Glen Filthie could not be reached for comment

Do Manatees control their buoyancy by farting?

Manatees are incredibly intelligent marine mammals who show long-term memory and associative learning skills on par with dolphins. They are thought to have inspired the myth of the mermaid. (In 1493, Christopher Columbus saw three “mermaids” — in actuality, manatees — while sailing near the Dominican Republic.) And the sea cows talk to each other while playing and during intimacy.

Butt here’s the kicker: There is scientific evidence to suggest that they regulate their underwater buoyancy — their ability to rise and fall in the water column — by farting.

 Huh.  Who knew?

 

More details on the Iran strike

James emails to point out a very good article on how the bombs for Operation Midnight Hammer were designed.  This bit was particularly interesting:

“In the beginning of its development, we had so many PhDs working on the MOP program, doing modeling and simulation, that we were quietly and in a secret way, the biggest users of supercomputer-hours within the United States of America,” he said. 

Recommended.

Happy Blogiversary to Us II

 17 years is a long time. Not just for a blog, but in a lifetime. 

 In 2008, my youngest was at Parris Island becoming a Marine. 

All my children were adults and healthy.

My parents were about to retire and were still doing well.

I was shooting enough that I had started reloading. That didn't save me any money but it did allow more time at the range.

I had started a martial art and had no idea if I was going to be able or willing to get very far.

I was working in I.T. , still mid-career.

I blogged about all these things, as well as about politics, the economy,  world events, and anything that caught my attention. {SQUIRREL!!!}

 Borepatch  and I had our first contact within a month, a comment  I left telling him to flee Massachusetts at the end of a long rant of a post he had made.

We joined our blogs along the way.

Now it's 2025. There have a lot of changes and losses along the way. But here we stand. 

I grew up in a great time in a great country and I have had an amazing journey. And I still have hope.

Thanks to all of you have been our readers and commenters over the years.

 

Lalo Schifrin - Theme from "Mission: Impossible"

Dwight (your go-to guy for obituaries) posts on the passing of Lalo Schifrin. Dwight lists the astonishing themes that he composed (spoiler alert: you have heard many of these).  Most famous was Mission: Impossible theme; this song was one of the five Grammys he won:

He also composed the score for The Four Musketeers, which was great fun. 

I encourage you to click through to Dwight's post for the list of his compositions which is simply astounding.

Happy Blogiversary to us

17 years ago I put up my first post here.  Around the same time, ASM826 - my brother from another mother - put up his first post on his blog, Random Acts Of Patriotism.

17 years later, we are still here.  I almost hung up my blogging shoes but realized that the world needed Dad Jokes.  Err, or something.

And ASM826 is still here, too.  And a lonely place it would be, too, without him.  We both need to do more firearms related posts.  Range Reports, that sort of stuff.  I shall endeavour to improve my output here.

It's weird that in another year, this blog would be old enough to vote. 

The first casualty of war is the Truth

I guess we will eventually know what damage the Iranian nuclear program suffered.  I expect we will have to wait a while.

While we await the verdict of History, skepticism seems prudent for all "news" and Internet bloviating.

History is a set of lies we agree to tell each other.

- Bernard Le Bouyer de Frontenelle

Happy Solstice

Today is the day with the longest period of daylight (in the Northern Hemisphere; in the Southern it's the longest night).

Here in the Sunshine State we're not far enough north to really see much difference.  Today's daylight will last 13-ish hours which isn't too noticeable.  The reverse is true in Winter, when the daylight only lasts 11-ish hours.

But in Maine where I grew up (pretty close to 45 degrees North latitude) it will be 15:30 hours of light.  Mom always hated winter because with only 9 hours or so of daylight it got dark around 4:00 in the afternoon.

But could be worse: Oslo (in the absolute south of Norway) will have almost 19 hours of daylight today.  Maybe this is why Scandinavian films are so depressing - winter gives them only 5 hours of daylight.

So enjoy the sun (assuming you don't live in the Antipodes).  And be thankful you don't live near Stonehenge.  The freaks come out in force today. 

Image re-enacted from the Wik

But eventually the sun will go down today (OK, not if you're in Fairbanks).  Take us away, Kenny ...

Florida Hockey: 4-2 in last 6 Stanley Cups

Congratulations to the Florida Panthers - and particularly to Panther Center Sam Reinhart who tied a Stanley Cup record with four goals last night.  The Stanley Cup now returns to its rightful home in the Sunshine State.

Local protests After Action Report

So on Saturday there was a "No Kings" protest at the local library.  The Queen Of The World said that they posted pix on Facebook, so there were there in the morning.

But I went by there on my way to the supermarket at 11:00 AM and there was NOBODY there.  Nada.  Zip.

That's some righteous protest, right there. [rolls eyes] 

Music for Father's Day

Country Music has all sorts of songs that connect with every day situations, so it's no surprise that there's a great selection for Father's Day. 

This one brings back memories of #2 Son and his best friend, fishing for harbor pollock using scallops as bait.  The Queen Of The World remembers her Dad entering her in a fishing tournament and taking her.  She won, but I expect he thought he did, too. 

The little girl in Trace's video is his daughter. 

And The Queen Of The World suggested this one, which is perfect for the day.  She's not just a pretty face, but wicked smart, too.  If this video doesn't make you smile than we just can't be friends anymore.  

The girls in Jackson's video are his daughters.  Like they say, three chords and the truth.

Happy Father's Day, y'all.

A Public Service Announcement

Don't play in the street at the protests tomorrow.  Remember the first rule of winning a gunfight: don't be there.  Don't go to stupid places with stupid people doing stupid things.

It's hard to tell what's going to happen here in Western Florida tomorrow.  Hopefully things will be more or less orderly.  But remember what the Citrus County Sheriff said:

"And if you come to Citrus County to start trouble, I am an equal opportunity arrestor,"

Heh.  Got to love Florida sheriffs.

40,000 Internet-connected cameras have no security

This is my shocked face.  I mean who would have seen that coming?

But the cameras are insecure by default, which means that they are insecure forever:

Security researchers managed to access the live feeds of 40,000 internet-connected cameras worldwide and they may have only scratched the surface of what's possible....

Aside from the potential national security implications, cameras were also accessed in hotels, gyms, construction sites, retail premises, and residential areas, which the researchers said could prove useful for petty criminals.

...

"It should be obvious to everyone that leaving a camera exposed on the internet is a bad idea, and yet thousands of them are still accessible," said Bitsight in a report.

Gee, ya think? 

There are two problems, both related:

1. Profit margins on consumer goods are razor thin.  Money spent on secure-by-default designs cost money.
2. Most consumer electronics are manufactured in China.  The Red Chinese* government doesn't encourage better security for devices intended to be shipped to the USA.

So if you get any of these God forsaken things, look online on how to secure them before you install them.  You can get most manuals in PDF - although I expect a lot of them won't go deep into the issue.  For example, I can't find a single Youtube video on how to set up a Ring doorbell securely.

Also expect to may more for devices with better security, assuming you can find any. 

There's some good ideas on IoT security here. I have posted in the past about having a separate WiFi network that is firewalled off from your home WiFi.

"Mostly Peaceful" riots coming this weekend?

Because nothing says "Father's Day" quite like street barricades and burning cars ... 

Big Country points out a nation-wide planned day of fire that's coming this weekend.  Check out your locale for places you might want to avoid.  After all, the first rule of gunfighting is to not go stupid places with stupid people.

It will be really interesting to see what happens.  It looks like the polling on this - illegal aliens waving Mexican flags in front of burning cars - it absolutely terrible for the Democrats.  If there are any adults left in that party you'd think they would clamp down on this.  This will likely result in lots of blue area police departments being unleashed on the rioters.

HAHAHAHA!

The backstory is here, and has much, much more. 

And the next time some mouth-breathing gun banner asks you why you need a 30 round magazine, tell them that the Rooftop Koreans had not just 30 round magazines, but (legal) full auto.  The LA Riot was in 1992, only six years after the super-sketchy Hughes Amendment, approved by voice vote rather than roll call.

A podcast recommendation

I know that some of you are former Secret Squirrel types, and a bunch more were (shall we say) Secret Squirrel adjacent.  I just stumbled across a fairly new podcast called The Rest Is Classified.  Really fun, and one of the guys is 100% Secret Squirrel.  Former Company man, in fact.

You can get it on your favorite podcast site, or listen on Youtube.  I thought that the series on Edward Snowden was very well done.

If this kind of thing was your background (heck, or just an interest) then I recommend this very highly indeed.

Tagged Burn Before Reading because that's kind of hilarious.  I crack me up sometimes ... 

Thinking about drones

Except it's not about drones, it's about what NATO is up to:

I see throughout X this morning that an enemy has attacked Russian air bases all over Russia with drones launched from concealed launchers that had been free to roam around the country. If you think about it for just a little bit you understand that there was massive collusion on the parts of the various frontier NATO states that permitted drone operators to fly their drones over the frontiers into Russia where they could be collected, armed and concealed in trucks for a long ride to their launch/distribution point.

The thing is though that just as Churchill was content to let Coventry burn despite knowing of the attack in advance, so too is a KGB man willing to sacrifice a few obsolete weapons to gather incontrovertible truth that NATO is carrying out direct attacks on Russia.

What's weird is that I thought that we just had a chance to vote against thermonuclear war in the last election.  That seemed like one of Trump's platform planks.  I guess I was just overly optimistic.

 

World War 1 British Bubba-ing?

Big Country is doing a series of Lee-Enfield restorations which are well worth your time if you (like me) love old Mil-Surp bolties.

By accident I ran across one of Ian McCollum's Forgotten Weapons vids about how the British Army did a mod of the SMLE to make it a semi-automatic rifle.  It's cool in a "hey, this really works!" kind of way.  Total kludge, but really cool. 

Bourbon and Rum

Stolen from And Some It's Just As Well. 

My favorites are all here (in order of personal preference):

1. W. L. Weller Special Reserve.   I posted about their less expensive Private Reserve here.  It looks like they don't make it anymore which is a pity - it was a price/performance leader.
2. Four Roses.  Good enough to sip neat but not so expensive you wouldn't make an Old Fashioned with it.
3. Basil Hayden.  When they say it maxes the "Delicate" axis they're not kidding.  This is a Bourbon for people who don't like Bourbon.
4. Maker's Mark.  My go-to for an Old Fashioned. The Queen Of The World got me a smoker to make a smoked Old Fashioned.  It's a lot of fun but enough of a production that I usually only do this for guests.

And my favorite rums (sorry, no fancy chart):

1. Zafra 21 year old. Panamanian.
2. Kirk & Sweeny Gran Reserva.  A blend of rums aged between 3 and 18 years.  Dominican Republic.
3. Siesta Key Coffee Rum.  Siesta Key, Florida.  Very unusual, very strong flavor.  Outstanding over ice.  And (for me, at least), it's drinking the Local.
4. Siesta Key Spiced Rum.  Unlike the Captain Morgan's "let's just dump some vanilla in the rum" approach, Siesta Key uses actual, you know, spices in theirs. If you think you don't like spiced rum, this is the one for you.  Drink over ice with no mixer.
5. Bacardi silver.  If you're going to dump something in Coke then this is the one.  Repeatable, reliable smoothness.  Only for mixing.

Note that rums #1 and #2 will cost you every bit as much as the good Bourbons. 

Dad Joke CCCLI

Tuna sends this in (you're doing all my blogging for me, buddy!):

What did the psychiatrist say to the man wearing nothing but saran wrap?

Clearly I can see you’re nuts.

 

So much for Reason Magazine

They have said for years that they are libertarian.  That's not true.  By their works shall ye know them, and all that.

Rather, they're Washington Establishment, Libertarian Department.  Everything is not pro-liberty, it's anti-Trump, all the time.  (Speculation Alert) Probably their big donors insist on this, and you can't jeopardize the gravy train.

Case in point: Trump's biggest libertarian action to date (which dwarfs the DOGE spending cuts) is his executive order requiring each Agency to post all the regulations they have promulgated which have criminal penalties, and requiring the Agencies to rescind all that do not have a Mens Rea requirement. Seemingly there are hundreds of thousands of these, and not even the Agencies themselves know exactly how many.  Thus, the need for the executive order.

Mens Rea is the legal term that defines knowledge that you are about to commit a crime - regulations with criminal penalties where you don't even have to know that it's a crime are basically the definition of tyranny.

You'd think that libertarians would be cheering this executive order from the rooftops. 

[crickets]

I can only find one article on the subject which, despite its reluctance to do so gives credit where it is due.  They even say this sort of regulation turns the rule of law into a cruel joke.  So where's the celebration of a huge win for freedom?  Where's the victory lap for self-proclaimed champions of "Free Minds and Free Markets"?

To ask the questions are to answer them.  Donald Trump obviously provides the Wrong Sort of freedom.  [rolls eyes]

Tagged Statist Pricks, Hypocrites R Us, and Filthy Lucre because, well, you know.

HYPOCRITE, n. One who, professing virtues that he does not respect, secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises. 

- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary