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.

'On Combat'

by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and Loren W. Christensen

If you are in a war, you are a warrior. Is there a war on drugs? Is there a war on crime? Is there a war against terrorism? Are you confronting and containing aggression as a peace officer at home, a peacekeeper in some distant land, or a warrior combating terrorism around the world? 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? Are there people who wake up every morning determined to send you back to your family in a box?

Then you are in a war and you are a warrior.

I picked this up at the library a few days ago, and it’s, to put it mildly, a fascinating book. Too much so for me to go over chapter heads and such and give the idea. I will note the four sections:
Section I: The Physiology of Combat: The Anatomy of the Human Body in Battle
Section II: Perceptual Distortions in Combat: An Altered State of Consciousness
Section III: The Call to Combat: Where Do We Get Such Men?
Section IV: The Price of Combat: After the Smoke Clears

and I’ll give a quote from Section II, on the distortions of sound that occur in- among other things- gunfights:
In Loren Christensen’s book, Crazy Crooks he tells of one documented case in which

One dumb crook became confused when he did not hear his pistol fire. He turned the gun around and peered down the barrel to see if there was an obstruction; it was clear. Dumbfounded as to why it did not go bang, he squinted down the barrel even harder and pulled the trigger again.

Now, THAT’S sound distortion.

They’ve got a previous book you may have heard of, ‘On Killing’, that’s also excellent. Definitely recommended reading for anyone, military, police or just plain citizen, who wants to understand- and prepare for- the stresses of combat. Kevin and a number of others have recommended it, and they're right.

The further story on the bears

The two grizzly at the zoo have in their enclosure a pool and a long canal. The slightly smaller one found a sport bottle somene either dropped or threw in and was having a ball with it: tossing it, slapping it around and so forth. He chased it all the way to the end of the canal where it fell in. And he jumped in after.

While he was playing with it, the other took notice and came trotting over with a "What you got?" look on his face. Which led to him sliding in and trying to take it. Upon which the smaller one stuck it into the drain pipe in the wall.
It took him two tries, but he held it in his teeth to get it there, then shoved it in with a paw. The bigger one shoved him out of the way and took a look.
It really seemed to tick him off, as he jumped on the other. They argued a minute, then he looked again and spent the next five minutes digging in to try and pull it out, taking looks, and trying again. Finally gave up.

I'd never have thought one of them would do something like that, but he did.

The NEWEST GREENEST car!

Thank you, Theo