Yesterday morning I decided to hit the range. And it was good. And then I came home. Which was so-so as I was short on time. And when I tried to take care of some online stuff, McAfee was updating(which seems to take bloody forever lately) and when it finishes it’s started causing things to slow down. So aside from posting about Fenris, accomplished squat electronically. In any case,

I had the chance to shoot one of these the other day

The Swiss G96/11*. Interesting history as to how this model and the 7.5x55 cartridge came about, found here at Swiss Rifles, including:
It was determined that the 89/96 could easily be converted (Model 1889s could not) to handle the new cartridge by re-barreling the rifle.

1889/96s were converted to 1896.11s buy replacing or modifying the following:

A new barrel was added.
Already fitted the the barrel were new front and rear sights.
A pistol grip was grafted onto the stock of the rifle.
The new rifles were also fitted with 6rd magazines, similar to the 1889/1900 pattern magazine, minus the reinforcing ridge, although the magazine did include a bolt hold-open feature for when the magazine was empty.
A new trigger-guard was fitted to accommodate the new magazine.

Kim has posted on the carbine version, the K11. This thing fires the standard 7.5x55 Swiss cartridge from a 6-round magazine, has a 30.7 “ barrel and, because of the bolt & receiver design, is 51.2 “ long overall. Very nice workmanship, and a two-stage trigger with a clean, light break; the K31 has good parentage. The front sight is a flat-topped blade(much superior, I think to the tapered-to-a-point blade of so many European military rifles), the rear a elevation-adjustable notch. Unlike so many that are marked ‘100’ at the lowest setting but were set for 300, the Swiss just marked the damn thing 300 and started there. Which means it hits about 9” high at 100 yards with standard ball ammo.

The action is a straight-pull bolt; when you pull the handle back it pivots at the rear to unlock the action, the bolt head is rotated to unlock and the bolt comes back to the stop. Push forward and it strips a cartridge from the magazine and feeds it into the chamber, the bolt head rotates to lock the lugs into their recesses, and at the end the handle pivots in and locks everything. The bolt head extends a lot way from the body, which is why the receiver is so damn long. Which makes cleaning interesting: I’ve got a 36” Tipton carbon-fiber rod, and with a long jag on, cleaning from the breech, when the handle hits the receiver the jag is just sticking out the muzzle, not far enough to get the patch out. Need a rod either a bit longer or with a smaller handle to push a patch all the way through. Yes, I had to clean it; small price for shooting it.

Back to the results, when I did my part this was the usual group using ball:


With the sun at a different angle to remove the glare in the rear sight, I think I might(probably in my dreams) have been able to tighten that up a bit. Even if I couldn’t, that’s still a nice group from a almost century-old rifle. Note that I was aiming at the target below this one: right about 6.5-7" above point of aim, which should indeed put it dead on at 300 meters. Recoil was a light thump; the rifle weighs enough and the stock is shaped such that it’s not bad at all. MUCH more pleasant than the 1903 Springfield with ball(I’m going to get either a slip-on recoil pad or fit one to replace the steel buttplate when I take that to the range, as after twenty rounds my shoulder is unhappy with me).

I took along some of the cast-bullet loads I’d made up for my K31 and tried them out:

Not bad at all. I do blame the vertical stringing on me; I was getting a bit tired at this point. Interesting contrast here is that with the K31 the rear sight has to be set to 500 to bring this bullet into the black at 100 yards; with the G96/11 the sight at the lowest- 300- setting places the same load dead-on. Maybe the longer barrel gives a bit more velocity; if I shoot this again I’ll try to take the Chrony along to check it.

Personally, I’d like a deeper, square-bottom notch on the rear; when the sun is hitting the sight from a frontal angle it makes for a somewhat fuzzy notch with the standard ‘u’ shape(there will be no comments tolerated about my being fuzzy). Overall, a very well-made, accurate firearm.

And, I find that Interordnance has the G96/11, the G11 and the K11 right now.


I took the M95 Steyr along to try at 100 yards. I have no ball ammo for this one, just the cast-bullet loads I made up. If you remember, the last time I tried this thing out it was something like a foot high at 30 yards, which was just amazing. Happily things are dropping enough that at 100 the point of impact is only about 8” high. No great groups to show off. This thing has the aforementioned tapered-to-a-rounded-point front sight and combined with the sun and the rear notch, I had trouble sighting precisely. The action is fast and smooth(another straight-pull design), has a strange trigger(long first stage that gets heavier as you go, then a fairly clean, heavy second stage), and the rear sling swivel is on the left side of the wrist, just right to be under your fingers. Which makes me wonder how they settled on the various features. Why not move the swivel a bit back so it’s out of the way? Why have such a heavy spring in the trigger? Why that !*#*^& tapered front post instead of a taper to a flat-top like the Swede Mauser? And why have the battlesight set so damn far for a carbine? All this must have made sense to somebody, but I have no idea why.

Side note: the clips you load the Steyr with will often drop out the bottom of the magazine well as you chamber the last round. If they don’t it’s not a problem: the empty will be pushed out as you load the next. If some don’t drop, and you want them to, squeeze the sides in just a touch and try it again.

And the reason I don’t have any 8x56r ball? Last time I saw any at a show it was $8-10/box of ten, in clips. Not worth that much to me.

*I thought it was a G11. But after looking at the comparisons a Swiss Rifle, it does appear to be a 96/11.

A Fenris story

Fenris had three reasons to like it when his pack stopped by my booth: a place to rest, water to drink, and Scotch eggs.

Take a hard-boiled egg, wrap it in sausage, roll that in bread crumbs, then bake until done. That’s a Scotch egg. And he loved them. My ex and daughter help out at the booth(long history there), the ex always makes some, and when Fenris started coming by the ex began setting a few aside, so he could have one or two each day. Oh, yeah, he remembered that.

Last year there were no eggs on Friday. Late in the afternoon they came by and, since were on their way out, just stopped out front to talk, and I noticed Fenris looking over the table with an odd expression(if you don’t think animals can have an expression on their face, you haven’t really looked). The chihuahuas were in the booth, but he didn’t pay much attention to other canines(“You are not worthy of my attention”) so it wasn’t that. It finally hit me what the trouble was; I leaned over the table and said “Fenris, there are no Scotch eggs today.” Oh, God, the look he had. “There’ll be some tomorrow, and some are just for you.”

“But what about TODAY!? I was looking forward to it all DAY!”

“None today, but you get some tomorrow.”

That was one seriously disappointed critter.

Next day they came by for a usual stop, and soon as I saw them coming got an egg out. Fenris came to the end of the table and I told him “Yeah, we’ve got it for you today!”

“WHERE?”

Tossed it to him and chomp-chomp, it was gone. Much happier. He got another before they left, and made it known we were forgiven for Friday.


Another comes to mind:
Fenris was one of the worst beggers I’ve ever seen. Take a 100+ pound wolf, in fine health, and imagine it managing to look hungry, downright starved, at you. “You’ve got food, and I’m starving, can I have a bite?” Etc. He was also sneaky. One Sunday we had a jar of cookies on a table, and Cassie- the daughter of the human part of the pack- took off the lid.

Fenris was sitting just behind her left leg, watching. Waiting.

She lifted the lid, took out a cookie.

He tensed just a touch.

She took out a cookie and held it aside as the replaced the lid.

And he reared forward and up and snapped off the entire cookie outside her fingers.

He’s sitting licking his chops when Cassie looks around and says “Hey!” And he just looked at her, “Do it again.” Pretty much a command. But he didn’t get the next one.

I wrot to my Rep., Mary Fallin, and this was the response I got

to my "Why the hell did you vote for this crap?" letter:
The last few weeks have been a very challenging time for our nation and financial markets as we in Congress and on Main Street have debated about what action, if any, is required to stabilize our national financial system. While we have turned the page on the first chapter of this crisis, our economic problems require a long term fix, and there are surely many more challenges ahead.

We've turned the page into a horror novel.

I share the anger and frustration of all Americans over the current financial crisis. The fact that we have been forced to pass a government intervention of this magnitude is a testament to how great the scope of this problem truly is. I am optimistic, however, that the actions taken in Congress and the deliberate and careful process by which the final economic rescue plan was produced will help to eventually stabilize our economy.

'Deliberate and careful process?!? That mess we witnessed with Congress and the White House yelling "The sky is falling! Give us a blank check OR WE'RE DEAD!" ?

The first hastily drafted version of this bill, presented to Congress on September 29 and voted on that same day, was flawed. It did not contain market reforms, nor did it adequately protect the use of taxpayers' money. I opposed it on these grounds. Like many of my colleagues, however, I understood something needed to be done to keep our economy from further market and job losses.

That you opposed that mess was good. However, anymore, when a politician says 'something needed to be done' I want to put a Claymore on my wallet.

As the week following that vote progressed, I joined my colleagues in pushing for the addition of market reforms that were included into a new and improved version of the rescue package. Raising the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 was an important step in protecting Americans' savings and small business assets. Additionally, the suspension of "mark to market" accounting rules will add a degree of stability to this volatile climate. While these changes in no way made the new bill perfect, they did mark an improvement over what we saw earlier.

Oh, yeah, LOTS of 'market reforms'. With Chris Countrywide Dodd and Barney Fannie Mae Frank leading the way instead of being the targets of FBI investigations. Real confidence-builders, those. And anyone who thinks this abortion that came out of the Senate was 'more carefully crafted'(I'm assuming that's what she means by 'new and improved version') than the original House version... unless, of course, overlooking all the additional looting added into it makes it look 'new and improved'.

These improvements, combined with a clear need to act decisively, convinced me to offer my support for this new bill. Inaction was not a choice. Although Oklahoma has been fortunate to have a stronger economy than the rest of the nation, the implications of an economic collapse and its potential impact on every American family could not be ignored.

How about 'action to strip out all the pork'? How about 'action to strip out all the bribes to businesses and politicians'? Why couldn't we see THAT action in this mess? THAT kind of 'acting decisively'?

The calls I got from the Fifth District only reinforced that notion. Many in business and banking called to discuss the tightening of credit for business expansion. Families called, worried about the difficulty of getting car and home loans during a credit crisis. Municipalities and universities were concerned over the lack of sale of bond issues to finish or begin new projects. Oklahoma's State Treasurer expressed his concern for teacher pensions, which he estimated would suffer a $42 million loss, along with over $15 million in expected losses to the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement Fund.

Which means you had to vote for something that would loot billions out of our pockets to pay off the aforementioned politicians and their supporters? Wonderful solution, that is.

If the instability in our markets is not aggressively addressed, it will affect the economic security of almost every family and business in Oklahoma. It is for that reason that I decided, in what is surely one of the most difficult decisions I have made while in office, to support the revised economic rescue package.

Therefore deciding that the aforementioned looting of our pockets was worth it. Instability that could have been addressed WITHOUT all the payoffs and bribes. As if all the money taken out of our pockets to pay bribes and buy votes WON'T affect our economic security. As if the Treasury Secretary being given all kinds of neat authority won't screw with things. Yeah. How about 'aggressively addressing' this crap, dammit?

This plan is the first step towards economic recovery, but it is hardly the last. Looking forward, we must seek additional measures to ensure the taxpayers are never placed in this position again. Congress will retain oversight of the process, and I will work to make sure new safeguards are put in place to prevent future problems. Fixing things is not enough. We have to permanently end the bad practices that caused this mess in the first place and punish the bad players in the marketplace.

Yeah, we're hearing about all the 'next steps'. Like the treasury secretary and all the new powers he's been given to play with, and the increased socialization of our nation. And more and more screwing with our lives by corrupt politicians.

And I do not use 'corrupt' lightly. As Scalzi wrote the other day, all those 'sweeteners' written into the Senate bill are properly called 'bribes'. Which means every Senator or Rep. who changed their vote based on them is properly called corrupt, as they were bribed to change their vote. I have no idea if there was something there that helped change Fallin's vote; I'm speaking in general. If she did change it based on one of these 'sweeteners', then she's a corrupt as the rest.

More and more, either a meteor or the rope stand seems like a real good idea.

A sad note today

Fenris, the wolf who always came to Med-Fair, died the other day.

His people are taking it about like you'd expect.

Damn, I'm gonna miss him.

Let's see, all kinds of things out there

Some people may be playing games with American Carol showings. Trying to depress ticket sales figures? Trying to keep people out by messing with ratings listings?

Google needs a new slogan: "Don't be Evil: Let Us Do It!"

Saturday Night Live notes crooked Evil Party politicians and connections: video disappears(mostly).

And, thanks to a suggestion in comments, it's not my hat: it a ACU Tactical Pet Bed.

Yeah, it's not much, but I'm short on time

The machinery of civilization

Insty notes something about it here, which got me thinking. I've come to the conclusion(long time ago, but it kind of coalesced now) that to an awful lot of people that machinery just appears from somewhere. Kind of like food appears in the grocery store.

I once worked it out for someone. They thought getting rid of all the nasty coal and gas and oil-fueled power plants would be just wonderful, somehow doing so would force clean, abundant alternate sources to appear(the Pure Effing Magic effect). So I asked them if metals would be needed for society to continue? Machines and tools and so forth? Of course, they said.

So how are you going to make them? The metals, and the tools?

I don't think that'd ever really occurred. How DO you make them?

Ok, so at the most basic level, metal tools, that means forging them. Will coal be allowed as a fuel for the fire? No? Too dirty? So back to the original. Charcoal.

Charcoal?

Yep. Over time whole sections of forest were cleared by the charcoal burners, turning trees into forge and furnace and cooking fuel. One forge might not use that much, but a bunch? Not to mention the furnaces to refine metal from ore, and recycle steel and brass and copper(to mention a few); say goodbye to a LOT of trees. What? Can't allow that? Well, then, considering that you cannot name one alternate energy source capable of replacing oil and gas and coal(not going into nuke plants right now), in efficiency and cost and space in the next ten years(at least, barring a miracle-level discovery) let alone right now when you turn off the currently operating plants, we're screwed. If you did allow charcoal you'd have to log off most of the forest on the continent to keep a metals industry of any size going.


Which connects to, I wonder if a lot of the enviroweenies have really thought about what the effect is on people in third-world countries when they try to deny them coal or whatever-fired power? That means cutting trees and drying animal crap for fuel; the latter is not exactly fun, the former means cutting trees and spending a lot of time each day to get the fuel just to cook food. I know the real nutcase level greenies have a solution: let die off(or kill off) so much of the population that the nasty humans are no longer any real influence on Mother Gaia; but for the less genocidal/homicidal types, what the hell do they THINK people are going to do? Solar panels won't cut it, wind won't cut it(either one on any real scale), and the greenies break out in hives at the thought of dams, so the question becomes WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THESE PEOPLE TO DO? They want the machinery of civilization, badly. And they get really, really pissed when you tell them they can't have it, to stay in their quaint little villages and be happy.

Story from the sandbox

I haven't printed a lot about what son's doing/been doing; partly he doesn't say a lot about things, and partly(if he did tell me a lot) I'm not the New York effin' Times, I don't want to inadvertently let something out. But it's been a while since this happened, so...

While back I was driving somewhere and the phone rang, it was he.
"How's things in your part of the world?"
"I no longer have a truck."
Confusion, as his truck was in the driveway five minutes ago. "What do you mean, it's in the-"
"I mean my truck here."
"Oh. What happened to it?"
"It blew up."

Yeah, that does kind of get your attention. However, he was obviously alive and not in pain or something so I figured any injury had to be minor, so "What happened?"

Background: A few months before this they'd gotten MRAPs to replace(for some uses) the humvees. They're big(gunners cupola on top is 12-feet off the ground), heavy, from his report handle such that saying they handle like pig would be insulting to the porcine race, and armored out the wazoo. In fact, during the wet season they couldn't use them on some roads: too big and heavy.

So, they're on patrol, rolling down the road, son in the cupola, when they hit a mine. As he described it it was like getting hit in the face with a hot pillow and then the MRAP stopped. Aw, crap. He's scanning for ambush(like everybody not inside that vehicle) and waiting for the aother shoe to drop. One-legged man this time, apparently an old mine. So once it was determined the bad guys weren't about to pop over the hilltops they assessed the damage and injuries. Injuries consisted of one guy inside who'd been snoozing with his helmet off; banged his head on the "Ow! Dammit!" level. Damage?

Left front wheel gone, suspension trashed(what was left of it), engine and tranny pretty much trashed. Nothing else. They found a 80-pound piece of the run-flat tire 200 yards away. The EOD guy who checked it out thought it was an old mine, at least a month; looked like the driver just happened to be a bit out of line with the vehicles in front so this vehicle tripped it.

No, at the time didn't pass this on to the grandparents, as they worry enough already.

About a month ago, after the unit moved to another area, another of the MRAPs went through an almost identical situation: big mine taking out one side of the front end. No injuries to speak of this time, either. The things are big, heavy and clumsy, but the armor works.

He also mentioned that the M240 he's been using is a very good piece. Among other things, from the vehicle mount he can put a belt into about a 3" group at 50 yards, which is pretty damn good for an MG.

And that was about the most exciting thing he's mentioned over time.

Yeah, Barack I BELIEVE!!! in the 2nd Amendment Obama

has been a supporter just, practically forever!
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama must demonstrate executive experience, but he remains strangely silent about his eight years (1994-2002) as a director of the Joyce Foundation, a billion dollar tax-exempt organization. He has one obvious reason: during his time as director, Joyce Foundation spent millions creating and supporting anti-gun organizations.

There is another, less known, reason.

During Obama’s tenure, the Joyce Foundation board planned and implemented a program targeting the Supreme Court. The work began five years into Obama’s directorship, when the Foundation had experience in turning its millions into anti-gun “grassroots” organizations, but none at converting cash into legal scholarship.

The plan’s objective was bold: the judicial obliteration of the Second Amendment.
...
The Joyce directorate’s plan almost succeeded. The individual rights view won out in the Heller Supreme Court appeal, but only by 5-4. The four dissenters were persuaded in part by Joyce-funded writings, down to relying on an article which misled them on critical historical documents.

Having lost that fight, Obama now claims he always held the individual rights view of the Second Amendment, and that he “respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.” [.pdf available at link] But as a Joyce director, Obama was involved in a wealthy foundation’s attempt to manipulate the Supreme Court, buy legal scholarship, and obliterate the individual right to arms.

Read the whole damn thing, and spread it around. Especially to anyone of the "He won't bother my shotgun/target rifle" mindset.

And, for a display of full-blown PDS and enablers,

check this out:
And then came Sarah. My reaction to her, and the way the Republican Party threw her in our faces, and the pandering and hypocrisy that was behind their decision to do so, was immediate, visceral, and indeed, vicious. I have crossed every line I believed should never be crossed in public discourse — I have criticized not only her policies and her record, but her hair, her personal style, her accent, her abilities as a mother, etc. I’ve also begun to suffer personally and professionally. I bore my friends with my constant tirades against her, and am constantly distracted from my work by my need to continually update myself on the latest criticism, and indeed, ridicule, of her. In my hatred for her, I have begun to hate myself. I don’t want this woman ruining my life before she even gets a chance to ruin our country. How do I stop? Is there a self-help group for this? A “Hater”

And, if you have the stomach for it(or some tranquilizers), read the whole of the 'response' to it; these people really, truly are freakin' insane. Here's what the proper response should have been:
Dear 'Hater';
'This woman' is not ruining your life, YOU ARE. You are obsessed and about to drive away your friends and ruin your career by it. When you get home, have a drink and GIVE IT A REST! She's not the freakin' antiChrist, she's not out to get you, and you need help.

A very good piece on Barack Don't Look At My History Obama

at Tammy Bruce:
I don't place much faith in what a candidate says and does after declaring his or her candidacy. Once he steps into the spotlight, he's playing to the crowd. He's on good behavior, and he'll tell us whatever we want to hear. This is a demonstration of his acting ability...and a politician is indeed part actor, but there's more to the job than that. The true measure of the man is what he did with his life when he didn't think he was being watched. That's what you're going to get when the candidate is in power, and never mind the speeches.

As we do with celebrities, we tend to project our fantasies onto politicians. The less we know about a person, the easier this is. With Obama's charisma and short history, and with the sympathies of the mainstream media behind him, he's been allowed to remain too much of a blank slate. This is slowly changing, as the reality becomes known and eats away at his mystique. Note that Obama's greatest string of victories in the Democratic primaries came when he was a new thing. As information trickled out, he lost steam. If more facts had been on the table earlier, Hillary certainly would have been the Democratic nominee.

Our job as voters isn't to nitpick and debate every nuance and gaffe. In a world of trivia and spin, we must seek the most essential truths and make them known.
and takes it from there. Including
At this point I'm scratching my head in puzzlement and wondering how Obama's candidacy didn't come to a complete halt when his background became known. He stood at the forefront of an organization that is on the record in promoting a hateful, racist agenda. He did this over the entirety of his adult life, only stepping away reluctantly and when compelled as a matter of political expediency. Something has gone horribly wrong with a political party that takes this damaged man and pushes him to the head of the crowd.

Very worth reading.

Also, a bit more on Obama and Ayers. AND, for your Monday-doesn't-suck-enough enjoyment, how ALL questions of Obama are RACIST!!!

Bill Ayers and Barack He's Just An Acquaintance Obama

now have a bit more questioning of their relationship to deal with. And, just to do my part to keep the noise up, I'll note these things Sondra found:
Last week, Ayers defended the September 2001 comments on his blog stating: “I’m sometimes asked if I regret anything I did to oppose the war in Vietnam and I say: No, I don’t regret anything I did to stop the slaughter of millions of human beings by my own government.”
while over here we see

In the wake of the Barack Obama association with Bill Ayers and friends, Zombie pointed out something that many people in the mainstream press conveniently forget or forgive — the Weather Underground wasn’t just anti-war. Instead like ANSWER, WCW, and UFPJ they were, and remain radical communists bent on revolution. Many of their activities occurred after the US had already pulled out of Viet Nam, Zombie recalls a few:

May 18, 1973 - The bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York. WUO states this is in response to the killing of 10-year-old black youth Clifford Glover by police.

September 28, 1973 - The ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy are bombed. WUO states this is in response to ITT’s alleged role in the Chilean coup earlier that month. [NYT, 9/28/73]

March 6, 1974 - Bombing of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco. WUO states this is to protest alleged sterilization of poor women. In the accompanying communiqué, the Women’s Brigade argues for “the need for women to take control of daycare, healthcare, birth control and other aspects of women’s daily lives.”

May 31, 1974 - The Office of the California Attorney General is bombed. WUO states this is in response to the killing of six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

July, 1974 – The WUO releases the book Prairie Fire, in which they indicate the need for a unified Communist Party. They encourage the creation of study groups to discuss their ideology, and continue to stress the need for violent acts. The book also admits WUO responsibility of several actions from previous years. The Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (PFOC) arises from the teachings in this book and is organized by many former WUO members.

September 11, 1974 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation (part of the Rockefeller Corporation). WUO states this is in retribution for Anaconda’s alleged involvement in the Chilean coup the previous year.

June 16, 1975 - Weathermen bomb a Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York, WUO states this is in solidarity with striking Puerto Rican cement workers.

…etc.!

And let us not forget their fund-raising activities loooong after Vietnam was over:
October 20, 1981 - Brinks robbery in which Kathy Boudin and several members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army stole over $1 million from a Brinks armored car at the Nanuet Mall, near Nyack, New York on October 20, 1981. The robbers were stopped by police later that day and engaged them in a shootout, killing two police officers and one Brinks guard as well as wounding several others.

Assuming we actually had any reporters worth their salt in the major media, the big questions on the Ayers-Obama connection would've been asked, repeatedly, a long time ago. And the excuses and evasions really reported, and investigated. That this hasn't happened really tells us all we need to know about what's happened to our major media(as if Dan Rather & Co. hadn't already done that).

I don't hear the visitor for a while, look around and find her

using my hat.Which is not supposed to have a dog-fur lining, dammit.

No no, you mustn't lock up your tools,

then they might break in:
Tenants have been warned that padlocks can lead to thieves forcing their way through doors and windows of the council-owned sheds to steal garden equipment.

Bristol City Council claims its 'Don't Use a Padlock' initiative will save taxpayers' money because fewer sheds will have to be repaired or replaced.
...
But a gardener at Bifield Allotments, in the Stockwood area of the city, whose shed was broken into a few weeks ago, criticised the advice.

Terry Nichols, 71, a retired engineering consultant, who has rented a plot at the site for more than 25 years, said: "It beggars belief that the council is telling us to leave our sheds wide open so that anyone can get in them.

"Everyone who has an allotment has been sent a letter. I have never read anything so ridiculous in all my life.

"I doubt the council would pay up if the sheds were burgled while they were left unlocked."
...
The council acknowledged that not locking the sheds could leave expensive equipment uninsured.

The spokesman added: "It would be a matter for discussion between the allotment-holder and their insurance company which would be able to advise them on the conditions of their policy."
Translation: "If they steal your tools, that's your problem, but if they damage the shed it costs US!"

Of course, the 'US' money comes from taxing the ass off the people, so why are they so upset? They generally act like that's a bottomless well.

Rodger brings you tomorrows NYEffin'T headlines

Today

So, besides his general socialist tendencies, Barack

I Don't Want Your Guns But...Obama may have financial reasons for pushing gun ownership restrictions and bans:
One of Obama’s biggest donors is the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Meagher and Flom, LLP, which contributed $340,264 to his presidential campaign as of September 2, 2008.[12] Skadden, Arps represents the inventors of a “firearm safety system,” patent number 6499243, which adds a biometric activator that links a gun to one owner. The “Summary of the Invention” section of the patent application notes:

The safety system further makes use of a person’s fingerprint data, which is a unique personal property that is highly suitable for tracking and control.[13] [Emphasis added]

Sidley Austin LLP has contributed $350,302 to Obama.[14] Sidley Austin represents the inventors of the “Gun identification kit,” patent number 7380706. This invention provides a way for every gun to have a spent cartidge case made available for entry into a ballistic “fingerprint” database. Of course, such a database is useful only if all firearms are entered into it:

Because the vast majority of publicly owned firearms have not been used in the commission of a crime, they will not show up in [such a] database. It would therefore be desirable to provide a means for increasing the number of firearms for which…information and data is available.

The inventors’ solution to this? Pass a law mandating that every gun is registered (serial number matched with shell casing and owner data, all permanently recorded):

One means of populating [such a] database would be to mandate that ballistic information be obtained and entered into the database for all firearms.[15]
Now, isn't that interesting?

Since Obama's ties with Terrorist Ayers are coming out

no matter how the major media tries to avoid it, their object now seems to be "He wasn't such a bad terrorist."
Palin was referring to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. The group took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol four decades ago.

'Nonfatal explosions'. By pure luck. And let's not forget about the bomb that ended the string for these bastards, the one that blew up while they were assembling it: it was a nail bomb. That they were going to plant, along with several others, at a dance at Fort Dix. Ayers has tried to claim recently that they 'weren't trying to hurt people, just damage property'. Bullshit. Even if that were true for the earlier bombs*, it's not for this one: you do not make a nail bomb to damage property, you make one to kill and cripple people. This miserable terrorist bastard was prevented from carrying out a mass murder due to his groups incompetence, or his incompetence as a bomb designer, or just plain luck. And Obama's been hanging around with him, working with him, for years.


*people who celebrate the Manson murders aren't exactly the type to worry about people getting killed.

And yet more from the 'most ethical Congress' that Pelosi promised us

Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.

So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.

Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.

This is the piece of crap that was standing in the House lecturing people about 'responsibility'. And I wonder how many payoffs he managed to lard into the bill that was just rammed up our backside?

Visitor for the weekend

Daughter and ex have gone to a sci-fi con for the weekend, and this beast does not like strangers and groups, so
This beast is currently sitting next to my chair, asking to sit in my lap. I'm not used to a small critter that looks kind of like a dogdog so small I'm worried about stepping on it being in the house. However, she seems used to keeping out of the way so she hasn't collected any sole marks. And she's properly housebroken, so little worry there.

But it's really ticking of Security Staff to have this furball inside the house.

Maybe a rope AND tar & feathers booth

After the word of the House vote yesterday, I managed to stop cursing and considering calling on ancient deities to bring a plague of boils and syphilis- never mind, many probably have the latter, let’s make it permanent hemorrhoids, bad ones- on many of the people in Congress before I wrote to my Rep. Mary Fallin, who changed her vote from ‘no’ to ‘yes’, thus causing me a certain amount of desire for a building collapse in DCheartburn. Along with all but two of the other OK reps(one of whom doesn’t count as he voted ‘yes’ the first time). At this point, I’m curious: just what DO we do about these bastards?

Everything I’ve been hearing says the calls and e-mails to pretty much EVERYBODY was running 90% ‘NO. HELL NO!’, and yet the did it anyway. I do realize this is a Republic, not a Democracy, but the God-cursed senators and reps are supposed to pay some attention to what the people who elect them say.

Add to that the parade of larcenous dirtbags standing on the floor of both Houses lecturing us about financial responsibility… Charlie Rangel, who’s defended by that bitch Pelosi by saying “He’s a simple man and didn’t understand the tax laws” THAT HE HELPED WRITE. Barney Frank, who is one of the bastards who saw to it that nothing was done about this years ago. Lecturing us. It made me want to see a meteor hit the Capitol so we could start over from scratch. Yeah, we’d lose the good ones, too; since so many of the ‘good’ ones turned around and voted for this abortion, what good are they? I have always thought Coburn in the Senate and Fallin were good ones; but Coburn voted for this end-run around the Constitution in the Senate- bullcrap theft and all- and Fallin changed her vote, so what the hell good are they?

Yeah, I’m still pissed. And I told both of them I am. Which, as their actions seem to indicate, means less than a bag of fertilizer to them.

There’s GOT to be enough lampposts in DC, and we can take enough rope…

And the bailout bandwagon goes on,

with effing California now talking about "Save us!"

Response: Screw you, California, and your little Ahnuld too. You screwed your budget, you fix it, dumbasses.

Oh, and next time Charlie Rangel(Tax Dodger-NY) opens his mouth to talk about 'responsibility', I hope someone kicks him in the testicles. Assuming they haven't atrophied.

Another reason why various members of the Senate

should be horsewhipped out of the place:
By a vote of 74-25, the U.S. Senate last night approved a bill aimed at "providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers"--popularly called the bailout.

Or, as it is formally known, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007.

When the House rejected the same measure Monday, it was known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The Providence Journal explains what happened:

In part, it has to do with the U.S. Constitution. Article 7, Section 1 says tax bills must originate in the House of Representatives.

In order to improve chances that the bailout bill, which the House defeated on Monday, would be approved this time around, the Senate tacked on several popular provisions, such as extending the life of business tax cuts that were set to expire and changing the alternative minimum tax, a much-loathed part of the tax code intended to ensure that the well-to-do pay their fair share but that in recent years has increasingly affected the middle class.
And an element of the tax package was legislation advanced by [Rhode Island's Rep. Patrick] Kennedy that requires health-insurance companies to offer coverage of mental illness on a par with that of physical illness.

Once the Senate added those provisions to the rescue bill, it qualified as a tax bill, which the upper chamber is constitutionally prohibited from originating.

In order to get around the Constitution, the leaders turned to the time-honored stratagem of finding a live but dormant House bill--Kennedy's mental-health parity bill--to use as a shell.
"They take out the entire text" of Kennedy's old bill, "and then, by amendment, they substitute the other bill," said Don Ritchie, an assistant Senate historian.

So the bailout ended up attached to a measure that extends benefits to people suffering from depression and is named after a lawmaker who died in a crash. Never let it be said that the U.S. Senate lacks a sense of humor.

That business idea is back on. I wonder what kind of price break I can get for buying rope in bulk?

Relief did show up last night. On time.

Which means I got a normal amount of sleep last night, or as normal as I get anymore. Which means I got some of the grocery shopping done, which gave me time to have the radio on and hear more of the details of the lump of phlegm the Senate coughed up. These clowns make a kid who just had his first successful solo poop in the potty chair seem subdued, with far less reason. The kid actually accomplished something good, the Senate just pissed in our boot(again) and told us it's a clean, healthy rain coming down outside.

My Senators split it, Inhofe voting no and Coburn yes. Coburn says he felt he had to, but he thinks the bill sucks. I'd far rather he'd said "This is an abortion of a rabid wolverine and I refuse to help screw the people back home just so something can be done." Ticks me off severely, it does.

On somewhat happier news, I see Steve has now conceded the K31 is capable of accurate fire. We told him, but did he believe us? Noooo.

Let's see, for the update on idiocy in (fG)Britain, they not only take a cane away from a 78-year-old man(it's a 'weapon', you see), they lose it.

Nah, no possible bias in THIS debate, no sir!

Screw it, I've got grass to mowg

Simple message for the 'public servants' who are in such a rush

to loot us. Again.

"Let me put it this way. We're told, over and over, that it's a 'crisis' and things have to be done NOW. And then we find out about all the giveaways and pork you people lard into this. That leaves us with two conclusions to choose from:
First, that it's NOT a crisis, just a bunch of politicians using this as another chance to loot our pockets to pay off their supporters and increase their power,
or
Second, it IS a crisis, and even in a crisis these people are willing to use it as a chance to buy support and increase their power, even if it trashes the country to do so.

So, which is it?"

Some assorted observations and thoughts

One of the sillier tv shows to be found is on Spike: MANswers, as in ‘answers for men’. Things like “How drunk can you get without dying?”, “Do artifical boobs float?”, etc. I’ve seen this on a couple of occasions(“I need some background noise, dammit, I’m about to fall over.”) Last week saw one which included the question “What’s the biggest handgun you can buy?” Illustrated, of course, by some scantily-clad and, ah, well-endowed females. They showed one shooting a .357 Mag, then a second with a .44 Mag, and then the answer to the question: .500 S&W Mag.

Their final test? Comparison of how the compensator on the .500 reduced recoil by comparing how much that shooters boobs jiggled during recoil compared to those of the one shooting the .44. Unfortunately, not the best test, as the lady shooting the .44 was a bit shorter and lighter than the .500 lady so she got a bit more motion. And, not knowing fully how the size of the affected body parts and levels of support compared, can’t really say it was a valid comparison. Entertaining, though.

And yes, this is a demonstration of how far down the tubes tv has slid.

The bug people came by a couple of weeks ago to do their annual “Go away, you little bastards” spraying around the house. Which is something I’m fairly happy to leave to someone else to do. I’ve always been uncomfortable messing with insecticides, more so since I found out how many of them are basically a nerve agent not much different than the stuff banned from use by various international treaties(which boils down to a few countries telling some others “If you use this shit, we will stomp you into the ground. If you use it on us, you’ll be gone.” God help everyone if some of these clowns decide we won’t do it).

Know how the first nerve agents were discovered? From what I've read, a German chemist was looking for better bug-killing stuff and came across two compounds that were so lethal they were useless for bugs, as they’d kill EVERYTHING they came in contact with. Meet Sarin and Tabun. Now, if you read the labels on lots of insecticides, the warnings include that they’re a ‘cholinesterase inhibitor’. Guess what Sarin and Tabun are? VX also, which is even worse than the others. The first two break down, usually in a few hours; VX is persistent. It can stay dangerous for months. A room could be decontaminated, but if a bit on the bottom of a doorknob was missed, someone could open the door a month later and die. Nasty in the extreme.

So, for the most part, I leave messing with the stuff to people trained at it. I just have this dislike for the thought of developing twitches and blackouts. Worse than I have now, I mean.

This is one of those things that cause problems because the difference between insecticide and war agent can be very slight, and the equipment to make them is considered ‘dual-purpose’. Remember the chemical trailers they found in Iraq? The first people who examined them developed symptoms of exposure to chemical agents. The Iraqis captured said “No no, these are for making insecticides for the crops!” Which is bullcrap; you don’t make pesticides in small lots that size. And, of course, when some media weenie asked if the symptoms COULD be due to insecticide they were told yes, the effects can be very similar, BUT… We know what happened, the ‘but’ was ignored and it was loudly declared that they WERE pesticide-making trailers and the nasty, lying American Army could not be trusted. Another reason I distrust just about every word that comes out of the mouth of a talking head.

Just finished reading John Ringo’s The Last Centurion. Very good rundown in there of just how much we depend on chemicals- sometimes very dangerous chemicals- to stay alive. I spent some years growing up in a small town in northern Oklahoma, farm & ranch country. You pick up things living in a place like that. How terribly important the weather is, and how much of the crops would disappear without the insecticides and herbicides we’ve got. It’s scary, it really is: the difference between plenty and hunger is something to kill the weeds and pests.

And the same stuff, misused or used carelessly, can kill you.


Right now I'm not looking forward to the rest of the day. Last night my relief did not show up, and their phone went straight to answering. Which meant I had an unexpected four hours extra before I could get home. About 4.5 hours sleep. Then a doctors appointment this morning that didn't happen: get there a few minutes early, then, at 45 minutes after the time the appointment was scheduled, tell the receptionist "I'm out of time" and leave. So the day's just gone along wonderfully since midnight. And that moron better show up tonight or I'll pay them a visit. With a club.


More bloggage later, when I have more time and am less sleep-deprived.

"Screw the law; I'm Nanny Bloomberg, and I Know Best!"

Mr. Bloomberg, whose second term ends in 2009, is barred by law from running for re-election. So he will propose revising the city’s 15-year-old term limits law, which restricts him and dozens of other elected leaders to two four-year terms, those people said.
...
People briefed on the matter said Mr. Bloomberg, 66, would seek to change the law through legislation in the City Council. His staff is envisioning an unusual bill that would apply only to those currently in office, allowing them to serve three terms instead of two. A permanent change would require voter approval, these people said.
Translation: "I don't care what I said before, and I don't care what the voters think! I'm Nanny Bloomberg, the city NEEDS my leadership, so I(and my buttmonkeys, but let's don't mention them) need to be reelected and screw the term limits!"

Thanks to Sondra for noting this

Choose your side: "We're all gonna DIE!" or

"It's not that big a deal." Flip a damn coin.

I've spent the last couple of weeks listening to this. One side details why we NEED to approve the (possibly, quite possibly more) 700 billion figure that it turns out they pulled out of their ass or the markets will collapse and the world will go into a depression. The other side's saying "Well, if it's that important, why all the games? And why is so much hidden crap larded into this bill?"

As various people have pointed out- repeatedly- it'd be a lot easier to see this as an actual crisis if
A: The people working to 'fix' it weren't treating it like one more chance to buy votes,
B: The people in charge of 'fixing' this weren't, in large part, the same bastards who had a hand in screwing it up in the first place.
C: We had one damn reason to trust these clowns.

Countrywide Dodd is sneaking pork for ACORN into the bill, for instance. This bastard shouldn't be allowed inside the damn building while this is being debated. Same for that crook Barney Frank, since- among others sitting there blaming the Stupid Party for the problem- he was one of the people, a couple of years ago, refusing to allow something to actually be done about the problems at Fannie and Freddie. And so on.

Tell you what: forbid every rep and senator who acted to prevent action being taken two years ago from taking any part in this; forbid any kind of 'money down the road' for ANY group like ACORN being a part of this bill; maybe, just maybe, that'll help convince me that there really is a 'crisis'.

In ref to 'LE While Stupid' and 'Sorry Excuse For',

Very Helpful Commenter sent me this, and gave permission to post it:

I live in a bedroom community of 20,000 about 7 miles N. of the Seattle city limits. Last week my dog, Ozzy a 100lb pit was sleeping on the front stoop with the front door open behind him. I heard him "huff" a couple of times so I went to the door. One of our local minions of the law was standing in my driveway from where he told me Ozzy needed to be on a chain and muzzled. Since I'd never heard about that ordinance , I asked him for chapter and verse. I was told in no uncertain terms that it was his discretion and if I didn't have a muzzle or a chain on my dog, he could shoot him. I got the moron's name and badge number, put Ozzy inside and walked down to talk to the C.O.P., who lives four doors down the street to have a chat. I was so mad I was shaking. I told him what I just told you. Just after I went home, Officer Moron pulled his patrol car into the Chief's driveway. Ten minutes later he left. Just this morning the Chief stopped by to pet Ozzy and to tell me that Officer Moron had been terminated for cause because that was his third verifiable complaint of "Field Legislation". Or as the Chief called it, "Pulling ordinances out of his ass".

He also told me he was going to have a long talk with all of our uniformed officers about this sort of BS and how it was going to stop dead in its tracks. He also has little to no use for swat teams and tactical uniforms with face masks and full auto weapons. I told him it might be good for the officers to get out of their cars once in a while and simply take a walk through the neighborhoods to meet people as that might ameliorate the adversarial mindset some officers seem to be developing.

One other thing. A few years ago Police Officers out of the blue started issuing written warnings about picayune land use violations. Garbage containers too close to the street, lawns not neatly mowed, and RV's with one wheel on the grass in my and other's yards, that sort of thing. 20 or 25 of us went to the next city council meeting and told the city council, the Mayor and the City Manager ,whose idea this all was, that if things were so under control that the Police were being assigned "Hall Monitor" duties, perhaps we should cut the Police budget by 25 or 50 percent, and let some officers go. The city manager told us we were all a bunch of displaced rednecks and if we wanted to live like "White Trash" it was all right with her. Two months later we got a shiny new city manager with some sense. This place ain't Beverly Hills, ya know.

It's nice when you have A: a COP with a working brain and B: a city council who apparently realizes who both votes and pays the bills.

The bailout failed, which ended my thoughts on a new business:

putting up a booth on the DC Mall, selling pre-stretched and oiled hemp rope, each piece sold with direction on tying a proper hangmans noose.

Went out of town to visit some friends this weekend, and was listening to the radio on the way home as the vote counts were being announced. Including commentary on Pelosi looking like she'd bitten into something dairy that'd been left out in the sun. For a week or so. So the trip ended on a high note. I posted a couple of things over the weekend just so I wouldn't forget about them or get too busy on my return, otherwise, screw the internet.

Among other things done, there was a gun show so some of us spent Sunday morning there. And my Favorite Ammo Guy was there, which was very nice. You've probably noticed that not only have prices gone up, but most of the premium hollowpoint ammo is now found in 20-round boxes selling for what you used to buy a box of 50 for. This guy often has Hydra-Shok and Gold Dots in 50-boxes still, for a fair bit less than two of the 20-boxes, and he did. So I'm flush with carry ammo once again.

And now that I'm back, with laundry in the morning and work in the afternoon awaiting, I now return you to my normal bloggage.

Every time I hear more about the 'agreement' to SAVE US ALL!!!

from financial collapse, I keep seeing a bunch of desperate used-car salesmen trying to keep us from looking under the hood. And when they're this desperate, to not only force a deal but to try to use it to a: discredit McCain and b: puff up Obama, we need to bring out the tasers. As Kim put it,
My boss always said: ”When it comes to money, there’s no decision so urgent that you can’t sleep on it” (or something to that effect). And while everyone was screaming about the urgency of the $700 billion bailout, the warning bells in my head were deafening me, as I remembered both my boss’s words, and those of H.L. Mencken:
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Add in the revelations about Dodd(Bought Off- Sleaze) and his earmarks for ACORN and such, and the other crap they're trying to lard on... Hell with tasers, we need ropes.

I interrupt my weekend because I just have to make note

of these two things:
First, law enforcement officials in Missouri attempt to trash the 1st Amendment, and the Governor tells them exactly what he thinks:
“St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.

“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.
It's not the tar and feathers these bastards deserve, but it's a start. I wonder if the Governor has the state authorities investigating them for violations of law and abuse of authority? Maybe a few indictments would get the message across.

Second, Chris Countrywide Dodd(Sleaze-Should Be Hanged) is trying to use the bailout to buy more credit for himself and his dirtbag friends:
Much of the blogosphere is up in arms because of the provision in Senator Dodd’s financial bailout bill that might funnel profits from the bailout plan to ACORN Housing (related to the disreputable activist group ACORN), and other more reputable service organizations.

I have read Dodd’s proposed statute and in some respects, it is far worse than has been reported. Senator Dodd has placed a loophole in the bill that is explicitly designed to siphon off tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund even if there are no net profits in the $700 billion venture.
Every time this jerk opens his mouth, someone should stand up and say 'COUNTRYWIDE'. And then drag him away from the podium and kick him somewhere appropriate.

As to the dirtbags outside of Congress associated with the crookedness, Theo has a message for them. I would add, "After your buttmonkey senators and reps have been handcuffed to you."

Andrew Rice is running for Senate, and he's kind of ticked off

Sen. Coburn:
“Andrew Rice has neither the experience nor the ideas to address our nation’s financial crisis. Nor does he have any basis for associating his liberal agenda with my record of limiting the growth of government. His attempt to associate his agenda with mine in the context of a partisan attack against Jim Inhofe is personally offensive to me and an affront to Oklahoma voters,” Coburn said.

“Senator Jim Inhofe, unlike Andrew Rice, has a record of keeping taxes low and government limited. Had Washington politicians followed Jim Inhofe’s conservative philosophy we would be in much more secure position today. Andrew Rice, on the other hand, would empower Senate liberals who want to increase taxes, orchestrate a government takeover of health care and pass on crushing debt to future generations,” Coburn said.

“Finally, it’s absurd that Andrew Rice now wants to associate his views with mine when he actively worked to elect Brad Carson in 2004. In fact, Rice was part of Carson’s left-wing political base and was offended that Carson wouldn’t proudly identify himself as a liberal. Rice was a liberal then and he’s a liberal now. He should campaign on his true convictions, not try to hide his views behind baseless partisan attacks,” Coburn said.

Problem is, if Rice were honest his posters would say "Rice: Socialist for Senate" and he knows that wouldn't go over well with most people.

oh, I just love it! Murtha's gonna have a spasm

At least I can hope so:
One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.

Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.

Charges were later dropped against all but one of the Marines, with a military prosecutor calling allegations against Mr. Sharratt "incredible."

Let the roasting begin!

Oleg Volk could use a hand

Information here.

Further found here

Facing the reality

The other day the gentleman with the handbasket pointed to this post at TJIC(where I had not been before), and had this one himself. Both reminded me of something.

We all know people who, for whatever reason, either don’t like guns or refuse the idea of using violence for any purpose, including defense of self or others. Years back, when I was still messing with the SCA*, I ran into another level of – not quite sure what to call it. It generally manifested itself in someone who had no problem keeping a big knife, a sword or an axe by the bed, but was horrified or disgusted at the thought of keeping a gun there.

Now, this was not due to a simple dislike of violence: they announced they were quite willing to use the above noted implements of mayhem on an evildoer, they just did not like firearms(how they thought slicing somebody open or sliding a couple of feet of steel through their guts was morally superior to shooting them, I don’t know). Ok, you make your choices and take your chances. But there was a subgroup that had drunk the ‘honorable combat’ kool-aid and believed it: it wasn’t ‘honorable’ to use a gun on someone.
“A real man would face attackers with his bare hands.”
“What if there are three of them? With knives or guns?”
“You could take them - that would be heroic!”
Etc.
I’m happy to report that I’d never bought into that crap; the concept of worrying about ‘honorably’ fighting someone who broke into my home and threatened me and my family just did not make sense(still doesn’t). But you had them. I suspect that, in many cases, they’d never truly considered having to face an attack, and keeping the old-style weaponry handy was their “See, I’m ready!” to pretend they had; heroic daydreams of fighting off multiple attackers and all.

There was a third group, who directly crossed with people who’ll keep a baseball bat handy but nothing edged or noisy. Their bat was a wooden practice sword. They at least faced squarely the question of “What do I do if someone breaks in?”, though I disagree with their choice: I want something that gives me enough reach to stay out of the reach of the bad guy(getting into contact range is a Bad Thing), and doesn’t depend on having a fair amount of room to swing. I used to have a D&D button that said ‘Constructive Coward’: I have no desire to take chances on receiving further damage to my somewhat worn body by doing something stupid. Like going hand-to-hand with some clown- let alone more than one- who breaks into my home. Or attacks me in a parking lot. And if I have a girlfriend or family to protect, there is no damn way I’m going to play games.

You know, this 'be prepared for the problem' stuff is wearing, and it can be hard. Considering what you'll do should someone come in the door or window at night, or out from behind a car, or be waiting outside the doors of a restaurant... it's not exactly fun to consider; it can be downright nasty. Not exactly something you want to spend your thoughts on. But if you don't, and it does happen... I've known people who deal with this reality by ignoring it as much as possible, but I can't do that. I'm not Ghost, it's just that I'd rather deal with the nasty thoughts on bad possibilities than consider finding myself with the situation gone to hell and I'd never bothered to think about 'what if?'.


* Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval history study group that includes, for those interested combat with rattan weapons. Yes, I used to do this, and hit people with sticks.

If this info is true, it wasn't just a botched drug raid

that got an officer killed: it was a setup by corrupt cops.
Frederick has said in interviews and in letters to his family that he was awoken by his dogs barking at the intruders, then heard the sound of someone breaking down his front door. He says he grabbed his handgun and ran to his living room, where he saw that the bottom panel of his door and been busted out and saw someone reaching up through the broken panel toward the door handle. Frederick says that's when he fired, striking and killing Det. Jarrod Shivers. Police and prosecutors counter that Frederick fired through the door, hitting Det. Shivers as he was standing on Frederick's front lawn. Police say they announced themselves before attempting to enter Frederick's home. Frederick and at least two neighbors say they heard no announcement.
...
When I spoke with Turnbull in June at the Chesapeake Jail, he confirmed that he and Steven had been working for the police as paid informants for several months and that Steven had cut a deal with the police after being arrested for credit card theft—they'd drop the charges if he brought them evidence of a major marijuana operation. He confirmed that he and Steven then broke into Ryan Frederick's home and stole the alleged marijuana plants the police then used as probable cause to obtain the search warrant that led to the fatal raid. Turnbull was hesitant to confirm the more serious allegations he had made to Hopkins in February—that the police were actually encouraging these illegal break-ins—explaining that his lawyer had advised him to stop taking and that he feared the police would retaliate if he kept talking. "I don't want to get into any more trouble," he said.
Isn't that just damn wonderful? Gets even better:
Last week, the Virginian-Pilot finally reported on Turnbull's conversations with Hopkins from last February, explaining that Turnbull's allegations seem to be confirmed by new revelations from special prosecutor Paul Ebert at a pretrial hearing earlier this month. Referring to the break-in at Frederick's home, the Pilot reported:

Turnbull said he and an accomplice didn't worry about breaking into Frederick's garage because police assured them they would be protected.

"The dude said he was going to look out for us, so let's go do it," he said.

[...]

Turnbull said he met with Shivers once and talked with him on the phone on other occasions. During a meeting at a 7-Eleven store near the intersection of Battlefield Boulevard and Cedar Road in Chesapeake, Shivers introduced himself.

"He told me what to look for. He said, if you know of any burglaries or anything, let Steven know... He said no evidence, no pay... He said if you know where it is, go get it.

If indeed true, then the people involved need to be dealt with. This is friggin' awful.

So Barack Don't Tell People Inconvenient Facts About Me

Obama has moved to "I'll threaten your license if you allow ads I don't like."

When a politician makes threats like this in response to ads, that's as big a warning as can be about how he'd rule. And I do mean 'rule'. And as to the claims of falsehoods...

It seems shooting someone's dog because it scares you

has a price. From the comments on the latest police/dog atrocity, it seems the PD is getting some rather, ah, pointed criticism. Some of it "How could he do that?" and a lot of "What kind of cretins ARE you?!?", and they're feeling the heat. As they damn well should. I mean, this has to be one of the finest examples of dumbass I've heard of in a while.

They get a report of an aggressive dog, and instead of handing it off to animal control, an officer goes out. Instead of taking a look and reporting to the ac people, moron in uniform takes his shotgun and goes to the fence. Dog, as dogs generally do when a stranger with a bad attitude comes to their territory, barked and growled at him. Whereupon Officer Moron shoots the dog. And then acts downright nasty toward the owner and anyone else who dared to question his actions. Whereupon(how often do I get to use that word? Let alone twice? In one post?) the Chief informs the public that the growling dog behind the fence made Officer Moron feel threatened and it's his right(the word Moron used) to shoot the dog. Is there any way a half-intelligent human could NOT expect to catch hell for this nonsense?

I can't decide if the chief was doing the reflexive "We can do no wrong" defense of Moron, or if he actually didn't understand that one of his subordinates had both acted unnecessarily and followed that by committing a truly stupid act. Either way, it was dumb. I mean, really dumb. As someone recently put it, if the police refuse to act as peace officers and pay attention to Sir Robert's Principles, then one of the tools the public can use is the budget: "Well, Chief, if things are so under control that Officer Moron can take time from his day to check out a dog in a yard and shoot it for barking at him, then obviously you don't need the whole of that budget and we can give the taxpayers a bit of a refund, can't we?", and if someone doesn't bring this up to the COP or the mayor I'll be surprised. Actually, it ought to be used a lot more often. "Commissioner, if the SWAT team is needed so little that they have time to go out kicking doors and shooting dogs on tips that haven't even been investigated, or where nobody could be bothered to check the phone book or something to make sure they had the right address, then we can cut the funding for it. After all, all that armor and all those weapons and the stylish masks cost an awful lot, and if they're not really needed..."

Was talking with my daughter about this(among other bullcrap that's been going on), and she said this:
Yeah. I'm so sad about that, too. My default setting on attitude towards police is respect, and while I will always treat officers with respect, it's starting to skew a little towards 'respect because I'm scared not to' instead of 'because you deserve it.' Which sucks. And has to make life so much harder for all of the good cops out there whose reputations are tarnished by the existance of people like the ones in all these stories.
This is from a girl who grew up around LE. When she has developed this attitude, LE has a big problem. And if LE doesn't deal with it, seriously and soon, it's going to get far worse.

Health nannies in OK

Rope being oiled.

Just before I left for work yesterday there was a report on KTOK about a big 'health project to fight obesity', which wasn't a surprise; such projects happen about every other week. This one, however, included the head of the project saying "We need to look at taxes on unhealthy foods and tax breaks for healthy activities like health club memberships." That's as close as I remember, because so far I can't find the article for the exact quote. It was the usual "There are too many fat people, and obviously they can't deal with things unless the government uses a whip on them, so we need to tax them" crap that comes out regularly. I guess I shouldn't be surprised this nonsense is going on here. After all, a while back the Oklahoma City police chief announced that we need registration and licensing of firearms, so other idiocy cropping up shouldn't surprise me.

I have a suggestion: since this is supposed to be for our health, I propose a tax(say, 70-80% of their gross income) on nanny-state bureaucrats who want to raise taxes on food they don't like. Since their proposing this garbage is bad for my blood pressure, this should reduce the amount of their nonsense being spouted, thus it's good for health. Mine, at least.

I guess this level of idiocy had to show up sometime

Sarah Palin is a JOOOOO! She's part of the CONSPIRACY! And Jimmy Carter
is APPALLED!



Yeah, I stole her picture; who could resist?

If you need some more specifics on The Obama's GFW history

for arguments, Dave Kopel has ammunition for you. Including
The answer is straightforward, in the Illinois legislature, Obama for SB 1195, which defines "assault weapons" much more broadly than the 1994 federal law. It included double-barrel and break-open shotguns in 28 gauge caliber and larger; and also banned .50 caliber rifles.

and

In the 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, Obama said he favored a national ban on concealed carry permits.

The truck is washed, the laundry done, and Sondra just ruined

my good mood:
Officials at the Merced County school confirmed Thursday that Jake Shelly was forced to take off a red, white and blue tie-dyed American flag T-shirt on Tuesday. The shirt said nothing offensive, just: "United States of America, Washington, D.C."

The school's assistant principal issued Shelly a bright yellow T-shirt that read "DCV: Dress Code Violator" to wear for the rest of the day. He was given his shirt back after classes ended.
...
Earlier in the day, he was speaking with a local news station when an unidentified teacher walked up to him, ripped off the microphone clipped to his shirt and told him he was not allowed to talk to the media.
...
"In reviewing the dress code at the time, an administrator felt the shirt was in violation of that section of the dress code," said Superintendent Brian Walker. "She asked him to remove it and he did."

The assistant principal initially thought Shelly's T-shirt violated a clause of the school dress code that does not allow "shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities."

School officials said they will now interpret that clause of the dress code -- which was written at the beginning of this school year -- differently.
Translation: "We got caught showing what we think of this country, and we don't like the heat, so leave us alone now."
Fat effin' chance, dumbass.

She also points to something interesting. Something else about which we'll probably see glaciers in Kansas before the major media will talk about it:
There is a secret group in the Obama-Biden campaign tasked with shutting off any leaks from the record that links Barack Obama to his longtime adviser and mentor Bill Ayers, professor of education at the University of Illinois and unrepentant Weatherman terrorist and fugitive from the 1970s.

This surprising fact has been developed by Chicago-born and Ralph Nader-supporting Professor Steve Diamond of Santa Clara University Law School, who maintains the Global Labor and Politics blog and has pieced together over many months the unusual surreptitious activity around the public records of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) grant now housed at the University of Illinois and Brown University.

Better to read the piece whole, than see bits here.

There's just something about some police officers and dogs

that leads to dead dogs.
Sharon Kulers heard her Dalmatian barking outside, so she made her way to the back yard.

She saw a Mount Olive Police Department cruiser pull up to the house behind hers.

Then she noticed the shotgun in one of the officer's hands, aimed at her neighbor's 45-pound Labrador retriever.

"I said, 'Please don't shoot that dog. He won't hurt you,'" Mrs. Kulers said.

The officer looked at her, then back at the dog.

A shot rang out -- then, another.

"I said, 'Why did you have to do that? You didn't have to do that,'" Mrs. Kulers said. "He said, 'It showed its teeth.' He said, 'We have a right to do this.'"

"It showed its teeth." At a stranger at the fence. So he shot it, as is his 'right'. Just bleepin' wonderful, isn't it? And the department was so considerate in notifying her:
Colby Mangum arrived home at 7:45 and was greeted by a note on her front door.

"It said, 'Call the Mount Olive Police Department about your vicious dog,'" the 24-year-old Mount Olive College graduate said.

Immediately, she thought of her Rottweiler, Bella.

"Because of her breed and her size, I could understand if she got loose and scared someone," Ms. Mangum said.

But "never" would she have imagined that the note was in reference to her 2-year-old, "undersized" Labrador.
Isn't that just so, compassionate?

What started this mess?
The neighbor who called the police was "really upset," too, Ms. Mangum said.

She was in her yard collecting sticks and pinecones when she mistook a playful lunge for one of aggression, she told her neighbor.

"She said (Durham getting shot) wasn't her intention," Ms. Mangum said. "That wasn't what she wanted. Not even close."
Lesson if you live in Mount Olive: don't complain to the cops about a dog unless you want it dead.

When the officer showed up at her home, he showed no sympathy, she said.

"He was very cold, very rude," Ms. Mangum said. "He said, 'Well ma'am, that's procedure."

Nearly the same thing the shooter told Mrs. Kulers hours earlier.

Police Chief Ralph Schroeder said based on the report he has seen, his men were justified in using lethal force.

Calls to his office to get the name of the officer who fired the shots were not returned Friday. The notice left on Ms. Magnum's door was signed by "S. Parks."

They were called by a neighbor who said the dog was acting aggressive, the dog "showed its teeth" to officers, and even "lunged" at one of them, he said.

But at the scene, the department official sent to discuss the incident told Ms. Mangum that the dog was too far away to spray with mace, requiring two shotgun shells instead.

"From what I have seen in the reports, that is what it says. The dog was being aggressive," Schroeder said. "(Our officers) attempt to get the owner to control their animal. If we can't, you have to make the decision on what to do with it."
Please note, the dog was in a fenced yard. Dogs consider- rightly- their yard their territory to protect. Stranger shows up and dog 'acts aggressive' and 'shows its teeth', these sorry excuses for lawmen consider that excuse to shoot it. Just absolutely disgusting.

Town Manager Charles Brown said he had no comment other than he had heard about the shooting.

But he did say that that "any time an officer feels threatened, they have the right to respond to that."
'Any time an officer feels threatened'? By a dog in a fence? He has no problem with that?

Now, most PD's call animal control to check on an aggressive dog report, did they here? Why, no.
Wayne County Animal Control director Justin Scally said he is not aware of any calls made to his office from Mount Olive police in reference to the incident -- Thursday evening or since.

"Typically, the 911 center will contact us," he said. "But to my knowledge, we didn't get any calls Thursday."

But Scally did say that he is not aware of any incidents in which a dog was put down by someone on his staff due to aggressive behavior.

Well, obviously your staff is behind the times and not racking up the number of kills the PD is. You gonna get on the ball, or keep acting like an intelligent public employee?

This is a fine example of "I'm a Police Officer and I can do whatever I decide I need/want to", and a prize winning example of 'Law Enforcement- sorry excuse for' AND 'LE While Stupid'.

Cowtown Cop recommended a book

Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas. Just finished it a couple of days ago; not bad at all. Good enough I've got the second from the library, and will start on it tonight.

Just a bit of Monday roundup

Gee, a reporter possibly faking 'racist who won't vote for The Obama' stories? Whoda thunk it?
The piece goes on to note that Sandra Cichon had been previously interviewed by the St. Petersberg Times for a local election: eight months earlier. It had nothing to do with the presidential election. Nada. Nil. Nothing.

Looks like this guy pulled a name out of his a$$ and never imagined anyone would question it.

Which is why I find reports like these so jarring because it just sounds nearly implausible that some guy sitting in a cafe is just going to pop off to a reporter or other stranger that:

I wonder when it'll occur to the clowns in charge of the journalist liars just how badly they've screwed their 'profession' by nonsense like this?

Well, well, well, a Barack The Obama staffer doing things that are possibly illegal to spread lies about Palin? Ok, I can't say 'whoda thunk it?' because it's not a surprise. And Ace has a bunch on this, too(too many links to list, start at the top and work down).

When Biden started his "My Barack better not come after my shotguns" crap as part of the "Let's lie to gun owners to try and get their votes" strategy, my first thought was "So he can't have your shotgun, but you've got no problem with him taking my rifle and my pistol?"

Some information on a man who helped make the surge. And helped make it work.

And some interesting quotes from our betters(hey, they SAY they are!) about what's wrong with us. including this:
Ask yourself: how has ‘elitism’ become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn’t seem too intelligent or well educated.
I submit that this clown doesn't really understand how many people see 'elite'. Those pilots and troops and scientists are 'elites' because they worked their ass off for years to become the best. Not just 'the best they can be', the best. While far too many(especially in the case of scientists) are willing to defer somewhat to someone because 'He went to (fill in the blank) University!', generally they get that designation because they worked for it. Same for engineers and musicians and whatever. Having gone to a 'right' university or belonging to the 'right' clubs and organizations doesn't cut it for most people: their question is "What have you DONE that I should think of you as 'elite'?" And far too many of what he considers elite fall into the 'right school, right groups, says the right things' class; they may never have actually done anything, but they have the right associations so he thinks of them as 'elite'.

I once responded to someone on a 'American's don't like education and are anti-intellectual' that Americans generally have high respect for education and want their kids to do better; what tends to be classed as 'anti-intellectual' is people being willing to tell self-important fools who think they have some inherent right to control our lives to go to hell. And who says that makes them anti-intellectual? The self-important fools. Of course.

Bleah. I've got things to do.

Just to reinforce: if any of your friends have any doubts about Barack

I Don't Have The Votes Obama and his intentions towards the 2nd Amendment, check this out:
FACT: Barack Obama voted for an Illinois State Senate bill to ban and confiscate “assault weapons,” but the bill was so poorly crafted, it would have also banned most semi-auto and single and double barrel shotguns commonly used by sportsmen.
FACT: Barack Obama voted to allow reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry.
FACT: Barack Obama wants to re-impose the failed and discredited Clinton Gun Ban.
FACT: Barack Obama voted to ban almost all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.
FACT: Barack Obama has endorsed a 500% increase in the federal excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
FACT: Barack Obama has endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership.
FACT: Barack Obama supports local gun bans in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities.
FACT: Barack Obama voted to uphold local gun bans and the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in self-defense.

And on, and on. If you own firearms for ANY reason, or just like the government kept out of your life as much as possible, this man is NOT your friend.

J.C. Higgins Model 80

This is another of the 'store brand' firearms, made by one company with another company's name on it. In this case the pistol is the High Standard Model 101 under the Higgins name. And it as a couple of interesting features. One is a cocking indicator that sticks out the back of the frame.

Unlike the High Standard Sport King I shot a while back, this one does have a slide lock. The safety is a left-right button near the back of the receiver just below the slide. Push left, safety on, it also locks the slide closed. Push right, safety off. Pull the slide back, push the button left, slide is locked open. This is not a last-round hold-open, manual use only. So lock the slide back, unscrew the knurled wheel just ahead of the trigger guard and the barrel comes off.
Pull the slide back a touch and release the safety and the slide(you'd better not turn loose of it) slides forward off the frame, field-stripped for cleaning.

The really unusual thing about this is the grip. At the back of the magazine well is a bolt; unscrew it and you get this:
The rear trigger guard and mag well are the grip; there's no lower receiver. The magazine release is a lever just above the trigger on the left side, so the mag locks at the top.

It's a BIG target-type grip with a wide thumb rest on the left, so left-handed people are out of luck with this one.

How'd it shoot? Like a High Standard: light, clean trigger and good accuracy, no complaints. Like almost any .22 autoloader, a bit picky about ammo; didn't always cycle fully with some standard velocity stuff, always did with high. At ten yards it would keep all shots(offhand) in a tight group, about an inch or so, which is about as tight as I can hold with anything. That grip did require getting your hand in the right position to properly press the trigger.

Overall, not a bad little pistol at all. And thanks to the owner who let me try it out and shoot the pictures.

A very good piece on Sarah Palin

from Britain:
The pro-life, devoutly Christian, happily married mother-of-five has emerged from the political margins to become the most intriguing and divisive woman in today's America.

She has enraged the Left in general and feminists in particular at every turn. What infuriates them most is her rapid rise to the national stage and her ability, like Ronald Reagan before her, to talk to the people in a language they understand with a fundamentalist message many of them want to hear.

It's all so damned reactionary. Heck, the man she admires most in the world is her husband.

There is something almost evangelical about her desire to give voice to the largely unheard folk of America; the ordinary, hard-working, God-fearing majority.

The liberal elite of the East and West coasts despise her, but middle Americans seem to have fallen for Palin as the figurehead of a new kind of politics.

The title? Sarah Palin is as popular as Diana in the hearts of the American public
Well worth reading. Found thanks to Confederate Yankee

So the 'far-right' rally was cancelled because the commies

and islamists rioted, and the city government says
About a kilometer away, several thousand peaceful demonstrators listened as Cologne's mayor Fritz Schramma stood up outside the city's great cathedral to denounce the far-right rally.

City and national German authorities detest the rightists, but say they must allow them the right of free speech.

Schramma described those who bent on holding the far-right rally as "racists in bourgeois dress" and "the moldy clique of Euro-Fascism," adding: "I say, there is the door. Go home!"
...
Cologne Mayor Schramma, who has personally backed the mosque project, welcomed the rally ban.

"It's a victory for the city of Cologne and a victory by the democratic forces in this city," he told Dpa news agency.

Yeah, this was a real 'victory for democracy', all right; a victory for mob rule. How were the protesters protesting?
The leftists, who were bent on occupying a city square set aside for the rightists to use, assaulted police and tried to snatch their pistols. Riot police advanced against them, swinging batons.

At Heumarkt, the square set aside for the rightists, the far left attacked roadblocks at several places and scuffled with riot police, but were repulsed.

"We had to crack down hard to avoid something worse happening," a police spokesman said. Reporters saw two men being detained. A police officer was hurt in the face when a firecracker was thrown at him.

Expecting trouble, riot police kept water-cannon trucks that can knock a man to the ground at 30 meters at the ready.

A police spokesman said the leftists were no longer attacking in small groups but in large formations.
Yup. Real victory for democracy there, folks. And note the bullcrap from the mayor about 'racists'. I realize it scrapes on your PC At Any Cost feelings, mayor, but islam is a religion, not a race. And you're a moron.