Pre-Weekend Blah

Kim du Toit
May 9, 2008
2:40 PM CDT

No theme today—I don’t have the time, energy or inclination to figure one out.

This is what happens when you don’t exercise your Jag E-Type: it gets all flabby.

Actually, that’s an Alfa Romeo Disco Volante (Flying Saucer), from 1952—proving that even a classy company like Alfa can screw up occasionally. But in fact, that design, while way over the top, was also way ahead of its time: the whole streamlining thing did not become popular until much later.

Here’s an old Colt Single Action Army, in a case which dates from (I think) the early 20th century:

It’s for collectors only—the case and provenance drives the price sky-high—but lemme tell you…

And when it comes to collector’s pieces, can there be a better one than Helena Bonham Carter, here seen in the Kitchen, but neither barefoot nor pregnant:

Hey, in her case, one out of three is perfect, come to think of it.

More Sixties stuff tomorrow; Weekend Woman as usual on Sunday; and normal service (I hope) resumes on Monday.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to rebuild the database.

No Problem Here

Kim du Toit
May 9, 2008
1:55 PM CDT

I note with interest that British Airways is no longer going to serve beef on their flights:

British Airways takes beef off the menu to avoid offending Hindus

For decades the national dish has been a staple meal on the national carrier.

But now British Airways has taken beef off the menu for economy passengers amid concerns about its “religious restrictions”.

The airline has instead switched to a fish pie or chicken dish option for the so-called “cattle class” passengers.

I refuse to fly British Airways, and I seldom eat the in-flight meal on any airline, so I don’t really have a dog in this fight.

Of course, some people are going to complain about this move, but from BA’s business perspective, it makes perfect sense:

BA’s second-biggest long-haul market is to India, where the majority Hindu population do not eat beef because of their beliefs.

Frankly, I don’t see why airlines should serve hot meals at all. Even on the longer flights (London-Tokyo, Los Angeles-Sydney, for example), meals consisting of sandwiches, salads, fruit plates and cold breakfasts (cereal, yogurt and breads) would be more than adequate to get you through the flight.

Even better would be pre-flight dispensaries where ticketed passengers could pick (say) two sack meals of their own preference before boarding, thus leaving the cabin attendants only the task of serving drinks (which are vital) in flight.

Of course, I’m only talking about steerage coach class. The bloated plutocrats flying in first- or business class could still be indulged—which, given what those tickets cost nowadays, is only fair—and BA’s not considering dropping beef from those menus.

But no beef in coach? Not important.

Not That Safe?

Kim du Toit
May 9, 2008
12:45 PM CDT

Quite a few people sent me the various reports on this incident:

RIVERDALE, Utah (AP)—The police chief who shot himself in the ankle was waving a loaded pistol and being careless, according to two students who were attending his class to qualify for a concealed-weapons permit. “We were told the gun is the chief’s personal sidearm, but it looked to me like he didn’t know anything about the gun,” Lewis Walker said.

Bart Ulm, another student seeking certification to carry a concealed weapon, said he was surprised Chief Dave Hansen was using a loaded gun to show how it worked.

“Right then, I was very leery, because there’s no need to have live ammo in a gun in the class. But I figured he’s the chief, so he must know what he’s doing,” Ulm told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden.

Hansen held the Glock 40 under a table to disassemble it when a bullet fired, Walker said.

The chief cried, “I’m hit,” and fell over. Students who were screaming “Officer down!” were urged to call 911.

I’m not going to comment about the stupidity of the cop, because that would be redundant. Anyone who owns a gun has a duty to know how it works, and knowing how to unload it without shooting yourself is probably Job 1 in that regard.

What interests me is the gun—specifically, the type of gun.

I have always thought that the double-action (DA) pistol is an example of an engineering solution to a training problem. I’m generally somewhat flippant about it—I don’t own a DA pistol, and am unlikely to do so unless it’s a piece of history—and I usually say something like “If I want to shoot DA, I’ll use a revolver” or “If John Moses Browning had intended for double-action semi-auto pistols to exist, he would have made one that way.”

But I do have a serious point to make about DA pistols. If you don’t know what you’re doing, or are an idiot, it’s easy to leave a round chambered, thinking that you’ve unloaded the piece just by popping the magazine out. Worse still, unless you draw the slide back to check, it’s impossible to see whether the gun is still loaded—except of course, if your gun has one of those “loaded chamber” indicators (yet another example of an engineering fix to address a training problem).

And yes, it’s also possible to do the same with a single-action pistol—but it has been my experience that SA-only pistoleros tend to be more knowledgeable about pistols than people who use DA pistols exclusively, and thus accidental discharges (ADs) are relatively rare with SA pistols.

Of course, the number of ADs made with Glocks is not a knock on the pistol itself; that’s merely a factor because of the number of Glocks out there—statistically, the greater number of guns owned means a greater number of morons. Bookies will not be denied, in other words.

But I have to tell you, it’s awfully difficult for someone to leave a round in a revolver cylinder. The very nature of the piece means that if the cylinder is open, you see all the chambers at once, and a single round stands out like a kitten on a tablecloth.

I think, in other words, that it’s considerably more difficult to have an AD with a DA revolver than it is with a DA pistol. You have to be a complete moron to have an accidental discharge with a double-action revolver.

Which is why the only non-mechanical AD I’ve ever had was with a DA revolver.

But that’s a story for another time.

Where The Wild Things Are

Kim du Toit
May 9, 2008
11:45 AM CDT

As coyote attacks increase in Southern California (three in the past five days, according to this report), I’m amused at the response, which typically involves getting “the authorities” to trap or kill these pests.

As usual, of course, a lot of the problem is caused by stupid people:

The animals are lured into neighborhoods by dog or cat food left outdoors, food that people leave out for wild animals and scraps in garbage cans, he said.

“People get used to seeing them, but this is a wild animal and you do not want a wild animal in your backyard,” Morse said.

“When coyotes get habitualized to being around people and lose that fear of humans, that’s when it’s very tenuous.” [my emphasis]

Myself, if I were to leave food out for critters, it would be as bait, so I could shoot the sumbitches.

Here’s a little background on the rabies thing. It’s not pleasant:

Rabies is a viral disease most often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal. It attacks the central nervous system and, if untreated, can lead to anxiety, confusion, paralysis, hypersalivation, difficulty swallowing, and fear of water. Death usually occurs within a week of the onset of symptoms.

Fortunately, we don’t have a coyote problem here (yet), although I’ve seen one myself just a couple of miles away from my house in Plano (in a wild area along a river bank), and we have a jillion wild rabbits in the neighborhood.

The biggest problem, of course, is that even if I saw one, there wouldn’t be much I could do without getting into trouble—because we have a whole bunch of stupid laws which prevent the discharge of guns within city limits. (I know, I know—they actually make sense in the general scheme of things. The problem is that in the general scheme of things, we shouldn’t get coyotes snatching pets and, in California, toddlers and babies.)

Frankly, I’d be happier to see something more commonsense, along the lines of: “If you fire a gun to whack a critter, that’s fine: but if anyone else gets hurt by a ricochet or whatever, your ass will be in a whole heap of trouble.” (That’s official legal talk in Texas.)

And let me tell you, if I was walking around the place, and a coyote, fox or raccoon got too close (ie. within 10 yards), it’s going down, regardless of the stupid law.

Rabies shots are not pleasant, rabies infection is a miserable way to die—and let me tell you, I’d rather take my chances with the fuzz than with a possibly-rabid critter.

And by the way: people who live in rural areas, especially those close to the Mexican border, are more likely to encounter rabid animals than others.

Be careful out there.

-------------------------

By the way, this is not a uniquely-American problem, of course. I recall that back in the 1970s, a leopard was caught living in the Wanderers Cricket Ground just outside Johannesburg—the equivalent of Shea Stadium in New York—and up till then had been living quite nicely off pets and wild critters in the neighboring golf course. You can imagine the panic of the local residents, until the damn thing was trapped.

Even worse, the leopard had just been declared “endangered”, so by law, it could not be shot, by anyone (although I know what I would have done, if confronted—and in those days I carried a Colt New Service revolver, loaded with big fat .45 Long Colt boolets).

A Matter Of Privacy

Kim du Toit
May 9, 2008
11:15 AM CDT

I’m starting to like Cindy McCain more and more. Yeah, I know she’s been involved in philanthropic enterprises for a long time, and adopted a Bengalese girl with medical problems, and so on.

All good, worthwhile stuff, and that’s excellent.

But she gets the Kim Gold Star for refusing point blank to release her tax returns:

“You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate,” Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain, said in an interview aired on NBC’s “Today” on Thursday.

Asked if she would release her tax returns if she was first lady, Cindy McCain said: “No.”

Good for her. I’ve never understood why tax returns are an election issue. If I were running for office, I’d refuse just as categorically to release my returns. (Once in office, of course, it’s a different story: voters have an absolute right to see how their elected representatives are being compensated, and how they manage their finances.)

And Cindy McCain is quite right: her husband is the elected politician, not her—and as they’ve kept their finances separate their entire married life (filing separately, prenuptial agreements, separate bank accounts and so on), I see no reason why it’s anyone’s business how much money she earns from her successful business.

(For the record, I opposed having Teresa Kerry reveal her tax returns, for precisely the same reasons.)

Needless to say, that slimy little shit Howard Dean seized the opportunity to throw dirt and innuendo:

“What is John McCain trying to hide?” Dean said in a statement. “Throughout this campaign, he has acted like his own calls for openness and accountability apply to everyone but himself. Now he thinks he can bring that same double standard to the White House.”

Gah. I’d like to beat him over the head with a lead pipe.

Privacy: it’s your right. Despite what the Press and political hacks like Dean may think.

Breakthrough

Kim du Toit
May 9, 2008
10:18 AM CDT

Finally, looks like I can post stuff.

Watch this space…

Site Crash (From “Tech Support")

Connie du Toit
May 9, 2008
10:03 AM CDT

Yesterday morning we experienced a server crash.  The hard drives and the motherboard went out.  Since the system was in the process of a backup when this occurred, our backup (and our databases) were damaged. 

In order to get the sites back up we had to recreate the databases (on all our sites) from the various bits and pieces that were not corrupted by the crash.  Depending on how far back we had to go to get the pieces determined how much data was lost.

On this site, the post data was good and current, but the header table (for all posts) required the use of a 3/31 backup.  We recreated the records for everything since that date, and Kim is going through the process of restoring the real titles and the dates the posts were made.  (This will take a little time to get cleaned up.)

The comment table was also destroyed and the earliest table we could restore was also from 3/31.

The member table also required we go back to the 3/31 back up.  If you changed member details (or became a member) after 3/31, you will need to redo those changes (or join again).  SORRY!!

We’re dreadfully sorry about the confusion!

Update: You may want to bookmark our worpress site status site, which we post to when things are wonky:  http://dutoit.wordpress.com/