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

I've mentioned I don't like working on ladders,

I also don't like working in trees with a saw. Especially when the wind is blowing like God turned on the sandblaster. But the limbs in question needed to come down, and I had time, so...

Happily I did not have to plead with the dog to call 911, especially since she was so comfortably stretched out in the grass, front paws crossed, watching the boss sway and saw and drop things. And then I noticed some of the guttering on the house had the nails pulling out, so I dug up the cordless- which needed charging, of course- and the gutter screws I picked up a while back and moved the ladder over to take care of that, and scoop out all the crap that had collected in it since it had sagged a bit and wouldn't drain as it should.

I'd rather clean guns, really dirty ones, than do that stuff.

Not having small kids around I'm not familiar with

the up & coming slutettes, so it was in a post at SondraK that I found this.

First, the photographer ought to have a boot up her ass for suggesting and pushing it.
Second, her parents left her with this idiot? After being around show and fashion business for years?
Third, they let her watch Sluts and the City?

Damn.

A few interesting things

When the dirtbags who charged you start asking for a plea bargain, you know- and they know- they've screwed the pooch.

Leslie Fish, who I mentioned a while back, is putting together a CD titled 'Lock and Load', with Oleg Volk doing the cover. I want a copy.

Uncle asks again "Why are anti-gun activists so violent?"
As I was reading the Bible in my office, I reflected on all the childish name-calling by the professor. It was then I realized that a partial gun ban is necessary. Specifically, I concluded that liberals cannot be allowed to own guns, much less carry them on our college campuses. If they cannot control their emotions enough to engage in rational debate, they cannot be expected to handle a firearm responsibly. Handguns were not made for people with shaking hands and raised voices. They were made for those with self-control.
He also notes that Barack H. Obamessiah is now coming out of his closet on gun control. And- big surprise- lying while he does it.

And the gentleman at Random Nuclear Strikes is posting disgusting photos from Boomershoot. I have no doubt that some of the other dirty bastardslucky people who were able to make it will post more.

'Night, all.

Another "We didn't actually investigate

before we kicked in the door" raid. But at least nobody's dead.
Brooklyn Park police were looking for a meth lab, but they found a fish tank and the chemicals needed to maintain it.

And a few hours later, when the city sent a contractor to fix the door the police had smashed open Monday afternoon, it was obvious the city was trying to fix a mistake.
...
"Ohmigod," Adams said as she recalled police breaking down her door and flashing the search warrant. "I just kept saying to them, 'you've got the wrong house.' "

Police soon realized that themselves.

Then we read the obligatory "From a cursory view, it doesn't look like our officers did anything wrong," said Capt. Greg Roehl.
Oh, of COURSE not.
Roehl said the drug task force was acting on a tip from a subcontractor for CenterPoint Energy, who had been in the home Friday to install a hot water heater.

"He got hit with a chemical smell that he said made him light headed, feel kind of nauseous," Roehl said.

The smell was vinegar, and maybe pickling lime, which were clearly marked in a bathroom Mr. Adams uses to mix chemicals for his salt water fish tank.

"I said, 'I call it his laboratory for his fish tanks,' " Mrs. Adams said, recalling her conversation with the CenterPoint technician. "I'm looking at the fish tank talking to this guy."
Isn't it just wonderful? Especially followed by this:
Police say there was no extended investigation, just an interview with the subcontractor.

"Everything this person told us turned out to be true, with the exception of what the purpose of the lab was," Roehl said.(my bold)

Just friggin' amazing. It says the victims are looking for a lawyer, and I hope they sue the ass off these people.

And I wonder what they'd consider an 'extended investigation': maybe actually looking at the house and, I don't know, investigating before they got a warrant and kicked in the door? And if one of the officers had misjudged or just slipped and killed or crippled one of the victims, we'd still be hearing the "It was a terrible tragedy, but the officers were following procedures" excuse that almost always gets trotted out.

Plastic bullets: an experiment

No, not the bullets you load into a pistol case and fire with primer alone, a plastic bullet that you load with a light powder charge and shoot. I read about these in a post at The High Road, looked up the site and decided to get a bag to try out.
They're some kind of hard plastic with a copper gas check on the base, .30 caliber, weigh 19 grains and are .660" long. The company had no load information, and the guy at THR said he'd tried them in a .308 with 'a few grains of Bullseye'. I decided to try them with 2400: I've had good results with it and it goes through a powder measure a lot more smoothly than Bullseye tends to.
DISCLAIMER
This is completely new territory, I just picked a powder I thought suitable and a weight to start with. I make no guarantees for my own loads on this, or anyone trying them.
I mean it, dammit.
I decided on 5.0 grains and loaded ten rounds of .30-30. The plastic body extends slightly out past the gas check, so you'll have to bell the case mouth a touch so as not to shave any off, same as with cast bullets. I seated these so the gas check was just a touch below the mouth, then did just enough crimp to close the bell, not enough to actually crimp onto the bullet. Was able to try them today, on the 30-yard range at H&H, target below:
Not a hugely impressive group, but I will note that this was iron sights on a range where the target line is a bit dimly-lit, and only a forend rest. I think with better light I could have held them to a tighter group.

Noise was low, which you'd expect with that load in a rifle, and recoil was pretty much non-existent, no more than a .22. For introducing a kid to a .30-caliber rifle these would work very nicely, give them a chance to handle a 'big' rifle without worrying about recoil. And a bag of 100 runs $5, so cheap bullets for light practice loads. Not bad.

Added notes:
The gas check itself runs right at .308" on the several I checked with a caliper: the body of the bullet right above the check considerably larger, ranging from .311 to .314.

Cleaning was standard, a couple of patches with bore cleaner wiped through, then a couple of dry.

One last thing before I say goodnight

Go read this: The View From Gate 14.
And, as always: Why do we do this when you know I am not a terrorist, and you know I know you know I am not a terrorist? Why this costly and harassing kabuki when we both know the facts, and would agree that all this harassment is the government's way of showing "fairness," of showing that it will equally humiliate anyone in order to show its high-mindedness and sense of justice? Our politicians congratulate themselves on this as we stand in line.
...
Here's some comfort for him, for all Democrats. In Lubbock, Texas – Lubbock Comma Texas, the heart of Texas conservatism – they dislike President Bush. He has lost them. I was there and saw it. Confusion has been followed by frustration has turned into resentment, and this is huge. Everyone knows the president's poll numbers are at historic lows, but if he is over in Lubbock, there is no place in this country that likes him. I made a speech and moved around and I was tough on him and no one – not one – defended or disagreed. I did the same in North Carolina recently, and again no defenders. I did the same in Fresno, Calif., and no defenders, not one.

I have to wonder, does the Republican Party, the bigshots on the national level, have any real idea just how close people really are to getting a big pot and starting the tar heating?

I've been listening today to the words of Obama's preacher,

and that he's been sitting in the congregation for twenty years nodding his head to this guy, and had him as his 'spiritual advisor', makes it even more plain: we do NOT want this clown in the Oval Office. Preferably not even as a visitor.

Zoo: The Pictures

Some of them, anyway

Took more than I'd thought, but missed a few great shots, mostly because some critter wouldn't hold still. Among what I did get:

The standard-issue meercat pose
made famous on that Animal Planet show. Which I don't watch. Yeah, they're cute, but you can get overloaded on that.

"It is spring, human, look upon my handsomeness you featherless twit."
This sucker was walking around and displaying for at least ten minutes. And when we saw him from another angle a while later, he was still at it. Either the hens weren't buying, or he was bragging.

In the Oklahoma Trail section, there're a bunch of native birds, and a lot of them were nesting
in this case a Killdeer. No, I don't know how they got that name.

Further along they had a couple of young (I'd say) grizzly bears. This one had found a sport bottle someone dropped or threw in, and was having fun with it.
He swatted and chased it clear down to the end and into the water
More on the bears later.

And we have the Bald Eagle
She was brought in a few years ago with about have of one wing missing. They treated her and made a place for her. It was pretty small, but it's not now: she's got a BIG area, which she patrols like a small velociraptor. Daughter saw her fed one day: there's a stump they put rats on, and she works her way around, peeks over the edge, then reaches up and snaps it up, then carries it off to feed. For an eagle unable to fly, it's a pretty good life.

Also in the 'local fauna' trail, a prarie rattler.
Along with Eastern & Western Diamondbacks, copperheads and a whole bunch of others. These didn't bother my friend much, but the herpetarium was another matter: she was a bit on the nervous side. Until we reached the damn big anaconda and equally big reticulated python. Which, in enclosures or not, were considered cause to get the hell out of the building.

Like I mentioned the other day, they've done a hell of a lot of work the last ten-fifteen years, everything from much better enclosures for the critters to some breeding programs that have gone very well. I think I'm going to enjoy having that entry pass.

Friend was in town, and hit the zoo Saturday

They've been improving the place a lot over the last few years. Entire areas rebuilt, new critters, new places for old critters.

Among the two new critters are a pair of grizzly, a pair of black bears and a 'Oklahoma Trail' that includes Mexican Red Wolves, coyotes, bats and a mountain lion. Some pictures taken, I'll try to post some of them later.

My daughter talked me into getting a pass, which means I can go back any time for the rest of the year. I'll be making use of it.

Today's dose of liberal condescension

is found here. Take a look at it. A couple of excerpts:
After succeeding at that, they then settled the American Frontier, suffering Indian raids and fighting for their lives every step of the way. And the Southern frontiersmen never got over their hatred of the East Coast elites and a belief in the morality and nobility of defying them. Their champion was the Indian-fighter Andrew Jackson. The outcome was that a substantial portion of the new nation developed, over many generations, a rather savage, unsophisticated set of mores. Traditionally, it has been balanced by a more diplomatic, communitarian Yankee sensibility from the Northeast and upper Midwest. But that latter sensibility has been losing ground in population numbers--and cultural weight.

and
Barack Obama seems to be so leery of being identified as an urban Northern liberal that he's running away from the most obvious explanation of his association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and former Weatherman Bill Ayers: after Obama graduated from college he became an inner-city organizer in Chicago, and they were natural allies for someone in a situation like that.

and
We routinely demonize organizations like the United Nations that we desperately need and which are critical to missions like nation-building in Afghanistan. On foreign policy, the realism and internationalism of the Eastern elitist tradition once kept the Southern-frontier warrior culture and Wilsonian messianism in check. Now the latter two, in toxic combination, have taken over our national dialogue, and the Easterners are running for the hills.

and
In Bush there seems little trace left of the Eastern WASP sensibility into which he was born and educated, and which explains so much of his father's far more moderate presidency.

You get the picture.

A not-bad article in the BBC news on firearms ownership

and the US. Couple of points they don't seem to get, but overall not bad.
At the moment, there is an effort being made to overturn a ban on some types of weapon in Washington DC.

Among those dead against this plan - those who claim it would turn the nation's capital into the Wild West - is a lanky black man (he looks like a basketball player) called Anwan Glover.

Anwan peeled off articles of clothing for our cameras and revealed that he had been shot nine times.

One bullet is still lodged in an elbow.

His younger brother was shot and killed a few months ago.

Anwan was speaking to us in a back alley in north-east Washington. If you heard a gun shot in this neighbourhood you would not feel surprised.
is followed by
Why is it then that so many Americans - and foreigners who come here - feel that the place is so, well, safe?
I could wish they'd noted that it's in DC, with the handgun ban and extreme restrictions on rifles & shotguns, that that Anwan got shot to pieces, and his brother killed; it's in the 'Wild West' areas that this crap very rarely happens. For the reason that- along with a better social situation in general- the good people are armed and won't put up with the crap that happens in DC.

They end with this:
It is an odd fact that a nation we associate - quite properly - with violence is also so serene, so unscarred by petty crime, so innocent of brawling.

Virginia Tech had the headlines in the last few days and reminded us of the violence for which the US is well known.

But most American lives were as peaceful on this anniversary as they are every day.
Don't you just love that they talk about A story of an inability to get to grips with violence. in the US in the same article in which they note
I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

Sounds like, with all our problems, we're not the ones showing an 'inability to get to grips with violence': we're just doing it in ways they don't approve of.

There are just different standards, you see...

Friend came up for Med Fair, stayed over Saturday night. I had to leave early Sunday for setup, which led to this conversation later:
Me: Did you leave a mess in the bathroom for me to clean up?
Her: ME leave a mess?!? You need to clean in there!
Me: It's clean, there's nothing growing in there.
Her: It smells!
Me: It's a bathroom, not the kitchen, bathrooms always smell different.
Her:.......(disgusted look)

Remember I mentioned that at times I'm sorry

we still don't have a whipping post in the town square?

This is one of those times. At the LEAST the miserable bastard deserves that.

Now. Go.

Read. And be careful if a radio show calls you.

Let's see: Obama has made his opinion clear on

people of religious faith and gun owners(like about 2/3 of the people in this state), that he wants to raise taxes, that he wants the government to 'take care of us'(after all, the government can spend your money more 'equally' than you can, so shut up and open your wallet!); he's spent twenty years sitting in the pews nodding at the words of a preacher who despises this country and his wife has made it plain that this is a mean, unfeeling country in her mind, so who does our governor endorse?

Obama, of course.

Both picked up superdelegate endorsements on Wednesday — Obama from Gov. Brad Henry of Oklahoma, who called him an inspirational leader who can unite the United States.

Obama's a uniter. He's 'inspirational'(except when he's not on a teleprompter, or actually admitting what he thinks). Etc.

I have only one question: just what did Obama promise Henry?

Someone needs to explain to the Deputy Chief

that protecting yourself is NOT 'vigilantism'. Moron.

Thanks to Sondra for pointing this out.

Hoooah!

The sharks don't stand a chance!

Gee, wonder if she'll have trouble filling that order?

Unfortunately, there's a bunch of them out there: they haven't figured out that a man who can and will love, provide for and protect will not put up with being treated like an inferior being.

If this mess is for real

then Britain is screwed. As Kim says, a few weeks earlier on time and I'd think it was a prank. On the other hand, his commenters from Britain seem to think there'd be some bitching but everyone would roll over for it simply because their government doesn't five a flying crap what they think about it. Or anything else.

We'll see.


Update: it's in the Daily Mail, too, pointed out by Theo.

There's apparently something about a man in uniform

that brings out the stupidity in these clowns.

I'm not quoting the jerk, just pointing you that way so you can get the full flavor of his contempt. And idiocy.

One of the interesting things about this garbage is that Petraeus uses the language he does because if the spoke to some of these morons in Congress plainly, they- and their buttmonkeys like Cavett- would be having screaming fits because "He's not showing respect for Congress!" But he uses proper language- in a show where some of the morons are desperately hoping to make him look stupid- and they bitch and whine that he doesn't 'speak plainly'.

Arrogant, stupid, unknowing fools.

Friend just relayed this to me

From a friend in Europe:
"We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an
election.

On one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a
lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a woman with a huge
chest who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?"

Generally, I like to listen to Glenn Beck,

but on some things he ranges from 'Kind of Irritating' to 'Freakin' Jackass'. Lately he's been at bloody high 'Jackass' level over two things: oil and food.

Oil, he's tended to push things like "The Saudis are opening up their LAST FIELD! DISASTER IS COMING!" and, the one he's really been hitting the last week or so, "Food shortages! Food riots! Stock up NOW!"

I believe in being prepared, and that includes having enough non-perishables to carry you for at least a couple of days in case of weather or other disaster/emergency, but some of the "Get ready just in case of long-term shortages!" stuff reminds me of the people predicting collapse when the clock rolled over to 2000. You know, the people who found themselves with big piles of stuff that some of them had gone into debt to buy?

I fully realize there are problems out there, including the shortages of some things caused by the idiot bio-fuel programs. But I had to turn the guy off today, because I'm flat sick of hearing it.

Oh, the other thing that he's been saying for quite a while was "How much does gas have to cost before it really affects people?" I sent him a quick message on the line of "What the hell makes you think it didn't start affecting people a long time ago? At $2/gallon it affected people; at $2.50 it was worse, and at over $3 it's MUCH worse, so stop asking that stupid question." Now the bit is "How high does gas have to get before the economy collapses?", so maybe enough people hit him on the former to get the point across.

I didn't know Bill "I am not terrorist scum!" Ayers

had a blog. No, I'm not linking directly to it. Since Gentleman Cuffy has saved us from having to dredge through the place, I'm linking to him. He's found such gems as:
We went underground after an explosion killed my girl-friend and two other close friends, and we decided to stay free rather get entangled in the criminal justice nightmare. We wanted to survive what we saw as an impending American fascism in order to fight the empire. We wanted to organize the armed struggle.
...
We were never “terrorists,” never attacking people to frighten or coerce them. The US forces in Viet Nam were terrorists. I’m not a tactician, however, and I think tactics always have to flow from the conditions you find, and the goals you have. When we destroyed property, symbolic targets of war and racism, an overwhelming majority of Americans opposed the war as thousands of Vietnamese were being slaughtered every week in our name. We were the anti-terrorists.

So blowing up places was not to 'frighten or coerce' people. Hmmmm, can I have a chorus of "Bullshit!"? And the plan to bomb the Army dance? Where many people would have been killed and injured? Doesn't that count as 'frightening or coercing' people?

The fact that so many want to cover up for this terrorist canker sore, and Obama had no problem with associating with him until people took active note of it, is just flat disgusting.

Oh Britain, how you have

fallen:
While the French were flying six of the captured pirates to Paris to face trial, the British Foreign Office issued a directive to the once vaunted Royal Navy not to detain any pirates, because doing so could violate their human rights. British warships patrolling the pirate-infested waters off Somalia were advised that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain and that those who were returned to Somalia faced beheading for murder or a hand chopped off for theft under Islamic law.

Captured pirates. Claim asylum. Thieves and rapists and murderers, and the Foreign Office is concerned about their welfare more than about the crimes they commit. Damn.

In 2007, 433 crew members were either taken hostage, assaulted, injured or killed by pirates. Three seafarers are still missing and presumed dead. According to the International Maritime Bureau, the anti-piracy watchdog of the International Chamber of Commerce, over the past 10 years 3,200 seafarers have been kidnapped, 500 injured and 160 killed.
To that I'll add "that we know of." In the case of smaller boats(awright, 'ships'), if they disappear nobody knows if they were murdered by these dirtbags or lost in bad weather or any of the other things that can kill you at sea(kind of like someone disappearing while diving or fishing and no body found; shark, drowning or what?)

I'll make a suggestion for the navies patrolling out there: pirates, if not shot in taking the ship, are to be given trial and, if convicted, hanged. Or stood on the rail and shot. If there are no hostages on the ship, give them one chance to surrender, and then sink them if they don't. It'd probably make a large dent in piracy pretty damn quick.

For that matter, cruise ships should have some kind of clearance to have some small arms, rifles and a light machinegun and crew trained with them, in any waters for defense of ship and passengers. Of course, idiots like the Foreign Office and various governments that shit bricks at the very thought of armed peasantssailors not in their navy would have more painful bowel movements at the very thought; after all, better to have a bunch of kidnapped and murdered sailors and passengers than armed sailors and dead pirates.

Right?

Point taken,

Chris


Updated: I see Kim has weighed in on this.

Jimmy Carter was elected in the first Presidential election I could vote in. I was just getting really interested in some parts of the politics of this country, and I wasn't happy about his winning. Not that I was really happy with Gerald Ford, but I was even less thrilled with Carter.


Then came a whole lot of things that took me from not being happy with him to flat-out disliking him. Two things in particular:

The first was his attitude of "Don't blame me because a bunch of things I've done haven't worked out; if you had the right attitude, things would be fine." His willingness to believe every dictator and terrorist around and smile and make agreements with them- even knowing they'd break them- while, at the same time, crapping on our allies... A while back someone wrote that they thought Carter was the first 'process' President: didn't really seem to matter if the outcome was good as long as he thought the process was properly carried out. Which is one of the most idiotic things I can think of, but it fits*.

The second was the treatment of the Shah of Iran, and his actions leading to, during and after the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. That's been gone over many times, I'm not going to review it here.

I'd not had any opinion of his wife, Roselyn, until one day back in the early 80's when I happened to change channels one day and she was on the 'Donahue' show(I was bored, so shut up). It was kind of amazing. She'd just started in on President Reagan, and the venom that came leaking out was shocking to me. Main line I remembered was her venting on the hostages being released just as Reagan was inaugurated and that it was generally accepted that the Iranian government figured Reagan would stomp on them, hard, in some way. She went on a tear about "Jimmy could have bombed or shot or something, but WE tried to do it the RIGHT way. And then Reagan came in and threatened people and messed things up." Not exact words, close as I can remember. It was just amazing.

Then Carter started working with Habitat for Humanity, which was a good thing. Then came Nixon's funeral and after that he seemed to be driven to DO SOMETHING. So he got in Bill Clinton's face, and George Bush's face. He started 'certifying' elections, as we saw in Venezuela he was on camera saying "This election was fair and open" while the other international observers were comparing notes on what a crooked election it was and their statement on it; from what I understand, they were seriously pissed at him for it. Which didn't matter, because he got his picture with another dictator who said what a fine fellow he was, and every jerk around the world who hates the US could point to Carter saying how we'd messed up the world, etc.

And now, on top of everything else, this clown goes to meet with terrorists. Despite damn near begging from various people not to. And he lays a wreath on the grave of one of the worst terrorists of modern history.



I don't have great hopes, but it'd be really nice if he was censured by Congress. And his passport yanked. Most likely won't happen, because Pelosi & Reid & Co.(Flying Monkeys Inc.) don't seem to have a real problem with what he's doing.

But this idiot needs some kind of a kick in the ass.

Thanks to Theo for the cartoons

*Lady I used to know had much the same mindset: she thought Carter was one of the greatest presidents we'd ever had because of 'all the international agreements he signed'. Didn't matter that they were generally broken right after- sometimes during- the drying period of the ink; I actually asked her if it bothered her that they'd been broken: answer was yes, but at least he did sign agreements. Freakin' insane.

Magazine safeties

Personally, I don't like them. They're basically an 'answer' to bad training: people not learning to check the chamber of a semi-auto after they drop the magazine. What brought this to mind was Sebastian linked to this article:
The officer was struck with the bat as he walked out of his office and fell backward in a daze, Dyer said.

As the officer tried to draw his firearm, the weapon's magazine clattered to the floor, Dyer said.

The student with the bat approached the officer again, the chief said, prompting the officer to reach for a second firearm attached to his ankle.

The student- who happened to be 6'1" and 250 pounds- was hit once and died at the scene. This kind of thing is one reason I do NOT want one on any pistol I own, especially a self-defense piece: stunned and desperate the officer either accidentally hit the mag release or, in drawing, banged it against the holster or belt(I'm guessing), leaving him holding a pistol that was now a very short club. Any argument about what would have happened if he hadn't had a backup piece?

I read an article a couple of years ago that was basically officers saying they loved the things, because in a couple of cases, when a bad guy wrestled the officers gun away, he was able to hit the release before losing it, thus leaving the bad guy unable to use the gun on the officer before he could flee or get to a backup. Yeah, it can work, but I'd hate to have to trust in it.


By the way, 'flee' is not a shot at the cop: to paraphrase Matt Helm, if the bad guy has a gun and you don't, the best option is to put a solid object between you and him and run like hell.

Got a response from Wal-Mart

After reading about the "Let's suck up to Bloomberg and his friends, and screw the customers" nonsense from Wally World(Sebastian has a lot on it), I decided to write. I was polite, but did tell them that that's what I thought this was: trying to buy favor from politicians by selling out customers. And I just got what seems to be the canned response they've put together:
Wal-Mart understands its role as a leading, responsible retailer in the U.S. and is making strides to strengthen its already existing security processes to help combat illegal gun activity in the communities we serve. Wal-Mart has a long and proud history of offering the products hunters and outdoorsmen want and need and that will not change.

It is important to note that these procedures should not impede law-abiding citizens from purchasing firearms at our stores that sell them. These processes merely provide us, as a retailer, an additional mechanism to assist law enforcement when illegal activity occurs.

We are hopeful these enhanced processes  with help from law enforcement and other retailers committing to do the same  can make a positive difference in our communities.

So the Wal-Mart response is "If you're an HONEST citizen, you won't mind us giving your information to a private group. And if you Do object, you don't want us to help law enforcement out." Just bloody wonderful.

And I like the "...with help from law enforcement and other retailers committing to do the same..." I wonder just how many 'other retailers' they're figuring on rolling over for Bloomberg?

Speaking of politicians, have you noticed how Hillary

changes her accent according to the audience or whatever group she's sucking up to at the moment?

She's kind of like some actors, you wonder just how much of her is still connected to her, as opposed to the characters she plays.

Speaking of the UN and other useless pimples

on the backside of humanity, some people are trying to do something about Jimmy Carter:
Congressman Joe Knollenberg (MI-09) today introduced legislation that would prevent the federal government from giving taxpayer money to the Carter Center, headed by former President Jimmy Carter.

“America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies,” Knollenberg said. “It sends a fundamentally troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups.”

and

A North Carolina Republican member of Congress is calling for the State Department to revoke the passport of former President Jimmy Carter, who’s been meeting, against the wishes of the U.S. Government, with representatives of the Palestinian terror group Hamas.

He and his idiot wife must be chewing rebar after hearing about these.

Well, damn, who'd have thought that?

UN-effective against bandits in Darfur:

“Attacks on the WFP food pipeline are an attack on the most vulnerable people in Darfur. With up to three million people depending on us for their survival in the upcoming rainy season, keeping WFP’s supply line open is a matter of life and death. We call on all parties to protect the access to food,” said Josette Sheeran, WFP’s Executive Director.

At this time of year, WFP-contracted trucks should be delivering 1,800 metric tons of food daily to Darfur to supply warehouses ahead of the rainy season, due to begin next month. But deliveries have dropped to less than 900 tons per day.

I realize that I'm just a dumb semi-redneck, but wouldn't you think that, with all those 'peacekeepers' available(come on, SOME of them must not be tied up in porn rings or brothel management) they'd be able to scrape up some people who know how to shoot, and some of those pretty blue vehicles, to guard the food shipments?

Of course, that would probably be considered as 'inconsiderate of the customs of the local bandit and slavers', so that would be a non-starter at Turtle Bay.

I was looking at the Surefire website and found

this:

No BAG Day buy for me

The only thing I really wanted to get was one of the S&W 1911PD pistols. Which are so shiny, and pretty, and shoot so nicely. But I couldn't even convince myself that I needed to lay out that much money right now for such, so...

What I did do was make a new degreasing trough. I wrote before about using a piece of PVC pipe for degreasing. And I tried a wallpaper tray. Later, I tried taking a piece of vinyl guttering, putting a cap on each end and using that: you can lay a barreled action in it, pour in mineral spirits and start brushing. This worked pretty well, but it was too short for many stocks to fit into. And I had a stock to clean: my 1903A3 Springfield. I'd done a lot of degreasing on the stock when I got it, but when I took it to the range a few days ago I noticed that, as it got hot(shooting and sun) some grease was still bleeding out. Back when I first cleaned this the weather wasn't too comfortable to stand out in and the wallpaper tray wouldn't hold it all: and, while I'd planned on taking the wood down for a more thorough cleaning in summer, for some reason didn't get it done. So now I needed to get the rest of the stuff out. I hadn't been too happy with the guttering: it was a bit narrow and the shape wasn't too stable, but I still had a section of it so I headed to Lowe's to get a pair of end caps to make a longer tray. It turned out they didn't have the same type guttering, so no caps: they did have some guttering that was a simple flat-bottom shape, wider and more stable than the other. So I got a piece of it, two caps and- just to make it more stable- a pair of the 'heavy-use' supports; they snap around the gutter to keep it from spreading when filled. They also give it more support, when set on a bench or whatever, to keep it from tipping.

Here's the trough sitting on the ironing table I use for this:
Yes, that's a different stock, I forgot to take a picture of the A3 in there. But I did make the trough long enough for the A3 to fit in, which it did. As I mentioned, the shape is much better for the purpose; it'd be better were it an inch wider, but unless I make something purpose-built this is what I've got. For now, anyway. The end-caps have a rubber seal in them that, I was surprised to find, did a very good job of sealing in the mineral spirits with no leaks. Later on I'll take some suitable caulking or epoxy and permanently seal the seams. Which I should have done now, but I tried it with just a little of the spirits and no leaks, and I wanted to get this done that day, so...

This stuff worked very well for the purpose. To really do it right, I need to put a drain valve in one end to make it easier to put the spirits back in the jug. I guess hit the plumbing section next time I'm at the store.

I feel like a roundup today,

partly because there's so much going on, and partly because- despite having a few days off- I've done little the past few days but clean in the house and work in the yard & garden and start refinishing a couple of stocks.

First off, no, I did not watch the debate between the Obamessiah and The Hillary(I think I mentioned once I detest these things). I have been hearing the fallout from it, especially Obama trying to make his contacts with terrorist Bill Ayers 'no big deal'. Personally, I think that's bullcrap, based on what I've read. You want to read all about it, just look around; you can start here. One of the things I ran across that I think points out just where Obama wants to go is this from the Volokh piece on the group Obama and Ayers were on the board of:
This new Fund focused on welfare reform, affordable housing, the quality of public schools, race and class disparities in the juvenile justice system, and tax policy as a tool in reducing poverty. The Fund supported the concept of an expanding welfare state allocating ever-increasing amounts of money to the public school system, and the redistribution of wealth via taxes.
Encouraging, isn't it?

Murtha has been, is, and will be a dirtbag. Who refuses to even speak with troops.

The mess over the group in Texas is, well, a mess. And I don't think it's going to clean up any time soon.

Kim has been posting peoples' BAG Day buys. Lots and lots of boomy goodness going to new homes out there.

As they note at Ace, Obama & Co. just seem to be really comfortable with endorsements from terrorists.

Ah, the benefits of our Great Institutions of Higher Learning. And the moonbats who attend.

And that's enough of this for the morning.

Considering the weather lately,

and that we just had what should be the last frost in this area(I hope), I tend to agree:

Stolen without compunction from Denny

Notes from the range

Two M44 rifles. One was hitting way to the left, until it was tried with the bayonet extended: then it was dead-on. Heard of it, first time I've seen it. The other one, the bayonet position made no difference.

Trying to get accuracy with ANYTHING when the wind is 25-30, gusting to 45, is a losing game. For the most part. I got a five-shot group from the Martini that spanned 1.5" at 100 yards, then the wind came back up and the group went to hell.

There's some Czech 7.62x25mm ammo available now, comes in a box of 40 on 8-round chargers(for loading subgun magazines, I guess). I picked up a couple of boxes at the last gun show to try and fired a box of it today. Clean, shiny ammo, all went 'bang' and fed & ejected properly, and accuracy seemed to be equal to anything else I've fired in the Tokarev. One odd thing about it: it's berdan primed, but where everything else of the type I've seen has two tiny flash holes, one on each side of the anvil, these have one. But it works.

Steve mentioned he's considering using some Colibri ammo in his .22 if the squirrels go after his tomatoes. If you've never tried this stuff, it's worth messing with. It fits any .22 long rifle chamber, and has no powder: primer only. They have two, Colibri and Super Colibri, the latter having a bit more priming compound. Neither will work a semi-auto action. They shoot out of all handguns I've tried, but the bullet won't make it out of the barrel of some rifles. But in the ones it works in... I've got a Remington bolt-action out of which the Super gives minute-of-squirrel-head accuracy to 20-25 yards, and when you pull the trigger all you hear is the 'click' of the firing pin falling; it makes a pellet rifle sound loud in comparison.

This was the first time I've been to this range in quite a while, and I picked up a BUNCH of Lake City .30-06 brass. And some Federal .308. All in the tumbler now.

When I say it was windy, I had to keep my muffs on just to keep my hat from blowing off. And while walking into the wind to set up targets, twice a gust damn near took them both off.

The more I shoot the TT33, the more I like it. The one problem I have is the grip angle: it's a bit closer to vertical than the 1911, and it makes me shoot low if I don't watch it. With good hollowpoints, I think this would be a nasty self-defense round: something like a Gold Dot at 1500fps, damn.

Got a question: the .30 Mauser and 7.62x25 cartridges are almost identical. Can dies for .30 Mauser be used to reload the 7.62? Anybody know?

Oh Lord, look at this! It's freaking amazing what people will do because 'somebody at the range told me'. And remember, kids, booze and boomsticks do NOT go well together*.

And it's not range-related, but a thought occurs: Obamas' latest bit of bullcrap pretty much sounds like "I will be the government: and I will savehelp you. Whether you want me to or not. Because I know better than you."

To go with Absolut Idiocy

Thanks to Theo

If I hadn't thought MADD had already fallen over the edge,

Rustmeister brings us this:
But Lightner was disgusted that our fighting men and women would have the audacity to imbibe. She ranted that 18-year-olds haven't "developed, and that's exactly why the draft age is 18, because these kids are malleable." She added: "They will follow the leader, they don't think for themselves, and they are the last ones I want to say, 'Here's a gun, and here's a beer.' They are not adult—that's why they're in the military. They are not adults."
***?
What the hell is wrong with this woman? "They are not adult- that's why they're in the military."??? This woman is out of her frakkin' mind! Rusty's wish* may seem a touch over the top, but... nah, it's not.


*I wish she'd go get a sex change, so I could kick her in the nuts.

Og wrote about a rainy night

and it reminded me of one about ten years ago.

I'd been down in Fort Worth visiting friends, and started back on Sunday evening with storms between me and home. Got to a little south of the border before I ran into them: strong, gusting winds, heavy rain, lots of lightning, the only thing missing was hail. I kept going and about the time I passed Ardmore I hit the big one. Rain was pouring and blowing so hard I finally couldn't see the lines on the road and decided to pull over for a bit.

There were headlights behind me and apparently my worries about them running into me were not needed, as they- keeping their distance- followed me onto the shoulder and stopped. I sat there about five minutes trying different radio stations with no luck, there was so much lightning so close that both AM and FM stations were nothing but static.

Finally the rain eased enough I could see a bit, and since the storm seemed to be moving more east than north I decided to get moving and try to get out from under this cell. I got up to a whole 25-30 mph when a gust hit me so hard it shoved me onto the shoulder. Where I stopped while A: saying some words and B: being glad I wasn't in the ditch. The rain and lightning eased up a bit and I got moving. Radio reception was much better though in normal conditions would still have been classed as 'lousy', and another storm alert came on: radar indicated a tornado X miles north of Ardmore, 'just crossed I-35 heading east'.

I looked at the odometer, said a couple of very rude things, and wondered whether it had been in front of me, behind me or off the ground.

Rainy nights like that I can live without, thank you kindly.

There are good, honest lawyers out there,

and then there are all the rest.
An innocent man was behind bars. His name was Alton Logan. He did not kill a security guard in a McDonald's restaurant in January 1982.

"In fact," the document said, "another person was responsible."

They knew, because Andrew Wilson told them: He did it.

But that was the catch.

Lawyer-client privilege is not complete; most states allow attorneys to reveal confidences to prevent a death, serious bodily harm or criminal fraud. But this case didn't offer that kind of exception.

So when Andrew Wilson told his lawyers that he, and not Alton Logan, had killed the guard, they felt powerless — aware of information that could free a man they believed to be innocent, but unable to do anything with that knowledge. And for decades, they said nothing...

Go ahead, read all of it. I swear, this society lost something when we got rid of the whipping post in the town square. Because, after being disbarred, these dirtbags should be strung up to it and gone after with a flagrum.

Now the lawyers had two big worries: Another killing might be tied to their client, and "an innocent man had been charged with his murder and was very likely ... to get the death penalty," Kunz says.

But bound by legal ethics, they kept quiet.

'Legal Ethics' my ass. And here's why the legal profession tends to be regarded as lower than some useful profession like pond scum:
Kunz says he mentioned the case dozens of times over the years to lawyers, never divulging names but explaining that he knew a guy serving a life sentence for a crime committed by one of his clients.

There's nothing you can do, he was told. [emphasis mine]

So these members of the bar described the problem to a bunch of other noble members of the bar, and they all said "Gee, that's bad, but don't do anything to help the innocent guy."

Kunz says he knows some people might find his actions outrageous. His obligation, though, was to Andrew Wilson.

"If I had ratted him out ... then I could feel guilty, then I could not live with myself," he says. "I'm anguished and always have been over the sad injustice of Alton Logan's conviction. Should I do the right thing by Alton Logan and put my client's neck in the noose or not? It's clear where my responsibility lies and my responsibility lies with my client..."

You know, I thought lawyers were supposed to have some small regard for those concepts of Truth and Justice, but apparently I was wrong: their 'ethics' override all.

"We'll tax EVERYTHING, and it IS for your own good

after all.
The San Jose Democrat on Thursday proposed raising the beer tax by $1.80 per six-pack, or 30 cents per can or bottle. The current tax is 2 cents per can. That's an increase of about 1,500 percent.
That's one hell of a jump.
Beall said the tax would generate $2 billion a year to fund health care services, crime prevention and programs to prevent underage drinking and addiction.

"The people who use alcohol should pay for part of the cost to society, just like we've accepted that concept with tobacco," Beall said.

Yep. Had a beer the other day, God knows what damage that did to Society.

Mike Fox Sr., chairman of San Jose-based beer distributor M.E. Fox & Co., said Beall's heart is in the right place. "He's very dedicated in areas of looting every pocket in reachhealth," Fox said. "But a tax of that nature is far too grievous. The beer industry produces so much for the economy. He won't get to first base with that."

"It'll piss off too many people. And we won't be able to make them mad at someone else for it."

And here's just about the prize moment in this:
Beall said he's targeting beer because his research showed that California undertaxes brew relative to other states, which he said isn't the case with wine and spirits.
"Damn, we're not taxing this as much as those other states! That's a Bad Thing! We've got to raise taxes on it RIGHT NOW!"

Because You have to be taxed just like everywhere else; unless they're taxed less, of course.

About two years ago I had an argument with a friend about Iran

being involved in Iraq. She insisted that was BS, that the Iranians had nothing to do with smuggling weapons and troops across the borders. Never mind the evidence, it just wasn't happening. Which wasn't a big jump for her, as a bunch of people have spent a lot of time and breath saying the Iranians had no involvement.
After more than a week of fighting, the Iraqis forced the Quds commanders to call for a cease-fire through Sadr. The Iraqi commander agreed - provided that the Quds force directly guaranteed it. To highlight Iran's role in the episode, he insisted that the Quds force dispatch a senior commander to finalize the accord.

The Iran-backed side lost more than 600 men, with more than 1,000 injured. The ISF lost 88 dead and 122 wounded.

Some analysts suggest this was the first war between new Iraq and the Islamic Republic. If so, the Iraqis won.

I doubt if she'll believe any of this, either. Or this part:
Only a year ago, the ISF had been unable to provide three brigades (some 9,000 men) to help the US-led "surge" restore security in Baghdad. This time, the ISF had no difficulty deploying 15 brigades (30,000 men) for the battle of Basra.

Led by Gen. Mohan al-Freiji, the Iraqi force sent to Basra was the largest that the ISF had put together since its creation five years ago. This was the first time that the ISF was in charge of a major operation from start to finish and was fighting a large, well-armed adversary without US advisers.

All you 'Firefly' fans

ought to take a look at this: a demonstration of nutcase-level 'feminism' in full cry.
I have become increasingly interested in examining Joss Whedon’s work from a feminist perspective since I had a conversation with another lesbian feminist sister at the International Feminist Summit about whether Joss was a feminist. I am really quite shocked by how readily Joss is accepted as a feminist, and that his works are widely considered to be feminist. I decided to start re-watching Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and also to watch Firefly and the movie Serenity.

I have to say that now that I have subjected myself to the horror that is Firefly, I really am beyond worried about how much men hate us, given that this was written by a man who calls himself a feminist.

And it just gets more freakin' insanebetter as you go.

You'll have to excuse me for the evening

Along with a bunch of stuff I had to take care of in the yard, a friend needed help with some fence damage from the winds a few days ago. Which involved the use of that torture device known as post-hole diggers. Add to that the front that just came through today and every joint from my knees up aches. And I either got really chilled or caught an edge of something because I otherwise feel crappy, too.

No more typing for the night.

Latest word from the son

Called his grandparents today and talked a while. They've been worried about him since the day he said he'd decided to enlist, so it doesn't bother me at all when he calls them instead of me or his monther.

Today didn't seem to work out all the well, though. Among the "I'm back at X, all's well, nothing I need," he- apparently thinking it would reassure them about his area being fairly safe- told the about the RPG that hit a humvee a short time ago. Hit the cupola, but since the gunner had dropped down to do something just before it hit, some relatively minor vehicle damage and nothing worse than ringing ears for the crew.

Did I mention that they worry?

This did not have the effect I think he was hoping for: when I spoke to them, his grandma sounded like she was, let us say, 'stressed' and on the verge of tears. Not good to hear.

He should have leave soon, so hopefully his coming back for a visit will help a bit.

Uncle notes another "Oops! Wrong address!"

this time by ATF:
MIAMI --
Officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives barged into a South Florida home Wednesday only to discover they had the wrong address.

The ATF agents were supposed to conduct a raid at a home in the 2600 block of Northwest 49th Terrace in northwest Miami-Dade County, but they were off by one block. They entered a house on Northwest 49th Street instead.

Philomaine Silvain and her 3-year-old son were among the innocent people inside the home when the agents came in.
...
Her back window was also broken from where federal agents fired canisters into the apartment at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The agents left the tear gas cans in the house, and Silvain kicked them out and into the street before dumping them into the garbage.
So, among other things, there's at least one kid in the house and they can't even pick up the damn gas cannisters before they flee?

No one from the ATF would speak to NBC 6 on camera, but a representative said over the phone that it was an innocent mistake, agents apologized on the scene and ATF would repair any damages.
And if they'd managed to injure or kill one of those innocent people, what would we hear? You know damn well, the same thing that's been heard in too many 'wrong people/wrong address' raids: "The officers were following departmental policy for a raid of this type. It is a tragedy, but it was an innocent error, therefore no action will be taken against the officers involved."

And let us note just how this kind of crap fits into Sir Robert Peel's principles, as noted by Lawdog:
There are times, though, when I am forced to wonder if some of my fellow Peace Officers have even heard of the Peelian Principles.

And I guaran-damn-tee you that a whole bunch of politicians and police administrators (but I repeat myself) have never heard of #9.

Amen

Well, if you had any real doubt of how Obama thinks,

it seems he slipped and let it out. In public, instead of "Kirsten Powers admits that there are some things that liberals say to each other when "among friends" that just don't play so well in Wilkes-Barre or Beaverton."
as Ace notes.

I hadn't heard about this till this morning, when I hit roundups on this at Insty here and here. As someone points out, this is how socialist liberals actually think, they just don't usually say it in public for the great unwashed to hear. Revealing, very. And about what I lot of us expected him to let slip at some point.

Wonderful when a politician actually says what he thinks, isn't it?

It's probably been posted elsewhere before,

but my daughter found this, and I like it

Kim's place took a hit last night,

pictures here. Friend of mine in Haltom City wrote me to speak of being awakened by the tornado sirens, sitting in front of the tv checking weather, damn near being levitated by a couple of lightning strokes that shook the whole house, and- upon going back to bed- finding the dog trying to fit under a pillow.

Same system that caused their problems came through here mostly as heavy rain, though some damage from either high winds or a small tornado did occur in eastern OK. My rain gauge shows about 3.5", but a lot of areas got more. Some a lot more. So there's been flood warnings all over the place yesterday and today.

And, this being April, the rain was followed today be 25-35 mph winds, with gusts of 50, today, so not a day I'd have wanted to be on the highway on a bike.

At least it waited until after the fair.

And next in tonights list of horsecrap,

we have a friggin' idiot at the LA Times:
There he sits in elaborate Army regalia, four stars glistening on each shoulder, nine rows of colorful ribbons on his left breast, and various other medallions, brooches and patches scattered across the rest of the available real estate on his uniform. He even wears his name tag, a lone and incongruous hunk of cheap plastic in a region of pristine gilt, just in case the politicians aren’t sure who he is… Memo to Petraeus: When you’re making the case for more patriotic gore, go easy on the glitter.

I realize this brainless twit will never read this, but since the 'editorial' doesn't have a link for comments that I see, I'll say it here: Dumbass, how stupid do you have to be not to know that there are rules on how someone in the military service wears their uniform? Among other things, that 'cheap plastic' is a part of that uniform, and he HAS to wear it. Right on that spot.

You see, he actually worked his ass off for every one of those decorations and badges, a concept you may not be familiar with. At the very least, being a big-time journalist type, you might consider finding out what the hell you're writing about BEFORE you put your ignorance up for all to see.

Richard Warman, that miserable little fascist-at-heart,

just keeps causing problems. Because the little bozo has a bunch of politically-correct-at-any-cost fellow fascists* on his side in the person of the Canadian 'Human Rights(but only for the politically correct; screw everyone else) Commission'. Five feet of fury, one of the people the coward is after, has a roundup of the current situation here; and Insty has a bunch of links here.

And just think, if the socialist PC weenies down here have their way, there'll be a whole bunch of WormmansWarmans running around doing the same crap here. So do us all a favor: post something appropriate about this clown and all his little buttmonkeys in the HRC. From what I've read he likes to search around to find people saying unkind things about him so he can wet his pants and foul his nest in terrorclaim victimhood and threaten people; so causing him to fill his diaper should be considered an act that gets you closer to a seat at the Round Table.


*I don't usually use this word, but if this bunch- using the power of government to screw people over for having incorrect thoughts and opinions- doesn't count as a type of fascist, who does?

It's me chest, matey

Thought I’d show my treasure chest/cash box. Put this together a few years ago when I was doing several fairs a year and decided that A: the metal cashbox I had was pretty ratty and B: I wanted to try making something like this.

Body is made of 1x6” pine. The lid ends are pine, the top boards are sections of 1x2” with the sides beveled on Dad’s table saw. And getting the angles right was a pain. The body was glued and clamped, then drilled & pegged after the glue dried. The top was assembled by getting the pieces cut, then clamping all in place while each was drilled into the side piece, then glued and pegged. After the glue was set, all was sanded smooth, then stained, then hit with several coats of paste wax.

The hinges are pieces of steel strap 1” wide and about 3/32” thick. Shaped the hinge ends, then carefully bent the strap to fit the body and top, then drilled through and used 3/16” carriage bolts to lock them on so it looks like rivets from the outside. The bolts all had the company markings on the heads so I chucked them in a drill and used the belt sander to cut them down smooth, then hung them in acid to remove the plating, rinsed them and let them hang until they rusted smoothly, then wire-brushed to remove the rust and waxed; gave a nice appearance. The hasp is the same material, drilled and cut a slot in the top piece and used a piece of 1/8” round stock to make the shackle. The hard part there was setting the shackle in and riveting the ends to lock it in place.

All the hinge and hasp pieces were wire-brushed to clean them off, then given a couple of coats of paste wax. That keeps them from rusting and gives a nice look to them.

The thing was sized so I could use the tray from the old box, just glued & screwed a piece of thin wood on each end of the box to support it.

I ever get time, I’d like to make more of these. Maybe a big one.

In a comment on the fair, Fire said

...having to do about 50 things before you can settle in. That sucks.

Understatement.

A lady who works under the business name White Pavilion, making and selling clothes(dresses, shirts, pants, hats, etc.) comes to Med-Fair, and I usually try to help her set up on Thursday, and break down on Sunday. She arrives in her big Dodge van, packed to the roof, and has to do the following:

Unload the tent canopy, poles, ropes and stakes.

Set up the canopy(she can do it herself, but it's a big tent so an extra pair of hands helps).

Unload the tent walls, display stands, clothing racks, etc.

Depending on weather, sometimes has to put the walls on right now, otherwise can leave them down while assembling a lot of the racks, etc.

Unload the merchandise. In good weather can set it out on a tarp while finishing setup; in bad weather, has to put it either in the tent and work around it, or cover it with another tarp.

If didn't earlier, put up the walls. Then start hanging up the stuff, draping the changing area, etc.

That's the basic, not counting setup each morning before people come in and cleanup/rearranging/etc. each evening.

Now it's Sunday, after three busy days. Now all the remaining merchandise has to be appropriately cleaned off(if needed, some days are pretty dusty) and then bagged or boxed. Then the stuff has to be set out of the way, walls taken down, racks disassembled, tent taken down(stakes pulled, ropes coiled, poles collected, etc.) and everything loaded back into the van in proper order. So saying this isn't a lot of fun before you can go eat and get some sleep- or starting the drive home some times- is understatement. Usually I or my daughter can help her set up, and daughter often works for her during the fair. Happily, some of her friends are usually around and will help in breakdown and packing, which gets her on the road to her motel room or the highway home at least a couple of hours sooner than doing it alone.

But it's still not a whole lot of fun.

Charlton Heston (updated)

I saw something Sunday about his death. He was a fine actor who demonstrated many times that he was willing to stand up for what he believed, no matter who it pissed off. I remember an interview with him after his disease was announced in which he showed a pair of pistols that had originally belonged to Thomas Jefferson; I always wondered if Heston ever fired them.

I think one of my favorite things he did(outside of movies) was the one speech he made at an NRA convention when Bill Clinton was President: can't remember the exact words, I think it was "Mr. President, we don't trust you with our daughters, and we damn sure don't trust you with our guns!"

I always thought two things:
First, it took an amount of nerve to say that, and
Clinton must have shit a brick when he heard about it.

Updated:
Steve had this to say:
They ought to bury him with a sidearm, so he could smile down from heaven at his enemies and say, "No, not even THEN."
Amen

Liberal PC idiocy continues in Canada,

but people ARE standing up to it.
Short version, this guy wrote an article on the " 'Free speech' means you can't say anything we don't like" idiocy from the 'Human Rights Commission'. Richard Warman, the jackass who Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant and others have written of, takes note of it and, finding a couple of errors, does he ask for a correction? Say "You messed up"? Hell, no, that's not nearly good enough:
At the same time, he requested "that the McGill Tribune remove this article immediately from your website. Further, that a full retraction and apology in language to be agreed from Mr. Tau and the Tribune appear in the next hard-copy edition of the Tribune with the same prominence and location of the original article. Also, that this same retraction and apology be placed in perpetuity on the Tribune's website in place of the original article. Lastly, that the Tribune issue DMCA notices to all others reposting the article in order to prevent further dissemination of the libel."

Happily, this guy and the paper are standing up to the threats. And making some noise about it, which is all to the good. About the only thing that'll fix this in the long run is enough people telling the clowns to piss off, and standing up to them, and it stirring up enough people to cause real problems for the clowns.

That was a loooong weekend

Another Medieval Fair is over. This time the weather worked out nicely: some storms blew through Thursday night but it stayed partly cloudy and cool-to-warm Friday through Sunday*. Which meant neither mud to slog through or hot temperatures to sweat through. And a good time was had by all.

Did demos on the forge all three days, spaced through with "Can you fix this?" and "Can you make this?" Ran into the people I only see at fairs, Fenris & humans came by to drink out of the quench bucket as usual, and got a bit sunburned. As usual. By Saturday afternoon you can see all the women who come out in low-cut blouses and push-up bodices- or just plain skimpy attire- who forgot sunscreen; some of them must practically glow in the dark. And you do see some of the people who caused Jeff Foxworthy to announce "Spandex is a privilege, not a right". Yeesh.

Today, I'm achy in joints, tired, and really could have used about another hour of sleep. However, since they're talking about rain I had to unload the truck, put tools & metal away, mow, do laundry and, since there's a big trash pickup this week, pull together a bunch of tree limbs that had been cut up and set aside and carry them around front. And soon as that's done, put away all the stuff in the living room floor. THEN I can catch up on things.


*Weather at this fair has ranged from damn cold and sleeting to 80's with strong, gusting winds: pouring rain to dry and dusty. I have on some weekends moved the walls on the tent around each day because the wind had changed direction each day..