WASPS!

Last month I found a wasp nest on the cross-bar of my patio gate.  I bought some wasp spray (it was anemic ... didn't "shoot under pressure" as advertised) but it killed them.

There were still wasps around, hanging near the trash cans by the garage entrance.  But no nests found.

Today, loading groceries in the back of the Explorer, I notice there was a very advanced, very active wasp nest between the rear hatch and the body of the car.

I bought a new can of wasp spray.

Tonight, after dark, I sprayed the HELL out of the new wasp nest .. then closed the hatch.  Tomorrow will tell the story, whether or not I've eliminated the vermin.

FUNNY THING IS .... I couldn't see any signs of a wasp nest in or near the trash cans .. which are plastic, and always closed except when I'm emptying trash into them or the garbage man picks them up.   The trash cans attract insects, and while they're always closed tight ... the aroma seems to draw wasps.

I'll check tomorrow to confirm the latest "Explorer" next has all died .. and remove the dead nest. 

And I'll perform a more rigorous check near the garbage cans by the entrance to the garage.

 (I don't park inside the garage... the Damned Old Ford sleeps in the driveway, rain or shine.)
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Two weeks ago, I had observed wasps swarming around the outside rear-view mirror on the Ford; I used the hose to inundate the hidden next, and assumed that this would dissuade them from nesting around my black (warm) car.  I was wrong.

You might consider that this is the nesting season for wasps, and check for swarms on your property.  If you see more than 2 or 3 wasps ... there's a nest.  They're not terribly aggressive, but they will swarm you if you wander near their nest, so if you see them, be sure to check in nooks and crannies near where you see them.

They do become aggressive when you near their nest.  This is the second nest I've found within 15 feet of the entrance to my home.

Spray the nest, then distroy the nest with water pressure from your hose ... then crush and dispose of the next.

Let's be careful out there.

The NYT would rather see kids shot by invaders than to arm teachers.

The opinion column of the New York Times is always good for a "WTF?" moment.
(SEE: Below The Fold)

Despite the recent (?) spate of school shootings, NYT thinks that arming teachers would:

"... contribute to a climate of fear in schools and note that study after study equates more guns with more injuries and deaths."

It's significant that the wise editors of the NYT use the term "contribute to the climate of fear", which tacitly acknowledges that a "climate of fear" already exists in schools, after reports of predators attacking schoolchildren around the country.

When the only one with a gun is a predator,  it's difficult to imagine how an armed defender could make any student more fearful .... unless the NYT is willing to encourage students to "Pay No Attention To The Man Shooting Your Friends".    Apparently, students should not trust their teachers, but they should trust interlopers.

(Among interlopers, I'm including the sworn police officer who received reports of armed attacks on innocents, and heard the shots fired, but hid in his  police  car under a bridge until the shooting was over, rather than to risk his life defending the public.)

I'm sure there are statistics which report the number of educators who turn on their students with intentions of mass murder.

Oh, I looked it up.  I found ten reports of teachers killing students: worldwide!

Three used firearms    The rest used knives, or various forms of strangulation.   Apparently, when teachers run amok, they use the tools at hand ... some of which are more gruesome than others.  (Many of the reports note an "interpersonal" relationship; the teacher was banging  having an affair-gone-wrong with the student.)

I haven't found any reports of Mister Jones or Miss Smith Niner-ing their Junior High School class on Civics in Dubeque Iowa.

THE FOLD:

California Prop 65

More California Scheming?

Due to California laws, products sold in that state need to meet "product safety regulations" ... even if those laws don't logically apply to that product.

Bond Arms Firearms Cause CANCER... According to California Prop 65 - The Firearm Blog:

 After August 30th, Bond Arms products will NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE (including guns, barrels, holsters, accessories, apparel, etc.) in the state of California due to Prop 65, which makes all manufacturers label products that could have a chemical that could cause cancer or birth defects, even though it won’t.

(link added)

As a blogger, I'm beginning to LOVE California!   Their laws and regulations are quite as nonsensical and inane as are those of New Jersey!

Oh ... and "Bizarre", too!

    Comparing California and New Jersey;

California has the most lawyers of any state in the union; New Jersey has the most toxic landfills.    Why?

 New Jersey won the coin toss.

Holy Cat Suit, Batman!

Isn't watching Tennis boring enough?

‘You have to respect the game’: French Open bosses ban Serena Williams’ skin-tight catsuit — RT Sport News: French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli says next year’s French Open at Roland Garros tournament will toughen up its dress code – prohibiting form-fitting catsuits such as those Serena Williams donned this year. ‘Like a queen from Wakanda’: Serena Williams says ‘superhero’ catsuit helped her to victory In an interview with Tennis Magazine, Giudicelli emphasized that eye-catching, figure-hugging outfits will no longer be allowed at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. “I believe we have sometimes gone too far,” he said. “Serena’s outfit this year, for example, would no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”

No I don't.   But I DO respect Serena Williams!

Somebody needs to Get A Life

David Hogg to S&W: Donate $5 million annually to gun control or be destroyed - Guns.com 

... cites "Love and Economics" as the instruments of destruction.

Don't know why he bothers. Smith and Wesson has been mismanaging their business for years; sooner or later their corporate owners will cast them off as unprofitable.

But Hogg will milk this cow as long as he can, because he loves his spotlight.
(Although his "spotlight" is more like a "penlight".)

The gun control advocate, speaking at a protest at Smith & Wesson’s factory in Massachusetts over the weekend, had a list of demands. David Hogg, who catapulted to the national spotlight for his role in the March for Our Lives campaign following the Parkland, Florida school shooting earlier this year, was a featured speaker at a rally organized by 50 Miles More and the Boston chapter of March for Our Lives. With a crowd estimated by the Boston Herald to number about 100 on Sunday, Hogg helped voice the group’s demands for the gun maker to donate $5 million to gun violence research per year and halt the production of firearms outlawed under the state’s assault weapons ban.

Let me see, that would calculate to about $50,000 per protester.

Hog continues to ignore the fact that he was not at Parkland School when the atrocity occurred; his notoriety is based on his assertion that ... "I COULD have been there!"

I went to the range today, and didn't fire a single shot

There was a match at my local range, and my friend The Hobo Brasser competed in it.  I didn't compete, but I came out to watch the last stage, and then we went to lunch

Over burgers and beer we chatted of friends and family, and the match (where the Hobo turned in a couple of very good runs during the Speed Steel match), and the conversation turned to the point where he suggested that I should start competitive shooting again.

I informed him that my eyesight was degenerating, and I was unable see at a close distance (like ... within three feet) without corrective lenses.  He suggested that I work with red-dot sights to help, and that's a reasonable solution.  But I still need corrective lenses, and I can't see at a distance with my reading glasses.

(I tried bifocals a few years ago ... the split image makes me dizzy when I move from one shooting position to the next, and that's part of the IPSC thing.   So he might have a point; Speed Steel does not require movement.  I'll think about it.)

The Hobo is a true gentleman, and he allowed to conversation to turn to other subjects.

I enjoyed the outing, the lunch, the conversation, and the opportunity to spend time with a man I respect and whose company I enjoy.

100th London murders; Thinking Like A Brit!

It could be worse!

100th London murder investigation launched as capital set for record number of killings after pensioner found dead - Mirror Online: 100th London murder investigation launched as capital set for record number of killings after pensioner found dead Full list of those killed after epidemic of knife crime sweeps the capital this year piling pressure on Metropolitan Police.

They tell me that knife attacks are less frequently fatal than attacks by guns.   And I assume that not all of the Brits who were attacked by knives died from their injuries; the article does not address the question of how many Brits were attacked by knives and survived the attack.   For the sake of argument, we will assume that a few some survived.

So, if those who were "only injured" by knives had been armed with firearms, and were able to defend themselves against their attackers ... then the total number of "dead" would be much greater (due to the deaths, by gunshot, of the attackers).

That would be a terrible number of "death by gunshot", and would make it seem that London is a hotbed of violence!

When you think about it, it's ultimately A Good Thing that Brits are not allowed to defend themselves with firearms.

Help Stamp Out Gun Violence!

(Oh, and BTW .... The Brits have made knives illegal.   Which is okay, because they don't like to to eat steak anyway.)

PS: I wonder if there would be fewer knife attacks on Brits if they were legally permitted to carry firearms.   Logic suggests that the possibility that the victims might be able to defend themselves against more powerful and vicious attackers might make the villains more ... cautious ... about choosing their victims.
But that's just poppycock; that could never happen in a Civilized Society!

New Jersey not only bans guns, but tracks guns they don't ban!

Murphy makes yet another move to combat gun violence in N.J. | NJ.com:

New Jersey has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and one of the country's lowest gun mortality rates. But Murphy has repeatedly cited how the majority of gun deaths in the state involved a firearm that came from out of state. 

This directive requires agencies to share information regarding the manufacturer, importer, dealer, and the first purchase for such crimes. That will allow the State Police to identify any patterns and identify those who have unlawfully sold or bought the guns, according to the attorney general's office.

Lotsa luck with that.  It only regulates honest firearms owners ... where is the law that criminals will obey when they bring illegal firearms into New Jersey?

Answer: It's just another load of Liberal feel-good legislation which will have NO effect on firears imported from out of state.

But politicians need feel-good laws, because .... somebody needs to feel that their state is protecting them ... when their state is powerless to protect them by merely passing laws that nobody will obey.

what a bunch of maroons!

"School Shooting" reports are often bogus:

Agenda, Not Accuracy | The Zelman Partisans:

Back in February, I fact-checked Everytown for Gun “Safety”‘s list of school shootings. 29% of their “school shootings” did not meet even their own definition.* Some weren’t shootings.

How would you define a "School Shooting"?

You would expect that someone at a school shot someone else at a school ... right?

Sorry ... most at least SOME of the stories about a "School Shooting" either didn't involve a "school", except only marginally.  Many don't involve a "School" at all, and some don't even occur within the boundaries of a school-ground.

I wouldn't have even mentioned that, except that the Popular Press is so eager to define gun violence as "School Shootings" that they neglect that often neither "Schools" nor "Shootings" were involved.

This is just one more example of how the "Popular Press" willingly glamorizes incidents in order to terrorize the public, in their urge to demonize firearms.

And I thought *_I_* was disenchanted with Politicians!

As much as it pains me to agree with SALON ....

Democrats Latest News & Community | Salon: Diehard Trump fans and diehard Democrats are impossible to reason with.They’ve memorized all the talking points and they will argue with you endlessly. I see no sense in engaging with either.Both live in a Manichean world where one side is pure good and the other side is pure evil. In reality Republicans and Democrats differ only on hot-button social issues. Both cater to the economic elite. Both love war. Both have contempt for ordinary working people.  [emphasis added]

(I'm not convinced that "both love war", but that's a subject for another time.)

Most first-campaign politicians campaign for office in order to advance a cause which they consider important.   When elected, they soon discover that their voice as a "junior" legislative member is ignored and without power.  They haven't the support to pass the bills which they expected to improve the cause of their electorate.

Then they begin to enter  into coalitions with other members of the legislature, because they only way you can "change America" is to make your vote count. So you give a little, to get a little.

And there's always the PACs who support (and fund) anyone who will support THEIR political niche.

Eventually, you're voting to "make happen" some things that you would not normally support;  but you tell your constituents that "... it's a good bill..." even though you consider it not so good.  Because you owe people; people that didn't elect you.  This is also referred to as the "Slippery Slope".

And no ... I don't want to talk about the Lotharios in the Legislature ;

The Senator, the Governor, the Mayor ... et al.