Remember the doctors who are asking kids about

guns in the home and so forth? Well, it's worse(big surprise, right?) in Britain:
Imagine a country where strangers have the right to ask intrusive questions and store the answers on a database.

Where everyone from police officers to leisure-centre staff can demand: "Tell me who you feel close to?"

They will also have been trained to ask questions about sexual behaviour, family life, religion, secret fears, weight and "sleeping arrangements" at home.

Incredibly, thousands of Government and council apparatchiks in Britain became entitled on April 1 to ask such questions of anyone under 19.

This horrifying invasion of privacy has begun, almost unnoticed, because the Government has cleverly presented it as being in the interests of "child protection".

Big chorus now: "IT'S FOR THE CHILDREEENNNN!"

The questions don't need a parent's consent since any child over 12 is deemed responsible enough to grant permission for an interview.
Well, isn't that convenient?
Any child not achieving the Government's five "outcomes" - being healthy, staying safe, enjoying life, "making a positive contribution", and achieving " economic well-being" - is now defined as having "additional needs".
In other words, they can define a kid having a fight with brother or sister, or being told to behave 'or else!' by the parents as having 'additional needs'. Which means the Big Nanny can step in.

How did this idiocy come about? Margaret Hodge announced the ECM agenda in 2003, just after Tony Blair ignored his friend's unsavoury history as leader of Islington Council during one of Britain's worst child-abuse scandals and, to widespread protest, made her Children's Minister.

Hodge claimed the ECM was justified by the case of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie who was abused and murdered by her guardians.

As the reporter who exposed paedophile rings in Islington's children's homes and, later, the blaming in neighbouring Haringey of an innocent social worker for Victoria's death, I was mystified.

I knew the problem was never lack of paperwork on children at risk, but too many stupid people reading it - and failing to act.

So, on April Fool's Day, the very effective Child Protection Register was abolished.

In its paternalistic zeal, however, New Labour replaced the register with the Integrated Children's System.
Let's see: incompetent socialist politician with connections, instead of being canned, gets put in charge of program that can screw with lots of peoples' lives. Yeah, that makes sense.

Further along, we find out just what professionals will be able to do this intrusive bullcrapinterrogation:
In an effort to develop a more "common" approach, anyone from a sports coach to a playgroup worker is allowed to question a child, as long as they've been on a three-hour training course.

There is a risk that the interrogators could include people who may derive a perverse thrill from asking children personal questions about bathing, dressing and "changes to their body".

Allowing so many people to probe into children's personal lives is also a threat to this country's long-treasured right to privacy.
Right to privacy my ass, it could put their bloody LIVES at risk.

And, as always, comes one of the rusty hammers government uses:
"The association of ECM with Victoria Climbie and the use of expressions such as 'safeguarding' and 'at risk' have stifled essential debate - after all, who could possibly be against protecting children?" said Dowty.

She believes we should refuse to comply. But how strong will families need to be, if by opposing the scheme, they risk being accused of negligence - or worse - towards their children?
Yep. "Well, you don't want your child to answer questions? What are you hiding, then?" Etc.

Back when my kids were small we found out that one of their teachers was asking them- and other kids in class- questions about their home life, parents, etc. They were told to tell said teacher, next time she asked, that "My parents told me not to answer questions like this. And if you ask them again, they want to meet with you and the principal and ask why." I can't remember exactly how the ex put her part of it, but it did help get the point across that this bullcrap would not be allowed to continue. But here you've got the bloody government giving anybody who's taken a three-hour class permission to ask these questions. Talk about ripe for abuse... and that's besides the general matter of "Don't you morons have anything better to do? Like get the hell out of peoples' lives?"

Hmmm, maybe there are reasons Obama is so sensitive

of any whiff of 'appeaser' being attached to him. Things like this:
On May 14 Barack Obama held a private meeting at Macomb Community College with Hassan Qazwini. Qazwini is the leader of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. Debbie Schlussel describes Qazwini as Hezbollah's most important imam and agent in America.

Obama's meeting with Qazwini came to light because of a brief report in the Detroit Free Press (with the photo above) deriving from Qazwini and his mosque. The Obama campaign has not itself posted any news account or press release regarding the meeting on its Obama News page. A Google News search on "Obama Qazwini" shows that news of the meeting has essentially remained a closely guarded secret.
Gee, why would the media want to keep this secret? After all, it shows the Obamessiah meeting with the enemies of this country, without preconditions, to talk...

Well, maybe that's why.

Mark Steyn has a bit to say on the sensitivity here.

How the hell do some of you live in the Seattle area

when this crap is considered 'good thought' by the papers?
The narrative we're given about Munich is entirely in hindsight. We know what kind of man Hitler was, and that he started World War II in Europe. But in 1938 people knew a lot less. What Hitler was demanding at Munich was not unreasonable as a national claim (though he was making it in a last-minute, unreasonable way.) Germany's claim was that the areas of Europe that spoke German and thought of themselves as German be under German authority. In September 1938 the principal remaining area was the Sudetenland.
Ok, I can see you could think that. If you ignore all the people who were waving warning flags and screaming about what was about to happen. And so forth.

But who else is a Hitler? If you paste that label on somebody it means they are cast out. You can't talk to them any more. And it has gotten pasted on quite a few national leaders over the years: Milosevic, Hussein, Ahmadinejad, et. al. In particular, to apply that label to the elected leaders of the Palestinians is to say that you aren't going to listen to their claims to a homeland. I think they do have a claim. So do the Israelis. In order to get anywhere, each side has to listen to the other. To continually bring up Hitler, the Nazis, the Munich Conference and “appeasement,” is to try to prolong the stalemate.
Awright, dumbass, here's a hint: when someone is speaking of wiping an entire people out of existence, that makes them a Hitler. You might consider that in the future before you write crap like this.

If I had a young daughter today,

there'd be a bunch of rules she'd probably hate. And I wouldn't care.
1: Mom and I will choose your clothes. We don't care what's 'popular' or what some idiot celebritute wears and wants to sell to you. Period.
2: If we had cable, there would be a whole bunch of channels blocked from the kids. Including
Nickelodeon. You are NOT watching that crap. Period.

That's what's immediately on my mind. I do have friends with young kids, and I worry about them. So, among other things, I'm going to help the dads work out something effective and quiet to deal with idiots who think acting like a gang-banger, a pimp or dressing like a prison bitch around their kids is cool.

Let's see, best way to dispose of bodies.....

Here's why I generally detest 'true believers'

in politicians:
...Come on! He's lying! Don't lie! I mean, I know you've been having an unimaginably powerful experience with millions of people buying the things you say, but don't get cocky. We do still have our lie detectors, and we can reactivate them if we get in the mood to. Don't push us. Keep the magic alive.(bold mine)
Which means that if he keeps them in the right mood, they won't 'reactivate' their lie detectors. Because if they do it'll end the 'magic'.

Geez, people, this is the kind of thing you hear from religious zealots about their deity. Or about the Anointed One of the deity. Which, considering a lot of what's happened around Obama, pretty much covers it. And someone who feeds that- and feeds off of it- I do NOT want in the Oval Office.

Speaking of 'least repulsive Democrat',

Sebastian brings us this from McCain's speech:
4:35: McCain says he supports the banning private sales, and campaign finance reform

4:37: McCain says he doesn’t support regulating sales between people within the same family.

4:40: McCain says his support of regulating private sales doesn’t detract from his support of the second amendment. Can’t say I agree with that one.

4:42: McCain reminds everyone that Obama wouldn’t sign onto the brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the DC gun ban in Heller.

4:42: The theme seems to be “I suck a little, but my opponents suck more.”

This is so encouraging, I may have to puke. And THIS is what the StupidRepublican has managed to produce. And tells us is a 'GREAT candidate!" And who many Stupid Party(why pretend otherwise?) politicians expect to 'save them' in November.

Did I mention puking?

I forgot to add Microlon to the sidebar

after the Great Bloggered-Up Template Change.

They're there now. I've had very good results from the Gun Juice, and the engine treatment seems to be holding up well on the bike(truck to be treated soon, I hope). And they support the troops.

In light of past comments, there's word for Fire from Security Staff:

.................................................Watch it, lady.............................

Speaking of disgusting news and politicians-

which generally go together- we have the following:
Kim speaks to the Republican Party weenies who are panicking and hoping for McCain to save them. The latter is also proof of either clinical-level delusion or just flat-ass stupidity.

On McCain, I heard some parts of his speech in which he basically promised to do whatever it takes to make the Evil Party happy, and screw you if you don't like it. Isn't there a way to spray for life forms like this?

The Ontario 'Human Rights Tribunal' is full of shit. And should be hauled out and shot. Along with the greedy little bastard who brought the suit.

Sondra points out that Schwarzenegger is a moron. Of course, that fits him in well with the CA state government:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today defended his plans to borrow against future profits from the state lottery to help close a $15.2 billion budget deficit, arguing that the state’s fiscal crisis is so deep that cutting spending alone is not a viable option.
It's a viable option if you actually cut fat and bullshit, but the term 'fat chance' comes to mind.

She also takes note of the kind of rhinos that are behind people telling the Stupid Party to kiss their ass. AND have such a large level of disgust for the Evil Party:
By a vote of 149-141, the Democrat-controlled House rejected a measure that would have given the Pentagon $162.5 billion to keep the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan running through next summer, slightly below President George W. Bush’s request.

A large group of anti-war House Democrats voted against the funds. That, coupled with 132 Republicans voting “present,” meaning neither “yes” nor “no,” killed the measure for now.
This is known as 'too chickenshit to vote against', you miserable cowards.

Further evidence that Obama is a thin-skinned lightweight. Along with a lot of the other members of the Evil Party.

Blech. In the words of Quint, it's enough to piss off the Good Humor man.

And if you want another reason why people don't want to cooperate

with the authorities- especially feds- read this:
Essentially, ATF is saying to Adventure Outdoors (and all FFLs in general) that our time is more important that your livelihood. Because that’s what we’re talking about here - the method that the owners and employees of this gun shop use to put food on the table is at stake, but ATF thinks that the cost of losing two special agents for a day “outweighs any benefit to Adventure Outdoors”.

Read the whole thing. After, as Kim says, putting breakables out of reach.

When seconds count, the police are a

long damn time away. And some of the people involved don't care if you die.
"You're emotional, you're desperate and you call for help. Then what happened?" asked Phil.

"Nothing," Sheila said.

In fact, Sheila's 911 ordeal dragged on for almost three hours - through call after call.

Sheila: "They just keep on saying they en route, they en route, but they ain't came. It's been a long time. And he keeps calling me, threatening me."
911: "Alright, I see where you've called, and I'm gonna update them and let them know what all you've told me. OK?
Sheila: "Yes, ma'am."

Back when I was a dispatcher, I knew of times there was simply no one available, everybody was tied up. But I also knew of times when some 911 operator didn't really get excited about disturbing some officer with, you know, an actual hazard situation. And sometimes, like this one, you've got an operator who really doesn't care. In any of these cases, you're on your own.

About that lion-country walking stick,

The blade is about 6", the whole thing was forged from a piece of 5160 coil spring stock. You can't see, but there's a hole drilled through and a brass pin through to lock things together.

Used to have a bigger one(longer and wider, more triangular in shape) but it went to a new home. It was a lot more refined looking, more polished, this one I left with a dark finish.

McCain..... Damn

Kevin was right when he said “McCain is the least offensiverepulsive Democrat running for President”; but damn.

Was listening to Rush yesterday and he had some bits from a couple of speeches McCain made. Pure enviroweenie pandering(carbon credits, etc.) and, in one, the most excited I think I’ve heard him sound, came from crapping on Bush. It’s a pretty bad sign that the Republican candidate has more emotion for dumping on a Republican President, and more willingness to go after him, than after the Democrats.

Kim had his sticker, “I love my country more than I hate McCain”, but the more this guy opens his mouth, the more I wonder just how much difference we’d wind up with between him and Obama or Clinton? Yeah, I know, syphilis vs. advanced cancer, but damn…

Have you considered that possibly the best thing that could happen to this country would be for a tornado or meteor strike to take out all three of them at a debate or something? We’d have to start over with new candidates. Which might- MIGHT- actually get us someone who we wouldn’t have to plug our noses and ears in order to vote for.

So not only do they tick off local agencies,

they can't get along with each other.
In the five years since the FBI and ATF were merged under the Justice Department to coordinate the fight against terrorism, the rival law enforcement agencies have fought each other for control, wasting time and money and causing duplication of effort, according to law enforcement sources and internal documents.

There've been bits and pieces about this coming out over the years, including FBI having fought like hell, from what I've read, to keep ATF from being stuck in with them. According to this, local agencies get the amusement of seeing two groups of feds threatening to arrest each other at crime scenes. Sometimes while they're each busy trying to take it away from local or other federal authorities.
"If you're working with one agency, you have to walk on eggshells if you mention the other," said Jeff Kirk, former commander of the Kokomo, Ind., police bomb squad, who has written to Congress about the issue. "Frankly, after all these years, I'm really tired of this alphabet soup fight."

Damn.

Found through the Boomershoot guy.

As the gentleman asks, if it was sold at a show with no paperwork,

then how the hell is ATF claiming to have traced it?
What's more, Robbins noted that the ATF was able to trace the SKS rifle used to gun down Liczbinski to a gun show in Fayettville, N.C. He said that because it had been bought at a gun show, the owner did not have to undergo a background check - another proposal that's been blocked by the gun lobby.
Like the gentleman, I smell bullcrap.

There's a shirt that says "Yes, I have a truck. No, I won't

help you move." I think I'm going to get one that says "Yes, I have a chainsaw. No, I won't help trim your trees."

Friends had some limbs that had been damaged or killed by the ice storm on the big elm in front, one of which was right over the driveway, so yesterday hauled the pruning pole and ladder(had to go back for the rope later) over to deal with it. Most was easy, but the big one...

It was a little wider than the length of the bar, and the only way to cut it without climbing into the tree(hell NO, I wasn't gonna do that) was by cutting on one side, then going- very carefully- to the other and cutting the rest so gravity could end the matter.

Which worked right up to the point, on the other side, when the limb shifted and grabbed the bar. Hard. Which sent me home for the rope, so we could get it over the limb, then over to the truck, to pull enough tension to free the bar. Which worked. Did a bit more cutting, then while I took a break friend took the saw and asked 'want me to cut some more?'. By this point the answer was 'no', because I knew there was very little holding that limb up, and friend has very little experience with such. I don't have a lot, but I know some warning signs to watch for: and when this did fail it was going to come down fast. So I said "Let me look at it from the other side" and walked around. VERY little was left, and between the tension of the rope, gravity and the wind I couldn't understand how-
Crack
"MOVE!"
Which he did. Just the one 'crack' and then wham when it hit the ground, the butt leaving a dent about 3-4" deep in the ground. Damn.

After that just cleanup and dinner- provided by friends- and then home. I've had just about enough of trees for a while.

Animal stuff

noted by Bruce. First, I never knew there were penguins at the North Pole!

Oh, wait...

Second, advise for action if attacked by a mountain lion:
Officials have advised walkers and hikers to take precautions. They suggest people avoid taking outings alone, especially between dusk and dawn, and carry a walking stick.
I have the perfect stick for this. It's six feet long and has a steel spearhead on one end.

A few years back some friends went on a hiking trip in a national forest area along the Texas/Mexico border or TX/NM(Can't remember which), and found signs in the campground warning to watch out for the cats. They asked a ranger about it and were informed there had been several attacks over the last couple of years. Of course it was a 'no firearms' area. Got to tell you, folks, in a place with bears or big kitties, I'd have something noisy on my belt or under my jacket, orders from the Forest Service be damned.

M1 Garand and target loads

A while back I picked up some of the military 172-grain boattail match bullets for .30-06: I wanted to put together some target loads, and dug around for recipes. One thing I consistently found mentioned was 46.0 to 47.0 grains of IMR4895, everyone who mentioned this load raved about accuracy. Tried it, and- depending on brass- the best I could get was about 4" at 100 yards. Which sucks from a rifle that'll put Greek or Korean ball into 2.5".

More digging, and looking in the Lyman manual, decided to try the low load they showed for that range, 43.0 grains of the same powder, as a starting point. Shazam! 1.5 to 2" groups as long as I do my part. And, while the M2 ball hits about 2" high(proper for that ammo and rifle), this load hits dead-on point of aim.

And it does it with more than one brand of brass. You can never tell what will or won't work in a particular rifle until you try it.

I haven't sent anything to Burma

for precisely these reasons:
Burma, a former British colony, was once the rice-bowl of South-East Asia, but in 1962 a bunch of generals took over with a misty-eyed plan to impose on their 50 million people the "Burmese Way to Socialism".

Their brand of politics was of the kind still distressingly popular at RMIT and Victoria University, and produced exactly the misery it's inflicted from Cuba to Russia.
...
Two days before Cyclone Nargis hit, India's Meteorological Department warned the junta's minions it was coming, and where.

But Burma's state-owned media, one of the crudest propaganda outfits I've seen, issued no mass alerts. Indeed, illegal Voice of America broadcasts probably did more to warn Burma's civilians to take shelter than did Burma's own radio station
...
Even now, the junta is killing people with its paranoia. Disaster assessment teams and helicopters from the United States have been blocked from coming in to prepare a huge rescue, and foreign aid teams not already in-country had their applications for visas stalled and aid shipments stopped.

Foreign journalists, whose reports would help raise appeal money, have been banned.

The UN is now "intensely" negotiating with the junta to let in aid workers and ease customs regulations on aid - literally begging the junta to let the world save its people.
...
Why hand cash to thieves? I've seen for myself, on one of my trips to Burma, military heavies in shades openly demand bribes from Australian aid workers who were giving blankets to disaster victims.

In Mandalay, I saw a Red Cross ambulance, given by Japan, refitted for use as a taxi for military officials. The junta even today charges import duty on foreign donations.

With such tyrants in charge, the toll from Friday's cyclone - already horrific - can only keep rising.
...
Lots of people are dead, and lots more will die because they're 'governed' by a bunch of socialist idiots who care more about power- theirs- than lives. Which leads to this:
So slow has the junta been to let in help, that French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, founder of aid group Medicins Sans Frontieres, suggested the UN Security Council adopt a resolution allowing aid to be flown into the country by force. China, naturally, is against such interference in the affairs of its "friend".
You can discount China: even without their influence, can you imagine the UN- the people who helped bring about the bloodbath in Rwanda, and would rather see people murdered, raped and enslaved in Sudan than actually do anything(and shits bricks at the very idea of arming the people being killed)- actually using force in Burma?

Fat friggin' chance. Among other things, the head of the UN is too busy trying to silence speech that might upset muslims(doesn't seem to mind interefering there) to do anything other than give speeches and ask for money.

Please note at the first of the article they go to town on the Goreacle:
THE vultures are circling over Burma's dead. Hey, isn't that fat one Al Gore?

Sure is. And - flap, flap, plop - there he lands, the first to go picking over carcasses for scraps to feed his great global warming scare campaign.

Found thanks to Sondra.

It seems Bloomberg(Tyrantwannabe-NY)

has problems with more of the Constitution than the 2nd Amendment:
Lawyers for Mayor Bloomberg are asking a judge to ban any reference to the Second Amendment during the upcoming trial of a gun shop owner who was sued by the city. While trials are often tightly choreographed, with lawyers routinely instructed to not tell certain facts to a jury, a gag order on a section of the Constitution would be an oddity.

Gee, ya think?

Miserable bastard, isn't he?

Stephen King holds shovel,

keeps digging. Be sure to check out the comments, which include a quote in which King follows standard liberal method: accuse people of saying something they didn't and defend yourself from that.

Gee, I guess instead of reading the books we sent over, the son & others are just looking at the covers, while taking a break from patrolling, ambassadorial work, maintaining equipment(however do they do that without manuals?), etc.

Range day, further test on the plastic bullets

I wrote about here. While I was out I took the opportunity to try these at 50 yards. Being as how I had already put the chronograph up and did not want to dig it and the tripod back out I have no velocity numbers, so that'll have to come later.

The first batch had the same 5.0 grains of 2400 I tried before:
The top two are the first sight adjustment(had to raise the rear a fair amount), the others were all fired at the same setting. I don't know if the two off to the right are from me or the load, or possibly from a gust of wind: with a projectile this light and velocity this presumably low, I don't think it wouldn't take much to drift them off.

I had ten of those loads, and I'd loaded five with 6.0 grains:
Those grouped tighter, but this isn't enough testing to decide if this load is better(more testing needed, damn...) With the extra grain there was still zero recoil, as in the rifle didn't shift at all.

For small game or varmints, I think this would do a pretty good job out to maybe 50 yards(need to get some more water jugs to try), and, as mentioned before, if you wanted to introduce the kids to a 'big' gun with low noise and recoil, these would make very nice loads.

Let's see, try them in .30-06, .308... I wonder if they'd work in 7.62x54r or .303?

A good article on self-censorship

due to 'sensitivity'. Often another name for 'fear'.
In a thrillingly ironic turn of events, a shorter version of the very essay you are now reading was originally commissioned by the opinion page of Washington Post and then rejected because it was deemed too critical of Islam. Please note, this essay was destined for the opinion page of the paper, which had solicited my response to the controversy over Wilders' film. The irony of its rejection seemed entirely lost on the Post, which responded to my subsequent expression of amazement by offering to pay me a "kill fee." I declined.

And for an example of people who do NOT qualify as sheepdogs,

take a look at this:
About a month ago I got a call from a reporter for the Arkansas Times inquiring about my research into paramilitary drug raids. He'd been reporting on a raid in North Little Rock involving a 40-year-old man named Tracy Ingle. When he told me the story over the phone, I was floored, even given all the abuses and mistakes I've reported and read about over the last few years. What makes the case especially egregious is not that the police may have gotten the wrong home, that they shot a man, or that they were covering it up or going silent. We've seen all that before. What's mind-blowing about this one is that they've continued abusing the poor guy, even after it should have been clear for some time now that they made a mistake.

I'll bet every one of these people would state loudly that "I AM a sheepdog!" So would the people in their department who seem to be hellbent on screwing the victim, rather than have the people who screwed up held to account. Got news for you, guys: you may have qualified at one time, but this puts you in the 'feral dog' category, and that's not a good thing to be.

Yeah, it's spring

I know this because I'm sitting here listening to
the rain outside
the wind
the tornado sirens
and the near-PSH on the tv weather warnings.

It started(the current twister) west of me, went northeast and doesn't appear to be on the ground anymore, just some very high wind gusts.

You know you grew up in this part of the country when you hear 'tornado warning' and go through the following sequence:
Where is it?
Which way is it going? Which is followed by either
Head for a 'fraidy hole or
Sit back and continue with what you were doing. With the news on, of course.

Used to have a neighbor who was originally from NY, and it drove her nuts that we'd hear 'tornado' and go out to look for it, instead of hiding.

Yankees....

I have one question for the guy who wrote this article

pointed out by Michelle Malkin: why the HELL didn't you prosecute these people?

Gee, maybe the Stupid Party is finally

getting the message. Although I have doubts they've got enough brains to know people really mean "Don't act like the Evil Party and keep growing government and ripping us off. We MEAN IT."

Let's see, great unhappiness for a few years now, lots of people telling them 'knock it off', and they just keep going. Then people telling them, flat-out and repeatedly, just what they think of border security and McCain sucking up to the Evil Party, and being ignored. And insulted. And now, "Oh my, we have a problem!"

Several weeks ago I got one of those "You have been a strong supporter for years(the hell I have), now we need more of your money" letters with a 'survey' the NRCC sends out. I left the money at $0, and sent it back with a letter telling them exactly why I wasn't sending them a damn penny. I doubt they paid attention; they were too busy pushing pork and sitting around saying "Of course they'll vote for us, they have to." Not taking note of the question that "If you're acting just like the Evil Party, why should we vote for you, you morons?"

Word from the son

So far, so good. Apparently it's hatching season, as there are lots and lots of little(4-6") camel spiders all over the place. And he spotted a hedgehog the other day, which was unexpected.

It seems the big spiders have a habit of seeking shade, and if they find your shade they try to stay in it. Which means they follow you. Which caused a couple of people to think "IT'S CHASING ME!" Hilarity and loud noises followed.

I told daughter about that, which led to this exchange:
Her: Our troops. Scared of spiders.
Me: Everybody has something they're spooked by.
Her: True.
Me: He said one guy shot one twice, and was yelling "It won't die!" because it was still twitching. So I said he should tell them these are zombie spiders.
Her: He could tell them they're nocturnal, too. Then you'd wind up with sleep-deprived nervous troops.
Me: Hmmm... Sleep-deprived nervous troops looking for zombie spiders. What could go wrong?

He should have leave soon, it'll be nice to see him.

How to relax after work

There’s a ‘big trash pickup’ one day each month. You’ve planned to move this stuff from the back yard to the curb a day or two before, decide to do it yesterday because it’s supposed to rain today & tomorrow, so it goes like this:
Get home, check on dog, change.
Start hauling limbs and stuff around.
Halfway through, notice there’s a couple of branches that’ve grown- a lot- and are too close to the lines, so…
Out comes ladder, loppers and saw.
Spend time waving in breeze in trees, cutting limbs and getting them to ground.
Climb down, haul the last of the old and the new stuff out front.
Find some more stuff that needs to go.
Look for dog. Did she go out? No, she’s snoozing under that bush.
Notice part of yard needs mowing, do that.
Decide some weedeating needs to be done before rain, drag the ‘eater and cord out.
Realize A: I’m hungry and B: it’s later than you thought.
Put everything away.
Make dinner.
Realize that plan to ride bicycle to library and auto parts store is out, use motorcycle.
Get all that done, go online and find that Stephen King is not only a so-so author, he’s an arrogant little pissant. Probably gets along very well with John Effin’ Kerry.
That leaves about an hour to work on a reloading problem, after which to hell with everything else, get cleaned up, get a drink and then go to bed. I STILL haven’t finished watching Hot Fuzz, the disc of which I bought a freakin’ month ago.

That was yesterday, this evening considerably slower since I got all that crap done. So I shall now proceed to load up some more of those plastic bullets for further testing.

On the subject of the UN- again- the question is asked

How bad does the UN have to get?

I’ve argued before that, for many Lefties, intentions seem to matter more than outcomes. But how bad do the outcomes have to be before intentions are no longer an excuse? What has to happen before people face up to the real UN (or EU or IOC or whatever) instead of fantasising about some abstract one?

I don't care if Obama claims to only know him 'casually',

his long-time association with this bastard, and his defenses of it, should tell you a lot. Insty points out this post with the photo.

"Guilty as sin, free as a bird, it's a great country" is one of the Ayers quotes in the top clipping. Miserable little bleep.

A link I forgot to add back to the blogroll

after the, ahem, 'accident' a few months ago: Havaria Information Service, or as Tim Blair once noted, 'All the trouble in the world'.

Some thoughts following up on 'On Combat' Updated

Got this in a comment from Saladman:
I have a concern, though. It seems to me that the ethos of the policeman as warrior is in direct conflict with the ethos of the police as the public, exemplified in Robert Peel's principles of policing. (http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2008/04/police-are-public-and-public-are-police.html)

And the same for his idea of sheepdogs, sheep and wolves. I get what he was expressing, and there's a great deal of truth to it. (I'm not so sure there's a hard line between his sheep and sheepdogs when you start considering civilians who provide for their own defense.) But when I hear people talking in the real world now about being a sheepdog, as often as not there's an arrogance or an elitism present that I would not expect to find in someone truly and firmly in the sheepdog category. Specifically including some police officers, unfortunately.

Not sure what to do about it, just something I've been thinking about.

Thoughts well worth working on.

As to the first, he's got a different definition of 'warrior' in this context than people tend to use. I can't get to the book right now to look it up, it was something like 'someone willing to take risks to protect others'(found it, it's added at the end). Much different from what you see in magazines with articles like "XXX-City SWAT: Street Warriors!" and the attitude of some who like to kick doors at every opportunity and generally treat anyone not carrying a badge as either the enemy or subhuman. Or both. An officer can definitely hold the Peel's Principles and be considered a 'warrior' in that respect.

On the second: though he mostly mentions LE and military in the book, he does say in the intro "Or perhaps you have chosen to be a martial arts practitioner or an armed citizen, seeking to defend yourself or your love ones in their hour of need?" I think he does consider those citizens as sheepdogs, I do think that since he primarily wrote this book for LE and military, that's what he concentrates on.

And yeah, you're right: some people will take any possible method to consider themselves superior to everyone else. In some cases it's probably just a bit too much pride: a man should be proud of a job well done, but as various religions and wise men have pointed out over time, too much pride can be a bit of a problem. And you will run into some who'll claim a title they may not have the best of claims to: I've known a few LE officers who were far more of feral dog or borderline(on the wrong side) wolf than sheepdog, but if they'd read this book or heard the description at the time they'd have loudly claimed that description. Usually as a way of either defending themselves or pushing the line of "All I go through to protect you, how dare you not kiss my ass?" We've got the bad ones as well as the good.

Thinking about it, there's a definite case to be made for using 'shepherd' instead of 'warrior': the shepherd is/was often alone, day and night, watching and tending and protecting the flock. After all, what was David in the beginning? A shepherd with a sling. And you know what he did.


* found it, as follows:
Page 176, Chapter 5, Modern Paladins Bearing the Shield

I use the terms “warrior” and “warriorhood” throughout this book. When you think of a warrior you might think of a Zulu warrior, an Apache warrior, or some other historic model, and while there are many models for a warrior, I use it to mean those who are willing to sacrifice themselves to defend others, those who move toward the sound of the guns, and those who continue in the face of adversity to do what needs to be done.

The warrior alone advanced toward interpersonal aggression and he is the only sane, rational creature who has any chance of functioning and even thrivingin the toxic realm of combat. The degree to which he can understand, master and function in that realm is the degree to which he will survive and accomplish his mission.

There are some people who do not like the term warrior, but if you are in a war are you not a warrior? Do we have a war on crime? Is there a war on drugs? Are we now engaged in a war on terrorism? Are there people who wake up every morning determined to send you home to your family in a box?

If you are in a war then you are a warrior. On a battlefield, there are warrior and there are victims. Decide now which one you are.

Trees! Ladders! They're EVERYWHERE!!

Ahem. Sorry 'bout that.

Just got back from visiting my parents, and what was the big thing Dad needed help with? At tree that needed cutting. Up high. Oh joy.

No, nobody fell out, or performed a self-field-amputation. Just some fun time in a tree with a chainsaw. Got some of it done, more will be done next time I make it down.

And how was your weekend?

A bit more on cleaning corrosive-primed ammo

Very Helpful Commenter, who once sent some very nice information on how he moved the front sight and cut down the barrel on a SKS, had mentioned that he had had such good results in his black-powder guns with 1000 Wonder Lube, he'd started using it after this ammo. The other day he sent this:
I took my M-N 91/30 to the range the day after I emailed you and shot forty rounds of "Com-Bloc" corrosively primed ammo through it. I also shot forty rounds of 1943 SA MkVII through my unissued #4 Long Branch Enfield. I wiped the bores with wet patches when I got home, then wiped the bores with a flannel patch coated with 1000 Wonder Lube. This morning I examined the bores on both of 'em to find no rust, just shiny rifling. Same with my .50 TC Hawken that I put 125 shots through last Sat. Every shot was with a 1000 WL patched round ball and 50 grains of 3f Goex, my target load of choice. Again, no rust, just shiny rifling. BTW, no wiping between shots, the last one loaded as easily as the first.

I'm going to have to get some of this stuff to try.