When things get strange at the neighbor's house.

Sigh. Situational awareness - I hazn't got it.

Yesterday evening I looked out my window and was struck by what I didn't see, which was the tower and wind generator that fed 'tricity to my weekender neighbors S&L. S&L weren't around last weekend, so that would have to mean they took it down nearly two weeks ago and I never noticed the change in my skyline, or it fell down and they didn't know it yet. Alas for my self-esteem, turns out it was that first one. I went over to check and the tower was lying on its side in a very neat and organized way, and the generator was gone.

S&L's wind genny is a perfect case study for why I don't recommend wind generators - at least not of the conventional design. They're expensive, they've got lots of moving parts, they only work as advertised in heavy wind ... and they have a bad habit of flying apart in heavy wind. S&L's is six years old, not at all a cheap model, and has needed major repair twice before in its life. This time, out of warranty of course, the bearings grenaded and that was that.

I can't say I'll miss it. On VERY windy days, the thing sounds exactly like a big truck trying to lose speed on a downgrade with a jake brake. Which is why at the very least I really should have noticed its absence yesterday, when we had a very, very windy day.

My first clue that S was already on top of things was when I saw him and his brother M putting up a rack for solar panels. 8^)

Before I left I went inside to say hi to S's wife L. I'd left the boys home, because if Ghost goes there and sees that they're there he won't leave for the rest of the weekend. It seemed likely to me that S&L already had their hands full for this particular weekend, and dumping Ghost with them seemed potentially rude. But L (and L's Shih Tzu, oddly enough) really enjoy having him around, and she said, "Where's Ghost? I miss him!" And when I told her he hadn't made the trip, she wanted to come to the Property and get him. So Ghost got a Jeep ride instead, and I won't see him till this time tomorrow. LB and I spent some quality time at the Lair, just him and me.

Carl Bussjaeger's got a new blog!

With free books! Check it out.

Saturday "AWWW!"

They still haven't named the little guy.

You know what I can't watch?

I can't watch those home-made videos of people getting hassled by cops. They're like kiddy porn to me: I can't bring myself to click on the link.

Something about them just makes me terribly uncomfortable, and I can no longer bring myself to watch them. Maybe it's guilt over the fact that I'm watching this person do this terrible thing with such impunity - and I'm not killing him for it. This isn't the world I wanted to live in.

Helpful Hints from the Hermit

Actually it was Landlady who clued me in to this. One kitchen gadget I always wanted but never thought about getting when I actually had opportunity was a rolling pin.

I think about rolling pins every time I need to, you know, roll out some dough. Then I just start looking for anything cylindrical and normally settle for a soup can or something. Landlady found that those religious candles so common in stores around here (non-Catholics call them "Jesus Candles") work perfectly. We keep them around for other purposes, and I hadn't thought of putting one to this use. But having now tried it myself, I can testify that they work great.

Yes, the Jesus Candle - not just for labor saving prayers to saints anymore!

Yow, Mas is not feeling the love!

In a recent BHM column, well-known gun writer and never-lets-us-forget-it former cop Massad Ayoob opined on last year's dramatic uptick in police deaths:

It is a horrible year for police line of duty deaths. This past weekend alone, at least three cops in different parts of the US were murdered in the line of duty. Much of the emphasis of this year’s training was on Officer Safety and Survival.

The general consensus of police, military, and national intelligence is that it’s only a matter of time before this nation experiences an incident reminiscent of Beslan or Mumbai: armed, trained, committed terrorists massacring the innocent with automatic weapons and explosives.

Trouble is, while fatal cop shootings were up considerably last year, by far the greatest increase was in traffic related deaths. I dunno what that's got to do with Mumbai.

But that wouldn't have been so bad. Then Mas went on to stick his foot in his mouth - and judging from the reaction, a mighty tender part of other people's anatomies as well:

At a time when we need more, better-trained and -equipped cops than ever, we’re seeing police layoffs, hiring freezes, and budget cuts.

For the private citizen, what all this is saying is to be prepared for disaster. Remember Hurricane Katrina, just six short years ago. In a nation where there are only about 800,000 cops to serve an estimated 320,000,000 citizens, it’s absolutely true that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

Yo, shouldn't have brought up Katrina there, dude. Among gun owners, Katrina is remembered not so much for the hurricane itself, or for how helpful the cops were to the good folks of New Orleans. Commenters left him in no doubt about that.

When I read, “Remember Hurricane Katrina, just six short years ago” memories flashed through my head of an old American woman being brutally disarmed by a California Highway Patrol officer who volunteered his services for the storm. The illegal confiscation of hundred personal firearms by the National Guardsmen and local LEO’s from American citizens that even today have not all been all accounted for. The murders of the American people on the bridge by police officers, who just last month they were finally convicted of.

No, Mr. Ayoob, I am not proud of the police officers we have today. I am fearful of them which is not the way we should live in America. They are armed to max like SWAT teams and almost totally militarized in appearance and mannerisms. Law enforcement needs a total overhaul starting with the BATFE and the TSA.

This went on for some time. At last Mas put us all in our places...

My goodness, the cop-haters seem to be out in force this week…

Aaaand that didn't have the quieting effect he may have imagined that it would.

And *why* do you think people hate cops? Or do you even care what the “little people” think?

Cops think what they’re doing to innocent citizens is *right*. They think the laws they unquestioningly enforce are legitimate. They think anyone they ever meet, under any circumstances, who is not a “brother in blue”, *must* be guilty of *something* if they can just find it.

And if they can’t find it, they plant it, to excuse their actions.

I’m far more afraid of police than of whatever they’re supposed to be “protecting” me from.

Cops still think they’re the *good* guys. But we’re the ones who are “nuts”?

Things went downhill from there. A wonderful time was had by all.

If anybody finds a pair of raggedy green cargo pants...

...I think they're mine.

Wind started coming up yesterday evening. Not bad, nothing to worry about. Woke this morning to a mega-windstorm. Suddenly remembered I had five pairs of pants on the line behind the barn. Went to get them: I had NO pairs of pants on the line. Found four. (Note to self: Faded "desert camo" is lousy camo for around here. They were the first ones I spotted, and even the jeans were harder to find.) Scattered to hell and gone. Still missing that old pair of green Cabela's.

ETA: Found them. Other side of the ridge. Stuck in a juniper.

If you threaten my life and kill my dog...and I don't give you free food...is that a "human rights violation?"

Because Jimmuh Carter says it is. Seriously.



So here's the deal, as seen from my cave in the high desert. There's this country called South Korea. It's run by the usual bunch of statist kleptocrats - kinda like here, but with Koreans. More factory riots, less Hillary Clinton. Then there's this other country called North Korea which is run by an alien master from the planet Looney-Toons. He has to keep his people at least half-starved, because he knows damn well that otherwise they'll notice the lamp posts need decoration. If NK has lamp posts, which I don't know. Probably the NK people have eaten them with fish sauce by now. If they're allowed near fish. Which I don't know.

Anyway - the crazy guy from NK keeps doing things like declaring "holy war" against SK and threatening it with nuclear weapons, and sinking their ships for no apparent reason. Everybody in the world except people who still think Joe Stalin wasn't all that bad recognizes that the NK government is one of the most oppressive in the world, and treats its own people abominably.

Yet somehow it's all America's fault. According to a former American president.

Wow. Doesn't this old guy have keepers, or something?

Obligatory Team America clip (NSFW):

In This Spot...

Is the post where I say everything I have to say about the Royal Wedding.

Why are you so frightened of us?

I can't remember how this got in my tabs or I'd hat-tip the link. But heres a former cop instructor with a column in a cop-oriented website, offering tips on how to deal with concealed-carrying "citizens." Most of the article is really kinda useful, because the writer spends the bulk of it showing the signs cops look for, when they're looking for your gun.

Of course I'm only going to quote parts of the column that make cops look bad in my eyes, because that's me. But this column is actually, by cop standards, not really all that down on "citizens" (He uses that word a lot, as if he's not one) who carry guns. By cop standards, the column is really quite even handed. But the use of language is revealing.

As the ‘right to carry’ spreads across the United States, many law enforcement agencies and police officers express their unease — and for some, outright alarm — at the idea of citizens carrying concealed weapons.

In an effort to disseminate useful information that would be of benefit to law enforcement, let me talk about this issue from both sides of the fence so to speak.

The 'right to carry,' officer? You mean the right to carry, right? Because there is one, whether you like it or not.

Philosophically, I support the right to carry for anyone who can exercise the responsibility for proper care and awareness.

I'm not sure if he's contrasting "philosophically" with "practically," because he doesn't say. But I'll give him his due - his criteria for who should be carrying guns is more liberal than any other I've seen an agent of government use. Problem is...

I have found, by and large, that citizens who do carry concealed are very pro-law enforcement and would be very willing to come to your aid if you were in the middle of a fire fight. This can be good and bad but I try never to forget that they are supporters of law enforcement, not felons. This is a BIG difference.

Officer, I'm very anti-law enforcement and would probably let you stew in your own juice if you were in the middle of a fire fight - unless you took my side in one, which I can't see happening. And I'm not a felon. Sorry about that.

The notion that cops shouldn't hassle gun owners because gun owners might at some point help out a cop, is not a very good reason.

...when you make a contact with a CCW, proning them out wouldn’t be my first option without digging a little deeper.

That's darned white of you.

Off-duty cops have a bad habit of not really concealing the gun well. They don’t seem to mind that it will show or that people may notice and take alarm. After all, they are cops and not bad guys right?

Lawful concealed gun carriers also feel as if they are the “good guys.”

I once had a driver/bodyguard for a foreign dignitary during a car stop come out of the car quickly and come rapidly my way while reaching behind him to his right rear waistband. I had already drawn my weapon at that threat indicator, and when I commanded him to stop he was suddenly acutely aware of his faux pas.

He was in a hurry to get the dignitary to a meeting and wanted to establish his bona fides with me ASAP. In his mind, he was a “good guy” and didn’t realize what he had done when reaching for his wallet while rapidly coming out of the vehicle toward me.

Note the use of quotes. "Good guy." "They feel as if they are the 'good guys.'" "In his mind, he was a 'good guy.'" Of course they're not good guys, because if they were they'd be cops. They're civilians. At best, they're citizens. Makes me crazy.

I suppose I should be happy he didn't call us subjects.

The stuff you do...

Woke up this morning and it was well below freezing for the first time in a couple of weeks. Naturally GC Guy called and asked me to come over to make a tray of geiger counters, finishing off our supply of meters. I don't know why, exactly - he didn't want to do it on Monday or Tuesday, but then the weather wasn't FREEZING then, so there was no reason. Grr.

Hokay, I wasn't expecting him, so I told him I wouldn't be there till nine because I already had something to do (and it's bloody freezing.) What I had to do was wash some clothes. It's been a busy weekend, and I don't want the laundry thing to get out of control again. Now washing my clothes is a bit of a project right now, even though I got the washing machine working, because it's pretty terminally on the fritz. As soon as you supply it with water, it starts to fill. Even if it's not turned on. Even if it's not plugged in. It just fills. And when it's done filling, it overfills. Which is why it was flooding the barn. Which is why, in true redneck fashion, I hauled the sucker outdoors. So I run a hose to it, put the dump hose in a length of 1 1/2" pipe, plug it into an extension cord, and do my laundry outdoors. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the water in the hose hadn't frozen, so I was in business. This procedure works okay for now, as long as I remember to turn off the water after the last rinse fill. Once that was done, I left the machine to finish things up by itself and spent a few hours building geiger counters.

Got a call from my neighbors D&L while I was there. They're both recovering from various injuries and needed some help moving a new tub in the house they're building. So I grabbed some lunch, hung out the laundry, and drove over there to move their tub.

On the way home I went through the wash to the Secret Lair to unload the VERY LAST PARTS, I SWEAR, that I need to finish the septic system. Still too cold to voluntarily work outside - at least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. But I did need to stop at the new apple trees and give them a good watering, because after the trouble we went to in planting them I'd do that in a hurricane.

Then I stopped at our new reloading shack and loaded up all my .44 brass. Still haven't decided what I'm going to do to get the Taurus actually working - probably ship it back to Taurus, since my neighbor J has done that and found it a pleasantly hassle-free experience.

Came home and let the boys out. They've been so good about the Gitmo thing, really. They could bust out any time they want (Magnus and Fritz used to do it routinely, including massive property damage) but they just hang. Of course when I get home they consider it my duty to end the incarceration. And I guess so do I. And LB, he just want to hang with Dad. He goes where I go, finds his favorite sleepy spot wherever that is, and causes me no trouble at all. I know he's just lulling me into a false sense of security before he runs off to Nebraska. again. But it's kinda sweet while it lasts.

Strangling kittens on the off-chance that they too might be terrorists

Yes, of course - unlike Stewart - I object to the feds giving money away. I suspect that if I did even a modicum of research I'd learn that "first responders" have health care plans that would make the "royal family" ill with envy. And even if they don't, I don't want the feds giving them money. But then I'm not in congress, so it doesn't matter what I think.

Anyway, when Stewart is on I think he's really funny. And he's got this guy's number pretty good.

The Daily Show - Friends Without Benefits
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show - Friends Without Benefits - 9/11 Responders
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Solari had her foal, but...

...as with so many things involving Solari the World's Most Nervous Mare, it didnt go well.

Not entirely her fault. She had a rupture, the baby tried to come out through her ass, and while H got him straightened out and he was born okay, then there was a five-hour trip to the city for vet repairs. Solari can find trauma in an ill-timed gust of wind. This really was quite traumatic, and she has completely rejected the foal. So completely that when H tried to encourage her to nurse him, she took a bloody chunk out of H's arm. So now H is on light duty as well. It's been three days, and poor Solari is still walking kinda funny.

Here's the new little guy. This is the best of a bunch of bad pictures; the light in the stable was causing all sorts of trouble and he's not very cooperative. Name TBD. He's the very last of Paulo's line, healthy and active if not especially well configured. Unlike Gaia, who's only now starting to decide that getting attention from people isn't all bad, this little guy has no problem with people at all. In fact he'll nurse on anything given a chance, and gave me a bad moment when he stuck his head between MY legs.

Fortunately Gaia's mom Tory seems perfectly willing to nurse him. She doesn't have enough milk for two, so he's mostly being bottle-fed and that will likely continue. But at least he'll also be raised by horses.

So Gaia's got a little brother! Welcome to the Gulch, little guy.

Just because what you're doing isn't illegal doesn't mean other people are gonna put up with you.

Westboro Baptist Church goes to Mississippi - and loses.

Most of the morons never made it out of their hotel parking lot. It seems that certain Rankin county pickup trucks were parked directly behind any car that had Kansas plates in the hotel parking lot and the drivers mysteriously disappeared until after the funeral was over. Police were called but their wrecker service was running behind and it was going to be a few hours before they could tow the trucks so the Kansas plated cars could get out.

A few made it to the funeral but were ushered away to be questioned about a crime they might have possibly been involved in. Turns out, after a few hours of questioning, that they were not involved and they were allowed to go on about their business.

Yeah, I know - I never have anything good to say about cops. But...heh.

H/T to Aliceaitch.

It's a tank rack! It's a storage shed! It's a target stand!

I don't know where they came from, but here on the property there are two big fuel tank racks. Probably seemed like the sort of thing that ought to come in handy someday.

Four or five years ago M covered the biggest one with corrugated tin and used it for storing Jeep parts. The Jeep project has since migrated elsewhere, and the "shed" has blown over twice. Plus Landlady was making sounds indicating displeasure.

So we stripped away the tin, and M came up with a new application. He had some pre-drilled squares of armor plate, and a little chain. Sounded like our inconvenient tank rack might make a pretty good target rack. So we used Gulchendiggensmoothen to carry it out to M's range. Reactive targets on a 500-yard range, anyone?

Now we just need a little more chain...

I emerged squalling from the nether regions of a human female. She seemed upset at the time.

"...the circumstances of your birth"? What does that even mean?

"...Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

Good thing I didn't want a passport anyway.

Small, familiar damage alarms...

...started going off the moment I put on my leg and started hobbling around this morning. It's been a busy weekend. I'm gonna be lame for the next couple of days, no way around that.

We planted three apple trees this weekend. The process was rather...involved.

First, dig some big-ass holes (previously completed.)

Next, fill the bottoms of aforementioned big-ass holes with partially-rotted juniper. We decided to call this step "cleaning up the neighborhood."

Haul much horse shit and rotted straw from J&H's, a little over a mile away. We hauled about six trailer-loads, plus what could fit in Gulchendiggensmoothen's bucket on each trip. Lots of horse shit - it's a lot like dealing with the government. Except in this case, it's vitally important to remember your goggles because the wind is always blowing in your face when you dump the bucket. Thank god for hot and cold running water.

Fill the holes. Horse shit alternates with dirt. Some bales of rotted straw that once skirted the old fifth-wheel also found their way into the hole.

Before we could actually plant trees, it was necessary to arrange for water. We tee'd five hundred feet of flexible hose into M's Dome and walked it out to a point between the two widely-spaced holes. There's something wonderfully symbolic and Biblical about all this - bringing flowing water to parched regions, and all that. I like this part. But by this point in the weekend I was feeling distinctly un-godlike. In fact, I was feeling like a physically damaged old man. But we soldiered on.

Seems like a paltry result for all that work, doesn't it? Gad, I hope they grow. I certainly plan to water them faithfully. M kept reminding me, "Think about the brandy."



With their other hands, M and Landlady put the fake vigas on the Meadow House, which is the final touch before stucco. Stucco is due soon. Alas.

M did all this, and was raring to go this morning. I feel like something dried on the pavement after being run over by all eighteen wheels of each truck in a convoy. Ah, to be young again.

So! How'd you spend your weekend?

When the cops do it, that means it isn't illegal.

Or does it? Only the "legal" system knows for sure. Or not.

Coming To a Patrol Car Near You!

Without an arrest, search requires probable cause—the officer must have some reasonable basis for believing that a crime has been committed, and that a particular search will turn up evidence relevant to that crime. It’s hard to see how cellphone data could be relevant to a traffic stop. Instead, searching cellphones looks more like a fishing expedition: Having gotten access to you with a traffic stop, officers are just looking around to see what they find. That’s explicitly forbidden by the Constitution, and with good reason. Letting government officials snoop on anyone they choose, for no particular reason, is a bad idea.

"Look, fourth amendment, schmorth amendment. If you don't consent you must be guilty of something, and that's grounds enough for a search warrant. So save us both a lot of trouble, okay? You don't have anything to hide, do you?"

I've actually had that conversation with a cop.

And this is why the government needs a monopoly on force.

And authority to arbitrarily decide what's right and wrong, and who gets busted for being wrong.

Just because something is wildly popular doesn't necessarily mean it is victimless. And just because criminal conduct doesn't affect everyone doesn't mean it affects no one. There are plenty of victims of (allegedly) illegal online poker, starting with the desperately-short-of-cash federal and state governments which are deprived of all the taxable revenue ($3 billion, say the feds) from the now-suspected operations. And just ask casino and horse racing executives what they think of the way online poker operators have taken advantage of Congressional fecklessness on the topic.

Victimless crime, you say? There's no such thing as a victimless crime! That's the government's money, and the government wasn't getting its legitimate cut! And what about the poor competition, who had paid good money for government protection from competition and wasn't getting it? Huh? What about them?

And of course the main thing, even more important than money. Power!

As costly as those cases can be, prosecutors pursue celebrity liars because high-profile investigations and the resulting trials are still a relatively cheap and effective way of reminding the masses of low-profile liars out there that they still can get in big trouble when they swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" and then don't. This doesn't make us "safer" in the sense that it shields us from a bullet or a scam. But it does make us "safer" in the sense that it seeks to shore up the accuracy and reliability of our nation's justice systems, both criminal and civil, which I suggest are the bulwark to all of the rest of government.

They bust the big scofflaws to keep the little scofflaws in line. The little scofflaws have become so vast in their numbers that putting them (us) all behind bars would be impractical, even if it were possible. There's be nobody left to build the prisons. So they build a bigger prison, made of fear rather than concrete and iron. And they call it "justice."

Sleep well, citizens. Obey.

I work harder for other people than I do for myself.

It's true. Left to my own devices I'm comically lazy. Can't get a damned thing done. Put me with somebody else, and I always end up tired. And dehydrated. And a bit sunburned.

Hey! My first sunburn of the year! It must be spring at last.

My neighbor J has been screwing around with fencing for his extended yard for over a year. It's gone through a few different permutations, none of which ever came near completion. But recently he scored a whole bunch of used chain link fencing and posts, and it built a fire under him. So today, since nothing was happening on the geiger counter or hole-digging fronts, I went over and helped him set fence posts in concrete.

Lots of fence posts. That's all I have to say about that.

And then...depression set in. When I got my .44, the only ammo M could find was a box of Blazer. I don't know if you're familiar with it - I wasn't - but it's got aluminum cases and says right on the box that you shouldn't reload it. To make sure you don't, it's Berdan primed. I went through most of the box and the pistol gobbled them up fine - no problems at all. Then three weeks ago my neighbor picked me up a box of ammo that, judging from the price, was machined out of pure platinum. And the pistol stopped being reliable in double action. Three out of five rounds, it just dimpled the primers. Single action, it worked fine. That wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I refused to panic. I knew I was going to reload for the pistol, so let's see how the reloads behave.

Well, yesterday my .44 dies finally arrived in the mail. So today I worked up all my brass, loaded a round, fired it just because that was the first shootable round I'd reloaded in several years, then loaded five more and stepped outside.

Click.

Clickclickclickclickclick

Shite. Zero for five, double action. Single action, they all went bang just fine. I've got problems.

(And yes, before somebody suggests it, I do know how to seat a primer. But thanks for asking.)

On the good side, this is the first time in my life I've had a reloading shack where I could test-fire ammo without even stepping outside. (yes I DID open the window first.)