If the media and the World Health Organization had breathlessly reported every variation of the FLU as it appeared and moved across international borders every year, it would sound just like the coverage for the Nu Omicron Covid variant….

And, oddly enough, they are admitting that there may be some truth to the reports that it may have been present months earlier, not just yesterday or last week…

But no admission that it is about as benign as the common cold.

So pretty much lies by omission.

So someone I know actually has a confirmed case of Covid.

A friend, she’s a pilot, a flight instructor and is pretty acitve in her church…she interacts with a LOT of people…

And she has Covid.

29 years old, healthy, no “co morbidites”….so far it has been described (by her) as a “Bad Cold only with the loss of smell and taste”.

As she put it “I am not dying”.

Pretty much the only person I know well who has had an actual case so far. I wish her well. Her Mom and sister have it as well, and are having few issues. Her dad has so far tested negative. None of her students have it, and we had not interacted for several days before her onset of symptoms, so I should be in the clear.

But so far, this has been a non event.

So I let myself be cajoled into trying the annual teeny target match at the range on Saturday. Apparently it has become a tradition over the past 10 or so years and I just heard about it.

Rimfire rifles only, 50 feet, indoors. Unlimited time. from a rest… Oddball homemade targets (by the organizer). Prizes were only bragging rights.

‘Twas fun and challenging… I chose the Non-Ruger RWB 10-22  for the competition as it is the only rifle I have that has a scope that will focus at 50 feet…the other rimfire rifles I have won’t focus that close….and the targets they use would be hard to see well enough for proper aiming at 50 feet without an optic. I shot the sportsman class, with a forend rest that I use for sighting in rifles and a sandbag for a rear rest. Others used lead sleds and other such devices and really expensive rifles and optics….. The largest target that they had used scoring points that were 3/8 of an inch across…the other 2 were smaller than that…down to 1/10 inch. Other classes had toothpicks as targets…. They had to be cleanly broken to score.  And then, for fun, we had a series of 10 staples that had to be hit in case there were ties on the regular targets. (Oddly, I scored 9 out of 10 on the staples)

2 strings, one morning, one afternoon, with lunch and some raffles and such in between. Lunch was excellent: pulled pork shoulder sandwiches. They even brought turkey sandwiches for the 2 jewish shooters.

Lemme tellya, these fuckers I was shooting with were GOOD.

I came in 6th in my class, with an overall score of 95.7%. It was challenging and fun, if totally useless and non sanctioned. I’ll probably do it again next year.

NBC news just admitted (actually stated) that it appears that most “smash and grab” robberies in large cities are perpetrated by groups appearing to be composed of “Mostly African-Americans”….Their words on National TV News.

Wow. That is actually a big deal.

Admitting the issue is the start to fixing it.

So I left my house to go to my brothers to pick up a trailer with which to move a car…

About 3 miles down the road, I get a warning: “Service Air Filter”

Now, I am not the most anal about maintenance, but I change the oil filter every 500 5000 miles (the oil every 15…it is a diesel and that is the recommended change interval), and when I do, I check the air filter and do the other assorted service checks.

Anyway, I read the message on the dash display, and think: “hmm, that’s odd”. I look at the windshield, where I write the oil change mileage reminders, and I had indeed changed the oil 2700  miles ago…and I KNOW I checked the air filter then….

I looked at the turbo pressures on the dash….yep, the turbo is working hard.

I continued to my brother’s house and there, opened the hood.

The air filter was not new, but not dirty either.

However:

That is 2 -1/2 gallons of hickory nuts jammed in the air cleaner box. No wonder the truck was working hard and the computer thought that the air cleaner was clogged. The box was absolutely full to the bottom of the air filter. Some miscreant squirrel thought that the truck is a good place to hide nuts for the winter….

Methinks I am gonna have to get the air rifle and go hunting

The New Covid Strain is in the wild:

They call it Nu/Omicron and it, apparently is a mutated version that will not be deterred by our current inoculations (not that the other strains are either….but I digress).

So the Federal Government is “restricting air travel” from “seven African countries”.

It won’t be enough. People who want to travel to the US from those countries will go to another country and then to the United States.

Like all the other precautions taken late 2018/early 2019 , any entry checks will be cursory and ineffective. in fact they will be a waste of time and effort. There will be no border lockdown until rapid tests are available, so Nu will get through.

Nu will be here in 2 weeks, 3 at the outside.

Then the entire cycle started in early 2019 will begin again. Economic damage, lockdowns, etc. The decline in the stock market shows that people smarter than me also think that.

Hunker down.

I hope you have much to be thankful for.

Remember the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and police and fire (and nurses and doctors) that are serving you today.

So the three assholes who murdered Ahmaud Arbery were found guilty today. 

By, oddly enough (according to the Liberals), a mostly white jury.

Now, while I don’t understand how William Bryan could be convicted of murder when he was about 50 feet away from the actual crime…I think that the rest of the convictions are appropriate. Chased a man down and held him at gunpoint, then a shooting happened. Period. Reason for holding him immaterial. Killed him. Murder.

Wow, twice in a week where the justice system actually prevailed over politics. I am, frankly, surprised.

So will all the Liberals who claimed that an mostly white jury would not find justice for a black man against white killers apologize? Will they admit that this isn’t the Deep South of the 1950’s anymore? Will they stop living in the past? (Stop laughing, it could happen)

(I expect ZERO riots by whites because of this verdict….unlike other cases in the past with other races in the past) 

And this always kicks my giggle switch.

Between Nazi Germany in the 30’s and Australia in 2021?

Australian Army Begins Transferring COVID-Positive Cases, Contacts To Quarantine Camps

Notice that the Aussies are disarmed. I think that this is the only reason it hasn’t happened here….