State Of The Union

Found this one on Theo Spark, which is a daily read for me.

What's missing here is Chuck Smirkin' Chimp Schumer sawing at the rope with a knife on one end, and the 2 spies from Mad Magazine pouring gas on the rope and setting fire to the other.

As someone said, The miracle of the dancing bear is not how gracefully he dances, but that he dances at all.

What Government Does Well

There are 2 things that government does well:
1. Cause problems, and
2. Make them worse.

Both seem to require ever larger sums of money.

Know Your Enemy

Sometimes your enemy is a coldly calculating genius. Lex Luthor for example.

Sometimes your enemy is simply a street criminal. Any Thug'll Do.

Sometimes your enemy is organized stupidity.

And all too often Stupidity gets elected to high office.

"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools." – Plato

This is why we write our representatives, and sometimes replace them. Just not nearly often enough.

Glock Mini k-boom

Not sure what caused this weather a barrel blockage or an over loaded round, but there it is. I was lined up on a target at the match, and BOOM I get a really sharp recoil, my mag self-ejects to the ground between my feet, and I've got powder stains on my hand. Here's the casing:

Blowed that sucker clean in two. Here's the lower:

That bent piece of metal with the shiny ends is the slide stop lever, now severely truncated. The Mag was ejected out the bottom and suffered the loss of some of the front of the housing so I need a new Mag and lever.
On the upper, the barrel seems to have taken no damage at all, but the ejector

and the plunger that holds it in place have completely disappeared. Could have been much worse but I guess the modest loads I'm using kept the damage to a minimum. There may be barrel damage as well;

This seems to be hairline cracks, one on each side of the barrel. Additional news as it develops.

Construction

The Highline Canal runs 71 miles and includes a lot of oddities. At one point they're putting in a new pedestrian bridge. This will supplant the pedestrian foot path running between the concrete and rocks and the storm drain outlet.

 

It looks like they originally intended for the road to cross the canal here but somehow never got around to installing the bridge. On the left side of the picture is a narrow paved stretch which currently serves as the spillway for the neighborhood behind it. Had the road been completed, the big hole on the left would have served the storm drain. Now look down the bridge:

 Note that the centerline of the bridge intersects the fence line of the property on the right. The property line is actually to the right of the bridge, but since the road was never completed to full width, this fellow just ran his fence down to the installed pavement. This has caused a lot of people to question the sanity of everyone involved with this project. If the fence has been there for 18 years or more, I'm told, the homeowner has a valid claim to the land and the county would have to pay him to move his fence back. More likely is that the concrete path will include a bit of a joggle and the fence will remain.

Transportation

There was a minor car show in dynamic uptown Littleton last weekend. Here are a couple of the entrys:

This fine example of 'Mercan Ahrn was my personal favorite. Now check out the engine bay, overflowing with ingenuity:

The fan shroud and overflow resevoir are frosting on the cake. Then there's this:

GSXR* the dog checks out a low rider. The truck was driven in and features air lifts for when you actually need to go somewhere. The exhaust routing is especially clever, no? Now return with us to those thrilling days of way back when:

The standard street rod setup when Sochiro Honda was selling motorized bicycles. I remember putting 3 of those strombergs on my fathers Rambler 6. It worked well briefly on the 5 bearing engine. As well there was some late model stuff, this one was a '68 I think:

Lotta cubic inches there.

*That's her name. Pronounced "Jixer". My daughter named her. Scroll down to her post to see why this makes perfect sense.

Longevity Breakthrough!

Following this advice, simply download the picture below, print it out on nice photo paper, and hang it up over your work space.

Latest studies has suggested that staring at boobs will improve longevity in men. Staring at cute animals also seems to help so your call here.

Disclaimer: This is a completely P.C. image since the subject in the above picture is not human, but a robot so no actual women were exploited to lengthen your life.

UPDATE: Note that getting married is also helpful in extending your life. I might suggest however that combining the suggestions might not work. Example being trying to combine marriage and boob staring which runs the risk of actually shortening your life expectancy.

Morals And Ethics

I always found it interesting that the left was so uniformly adamantly opposed to displays of the 10 commandments on state capitol or courthouse grounds. Especially as the most corrupt politicians tended overwhelmingly to be Democrats. My take was that this sprung from Religion in general being the source of our morals and ethics, the left would of course see any moral or ethical guidelines springing from religion as creating a hostile work environment.

Here's a better explanation complete with optics:

Since their political philosophy is pretty much devoid of moral or ethical absolutes, to the left, the presence of the commandments on the building lawn is like showing a cross to a vampire.

Note also the love shown by the left toward Islam, the only major religion to include broad exceptions to every moral and ethical commandment.

Found here at Prager U.

Colorado House To Kill Mag Ban Repeal

Notwithstanding the repeal bill passing with a generous bipartisan majority in the Senate, garnering votes from Dem Senators who needed to improve their standing with the peasants, S-7 was sent to the House Kill Committee where after no doubt lengthy hearings it will be unceremoniously killed on a party line vote.

Interested parties should make an effort to attend the hearings and point out the essential uselessness of the law as it stands right now.

On Wednesday, March 22, the House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing on Senate Bill 7.  Please contact members of the committee and strongly urge them to SUPPORT Senate Bill 7.

If you can't attend, the committee members can be pinged here.

Sponsored by state Senator Vicki Marble, SB 7 would repeal the anti-self-defense 2013 law that limited the amount of ammunition a firearm magazine can hold.  Senate Bill 7 would allow law-abiding Coloradans to more effectively defend themselves and their loved ones and not be limited by a misguided law that criminals do not follow.  In February, the Colorado Senate passed Senate Bill 7 with a bipartisan 21-13 vote.

The Dems have reportedly been threatened with well funded primary opponents if they cross Mike Bloomberg on this or any other gun bill/law as the case may be. The Dems in the Senate are able to vote for this not because they've seen the light, but because they asr secure knowing that their brothers and sisters in the House will cover for them.

This is not to say that the fix is in since I vaguely remember bills being passed out of the Kill Committee in the past, but the odds are vanishingly small. So the game is rigged, but don't let that stop you. If you don't play, you can't win.

The Divide Grows Deeper

Might be a problem, then again, might not. An employer who is not named, has added a 30 question quiz to the hurdles to employment at his business. His position:

I don’t want most people to work for my company.  No, seriously.  Most people suck.

I've noticed that myself. Not being in a position to hire anyone it hasn't made much difference except for my choices in the folks I hang out with, and I'm pretty easy going about that. You can see a sample of the questions he asks here. I have no idea what he does, but from the tone of the questions, I believe I'd make the cut.

Compare and contrast with New Belgium Brewery who preferentially hires leftys on the theory that there will be less conflict within the workforce when everyone thinks more or less the same way. I wonder how the Hillerazis and the Bernistas are getting along.

Then there's these guys. Alpha brewery in St Louis who produced this for a while:

 

I hear they've changed the name after finding that another microbrewery had beaten them to it, but they are keeping the label. They seem to favor sour beers.

QOTD - St Patricks

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, America. On behalf of Irish Americans everywhere, I invite all of you to share our cultural tradition of soda bread, corned beef, and drinking way too much, just as our Mexican-American brethren have watched Cinco De Mayo become de facto Drink Too Many Margaritas Day, our German-American friends have seen Oktoberfest become Drink Beer Outdoors Week, and our French-American brethren have seen Mardi Gras turn into Remove Your Top for Beads While Inebriated Week. Don’t let anyone tell you America is xenophobic; we’ve always been a big-hearted, joyous people willing to reach out and fully embrace any other culture’s annual excuse to drink.

Jim Geraghty, National Review

The divide and conquer thought process has been refined to the point of reducto ad absurdum by the left. This country is based on being a melting pot where everyone’s ideas are tossed in and the best ones are incorporated into the American culture. Identity politics assures everyone that they can never become an American no matter how long they and their family have lived here since to be an American, they would have to give up some bits of their culture from the “old country”. Winning elections based on this results in dividing the populace into ever diminishing groups until you think you can win an election based on aggrieved “minority” groups alone, which seems to have been the Clinton strategy in the last one.

This incidentally is a close copy of the Italian model in which members of Parliament are elected at large, and pretty close to every city block has its own political party. The advent of the internet has aggravated this by letting people with similar views contact one another and thus form parties big enough to place a member in office. No matter how looney.  Porn fans have 3 or 4 members last I looked.

At some point, as one pursues this, the question comes up among the constituents: Exactly how aggrieved do I have to be to vote for candidate X, and do I want to be associated with some of the really far-out whackadoodles. At this point the party of aggrievement may discover that the upper limit of suffering voters is lower than a majority at the polls.

Open Season! No Limits!

Here's your chance to get involved and really make a difference to the government. First go here and read what has got to be the most engaging Executive Order ever published. I defy anyone to find a better one. Example:

Section 1.  Purpose.  This order is intended to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the executive branch by directing the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Director) to propose a plan to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies (as defined in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code), components of agencies, and agency programs.

 Can you think of any part of the executive branch that no one would miss if it disappeared in a cloud of shredded red tape? Keep in mind that this includes some 15 bureaucracies that begin with the words "Department of..." and are represented on the presidents cabinet. Also note that rules promulgated by these agencies would remain in place unless repealed by the congress.

(b)  The Director shall publish a notice in the Federal Register inviting the public to suggest improvements in the organization and functioning of the executive branch and shall consider the suggestions when formulating the proposed plan described in subsection (c) of this section.

So you have been invited to the party. BYOC (Bring Your Own Chainsaw). Suggestions should include any legislation required to complete the job including stuff needing repeal. The current OMB Director is Mick Mulvaney. Here's a sample letter:


Dear Director Mulvaney:

 In accordance with E.O. of 13 Mar, 2017 I would like to propose that the Bureau of ATF&E be disbanded in its entirety, all its current functions be ceased and desisted, and all its personnel up to and including its director be immediately deported. To this end only 2 pieces of legislation should be required, to wit the repeal of the Gun Control Act of 1934 and the GCA of 1968.

   Regarding the deportations. As the employees of the BATFE are widely known to be the spawn of Satan, deportation to Hell would be most appropriate. The closest approximation to Hell being Detroit, we the people will consider their removal to any spot within the Detroit city limits as sufficient to the task.

Other agencies serving no obviously useful purpose include the Departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, HUD, Interior, Transportation, EPA, and Agriculture. Enforcement of any rules and regulations emanating from any of these departments can be handled by the Justice department who should be encouraged to petition the congress for repeal for any such as seem without saving virtue.

Thank you for your consideration
John Q Public 

Womens Day Off - Guest Post

I've seen a lot of commentary about the "Day Without Women" mostly observing that the real women all showed up for work. Here's my daughter's take on it from her FB page, used by permission:
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So like I said women's rights are important. I completely disagree with women taking the day off and not doing anything!! I never got my way when I was kid throwing a fit and doing nothing, so why would this work as a grown adult?! Instead I'll tell you what I can do and I encourage you to do the same! Maybe you have an inspiring story from your grandmother idk... I can work on cars, I went to school for this. I'm CO state certified for engine repair, brakes, and heating & air conditioning. I also went to school for a dental assistant. I took dental x-rays of up to 150 US ARMY people a day. ( probably why I'm kinda weird! Lol jk ) I have held many management positions, even at a bar once! I also ride motorcycles and sometimes paint them! I'm not a top Chef but I love to cook and I think it tastes damn good too! I'm also a very caring person who would do just about anything for my friends! Happy national women's day make what you desire of it!

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The joke goes that a world without men would last until the oil needed changing. All we'd have to do is lay low until the whiners went extinct.

Just put on your happy face...

Which Gun Is The Best?

Bottom line? The one you have in your hand when you need it. Which turns out to almost exactly jibe with my brother's observation that the best beer in the world is the cold one in your hand.

Which gun works best? The one you practice with the most.

Hearing Protection Act - Status

There are actually 2 of these, one in the House as HB 367 and one in the Senate as S-59. They are the same bill and if passed from their respective chambers intact, would be merged in a reconciliation committee meeting and sent along to the President. This requires that these bills get voted out of the committees they are currently in first.

HB 367 is currently in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations committee which is chaired by Trey Gowdy. Contact to the various members will help move this bill to a vote although some of the committee members will probably not be amenable to persuasion on this one.

Chairman:

Rep. Trey Gowdy [R-SC4]

Vice Chairman:

Rep. Louie Gohmert [R-TX1]

Ranking Member:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee [D-TX18]

Rep Lee has a lot in common with Rep Waters (D-NonCoposMentos) but the entire membership is here. If nobody on the committee is from your district, feel free to ping Mr. Gowdy and ask him to move this bill along. Note in your correspondence that it currently has 121 co-sponsors and enjoys good popularity. If your reps aren't cosponsoring, drop them a line and ask why not.

In the Senate this is Mike Crapo's bill, S-59 and currently has 11 co sponsors. The bill has been referred to the Finance committee, chaired by Sen Orrin Hatch of Utah. The rest of the committee is here. There are several subcommittees within the Finance group and it's possible that the bill has been passed on to one of them although there is no report of such an action. To enjoy a similar level of support in the Senate, the bill would need 28 co-sponsors so if your Senator isn't a co-sponsor, drop him or her a line and encourage him to get with the program.

Letters to congress people are usually read by aides who note the issue and your position on it and little or nothing else so deathless prose isn't necessary. Write on behalf of the gun owners of America who are pleased to note the large upswing in gun ownership the previous administration brought about and would like to protect all those new gun owners from the scourge of hearing loss. The most important thing right now is to push these bills through their respective committees.

Climate Hysteria

Here's a new guest post at Whatsupwiththat covering some of my favorite complaints about green junk science ranging from the (possibly) biggest mass murderer of the 20th century, Rachel Carson, to 3rd world starvation due to a lack of exported corn.

That second item might be open to debate. Exporting mass quantities of food to the 3rd world will keep some number of people alive at the expense of undercutting local agriculture that can't compete with cheap or even free imported food from the U.S. When the spigot is turned off, the tattered remains of the local agriculture is unable to feed even a small fraction of the native population.

Harsh as this may be, in the long run it is better for the population involved as it highlights the shortcomings of the national agricultural policy and encourages much needed reforms.

Why Are Jewish Divorces So Expensive?

Goes the opening line of the joke. The punch line is "because they're so worth it!"

I am assured by a couple of friends that this is gospel truth. I'll have to take their word for that.

Seems that housing generally has the same feature in that people have to pay quite a bit extra, per year to live in big cities. This makes sense since those councilmen, mayors, and commissions don't come cheap, no matter how little they actually do for you. The exception to this is Denver where living in the 'burbs seems to cost some $3,600/year more than living inside the Denver city limits.

I've lived in Denver, and I've lived in the 'burbs, and I tell you it's so worth it.

Washington From 5000 ft

Which is about how far above Washington I am here in Colorado, or as they call it in Washington, "Eastern California".

Imagine if you will a large, picturesque, fenced off insane asylum with manacured lawns and all that. We'll call it the Washington home for the Hyper-egoed.

Imagine if you will, that the inmates have staged a coup and are now running the asylum.

Imagine that a great wizard named Tim has found the place, and with a wave of his wand, has transformed everyone inside into monkeys. The noise level goes up and the poo being flung sometimes lands outside the fence.

Imagine that the wizards assistant, standing safely behind him, has also waved his wand, instilling all the monkeys with an industrial-grade dose of LSD.

Scattered about in the building are rooms containing the legendary Levers Of Power which may only be wielded by the Rightful King of England, President, correct Grand Exalted Poo-Bah. Several of these are both sensitive and dangerous.

Now sit back and try to enjoy the show.

Gun Tech

Went out shooting with the older daughter yesterday and had 3 light strikes with no boom. I've seen this from my Ruger Mk 1 but not from the Glock so I'm guessing it's the same problem. In the Ruger, the hammer spring  is hidden in the widget that disassembles the gun. You never think to check it and it doesn't lend itself to disassembly, but if you don't clean it at least by running some solvent through it, your Ruger gets finicky about what ammo it's going to use.

The Glock is striker fired but the issue of a spring in a confined and probably dirty area is certainly there. NOTE TO SELF: In case you forgot, when parts are retained by a cover that comes off by sliding, there's probably a spring or two under the cover with enough stored energy to place it in low orbit. If you have never taken the cover off, the correct location and orientation of the errant parts will NOT be readily apparent. Which is why they made the internet.

Bottom center, 2 red springs and other bits. And yes, it needed a clean out. I am told that replacing the springs on an older Glock is a good idea just because. The set for mine was out of stock (figures).

And The Oscar Goes To...

For best re-re-re-do of an already excessively re-done classic as an action-adventure show, the award goes to Mr. Myloh Mason for his portrayal of the phantom "scream: bogeyman in the commission of multiple bank robberies.

Awards for best supporting actors in this production have not yet been issued but are expected to be of the same magnitude as the 1200 years incarceration given to Mr. Mason.

Talk about an overachiever, Billy Sol Estes, according to the song, only got 999*.

*Various versions of this tune are kicking around. The closest one to the one I remember gives him 3400 years. Who knows.

Curses! Foiled Again!

The Colorado legislature was passing a bill to increase the penalties for tampering with oil and gas equipment since oil spills and gas leaks are bad. The Dems objected saying:

“It could be a totally innocent individual whose, let’s say truck, breaks down in a road and you’re potentially interfering with or delaying the operations of that oil and gas well,” said Sen. Steven Fenberg, D-Boulder.

Damn! We've been caught out again. The plan all along was to follow Sen. Fenbergs Lexus until it passed near a pump jack, use Bluetooth to disable his car, then have him arrested for plotting to tamper with the oil equipment.  A felony conviction would mean his resignation from his seat but we all know that the Peoples Commissariat of Boulder SSR would simply appoint another Bolshevik to replace him.

But wait! A.G. Coffman had the papers already prepared to charge every Democrat in the legislature as an accessory to deliberately polluting Colorados water supply. Fenberg will probably claim to be an undercover EPA agent and thus be above prosecution.

Wouldn't it be nice if the legislature could do something useful once in a while?