On the subject of alternate energy,

some updated words from den Beste.

Barack I Am The Obama was supposedly looking at MA governor

Patrick as a veep choice; yeah, Senator "I love the 2nd Amendment now, don't misunderstand what I said and did before" and Patrick would get along great:
...Within this bill sections 24 - 27 drastically increase certain firearm licenses.

Sections 24 & 25 attack lawfully licensed firearm dealers by increasing their license fees from $100 for three years to $250. Then it adds a $100 inspection fee in years two and three of the license. This tactic would now turn a $100 three year dealer's license into a $450 three year license.

Section 26 would increase a resident License to Carry fee from $100 for six years to $200 for six years.

Section 27 would increase a non-resident License to Carry fee from $100 for one year to $250 for one year.

Obama: because we really NEED a pair of socialist hoplophobes in the Oval Office.

And since I'm already ticked off

let's take note of just how UN 'peacekeepers' use their time as terrorists pass by.

Let's take note of a muslim judge justifying kidnapping, forced marriage and- I have no doubt- rape as being 'converted in a legitimate manner to Islam'. It's a good question, who do you hang first?

And just to round things off, the damn flowerpot might burn the place down.

On the good side?

It's absolutely certain: Al Gore is out of his freakin' mind

Former United States Vice President Al Gore this afternoon challenged Americans to adopt a 10-year plan to reduce carbon emissions from electricity production to zero. Without such dramatic action, the future of the country and ultimately the world is at risk, Gore said.
There was some rep back before the 2000 election who said Gore would lean against the wall outside the chamber during breaks looking like he was reading a book on physics or whatever, but he kept glancing around to see who was seeing him reading a book on physics. After reading that opening quote, any doubts I had are removed.

It Ain't Physically Possible. If he knows it, then he's a first-class dirtbag telling people this crap to A: increase his hold over them and B: considering some of the things we've found out, making money off it. If he doesn't know it, then he's an absolute friggin' moron.

Noting that Americans are "hungry for a new approach" to energy matters, Gore laid out a ten year action plan calling for a new energy grid. Our current grid is outmoded and needs fixing anyway, Gore said, so resources should be allocated toward creation of a new energy grid that will link the cities where the sun shines and the wind blows to the metopolises in need of power.
And what's this magical grid gonna use for conductors, Al? Where's that material gonna come from? Or is this where you wave The Goracle's wand and the pure effin' magic happens?

I'm not sure which is worse, this clown or the morons who worship him.

And thank you, Sondra; my mood was already shot, so might as well have seen this now.

Let us say my schedule is even more screwed up today

than yesterday. Yesterday involved finding out, shortly before I was supposed to leave, that I was need to work and extra four hours. Today, after three hours I left work so I can go back later and work the evening shift, which works out to eleven hours total.

Every time I think retiring will be strange, something like this happens and...

Well, there IS

a resemblance...(thanks, Theo)

I wonder if it's occurred to these people that with all the screaming and whining, they've probably caused this to have more attention than it otherwise ever would have? And the 'this insults muslims!' nonsense just adds to it.

So along with the general "What part of the Supreme ruling (updated)

didn't you understand?" suit against the DC council & PD, we can add this garbage.
But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.

Not only should these bastards be sued(again), they should be sued for mental anguish and all legal costs. Which should have to come out of their own damn pockets.

Added: more information on the DC morons and their desire to do whatever the hell they want:
A spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which issues the permit, could not say what the status of his application is, or why it was being withheld in time for this report. Vince Gray (D-At-Large), chairman of the D.C. Council, says he wants to make it as hard as possible for gun stores to open. “First of all, I don’t want them anywhere,” Gray says, “but if we’re going to have them, we’ll look at things, like keeping them away from schools and churches.”
Lamppost, rope, politician...

Just exactly how would one go about telling the UN and the

UN's highest court to kiss our collective ass?

And while we're at it, let's tell the government of Mexico the same thing. And put mines along the damn fence.

In my (occasionally)continuing educational series

on making knives, here is the basic procedure I use to set a short tang into a grip.

For this I took a piece of curly maple, measured out a little longer than I thought the grip would end up, and a little wider(you will be cutting it down, and it's much better to have excess to remove than to have not enough); this piece is right at 1" thick which is more than enough for a small- and some medium- blades.

I first hold the tang against the piece in the position/angle I'll want it, and outline it. Then I use a square to draw lines marking the centerline of the wood, and two lines to mark the edges of the tang on the end I'll be drilling, visible on the block in the picture below*. These lines let me align the drill bit with the desired lines.

At the drill press I put the bit in, place the block in a vise, adjust the height so the big has just a touch of clearance above the wood. Then turn the bit down until the chuck almost touches the wood and line the bit up with one of the lines:I use a brad-point bit: it has a center point that makes it easy to get it on the line, and two cutting spurs on the edges that give a nice, clean hole. This is shot from the side, and you'll notice the block is tilted just a touch so the bit runs straight along the line. When it's adjusted, lock the block tightly so it can't shift, raise the chuck, then adjust the block so the center spur is exactly on the centerline you marked, and the outside of the hole will be along the tang line. Then turn the press on and drill; go in just a bit, back out to clear the chips, and repeat until you're all the way down.
Then repeat the process for the other side.

I usually put the bit as far into the chuck as I can and still get good depth to the hole; it helps keep the bit from flexing to the side. After drilling both sides, I
take the block out of the vise,
adjust the bit as far out as it will work, or a touch longer than the tang, whichever comes first,
and drill the two side holes to full depth. For this I usually turn the press on, and carefully slide the block up onto the bit, one hole and then the other. When both are drilled tap all the dust out, then put the block back in the vise. This time you carefully drill on the centerline to cut out as much of the wood between the holes as possible. When all you can do is done, I once again take it out of the vise and- very carefully- move the piece back and forth, using the bit to mill out what's left. When done, you should have a tapered hole just about right for the tang to fit into with little slop in the fit.
If the fit is a little too tight, two things you can do. The best is to get a coarse round file and grind flats on two sides; that'll give you a narrow file that will fit into a slot and allow you to widen it to either side. The other way I only use if the hole is a little too shallow and the bit won't reach far enough to deepen it:
clamp the blade in a padded vise with the tang sticking out, and use a torch to heat the very end to a nice red, then push the block on. Making very sure you push it on proper way. It'll burn the hole the needed bit deeper, with a fair amount of smoke and stink**.

A while back I shot a sequence showing fitting a brass guard to a blade. In this case I cut and fitted a piece of antler(pictures of that to come on the other blade and grip I've got to work on). In this case I mixed up some epoxy, put some on the blade/guard juncture so they'd be locked together and sealed(no moisture or whatever can get in that way), then epoxied the blade and guard to the grip.

Shaping the grip was mostly done on the belt sander. I used a pretty coarse belt for this as there was a lot to remove. You can do the same thing with rasp, coping saw and sandpaper, this is just faster. Be aware that 'faster' means you can take off a LOT more material than you may realize a LOT faster than you think. A sharp belt cuts both faster and cooler, and clogs less than a dull one.

I only have a couple of pictures, as trying to do this with one hand and shoot with the other is tricky. One of these days I'll get daughter or someone over to help shoot this. Basically, I cut the sides to a little over the desired thickness,
then shape the top & bottom
Then rough in the rounds all the way around
Once at this point I switched to a finer belt to smooth things, then went to emery cloth(comes in 1" wide rolls) to finish it. Clamp the blade in a vise, then use a shoeshine motion to round and smooth things. You can also, if need be, use files and regular sandpaper to finish it. I'll take a couple of more pictures of this piece when it's done.


*The picture I took of the block all by itself, markings visible, turned out badly(very), so you'll have to do with this for now.

**On fitting a grip to a long tang that goes all the way through, some makers drill and rough out the hole, then heat the tang and burn it in so they have a tight fit along the whole length.

Note: if you need help getting the yard mowed,

don't wait too long.

Lady I work with has health problems and can't mow. The guy who'd done her yard for years is moving on to college(poor bastard), and the new guy recommended has disappeared. So she asked if I could mow it for her to hold it to a reasonable level until she can find someone.

Went over this morning. Let's just say that if the front had been much higher I'd have needed to find a scythe to go over it with before getting out the mower. Nice, thick grass damn near 18" high in a couple of spots. Finished cutting it, could have refilled my compost heap.

Now I need to pull out the belt sander and work on a couple of things. I shall endevour to return later with all my fingers intact.

And the band plays on

as the good people suffer. Kim takes note of changes in police guidelines, and 'changes' in the law that- supposedly- give homeowners and other honest citizens more leeway in protecting themselves and others without having to fear arrest.

The guidelines changes are fairly bloody awful:
Guidelines ordering police to respond to emergency calls within three hours and to attend less urgent incidents such as burglaries within three days have been drawn up by the Home Office.

The astonishing proposals were designed as 'national standards for local policing' in England and Wales.

They laid down a three-hour target for officers to reach an incident which 'requires policing intervention'.
Three effing hours. On emergency calls. That this is supposed to be an improvement on things tells you just how bad things have gotten. On the 'protection' for homeowners, take a look at the first paragraph:
Homeowners and 'have-a go-heroes' will be handed more legal protection to defend themselves against burglars and muggers without the fear of prosecution, the Government claimed last night.
Which sounds good. Until you get to:
Opposition leaders said it offered nothing new and was merely the Government's latest attempt to woo core Tory voters in Middle England.

They pointed out that even the right, in certain circumstances, to shoot dead a burglar already exists in current law.
Nick Herbert, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said: 'This is a typical Labour con – it will give no greater protection to householders confronted by burglars because it’s nothing more than a re-statement of the existing case law.'

He said key points were simply copied word-for-word from case law on self-defence and reasonable force. Mr Straw first came under fire for ransacking existing laws when he announced greater protection for 'have-a-go heroes' at Labour's annual party conference last September.
Which, if you have ever followed the news from (fg)Britain means 'Act in defense of yourself or others, and you'll likely go to jail. You WILL go to jail if you actually lay hands on the bad guy or use a weapon.'

Let's see, more freedom to act in self-defense without fear of arrest? Hang on...(unbuckle)hmmm, (buckle) nope, no monkeys flying out of my butt.

I'm not quite sure what to say about AP

in this. Anger, disgust, etc., are there, but just don't express the thoughts well.

AP stringer is 'embedded' with Taliban, and watches, photographs and videos a double murder. And AP writes about it in a very 'neutral' fashion.

The Taliban, now, they're easy: bloody-handed, murdering, often-illiterate savages serving a disgusting god and prophet. What to do's simple, too: tell NATO to get off its collective ass and help do the job of finding and killing the Taliban. All of them.

But AP? I don't know, would a whipping post in the town square or a gallows be more appropriate?

Not the most pleasant of times at work yesterday,

and woke up feeling like someone had been hitting my legs with sticks during the night. Despite no fronts forecast to move through, my hands are aching(at least not in rhythm with my knees). Some personal concerns, the kind that drag on you and make it hard to get moving.

Ever have an occasional day when you half-wish someone would run over you?

This just in: D.C. run by a bunch of statist GFW morons:

nobody surprised.

Here's what these geniuses are proposing for their new firearms regulations:

• Allowing an exception for handgun ownership for self-defense use inside the home.
• If you want to keep a handgun in your home, the MPD will have to perform ballistic testing on it before it can be legally registered.
• There will be a limit to one handgun per person for the first 90 days after the legislation becomes law.
• Firearms in the home must be stored unloaded and disassembled, and secured with either a trigger lock, gun safe, or similar device. The new law will allow an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home.
• Residents who legally register handguns in the District will not be required to have licenses to carry them inside their own homes.

More from the press release on Chief Lanier's proposed rules for how D.C. residents must go about registering handguns below the jump.

Registration procedures for a handgun purchased for self-defense in a District residence:

1. A District resident who seeks to register a handgun must obtain an application form from MPD’s Firearms Registration Section and take it to a firearms dealer for assistance in completing it.

2. The applicant must submit photos, proof of residency and proof of good vision (such as a driver’s license or doctor’s letter), and pass a written firearms test.

3. If the applicant is successful on the test, s(he) must pay registration fees and submit to fingerprinting. MPD will file one set of fingerprints and submit the other to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis and criminal background check.

4. MPD will notify the applicant whether all registration requirements are satisfied. At that point, the applicant returns to the Firearms Registration Section to complete the process and receive MPD’s seal on the application.

5. The applicant takes his or her completed application to a licensed firearm dealer to take delivery of the pistol. If the dealer is outside the District, the dealer transports the pistol to a licensed dealer in the District to complete the transaction.

6. The applicant takes the pistol to the Firearms Registration Section for ballistics testing. When testing is complete, the applicant may retrieve the pistol and take it home.

Registration procedures for a handgun legally registered in another jurisdiction, or a handgun possessed in the District but not registered:

1. Applicants bringing a firearm from another jurisdiction into the District must transport it immediately to the Firearms Registration Section, or notify the Section that they will do so within 48 hours.

2. MPD will allow the registration of previously possessed handguns other than those that qualify as “machine guns” under District law (that is, all automatics and most semiautomatic pistols) for the next six months. During that period, the Office of the Attorney General has established an Amnesty policy not to prosecute anyone for unregistered possession of such a handgun when it is brought to MPD for registration, although those who have committed other crimes with firearms of course remain subject to prosecution.

3. Regulations for registering handguns in either of these two scenarios are similar to those for newly-purchased handguns, but do not require the assistance of a licensed firearms dealer.

Rules for transporting firearms legally within the District:

1. When the law allows transporting a firearm legally, the owner must transport it unloaded and securely wrapped in a package, with the package visible in plain view.

Along with the other bullcrap, there's no time limit set for how long they can take for the background check or the 'ballistics test', just how high the fees will be, how long/involved/insane the written test will be... In other words, they want to make it so difficult and expensive and dragged out that fewer people will want to/be able to jump through the hoops. And don't you just love the 'an exception for a firearm while it is being used against an intruder in the home' crap? And the ballistics testing garbage is nothing but another delay.

As one of the comments says, legal challenges start in 3, 2, 1...

Yeah, it's Monday

This getting home late and up early stuff sucks. Especially when you've gotten into the habit of checking news after you become conscious. Such as:
Canada isn't the only place with media/government problems. In this particular case, it's not PC motivated, it's 'politicians covering ass by threatening media' motivated.

Remember the Obamessiah's 'Presidential' seal? Well, the ego on this clown could sink a battleship by sheer weight:
In a speech in Madison, Wis., Obama told his supporters that rallying to his cause was today’s equivalent of the “greatest generation” rallying to defeat Hitler and Tojo. Oprah merely calls him, “The One,” saying he will help us “evolve to a higher plane.”
If McCain or most anyone else said this kind of crap, they'd be roasted in the media; but our major media is still collectively getting a thrill up their leg(as in 'wetting our pants like excited little kids') about Barack Hussein Obama, so that won't happen. And the noted comment demonstrates that Oprah doesn't need to lose weight, she needs to get rid of fat in her brain. 'The One'? She's freakin' nuts.

Oh, and if the Barack ever actually comes up with a 'war plan' we can understand, let alone actually use, it'll be amazing.

Saw a commercial the other day about a series HBO is doing called 'Generation Kill', about our troops. According to this, my fears appear to be right.

Oh yeah, Schumer says "It's not MY fault"(big surprise). The problems at the place go way back; that doesn't mean Schumer's actions had no effect. I think the man is either flat stupid, or actually wanted to make sure the place failed. The man is on the Banking Committee; he has to know that if he sends a letter like that to the public, it's going to make things worse, which means either A: stupid or B: wanted it to happen.

Insty has a BUNCH of stuff on The Obama and his past in this post.

Pennsylvania Democrat party has a problem.

Further PSH on display.

Geez, things are interesting all over.

Theodore Roosevelt had some good points

and some bad. Guess which ones both of these morons are talking about following? I'd guess their plan does not include this part of Roosevelts' beliefs:

‘In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.

But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American

...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all.

We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language…

and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.’*

And McCain? You may pass for 'conservative' in the current national-level Stupid Party, but that counts for squat; you're not, you know it, you just don't care because you think we're supposed to take orders from you instead of the other way around. Screw you. The only reason I'd vote for you is Obama is showing himself to be even more of a socialist prick than previously revealed; and you keep working hard to make yourself not the least-repulsive Democrat in the race, just the least-damaging to the country(at least, so far as I know, he hasn't gone to the lengths of that effing idiot Schumer to mess things up). Not exactly a way to get people to want to vote for you.

By the way, on Schumer and his "Don't blame me!": what kind of idiot publishes a letter like that, under conditions like these, and then thinks he can deny any responsibility in the problems caused by it?
A socialist hypocrite politician, of course.

The new Fuzzy Bunny Movie Guns

web page is up.