Facts Will Never Dent Republicans' Certainty About the 2020 Election

The Texas secretary of state’s office has released the first batch of results from its review into the 2020 general election, finding few issues despite repeated, unsubstantiated claims by GOP leaders casting doubts on the integrity of the electoral system.

It won't matter because the hue and cry of the Trumpists for election audits has nothing to do with fair elections. It has everything to do with impugning the integrity of the electoral process in order to make it possible for Republicans to successfully stage a coup next time around.

You can be a loyal American or you can be a Republican. The overlap between the two groups is disappearing rapidly.

Police Fuckery Continues

The Seattle cops inflamed an already bad situation in 2020 by faking radio chatter about armed Proud Boys going towards an ongoing BLM demonstration.

You have to wonder what sort of low-wattage badeged-up chuckleheards thought that this was a good idea. You can bet that the Seattle brass tried to cover it up until they couldn't/

8mm (or .30) Super Carry?

The gun:

The cartridge:

Images from the patent application.

It appears that the major ammuniton companies are going to make cartridges for it.

The naming, either .30 or 8mm Super Carry, is a smart idea. No gun company wants to make guns for a cartridge designation that bears a competitor's name.

It's going to be interesting to see the reports once the non-shill press and reviewers get their hands on the gun. I think that it is fair to observe that the revolver equivalents, the .32 H&R Magnum and the .327 Federal Magnum were not huge commercial successes. Introducing a new cartridge at a time when even common cartridges have become hard to find at times seems a little unorthodox. The ballistics tests are kind of marginal and the pressure (50 KPSI) is likely to result in quite a bit of muzzle blast. A .327 Federal has a chamber pressure of 45 KPSI and nobody has ever said that was a quiet round.

This may be a cartridge for places where military camberings are forbidden for civilian use and there may be a market for a reasonably effective handgun cartridge. But it's more likely, in my uninformed opinion, that this will go the way of the .356 TSW.

ETA: Another view of this cartridge, a bit harsher than mine. And what you might expect from the gun press.

(Something, Something) These Down, Here

A Minority of Republicans are Gullible Idiots

When it comes to the question of "who do you believe, your eyes or Fox News", they go with Fox News and, of course, King le Petomaine:

The fighting — so primitive and ferocious that one Capitol Police officer described it as “medieval” and another as a “trip to hell” — left more than 100 law enforcement personnel injured, some beaten with their own weapons.

Video cameras captured the violence live, with rioters clubbing officers with flag polls and fire extinguishers, even squeezing one between doors as he begged for his life.

Yet nearly a year after the Jan. 6 siege only about 4 in 10 Republicans recall the attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump as very violent or extremely violent, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About 3 in 10 Republicans say the attack was not violent, and about another 3 in 10 say it was somewhat violent.

They have swallowed the Big Lie, hook, line and sinker. Keep in mind that there is a near perfect overlap between those who are denying theat the 1/6/21 Attempted Insurrection took place and those who were calling for Black Lives matter protesters to be machine-gunned in the streets.[1]

I don't know how we can hope to have a functioning political system when a majority of the adherents of one party are so eager to deny events that unfolded on every television news network, even their own propaganda channel.
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[1] Yes, that's a bit of hyperbole. Live with it.

It Is to Laugh; Conservative Socialism Ed.

Just totally absurd. These companies need to be crushed. pic.twitter.com/FqAsMoZZaR

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) January 2, 2022

Funny how they get all socialistic and statist when confronted with corporate behavior that they don't like. Funny how they would trample all over a company's constitutional rights when it suits them. Funny how they want to break up only some companies but not the ones who are rapaciously looting the American people.

I've been making the point that the First Amendment applies to the platforms, not to those who would use it for over ten years.

But this is nothing new. It is the Right-Wing version of the Constitution: Freedom of religion applies only to Christians (and maybe Jews). Freedom of the press applies only to those who would parrot the Trumpist party line. Freedom of expression applies only to those forms of art approved by the Christian Taliban. Freedom to protest applies only to Trump supporters. Freedom from illegal search and seizure doesn't apply who has too much melanin in their skin.

The United States isn't the nation to have gone down that road. The Brits are almost at the finish line to being a free country in name only.

Quickie Pregnancy Chromosome Blood Tests Are Usually Wrong

The tests, where they look for rare chromosomal disorders, have a stunning rate of false positives. The blood tests have been pushed by Silicon Valley tech companies, who advertise that the tests are nearly infallible, when they are anything but. Most of the companies who offer the tests refused to talk to reporters about this, which is a pretty reliable sign that they are engaged in fuckery and they are fully aware of what they are doing.

Making a decision based on those tests would be a massive mistake. Any positive needs to be confirmed by good old amniocentisis, which in itself has some risks.

If there is anyone in your circle who is pregnant or planning to be, they need to know that they may be offered tests that are pretty worthless.

Premature Leaking; Colt Python Ed.

This has apparently leaked out in advance of SHOT 2022:

I like 3" revolvers. They seem to occupy a nice compromise between portability (for concealment) and shootability. And Pythons are nice guns.

But at 42 ounces (unloaded)? That's pretty frakking heavy. If you're going to tote a heavy gun, a 1911 is around 35oz and nobody has ever said that a full-size 1911 is a light gun. (A fully-loaded 1911 is about 42oz and that gets you eight rounds of G-d's Own Caliber.)

If, however, you just gotta have a Python and a 3" gun fits your stable nicely, then rock on.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

A Hawker Sea Fury with a Bristol Centarus engine:

There are a few Sea Furies around with either R-2800 or R-3350 engines. Those who have heard both fly say that there is no substitute for the Bristol engine.

Caturday

Chip welcomes in the New Year with traditional festivites: