Global Warning?

In 1959, the US Government drilled some ice cores in search of a location to put a missile base in Greenland. They found plants frozen into the ice, which indicates that Greenland was ice free recently, in climate terms. At some point within the last million years, possibly only several hundred thousand years ago, Greenland was ice free.

Now, to humans, a million years seems like a long time, but that is relatively recent in climate and geological terms. In fact, atmospheric CO2 was lower a million years ago than it is now. This indicates to me that climate is cyclical, and has little to do with humans adding CO2 to the atmosphere.

Maddening

So I asked about the shotgun that I recently acquired and you guys delivered. I was put in touch with a great gunsmith who specializes in refurbishing Parker Brothers shotguns. I sent him photos of the shotgun. He tells me that this particular gun was manufactured in July of 1914 and has a value of between $3,000 and $4,000 once refurbished.

If I send him the shotgun, he will give me a quote with no obligation other than his cost in return shipping if I decide not to get the work done.

Here is the problem: I can ship it to him and get it returned without going through an FFL. The problem is that UPS and Fedex are telling me that they REQUIRE me to go through an FFL and they require it to go overnight at a cost of $400 each way. The idiot at the UPS center even told me that if I am not an FFL, they will require me to ship it to a police station in the town where it is going in care of the guy doing the work, and he can then pick it up there. They also require written proof of the value of the shotgun in order to insure it. I can’t get written proof until the guy I am shipping it to receives it. This is ridiculous.

Yes, I know that UPS requires overnighting of firearms because their employees are thieves. I would rather ship USPS Registered insured. Cheaper and more likely to get there, if I can.

That means the cost of shipping alone could be a third of the value of the shotgun. Since this is a long gun as well as being a C&R weapon, is there another way? Anyone have suggestions? Or should I just apply for a C&R license and send it USPS?

Police Purge Progressing

Alliteration aside, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is reviewing (I read that as destroying) a female deputy’s career because her husband chose to exercise his First Amendment rights to assemble, to petition his government for redress of grievances, and his right to free speech.

Why? They are alleging that her husband was a member of the “Proud Boys” and he was charged with “obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and engaging in disruptive and disorderly conduct.” All misdemeanors, and the charges may even be unconstitutional, unless the government wishes to try and make it a crime to interrupt a government official. This would mean that a person yelling at President Trump from the gallery would also be committing a crime. Ridiculous.

At any rate, now they are talking about using cancel culture to create a “blood crime” whereby people will not only be punished for their own behavior, but for the behavior of their relatives. This smells of the sort of thing that was common under the Bolsheviks.

Costs

I am committed to keeping this blog and server up, so don’t worry about me shutting down. That isn’t going to happen, but I would like to see if we can get some help in offsetting the costs a bit. So if this content is entertaining, or if you download some of the training materials located here, hit me up on my Patreon and kick in a few bucks. I would appreciate it.

Argument from authority

So I was at work, when one of the staff doctors came into the unit to ask about a patient. Now, the rule in the hospital is that masks are required at all times. That rule is really only obeyed in the patient areas of the hospital, and everyone in our work center was maskless. Except this doctor.

He came in wearing TWO masks (which no one in the entire hospital really does). He approaches me and asks, “Do you have a mask?”

As I am putting it on, I told him, “Just so you know, I am fully vaccinated.”

He begins chewing me out in front of my subordinates, tells me that he is a virologist, and being vaccinated doesn’t matter, yada yada. Now, I am open to new information, and I really wanted to know why the vaccine didn’t work to prevent transmission, but I also knew that he would take any inquiry as an argument. Arguing with a doctor while standing in the hospital where you are employed is the fast track to getting fired even if you are right and the doctor is wrong, and knowing that the easiest way to disarm someone trying to argue with you is to agree with them, I replied with: “Really? I wasn’t aware of that. Thanks for letting me know. I really thought the vaccine was the solution.”

Mollified, the doctor left after presenting his argumentum ab auctoritate. As soon as he left, I looked up his license and his CV. It turns out that none of his education involved any more virology than any other med school students, and his medical school education was 12 years old. Not only that, his specialty is interventional cardiology. It wasn’t enough to make him feel important that he is a surgeon- he has to lie to make himself feel more impressive.

He lied in order to present himself as an authority on a subject that he didn’t really know a lot about. I was in medical school more recently than he was, and my classes on infectious disease was more current than his. Now that I know him to be a liar, I will struggle to believe him if he even tries to give me the correct time. Asshat.

My subordinates told me that he routinely abuses the staff- especially the males. He seems to enjoy using his power in the hospital to embarrass and belittle the staff, who have to take it if they want to keep their jobs. He is largely disliked throughout the hospital by the nurses, techs, and other medical personnel.

He is just an over educated blowhard that was probably bullied as a kid, and is now taking it out on everyone.

Recently Acquired

Normally, we post about the newest gun we have. This is the newest to me, but certainly the oldest gun that I own. I recently acquired this from a family member:

It is a double barrel Parker Brothers Trojan 20 gauge shotgun, with what appears to be serial number 100 XXX. Now, I know nothing about old shotguns, but from my research, it appears to be over 100 years old.
The top reads “PARKER BROTHERS. MAKERS MERIDEN, CONN TROJAN STEEL”

It isn’t in the best shape, and certainly looks old, but I am afraid to do anything to it, even clean it, lest I destroy its value.

I am not interested in selling, as the weapon reportedly once belonged to my great grandfather, and has been in my family’s possession for over 100 years. I would, however, appreciate any insights into the origins and possible value of this firearm.