the cube steaks are so convenient.  Take them home and put them in the fridge.

Then, get out three shallow pans.  In one, you are going to put flour.  Just regular old flour.

In the second, an egg wash.  A couple of eggs, beaten, along with some milk. Whisk this together.

In the third, finely broken saltine crackers.  I'll dump a couple of sleeves of saltines in a gallon zip lock bag and crush them with a heavy rolling pin.  Arrange the three pans in that order.  Flour, egg wash, saltines. Then, in a large vessel, get the oil hearing.  We're deep-frying these little steaks.

Get the steaks out of the fridge, and season them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Then roll them in the flour, thence into the egg wash, and then into the crushed saltine crumbs.

When the oil reaches 350F, into the hot oil.  Fry until golden brown.  I put the fried steaks into a slow-cooker that is lined with paper towels and the lid off.  Just to keep them warm until the guests are ready to make a plate.  Serve with cream gray, mashed potatoes and whatever other sides you want.

Ain't nothing to it.

Chicken Fried

Belle and I love to entertain.  That is one reason we put a full kitchen in our shop.  We would entertain in the house and the kitchen simply wasn't large enough to do what we needed to do.  So, I promised her that if we ever built amother kitchen, we could have 20 people in it and still have room to cook.

Belle has invited some of her old coworkers over for lunch.  The menu is chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, corn and yeast rolls.  The rolls are proofing in the oven.  Belle has perfected her chicken fired steak recipe over the past two years, and I have to admit it is awesome. We'll get busy on that in a little bit.  In the meantime, the theme song for chicken fried

California Wrecks Junior Shooting

 There is a new California law that Gavin Newsome signed on July 1st that wrecks any form of junior shooting in the state of California.

"Due to recent legislation from the California State Assembly, and signed into Law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the USA Clay Target League, DBA USA High School Clay Target League/California State High School Clay Target League, has been forced by law to suspend all operations within California," USA Clay Target League notes on its website. "California Assembly Bill 2571 … provides for a civil penalty of $25,000 for any and each instance of firearm-related marketing to persons under the age of 18. That includes the '… use, or ownership of firearm-related products…' as well as '…events where firearm-related products are sold or used.'"

This affects anything having to do with guns and kids.  We're talking about it in Cowboy Fast Draw, and in the clay target sports, and I suppose in any youth league for the action shooting sports.  Two weeks ago at Louisiana State, we had eight competitors that would have qualified under this law.  Eight kids who were safe with firearms, competing at the level that they could compete. 

In California now, that is illegal.  Just one more reason to never go to the state of California.

Griner Sentenced

 WNBA star Britney Griner has been sentenced in a Russian court to 9 years in prison for drug possession.

Honestly, I don't follow basketball.  I could not tell you who the leading NBA players are.  I just don't care.  Likewise, I had never heard of Britney Griner until recently.  What I have learned about her is not flattering. She is big on the social justice circuit, didn't want to play in an arena where the American flag was present.

I heard that when se was arrested in Russia, she complained that no one read her her tights.  Ha!  Had she paid attention in high school civics, she might have earned that she had it good in the US.

I hope that the State Department is able to get her out.  I don't want to see any US citizen in a Russian jail.

Flipped The Script

So, this would be robber goes into a convenience store with what appears to be an AR rifle.  What he doesn't cound on is the store owner who keeps a shotgun behind the counter.

The store owner is recovering nicely, after suffering a heart attack after the incident.  The four man robbery team is behind bars.

Hat tip to Lady Lake.

Pool Pump Repair

 The pool pump started making funny noises last night, so I shut it down and this morning after coffee, disconnected it and started diagnosing the problem.  The impeller has gone south, and I went to the pool supply place to get one.  Out of stock, but it will be here tomorrow afternoon.

I know, that is a rich man's problem.  When I was po'folks, I never worried about pool pumps.  Kind of like my buddy, Termite, who spends time worrying about airplanes and hangers.  Poor folks don't worry about that stuff, either.

Belle has chicken wings bubbling happily in a nice seasoned sauce, and I think that there is potato salad in the fridge.  Sounds like lunch.

The Four-Lane Range.

This post is intended for the CFDA family.  My regular readers can skip over it. 

The Four Lane Range

When Belle and I started CFDA, we quickly decided that we wanted to practice at home and got the money together to buy a two-lane set so that we could set up in the backyard.  That worked well for a while, but before long, we were cancelling shoots for the weather.  Then, God gave us the means to build a big metal building and set up our range in the building.  By that time we had traveled to several state and territorial matches and shot on six lane ranges.

Our building, a 40’ X 50’ metal building gave us enough room to set up a four-lane range on one end and have a gathering area on the other.  It has worked well for us, for a variety of events, large and small.

Shortly after christening our range, the Big Thicket Bushwackers came over for a visit and shot with us.  At some point after that, they lost their big range in the Great Flood.  Before long, they had converted at building at Camp Waluta to an indoor, four-lane range.

At Louisiana State 2018 and Louisiana State 2019 we held outdoor events with two, six-lane ranges. It seemed like the thing to do, a standard setup for a smallish state championship.  However, the weather did not cooperate, and we set standards for unmitigated disaster. Foks who were there still recall the time we shot in ankle deep mud, and the other time when a freak wind blew one range completely down.  I promised my club members that I would continue to hold Louisiana State, but I would never hold another one outdoors.  Planning a titled competition is hard enough without worrying about the weather.

At Texas state 2021, I was surprised to see that the Bushwackers had set up three, four-lane ranges.  Two of then outdoors, plus their indoor club range.  It worked well, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Later that year at Louisiana State 2021, we used two, six-lane ranges, because that seemed like the thing to do, but the four-lane range kept running through my mind.  At FGA 2021 in Fallon, I made some discreet inquiries of the seasoned shooters. They agreed that as a rule of thumb, a match needs one target for every 10 shooters.

Louisiana State has never had more than 80 shooters, and I became convinced that we could pull it off with two, four-lane ranges.  So, when the City of Pineville offered us a beautiful facility in the downtown area, we went out and measured the available space. The club believed that we had enough room to set up two, four-lane ranges.  It might be a little tight, but it was workable.  Best of all, it was indoors, with air conditioning.

It worked better than I suspected it would work.  The four-lane range takes up a smaller footprint on the ground and it is easier to get shooters staged for the next round.   It is easier to find hand judges for the last line of a round.  It takes less equipment and allows the score keepers to juggle ranges when necessary. At Louisiana State this year, we had 88 shooters on two, four-lane ranges.  We shot categories, a separate Shootist event, the main match, a resurrection match and a Magnificent 7.  All shot on schedule.  We cleared the building and left it to the City of Pineville by 3:00 on Sunday.

Six-lane ranges have been the standard in CFDA for many years, and they have served us well.  For a major event, three, six-lane ranges require 18 targets with the associated electronics.  Four, four-lane ranges require 16 targets.

I am convinced that the four-lane range has a place in CFDA.  It has a smaller footprint, requires less equipment, and gives event planners more flexibility.  If you are planning a major event, the four-lane range might be an option to consider.

Utter Bullshit

 John Kirby is some sort of national security wonk, a mouthpiece for the security apparatus.  He claims that US policy does not support the independence of Taiwan.

US National Security coordinator John Kirby on Monday said that the United States is clear about its One China policy and does not support "Taiwan independence" amid the reports of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

That is utter bullshit.  It may be US policy, but that needs to change this afternoon.  Real Americans suppoet indepence anywhere on the globe.   Real Americans support independence everywhere.

I see that San Fran Nan made it to Taiwan, and I support her in this limited endeavor, even as I wish gloom and despair on her generally.  She is right to go to Taiwan and to give the ChiComs a big middle finger.

If Joe Biden was a leader, and was not beholden to the ChiCOms, he would fire Kirby immediately.

August 1st

 We flipped the page on the calendar this morning, and it's going to be another hot day here in central Louisiana.

I see that Nancy Pelosi is doing a whirlwind tour of Asia and is supposed to stop in Taiwan.  The ChiComs aren't pleased about it, and they are making noise. As much as I despise Nancy Pelosi, I despise the ChiComs more. I think that she should go to Taiwan, just to show the ChiComs that they cannot dictate American interests anywhere on the globe.

In other news, I see that the Ukrainians hit the Black Sea Fleet HQ with a drone strike.  From reports, a homemade drone.  Good for them.

I have to leave the house in a little bit to take my buddy on his first-of-the-month errand run.  He can't drive and I help him out when he needs wheels.  I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, we've both been busy.  Me, with the shooting, and he with the Gideons.  

Got the electric bill this weekend, and almost had a stroke.  Largest electric bill ever.  By a good margin.  There is something on the bill called a Fuel surcharge, and the total beside that line was bigger than the basic electric bill.  Our local electric plant burns either lignite, or coke, and they ship it in by water or rail, depending on what is available.  Under Biden's economy, the cost of getting the fuel here is getting crazier every day.

I think I'll cook red beans and rice for lunch today.