The Naked and the Dread

At first glance you might think the Transportation Security Administration has decided there's something infinitely creepy about having a guy look through your clothes, at your short hairs, bumps, and dangles. Suspend that visionary idea.  It may be that the new full body scanner software is just cheaper.

Ostensibly stung by criticism of naked scans of your daughter as you and the family fly to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, TSA is touting a new experiment in body-scanner software. The gizmo substitutes a clothed generic avatar. It highlights a general body area where there  might be contraband. Then comes the frisk.

But a TSA spokesman makes much of the cost savings. The government will not have to go to the expense of having an employee in an isolated  room look at your nakedness. That's the TSA  sop to citizens bitterly clinging to the notion that it's wrong to have their privates on public display at the check-in line.

But:


The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.


Coffee break at 612 South 12th Street in Arlington: "Hey, Art, ya wanna look at some naked people? How 'bout some of them wise-ass blog people always giving us crap? We can use the HD  upgrade and  make a list of the shorties and flatties and ...". 

Open Carry - Oooops

We're relatively laid back about firearms in western Iowa, but we're not immune to the "OMG, he has a gun" mindset. 


The Clay County Sheriff's Office says it received a report shortly after 6:00 p.m. Friday of a man carrying a handgun in his pocket at the Quick Spot in Everly. Several witnesses reported seeing the gun.

There's much unreported about the man and the circumstances,  but it's a good reminder that  letting your thing stick out is going to result in phone calls and perhaps flashing blue lights and a ride to jail..

Iowa law is somewhat unclear on open carry, but it seems to be perfectly legal outside  incorporated towns and  almost universally illegal in them.  Open carry by  CCW holders in towns  is especially iffy. We are may-issue until January 1, and at least one sheriff has said that -- under the current law, anyway -- he would jerk the permit of any holder openly carrying inside city limits.

EDIT: Carrying in cars on the road is pretty clear. If you have a CCW, okay. If not the handgun must be unloaded and cased.  (Usual disclaimer that I'm no lawyer and the  information is for general information only.)

This fellow shows up clean in  the courts database except for two traffic violations, one in 2000, again in 2009. Both are for driving with no license.  Possibly no license issued, possibly just didn't have it with him.
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I don't pass along much from other forums, but I liked one from  "Overheard in the News Room" well enough to make an exception.

Editor 1:  "What did we do before Google?"

Editor 2:  "Journalism."

Reloading note -- .45ACP cast bullets

An experiment with as-cast and unlubricated .45 ACP bullets did not work well.  We fired just over  50 mild --c. 725 fps -- rounds  last week. Accuracy was acceptable, given that the shooting was pretty casual, and there were no malfunctions.  But the leading was very bad. A stiff brush and Hoppes 9 removed only part of it, and I'm facing the need to use the hydrogen peroxide and vinegar trick.

These were cast from mill-run wheel weights with no additves, and that may be the problem. I read that wheel weights use far less tin and antimony than they did a few years ago.

To avoid the mess of lubing, I'm going to try a new batch made from the harder alloy I mixed last month. If those lead, I'll try pan-lubing and pray that's a solution. I really hate the idea of gettiing into the dedicated luber/sizer mess.

For what it's worth, I've been counting on the Lee  taper crimp die to do the final sizing, assuming it squeezes the bullet into dimension as it full-length sizes the entire finished round.

EDIT: Oh dang. I meant "boolits," of course, not bullets.