Bondi Reflections

Right up front, I’m going to say that I hope I’m never in a situation like one of the several mass shootings we’ve just seen.  I’m no hero, I’m too old for that kind of thing, and there are too many bad outcomes (for me) should I get involved with — i.e. by shooting back at — asshole gunmen on a spree.

That said, I also hope that if the situation is inescapable that I will have the gumption to perform my civic duty, i.e. by not running away and hoping that law enforcement will take care of everything, and doing my level best to end the threat.

I also hope I don’t get shot by the frigging cops, which is what seems to have happened in Sydney because to the untrained and panicked eye, the target becomes any guy holding a gun (or, in the case of the OzCops) and even standing next to the gun he just used, with his hands in the air.

What a shit show.

For those who think that I’m being silly to imagine such things happening, living as I do in north Texas:   let me remind everyone that there was just such a mass shooting at an outdoor mall in Allen, just up the road from my house, only a couple years ago.  (What makes it all the more chilling was that both New Wife and Mrs. Doc Russia had gone out shopping in Allen, and might well have ended up at the mall in so doing.)

So no:  if we’ve learned one thing from all this, it’s that this shit can happen anywhere.  And we would do well to be prepared to deal with it.

Once again, I’m absolutely not hoping that I get involved in some of this mayhem;  but at the same time, I will admit to doing some mental role-playing in my head, dredging up all the old “Coinops” (counter-insurgency operations) drills I learned back in those far-off days when we all carried muskets and bayonets.

One thing is for sure, though:  I will not be a helpless victim.

Light Posting

Sorry about the paucity of posts today, but I was busier than a $5 whore during Fleet Week yesterday, only not engaged in any sexual congress, of course.  (New Wife is out of town, and I’m just too damn old for such shenanigans.)

Anyway…

What kept me busy yesterday was that after seeing the news for the past few days (Bondi Beach Escapades, Brown University Learning Experience, Turtle Island Liberation Fun & Games, etc.), I decided that it was time to up my game.

Now should any trouble come to my door, so to speak, I am reasonably confident that I could give a good account of myself in the sense of repelling boarders.  (Cue the Son&Heir:  “Pity the fool.” )

But even though I don’t leave the house to drive around that often, the fact is that I do occasionally have to venture out Where The Wild Things Are.  And if the past week has shown us anything, it’s that The Wild Things can be just about anywhere.  I mean, if the International Asshole Set is going to sprinkle bullets around Bondi fucking Beach, FFS…

…so I decided to fortify the old Tiguan (just went over the 140,000-mile mark, it did) with something a little more than my 1911 and backup trunk gun.  Ergo:

Yup, if I’m going to have to own a damn Mattel gun chambered in 5.56 poodleshooter, then what better location for it than as a replacement for Ye Olde Trunke Gunne (of ancient vintage and slow rate of fire)?

One would think that I would have in my possession the proper-sized gun bag to hold the poodleshooter, but this proved not to be the case [sic]  when I went rummaging around in the Gun Accoutrement Closet — don’t ask — because all I had on hand was a collection of gun bags suitable for scoped bolt-action rifles and shotguns, which were all hopelessly too long.

So… off I went to find a suitable carrier, dimensions: 36″x12″.  (I know, I could have just ordered one online, but I prefer to shop for stuff like this in a store so I can handle the thing and check it out for durability, defects, etc.)

Oy.

One thing I knew for sure is that I do not want to look like some tacticool G.I. Joe:



…because apart from making me look like an idiot, those things are a.) too damn expensive, b.) too heavy and c.) too easily visible through the car windows, tinted though they are.

What I wanted, therefore, was something akin to the above, but smaller and black.  But “hen’s teeth” and “honest politician” are the mots justes  when it comes to those size/color specs.

So what did I end up getting?  This, a Ruger 10/22 “Flagstaff”:

It’s actually 40″ long, but what that does is allow me to stow the first (of several) spare mags in the toe of the thing, which makes the loaded bag more balanced to carry.

All I have to do is apply some matte black spray paint over the red bits, and I should be good to go.

So to speak.

(For those interested in such minutiae, my “load out” is 100 rounds, i.e. what you see there plus three other 20-round mags in the bag’s pockets.  Way I see it, if I were to need more than a hundred rounds — plus whatever I carry on me for the 1911 — then I won’t have been doing my job properly and deserve to die.)

Changing The Rules

Speaking of things that enrage me (admittedly, a very long list), we have this little situation:

Authorities have released of the name of the suspect accused of throwing Molotov cocktails into a federal building, adding that they believe he was “motivated by anti-immigration enforcement sentiment.”

The incident occurred on Monday, with the suspect identified as 54-year-old Jose Francisco Jovel. Authorities have released images showing the moment Jovel allegedly carried out his act.

Here’s the reason for my rage.

The first recorded use of said bombs was during the Spanish Civil War, when Nationalists threw them at the Soviet-supplied tanks of the Communistic Republicans.  The actual term “Molotov cocktails” was coined by the Finns as they battled the Soviets during the Winter War of 1939, and was actually used ironically, the target being the then-Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.

Anyone else see a trend, here?

Let’s not put lace panties on this pork chop:  the Molotov cocktail is a weapon of war.  More to the point, it is a horribly-dangerous and malevolent weapon.  When it works, it is capable of setting fire to everyone and anything around it — an inflammable grenade, if you will.

Throwing a Molotov cocktail at a structure shows an intent to set the place on fire, endangering the lives of everyone inside.  Throwing a Molotov cocktail at a person or group of people shows an intent to burn someone to death.

So here’s my question.  How is it that when someone fires a gun at a building or a person, the rules of engagement for police (or the military) allows for the immediate shooting of said miscreant;  yet when someone lobs a Molotov cocktail, the response is (metaphorically) a shrug of the shoulders?

It’s wrong.

Let me tell you:  anytime a “protestor” is seen to be preparing a Molotov cocktail — that would be setting fire to the wick tied to the bottle’s neck — this action should be regarded as an act of war, and constitute grounds for a sniper or designated marksman to shoot the motherfucker dead on the spot, whether said tosser [sic]  has thrown the thing or not.

Let’s get back to our terrorist wannabe:

Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement that the building he targeted “houses our U.S. Attorney’s Office, ICE, and is where illegal immigrants are processed.”

“Jovel was targeting our immigration enforcement operations and wanted to send a political message,” he said.

“Thankfully, the devices did not ignite and no one was injured. Jovel was immediately arrested. Federal officers seized Jovel’s belongings and discovered five other Molotov cocktails,” Essayli, said, adding that Jovel is charged with “attempted malicious damage of federal property, and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and up to 20 years’ imprisonment. This is an ongoing investigation and we’ll be looking at adding additional charges.”

Wrong, wrong and again, wrong.  In the first place, the charges should include attempted murder — fuck that “damage of federal property” jive — and should carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

More important, however, is this.  Had there been an armed guard on duty at the establishment in question, the rules of engagement should have been such as to allow the guard to shoot this Jovel asshole at the very minute he lit the wick, or drew back his arm to throw the bomb.

And I want law enforcement’s rules of engagement changed to take care of this little reindeer game, immediately.

If you can’t shoot someone who is committing an overt act of war against you, who the hell can you shoot, then?

Deep Freeze

No, this isn’t a post about winter weather.  It’s about this:

President Donald Trump’s deputies have shut down the legal migration pathways for people from 19 countries, pending the completion of security checks and interviews.

And about damn time too.  When the “huddled masses” want to come over here to avail themselves of our freedoms, solely to commit crimes… we owe it to ourselves to try to stop them before they get going.

(After these ingrates commit their little nefarious wealth redistribution games, however:


…I think you get the picture.)

Just to be clear, the nineteen affected countries are:

Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

Basically, a bunch of Muzzy and Commie countries, the lot of them, and while some of their citizens may be fleeing those shitholes for all the right reasons — and I have a great deal of sympathy for their plight, for obvious reasons — all refugees and prospective citizens should absolutely require serious (i.e. non-Biden-style) vetting to make sure that the ungodly don’t try to sneak in to, say, set up a drug network, rape women, embezzle the welfare system or murder National Guardsmen.

When I think of all the hassle and scrutiny we went through with New Wife’s citizenship a couple of years back — she having done nothing other than teach children for nearly forty years — it sticks in my craw that during that same Biden presidency, a whole bunch of criminal scumbags were given the keys to the house because… well, just because.

And yes I know, some genuine refugees are going to be inconvenienced by this deep freeze.  But that’s the nature of laws:  the innocent get shafted by the need to contain the criminals (see for an example: every single useless gun control law).

The Usual Suspects

Probably the only scenes I found objectionable in the classic movie Casablanca  was when Inspector Renault utters the line: “Round up the usual suspects.”

Of course, in the context of the movie, the line is heavily ironic not to say satirical because Renault knows exactly who the criminals are, but he deflects suspicion away from Rick Blaine by saying that.

In reality, however, rounding up the usual suspects is not only sound police procedure, it generally solves about 90% of the crime, as seen here (and read it all because it’s good):

Almost every perpetrator of horrific crimes is a “known wolf.” Most of the violent crime in our society is committed by a very small group of easily identified criminals, and most of them have had many interactions with law enforcement over the years.

Violent crime in U.S. cities is not evenly spread. Not culturally. Not geographically. Not mathematically.

It’s concentrated – absurdly concentrated – in fractions of fractions of the population.  This isn’t ideology. It’s decades of DOJ, PD, and academic data all pointing at the same tiny cluster:

• ~0.5% of residents linked to 50–70% of shootings
• Most homicide suspects have 8–12+ prior arrests
• Victims usually know their attackers
• Violence clusters block-to-block, not citywide

We all know this, but when I say “we”, I’m referring to people who live in the here and now and can read statistics unencumbered by dreamy and mistaken dogma and its mantras, e.g. “Ban guns and violent crime will end” or some such crap.

Honestly?  I’m heartily sick of talking about this because I’ve banged on about it so often in the past that I don’t want to talk about it ever again.

But as long as these assholes keep on with their bullshit, the more I feel I have to rebut it, again and again and again and fucking again.

I think it’s time I let off some steam, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range.

Immorality Punished

I for one am glad that Lawn Ordure are at last taking this kind of thing seriously:

Eleanor Brown, 22, spent the past year locked up behind bars after sharing explicit images of her policeman father’s former mistress to an escort website, where she even created a fake profile of the woman.

Brown also sent racy photos of her father’s ex-lover to her victim’s husband, and exposed the affair – which had taken place years earlier – to her daughter. 

No doubt this heartless bitch thought that there was some justification for her to do so appalling a thing, or maybe she just did it for spite:  I neither know nor care.

What I am glad of is what happened to her:

But her revenge plan backfired when police were called in, and the young woman lost her job, home, and her six-year relationship.

In October 2024, Leeds Crown Court sentenced Brown, from Morley, West Yorkshire, to three years in prison. This was then reduced to two years on appeal.

Brown, described by a judge as ‘vindictive, selfish and vengeful’ served just 12 months before being released on license and she now has to wear an electronic tag on her ankle.

Speaking to The Sun, she explained that she regrets her decisions, but insists that at the time she did not realise that she was breaking the law.

Of course, she’s tried to dismiss it all as a harmless bit of fun:

‘I now realise how terrifying it must have been for the woman, but I was never on a mission to cause maximum harm. I was just poking fun and I ended up in prison,’ she said.

She should have been whipped at the post before being imprisoned, the foul bitch.

People who screw with others’ private lives need to be severely punished, and not excused.

And that includes ex-lovers who do this kind of thing to “get back” at their erstwhile partners, or just out of jealousy.  Les crimes passionels  are inexcusable in any way shape or form, regardless of what the French — no examples of morality, they — may think.

And acts of pure spite (like this one) need chastisement (like this one).