Friday - May 06, 2016

ginger pile up

All three of them are in the photo, but dug into the cushions so deeply you can only spot two with ease. They’re young enough to still be nursing, but they’re learning to eat kibble and canned cat food. With their stubby little tails included I think they’re about 7” long. How old is that?

Another mean and wet day here. Nothing better than a nice warm pile of kittehs.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/06/2016 at 09:50 PM   
Filed Under: • Animals • Cat Blogging • Eye-Candy •  
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   Wednesday - May 04, 2016

First Out, Last In

Today in History ...

On this day, May 4, 1776, the colonial leaders of Rhode Island decided not to wait for the Continental Congress and formally declared their own independence from Great Britain. When the Continental Congress did declare independence on July 4, 1776, Rhode Island was still not sure if they wanted to be part of the new American nation or go it on their own. Financially, they were in great shape to go it alone, but others in the colony wanted to be part of America. The conflict between independence and statehood carried on for over a decade. Eventually statehood in the new United States prevailed and Rhode Island, the first colony to declare independence was the last colony to ratify the Constitution of the United States in 1790.

By the mid-1700s, the tiny colony of Rhode Island was prospering more than most of the other colonies. The ports at Providence and Newport were doing a booming business in what was called the triangle-business. They purchased molasses from the West Indies. The distilleries in Rhode Island made rum from the molasses, which they sold to slave traders in West Africa for slaves. They shipped the slaves to the West Indies in exchange for more molasses and the process was repeated over and over.

The ports of Providence and Newport were also homes to privateers and smugglers who helped contribute to the thriving economy.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/04/2016 at 11:48 PM   
Filed Under: • History •  
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another off day

At least I didn’t spend the whole day sleeping again. I don’t know from allergies to p-new-monia, but I’ve got a rotten tight cough that makes my mornings miserable.  And, joy of joys, it’s rained for the past week, and it’s still raining now. Looks like we picked up about 4” in the past couple of days.

All the semi-feral kittehs have come out of their soggy dens on the hillside and have taken over all the chairs outside here on the covered patios. We’ve got covers and padded cushions and stuff on them for just that reason. I guess I’m Ok with that; they stay dry and mostly they sleep all the time. Tipsy surprised me today by bringing her entire brood up here and claiming the old down blanket on the wicker chaise. We had thought she had 3 kittens, a whitish calico, a ginger, and a grey/black tabby, and then we saw her with two little dark tabbies. So, 4 kittens. But today she had THREE itty bitty gingers along with the others, and I think that makes 6. Six teeny tiny little puff balls, OMG. Squee!! Baby cats, 5” long. She has to lie on her back to nurse them all at once. Now add in the 2 or 3 young adult gingers living the high life down in the KatSpa all inclusive resort down on the main patio, plus visits by grubby old MomKat (aka Scowler) who stops by a couple times a day to dry off and mooch some kibbs. Things are quickly spiraling out of control. No more. When this giant bag of kibble is gone, that’s it. Winter will be over, hopefully it will warm up and dry out, and the kittehs can get back in the bushes and start catching mice again, of which we seem to have a limitless supply.

I got into a heated political debate with Bernie while working the guard shack this morning. He is not a Trump supporter. I’m not really sure if I am or not; I can see both sides of that coin, and I don’t know if it’s one I want in circulation. Anyway, B’s contention is that some survey says that most of Trump’s supporters are uneducated rednecks. That’s so biased, I told him. A lot of what Trump says resonates with me, and I’ve got a box full of degrees. A box full? Yeah ... 5 Associate’s, a BS, X credits towards a Master’s, 2 graduate level technical training certificates, each equal to about a semester’s study, and who knows how many mini-certs for all the “employee development” training we used to get back in the day. So what? So why are you here? he comes back with. What? Why are you sitting in this little hut in the rain if you’ve got all this education and ability? He’s right. I quit the rat race. There was no niche for me and I could never learn to play the basic dishonest corporate game. They squeezed me out, but I left almost willingly; I like to work and create and make things better, not rot my days away going to empty meetings and regurgitating buzzwords. But I threw my life away. Thanks old man. Put me in a dark funk for the rest of the day.

Another easy dinner featuring Maesri Thai green curry in a can. Make 2 cups of rice. Skin and bone a big chicken breast and a couple drumsticks or thighs, cut the meat into little bits. Chop up half a big onion. Or all of it. Into the pan with both and a splash of oil to slightly brown up. Add the curry paste. Stir to coat. Add a whole can of coconut milk (always get the first pressing stuff) and set it all to simmer. Want heat? Drop in 2-15 dry red Asian chilies. Take a 12oz bag of Asian Stir Fry frozen veg and a big handful of either frozen okra slices or green beans. 2 minutes in the microwave to thaw it all, then add it to the pan once the chicken has simmered for a bit. Add another can of coconut milk. “Add fresh kaffir lime leaves” it says on the curry label. Yeah right, I just happen to have a lime tree growing right here in my ass. No. I took a slice of lemon and gave it a squeeze over the pan. Good enough. Ladle the meat and sauce onto a plate full of rice, done. Serves at least 5. Once the chilies have softened you can eat them for some zing, but you don’t have to. Dead easy dinner, and it’s actually pretty good.

If it ever dries out I’m going to try to fix the power window in my car. I made it through the winter once we got it closed, but I really want to be able to open it again when it warms up. I’ve got a spool of wire so I can run power right from the battery. Now I need to locate my little Allen wrenches so I can take off the inside fascia of the outside mirror so I can get the door panel off. Then I can actually test the motor and inspect the gears and tracks and stuff.

Ack. It’s time for bed and I have at least 4 loads of laundry to do. Hey, tomorrow is another day.

[ oh shit, sinus eruption. Coughing fit. crap. Can’t hack this stuff loose, dammit. ]

No new word on Peiper. Aww, I miss him and think about him all the time. Hope he’s recovering fully.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/04/2016 at 10:33 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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   Tuesday - May 03, 2016

Somebody Warm Up Yogi Berra

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” But is it over? Is there a large contralto lady getting ready to belt out an aria for us??

Cruz suspends campaign, clearing Trump path to GOP nomination

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz cleared the path Tuesday night for Donald Trump to claim the Republican presidential nomination, suspending his underdog campaign following a crushing defeat in the Indiana primary – allowing the billionaire businessman to effectively leave the raucous primary behind and turn his attention squarely to the general election.

“We’re gonna win in November,” Trump said.

John Kasich’s campaign said the Ohio governor would remain in the race until a candidate reaches the necessary 1,237 delegates. But with Cruz ending his bid, Trump would appear on a glide path to hitting that, having vanquished almost everyone in what was once a 17-person field – and now within easy reach of the party mantle, an outcome some pundits and power-brokers once refused to even contemplate.

Cruz announced his decision to dismayed supporters in Indianapolis.

“I said I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory. Tonight, I’m sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed,” Cruz said. 

While a Trump-Hillary Clinton match-up now appears inevitable, Sen. Bernie Sanders kept the race alive on the Democratic side Tuesday night by pulling off a projected upset victory in Indiana.

Trump vs. Clinton?  Be afraid.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/03/2016 at 09:49 PM   
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   Saturday - April 30, 2016

still here

sorry, I got lost on the internet today. That happens sometimes.  Something said in the comments on an earlier post is making me want to go gun shopping again. Always a dangerous moment, as I can spend days daydreaming and looking stuff up.

I think I want a Marlin 1895 LTD II, only a new one built on the XLS machinery. The LTD II was rather like the 1895 Cowboy, only with 22” barrel and pistol grip stocks with checkering. Fine by me! I’d like to go with a Skinner aperture sight, and I’d really like some nice fiddleback maple stocks somewhere down the customizing road.  Well, Freedom Group, which took over Marlin several years ago, has come back with some new models and a big promise of care and commitment. We shall see ...

Almost perfect. Just needs a hefty octagonal barrel and the peep sight. And the big lever. this one is brand new, a fancy wood version designed, sadly, to live in some collector’s gun safe. Suckage, extra plus.

Eeeww. Eww!! OMG, a moldy canoe paddle that shoots bullets. Gross. Nothing but practical. Make it go away, oh please I’m begging you.





Oh thank you. For a minute there I thought I was going to loose my lunch. I must have the pretty boomstix.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/30/2016 at 02:55 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
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   Friday - April 29, 2016

wilderness living here in NJ

So I’m having my first cuppa coffee outside on the patio this morning, trying to wake up on this dark damp and dreary day. The birdies are waking up too, making a racket. Alerted by the sound of the sliding door opening, a couple of our outdoor cats have come up out of their den and are stretching and thinking about begging some breakfast.

And I hear a crunch crunch crunch of bracken breaking and a soft low “woof” sound. I look down the cliff, and out of the brush saunters a bear, not 30 feet away. A black bear. A pretty nice size black bear, this is no cub. I’d guess about 6 feet, nose to tail? Maybe 175lbs? I’m no judge, but this one’s got a big round rump, doesn’t seem leggy, and the ears are pretty small. Of course, Mr. Bear is all fluffed up this chilly morning, so it’s hard to tell. And my, what a nice shiny pelt you have, all thick and long, dark as licorice. And your little snout on your big fat round face looking up at me. And then my brain kicks into gear.

HOLY. SHIT. A BEAR!!!

Suddenly there are 6 kittehs on my patio. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, boing; they came flying in at full speed from under the bushes. And are all staring down the hill, while the bear is staring back up at us. “You stay up here, you stupid cats.”

And of course I don’t have a camera on me ... at 6am, who does? But I have my little foldy cell phone, so I whip it out to take a picture ... and of course, the thing has turned itself off in my pocket as usual. And it takes more than a minute to turn on and initialize. So I just stand there, and Mr. Bear keeps walking, following the little stream down there, past the vulture baths and crunching his way along. Right towards the work yard for the condo maintenance guys, who don’t come in until after 8. So I sent them a text. What else could I do? Right; I drank the rest of my coffee.

A bear. Friggin’ CRIVENS!!

Posted by Drew458     on 04/29/2016 at 05:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Animals • Daily Life •  
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   Thursday - April 28, 2016

nice idea but wasteful

How I spent my summer vacation    My morning’s fun task.

One can’s worth barely covers one side of a pair. Traffic flows o the dry side.

An official, professional line painting machine and plenty of ammo. 6 cans of Rustoleum inverted line paint ($25) is enough for one thin coat of paint on 5 speed bumps.

What a waste. But it fries fast! The best solution is a brush and a gallon of real paint. Sweep it clean, leaf blower away the last bits of dirt. Paint the left or right side of a pair of speed bumps. Put up some traffic cones and give it all day to dry. Come back tomorrow and do the other side.

The gallon of paint does twice as much as the 6 pack of spray cans, and cost $6 less. Oh, and it lasts about 4 times longer too, and covers better. And cleans up with water.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/28/2016 at 01:12 PM   
Filed Under: • work and the workplace •  
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Socialism’s End Game

I’ve got to make this quick ... I have to get out and paint the speed bumps today. Oh boinky!!

Caracas [maybe that should be “Carcass”? ]– After President Nicolas Maduro’s announcement that public offices in Venezuela will now open only Mondays and Tuesdays, many employees are saying they will use the time off to stand in the crawling food lines that have become a common sight throughout the country.

Employees will see no changes in their salary, Maduro said during the televised announcement.

Victor Urbaez, who works at the state-owned communications company Cantv, said he has mixed feelings about the new measures.

“Seventy percent of Cantv employees reject this decision,” Urbaez, who is a union member, told Fox News Latino. “We think it affects production and, even though we are getting paid, we will be unable to do the overtime work that increased our wages,” he said.

Most Venezuelans reacted with disbelief to the news of the two-day workweek, a new emergency measure looking to contain the growing energy crisis.

The country’s socialist administration already gave nearly 3 million public workers Fridays off earlier this month, and on Monday initiated daily four-hour blackouts around the country.

Yet experts say it is unlikely the new measures will produce a real positive effect on the electricity crisis, since 63 percent of the country’s energy consumption is residential, according to official data — if people are not working or studying, the reasoning goes, they will be in their houses consuming more energy.

Venezuela. Where they have loads of oil, and are almost literally pumping money from the ground. Collapsing economy, energy crisis. Food lines. No toilet paper. Brown outs, grid shut downs.

And don’t you just love it? The government employees union is pissed that the austerity move pays their people 5 days wages for 2 days work. Which was all they were probably doing anyhow. But now, boo hoo, they can’t pile on the overtime. For doing more nothing. Horry Clap.

The one thing I like about South American tin pot nations is that it’s almost a guarantee that somewhere there are still a couple of warehouses full of old Mauser rifles. Thousands of them. Looks like it’s about time to start melting the Cosmoline off them once again. Viva la revolution!

Posted by Drew458     on 04/28/2016 at 08:57 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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   Wednesday - April 27, 2016

File under WHAT THE HELL?: 9/11 Memorial Guards interrupt Choir students signing the National Anthem

I only wish I had nothing today. Because I think Nothing would be a better situation than this.  Choirs are proverbial for purity, honesty, and intelligence. When we talk of the scum of the day, what do we say? “He’s no choir boy.” So who has the nerve to hassle an actual choir?

Oh. That’s right.The people getting paid to guard the 9/11 memorial.

http://fox59.com/2016/04/26/middle-school-choir-ordered-to-stop-singing-national-anthem-at-911-memorial-gets-apology/

The Waynesville Middle School choir from Waynesville, N.C. was visiting New York City for a three-day trip last Wednesday when they stopped at the 9/11 memorial and decided to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” out of respect for the dead.

They never got to finish.

Before the song was over, two National September 11 Memorial & Museum guards walked over and told the students they had to stop singing.

Some of these guards didn’t even remove their hats out of respect, as you can clearly see in the video.

So, why might you ask? So glad you did that! Let’s have a look see.

According to the 9/11 memorial’s website, groups wanting to perform must first obtain a permit.

What’s that you say? A Permit? Let’s find out more about this. And indeed, yours truly managed to dig another juicy fact up.... though it is from See-BS. But I think you’ll forgive me when I point out what this means…

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/school-choir-stopped-from-singing-national-anthem-at-911-memorial/

Groups wishing to perform at the Sept. 11 memorial are supposed to apply for a $35 permit. The North Carolina group did not.

So, in short this was about monies. That you must apply for a permit to have a performance on public/gubment managed land. Ok, I have my misgivings with the extent the permit system has gotten to but this is a fairly reasonable limitation. HOWEVER....

Let’s look at that wording again. Really, Really, REALLY look at it.

Groups wishing to perform at the Sept. 11 memorial are supposed to apply for a $35 permit. 

Is there ANY INDICATION WHATSOEVER- has ANYBODY ALLEGED AT ALL- that the Choir *WISHED TO PREFORM* at the memorial beforehand? NO, I THINK NOT. What they Came Wishing To DO was to visit the memorial and pay respects to the three thousand~ murdered innocents that this memorial pays tribute to.

“We just wanted to show respect to the people who lost their lives,” another student added.

In short, the time during which they could in any way have been construed as “wishing to preform” must have been after they got into the Memorial itself, with a astonishingly small window of opportunity to file for a permit, pay the money, or solicit profit, publicity, new students, or in short ANYTHING THAT WOULD USUALLY MOTIVATE PEOPLE TO PREFORM. Which is what the law was mostly meant to REGULATE, mind: use of public spaces for premeditated agendas, ESPECIALLY for profit ones (which is a reason why you don’t see as many advertisements filmed at the White House even when a certain Neo-Bolshevik is not in it). And of course to make sure that the government gets its’ fair share (such as it is) for it.

But Wait. There’s more.

According to the 9/11 memorial’s website, groups wanting to perform must first obtain a permit. The Waynesville students didn’t have one, but did get verbal permission from a security guard that day, music teacher Martha Weathers Brown said.

Maybe she’s lying, but the See-BS page also echoes this.

Chorus teacher Martha Brown told Fox that one security guard at the memorial plaza had given the students permission to sing, but another guard told them to stop.

So in short: this started about monies. That you cannot preform certain acts of reverence (like a memorial tune, which just googling “Dirge” will show is one of the oldest forms of human musical expression known) on your own time, for nonprofit without bowing down and kissing the ring of BigGov for the privilege before paying up. Even if doing so would require a rather obscene expenditure for the occasion and- in this case- precognitive abilities. Because some half-wit overwrought bureaucrat somewhere decided that something like THIS could be reasonably viewed as a Performance.

And on the other hand: this is about Gov mugs not being able to get their right hand and left hand on the same page, because if we assume the teacher is honest (which granted may be a question) this NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED- the very thing that got the memorial staff wringing their panties out- unless ONE OF THEIR OWN hadn’t told them it was A-Ok. Only for a few others to go in and contradict it.

If there was one story to epitomize one reason to distrust government abilities and people- not the big, spectacular, horrifyingly damaging ones like Benghazi or Clinton’s email server, but the mundane, every day things- this would be one of them. It ENCAPSULATES just how greedy and incompetent this unfeeling blob that we pour trillions of dollars, many people, and immense trust in can be when given openings to get too big for its’ britches. I just wish it didn’t have to happen like this.

Which brings me to the final snippet.

Brown added that she understands why they were told to stop and used it as a teaching moment about respecting authority, showing students that these rules are in place to protect a sacred space from people who might want to be disrespectful.

I’m sorry, but WHAT?

How can you respect authority that Can’t even make up its’ own mind?

How is a permit based cash grab demand based on a Highly Tortured reading of the term “preform” going to protect this hallowed ground?

Let me emphasize that this land is not private property. This is a NATIONAL MEMORIAL. It belongs to WE THE PEOPLE. And if there is a reason for it to exist AT ALL it is to honor the memories and allow for mourning of the murdered dead (ya know, kinda like this!) And here we have tweedledee and tweedledum interrupting a CHOIR doing that and trying to state that their authority (which is again given in trust to them by WE THE PEOPLE) gives them the right to interpret bureaucratic minutiae like this.

I am not an anarchist. I am not even sure I agree with the saying that “The government that governs best governs least.” I do believe that governmental authority DOES play a highly important role in maintaining and preserving our freedoms and other things.

BUT I ALSO KNOW THAT THERE ARE FIELDS WHERE THE AUTHORITIES DO NOT AUTHORIZE IN, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO.

To quote the thing that empowers these authorities....

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

So now the Memorial staff are saying they’re oh so very sorry, the guy reacted incorrectly, you’re welcome to come back..blah blah blah. Maybe they even mean it. But I think in many ways that it is less important than the fact that this happened at all. That some small cogs in the Federal juggernaut honestly thought that This of all things was worth worrying about or treading on their coffers. And the fact that even the teacher is telling them this is a lesson about “respecting authority.”

If we cannot go to lawfully mourn and remember our dead at the location dedicated Specifically to it- if we are forced to put what is essentially Deeply Inoffensive expression under scrutiny for fear that it will offend some bit of overwritten and invasive statutory or regulatory law- then I do believe we will have lost just a little bit of our freedom, and the terrorists who committed this massacre will have won a victory. A little victory, not the war, not something that gives them the Bag-tinted dystopia they want all over the world. But something that makes that victory Just A Little Bit Closer. And honestly if an invasive state keeps sticking its’ nose in and forcing us to heed it on this invasive level, sooner or later people might think that the change over to caliphate will be a matter of convenience.

What can I even say about this? I’ve written enough… so I’ll just ask that you please, Please read the Fox link. It has the video in all its’ nature. And consider letting our dear *employees* in the government know exactly what we think of this.

Posted by Turtler     on 04/27/2016 at 04:04 AM   
Filed Under: • Big Brother • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Education • Government • Corruption and Greed • Homeland-Security • Jack Booted Thugs • Justice - LACK OF • Nanny State • Outrageous • Stoopid-People • War On Terror •  
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Super Tuesday: 5 takeaways

CNN.com

Trump rolls
Trump watched Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich form an alliance to divide and conquer states as they try to stop his march to the Republican nomination. He answered them with a 5-for-5 night and declared himself the winner of the nomination.
“I consider myself the presumptive nominee,” Trump said during a speech-turned-news conference in Manhattan’s Trump Tower. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
He declared Clinton easy to beat—easier than the likes of Jeb Bush and other Republicans he’s dispatched so far.
“Frankly, if Hillary Clinton was a man, she’d only get 5% of the vote,” Trump said. “The only thing she’s got going for her is the woman’s card, and frankly, women don’t like her.”
What about Cruz, his toughest primary challenger, who is vetting vice presidential candidates? “He’s wasting his time,” Trump said.

Clinton gets close to clinching
Big wins in Pennsylvania and Maryland have Hillary Clinton ready for a true pivot to the general election, and that means first trying to unify the Democratic Party.

Republicans are warming to Trump
The good news for Trump went beyond the size of his victories. Exit polls showed that Republicans appear to be warming to the idea of him as the party’s nominee, too.
Fewer Republican voters said they were casting protest votes. And Trump is the only candidate that a majority of Republicans in the states with exit polls—Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut—said they’d support in the general election.

Sanders’ superdelegate pitch
Far behind in the delegate count, Sanders turned his attention to superdelegates Tuesday night, making a direct pitch to the elected officials and party power brokers who largely support Clinton to change their minds.
“What we are seeing are national polls which have us 15 or 20 points ahead of Donald Trump—far more than Secretary Clinton,” he said at a rally in Huntington, West Virginia.

Ted Cruz is all about Indiana
Cruz knew it was going to be a bad night—so he ignored it.
Instead, he held a rally in the historic Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, a central location from the 1986 basketball classic “Hoosiers,” taking the stage 20 minutes before any polls closed, and any results were announced.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just grabbing a few bits from this, reading over the results for the first time since I just got home from work about a half hour ago.
That line of Trump’s about Clinton and the woman card seriously had my husband and I in near tears laughing.
Neither one of us had really been paying attention to the primaries today (we voted in the KY caucus last month) so we had no idea what was happening today.
Dear GOD, this election is shaping up to be one for the record books in entertainment. 

Posted by Severa     on 04/27/2016 at 05:00 AM   
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nothing

What? Didn’t I put something up today? Crivens. Crap. I thought I had something. Must have dreamed it.

Damnation, all I do is sleep lately. Narcolepsy, allergies, resurgence of that old Lyme disease? Beats me.

Try again tomorrow.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/27/2016 at 12:00 AM   
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   Monday - April 25, 2016

Fearsome And Effective

This is the result of some cold, clear eyed engineering. The multi-billion dollar shooting and hunting industry can give you a nearly infinite selection of recommended calibers, cartridges, firearms, and bullet types, depending on what you are hunting and how far away your quarry is going to be when you shoot it.

There is another wing of what is pretty much the same industry that deals with self defense and home defense. They also can give you an endless list of recommendations, but almost never mention “hunting”, or what your “quarry” is. And in general, the distance is usually only a matter of feet, 25 yards or less.  It’s not a subject we’re really comfortable with, but when the ranges get much past 25 yards, then the focus group becomes “tactical” - military and militarized police - otherwise we’d be discussing weaponry for assassinations and cold blooded murder. Big no-no there.

One of the basic tenets of gun safety is that your are responsible. Period. But mainly, you are responsible for the bullets. Forever. From the day you buy them, to how you store them, to how you use them, how they fly, how they work on target, where they go after meeting the target, even right down to how do they impact the environment, no pun intended. Generally the hunter group and the tactical group aren’t concerned with the post-terminal performance of a projectile, and it’s never really been a primary talking point in the defense group. But in the real world, in a crowd, or in a neighborhood or apartment complex where the walls are made from little more than plastic covered thin sheets of wood chips held together with glue, a handful of spun glass fibers, and cardboard coated chalk with a bit of paint, then post terminal performance becomes a major issue. Because the truth is that most bullets potent enough to stop the bad guy in your living room will go right through him, right through the drywall/fiberglass insulation/chipboard/vinyl sided house wall behind him, right through the similar wall on your neighbor’s house next door, and still have enough power to kill somebody else if they have the misfortune of being in the way. And you are responsible.

Impact shock. Temporary wound channel. Permanent wound channel. Nervous system damage. Vital organ damage. Maximum exsanguination (rapid and massive blood loss). These are how bullets kill things.

And this is where the OATH TSR slug comes in. It’s designed specifically for all of those categories for use on thin skinned low density low muscle mass animals at short ranges. In other words, people. It fires a blunt ended 602 grain, 72 caliber bullet (12 gauge) at 1200fps. That’s huge. And the slightly cupped blunt end delivers maximum trauma. qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222211111111 [kitteh is helping me post!!!] Within an inch of penetration the sharp edged copper petals have peeled back, creating blades that cut a 3” diameter hole. Maximum permanent wound channel. Maximum exsanguination. And all that kinetic energy just slams into the target (maximum temporary wound channel), slowing the slug down so that it comes to a stop after only 10-12” of penetration. Post impact responsibility. And a giant hole gives you the best odds of doing major nervous system and organ damage.

The idea of a projectile that greatly expands on impact is nothing new. Bow hunters gave up fixed broadhead arrows decades ago, and now most use these swing-wing points that turn into double switchblades on impact. Superior aerodynamics, maximum tissue damage and blood loss. They really work!

OATH also makes similar, albeit smaller, bullets for popular handgun calibers. They look like they ought to be quite effective too, but not quite up there with the TSR. This thing looks like it was made to blow people in half. It’s a bullet made for killing. Which poses an ethical conundrum or two” What bullet isn’t made for killing? And, if one exists, wouldn’t killing someone with one be some kind of cruelty, making their death last longer than necessary? In those Girl With A Dragon Tattoo books that were popular a couple years ago, there was a sub text where all the characters were offended that the murderer had killed somebody with “hunting bullets”, which had the heinous property of expanding and creating a larger wound channel. I guess they thought the killer should have been nicer and just used non-expanding FMJ bullets. Because he was just shooting them out of anger, not from any real desire to kill them? How ghetto an attitude, coming from a Swedish socialist. So, if all bullets are for killing, then isn’t the one that does the job fastest the most ethical?

If this bullet should be a paradigm shifter, then I think the word should be spread far an wide. Let everyone know that shotgun ammo exists that will turn the perp into red curry and still be “apartment safe”. Let them know that pistol bullets exist that works nearly as well. Then put “On My OATH” warning stickers in your windows.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/25/2016 at 09:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
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   Saturday - April 23, 2016

another season of league ending

Yup, we’ve come to the end of yet another year of bowling league.

This year’s team managed to fight our way almost to the bottom, and secured that plummet Friday night by losing all 7. We had a good time, but the bowling was almost all pure suck.

OTOH, I did convert the 4-7-10 split. First time ever. In more than a decade of bowling, I’ve made one 6-7-10, the right handed version of this split. And now one 4-7-10, the left handed one. One of each. In how many thousand games? It’s hard to do.

Once upon a time, back in the day when the sanctioning body, the USBC, was the old ABC there may have been a patch award for this. But the USBC has gone super cheap, and all the “fun” awards are gone. They want all the money for their super center bowling alley (one bowling alley, thank you, albeit a big fancy one) and the rest of the country can go screw. You know, I’m kinda pissed off at that.

We used to get a monthly bowling magazine delivered, at least 10 times a year. Gone. Now they have some .pdf thinger online, some jazzed up crap that “turns the pages” when you click the mouse. Bandwidth sucking garbage IMO. But they must be saving a fortune on printing and mailing.

We used to get annual awards for accomplishments, like the above split, or the Big Four split, or an All Spares game, or a Dutch 200. That died a slow painful death. Once upon a time the award was an embroidered iron-on patch. They couldn’t make up their minds with the designs, so some years we had key chains with lovely cast bronze 3D coin sized award fobs. Some years we got a POS clear plastic fob and the award was a slip of paper that went in the middle. Crap. Luggage tags. Zipper pulls. Patches. One year we had gorgeous enameled lapel pins. Things degraded further, and it became a simple rectangular refrigerator magnet. But at least those were annual awards, so you got something for your dues. Now they’ve decided all that “bling” is lifetime based. Bowl a 600 Series, get the patch once, and that’s it. No recognition ever again. And that’s sad, as I really like the lapel pins and wanted to complete the set. But now it’s over’ once you’ve been in a league for a few years and reached your level of growth, you’ve won pretty much every award you’re ever going to get. I don’t think our secretary handed out a single patch pin or magnet this year. Not one. This kind of sucks.

Oh, but sanction your league because of the insurance!! Insurance?? Yes, your secretary will be bonded, so in case they get mugged with the league cash, or run off to Tahiti with the prize fund money, your league is covered. Dude. Dude. Seriously? I doubt if there is a bowling alley in the country that doesn’t work as the banker for every league that it hosts. Pay your dues every week into the little blue envelope. The treasurer takes the cash, counts it up, and delivers it to the front desk. Who immediately take their linage fee, duh. And then put the rest in your “account” in their safe. And if they get robbed, they have business insurance. So the bonded/insured thing is a dud, and no reason to be sanctioned.

Oh, but we’re the keeper of the rules! We make the rules! If you weren’t sanctioned, how could you enforce the rules? Well let’s see ... oh, this is a tough one ... um ... as honest adults, we could all agree to abide by the rules, and if we had to we could argue it out. Or ask mommy. I mean, make an Appeal To Authority and get the judgement of the bowling center owner. And that’s good enough.

Oh, but tournaments! You need to be sanctioned to carry and official national average and do tournaments!! True. You are correct. So the one guy in 300 bowlers who actually gets involved in tournaments, let him get sanctioned. The rest of us can use the money to fill up the gas tank.

Hey, don’t forget 300 games! Those rings! That bling! The fame, the glory!! Eat me. You stopped giving away 300 rings years ago, even the cheaped out rhodium ones. Your own stats say that more than 50,000 300 games are thrown every year. And with the price of gold being what it is, and the introspective awareness that bowling is, well I don’t want to admit it but, rather a sad activity most of the time ... Not too many people are going to drop a grand or more to get a big jock ring to celebrate the one perfect game they’ve thrown. But one of those enameled pins would be nice, thanks.

Actually it may be the case that USBC never has had an award for the 6-7-10, only the Big Four.

Oh shut up Donny.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/23/2016 at 06:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Bowling Blogging •  
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   Friday - April 22, 2016

have I seen everything yet?

Sometimes I feel like Marlin Perkins living here, out on the edge of our own Wild Kingdom in our backyard. Last week it was rummaging bears. Last year it was Doe Fight, with the female deer up on their hind legs hoofing the daylights out of each other; a regular Last McNugget battle.

Yesterday I looked out the window and saw a great lump in one of the trees here at the edge of the cliff. WT?? Turned out to be a turkey vulture. Just sitting there on a branch, his wings just hanging limp and akimbo. Then I noticed another lump in a nearby tree. And another up in that one. And down there, down at the base of the hill, what’s that tussle in the long grass? We had half a dozen of the big birds right outside the door, and they were going after something down in the bushes but good. Uh oh. Count the patio kittehs! But try as I might, I couldn’t make out what they were doing. One after another would jump off a high branch and kind of flutter down, nearly out of sight, where a big pile of deadfall crosses over the head waters of a little brook that springs up down there. After a few minutes they’d leap and flap up onto some other half fallen trunk ( we still have dozens of downed trees from hurricane Sandy several years ago ) and just hang out limply, ruffing up their neck feathers and twisting their blood red heads about. Are they fighting? Is this a breeding ritual thing? Is there a large dead animal down there?  I couldn’t tell.

I walked down there this morning, from the road on the other side. Plenty of brambles, but not too steep. It turns out that the brambles grow in arches that form sort of a tunnel network, and that there is a fair amount of flat open ground along the brook. And where there’s a bend, there’s a nice little pool of water about 5 feet across and maybe a foot deep. The birds were bathing in it. Drip dry vultures, who knew?

“Well of course”, says the know-it-all Internet. “And here’s a video, naturally”. And links to amazing photos!! And source documents!!

Well, fine. I swear, the Internet is so vast it can suck the wonder right out of life. But it’s different when it’s 20 feet away, where you can hear it and smell it too. Another day of life here in the wild.

just one of thousands of pictures found online

Posted by Drew458     on 04/22/2016 at 11:26 AM   
Filed Under: • Animals •  
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