Author: Kim du Toit

Stop It, You’re Killing Me

Behind Enemy Lines, Crime

…and if you live in upscale areas in Los Angeles, that might be “literally“:

Crime has risen dramatically in Los Angeles, as well as in many other major cities, since the start of the pandemic and last summer’s protests against police violence resulted in the slashing of many law enforcement budgets. News stories document rising fear across LA and crime has become the major issue in both the upcoming mayor’s election and a possible recall of the district attorney. It may not be surprising that issues of race and class are driving this concern, though they have a new twist.

Wealthy and predominantly white neighborhoods have experienced the sharpest upticks in a wide array of crimes.

It shows that the richer and whiter the area, the greater the increase in both raw crime totals and percentages of total city crime. This includes a wide range of felonies, from robbery, burglary, shoplifting and car theft to aggravated assault and rape.

California voters have moved the needle on crime in recent years. Proposition 47 decriminalized a number of theft and drug charges, making them misdemeanors, as it did several “non-violent” felonies. Voters also approved Proposition 57, which allows for early release of non-violent offenders.

Imagine that:  you vote to decriminalize all sorts of crime, and those types of crime increase and the goblins goes to where da money izz (/Willie Sutton).  Read the article for the breakdowns.

Who could have seen that coming?

Well, nobody except the 70-odd million people who voted for Trump last time around.

And stop giggling like little girls, you lot;  it’s unbecoming.

Oldie But Goodie

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

I saw this ad a couple days back, and it brought back fond memories.

The Silvertip has been around for donkey’s years, and I recall that of late, its effectiveness has been somewhat derided by the usual tests (ballistic gel, whatever).

Here’s what I know.

Back in the early 1980s, I saw an autopsy of a corpse in a police morgue (long story, not important) of a man who had been shot once with a .45 ACP Silvertip.  The entry wound was, well, .45 inches, and the exit wound about double that.  Nothing much to report, there.

What really impressed me was what damage the bullet had caused along the way.  It hadn’t hit any rib bone on the way in, but the guy’s insides still looked like they’d gone 5 seconds in a commercial blender.

After seeing  that, I carried Silvertip ammo in my carry guns exclusively until the early 2000s, when it just got too expensive.  I see that Lucky Gunner, among others, now has the 9mm Silvertips on sale for about a buck a round, which is expensive but not massively so, in today’s Bidenflation World.

In .45 ACP, however, the cost per squeeze (IF you can find any in stock) is between $1.80 and $2 (!!!), which is definitely too spendy for my wallet.

But if you want to put only the best ammo in your carry gun for those unexpected antisocial occasions (and there’s nothing wrong with that), do consider the Silvertip as well as your usual suspects in premium self-defense ammo.  I’ve seen first-hand what it does, after all.

And of course, I get no kickback from Winchester or anyone else from my recommendations.

Job Opening

Media Assholes

Right here in Texas:

I’m applying for the job.

Just think of my initial report descriptions:

Jesuslanders are irrationally opposed to sexualization of 3-year-olds.  Send $125,000 so I can investigate this strange mindset further by polling studies.

Inexplicably, gun ownership appears to be a big thing here.  Send $125,000 so I can build a small arsenal and see what all the fuss is about.

Texans somehow think that people should be allowed to buy medical insurance to suit their own needs and means.  (To Accounting:  Please send $10,000 to cover my recent out-of-network medical expenses.)

I have discovered that in 2018, various voting districts went 75% for Trump.  As these districts are all over the state, and Texas is apparently a bit bigger than New Jersey, please authorize an additional $145,000 in travel expenses so I can visit these distant worlds, so to speak, and investigate whether there were any voting irregularities.

Feel free to add your suggestions as to other things that the Washington Post will need me to cover.

Speed Bump #7,659

Grammar Nazism

In an otherwise decent article,  Brandon Morse writes this howler:

“In today’s society, emotion is increasingly valued over logistical thinking.”

Really?  Emotion is placed higher than thinking about how to move stuff from one place to another?

IT’S “LOGICAL“, NOT “LOGISTICAL“, YOU FECKLESS, ILLITERATE MORON.

JHC… it’s way too early to have yet another gin, but WTF.