Yesterday was the anniversary of the OKC bombing,

and I was thinking about it.  Had some connection to the events; nothing heroic.

The place I worked had two drops at that building, and they both went offline at the same time.  After a couple of minutes tried calling; couldn't get through.  No big deal, wouldn't be the first time someone screwing around in a building's phone room caused problems.

Few minutes later a guy from next door stuck his head around and said there were reports of an explosion downtown.  Again, no panic; first thought was that if it was an explosion, probably a boiler.  About ten years before the boiler at a school had blown, causing fatalities and damage.

Few minutes later guy stuck his head around again and said "Turn on your tv!"  We did, and oh, crap.

Some people in the hallways said they'd heard a rumble, but we heard nothing.

It got rather busy after that.

One of the things that I was occupied with was trying to contact the headquarters for the two agencies mentioned, and I discovered that some asshole had decided that since all that contact information was available online, we didn't need that ORI directory anymore and had tossed it.  By the time that day was done, if he'd shown up I'd have beaten him with a trash can; just because it was 'available' that way didn't mean all the info in that manual was online in an easily-searchable form(still some bugs in the system).  Finally found what I thought was the right ones, sent messages in case this hadn't hit their news yet, and after that it was rather busy in some ways, quiet in others.  Odd day.

The next day, it started raining, so it was cleanup and still hoping for rescues with that cold rain coming down.  If you've not seen any of the news reports from all that, the response was kind of overwhelming to a lot of the rescue people.  For instance, someone mentioned on a news report that the people with S&R dogs needed jerky treats and such.  Within an hour there was a line hundreds of yards long at the 'here's where you can contribute stuff' site with jerky treats, and jerky, and dog treats of every kind, and dog food.  When the S&R was over, there was so much that a lot of it was given to animal rescue sites; one of the teams from California said they'd never seen such a response, and the part of the stuff they could take back would keep their dogs fed for a year.  One of the assorted S&R people said they could use multi-tools like a Leatherman; within the day every store for a hundred miles was sold out and they were on the way to OKC.  And so on. 

There was an interview with the Governor, and some news weenie asked about any problems with looting, the response was "We're all too busy for that to be a problem" as I recall.  Unspoken was that anybody caught looting in the damage area would've been lucky if the only thing that happened was winding up in a cell, as nobody was in a mood to put up with such bullshit.

And the media... A lot of the 'Fuck the media' attitude in this area started, or got beyond being generally annoyed, by the actions of some of these idiots.  Someone from ABC/NBC/CBS/whoever would show up expecting to have their ass kissed and their every desire attended to, and were really upset to be told that wasn't going to happen.  Without going into details a lot of EMS and fire department people after things settled were wearing shirts that, on the back, said "Hey, Connie Chung**: Bite Me".  She'd been such a huge PITA she was lucky not to have been told to get her stupid ass back to New York or wherever.  And that was one of them.

A while later, while the cleanup and investigation was still going on*, the head of my division came in and handed me a commendation for that day.  I was kind of puzzled, because all I'd done was the job.  Said something of the kind and asked what else was I going to do, go home?  Apparently that's exactly what they'd been worried about, people saying "Some nuts are blowing up government buildings?  I'm leaving."  I have to admit to either being dumb or just unthinking, as it never occurred to me.

That's a short version of that day from my point of view.

Saturday, a fine evening

Another time when the data will wait for analysis while you enjoy the weather

Swalwell is a sexist bastard, isn't he?

"Sit down and shut up, woman, I want to talk to the MAN in charge."

As a guy noted,
If any Republican male rep just told an accomplished woman in a leadership position at a top organization to essentially 'sit down, shut up' and 'I need to speak to a man in charge here' he would be forced to resign in less than a day.@ericswalwell owes @DLoesch an apology.
But Democrats don't care about that, if the offender is a Democrat(see Virginia Lt. Governor, and Joe Biden for instance).

Friday night, and it's downright nice outside

which is good.  The data study can wait a bit

That would be interesting

What? They lied about those walrus?

Whyever might they do that...

Dr Susan Crockford, a zoologist, told The Telegraph that Netflix’s narrative over the Our Planet scene is “contrived nonsense” and that “This powerful story is fiction and emotional manipulation at its worst”.

“The walruses shown in this Netflix film were almost certainly driven over the cliff by polar bears during a well-publicised incident in 2017.”

“Even if the footage shown by Attenborough was not the 2017 incident in Ryrkaypiy, we know that walruses reach the top of cliffs in some locations and might fall if startled by polar bears, people or aircraft overhead, not because they are confused by shrinking sea ice cover.”

They'll lie about anything to push Globular Man-Caused Climate Change.

A university president who actually cares about free speech

Well done, sir.
Across our nation it is all too common that opinions expressed that differ from another’s—especially those that are controversial—can spark passion and even outrage, often resulting in calls to suppress that speech.

That simply cannot be allowed to happen. I firmly believe that limiting the range of voices in society erodes our democracy. Universities, moreover, are at the heart of the revolutionary notion of free expression: promoting the free exchange of ideas is part of the core reason for their existence. That open interchange of opinions and beliefs includes all members of the UArts community: faculty, students and staff, in and out of the classroom. We are dedicated to fostering a climate conducive to respectful intellectual debate that empowers and equips our students to meet the challenges they will face in their futures.

I believe this resolve holds even greater importance at an art school. Artists over the centuries have suffered censorship, and even persecution, for the expression of their beliefs through their work. My answer is simple: not now, not at UArts.

From the lead bitch:
“We’re giving a space for her following to come into our safe space that we pay to be in.”…
No, dumbass, you're paying to be in a college for an education; if you think that's the same as 'safe space', you really need to talk to your previous teachers, because they cheated you.

I read crap like this, and two things come to mind:

1: "All cultures are equal" my ass.

2: Gen. Napier had the right idea.

I do think it might be modified with 'public flogging, THEN we hang you'.

If there has to be a Dept. of Education, put Rowe in charge of it

And make sure he knows he's free to tell people "You're an idiot, stop screwing up kids lives."
I think because stuck in this binary box, this or that. Right, blue-collar or white color, good job or a bad job. Higher education or higher alternative education.
When you only have two choices or you think you only have two choices, then you do one thing at the expense of the other.

So for instance, you know we have talked about this before, but it just seems so clear now. When four year degree universities needed a P.R. Campaign 40 years ago, they got one.

But the P.R. Came at the expense of all of the other forms of education. So it wasn’t hey, Tucker get your liberal arts degree because it will give you a broad base of appreciation for humanity. It was come if you don’t go get that degree, you will wind up over here turning a ranch or running a welding torch or doing some kind of consolation prize.

So we promoted the one thing at the expense of all of the others.

And that one thing just happened to be the most expensive thing. And so, look come I don’t think the skills set is the mystery. A reflection of what we value.

7 million — 7 million jobs available and they require training. Yet we are obsessed not really with education, you know. What we are obsessed with this credentialing.

Yeah, "Your speech is violence, but our violence is free speech!"

is what we've been dealing with for a while now.  A leftist says something offensive and is called on it, "You're inciting violence against them, stop it!"  A leftist actually incites violence, "You're just trying to keep us from speaking!"  Etc.

I wonder if most of these idiots have any idea just what kind of blowback they're setting themselves up for with this?  I know some of them want this crap to blow up("This helps set up the Revolution!", etc.), but I think an awful lot of them just have no understanding of what's going to happen if it does.

"But our Medicare For All will be WONDERFUL!"

In a pigs ass it will.

While back had a piece about people not being able to get cataract surgery under the NHS.  Lots of other problems as well:
Last year, The New York Times reported some people in England were waiting for 12 hours to be seen in emergency rooms.

“Some doctors took to Twitter to vent their frustrations publicly. One complained of having to practice ‘battlefield medicine,’ while another apologized for the ‘3rd world conditions’ caused by overcrowding,” the newspaper reported.
Couple of years back, after they'd announced "It will not be allowed for anyone to sit in an ER for more than two hours(I think it was) without being seen", turned out they had people sitting in ambulances outside for hours, so they wouldn't be 'waiting in the ER' and it wouldn't count on the time.

In England, rationing is established by NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which determine which procedures have “value.” As an example, “Of the 195 NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England, 104 now include cataract removal on their list of ‘procedures of limited clinical value,’ according to research by the Medical Technology Group.”
It's not of 'limited value' if you're going blind, but hey, it's not happening to the CCG clowns, so it's limited.  Right?
Many CCGs have determined hernia repair is no longer something patients can automatically have, while dozens have declared knee and hip replacements as also not necessarily possible, the Guardian said.
Hey, if you're old and not properly contributing to the good of the collective anymore, who cares if you walk with pain?  Or can't walk at all.

The explanation is basically "We don't have enough money to take care of everyone."  Always the safe bureaucrat explanation, isn't it?  Especially when the politicians know that if they raise taxes more, they might have to answer some "What the hell is happening to all the money you're getting NOW?" questions.

One patient in England, a construction worker, complained to The New York Times of his daily fresh NHS hell: “Patients have accused hospitals of putting them at risk. ‘I learned about the new set of deferrals from the news, but if I receive a notification, it will be the third time my operation is postponed,’ Graham Groves, a construction worker, said as he sat in a cafe at St. Mary’s Hospital on Wednesday. ‘This is a disgrace. We injure ourselves while working to pay our taxes, and the government just leaves us to suffer.’ “
They've already got your money, and control of what care you're allowed to get, so what do they care? 

Of course, if you've got enough money, you don't have to wait in line for what you'll be allowed to have:
CNS News reported on comments made by Chris Jagger, the singer’s brother, “Speaking with Sunday People magazine, Chris Jagger, 71, said, ‘Mick is doing OK. I spoke to him — he’s good. It just showed up on a scan so it could happen to anybody, you know. … With Mick it came on a checkup. I’ve had a few health issues. At least he has not got to wait in line for the NHS.’ “
Yeah, he could just fly to New York and get it taken care of there.  The rich and connected will still be able to do something like that while the rest of us are told "This is what and when you can have, now shut up and stop causing problems."

Matters not how many of the approved categories you fit into,

if you say ANYTHING(let alone all the things Paglia has said) that doesn't go with the Preferred Narrative™, they'll want your head.

They're demanding she be replaced with a 'queer person of color', but if she was black, or any other approved color, they'd still be screaming because she offends them by speaking what she thinks and telling them to grow up when they moan and whine.

Watching the leftists go after each other is both funny and terrifying: the New Red Guard would love to do what their predecessors did, and watching them edge toward it is, to say the least, spooky.  And reason to by some more ammo.  Because if you think they'd stop short of the trials and beatings and executions if they thought they could get away with it, you're nuts.

A very delayed and short range report

Once upon a time Widener's sent me some ammo, and I told you I'd do some tests.  Due to various things, including me forgetting things*, it's taken a while, but here's the first.

Winchester .45-70  Ballistic Silvertip

This is a 300-grain polymer-tipped bullet, and it's a screamer: muzzle velocity 1880, energy 2354; they roar at both ends of the rifle.

I fired a group of five out of a Pedersoli Sharps a while back; group was definitely 'put meat on the table' for deer or bear at 100 yards, but nothing to write home about.  Which isn't saying bad accuracy for the ammo; I've read a number of people saying that their rifle of that type won't shoot bullets of this weight & length real well.  So for this I had a chance to put a few through a Marlin 1895.  This was at 30 yards on an indoor range, with a caveat: the ventilation system on that lane was causing the target to blow some, so I was having to time my shot with when the damn thing was where it was supposed to be

Under the circumstances, not bad at all.  I saved a few for use at longer distance, hopefully with the same rifle, and when I'm finally able to do that I'll add to this.


*As in I did shoot some handgun ammo(Federal .38 Special target), and I can't find the pictures I took; assuming I can, I'll do a post on that .