The New Despotism

I know. This so-called blog is a frivolous mixture of clowns, guns, side-swipes at random mountebanks and anything else I care to get into. But here's some serious thought, from Guido De Ruggiero, summarizing Tocqueville:

“As compared with old-fashioned personal despotism, this new despotism which is growing up in the democratic nations of our day is more sweeping and less painful; it degrades men without torturing them. It expresses itself through an absolute State power, detailed, uniform, provident, and mild, which would be paternal had it been designed to prepare men for a life of maturity; but its true intention is to arrest them permanently at the stage of infancy.”

Ruggiero was writing in the 1920s, Tocqueville in the 1830s and I'd say both are right on the money today.

Thanks, DC, for that.

Cheers,

LSP

Shooting the Chiefs Special

The "Chiefs Special" was the first 5-shot J-frame .38 Special produced by Smith & Wesson, all the way back in 1950. Some call it the "most influential compact revolver design of the 20th Century." Maybe it is, but whatever the case, I wanted to shoot mine.

And that's what I did. It's an easy little pistol to shoot and well-capable of sending its 5 rounds of .38 Special downrange with surprising accuracy, partly due to its consistent, short, crisp trigger. But be warned, its short sight plane means working on keeping a perfect sight picture, or you'll miss.

I had a lot of fun blasting away from around 10, 15 and 20 yards and did alright. Nothing special though, if you'll forgive the phrase. So I took a different approach, leaving the paper behind and going for a swinging steel plate that's, well, plate sized. I was surprised to see my shooting improve considerably on target and was pleased to make the metal adversary rock about from beyond 30 yards.

With a bit of practice I'd say you could get on "center mass", at least, from 50 yards, and I'm not a particularly good shooter. 

Verdict? The Chiefs Special, or Model 60, S&W is small, accurate and gives you 5 rounds of 945 fps .38 Special to send at the opposition in short order. I'd imagine it'd make a great backup or concealed carry handgun. It looks good too and I can't fault the fit and finish of this pistol. All in all a great little gun.

Get one, if you haven't already. Fun to shoot and handy with it.

Cheers,

LSP

What Difference Does it Make?

So what difference does it make? 

Good question.

Ask the monkeys.

And Ambassador Stevens.

And our friends in Saudi, Qatar and Raqqa.




In case you're wondering, our soldiers fighting Ebola in Liberia won't get hazmat suits. After all, what difference does it make?

Ask the monkey.

God bless,

LSP

Get Gay or Go to Gaol

Well that didn't take long. Two Christian ministers in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, have been told by city officials to perform gay wedding ceremonies in their marriage chapel or go to jail, or pay massive fines, or both.

Get Gay, Donald Or Go To Gaol

The city claims that Donald Knapp and his wife Evelyn would be in violation of non-discrimination laws if they didn't get gay and perform same-sex marriage rituals in their Hitching Post chapel. Coeur D'Alene's aggressive gay advocacy follows recent federal court decisions overturning Idaho's voter-approved constitutional amendment, that defined marriage as being between a man and a women.

Ernst Rohm

The Knapps have refused to perform a homosexual wedding ceremony and face 180 days in jail and a fine of $1000 for each day they refuse to conduct the gay ritual. They are being defended by the Alliance Defending Freedom against the gay city of Coeur D'Alene.

You see where this is going. To be against homosexual marriage is fast becoming unconstitutional and therefore illegal. 

New World Order of Gayness

People need to stand up and put a stop to this garbage. I mean for God's sake, if you want to "tie the knot" with your SSP (same-sex partner) just go to an Episcopal church. It's not hard, if degenerate.

So this is my message to the Couer D'Alene Gaystapo.

Leave the Knapps alone.

LSP

Missing in Action, So Hit the Links

You know what it's like, one of your agencies, the CDC, has gone off the rails, maybe it was never even on them. And you're seething. It looks bad, real bad. 

 

The Most Powerful

 

The whole nation's scratching their heads and wondering, "Who's in charge of this operation, the Three Stooges or the Keystone Kops?"

Man in the World

So what do you do? Hit the links, obviously, for four hours and work out the stress of yet another scandal. 

 

I Want the Chop.

 

Then go to an Ebola briefing in your cleats and wonder why your new Ebola Czar isn't there. Again. Dammit. Maybe he's at Bobby Van's, Morton's the Steakhouse, Prime Rib, District Chophouse, the Capital Grille. Who the Hell knows. He's not here.

 

Nice

 

Good thing we're not dealing with anything serious here, eh?

God bless,

LSP

Dallas Almost After Midnight

So what's it like, LSP, spending an evening in America's viral hotzone? Well I'll tell you. There weren't many people about for a Friday night in Bishop Arts. But there were some and one of them sneezed, loudly.

This caused Crystal, who waits tables and has a gold nose ring (real gold, mind you) to say, "Oh. Thanks for your Ebola!" The sneezer turned back to his Lone Star, appropriately chastened.

No Protocols Whatsoever

Also, the youngest of the LSP sisters raised an eyebrow when someone threw up onto the sidewalk from the front patio of the Oak Cliff Social Club. No protocols in place there, then.

Bolsa Was Empty

So we fell back to Bolsa, where it's safe, and found it empty. No one was driving south of the river from North Dallas, apparently, and maybe that's a good thing for the south. Self-quarantine.

But look here Dallas, and America. There's nothing to worry about because our President has told us that Ebola is "actually a difficult disease to catch," and that "we know how to fight this disease. We know the protocols."

Nothing To Worry About

I guess that's why a man from Liberia died in Dallas, three schools are shut down, two nurses are infected with the virus and God alone knows how many people have been exposed to this thing through sheer, mind-bending, deadly, incompetence.

On the positive side of the ledger, I was invited to a friend's ranch in West Texas for some long distance shooting and hunting. Off Mesas, thank you very much, and Lapua Magnum take the hindmost.

Cheers,

LSP

Ebola, Government Gets More Dumber and Stupider

Just when you thought that that things couldn't get any worse, President Obama has appointed an Ebola Czar, Ron Klain.

Limo Lib Apparatchik

Klain's main qualifications in leading the effort to contain this deadly disease are that... he doesn't have any.

Some people have said that "the wheels have come off the trolley" when it comes to America's response to the killer virus and that seems to be true, except in Dallas, where there weren't any in the first place.

Rumors that the Keystone Kops are in charge of this operation are entirely true.

Stay tuned for on-the-spot, real-time reporting from Dallas, America's viral hot zone, where local nurses say in private that they're "terrified of Ebola." 

Mosquitoes may or may not be Ebola vectors.

Be safe, 

LSP

Vomitflight. You're Kidding, Right?

What typically happens with Ebola is that you throw up a lot until you die. So when a man died on a flight from Nigeria to JFK, after vomiting his life out, well, people were worried.

But not the CDC. After a "cursory examination" they said there wasn't any danger of Ebola and everything was just fine. Apart from the poor guy who threw up to death in his seat. He wasn't fine, of course.

I guess the CDC is right, just like they were in Dallas. Nothing to worry about here. Except that there is.

Smart African Countries have quarantines in place, unlike the U.S., which says that they encourage the spread of disease.

Sure they do. In Opposite Land.

LSP

Get On The Dove!

The day started pretty early, before first light, when I teamed up with GWB for a Sausage McBiscuit and a cup of coffee. The idea being to get some scoff before shooting dove. 

Home of the Sausage McBiscuit

I say "scoff", but English readers might be confused. The Sausage McBiscuit has nothing whatsoever in common with anything you would think of as a sausage, or a biscuit. It's more of a scone type of thing with a thin patty of spicy(ish) meat in the middle, that may or may not have some resemblance to sausage meat. American readers might be confused too. The Sausage McBiscuit has about as much resemblance to the real thing as the $1 McCheeseburger has to a real cheeseburger. But hey, I like both, even if they are entirely different "food" items.

Where's the Bloody Birds?

That aside, we set up in the traditional treeline and waited for the birds to fly. Sure enough, a couple flew in and GWB brought them down. Nice work. Then, as he was retrieving the birds, a cloud of the avian acrobats appeared out of nowhere and I blazed away, like a Flak Tower.

There weren't many fly-ins after that, so I went for a walk-about, saw a couple of bunnies, which I didn't shoot, and some dove, which I missed.

Shadow LSP

I consoled myself with taking the odd "shadow selfie" and generally being pleased that I'm not living in the Dallas "hot zone."

Just a few more days of dove season left, must get some more birds.

Cheers,

LSP

This Gets Better And Better

Why is "Clipboard Man" not wearing protective gear as he supervises the team taking Amber Vinson onto the plane?

Because it's safer that way, obviously. Here's what Phoenix Air had to say: (via ZeroHedge)

"Our medical professionals in the biohazard suits have limited vision and mobility and it is the protocol supervisor’s job to watch each person carefully and give them verbal directions to insure no close contact protocols are violated.

"There is absolutely no problem with this and in fact insures an even higher level of safety for all involved."

So the less protection you have the more protected you are? Good thinking, guys.

Filled with confidence in our preparedness to deal with this disease? Neither am I.

LSP

Dallas to Declare State of Disaster

Via ZeroHedge. 

Amber Vinson, who treated Ebola victim Eric Duncan, called the CDC several times and was given the "green light" to fly from Cleveland to Dallas. Apparently her 99.5 degree fever wasn't a symptom of the deadly disease, except that it was.

Remember, they have this disease totally under control. Good thing it's not very contagious and isn't "airborne," except that it might be. That's why we aren't restricting air travel to infected countries. 

The phrase "gang of killer clowns" springs to mind.

See LL's post for reflection on the theme.

Hope you've invested in respirators.

LSP

Houston, We Have A Problem

And the problem is Annise Parker, Houston's aggressively lesbian Mayor. 

Parker has subpoenaed five Pastors, demanding they turn over all sermons and pastoral communications mentioning homosexuality. If they refuse, the Houston Five will be held in contempt of court.

The Pink Steamroller

Whatever happened to freedom of religion and the First Amendment? Parker and the pink steamroller don't care about that.

Overlord

Those who do, need to step up to the plate and remind the Houston Lesbyterians that they're "public servants, not 'Big Brother Overlords.'"

Demented NWO Stooge

If Parker wins, be sure that other cities will be sure to follow Houston's lead.

Don't let that happen.

LSP