Botched Execution?

Oklahoma executed a prisoner last night, and the news weenies are calling it a botched execution.  I'm not sure how it is considered "botched", because they intended to execute him, and he's dead.

After the failure of a 20-minute attempt to execute him, Clayton Lockett was left to die of a heart attack in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma state penitentiary in McAlester. A lawyer said Lockett had effectively been “tortured to death”.>
For three minutes after the first drugs were delivered Lockett struggled violently, groaned and writhed, lifting his shoulders and head from the gurney. Some 16 minutes after the execution began, and without Lockett being declared dead, the blinds separating the chamber from the viewing room were closed. The process was called off shortly afterwards. Lockett died 43 minutes after the first executions drugs were administered.

It didn't go as smoothly as planned, but they did plan to kill him,and he's dead, so I'd call that a successful execution.  The usual suspects are outraged, but I don't see a lot of outrage about his crime, just the fact that Oklahoma didn't execute him painlessly.  Not that he gave much thought to his victim.

From all accounts, his victim was visiting a friend, when the condemned man burst in.  He raped her, kidnapped, her, then shot her.  She was buried alive by accomplices and succumbed to her wounds.   He said that he killed her because he was afraid that she'd alert the authorities.

So, because this poor guy suffered for about 43 minutes on the gurney, the whole prison defense industry is outraged?  It's not like the Oklahoma DOC intended for him to suffer, and the end result was his death.  I don't see a problem here.  They intended to kill him, and he's dead.  They're trying to figure out what went wrong, and hopefully, they'll get it right the next go-round.

Some are arguing that we should abolish the death penalty, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.  The death penalty serves a valid retributive purpose.  (Although I don't see the guillotine coming back.)  I'm not particularly a fan of the death penalty, but I do see that it serves a valid purpose, in such cases as when a person is absolutely guilty and there is any chance that a lesser sentence might not preclude the possibility of the prisoner ever being released.  As in the case of Wilbert Rideau killing Sarah Ferguson.  Wilbert is now a free man due to the vagaries of the legal system, and Ferguson is still dead.

Armorskin

For the last couple of days, I've been wearing a new body armor carrier, the Blaeur Armorskin.  It's a polyester shell designed to look like a uniform shirt and designed to be worn as outer-wear.

Under it, I wear the base shirt, whith is a cool mesh shirt with sleeves and a collar, also designed to look like a uniform shirt, but hidden part of that shirt is a cool mesh that wicks moisture   Worn together the two pieces make a system that seems to work well for the mission of keeping an officer safe, while making the body armor that we wear more comfortable than the old method of wearing the armor under the uniform shirt.

I've only worhn this system for two days, but I can see that it's a big improvement on the way we used to wear the vest.  Anything that makes a street officer more comfortable is a big improvement, and this system, while fairly new, may be a good first step in keeping officers safe.  The big problem with body armor is that it is so damned hot, and anything we can do to make it easier for an officer to wear armor is a decided improvement.    I know that there are other systems, and as the technology shakes itself out, there will be improvements, but this is a big improvement over the way I wore armor, even six months ago.

Ball Park Franks

Yesterday, Milady and I were shopping for Sunday.  Normally, Sunday lunch takes place at our house after church, and we planned to let the grandkids enjoy the pool while I cooked burgers and dogs on the grill.  When we got to the hot-dog aisle, Milady picked up a couple of packs of Ball Park Beef franks.

I asked her if she wanted the less expensive franks, and she looked at me like an errant child.  "I think we can afford the good stuff."  So, today whilst cooking the burgers I put those franks on at the end of the grill.  After the grandkids had been served and while my adult children were fixing their plates, I grabbed a hot dog bun, added a little chili, some mustard, and put one of those franks on the bun.

Great Jumping Jehosephat!  That's the best hot dog I ever put in my mouth.  I'm a big fan of sausage, both smoked and country, andoille, and Italian, along with Polish, German and Cajun.  I love boudin, and all forms of sausages, but this Ball Park Beef Frank took my love of sausages to a whole new level.  Who knew that so much joy could be had from a simple hot dog?

Enough with the cheap dogs.  If Milady says we can afford the good stuff, I'm okay with that.  Ball Park Beef Franks have the PawPaw seal of approval.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Sunday morning, and the dog is looking for that cat.  Not much of a hunting dog, sometimes the cat is simply behind him.

Wonder where that cat went?

That cat is eating breakfast. 

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.  The weatherman is calling for a chance of thunderstorms later today, but we'll take those chances.  PawPaw is going to fire up the grill around lunch and cook some hamburgers and sausage.

Y'all get out and enjoy this beautiful Sunday.

Drummer-Man

My sister in Knoxville sent me this video.  It seems that my nephew is the drummer for Laurel Wright in this new video.



Congrats, Jamie.  Very well done.

Dry Land Seaplane Launch

These guys store seaplanes during the winter and do the annual, then get them ready for the spring flying season.  Because there's no water, they launch them from a trailer.

For some reason the video won't embed, but here's a picture.

Link here to the article.

Just Damn!  Hat tip to Termite.

Leg Cramps

Mr. James, a contemporary of my father, who attends our church, told me last year that, "I can still do a hard day's work, it just takes me most of a week."  I'm starting to understand what he means.

I finished that sewer-pipe job yesterday.  Every day since the breakdown, I've been going over to the hole and throwing a little dirt into it, until I gave out from pushing a shovel.  My yard is mostly clay and pit run, a great foundation for a building, but absolutely hell for digging.  Putting dirt back in a hole isn't any easier, so I stretched the job out to a couple of hours per day and yesterday I got the dirt back in the hole,   Evidently, I favor my left leg for pushing the shovel into the soil, because my left leg started cramping last night and I'd get up and walk it off.

I know all the remedies, quinine pills, orange juice, bananas, pickle juice.  Twice that leg cramped on me, once about midnight and again just now, at 4:30.  After the 4:30 episode I decided to make coffee, as I was already up.  I think I'm going to take it easy today.  Getting old ain't for sissies, and this old man needs a break.

Land Grab

The bureaucrats at the BLM would do well to pay attention to signs that appear along roadsides in Texas.  Don't Mess With Texas.

Fox News is reporting that BLM officials are talking about a land grab in Texas, along the Oklahoma border.  It seems that the border between Texas and Oklahoma is the Red River.  The Red River is one of those rivers that changes course, and over the years the river moves and shifts, Sometimes those shifts are quite fast and dramatic.  Overnight.  We've seen it here in Louisiana, where the Red River carves across the state.  One day your land is on the river, the next day it's under the river.  We consider it the Hand of God, but when that river defines a border, it's easy to become confused about where the original border might have been.

Breitbart has background on the matter.

In 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to settle the boundary dispute in Oklahoma v. Texas and declared the boundary to be defined by wooden stakes set on the river bank. That boundary apparently lasted no longer than anyone could expect wooden stakes to last in the shifting sands of a meandering river. In 2000, Texas and Oklahoma’s legislatures agreed to a “Red River Boundary Compact” which defined the border between the states as the southern vegetation line. However, Congress must ratify agreements of this kind between the states according to Article 1, Section 10 (Clause 3) of the U.S. Constitution. Congressman Thornberry introduced House Joint Resolution 72 during the 106th Congress to codify the compact into U.S. Law.
The matter became somewhat of a national question drawing the attention of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, “The U.S. Supreme Court has tried twice to settle this dispute, which at one point brought the governor of Oklahoma to the border in a tank…However, true to the slogan 'One Riot, One Ranger,' the good governor of Oklahoma and his tank was held off by a lone Texas Ranger on his horse."

The long-standing dispute over the T/O border is a matter of long-standing debate, based on the twin facts that the river moves and wood rots.  As ornery and curmudgeonly as a rancher in Nevada might be, the BLM ain't seen nothing yet when they try to get into the Texas/Oklahoma border dispute.  This dispute pre-dates even the BLM, and they've got no business sticking their noses in it.

Biofuels

The fed.gov commissioned a study of biofuel made from corn residue (cellulosic ethanol) and the study concluded that the ethanol is worse for the environment than common gasoline.

A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline.

Of course, Big Ethanol is howling

The biofuel industry and administration officials immediately criticized the research as flawed. They said it was too simplistic in its analysis of carbon loss from soil, which can vary over a single field, and vastly overestimated how much residue farmers actually would remove once the market gets underway.

Of course they're howling.  Big Anything is furious when any study comes out that says what they do is a bad thing.  Big Ethanol, Big Wind, Big Solar, are all emerging technologies, and we're learning a lot about those technologies, but government subsidies are a bad idea.  They cost a lot of money, they're inefficient.  If you subsidize something you get more of it.  If it's a good idea, the market will take care of it, otherwise it should die on the vine.

I prefer non-ethanol gasoline.

**UPDATE** After posting, I found an article that says that the EPA admits that ethanol blends damage engines.   If you want non-ethanol gasoline for your engines, go to pure-gas.org and do a search for your area.

Pool Opening

For the past several years, we've opened the pool on grandson Quinton's birthday, normally the last weekend of April.  He'll be out of town next weekend, and today we celebrated his birthday, so the kids insisted that the pool be open, cool weather or not.  So, today we opened the pool.



They were cold as frogs when they came out, but the pool is open for the season.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog was playing "don't look at the camera" earlier this week, and I haven't had an opportunity to take a better picture.

He hasn't been here since Friday nite.  It seems that Milady has a friend who owns a dog that looks almost exactly like Beau, and she's a little girl, and Milady plotted with her friend for a weekend, hoping for puppies in two months.  He'll come home this afternoon, but it's been quiet around the house this weekend.

Swaging Bullets

Swaging bullets is a very common way to make bullets, but it's not as widespread as a hobby for the home tinkerer.  Most of the common jacketed bullets are swaged and many of the target bullets sold by Hornady and Speer (for example) are swaged bullets, but handloaders generally either use cast bullets or store-bought jacketed bullets.

However, the Corbin Co has been making dies that can be used for swaging, and some guys have taken to the hobby with an innovative approach.  This afternoon I was surfing around this forum and found some neat pictures of bullets that were made from discarded 9mm brass.

Yeah, those are bullets, made from discarded 9mm brass.  After being filled with lead, the bullets are formed in one of several forming dies, then loaded as usual, in .40 SW brass.  Who realized that discarded 9mm brass is the correct size to go down a .40 SW bore?

A pictorial view of the process, above.  I know just enough about the process to be mystified by it, but I think that it's a spiffy way to use discarded brass.  I know that a hobbyist can make 5.56 bullets from discarded .22 rimfire ammo, ad some wags have said that .30 cal bullets can be made from discarded 5.56 brass.

I see on the bottom photo, a photographer's mark.  I don't know who jonblack is, but if anyone can tell me, I'd be happy to give him a link.

Saturday Chores

It's amazing how fast your priorities change.   Yesterday afternoon I had every intention of working in the back yard today.  Then, about bedtime we discovered that I had a major issue with our sewerage lines, so this morning before full daylight I went out and diagnosed the problem, then called elder son who does this type work for a living.  By nine a.m. we had rented a Ditch-Witch and opened up the yard, then commenced to replacing sewer line.  As good as the machine was, PawPaw spent most of the morning in the hole, ripping out old pipe and replacing with new.  I was probably in-and-out of the hole thirty times, doing all the things necessary to make sure that water can flow downhill.  Two trips to Lowe's, muddy from head to foot with the type of mud that you really don't want to analyze.

It's amazing how quickly your priorities can change when the commode won't flush and the bathtub won't drain.  Somehow, the growing grass in the backyard pales to insignificance   We finished up about 2:00 and I took another half hour to wash the rental machine.  Then PawPaw took a long hot shower and on clean blue jeans.  A quick nap, and it's now 4:00 and the grass in the yard will have to wait another day or so.

The Beer Locker

This morning, while running errands, I realized that the summer beers are out, and I wasn't sure of the state of my beer locker, so I stopped by the local purveyor and picked up a few items.

There''s some Tecate, and a couple of Dos XX, along with Boston Lager, Blue Moon, and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.  I'll have to pick up some Coors Light for those who enjoy such things.

The weather is still cool, and the water's too cool for swimming, but springtime will be here shortly. Life's too short to enjoy it without beer.

Good Friday

Scouring around the internet, looking for something interesting, I realize that my muse is depleted.  Just not interested.  Today is Good Friday, and while I don't have to put on a uniform today, that doesn't mean I'm off.  In fact, I'll work more energetically today than I normally do when I'm protecting and serving.

So, it's time to put on tenny-shoes, gather tools, and get after it.  It's going to be a busy day, culminating at a fish-fry this afternoon at the church.  So, y'all have a blessed Good Friday.  For myself, it time to hit it hard and get it done.

Civil Disobedience

It seems that New York passed a law following the Sandy Hook massacre, and there are reports that as many as a million residents are refusing to comply with the law.  Courtesy of Instapundit.

New York gun owners shrug off tough new rules: What happens now?“The SAFE Act, passed in New York last year, had an April 15 deadline for owners of assault-style weapons to register their guns with the state. Some 1 million residents have refused to abide.”

From the linked article:

 For now, gun rights experts say, the outcome in New York is uncertain. Will the state take the initiative to seize unregistered weapons? If it doesn’t, will the new gun controls be exposed as toothless, even meaningless?

But others are clamoring for confiscation.

 “No guns are being taken away unless you fail to register your military-style assault weapon, if you happen to own one,” Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, told The Buffalo News. “If you register it, you can keep it.”

It looks like New York is standing on that slippery slope.  Register your guns or lose them.  Perhaps registration (or the lack thereof) does lead to confiscation. 

Fun Facts

According to the CNS News site, there are 86 million private sector workers today in the United States.  Those 86 million support the government and 148 million benefit takers.

The 147,802,000 non-veteran benefit takers outnumbered the 86,429,000 full-time private sector workers 1.7 to 1.

Lots more analysis at the link, but basically if you're working in the private sector, you're carrying the load for 1.7 people who aren't.  Milady and I are making good money, and our tax bracket is about 25%, so we're supporting with our taxes, a family of four somewhere.  It amazes me that in my autumn years I'm paying more in federal income tax than I made for lots of years as a young adult.

If someone asks me whether I'm paying my fair share, the answer is yes.  And I'm paying the share of someone else, too.  That's something to think about as we wrap up the traditional end of the tax season.

Heresy!

Surfing around today, I stumbled upon a news article that says my beloved sport, baseball, has adopted some heresy called an instant replay system.  What abomination is this?  It seems that league gurus are sitting in a room with various monitors, prepared to over-rule the officials on the field in the event that they make a bad call.

This whole idea is a bad call.  Baseball is bigger than technology.  It's a game played on a summer field, a ballet of players and sunshine and officials.  It's bad calls, and good calls, and strategy.  It's the roar of the crowd and the heckler in the box seat behind home plate  It's foul balls, or fair, but it decidedly is not a far-away league commissioner deciding whether the guy on second base is safe or out.

It's bad enough that baseball has adopted the designated hitter, but we should leave the game as pristine as possible.  Let tennis balls have boundary sensors, but leave baseball to the officials on the field.  This game isn't a technological marvel, this game is America's past-time.

If anyone from Major League Baseball reads this post, I'm ag'in it.

Remington 700 Recall

I found this at the GunBlogBlacklist, but couldn't read the notice so I googled around and found it on a Remington site.

Remington Arms Company, LLC (“Remington”) is voluntarily recalling Remington Model 700™ and Model Seven™ rifles which were manufactured from May 1, 2006 through April 9, 2014 and which have an X-Mark Pro® (“XMP®”) trigger. All product manufactured after April 9, 2014 is not subject to recall.

If you go to the Remington link, you'll find a block to enter your serial number to see if it's subject to the recall.  If you're shooting a Remington 700 manufactured in the past eight years, you might want to click on the link and take care of this problem.

That is all.

Pre-Easter Cool Snap

It's a truism in Louisiana that we always have a pre-Easter cool snap, and even when Easter is late, that seems to hold true   Accuweather tells us that we'll see a cooling trend this week, so don't put youir jacket away just yet.

Those basking in the warmth across the eastern half of the nation this weekend should not bury their jackets deep in the closet with dramatically colder air, and even snow for some, set to make a comeback.

I dount that we'll see snow, but there's a reason I still have a jacket hanging in the car.

 Spring will be here soon enough, and summer will be hot on its heels.  In another month, we'll be reminscing about cool weather.