80 Years Ago At This Time Today

The B-29 Bockscar, finding its primary target Kokura obscured by clouds, then diverted to its secondary target, Nagasaki. 

 At 11:02 AM, it dropped Fat Man on the city, with the bomb detonating between the Mitsubishi Nagasaki Arms Factory’s Ohashi and Mori-Machi plants with 60,000-80,000 deaths as a result.

Japan then announced it was surrendering on August 15th, with the formal surrender taking place on September 2, 1945, bringing the Second World War to a close.  The surrender saved millions of lives that would have been lost in a ground invasion of Japan in fact we still haven't gone through all of the 500,000 Purple Hearts specifically minted in anticipation of the invasion.

Another Rotation Around The Sun Completed

We could call this birthday: 53 and Me.

Going to go forth and do some hopefully fun and awesome stuff today.

We shall see how it goes. 

Also my current cunning plan is to get myself a birthday present, which may take some time to get here, and which may lead to some self improvement, so stay tuned for that. 

 

 

SIGnificant News

You've likely heard of the news story of the Air Force airman who, as it was originally related, was shot by his Sig M18 while it was in the holster untouched?

Apparently that's not quite what actually happened: 

Air Force Times: Air Force makes arrest in airman’s shooting death involving M18 pistol 

The Air Force has arrested an airman in connection with the July 20 death of another airman, which involved a Sig Sauer M18 and led the service to suspend the use of the pistol following the incident.In a Friday statement, a Department of the Air Force spokesperson said that the unidentified arrested person is accused of making a false official statement, obstruction of justice and involuntary manslaughter.

That story was the last straw that made the SIG P320 pistol non grata at ranges, competitions,  instructional firearms classes, and many law enforcement departments nationwide.  

As someone else noted on the internet:

The say 15 reported documented cases of UDs vs 4 million P320s in circulation. That’s a ratio of around 266,667:1; hardly a number suggesting a systemic design flaw. Let’s even be generous and say the number is closer to 100 incidents. That still only yields a 1 in 40,000 occurrence. To put that into perspective, the odds of being struck by lightning are around 1 in 15,000. I

Certainly puts some perspective on the problem.

Now, the SIG trigger when pulled makes the firearm go off, and the trigger doesn't much care what pulls it, be it an ill-fitting holster, a key (which is potentially what caused the Michigan State Police discharge in the FBI report), or your finger. If the trigger gets pulled past the point of no return and off it goes. I'd also say it's a tad lighter than the typical Glock trigger with less resistance to such a movement rearward into the firing position.

So far, there's been no real explanation for the undocumented discharges, nor repeatability of the problem, and Bruce Gray, who likely knows more about the SIG P320 than just about anyone alive is about to release a series of videos he has done extensively testing the pistol.  So far, he's only found one way to make it have an uncommanded discharge, and it requires placing a 45/10mm take-down lever in a 9mm SIG and a few other unlikely modifications in order for it to happen. 

So are SIG P320s unsafe or are we getting a lot of social media panic over it?  I simply do not know the answer to that at this time.

In terms of anecdote and not data, I've run thousands of rounds through my SIG P320s in competition and in casual/practice shooting at the range, drawing and holstering and carrying them live with zero issues.  Again, anecdote and not data, and certainly not definitive, nor proof of anything.

Remember when Glocks first came out and reports of negligent discharges from police officers and others unfamiliar with using the striker-fired action were unfortunately shooting themselves?  Remember all the claims that the Glock was dangerous, defective, and unsafe as a result? Is the issues with the SIG P320s the same sort of reaction, now heightened by social media,  or is there a manufacturing or design defect affecting a small number of the pistols?  We will still have to see.

SIG's public relations and handling of the issue certainly hasn't been the best.  

I do hope that Bruce Gray's analysis gets released soon and does lead to a definitive answer to the situation. For now, I don't have an answer to the question as to whether there is a real design/manufacturing problem affecting the SIG P3230 or if this is a real user-induced problem.

So You're Saying There's A Chance To Save These Artifacts?

Canada issued the Hi-Power Pistol manufactured in Canada by Inglis in World War 2. 

They then soldiered on for years as the armed forces service pistol. 

These were finally replaced by the Sig P320 series as the C22 in 2024 after many years of service.

TWZ.com:  Canadian Military’s WWII-Era Browning Hi-Power Pistols Are Finally Being Replaced

The 11,000 service pistols were then all going to be destroyed in line with Trudeau and the Liberal's anti-gun agenda.

But, they thankfully by a strange turn of events were not.

Instead, they were sent to Ukraine.

The Ottawa Citizen: Canadian military Second World War pistols slated for destruction will instead be sent to Ukraine

So there's now a chance these historic firearms can be imported as surplus, or indeed could be swapped with the Ukrainians for Glocks or what not, and imported to the USA from Ukraine and saved from destruction.

Anybody know a surplus importer than can make this happen? 

Your Cupholder Is NOT A Holster

Do not leave your firearm sitting in the cupholder of your car in plain sight and then compound the problem by negligently messing with it.  Bad things happen as a result:

The Detroit News:  Man charged after co-worker's accidental shooting in Auburn Hills

As the victim entered the car, Wright, who has a concealed pistol license, tried to take his handgun from the cupholder and place it in the backseat, according to the prosecutor's office. As he did, the gun was discharged, and the bullet struck the victim’s hip. 

Really, don't do that.   Have the firearm properly secured in a holster or at the very least in a secure and safe location in the car where you don't have to move it when you have a passenger accompany you in the vehicle.

The victim was injured, which is bad enough, but thankfully not killed by this stupidity.   

You cannot afford to become complacent with handling your firearm, nor its proper storage.

Scenes From Rush Hour

Driving home in rush hour traffic, I managed to see this at a red light on one of the busiest non-highway streets in the county.

 

The lack of helmets, most especially for the child is notable.

So is the lack of a license plate.

The choice of footwear, though, is truly deserving of a chef's kiss.

Slippers.  Fargin slippers, on both of them.

I Was Told There Would Be No Math

They lied.

Fun case where my client owns a restaurant.

A mismatch occurs in the food orders and the bills, and the provision company claims he owes over $20k over the year relationship.

This is compounded by the fact that the head chef (now appropriately fired) was apparently ordering things on the restaurant's dime that he was then taking out the back door to use for his own benefit - apparently with the knowledge and in cahoots with the delivery guy from the food provision company.

So they sue, and I'm defending against this 20k claim.

Both delivery guy and head chef are now no longer with their respective companies and not about to admit what they did, we have some hearsay statements from other employees as to what was going on but admissibility of such statements are rather difficult.

Even better, the food provision company claims they had no idea what was going on and denies they ever made a statement to my client that they also thought something was off when they saw stuff being ordered that had not been ordered before that was out of character for the type of restaurant it is.

So we want to see how much is owed.  They had sent invoices they claimed were unpaid but did not provide all of the invoices so we can't match payments to invoices.  Nor do they provide an actual running balance nor record of payments being applied. 

We ask for the invoices in discovery, they send the same ones they already sent and do not send all of them, even as we had asked for all of them.

We're on a stupid tight timeline, and the court had originally ordered it to trial without any discovery period.

I asked for discovery and the court is rocketing this one through and give exactly 30 days for it - and parties have 28 days to respond to a request for discovery.  Not good, so I send the requests out immediately.

They answer claiming they already provided the invoices.  Well, no they did not - they only provided those they claim are unpaid as they are the most recent.

They finally provide all invoices a few days before the scheduled trial date as I threaten to do a motion to compel them to produce it - unfortunately it wouldn't be heard until after the trial date so that is a problem. But at least they provide them.

Over 192 pages.   Not given in any particular order. Many pages are not invoices either. A couple days before trial I might add.

So we start going through and adding them up.

And we find duplicate invoices salted into the pile. Not beside one another, but shoved in throughout the stack.

So we stop, reshuffle all 192 pages to date order, remove the duplicates that just happened to be the highest possible invoice amounts,  purely a coincidence I'm sure, and start again. 

We also calculate all the payments from the cashed checks my client has to see what was paid.

The mathing really doesn't math. 

Totaling up all the payments and charges, instead of owing 20k, he at most owes $8k and possibly less.

We do it again to make sure and come up with the same result.

This isn't even counting the issues with the invoices themselves, nor the fact that stuff on them is clearly not for the restaurant, just straight comparison of the numbers. Total truly owed is likely even less. 

With this pointed out to opposing counsel, we get a very quick settlement for a lot less than the revised 8k amount, as they are stuck with the evidence they provided and the math is not exactly going their way, and neither side wants to spend money on a trial at this point and with no time to further prepare.

So instead of a trial we put the settlement on the record and are done with the matter. 

Their delay in providing the backing for their claim certainly raised the pressure on getting this done, but done it is. Sheesh.

Happy Enola Gay Pride Day!

On August 6, 1945, with the surprise carried to its target by the B-29 Enola Gay, the United States did the biggest gender reveal in history:

It had a Little Boy.

 

At 8:15 am, the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, with an equivalent of 15 kilotons of TNT, making The Land Of The Rising Sun become The Land Of The Rising Suns.

The bombing killed approximately 70,000 military personnel and civilians in the city.

Still, Japan did not surrender even after being introduced to the nuclear age the hard way.

It would take a second atomic bombing on August 9 to finally get Japan to surrender and bring World War 2 to an end. 

Stupid Criminals: FA With Feds In Traffic, And FO

So, a progressive from Ypsilanti decided to flip off an ICE van -- twice -- and then brake-check it, again twice, almost causing a crash both times.  

Well, he got caught. 

The Detroit News: Bird-flipping driver charged after 'brake checking' immigration agents

An FBI complaint against 30-year-old Jacob Nathaniel Len describes a high-speed confrontation last month along two highways in Michigan that jeopardized the safety of 15 immigrants as a federal convoy hauled the detainees from a Border Patrol office in Metro Detroit to a privately run detention center more than 200 miles away in Baldwin in northern Michigan. 

 . . .

A lawyer for Len is not listed in court records. He is charged with using a dangerous weapon (a vehicle) to assault, resist or impede federal officers, a felony that carries a 20-year maximum sentence. 

.....

"When asked if he drove his BMW erratically in the presence of Border Patrol vehicles a few weeks prior, Len confirmed he was driving on I-96 that day and that he 'flicked off' the vehicles," the complaint reads. "Len first denied that he 'brake checked' the Border Patrol transport van but later admitted that brake checking the vehicles could have hurt the occupants inside."

Considering he knowingly did the "brake check" maneuver twice, he knew exactly what he was doing. 

Let's hope he gets the full sentence for his FAFO'ing around, and this is a federal case, in federal court, so the progressive prosecutor in Washtenaw County can't help him.

Stupid Criminals: Location Can Be Everything

So our stupid criminal of the day is deservedly heading for the Sex Offender Registry (and sadly not the wood-chipper).

The Detroit News: Man accused of exposing himself at Rochester Hills businesses arrested

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office had been searching for the 32-year-old suspect since he allegedly exposed himself several times to a group of pre-teenage girls outside of two businesses on June 29.

. . .

"Repeatedly targeting young girls and exposing oneself is not only vile — it’s a serious crime," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement. 

Now had he, instead of doing this outside the business, done the following two easy steps, he likely would have gotten away with it.  All he had to do was:

1. Declare himself to be a woman; and 

2. Gone into a girl's locker room or washroom, and he likely would have gotten away with waving his junk to all and sundry within.

Indeed, progressives likely would have feted him for his stunning and brave actions, not taken any action against him, and bullied or punished any who complained.

Funny, that. 

Copycat Knifings

The stabbing of 11 people at the Walmart in Traverse City by a mentally ill man, made notable by the presence of an armed citizen who was there to stop the attack is now drawing copycats.

 The Detroit News: Man arrested in stabbing at a Walmart in Kent County

A 29-year-old man is accused of stabbing another person last week inside a Walmart in Kent County, officials said.

 Again, bystanders commendably intervened to stop the attack - which si a rather positive copycat effect.

The copycat effect on the criminal side is unfortunately quite real.

So is the realization, finally, that per the Detroit News's quoted experts:  Michigan's mental health system not set up to help severely ill, experts say 

Yep, I've been saying that on this blog for a long time now. 

MDFI Cover and Movement

Today I attended MDFI's Cover and Movement Class, and I'm all sorts of sore.

Pulled into the range at 8:30 am and got signed in and everything laid out for the day.

After an intro and safety briefing we did the qualifier, which is somehow more challenging with everyone watching you do it.

Interestingly 6 out of 7 rifle shooters and the main instructor were running suppressors on their ARs, with the seventh shooter running a loud muzzle brake with impressive blast effects.  The suppressors certainly reduced the noise on the line. 

Everybody qualified including myself, even with one failure with the AR-15 not fully ejecting a case. 

The class picked up speed and was very much a movement class.

 We started with standing, squatting kneeling, double kneeling and prone and working out way through each position while shooting. 

By the time we were done that everyone was already rather dirty from hitting the ground to go prone.

Next time, knee and elbow pads would be a great idea to bring.  Managed to smack my knee nicely even landing on the inside of it as demonstrated and its all sorts of sore. 

Indeed, I have discovered I have less flexibility than I thought I had.   No, I cannot put my ankle flat to the ground while kneeling on one knee.

Next came urbane prone and supine shooting positions.

 After that was cover as in shooting around it and then using a CTAC barricade to shoot from various ports simulating cover at different heights.

After that was a heavy focus on movement with box drills and then shooting while moving and a box drill for that too.

Definitely a good class, if impressively tiring and frustrating. Learnign has occurred, and I need to get out and practice weapon manipulation while in these sorts of positions and moving a lot more. 

A Good Time At The Range Today

Went to the Range with Tosh and his cousin who was in town from new York.

We let his cousin shoot stuff he can;t have in that benighted state.

Heck, he could even have normal capacity magazines for his H&K VP9 here, unlike New York where he's stuck to 10-rounders, so he enjoyed not having to reload quite as much.

I shot my AR15 which I hadn't taken to the range in awhile and the Carmel.

The Carmel continues to function perfectly, and the controls make it very easy to quickly manipulate.  Fully ambidextrous and laid out very similar to an AR15 but slightly more ergonomic, it makes some drills easier.

Speaking of drills, we did quite a few.

Mainly we did the MDFI Qualifiers for Shotgun, Carbine and Handgun.

7 yards for hadngun, 10 for shotgun, and 15 yards for the carbine.

Very straightforward, relatively basic drills that don't take a lot of rounds but get you working on your reloads - something I don't often do with the carbine on the clock.

I shot the IWI Masada for the handgun qual, and The Tavor for the shotgun quals, and shot both the AR and Carmel for the carbine quals. The Carmel seems to be ore solid for the multiple shot parts of the qual and the AR being lighter is a bit faster to move around for the reloads - but the larger magazine well of the Carmel makes the reloads a bit smoother as does the shape of the bolt release on the Carmel, making the overall time for the reloads a little bit faster.

So it was some good practice, and a very fun time at the range.

The Winner Of The 2025 Oshkosh Idiot Award Is:

The pilot of N4301R:

 

Not only did he cut off aircraft in the conga line to fly into Oshkosh, his exit from Air Venture was much more memorable.

On the way in he completely messed up the procedure.

Leaving, he did even worse. 

He then took off from a taxiway in the wrong direction against landing traffic. The picture above is from a clip online of his departure from the taxiway.

That's very much really not a good series of incidents.  At all.

Thankfully, even with his horrible situational awareness and failure to follow the proper procedures, no one got hurt.

Oshkosh becomes the busiest airport in the world during EAA Air Venture, and you need to be on the top of your game flying there.  

If you're not, you really need to land at a nearby, and far less busy, airport and take a shuttle to the show. 

Everybody makes mistakes, but you can't keep making a series of them like that, as well as reject ATC instructions, especially not at the world's busiest airport. 

Keep Your Seat Belts Fastened

Seat belts save lives and prevent injuries on the road and in the air.

The Detroit Free Press: 'Significant' turbulence on Delta flight sends dozens to the hospital

The people injured in the turbulence, which as recounted in the article was indeed severe, with 25 people injured severely enough they needed to be taken to a hospital.  Those severely injured were the ones not wearing their seat belts.

In short, if you're seated on a plane or on the road, keep your seat belt fastened while the vehicle is moving.

Location, Location, Location

A 97-year-old man in Grand Haven, Michigan, lost his balance and fell off a pier six feet into the water into Lake Michigan.

This was a life threatening emergency.

Luckily enough, he happened to do it at exactly the right location:

The Coast Guard Festival 

ABC13: Coast Guard member treads water for 20+ minutes to rescue man, 97

He was quickly rescued by a Coast Guardsman who, without hesitation, leapt into the water and saved him, treading water and keeping him safe for 20 minutes until they both could be retrieved from the water.

These Coast Guardsmen save lives before their craft even leave the pier.  Very well done.

If You Tell People

That a beautiful women in an ad campaign to sell blue jeans is a sign of fascism, or Nazism or the latest bogeyman word "whiteness", you're not just cheapening the actual meaning of those first two words (the third is a nonsensical leftist construct of no import). 

You're also going to get a lot of people deciding that, you know, maybe fascism or Nazism or the latest boogeyman -- whiteness -- has something going for it when a superb advertising campaign for jeans is considered to be a sign of such.

New York Post:  Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad slammed as ‘Nazi propaganda’ by crazed woke mob over jeans/genes pun

 Daily Caller: CLARK BARRON: Liberals Can’t Handle Sydney Sweeney In Jeans — Now Everyone Wants To Buy Them

Not exactly the conclusion the progressive left should be hoping people will draw for their latest bout of manufactured outrage, but there we are.

On the upside, American Eagle jeans sales are booming as a result of this ad campaign, especially as they refused to give in to the outrage mob and its insane claims that the ad promotes whiteness or uses Nazi imagery (quick note - it don't). 

After all, when everyone you don't like is a fascist, then well, everyone is. 

 

And Another Mentally Ill Killer - This Time In New York City

So the NYC idiot managed to stroll on the street while carrying an AR-15 type firearm - which is a neat trick, really.

Apparently per, news reports, he blamed the NFL, even though he never played for the NFL, for CTE, a head injury that is not even diagnosed while you are alive. So yep, he had delusions.  Sadly those delusions led him to kill innocents.

In short he was rather non compos in his mentis.

He then entered the building where the NFL is headquartered and killed some people, including a police officer, and then took the wrong elevators and shot a few people on the top floor before killing himself.

Yet again, someone mentally ill and "on the radar" doesn't get the treatment they need and are left free to roam and kill the innocent.

Meanwhile, CNN seems to also be suffering from mental problems as they are having a great deal of difficulty identifying and describing things accurately:

Walmart Stabber Mentally Ill - How He Was Stopped Didn't Fit The Media Narrative

While not featured, and  the media here is at least admitting that it was a man with a pistol that helped stop the mentally-ill stabber that attacked 11 people in a Walmart in Taraverse City.

The Detroit Free Press: Sheriff: Bystanders helped stop Michigan Walmart stabbing suspect from hurting more people

 It only took until the sixth paragraph for the Detroit Free Press to note that of the men surrounding the stabber and stopping him there was:

one who appears to be holding a handgun 

Still, at least that's something. 

The Detroit News also took the same six paragraphs to get to that rather important fact, but they were at least a bit more definitive about it:

The Detroit News: Sheriff: Traverse City Walmart stabbings started near checkout lanes

About five minutes later, the man was surrounded by shoppers in the parking lot, including one who was holding a gun. 

Both the Detroit Free Press and the  Detroit News managed to fail to mention that the hero with the gun who stopped the stabber happened to be Black - because that really wouldn't have fit the narrative.

Nor did they so much as mention that this hero was a law-abiding Black man who had a concealed carry permit and was legally carrying at the time.

Hero?  Yes, he and the others certainly are heroes by taking action then and there to stop the attack and subdue the attacker - long before the police arrived. 

And the stabber, to no one's surprise has a long history of both criminal convictions (with minimal sentences) and of mental illness.

The Detroit Free Press: Traverse City Walmart stabbing suspect had history of mental health and legal troubles

We need to treat mental illness a lot more seriously in this country, and actually institutionalize those who are a danger to themselves and others, rather than let them wander free and assault others at will.

To The Tigers Game

Today I went to Detroit to see the Blue Jays take on the Detroit Tigers.

The Jays went into today leading the series 3-0, and a sweep was expected.

Some fun in traffic, but made it there in good time. 

I had got some decent last minute seats this morning in the 300 level behind home plate. 

Had some fun wandering around the ballpark and getting lunch before the game began.

 

The game started off relatively slowly, when in the first seven innings the Tigers only had three hits, but one of those hits was the Tigers knocking in a 3-run homer.

The Tigers then knocked in more runs in the eighth inning - seven of them - to none by the Jays.

The Jays then woke up at the top of the ninth and knocked in 4 runs before the last out being a strike-out at the plate.

So, no sweep for the Jays. 

While a relativity slow-moving game, it was a very hot game with the temperature in the low 90s and the 300 level was right in the sun.  Even with sunscreen, I managed to catch some sunburn.  I also managed to get dehydrated even after drinking (water and pop) during the game and even taking two sun breaks during the game.

Drank a ton of water when I got back from the game and felt a lot better. 

Still, that was a fun experience to watch some baseball live. 

I'll Take Frivolous Un-American Lawsuits For $200, Alex

Progressives nut-bars never stop hating America.

The Western Journal:  Woman Sues Blue Angels on Behalf of Her Cat - Cites Torture, First Amendment Violation

 One Seattle, Washington, woman is suing the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels on behalf of her now deceased cat.Lauren Ann Lombardi filed suit on Monday, claiming the famous squadron violated her First Amendment rights after they blocked her from commenting on their Instagram page, where she had previously complained about their annual August air shows, Fox News reported.

....Fox News reported that these maneuvers result in noises that reach “extreme decibel levels,” and it was these noise that Lombardi claimed terrorized her elderly cat, Layla, before her death in August 2024. Lombardi claimed that the terror caused by the “state-sanctioned acoustic torture” coupled with Layla’s congestive heart disease was the reason for her death. 

Beginning in August 2023, Lombardi began complaining about the airshow, taking to the group’s Instagram page and leaving numerous comments. Fox News reported a few of the angry messages Lombardi left on the social media page before she was blocked: “Stop with your F***ing bulls*** you are terrorizing my cat and all the other animals and wildlife,” “F*** off,” and “Nobody gives a f*** about your stupid little planes.”

In addition, there's a whole group of lefties protesting the Blue Angles participating at SeaFair because of course they are, for typical leftist reasons:

FoxNews: Billboard goes up protesting Blue Angels in Seattle's Seafair Air Show:

But, a group calling themselves the Air Show Climate Action Coalition says not everyone is charmed by the display in the skies above Seattle.

"We don’t oppose Seafair, we do oppose the continued Boeing-sponsored airshow with the Blue Angels," said Mary Paterson, Volunteer with 350 Seattle and member of the Airshow Climate Action Coalition.

Paterson says the coalition is fighting against the use of the Blue Angels in Seattle due to what they say is the militarization of Seafair along with air, climate and noise pollution.

 Of course they are. Lovely pictures of a hijab because seeing the Blue Angels allegedly causes "war trauma" among our enemies - which I daresay it should.

Now, I'm certainly not suggesting that the Blue Angels at Seafair should all maneuver in such a manner for the entire team to have sonic booms as part of the show- all completely accidentally, of course. 

But, they certainly should gives these lefties the sound of freedom. 

Loud and Proud.

History of The M16A2

Widener's has a nice article up on the history and development of the M-16A2 rifle.

Widener's:  Colt M16A2: Battle Rifle Evolution

A neat look at the choices that went into the many mods of its predecessor to make it the replacement, including the  more precise sights and the three-round burst controversy.

I remember at Camp Perry using the A2 for a SAFS match, and having to dry click the trigger twice before loading a round to get a good trigger pull for the single round at a time series, as the other two trigger pulls in the series were less than great, especially when you really wanted to have a chance at hitting the X-ring.

It's a nice and informative article that gives some nice in-depth history on the evolution of the M-16 family.  

Interestingly enough, they used a vintage camera of a similar age, the Nikon F-3, to do the photos for the article. 

Nicely done. 

The Highest-Scoring Ace of The Jet Age Has Gone West

Israeli Air Force Brigadier General (ret) Giora Epstein died this weekend at the age of 87.

General Epstein is the highest scoring ace of the jet age (so far), with 17 kills. The victories occurred in the Six Day War, the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War.

Four of those kills occurred during a single sortie during the Yom Kippur War when he was alone in a fight against 20 Egyptian aircraft - only breaking off the battle when he was low on fuel.

He was one of the world's great warriors and jet pilots. 

The Jerusalem Post:  Giora Epstein, IAF's top ace and most decorated pilot, passes away at 87

May his memory be a blessing, and an inspiration to airmen.

You Know, This Could Work

Hot Air: French Judge: All Palestinians in Gaza Eligible for Refugee Status

The French Judge may be on to something here.

If all the Gazans move to France, they could then become a majority in an area of the country, then breakaway and form something that has never existed in all of history: A Palestinian State. 

I'd propose for that state the old borders of Vichy France:

 

After all, the French were rather comfortable when Vichy was setup by the Nazis as a rump state.  

Hamas et al have a very similar political and philosophical ideology to the Nazis, and indeed deep historical ties and alliances with Nazism. After all, the French let Nazi ally Haj Amin Al-Husseini slip away after the war, so the French should be very comfortable with this practical solution.

Yep, this French judge may be on to something.  

With France already 13% Muslim (up from 10% in 2023 and it's accelerating, and Islam is already the second largest religion in France) and growing, what's a few more Gazans added to the mix to bring it up a few more percent, n'est-ce pas?

Authentic DEI Gibberish

Shades of the Sokal Text, but even better and more poetic.

The Daily Mail: Straight white author's career finally takes off after he tells woke publishers he's gender queer Nigerian

The hero of the story, Canadian poet Aaron Barry of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada decided to do an experiment.

He decided to write absolute nonsensical poetry while using not just a pen name, but a poetic identity as a Nigerian gender-fluid auteur. 

The change to a favored minority identity that checked multiple DEI-boxes worked. 

It didn't just work well, it worked over and over again with over  50 gibberish poems published with 30 different publishers -- not for the poems merits -- but for the identity and "diversity" of the alleged author.

Yet another example of DEI seeking "diversity and identity" over merit - all in the name of equity, of course. 

A Skydiving Giant Has Gone West

Felix Baumgartner, famous for, among many other feats, being the first skydiver to break the sound barrier from 24 miles up, was killed today in a paraglider accident.

AP:  Felix Baumgartner, the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound, dies in crash in Italy

Ouch. Time Flies.

Yes, time flies.  As do airplanes.

 

More "Mostly Peaceful" Acts By The Left, Now In Michigan

Mostly peaceful as in mostly peacefully trying to burn down a building with a Republican Party office in northern Michigan with a Molotov cocktail.

MILive: 19-year-old accused of throwing Molotov cocktail at Upper Peninsula GOP office

Thankfully, he didn't actually know how to make a Molotov cocktail properly, and it failed to ignite after he lit and threw it at the building. 

He was also caught on camera doing so, with other Molotovs in his possession, and arrested shortly thereafter.  He is charged with felonies of manufacturing and possessing an explosive and attempted arson.

The inept thrower is identified as 19-year-old Zayn Arcand:

 

Surprise! Criminals And Their Families Lie.

I mean, who knew that criminals and their families might be less than forthcoming with the truth about an incident?

In this particular scenario, the criminal in question, Rakim Wright, did it wrong.

Fleeing from police after a domestic violence call and  shooting at them while doing so, then shooting himself before he could be arrested, resulting in Rakim assuming room temperature and leaving one less violent domestic abuser in the world.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to whip up a "hands up don't shoot" false narrative, and a shot at winning the ghetto lottery, witnesses and family claimed that "Wright was unarmed and shot by the officers".

 The police video of the incident shows otherwise: 

Fox 2 Detroit:  Video shows Warren domestic violence suspect fatally shooting self after firing at police during chase

 Yes criminals lie, their family lies, and witnesses lie. 

We will note this was not Wright's first time of doing things wrong, but it was his last:

Wright also had previous arrests for assault with a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction of property, and felony weapons charges.  

"Stop! Don't Touch!" Is Good Advice For Children - And Some Adults Too

You can't make this kind of stupidity up.

So, a fellow with apparently no safe experience handling firearms picked one up that he found, then almost undoubtedly pulled the trigger, all while pointing it in an unsafe direction.

What could possibly go wrong?  Oh, yeah, that:

The Detroit News: Employee accidentally shoots self, two customers at Eastern Market: Police

An employee at a restaurant in the Eastern Market area mishandled a firearm Wednesday afternoon, injuring himself and two customers with a single shot, Detroit police said.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, Detroit Police Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald called the incident one of the "craziest, silliest things I've seen in quite some time" and added that the employee had "absolutely no business handling a gun."

Just before 1 p.m. a 52-year-old employee inside a restaurant in the 2900 block of Russell was handling a gun which, he told police, he had found in an upstairs area at the business.

He managed to shoot himself in the hand, and  managed to hit two customers, one in the forearm, and one in the wrist with the same shot. The idiot has a better hit percentage than the NYPD.  

The Eddie Eagle Program would have been a good start for this fellow. Then again any adult should have had the basic sense to not even mess around with something he had no idea how to handle.  

Not A Good Look

Fun window sticker seen on a car today.

Click to embiggen. 

 It says: "If you hit me with my baby in the car...  I'll whoop your ass til the cops come"

That's a great job announcing that the driver is going to commit a violent assault on another individual if an accident occurs.

So, if an accident occurs, and a fight breaks out between drivers, and the driver has this on the car, which driver in the incident do you think is likely going to get charged for the fight?

Yeah, the driver of that car is going to have some explaining to do. 

Announcing you are going to engage in violence where violence is not warranted is not a good look.  That sticker can and will be used against you if things go sideways.

It also tips off others to expect the driver of that car is going to be violent if something happens. They may be a bit extra cautious and then interpret that driver's actions as leading to a physical altercation,  causing them to react more outwardly defensively than the  driver would likely prefer.  It also gives them a head start on a self-defense defense in a fight, after all the idiot driver announced to the world that they would "whoop your ass" of anyone with whom they got into a car accident.

Given the driver of said vehicle was in fact driving like crap, and likely had a phone glued to their ear (which is now illegal in Michigan but still ignored by many), that sticker is just asking for trouble if a fender bender occurs. Given how that driver drove, that is likely at some point.

Don't put stupid stickers on your car announcing your proclivity to engage in unwarranted violence, it's going to make things a lot worse for you.

The Left Continues To Be Mostly Peaceful

That is, if you read "Mostly Peaceful" as in "Engaging in Violence". 

The Detroit News:  10 held in Texas immigration detention center shooting that was 'planned ambush,' US attorney says

KRGV.com: Gunman dead after opening fire at McAllen Border Patrol facility

Note that the was a very organized attack on law enforcement officers with a planned attempted ambush by art least ten black-clad attackers. 

The second attack was likely a solo leftist who traveled all the way from Michigan to Texas, but may potentially have been supported in doing so.

The far-left is continuing to engage in organized violence, and they have the infrastructure in place to do so. 

With Leftist prosecuting attorneys to help ensure charges are dropped or reduced after arrest,  NLG lawyers on call, Mayors supporting their efforts, and lots of funding from leftist billionaires, as well as practice from their riot actions, the Left has both an experienced cadre and adherents that are both well organized and well funded with an array of professionals on hand.

While those on the right tend to state they have all the guns, those on the right tend to not engage in organized violence.  They are often are instead busy with work and family life, and unlike the Left there is no extant right wing infrastructure to support acts of organized violence like Antifa and the NLG. 

The Left is really good at turning the rheostat to increase and decrease violence at a whim and they get away with it quite a lot - and these latest terrorist actions on their part is the result of the tolerance and support they've received for lower-level violence they;ve engaged in and got a pass for.

Other Fun On The Weekend

I got a chance to drive a friend's Corvette Stingray C8 Z51 this weekend.

 

To say it is a fun ride is a major understatement.

You feel like you are wearing the car rather than just sitting in it. The seat is very supportive and the car feels like an extension of you and all controls are easy to reach and use.

Handling, responsiveness, and acceleration are all exceptional and it is a ton of fun to drive. Wind in your hair with the top down and all that.

And, it has more horsepower in its mid-line located engine than the total horsepower of both of the planes in my flying club combined. 

To say it gets up and goes when the light turns green is another major understatement. 

That was fun. 

Now With 500.4 Hours And Night Current

Last night was beautiful out with winds beginning to calm, and many a firework being lofted into the air.

A perfect opportunity for finally regaining night flying currency.

So I headed to the airport and did a pre-flight during twilight and then once it was full on dark an hour after sunset I took off into the night sky.

 

 A few planes were in the area watching the fireworks.

I started on 27R and did three decent landings. Then a seaplane came in to land and another plane wanted to be in the airspace to the north to watch the fireworks so the Tower had me do left traffic on 27R which is pretty rare, as that puts you right into 27L's corridor. But, with no one else flying it was available. so I got to do a left pattern on 27R which felt really backwards, and a great landing.

Then I took off from 27R again with a left pattern and tower asked if I'd like to land on 27L and I said sure that would be fun.

So I did, and my first approach to 27L just didn't feel or look right at all, so I did a go around. I then did it again and did a good landing.

For the final landing I took off from 27L and did a left pattern for 27L and then landed 27R.  I then headed back to the hangar and shut down.

That's 1.0 and 7 night time, full-stop, landings.  

Night currency for carrying passengers is now again achieved, after a very long absence. 

Also, this flight marks my getting over 500 flying hours of experience. That hour flying last night got me to 500.4 hours total, which is a nice milestone.

Flying Friday: Independence Day Flight To KAZO

For Independence Day I flew to a suitably patriotic site:  The Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Flew VFR with flight following. Pontiac airport was rather quiet at even at 9:00 am they still were using the ASOS rather than the ATIS. Called up ground and got flight following. I decided to fly to KAZO via the HAAKK waypoint so it kept me away from Battle Creek where there was a TFR for an airshow there and would otherwise be directly in the route.

 

So I flew there and it was quire a nice day. Very smooth conditions.

 

Some haze and a layer at around 5,500  that stopped me from climbing to 6,500 as I had planned.

Flew by Battle Creek, safely outside the TFR.

Got clearance to land on Runway 17, and was told to enter a left base and did so and then did a nice landing. Stopped lined up right for the taxiway to go right to the Air Zoo, which was fortuitous and rather perfect for arrival. Did the very short taxi and parked the plane and got let in through the back of the museum and signed in. We were in the second building, the Flight Discovery Center, where they do the restorations and had the place to ourselves in the morning.

Grumman F-11 Tiger in Blue Angels Livery

F-104 Starfighter

 

F-117 Nighthawk - the only one on display outside of a government museum.

There is also an F-86 Sabre and a MiG-15 on display:

 Lots of cool things to see in the building, including their work restoring a SBD-1 Dauntless recovered from Lake Michigan. The plane went down in 1942, killing the trainee pilot and was recovered in 1994, 52 years later.

The restoration is coming along, per the status board:

 Very cool and it is not far from being restored to display condition, even as it doesn't look it.  Unfortunately, it will not be restored to flying condition, only display. When complete, will be shipped off to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Museum.

We then went to the main building, the Flight Innovation Center, which had more people there.

And lots more aircraft to see.

 

SR-71

V-1 Missile

XP-55 The Only One Left In The World.

P-47

Buchon, the Spanish copy of the ME BF-109

A Pink P-40

F-14 Tomcat of Top Gun fame

 We also got in line and tried the full motion  simulators.

Yes, you can do a full 360 degree roll in them.

 

 Much fun.

Then we walked back to the  Flight Discovery Center and saw more aircraft on display outside.

F-4 Phantom II

MiG-21

S-3 Viking

 

A decent cloud layer was in place.  Time to fly back VFR and play dodge cloud.

Did a weather brief, and pre-flight, and called Kalamazoo Ground for flight following back to Pontiac via HAAKK, and to taxi.

Got all that done and did a nice takeoff.

On connection to Great Lakes Approach, they asked me if I had put the HAAKK waypoint in myself.  I said I had. The controller then said nice job putting it in to avoid the Battle Creek TFR.

Quite a few clouds about.  I was at 3,500 and couldn't get above for awhile. 

 

 

Then I got a break in the clouds and climbed to 7,500.

But I soon had to descend as the clouds further ahead were going up higher than I could climb. So I descended to 5,500 to make a clear way through and maintain VFR.

I got handed overt to Detroit Approach and they noted a large area of heavy (and unforecast precipitation) between me and Pontiac. I could actually see the area of heavy rain. Heavy enough that it blocked out all visibility, and the rain shadow was visible for a good distance.

So, I diverted south to avoid it, and then once past it and with sufficient distance away, I resumed heading back to Pontiac.  I got the weather at Pontiac, and got handed off to Tower, and entered the downwind for Runway 27L, but was then switched to 27R and made a nice landing.

That's 1.4 there and 1.2 back and two very nice landings, and a great time in Kalamazoo.

Happy Independence Day!

249 Years Ago, a group of brave American men declared our independence from Great Britain. This declaration would become, after years of toil and effort, the first successful Brexit, and the first step to the formation of the independent and free Republic of the United States of America.

 Happy Independence Day!

Scratch A Russian Trainer, Find An Anti-Semite

So, Sonny Puzikas, the Russian emigre Spetsnaz/Systema trainer in the US, who has quite a following as a hard-core instructor, if you like that sort of thing, let the curtain slip a bit as he went gonzo over the US bombing Iran.

Not sure if he's mainly upset that the Israelis went through the best Russian-designed and manufactured air defense system outside of Russia like a hot knife through butter.  Or, that the US followed up on that dismantling with some very effective bombing of the Iranian nuclear program without even being detected by the remains of that air defense system.

I get it.

If I was a Russian supporter, I'd likely be upset, if not scared as heck that the entire and vaunted Russian air defenses over its ally Iran can be defeated in detail by a modern western air effort.  

It doesn't say much for the quality of Russki equipment in the face of western tech and pilots. Nor does it give much hope to the Russians if they decide to get frisky against the US.

Heck, it might tarnish his training business as he's teaching Russian fighting techniques to westerners - techniques that dare I say haven't exactly shown their worth in Ukraine and elsewhere. 

However,  he then crossed the line quite a bit in his unhappiness. and  posted quite a lot on Facebook and did some live hot takes on it and went straight to classic Russian Antisemitism.  

Basically, he's accusing the Jews of controlling the US government and President Trump. 

  

The standard antisemitic tropes of Jews controlling the US Government.  Right out of the Czarist Russian forgery of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  Nice, at least he's true to historic Russian form.

Yet another antisemitic bit of BS: Puzikas' referring to Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu as Polish and "Melikowsky".  Benjamin Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and was born with the name Netanyahu. He's more Israeli than Puzikas is American, by far, that's for sure.

So no, I'd certainly not take any classes from Sonny Puzikas.  

There's a ton of solid instructors out there who teach effective skills without the promotion of baseless conspiracy theories and antisemitism.