Darrell

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/09/politics/david-chipman-nomination-withdrawn/index.html

I think you've gone way too far in this overstatement. I have no idea how many people have taken Ivermectin, but I suspect it's a tiny subset of those who don't trust the vaccine. I was vaccinated as soon as possible, but I think it's unconscionable to compel or harangue anyone to take a drug they don't want. The unfortunate genie that's now out of the bottle is the tremendous amount of misinformation out there. The official government line changes frequently and it seems clear to me that NO ONE truly has all the facts.

The only time I ever "open carry" is when I am walking in the woods behind my house, when I really expect to see no other people. I never carry openly in public, and consider to be a generally bad idea. I once saw a fellow motorcyclist riding down the highway on a Harley in a semi-reclined posture with an unconcealed pistol on his belt. The first thing that came to my mind was the pistol falling out of the holster and bouncing down the highway. I don't pretend to know what's on anyone else's mind, but open carry seems to me like it's an attention-getting ploy most of the time. I can think of three occasions when people (two tradesmen and one person coming to buy an item I'd advertised) came on to my property with unconcealed handguns. I was unimpressed, and told them so. I'm a "gun guy", but I think if one is going onto private residential property the gun should be concealed or left in the vehicle unless prior consent is given.

Somewhat graphic, but I don't pity the fool! A Darwin Award winner.mp4

I try to read CNN's website daily because I want rounded information. Just as CNN has an obvious leftist slant, so Fox has an obvious slant to the right. I figure the more information I get from as many sources as possible the better I can make informed decisions, not that it seems to do much good to vote. The one I just can't read is MSNBC.

I received my bullets this morning, 9/2. That's pretty darned quick service! Thanks Berry's!

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/01/us/texas-open-carry-laws/index.html The link above is to a CNN article on their website about the new Texas law allowing Constitutional Carry. I often go to CNN for the "opposing" view, and this article is a shining example of skewed journalism. It doesn't take to long to read, so draw your own conclusions, but it makes me nuts when journalists say "research shows" or "experts say". The "experts" they quote and gun-control organizations and they call them "gun-violence prevention organizations." The article also states that in Texas protesters had long guns aimed at them, but nothing could be done. Baloney! We all know that it's illegal to threaten people with a weapon.

It's GOOD to live on high-ground!

I had reason to visit the Cumberland County hospital on Monday afternoon and I was shocked to see a packed waiting room, people were warehoused in there until a bed became available upstairs. The poor staff were running pretty hard. But I saw two problems that really should be addressed somehow: One floor was entirely vacant due to lack of staffing (I was told), and ER's are misused by people who don't have insurance and know they can't be turned away. But even with short staffing and a packed waiting room the staff saw me right away and got me taken care of, so the system has some safeguards in-place. In these times, our medical community are, quite literally, lifesavers.

Makes my shoulder ache just to think of shooting 200 rounds of 45-70!

I just ordered 9mm bullets from Berry's and they have 357 in-stock, too. Nice to see some bullets coming back available.

That's something that used to make me nuts! (Retired now, thank goodness!) People would come to work sick, but would take sick days when they weren't ill, just didn't want to come to work. I guess that's bad human nature,

I've considered doing it myself, and I wish I HAD done it a year and a half ago before putting the lawn it. House was new construction then and it would have been a lot easier. But if it comes to do it myself or too expensive then I'll probably stick with sprinklers. I told my wife we should just have the whole lawn area paved, but she didn't care for the idea for some reason.

I have a BIG yard, so if that's the range I may just stick with moving sprinklers!

That's a pretty accurate picture of what the streets of Chicago look like in MY mind, too. Although there would be piles of bleeding bodies. I visited Chicago many years ago and the hotel I stayed in, a Holiday Inn had barbed wire topping the fence around the parking lot. I have no desire for a return visit.

I'm getting tired (tarred?) of moving sprinklers around my lawn. I'm interested in finding a sprinkler installer in the Crossville area (I live in the sticks of Crab Orchard) but my internet searches don't turn up much nearer than Knoxville. That's be fine if I can get someone to come all the way out here, but I wonder if any of our knowledgeable and helpful members know of a reliable installer nearby. Gracias!

Bingo! We no longer enjoy a representative government, and haven't since FDR's New Deal. The US Constitution was designed specifically to separate powers and to make government answerable to the voters. We now are governed by unelected administrators of agencies that in many cases write the laws, enforce the laws, and adjudicate violations. And this didn't come about by accident. Woodrow Wilson specifically advocated for government by "expert" administrators who would, for some reason, not be subject to normal human self-interest if they were protected from politics. And it's only going to get worse.

I'm a big fan of the Washington Huskies, and they may have a pretty good shot at winning the Pac12 this season. Unfortunately, they've not been able to win a bowl game in recent years. Also unfortunately for me, too many west coast games start at 9pm CST. I'm not staying up til midnight to watch a stinking fb game.

I wonder how many, or what percentage, of the crowd actually booed. Newsweek, like CNN, has hardly been kind to Donald Trump. I look with suspicion on most anything I read anymore, which is a sad state of affairs. One has to read very carefully and understand that a lot of things that are "true" aren't truly accurate. Too much "straight" news is heavily spun. African Americans and Hispanics seem to be most resistant to being vaccinated, or at least the data shows that lower percentages of those demographics are vaccinated. Neither group is particularly strong in their support of Mr. Trump.

Feeding time for the big cats!

I had a polecat problem years ago and used a live trap to catch them at night. Once one was in the trap I shined a bright light in its face and shot it between the eyes with a pellet gun. Two of three died instantly without spraying, number three got revenge for all of them.

Of course it's more complicated that that. Isn't everything more complicated than it seems on the surface? Have you ever noticed your insurance statements that show the doctor charged $x and the insurance company paid 80% of $x ? I asked a surgeon about that one day, wondering if he simply wrote-off the difference. It turns out that doctors charge according to how much the highest-paying insurance will compensate them. So if Joe Executive has a super whampodyne insurance plan that will pay $100 for an aspirin, then that's what the doctor will charge. My pedestrian insurance will only pay $50 for that same aspirin, but when the doctor agreed to be a preferred-provide he agreed to take the $50. The upper limits of what a medical professional charges is dictated by the upper-limits of what the best insurance companies will pay.

Wowzer! I had no idea a deer would do something like that. Live n learn.

Interesting, Ed. Just to satisfy my curiosity, how old are you? I ask because I wonder how much the things you're experiencing are going to effect younger shooters. I think that guys my age, 65, are unlikely to give up shooting unless ammunition simply becomes impossible to get. But maybe a 20 year old might be interested in the shooting sports but find that it's just not worth the hassle, just as you are finding it's not worth it for you. New gun sales seem to indicate that there are lots of new owners out there, but how many of those will be "shooters" as opposed to "owners". I play a lot of racquetball, but I'm seeing fewer and fewer young people taking up the game. The average age on the courts seems to be growing right along with my age. I'd sure hate to see that happen with the shooting sports, too.

Yes, that's what I mean. You may find a different situation wherever you move. I live half an hour from Crossville, and less than an hour from Knoxville, but have found that it's really difficult to find skilled or unskilled labor of any kind. There's a retirement / resort community nearby, and it seems that most of the trades people get enough work there and really don't want to come the extra distance. Again, your mileage may vary.