Because It's Friday

Japanese steam:

The Punxsutawney Phil Bowl

Regardless of whether he (or any of the other groundhogs) sees his shadow on Sunday, one thing is clear:

We're not going to have six more weeks of football.

"Cutting Edge Ammo"-- No, Thank You

There's been some reports recently about new developments in ammunition, Liberty Civil Defense, R.I.P. and "multiple impact" bullets.

I'm staying away from all of them.

At least, not until some serious testing is done on them beyond what has been done. Especially testing that drapes clothing (heavy denim, leather jackets) over the ballistic media. Because most people don't run around nekkid when they are looking to harm folks, not unless they're rock-solid-batshit crazy.

I'm not sure if these new bullets are Bede-grade snake-oil or not.

But what I do know is this: I'm not going to be one of the ones trying them out. My opinion is that in a weapon where you need it to go "bang" to stop someone from doing harm to you or your loved ones, this is what I do:

In guns that have modern police-grade ammo available (9mm, .40, .357 SIg, .45 ACP), use what the cops use, if you can get it. Speer Gold Dot, Federal HST, Federal Hydrashok, Remington Golden Saber. Buffalo Bore makes some good stuff for both revolvers and automatics. For .38s, the FBI's last revolver load (158gr LSWCHP +P) is good. .357 magnum, 125grn JHPs are a proven fight-stopper. Other calibers with some power, .41/.44 magnum, you can find stuff that is both effective and doesn't have punishing recoil.

Smaller, I don't know. There is lots of discussion as to whether a .380 hollowpoint will function (ie, open up) or whether you're better off with FMJs. There are probably some good .32/.327 magnum loadings, but down to .32 ACP and weaker, you're probably better off with FMJs.

Most all of those (probably all) are proven. There is plenty of independent testing and a significant amount of evidence from actual use. There is none of that for these new rounds.

Look, there are lots of areas in the gunnie world where it can be fun to experiment with new stuff. That's especially true in the target and competition realms. The new tech fails and you lose a match, meh.

But when we're talking about uses where you need to stop the threat, that's not the place for most of us to experiment. I sure as hell don't want to be on the cutting edge, not when there is a lot of history about the latest whiz-bangs not working the way that they were hyped promised.

I suspect that you don't, either.

Come and Get Me, Clapper! I Ain't Afraid of Ya, See!

In testimony before congress General James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, labeled the journalists whom Edward Snowden worked with to blow the whistle on the NSA as “accomplices.” A term that makes those journalists legitimate targets for surveillance, if not worse.

Now the war on whistleblowers has expanded to include the press.

So what does Jimmy the Perjurer think of bloggers who have been writing about the Snowden Revelations? Is he saying that he is going to go after Firedog Lake, or Emptywheel or Bruce Schneier or Matthew Green or Borepatch?

Or me? Or you, if you've been blogging about the NSA's Stasi-like* activities?

Is he threatening all of us?

(Nice NSA parody, by the way.)
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* When I say "Stasi-like", please keep in mind that the East German Stasi would have only wished to have had a thousandth of the capability of the NSA to spy on its citizens.

Winchester M*22 .22lr Ammo RECALL NOTICE

Olin Corporation, through its Winchester Division, is recalling two (2) lots of M*22™ 22 Long Rifle 40 Grain Black Copper Plated Round Nose rimfire ammunition.

Symbol Number: S22LRT

Lot Numbers: GD42L and GD52L

Seriously bad shit, folks.

Winchester has determined the above lots of 22 Long Rifle rimfire ammunition may contain double powder charges.

In other words: "Gun go 'boom' like grenade."

If you have any of this stuff, do not shoot it. Don't event think about it.

(But if you blog about guns, if even a little, please repost this.)

(H/T)

What a Politician Means When He Asks for "Professionalism and Respect" From the Press

It means this: "Act like stenographers. Take down what I say and don't you dare ask me no inconvenient questions."

That was on full display last night when a thuggish congressman from Staten Island threatened to throw a reporter from a balcony for asking questions that the congressman didn't want to answer. Questions about such things as criminal investigations of the congressman, his campaign and his girlfriend for violating the law on campaign donations.

Reporters are supposed to ask questions that discomfit politicians. If a Republican thug like Rep. Grimm wants to talk to reporters that will not upset him, he should confine his interviews to the "news outlets" serving the Murdoch Empire.

Big Boy 4014

She's been moved to the Colton Yards for some maintenance and to wait for better weather for the trip to UP's steam shop in Wyoming.

If you want to know what all of the knobs and levers do on a Big Boy, this is an interactive photo of the backhead of 4014. Just mouse-over each thing and it'll tell you what it does.

Winter Storm William Tecumseh Sherman

Atlanta (CNN) -- When snow only three fingers deep triggers an epic traffic jam, stranding motorists and school kids on interstates for hours, there's something very wrong with this picture.

Two inches of snow isn't supposed to turn highways into campsites. Backups aren't supposed to last all day, through the night, and into the following morning.

And yet, here they were -- hundreds of motorists across Alabama and Georgia -- still hunched over in their cars Wednesday morning, feeling the aftereffects of a snow shower that hit the states a day earlier.

This morning, one of the Weather Channel dudes said that he walked 4.5 miles into work because the roads were impassable. They were covered in ice.

There's this modern technology called "weather forecasting" and, compared to decades ago, the short-term forecasts are usually pretty good. In places where they have weather like this, school administrators will cancel school and not have the kids come in so that they don't get stranded at school.

How many salt/brine/sand trucks do they have in the metro Atlanta area? And if they do have any, do they have enough stuff to treat the roads? I'm betting they don't. The usual method for dealing with snowstorms that far south is "wait for it to melt." Hell, even as far north as St Louis, they do that and they have for many decades (only now that the "snowflake millenials" are of voting age is that city considering changing that policy).

If the weather is going to be beyond the local ability to cope with it, stay the fuck home, people. You wouldn't be out going to work or school in a hurricane, would you? A bad winter storm isn't a hell of a lot different (other than the strong winds and flooding).

The National Weather Forecast

I'm not sure where it came from.

Or what's the deal with Florida. But then, I never know what the deal is with Florida. When John Quincy Adams denounced Florida as "a derelict open to the occupancy of every enemy, civilized or savage, of the United States, and serving no other earthly purpose than as a post of annoyance to them", he pretty much nailed it. Whatever we paid Spain for the state, we got taken. They should have paid us to take that miserable hellhole off their hands.

Fair Winds and Following Seas, Mr. Seeger.

Legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger has died at age 94.

Seeger’s record label, Appleseed Recordings, released a statement to ABC News confirming his death.

Born in 1919, Seeger was active as a musician from the 1930s to the present, with his music becoming a part of our culture. Seeger wrote hundreds of songs, performed by many of the greats in American Folk Music.

Seeger — with his a lanky frame, banjo and full white beard — performed with the great minstrel Woody Guthrie in his younger days and marched with Occupy Wall Street protesters in his 90s, leaning on two canes. He wrote or co-wrote "If I Had a Hammer," ''Turn, Turn, Turn," ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." He lent his voice against Hitler and nuclear power. A cheerful warrior, he typically delivered his broadsides with an affable air and his banjo strapped on.

Here he's singing a song written by his sister: