If It Wasn't For Bad Luck....

I'd have no luck at all.

Today was stormy with flood advisories.

Much flooding on the roads etc, starting around 5:00 pm.

A lot of flooding is ok, but not inside your office, dammit.

It seems the landlord didn't repair the back-flow valve and sump pump system after the flood that took place last year before we moved in. We had been led to believe before signing the lease that it had been taken care of, and considering they had just redone all the carpeting and drywall in the entire basement of the building, it wouldn't make sense to just leave the problem to reoccur, right?

Apparently not.

At 6pm, with my partner and secretary already having left, and just as I was about to leave the office, I heard a gurgling sound from the direction of the bathrooms across the hallway. Then a rushing sound.

Sewer water then came pouring out of both toilets, and the sink in the sump pump room.

It started flowing out, and fast.

I called the building maintenance guy. His repsonse "Dude I'm home and already drinking, can you go in the sump pump room and attach the hose to a pump and pump it into the sink?".

So I went in and let him know the water was pouring out of the sink and there was already a good three inches on the sump pump room floor and water was pouring out the bathrooms.

"Oh" says he. A real great help he was.

The dirty water continued heading inexorably towards our office. I started looking for a kayak.

I called his manager and explained there was flooding.

He said "Well there's lots of flooding on the roads". "Yes", I said, "and that's normal in a heavy storm, but it is not supposed to be flooding inside the frickin' building!"

Needless to say we're not renewing our lease with these guys.

And while I was talking with them, the water came in, and not just through the door, but through the wall nearest the water:

The smell was terrible. Be glad they haven't invented smelli-vision folks.

My favorite shoes were casualties as I raced to unplug equipment, lift computers off the floor and save what files in file boxes I could. Those comfortable yet classy looking shoes are toast.

Everything wooden is apparently going to be a write-off due to the sewage, the fridge is probably dead, and forget about the sofa.

Thank goodness I insisted when my partner's and my practices merged that all files from the start of the merger forward are stored electronically backed up in multiple locations. The office may be toast, the practice is not.

I really didn't need this right now.

Lightning Is Often Accompanied By A Thunderbolt

Sure enough, there was a P-47 Thunderbolt at Thunder Over Michigan.

Here's a closeup of her kill markings and name:

This was one productive WWII fighter-bomber.

In the air, it showed it's power and flew with an unexpected grace.

15,678 Thunderbolts of all types were built, yet under 20 are still in flying condition today.

The P-38 Lightning

A rare sight, the P-38L Lightning "Ruff Stuff" made an appearance at Thunder Over Michigan.

The twin-engine, twin-tailed Lockheed P-38 was one of the more successful fighter designs of World War 2.

With a top speed of 414 mph, and the reliability of twin engines, she made many an American ace, including the top scoring aces Richard Bong, Thomas McGuire, as well as Robin Olds, the last pilot in the ETO flying the P-38 to make ace.

On The ground she was majestic. But in the air, simply awesome....

This is the best shot of the P-38 I took (click to embiggen as they say):

 These ones aren't bad either:

Of the 9,923 P-38s delivered to the US Army Air Force in World War 2, but a handful remain flying today.

So, Is Hillary Going To Run For President Against Her Own Record?

It sure looks like it.

Democrats do tend to have short memories, at least when it comes to Democrat political foibles. This Orwellian bit of historical revisionism might just work for her.

Tanks For The Birthday Good Wishes!

Thanks, and tanks to all of you for the good wishes for my birthday yesterday.

Thunder Over Michigan in addition to being an Airshow, also had had quite a few World War 2 ground forces reenactors. They put on quite a show as well including an armored battle with five Stuart tanks and a Hetzer. Lots more pics to come.

An Excellent Birthday Celebration

Today was birthday number 42.

Murphy's Law came to town and to celebrate my birthday along with Tash and the kids we spent the day at the Baltia Airlines Thunder Over Michigan Air Show.

The show simply rocked, the weather was perfect and it was a great day.

Lots of pictures to follow.

Then we headed home to my house for a celebratory dinner of flanken-cut beef short ribs that I grilled and excellent sides made by Tash.

It was a great birthday indeed.

And Another Gaza Ceasefire Bites The Rocket's Exhaust

Hamas violating yet another ceasefire?

Yeah, this is my surprised face.

CNN: Israeli military: Rockets fired from Gaza violate cease-fire

Since that report of two rockets fired, which Wolf Blitzer (CNN/HNN-Idiot) sp helpfully pointed out could just be "isolated rockets", another 33 un-isolated rockets were launched by Hamas at Israel: Israel carries out strikes on Gaza after rocket fire resumes.

Wafer / McBride Verdict Of Guilty

I was wrong on the mistrial prediction and should have stuck with my original prediction that he was toast based on his statement that he had fired the shotgun accidentally.

He's been found guilty of second degree murder/manslaughter and weapon offenses.

Between that statement and opening the door, he certainly opened himself up regarding his claim of self-defense.

Neither the jury nor individual jurors so far have made any comments about the case, and it would be interesting to hear their thoughts on the matter.

The defense has a lot to appeal on the case, and there's still plenty of questions that have not been answered.

The big take-away from the case is that self-defense is never an accident and that opening a door to the outside of your home is generally not a good idea unless you explain you were trying to escape through it, which didn't happen in this case.

Interesting Things In The Wafer / McBride Porch Shooting Case

At this point, I'm suspecting a hung jury in the Wafer trial.

However, that doesn't change the multiple interesting things that have occurred during the trial, including one of the prosecutors sweeping both the defense table and the jury with the shotgun, whether as a calculated act of theater or sheer incompetence.

One issue was the judge allowing the prosecution to use in their closing the argument that Renisha McBride was looking for help or just "trying to get home" that night.

There was no evidence introduced at trial that showed, even circumstantially, that she was either seeking help or trying to get home, but the judge allowed this in anyways.

One of the most curious is the sudden amendment of one of the Michigan Criminal Jury Instructions regarding the presumption for self defense Rule 7.16a, which was amended on Monday August 4, apparently on an emergency basis without comment just in time to change the jury instructions in this trial.

It changes an "or" that was very favorable for the defense into an "and" that makes it far less so.

A sheer coincidence on the timing of the change, I'm sure.

Terrorists Among Us Indeed

Murphy's Law notes, among other things, that Dearborn, Michigan is home to the second largest number of people suspected of links to terrorism:

Consequence of permissive immigration policies: The terrorists among us

Read the post, he's not kidding.

In addition to those not yet identified, or just on the list but no action is being taken against them, there's quite a few known terrorists around. Currently in the news there are two immigration deportation hearings going on that prominently feature two Dearborn terrorists (1 then went to Chicago after her initial immigration) for immigration fraud and serious crimes committed elsewhere who are living the good life here.

First there's Mahmoud Bazzi, wanted for the murder of two Irish soldiers who were on peacekeeping duties in Lebanon back in 1980. Note that Mr. Bazzi has been happily living here all this time since committing that foul deed.

Second is the case of Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, who lied on her immigration application conveniently failing to mention her terrorist past and conviction for a bombing as a member of the PFLP where she killed multiple people. She until recently has worked as, yes you can't make this up, an Obamacare Navigator in Chicago.

Two Idiots Cause Escorts For Airplanes In The Past Two Weeks

Two bomb threats caused two passenger jets to receive fighter escorts recently.

The first on July 25, 2014, a flight from Toronto to Panama received an Ohio Air National Guard escort of a pair of F-16s back to Toronto's Pearson International Airport after a bomb threat by Ali Shahi, a 25-year-old Canadian citizen who threatened to "Blow up Canada" (note the beauty shot of the F-16s in the accompanying article).

Not the sharpest tool in the shed by any means, or a nice dry run attempt to see what the response would be.

Then on August 5, a Qatar Airlines flight was escorted to Manchester Airport by an RAF Typhoon after another bomb threat (Close escort pics and video at the link).

The person who committed the act is unnamed, but police in the UK don't consider him much of a real threat, as reported in The Guardian:

on a sliding scale, we think we may be looking at an idiot rather than an international terrorist” in relation to the arrested man, 47, from north west England. Nothing suspicious was found on the flight when it was searched at Manchester airport, police confirmed.

Idiocy, it appears, abounds in the friendly skies.

Primary Voting Done

This year's primary looks like it is going to have quite the low turnout.

At 3:00 pm I was voter #99 at my precinct.

I voted yes to Proposal 1 to get rid of the regressive and archaic business personal property tax, an easy decision to make indeed.

Next I was faced with a choice of voting either Republican or Democrat in the primary there wasn't a lot of choices to make this ballot.

On the Democrat side running for Congress there were choices of either a Democrat platform lockstep strongly anti-gun rights candidate, a rabidly anti-gun rights candidate, a foaming at the mouth anti-gun rights candidate or a totally loony anti-gun rights candidate.

Considering my district has been gerrymandered into Detroit, whichever anti-gun rights candidate wins today will most likely be the next Congress-critter save for one slim possibility.

The Republican running for the Congressional seat has a last name of Conyers.

There is a non-zero chance that a lot of Detroiters will see the name Conyers and reflexively vote for it regardless of the (R) appearing after it on the ballot.

So yeah, odds are good I'll be stuck with yet another anti-gun rights congress-critter come November, and one even worse than the current occupant, Gary Peters.

So I voted on the Republican ballot and I voted in the only contested race on it. I voted for State Senator Mike Kowall as he's been solid pro-gun throughout his time in office and deserves to stay in office.

It took all of 5 minutes to vote, how about you?

Jett Kills The Wabbit

Jett got a new toy recently after dog-guest Flag destroyed his favorite.

It's a stuffed rabbit with a squeaker inside.

Well, it was a rabbit.

And it had a lot of stuffing inside.

Well, that toy lasted all of two days.

Saturday Night's All Right For Diving - Dive 249

After three long dry months, I finally got back in the water last night.

It almost looked like we were going to get nailed by a thunderstorm with some impressive lightning, but it stopped just as we arrived at the lake.

Chad, Keith, Jeff and I geared up and entered the water just as the sun was going down.

Diving is a rather perishable skill. While you can still throw on the gear and get in the water, if you don't practice, you lose a lot of the fine tuning. While still not bad and passable enough, I certainly wasn't what I'd call good last night either.

Everything felt a bit off and combined with lousy visibility in the lake and that we did a long fin-kick along the north-line it felt like a lot of work. Along the way we were hitting depths of 53 feet and water temps of 46 degrees at the bottom which combined with the absolutely lousy visibility made for an interesting hour dive.

The lake became dark very quickly as the sunset.

The vis began like this:

And in minutes it looked like this:

The current camera isn't very good at night. Actually, it sucketh royally, but we'll see about fixing that.

This dive was fun but my buoyancy and trim were way off, and I kicked up the bottom once pretty badly. On the upside the back kick was still there and I didn't lose my dive team even once in the flashlight-swallowing darkness and particulate filled water.

Hopefully, it won't take three more months before dive 250 rolls around.

Man Versus Ivy Part 2 -The Half-Time Score: Man 1, Poison Ivy 0

So far the Roundup seems to be having a positive effect: The patch in the previous picture now looks like this:

The large vine of Poison Ivy along the back fence is also showing some wilt and browning of the leaves:

I figure maybe another application or two and then it is on to removal.

Jett Drops The Other Shoe

While the kids were away at camp, Jett really missed the kids.

Yesterday, he decided to make his displeasure known by eating Leah's favorite shoe.

Yes, he actually ate some of it and ripped the rest to shreds. This is the first time he's chewed on a shoe in a very long time so we were rather surprised.

While it's nice that he admires her taste in shoe leather, she was not happy about that when she got home.

After eating the back of the shoe, he felt like a heel.

This morning he had some rather large pink leather pieces in his poop.

Darn dog.

Kids Home From Camp

This week saw the kids away at sleep-over camp for their first time.

A six-day session at Girl Scout camp, with them at the same location but Abby doing outdoor cooking and Leah doing horseback riding, so they would only see each other at mealtimes when the whole camp came together.

We dropped them off last Sunday, right as it began to rain, which was a bit of a concern as they were staying in heavy canvas tents on raised wooden platforms. After we drove away a massive storm hit our area, causing us more consternation especially as we couldn't get in contact with the camp. It then rained into the next day, and was unseasonably cold up until yesterday.

We shouldn't have worried. The Girl Scouts moved them into cabins for that night and even though their stuff got wet they were fine. They moved back to the tents where their main complaint was the tons of daddy long-leg spiders that swarmed them every night. Other than that they did great, they met friends and did tons of activities except that swimming was cancelled due to the cold weather.

We received a letter in the mail from Abby four days after camp started detailing how much fun she's having and her activities and that Leah was fine too.

So we picked them up yesterday and they had a great time want to go back for more. They met a ton of new friends, learned a lot of camp songs and had great times doing their activities.

It's a good thing we signed them up for the next session. So we're doing laundry, cleaning all their gear and getting them ready for the 4-day session that starts tomorrow afternoon where Abby will be learning outdoor survival skills and Leah will do art explosion. Should be fun.

Hamas Uses Ceasefire To Kidnap Israeli Soldier

After US and UN pressure induced Israel to put into effect another mutual ceasefire, yet again Hamas violated it almost immediately, waiting all of an hour and thirty minutes before violating it.

That's 5 ceasefire agreements violated by Hamas since July 15.

This time however they have used the ceasefire to launch an attack and kidnap an Israeli Soldier and kill at least two others.

Second Lieutenent Hadar Goldin, 23 was kidnapped in the attack.

I think we're well beyond the fool me once stage. Israel should keep going until the job is done.

The next time the US State Department, Obama, and the UN demand a ceasefire, Israel should tell them to stuff it.

More On The McBride Porch Shooting Case

So far testimony is showing the officers really failed to collect evidence at the scene and failed to safeguard it from contamination, not to mention some evidence went missing, some went unchecked for days and some was only turned over to the defense during the trial. In short there's plenty for the defense to appeal should this case go south.

The Detroit Free Press: Prosecution rests in Wafer trial, defense calls expert forensic pathologist

Curiously the prosecution is trying to keep plenty of evidence out, including the entirety of Mr. Wafer's statement to the police. They're only using a portion when he stated right after the incident that the shotgun went off accidentally, but there's a lot more that should be coming in. The judge denied the defense's oral motion regarding completeness for the whole statement to come in.

The accidental statement, coming shortly after the shooting while he was still shaken up is explainable as a distancing statement after the shooting. After all he was stuck in the back of a squad car for over an hour seeing her body after the shooting which will likely account for the "accident" statement. There's more in his full statement to the police that explains what happens and makes it look like a good self-defense case.

As always, Andrew Branca at Legal Insurrection is doing a nice job of covering the case.

At this point I'd say 2nd degree murder is not going to happen but there's still a chance for manslaughter. There's plenty of questions about that night, namely where McBride was for the three hour gap and if anyone was with here during the pounding on Wafer's house that are very much unanswered.

Darn it, Now I Have To Agree With Michael Bloomberg On Something

After an almost perfect track record of opposing Bloomberg's idiocies on gun control and such, he finally goes and does something sensible that I can both agree with and even praise.

He ignored the FAA's ban on flights to Israel, which was ostensibly placed there after Hamas fired rockets towards the airport which were intercepted a mile away fro the airport and did not damage the airport.

Instead, he flew to Israel and showed the stupidity of the ban.

The FAA then quietly rescinded the ban, and flights are back to normal.

Any bets the ban was really an attempt by the US State Department and the Obama Administration to pressure Israel into a cease fire that would leave Hamas intact, in a position to claim a victory, and not have to admit defeat?

The Name Changes But The Game Remains The Same

The term "Global Warming" isn't working out to well, considering for years the trend has been towards global cooling, with no sign of warming for over 17 years.

The replacement term "Climate Change" apparently wasn't scary nor descriptive enough.

Now the new favored term is "Climate Disruption".

Disruption is scarier sounding and a harder hypothesis to prove or disprove, and after all how could a Progressive be for disrupting the established climate order?

The goal, previously hidden and denied is now openly stated by many environmental groups is to destroy capitalism and replace it with socialism using "Climate Disruption" as the driver.

The Daily Caller: 130 Environmental Groups Call For An End To Capitalism

Environmentalists have declared that global warming can’t be stopped without ending the “hegemonic capitalist system,” saying that cap-and-trade systems and conservation efforts are “false solutions.” “The structural causes of climate change are linked to the current capitalist hegemonic system,” reads the final draft of the Margarita Declaration, presented at a conference including about 130 environmental groups. “To combat climate change it is necessary to change the system,” the declaration adds.

To add some irony, guess where they met:

Environmental activists met in the oil producing, socialist country of Venezuela as part of a United Nations-backed event to increase civil engagement in the lead up to a major climate conference.

Oil producing, carbon-exhaling Venezuela. Given the established track record of self-declared socialist countries Venezuela is probably not just an evil carbon producing country but probably an environmental nightmare as well. But declare yourself socialist and it covers all faults.

The global green watermelon movement - the green on the outside is peeling off revealing the solid red underneath.

The Strange Love Affair Of The Left With Islamics

One of the greatest tricks Hamas and other Islamic movements have managed so far is to convince the hard left that they are leftist themselves.

Sure, Hamas, the PLO and others vocally avow a socialist system, socialist as is typically defined where those at the top live well and those at the bottom are oppressed proles, but they profess socialism nonetheless and the Left eats it up.

At the same time, these Islamic and Arab terrorist movements avow principles, beliefs and actions that had they not already been the left's darlings would have put them on the persona non-grata list typically reserved for the Tea Party, Republicans, Israel and America.

So the Hamasniks and their supporters and others like them get away with systemic and profoundly anti-gay actions, anti-Semitic actions, anti-minority activities by the ton, and treatment of women that equates to a real war rather than faux "war on women", and commit war crimes by using kids as human shields and child combatants (no doubt to be reported as "murdered innocent civillians" if killed, yet they get a pass on all that.

Would anyone else get the kind of support from leftists that Hamas and its ilk are getting if they did these things?

The romance of the Left for the Arabs and Islamists seem to be both residual from when they were good Soviet client states against the West, and a current bromance as the Left seems to buy hook line and sinker that they are oppressed peoples with no moral agency, and so long as they are anti-Israel and anti-America then the left is their ally and they can apparently do no wrong.

A Houseguest With A Most Peeculiar Manner

Meet Flag.

He's a very cute Lab mix and rather social. A year older than Jett, he's smaller but can keep up with the play by play.

While we were up in Huntsville, Flag's owner happily and graciously boarded Jett and he and Flag had a grand time and Jett was quite the fine guest.

Today Tash, the kids, and Flag's family headed off to Michigan's Adventure park (for the first time ever for our kids) and it was only natural that I take Flag in for the couple days and look after him.

Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to his owner or us, Flag's Indian name apparently is "Guest Who Frequently Pees In Visited Home A Lot".

He is housebroken at home, but he won't stop pissing all over the place here, even after being walked and going happily outside, he comes back in and goes again, and again, and again. Argh.

I'm spending more time with odor remover and paper towel scrubbing the carpet and tile than I ever did before Jett was housebroken. Heck, Jett even looks at him like "WTF dude, keep it in until you're outside!"

Flag's Korean name is now perilously close to becoming "Tastes Good With BBQ Sauce When Smoked Until Tender".

The dog is now clinging to me like glue, trying to desperately distract me from picking up the phone and calling the nearest Korean restaurant for a trade in value.....

Man Versus Ivy Part 1

Yesterday after returning home from the seminar it was time to engage in some chemical warfare.

At the local hardware store, following some helpful suggestions from my commenters, I purchased this:

After carefully reading the directions I donned jeans, boots and long sleeves and got to work.

There's even more poison Ivy than I thought, with multiple separate patches in addition to the huge and very visible patch I had found before.

There's also some that is as tall as the fence and I found it in more than just one spot.

All of it received a solid treatment of Roundup, note the newly wet leaves.

The directions state it will take more treatments and likely up to 4 weeks before it gets the ivy killed off, so we'll see how it goes.

Back From The Iha Dojo National Training Seminar

From Friday until now I was over in Lansing, Michigan for the Iha Dojo Karate National Training Seminar. I found out I made the promotional card with a photo of the seminar from last year, which is kinda cool.

The seminar is three days of karate instruction, meeting friends both new and old from a number of dojos around the country and the world, and having a good time doing so. There was a strong showing of contingents from the New York, New Jersey and the Canadian Dojos this year.

This year it was held at the Lansing Convention Center so we were right in downtown Lansing with many restaurants and bars in easy walking distance. This would be useful during lunch breaks and after the classes ended.

The convention floor was concrete with a thin layer of carpet over it, which made break-falling particularly exciting, especially the fall in Passai Sho Bunkai where you have to do a forward roll as the person in the center of the bunkai pulls your arm forward and throws you via that leverage after you punch towards them with that arm. It was fine as long as you were careful and everyone was paying attention.

Before each session started everyone would meet and socialize while they were warming up.

Sensei Iha (10th Dan) or Sensei Barker (9th Dan), his Sampai or senior student, would lead the training, and we worked on kata, bunkai and partnership drills. Careful attention was paid to body mechanics, typically keeping ones elbows in among other things, turning on one's axis and proper movement, balance, and weight shifting.

Here's a shot of Sensei Iha (10th Dan) or Sensei Barker (9th Dan) and Sensei Menders (8th Dan - in the red and white striped belt)

Sensei Iha at over 80 years old is not only still sharper than a tack but also in amazing physical shape. Sensei Barker, in his late 70s, can similarly deliver a kick that can send you into a neighboring state, or a punch so focused with all their power and body behind it that your ancestors will feel it. It's a good thing they're both wonderfully nice and peaceful individuals with a great amount of patience and a love of teaching karate, and we're very lucky to have them both.

This morning Sensei Iha for example demonstrated on a 6th Degree black belt the concepts of axis and was able to show that with punch throw at him he can basically control the attacker's movements and put him wherever he wants, typically ending with a thud. We then learned these applications and commenced to locking up an opponent once they punched at various angles (hiugh, low, middle) and then (gently) throwing them and vice-versa.

All this physical work creates a powerful thirst so last night the memebrs of my dojo headed to the Midtown Brewing Co.

They had a decent list of beers:

When asked which of them we wanted to drink, the answer was yes, and yes it was so.

Dinner was served.

Oh, I also had a black and blue burger that was awesome, but back to the beer.

The sample included a Hopwood Double IPA with a 9% alcohol content. Barrel-aged it was excellent going down and then hit like a ton of bricks. The other IPAs were also quite good, as were the amber ales. The best by far however was the All Night Long Coffee Stout. The stout had a rich taste of coffee but was not bitter nor over-sweet and was an excellent beer to finish up the time at the restaurant.

We then met up with yet more karateka wandering Lansing's streets and then headed to the hotel bar for some fine sipping whiskeys before calling it a night.

I was awoken at 2:30 am by some idiots in the next room not from our seminar who had got back from the bars and were yelling and carrying on. Finally they shut up around 3:30 or so and I was able to get some sleep. Since I had to be up at 7 to meet up with the other people from my dojo for breakfast and then get ready for an early morning for today's seminar, my alarm was set. Completely fortuitously, the alarm ended up being located right beside the adjoining wall from whence last night's rudeness came, and it went off loudly and I sadly in the rush of the moment forgot to turn it off for some time. I may have also banged into the wall a few times getting ready, how clumsy of me.

After today's morning session we all changed, checked out of the hotel and went to the celebratory banquet and then headed home.

It was great seeing a lot of friends from prior seminars and training with lots of different people, most of them with much greater experience than I, and learning some very neat new (to me) techniques.

Michigan Democrat Tries To Put Fireworks Toothpaste Back In The Tube

Oh, the noise, the noise the noise.

Michigan's own fireworks Grinch is trying to introduce legislation to again ban fireworks in this state.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan lawmaker's bill would douse purchases of bigger fireworks

Saying he and his wife are fed up with high-powered fireworks in their neighborhood, the only state senator to vote in 2011 against expanding Michigan’s range of legal fireworks said today he wants to rescind the law.

“My bill will roll us back to exactly what we had before,” when Michiganders could buy only relatively weak fireworks like firecrackers and sparklers, said state Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland.

“You’re still going to have people who drive an hour to cross the state line” and buy more powerful fireworks, Anderson said.

“But they shouldn’t be available at corner stands and every party store,” he said.

Awfully honest of him to admit that it won't change anything and that his bill will encourage illegal behavior, not to mention deprive the state of needed tax revenue now isn't it?

The legislation has about the same chance as a firecracker going off after being submerged for a week underwater.

The bill does illustrate the average Democrat legislator's (and quite a few Republican legislators as well) mentality of "I don't like it so let's ban it".

Who Knew DDOT Stood For Drunken Drivers Offer Transport?

Tam has a continuing series detailing the follies of the Indianapolis Police Department and its officers issues with drunken driving and subsequent crashes.

Police, in sedans, driving drunk.

Detroit decided to top that in a big way with drunken bus drivers: DDOT bus driver accused of drunken driving in hit-and-run crash

Police say they arrested a Detroit Department of Transportation bus driver who had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit after he sideswiped a car and then fled the scene with passengers on board.

An Ontario Tradition - The Beer Store

Ontario, unlike more libertarian leaning polities, keeps its alcohol sales under tight government regulation and control.

This does not stop minors from getting beer mind you, but it keeps the tax money rolling in.

To purchase beer, you need go to the imaginatively named Beer Store.

Then after entering you look at the displays on the walls and pick the beer you want and tell the clerk how much you want of it, you pay for it, and then they'll get it from the back for you, with it coming out after being pushed on a track covered in rollers to make it zip on out.

Here's two of the wall displays:

As you can see, it's certainly not cheap ($35.95 for a two-four of Labatt's Blue is highway flippin' robbery) and the selection, while much improved from the days of my youth (I remember taking trips to the Martimes with a highlight of the trip being the "smuggling" back of Moosehead beer that was unavailable in Ontario), is still rather small compared to say a Meijer's or Hiller's grocery store.

For wine, liquor and other beers, you have to go to a geographically separate government store, the LCBO, where you can actually pick the bottles you want and take them to the cashier to pay.

On the upside, there were some fine Canadian beers available at the Beer Store that you don't see much anywhere else.

We bought some Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, having never tried any before and found it quite tasty indeed. Not as hoppy as a full IPA but clean, crisp and perfect for a hot day with some freshly grilled steaks. I'd have it again without hesitation.

Having gotten used to both Michigan selection and relative ease of purchase of beer, not to mention the prices, going back to the Beer Store was a bit of a culture shock.

A Huntsville Car For Keads

I was up in Toronto and Huntsville Ontario last week for some family things.

While walking along main street in Huntsville I passed by a Ford Mustang and remembering Keads' affection for the beasts, I took a couple pictures.

The owner saw me admiring the car and snapping some pictures and offered to pop the hood so I could snap one of the engine.

The car was in darn nice shape and looks like a nice example of Equus Caballus Fordae.

While The Media May Oftentimes Be The Enemy, You Really Shouldn't Shoot Them

So, just four days after an 88-year-old man is brutally assaulted and robbed when he opened his door in Detroit to a stranger, a local ABC affiliate station, WXYZ, decided to surprise him at his door without calling ahead.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, this: The Detroit News: Robbery victim shoots at Detroit TV news crew.

Luckily no one was hurt, but that was a highly ill-conceived way to approach a recent victim of a traumatic attack.

Axe Meets Gun in Detroit CPL-Free Zone

On Sunday, Sumdood decided to show up at a church in Detroit with an axe to grind.

Very luckily for the church and its congregants, because the church is an otherwise by law concealed-firearm free zone, there was an off-duty police officer present with his service weapon. After the suspect tried to bury the hatchet in him, he managed to shoot him and end the episode.

The Detroit News: Hatchet-wielding man attacks off-duty Detroit cop at church

Thankfully, the officer only suffered minor wounds and hopefully will make a complete recovery.

Meanwhile, Axe dude, who is (surprise!) described as mentally ill, is in critical condition in hospital.

On Combat – A Vital Read For Anyone Lawfully Carrying

On Combat, The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace , by David Grossman and Loren Christiansen gives perhaps one of the most comprehensive looks at the psychology and physiology of the human being in a deadly force situation. While most applicable and clearly directed toward members of the military and law enforcement, there is a wealth of information for civilian concealed carriers regarding both the psychological and physiological elements of a deadly force encounter and its aftermath.

I had heard Lt. Col Grossman's riveting presentation at the NRA Convention, and this book goes into spectacular amounts of detail on areas he touched upon in the presentation. He writes as rivetingly and as clearly as he speaks.

Both authors know exactly what they’re talking about, with Lt. Col. Grossman being both a psychologist and a military officer and perhaps the foremost expert on the psychological and physiological effects of deadly force encounters on people, and Mr. Christensen being a law enforcement officer, military veteran, and martial artist with years of real world experience.

The book details the variety of possible automatic responses to a deadly force encounter caused by the body’s nervous system, and knowing about them makes one better prepared to deal with them should they likely occur.

One vital item of use is the illustration of the likelihood of memory loss in a deadly force encounter:

“It is common in the first 24 hours to recall roughly 30 percent of the occurrence, 50 percent of it after 48 hours and 75 to 95 percent after 72 to 100 hours. This is why it is so important for investigators to interview participants of a critical incident again after they have gotten one or more nights of quality sleep.”

A civilian self-defender will likely not get a critical incident debrief but is far more likely to get a critical incident interrogation. It’s most likely that the police will not wait to begin questioning until after 72 hours have passed and you’ve had a good night’s sleep to process the trauma of the incident. The statements you give initially that you may have believed to be true can be used against you later as they appear to contradict your later statements when you remember the incident more fully.

You can now appreciate the need after a self-defense shooting to give only a very brief statement and then immediately insist on refusing to speak about any details until you’ve contacted your attorney.

That’s just one small portion addressing just one of many of the psychological and physiological likely responses of a deadly force encounter in a 403-page book chock-full of such useful information.

I’d very highly recommend On Combat, as a vital read and an important addition to any law enforcement, military or civilian carrier’s library.

Wayne County Justice

SO in the Steve Utash Racially biased (but not charged as a hate crime) beating that left him in a coma, we get the following sentencing results:

So far, one attacker gets 6-10 years in prison, which seems appropriate.

But, the other convicted attacker gets 3 years probation.

The Detroit News: One man gets prison sentence, another gets probation for Detroit motorist beating

An Unwanted Backyard Squatter

While doing my BBQ duties yesterday, I noticed this growing voraciously in the backyard:

Yes, leaves of three, let it be, it's Poison ivy.

And there's a bloomin' lot of it.

Poison Ivy removal just went on the to-do list.

Happy Fourth Of July!

Yesterday we got an invite to go on a friend's boat and do the pre-July 4 fireworks preview on Pontiac Lake as many municipalities hold their shows on the 3rd.

Waiting for darkness to fall, we passed by this Cessna for sale:

Learning to fly is certainly on my bucket list, and an amphibian could be right handy, especially for the trip up to the parental unit's cottage.

A few people let of some fireworks as we passed by:

Then in the distance we saw quite a few, but the iPhone is not the right tool for catching the action:

It was a nice, relaxing lake cruise with good friends, and we're preparing to have some friends over today for a proper July 4 BBQ.

Have a great and safe Independence Day!

Only To World War 2? He's Still Got A Fighting Chance For All-Time Worst.

The Detroit Free Press: Obama 'worst president' since World War II, poll says

President Obama has topped predecessor George W. Bush in another poll, but not one he would like. In a new Quinnipiac University Poll, 33% named Obama the worst president since World War II; another 28% put Bush at the bottom of post-war presidents.

Meanwhile, Obama is busy making jokes about crack, which should give him a chance for all time worst for among many other failings joking about illegal drugs while both the domestic and foreign situations continue to deteriorate.

Some fiddle while Rome burns, others joke about eating pie.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to our good allies and neighbors to the north, and since we're in Michigan, to the south too!

Well, That Was A Fun Night

The weather people forecasted some storms last night and they weren't kidding.

At 03:30 this morning the tornado sirens sounded, and remained blaring for quite some time.

Considering it was dark out, very windy and rainy, with lots of lightning flashes and thunder, we decided discretion was the better part of valor, gathered the kids up and took them and the dog to the basement and tried to get some sleep.

The Detroit News: Storms knock out power to 140K in Metro Detroit.

No damage to our house, just some tree limbs and branches down and we lost power for a bit but nothing major aside from a lack of sleep.