Coming Soon: Ebola And Obama's CDC - The Seussical

Nurse: Can I travel after contact with Ebola and go with a fever on a plane?
CDC: Of course you can my dear, there's no shame!

Lab tech: Can I travel after exposure to Ebola on a ship?
CDC: Of course you can! Enjoy your trip!

Liberian Traveler: If from a place with Ebola can I come to Michigan?
CDC: As long as you state you're asymptomatic and self-monitor then come, come again!

Everyone Else: Will finally you stop travel from Ebola infected areas and impose quarantine to keep us all sane?
CDC: Never, that might interfere with Hope 'n' Change!

Feel free to add your own couplets in the comments.

YGTBSM: Liberian Visiting Oak Park [Michigan] Just Told To Watch For Ebola Symptoms

Our betters in government have apparently learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The outbreak in Dallas was apparently an insufficient wake-up call, so it's incompetent business as usual, and the consequences may be severe.

The Detroit News: Liberian visiting Oak Park told to watch for Ebola symptoms

The Oakland County Health Division said officials learned about the man from the Michigan Department of Community Health, which had been informed by the Centers for Disease Control, according to a statement.

The man, who has not been named, entered the United States through an airport in New York City, where he "was screened in accordance with CDC protocol before being permitted to enter the country," officials said. "The man said he had had no contact with anyone known to have the Ebola virus and was observed to be symptom free at the time of arrival.

"When he landed at Detroit Metro Airport, he was screened a second time by the CDC which showed he remained symptom free."

The CDC has asked the man to self-monitor his symptoms daily, and "out of an abundance of caution," an Oakland County Health Division epidemiologist has been assigned to communicate with him twice a day to monitor his health for at least 21 days, officials said in the statement.

So out of an abundance of caution they'll let a suspected carrier roam around in public and just self-monitor for 21 days?

CDC? That One Job Thing? Hello?

With this focus on political correctness and refusal to ban travel from infected areas for political reasons, the Obama Administration's response to Ebola is clearly desperate but not serious. With this administration, Hope seems to be the strategy.

A Good Morning On The Range

Instead of our regular Friday morning meeting, I took five members of a business networking group I'm a part of to the range this morning as a get out of the office event.

A few of them had never shot before, and a couple had either as hunters and one as a more Gen2 type shooter.

In short it was a great time.

We hit the rifle range first. I let them shoot one of my ARs, the AK and the Tavor on the rifle range. That's another 100 flawless rounds through the Tavor.

Everyone thought the Tavor was very cool and one of the guys that owned an AR was very impressed with it.

One of the guys brought along a GSG MP-5 in .22. It was a blast to shoot - lots of fun, ridiculously easy to control and just a fun gun. I could ring the steel plates at 100 yards no problem. It had quite a few failures to feed, most likely due to the ersatz lead round nose budget 22s that was all he could find to shoot through it, so can't blame the gun for that.

One not so funny event happened. One of the guys had brought his deer rifles out to sight in (He's a deer season only shooter). His first rifle had some serious functioning problems due to a complete lack of lubrication. It was so dry the bolt would not close on a round. I put on some Slip2000 EWL and it functioned like a champ.

The second rifle was a different story.

He fired a round and it worked ok, but the second round he tried to fire jammed completely and could neither be fired nor extracted, so he had a live round stuck in the chamber.

The round would not come out of the chamber no matter what - prying with knives and multi-tools did nothing, nor did a rod down the barrel. It was jammed in tight. I couldn't figure out how it could be so jammed into the chamber like that.

It was a 308 Winchester round, which he swore was the caliber of the rifle.

I took a look at the markings on the barrel and guess what? It wasn't chambered in 308. The rifle was chambered in 30-06.

Be sure you check you've put the right ammo in the gun folks.

Then we headed to the pistol range and had a blast. I set up a couple plate racks, then added some poppers and supervised them shooting at them in a friendly competition as to who could knock 'em all down with 10 shots on 8 targets. They had a great time shooting.

One of the guys brought a few interesting pistols - A Walther PPX, a S&W Shield and a SiG 239.

I got to try out the Walther PPX. If you're following Tam (and if you're not, you should) you know about the Walther PPX and can see how she's putting one through its paces. Handling the PPX was interesting. While it looks blocky as heck, the grip fit my hand like a glove and the trigger was truly and impressively excellent, I'd say certainly better than a stock Glock trigger. Knocking down plates quickly with accuracy was no problem.

The Shield was also easy to shoot as was his Sig 938.

I brought along my 9mm S&W M&P, my Glock 19 and two 1911s.

The 1911s were a big hit. But they had problems clearing all 8 targets with just the 8 shots in its magazine.

After putting hundreds of rounds through the guns it was time to head back to work. Now I've got quite a few guns to clean.

Everyone had a great time at the range and agreed that it kicked the Group's golf outing's butt and that we should do it again.

Argh. Spammers Should Die A Slow And Painful Death.

Apparently the address book for the Yahoo account I use for this blog was compromised today.

As such, if I sent you an email form this account or if we've communicated by the Yahoo email account before, you may have received an email purporting to be from me with a link in it.

Obviously, don't click on it. The big tip off is that the from: address, while having my name on it, the underlying email reply address is ashlee@newriverretreat.com.

If you did receive such an email, my apologies for the inconvenience and bother.

If you have a Yahoo account, I'd suggest checking it and probably changing the password just in case as well.

I don't think this is a hack of the account itself as it had a pretty strong and long passphrase, but just in case I changed it and added two-step verification. I suspect this is yet again another Yahoo-wide vulnerability.

Damn spammer scum.

CDC - Please Stop Screwing Up Just One Job, OK?

So not only was it incorrect that the second nurse got on the plane to Ohio without any symptoms as originally claimed, as she did in fact have a fever.

Incredibly, she reported she had a fever to the CDC who then told her she could travel anyways.

CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. John LaPook reports that Vinson called the CDC several times before boarding the plane concerned about her fever.

“This nurse, Nurse Vinson, did in fact call the CDC several times before taking that flight and said she has a temperature, a fever of 99.5, and the person at the CDC looked at a chart and because her temperature wasn’t 100.4 or higher she didn’t officially fall into the category of high risk,” said Dr. LaPook on the CBS Evening News.

Yes, WTF was she thinking getting on a plane knowing she had a fever and had worked with an Ebola infected patient? If she was concerned and had two brain cells to rub together how about a voluntary quarantine or getting tested before getting on a plane with over 130 people on it?

More importantly WTF was the CDC rep thinking in okaying the nurse to travel? Is s/he still employed by the CDC at this point?

It's just not reassuring that Frieden of the CDC is now saying the risk that she infected other passengers is "extremely low", considering the stellar track record they've had on this so far.

One Job CDC, you've got Just. One. Job.

CDC, You Had One Job.

And you damn well seem to be flunking it.

The Detroit News: Feds admit to failings in Ebola response

I realize spending millions on politically correct yet stupid things like fighting privatization of government run liquor stores , or your sister organization the NIH spending millions on things as useful as $509,840 grant from NIH to pay for a study that will send text messages in “gay lingo” to meth-heads, may be distracting you from your core competencies.

Oh, and until blocked by Congress the CDC was happily distracted working on anti-gun ownership propaganda rather than you know, having you Center on Diseases that need to be Controlled.

Just One Job CDC. All we want is for you to be competent at One Job.

Barn Door Now Partially Shut, But Has The Horse Already Bolted?

Or did they just proudly proclaim that they're about to install a screen door on the submarine?

The Detroit News: Ebola screening starts Thursday at 4 U.S. airports

Still no travel bans, quarantines or other travel restrictions coming from the infected zone.

Likely as efficient as the TSA and as effective. Aspirin can mask the fever, so just a thermometer check won't catch all potential carriers, nor those still during the incubation period.

Oh, and after all this fanfare, not to mention delay, it still won't even screen all potential carriers of the disease:

Customs officials say about 150 people travel daily from or through Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea to the United States. Nearly 95 percent of them land first at one of those five airports.

And the five percent coming through without even this cursory screening?

Anyone else longing for at least some Fed Gov competency?

After all, preventing the spread, not to mention introduction of a killer communicable disease is or darn well should be the ne plus ultra of Federal Government roles and responsibilities, and they've been rather underwhelming in this role so far to say the least.

Michigan Republicans Don't Miss An Opportunity To Miss An Opportunity

Obama and the Democrats favorability ratings are at a record low, matched only by their incompetence.

Obamacare is sucking the life out of the economy, people hate it and it's going to get worse.

EPA regs will harm Michigan's auto industry.

Obama's foreign policy is at best a shambles, at worst a complete disaster, as is his push for amnesty.

And Gary Peters has been a lock-step Obama supporter throughout this presidency that makes Jimmy Carter look good.

And the Michigan Republicans put up a candidate against him that can't capitalize on any of this and instead of winning with votes to spare is losing, and losing badly, mainly by running as the Democrat-lite candidate.

The Detroit News: Beckmann: The Terri Lynn Land autopsy

It's not over until election day, but seriously, there hasn't been a Republican Senator from Michgian since 1994, and its about time the party realizes they can't win by being Democrat-lite. Sheesh.

Another Way Obamacare Will Harm The Youth

It'll hit 'em right in their employment.

Abby, being a bookworm, and a chip off the ol' block at that really wants to have her first job to be working at Barnes and Noble. The kid loves that store.

Not a bad place to work and she'd get some real life work experience along with some discounts on books.

Obviously she's not of an employable age yet, but as we went to the cash register and she paid for her book with money she had saved up I asked the cashier, who was being very patient with her as she counted out her coins, how old you need to be to work at Barnes and Noble.

I figured I'd give Abby something to look forward to and after all I figured they'd take high school students and that is coming up in a few years.

The answer: "18".

Why 18, that seemed a little high. After all, I had worked in a bookstore, at a country club as a short order cook, a catering company, and at an ice cream shop all long before I turned 18.

Well, due to Obamacare and the requirement to provide health insurance, Barnes and Noble will now only be hiring 18 years and up.

Imagine this trickling through to other businesses - where the heck will kids under 18 get decent jobs to start building up their work experience, sense of responsibility, and life skills not to mention save up for college while they're going to high school?

This is going to seriously hurt the employability of under 18-year-olds.

Maybe they'll grow up and not vote Democrat as a result of this follishness, or the Democrats will convince them it's all the fault of the mean Republicans that they're not employed.

Whether Cop Or Civillian, Road Rage Brandishing Never Ends Well

There's been quite a slew of road-rage brandishing incidents in southeastern Michigan recently.

The latest reported one is involving one of Detroit's (possibly not so-) Finest, courtesy of the Detroit News:

Charges sought in road rage case for Detroit officer

According to police, a Beverly Hills couple allege the officer's vehicle cut them off about 7 p.m. Friday on Woodward Avenue near Maple Road in Birmingham.

As the cars continued south on Woodward, Kiernan said, the incident escalated into a "road rage" incident with erratic driving by the officer, the couple allege.

The officer pulled next to the couple, lowered his window and laid his gun, a Glock 40 caliber, across his chest, Kiernan said.

The couple then called 911, he said.

"He rolls the window down, has a gun in his hand, laying across his chest. Whether it was pointed at them or not, I don't know. It will make a big difference," he said. [Note: Indeed it will, for that's the difference between felonious assault and misdemeanor brandishing]

Once the cars crossed 14 Mile, they entered Royal Oak, where police were contacted and the officer was pulled over.

A friend of mine witnessed the felony stop in this incident and we only saw the article about it later. Multiple officers with guns drawn converged on the vehicle during the stop.

Please Understand and Do NOT draw you firearm just because someone cuts you off in traffic, or even worse if you cut someone else off. Do NOT draw just because someone honks at you or extends to you the international hand sign for peace, goodwill, and inter-driver understanding.

It is highly rarely, if ever, justifiable at that point. Expect everyone working on your case to consider it not justifiable without one heckuva convincing and demonstrable reason why it was justifiable. Someone being an idiot while driving and cutting you off is simply not a sufficient reason to display a firearm in a threatening manner.

If you cannot honestly and reasonably explain how you're about to imminently face death, grievous bodily harm, or forcible sexual penetration, leave the gun in the holster or otherwise out of sight.

Further, if you pull your firearm in public, assuming you had good and justifiable reason to do so, call the police immediately and report on the attacker. Otherwise, the chance of your being on the receiving end of a felony stop whether from your attacker calling the police and claiming to be the victim, or from an eye-witness who misunderstood the situation is quite likely.

Being on the receiving end of a felony stop because you stupidly didn't report displaying your firearm to defend yourself can lead to a situation with fatal consequences should a misunderstanding occur during the stop.

Do Your Rifles Suffer From Dryness?

I haven't been getting out to the range much lately as I've been busy rebuilding my office and such.

I opened my lesser-used collectible rifle locker and saw most of the rifles in it looked like this:

They had a strange white powdery like substance stuck to them. It wiped off with a dry  cloth easily enough but it was quite strange that it had suddenly shown up. Perhaps it's a weird mold of some kind, or something leaching out of the stocks?

Thanks to Murphy's Law's recommendation, I got some Rig Universal Grease and a cotton cloth and then commenced to wiping down the metal and wood with a light film of RIG.

Now the rifles look like this and no longer suffer from dryness, just lack of use, which certainly needs to be remedied. They now look much better, have a gleaming appearance, and should be much better protected now.

So far only that one gun safe had the problem, but I'm going to go through and carefully clean and grease every firearm in the collection as a preventative measure.

A big thumbs up for Rig Universal Grease, it's absolutely excellent stuff for preserving your firearms.

Meditations On Jett

Or to be more precise, Meditations in Jett.

He ate and chewed up a copy Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in fact.

A hundred-year-old copy of the Meditations, in fact, in a plastic sleeve to keep it in good shape.

If you haven't read Meditations, you should, and since you can download it for free on your Kindle or Kindle app, there's no reason why you should miss the opportunity.

To say that I'm displeased would be a serious understatement. Interestingly, he also chewed on a Latin-English Dictionary. I don't know why he's started eating books in addition to shoes but this needs to stop.

I can only hope that Jett has gained some wisdom by his digesting of this classic work.

I think I'll go meditate on patience and upon this bit of timely wisdom from the great Philosopher-Emperor himself:

If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.
(Meditations VIII. 47, trans. George Long)

Oh, How Very Not Good

Officials confirm 1st Ebola case diagnosed in U.S.

From The Detroit News:

Federal health officials have confirmed that a patient being treated at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for Ebola.

Oh for the days when we quarantined the heck out of areas with scary-deadly and infectious diseases like Ebola.

Detroit Rabble-Rouser Davis Pleads Guilty To Felonies, Goes On To Sue Yet Again

The Detroit Free Press: Davis can sue Detroit council over Orr tenure deal.

As usual, the Freep calls him a "Labor Activist" rather than the far more accurate "Democrat Felon".

Note that Robert Davis is rather infamous around these parts for filing tons of lawsuits on technical grounds to procedurally mess with Republicans and certain Democrat sub-groups in the State. Meanwhile, as part of the Michigan Democrat Deep Blue State corruption craze, he busily ripped off the Highland Park School District while a member of the school board there to the tune of over $180,000, and he's now pled guilty to that crime, but still continues his many lawsuits.

One begins to wonder who Davis is really working for and how deep into Michigan's core blue state he goes to get his marching orders.

So, has The Detroit Free Press done any digging into who is backing Robert Davis and paying this felon's legal bills on these multitude of quixotic lawsuits? These lawsuits that just coincidentally are done for the benefit of core Democrat constituencies? The same constituencies that are supported by the Freep? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Blog Shoot In T-34 Days and Counting

Yes, Virginia, in West Virginia, there really is a blog shoot.

And it's all for both fun and charity.

On November 1st in Jefferson County West Virginia to be precise.

Expect to run into a lot of the great bloggers from the area at the shoot, all of whom are a bunch of darn nice folks (and heavily armed to boot).

Check in with Murphy's Law at MartiniHenryWV@gmail.com for more details.

If you're closer to West Virginia than southeastern Michigan, then distance is not an excuse to miss it....

Glad The Mystery In Oklahoma Is All Cleared Up

The attack and beheading of a woman and stabbing of another in Oklahoma by an adherent of the religion-that-must-not-be-blamed is being reported as, exactly like the Ft. Hood shooting, an act of workplace violence, not as a hate crime or religiously motivated crime.

One would also think it is also being recorded as an act of violence against women.

No telling yet if it is also being recorded as an example of people more likely to be shot in the workplace when guns are present to be later added as an anti-gun statistic in junk science studies that will be quoted as authoritative later in advocating against law-abiding folks having firearms in the workplace.

A Glorious Walk In The Woods

Today was a nice sunny day here in Southeastern Michigan.

So this evening instead of staying inside we went for a nice hour and twenty minute walk in a nature preserve and trail system.

We saw several deer, squirrels and other dogs. It was a nice long family walk with fresh air good for clearing our heads and getting ready for the week to come.

A nice time out in the woods and then home with a quick stop for milkshakes (purely for medicinal purposes) along the way.

Understatement Of The Day

Obama: U.S. underestimated Islamic State

You don't say Mr. ISIL is "a JV team".

Not to worry though, he still doesn't have a coherent strategy, and he certainly can't say the V word (victory) over Islamic extremists.

Apparently this is the closest to a statement we might get as to the strategy that isn't a strategy:

"We just have to push them back, and shrink their space, and go after their command and control, and their capacity, and their weapons, and their fueling, and cut off their financing, and work to eliminate the flow of foreign fighters," Obama told CBS in the interview taped Friday, according to excerpts released by the network.

And then what exactly, declare they're back to being a JV team and leave and ignore them until they cause another problem?

This is of course, assuming such a laundry list of nebulous and ill-defined goals can really be done without "boots on the ground" (Yes I know we have some on the ground now, but acording to Obama they don't count and aren't really there, there and aren't boots-boots.

I just hoping there's already some AF CCTs and 5th SFG boots on the ground effectively directing air strikes, but that may be too much to ask for.

Updated to add: Instapundit makes a heckuva good point:

"Obama: Intel officials underestimated ISIS. When things go well, it’s always “I, me, mine” with this guy. When things go badly, it’s always “they” who screwed up."

Yep, that's about the size of it. The buck always stops elsewhere for Obama, except when it's time to take credit for something.

Backseat Drivers are Bad, Inept Backseat Thugs Are Worse

In what may prove to be an own goal, a 21-year old thug in Mt. Clemens, Michigan managed to shoot his buddy while they were in their car.

Let this be a lesson not to have armed felons sitting behind you playing with a gun while you're driving a vehicle. I figure the vast majority of my readers already know this common-sense bit of info, but for the few of you in Mt. Clemens that don't....

Michalke said the victim told police Hamilton accidentally fired a handgun from the back seat of a Pontiac Aztek in which he was riding Sept. 8. The bullet went through the front seat and struck in the back the 20-year-old victim who was driving the vehicle on Orchard Street.

Yet another reason not to own a Pontiac Aztek.

Adding to the fun, after accidentally shooting the driver the shooter punked out and ran off, only to be arrested later.

The victim said he drove to Mount Clemens High School where he got out of the car and collapsed. A school security guard found the man. Hamilton, police said, ran from the scene before police arrived.

And as a felon in possession he's getting a whole slew of charges justifiably heaped on him, likely to be pled down later.

Postal Service Does It Again

So I sent a priority mail letter on September 20 with tracking from West Bloomfield MI To Waterford MI, mainly so I had proof of delivery but also for, you know, priority mail speed. Note you can drive the distance from the start and end points in about 45 minutes or so, in traffic.

The mail route instead looked like this:

Yes, the envelope went from West Bloomfield, south to Allen Park, MI, then even farther south to LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, back up to Allen Park and finally up north to Waterford arriving there finally today after noon.

An infirm person on crutches could have walked it over faster.

Sheesh.

DC Reluctantly Allows Restrictive Concealed Carry Permits

And Marion Barry isn't happy.

WJLATV: D.C. Council votes to allow concealed carry handguns with permit

"I don't believe in guns. I don't believe in carrying guns," said Councilmember Marion Barry, a Democrat and a former four-term mayor. "I think the public ought to understand that all of us here are doing something we really don't want to do."

It's too bad that guns aren't shaped more like crack pipes. If that was the case, then Marion Barry would be on them like Marion Barry on crack. Ah wait a minute, that analogy is rather circular...

So crack-using politicians and felons don't like law-abiding citizens carrying guns. No real surprises there.

Don't Count Your Turkey Before It Actually Steps Up

Kerry: U.S. seeks aid from Turkey against Islamic State

Turkey: Yeah, we'll get back to you on that.

The Washington Post: Turkey breaks up crowds at Syrian frontier protesting Islamic State, border closings

The money quote from the WAPO article:

“Turkey does not have a problem with ISIS,” Xelil said. “Sometimes they facilitate the transit of their fighters and even open the hospitals for their injured, while they do not allow [our] injured to cross and use their hospitals.”

Turkey would rather support ISIS to weaken the Kurds and expand Sunni Islam than fight ISIS. Methinks Kerry will be waiting for real aid and participation from Turkey for quite some time.

Kroger Rejects Gun Banners' Demand

Guns Save Lives: Moms Demand Action Asked to Leave Kroger Property in Lansing, Michigan

The pearl-clutching, gun-banning group Moms Demand Aktion loses yet again.

Basically Kroger simply follows state law regarding firearms, which is as it should be. No need for them to make a big deal of it.

Good on Kroger for not giving in to the pressure of an astro-turf pressure group that wishes to deprive Michigan's residents of their rights.

Guess I'll increase my shopping at Kroger. They're already stepping up and making their stores nicer around here and have decent product and produce selections and I'm already doing a good bit of shopping at my local store. Now I'll step it up some.

Och, Aqsa Mahmood Is Such A Fine Scottish Name

Hard on the heels of Scotland voting to remain in union with the United Kingdom, Tam links to a fascinating article of how a woman has left Scotland and off and joined ISIS and vow not to come back to the UK except to raise the banner of Islam.

"Gotta go 2 #beheading, C U l8r"

That whole multiculturalism thing vs a melting pot seems to be really turning out citizens with a solid British identity now doesn't it? To be fair, there's also women mentioned in the article allegedly from Chicago - agin the whole throwing away of a melting pot and unified American identity in return for non-judgmental multicultural relativism hasn't been great here either, but Europe seems to be bearing the brunt for now.

Now That Was A Fun Way To Spend A Saturday

Just back from taking the kids to The Adventure Park in West Bloomfield.

Best way to describe it - think challenging aerial obstacle courses and zip-lining. Did I mention it's all up in the air?

Take a look at their promo video:

If you had a fear of heights, this course helped you get over it. If you needed a workout, this park gave you one, in spades.

Lots of upper body work was involved, lots of balance work, lower body strength, and plenty of gut-checks.

Since you can't show any reluctance or fear in front of the kids, you go and get on the obstacles, no matter what. So I did.

Now I'm all sorts of sore along with the bruises to prove a good time was had. A beer or two is definitely in order

One problem was that Leah could only go on the Purple, Yellow and Green trails, and on the Green only with an adult. The Purple one is more designed for kids so fitting my 5"8 frame through some of the obstacles was interesting at times. Again, lots of interesting muscle soreness is developing from that.

I took Leah on both purples, both yellows (twice each) and one green, and the green required adult accompaniment due to her age, and in a couple spots a little help was needed for her to reach some areas. Otherwise, once should got the hanging of Tweezing (watch the video to understand), she ran the courses like a boss.

By the time we got to the Green course, it was very backed up, mainly due to a lot of people freezing up at the zip-line and causing a backlog all the way to the start. This simply disgusted Leah as she showed no fear whatsoever and suggested those people go to the purple courses so they could find some more their speed. She couldn't believe adults were both punking out and holding up the line while doing so. The Green course was also starting to get a little tall for her with some of the obstacle becoming a little hard for her to reach, and the amount of waiting on them was getting ridiculous, so we did just one and went back to the yellow courses.

Abby and Tash paired up and did the purple, yellow and green ones. Abby then came to me and Leah and Tash did a blue one while I we were on the green course with Leah and Abby so I unfortunately missed it. So we'll see if Murph is up for it when he comes to town sometime as there's some blue courses waiting to be done.

To say it was an awesome time is an understatement. The zip-lining high in the air was way cool, the obstacles where you felt like you would fall off at any minute were great for building confidence and faith in yourself and your capabilities. The kids ate it up and now know they can do things they never would have thought they could do before getting up and stepping out into the air.

Scotland Remains In The UK For Now

Here I was, looking forward to the imminent rebuilding of Hadrian's Wall.

Not by the British to keep the Scots out mind you.

But by the SNP to keep the Scots IN.

Yankee Air Force Museum To Change Its Name

Hard on the heels of the Confederate Air Force changing its name to the Commemorative Air Force to appease the forces of political correctness, we now hear the fabled Yankee Air Force Museum is about to change it's storied name as well.

The Detroit News: Air museum to drop ‘Yankee’ as it flies toward new era

The Yankee Air Museum will be soaring shortly into welcoming skies and a bright future, complete with an inspiring and appropriate new name.

Either that, or the new name will be a sniveling kowtow to the gods of political correctness.

That depends on your perspective, and how strongly you feel about the word “Yankee.” But the part about soaring is hard to argue with.

As for the new name, the museum at Willow Run Airport expects to reveal it within two to six weeks, at the same time it officially acquires a chunk of the historic Willow Run bomber plant that churned out B24s during World War II.

So take a museum and show with world-wide name recognition linked to air shows and historic aircraft with no real (or even imagined) negative connotations, and change it for no good reason.

Perhaps it should be renamed the Troll Air Force because after all, it is under the bridge, and then it could sell these adorable critters in the gift shop.

Curiouser and Curiouser: In Livingston Road Rage Shooting A History Of Getting Out Of The Boat And A History Of Violence

It's beginning to look more and more that the Livingston County Road Rage incident was a case of two hot headed idiots playing a stupid game and both losing, one fatally.

This incident reinforces the point - don't get out of the boat, don't play tough guy and confront another driver, and don't be a stupid road-rager on the road, period.

It turns out that the shot and deceased Mr. Fleming had a history of both threatening others and at least one other incident where he got out of his vehicle in a road rage case and confronted another driver and then swung at someone.

The Detroit Free Press: Road-rage run-ins not first for Howell victim, shooter

It was not the first time Derek Flemming confronted another motorist.

He told Livingston County Sheriff's Department deputies that he "grew frustrated" with a driver in front of him who had pulled out onto westbound M-59 from Clark Road, according to a police report that bears both a January 2013 and January 2014 date.

He told police that he honked his horn several times and the driver twice braked "suddenly, almost causing (Derek Flemming) to rear-end the vehicle," the report noted.

Derek Flemming said the other driver eventually "boxed him in" as he made a "Michigan left," so he got out of his vehicle, leaving his wife in the car, and asked the other driver what he was doing, the report noted. [Note the similarity to his actions in the present case]

The police report stated that a physical confrontation occurred and the other driver allegedly pushed Flemming, who fell to the ground, landing on his back and hitting his head.

He also had previously

"became irate and threatened to kill (a deputy) and any Enbridge person who stepped onto his property"

and allegedly launched fireworks at the Enbridge employees.

Meanwhile, Zale similarly has a history of violence and assuming the facts as reported as true, should not have legally had a CPL (concealed pistol license) to be legally allowed to carry a firearm that day:

According to 16th District Court records, Zale is wanted on an outstanding warrant alleging assault and battery for the 2008 incident in Livonia.

A Livonia Police Department report indicates a then-37-year-old Livonia man indicated that he was traveling east on 7 Mile Road and turned onto Farmington Road when Zale also turned onto Farmington from westbound 7 Mile.

The Livonia man said his vehicle was in front of Zale's and that Zale was following "close," prompting the Livonia man to tap his brakes to get the other driver to back off, the report noted. He said Zale followed him as he turned into a McDonald's parking lot and when he got out of his vehicle, a "verbal altercation started."

The Livonia man told Zale that he needed to "drive better or something like that," and that's when Zale struck him on the left side of the head "with a closed right fist," the report noted. He said Zale then left the parking lot.

At least two witnesses also reported to Livonia police that they saw Zale punch the victim with a closed fist and they wrote down his license plate number, which police traced to Zale.

This does bring up an interesting question - with an outstanding warrant for assault and battery, Zale's Concealed Pistol License should have been automatically suspended and he would have had to hand it in to his County Gun Board.

So, did he still have a permit through some oversight or was he in fact carrying illegally and not as a CPL holder as heavily reported at the time of the incident?

The Dinkheller Incident - A Sobering Look At How Everything Can Go Wrong, Fast

Thanks to Andrew Kirch on the book of the face, I got to look at a rather sobering and quite horrifying video on how badly things can go in an armed encounter.

This is the incident involving Deputy Kyle Dinkheller of the Laurens County Sheriff's Office that took place in 1998 after he pulled over the driver of a pickup truck, Andrew Brannon, for speeding over 98 mph.

The deputy never fully takes control, and completely loses control of the situation 21 seconds into the encounter, and he never gets it back.

Brannon acts irrationally, refuses to comply with Dinkheller's commands and acts aggressively towards the deputy. The deputy fails to aggressively respond and protect himself - according to one source he had been recently reprimanded that he was too quick to draw his weapon and too aggressive - here the lack of his willingness to draw and act aggressively led to his downfall.

41 seconds into the encounter, Dinkheller gets charged by the driver, but fails to secure and stop him, and is charged again by him at 50 seconds only hitting him with a non-disabling baton strike. Sadly at 1:08 he backs off and does not maintain contact with the driver, allowing Brannon to go back to his vehicle and take cover from the deputy. The driver enters the driver's side of the truck, now too far away from the deputy for Dinkheller to stop him, and things really go upside down.

Brannon in his truck retrieves and presents an M-1 Carbine, all the while the Deputy is ordering him to put the gun down but not firing at him even after the weapon is presented, and then Brannon begins firing and maneuvering toward the Deputy.

The Deputy, firing 33 shots with his pistol only makes one hit while being hit several times by Brannon and is finally brutally murdered at close range, 2 minutes and 53 seconds after the start of the encounter.

The deputy was killed, and sadly and ludicrously Andrew Brannon is still breathing. He's been sitting on death row for 14 years. While I'm not a fan of the death penalty due to the potential for mistake, government and prosecutorial malfeasance and the like, here there is no question as to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or any doubt for that matter. Brannon committed murder, of a deputy, on video. If there was ever a textbook case for a swift and sure application of the death penalty, this is it.

Some excellent analysis of this incident can be found at Police Marksmen and at Real Defense. Lots of lessons to be sadly learned here for both police and CPL'ers.

As civilians, we won't and should not be in a situation of pulling over another driver, but we may come up against an encounter with someone like Brannon while peacefully going about our lives under normal circumstances. Seeing the signs of the attack develop here, including the irrational actions, threats and posturing may hopefully help development of appropriate responses should someone come across the likes of a Brannon.

RIP Deputy Dinkheller, and hopefully the lessons learned from your untimely death have already saved lives and will save lives in the future.

Jett and The Deer

After walking Abby to the bus this morning, I was heading back to the house with Jett and he suddenly starts some serious barking.

After looking ahead of us, it wasn't hard to figure out why he was doing so:

Three deer, standing between two of our neighbors' houses as carefree as could be. The deer were quite interested in Jett's barking but didn't run away and instead continued to stand there and watch as we approached.

Moving closer and getting a better angle, I saw they weren't alone:

Yes, a full six-pack of suburban deer, just standing there and observing the comings and goings of people and canines. No real fear of humans nor any shyness, just standing there watching us approach.

They eventually took off as we got to almost touching distance, and Jett was quite proud of himself for defending the neighborhood from the interlopers.

Not a bad way to start a morning before heading to the office.

Obama: Boots On The Ground For Ebola, But Not For ISIS

Good to see where this administration's priorities lie:

U.S. to assign 3,000 from military to fight Ebola

The Obama administration is ramping up its response to West Africa’s Ebola crisis, preparing to assign 3,000 U.S. military personnel to the afflicted region to supply medical and logistical support to overwhelmed local health care systems and to boost the number of beds needed to isolate and treat victims of the epidemic.

President Barack Obama planned to announce the stepped up effort Tuesday during a visit to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta amid alarm that the outbreak could spread and that the deadly virus could mutate into a more easily transmitted disease.

The new U.S. muscle comes after appeals from the region and from aid organizations for a heightened U.S. role in combatting the outbreak blamed for more than 2,200 deaths.

Juxtapose that with his ISIS response: Obama promises no U.S. ground war against ISIS

So, boots on the ground to expose our troops to a very deadly and, by all reports, newly highly-communicable disease, but not against the human virus that is radical Islam.

Top. Men.

Your Belief That Things In Detroit Are Upside Down Is Confirmed When...

It's the cops that are wearing masks: as seen in the picture accompanying the linked article.

And it's the robbers that are brazenly showing their faces: Unmasked suspect stands in line to rob bank in Grosse Pointe Woods

Yeah, it's like that in the D.

No, It's Really Not Discrimination When You're That Stupid

So I get a call from someone, somewhere in this fine state.

"Can you represent me, I have to go to a court hearing?"

"Ok, And why is that?"

"Cause I didn't complete my community service, but I really shouldn't be treated like this, cause I'm not like I'm a murderer or anything, I'm being discriminated against really."

I then get all the reasons why the community service wasn't done and how the person is being mistreated because of it and how the person had to pay $500 at the previous hearing and the magistrate wasn't very nice.

"OK, so why did you get community service?"

"I don't know, it's not like I'm a criminal or something, or did anything serious, and at the hearing the judge said she was going to make me do community service, I feel they bein' prejudiced agains' me"

"Ok, I understand that, but judges don't give people community service for nothing, what were you charged with?"

"Not doing my community service."

We continue in this vein for awhile and I finally get the person away from the fixation on community service and missing the better part thereof, and back to the question of "What were you charged with to get community service?"

"I don' know, maybe something to do with my drivin'"

"Ok, now we're getting somewhere, what is it about your driving that caused you to be charged with something that led you to get community service?"

"I don' know, maybe cause my driver's license was suspended when I got in an accident, but that wasn't my fault."

Yes, that sound you would have just heard at the time was my head hitting my desk.

I explained that yes, this person needs a lawyer for the hearing, cause they clearly can't represent themselves as they can't even answer a straight question. I named my fee, and suggested the person get going on doing the community service and having the hours done and completed before the hearing. We'll see if I actually get retained.

Do note Dear Reader that this person votes, and, Lord help us all, drives.

In Rochester Hills, Michigan: A High School With Stupidity So Stupid It Burns, Stupidly.

School Security theater is one thing.

Stupid School Security Theater is another.

Stupid School Security Theater run by complete flippin' morons is even worse.

Fox News: School Security Guard to Army Officer: You Can't Come In While Wearing Your Uniform

Yes,you read that correctly. A US Army Lieutenant Colonel was denied entry to Rochester Hills Adams High School with his wife and daughter who is a student there because

"he could not enter wearing the uniform because it could offend people"

Let the stupidity of that sink in for a minute.

Now, this was eventually sorted out, but only after he and his wife called the superintendent's office, who as a former Marine probably yelled "WTF!" once he heard about it.

The superintendent is now trying to repair the damage by stating that there is no policy barring uniformed military from the school and the district

will be working with administration and the firm that handles our security to make sure district policies are understood and communicated accurately."

It'll be fun to see who gets the blame for this first-class mess-up.

So glad we don't live in the Rochester Hills school district.

How's That Reset Button Working For You?

Alternatively titled "This is why you don't give a Russian a Big Red Button as a gift".

The Detroit News: Putin: Russia to focus on new offensive weapons

Great example of the results of sophisticated adult soft-power diplomacy there guys, very nicely done.

Quick Note: Thanks to Tam for the Tamalanche that has hit this post.

Thanks for visiting, and if you're a new visitor (or a returning visitor), feel free to look around. I've got politics, law, coins, airplanes, guns, and scuba diving among other topics here for your viewing enjoyment, so hopefully you'll find something to your liking. Also, be sure to check out the awesome bloggers linked on the left side of the screen as well.

More Blue Angels Pics

The show was so good I wanted to share more of the Blue Angels in action.

Chasing the angels:

Showing some burner action:

Coming in head on in Delta formation:

How close can they get?

That formation then shifted into two tight pairs:

Passing by the POW/MIA flag:

All six Blue Angels passing by:

Blue Angels Over Selfridge

The Blue Angels Came, The Blue Angles Flew, The Blew Angels Rocked It.

Click 'em to embiggen.

From high-speed passes and hi-g turns:

To low and dirty in-close maneuvers:

There was nothing they couldn't do with their F-18 Hornets.

The high speed inverted crossover was a crowd favorite:

As was the formation break:

From This:

To This, in a flash:

The Blue Angles did the US Navy proud at Selfridge and put on an awesome display.

MIG-17 Sunday

At the Selfridge Open House, Randy Ball put his MIG-17F through some serious paces.

Sadly, I was stuck in traffic and could only watch it fly by without getting any shots, but I did get some decent close-up shots when it had landed and was being refueled.

A Soviet fighter that served in the east bloc starting in the 50s and with impressive longevity, continued serving through the 90s in some East Bloc air forces, and is still in service today with some African countries and North Korea. The MIG-17 had the tightest turning ratio of a jet fighter in the world until the F-16 was introduced.

With a top speed of 711 miles per hour and armed with two 23 mm cannons and a 37mm cannon, the MIG-17 was a fearsome dog-fighter in the Vietnam War. Mr. Ball, holder of an FAA unlimited jet aerobatics license, ably showed its tight turning radius and impressive speed and maneuverability.

It's an impressive, loud and fast moving aircraft and in the hands of capable pilots the aircraft gave our pilots a tough time over the skies of Vietnam.

Selfridge Open House And Air Show

This weekend, Selfridge Air National Guard Base hosts its annual open house.

The base is open to the public with static displays, stuff for the kids, and a small airshow.

I took Abby and Leah there today.

Unfortunately, while I wanted to arrive in time for the main airshow act, if not for all of it, this had to be balanced by the estimated longevity of two young kids for hanging around an air show with lots of walking and crowds to contend with, and we also had to exercise Jett before we left the house.

So we left later than I wished for, and then got stuck in the traffic jam to end all traffic jams on 21 Mile Road before I-94 heading to the base. It took over an hour to go 2.7 miles. Murphy would have gone ballistic.

But we arrived at the base, parked in the first parking lot we saw. This was fortuitous later as we got out real easy unlike everyone else who was completely stuck in the traffic jam to get off the base, and then walked a good distance to get to the show entrance.

Once past security at the entrance the first thing we saw was this:

Yes a CH-47. The line to go into it was huge so we bypassed it and the kids got to go into a Customs and Border Patrol helicopter instead.

We then took some pics at the flight line, which I'll show in a later post.

This year the air show had an awesome main act:

Yes, the Blue Angles put on a fantastic display of precision aerobatic airmanship. More pictures of them in a post coming soon as they deserve their very own.

Bus Encounters Of The Mainstreamed Special Needs Kind

Abby had a very unfortunate and frightening incident on the bus home from school yesterday.

She and her friend, both 5th graders, sat down near the front of the bus as they're the first stop off.

A male 7th grader with "special needs" came on and told them that was his seat.

There are no assigned seats on the bus, and apparently the bus driver told him there are no assigned seats and to just sit down and he then put the bus in motion.

The kid then starts screaming at them, gets in their faces, and yells at them to get out of his seat.

At this point they're trapped in the seat with him blocking them.

Abby being diplomatic tries to reason with him and says she and her friend will be off the bus in a minute and they can't change seats because the bus is moving. Her friend also says she's not moving.

The kid then screams at them raises his fist at them, spits at them, calls Abby the "B-" word, calls them both "F-A" words and Abby learns an unfortunate new word she's never heard before.

You see, Abby's friend is black and the 7th grader called her the N-word.

The kid is still out of control and says he's going to break their necks and kill them and kill everyone on the bus. At least one other kid in addition to Abby and her friend heard this.

At this point Abby flips out, gets scared and as soon as the bus arrives at their stop gets away and races off along with her friend.

We call the principal as soon as we found out what happened.

The principal immediately knows the identity of the kid involved and apparently he's an asperger kid well on the autistic side of the spectrum that was previously riding one of the special buses but wanted to go on the regular bus.

Mainstreaming special needs kids can be fine, but mainstreaming violent ones without notifying other parents or apparently notifying the bus driver is not ok.

If this was a normal kid my bet under zero tolerance is he would be at least suspended if not expelled for the threats and the assault of putting his fist in their face and spitting on them.

We will see what if anything the administration does about this, but this sure isn't over, nor are we letting it drop.

Update: As of now, per the principal, the boy will no longer be on the bus. They had a discussion with him and he apparently admitted doing everything, apparently because they were in "his" seat. It's highly likely the boy doesn't even register who they are as people so there should be no repercussions or further events, but we'll keep on eye on things.

Never Get Outa The Boat

A recent incident described as road rage illustrates this point.

The Detroit Free Press: Attorney: Howell road rage gunman drove recklessly before deadly attack

A 69-year-old Howell man had been driving recklessly moments before a deadly confrontation at a traffic light east of Howell during which he shot to death another motorist, according to the attorney representing the victim’s family.

Derek Flemming, 43, and his wife, Amy, had lunch in Howell and were on their way to pick up their two children from the first day of school Tuesday afternoon when their 2014 Ford Escape was cut off by a speeding pickup, attorney William Moore said.

According to police, witnesses told investigators that Flemming got out of his SUV at a stoplight on Grand River at Chilson Road and approached the 2012 Dodge pickup, asking: “What’s your problem?”

The other driver then rolled down his window and shot him, Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte said Wednesday.

While the story as reported, as in many other instances may not quite relate all the facts, nor report them accurately, let's assume it is correct for now.

Assuming they're right the pickup driver just committed murder.

However, you get, as the Freep reports in the article - almost sideswiped by a pickup truck, tailgated by it, and then the same truck then passes ahead and slams on the brakes ahead of the SUV the victim was driving so there's almost an accident.

You then as the innocent SUV driver get out and confront this guy? Not a good idea.

Assuming the SUV driver is blameless in the incident and didn't contribute to it, what did he think he would do to improve the situation by getting out of his SUV and confronting a pickup driver that has already aptly demonstrated to be totally out of control and a clear danger?

Stay in your vehicle, call the police and evade if at all possible, confronting an idiot isn't going to help anything.

You should only get out of your vehicle if your vehicle is not mobile and you're trapped in the location and the attacker is coming towards you. In such a situation getting free of the confines of the vehicle makes sense -the cops don't call the front seat of the patrol car a coffin for nothing. Otherwise, never get outa the boat.

Jett Gains The Upper Paw Over Rocky

Jett's best friend Rocky came over to play this evening.

They did their standard game of chase, but Jett noticed Rocky wasn't trying very hard to catch him so he decided to motivate him.

Jett saw that Rocky had a leash on and decided to take his friend for a walk. And he did just that.

He then walked him around the yard.

And walked him around on the porch.

Jett actually pulled him along, and Rocky had no how he had gotten into such a predicament.

Being a smart dog, Jett used some mechanical advantage to gain the upper paw. One only can wonder what mayhem he could do with an opposable thumb.

Dick Move Of The Day

So I have a hypothetical law-abiding client who had an issue related to a firearm for which he was contacted by a detective to come in and talk about it.

Did he retain counsel then? NO.

Did he appear with an attorney? NO.

Did he make a statement that is likely going to incriminate the heck out of him? Why YES, yes he did.

Did the statement cause other immediate ill effects? YES, yes it did.

You see, part of this matter involved a vehicle and a firearm.

He works for an employer with a strict no guns policy on the premises.

This includes parking lots. Note well that Michigan lacks any laws protecting law-abiding carriers having their gun locked in their cars while at work from being terminated.

In his statement to police he noted he began his journey before the incident at his employer's parking lot with the gun in the vehicle.

The real dick move in this is the detective contacted the employer and told the employer the fellow had a gun in the vehicle in the parking lot. This had nothing to do with the incident in question which happened miles and miles away from the employer's workplace. He has a squeaky-clean record both at work and in life without even a speeding ticket.

The employer immediately terminated the client for violating the no weapons policy.

Remember folks, if you receive a call from the police asking you to immediately come down to talk with them the response is not "I'll be right there". The proper response is "I'll be right there after I've contacted my lawyer and we'll let you know as soon as we can come in to talk with you and we intend to cooperate fully as soon as that can be arranged."

You need to understand that when police call you in for a friendly chat it's not because they're lonely and want to make a new friend. Instead, they're trying to make a case and if they've zeroed in on you, rightly or wrongly, as the suspect rather than the victim in the incident you need a lawyer and you need to shut up until you get one.

Smoked Brisket - It's What's For Labor Day Dinner

There's a first time for everything, and this was the first time to smoke a brisket.

To begin smoking a brisket, you need to prepare it, aye there's the rub.

And A rub there was:

Comprising brown sugar, ancho chili pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, onion flakes, garlic and pepper, the brisket was covered with it, wrapped in foil and placed in the fridge for 24 hours.

Then it was time to begin the smoking of the meat: The smoker was warmed up, topped off with water and fuel and the smoking began.

For the first attempt I went with a small brisket of 3 pounds, so the cook time was four and a half hours.

Every hour the brisket was lovingly basted with mop sauce.

Making the mop sauce was easy:

Step 1. Grab a beer, drink some beer.

Step 2. Put 1/4 cup of beer in a bowl

Step 3. Add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

Step 4. Add 1/4 cup olive oil

Step 5. add some squirts of Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly.

Step 6. Drink some beer while applying mop sauce to the brisket.

After 4.5 Hours cooking and then two hours of rest wrapped in foil, it was ready:

Served alongside some roast beets, roast potatoes, and corn it was a meal fit for the labors of the day, and yes, it came out tender and perfect tasting. Whether it was beginner's luck or otherwise, I made a darn nice brisket.

Man vs Ivy: When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Thorns In Them

Today, while working on some other important items, I had time to work on the poison ivy infestation.

The Round Up has done a pretty decent job so it was time for removal.

Rubber boots, long shirt and jeans, rubber gloves and cutting device in hand I waded in.

After over an hour I had a full lawn bag of poison ivy clippings and there's still more there.

Even better, the poison ivy stalks have co-located in one spot with a thorny plant that made removal so much more fun.

More Round Up was applied and I'll be back at it again for more position ivy removal once it kicks in.