The Peripatetic Engineer

Head Count

2022-05-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

There were no beheadings in Saudi Arabia in April probably because it was Ramadan.

Head Count

2022-04-10T09:23:00.003-07:00

Saudi Arabia ended the month with a grand total of 107 beheadings setting some sort of a new record. Their year to date total is 117!

Head Count

2022-03-12T17:04:00.001-08:00

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia broke all execution records with a mass execution of 81 for various crimes. Most of the 73 Saudis, 7 Yemenis and 1 Syrian were executed for crimes of terrorism like belonging to ISIS, Al Qaeda or the Houthis. There was mention of "deviant beliefs" as well, whatever that means. Expect some pushback from the world as this news gets out but the timing may have been determined by the mess over in the Ukraine holding the news cycle.

Head Count

2022-03-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

Saudi Arabia seems to be ramping up the work load of the sword swinger by beheading 6 murderers last month. This brings the year to date total to an even 10.

Head Count

2022-02-15T06:18:00.001-08:00

Saudi Arabia started of 2022 by beheading 4 murderers.

Head Count

2022-01-06T06:42:00.002-08:00

Saudi Arabia ended the year by beheading 3 more criminals (2 for murder, 1 for terrorism). This brings their year to date total to 64, which may be a new low.

Head Count

2021-12-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia beheaded 3 for murder and 1 for "terrorism" last month. The year to date total stands at 61.

Head Count

2021-11-16T10:10:00.004-08:00

Only 3 beheadings last month in The Kingdom. Year to Date is 57.

Head Count

2021-10-22T06:34:00.003-07:00

KSA beheaded 7 more last month. Their year to date total is now 54.

Head Count

2021-09-18T08:21:00.003-07:00

Add 6 more to the count for Saudi Arabia. Year to date total is now 47.

Head Count

2021-08-17T14:01:00.001-07:00

The heads of another 10 murderers were separated last month. That brings the year to date count to 41.

Head Count

2021-07-08T06:07:00.001-07:00

Saudi Arabia beheaded 6 murderers in June to bring their year to date head count to 31.

Head Count

2021-06-08T10:50:00.001-07:00

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia added 5 more heads of murderers to their count bringing the year to date up to 25.

Head Count

2021-05-06T07:56:00.002-07:00

Saudi Arabia executed 6 last month. Three were for murder but another three were for "High Treason", however they define that over there. Year to date total is now 20.

Scenes in Lagos

2021-04-18T08:00:00.004-07:00

Several years ago I had a short assignment in Lagos, Nigeria. I was part of a larger staff that were all housed in a hotel and commuted to the office on a bus with an armed security escort. One day as we were returning to the hotel we saw a guy that appeared to be asleep on the side of the road. We thought nothing of it. The next day, he was still there but he had been stripped of his clothes. He was obviously dead. On the third day, he was gone. We were told that when someone dies, they are quickly relieved of their clothing. Such is the condition of people living in third world countries where the leaders hoard all the oil revenues.

The route of our bus took us under an overpass for the main highway. Hanging from the railing was a human skull and a sign proclaiming death to Muslims.

People living in Lagos will do anything to earn a little money. Some build a small fire and roast bush meat on a flat steel plate. Some convert automobile air conditioning compressors to use to inflate flat tires. And, of course, crime is rampant which is why we had armed escorts. My concern about the escorts were: Would they be willing to shoot their countrymen to protect me, and would they be accurate enough not to hit me?

Nigeria is not a place I can recommend.

Head Count

2021-04-02T10:42:00.001-07:00

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chopped the heads off of 5 murderers last month bringing their year to date count to 14.

Concealed Carry Backlog

2021-04-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

My current permit was due to expire on March 18. I took my training and submitted the renewal application on February 10, which I thought would be adequate time to process it. The state sent me the fee request and I paid it on March 9. This was all done on line so documents were sent electronically and the mail was not an issue.

I just received notification that the new permit was approved on March 31.

I can only assume that there are so many applications that the LSP cannot keep up.

Biden Presser, Paper Tiger

2021-03-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

I caught the end of Biden's press conference and was underwhelmed. He did not project strength or vitality and the press treated him like the doddering grandfather that he is. When he was asked about steps he would take on gun control, he responded that timing was everything and then rambled on about infrastructure. The press allowed him to verbally ramble without interrupting him.

I fear for our country because our leader does not project strength or seriousness. Our friends, and enemies, know that Biden is a paper tiger. November Motel Papa!

GOM Lease Sale Cancelled

2021-03-16T08:51:00.004-07:00

There was supposed to be an oil and gas lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow but Biden cancelled it. In a lease sale, a company pays for the right to explore a 3 mile by 3 mile block of ocean. If they don't find anything, they lose their money. If they find something, the government gets a royalty (percentage) of the oil and gas produced. It's a steady income stream to Uncle Sam.

Why should the average person care?

Well, the government gets a substantial portion of their budget from the offshore oil and gas industry. I don't know the current percentage, but it provides a few billion of income.

Why should you care?

The Biden administration is on a spending spree and that money has to come from somewhere. If they don't get income from offshore oil and gas, and the taxes paid by the people that the industry employs, they are going to come to you for that money. Stand by for more taxes.

Clan Campbell

2021-03-12T12:39:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that this bottle sat on my bottom shelf for years as I thought it was too low brow. I was wrong. I broke this out the other night and found it to be very drinkable. It has almost no harshness (even my wife liked it) and has a long, warming finish. Clan Campbell is a blended scotch and is a best seller in France. The brand is currently owned by Pernod Ricard.

The scotch got its start with a wine merchant named Rosenbloom who moved into whiskey blending in 1933. It is a blend of Arbelour and Glenallachie, so it has a Speyside base. This is a very affordable drink and makes the case that you don't have to be expensive, or single malt, to be good.

Nutria Rodeo Unintended Consequences

2021-03-03T16:14:00.002-08:00

A nutria rodeo was held last weekend. About 200 hunters showed up to join in the free fire zone against nutria, the rat that is eating the Louisiana marsh. In all, they bagged about 1500 nutria weighing in at about 10 tons.

At first the zoo said they would be willing to take the carcasses to feed their alligators, but by the time the rodeo was over, the dead nutria had been sitting in the heat for too long and they became quite pungent. The zoo changed their mind and now the organizers were left with 1500 smelly water rats.

What do you do with 10 tons of rotting nutria?

It turns out that a local crab fisherman took them to be used as bait in his crab traps. I bet that the next time they decide to hold a nutria shoot, they will plan the disposal a little better.

Head Count

2021-03-03T05:19:00.004-08:00

KSA beheaded 4 murderers last month. Year to date count stands at 9.

Gun Store Shootout

2021-02-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

There was a big shoot out at a local gun store last week. A man walked into the store with a loaded weapon. He was politely asked to leave and unload. He started to leave but then turned and started shooting, killing 2 people in the process. As you can imagine, all the guns carried by the staff came out and the shooter became the 3rd victim. In the melee, 2 other people were wounded.

It has become very difficult to find out any more information. There has been nothing about the motivation or mental state of the shooter and you only get crickets when you try to find out how many rounds were fired and which rounds hit which people.

It seems to me that if you wanted to commit suicide, opening fire in a gun store would be a good way to do it.

Cancel Culture in the Big Easy

2021-02-26T07:48:00.001-08:00

So the New Orleans city council plans to re-name some 37 streets, parks and other civic monuments that had been named for Civil War figures. What I wonder is how Google Maps, Waze and other GPS aps are going to keep up with the name changes. Will the data base have both names or will people not be able to find the new street because the software only knows the old name? What is the cost of all these modifications?

And as I said before, why do we still have things named after signers of the Southern Manifesto?

Head Count

2021-02-15T05:22:00.001-08:00

After a period of abstinence, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia started off 2021 by beheading 5 murderers.