Month: August 2024

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Mauser HSc (.32 ACP/7.65mm Browning)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

The HSc was Mauser’s answer to Walther’s PP model in the same chambering, and it’s a pretty little thing, made very much in the Art Deco style of the time:

Like many of the .32 ACP guns, I’ve actually owned one of these, and while it’s a joy to shoot — far nicer than the PP, by the way, which can cut your hand up — it’s not really a “pocket” pistol like its many competitors, in that it’s surprisingly heavy despite its diminutive size.  (Carried in a pants pocket, it’ll make your trousers sag alarmingly — ask me how I know this — which is not true of the others.)

I’ve spoken before of my fondness for the .32 ACP cartridge, and it should be known that I’ve owned a large number of guns thus chambered, and fired almost all of them.

I once owned a Mauser HSc, and I very much regret selling it (but not the Walther), because it was a peach to shoot:  accurate, smooth and in my hands, absolutely reliable without a single stoppage (despite that semi-rimmed design, which can cause feeding problems, I never experienced any with the HSc).  Other people think so too, as whenever one appears at Collectors Firearms, for example, it seldom lasts long before being gobbled up.

The biggest problem with owning the HSc (like many of its cousins) is that the magazines are made of unobtanium, and if you can find one, it’s going to put a big hole in your wallet.  Upon reflection, however, I don’t happen to think that it’s a problem because a .32 ACP pistol isn’t going to be your primary carry piece anyway.

But every time you take it to the range, you’ll remember why you enjoy shooting it so much.  And that is not something you can say about many guns.

Dealing With Mutti’s Legacy

Immigration

All the chickens implicit in The Great Cultural Assimilation Project© are coming home to roost, in ever-increasing numbers and with ever-increasing frequency.  Here’s the latest (at time of writing, anyway):

A major manhunt is underway in Germany after an attacker stabbed to death three people at a festival on Friday evening in the western city of Solingen but police say they are yet to identify the suspect.

Those killed in the attack have been revealed as two men aged 67 and 56, and a woman aged 56. Eight others were injured, including four with life-threatening injuries.

A motivation for the attack, which has sent shockwaves through the country, has not yet been determined and terrorism has not been ruled out. While Islamic State claimed responsibility, it offered no evidence to back up its claim.

Uh huh.

Indeedy, yes.  From a later report:

The Syrian asylum seeker suspected of killing three and injuring several others at a “festival of diversity” in Germany on Friday reportedly had a deportation order last year, but authorities failed to remove him from the country.

Anybody surprised by this?  No?  Then we may continue, this time looking at the response:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz talked tough on a visit to the scene of the knife attack.

How tough?

“We must do everything to ensure that such things never happen in our country, if possible,” Scholz said of the attack. He predicted a toughening knife laws in particular “and this should and will happen very quickly.”

You see, this is where the true effects of Angela Merkel’s legacy come into play.  The Germans are affording immigrants the same kind of legal protections they grant German citizens, instead of, say, reintroducing the death penalty for any non-German citizen found guilty of a capital crime in the country.  Noooooo! or rather Neeeiiiiiinnnn! that would be ummm discriminatory, wouldn’t it? 

At least they could deport these assholes super-quickly — not to their “home countries”, but to some other shithole like, say, Somalia or a similar Muslim stronghold.

And here’s a perfect example of the German government’s blinkered attitude:

Green Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck also called for a tightening of knife laws, saying there must be “more weapon ban zones and stricter weapon laws.”

“No one has to carry stabbing or cutting weapons in public spaces in Germany,” said the Green politician. “We no longer live in the Middle Ages.”

You stupid shit.  You may not be living in the Middle Ages, but these fucking Islamic assholes certainly are.

Thanks to previous German immigration policies (Mutti Merkel, danke ), you’ve imported the Middle Ages into the 21st century.

And what a Middle-Ages mindset needs is appropriate (i.e. medieval) punishments, but there’s no way the oh-so-civilized German government is going to open that little door, thanks to their ummmm earlier behavior less than a century ago.

You might as well surrender now, unless you’re prepared to get serious.

News From Little Big Horn

Food & Drink

…yeah, Custer’s having some problems out there.

Also, this stunning news:

Cucumbers can be seen as a quick and easy addition to summery salads or a tasty snack, but an expert has issued a warning over the vegetable.

Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, who specialises in weight management, issued a warning to anyone who regularly eats them. According to Rhiannon, the cucumber might not be as nutritional as fans first thought.

In her column for the Daily Telegraph, Rhiannon explained: “Cucumber is a refreshing vegetable with a very high (96%) water content, making it hydrating but relatively low in nutrients.”

You don’t say!  Hands up all those who didn’t know that cucumbers are just a water delivery device… oh you all know that?  What’s that, in the back?  “Crunchy water”, you say.  Indeed it is.

But wait!  There’s more!

For an extra box of .22 LR, can anyone tell me another vegetable that’s mostly water but beloved by salad gobblers, vegans and dieters?  [some overlap]

Rhiannon also touched on iceberg lettuce, noting its similar shortfall in nutritional value. Like cucumbers, it’s better for hydration than nutrition.

Ah, you peeked.  No ammo for you.

In our next edition of Little Big Horn News, our intrepid reporters have discovered that slamming your finger with a hammer can hurt like hell, hot stove tops hide a nasty little secret, and Lizzo has a weight problem.

News Roundup

Bad News

Might as well have a beer (or six), as we contemplate some Election News:


...more like a Reagan-versus-Mondale outcome, but then again, the Democrats didn’t try to imprison Reagan or rely on massive voting fraud schemes back then;  they hadn’t gone Full Stalin yet.


...wait till ol’ Mark hears about FDR’s death.


...and not a moment too soon, either.


...of course not;  why should they address the area most likely to be used fraudulently?

In Military News:


...gee, I wonder if that just might be because men don’t want to join the Navy and see the Woke?  And some even better news (for China):


...well, isn’t that special?

And news from The Great Cultural Assimilation Project©:


...like we would have expected anyone else.


...proving that immigration idiocy isn’t confined to just the Euros.

And just to the north of them:


...isn’t there a law against this kind of thing?  Or should New Wife apply, seeing as she’s not (yet) a citizen?  (Of course, that means I would have to live in the People’s Soviet of Oregon… so nemmind.)

But wait!  From Britishland:


...too bad that realization has come too late, innit?

In local Lawn Ordure news:


...keyword:  Floriduh.

And in our peek into other  

 

...actually, what you really need to do is change your partner, because that lil’ thang is gonna be worn out.


...ah yes, Liz… how could we ever forget her?

And on that pink note, we end this look at the news.

Work Ethic

Business, Snowflakes

What bullshit.  From Richard Littlejohn:

My nephew recently applied for a vacancy at a City institution. He got the job, even though he was over-qualified, because he was the only applicant prepared to turn up at least three days a week.

Apparently, the new corporate sin is “presenteeism” — the insistence that employees actually go to the company office to do their job.  Apparently, employees now have the “right” to tell the company when they’ll be most productive.  What a load of crap.

Listen:  I worked from home for over nine years (out of a working lifetime of over thirty) and even though I was as motivated as hell, I can tell you right now that I often goofed off.  Oh, the excuses were good:

  • the program I was running would take over two hours to run, so why not mow the lawn during that time?
  • the meeting was being conducted online (by phone;  we didn’t have Zoom or whatever back then), so I could get in the car and drive to the supermarket while listening in;
  • I didn’t want to be disturbed while working on a project, and so working at home meant that people wouldn’t interrupt me by coming into my office;
  • and so on.

The thing that’s common to all this nonsense is that people are conflating personal productivity with corporate productivity.  In the first example above, sure:  I could get something done that needed doing while waiting for the program to run — but what I should have been doing is other work-related stuff:  responding to emails, planning the next project — you know, doing company business while on company time.

I don’t buy any of this WFH nonsense.  If I were running a company, I would insist on 100% (5 days a week) office attendance, with work from home being allowed only on a case-by-case basis, and only at the employee’s manager’s discretion — his decision being final and absolute, not subject to appeal or revision.

“Oh but Kim, you’d never get anyone to work for you on that basis then.”

You know who would work for me under those conditions?  Men and women of age greater than 55, with all the work experience (i.e. requiring little or no training) who all understand that work is work, and that work needs to be done in the appropriate environment.  Not at home, where you can play video games while being on a Zoom call with a client.

I’d rather pay some old fart (or fartette) $45/hour and know that he’ll not only be there when and if I need him, but he’ll also understand the concept of loyalty and will stay with me for the next ten years;  as opposed to paying some supercilious little twerp $35/hour for him to be goofing off 50% of the time at home, and who will quit in two months’ time because someone offered him $37.50, or his manager “offended” him.

And I don’t want to hear any protestations of innocence and indignation from Gen Z, either.  I’ve been there and done that, I know how the game is played, and you won’t shame me by accusing me of “presenteeism” or some other spurious concocted offense.

Fuck you.  You want the job, you work where and when your employer tells you to.  Otherwise, feel free to pursue your precious career goals in the fast food industry, DoorDash, or as a “content creator” on your own website or OnlyFans.  Get out of the way, and leave business to serious people.