Category: Disaster

Over-Complicating

Disaster, Gummint, Military

I have often snarled at the .dotmil, who never seem to miss an opportunity to create weapons systems that are so laden with bells and whistles that they add all sorts of other problems, e.g. COST not to mention MORE THINGS TO BREAK.

It’s not just the military, of course.  Try this wonderful screw-up from a different government department (emphasis added):

There’s a massive shortage of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) test kits in the U.S., as cases continue to skyrocket in places like Seattle and New York City. This is largely due to the failure of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to distribute the tests in a timely fashion.
But it didn’t have to be this way. Back in January and February—when cases of the deadly disease began aggressively circulating outside of China—diagnostics already existed in places like Wuhan, where the pandemic began. Those tests followed World Health Organization (WHO) test guidelines, which the U.S. decided to eschew.
Instead, the CDC created its own in-depth diagnostics that could identify not only COVID-19, but a host of SARS-like coronaviruses.

“No, not just a test kit to address the immediate issue;  let’s make one that’s more complicated but can test for every single virus in the world, plus others that don’t even exist yet!”

And as any fule kno, when you try to make something to do one thing, but expand the mission for it to do lots  of things…

Then, disaster struck:  When the CDC sent tests to labs during the first week of February, those labs discovered that while the kits did detect COVID-19, they also produced false positives when checking for other viruses. As the CDC went back to the drawing board to develop yet more tests, precious time ticked away.

Government:  fucking it up six ways to Sunday, each and every time.

Chock Full

Disaster, Two-Minute Hate

It’s hard to see how someone could fit any more annoying shit into a single headline:

And for those who, like me, might be clueless about someone named “Lizzo”, look it up online at your own peril.  Seriously:  have a barf bag ready.

Don’t even get me started  about the neo-globalist “One World” Kumbaya bullshit.

About That Europellet Stuff

Disaster, The Gun Thing

Seems like we may have an Obama-era situation here:

A cursory look at a couple of websites showed no problems with stock, e.g. CheaperThanDirt and LuckyGunner.  (A little pricier than normal, to be sure, but at least they have it handy — at time of writing, that is.)  However, MidwayUSA and Graf & Son show complete OOS on all 9mm except the premium loads.

Compare and contrast the .45 ACP situation:  CTD (sweet deal, by the way for quality range ammo) and LuckyGunner.

A little worm crawled into my ear, though, triggered by a deal I saw on the little Makarov 9x18mm pistol.  Stocks of the 9mm Mak ammo seem to be quite substantial (e.g. CTD’s Sellier & Bellot) and cheap, to boot.

Just as I suggested yesterday that it might be prudent to have a rifle chambered in a not-so-popular chambering (the PSL in 7.62x54mmR), maybe one could extend that thought to pistols.  I love the Makarov (also the CZ-82 version):  it’s rugged and easy to shoot, and the 9x18mm round is a little fireball.

Food for thought, n’est-ce pas?  And for you Crufflers out there, it’s a C&R transaction.

More Lockdown Problems

Disaster, Men & Women

What was that about familiarity breeding contempt?

Three Brits having affairs during the lockdown have revealed their stories as they look for ways to spice up being in isolation.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the trio – all of whose names have been changed – revealed how they have taken to FaceTime sex and affairs from their city pad as they struggle to deal with the restrictions.

This comes as the UK’s leading affairs site Illicit Encounters reported a 15 per cent rise in activity in the last month.
More than half of male members (54 per cent) said they had initiated new affairs in the last four weeks, with the main reason for this rise being ‘boredom’ sparked by being stuck at home in the lockdown.
Meanwhile almost half of female members (46 per cent) had made contact with a new male partner in the last four weeks, revealing that the crisis had exposed the weakness of their main relationship and made them realise they needed ‘fresh stimulus’.

So far, the only extramarital business adversely affected by the “stay at home” policy seems to be prostitution, and that’s not going to last long either.  When it comes to strange nookie, people will always find a way.

This, however, will undoubtedly be true:

‘There is going to be an explosion of affairs when the lockdown ends – a long, glorious summer of sex. The Roaring Twenties are really going to take off.’

Pigs

Bad News, Disaster, Gummint, Law and Order

I never fell for that “counter-culture” trope of referring to all police as “pigs” because I thought it was unfair.  An old Dave Berg cartoon in MAD  Magazine encapsulated my opinion perfectly:

Protesting hippies:  “Off the Pigs!”  “Pigs Off Campus!”  etc. etc., all screaming at a tubby police officer standing in front of them.  Suddenly, a bunch of hard-hat construction workers dive into the group and start kicking the shit out of them.
Hippies:  “Help!  Police!”
Policeman (smiling):  “Ain’t nobody here but us pigs…”

However, it is an undeniable fact that under this lockdown insanity, many police forces have let their enforcement mandate get out of control (arresting lone paddleboarders, snooping into people’s shopping bags for evidence of “non-essential” purchases, and so on).  Then we have bullshit like this:

The New Jersey woman who helped organize and film a protest in the state capitol of Trenton against Governor Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home orders was charged by the state police with violating the emergency decrees.

…not to mention this little injustice:

Artur Pawlowski was feeding homeless people in downtown Calgary when over half a dozen police officers surrounded him and issued him a cool $1,200 fine.
Apparently this gathering was in contravention of new coronavirus lockdown laws, but there were more police officers attending this “crime” than there were alleged offenders.

…not to mention this excellent use of state resources:

A skate park in San Clemente, CA, was filled with 37 tons of sand by local authorities to block skaters from using it during the coronavirus outbreak.

I would go on and on, but as Insty would put it, I’d probably need a bigger blog.

What worries me most about all this is not just that the (mostly Democrat) state governors are going apeshit over this golden opportunity to oppress and control the people who voted them into power.  That’s what socialists do, all the time.

What depresses me is that so many police forces are jumping right in and enforcing — in many cases over-stringently — the stupid and ineffective regulations.  Even stories like this depress me rather than inspire me:

Wisconsin’s Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling indicated in a statement on Friday he will not enforce the state’s stay-at-home order, which Gov. Tony Evers (D) extended through May 26.
…
While Wisconsin law gives both the governor and Wisconsin DHS “the authority to develop emergency measures and enforce rules and order to protect the public during a health crisis,” Schmaling emphasized that state law “does not have the power to supersede or suspend the Constitutional rights of American citizens.”

Good for him, say I;  what saddens me is that every  sheriff should be saying and doing this kind of thing, but most aren’t.

So to all my law enforcement friends out there:  take your foot off the gas pedal, because at some point you’re going to start encountering increasing backlash from the people you’re supposed to be protecting — and nobody  wants that to happen.

Nobody, that is, except the socialist politicians who will respond, as statist authoritarians always do, by increasing  the level of oppression (e.g. by trying to pass more gun-control laws and imposing curfews) instead of ameliorating it.

Don’t make us start thinking of calling you “pigs”.