I am moved to write a bit about forging,

back when. As in when I was working it every chance I had(no, it's not quite the Devonian Age; shut up). Was married back then, and the house had a six-foot-square garden shed; after I built my big forge(more on that later) I fabricated a hood and chimney and put it in the shed. So figure a 6x6' space with a two-foot-wide forge, stump and anvil, and- after I found one I could afford and repair- a post vise mounted to a stud opposite the forge. No, not much room; but I did one hell of a lot of work in that place. Knife blades and guards and pommels, fireplace tools, camping stuff, candleholders and a bunch more(I've got pictures around somewhere, but right now I'm too beat to dig for them; I'll try to add them later).

Now, there were really only two drawbacks to that setup: one was heat in hot weather, and the other was noise. Yes, I had a pair of earmuffs, and wore them when I could(no earplugs; God, what I'd have given for a couple of sets of good ones); couldn't wear them all the time. Light pieces, no real problem, but when it came to big stuff- say, 1/2" high-carbon stock or 3/4" mild steel and up, or forging a damascus billet... that anvil rings. LOUD. The original Security Staff ignored it most of the time, but on those pieces, this one
would stand outside the door and howl; between the two, it got damn loud.

I mentioned heat, did I not? Ok, think of a 90+ degree day, and you're in a six-foot square space with a fire hot enough to burn steel, and a bunch of hot steel; I think working in a steel mill couldn't have been any worse. The rule is you wear long sleeves and pants, boots, etc.
Yeah, right.
In that weather I'd wear shorts and a t-shirt with a bandana tied around my head to try to soak up the sweat before it could drip down my glasses. And I'd drink constantly. Actually, 90+-degree days with low humidity weren't too bad: just drink enough. High-humidity days... On the former it really didn't feel bad to me(either my temp sense was fried or I was just used to it), in large part because in that heat the sweat dried fast. The latter days, you sogged. The shirt, the shorts were soaked and almost dripping, and no matter how much you drank it didn't seem to be enough.

God knows why I'm still alive.

Which brings me to what started this trip down memory lane: it comes and goes, and right now I've got that sound like something running in the other room living in my left ear. Between shooting when I was a kid, before plugs and muffs were commonly available, and all the hammering later, my ears give me hell at times. I guess they match up with the hell my hands(and sometimes an elbow*) give me over it all.

Oh, and add in the coal smoke, and oil smoke from quenching blades. Small ones weren't bad, but big ones... in hot weather I could set the quench tub just outside the door, but cold days I'd have to have it in with me: small pieces cool off so fast in cold weather there was no choice. When I finally was able to get a bucket of actual quenching oil, it made a big difference; still smoked, but not quite as much, and didn't smell as bad as motor oil.


*I don't blame the shoulder on this; it's from the damned bicycle crash. As I said at the time: "I've been riding motorcycles for years, gone rappelling, scuba diving, done SCA combat and other crap, and what damn near puts me in the hospital? A bicycle."
And if you're wondering, yes, the kids wore plugs or muffs from the time of their first shots; by that time I'd been able to get some of each.

This month's E-Postal Match

is up over here; its- SQUIRRELS!

Auroras as seen from orbit

Frikkin' amazing

About covers it:

Found over at Ace

Brian Ross of ABC: miserable, corrupt, bigoted, vile

scum-sucking excuse for a reporter. And ABC News for letting him go on the air with this without asking "What the hell do you mean
“There is a Jim Holmes of Aurora, CO, uh Paige, on the Colorado Tea Party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last summer. We don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes, but it is Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.”
YOU DON"T KNOW IF IT'S THE SAME GUY? And you want to go on the air with this?"

ABC News: Still screwing the story around to be what they want.

Some first-aid gear on sale

over here, here, here, here. Looks like some other stuff, too.


The Stupid Party strikes again; more and more I'm leaning toward a third party, because neither of the two currently in the running are worth a crap.
“Through the lack of aggressive leadership by the Republicans, two things are happening,” this correspondent observed. “People who want to come forward with information, information that I have and can now not share, are backing off because they’re scared that they’re going to be left out to hang.”

“That’s frightening,” Walters remarked. “Frightening. Free society? Free? These people are petrified of their own government and won’t open their mouths.”

Indeed. And these are but two instances with which Gun Rights Examiner has had direct recent experience. That similar reluctance to get involved is probably more widespread seems a reasonable assumption, and it’s fair to ask what more the public isn’t learning-- and may never know--because those who do see no personal “up” side in coming forward and plenty of sobering reasons not to.


Southern California Edison: You suck. Cowardly, suck-up-to-politicians bastards.


I think I mentioned this before: why Make A Wish can kiss my ass.

Now, aside from the nearly Abbott and Costello level

of comedy provided by that clip, it also offers us a rare opportunity to observe, first-hand, a legitimate defensive gun use.
...
On the other hand, however, we also know that the .380 – underpowered or not – effectively stopped the crime cold due to one simple truth: people do not like being shot. The perpetrators obviously were not expecting armed resistance, and the very second that first shot was sent towards them… well, you saw their reactions.

The general saying is The ideal self-defense gun is the one you actually have on you when you need it. Which gets back to Yes, a .45 or a 15-round-mag 9mm is better than a .380 or .32 or .22; but the small stuff beats hell out of a goblin-stomper that's back home because you couldn't/wouldn't carry it today.

Dirty Laundry

Some definite NSFW language and goblin-stomping

Yeah, he just happened to be trying to get to Pakistan

through that area at just that time... and now he's a suicide bomber? Yeah, I'm sure it's Bush's fault


The new acting BATFE director: new boss, same "Cause a problem and we'll screw you" as the old boss. From one of the people they have/area screwing:
You need to know that when the Town Hall was scheduled to come to the San Francisco Field Office, I contacted San Francisco Management staff to advise I would like to participate. We had all been advised in writing by one of the ASAC’s that “All active employees (which I am) are encouraged to attend.” I was also advised that all questions and concerns must be submitted in writing ahead of time, so that ATF would have the questions or concerns by close of business one week in advance. So I submitted my questions. I drove (on my own dime) over 200 miles to attend. At close of business on July 10, (the night before) I was advised I would not be allowed to attend. You may want to know about this action by ATF against one of ATF’s so-called “whistleblowers.” I have said nothing publicly.
And this from another:
The problem is the whistleblowers I know have all played by the rules and presented complaints to first, second and third level supervisors, the Ombudsmans office, Internal Affiars, the EEOC, the OIG and OSC, Congress and finally the media. None that I am personally aware of immediately jumped tough and put themselves in front of a reporter or camera. What Acting Director Jones does not discuss is the utter lack of interest when whistleblowers follow the rules. He talks as if the process is balanced but the truth is it is a one-way street. You get NO attention or concern until an executive is embarrassed in the media. Not even an acknowlegement of a complaint beyond a boilerplate email - thank you for your interest; we are very concerned; blah, etc.

Lump the Changecast message with the institutional history of ATF retaliations (still ongoing). Then add in guys like Thomasson who openly state their intent to trainwreck whistleblowers (when interviewed on his statement claimed that he "did not know and does not care"). Take the managers in Phoenix who attacked and derailed the lives of honest agents like Forcelli and Canino and have not been held accountable (Thomasson's plan being enacted). And then top it off with a "no oversight" policy for the Office of Chief Counsel who has an undeniable track record of whistleblower ambushes. What does that leave you?
Screwed over by your 'leadership', that's what.

Went to Dealer Days this morning,

and tried out three guns*. First was the Sig P390:
Think of their little .380; now stretch it just enough to handle 9x19mm. A fraction under 6" long, 4" high and just over 1" thick; weight without magazine, 1lb the Sig site says. Can't tell that much from five rounds**, but it shot nicely, right to point of aim at 5 yards; and it was quite controllable, the recoil of 9mm ball was no problem.

Next, the new Ruger 22/45 Lite:
Take the 22/45 with a polymer frame, and make the barrel & receiver of aluminum with a stainless insert for the barrel, and the muzzle threaded in case you want to get a suppressor for it. Weighs a grand total of 22.8 oz. And yes, those are grip screws you see, you can change them out; the rep said standard 1911 grips will fit. Shot quite well(you get ten rounds of .22).


Third was this lovely:
S&W 1911SC; scandium-frame 1911 with a bobtail. A: I want one. B: at the price listed, not going to happen for the foreseeable future. That bobbed grip fit my hands beautifully, and the weight was about the same as my Officer's Model.


They had reps from Benelli, Springfield, S&W, Taurus, Beretta, Blade Tech, Trijicon, and several others, all with stuff out for you to drool over. I also found the ACOG I want; however, it costs more than the S&W above, which is also more than the value of any firearm I own. So that's not happening either.

*Trying out everything I would like to would cost about another, oh, way too much.
**Anyone wants to supply one of these various arms for a more extended test, I would be most happy to accommodate their desire(hint hint)

H&H range is having Dealer Days starting Thursday

and running through Saturday, I believe. Lots of factory reps showing new stuff, and you can buy tickets to try out guns that interest you.

Someone posted video of themselves doing 180

on a public road, and the expected uproar resulted. Marko notes a dumbass comment:
“Aaah…how, exactly, was a guy on a motorcycle going to kill anyone? Most likely case: he crashes into a car, and he dies.”
As Marko notes, that's a big physics fail: say 400 pounds of bike, 150 pounds of rider at those speeds... he hits a car, the people in the car are in danger, and the car's going to be trashed.
Which reminded me of something, and I was able to find this from Sweden: idiot on a Honda doing about 155mph hit a Volkswagon. The impact actually flipped the car, with the bike embedded. Three people dead.
At 250 KM (155 mph) the operator is traveling at 227 feet per second. With normal reaction time to SEE-DECIDE-REACT of 1.6 seconds the above operator would have traveled over 363 feet while making a decision on what actions to take. In this incident the Swedish police indicate that no [such] actions were taken.
I'll bet the dumbass never even realized he was about to hit something.

"What? TSA obey orders from a judge?

That's what you serfs do." Kind of like if you're a official pretend cop in Philadelphia, you can violate the laws you want to put other people in jail for.

Which reminds me of Amtrak and guns: a judge ordered them that, if airlines could safely transport firearms as baggage then a train damn well could so do it; and the bastards took a full year to 'study the problem and develop procedures'.

Someone noted another Penn State problem:

their 'investigation and clearing' of Michael Mann, someone else who was bringing in a lot of money.


Speaking of dirtbags involved in bad stuff, our tax-cheat Treasury Secretary:
But it doesn’t end there: There’s also evidence that top regulators, including Geithner, now Treasury secretary, knew about and largely ignored the mess.

On Friday, the New York Fed released documents that supposedly exonerate Geithner. Selective leaks to friendly news outlets ensured kind first-day coverage, with one headline reading “Geithner tried to curb bank’s rate rigging in 2008.”

But that’s a bizarrely generous read of Geithner’s action (or inaction) on learning that Barclays actually admitted to one of his investigators that it had submitted false data for the computation of Libor, and that other banks were doing the same.

As I wrote last week, the New York Fed has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the banks under its regulatory umbrella — ignoring even the stuff that brought down the financial system in 2008.

Lake County So, FL: We'll knock at the wrong door

at 0130 in the morning, and then shoot you, and then say it's your fault you're dead.

"It's just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you're going to get shot," Herrell said.
Really? First, I've got that nasty suspicion he DIDN'T point it at them, they just saw it in his hand and murdered him. And that's exactly what it is.
Second, how about you, first, go to the RIGHT ADDRESS? Third- oh, hell, this is just sickening.

Wonder if any of them waved a blue dress?

Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armoured cars carrying Clinton’s delegation in the port city of Alexandria.
...
Protesters chanted: “Monica, Monica”, a reference to Former President Bill Clinton’s extra-marital affair. Some chanted: “leave, Clinton”, Egyptian security officials said.
Provincials... don't they know getting blown isn't supposed to count as sex anymore?

Added: the Arab Spring Obama and Clinton were so happy about rolls on:
As published by The Christian Post, a video was recently shown on Egyptian television reportedly depicting the literal carving-off of the head of a bound Tunisian man who had abandoned Islam and converted to Christianity.

Having screwed up decongestants in the name of

Saving The Children In The War On (some)Drugs, the morons are now after cough medicine.


Speaking of morons, the title of this is The 40-year-old Reversion, but it ought to be Stupid Adults Who Want To Be Stupid Teenagers Again. The levels of weapons-grade stupid, arrogance and "But I WANT it!" is friggin' amazing.

McCain and Graham, two senators who need

a reminder that they can be removed from that taxpayer-supplied office if they betray us.*

And the Stupid Party needs reminding of what will happen if it kicks us again. If that happens, I think there WILL be a third party formed, because "What good does it do to support the GOP if it takes us for granted?" I think an awful lot of people registered as Democrats will move to it, too.