Xavier pointed out a piece on 'Cop Attackers &

Their Weapons', well worth reading. Couple of excerpts:
Among other things, the data reveal that most would-be cop killers:

• show signs of being armed that officers miss;
• have more experience using deadly force in “street combat” than their intended victims;
• practice with firearms more often and shoot more accurately;
• have no hesitation whatsoever about pulling the trigger. "If you hesitate," one told the study’s researchers, "you’re dead. You have the instinct or you don’t. If you don’t, you’re in trouble on the street..."...

...
Several of the offenders began regularly to carry weapons when they were 9 to 12 years old, although the average age was 17 when they first started packing "most of the time." Gang members especially started young.

Nearly 40% of the offenders had some type of formal firearms training, primarily from the military. More than 80% "regularly practiced with handguns, averaging 23 practice sessions a year," the study reports, usually in informal settings like trash dumps, rural woods, back yards and "street corners in known drug-trafficking areas."

One spoke of being motivated to improve his gun skills by his belief that officers "go to the range two, three times a week [and] practice arms so they can hit anything."

In reality, victim officers in the study averaged just 14 hours of sidearm training and 2.5 qualifications per year. Only 6 of the 50 officers reported practicing regularly with handguns apart from what their department required, and that was mostly in competitive shooting. Overall, the offenders practiced more often than the officers they assaulted, and this "may have helped increase [their] marksmanship skills," the study says.
And, as if it weren't known already,
Predominately handguns were used in the assaults on officers and all but one were obtained illegally, usually in street transactions or in thefts. In contrast to media myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows. What was available "was the overriding factor in weapon choice," the report says. Only 1 offender hand-picked a particular gun "because he felt it would do the most damage to a human being."

Researcher Davis, in a presentation and discussion for the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, noted that none of the attackers interviewed was "hindered by any law--federal, state or local--that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership. They just laughed at gun laws."

Thanks to Xavier for pointing to this.

Let's be plain and call it the 'Mexican Gun Lie', as this post

Sondra points to makes even futher note of:
Gents, thanks for a fine article. However, with regard to weaponry coming from the US, please be advised that Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) used by the Cartels are made in the PRC and former Combloc countries and not in the USA.

Also the grenades found in the US coming from Mexico are of Chinese or Combloc origin. many of the small arms, like fully automatic AK-47s are illegal in the USA and come from China or former Combloc nations. They should not be confused with the semi-auto look-alike weapons made and sold in the USA which are of no use to the Cartels as they are not machine guns. They are merely ugly like their military ancestors but are no different in action than a semi-auto hunting rifle sold at Big-5 or Oshman's and of far less power.

Fully automatic M16s, while made in the USA (or abroad under license) are military weapons sold to approved by State Dept. military units and governments abroad, then stolen and smuggled in to Mexico and elsewhere. Automatic weapons are not available in the USA over the counter and require paperwork, background checks, huge fees and approval and subsequent regular inspections of the privately-owned arm by BATF. BATF has not reported thefts or loss of personally owned Class III (Full auto selective fire). BATF should be able to provide you back-trace information proving that the weapons seized in Mexico, while made here or abroad under license, were stolen from the end-user, illegally acquired and smuggled in to Mexico by the Cartels from elsewhere than the US.
Which last would require the Mexican government to give us the serial numbers of the stuff they claim were legally bought in the US and smuggled to Mexico, and for some reason they don't want to do that...

Two pieces on the Mexican Gun Canard

First, from Salon of all places:

And yet, let's take a closer look at those guns...

On night patrol in Reynosa in November, soldiers came upon some suspicious men, who led them to a house that was packed with armaments for the drug cartels -- 540 rifles, 165 grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and 14 sticks of dynamite. [...]

The war analogy is not a stretch for parts of Mexico. Soldiers, more than 40,000 of them, are confronting heavily armed paramilitary groups on city streets. The military-grade weapons being used, antitank rockets and armor-piercing munitions, for example, are the same ones found on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Are these being bought at gun shows in the U.S.? Unlikely.
...
Bill Conroy at NarcoNews has done excellent reporting on the drug war and gets to the bottom of this in Legal U.S. Arms Exports May Be Source of Narco Syndicates' Rising Firepower

The Obama administration is now sending hundreds of additional federal agents to the border in an effort to interdict this illegal arms smuggling to reassure an agitated middle-America that Uncle Sam will get these bad guys. The cascade of headlines from mainstream media outlets printing drug-war pornography assures us in paragraphs inserted between the titillation that the ATF's Operation Gunrunner and other similar get-tough on gun-seller programs will save America from the banditos of Mexico.

But in reality, while the main weapons are getting to the cartels from the U.S., they're not being smuggled into Mexico, and so no interdiction efforts will help.

The deadliest of the weapons now in the hands of criminal groups in Mexico, particularly along the U.S. border, by any reasonable standard of an analysis of the facts, appear to be getting into that nation through perfectly legal private-sector arms exports, measured in the billions of dollars, and sanctioned by our own State Department. These deadly trade commodities -- grenade launchers, explosives and "assault" weapons --are then, in quantities that can fill warehouses, being corruptly transferred to drug trafficking organizations via their reach into the Mexican military and law enforcement agencies, the evidence indicates.

That's right, the ultimate source of the guns used by the cartels in Mexico? The U.S. government.
And remember the word about serial numbers?
Conroy follows the trail of the shipments of legal guns to Mexico, noting that while these weapons could be traced...

But that assumes the Mexican government, and our own government, really want to trace those weapons. A November 2008 report in the San Antonio Express News, which includes details of the major weapons seizure in Reynosa, Mexico, that same month involving the Zetas, reveals the following:

Another example of coordination problems occurred this month. Mexican authorities in Reynosa across the border from McAllen, seized the country's single largest stash of cartel weapons -- nearly 300 assault rifles, shoulder-fired grenade launchers and a half million rounds of ammunition.

But weeks later, Mexican authorities still have not allowed the ATF access to serial numbers that would help them track down the buyers and traffickers on the U.S. side.

[...] A former DEA agent, who also asked not to be named, says the shipment of military-grade weapons to the Mexican government under the DCS program, given the extent of corruption within that government, is essentially like "shipping weapons to a crime syndicate."

Add to that all the stuff mentioned in the LA Times article on smuggling across Mexico's southern border and on the coasts... As the Armed Schooleacher puts it,
This newest gambit is basically the same idea wrapped in a tortilla. It only sounds scary until you think it through; if you were a leader in a Mexican cartel with access to rifles, ammunition, grenades and RPG's from Mexican military arsenals, M16 rifles and ammunition from scavengers all over South America who have old American military exports to sell on the cheap, and a dozen other sources . . . would you be sending people to gun shows in Tucson and Albuqurque to find someone with a clean background check to buy a few semi-automatic rifles and then try to smuggle them south? When it fails, it'll end up the same way as The Terrorist CanardTM did--forgotten once it's no longer useful as a club to bea gun owners over the head.

Thanks to Uncle for the links.

It's always so nice to find yourself happy

with something you bought. Yes, I'm referring to the K22.

Not quite a year ago, at a show I saw what appeared to be a N-frame S&W in .22. The finish was awful; no pitting, but discolored badly. But the action was tight and smooth, the bore and chambers bright. I decided that, while I had just enough, I shouldn't oughta do it. And I've been kicking myself ever since. So when I ran across this one, I went back, looked it over further, did a bit of talking and bought it. Hit the range after work to try it out, and found myself having gone through three boxes by the time I had to leave. Took care of a couple of other things, too, but this was the primary.

Had to adjust windage just a touch, and then shot. A bunch. This is about typical, mix of single and double-action fire at ten-twelve yards:
The double-action is just wonderful, smooth and clean. And the single-action... almost an orgasmic experience. Well, not really, but it's really nice: light, clean no perceptible motion when it breaks. Let me put it this way: I'm a fairly lousy one-hand pistol shot. Some I can do fairly well, but it's not my strong point. Just as I was about to leave I loaded six and ran a last target out to ten-twelve yards. So the target's hanging out there, still moving slightly, and I fired six rounds single-action, one hand
For me, that's bloody amazing. Especially after all the other shooting, and when I'm hungry.

Did I mention I really like this pistol?

The library turned out to have the 2nd Edition Standard Catalog of S&W, and I picked it up today. According to the number this one was made 1951. Everything matches except the round butt; as Tam says, no mention of any. I think she's right, that someone converted it. The grooves in the backstrap are faded out partway down, as if from there down was ground down. The profile seems to perfectly match what a factory round butt would be, and the backstrap curve matches perfectly; and it was very well and properly polished. Whether it went to a smith or someone did it themselves, it was very well done. And I think I actually prefer it to the square; fits the hand very well. In any case, it's mine. And, like I say, it's always very nice to find yourself very happy with something you get.

I learned what Tam meant by a 'pile' of brass' by her; had there been more time, there'd have been a bigger pile.

I have to say, I wish I'd seen

this; must have been interesting. From the sound of it, the AG was trying everything he could think of to avoid giving the actual answer: "No."

Note: when a politician refuses to answer 'yes' or 'no' to a question that only requires a one-word answer, the politician knows he's done wrong. And doesn't have the balls or the integrity to face up to it.

Glenn Beck and some others keep urging not to see other people as 'the enemy',

but when you read crap like this, you realize that some of them ARE the enemy. In the comments to this post at Anarchangel,
I also believe that I'll have to give up a lot, in terms of tax dollars, for things to get better. Unlike you, Chris, I don't have an issue with a cap on bonuses or salaries. I think the government, be it local or federal, can be a good way to distribute resources more evenly. There are people losing their homes while others on Wall Street have several, and whine about having to give up just one of them. Where's the democracy in that?

I know I'm in the minority here on this blog, but I always enjoy reading comments and thought I'd at least put out there what someone who did "vote for change" feels about our current situation.
I just keep marveling at this. She believes in, she wants the government to take what we earn and 'distribute it more evenly'. Theft by force and fear, and she applauds the idea. Someone loses their home, someone else has more than one, and she actually asks "Where's the democracy in that?" As if democracy has a damn thing to do with someone owning more than someone else, or the result, in far too many cases, of borrowing more money than they could pay back.
Chris responds
Frankly, your beliefs are evil. Involuntary redistribution of wealth is no different than slavery.

You are a deluded fool for not understanding this; never mind for believing otherwise.

Which got her knickers in a twist:
Why do you feel it necessary to add judgemental language to your reply? I truly don't understand why you feel it necessary to label my beliefs "wrong", "evil", and call me "deluded". Why isn't it possible to have a fundamental disagreement about politics and economics without resorting to threats of violence and and placing value judgements on differing beliefs?
If I may throw in my own response: Amy, we all judge things all the time; being judgemental isn't automatically a bad thing. And he has pretty much the same opinion I do: your desire for the government to steal what I work for so it can redistribute it as some socialist politician prefers is evil. He- and I- think that you have to be deluded to think that's a good thing.

And as for 'value judgements', you make the judgement that it's wrong for one person to have more than another; you make the judgement that it's a good thing for the government, at gunpoint, to take what people earn and give it to others(and if you think 'at gunpoint' is exaggeration, try not paying your taxes and see what winds up happening to you), therefore that it's wrong for Chris or I or anyone to simply keep what we earn; you're not in a good position to bitch at other people for making judgements.

And please show me where anyone 'threatened you with violence'? Unless you count serious disagreement a threat.

A little further along she comes out with this:
For the past 9 years, I disagreed with the policies and ethics of the leaders of this country. This past November, I made a choice to vote in a person and leadership whose values I do align with. I still don't see why there is a right or wrong here, or why you feel you are in the position to judge me. My views differ from yours, period.
So she likes the values of those who want to socialize the country, rob everyone who works hard and succeeds, and tried damn hard to make us lose in Iraq and will try to make us lose in Afghanistan; and she thinks there is no 'right or wrong here'. And is really upset that Chris judged her views on this.

To once again throw my own piece in here: Amy, you just said your values sit with those who want to loot us, and our families and friends, and don't want us to judge your beliefs? When you have judged ours(but that's apparently ok)? And you don't think there's a right or wrong involved? Then either you cannot understand that there IS right and wrong involved to us, or you ignore it and say we're threatening for daring to say "There is right and wrong, and we think Obama and you are in the wrong."

This is one of those cases where someone may be, personally, very nice, but it doesn't matter: because she pushes views that threaten our lives and work and nation, and doesn't want us to dare to say we think her ways are bad; that her Chosen One is trying to, maybe deliberately, badly damage this nation. We shouldn't say that because it's judgemental, and pointing to seeing right and wrong. And, nasty as it sounds, that does make her part of the enemy.

It occurs to me that there's a story I can tell, now that son

is back in the world. I'd held off before because of the possibility of someone who'd worry too much reading it, so here goes:

Couple of months before his unit rotated out of Iraq I was driving down the street when the phone went off. Usual procedure is to see who it is and call back; I HATE people rolling down the road with a phone in their ear, ignoring all around them. However, the prefix indicated it was the son so I went ahead and answered while looking for a way to get out of traffic.
"Hello."
"Hi, how's things in your part of the world?"
"I no longer have a truck."
Wha? He'd left it at my place while he was gone, so "What the hell? It's in the drivew-"
"No, my truck here."
"Oh." Pause. "What happened to it?"
"It blew up."
...
Well, he was obviously not missing any parts or suffering other nasty after-effects, so, "How did that happen?" I still can't get out of the road, either.
Turned out they were rolling along on a patrol when he, up in the cupola, felt 'like being whapped with a hot, heavy blanket' and the MRAP stopped. First thought "Bleep!" and look for bad guys popping out of the rocks. No bad guys. Everybody gets out, other vehicles already have people on foot checking around.

According to the EOD guy, they'd rolled across a mine that had been there for at least a month from the look of things. The left front wheel was gone, suspension mostly gone or converted into the fragments that trashed the engine and transmission. Total injuries: one guy inside who'd been taking a nap with his helmet off banged his head on the "Ow! Shit!" level.

While getting a tow rigged, they checked the whole area. They found an eighty-pound piece of the run-flat tire 200 meters away. The really odd find was the convex mirror from the left-front fender: 50 meters away, bracket gone, frame gone, and not a mark on the mirror. Which the LT grabbed, announcing "This is going in a frame on the wall."

By this time I was so close to where I was going I just finished the drive. He didn't even notice a 'bang', not even a scratch from it, all's well and we're getting a new vehicle. Got caught up, and I informed him that he could tell Grandma & Grandpa about this himself after he got home; I sure as hell wasn't going to.

I know there were various bits of unpleasantness gone through in his tour, but that's the only one he really talked about; he ever feels the need to talk about others, he knows I'm here.

Once before he'd talked about the MRAP; the verdict was 'big, heavy, doesn't handle real well, but it'll do 80 on a straight and it's armored out the wazoo'. Which he now had personal evidence of.

Despite the rising cost of .22lr,

something followed me home.
S&W K22 Combat Masterpiece from what I can tell, with a set of Uncle Mike's grips instead of the original wood. Except the pictures of K22 pistols I've found show a square butt, and this one is round; otherwise seems to match up. Ribbed barrel, 5-screw, and so on. As smooth a double-action as I've ever handled, and the single-action... oh my.

The lockup is tight, the bore and chambers spotless and all seems to line up just like it should. So now I have to sit and contemplate it, and that brick of ammo, until I can get to the range with it. After reading some of Tam's comments about hers, I am looking forward to it with great anticipation.

Notes from the gun show

this weekend, which I was able to go to yesterday. Dad had planned on coming up, but his area got some freezing rain during the night, then a couple of inches of snow, and the streets were pretty bad that early so he didn't make it.

1. This was the first place I'd seen .22 long rifle ammo available for a month or more; and DAMN! Bricks of Winchester were $38! Every other major brand was pretty close to that except for one ammo guy who had two bricks of Remington for $20 each. I got one, and should have grabbed both. The only stuff I'd class as 'affordable' by general standards was the Centurion made by Aguila, $18/brick.

2. I got there right after it opened, not many people. By the time a half-hour passed, lots more. By the time I left to get some lunch there was a line out the door to get in and the place was packed.

3. A guy had a Pocket Hammerless in .380, but wanted $800, which was more than I could go for it. Had some .32's also, and some parts. I'd love to see his collection, he described the stuff for sale as 'what I decided I can do without'.

4. I noticed the Winchester low-recoil 00 buck was up $2 from what it was a year ago.

5. Lots of business going on, saw fewer AR variants than last time.

6. I was hoping to get a box or two of the higher-grade .22 for testing purposes, but A: nobody had the stuff I wanted and B: I wasn't paying $15-18 for a box of .22 ammo for the really good stuff.

7. There's a company that shows up occasionally that carries nothing but brass and bullets, lots and LOTS of them; unfortunately, they weren't here. I know why; the big Tulsa show is next weekend.

8. Some of these people are flat nuts; wanting $3-400 for a SKS?

Nasty weather and all, it was a very busy show; wish I could have gone back today.

There are reasons some products stay around

A short time ago son transferred from his old unit to a new unit at a base in the southwestern US. He's been settling in there, and the other day I got a call that brought the title of this piece to mind.

They'd been on the range and, this being a new rifle that hadn't had the Microlon treatment, it was going to be the usual M16 bitch to clean. So he went into town and bought a bottle of Hoppes #9. Then, while everyone else was scrubbing away he left the bolt sitting in the stuff for a while.

"What the hell you doing?"

"Just give it a couple of minutes."

Couple of minutes later he pulled it out, shook off the excess and wiped off the fouling everyone else was scrubbing at. Long pause.
"Where do we get that stuff? You got more?"

I snickered and said "Yeah, there's a reason Hoppes has been around so long."

I'm with Moe: if they're telling people "There Are No

Vampires!", there's a problem.

New school kit: books, holy water vial, rose stake disguised as something and a few cloves of garlic.

Well, it's snowing now,

even though this was when they said last night the snow would be ending after we got anywhere from 4-10" of the stuff, which we didn't so once again the panic-mongerersweather weenies have proven they so often don't have any real idea what it's going to do.

This is after most of them spent Wed through Thurs telling us "Maybe as much as 10-12" here in the metro area, this will be a MAJOR snow event!"

Climate predictions for the next century my cold, tired ass.

Missouri seems to have discovered that their 'report' on militia

and conservative types has some holes in it. And really pissed people off.
JEFFERSON CITY | The Missouri Highway Patrol this week retracted a controversial report on militia activity and will change how such reports are reviewed before being distributed to law enforcement agencies.

The Highway Patrol also will open an investigation into the origin of the report, which linked conservative groups with domestic terrorism and named former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin.
So they're not sure of the 'origin' of the report. How the hell did that happen?

The Highway Patrol’s announcement followed a news conference in which Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, suggested putting the director of public safety on administrative leave and investigating how the report was produced.
What? Holding the boss responsible? That idea needs to spread.

But it suggested that domestic militias often subscribed to radical ideologies rooted in Christian views and opposition to immigration, abortion or federal taxes. The report also stated that it was “not uncommon” for militia members to support third-party political candidates.

The Highway Patrol’s superintendent, Col. James F. Keathley, released a memo saying the report did not meet the agency’s standard for quality and would not have been released if it had been seen by top officials.
And just how did something like this get turned loose without you being aware of it? And what's in it? Damn.

The memo noted the report was compiled by an employee of the information analysis center and reviewed only by the center director before being sent to law enforcement agencies across the state.

So one person put this all together? And showed it to their director? Who apparently had no problem with it?

Before Keathley’s memo was released Wednesday, Kinder criticized the report for suggesting that only issues championed by conservatives motivated domestic terrorists. The report “slanders” opponents of abortion and critics of illegal immigration, he said.

“Under the guidance of the present director, who apparently must think it is Nixon’s secret service, the Department of Public Safety has taken on the new and sinister role of political profiling,” Kinder said.

Also troubling Kinder said, the report makes no mention of Islamic terrorists or those who might subscribe to ideologies associated with liberals, such as environmental radicals.
And makes the blanket accusation that anyone who is part of a 'militia'- which definition seems to be 'anyone who makes the gummint agents nervous- is automatically to be suspected of being a terrorist. Especially since they're not politically-correct types like enviroweenie arsonists and islamic jew-haters and infidel-murderers.

The state’s response to the conservative outcry over the report evolved over the last few weeks. In one early response, the information analysis center released a statement reaffirming its “regard for the Constitutions of the United States and Missouri” and expressing regret that “any citizens or groups were unintentionally offended by the content of the document.”
Wow, a genuine non-apology apology; isn't that wonderful?

Then earlier this week, Department of Public Safety Director John M. Britt retracted the portions that noted third party and Republican presidential candidates by name and sent letters of apology to the politicians.
"We're sorry we got all this bad publicity, will this help it go away?"

But even with the retraction and the investigation announced Wednesday, Britt should be suspended and the General Assembly should investigate how the report was prepared, Kinder said.

“Director Britt has still not answered any of the questions about what other reports may have been developed and the procedure behind these memos,” Kinder’s spokesman, Gary McElyea, said in a statement. “Until those questions are answered Mr. Britt should be placed on immediate leave.”

Global Warming my ass

The red is blizzard warning, the pink is winter storm warning. Up in the far northwest & panhandle they're saying 3-7" today, another 4-8" of snow possible tonight. Here in Oklahoma City, 3-5" tonight, maybe another 1-2" tomorrow before it ends.



I don't think it'll get too bad here; the temps have been high enough, there's enough residual heat in the ground and streets a lot of it'll melt as it hits or shortly after, so I don't think the roads will get too bad. WHich is good for a variety of reasons.

Ah well, off to work.

Nannies and dirtbags and morons, oh my

Let's start with nannies:
If California regulators get their way, auto makers may soon be forced to rewrite a cliché from the Ford Model T era and start telling customers they can have any color they want as long as it isn’t black.

Some darker hues will be available in place of black, but right now they are indentified internally at paint suppliers with names such as “mud-puddle brown” and are truly ugly substitutes for today’s rich ebony hues.
Why?
The problem stems from a new “cool paints” initiative from the California Air Resources Board. CARB wants to mandate the phase-in of heat-reflecting paints on vehicle exteriors beginning with the ’12 model year, with all colors meeting a 20% reflectivity requirement by the ’16 model year.

Because about 17 other states tend to follow California’s regulatory lead, as many as 40% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. could be impacted by the proposed directive, suppliers say.

The measure is aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and improving fuel economy by keeping vehicles cooler on sunny days and decreasing the amount of time drivers use their air conditioners.
Which fits in with the nanny plan a while back to control the amount of electricity going to your house to control how much you use your a/c; never mind that crap like that will destroy equipment, It's for the children, and your own good!

On dirtbags, Sondra points to both politicians and Soros:
‘I’m having a very good crisis,’ says Soros as hedge fund managers make billions off recession

George Soros said the current economic crisis has been the culmination of his life’s work

A hedge fund manager who predicted the global credit crunch has said the financial crisis has been ‘stimulating’ and the culmination of his life’s work.

George Soros, who predicted the global financial crisis twice before, was one of the few people to anticipate and prepare for the current economic collapse.
As I recall, on more than one occasion this bastard has deliberately acted to screw some countries' economy and make a big profit doing so; would anyone be surprised if he were doing the same now to aid Obama?

And on morons, I present our Treasury Secretary. Add to that this clown demanding the power to take over any business he thinks necessary, and you have one of the more dangerous morons we've ever had in a position of power.

Coming back to the point that some people need to be

dragged to the town square and flogged,
The [government's] lawyer, Malcolm L. Stewart, said Congress has the power to ban political books, signs and Internet videos, if they are paid for by corporations and distributed not long before an election.

Mr. Stewart added that there was no difference in principle between the 90-minute documentary about Mrs. Clinton, “Hillary: The Movie,” and a 30-second television advertisement.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the government’s uncompromising position could have dire consequences for the McCain-Feingold law.

“If we think that the application of this to a 90-minute film is unconstitutional,” Justice Kennedy said, “then the whole statute should fall under your view because there’s no distinction between the two?”

Mr. Stewart said the two kinds of communications should rise or fall together, so long as each satisfied a test set out by the court in a decision in 2007. That decision said restrictions in the McCain-Feingold law applied only to communications “susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.”...
Stewart, his superiors who think this is a good idea, and every bastard who shoved McCain-Feingold down our throats, one at a time, preferably with a flagrum. Damn these people who want to control what we say.

My only post about President B. Cartman Obama's press

conference will direct you to someone who covered it very well.
Asked why he should have new authority to regulate financial institutions in light of the furor over the AIG bonuses, the President replied that “it is precisely because of the lack of this authority that the AIG situation has gotten worse.” One wonders why he thinks that is the case. The bonuses were expressly allowed by the stimulus package that Congress passed; indeed, the President’s own Treasury Secretary had Senator Chris Dodd place language in the stimulus package allowing for bailout recipients to get bonuses. One may potentially conclude, thanks to this Keystone Kops method of governance, that the best course of action would be to give the President and his Administration less power, not more, but of course, the Obama Administration is in no mood for logic.

That does not mean, however, that there should be any slackening in the effort to remind people that it was because of the Treasury Secretary’s insistence that bailout recipients get bonuses, the malleability of Senator Chris Dodd concerning the issue, and the failure of stimulus package proponents to even so much as read the bill they asked Congress to approve, that the AIG bonus tempest even became an issue. Having the President try to tell us that the AIG bonus tempest came about because the President lacked power is more than a little rich.
and
Asked by ABC’s Jake Tapper whether he would allow Congressional Democrats to strip the budget of both a middle-class tax cut and cap-and-trade, the President bobbed and weaved and did just about everything that he could not to answer the question. I think that cap-and-trade is lousy policy and prefer a particular carbon tax proposal above all, but it is quite newsworthy that the President appears to be forced to back away from his cap-and-trade proposal and his middle-class tax cut. Many people predicted that the President would find a way to ditch the latter–which served as a campaign promise last year–so the White House deserves some opprobrium over its potential failure to deliver on a key Obama campaign promise. The fact that the Administration is pledged to overturn the Bush tax cuts in 2011–despite the likelihood that economic growth won’t be nearly as robust as the Obama Administration claims it will be when the tax cuts are overturned–makes the rhetorical brickbats even more justified. The Obama Administration is clearly not all that invested in fighting for any kind of tax cuts, the parlous economic situation notwithstanding. Despite its claims to be against only “tax cuts for the rich,” the Administration appears to be allergic to tax cuts for anyone.

May it be noted: not only is in insensitive to get nasty with employees

over Ash Wednesday, but when The hotel leases its land from the Catholic Church, it's pretty damn dumb, too.

Dammit, Tam, it's not the giant

lizards; what about the squirrels?

Did manage to get a couple of things finished today

for Medieval Fair, two folding knives. Closed, halfway open,

and open

The blades are spring steel, the grips are antler with a slot cut, then a hole drilled through it and the blade for the pivot pin; the ends are riveted over brass washers. Top blade is 2.75" from antler to point, bottom is 3".

It's an old design I ran across years ago; the drawings I found were from the colonial/fur trade era here, but I'm pretty sure the design goes back quite a ways further.

Have you ever tried cutting a slot in antler? Well-seasoned hard antler? I'm using modern tools, and it's messy and something of a pain; doing it with a saw, chisels and files would have taken a lot of time and effort. Between achy hands and weather, only reason I got these done is that a while ago I got a cutoff tool that runs off my compressor; spins a 3" wheel that allowed me to get these done more easily than ever before. Used a hacksaw to cut the first part of the slot at the end(keeping that straight is fun), then you can set the ricasso into that and use it to line up the rest of the slot so it'll be straight. Then used the cutoff tool to cut the slot. Faster than before, but DAMN, that throws a lot of dust. White, fine dust that sticks on your jacket. And anything else it lands on.

These will be the last pieces I can work on before the fair, especially since they're now talking about the weather going to hell tomorrow night; colder, some rain, and a fair chance of snow Friday.

Speaking of bullcrap lies about guns,

Uncle points to this:
Now I see why the Violence Policy Center has a Federal Firearms License. So they can spin how easy it is to buy guns:

Tom Diaz, an analyst at the Violence Policy Center, a gun control group, said cartels use military-style weapons such as the Armalite AR-50, a .50-caliber sniper rifle.

He brought one to a recent congressional hearing — with the help of two police officers — and said he found the weapon on the Internet, bought it for $3,200 from a Maryland “kitchen table” dealer and had it registered in the District of Columbia, all in about six hours.

See, now they can see look how easy it is to get this gun. Well, it is if you hold a federal firearms license. After all, 50 caliber rifles are unlawful to possess in the District of Columbia unless you are a dealer or police agency.
Yeah, that would explain why the VPC would have a FFL; so they can use it to legally buy firearms and then lie about how 'easy' it is to get them for a private citizen.

Of course, they're aided in their bullcrap by politicians who, by the way, don't think they should have to obey the laws the little people do:
CHARLESTON — Controversy often inflames passions, and mindful of this lawless age and a propensity of some in society to go over the edge, a few lawmakers want the right to arm themselves without a weapons permit.
...
Hunt decided to leave nothing to chance and get a firearm, but was told he had to wait during a two-month concealed weapon application process.

Despite the written threat, the man was released, but authorities picked him up a day later.

Hunt is a co-sponsor of HB3248, aimed at adding members of the Legislature to a list of officials and others who are allowed to skip the waiting period and carry a firearm.
Pay attention to this:
“I don’t have a concealed weapon, and no desire to carry one,” he said. “But I do believe we have the right to bear arms. I’m a firm believer in that. If the situation would arise and somebody would threaten me, I would feel better if I didn’t have to wait nine or 10 weeks to get a permit. I could just pick up my pistol, put it in my car and drive down the road without the fear of being prosecuted if I was caught.”
Well, gee, you think maybe the peasants would like to be able to arm themselves without a ten-week wait if they're threatened? Or don't they count the way an important politician does? Your life and safety, your family is more important than theirs?

And please take note of all the sponsors:
Besides Walker and Hunt, the bill is being sponsored by Delegates Tom Louisos, D-Fayette; Margaret Smith, D-Lewis; Daniel Hall, D-Wyoming; Stan Shaver, D-Preston; and Doug Skaff Jr., D-Kanawha.j
Gee, all Democrats who think they should have exemption from the law everybody else has to obey, isn't that interesting?

The Mexican gun canard and ignoring the tea parties

seem to be among the main things our 'staffed by professional journalists' media are good at. Insty has been noting the way they either bury the news of the tea parties, or just don't report it. Very unprofessional, and very biased:
...But the real reason the major media aren’t interested in these protests is that they don’t agree with them. In the final analysis, these affairs are really taking issue with the political party they helped elect without hiding bias in the last election.

That’s why a small scrum of Acorn-financed wackos on a bus tour to intimidate AIG execs last weekend made the news while the tea parties didn’t.
And every time people take notice that their protest isn't considered 'news', or that they're painted as wild-eyed government-hating radicals, they- if they didn't know it before- decide the major media can't be trusted, and the newspapers and networks lose more readers/listeners. Which the majors either don't believe, or consider it worth it to protect their personal investments in Obama and socialism.

And the majors have no problem repeating the lie that the Mexican drug cartels are getting their weapons from the US:
The blockade of contraband will now be a two-way effort. The fence begun under the Bush administration will be completed, to deter smugglers of drugs and workers. But the new emphasis will be on disrupting the southbound flow of profits and weapons that fuel the cartels.
So stopping illegals coming here, and all the crap they smuggled in and all the crimes they commit wasn't worth adding to our border protections, but supposedly protecting Mexico from the actions of us evil US people is. Isn't it wonderful?

But it didn't satisfy Gov. Rick Perry, who reiterated his request Tuesday for "an immediate deployment of 1,000 additional National Guard troops to support civilian law enforcement and Border Patrol agents."

He'll meet with Napolitano on Thursday in Texas, and she'll ask him to make his case that violence in Mexico – especially in Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso – warrants more drastic measures. More than 7,000 Mexicans have died in the last 15 months.

"Why 1,000?" she said. "Where did that number come from? Where in Texas? Texas has a huge border with Mexico. And what does he anticipate the Guard doing?"
Uh, because it spills over in to the US? Because a thousand troops patrolling/stationed at appropriate places could discourage a lot of the smuggling and catch a bunch of crooks? And I rather doubt Perry just said "Give me a thousand troops to spread around!"; I'd imagine he's made specific note of how and where he wants to put them, but God knows that's not good enough; if they just say that, Napolitano doesn't get a chance to have a press conference and act important after the meet. Sheesh.

But screw all that: they've got a compulsion- or orders- to blame the bad on us, especially guns in Mexico, because that lets various politicians and groups claim a need to screw gun owners in the US 'to save Mexico'; and because that helps the Mexican government keep blaming us for their problems. Never mind all the deserters from the Mexican Army, never mind all the weapons they take with them- or come back and steal from the armory- because noting that doesn't advance the agenda of blaming gun owners and shops in the US for the problem. Remember this from the LA Times story:
Most of these weapons are being smuggled from Central American countries or by sea, eluding U.S. and Mexican monitors who are focused on the smuggling of semiauto- matic and conventional weapons purchased from dealers in the U.S. border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. . . . The enhanced weaponry represents a wide sampling from the international arms bazaar, with grenades and launchers produced by U.S., South Korean, Israeli, Spanish or former Soviet bloc manufacturers. Many had been sold legally to governments, including Mexico’s, and then were diverted onto the black market. Some may be sold directly to the traffickers by corrupt elements of national armies, authorities and experts say.
They know the facts. If they bother to check at all on this, and on the laws and the number of automatic firearms available in the US, they know; but they keep telling the lies anyway.

I guess ignoring the tea parties and lying about and crapping on gun owners is one of the ways they're sucking up to the Obama administration and hoping to be bailed out of their sinking ship they drilled holes in the hull of.

As Brigid and others like to torment us

by posting recipes, I thought I'd return the favor. It's a very simple pineapple cake that's damn good. No, no pictures as there's not enough left.

Pineapple cake & cream cheese frosting
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 stick oleo or butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
1 20oz. crushed pineapple Not drained, it all goes in
1 cup chopped nuts

I soften the butter or melt it for easier mixing, and I use two cups of pecans. Mix it all together, pour into greased 13x9 pan, bake at 350 for 40-45 min. That's it.

For the frosting,
1 stick oleo or butter
8oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
Cream it all together & spread over cooled cake.

Usually I don't bother with the frosting, as the cake is damn good by itself. But with the frosting... damn.

The reason for no picture is I baked the cake this afternoon and took it to lodge this evening. Small group made it, but there's only two small pieces left. So if you want to see what it looks like, get to baking.

Socialized health care; some morons have argued

"We already have it in the VA, why can't everybody have it?" They don't seem to want to deal with things like this; do YOU want morons like this controlling your care?
Veterans who got colonoscopies through the Miami VA medical system are at risk of being infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV through the procedure, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek's office.

The VA on Monday afternoon contacted Meek to inform him that the medical equipment used for the procedures were not cleaned per the manufacturer's recommendations. As many as 3,260 veterans underwent the procedure between May 2004 and this month.

And anyone want to take bets as to whether anyone will be disciplined over this? In any meaningful way?

Oh, and take note of two of the comments:
And this from the country that crows about having the best medical care in the world!
Archie being one of those who don't want to deal with the fact that this kind of crap seems to be the norm with socialized health care.

And when a guy posted Why is it we only revere veterans while they are in a combat zone and so soon forget them when they come back home?, a friggin' moron who goes by Dharmadhatu replied
Woody - Nobody feels comfortable around people willing to murder other human beings for money. That's why we only care about them when they're in a combat zone.... It's also why they're there and we aren't - because we know that murder is wrong no matter whether you call it war, abortion, capital punishment or anything else!
So there we have, in all its shining glory, the mindset of the moonbats. How much you want to bet this is one of the jerkwads who thinks self-defense is wrong if you use anything other than words? And that a woman using a gun to protect herself against a rapist is just 'continuing the cycle of violence' and as morally wrong as her attacker? And probably wants the government in control of health care 'because it will be more fair', despite the examples- like this- of how well that works?

Advice: 'Make sure we keep the right to arms'

In a comment to the previous, Marja wrote this:
Make sure that you'll keep that right. I live in Northern Europe and don't have it. I think one of the best things about internet is the fact that I have found out I'm not nuts because I believe I should have the right to carry, and the right to defend myself even with lethal force if necessary, that there actually is good evidence that having that right won't lead to chaos and blood on the streets but rather the opposite. Perhaps, with enough time, the people here will start getting over that false belief, too. I'm not holding my breath though.

No, you're not nuts. One of the most basic rights of anyone anywhere is the right to self-defense. And, even though it causes great need to change diapers among many politicians, GFWs and socialists(definite overlapping of groups there), that right doesn't just imply, it requires the right to the means of self-defense. Which can mean anything from appropriate words to a weapon capable of lethal force.

I wish you well in this, but I'm not holding my breath either. While back I read part of some EU document that deigned to mention the concept of self-defense; in the most denigrating terms, of course, and being very damn careful to limit it in every way they could think of. After all, in the EUnuchs(and other socialists) minds, you're supposed to trust in the all-seeing, all-knowing government to show up and save you. And if they can't do it, you're supposed to be content with the minions of government cleaning up the mess(including your body in the worst case). It's going to take some kind of severe shock in most countries to cause enough people to go after the governments hard enough to throw out the horrendous restrictions of the right of self-defense, and the politicians(most of them) will fight it tooth and nail, because- even more than other things- it would mean a lessening of their power over others.

In a way, it makes the attacks on the 2nd Amendment and self-defense here even worse; they're not only trying to restrict-take away those rights from us, I think a good many of them want to because it will also remove an example that many people in other countries look to, and makes them wonder how that right was taken from them? And how might they get it back?

"Why I carry a gun"

Been around before, but, considering the guy who e-mailed this to me is a 20+ year police officer, I thought I'd put it up.

Why I Carry a Gun

My old grandpa said to me, "Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin'."

I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so thatI don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun becauseI love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.


"Police Protection" is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves. Police do not protect you from crime; they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess. Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.
... author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

As the man says, this is creepy, stupid

AND dangerous:
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new “volunteer corps” and consider whether “a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people” should be developed.

The legislation also refers to “uniforms” that would be worn by the “volunteers” and the “need” for a “public service academy, a 4-year institution” to “focus on training” future “public sector leaders.” The training, apparently, would occur at “campuses.”

I am going to fall back into bad language, here:
To every jackass in the House who voted for this, fuck you. And the horse you rode in on. You're a betrayer of this country, and should be kicked out of that office with steel-toed boots. Besides all the other bullshit in this, it's just amazing how they seem to not understand that 'mandatory' means it's not 'voluntary'; it is involuntary servitude. And for endorsing it, you should be tied to a whipping post in the town square and reminded that you're not our damned boss.

I know, don't blame corruption(or treason) when incompetence (updated)

will do, but damn!
US President Barack Obama has indirectly praised former French president Jacques Chirac's fierce opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported on Thursday.

In a letter described by Chirac as 'very nice,' Obama wrote, 'I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world.'

The use of the word 'peace' was taken to be an indirect reference to Chirac's stance against the US intervention in Iraq, which Obama had also opposed as senator.
Chirac. The former president of France. Who actually had marches by the French calling him a worm for his backstabbing and double-dealing. Who epitomizes the cheese-eating surrender monkey theme. And Obama pisses off the current President of France to do this.

Incompetence, corruption, stupidity, or a mix of all three? Or is sucking up to Chirac so important to Obama that he'd knowingly screw things up?


Update: Found this at Fausta,

OK, so here are the facts:

• Obama’s letter was sent on March 20, the anniversary of the Iraq war.
• The US still has troops in Iraq defending that country, and those troops are not only fighting but actively engaged in building a civil society.
• Each and any action by the Obama administration will be closely examined. Publicly approaching a private foundation with language that can be interpreted as being against the US presence in Iraq actively undermines that effort.

Additionally,

• Nicolas Sarkozy came to power by running not only against the Socialists, but by actually running against Chirac within Chirac’s own party. Is it a good idea to publicly “extend a hand” to Chirac, then?
• Chirac in fact, was allegedly involved in the affaire Clearstream
• Chirac’s administration as mayor of Paris was marked by corruption, from the water works contracts to other kinds of graft, and let’s not forget about his lunch money.
• Back in 2006 I was posting about Chirac’s own secret service. You may also recall Chirac’s support of Hugo Chavez.

And let’s not forget that Chirac’s foundation strongly promotes the globalisation tax, a tax on wealth generated by globalization:

“It could be a tax on airplane tickets, on carbon dioxide, on health products sold in industrialised countries, and indeed on international
financial transactions,” one source said.

Let's see, two corrupt politicians working together... both seem to have admiration for socialist dictators... both seem to like the idea of taxes on wealth(and objects, and labor, and everything else)...

Two things to note`

First, Theo pointed to Afghanistan Shrugged:
Over time I’ve received emails and comments on this blog that I’m insensitive to your culture. Evidently, I should endeavor to be more tolerant and politically correct in my quest to kill you with every means at my disposal.

After much self reflection I’ve seen the error in my ways and thought I’d write you a brief note to apologize for my actions and those of my compatriots in Team Vampire. I now see how my attempts to incinerate, ventilate and generally cause mayhem could possible hurt your feelings and offend your sensibilities. For that I apologize.
...
I also, thought that your headquarters were nice. Blowing it up on Christmas Eve may have seemed arbitrary and unfair. I can see how you’d think that. Really, let’s try to be honest with each other. Is there really a good day to have your building blown up? I don’t think there is. I also now realize that you don’t celebrate Christmas so the holiday season had minimal impact on you.

It did for me as I have a family at home who I’d rather be with; instead hunting you through the mountains. However, I’m here so it seemed like a good thing to do for the holidays. I may not see you on the 4th of July so I thought it best to have fireworks for Christmas. I empathize with you now that it may have been inconvenient for you. Once again sorry.
And so on, well worth reading.

Second, Insty pointed to this:
A few days after Barack Obama's inauguration, the newly appointed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, gave an interview to Essence magazine. Ms. Jackson explained that she planned to "elevate the issue" of "environmental justice" during her tenure. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, environmental justice is the sweet spot where the green movement meets the racial grievance industry. As the Essence interviewer put it: "The practice of locating polluting industries in minority communities -- and the consequent health impacts -- is well documented. African Americans are almost 80 percent more likely than White Americans to live in neighborhoods near hazardous industrial pollution sites."

The concept of environmental justice can be traced back to the early '80s, according to Robert Bullard, the director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. He cites a 1982 fight over a landfill in Warren County, N.C. Since then, the movement has blamed industrial plants across the country for skyrocketing asthma rates among inner-city blacks. But Mr. Bullard believes that environmental justice should also include a concern about the lack of public parks in inner cities and high childhood obesity rates among blacks (stemming from fewer supermarkets in their neighborhoods). He refers to those fights as "parks justice" and "food justice." Talk about defining justice down.
Yes, we have a bunch of flat-out nutcase-level racist morons running departments in D.C.; might as well have Security Staff in charge of the groceries.

Third, that's it for tonight. I received a very late call last night, which led to working a 12-hour shift; I've had about a 15-minute nap(before the phone rang) since about 0730 yesterday morning and I'm so tired my eyes are crossing. Amuse yourselves in my absence and clean up your mess.

This seems to sum it up nicely

And this one, as is, I'd label "The last thing you ever saw"
Although I'm tempted to label the bear either 'Congress' or 'Obama's budget'

Both found thanks to Theo

As if we needed more examples of politician stupidity,

we have this from Liberty Girl:
Come April 1, the fed govt is going to start taxing us smokers like never before, with an additional $1.01 per pack. The old fed tax was 39 cents. That is almost tripled. The object of this higher tax: to pay for the new SCHIP program that covers “children” up to, what, age thirty-something for health care insurance.

In the next breath, the fed says that new tax will make adults stop smoking and prevent kids from starting.
I will leave aside any opinions about smoking, I'm talking about the pure stupidity and/or crookedness of this. They're going to tax cigarettes to pay for a health program for kids, AND they say the tax will cause people to stop smoking. Which, if true, means the money for the health program goes away, which means they'll want to raise taxes on something else to raise the money. So the politicians are either too stupid to see that, or so dishonest that they're counting on taxing something else later and hoping the anti-smoking nazis will help them get through any questions.

The country is truly in the Best of Hands

This is who's in charge of 'Homeland Security'

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.
A 'man-caused disaster' would be a dam failing, or a bridge falling because of engineering or maintenance failures; 'terrorism' is when someobody BLOWS UP THE BRIDGE, you moron. Or FLIES AIRPLANES INTO BUILDINGS. In other words, the things the enemy does that you don't want to call terrorism because of your 'politics of fear' feewings. You idiot.

Range day followup

Along with trying out the new M1, had a chance to try the 7.62x54r light load in a Finn M91/30. Which demonstrated that these things can indeed shoot well:
5 rounds, 100 yards, Lee 180-grain gas-check bullet over 16.0 grains of 2400. Given a better shot, I think this might have tightened up a bit.

This particular rifle had been counterbored at some point to remove damage at the crown. Instead of the usual tapered or funnel-shaped cut, this one looked like they'd used either a straight cutting bit or a boring bar to cut straight back from the muzzle for about 2 to 2.5"; new square crown well back from the muzzle. Whichever way they did it, it worked.


I mentioned the H&R M1 liked the HXP ball ammo. I also tried out some of the 150-grain cast loads. At 50 yards, not bad:
The first shot is the low one, the others nicely clustered. But at 100 yards, got this:
First two low, the other strung vertically. I got very similar results first time I tried this load at 100 in a different rifle: first two low, the others pretty tight windage-wise but strung vertically. Maybe powder position affecting velocity, I don't know. According to the Chrony this load gives an average velocity of about 1900fps, and cycles the action with no problem. But unless I can figure out something to tighten this up, it's going to be a 'indoor range only' load for when I want to shoot the M1 there.

In other news, did some digging around and helped find some .32acp dies and bullets for the Pocket Hammerless, which makes the owner very happy; not only is that ammo a bit expensive, but, like just about every other centerfire pistol cartridge, it's sold out all over the place locally. Handloading will begin soon.

Aside from the general "You cannot let cops get away

with crap like this", one line that sums up the idiocy going on in Philadelphia is near the end:
Ortiz said he took a plea deal and served six months' probation and 25 hours of community service for selling the tiny plastic bags.

Plastic bags.
...
For selling effing plastic bags.

So not only is there a strong possibility of a unit of bad cops using the law for their own purposes, one of the things they're using to pull this crap off is 'plastic bags are drug paraphernalia' worth a raid involving drawn weapons. Under the heading 'crap' I include 'raids with bullshit like this as an excuse'. And the brains(supposed) of politicians who passed laws on plastic bags.

So we're a step closer to powerguns,

and air defense that includes 'pop the shell as it approaches':
In recent test-blasts, Pentagon-researchers at Northrop Grumman managed to get its 105 kilowatts of power out of their laser -- past the "100kW threshold [that] has been viewed traditionally as a proof of principle for 'weapons grade' power levels for high-energy lasers," Northrop's vice president of directed energy systems, Dan Wildt, said in a statement.

That much power won't get you a Star Wars-style blaster. But it should be more than enough to zap the mortars and rockets that insurgents have used to pound American bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Son has informed me that artillery now has
rocket-assisted rounds for extended range,
laser-guided rounds and
GPS-guided rounds that, depending on conditions, can be fired up to 90 degrees out-of-line with the target, and still course-correct and hit.
Now if somebody'll finally lick the problem so we have tanks and self-propelled guns powered by a fusion bottle, and individual guns for air defense on each... Who wants to bet the first unit calls itself the Slammers or Alpha Company?

Ok, this isn't just creepy, it's

scary:
A visit to the OFA website reveals that supporters are not simply asked to sign up, they are asked to take a pledge. A pledge to support -- not the flag, not the constitution, not the country, not even the Democratic Party, but Obama and his "bold plan." OFA does not use the Democratic Party logo but the "O"-shaped logo of the Obama campaign in which the red white and blue of the flag are abstracted to soft pastel colors.
This sounds like something out of Mao's China: "Support the Great Leader! And his Five Year Plan!"

The Navy gave Rep. Murtha(Lying Bastard-PA) an award,

and somebody thought we should let the brass know what we think of it.
Congressman Murtha's selfless devotion to the Nation's Sailors and Marines ensured they were provided the resources necessary to effectively conduct the Global War on Terrorism. His courageous leadership, vision, and loyalty to the men and women of the Department of the Navy greatly contributed to their quality of life and helped create the most modern and highly trained fighting force in history. As Chairman of Subcommittee on Defense of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Murtha's tireless advocacy helped maintain the Navy and Marine Corps team at the highest levels of combat readiness to meet the challenges of the 21st century. With grateful appreciation for his outstanding contributions to the Nation and the Navy and Marine Corps, Congressman Murtha is awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award.
My first thought is, "Why are they kissing his ass this way? What are they trying to get out of this slimeball?" Don't have an answer, but this petition is at least a way to say "We don't agree."

And the hitchhiker made the university very happy

as they didn't have one:
TULSA, Okla. - One of the most deadly spiders in the world has been found in the produce section of a Tulsa grocery store.

An employee of Whole Foods Market found the Brazilian Wandering Spider Sunday in bananas from Honduras and managed to catch it in a container.
Question: was he just wondering what it was, or do they expect something rare and possibly valuable? Or was he just not a spider-squisher?

The spider was given to University of Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry Childs who says this type of spider kills more people than any other.

Childs says a bite will kill a person in about 25 minutes and while there is an antidote he doesn't know of any in the Tulsa area.
Well, I wouldn't expect there to be; it would be like calling the doctors office in, say, Altus and asking of they had cobra antivenom. You would not expect to hear "Yes" as the answer. More like "Uh, sir, do you have a cobra?" in a very apprehensive voice.


Added: Yeesh, talk about fate worse than death:
Aside from causing intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause priapism - uncomfortable erections that can last for many hours and lead to impotence. The venom may eventually be used in erectile dysfunction treatments.

A bunch of Dem representatives have said

"Don't try it" to Holder. A very helpful thing.

Sen. Chris Countrywide Dodd has now admitted he's a liar,

the question is what else did he lie about?
CNN Producer: “And there was nothing you were doing that was aimed at protecting AIG?”
Senator Dodd: “Not at all. Not in the slightest. . . . The point is when that language left the Senate I wrote, that was not included.”

Today, on CNN’s Situation Room, Dodd changed his tune and implicated the Treasury Department. He did not name Geithner personally, but neither did he say Geithner was unaware of the goings on. The bottom line: Dodd, after denying it, now admits he and the administration cooked up the language which afforded AIG some protection ( until the firestorm hit) to grant the bonuses. Geithner has been claiming a fair amount of ignorance — and certainly did not come clean on this.

So Dodd lied, repeatedly and apparently by reflex, about this(also counting on the media to help out I don't doubt); what else is he lying about? And will we get the truth about his little mortgage deals and the Irish 'cottage'?

And that wonderful example of a pimple on the ass of this country Rep. Murtha(Evil Party Slimeball-PA) thinks he has a privilege to steal your money via earmarks:
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, responded by waving the Constitution at the camera, saying: “What it says is the Congress of the United States appropriates the money. Got that?”
What we got, Murtha, is you're a slandering little bastard who needs to be thrown out of that office.

They're running the place, folks, and are really pissed when we find out what they're up to; and even more pissed when we dare to call them on their crooked deals.

Two things to note: first, the Missouri HP may need to

be a bit more careful with their training materials:
COLUMBIA, Mo. | A new document meant to help Missouri law enforcement agencies identify militia members or domestic terrorists has drawn criticism for some of the warning signs mentioned.

The Feb. 20 report called "The Modern Militia Movement" mentions such red flags as political bumper stickers for third-party candidates, such as U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president last year; talk of conspiracy theories, such as the plan for a superhighway linking Canada to Mexico; and possession of subversive literature.
One question here: what do they define as 'subversive literature'?

Second, Bill Ayers is a chickenshit coward:
It’s been quite a turnaround for Bill Ayers. The Communist terrorist who planned bombings of police stations, in order to inflict maximum injury and death on police officers, is now depending on the police at the University of Illinois, where he is a “distinguished” professor, to protect him from the tough questions of students' parents. In fact, one parent who presented Ayers with a Bible and a copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was arrested last Thursday night and charged with the curious offense of somehow interfering with university affairs. A visibly-nervous Ayers accepted the books but quickly placed them down on a table.
...
According to Lt. Roy Acree of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Police Department, parent Mark Thompson was arrested on a charge of “interference with a public institution of higher education” because of his activity at the Ayers lecture. Ironically, the statute (720 ILCS 5/Art. 21.2 heading) was passed "in recognition of unlawful campus disorders across the nation," which is precisely what Ayers and his comrades in the Students for a Democratic Society were doing on college campuses in the 1960s.
Translation: "He made Ayers uncomfortable, so we arrested him." I say that because
Acree told AIM that Thompson had said that he figured his actions would get him arrested, and that he apologized to the police officers who arrested him later. Still, what did Thompson do that broke the law?

“I wasn’t there,” Acree said, although he did watch the incident on YouTube. “I felt like at that time that Thompson was at the point of interrupting the speaker, who was an invited guest of the university, and was preventing the speaker from speaking.”

But the video seems to show that the meeting was breaking up at that point.

Delta Bravo Sierra

Take a look

I note, son told me that the dogs troops adopted quickly developed a very simple outlook: if you wore ACUs, you were good people; if you did not, or they didn't know your smell from when you did wear them... you'd better keep your distance.

Oooh, Pres. B. Cartman Obama 'heard the concerns'

and changed his mind:
“President Obama listened to the genuine concerns expressed by the veteran service organizations regarding the option of billing service-connected injuries to veterans’ insurance companies,” said Pelosi. “Based on the respect President Obama has for veterans and the principle concerns of our veteran leaders, the president made the decision that combat wounds should not be billed through their insurance policies.”
Translation: "Barkey has been hearing from Reps and Senators who have pissed-off people informing them of the easy availability of tar, feathers and rope, and decided he can't get away with it."
Now, that's not a very, ah, generous interpretation, is it? Let's remind ourselves why:
“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”
and
“I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not being enacted,” said Commander Rehbein, “is for an alternative plan to be developed that would generate the desired $540-million in revenue.
Ah, but that was yesterday. Before President I Spit On The Troops found out just how pissed of people were at the idea. Especially after his 'no earmarks' 9000-earmark spending bill with billions for his favorite vote-fraud organization.

I repeat what I said yesterday: this president has no honor, and is undeserving of respect.

Looks like the 'destroy the brass and sell as scrap' order

has been lifted. According to this,
- Prior to 11/2008, Demil B items required no mutilation for sale to the public. That policy changed in November, but several exceptions were granted. Expended munitions brass was one of those given a waiver.
- Enter the new administration. Since Demil B category items had been given a broad, general label as “national security sensitive” someone above the DRMS (likely in the DLA) reviewed the policy and immediately went with a CYA policy and yanked all exemptions. No thoughts or considerations were given to the implications of this policy change, but this directive was issued to DOD Surplus effective immediately last week.
- Shit storm blows up as a result. In particular, the letters, phone calls, and emails to our legislators, the media, and anyone else who would listen caused this policy to be review post haste.
- As of this morning our company was informed that expended munitions brass will now be reclassified as Demil Q –– which requires no mutilation unless sold to a foreign country.

I certainly hope this is all it was, a CYA move. Unfortunately, I do have to wonder if it was more of a "Let's see if we can get away with this" action; it wouldn't surprise me if it was. Which definitely says something about the level of trust I have in the gummint nowadays.

Range day: M1 Garand

among other things. I'll try to do a more in-depth post later, for now I'll just cover the basic:
The H&R M1, with the exception of one round that seems to have been out-of-spec and caused a jam, performed well. It did demonstrate a definite preference for the Greek HXP ball over the Korean PS; much better accuracy, and it was one of the PS that caused the jam.

It was a warm day, and the benches are partly in the sun with it at this angle; usually does a good job of telling you how much degreasing the wood needs. Happily, there was not a lot of bleed; apparently this one was never packed in cosmoline or it was cleaned very well at some point. I can see some places on the inside that seem to have some oil soaked in, but not much, so cleaning it shouldn't be bad.

Touching again on the current ammo/components situation, in the past there's been a fair amount of rifle brass to pick up; not the last couple of times. Very little .30-06 and whatever left behind, and most of that is berdan-primed stuff. A fair amount of handgun brass on that side, but not as much as before.

On the way home stopped by Gene Sears in El Reno to take a look around. Lots of ammo sold out, fairly good shape on most components exept primers; I got the last brick of standard small pistol they had, and they say primers are one of the more difficult things to keep in stock right now. Just like a lot of other places; the reloading shop at H&H said the same thing a few days back and were also down to magnum small pistol primers only.

More later; things to clean, dog to scratch, tea to drink.

And, following in the Soviet footsteps of needing control

over everything,
Will Congress kill farmers' markets?
What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the "Food Safety Administration." Hmmmmm? (Via a TennZen tweet)

Interesting. A co-sponsor's husband has Monsanto as a client.

Naw, no improper influence there, not at all......

'Transparency', 'End to Secrets',

my ass.
Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.
Really shouldn't be a surprise; Pres. B. Cartman Obama despises gun owners of all kinds who don't have a badge or a federal ID card. 'Inspections of pilots' for BS like this:
Take a case against one flight officer who had visited the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles within the last few weeks. While there, the pilot noticed that federal law enforcement officers can, with the approval of a superior, obtain a license plate that cannot be traced, a key safety feature for law enforcement personnel. So the pilot asked if, as a member of the federal program, he was eligible. The DMV staffer checked and said “no.” The next day administrative actions were brought against the pilot for “misrepresenting himself.” These are the kinds of cases that President Obama wants to investigate.
Hey, any excuse works to screw with something/somebody he doesn't like; he wants to crap all over wounded vets, why should pilots and other flight deck personnel be any different?
Since Mr. Obama's election, pilots have told us that the approval process for letting pilots carry guns on planes slowed significantly. Last week the problem went from bad to worse. Federal Flight Deck Officers - the pilots who have been approved to carry guns - indicate that the approval process has stalled out.

Pilots cannot openly speak about the changing policies for fear of retaliation from the Transportation Security Administration. Pilots who act in any way that causes a “loss of confidence” in the armed pilot program risk criminal prosecution as well as their removal from the program. Despite these threats, pilots in the Federal Flight Deck Officers program have raised real concerns in multiple interviews.

We remember the kinds of absolute garbage that Minetta and Madoff, the Fascist Twins(why yes, I am name-calling) put pilots through for even applying for the program, and how they worked to make it as difficult as possible to get through it; now Obama is taking this step. And, as befits a man who promised 'openness' and 'transparency', doing it as quietly as possible, hoping to sneak it through before people notice.

Hope! and Change! folks, this is it.