Speed Traps

Local Channel 9 is doing an expose this week on the Colorado towns that make most of their money via the local police departments. Most of these are very small places as one would expect, but as they point out, an awful lot of small towns seem to do just fine without this sort of thing.

Big towns aren't exempt of course, it's just that when a town like Denver starts bringing in a large percentage of the municipal budget through the police department, this would be ticket writing on a truly gargantuan scale. Besides they have municipal code enforcement people to handle the bulk of that.

Not to say they don't of course. The existence of a discarded traffic cone constitutes a work zone extending about a half-mile in all directions from it allowing a doubling of fines. Careless postings go a long ways as well, the best example I know of is a 3-block stretch of North-bound Sante Fe Ave between Missippi and Ohio streets where the posted limit is
1. 45mph
2. 25mph
3. 35 mph
4. 25mph and
5. 45 mph.
In that order over a 3 block stretch. With no side streets.

To add to the fun on weekends when traffic is lighter and therefore faster, the city will put out one of its photo radar vans up near that last speed limit sign, the 45mph one and tape a piece of black plastic over the 45mph which means that the previous sign, 25mph, now controls that stretch. As the stretch in question includes the on ramp to the freeway, it looks like you are expected to maintain that 25mph all the way to the interstate. Fortunately for me, I drive this stretch during the morning rush hour when 25mph is mostly wishful thinking.

Google maps is your friend here. Start at the intersection of SanteFe and Mississippi and switch to the street view. Inch northward, ignoring the pics that seem to show the Google car running the red light, and watch both sides of the street.

What It Takes

Bill Whittle seems a bit ecercised in this one as opposed to his usual cool and calm self. Possibly because someone set him off.



All I can add is that I'm very glad I'm not that young lady from Boston College who is held out as 1. A college grad from a fairly prestigious place, and 2. A nitwit of the first order.

The money quote, for me anyway is his summary of the 5 steps to get from somewhere to complete ruin. that is
1. An economically successful scapegoat,
2. An overly powerful state.
3. A fawning media.
4. Disarmament of the populace, and
5. Time.

We already have the first three although they can be checked by a political party with political courage. Anyone seen one of those?

Gun Safety

Here's a trigger warning from Perry de Havilland

I need one of these*. I bet I'd have the squirrels in the back yard under control in no time at all and I'm sure that little can on the front end would keep the neighbors in the dark as to what was happening to the tree rats as well.

Moving right along, we have a PSA regarding children and weapons:

For all you parents and grandparents out there, this is pure gold. Get the kids doing something cooperative using toys within their motor skills.

Cold rain falling all day today. Projected to go on all day today and on to tomorrow evening.

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
And where have you been my darling young one?"

I went to the gun show to do me some shopping
I found powder and primers and rifles and pistols,
I talked politics and sold NRA members
I looked at some clothing and do-dads and gee-gaws
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain a-gonna fall"

And sure enough, it fell all day.

*What? You say that's NOT a dressed up Mossberg Plinkster?

Happy Anniversary

This seems to be the 10^th anniversary of the Maker Faire. This from an article:

Former O’Reilly employee Bruce Stewart remembers that first Faire day, and surely speaks for other parents, in seeing his young son’s reaction to the event: “I remember walking up to the gate with my son Kindy, then 11,” he says. “We stopped in our tracks at the sound of a very loud, fiery explosion coming from somewhere near the entrance. Kindy looked at the tall flames rising up, looked back at me, and started running towards their source. He was sucked in before we even got inside! Between robots, Legos, fire, explosions, and the great ‘build what you want out of this e-junk’ room, he was in heaven. I remember thinking: ‘I bet this is a deeply interesting and inspirational experience for kids.'”

Yeah, flames, ka-booms, smoke and noise, what more could a kid ask for?

There's one coming up at the Denver Museum of Natural History in early June. I'll be there with some kid-pleasing stuff.

Poke Yoke

A native Japanese speaker at work has explained to me that Poke Yoke is in fact NOT Japanese for Idiot Proof in spite of its extensive use along those lines. He explains that by altering the pronunciation ever so slightly, to Poe-Kah Yo-Kay one gets to the actual inner meaning of the words.

Poe-Kah is the sound made when an irate parent raps a troublesome offspring on the head as punishment for an infraction. Probably similar to the sound you get when knocking on a hollow wooden door. Yo-Kay means “avoidance”.

Safety Nannies Rejoice!

Crispin Sinclair, son of Clive Sinclair inventor of the computer of the same name, has announced the launch of the worlds safest bicycle. For only $2970.00 you too can have a recumbent bike with crash bars and a full roll cage. For an additional $1480, you can get a 1/3hp electric motor attached to help speed you on your way.

O.K. that roll cage might have helped when I got T-boned by the kid on the mountain bike but at some point you have to tell the bubble wrappers to piss off. Next thing you know this will be required on motorcycles along with air bags and seat belts. Someone will build a prototype and apply for a patent, then lobby congress to make it mandatory for all motorcycles sold in the U.S. with a "modest" royalty paid to the troll.

Blogversary

Billlls mind has been idle for 7 years now. Also somewhat earlier, (1775) the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. All in all a good day for revolting developments.

QOTD

Found here at the conservative tree house this has to set a whole new standard to the art of obfuscation:

Let me attempt a translation: Her greatest accomplishment was in not getting tied down in petty details like the day-to-day running of the State Department which would involve knowing things like who was being murdered at any given moment or who the devil those wogs are that she has to shake hands with after a long jet flight to who-knows-where. Rather she was only concerned with the big picture of who has contributed to her election campaign charitable trust and how much.

There is a helpful set of rules the peasantry are expected to follow at the link that reads a lot like the advice the liberals give to crime victims. Remember if you tell them in a believable manner how much you enjoyed the non-consensual sex you just had with them, they may drop the requirement that there be no witnesses.

Minimum Wages

As was noted here before, radio host Michael Brown of KHOW has proposed putting a ballot question on the Denver ballot for the next election to raise the Denver minimum wage to $52.80. I think this is a swell idea and I'd certainly volunteer to help gather signatures but why stop there? Let's word the proposed new law so that the city council had only two alternatives: 1. Let the minimum wage become $52.80 or 2. Repeal the minimum wage in its entirety.

That's right, leave it up to the city council to take all or nothing.

On The Energy Front

The city of Boulder is working very hard to nationalize all of Xcel energy's holdings in the county and to run its own electric utility company. They are running into some logistical problems and have asked Xcel to supply them with power, presumably generated outside of Boulder county until they can get up and running.

As most of Boulders power seems to be generated by one coal-fired plant on the city limits, this may take a while. In the meantime I suggest that Xcell give the rest of us a break and supply Boulder with all the power they need, but exclusively from their wind and solar generation facilities, and at the full cost of same. Likewise the reliability.

During the summer this should be hardly noticeable up in the Peoples Republic as the blackouts can be explained as rolling Earth Day celebrations. It may get a bit harder in the winter though, especially if the petroleum companies get on board and refuse to sell anything but free-range, sustainable, frack-free gasoline and natural gas in Boulder county. Satellite pictures of Colorado at night will look just like the pictures of the Korean peninsula with Boulder county the blacked out area.

Update: Added link, also the state is not involved, at least not directly. Sorry.

Minimum Wages

Or maybe it should be called the Minimum Wedgie. MacDonald s would not disappear and I wouldn't lose my job as I can design robotic burger maker that could turn out identical burgers 24/7 at the equivalent of $15/hr. Possibly less.

Along the same lines there's a radio host in Denver who is threatening to put a measure on the Denver municipal ballot to raise the minimum wage there to $52.80. I'd sneak across the city limits and vote for this twice. I'd serve the bastards right.

School Lunch

We all have fond (?) memories of the lunches served to us in school but now the Presidents wife is getting involved. Here's a picture of a school lunch served in Portsmouth VA. Some complain about bad lighting, but I thing it's a masterpiece of the photographers art.

Some really gifted Photoshop artist has made this very large garden snail almost look like a fish fillet under a whole wheat roll. The other stuff is presumably Purina Snail Chow put there to keep the entree fresh.

Gun Fun Update

The results from the qualifier were posted and it seems I moved up from Novice to Marksman, and Mike, my shooting buddy moved up from Marksman to Sharpshooter so yay us!

Yesterday and today it snowed. It's still snowing. Heavy wet stuff that weighs about 50 lb/shovel full. Having put all the serious snow removal stuff in inconvenient locations, I'm still waiting for my socks to dry out from fetching the paper and putting out the trash. And the recycling. Springtime in the Rockies is when Mother Nature bangs the Summer/Winter switch up and down a few times to keep everybody on their toes.

Globull Warming

Gotta keep up to date on this hot topic. Here's an article from the Washington Post:

    The Washington Post.... 

The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulafft, at Bergen, Norway. Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes.  Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.  Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable.

Sure enough, the Washington Post, November 2, 1922.

Buy A Gun Day

April 15th is national Buy A Gun Day. I bought mine about 3 weeks ago to beat the rush, but looky here what's coming on the market: Your very own laser, and none of that wimpy "40 watt range" toy stuff either. This one from General Atomics starts at 75Kw and is scalable up to 300Kw. Let me tell you folks, that'll really roast your marshmallows and out to some significant distances too. Lockheed can shoot down small rockets out to 1.5 Km (about 1 mile) with 10 KW.

The best part is that the little laser looks to weigh in at about 600 lbs and is self-contained which means it only needs a swivel platform to fit into the back of a 1/2 ton pickup truck. Roughly the power of a 20mm anti-tank rifle and genuinely "flat" shooting. What's not to like?

Tax Day

So here's a musical interlude:

I'd file sexual assault charges against the IRS, but they'd just turn around and file prostitution charges against me.

Dueling

The sport has been out of favor for far too ling in my opinion. I vote to bring it back with a few revisions to the traditional rules to bring it into the 21st century.

First, the reason for this is the challenge by a Polish Prince issued to UKIP spokesman Nigel Farage over an offense taken from Nigel's position on immigrants. The Prince demands satisfaction on the field of honor with swords.

The problems:
1. Traditional rules of dueling give the selection of weapons to the challenged party. No telling what Nigel might pick but whatever it is, the Prince is stuck with it.

2. Normally the nobility is forbidden from dueling with commoners. We in the U.S. don't recognize titles of nobility within our borders although we do grant recognition of status in certain cases. Elected officials for example are called "Honorable". No matter how corrupt.

3. In most countries dueling is illegal especially when the possibility of officially disposing of a body is involved.

I would propose some solutions.
 Item 1 doesn't need one as such although historically, when an older person is challenged by a much younger, stronger, and healthier one the older fellow can either pick a method more suitable to old age and treachery or submit a pinch hitter. This all too often leads to an uneven match up with an unacceptable outcome. A limit of 20 years of age differential would be imposed and no hired guns.

For item 2, I would grant title to all elected officials, some title on the order of noacCount  which aside from granting membership to the ennobled class, carries no other advantage. Further, dueling would be limited to the nobility. Exclusively. This is absolutely necessary to prevent disgruntled constituents from doing away with elected officials willy-nilly. This also addresses item 3.

So Nigel picks the weapons and he and the Prince have it out on the field of honor. Or Mitch McConnel and Harry Reid duking it out in the Senate gym. Or Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton... oh wait, the 20 year rule.

It's got possibilities though.

Gun Fun APP

And here you thought your iPhone would not only be pretty useless in a fight, but likely the cause of an altercation to begin with. There's an app for that.

Gun Fun

Went out to Clear creek County Sportsmans Club for another attempt at an IDPA qualifier with the new gun and new everything else. Did much better this time. As I remember I only had 1 complete miss out of 90 rounds, and much lower points off. I'll see the results eventually I'm told.

I will report that the "cowboy action" loads worked a treat with hits closer to center and no aggrivation to my arthritis. I'll keep using them. For you folks who are not trying to make major with your 40's that would be 4.0 grains of Titegroup under 165 gr of Berrys FNHB double plated bullets.

The double plating probably isn't necessary for the Glock, but is absolutely necessary if I'm going to use them in the Hi Point where MV's can get up to 1500 fps depending on the load.

I will also report that the  Pearl Izumi gel-padded bicycling gloves work well also, the thick gel pads soak up the recoil quite nicely.

Nice day, sun shining, plum trees beginning to blossom, and I had shed the jacket and sweat shirt I came with before the match was over.

Colorado Gun Law

With the current legislative session winding down, a bill to repeal the magazine restrictions passed by the Dems on straight party-line votes 2 years ago is now in the Dem-controlled house. Predictably Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D-Peoples Republic of Boulder) has consigned it to the house Veterans Affairs committee, also known as the "kill committee". This committee is made up of people from districts so safe that anything they do that didn't result in a lengthy jail term would probably not impact their chances of getting reelected.

Up to now anyway. Rep. Joe (pop-pop) Salazar (D-Thornton) who famously opposed allowing permit holders to carry on college campuses because he was afraid some flighty coed would simply turn around and "pop a couple of shots" at someone innocently following her, was almost defeated in the last election. He is now reconsidering his position on guns. Specifically he is willing to amend the repeal bill to up the limit to 30 rounds. 

A 30 round limit probably covers 95% or more of what anyone uses, and passing such a bill would allow Dems in close races to lie about supporting gun rights, possibly enough to save some of their sorry asses in the next election. This probably has a chance of passing. Over the hill like the rescuing cavalry comes Dudley Brown and the RMGO whose position is that either the repeal goes through with no amendments or there will be primary challengers for those who voted the wrong way. Admittedly this is no idle threat. The Colorado electorate is slow to anger, or anything else, but they can be roused and even some of the best Gerrymandering around didn't save the Senate last election.

So here's the choice: No compromise, and probably no change to the mag limits, or take the 30 round compromise and plan on going full court press in the next election anyway. With new leadership in the Republican party here, this could happen. If they bring their A game, this should happen anyway but at this point it's too early to predict what Steve House, Republican chairman will do.

Dumb Muslims

Drudge headline:

Ayatollah: White House 'Lying'
Has 'Devilish' Intentions

They're just now figuring this out? Did they think they had a monopoly on it?

Intelligence Gathering

Drudge headline:

RUSSIANS HACK WHITE HOUSE; ACCESS OBAMA INFO

 

Western Reporter: So, Mr. Putin, where exactly was Mr. Obama born?

  

V.P.: I cannot release information that may be damaging to the Soviet Uni Russia. Mr Obama has been very helpful to us and we would not like to see any of that

jeopardized by his losing his job over some petty technicality.

Wedding Cakes

A bakery may refuse an anti-gay cake, but may not refuse to bake a pro-gay cake.

O.K. but nowhere is it said that they have to list the ingredients.

One needs to think carefully about what one asks for.

The Rise Of The Robots

From the very large, where Aussies are using automated Caterpillar haulers at an Iron mine, to the medium sized where golf courses are using automated mowers to trim the entire course, to the very personal electric mower that can be trained to do my lawn.

If you're going to let 100 ton trucks run autonomously, the Aussie outback is probably the right place to do it. At the golf course I suppose the mowers can be set to run at night where the possibility of bagging a golf ball collector is counted as extra security.

The home mower is running $900-$1000 and they suggest letting it run daily which suggests it's not much of a power house. Until it gets noticeably better, I think I'll keep my gas mower, but I can see the day coming. Where I work we use robots to deliver parts and pick up waste sharing the hallways with the associates.

Everything You Need To Know About Islam

Islam is a religion of peace:

Doesn't this look peaceful? It's a university in Kenya where they obviously need to pass a rule preventing people from carrying weapons on campus.

Oh wait...

Taxes

That time of year again and this year on account of a temp job running into several extra innings, I have to pay. The Feds will take electronic funds transfer and make your payment disappear from your account in the twinkling of an avaricious eye.

Colorado has had it's dept of Revenue website redone, apparently by the same people who prepared the states healthcare site. Want to file a return? Don't hit the link where it says "Free e-file through revenue Online". That's not it.

Go down and hit the next most likely link from the lengthy list of selections below.

Owe money? You can pay electronically using electronic fund transfer, BUT FIRST you need a registration and password from Revenue Online. To get that, you'll first need a Letter ID. Apply for that online, and they'll snail mail it to you. When it shows up in your mail box, you can then establish a login, set up a password, and electronically transfer the funds. P.S. this transfer may not take effect for 12-24 hours, so don't wait till the last minute. The state doesn't use a server computer, they have an old geezer with a brass telegraph key and a stenographer/typist on the other end of the line waiting to serve you.

The healthcare site works just as well.

Summer Of Recovery #7

The 7th consecutive Summer Of Recovery begins this month and the omens are so consistent it's a wonder people aren't out dancing in the streets like in Iran this week.

As of right now, there are some 93 million people not looking for work, a record they say. Keep up the good work and remember, if everyone quits looking for work, unemployment drops to zero and Obama's 3rd term is a shoo-in.

The only thing in the way of this is the projection for growth which right now the Atlanta Fed is showing at zero for Q1-15. This number is fun to watch as the first number out of the gate tends to be both wildly optimistic, and widely reported. By the end of April, the initial number will have been revised twice, usually downward, and the revision will go unreported.

The Atlanta Fed uses a different method for calculating the country's economic growth which provides somewhat lower numbers than other methods but given the consistency with which the others get revised down, it's probably more accurate.

Glock 22 Cowboy Action Loads

Success! For those of you suffering from arthritis, 4.0gr of Titegroup under a 165gr hollow base bullet, when fired wearing Pearl Izumi gel-padded bicycling gloves seems to do the trick.  My only complaint is that when shooting weak hand only, the bullets are going a bit to the right. Otherwise they all fit on a 7 in pie plate at 8 yards.

I can't use the Chroney indoors, so no MV numbers but I'm expecting something in the low to mid 800's.

Glock 22 Cowboy Action Loads

What? I hear you say. Well, it’s like this. I’ve decided to actually join the IDPA after some 15 years of shooting their matches just for the fun of it and that involves upsetting the established order of things. To start I picked up the Glock 22 I mentioned here earlier. Whole new gun from my little CZ, so there’s a learning curve involved. Also a bunch of accessories.

Picked up 2 new magazines which true to predictions, have springs in them suitable for a jackhammer. I’m told that loading the mags as far as I can and letting them sit for a while will soften the springs enough to let me get that last round in so they’re sitting.

Also found out that my Magloader thumb ring which worked so well on the CZ doesn’t work as well on the larger Glock mags. A nice replacement will cost me.

I got a .40 because it was on sale, and because I’m already set up to load that caliber. Yes, I have dies for 9x19, but I worry about keeping the 9x18 and 9x19 properly separated. It’s easier to stick with what I’ve got. The problem is that the .40 Soft and Weak still has a pretty good kick to it which my arthritis magnifies. Bicycling gloves with gel pads should help, along with figuring out what load will cycle the action reliably without cycling my thumb.

 Power factor should not be a problem as the 165gr .40 bullets will make the 130 minimum P.F. at 790 fps which is mighty slow. Cowboy Action shooters are famous for down loading their ammo as it allows them to get back on target more quickly which is fine, but some of them seem to put so little powder in their cartridges that snide remarks are sometimes heard about the ability to knock over the cardboard poppers.

Laugh all you like, I’m beginning to see the wisdom of very light loads.