Good Boy!

Heads (f)or tail

2011-03-31T20:31:00.006-06:00

The logical part of my mind understands that what this man did was inexcusable if human society is going to continue. If people took the law into their own hands for every after-the-fact injury in society, civilization would crumble. At least that's what I, and likely you, have been raised to believe since we could formulate thoughts, and I can't argue with the logic of the idea. But the other part of my mind that has not been so steeped in logic, the part connected to emotions, cheers what this father did to his daughter's rapists.

In case the link above doesn't work at some point in the future, I will synopsize the story. In South Africa, at least 4 men raped an ex-South Africa rugby stars daughter and infected her with HIV, effectively giving her a death sentence. The father tracked down and stalked her daughter's alleged (oops, sorry for the candy-a**ed lawyer-speak) assailants and killed them with an axe, decapitating one, nearly doing so with the other, and apparently merely killing the third. He went after a the fourth man, but he escaped with only a scratch. The father has been arrested and charged with murder.

The murder charge is understandable. Regardless of the circumstances, he did, allegedly, kill the men. So, in the interest of preserving society, I can see need for the state to prosecute his violation of the law. But at a grittier level, I can also understand the action this father took to punish his daughter's rapists.

Nothing can change what happened to the man's daughter, even the disposal of her attackers. But at least they will never again enjoy a laugh, a beer, or any of the other little pleasures of life. Conversely, they will never be able to endure any of life's discomforts and pains, something I wish they could still experience, in concentrated amounts, daily, in a special prison tailored to mete out severe punishment to its unlucky inhabitants. A prison with no television, no books, no exercise equipment, no amenities of any kind, and no pretense there will be any attempt at rehabilitation, just plenty of tedious, pointless work, for a meager ration of lousy food and swift corporal punishment for minor rule infractions. In other words, a living hell. I believe that would be a more fitting punishment than the quick release of murder from this mortal coil.

Take care,
DAL357

Lizard on a plane

2010-12-05T09:28:00.008-07:00

All of the recent flapdoodle with full-body scanners the TSA has been foisting on the American public in the name of ostensible security reminded me of what air travel was like in my youth. To say the least, it was quite different.

My father was in the military, so our family did a fair amount of travelling by air in the 1960s. Back then, there was no security screening: you paid for your ticket, checked your bags, headed to your gate and got on the plane--no fuss, no muss. You could take on board the plane what you could carry, and never was it even hinted at that someone would want to search your belongings. This is how I was able to get my anole lizard, purchased for one dollar in late 1967, from Detroit, MI to El Paso, TX. That's right, I carried him directly onto the plane without a problem.

How? He was in his plastic cage inside of a brown paper grocery bag that I placed at my feet as I sat down. No other passengers were aware of the stowaway reptile they were sharing their flight with and business went on as usual. The stewardesses, as they were known back then, served food, and snacks, and drinks, oblivious to the extra passenger not on anyone's manifest. When the flight was over, we deplaned and that was that. No one was harmed, no one was groped. I sometimes wonder what other odd and/or exotic cargo made secret trips aboard commercial airliners back then.

But we are a different people now. We are a good deal less realistic (in other words, immature) about life. So many people have bought into the childish notion that life can be lived without limits, especially financial limits, that our government now reflects that belief. We are also less likely to point out obvious truths--such as certain groups of peoples being more likely to commit anti-social acts than other groups of people (think 9-11)--lest the cudgel of political correctness land upon our skulls.

Somehow, though, we muddle through all of these idiocies and indignities, although not unscathed. We are a changed people, less involved in what matters in life and more involved in voyeuristic pursuits. We are distracted to a fault by nonsensical blather and gadgets to the point where we can no longer think out a problem and come to a logical, sensible solution. So we throw up our hands in despair and let the so-called experts in government, business, and banking (the lines of distinction between the three blur more every election cycle) handle the problems--with disastrous results. Then we wonder why things never seem to get better. Wonder no more, friend, go peer in the mirror.

Look how far we've fallen. From peacefully carrying a lizard on a plane to limiting the amount of liquid one can embark with and frisking children.* But the most galling fact of all is that the American people, those fools who live vicariously through sports teams, and theatrically-belligerent, freakish-looking "wrestlers," and actors, are allowing this to be perpetrated upon themselves. The American people are not the bada**es they like to pretend to be; they are cowardly sheep who leave the thinking to the shepard. The few who aren't like that are the ones protesting, but they are fighting an uphill battle against the inertia of the masses.

Take care.
DAL357

*Yes, I'm aware of the events of 9-11-01. I'm also aware of the entity that created the conditions favorable for that epochal event to occur, the U.S. government through their interventionist policies, chiefly their support of Israel. It's not that the U.S. should or shouldn't be supporting Israel. It's that the U.S. should not be sticking its globetrotting nose into ANY other country's business. If Israel can't survive on its own, then it wasn't meant to be. If it has to use nuclear weapons to survive, so be it. At this point, I really don't care anymore. It's not any of Main Street America's concern; we came over here to get away from all of the strife the rest of the world is perpetually locked in.

DEA attempts to justify its existence, predictably fails

2010-11-27T07:22:00.015-07:00

Answerable to no one and willed into existence by the FedGov, the DEA, ostensibly designed to protect Americans--especially the children--from themselves, has issued a decree from on high that carries the force of law, but eschews petty concerns, like the consent of the governed, that would give it the scent of legitimacy.

The decree? That legal highs K2 and Spice will be banned by the DEA.

I have no idea what these substances are, and I've never even heard of them before I read the article. But I do know tyranny when I see it, and I'm seeing it in spades with this travesty. The article states that after a 30-day waiting period (if it's such a danger, why wait 30 days?), the drugs will be banned by "the DEA using its emergency powers," whatever those are, for at least a year.

Of course the DEA tries to justify its decision by saying that the substances, which are apparently sprayed on herb leaves and mimic the effect of THC on the brain, have no standards for dosage and some brands are more spiked than others. So are we to believe that this dilemma could be solved by accurate labeling?

Au contraire, the DEA also shows their concern for your well being by stating that unlike real cannabis (so now the DEA's a champion of real pot?), these synthetic forms of cannabis have never been tested in humans and might be harmful to them. They contain chemical compounds that "stick around in the body for quite a long time." So do a lot of other things people ingest, think plastics which leech PBA into food when heated.

Finally, to put a maraschino cherry on top of its unilateral decision, the DEA says the American Association of Poison Control Centers "has received more than 1,500 calls relating to products spiked with these" drugs. Well, there you have it. Conveniently, though, it doesn't say what those calls were about, only that they were "related" to these products. In and of itself, the above statement is meaningless. Perhaps people were asking what amount they should smoke, or if any reports of adverse reactions to the drugs had been received. Or maybe they were DEA agents trying to inflate the number of calls to the AAPCC, who knows? That "the calls came from 48 states and the District of Columbia" is immaterial also, but it was included in the DEA statement as some pretext for widespread DEA intervention.

Look, at this point no one knows if these synthetic compounds are hazardous to human health or not. The DEA certainly does not, yet they make a decree as if they know. Unless compelling evidence can be shown that the drugs pose an immediate threat to health, they should not be banned. Studied, perhaps (at DEA expense); banned, no.

But this whole thing isn't about protecting anyone or anything, save for jobs at the DEA, it's about pure, unadulterated power and the exercise thereof. Think of any justification they might coddle together as the lubricant they'll use to ram that power in/up the American orifice of their choice.

No appeal, no questioning this or any other bureaucratic whim, just do as they say and live with it.

Take care.
DAL357

Pat Tillman

2010-10-10T10:04:00.005-06:00

Recently, I finished listening to the audio book version of Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory--The Odyssey of Pat Tillman." One thing that really stuck with me was how likable Pat Tillman was, at least as presented by Krakauer. Tillman was the antithesis of the typical jock: he had interests outside of sports, he liked to read and write, he was never a skirt chaser, he was honest and loyal, and, apparently, coffee was his only drug of choice. He had a sense of duty and honor not many people have, be it in the NFL or otherwise; unfortunately, these virtues, in a way, hastened his death. I won't go into all of the details of how, as the book explains it better and more succinctly than I could.

The attempted cover-up after Tillman's death, which was the result of friendly fire, is both tragic and sickening. It also merits eternal shame and dishonor on all those involved from the top on down. Those involved are not fit to wear the uniform they serve in.

As to the actual event of Tillman's death, Krakauer explains it in detail. Apparently, a short firefight erupted in a narrow canyon his unit was travelling through. Tillman, who was a ways back of the column, went forward towards the shooting. By the time he got there, the insurgents had fled, but the nerves of the entire unit were on edge after taking fire. He scrambled up one side of the canyon, followed closely by another soldier, and stopped near a large boulder. They were approximately 90-100 yards from the canyon floor. A soldier on the canyon floor saw them and somehow mistook them for insurgents and fired at them. Tillman, apparently dumbstruck that so obvious a mistake could be made at such an easy-to-identify distance, waved his arms to alert the soldier that they were cohorts. This didn't register with the soldier firing, who fired again, this time hitting Tillman three times in the forehead, killing him instantly.

Tillman's body was still warm when the cover-up began. Kevin Tillman, Pat's brother, was also part of the same unit. When he found out his brother had been killed, Kevin, who was farther back in the column than his brother and--thankfully--didn't witness the event, understandably thought it was the insurgents who were responsible and wanted revenge. His superiors, the unit's NCOs and CO, quickly figured out what had happened and did nothing to dissuade Kevin's incorrect assumption. Perhaps that is understandable for unit cohesion in hostile territory, but the lie was allowed to live long after the soldiers returned to safer environs. Indeed, it was perpetuated by those on up the chain of command. What a sad commentary on what is looked upon by many Americans as a noble and honorable profession.

One final thing I'll say about Pat Tillman, and I don't mean this in a disparaging way, but once he was fired upon, how I wish he should have hit the dirt as fast as possible and stayed there. I've no doubt he was exasperated to take fire from one of his own, but until things could be sorted out, the best course of action when taking rounds in your direction, regardless of who they're from, is to make yourself as small a target as possible.

Take care.
DAL357

It ain't easy

2010-09-15T19:29:00.008-06:00

I've finally given bowhunting a try after being a life-long firearms hunter and, to put it bluntly, it's darned difficult. Locating the deer is no problem, as I've found an area with a good population of the creatures, but getting close enough (30 yards max.) to make a shot has been nigh impossible. Had I been hunting with my trusty .30-06, my season would have been over by 9 a.m. the first morning I was out. Unfortunately, although 100 yards, the distance I saw the first deer that day, is a chip shot for me and my '06, it's about three times too far for my bow. Now I understand why so many bowhunters use tree stands to hunt from; I would use one too, but the trees in the area are few and would not support me anyway.

About the only hope I have for filling my tag this year is to figure out where to sit to intercept a deer. I only have two weekends left in the season, so I'd better get wise quickly.

Take care.
DAL357

2010-09-11T06:50:00.006-06:00

Top U.S. military brass, once again showing how little they understand the ideals they purportedly work to preserve, are trying to suppress publication of a book that might give the American public a bit more information on what's going on over there. Do they not understand that working to keep information out of the public's hands is an affront to every soldier who has fought, been injured, or died, not just in this war, but in every war America's involved itself with? This action is tantamount to spitting (or worse) on the graves of soldiers who thought they were fighting for liberty, be it their liberty or some foreigner's.

What, by keeping this book out of the hands of Americans we're going to turn the corner towards victory on this (intentionally) unwinnable war? The wars the U.S. government chooses to involve itself in are no longer fought to be won, and they haven't been since the Korean conflict/war. If this war was a business (it is, actually, but just follow me here), the way it is being run would have not only bankrupted any company, but also would have (rightly) put its executives in the unemployment line due to their own gross incompetence.

Then again, perhaps it's not just the Pentagon's incompetence, for I have a suspicion that no one group can be that wrong so often for so long. The longer I live and learn, the more I see clearly that whoever is pulling the strings way behind the scenes, those who have picked and paid for our so-called leaders, don't really want victory. There's paltry profit in peace.

I haven't read the book, and I doubt I will, even if it is published, and the book may just be another over-hyped molehill, but Americans need to decide that for themselves, not the powers that be.

Take care.
DAL357

Well, what'd you expect?

2010-09-01T17:17:00.004-06:00

No new(ish) M1 Garands and M1 carbines from Korea for you, America, thanks to the O administraton and Hillary C.-word's State Department. But don't worry, they'll likely be put to good use helping to keep smelters somewhere running full blast. Sad, so sad.

Take care.
DAL357

Missing guns

2010-07-30T10:10:00.011-06:00

As part of my on-again, off-again, self-imposed move towards simplicity, I've been paring down my collection of guns to what I really use. Of all the guns I've divested myself of, I can honestly say I don't really miss any of them, but I guess I had to own them to know that.

As my journey through middle age continues, I am beginning to discover that fewer possessions are better if those possessions are used regularly and well. What good does it do to have so many guns, or anything, that you barely learn to know/use well? It would be better to learn how to use one, or two, or three guns and honestly wring out everything each has to offer than to keep a stable of guns with which one has only a passing acquaintance. How many of us in the gun community can say we do that? I know I can't, but I'm working on it and I hope to be able to someday.

I can't say that I'm to the point where I want to be with the number of guns I own, but I'm getting there. Two more left the nest this summer, and maybe one or two will follow at some point in the future. Once I reach the correct amount, I'll know.

In the past, my pulse used to quicken whenever I walked through a gun store or gun show. All those nice, shiny firearms beckoned me to handle them, to take them home. Now, however, all I feel when walking through those venues is ennui. I have what I want/need and it's time to stop acting like a teenager who has a crush on every pretty face he meets. In other words, it's time to grow up.

Take care.
DAL357

Appleseed Shoot

2010-07-29T00:13:00.005-06:00

Nearly three weeks ago, I attended a two-day Appleseed shoot. The purpose of the Appleseed program is twofold: to impart a bit of American Revolution history and make known the sacrifices of many of its participants; and to train men, women, and children to become competent riflemen. Think of it as a history class with a lot of fun, extracurricular activities.

When I say train folks as competent riflemen, I mean just that. No benches were allowed, only firing at targets from positions supported by either the ground (prone) or the shooter’s own body (sitting, kneeling, standing). The only support aid allowed was a sling. Practically all firing was done at silhouette targets placed at 25 meters. The silhouettes varied in size to simulate distances out to 300 or 400 meters, IIRC. Although 25 meters sounds close, it was no mean feat to hit the targets, even from the most stable position, prone. More often than not, I missed them.

A number of different guns were in evidence at the shoot, with a fairly even split between .22 LRs and centerfire rifles. Most were semi-autos, but I saw at least one bolt-action .22 and one lever-action .22. The type of shooting Appleseed trains you for is definitely geared towards the semi-auto-type action. Why? With a semi-auto, you don’t have to break your firing position, and then regain it, after every shot to cycle your gun. But that doesn’t mean that just because you have a semi-auto you’re in like Flynn. I had my Marlin model 60 .22 LR, a gnat-drilling gun from the bench, and I still failed miserably. But I learned my weaknesses--practically everything--and I now know what to concentrate on.

Now that I have one Appleseed shoot under my belt—I’ll likely attend another sometime next summer—here’s some advice for you if ever attend one: One, make sure your gun is sighted dead-on at 25 meters. The class is fast paced and there will be little time to make adjustments if your gun does not shoot to point of aim already. Two, if you think you’re a good shot because you can make tiny three- and five-shot groups from a bench, be ready for an epiphany, and a humbling one at that. Three, as mentioned, the class is fast paced and a lot of information is given in a short amount of time. One instructor likened it to drinking from a fire hose. Four, come with an open mind and leave your preconceived notions behind. Five, if the weather’s hot, and it was for us, bring plenty of water, wear a hat, full-brimmed if possible, bring sunscreen, wear light-colored clothing, and bring a lunch and snacks. Six, bring a chair to sit in between stages. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can think of right now.

All in all, I would describe the Appleseed shoot as a valuable learning experience, and certainly worth the $70 I paid to attend. (Women, kids, and active-duty personnel may attend free of charge as of this writing.)

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. My nine-year-old son attended with me on the first day, Saturday. He enjoyed himself, but it was a bit much for him towards the end of the day. In my opinion, twelve or thirteen would probably be the minimum age for a child to get the full benefit of the course.

I don't know why

2010-07-26T10:53:00.003-06:00

If you want rhyme or reason for the following video, I have none. Enjoy/endure it, but be warned: if you are squeamish, don't watch it.

There, there, now, it was only 29 seconds of your life wasted.

Take care.
DAL357

If a Libertarian...

2010-07-26T10:20:00.008-06:00

It's been a while, eh?

I found this on another blog and thought I'd post it here. It's spot on in so many ways that I would be remiss not to disseminate it.

If a Libertarian doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a Liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a Libertarian is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a Liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a Libertarian is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a Libertarian is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A Liberal wonders who is going to take care of the them.

If a Libertarian doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a Libertarian is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A Liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

If a Libertarian decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A Liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a Libertarian reads this, he'll forward it so his friends know how to vote in November!
A Liberal will delete it because he's "offended."

As far as I'm concerned, when the word "Liberal" is invoked above it includes all who are not Libertarian, or at least strongly leaning that way. You may disagree, as is your right; I won't secretly wish for The Powers That Be to silence you.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. On the same blog, I spied this quote which, we can only hope, comes to pass eventually; I'm not sure how it couldn't:

The legacy of Democrats and Republicans approaches: Libertarianism by bankruptcy. –- Nick Nuessle

Technology is great

2010-06-12T07:25:00.015-06:00

Yes, technology is great--when it works. I have just this week acquired two devices that, so far, work wonderfully well. One is the Crimson Trace laser grip, and the other is a Bear compound bow.

After much thought, I finally decided I didn't need yet another snubby revolver at home in the safe, in this case the Ruger SP101, so I decided to sell it and use the proceeds to pay for laser grips for my S&W 642 snubby. According to my reasoning this gun is almost always with me and, given its limited round count, I need to maximize my potential for hits should I ever--God forbid--need to use it to defend me or mine. I got the LG-405 grip because it has padding for the backstrap of the frame. Usually, after only a few rounds, the web of my hand smarts after firing the gun, but with the CT grip I fired 20 rounds with no aftereffect.

The first five rounds from the gun with the laser installed were astoundingly accurate. I fired them at 6.67 yards (I forgot my measuring tape and had to step-off the distance, which I later measured at home) and had all five holes touching (see below). 'Twas truly amazing.

The other device I purchased this week was a Bear "Charge" compound bow, financed via the sale of two traditional bows. I was thunderstruck by how easy it is to make accurate hits at 20 and 30 yards with the bow, and I'll need this accuracy if I pull my archery deer tag this year (fingers firmly crossed). It's no wonder the compound bow has become the dominant force in archery. As much as I enjoyed shooting my long bow and recurve bow, I'll never go back to either type. Chalk up another one for technology.

I'll be the first one to step up and say that a lot of products on the market that purport to be quantum leaps usually only make things more complicated without much benefit. That is not, however, always true, as the two products above attest.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. None of the companies mentioned in this post gave me any form of compensation.

The other white meat

2010-06-10T20:10:00.005-06:00

This important news story just in:

DES MOINES, Iowa -- For more than two decades, pork has been known as "The Other White Meat." Now industry insiders think it's time the meat got a new reputation.

The National Pork Board plans to replace its ubiquitous advertising slogan with something officials hope will improve stagnant sales. The slogan, first launched 23 years ago, was successful in rebranding the meat as a dinnertime favorite.

A new slogan, eh? How about "Get porked!" as a new tagline? Hey, it could work.

Take care.
DAL357

Again I say, why, why, why?!?!?!

2010-06-05T07:03:00.006-06:00

Although not quite as senseless as the item in my previous post, this little gem from Smith and Wesson still contains many elements of the absurd. What an unwieldy looking little troll this new "pistol" is. Score another one for the marketers. (I know the centerfire pistol version of the AR has been around for a while from at least one other company, by the way.)

I must confess I've never understood the civilian fascination with the AR platform. While I've never owned one, unless you count the AR180B I had for about a year and then sold (mainly due to boredom with it), I had the military version on loan during my stint in the army. 'Twas a nice rifle, but not really all that. Plus, I don't have a lot of respect for the round it traditionally chambers, accurate though it may be.

Getting back to the S&W: Good luck with your new pistol (snicker, snicker) S&W, you'll probably sell a ton of them. This gun reminds me of the line that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

Take care.
DAL357

Why, why, why?!?!?!

2010-06-02T16:39:00.005-06:00

I've seen these add-on items for other pistols and I never understood their value unless one plans on fighting in trench warfare. But at least the other models I've seen were for full/compact-size handguns. Laserelyte's latest pistol bayonet for the North American Arms mini, however, seem the insane answer to an insane question.

On the other hand, with the strikingly poor accuracy of the NAA mini (I have one, so I know), maybe having knife on the gunlet isn't such a bad idea.

Take care.
DAL357

A bit too literal

2010-06-02T08:16:00.008-06:00

The following news story appeared in our local paper a couple of weeks ago.

*****

A man was arrested Tuesday after police believe he shot himself with a handgun and later pawned the firearm.

Randy Steinke was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon Tuesday morning after seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to his right hand at Memorial Hospital, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department blotter.

Though the man originally claimed his mother accidentally shot him in the hand, police said he was holding the .32 caliber handgun when the firearm discharged.

Police later recovered the gun at a pawn shop.

*****

Yes, Randy, it was a handgun, but that doesn't mean it's meant to shoot that particular body part. (In the interests of full disclosure, I borrowed the handgun bit from the old comedy team of Proctor and Bergman.)

As an aside, I wonder what felony he was convicted of, and how could he have gotten a gun in the first place with a record? ;)

Take care.
DAL357

They call it riding the gravy train

2010-05-27T19:29:00.009-06:00

If this story is exactly as reported, something never assured with the press, it's just another sign of how venal and contemptible we've become as a people.

*****

Woman says she fell asleep, woke up alone on plane
May 27, 2010 (5:44p CDT)

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - A Michigan woman who fell asleep on a United Express flight to Philadelphia says she woke up and was shocked [!] to find she was alone on the plane.

Ginger McGuire said no one had awakened her when the plane landed more than three hours earlier. She said she paced the aisle for about 15 minutes early Tuesday until the locked door opened and police demanded identification.

"Waking up to an empty airplane and not being able to get out - it was very horrifying," [Yeah, if you were a 10-year-old child, not an adult of 36.] McGuire, 36, told reporters Thursday as her lawyer announced a lawsuit. [Ride that gravy train, girl!]

McGuire said she simply fell asleep after a long trip that stretched from Detroit to suburban Washington and, finally, Philadelphia. She said the plane landed Tuesday about 12:30 a.m. EDT.

United Airlines spokeswoman Sarah Massier declined to comment because the incident has led to a lawsuit. A message seeking comment was left at Trans States, based in Bridgeton, Mo. The Transportation Security Administration said it was investigating.

The United Express flight is operated by Trans States Airlines in partnership with United Airlines.

McGuire's attorney, Geoffrey Feiger, said his law firm filed a lawsuit against United and Trans States, alleging negligence, false imprisonment [Oh, come on!] and distress. McGuire lives in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb.

"For a crew to leave her there and lock her is beyond a gross abuse," Fieger said.

*****

Granted, the airline was negligent in not thoroughly checking to see if all the passengers had disembarked, but no real harm was done, so why sue?

Because, of course, they, McGuire and her lawyer, smell an easy payday. She was oblivious to her "false imprisonment" for all but 15 minutes, so how much distress could she have experienced? I hope this lawsuit gets laughed out of court, but it will probably be taken seriously and the (supposedly) aggrieved party will get many thousands of undeserved dollars.

McGuire may have a legal leg to stand on in today's litigious climate, but that doesn't make what she is doing right. People make mistakes, and when those mistakes cause physical injury to another party through negligence, be it intentional or otherwise, I'm all for bringing suit. But this case is ridiculous, and what McGuire is doing is immoral.

Take care.
DAL357

A victory for CCW holders in Colorado (and hooray! for Sheriff Maketa)

2010-05-09T08:08:00.011-06:00

Via a recent court decision, Colorado has become a bit safer for college students. Here's part of an editorial in The Gazette addressing the issue.

*****

[All following emphasis mine.]

The dangerous new gun ban at Colorado State University is gone, thanks to a wise decision by the university’s board of governor’s Wednesday to rescind it.

Gun bans remain at most other campuses in Colorado for now, including the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said he will undermine the UCCS gun ban until it goes away.

“Nobody’s coming into my jail on that charge,” Maketa told The Gazette’s editorial department. “I will not cooperate with that in any way because in my view it’s not a legitimate and arrestable offense.”

The Colorado State board rescinded its gun ban because of a ruling by The Colorado Court of Appeals April 15 that said the ban at another institution, the University of Colorado, violates the Colorado Concealed Carry Act of 2003. The ruling revives a lawsuit brought against CU by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus that had been dismissed last spring by El Paso County District Judge G. David Miller. The CU Board of Regents has not rescinded its ban and may appeal the appellate court’s decision to the Colorado Supreme Court. The regents can appeal all they want and they will ultimately lose. What then?

“One has to comply with the law,” said CU Regent Kyle Hybl, a Colorado Springs attorney.

That means we can expect all state-campus gun bans to disappear in Colorado. They are illegal for good reason.

“The legislature protected concealed carry so that governing entities would not create safe havens for criminals,” Maketa said. “Gun bans tell criminals the risk is low. Criminals weigh risk versus reward, and they are comfortable with gun-free zones. We have more than 15,000 active concealed-carry permits in El Paso County and the number is growing. I like it when that gets out because it enters the mind of a criminal who’s contemplating a crime against a person.”

The Legislature did nothing to exempt students or campuses from the protections of the Concealed Carry Act, and the appellate court accepted none of CU’s arguments.

Campus gun bans get students killed because killers don’t obey them. It’s hard to know how the Virginia Tech massacre might have been different if all law-abiding adults hadn’t been disarmed. We know that psychopath Seung-Hui Cho disobeyed the gun ban and killed 33 students over a span of nearly three hours without resistance because nobody within sight or earshot of the carnage was armed.

Soon all campus gun bans will be gone in Colorado. Someday society may look back with disbelief regarding rules that made sitting ducks of young adults on campus.

*****

All I can say is that this action is past due. It's nice to savor this victory not because it's a pro-gunner vs. anti-gunner thing, but because it's a logic vs. illogic issue.

Take care.
DAL357

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T07:46:00.004-06:00

Hot on the heels of the last post, although they are in no way related, I'd just like to wish all good mothers a happy Mother's Day. Being a mother, from my perspective, means incurring a debt that will never be completely repaid. It's far too often a thankless task, and the good ones are rarely appreciated until they are no longer there, be it temporarily or permanently.

If your mother is still alive, give her a hug and, if possible, spend some time with her and let her know the positive impact she had on you. I'll be visiting my mother today, but, unfortunately, she will never again hear my words of thanks.

Take care.
DAL357

Let's cut the Gordian knot

2010-05-09T06:41:00.009-06:00

"Since September 11, 2001, it's been clear that terrorists who hate America will exploit our weaknesses in order to destroy us." (Excerpted from an NRA-ILA e-mail alert.)

What's missing from this statement? The reason WHY the terrorists hate us: our foreign policy, aka foreign entanglements. The childish simplicity of the above quote as it is written is exasperating, yet that seems to be the extent and depth of understanding of the problem by too many Americans. Another off-shoot of the statement actually gives a reason, simplistic as it may be: "The terrorists hate America because it is so good."

Right. As if a bunch of brainwashed morons could even find America on a map, much less articulate anything accurate about its culture.

Let's get this straight. Terrorists only know us through our military presence and our support of Israel. (Okay, to a lesser extent they think they know us through whatever of our pop (aka crap) culture filters through to them...more's the pity for us.) If we were to sever all foreign entanglements in that region, Israel would have to sink or swim on its own. Israel, with the assumption they have them, something I believe they've never admitted to, might have to resort to the nuclear weapons option to survive, something I would have little to no problem with. Fifty million + dead enemies of Israel might go a long way in changing the Muslim mindset that preaches death to all Jewish peoples.

But as long as the US keeps a short leash on Israel via its foreign aid and assistance--which I don't see how we can afford to since we are so profoundly broke--the nuclear scenario will not happen. The problems in the Middle East will continue ad infinitum. Actually, the terrorists had better be glad that the US is involved in the area. It keeps Israel from being forced to make a choice between utter annihilation and using nuclear force.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. What started me thinking about this subject was a podcast I listened to where the host stated basically the same thing about our foreign policy being the problem. He also stated that, while he supports Israel, our support of any foreign country should not compromise our American system and way of life. If you doubt that it is compromising our traditions and values, what do you call the so-called Patriot Act, the searches at airports, etc?

Stand fast, AZ

2010-05-02T09:37:00.019-06:00

Let all correct-thinking Americans hope that Arizona will stand fast and not be bullied by those who criticize Arizona's recent immigration law, but who offer no substantive alternative to a state besieged by criminals. Below is an example of what AZ is enduring, along with my comments. Stick to your law, AZ, this will blow over, eventually. Of course, never discount the morons in DC figuring out some kind of end run to vitiate or eliminate your law. That's always a possibility when an employee shows his boss for the inept fool he is.

*****

Arizona law sparks calls for action on immigration
May 2, 2010 (6:09a CDT)
By SOPHIA TAREEN (Associated Press Writer)

CHICAGO - Protesters nationwide vented their anger over a new Arizona law to crack down on illegal immigrants by calling on President Barack Obama to [get off of his butt and] immediately take up their cause for federal immigration reform. [AKA a-blind-eye-towards-anyone-south-of-the-border-who’d-like-to- give-living-in-America-a-try-without-the-legal-hassles reform.]

From Los Angeles to Washington D.C., activists, families, students and even politicians marched, practiced civil disobedience and "came out" about their citizenship status in the name of rights for immigrants [in a country with some guts, this would have made deportation of much easier], including the estimated 12 million [at least] living illegally in the U.S.

Obama once promised to tackle immigration reform in his first 100 days, but has pushed back that timetable several times. [Surprise!] He said this week that Congress may lack the "appetite" to take on immigration [what he actually means is that immigrants are the Democrat party’s last hope for the fall elections and Congress doesn’t want to do anything to anger them] after going through a tough legislative year. However, Obama and Congress could address related issues, like boosting personnel and resources for border security, in spending bills this year [that would be nice, perhaps those resources could come from, say, Afghanistan].

A congressman was among 35 people arrested during a protest at the White House. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois, was taking part in a civil disobedience demonstration.

Protests elsewhere were largely peaceful. No arrests were reported at most demonstrations; two were arrested near the march route in Los Angeles, but police said neither suspect appeared to be connected to the rally.

Police said 50,000 rallied in Los Angeles, where singer Gloria Estefan kicked off a massive downtown march. Estefan spoke in Spanish and English, proclaiming the United States is a nation of [legal] immigrants.

"We're good people," the Cuban-born singer said atop a flatbed truck. "We've given a lot to this country. This country has given a lot to us."
[That’s not the point, Gloria, but thanks for muddying the issue. You’re here legally, and no one is talking about legal immigrants. This law affects only illegal immigrants. You understand that, of course, but apparently you ignore it for some unknown reason. By the way, you're not even connected to Mexico, you're from Cuba, so why are you even saying anything? Is this about illegal immigrants or Hispanic solidarity? I suspect the latter.]

Anger, particularly among immigrant rights activists, has been building since last week when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the legislation. The law requires local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally. It also makes it a state crime to be in the United States illegally. [You mean it wasn’t already?]

The law's supporters say it's necessary because of the federal government's failure to secure the border [BINGO!], but critics contend it encourages racial profiling and is unconstitutional.

"It's racist," [Actually, there are three races: Mongoloid, Caucasoid, and Negroid. Hispanic peoples fit into the Caucasoid category, as do so-called white people, so if what’s transpiring in Arizona is racist, it is against all Caucasians. It might be fairer to call it illegal immigrantist.] said [dimwit] Donna Sanchez, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen living in Chicago whose parents illegally crossed the Mexican border. [INS/ICE, you may want to check on her parents’ status and act accordingly.] "I have papers, but I want to help those who don't." [Hmmm, aiding and abetting criminals, that should earn her at least a record, if not some time in the pokey; it won’t, of course.]

Organizers [surely an unbiased source of information] estimated about 20,000 gathered at a park on Chicago's West Side and marched, but police said about 8,000 turned out.

"I want to thank the governor of Arizona [me too] because she's awakened a sleeping giant," said labor organizer John Delgado, who attended a rally in New York where authorities estimated 6,500 gathered [that’s really not a whole lot of people out of a city of many millions].

Chicago's event resembled something between a family festival - food vendors strolled through with pushcarts - and a political demonstration with protesters chanting "Si se puede," Spanish for "Yes we can." [A phrase borrowed from Bob the Builder? Yes, you can what? Circumvent immigration laws? Put one over on legal immigrants and native-born Americans?] A group of undocumented students stood on a stage at the park and "came out" regarding their immigration status.[“Undocumented?” No. Illegal? Yes.]

Juan Baca was among those students. Baca, 19, whose parents brought him from Mexico illegally when he was 4 months old, said he has had to drop out of college and work several times already because he can't qualify for financial aid. [Boo hoo! There should be no financial aid for college for anyone, Juan, regardless of any factor.]

"It's been a struggle," he said. "I missed the mark by four months." [No problem, just don't miss the bus back to Mexico.]

In Dallas, police estimated at least 20,000 people turned out. About a dozen people carried signs depicting the Arizona governor as a Nazi and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known for his tough illegal immigration stance, as a Klansman. Organizers were asking sign holders to discard those placards. [Militancy doesn’t fit with the downtrodden image “organizers” (propagandists) are trying to culture.]

Juan Hernandez, the Hispanic outreach coordinator for Arizona Sen. John McCain's unsuccessful presidential run, attended the Dallas rally. He said Arizona was once considered by those south of the border to be a model state with particularly close ties to Mexico . [Apparently, unfettered illegal immigration forges closer ties with foreign nations.]

"It went beyond what most states do," [which is essentially look the other way while grabbing their ankles] he said. "Now they are a state that goes beyond what the Constitution says you should do."

Juan Haro, 80, was born and raised in Denver, where about 3,000 people rallied. He [stated the obvious when he said] he thinks Arizona's new law targets Mexicans. [Ya think? Mexico is where the problem stems from so, yes, it’s logical to target Mexicans. But he’s using the term interchangeably with Hispanics, a disingenuous sleight of hand. This is about illegal Mexican immigrants, not legal Mexican immigrants, and not native-born Hispanics. A big part of the problem is that too many native-born Hispanics identify themselves as Mexican because they have roots in Mexico. They are American. Period. A Mexican is someone born in Mexico, and that’s what this law is all about.]

"This country doesn't seem to be anti-immigrant," said Haro, whose family is originally from Mexico. "It seems to be anti-Mexican." [No, anti- illegal Mexican, Haro.]

In downtown Miami, several hundred flag-waving demonstrators - many with Cuban and Honduran flags, but mostly American ones - called for reforms. [What does “called for reforms” mean? Reforms to strengthen the border, or to loosen immigration law enforcement even more? What lousy reporting.]

Elsewhere, an estimated 7,000 protesters rallied in Houston, about 5,000 gathered at the Georgia state Capitol in Atlanta and at least 5,000 marched in Milwaukee. About 3,000 attended a Boston-area march. [Again, unstaggering numbers.]

And in Ann Arbor, Mich., more than 500 people held a mock graduation ceremony for undocumented immigrant students near the site of Obama's University of Michigan commencement speech. [Once again reinforcing my assertion that college students and clear thinking are too often unacquainted.]

In Arizona, police in Tucson said an immigrant rights rally there drew at least 5,000 people. Several thousand people gathered in Phoenix for a demonstration Saturday evening.

A smattering of counterprotesters showed up at rallies. In Tucson, a few dozen people showed up in support of the new law and Brewer. A barricade separated about two dozen counterprotesters from a pro-immigrant rights rally in San Francisco.

Counterprotesters there carried signs that read, "We Support Arizona" and "We Need More Ice At This Fiesta," an apparent reference [no, it’s actually a quite clear reference] to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

May 1 - International Workers Day [a Communist holiday, by the way] - is a traditional date for political demonstrations. Immigration advocates latched onto that tradition in 2006, when more than 1 million people across the country - half a million alone in Chicago - protested federal legislation that would have made being an illegal immigrant a felony. That legislation ultimately failed. [Pity.]

Take care.
DAL357

Another innoculant (I hope)

2010-05-02T06:55:00.008-06:00

In practically every life, some rain will fall and some sun will shine, often without warning. A few days ago, my wife gave me one of those out-of-the-blue, ray-of-sunshine moments.

One of my wife's friends, for reasons known only to her--never look a gift horse in the mouth--asked said wife if I could teach her something about handguns. My wife relayed this lagniappe to me and, of course, I instantly said, "Yes." I absolutely love teaching people about guns, although I've only ever trained one other adult (again, one of my wife's friends).

Other commitments will prevent me from assuming this responsibility until June, but I am already looking forward to it, mainly because I enjoy teaching others. But I will also enjoy it because it will add one more person to the ranks of the enlightened about guns. If/when this comes to pass (life being unpredictable), I'll blog about it and let everyone/anyone who happens to still read this intermittently-updated tome know how things went.

Take care.
DAL357

What did they expect?

2010-04-26T19:09:00.006-06:00

I guess Arizona has really stirred up a hornet's nest with its new law aimed at stemming the ridiculous, unsustainable flood of illegal immigrants into America. The r-word (invoked to shut down all discussion of the subject) is flying fast and furiously by opponents of the law. Threats of lawsuits are in the air and the rhetoric is ratcheting upwards.

Good. It's about time some state forced the issue of illegal immigration 'cause the FedGov sure ain't about to do more than posture about it, if that. As I understand it, California is the state that suffers most from the illegal infestation problem, yet they're too self-doubting and pansy-like to do a da*n thing about it. Enter Arizona, a state with some stones.

Well, what did the FedGov, et. al., expect? If big G isn't getting it done (it being protecting the borders from illegal invaders), and they aren't, then I guess someone a little closer to the problem, and with a bit more of a vested interest in solving it, will have to take care of it.

The FedGov doesn't like to be shown up by what it considers its underlings, namely, the states. No, that might undermine its carefully crafted, and thoroughly fallacious, image of omnipotence. But what are states to do if they are being directly injured and DC does nothing?

I understand the concern with AZ police possibly abusing their power, and that is a legitimate concern. But look at what entity brought it to this point by shirking its duty to protect the borders of its own country, while expending massive amounts of money halfway around the world in what will ultimately prove to be a futile attempt to civilize the uncivilizable: the FedGov. Had the FedGov taken care of the problem, Arizona wouldn't have had to come up with its own solution.

Take care.
DAL357

Oh, ha, ha, ha!

2010-04-24T07:29:00.009-06:00

You may have seen the recent story about the 29-year-old Missouri convenience store clerk who won the $258 million Powerball jackpot. If not, you'll find it below. As you read it, note the condescending tone of the writer.

Mo. clerk says he'll use $258M jackpot on bills
Apr 23, 2010 (2:24a CDT)
By SARAH D. WIRE (Associated Press Writer)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Missouri man who won a $258 million Powerball jackpot and plans to use some of the money to pay bills and take his children to Disney World says he hasn't decided yet if he'll quit his job at the convenience store where he bought the winning ticket.

Chris Shaw - a 29-year-old tattooed father of three who was raised by his grandparents in rural southern Missouri - came forward Thursday as the winner of the 10th-largest Powerball jackpot ever. Shaw said he had just $28.96 in his bank account and recently bought a 1998 Ford Ranger from a friend who agreed to let him pay off the $1,000 price $100 at a time. Now, he said, he no longer has to worry about how he'll pay his friend - or his utility bills.

"We didn't come from money. For us it's just going to be a huge relief to know I'm going to be able to pay my electric bill, my gas bill," Shaw told the Associated Press. "It's like a weight lifted. I had bills at home I didn't know how they were going to be paid."

Shaw said he bought the $5 ticket Wednesday at the Break Time convenience store where he works in Marshall, a central Missouri town about 80 miles east of Kansas City. He accepted his ceremonial check at the Missouri Lottery headquarters in Jefferson City wearing a tan and red plaid shirt, a red hat and a huge grin - minus two front teeth he says he lost because he didn't take care of them but can now afford to have replaced.

"I'm just a regular guy working paycheck to paycheck ... well not any more," he said.

Shaw said he needed a few days to decide whether he will keep his minimum-wage job at the store where he has worked for just three weeks. He also plans to seek advice "from people who know about money" about whether to take the jackpot in 30 payments over 29 years or the lump-sum amount of $124,875,122.

His boss, Jackie Maxwell, general manager of the Missouri-based Break Time convenience store chain, was thrilled to hear Shaw had won.

"He's just a great guy, a good employee. When you think of a large winner like this, everyone likes to see that the person who won is somebody like Chris," she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Shaw - who has a 10-year-old son, a 7-year-old girl and a 5-year-old girl by two different women - said he had played Missouri Scratchers lottery tickets before, winning at most $80. He checked his Powerball ticket against the state lottery's website only after his girlfriend, Tosha Ewry, told him the winning ticket was bought at the store where he works.

When Shaw called Ewry back to tell her the news, she thought he was joking, he said. Finally, he said he told her: "I swear on a stack of Bibles, you need to leave work and come home."

The winning numbers were 11-34-41-49-55, Powerball 20. The Power Play number was 2.

Shaw said he looks forward to spending more time with his kids, who live with their mothers about 240 miles southeast of him in his hometown of Alton, as well as with his girlfriend's two sons - 13-year-old and 15-year-old boys Shaw says he considers his own. He plans to take them all to Disney World in Florida.

"I can be with them as much as I want now," Shaw said.

He said his children already have been asking for new skateboards, bicycles and "just stuff that's really hard to do when you make $7.25 an hour."

Break Time will receive $50,000 for selling the winning ticket. If Shaw takes a lump-sum payment, the state income taxes due on the winnings would be about $6 million, state budget director Linda Luebbering said.

Granted, this guy probably did not excel in school, hence the dead-end job, but at least he's doing honest work, something the reporter seemed to take little note of. Instead, she mentioned that he has three children "by two different women," a fact not necessary to know. A lot of people from every social strata have offspring by more than one person, but this must have been too good of an opportunity for the reporter to pass up to laugh up her sleeve at the perceived promiscuity of people like Shaw.

Another barb she shoots from her poison pen is at his most salient feature, his missing teeth. Again, it was not necessary to elaborate on this point. We all know that good oral hygiene is not usually a well-practiced activity among the lower classes, but by enlightening us as to the details of the mystery of his missing incisors, she again shows her condescension of those people. The photo in and of itself is derisive enough; didn't anyone think to ask Shaw to smile with his mouth closed, or at least take a photograph of him from some other perspective? Of course not, for that might have ruined the smirking tone of the piece.

For those who think I'm being a bit picayunish about this report, please re-read it. The evidence is there for all to see.

Incidentally, lest anyone accuse me of hypocrisy, I, too, am not a fan of many of the choices people in Shaw's socio-economic class make. As long as they are supporting themselves, however, and paying their own bills (tattoo bills included), I'll back them, although I will sometimes question the logic of their choices. And, yes, I will still poke fun at them on occasion. But I hope I never get my nose so far up in the air that I devolve into condescension.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. Good luck to you, Chris Shaw; the world is a wonderful place filled with interesting places and artifacts. Go discover it.

Get away from your usual circle of acquaintances and culture some friends from other social strata, they'll help you see life from another perspective. Not all of it will be good for you (but don't let that scare you), so you'll have to have your BS filter firmly in place.

Read widely, even if you've never enjoyed reading before; at the very least, start listening to audio books, especially those of the classics.

Travel, but do so with an open mind. Believe it or not, America is not the center of the universe and there are other ways of living than the American lifestyle.

Find and retain the very best financial consultant/advisor you can (look to past Powerball winners to help you there). Put yourself on a budget, seriously, and stick to it. Of course, your budget can probably be several hundred thousand dollars a year, but you might be surprised how quickly that money can go if you are not careful. Even your great wealth is finite and there's been more than one sad tale of rags to riches to rags told of lottery winners.

Watch out for the sycophants of the world, for they are legion. Never get married without an iron-clad prenuptial agreement. Perhaps better yet, don't bother getting married at all. It's safer that way. Oh, and get a vasectomy.

Finally, just be careful. Few decisions you will make from now on will need to be made without wise counsultation from an attorney and an accountant. Remember, used correctly, that money will broaden your horizons and enrich your life. Used incorrectly, it will lead you to a crystal meth addiction and an early grave. The choice is yours.

It doesn't get any easier

2010-03-23T07:41:00.010-06:00

Yesterday, we lost our beloved family dog to a brain tumor. A better companion, friend, sweetheart, and protector you'll never find. This morning is the first one since she fell ill and had to be hospitalized on Saturday that I definitely knew I would never let her out in the backyard again when I awoke, our daily, matutinal ritual.

She lived with me for over 13.5 years, although she was 15 years, 9 months old when she died. Her first two years were spent with my brother and ex-sister-in-law. I first met her when she was eight weeks old; I knew right away that there was something special about her. I told my brother that if they ever wanted to get rid of her, I'd take her. Two years later, she came to live with me, a bachelor at the time.

When I met my wife and she came to live with me, Princess barked at her and ran away. Soon, however, they became fast friends and soul mates, and it was that way for over 13 years. A dog will often bond especially close with one family member, and my wife was that person in our home. As you can imagine, she is devastated.

When I was a boy, a dog came to live with us who bonded with me. A number of years later, she became old and infirm and had to be put to sleep. Because I had this terrible experience under my belt, I thought I'd be somewhat inured to losing another animal, but I was wrong. It doesn't get any easier as I age, it gets harder. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried like a baby for the old girl.

Goodbye, Princess. You will not only be missed, but grieved for too.

Take care.
DAL357

Missing California teen's body believed found

2010-03-02T20:30:00.009-07:00

Another tragedy due to coddling an irredeemable reprobate. Had this sorry excuse for a human being, 30-year-old John Albert Gardner III, been handled correctly the first time, either by execution (my preference, assuming a DNA conviction) or life in prison without the possibility of parole, one more young woman, 17-year-old Chelsea King, would still be alive today.

According to the article I read, in 2000 he was able to plea bargain to a (slap-on-the-wrist) sentence of nearly 11 years in prison for his sexual assault on a 13-year-old neighbor, of which he served five years. Another reason for the light sentence was "that Gardner's lack of a significant prior criminal record justified less than the maximum sentence," said prosecutors in 2000. Well, I guess if he's cleared that hurdle now. Or at least he will after conviction.

Forget his lack of a prior criminal record, what about the heinous nature of the crime itself? Would two child molestation victims, or more, make a stiffer sentence seem more fair? Who the he** are the prosecutors trying to protect, society or a convicted sex offender? Even one sexual molestation conviction should earn a person permanent removal from society. No person who crosses that line can ever be trusted in society again. Ever. Yet here this beast was, out amongst a sea of unsuspecting souls going about their lives.

Looking at this case from another perspective, we once again see government failing its constituents. By not adequately performing one of its basic mandates, that of protecting society from criminals, they failed in their most fundamental function. And, in general, these are the same people who want everyone disarmed and relying on a phone call to 911? Thanks, but no thanks.

As a parent, my heart goes out to the parents of this young woman. They have been condemned to a living hell for the rest of their days by a convicted sexual predator and his unwitting accomplices, government prosecutors.

Take care.
DAL357

The .380 rehabilitated

2010-02-22T09:28:00.010-07:00

Perhaps you find it as amusing as I do that over the last couple of years or so, the .380 ACP, or .380 Auto, if you prefer, has somehow become the rediscovered darling of the concealed carry world. Prior to that, it was always viewed, at least for the last couple of generations, as a pipsqueak round best relegated to last-ditch or back-up-gun work. Lately, however, it seems to be accepted as a serious contender for self-defense consideration. Has it suddenly become a much better cartridge? Or does its new patina of respectability have to do with advertising revenue? (Such a cynic I am.)

I'm not going to go into the statistics on one-shot stops with the .380 because there are far too many variables to take that data at face value, such as bullet placement, mindset of the shootee, etc. But I have heard a certain person, a person whom I enjoy listening to on MP3, state in the past that the .38 Spl. and 9mm are the absolute minimum for defensive calibers. Now, he's apparently changed his mind and accepted the .380 as the new minimum although, in fairness to him, he doesn't seem to support it with much enthusiasm.

Oh well. I guess having a gun, any gun, if/when one needs one is the most important thing, along with knowing how to shoot it accurately under stress of course. I just found the flip-flop on the .380 round curious.

Take care.
DAL357

Starbucks Appreciation Day

2010-02-18T18:56:00.005-07:00

In light of Starbucks' level-headed decision on the open carry of firearms in its California establishment, in which they stated they would follow the law as it's written (what a concept), some in the gun community (here and here) have proffered the idea of having a Starbucks Appreciation Day on Sunday, February 21, 2010. I'm just passing on the information; you can do what you like with it.

Take care.
DAL357

Trendsetter?

2010-02-18T17:21:00.009-07:00

Man angry at IRS crashes plane into Texas building
Feb 18, 2010 (5:18p CST)
By JIM VERTUNO (Associated Press Writer)

AUSTIN, Texas - A software engineer furious with the Internal Revenue Service launched a suicide attack on the agency Thursday by crashing his small plane into an office building containing nearly 200 IRS employees, setting off a raging fire that sent workers fleeing for their lives. At least one person in the building was missing.

The FBI tentatively identified the pilot as Joseph Stack. A federal law official said investigators were looking at a long anti-government screed and farewell note that he apparently posted on the Web earlier in the day as an explanation for what he was about to do.

In it, the author cited run-ins he had with the IRS and ranted about the tax agency, government bailouts and corporate America's "thugs and plunderers."

"I have had all I can stand," he wrote in the note, dated Thursday, adding: "I choose not to keep looking over my shoulder at 'big brother' while he strips my carcass."

So a man who's fed up with it all decides to off himself and, he hopes, take a few IRS employees with him. Is this the start of a trend of Americans pushing back against a tyrannical government? I seriously doubt it, at least when it comes to this course of action. Generally speaking, Americans don't have the stomach for what it would take for a real revolution. Sure, we talk about a second American Revolution, but it ain't going to happen. Instead, we content ourselves with Walter Mitty fantasies, stockpiling ammunition, and swallowing pointless political rhetoric.

But who can blame us? TPTB are far too strong and insidious to even think of prevailing against. To try is to do what this man did: commit suicide. No, this production will have to play until its final act, where the lead actors--the Federal government and various state governments--become so thoroughly weakened through fiscal ineptitude, not to mention moral turpitude, that they can no longer meet their obligations to their minions who use force to keep it all functioning. At that point, the entire system will come to halt, and that is the place for a revolution for liberty. Until then, we'll just have to persevere and savor the (very) occasional victory/triumph for liberty.

Take care.
DAL357

I must be getting old

2010-02-14T07:21:00.009-07:00

Some years ago, I heard talk show host Phil Hendrie make the statement that "there's nothing dumber than a Raiders fan." While I'm not sure about the complete veracity of his assertion, in the particular case I'm going to write about, I believe it has merit.

I stopped by my local gun emporium while out and about yesterday just to see if anything interesting was in the used gun section (nothing was). Before I even went into the store, my eyes and sensibilities were assaulted by a bumper sticker plastered to the driver's-side back window of a truck directly in front of me (the Raiders sticker on the passenger's side I couldn't have cared less about). I snapped a photo of it (see above) for posterity. Perhaps fortunately, the photo didn't come out well enough to read the sticker, so I'll have to quote it here in an edited (for vulgarity) form. It read "Imports are like tampons, every pu--y has one."

Now, I don't have a problem with his message, inaccurate as it may be, but I do have a major problem with the words he chose to convey it. Do you? If not, please tell me how you couldn't have, because I just can't fathom it. I guess this all goes back to the basic slob nature of too many Americans who think liberty means license to be boorish. I wonder if this dude had even the slightest inkling that kids would see this. You know, it's fools like this, sad to say, who give liberty a bad name.

What can be done about this? Probably not much. I would be wholly against the state, via a cop, ordering the sticker, offensive as it may be, to be removed. Nor would I remove it myself, as that violates my principles concerning private property rights. Waiting around and speaking to the guy about his taste in vehicular adornments would likely be counterproductive because anyone who's daft enough to put a sticker like that on public display in the first place would be too thick to reason with. I'm truly at a loss.

As I age, I find myself with a lower tolerance for suffering fools gladly. More's the pity, because there seem to be so many now more than ever. It's enough to drive one to despair.

Take care.
DAL357

Barbarossa, etc.

2010-01-31T07:46:00.015-07:00

I recently began rewatching one of the best, if not the best, documentaries ever produced on World War II, "World at War." I remember watching it while in high school in the mid-1970s in, of all places, Germany. If you're not familiar with the series, consider this my strong suggestion that you locate and watch it soon; you won't regret it.

One fact that I had forgotten from my first viewing of the episode "Barbarossa," the invasion of Russia, was that Hitler actually planned on defeating Russia in about four months. What a stupendous miscalculation and reckless bet, and one that (thankfully) cost Hitler the war.

Just think about it: the Nazi army, arguably the finest in the world at that time, whose skill at war was matched only by its evil deeds and purpose, was supposed to invade an immense country, occupy thousands upon thousands of square miles, fight an indigenous army inferior in training but almost limitless in number, and triumph in four months. This must qualify as the very definition of stupidity, not to mention hubris.

Many of his generals, apparently, knew this and tried to persuade Herr Hitler to err on the side of caution because of the inherent danger to Germany should the invasion fail to meet its timetable. Hitler, believing in his own strategic infallibility, based on his past successes and strokes of luck in Western Europe in recent years, eschewed all sound advice and stepped into the abyss anyway. Perhaps the phrase "Past performance is no guarantee of future returns" had not been yet coined.

Theories of alternate outcomes abound on what might have happened had Hitler not chosen this course. I won't indulge in that specualtion here, although any thinking person has to wonder. Suffice it to say he did do it and that history has shown his choice to be the worst of all those possbile.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. There is a belief amongst many Americans that America defeated Nazi Germany. Although America contributed mightily to Germany's defeat in terms of material, it was Russia who actually ripped the guts and gears out of the Wermacht. This is not to take anything away from those Americans and British who fought on the Western front, for battle is battle, and their efforts are worthy of our utmost respect. But from a cold, hard look at numbers, the Russian front is where Germany suffered two-thirds of all its military casualties, and Russia lost untold millions.

I mention this only because it's dangerous for Americans to believe that wars can be won, as opposed to just fought ad infinitum as the US now seems content to prosecute wars, without huge casualties, even with force multipliers. I'm not so sure Americans would be willing to support an all-out effort to eradicate Islamofacism in the Middle East if it cost the lives of 100,000+ American soldiers. Of course, that's going the conventional-warfare route. If we were to speak of the nuclear option, many American lives could be spared, but the cost in the lives of people in the countries supporting Islamofacism would be staggering.

Still, I'd say it's a fair trade-off. Either nuke 'em or go home. Any US politician who protests this should be tried for treason for putting the lives of another country's citizens above the lives of his own country's citizens, as is being done now.

Mr. Oblivious and Miss Ignorant got married...

2010-01-23T19:17:00.008-07:00

You may or may not be familiar with the following website, People of Wal-mart, but if you're in need of a laugh, or a good weep, at the oblivious slobs far too many Americans have become, take a look at the site. Afterwards, ask yourself if maybe our relatively low voter turnout rate is such a bad thing. I suggest it's not if the people in the photos are any indication of who's pulling the levers. Dear God, have people no pride, or shame? It's completely incomprehensible to me how these folks can look like this in public.

We're doomed as a nation, I tell you, doomed.

Take care.
DAL357

How to have fun in a crisis

2010-01-17T22:56:00.009-07:00

Tons of information is out there on the 'Net about getting together the necessary skills and materials for surviving a disaster, be it man made or natural. Practically anything a motivated, or even casually interested, individual would like to know about this subject has been pontificated upon multiple times. Today, I'm going to take the opposite tack and give the one reason why one might want to be unprepared for a calamity, assuming they survive: the fun.

That's right, fun. Sure, anyone with an ounce of sense knows they should keep at least a few vital things on hand in case of an emergency situation, but where's the fun in that? Having redundant back-up systems is boring. They say you never feel more alive than when you are at the edge of oblivion, nor are you ever more resourceful, so why deny yourself this experience with a bunch of preps?

To ensure the maximum amount of fun and frivolity, do the following: Keep only enough food on hand to prepare meals for one day--visit your local supermarket daily. Eschew all weapons, be they purpose-built (firearms, knives), or improvised (everything else). Kill any errant thought about what you might do if things get ugly immediately upon conception; concentrate on a diversion (television, celebrity gossip, etc.) until the thought is subdued. Alienate yourself from as many family, friends, and neighbors as possible to remove the temptation to lean on them in a crisis.

Just taking these few steps will not only simplify your life today, they will also all but guarantee you will have enough fun and memories during a crisis to last you the rest of your days, be they numbered in single or multiple digits.

Glad I could help.

Take care.
DAL357

Keyholing kontraption

2010-01-16T09:30:00.014-07:00

A few years ago, I found a website called MCA Sports that makes inserts to convert a shotgun, for instance, into a rifle. I decided to order a shotgun insert chambered in .38 Spl. for one of my shotguns, and I'm glad I did. The insert's outer chamber dimensions mimic a shotgun shell and it has a ten-inch barrel attached to that. All you do is drop in the insert (this works best in a break-action shotgun), push a .38 Spl. round into the insert's chamber, close the action, aim and fire. Cool! It's actually pretty accurate, and I found that the .38 Spl. insert will also chamber and shoot .357 Mag. rounds, although I noticed a good amount of primer flow after firing, so I doubt I'll do that again, unless in a pinch.

How practical is the device? In today's gun world, where nearly every conceivable niche has been addressed by one type of gun or another, not very practical at all. But it is fun.

That was the good product from MCA Sports. Now, let me get to the product for which this post was named.

MCA Sports also sells an adaptor that drops into a rifle of a given caliber, in my case .30-06, that allows the user to shoot .22 LR cartridges. Again, the shape of the adaptor mimics the dimensions of the round it's replacing. In addition, since the .22 LR is a rimfire round and the firing pin of a centerfire rifle would miss the rim of a .22 LR and result in nothing happening, a plug, or offset, is provided to to work around this problem, which it does quite handily. So far, so good. At the range, however, I couldn't hit the broad side of the proverbial barn with it.

It took me a while to figure out what was going on with the little contraption, but I finally saw that even minimal accuracy at 7 yards was too much to ask for, as evidenced by the undamaged target after several shots using various aiming points. Finally, after moving to within 8 feet of the target, I was on paper. The bullet keyholed through the target and hit 3-4 inches low--repeatedly. Although it's touted as being able to be used on small game while out big-game hunting, I believe you'd have better results with a slingshot.

Bottomline: The adaptor is useless. The concept is neat, but reality has proven this product to be stillborn. The inserts, however, do work, and I can recommend them unreservedly.

Take care.
DAL357

As the sun sets on another year...

2010-01-01T00:23:00.005-07:00

I actually have nothing to say here, I just wanted to squeeze in another post from San Diego before 2010 begins (it's past midnight back in Colorado, but 2009 still has a few minutes left here in California). I suppose I could say something about the trip to Sea World yesterday, but I'm too tired right now to mess with it. In fact, if it was up to me, I'd be headed to bed about now, but my wife would take personal offense at that since the New Year is such a big deal to her.

Take care.
DAL357

San Diego, day whatever

2009-12-30T10:43:00.006-07:00

As often happens in life, and one comes to expect the unexpected, or should, after 50 years of life on this planet, things didn't quite go as planned with the Glock 20 rental. After arriving at the place and looking for the Glock 20 they said was for rent on their website but not finding it in the case, I asked one of the guys behind the counter. He said they used to have a Glock 20 for rent, but they had trouble getting ammunition for it, so they stopped renting it. That sounded a bit bogus to me--why not just keep it on hand until more ammo showed up?-- but I took it in stride. Although they had quite a few other guns for rent, including AR15s, I wasn't really interested, so I left. That was on Monday.

On Tuesday, the family went to Legoland. If you've never been to Legoland, please don't bother. Tickets for adults were $67 each and a kid's ticket was $57. Now, the prices might have been easier to swallow IF the park had something worth seeing, but it didn't, unless you count sculptures made out of Lego parts as worth paying to view. The rides, such as they were, could only possibly appeal to children under the age of 10, and that's being generous.

Man, I feel a dull ache in my nether region.

Today, it's off to Sea World; I feel another drubbing to my wallet coming, but at least Sea World has the potential, from what I've seen, to come close to justifying its ticket price.

Take care.
DAL357

"Is the PETN in your pants, or are you..."

2009-12-29T10:04:00.003-07:00

Nothing profound here, just an observation on how secure you should feel with government in charge of your security. Yup, big G's in the house, so you can switch off and leave the responsibility for your precious (to you) life up to them. With protection like this, I may not even need to renew my CCW. BTW, here's a photo of the (thankfully) incompetent would-be airplane destroyer's skivvies (who happens to be Muz, it must be noted). From the looks of those drawers, he succeeded in blowing up something tubular, just not the fuselage he was focused on.

Take care.
DAL357

San Diego, day two

2009-12-27T08:50:00.004-07:00

We finally got going late in the morning yesterday, after a breakfast provided by the late Ray Croc's brainchild. The funny thing is, I was hungry again about an hour later. Not too many nutrients, apparently, in that food-like substance.

Yesterday's time out was spent entirely at a botanic gardens, at my wife's "suggestion." (Isn't it funny how women cleverly call their wants "suggestions," when in all actuality they are really imperatives? That's just the darnedest phenomenon.) The botanic gardens were well planned and executed, but...a WHOLE DAY!?!? C'MON!!! Then, after sundown, the garden was lit with festive holiday lighting, strung hither and thither in various areas, and the garden consumed another chunk of our lives, 'bout two hours worth. Oh well, the wife was happy and our boy enjoyed doing things boys enjoy doing: things he shouldn't do.

After taking a wrong exit back to the motel, followed by a stop at a liquor store (wife's "suggestion"--I don't drink), we made it back to the room, ate convenience store burritos, surfed the net, disciplined the boy (for the umpteenth time that day), and finally went to bed.

On the bright side, it looks like San Diego has several indoor gun ranges which rent guns. I plan on using a fraction of my time here to check it out and, maybe, rent a Glock 20 to try. Somewhere down the road, in the hazy future, I may just get around to buying a Glock 20 10mm for camping and hiking, at least that's the justification I am using. But I've never fired the 10mm, so I'd like to try it first to see if it should even be on my wish list. I've fired a .44 Magnum before, whose recoil I didn't care for, so I'm hoping the 10mm is a notch or two below that. More on this subject as it develops.

I'd better sign off now and get everyone up, for my wife has more plans for the day.

Take care.
DAL357

Sandy Eggo

2009-12-26T02:21:00.006-07:00

I must be getting old, 'cause I am beginnig to dislike car trips of more than one day's duration. In my younger years, I loved travelling by car on long trips, but no more. More than anything else, I guess it's the boredom. Sure, I downloaded tons of podcasts and music to my iPod Nano, but even that gets old after a few hours. (Cripe! How spoiled we modern folk are, complaining about a trip that can be measured in hours instead of weeks or months.)

We arrived in San Diego on Christmas evening and checked into our motel. As it was already dark, we couldn't see a whole lot of the city, but I doubt it's much different than most other big cities. I'm finishing this post on the morning of Dec. 26, so that assumption may change; we'll see.

It's off to the shower now, followed by, I hope, a good breakfast somewhere. Of course, that' assuming I can get the rest of the family up and out before lunch begins being served at every eatery.

Take care.
DAL357

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T08:15:00.006-07:00

Sitting here in a Phoenix motel room,* my family sleeping soundly nearby, it occurred to me that a timely wish for any reader of this blog, such as it is, is in order. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Take care.
DAL357

*More on this later, I hope.

Dumbfounded, I tell ya

2009-12-20T08:03:00.007-07:00

The night before last, my wife said something to me which surprised me to no end. She had to go do a favor for a friend in the evening and, due to a sudden illness with our son, I was unable to join her. So, being a concerned husband, I retrieved a holstered .38 snubby and asked her to take it. At first, she refused, not seeing the need for it, and (here's the kicker) because, "I haven't been trained on how to use it," she said. But I insisted and she finally relented and took the gun. I haven't seen her since.*

On the one hand, she was correct about not wanting to take the gun because she lacked the training with it. (This, I can assure everyone, was not due to a paucity of effort by me over the years.) But on the other hand, she has gone to the range with me, although it's been at least five years since our last trip together, so she has fired guns before. I believe what familiarity she's retained since then might come in handy should she ever have to use a firearm for self defense, but I know her level of skill is essentially non-existent.

The trick, as it's always been, is to convince her of the need to take some formal training. I believe I'll look into a gift certificate for a concealed carry course (several are taught locally). While I know that the training received at most courses is minimal, especially when it comes to fighting with a handgun, it might be the gateway drug to more inclination towards training. Who knows?

In the area of self defense, my wife is very traditional: it's the man's job to protect home and family. But stories are legion about situations where that didn't work out too well because the man was at work, the woman was away from home, the man was incapacitated, etc. Getting her to see it's okay to take responsibility for her, and our son's, safety is going to be, and has been, a challenge. Wish me luck.

Take care.
DAL357

*Just kidding.

Progessive Houston

2009-12-12T09:10:00.006-07:00

She's a lesbian, and that's all that matters. No mention is made in this brief puff piece, designed to show how progressive Houston is when it comes when it comes to sexual orientation, about what this woman's politics might be, although one could probably guess. No, it's the fact that she's a lesbian, no doubt quite liberal, that matters. Symbolism over substance, what a triumph for modern man.

*****

Houston voters may elect openly gay mayor
Dec 12, 2009 (7:56a CST)

HOUSTON - Voters are deciding Saturday whether Houston will become the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor.

The runoff election pits City Controller Annise Parker against former city attorney Gene Locke.

Parker is a lesbian who has never made a secret or an issue of her sexual orientation.

But in recent weeks, anti-gay activists and conservative religious groups have endorsed the 61-year-old Locke and sent out mailers condemning Parker's "homosexual behavior."

Meanwhile, gay and lesbian political organizations around the country have rallied to support the 53-year-old Parker.

*****

The thing that's always irritated me about homosexuals is that they are a "gay" (a word which I despise because it's a verbal sleight-of-hand trick calculated to lessen homosexuality's overwhelming weirdness) doctor, or a "gay" lawyer, or a "gay" fill-in-the-blank. If, as homosexuals claim, their sexual orientation doesn't/shouldn't matter in whatever goal they are reaching for, why make it the foremost part of one's identity? Because, if the truth be told, sexual orientation does matter, especially to them. When a homosexual reaches his goal, this somehow equates, at least in his mind, to some kind of validation by the heterosexual community, something he desperately craves, mainly because, deep down, he knows his sexual orientation is against the laws of nature. If a homosexual reached his goal without making an issue of his sexual orientation, then he would have been elected purely on the merits/demerits of his arguments, ideas, etc.; his victory would be hollow against the backdrop of his wider identity, homosexuality, because there would be no concomitant validation of his personal lifestyle.

None of the above should be misconstrued as meaning I believe homosexuals should be persecuted. As long as it's voluntary, people have a right to do as they wish with each other. People have a right to be wrong in this country as long as they are not infringing on another person's liberty. I just don't want/need to hear about it.

Take care.
DAL357

Well, THAT sucks

2009-10-30T19:00:00.013-06:00

The following story is the first I can remember of an adult being killed by coyotes, although I've read more than a few stories about adults being threatened/attacked by the little prairie wolves.

*****

Toronto musician dies after coyote attack in Cape Breton

Taylor Mitchell, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Toronto, died this morning after she was attacked by two coyotes while hiking in Cape Breton Highlands National Park yesterday.

"[The victim] was airlifted to the QEII hospital in Halifax, where she died of her injuries early this morning," Sgt. Bridgit Leger of the RCMP said in an interview.

Officers with the RCMP detachment in Cheticamp, N.S., responded to a 911 call placed around 3:15 p.m. yesterday. When they arrived on Skyline Trail, a popular hiking route in the park, they found two coyotes attacking the young hiker.

Read the rest of the article here.

*****

What a sad end to a life that just barely begun. The article goes on to say that the area where she was attacked is a popular hiking venue, so I'd assume she probably felt safe in going there. But nothing is certain in life and this young woman paid the ultimate price for not heeding, or perhaps not knowing, this. I'm not going to go into my usual spiel about having some type of appropriate protection with you at all times, for that would be redundant and out of place just now. Besides, the wise already know it.

Take care.
DAL357

Dinner's cold, where have you been?

2009-10-25T10:01:00.007-06:00

One of the most ironic ideas I’ve heard over the last six months is that President Obama is swinging this country towards socialism. I’ve actually read more than one story where people are hopping mad because they believe Obama is taking America from freedom to socialism in one fell swoop. I’d just like to ask these people where they have been. You don’t go from freedom to socialism (fascism is actually closer to the mark, but I digress) without either one of the following two conditions being met: brute force, as from an invading army (or a domestic army/government gone bad); or because your country has been heading that way for a while anyway. America falls under the second condition, and it has for the last century +.

The Johnny-come-latelys to the (correct) notion that America is already far down the path towards socialism belie their own ignorance every time they open their mouths to blame Obama for our present course. While they are spot on in their assessment of the current President’s intentions, a Barack Obama could not have been elected without the gradual acceptance over the generations that government should insinuate itself more and more into virtually every aspect of the daily lives of Americans because it somehow knows best.

The Tea Party movement was a great display of (some) Americans waking from their decades-long slumber, but it is doomed to failure, ultimately, because it has no real philosophical underpinnings, at least none that I’m aware of. To make it a lasting force to be reckoned with would require it to transcend the usual Democrat vs. Republican partyism and take the moral high ground by stating that nearly everything the government is involved in is anti-liberty, anti-individual, and wholly socialist.

Unfortunately, the same people in the movement today will go back to sleep if the next election cycle produces a Republican majority in Congress, and two years after that, a Republican president. This might slow the run towards socialism to a crawl, but it certainly won’t reverse it, because Republicans, both the elected and the electorate, like big government. Big G brings perks Republicans like (the War on Drugs; a big-stick military; pilfering the productive for the benefit of the retired, etc.) that a government hemmed in by a pesky, adhered to, document of limitations on its actions (such as the U.S. Constitution) wouldn’t/couldn’t. (It’s only in how to use Big G that Republicans differ from Democrats, not in the notion that it shouldn’t exist in its present form.)

Obama is not dragging this country down the path to socialism; all he’s done is merely taken over the controls of a freight train headed that way already. Sure, he’s nudged the accelerator forward a bit more than a Republican might have, but we were going that way anyhow. Those who think everything was hunky dory, or at least tolerable, before Obama’s election have no clue about how much of the problem they really are.

(BTW, I am well aware that the Tea Party movement is not only made up of disgruntled Republicans, so please don’t take me to task for coloring it as such. But I believe disgruntled Republicans form the nucleus of the movement. On another note, it’s nice to see some Ayn Randism has infiltrated the movement [see photo above], as that can only be a good thing.)

Take care.
DAL357

Overheard at a gun store...

2009-10-09T19:22:00.009-06:00

I was in my local gun store a few days back, the first time I've been there in about a month (I'm actually pretty bored with acquiring new guns; for my needs, what I have is plenty--sorry if I've offended the gun whores, gun rags, and gun marketers out there with my sacrilege), and I actually heard a customer telling the clerk that "any [hand]gun that doesn't start with a four [I presume he meant caliber] doesn't have enough knockdown power." [Emphasis mine.] He said this while looking at some type of Ruger automatic, I believe.

I know I shouldn't be too hard on him, for he was just parroting what he's likely heard for years from various puffed-up pontificators in the gun world. Handguns don't have "knockdown" power. If they did have this attribute, they'd be unmanageable to shoot, at least for more than one shot. In fact, I really don't care all that much that he apparently puts so much faith in his statement; to each his own. It's just that I'm willing to bet he also believes that anything sub 40 caliber is somehow substandard, which is definitely not true.

Oh well, people labor under illusions and false assumptions every day, hence the Democrats in power today (but it would be just as true if the Republicans held the reins). I just thought those of you in the know would find his comment entertaining.

Take care.
DAL357

Uncle Jim’s .38 Spl.

2009-09-27T09:25:00.011-06:00

Decades ago, back when I was a wee lad of six, Uncle Jim, my mother’s brother, came to live with us for a few months at our rented house in Detroit. My father was in the army and stationed in Germany, so he was out of the picture for the time being and Uncle Jim was the man of the house, more or less.

To say Uncle Jim was a ne’er-do-well would pretty much be accurate. At the time he came to live with us, he was unemployed by choice, not because the economy was bad. The economy in Detroit at that time was humming and there were plenty of good-paying jobs around for those who wanted them, it’s just that Uncle Jim didn’t want them. He seemed to be happy hanging around the house, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer (more on that soon), and pontificating on the world’s problems. I think my mother and father tolerated this because he was an adult male presence while my father was away.

One night when my mother was out, Uncle Jim was tasked with babysitting my brother and me. My three-year-old brother was already in bed and I was in the kitchen talking to Uncle Jim about something, who knows what at this point, when the subject of Uncle Jim’s .38 snubby revolver came up. I asked him if I could see it--by this time, Uncle Jim was several beers into the night and his judgment was no doubt impaired--so he went and got it from his room. I had never heard a gun’s report before, so when he asked if I wanted to see it fired, I enthusiastically said, “Yes!” I clearly remember him sitting at the end of kitchen table, me on the opposite end of the table, and taking aim at the cabinet door under the sink. I also clearly remember jumping at the sound as the gun went off and stubbing my toe on the table leg. That thing was LOUD!

Looking at the cabinet door, I spied a small hole in its center. By this time Uncle Jim had put the snubby down, at least that’s how I remember it, and I walked over to the cabinet and opened it. There, just inside the cabinet, lay the lead slug. I picked it up—I think it was still warm—and gave it to Uncle Jim. * After that, my memory fails me, except I do recall that my mother was extremely mad at Uncle Jim for what he did, although at the time I couldn’t understand why.

Eventually, my mother, brother, and I joined my father in Baumholder, Germany, and left Uncle Jim and his .38 snubby behind. The snubby will reappear again in my childhood, as will Uncle Jim, but more about that some other time.

Take care.
DAL357

*I strongly suspect, although I can’t be sure, that the ammo in that snubby was topped with the old, ineffectual 158-gr. lead roundnose bullet, which likely explains why the slug stopped right after if got through the cabinet door. .38 +P rounds hadn’t been invented yet (this was in 1965), and who knows how old the ammunition was in the gun. Uncle Jim bought the gun sometime in the 1950s, I believe, and I would not be surprised if the ammo dated from the same time as when he purchased the gun, and who knows if the gun was new when he bought it.

Glock fun in the summertime

2009-09-20T07:10:00.011-06:00

Hey, it's been a while since I lasted posited any thoughts here, so let's go.

A trip to the range yesterday for an IHMSA match (don't ask how I did; I've shot worse and I've shot better) allowed me the chance to fire a few rounds through my beloved Glock 19, which only increased my respect for the pistol.

This session, I didn't focus on any self-defense drills. Instead, I shot only for accuracy--something the Glock 19, at least this particular Glock 19, has in abundance--and to chronograph two factory loads. No, it doesn't possess the same level of accuracy as my Thompson-Center Contender G2, but it was easily able to put rounds on a 9-inch steel gong at 25 yards from a bench. This gives lie to the idea still floating around out there that Glocks traded accuracy for absolute reliability; as far as I can tell, my Glock has both.

I chronographed two different Federal factory loads, the older Hydra-Shok and the newer HST, both non +P, both 124 grain bullets. The results were eye opening. The Hydra-Shok averaged 877.2 feet per second (FPS), with an extreme spread (ES) of 278.4 FPS, and a standard deviation (SD) of 116.7 FPS. Any way you slice it, these are anemic loads for self defense, and their shot-to-shot consistency was erratic. To think that I actually carried this round this summer for an unwelcome self-defense encounter...

Next, enter the the Federal HST round. Now we're getting somewhere. This is the first factory round out of any gun I've ever chronographed that actually beat what the factory said it would do. On the box, the factory said the round would get 1150 FPS, but I averaged 1477 FPS for five shots, with an amazingly low ES of 3.93 FPS and the SD was 1.73 FPS. I've never seen this kind of shot-to-shot consistency out of any ammunition, factory or handloaded. I'm still not sure how this ammo bested factory specs. by over 300 FPS, but I trust my chronograph; and don't forget, these are non +P rounds. As an added bonus, the increase in recoil from the Hydra-Shok to the HST did not seem to be large at all, especially when looking at the substantial increase in velocity from one to the other.

Armed with the above information, I now know which round my Glock 19 will be carrying: the 124-grain 9mm Federal HST. Anything else would be uncivilized. By the way, I ordered this ammunition from here. They sell them in 50-round boxes for the same price as the 20- to 25-round boxes sold in gun stores. I ordered three boxes of them back in March, during the ammo-buying frenzy, and it took five months to get my order filled, but now that things are starting to get back to normal on the ammo front, I hope a patron won't have to wait nearly as long.

Take care.
DAL357

Shotgunning, with "Gus" Augusto

2009-08-17T18:20:00.009-06:00

Just in case you haven't seen this, here's yet another story that adds credence to the fact that guns can save innocent lives.

NY shopkeeper who defended store recounts shooting

By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The sidewalk outside the Harlem store still was smeared with blood Friday, and the glass on the door still was blown out.

Above the entrance, someone had scribbled the words, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here."

Less than 24 hours after a deadly showdown at the shop worthy of a Clint Eastwood script, Charles "Gus" Augusto Jr. entered his store - oblivious of the inscription taken from Dante's "Inferno."

The 72-year-old wholesaler of commercial restaurant equipment had been up all night, questioned by police about how he'd drawn a shotgun and killed two of four armed robbery suspects who entered his Kaplan Brothers Blue Flame store Thursday afternoon.

Two of the young men died on the street. Two remained hospitalized in stable condition with gunshot wounds.

When they walked in at about 3 p.m. and confronted Augusto with guns, "I didn't want to shoot them," he said, sitting bleary-eyed in his dusty, windowless warehouse, with a fly swatter hanging above his head.

He said the bandits drew their handguns, yelling, "Where's the money? Where's the money?"

They pistol-whipped a worker and waved a weapon at a cashier's face, he said.

"There is no money," Augusto said he told them. "Go home."

Stashed away nearby was the 12-gauge shotgun he bought decades ago and said he had never used since a test-fire. He reached for it when he sensed one of the men was about to shoot, and pulled the trigger once.

"I hoped after the first shot they would go away," he said.

When they didn't, continuing to menace his employees, he fired again, and again.

Police said one of the men collapsed and died outside the door, just feet from a Baptist church.

"He died in the hands of God," said a neighborhood resident, Vincent Gayle, pointing to the blood-spattered pavement by the church. "But what goes around comes around."

Another fatally wounded suspect managed to cross the street, leaving a trail of blood before he collapsed. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.

More blood led police to the other two suspects, who were arrested and taken to the hospital. Charges against them were pending.

Police said Augusto didn't have a required permit for the weapon used in the headline-grabbing shooting the Daily News called a "Pump-Action Ending."

But he was a victim, police said, and no charges had been filed on Friday.

"I'd rather not have done it," Augusto said, "and I'm sad for those mothers who have no sons."

On Friday, pedestrians were still sidestepping pools of blood along Augusto's block on West 125th Street, a short walk from Bill Clinton's Harlem office.

Reactions to the shooting were mixed.

Frida Rodriguez called it "a sad day" for the neighborhood.

Augusto "was defending his work, his business, so you could perceive that as being heroic," she said. "But on the other hand, these kids [*] died."

The shopkeeper was coy when asked whether, with his shotgun confiscated, he had a backup.

"I'm not going to tell you that," he said.

I hope Mr. Augusto walks away from this without so much as a slap on the wrist, assuming this piece is accurate, which is always a crap shoot when dealing with the media. It sounds like Mr. Augusto is a decent man who reluctantly was forced to do what he needed to to protect his employees, which is commendable. May he be a symbol of hope to all New Yorkers who have had their rights to self defense with a gun suppressed for many, many decades.

*This is one aspect of the story I take real umbrage with. These were not "kids," regardless of their ages. Kids don't commit armed robbery and threaten lives, criminals do, and these males were nothing more than criminals.

Take care.
DAL357

Conduct most unbecoming

2009-07-20T09:32:00.009-06:00

About eight blogs are on my list of places to visit regularly, with a few more thrown in to peruse when I have the time/inclination. One blog I read frequently is The Munchkin Wrangler, written by a guy named Marko who is also an author. The blog is well-written and Marko's logic is sharp and refreshing, and I usually agree with most of what he says. In a recent blog post, however, I think Marko may have let his emotions override his logic. In that post, Marko advocates the death penalty for a former cop and true scumbag, Feliciano Sanchez, because he used his badge/authority to get a woman to give him oral sex during a traffic stop.

While I believe Marko is entirely correct that this slob should be punished severely, making this a capital crime is over the top. According to the article, the maximum penalty for the crime is 10 years in prison; this is not nearly enough time. Life in prison without the possibility of parole, yes, definitely, but not 10 years; 10 years is too little and killing him is too much.

Marko's real, quite legitimate, beef seems to be with the violation of trust this public servant has commited, a crime that disgusts civilized, thinking folk. Punishing it with more than a slap on the wrist should be a priority for the state, not only because it's morally right, but because the state's credibility is at stake, or at least what's left of it. Keeping their agents (cops, tax assessors, teachers, etc.) on the straight and narrow should be priority one for the state, and making an example out of this fool via life in prison would go a long way towards that end.

Take care.
DAL357

Cali going to pot?

2009-07-17T06:37:00.012-06:00

Now here's some outside-the-box thinking that makes sense:

Calif. Assembly Bill Would Legalize, Tax Marijuana

A state legislator is reviving the debate about legalizing marijuana as a way of raising money for cash-strapped state and local governments.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, introduced legislation Monday, that if approved by the California Legislature, would put pot on the same legal footing as alcohol — legalizing its sale and having the state tax it.

Under AB 390, adults over the age of 21 would be allowed to buy marijuana from licensed sellers, and driving under the influence of it would be prohibited.

Ammiano said massive eradication efforts have failed [YOU THINK?!?!] to make a dent in this underground industry, so it's time to bring what he calls "a major piece of our economy into the light of day."

His proposal, which has been endorsed by some law enforcement officials, would tax all pot sales at a rate of $50 per ounce.

Ammiano called it "simply nonsensical" to keep marijuana, the state's top cash crop, unregulated and untaxed in light of the state's massive financial problems.

"With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense," Ammiano said at a news conference at the state building on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco.

I in no way advocate drugs or their use, including alcohol, but neither do I wish to prohibit them from the people that want them. As long as a person is not directly endangering others by their use/abuse of drugs, they can mainline Drano for all I care.

Of course, this isn't going to get even close to being signed into law. Too many drug warriors, those beefy, brush-cut boys in paramilitary garb who think they somehow aren't civilians, et al, not to mention idiot politicians, have a vested interest in keeping the already-lost War on Drugs going. So precious, dwindling resources will continue to be wasted on a lost cause.

It impovrishes the imagination.

Take care.
DAL357

This is truly groundbreaking!

2009-07-14T09:26:00.005-06:00

NEWS FLASH:

Handguns Looks at the Iconic 1911

This week on Handguns, available on Sportsman Channel, we are going to examine one of the most iconic semi auto pistols of all time - the 1911. This simple and revolutionary design was created by John Moses Browning between 1904 and 1911. It was so successful that the design is still used toady. In Hot Shots we look at the S&W SW1911 9mm Pro. This multi-tasking handgun would be great for competitive shooting, law enforcement, concealed carry and home defense.

Wow! How do they keep coming up with these innovative ideas for shows!? Man, a feature on the 1911 pistol, who'd a thunk it? The programmers at this channel are certainly earning their pay. With fresh ideas like this, I may have to consider having pay TV reinstalled in my home.

I am not looking forward to 2011, the centennial of Browning's 1911. What's American Handgunner magazine going to do for that? They already have some form of the 1911 on practically every issue's cover (yawn). Would someone please take a sample of J.M. Browning's DNA, clone him, and let his copy design something that, finally, supersedes the 1911? (Oh, wait, you mean Glock's already done that?;) My mistake.)

Take care.
DAL357

Hero?!?!

2009-07-12T09:54:00.005-06:00

Perhaps time has passed me by, but I would not say the following is a description of a "hero."

McNair was shot and killed on the Fourth of July by his girlfriend, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, who then shot herself in the head.

Police escorted McNair's wife, Mechelle, and his mother, Lucille, into the stadium beforehand. Near the end, a handful of people surrounded his mother and his sons, waving them with fans and programs and giving hugs.

Did you see the problem? This sports "hero," as he is being called, was with his paramour, who shot and killed him. An adulterous relationship, something the MSM tiptoes around, and this guy's supposed to be a hero? He may have been good on the playing field, but off of the field he was a weak-willed jerk.

When it comes to sports "heroes" in general, I find "it is hard to care about grown men...playing children's games for TV," as Rory Miller said. Look, jocks, and other entertainers for that matter, don't tend to be the brightest bulbs, especially the ones who are good enough at their game to make a living at it professionally. They are not generally well-rounded individuals, only excelling at a small portion of their lives and giving in to their baser instincts and wrecking the rest of it. These folks deserve no fawning or reverence, but they get it nonetheless by a lot of dolts.

Admiring this Steve McNair guy for his accomplishments on the field is fine, but that's it. Let's call this one as it really is: A fine football player who wouldn't keep his pants up and who got zapped for his poor decisions/adulterous ways. Hardly the truth I'm ever likely to see from the MSM, but wickedly accurate.

Take care.
DAL357

Giving up a little to gain a lot

2009-06-25T09:10:00.009-06:00

While I don’t have a lot of personal experience, thankfully, with crime, I have had a few incidents occur in years past that you might benefit from knowing about. Here’s one.

Way back in 1986, on New Year’s Eve, I was returning home from someplace lost in the recesses of my memory. It was an hour or two before 1987 was to begin and my car suddenly went dead, totally kaput. At the time the road it died on was a somewhat lonely two-lane highway on the outskirts of the city. (Now, it’s a major six-lane artery surrounded by thousands of homes and lined with dozens of businesses, but I digress.) With the remaining momentum of the car, I pulled off to a side road, locked the car, and footed it to a 7-11 store about a half-mile away. From there I called my dad, who came to pick me up and we drove to take a look at the car. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong with it, so we decided to wait until morning to fiddle around on it. My dad asked me if I wanted to tow it back to the house, but I said, “No, it’ll be okay here until morning.” (You, no doubt, see where this is going.)

The next morning my brother drove me to my car and I found it not quite in the condition I left it. The car’s windshield was broken, its mirrors were ripped off, the instrument panel was covering cracked, a side window was smashed, and the turn signal lever broken off. The culprit(s) was apparently trying to get at my radio/tape player, but was thwarted by a clever (I thought) trick I employed when I installed the player a few years earlier (I keep my cars for a looong time). What was this trick? A short, stout piece of electrical wire tied to the back of the player and through two small holes I drilled into the firewall, rendering the unit practically impossible for a smash-and-grab thief to lift. Unfortunately, it also had the unintended consequence of infuriating the would-be filcher who, I am certain, took out his frustration on my car. The radio was saved, but at a price of more than five times its value when compared to the damage done to my car.

When I got my car back from the repair shop, the first thing I did was to untie and remove the wire. I didn’t want lightning to strike twice; I’ve learned my lessons. What were those lessons?

1. Be aware that crime can happen at anytime, practically anywhere, and that you are not immune.
2. Make value judgments as to what you are willing to lose; in other words, leave easily-taken fall-guy items for the low-lifes.
3. Listen to and follow through with good advice about preventing crime. (Had I listened to my dad, this could have been avoided, and my net worth would be about $500 more, or greater with interest, today).
4. Crime, and criminals, suck.

I hope this helps you, or someone you know, from repeating my mistakes.*

Take care.
DAL357

*I realize that macho wisdom says to he*l with giving any kind of quarter or reward to criminals, but I have the distinct impression that those who say this are too imbued with Hollywood's scripted versions of how encounters will go down to see reason. Sure, there are things worth defending, but inanimate objects are not usually among them. Giving up a small thing to protect the bigger, more valuable thing doesn't make one a loser, but a winner. You were able to put one over on a predator; that should be cause for celebration.

Same ol', same ol'

2009-06-16T08:05:00.010-06:00

I can't fathom that anyone would be surprised at the apparent chicanery going on behind the recent Iranian presidential election. What is especially surprising is how the Iranian people themselves could be hoodwinked into believing that they have any real say in their government. Free elections are instruments of change only for the relatively free; sham elections are an attempt by totalitarians and tyrants to lend themselves authenticity and credibility.

To the Iranian people: I guess it's time for another revolution, eh? Just be careful next time who you hook your wagon to. Sure, the Shah had to go, but who took his place? That's right, another cruel tyrant. You're about as dumb as the French who overthrew a corrupt monarchy in the late 18th century and then turned right around and installed a dictator, Napoleon, into power. Never forget that great line from the rock group the Who: Meet the old boss / same as the old boss.

In practically every nation it seems to be that the MO of the populace is to exchange one government for exactly the same type of government and then expect different results. It must have something to do with the human psyche; one example is an abused daughter that grows up to choose an abusive spouse because it's a familiar, known quantity that fits the patterns she was raised to believe are normal. Now, extrapolate that thinking to a national scale and you'll get the picture. It takes a truly strong, independent people to go in a completely new direction, which is why the American revolution was so rare and wonderful. Unfortunately, Americans no longer have the sense or stones to see the mess they've made and take a truly new path. I expect that kind of locked mindset from foreigners; I am ashamed of it from Americans.

Take care.
DAL357

Now that's teamwork!

2009-06-04T08:52:00.009-06:00

Here we go. How coincidental is this news story, you know, with more government meddling into healthcare in the offing? Not very coincidental at all. This is part of what will likely become a blitz of stories by the MSM meant to soften resistance to what will essentially be ever-increasing controls and restrictions on healthcare. Isn't teamwork, in this case the MSM and government, great?

-----

Medical bills underlie 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies: study
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, U.S. researchers reported Thursday in a report they said demonstrates that healthcare reform is on the wrong track.

More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.

"Unless you're Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy," Harvard's Dr. David Himmelstein, an advocate for a single-payer health insurance program for the United States, said in a statement.

"For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection," he added.

The United States is embarking on an overhaul of its healthcare system, now a patchwork of public programs such as Medicare for the elderly and disabled and employer-sponsored health insurance that leaves 15 percent of the population with no coverage.

The researchers and some consumer advocates said the study showed the proposals under the most serious consideration are unlikely to help many Americans. They are pressing for a so-called single payer plan, in which one agency, usually the government, coordinates health coverage.

"Expanding private insurance and calling it health reform will fail to prevent financial catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of Americans every year," Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen said in a statement.

About 170 million people get health insurance through an employer but President Barack Obama says soaring healthcare costs hurt the economy and force businesses to drop medical insurance for their workers.

CANCELED COVERAGE

"Nationally, a quarter of firms cancel coverage immediately when an employee suffers a disabling illness; another quarter do so within a year," the report reads.

Obama told Congress Wednesday he was open to making mandatory health insurance part of the overhaul.

Neither Congress nor Obama are considering the kind of single-payer plan advocated by Public Citizen, Himmelstein and his colleague Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

"We need to rethink health reform," Woolhandler said. "Covering the uninsured isn't enough.

"Only single-payer national health insurance can make universal, comprehensive coverage affordable by saving the hundreds of billions we now waste on insurance overhead and bureaucracy."

The researchers studied 2,134 random families who filed for bankruptcy between January and April in 2007, before the current recession began.

They used public bankruptcy court records and surveyed 1,032 people by telephone.

"Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92 percent of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000, or 10 percent of pretax family income," the researchers wrote.

"Most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes and had middle-class occupations."

The researchers, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said the share of bankruptcies that could be blamed on medical problems rose by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007.

Patients with multiple sclerosis paid a mean of $34,167 out of pocket in 2007, diabetics paid $26,971, and those with injuries paid $25,096, the researchers found.

-----

I'll paraphrase P.J. O'Rourke here: If you think U.S. healthcare is expensive now, what 'til the government gets involved to make it more affordable.

I believe that government intervention at all levels is already the reason healthcare costs have become so outrageous. To drink more of that Kool-aid is asking for even more problems.

This subject, more than anything else the government does, reminds me of the wisdom of the saying "Government: A disease masquerading as its own cure."

Take care.
DAL357

Through the past, darkly...

2009-06-03T22:11:00.008-06:00

A few years ago I submitted this memory of a family ordeal to another site, where it still remains posted. I guess it's about time to publish it here. Perhaps you'll find it interesting and instructive.

-----

Way back in March of 1977 I learned firsthand the awesome, frightening power of nature. Up until that time, I hadn’t really experienced anything scarier than a thunderstorm. The lessons learned that day stayed with me, and to this day I don’t play chicken with Mother Nature.

After spending a little over three years in Germany, my father had rotated back to the States. His new, and final, assignment was Fort Carson, Colorado. After arriving at JKF airport in New York City, we proceeded via taxi through New York city to New Jersey to pick up our 1975 Plymouth Duster we had shipped weeks earlier. Of course, the weeks of sitting had resulted in a dead battery--an inauspicious beginning. After getting that taken care of, we were on our way to Colorado.

The trip was routine. Living in a military family, you get used to long, often boring, car trips. My two brothers and mother did their best to adjust to hours of sitting while my father drove. Around the third day of the trip, we found ourselves nearing our destination state, Colorado. While listening to the radio, however, we heard that I-70 was closed near the Colorado/Kansas state line due to weather. Since my father had planned on getting to our destination, Fort Carson, by early evening (it was then early afternoon), he decided to turn off of I-70 and go around the roadblock. This was a decision that nearly killed our family.

Turning south from I-70 onto highway 27, we headed for what we thought was an alternate, safe route. After a short time on highway 27, the wind started picking up and small wisps of snow (called snow snakes out here) began to appear on the pavement. A few more miles brought a steady, wind-driven snow, but visibility was still acceptable. Within the space of just a few subsequent minutes, however, all hell broke loose. We were being hit broadside by a genuine Kansas blizzard that made me think 17 years was all I was going to get on this earth.

Visibility had dropped to no further than the hood of our car. To this day I don’t know how we kept from running off the two-lane highway; divine intervention must have had a hand in it. There was really no way to turn around, and sitting still wasn’t an option, so we kept creeping forward for what seemed an eternity. If you have never been in a blizzard, it is difficult to imagine the sheer terror of being disoriented, blind, and surrounded by bitter-cold wind and snow.

Finally, mercifully, we made it to a small whistle-stop of a town named Sharon Springs, Kansas, thirty miles due south of I-70. Waist-high drifts were already forming up against anything that impeded the wind-driven snow’s progress. As I recall, Sharon Springs consisted of nothing more than a few houses, a gas station, a diner, and a motel, but it looked like a heavenly oasis to me. I remember begging my father to stop in the town, fearing he might have had a notion to continue. He assured me that there was no way we were going to continue. We got a room in the motel (we actually had to dig our way IN to the room because of the drift against the door), ate in the diner, and had a fitful night’s sleep.

The next day, the storm had passed and the sun came out. Looking outside, there was very little snow on the flat-as-a-pancake Kansas fields surrounding Sharon Springs. Against buildings, however, snow was drifted all of the way to second-story roofs. The contrast was amazing! Since there was almost no snow on the roads, after one last meal in the diner, we proceeded to our destination.

What were the lessons learned here? One, when an area is closed due to weather, do not try to find an alternate route into said area. Find out more information and then go home or find a safe place to stay. Two, don’t underestimate the weather and/or overestimate your ability. Three, keep your wits about you in a bad situation; they are really the only chance you have of surviving.

I hope I have been able to convey the seriousness of respecting nature’s weather whims. Although we often like to think of ourselves as prepared for any eventuality, the best preparation is to not get into a dire circumstance in the first place. No amount of survival gear we could have carried (had we even known about survivalism then) would have saved us if we had stalled on the highway. Had we stalled, we would have been buried alive under 20 feet of snow.

Please, for your own sake, as well as the sake of your loved ones, learn a lesson from my family’s ignorance and respect the weather.

-----
Take care.
DAL357

Casualty of the times

2009-06-01T08:25:00.016-06:00

According to an e-mail I just read, it looks like Knight Rifles is going belly up. I don't own, nor have I ever fired, one of their products, not being too terribly interested in black powder guns at this point in my life (especially in-line black powder guns, which I consider a travesty, but to each his own) , although that could change someday.

This latest casualty of the times started me thinking about the hunting firearms industry as a whole. When you stop to think about it, aside from the collector who feels compelled to acquire multiple guns in multiple chamberings, how many customers can the hunting firearms industry count on? The average hunter, unless he is a habitual shooter, looks at his rifle as a tool, a part of the total picture of hunting, a means to an end. He has little need for a slew of rifles, even if he can afford anything he wants. It's my position that this type of customer makes up a substantial part of the hunting firearms market. So, in good economic times companies like Knight rifle can depend upon the collector to keep them in business, but when things turn downward, collectors cut back and average hunters already have their guns, so the whole market for hunting guns sours.

Realistically, once you have a good deer/elk rifle, you don't really need much else if you're a big-game hunter. Barring theft or act-of-God destruction, and assuming reasonable care and maintenance, you could hunt with that same old friend from womb to tomb and likely never wear it out. Gun companies know this, which is why they continually come up with new chamberings that do little more than gild the lily and goad folks into buying their latest and greatest offerings. A wise person/hunter sees through this barrage of advertising and turns a blind eye towards it. Perhaps this, coupled with a severe recession, had something to do with Knight Rifles's demise.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. When Remington stepped into the AR15 field, I wondered about the wisdom of the move. Now, however, I realize it was a good decision for the company's survival. To the best of my knowledge, Remington was heavily tied to the hunting firearms field, which has been static for some time. By encompassing the red-hot black rifle market, Remington is able to stay afloat and not end up like Winchester. A shrewd move, I'd say, even if the world doesn't need another AR15 maker/marketer. (The world could use a few more ammo makers, but I digress.)

You may have noticed...

2009-05-28T08:18:00.004-06:00

You may have noticed a tapering off of blog posts recently; a good reason exists for this phenomenon: We're moving! That's right, the 357s are voluntarily downsizing and moving to another home. This one will be more centrally located in the city (although it will be farther away from my work...how'd that happen?...oh, yeah, a one word explanation: wife) and exactly 1,000 s.f. smaller.

So, I've been busy moving stuff that we could mostly live without to temporary storage. It's amazing the amount of useless items one woman can accumulate in eleven years at one house. Of course, I've accumulated a fair amount of things too, but mine all have a purpose.

Anyway, I've got to get going. I have to run another load to the storage unit, although I'm tempted instead to take a detour to the dump.

Take care.
DAL357

Uh oh!

2009-05-27T07:08:00.014-06:00

Call me cynical, but the first thought that muscled its way to the front of the line in my mind wasn't, "How sad that people died and had property destroyed in this storm." No, it was, "I wonder how much money this is going to cost the USA?" Heck, I don't even know if the US government will be sending "aid," a euphemism for tax dollars, but I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if it didn't.

Isn't it awful that a human being can't feel at least a bit of compassion for a disaster without thinking about how much he'll be fleeced for it? But that's the kind of reaction the US government has wrought with its innumerable instances of largess to folks who should be their own government's concern. Thanks, FedGov, for making me so callous.

By the way, notice the term "global warming" used below--this must have been a slip-up. I thought the new term for this is "climate change," since global warming now may or may not be happening. But since adopting the phrase climate change, the totalitarian-at-heart environmentalists can now have all of the bases covered no matter which way the wind blows, or at what temperature. Neat, eh? Also, isn't it frugal of this "reporter" to tie two different things into one news story? By piggybacking the holy grail of the environmentalist movement, global warming/climate change, onto a tragic occurrence, the environmentalist message gets more exposure.

One other thing: the Indian government should be able to afford to help its people, with all of the programming jobs and 1-800 help number jobs that have gone there from the US, their tax base must have risen in recent years, giving them more capital to work with for such contingencies.

*****

Millions displaced by cyclone in India, Bangladesh
By Sujoy Dhar Sujoy Dhar

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) – Cyclone Aila has displaced millions of people in India and Bangladesh, only a fraction of whom have access to food and drinking water, officials said on Wednesday.

The cyclone has killed at least 210 people in the flood-prone region, though officials said the death toll could rise, and rescuers have struggled to reach millions still marooned.

Cyclone Aila hit parts of coastal Bangladesh and eastern India on Monday, triggering tidal surges and floods.

Officials say more than one million people have been displaced in India's Sundarban islands in West Bengal state alone, one of the world's biggest tiger reserves and which is already threatened by global warming.

Heavy rain triggered by the storm raised river levels and burst mud embankments in the Sundarbans delta, destroying hundreds of thousands of houses and causing widespread flooding in the eastern state, and triggered landslides.

Global warming experts say rising sea levels have seen the fragile Sundarbans lose 28 percent of its habitat in the last 40 years.

Nearly 2.3 million people have been displaced and tens of thousands have moved to government shelters in West Bengal, the aid agency Save the Children told AlertNet.

As water levels slowly recede, hundreds of thousands of families who sought refuge in shelters, schools and other buildings are now returning to find their homes either washed away or submerged in water. [Man, that's some crackerjack reporting! What else would one expect from a flood, clean floors and windows?]

*****

Take care.
DAL357

Infinite hubris coupled with economic ignorance

2009-05-05T19:16:00.006-06:00

Does it ever end? I suppose it will someday, but for now the attitude of the current idiot administration/party in power, as opposed to the last idiot administration, seems to be "in for a penny, in for a pound." They can't wait to display the depths of their economic illiteracy to the world. Check out the following hyper-moronic plan to stimulate U.S. auto sales.

*****

Obama, lawmakers agree on "cash-for-clunkers" bill
Tue May 5, 3:49 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers reached agreement on Tuesday on a legislative proposal designed to stimulate U.S. auto sales, which have fallen to near 30-year lows.

The one-year plan crafted by members of the U.S. House of Representatives would offer vouchers worth up to $4,500 for owners to replace their less fuel efficient vehicles for models that get better gas mileage.

The goal of the "cash for clunkers" legislation is to sell 1 million vehicles.

"By stimulating consumer demand for new vehicles, this proposal will directly benefit domestic autoworkers and automotive manufacturers, which have arguably been hardest hit by the current economic downturn," said Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and staunch industry ally.

House Majority leader Steny Hoyer has embraced the proposal and said in an interview with Reuters in April that the measure would be acted upon quickly once proposed.

*****

Why only $4500 towards a new car? Why not give the things away to everyone (citizen and illegal alike) and make those factories really hum?

Truthfully, I don't really care anymore. As someone I read recently said, it's all the Democrats' baby now; they can't blame the impending fiscal ka-boom on those worms known as the Republicans, who stand for nothing except a different version of big government. In fact, I implore all idiotic ideas be not only proposed, but adopted, thereby hastening the day of reckoning.

Take care.
DAL357

Swine flu update

2009-05-02T08:02:00.010-06:00

Update: SHUT THE HE** UP ABOUT THIS MEDIA-DRIVEN NON EVENT!!! It's obvious to anyone with half a functioning brain that this is NOT the population-reducing pandemic that's been predicted for decades by sci-fi writers and epidemiologists, at least not yet. If the virus goes into hiding, morphs into something more deadly, then resurfaces during the next cold-and-flu season, we'll have something to worry about. But those are BIG ifs. In the meantime, try to refocus on how we're all getting bent over a barrel by a government run amok, elected by a people who are willfully deaf, dumb, and blind, for this flu thing is most assuredly an attempt to distract you from the real epidemic: venal politicians and the idiots who elect them.

Take care.
DAL357

Close to home

2009-04-18T15:10:00.006-06:00

This story, unlike some break-ins, had a happy ending. It also happens to have occurred in my city, which is not known as a particularly violent place to live.

*****

A suspected burglar is under arrest Saturday morning after police say the homeowner took security into their own hands.

Colorado Springs police say they were called to 3295 West Woodmen Road on a report that a person armed with a knife had just broken into the caller's home. The caller told police they had used their gun to fire a shot at the armed suspect and the suspect had run away.

Police and K-9 units found the suspect in the woods with non-life threatening wound to his lower leg. He was transported to Memorial Hospital and arrested after he was released.

The suspect, Ricky Hatcher, was booked into the Criminal Justice Center for Felony Menacing.

Police say the homeowner and Hatcher may have known each other. Police say the homeowner is not facing charges pending further review by the District Attorneys office.

*****

I've got to make sure my wife reads this. (For some reason, and I could be wrong, but I have the feeling the homeowner involved is a woman, mainly because it's written using variants of they which, as any decent writer knows, is not correct grammar.)

Take care.
DAL357

Others' perception of you could be jeanetic

2009-04-18T08:48:00.033-06:00

George Will recently penned a piece opining on the the proliferation of denim wearers and, most importantly, the philosophy behind this several-decades-long phenomenon. You can read it below, along with my comments, of course.

*****

Demon Denim
By George F. Will

Thursday, April 16, 2009

On any American street, or in any airport or mall, you see the same sad tableau: A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes. Father and son are dressed identically -- running shoes, T-shirts. And jeans, always jeans. If mother is there, she, too, is draped in denim. [James Howard Kunstler called it the infantilization of the American adult male, although it goes for American adult females too.]

Writer Daniel Akst has noticed and has had a constructive conniption. He should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has earned it by identifying an obnoxious misuse of freedom. [Sorry, George, but that's going a bit too far. Freedom means putting up with slobs who have no idea that's what they are, but I kind of get your drift.] Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he has denounced denim, summoning Americans to soul-searching and repentance about the plague of that ubiquitous fabric, which is symptomatic of deep disorders in the national psyche.

It is, he says, a manifestation of "the modern trend toward undifferentiated dressing, in which we all strive to look equally shabby." Denim reflects "our most nostalgic and destructive agrarian longings -- the ones that prompted all those exurban McMansions now sliding off their manicured lawns and into foreclosure." Jeans come prewashed and acid-treated to make them look like what they are not -- authentic work clothes for horny-handed sons of toil and the soil. Denim on the bourgeoisie is, Akst says, the wardrobe equivalent of driving a Hummer to a Whole Foods store -- discordant. [True.]

Long ago, when James Dean and Marlon Brando wore it, denim was, Akst says, "a symbol of youthful defiance." [Now, since practically everyone wears denim, kids have to show youthful defiance by wearing their baseball hats cockeyed, or having tats or piercings.] Today, Silicon Valley billionaires are rebels without causes beyond poses, wearing jeans when introducing new products. [Yeah, I've noticed this over the years. They try so much to be some kind of iconoclast, but they end up looking like they're trying too hard and merely appear foolish.] Akst's summa contra denim is grand as far as it goes, but it only scratches the surface of this blight on Americans' surfaces. Denim is the infantile uniform of a nation in which entertainment frequently features childlike adults ("Seinfeld," "Two and a Half Men") and cartoons for adults ("King of the Hill"). Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote. In their undifferentiated dress, children and their childish parents become undifferentiated audiences for juvenilized movies (the six -- so far -- "Batman" adventures and "Indiana Jones and the Credit-Default Swaps," coming soon to a cineplex near you). [Yes! YEEEESSSSS!!! Oh, and let's not forget the worship of sports teams and all of the piggish behavior that seems to entail.] Denim is the clerical vestment for the priesthood of all believers in democracy's catechism of leveling -- thou shalt not dress better than society's most slovenly. To do so would be to commit the sin of lookism -- of believing that appearance matters. [If appearance DIDN'T matter, then why is the media and pop culture filled with images of so-called beautiful people? Of course appearance matters, which is why every mother's son and daughter ought to do their best to look neat, clean, and well-dressed at least a couple of days a week.] That heresy leads to denying the universal appropriateness of everything, and then to the elitist assertion that there is good and bad taste. [In other words, it leads to the "Who are you to judge?" mentality which, when embraced, leads to more and more boorish behavior, dress, and attitude. It leads to mindless lemming-like conformity and a suppression of thought, and that's NEVER a good thing.]

Denim is the carefully calculated costume of people eager to communicate indifference to appearances. But the appearances that people choose to present in public are cues from which we make inferences about their maturity and respect for those to whom they are presenting themselves. [This is so true. If you dress casually, what does that say about your attitude and thoughts about your audience? Not much in my book.]

Do not blame Levi Strauss for the misuse of Levi's. [I don't.] When the Gold Rush began, Strauss moved to San Francisco planning to sell strong fabric for the 49ers' tents and wagon covers. Eventually, however, he made tough pants, reinforced by copper rivets, for the tough men who knelt on the muddy, stony banks of Northern California creeks, panning for gold. Today it is silly for Americans whose closest approximation of physical labor consists of loading their bags of clubs into golf carts to go around in public dressed for driving steers up the Chisholm Trail to the railhead in Abilene. [Bwaahaha!]

This is not complicated. For men, sartorial good taste can be reduced to one rule: If Fred Astaire would not have worn it, don't wear it. For women, substitute Grace Kelly. [Hmmm, I hadn't thought of it that way, but I guess that's as good a milepost as any to start from.]

Edmund Burke -- what he would have thought of the denimization of America can be inferred from his lament that the French Revolution assaulted "the decent drapery of life"; it is a straight line from the fall of the Bastille to the rise of denim -- said: "To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely." Ours would be much more so if supposed grown-ups would heed St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, and St. Barack's inaugural sermon to the Americans, by putting away childish things, starting with [but not limited to] denim.

(A confession: The author owns one pair of jeans. Wore them once. Had to. Such was the dress code for former senator Jack Danforth's 70th birthday party, where Jerry Jeff Walker sang his classic "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother." Music for a jeans-wearing crowd.)

*****

Bravo!, George Will, for bringing up this topic. Too bad it will fall on deaf ears, or those that do hear your message will miss its point entirely and dismiss you as a snob. Oh well, pearls before swine and all that.

By the way, one of my favorite things to do is to put on a pair of casual chinos, dress shoes, a dress shirt (no tie), and a sports coat and shop for a few things at Wal-mart. The looks I get from the slovenly dressed there, which comprise about 95% of shoppers, are priceless. It's all great, good fun, and my little slap at the ignorant, boorish behavior and dress that has become the norm in America.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. I own more than one pair of jeans, but I don't wear them every single day. I also have other forms of dress and I believe I'll be wearing those forms more and more in the future so as to differentiate myself from the rabble.

P.P.S. No doubt some of you will say, "I don't care what others think of me." Yes, you do. Would you rather drive a shiny, new, paid-off car, or an old beater? Be honest. Have you ever checked your nostrils in a mirror to see if there is anything there that shouldn't be? Sure you have, because you care about what someone might think of you should you have dried snot ringing your nose. Don't give me that tact; try it on someone else. If you truly don't care, then forget this post and go in peace like the slob you've likely always been.

Jack Weaver

2009-04-13T22:04:00.003-06:00

I didn't even know he was still alive. Well, I guess he's not anymore.

*****

The shooting world lost one of its best-known names last week. Former Los Angeles County Deputy Jack Weaver, 80, died Tuesday in Carson City. Weaver, for those of you not familiar with the name, is the man for whom the Weaver Shooting Stance is named.

After experimenting with a variety of shooting stances and modifications, Weaver decided the best position for reaction shooting was simple: two hands on the weapon, gun up a foot or so above the vertical centerline of the body, and head slightly dropped. This gave him what he called a "flash picture" of the target. It also gave him the 1959 "Leatherslap" gunfighting title. As he explained "it looked kind of stupid, and everybody was laughing at me, but it worked."

After three years of losing to Weaver, Guns and Ammo writer and legendary shooting expert Jeff Cooper proclaimed the Weaver Stance "decisively superior" to anything else. In fact, Cooper incorporated Weaver's stance into his Modern Technique of the Pistol.

On Saturday evening, I spoke with Weaver's son, Alan, about his father and learned that this last year of his life had been one "of a rock star" after American Handgunner published a story about Weaver and his stance in its May issue. "All last year," Alan said, "Dad got letters, videos, patches from police departments and shooting clubs, tons of mementos that made him realize that people did remember him and his contributions."

We all remember Weaver's contribution to shooting -every time we take a two handed Weaver, or modified Weaver or whatever you call it.

--Jim Shepherd

*****

Like or loathe his stance (I kind of like it), he did help move accurate handgun shooting to the point it is today.

Take care.
DAL357

Truly newsworthy

2009-04-12T11:43:00.006-06:00

Which came first, a population of dolts or a press that reports such drivel?

*****

LOS ANGELES – Miley Cyrus and alter-ego Hannah Montana have double-teamed their way to another No. 1 box office debut.

Cyrus' "Hannah Montana: The Movie" opened this weekend with $34 million in ticket sales. The big weekend follows Cyrus' first-place premiere last year with her 3-D concert film.

The movie is a big-screen installment of the Disney Channel series about a teen living a double life as an ordinary high school girl and pop star Hannah.

"Hanna Montana" drew $17.3 million on Friday for the biggest opening day ever for a G-rated live-action movie.

"Fast & Furious" fell back to second place this weekend. The street-racing thriller pulled in $28.8 million to raise its domestic total to $118 million.

*****

I see America's greatest achievements rapidly fading in the rear view mirror.

Take care.
DAL357

The Battle of Blenheim

2009-04-11T21:47:00.010-06:00

Here's a little poem I stumbled across that I thought others might like. Take a gander and see what you think.

*****

The Battle of Blenheim
Robert Southey (1774-1843)

It was a summer evening,
Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun,
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.

She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet
In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and round.

Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And, with a natural sigh,
"'Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.

"I find them in the garden,
For there's many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out!
For many thousand men," said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."

"Now tell us what 'twas all about,"
Young Peterkin, he cries;
And little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes;
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for."

"It was the English," Kaspar cried,
"Who put the French to rout;
But what they fought each other for,
I could not well make out;
But everybody said," quoth he,
"That 'twas a famous victory.

"My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream hard by;
They burnt his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;
So with his wife and child he fled,
Nor had he where to rest his head.

"With fire and sword the country round
Was wasted far and wide,
And many a childing mother then,
And new-born baby died;
But things like that, you know, must be
At every famous victory.

"They say it was a shocking sight
After the field was won;
For many thousand bodies here
Lay rotting in the sun;
But things like that, you know, must be
After a famous victory.

"Great praise the Duke of Marlbro' won,
And our good Prince Eugene."
"Why, 'twas a very wicked thing!"
Said little Wilhelmine.
"Nay... nay... my little girl," quoth he,
"It was a famous victory.

"And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win."
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why that I cannot tell," said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory."

Note: Prince Eugene: François Eugene de Savoie-Carignan, a brilliant general who aided Marlborough in defeating the Bavarians and French at Blenheim, Bavaria, August 13, 1704.

*****

Ah, the folly of war. Too bad this bit of wisdom isn't learned by every child in grade school in America. Nah, that couldn't happen, it might give the little darlings nightmares, although many seem to watch movies with vicious characters and graphic, violent action at far too young an age with scant parental supervision.

Take care.
DAL357

"When seconds count,...

2009-04-05T10:19:00.012-06:00

the police are only minutes away."

Anyone who's been around the self-defense arena for very long has probably heard this little truism more than once. The Binghampton shootings reinforces the dead-on veracity of this maxim. In a statement by Police Chief Joseph Zikuski on the shootings, he showed that sometimes the police are MANY minutes away.

The chief defended the time it took officers to go into the building — an hour to 90 minutes.

"If some crazy lunatic decides to pick up a gun and go someplace and start shooting people, I really don't have the answer how long for us that could prevent anything like that," Zikuski said.

"What I will tell you is that the police did the right thing," he said. "We have procedures and protocols."

Remember this the next time someone exhorts you to leave your own self-defense to the police and just dial 911. Procedures and protocols are fine, usually, but sometimes exigent circumstances dictate actual thought over mechanized rote.

Oh, by the way, Chief, I do have an answer on how to, at the very least, keep the body count down: responsible armed citizens. Had someone in that facility been armed, although no one can guarantee it, I'd be willing to bet things would have turned out less favorably for the murderer. But, with the average resident of New York state rendered helpless by governmental decree by not being allowed to be legally armed, a tragedy occurred instead.

No one can predict what will make a weak mind snap. The best we can do is be prepared to take defensive action when it happens, be that defensive action running away or defending yourself with a weapon, especially a firearm.

Take care.
DAL357

Ipso facto

2009-04-04T11:04:00.015-06:00

Yup, this proves it: Anyone who is a gun owner and is concerned that the Obama administration is hostile to the private ownership of guns is only a hair's breadth away from a mass shooting. Or so the following report would love for you to believe (by implication, of course).

*****

Police official: 3 officers killed in Pa. shooting

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH – A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns. [Okay, so are a lot of people, what does that have to do with what a disturbed individual has done? Nothing, of course, but it helps to associate in weak minds that gun ownership, concern about confiscation, and (especially) insanity are somehow linked.]

Three officers were killed, said a police official at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard would only say that at least five officers were wounded, but wouldn't give any other details. [My condolences to the families of the officers killed and wounded.]

The man who fired at the officers was arrested after a several-hour standoff. One witness reported hearing hundreds of shots. [The implication here being that the assailant fired hundreds of rounds. But what if it was the cops pouring in the rounds? It wouldn't be the first time.]

The shootings occurred just two weeks after four police officers March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. [The day when a lot of police officers died and not a shot was fired. Forgot that little detail, didn't you, you Brady and VPC shill.]

Police did not immediately release the gunman's identity, but his friends at the scene described him as a young man who thought the Obama administration would ban guns. [Would that they could, believe me.]

One friend, Edward Perkovic, said the gunman feared "the Obama gun ban that's on the way" and "didn't like our rights being infringed upon." Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said he feared that President Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he "wasn't violently against Obama." [I'd say this young man, aside from his time-out for insane behavior, had a better grasp on things than many folks.]

Perkovic, a 22-year-old who said he was the gunman's best friend, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, "Eddie, I am going to die today. ... Tell your family I love them and I love you." [Eddie, being a heterosexual, was naturally repulsed.]

Perkovic said: "I heard gunshots and he hung up. ... He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot."

Vire, 23, said the gunman once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn't successful. Vire said his friend had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum. [Ewww! "Powerful handguns." No attempt at shading/influencing there, right Mr. Reporter-man?]

The officers were called to the home in the Stanton Heights neighborhood at about 7 a.m., Richard said. [The gunman was an early riser.]

Tom Moffitt, 51, a city firefighter who lives two blocks away, said he heard about the shooting on his scanner and came to the scene, where he heard "hundreds, just hundreds of shots. And not just once — several times." [What!?!? So Moffitt heard hundreds of rounds fired several times? Does this mean close to a thousand or more rounds were fired? This makes no sense, the ignorance of this witness is abundantly apparent, and his statement can be dismissed as unreliable.]

Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said he heard rapid gunfire as he was letting his dog out.

He said the neighborhood of well-kept single-family houses and manicured lawns is home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city workers.

"It's just a very quiet neighborhood," Gift said. [I guess the point of including Gift's statement is to show this wasn't some inner-city neighborhood filled with drug houses. Plus, it shows that those darn, dirty gun owners just can't be trusted not to fly off the handle and start popping people, even in good neighborhoods.]

*****

Take care.
DAL357

Sportsman's Warehouse

2009-04-04T07:36:00.023-06:00

Last week, Sportsman's Warehouse filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Apparently the chain is yet another victim of a shrinking consumerism-based economy. Judging merely by the scarcity of reloading components on the shelves of the Colorado Springs store, I am not surprised. The scarcity makes me believe they should be called Sportsman's Wherehouse.

I first became aware of Sportsman's Warehouse after I stumbled upon one in Denver about five years ago. The store had a fantastic selection of shooting goods, as well as many other things outdoors related. When Colorado Springs finally got a store, I looked forward to it with anticipation and, for a while, I was not disappointed. But after a couple of years, some cracks started to show. Reloading supplies began to be stocked with increasing irregularity and spots on the shelves for the more popular items would stay bare for weeks on end, and this was long before the current buy-it-all-now-'cause-they're-gonna-ban/hyper-tax-it ammo hysteria.

I'm not sure who was handling the supply logistics for the store/chain, but their incompetency during the good times was painfully evident. As everyone with even a cursory understanding of how to run a business knows, keeping a ready and steady supply on hand of products, especially popular ones, is crucial to the bottom line and to the long-time survival of the concern.

Maybe this bankruptcy reorganization will help SW get its act together and, once the ammo hysteria dies down a bit and ammo makers can catch up on backorders, become a successful retailer. But the pessimist in me says that is unlikely, particularly if some changes are not made in upper management and the usual way of doing business.

There, see how easy that fix was? I'll tell you, the problem with the world is that it doesn't have me to run it. For example, I can fix the US economy with just the few following words: STOP SPENDING MORE THAN YOU MAKE, AND ALWAYS VOTE FOR LIBERTY FIRST (making the huge assumption that you have a clue what liberty is), NOT A PARTY, MORONS! (Actually, there's a bit more to it than that, but those are the roots of most of the problem.)

Take care.
DAL357

Gouging out your own eye to help your neighbor see better

2009-03-24T07:09:00.031-06:00

Gun control debate hangs over U.S.-Mexico violence
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, AP Writer

WASHINGTON – Members of Congress may be alarmed by the surge in Mexican drug violence and its potential to spill across the border, but they grow silent when the talk turns to gun control as a solution. [Yup, nothing like fear of not winning re-election to shut a politician's mouth; so, these creatures can be taught simple tricks, eh?]

With related kidnappings and killings occurring in the U.S., the Obama administration is likely to shift dozens of enforcement agents and millions of dollars to the fight against Mexican drug cartels. [A losing proposition, as the War on Drugs is unwinnable, and those without a vested interest in keeping it going (law enforcement, to name one) and a scintilla of sense know that.]

Underscoring the Obama administration's concern over the violence and the potential for a large-scale spillover into the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to show support for its crackdown on drug cartels. [Oh, "the potential" for violence to come to the US. Yes, let's legislate on the "potential" of something that hasn't happened. Sure, why not? It helps distract attention from the FedGov's abject failure to protect its citizens from financial fraud, and it makes the pols seem like they're efficient go-getters, when, of course, they are not.]

Mexico has long tried to get the United States to curtail the number of guns — many purchased legally — that wind up south of the border, where gun laws are much stricter. The State Department says firearms obtained in the U.S. account for an estimated 95 percent of Mexico's drug-related killings. [So, in essence, what this paragraph is saying is that strict gun laws do not prevent murders (so why have them?). Also, I like how the word "estimated" is thrown in there. Whose estimate is that, what's it based on, and from which orifice did they pull that figure? Nonsense like this is easy to see through, unless you're a weak-minded dolt, and we have millions of them in the US--basically anyone who votes Republican or Democrat because they think there is no alternative.]

"If President Calderon's policies to roll back organized crime are to be successful, we need to defang the power of the drug syndicates to inflict damage upon our state, local and police forces," Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said in January. "The best way we can do that is for a real ratcheting up of the United States' capabilities of shutting down the flow of weapons." ["Flow of weapons," could you please quantify that? Heck, one or two guns (or knives, or baseball bats, etc.) could be a "flow of weapons." You know, I agree with the ambassador on one point: we should ratchet up the US' capabilities by building a wall from one end of the border to the other, patrolling it incessantly, and shooting any Mexican citizens who happen crawl over or under it. That would cut down on the imaginary "flow of weapons" in one direction and the very real flow of illegal immigrants in the other.]

"I don't think the solution to Mexico's problems is to limit Second Amendment gun rights in this country," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate GOP's election committee. "What we can do is help our Mexican friends enforce their own laws." [Now here's a politician with his finger firmly in the wind. He's right, except about the part where "we" (the US) should help Mexico enforce its own laws; I missed that part of the US Constitution.]

For his part, Obama has signaled a willingness to tighten restrictions on guns, calling the flow of drug money and guns "a two-way situation." Yet 65 Democrats said in a letter to Holder that they would oppose any attempt by the administration to revive a ban on military-style weapons. ["Obama has signaled a willingness to tighten restrictions on guns." Really? Just a "willingness?" I'll bet he's foaming at the mouth at the prospect.]

Tom Diaz, an analyst at the Violence Policy Center, a gun [banning] control group, said cartels use military-style weapons such as the Armalite AR-50, a .50-caliber sniper rifle. ["Military-style weapons"...so the guns just have to look like military weapons, but not really be military weapons? Now we're talking about cosmetics?]

Semiautomatic rifles used by the cartels [Why would a drug-runner use a semiautomatic rifle when fully-automatic rifles are readily available from former Eastern-bloc countries, and corrupt soldiers in the Mexican army itself? These drug gangs have enough money to get practically anything they want, so why would they mess around with the relatively slower firepower of a semi-auto? The answer is they wouldn't.] are imported legally into the U.S. as "sporting" weapons, a policy that was stopped for years but revived under President George W. Bush. [I see, lay the blame at Bush's feet. The policy was "revived" because its ten-year lifespan expired--Bush had nothing to do with it. Not that I'm a fan of Bush, I'm glad he's gone, but let's at least try to act like an unbiased reporter, okay SUZANNE GAMBOA?]

Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., who chaired a hearing on guns going to Mexico, said he is not seeking widespread gun control [No, that would be too ambitious. Just another nick in the Death of a Thousand Cuts gun owners are enduring will do.] but Congress must do something. [Even if it's the wrong thing. Hey, portraying a situation with an aura of desperation demanding extreme exigence worked like gangbusters for the TARP fiasco, so why not trot out the ploy again for this circumstance? If you really want to do something, as I said above, make the border as impenetrable as humanly possible. Until you do that, Tierney, you're just wanking around.]

"We don't want to get distracted by the gun industry lobby of the NRA trying to talk about (how) every attempt to bring some sanity to the situation is somehow an attempt to get rid of everybody's Second Amendment rights," he said. "That's a red herring." [I see. So any discussion that runs contrary to the course of action you've already decided upon should somehow be dismissed as a distraction? Further suppressing the God-given and Constitutionally-guaranteed rights of US citizens is somehow bringing "sanity" to a situation? No thanks, fool.]

*****

Honestly, if this is the best ploy the Obama administration can come up with to further suppress our rights, and I don't want to get over confident, but I believe we have little to fear as gun owners. If this is the best argument they can proffer for another AWB, then this is a sorry, incompetent administration with such a paucity of ideas that they may make the Carter administration look good.

Take care.
DAL357

Rubber band Indoor-Varmint Getter

2009-03-15T09:20:00.024-06:00

Here's a short article I wrote to submit to a varmint hunting magazine which didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I thought I'd post it here.

Can’t get out to your favorite shooting range due to this or that reason? Too hot/cold outdoors to pop varmints? No problem. Allow me a few minutes of your time and I’ll clue you in on a pastime that, while it can’t replace firearms hunting, can at least distract you from your inability to get your fix. Plus, you don’t even have to leave your home!

Practically every home in the United States is not only a shelter for humans but, somewhere in its nooks, crannies, or bowels, is also a haven for unwanted (as opposed to wanted?) insects. Sure, you can spray them, but you, dear varmint hunter, know that while insecticides may be efficient, they’re not quite as satisfying as personally squashing the little buggers. That’s where the following method of insect extermination comes into play that rids your home of pests AND gives you some quality hunting time.

Before I get to the specifics, I’ll tell you that I first was introduced to this sport back in 1971 by an acquaintance I made in 7th grade named Bernie. Where he learned it, I have no idea, and it’s really not important. What is important is that it works and it’s fun. (Wherever you are, Bernie, thanks.)

To participate in this sport, you won’t need any fancy equipment. Rangefinders, camo clothing, pet loads, etc. would be more of a hindrance than a help. Nope, the only things you’ll need are two 3.5” x .25” (size no. 64) rubber bands (see photo 1 above), and possibly a damp cloth.

By joining the two rubber bands together as shown (see photos 2 & 3 above), you will lend enough speed and accuracy to this simple device to make clean (relatively speaking--more on that later), humane kills. After a bit of practice, which I’ll outline next, you’ll be at least as deadly as DDT.

Okay, you have made your projectile, now what? Have you ever heard of point shooting? Look at photo 4 above and notice what’s missing when the rubber band is in firing position…sights! This may seem a big problem at first, but I can assure you that after a modicum of practice, you won’t even think about them anymore. Draw a one-inch black circle on a piece of paper, tape it to a wall about shoulder high, step back approximately 6 to 8 feet, and draw the rubber band to firing position. (Note: I strongly urge you to use some type of eye protection when doing this because a rubber band once slipped off of my fingertip and hit me in my aiming eye. OUCH!) Make as straight a plane as possible between your fingertip, aiming eye, and the target. Then, just open the finger and thumb of the hand holding the rear portion of the rubber band. Whack! You should have come pretty close to your aiming point. If not, keep repeating, making any needed minor adjustments, until you hit your target at least 7 out of 10 times. When you get to this point, you’re ready to stalk your prey. (By the way, although I am right-handed, with the rubber band I use my left hand to shoot from. You’ll need to figure out which hand works best for you.)

As any successful hunter knows, you’ve got to go to where the game is unless you want to come home empty handed. The same holds true for the sport of insect hunting (hereafter referred to as insecting). The most fertile hunting ground in my house, and I suspect many houses, is the basement. A basement is like an insect magnet, probably because it’s an easy means of ingress for the little critters. We finished our basement several years ago, but that didn’t stop the never-ending procession of water bugs (aka roly polys) and spiders. I’ve lost count of the number of spiders I have killed, both by shoe and rubber band, over the years, but it has to be many dozens. Find the place(s) in your home where you have been invaded, then get to work insecting.

Once your quarry has been located, use the skill you’ve practiced to obtain to dispatch it swiftly and efficiently. Aim for center mass as you draw your rubber band to full length (don’t forget that eye protection), and make as flat a plane as you can between your aiming eye, the tip of your finger, and your target. Get as close as you think you need to (but please, no closer than 4 feet…5 to 6 feet is much more sporting) and let ‘er fly. Great, one dead insect!

Here’s where that damp cloth comes into play, especially if you’ve just splattered the creature against the wall. Wipe off the residue immediately, otherwise you run the risk of staining the area. Believe me, if your wife sees the mess you made, she’s not going to be too happy, and you may find yourself repainting a room, which could dampen your enthusiasm for your new hobby. Be safe--wipe up your slop. Don’t forget to clean off your rubber band also.

If you miss, the insect, especially spiders, I have found, usually obligingly stick around for another try, particularly if they are ensconced in their webs. Flies are less amenable to giving you another chance, but they usually alight again somewhere nearby after a few seconds of agitated buzzing, affording the opportunity for redemption.

So, there you have it. A sport that offers a tiny bit of the excitement of hunting that’s likely no more than a few steps from any point in your house. Granted, it will never replace real hunting, but some days, it’ll do.

*****

Take care.
DAL357

Cooler heads prevail in Mexico

2009-03-10T18:26:00.003-06:00

Mexican drug gangs dump human heads in ice coolers
Tue Mar 10, 3:04 pm ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Suspected drug gang hitmen dumped five severed human heads in ice coolers on a road in western Mexico on Tuesday with a message threatening rivals, a state attorney general's office said.

Police patrolling a highway on the edge of the Mexican colonial city of Guadalajara found the heads inside five coolers left on the roadside, the Jalisco state attorney general's office said.

"They were recently severed heads, cut off about four hours before they were found," a spokesman said, adding police found a message left by apparent drug hitmen threatening rival gangs. The victims' identities were not disclosed.

*****

Sorry, but it was irresistable.

Take care.
DAL357

Anomalous?

2009-03-07T06:18:00.052-07:00

Here's a story that came out last month, but which I've just gotten around to commenting on.

*****

Muslim TV exec accused of beheading wife in NY

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - The crime drips with brutal irony: a woman decapitated, allegedly by her estranged husband, in the offices of the TV network they launched to counter Muslim stereotypes. [I'll bet the tact of this station was that the West just doesn't understand Muslims and Islam, so it's the West that has the problem. It didn't work out too well, did it? The West has your number just fine, Islam.]

Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan is accused of beheading his wife last week, days after she filed for divorce. Authorities have not discussed the role religion or culture might have played [of course not, someone might get offended], but the slaying gave rise to speculation [by those with a brain in their head and stones in their pants] that it was the sort of "honor killing" more common in countries half a world away, including the couple's native Pakistan.

The Hassans lived in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, N.Y., — a well-off Buffalo suburb that hadn't seen a homicide since 1986 — and started Bridges TV there in 2004 with a goal of developing understanding between North America and the Middle East and South Asia. The network, available across the U.S. and Canada, was believed to be the first English-language cable station aimed at the rapidly growing Muslim demographic. [Uh oh.]

Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said his officers had responded to domestic incidents involving the couple, most recently Feb. 6, the day Mo Hassan was served with the divorce papers and an order of protection. [Yup, nine out of ten murdered wives and girlfriends would agree, if they could, that pieces of paper make poor shields against murderous louts.]

Said Paul Moskal, who became friendly with the couple while he was chief counsel for the FBI in Buffalo, "His personal life kind of betrayed what he tried to portray publicly," Moskal said. [Yeah, just slightly.]

On Feb. 12, Hassan went to a police station and told officers his wife was dead at the TV studio.

"We found her laying in the hallway the offices were off of," Benz said. Aasiya Hassan's head was [conveniently] near her body.

"I don't know if (the method of death) does mean anything," said the chief [a distant relative of inspector Clouseau], who would not discuss what weapon may have been used. "We certainly want to investigate anything that has any kind of merit. It's not a normal thing you would see." [Not here, but in certain other countries it no doubt is quite common, along with the quaint practice of female circumcision.]

Nadia Shahram, who teaches family law and Islam at the University at Buffalo Law School, explained honor killing as a practice still accepted among fanatical ["fanatical"--a word chosen specifically to make it seem to Western minds that ol' Mo and his ilk represent only a small fraction of Muslims, an assertion I find dubious] Muslim men who feel betrayed by their [viewed-as-chattel] wives.

On Feb. 12, Hassan went to a police station and told officers his wife was dead at the TV studio. Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz says Aasiya Hassan's head was found near [conveniently] her body.

Nancy Sanders, the television station's news director for 2 1/2 years, remembers Aasiya Hassan. "She was beautiful, small, delicately built," she said, "while Mo would fill up a door frame. I always thought of him as a gentle giant." [Perhaps his future fellow inmates will too. Yes, just a big teddy bear of a man to be cuddled and rocked to sleep after an old-fashioned prison rape!]

"I just do not feel it was an honor killing," Sanders added. "I think it was domestic abuse that got out of control." [Huh? This guy not only murdered his wife, but then he took the time to perform a highly symbolic and ritualistic act on her corpse. He didn't just mean to kill her, he meant to dishonor her per the barbaric customs of his tribe. Intelligence, apparently, is not a prerequisite to being a news director.]

*****

Cripe! The only thing that surprises me about this item is that it doesn't surprise me.

Take care.
DAL357

Paul Harvey dies

2009-03-01T08:05:00.008-07:00

Just last night I read that Paul Harvey had died; his unique voice and delivery will be missed.

I remember when I first heard him: it was in Panama (the country) when I was a wee lad of nine. Riding with my father (who was in the U.S. Army) in the front seat of the family car (sans seatbelt), I first laughed at Harvey because his delivery was so different from anything I'd ever heard before I thought it was a joke. I even remember the story he was reporting on, which was about a circus tent that had collapsed as it was being erected, killing several people. Still chuckling, I asked my father who this guy was, because he was funny. A bit perturbed, my father said, "It's Paul Harvey." Finally, I got the clue that it wasn't a joke and piped down.

That was back in 1969, and I began to enjoy, off and on, Harvey's show as I grew up. I haven't listened to him in a few years, and now I guess I never will again.

One thing I wonder about is how likely it would be for him to succeed in today's media, where little, if any, deviation from a cookie-cutter image/voice/philosophy is tolerated.

Take care.
DAL357

Flame on!

2009-03-01T07:17:00.010-07:00

If you don’t like the direction the United States is going, and you’re wondering what went wrong, ask yourself this: “Did I vote for the Democrats or the Republicans in the last election, or in any other previous election?” If you said, “Democrats,” you’ve just found out what has gone wrong. Those who said, “Republicans,” however, have no reason to feel smug or superior, for you too are part of the problem. If, in fact, you have ever voted for either party in your lifetime, you bear direct responsibility for the collectivist state America has become. (Honesty compels me to admit that I, too, bear direct responsibility for this mess, although I have achieved at least a partial absolution by voting for a Libertarian candidate in three out of the last four presidential elections. Prior to that, I voted a straight Republican ticket since Reagan was first elected, when I became eligible to vote.) Neither of the two major parties supports liberty (the ONLY thing you should be voting for), therefore, a vote for either is a vote against the principles espoused in the U.S. Constitution and a vote against liberty.

If you identify yourself with and support either major party, you truly are anti-liberty and un-American. I’ll even go so far as to say you have disrespected and spat upon the efforts of all our military war veterans, both those who returned and those who didn’t, in a way that’s far more grievous than any street protestor has ever done. You, my fellow countrymen, have offered up your precious, precious liberty to the monsters you’ve created: people, aka politicians, who tell you what you want to hear and promise to suppress or steal from others, even though it flies in the face of that one cardinal rule of reality: You can’t get something for nothing.

You who support either major party are not Americans; you’re far from deserving that lofty title. Perhaps when, if ever, you think outside your little self-imposed box and see yourself for what you really are--a stooge for those who purportedly stand for liberty, but who actually work feverishly against it--you will see I’m 100 percent correct. I won’t, however, hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Heck, you’re probably so PO’d at me now that you can hardly contain yourself. Tough. It’s high time those of us who understand what liberty truly means stop pussyfooting around with you one-dimensional psuedo-Americans and call you on your part in ruining what was once the most exceptional nation the world had ever seen.

Enjoy the country you have made, for you deserve it.

Take care.
DAL357

A new cartridge

2009-02-15T08:42:00.007-07:00

Ready for yet another new handgun cartridge, as if one is needed? If not, look elsewhere, but if you have the guts, read on.

I've been toying with this idea for some time, and I'll be the first to admit it's all pure conjecture based solely on my very limited knowledge of ballistics, but since when has ignorance been a bar to pontification? If knowledge of what one is speaking about was required, the Internet would be a lot smaller.

Without further ado, here's the new round: the .380 Manstopper. It's a bottleneck cartridge made from the .45 GAP necked down to accept .380 bullets in the 80-90 grain range that scoot out of the barrel at (here's where my ballistic ignorance really starts to show) around 1500-1600 fps. With a Barnes 80-grain bullet and that velocity, I suspect it might be a good fight stopper. (Of course, I might be on another planet with this idea, but who knows?) The round could be chambered in a 9mm-framed gun and it probably would be relatively pleasant/easy to shoot. Sure, this round will probably over penetrate like crazy, but...

I'll be anxiously checking my e-mail for all of the manufacturer's interest this new idea is sure to generate. Yup, after this idea gets picked up it looks like it's Easy Street for me, what with all the royalties and stuff. Yee-haa!!!

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. The photo above shows the .357 Sig cartridge, not the .380 Manstopper, since the .380 Manstopper exists only in my mind, but it would look somewhat similar.

Bands That Blew

2009-02-14T06:53:00.016-07:00

While I no longer listen much to pop/rock music, and I haven’t for a good many years, my mind occasionally goes back to the days when rock, especially AOR (album oriented rock) ruled my roost. When that happens, invariably it will come to those bands that were just plain God-awful. In other words, they were formulaic, contrived monstrosities designed to rake in cash and chicks (I can’t blame ‘em for that last one) with as little originality as possible.

Probably my all time winner in the Bands That Blew category is Foreigner. Even after all of these years, I still cringe when I hear “Cold as Ice,” or “Hot Blooded,” or "Head Games," or "Juke Box Hero," or "Feels Like the First Time," or "Double Vision," or "Waiting for a Girl Like You." What complete and utter schlock. If you liked power chords played with precise monotony, not to mention lyrics of intense asininity, then Foreigner was probably your cup of tea. No doubt you also thrilled to the sounds of the band Whitesnake, another sorry excuse for a musical group, or even--GASP!--Journey.

Of course, these aren’t the only bands that would fit into the BTB realm. They are just the ones that that I recall most vividly. Perhaps the rest have been, mercifully, forgotten. Do you have a few bands in mind that you believe were/are worthy only of scorn? If so, do tell.

Take care.
DAL357

Isn't it ironic?

2009-01-25T08:24:00.004-07:00

On Tom Gresham's Gun Talk radio show last week, as I recall, he spoke the praises of the Springfield XD design as opposed to the Glock design because Gaston Glock's pistol is essentially unchanged from when it was introduced and it's dated. I find it curious that he would knock the Glock design when he often pays homage to a gun whose design is far older--the 1911. Granted, the 1911 is a good design, but let's not disparage the Glock because it is a little older than the latest wonder-thang without acknowledging how long in the tooth (98 years and counting) the too-often-worshipped 1911 is.

Take care.
DAL357

Oh, GAWD!

2009-01-25T08:18:00.005-07:00

More proof that fashion designers are inbred, quite likely for several generations back.

A model wears a creation by British fashion designer John Galliano as part of his men's Fall-Winter 2009/2010 collection, in Paris, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009.

Yup, just what we need, more gender-bending, not to mention sloppy-looking, apparel.

Take care.
DAL357

SHOT show...again

2009-01-18T08:36:00.013-07:00

Ah, the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) show, the outdoor industry's annual festival of dubious innovation and massive marketing. The acronym SHOT would be better described as Splitting Hairs On Things, for there are rarely any totally new and fresh ideas, at least gun-wise, that come out of the event. But, hey, it gives gun folk a good excuse to get together, rub elbows, fawn over all of the glittery new objects without questioning their utility, and shoot the breeze. Plus, it keeps all of those marketers, not to mention gun writers, who push essentially unnecessary products, employed.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. Note to Ruger: Guys, you really could have had something with that new little snubby of yours, the LCR, had you made it a six shooter (and I'm not the first to say that). While I appreciate your efforts, once the SHOT show is over get back to the drawing boards and come up with a six-shot model, pronto, before Smith does. Oh, and fire whoever okayed this gun to come out with a five-shot capacity.

You're welcome.

Oh, GREAT!

2009-01-12T17:34:00.007-07:00

Yup, JUST what we needed here in Colorado:

Go East, young man? Californians look for the exit
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Writer

LOS ANGELES – Mike Reilly spent his lifetime chasing the California dream. This year he's going to look for it in Colorado.

With a house purchase near Denver in the works, the 38-year-old engineering contractor plans to move his family 1,200 miles away from his home state's lemon groves, sunshine and beaches. For him, years of rising taxes, dead-end schools, unchecked illegal immigration and clogged traffic have robbed the Golden State of its allure.

Why are so many looking for an exit?

Among other things: California's unemployment rate hit 8.4 percent in November, the third-highest in the nation, and it is expected to get worse. A record 236,000 foreclosures are projected for 2008, more than the prior nine years combined, according to research firm MDA DataQuick. Personal income was about flat last year.

"We've lived off the investments our parents made in the '50s and '60s for a long time," says Tim Hodson, director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. "We're somewhat in the position of a Rust Belt state in the 1970s."

Financial adviser Barry Hartz lived in California for 60 years and once ran for state Assembly before relocating with his wife last year to Colorado Springs, Colo.[!!!], where his son's family had moved.

As long as these dudes leave their scummy California politics behind, hey, they're welcome here in Colorado.

But I know they won't. How? I've seen the influx of Cali birds into Colorado for the last 15+ years and I've watched how they have nudged Colorado a little more to the left each election cycle. One example that springs to mind is the closing of the "gun show loophole." I'd bet bodyparts that that would never have gotten any traction prior to the migration of Golden Staters.

They say that as California goes, so goes the nation. I don't know about the nation, although I suspect that it's true, but I can testify to the fact that renegade Californians have changed the tenor of Colorado politics and individual liberty here, and not for the better.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. I know at least one person who reads this blog lives in California, but he is quite libertarian in his politics from what I've read on his blog, so the above rant doesn't apply to him.

Yeah, I know you didn't ask, part II.

2009-01-10T07:41:00.022-07:00

In another installment of this series (I have no idea if there'll be any more parts or not), I have decided to address the best choice for those who both want to keep things simple and who don't want to pay an exorbitant price for a semi-automatic centerfire rifle in military-like configuration, also mistakenly known as an "assault" rifle. (True assault rifles have the ability to switch between semi-auto and full-auto fire at the flick of a lever.)

As you can tell from the photo, I've chosen a lever-action rifle. Specifically, I've chosen the Marlin 1894C carbine in .38 Special/.357 Magnum. With its 18.5" barrel, it handles easily and really steps up the performance of both the .38 and the .357. Except for extremely rare scenarios, it will do as good a job as a high-dollar "assault" rifle in the hands of a competent operator. Besides that, it's a whole lot of fun to shoot.

Does this mean I am against the "assault" rifle? Heck no! If a person wants one, or a dozen or more, more power to him. Nor does my endorsement of the 1894C mean I think it is the equivalent of an "assault" rifle, for they are two different bullet-launching platforms. I'm speaking merely from a price/simplicity (it has its own internal magazine) standpoint.

As far as performance, I can remember chronographing some factory 158-grain JSP .357 Mag. ammo and getting several hundred more FPS than I got with the same load in a revolver. With my softball .38 Spl. handloads I was able to get nearly 200 FPS more than out of a revolver. Plus, the accuracy was excellent at the range I usually shoot this rifle, 25 yards (yeah, I know accuracy should be good at that short of a range; when the weather warms, I'll have to try it at 50 and 100 yards, but I have little doubt it will perform well at those ranges too).

One concern/complaint I've heard about using lever-action rifles for self-defense is, especially with a true rifle cartridge such as the .30-30, that they tend to heat up quickly and they aren't robust enough for long strings of fire, which is no doubt the truth. But the 1894C is chambered for a pistol cartridge, and I've fired several dozen .38 Spl. rounds in quick succession without any problem. Besides, how many rounds are you likely to need in the average (outliers be damned) self-defense situation?

If you're intent on getting an "assault"-like rifle, by all means, get one. If, however, you are balking at the prices they are going for these days, or you just want a simple, dependable repeating rifle that will serve you well, within its particualar limitations, of course, take a close look at a lever-action rifle chambered in a pistol caliber, especially if that caliber is .38 Special/.357 Magnum.

Take care.
DAL357

Eye, eye, sir!

2009-01-10T07:12:00.007-07:00

Hmmmm.

HOUSTON – A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant's death.

While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial.

A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary.

"Thomas said he pulled out his eye and subsequently ingested it," agency spokesman Jason Clark said Friday.

Thomas was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after the Dec. 9 incident. Then he was transferred and remains at the Jester Unit, a prison psychiatric facility near Richmond southwest of Houston.

"He will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wanted and begged for from day 1," Bobbie Peterson-Cate, Thomas' trial attorney, told the Sherman Herald Democrat. "He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one."

At his trial, defense lawyers also argued he suffered from alcohol and drug abuse.

Thomas does not have an execution date.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in October upheld his conviction and death sentence for the death of 13-month-old Leyha Marie Hughes. Also killed March 27, 2004, were his wife, Laura Christine Boren, 20, and their son, 4-year-old Andre Lee.

Thomas, from Texoma, walked into the Sherman Police Department and told a dispatcher he had just murdered the three and had stabbed himself in the chest.

Thomas told police how he put his victims' hearts in his pocket and left their apartment, took them home, put them in a plastic bag and threw them in the trash.

Court documents described the three victims as having "large, gaping wounds to their chests."

Yeah, I'd say he definitely fits the definition of insane.

Take care.
DAL357

What a cheapskate!

2009-01-04T10:57:00.007-07:00

Aside from the fact that he's a world-class puke, this guy is also a monumental cheapskate.

Cops: Dad ordered to pay child support kills son
NEW ORLEANS – A man who initially told police gunmen kidnapped his 2 1/2-year-old son was arrested Saturday, accused of committing an "extremely hideous" murder because he was ordered to pay child support, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.

Danny Platt confessed, told police where to find the child's body and will be booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ja' Shawn Powell, Riley said at a news conference.

"He had said he would kill either his wife or his child before he paid child support," which he recently had been ordered to do, Riley said.

Riley said he did not know the amount of child support and would not describe how the boy was killed, saying the coroner would do that after the autopsy was complete. The coroner's spokesman did not immediately return a call.

"The mother is in a safe place," Riley said.

Although he had visiting rights, Platt, 22, of New Orleans, had never visited the boy until he picked him up Friday, Riley said. [Emphasis mine. Hmmm, this didn't trip anyone's red flag?]

Police put out a notice Saturday asking people to look for the boy and saying his father had told them three men with dreadlocks and AK-47 rifles had piled out of an SUV and kidnapped Ja' Shawn shortly before midnight Friday.

"His story never really added up," Riley said. "He was a suspect from the very beginning."

Riley said Platt eventually confessed and told officers where to find the body.

Police spokesman officer Janssen Valencia said he did not know if Platt has an attorney.

Platt had only a couple of "very minor" previous arrests, Riley said.

"How does an individual — because he's ordered to pay child support to take care of a kid ... believe that this is so much pressure that he would face — he would do this hideous act to his own child, or to any child, and think that is a remedy to paying child support?" Riley said. "I mean there are some sick individuals in this society, and this gentleman is clearly one."

Indeed.

Fitting punishment for this slob would be for the state to lock him up in an unheated/uncooled cell and not spend one red cent on him thereafter, not even for food. Let him slowly starve to death while he thinks about all of the money he saved on not taking care of his own child.

Of course, this won't happen, and it probably shouldn't, but it's nice to dream, isn't it? No, more than likely he'll get some type of life sentence so he can go to the pokey, pump iron, talk crap, rape and get raped, etc. for the rest of his days. Well, I guess that's at least some form of justice.

Take care.
DAL357

Yeah, I know you didn't ask.

2009-01-03T22:48:00.020-07:00

Yeah, I know you didn't ask the question, "If I could get by with only ONE handgun, which should it be?" But, being the prescient, not to mention nice, guy I am, I knew you were thinking of asking it, so here's your answer:

The Ruger SP101 in .357 Mag. (but shoot mostly .38 Special in it) with a 2 1/4" barrel, although the 3 1/16" barrel would work also.

That's it. That's all I am going to say about this gun. You can do a search on the 'Net to find out why it's a such a good choice for the average Joe/Jo.

Incidentally, you're welcome.

Take care.
DAL357

Damned if you do, taxed if you don't

2009-01-02T09:03:00.017-07:00

It seems the average person just can't win:

Motorists' habits spur call for tax increases
WASHINGTON – Motorists are driving less and buying less gasoline, which means fuel taxes aren't raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs.

A federal commission created by Congress to find a way to make up the growing revenue shortfall in the program that funds highway repairs and construction is talking about increasing federal gas and diesel taxes.

A roughly 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is being urged by the commission until the government devises another way for motorists to pay for using public roads.

The 15-member National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing is the second group in a year to call for increasing the current 18.4 cents a gallon federal tax on gasoline and the 24.4 cents a gallon tax on diesel. State fuel taxes vary from state to state.

Of course, this couldn't come at a better time, with the economy in a recession and being stalked by a depression that will pounce should it have a couple of wrong moves foisted upon it (like increasing taxes). Yup, more taxes in tough economic times is definitely the way to go. God forbid that services should ever be cut back to match revenues, that might give the impression that government is not, after all, omniscient and omnipotent, and we can't have that.

Actually, I wouldn't be against this tax if it is really needed to repair rotting infrastructure and, now here's the BIG IF, every penny collected would go towards its intended purpose; I believe those who drive, as opposed to those who walk as their main means of conveyance, should have to pay for the upkeep of the roads. But, having lived and learned enough about the U.S. government and the amnesia a fresh batch of money induces in it, I know this will not happen. A few token, pork barrel projects will get the green light but the overall system will continue to deteriorate and the money will somehow mysteriously vanish into black-hole government coffers.

One thing I wonder about, though, is why did this suddenly dawn upon the powers that be? The infrastructure rot they're talking about doesn't happen overnight. Why wasn't the upkeep maintained when the country was awash in illusionary wealth and guzzling gas like there was no tomorrow? Perhaps because the difference between the money collected and the pittance spent on maintenance was so vast? But with just a little more cash, the PTB assure us, things are going to be hunky dory. That's the same old song politicians and bureaucrats having been whistling for generations. They keep doing it, unfortunately, because it works. It's no wonder they have no respect for the electorate.

Take care.
DAL357

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T09:52:00.008-07:00

In a nod to the dumbest excuse for a holiday ever invented, happy New Year 2009. Why do I say it's a dumb holiday? It's nothing more than the changing of the calendar, the marching of time; why celebrate that? People who get all misty and nostalgic about it are either too young or naive to understand how much they've been brainwashed into believing it is some momentous occasion. It's just the first day of the year, that's it, get over it.

By the way, if it's predictions you're looking for, I found this site to contain a good bunch of financial-based prophecies I happen to believe hold water. It's not uplifting stuff, but the most entertaining predictions rarely are.

Take care.
DAL357

One-Trick Ponies

2008-12-28T14:35:00.019-07:00

Pakistan hunt for blast survivors
Rescuers in Pakistan have been working into the night to search for survivors in the rubble left by a car bomb at a school being used as a polling station.

At least 33 people died in the attack during a by-election in the north-western district of Buner, on the edge of the restive Swat valley.

The bomb destroyed the school, trapping people under the rubble. Two police were among the dead and 15 hurt.

The Taleban say it was in response to an attack on their fighters.

*****

Children killed in Afghan attack
A suicide bomber has hit a government building in eastern Afghanistan, killing 16 people, 14 of them children, local police said.

*****

Suicide blast kills 6, wounds 36 Afghans
KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed six people, including four children, and wounded 36 others in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost on Sunday, a provincial official said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, part of the worst spate of violence in Afghanistan this year, itself the bloodiest period since the militants were overthrown in 2001.

*****

Is this really the way to get things changed? Look, muz dudes, this terrorist bombing stuff ain't working (okay, Spain was an exception), so how 'bout trying a different tack? Doing the same thing over and over and over again, year in and year out, is getting old and you have all become just a parody of yourselves. No one takes you seriously and more bombings just reconfirm your perceived status as a bunch of ham-handed, cloddish, dolts.

Take a tip from an American who has watched the ploy I'm going to tell you about work for decades in America and you'll have a better chance of accomplishing your goals, whatever they are (it's difficult to tell anymore with all of the smoke and body fragments everywhere): re-cast yourselves in the role of the victim. That's right, it's just that simple. Play your part well, with all of the insincere sincerity you can muster, and you'll eventually have the world eating out of your hand and smooching your hairy backside. Then, hire a stable of legal whores (lawyers) to carpet bomb and clog the world's courts with your petitions of woe and you're well on your way to whatever it is you're striving for (Israel's destruction?).

Of course, this method is not as exciting as blowing up men, women, and children, but if your goal is to achieve your goals, it's the only real chance you have. Good luck, and may the force, or whatever it is you believe in, be with you.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. The photo above is not from any of the bombings of the news blurbs above. It's from yet another terrorist bombing, this one being the attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan on 6-2-2008.

And so this is Christmas

2008-12-25T09:00:00.007-07:00

However you conceive of the holiday, a very merry Christmas to you and yours! May you have many, many more to come.

Take care.
DAL357

Bush administration finally throws gun owners a bone

2008-12-06T12:24:00.017-07:00

According to this story, the Bush administration is throwing an 11th hour lagniappe to gun owners in the form of reversing a quarter-century-old federal rule that essentially banned the carrying of loaded guns in national parks.

Good, GW, now what else do you have in your sack of gifts for the folks who were instrumental in electing you not once, but twice, to the White House? Anything?

As might be expected, the gun banners are predicting catastrophe once the new ruling is enacted. I especially love the following quote by career politician Dianne Feinstein:

"The Reagan-era rules have stood the test of time and make our national parks safe for all who visit them," [emphasis mine] Feinstein said. "The Bush administration changes will make our national parks more dangerous and will upset the delicate balance that exists between park visitors and wildlife."

Well, not quite safe for all, Miss Ruling Elite. Check out this link to a story from back in 2000 about some brutal murders in Yosemite National Park. Your precious gun ban didn't help those four women, did it?

Regardless, this is a good thing and it looks like I know where I'll be spending at least part of my summer next year: in one of the National Parks here in Colorado...finally.

Take care.
DAL357

Crushing bargain

2008-12-06T06:56:00.010-07:00

By now, you've no doubt read/heard the story about the Wal-Mart 34-year-old employee who was trampled to death by customers clamoring to get into the Long Island, New York store for smokin' Black Friday bargains. I'm not going to go into commentary about how I can just imagine the fat cows/great unwashed squeezing through a portal to retail heaven and letting nothing, least of all a fellow human being, stand in their way. No, instead I'm going to relate my experience, albeit a small one, with a crushing crowd.

My father being in the military, I attended high school in Germany in the 1970s. He was stationed about an hour outside of Frankfurt, Germany and all high school students were bussed to the big (well over 1,000 students) American high school in Frankfurt. Three buses ferried the students from our small town, Butzbach, to school. When the buses arrived in the morning, groups of students would pool around the door to each, and that's when the fun began. Kids were so intent on getting on the bus first that those in the front were pushed by those behind them, who were in turn pushed by those behind them. This added up to a lot of pressure and I was unlucky enough, once, to get caught in the middle of this mass. It hurt! The ordeal went on for only a few seconds, but it seemed so much longer, and I recall not being able to take a breath because of all of the weight pressing in on me from all sides. This episode taught me two lessons about crowds I've never forgotten: One, people shed any sense of personal responsibility while in them, which makes crowds extremely dangerous. Two, avoid them like the plague if at all possible.

For what they're worth, my condolences go out to this man's family. Here was a guy just trying to make an honest buck and he gets the life squeezed out of him by "bargain" hunters. Although it's too early to know whether any of the perpetrators who directly caused this man's death will be held accountable for their actions, or if they can even be identified, I'm sure I speak for all decent people everywhere when I say the following: may whatever you bought that day bring you only the deepest grief and misery.

Take care.
DAL357

Thankful, etc.

2008-11-27T08:37:00.016-07:00

First, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We all have at least a few things to be thankful for, so make sure you take stock of them and give thanks to whatever higher power you believe in, if any.

Second, a quick range report. 'Twas a day for male bonding, with my brother and one of his sons, along with this blathering blogger and his son, all spending a couple/three hours at the range. After quickly reviewing the rules for gun safety with all present, I chronographed some .38 Spl. handloads built around the first bullets I've ever casted (I'll need to do some more testing), and then we just engaged in some informal plinking.

The guns involved were a S&W 617, S&W 19, NAA mini .22 Mag., Marlin 1894 in .38/.357, and the venerable SKS. Oh, yeah, one other gun put in an appearance: my brother's Hi-Point .40 S&W. (Despite its somewhat low reputation, the Hi-Point shot quite well, having only one FTF that I know of, and hitting the target accurately. I'm not sure how much he paid for the gun, but I know he bought it used, so he must have gotten it for a relative song and dance.)

One thing I am thankful for on that outing was the sparking of my son's apparent interest/enjoyment in/of shooting; in the past, he didn't seem to have much interest in shooting, so I didn't push him. But on that day, things were different. With his eye and hearing protection on, I gave him the basics of sight alignment and trigger manipulation and then he fired a cylinder of .22 LR out of the S&W 617 (with me directly behind him) and he LOVED it! I thought he'd be done after that, but he instantly asked to shoot it some more; I gladly obliged his request. I don't want to read too much into this, but I have the feeling that come next summer I am going to have a new, dedicated shooting partner. By the way, he also fired a couple of rounds of .38 Spl. through the Marlin 1894 rifle, which he enjoyed.

After the firearms shooting was done, my brother and his son had to leave. We bade them goodbye and then my son and I headed over to the archery range. (See above photo.) With his little kid-size compound bow, Sasha's (his given name is Aleksandr, but we call him Sasha) first arrow was just outside of the bullseye at 10 yards. After that the hits were sporadic, but he kept on trying anyway. You can view an incredibly cute video (is that my bias showing?) of him here on You Tube shooting his bow.

I managed to get some practice in with my bows, and I believe I'm finally getting the hang of my new Martin Savannah long bow. Of course, whenever I'm at the range time flies faster than anywhere else in the world and this day was no exception. We reluctantly packed all of the gear away and hit the road for the forty-mile return trip. Sasha dozed off and I was left with my thoughts and impressions of the day. I was quite happy and content.

Take care.
DAL357

Paulson, Paulson, Paulson

2008-11-26T07:04:00.026-07:00

"Paulson pulling more tricks to bolster US economy"

Finally, an honest headline about the parlor games and sleight of hand tricks that are being implemented to maintain the facade of never-ending growth and good times. I saved it, so here are a couple of excerpts I find particularly telling.

"With the economy showing further signs that it is headed into a steep swoon, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is pulling more tricks out of his bag to try bolster the country's battered financial sector."

"To revive the economy, President-elect Barack Obama has said a top priority will be working with Congress to enact a stimulus package with the goal of creating 2.5 million new jobs over the next two years. Analysts believe such an effort will require spending between $500 billion to $700 billion, a figure that would be on top of all the money being spent to stabilize the financial system."

Ah, the old stimulus package, as if the economy somehow just forgot to work and needs to be prodded to get back to business. You know, if it wasn't for the wisdom of governments here and abroad, concepts like an economy just couldn't exist. At least that's apparently the thinking behind the philosophy of government stimulus (aka interference). Oh, and that 2.5 million new jobs should really help alleviate the pain of the 10 million+ jobs that will be lost over the same period.

Will governments ever learn? I doubt it. It's not in their nature to let markets operate independently, only insuring that force or fraud are not present (something they haven't been doing, which is part of the reason we're in our present pickle). If they did that, people would soon see that very little government is needed to live a full, productive life, and where is the advantage for politicians and bureaucrats in that?

The only way the US government will stop (temporarily, at least) is when it has so thoroughly bankrupted and discredited our economy and, by extension, itself, that it has absolutely no more credibility with anyone anywhere in the world, much less its own citizens. Will our present crisis lead to that apocryphal event? I do not know, but it looks to be a good start.

Good luck in the future. I'm not going to let this stuff bother me because, as I've always said, "living well is the best revenge" (on your enemies). With that in mind, I believe I'll steal a few hours and head to the range to try out some new loads I made up (range report to follow, if I go).

Take care.
DAL357

Bailout, shmailout

2008-11-22T06:49:00.018-07:00

As is often the case in life, intelligence is no guarantee of making the right decision. Take the debate on the automobile industry bailout for example. I've recently heard more than one otherwise intelligent person pontificate that the government should give money to that ailing industry, but only with strings attached. Those strings would include governmental oversight that the industry was using the money correctly and somehow, via the wise hand of the governmental guidance (BWAHAHAHA!), miraculously seeing the light and changing the deeply entrenched, decades-long, error of its ways.

HUH?

Note to the power brokers in DC, aka elected politicians and appointed bureaucrats: Why would you want to complicate your life like that? And who are you to give advice to anyone on the judicious use of money and organizational management? You've been spending more than you bring in for many, many years, so you have absolutely no standing to be giving advice to anyone. Let me help you to make your collective lives easier so you can concentrate on what you do best: bamboozling enough of your constituents to win your next term.

Okay, here's what you do, political creatures. Let the auto industry sink or swim on its own without one penny of taxpayer money. No special committees, commissions, or agency need be created to direct or give advice to the industry. This will free up plenty of time to hire prostitutes (male or female, as your preference dictates), diddle pages (male or female, as your preference dictates [right, Barney?]), make the party circuit, play in bathroom stalls, perform clandestine dope deals, fight the war on drugs, lard unneeded bills with pork (gotta keep those porkers at home happy), polish your lies, secretly siphon off ill-gotten money (taxes) for personal use, incite class warfare and envy, curry and grant favors to industries who kowtow to you, and generally be the log-in-the-eye slobs, sybarites, and sycophants you've always been.

That's a lot of activity and we are all only given 24 hours in a day, so don't complicate your life by taking on tasks that another system, the free market, can handle; you'll need your time and rest for the above exhaustive pursuits. Enjoy your life now, for if there is one after this, you likely won't. Don't worry, the free market excels at taking care of businesses that have become bloated and inefficient as a result of bad decisions. Let the free market take that wheezing, sweating, obese industry for a trip to boot camp and watch the lean, mean fighting machine that returns. That's right, the industry will survive in one form or another, perhaps not in Detroit, but it will survive. The phoenix that arises from the ashes will be able to compete with any other car maker on the planet. And the best part is you won't have to lift a finger for any of this to take place.

Sound like a deal? Good! Now get on out there, tiger, and pursue the illicit activities you were bred for!

Take care.
DAL357

Post mortem on conservatism (and the Republican party itself)

2008-11-08T08:02:00.012-07:00

Although the following excerpt from this essay by Chuck Baldwin deals with guns, a big reason it caught my eye, the rest of the piece dissects the rotting corpse of conservatism. Hence, it's well worth a read.

"Then there was the pathetic attempt by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to scare gun owners regarding an Obama White House. Remember that John McCain is the same guy that the NRA rightly condemned for proposing his blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold bill. McCain is also the same guy that tried to close down gun shows. He even made a personal campaign appearance for a pro-gun control liberal in the State of Oregon a few short years ago. In fact, the Gun Owners of America (GOA) gave McCain a grade of "F" for his dismal record on Second Amendment issues. Once again, Chicken Little-style paranoia over Barack Obama rang hollow when the alternative was someone as liberal as John McCain."

Gun owners had no viable friend as presidential candidate this time, but they talked themselves into believing McCain was their man out of desperation. See where it got them? As the differences blur between the two parties and they slowly meld into one, who can gun owners turn to? Basically no one, at least no one with a snowball's chance in heck of being elected, at least at this point in history.

The best that can be hoped for is Obama doesn't do too much more damage to our already perforated second amendment and the Republican party once again stands as a true alternative, rather than a pale imitation of, the Democrats. Like Baldwin, I am not too optimistic of that outcome.

Of course, even if the Republicans do thoroughly revamp their party and turn it into the antithesis of the Democrat party, that still doesn't guarantee success. Why not? Simply put, the American electorate won't stand for their politicians telling them the truth. Can you imagine a revamped Republican standing up and telling folks we are profoundly broke as a nation, we have to rely on borrowed money just to meet our day-to-day living expenses, and if he is elected that will all stop and everyone will have to tighten their belts and live within their means? He'd be lucky if his share of the vote reached double digits.

Americans can't stand the truth. They want lies, the bigger the better. They want, collectively speaking, something for nothing. I don't see this changing until...well, ever, actually. If/when the two main parties show themselves for the bumbling meddlers they are and everyone finally gets the message, do you really think American voters will turn to someone offering the only viable way out of the mess, liberty and freedom? If you think they will, you're far more optimistic than I. They will almost assuredly go for a fascist or semi-fascist who tells them too much liberty is a bad thing and what's needed is ever-more control from the top. He/she will make big promises (big lies) which the something-for-nothing American voters will eat up and beg for more. If you doubt me, please explain to me how we got to the point we are.

Something-for-nothing Americans, including "The Greatest Generation," with their demands for Social Security/Medicare, have ruined this once-great republic. I only see a bleak future, with the possible exception of a few head fakes here and there that won't last long.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy a ticket for tonight's state-sponsored lotto drawing.

Take care.
DAL357

If they're smart...

2008-11-05T18:35:00.008-07:00

Just some of my ramblings:

Congratulations on bamboozling a majority of the American public and getting yourself elected. I'm talking, of course, to the Democrat party/Obama, but I could have used the same line had the Republican party managed to get McCain elected.

Okay, on to the issue that really concerns me: gun control. I realize the following will be giving them (Democrats who want to control/restrict gun ownership) LOTS of credit, but what if they don't start out of the gate with a new, non-sunsetting Assault Weapons Ban? In fact, what if they don't even introduce any new anti-gun legislation at all during Obama's first term?

Hey, it could happen.

This might very well make those who have been warning of Obama's anti-gun streak look like the boy who cried wolf, lulling people into a false sense of security and weakening gun-rights organizations. Then, during a second term, when he doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected, Obama and a Democrat congress can hack and hew at the second amendment with gay abandon.

But, of course, they're probably not that smart, so we'll soon be sweating out whether another, more inclusive, AWB will pass. See what reliance on only Republicans has gotten us? As power goes back and forth over the years between the Dems and Repubs, more and more of our rights are suppressed/lost. This is an insane fight that will eventually have only one outcome: a total suppression/loss of gun rights by American citizens.

I don't have any magic answers. The republic is dead, and I'm not saying that just because of the recent election; I've believed it for quite some time.

The one hope we might have, not only as gun owners, but also as Americans, is that both the Dems and Repubs so thoroughly discredit themselves by destroying what made America exceptional, its liberty, not to mention its economy, that even the dimmest-bulb voter will look for a better alternative. Of course, things have a long way to go before we get to that point, if we ever do, probably generations, so I doubt any of us will live to see that happen.

Take care.
DAL357

P.S. As I stated before, although I can't remember if it was on this blog or on someone else's blog, let's all hope that Obama and friends are kept so busy putting out fires caused by the financial meltdown we're experiencing, and will continue to experience after the honeymoon is over, that they don't have much time to put together much in the way of a new AWB.

Dumb headlines

2008-11-01T08:14:00.007-06:00

Practically everyday I’m almost struck dumb by the schlock that passes for news reporting. Here’s a sampling of the inane headlines (just the headlines--the stories behind them are another matter), with comment, I saw today on my start-up page.

"US campaign enters final weekend": A headline tailored for those unclear on the concept of a calendar.

"AP: Obama aunt from Kenya living illegally in US (AP)": I don’t understand why this was reported by the obviously pro-Obama press, unless it is an attempt to appear as if they are objective. If so, it ain’t working.

"Boo! Revelers celebrate the spookiest of holidays": So very newsworthy. I fully expect to see a headline reading “Millions of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving,” on, wait...THANKSGIVING!

"Indian police question Muslims for Assam bombings": Well, duh!

Take care.
DAL357

Burning down the house

2008-10-25T06:36:00.018-06:00

I know it's cynical of me to say this, but I actually hope that economic conditions continue to worsen. Why? Simply for this reason alone: Every time the fed/congress makes a move that is ineffectual in improving the US economy, which essentially means every move they make, they further expose themselves as the charlatans they are. Eventually, even the thickest US citizen will come to see that those in DC are nothing more than the equivalent of "that man behind the curtain."

*****

No one person, group, or country can evade reality forever. Reality states that consuming more than you produce is, eventually, a one-way ticket to ruin. In fact, the only possible way one can consume more than they produce is by taking it from another who has produced more than they can, or care to, consume. This is the state of our economy today. We, as a nation, are consuming more than we produce. The way we can do this is via foreign investment of around two billion bucks a day in promises to repay with future taxes. Without that daily infusion of money, we wouldn't be able to function in the way we have been conditioned to expect. Take it away and things get ugly fast. Reality will reassert itself and demand to be heard, and its message will be this: Live within your means or perish.

This does not mean that I think credit and borrowing are bad, for under the right circumstance, they are not. The right circumstance means one would use that money in a way that helps to produce more income, such as when a business buys a piece of equipment that makes them more productive. If the loaned money won't help one become more productive, it shouldn't be asked for. Borrowing should not be looked at as another income stream, as it is with the US government, and too many US citizens, today. Using borrowed money to finance consumables that produce nothing but an obligation is irresponsible, immature, and immoral.

It is impossible to get something for nothing in this universe, but that's exactly what the electorate has come to believe, and it shows via the representatives they elect and keep in office. Somewhere along the line, this something-for-nothing fantasy will answer to reality. I believe we are seeing reality's preliminary questioning of the fantasy now, with a full-blown interrogation to follow.

*****

All of the babble we are hearing today about this or that financial shenanigan is merely obfuscation for the undeniable fact that we have violated the key principle of living within our means and not spending more than we make. Until we, as a nation, face our profligate ways soberly, the kindling for the eventual fiscal meltdown will continue to pile higher and higher and make the coming conflagration more and more destructive.

Take care.
DAL357

Range report

2008-10-19T08:40:00.017-06:00

Yesterday, I made my more-or-less monthly 40-mile-each-way sojourn to the range for some R&R. This time, I dragged the chronograph along to clock a new load I bought for my S&W Model 642, the slickest little carry revolver ever devised. Earlier in the week, I had purchased a box of Federal .38 Spl. +P 158 gr. LSWCHP ammunition, the so-called "FBI load," and I was anxious to see how it performed in the little snubby. (Of course, the 642 wasn't the only gun I took, but more on that later.)

I've usually carried and fired loads with lighter bullets in the 642, namely 110 gr. and 125 gr. But, although I've known about the FBI load and its real-world efficacy for years, I've never tried it. That changed yesterday. The good news is also the bad news in that it is at least, or seems to be, a notch above, in terms of power, rounds with lighter-weight bullets. The good news part explains itself; the bad news part is that it also ups the recoil a good bit. Not to unmanageable levels, mind you, but it is pronounced, and it makes this round a load best practiced with in 5-10 round sessions.

Other than that, it performed beautifully. Hitting accurately at 9 yards (offhand) and clocking at an average of 805 fps, which I thought was pretty good considering the 1 7/8" barrel it went through. The velocity, by the way, was not much below the other load I chrono'd, the Speer Gold Dot .38 Spl. +P 125 gr. JHP. The Speer load, for the one round I was able to measure (my chronograph was acting funny at that point) went 828 fps. Granted, that's not an average, but it's probably in the ballpark of where that load generally shoots. With a less than 30 fps. difference, I believe I'll begin carrying the FBI load; I just feel more confident with that heavier bullet. One other downside to the FBI load I just thought of, and it's a minor one, is that it leaded the heck out of my barrel, but a little elbow grease, Rem-Oil, and Chore-Boy copper wool will take care of that.

The S&W Model 19 I own shot my softball .38 Spl. reloads (3.0 grs. Clays, 154 gr. LRNFP, WSP) with typical aplomb. It really loves that load and puts it on target almost in spite of me. The fact that it's such a mild-mannered load probably doesn't hurt either, coupled with a trigger that's the best on any gun I've ever fired. I recently had some custom gun stocks (aka, incorrectly, as grips) made for the gun from Herrett's Stocks, Inc. that fit me like a glove and make the gun feel like an extension of my hand, which is as it should be since I sent them an outline of my hand and they fitted the stocks perfectly to suit me.

I also put 50 rounds through the S&W Model 617 10-shot .22 LR revolver. This gun is always fun to shoot, mainly because it's accurate and non-taxing regarding recoil. In the past, I've put over 450 rounds through it in a day without tiring. (The only reason I stopped was because I ran out of ammo.) I bought the gun new and I've since put over 6700 rounds through it (I actually keep count) and I hope to put several times more than that through it before I pass it on to my son.

Finally, I toted along the quintessential working man's semi-auto centerfire "battle" carbine, the SKS. I put only 20 rounds through this gun, but that was enough to remind me of how infinitely practical both the gun and the 7.62x39mm round are. The gun is as tough as a tank and, though it does not possess tack-driving accuracy by any means, its accuracy is acceptable. Plus, although prices have gone up since I bought mine, they are still a great bargain.

After the firearms shooting was done, I promptly made my way over to the bow range where I quickly discovered I had left my bowstringer at home. DRATS! It wasn't a total loss, however, as I was able to string the low-poundage recurve I had via the step-through method and use that for practice. The other bow, though, was too expensive to try that method with (if you mess it up, it can ruin your bow) and I left it alone. I only got serious about archery this summer and it is a close second to firearms shooting in terms of enjoyment. One area where it exceeds firearms is in its simplicity. I'm sure I will vacillate between the two sports in the future, but I can't see forsaking one for the other. They are both such fun.

Take care.
DAL357