It's beginning to look a lot like

the effing moonbats are out in force for the season. In (fG)Britain, for instance,
...is the Church of England, where about two weeks ago a service was held at the historic Wren church of St. James's, Picadily, in Central London that included lessons on how to hate Jews.

The stars of the show were a group of anti-Israel activists, most of them Palestinians and some Jews, who are urging a boycott of products made in the Jewish state.

... and The "Twelve Days of Christmas" was sung as "Twelve assassinations/11 homes demolished/10 wells obstructed/Nine sniper towers/Eight gunships firing/Seven checkpoints blocking/Six tanks a-rolling/Five settlement rings. Four falling bombs/Three trench guns/Two trampled doves/And an uprooted olive tree."
In a church, yet. And the Salvation Army was making too much noise for some:
For 130 years they have been part of Christmas, filling the air in towns across the land with music and carols.

But one thing is missing from the repertoire of Salvation Army bands this year - the percussion of rattling tins.

Members have been forbidden to shake their charity tins - even if it's done in time to the music - in case it harasses or intimidates people. One said she had been told it might also offend other religions.
Wonder how big a bunch of PC screwballs and wusses Britain is turned into? This tells you.

Of course, over here, we have this note from Theo on the Illinois Governor's after-hours place:

The temp outside is 16, heading for a high of 25(if we're lucky);

I don't care what Tam says about training, I'm not hitting the range today. I have this thing about hands with no feeling and firearms, you see. Along with a severe dislike of the idea of frostbite. I'm ugly enough without making the situation worse in such a way.

We've escaped the ice problems some other parts of the country have had, undoubtedly disappointing some of the news morons; starting last Wednesday they started the "Freezing rain coming, probably Monday clear into Wednesday!" scares. Hmmm, the squirrel on the radio just said "...but a chance of freezing rain Wednesday and Thursday." Ok, NWS says 30% chance Wednesday night, which isn't a level I'm going to worry much about.

So, since I'm sitting here catching up on things... this is a nice way to put it:
Gov. Dead Meat is infected, not with some mental disorder, but with something far worse. He's got a raging case of feditis. They don't know if it's the isolated feditis or the creeping kind, threatening not only the locals but the reform image of their guy about to assume the White House.
as explanation of the antics in IL right now. Well, if I had connections with a corrupt governor who's connected to damn near everyone in the Legislature and the courts, I'd be a bit worried, too. Especially with Rezco already singing, I imagine there's some very worried people about the idea of the infection spreading. For that matter, Gov. Blago should be very careful, as there are an awful lot of people who'd be very (quietly) happy if he had a fatal accident.

And some people are pushing Emanuel to resign due to his contacts with Blago. I have a question: since it would not have been a big deal to say "Of course I'd spoken with the Governor about who I'd favor to fill my old Senate seat", why the lies? I mean, shades of Clinton, Obama & Co. just seemed to lie about it as a reflex, without thought. Not a good way to get started, people.

Ah, well, I've got stuff to do. More word on my exciting life and views thereof later.

Discoveries like this make me want to start studying

archaeology:
Now, it was announced in January, a civilization has been uncovered that would have appeared just as ancient to the people who built the pyramids as the pyramids seem to us.

According to marine scientists in India, archaeological remains of this lost city have been discovered 36 metres (120 feet) underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India. And carbon dating says that they are 9,500 years old.

This news completely contradicts the position of most Western historians and archaeologists, who (because it did not fit their theories) have always rejected, ignored, or suppressed evidence of an older view of mankind's existence on planet Earth. Human civilization is now provably much more ancient than many have believed.
...
The vast city — which is five miles long and two miles wide — is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years.

The site was discovered by chance last year by oceanographers from India's National Institute of Ocean Technology, who were conducting a survey of pollution.Using sidescan sonar, which sends a beam of sound waves down to the bottom of the ocean, they identified huge geometrical structures at a depth of 120 feet.

Debris recovered from the site — including construction material, pottery, sections of walls, beads, sculpture, and human bones and teeth — has been carbon dated and found to be nearly 9,500 years old.

I'll admit to two feelings about this. The first is delight; a discovery like this is just frikkin' wonderful, a new window into the past. No telling what all might turn up.
The second is a certain amount of evil laughter at the "This is THE EARLIEST DATE for civilization and anyone who says otherwise is a fraud!" historians and archaeologists reading about this and trying desperately to figure a way to prove their numbers are right and this new discovery doesn't actually mean anything. I know there's probably not many, but they're the kind of 'scientist' who'd rather screw with facts to fit their theory and beliefs than change the theory to fit the facts, the way science is supposed to work.

In any case, this is a marvelous discovery.

Yeah, the enemy is a wonderful bunch, using retarded people

and kids to attack our troops.
The four Marines were killed in two separate explosions near the town of Sangin. Lance Corporal Fellows died in the first blast after a patrol triggered a booby-trap bomb; one hour later, a second patrol, which had been called to help, was hit by a bomb concealed in a wheelbarrow being pushed by a 13-year-old boy.

The bomb was hidden under newspapers and detonated remotely, killing the three other Marines. A senior officer said the boy had approached the patrol with a ‘broad smile on his face’.

‘We do not know if he even knew he was a suicide bomber – whether it was a smile of innocence or malice,’ he said.
Yes, they're Brits, and I did say 'our troops'; they're over there with us.

The rest of the article focuses on PM Brown playing Churchill; I'll let someone else speak to that:
But the comparison to Winston Churchill prompted a ferocious response from Tory MP Nicholas Soames, Churchill’s grandson.

‘He is not fit to lick my grandfather’s boots,’ said Mr Soames. ‘One is a party hack and the other is our greatest-ever national leader.

‘My grandfather led a charge at the Battle of Omdurman; Brown didn’t even have the courage to call a General Election.’
That's got to smart, just a bit.

Well, well, one of the reasons the EUnuchs keep

pushing that treaty is their own pocket, it would seem:
No, this is about keeping the project going – a project from which millions now earn their living. The EU employs more than 170,000 officials, on handsome and largely untaxed retainers.

And for every formal Eurocrat there are dozens of fellow travellers: the Europe officers retained by every local council, large corporation and NGO. Their salaries might not be paid directly by Brussels but their livelihoods depend on the process of integration.

For Euro-hirelings, Lisbon isn't about federalism or democracy; it's about mortgages and school fees. They realise, to borrow their favourite simile, that the EU is like a bicycle that will fall over if it stops moving.
Which, besided the socialist 'the peasants do not know what's good for them' attitude, would help explain why these clowns keep saying that 'no' votes don't really mean it.
And so they have convinced themselves that voters are suffering from what Engels called "false consciousness": that they secretly want their leaders to disregard their votes and push ahead with deeper integration.

If you think I exaggerate, consider these words, spoken to the Czech President last week by Brian Crowley, leader of Ireland's governing party, Fianna Fáil, in the European Parliament: "All his life my father fought against the British domination. Many of my relatives lost their lives. That is why I dare to say that the Irish wish for the Lisbon Treaty."

Disregard the curious way in which Crowley equates his father's campaign for national independence with his campaign against it. Ignore, too, the anachronism: since Crowley's father was born 13 years after independence, he can hardly have spent his life fighting "the British domination".

Focus, instead, on the extraordinary presumption: "the Irish wish for the Lisbon Treaty". So much for the referendum result. Crowley believes he knows the voters' desires better than they do.
But of COURSE he does, he's an Enlightened One, kind of like the Lightworker waiting to take office over here.

Just wunnerful, isn't it?

Again, there's all kinds of stuff out there to read,

like a nice piece on the difference between alpha male and predator threats.

Atlanta put together a police oversight board after the death of an old lady brought to light what a mess the PD was running, and the PD wants things changed so they can hide things from the board.
The city law recently enacted to create the review board gives the board “full access” to police reports and documents. Police officials are asking the city to allow them to only turn over documents and information that are public record, which is minimal when an investigation is ongoing.

If the change is approved, it would essentially allow the police department to withhold most information from the Citizen Review Board until after the department conducts its own investigation.
Why, you ask?
Hagin said he and the department are pushing for the changes because they fear that the Review Board doesn’t have the experience or the resources to conduct investigations.

Investigations are fluid and constantly changing, he said, and the department worries that turning over police reports early would cause the review board to rush to judgment before knowing all the facts, Hagin said.

“For us, I think it’s better if we do our investigation in a reasonable period of time and then turn it over to them,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think the board is going to be impressed with the kind of work [the internal affairs unit] does.”
Umm, the same internal affairs unit that apparently couldn't or wouldn't do squat about the clowns until this death brought the whole mess into the public eye? Yeah, I think they'd be really unimpressed with that unit.

This has all the earmarks of the kind of "We'll give the board what we decide it needs to know and see" bullcrap that's poisoned things in many places over time. I'm hoping this gets stomped on. As should be pointed out, if the IA unit had been doing their damned job right, the murder of Mrs. Johnston would never have happened, and neither would a lot of other crap.

Oh, and ALL you cartridges suck! Just like all your guns do!

The Brillianter guy points out that sometimes what is, of itself, a non-lethal action can be cause for a lethal response.

The other day it was noted by many that lots and lots of news weenies, the kind who seem to be able to excuse democrats and socialists(or is that completely redundant, nowadays?) for pretty much anything, seemed to be working on the Gov. Blagojevich(Theiving Slimeball-IL) defense by talking over and over about how he must be insane. The definitely do not want to talk about the simple fact that he pushed the limits as he did, did the things he did, because he figured he'd get away with it because that's how it's done there. It's such a corrupt, inbred mess that the other day someone referring to a former alderman said something like 'it would be an insult to call him an 'alderman' because he was honest!' When you have people coming out with statements like that, it's a clue- in case you need one- of just how dirty things are. Blagojevich isn't insane; he's a fairly standard-issue IL/Chicago politician, crooked as hell and expecting to get by with crap like this.

I think that about covers it. All I've got time for, anyhow.

It occurs to me that I didn't mention the day that Kim

stopped blogging.

I went by his place most every day, and if I missed one I always went back to see what I'd missed. Sometimes agreed with, sometimes not, but most always interesting to read. His pissed off yelling and bitchingwise words on matters will be missed.

So along with the general dirtbagginess of Blago,

he also ripped off money earmarked for conservation:
In an unprecedented move to reduce Illinois’ budget deficits, the Illinois Legislature passed a bill authorizing Gov. Rod Blagojevich to sweep $18 million from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, including $9.25 million from dedicated conservation funds, which are primarily generated through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, stamps and permits...

...sweeping them would cause Illinois to lose $15 million in federal funds that would be used for wildlife conservation. That loss would continue annually, until the swept funds were restored, so this action does nothing to solve the state budget deficit.”
Ah, but it gave him more money to use as he chose, so it's worth it. To him and his buttmonkeys, at least.

Speaking of Blago's general scumbagginess, the gentleman also points out
Blagojevich delivered these remarks while standing outside the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago...

...which, as it turns out, is the very same hospital that Federal prosecutors allege was secretly threatened by Blagojevich with a loss of $8 million in state funds, earmarked to reimburse doctors who treated Medicaid patients. The reason? Blagojevich complained that he never received a contribution from hospital CEO Patrick Magoon to the tune of $50,000.

It should also be noted that Blago, one of the biggest gun-grabbing GFWs out there, had a state Firearms Owners Identification Card, which he had to surrender. Gee, why would someone who hates firearms and the people who own them, and has 24-hour police protection, need one, hmmmmm?

Hear, Hear!!!

We have people with absolutely no qualifications whatsoever screwing with American businesses and there is no way to stop them because they live in districts where everyone is retarded like San Francisco or areas of Massachusetts. In a just, capitalistic world, Barney Frank would be living on the streets covered in his own excrement, but instead he gets to screw up business after business with no accountability because apparently he lives in a district where the citizens are constantly being outsmarted by squirrels. Then there’s the senile old curmudgeon Murtha who can call is own people stupid racists and they still vote for him because they’re brain dead (and probably stupid racists).

A few things to note this evening

Some comments on the idiotic disarmament laws in India: how they came about, and the cost now of them.

Why a lot of jobs have gone away, and more will.
"But pay them with WHAT? Liberals seem to be clueless as to where "the money" comes from. They love to tax, regulate and redistribute wealth -- all the while decrying the very profit motive that created it -- something they do not understand. If they did, they would not naively insist that a business that is out of money, out of customers and out of credit stay open so as to pay employees."

Commentary on the moronic whoreship* of that mass-murderer Che.

The remote-control gun turret: the option with a bang!

Why the spec-ops guys tend to scare hell out of the bad guys.

And Ace has a LOT of stuff on the mess in IL, and the connections between a lot of interesting people.


*Well, 'worship' just doesn't seem the right word for the idiots who adore that deceased dirtbag.

Well, I wonder if CVS was feeling

some heat?
CVS Health Resources

We're sorry!

The page you're looking for kidsguns doesn't exist. It may have expired from our site, or you may have tried an incorrect URL. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

We're constantly updating our site with new information, so you should be able to find other pages of interest. Just use the search box (top left of this page) or click on any of the links on the left to explore our site.

Cargosquid pointed this out in the comments; being the lazy sort I am, I'd probably not have noticed it myself as I have a bad habit of forgetting to check back.

It may have just 'expired', or they may have decided some people saying "If you're going to promote this crap, you'll do it without my money" was enough of a publicity problem to dump it. Whichever, it's gone.

It is not good to get home and find the phone dead

Especially when you're one of the dinosaurs still on dial-up. It's worse when you call the trouble-reporting number(mobiles do have their uses) and the first thing you hear is a recording 'We are experiencing high call volume, responses to your call may be delayed.' Worse yet to finally get to 'your phone will be repaired between 0830 and 1800 tomorrow.'

But it's up now.

Not that I'd have done a lot yesterday; it was son's birthday, and since he found time in the busy schedule we went to dinner. Although, even with his age and experience, getting an answer out of him...("I don't care if you're younger and in the Army, if you don't give me a 'yes' or 'no' I'm going to beat you with a club!")

Went to Zorba's, Mediterranean food. Nice place, good food, and really the first time we'd been able to sit & talk since he got in on leave. Among other things learned: yes, thermite works to set a canal on fire(the growth around it), except when Sergeant Dumbass tries it.

More later.

Theo had a picture

I suggest slightly different wording because, as a guy said in comments "Criminals and politicians; what's the other group?"

Threat indicators

James often has very useful information on self-defense matters. The other day he linked to this very nice post on things to watch for:
A common topic in law enforcement training circles is the detection of something called "pre-assaultive threat indicators". In any police contact, officers are trained to look for physical cues that serve as "early warning signals" that a person may flee or become combative. These same cues can be useful in the civilian world as well. Being able to identify body language that indicates an imminent attack can give you the opportunity to, at best, "beat feet". Or at worst, allow you to preempt the attack with a defensive measure.
Aside from the usual gripe about the use of 'civilian', this is a very good piece. Go take a look.

Well, it appears the FBI & Justice Dept. can actually still

investigate corrupt politicians.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, have been arrested and charged with a multitude of crimes involving everything from a “pay to play” scheme for state contracts to his attempt to sell the open Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for “financial considerations” for the governor and his wife.

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald calls the breadth and depth of charges “staggering.”
...
“They allege that Blagojevich put a ‘for sale’ sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target, and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism.”
Well, miserable little tyrants really don't like being criticized; it's bad for their self-esteem, you know.

And this is Illinois, after all:
But all of this occurred in the state of Illinois, where the arrest of Blagojevich makes it four out of the last seven governors arrested and charged with wrongdoing while in office.

Consider this last bit:
These are not the actions of someone who had a grasp of the enormous legal trouble he was in. The fact that he was so reckless and cavalier about his wrongdoing may indicate either a soul so corrupt that right and wrong had no meaning for him or he was suffering from delusions associated with his office so that he may have thought he was untouchable.
You have to remember, this is Chicago, IL. He was probably pissed that he was being investigated at all on the previous stuff; after all, that's the way it's done in Chicago. He was probably figuring that with all the connections, if he was indicted, there'd be a way found to throw it out or get him some deal in exchange for being quiet about all the others involved in it.

I guess you could say the spirit of Capone lives on.

Now if they can just bother to investigate Frank and Dodd & Co....

Crooked politicians and the people who buy them

Scientists have discovered a lotion that can save the lives of U.S. soldiers exposed to chemical weapons — a product vastly superior to the standard-issue decontamination powder.

Naturally, the Defense Department wants to scrap the powder and switch to the more-effective lotion.

But there's a problem: After being lobbied by the companies making the powder, several members of Congress pushed through two earmarks worth $7.6 million that forced the military for the past two years to keep buying the inferior product.

The product, known as M291, is made from a resin sold exclusively by a Pennsylvania chemical company, which is then processed into powder by a New York company, then assembled into individual kits at a facility in Arkansas.

Among the lawmakers who championed the earmarks are Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
...
After the large purchases of resin, the military didn't include funding for M291 kits in its budget because the product was being phased out, Bryce said.

But members of Congress had different plans. Staffers for Sens. Clinton and Schumer met with Daniel Kohn, president of Truetech, a Riverhead, N.Y., company that mixed the powder from the resin and produced the kits.

"In self-defense, we've gone to our representatives in Congress and we've said: 'You know, let's lay our cards on the table — we're in business to provide a living and jobs in your district,' " Kohn said in a recent interview.

Clinton, Schumer and others added a $2 million earmark to the 2007 defense bill, instructing the military to buy M291 kits.
As Sondra put it, no, you little bastard, you're in business to make a profit; just because somebody makes a better product doesn't mean your entitled to have a bought politician force people to buy your stuff.

And please note that that miserable jerk Specter is also involved in this mess.

Ok, Rangel has various legal and ethical violations

hanging over him, but
Yet, on Tuesday, Rangel himself said that Pelosi has promised him continued chairmanship of his powerful committee.
Yeah, they're really going to deal with him correctly. If by 'correctly' you mean 'give him a light slap on the hand and kiss his ass in apology'.

Ammo test, cast bullets

in .303 and 7.62x54r.

Well, I said I'd get it done later.

Using the bullets from the Lee mold, run through the .311 sizer(mainly to seat the gas checks). Half loaded with 2400 powder, the other half with Unique(which Very Helpful Commenter has had good results with). I used the P14 and the #4 MkI rifles I'd slugged the bores of. All shot at 30 yards at H&H Range(the outside range is closed Mondays). First, the P14 with 2400
Quite nice. Now, with Unique
The vertical stringing is probably my problem; not the most stable of rests. The one high, looks like something weird happened and that one keyholed; I'd have to call it an anomaly as everything else left nice round holes. Both powders put right on point of aim with this rifle.

Now to the #4, with 2400
Again, first round high, I'm guessing from an oily bore, and in this case well below point of aim; not unusual. With Unique,
the group was further down; yes, I did forget to cut out the section below(it was taped on a bigger target), the group was maybe slightly larger.

I'd also found the use of a Russian M44- bore unslugged- to try the 7.62x54 on. I found that I'd not put up enough targets, so after shooting the Unique loads(on the right), I held at the center of the bottom edge of that target, and cut out & saved the 2400 group.
Not bad at all, with both hitting the same distance below point of aim.

So, with proper .303 and .7.62x54r bores, this bullet works very nicely.

And yes, when I went out earlier I did cast more of them. Among others.

I need lead.

My, there's a lot of crap out there today

I took a couple of rifles to the range to try the .303 and 7.62x54 cast bullet out further, I'll have a report on that later. Right now, with the bores wiped with cleaner and sitting, I'm browsing around.

Balko has two things. One is a sting run on a police department:
The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.
That has the potential to get real interesting. And, quite frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing such things done in a lot of places. Especially with crap like that noted in his other piece:
Lima police apparently aren’t as concerned. When told of the Lima News investigation, police spokesman Kevin Martin said, “That means 68 percent of the time, we’re getting guns or drugs off the street. We’re not looking at it as a win-loss record like a football team does.”
When a department has that kind of attitude toward no-knock SWAT raids, that means that department has a serious, first-class problem. The kind that gets people killed and causes the citizens to think of the cops a more of an occupying force than a law enforcement organization. These clowns, and a lot more, need to be reined in. Right now.

Various liberals are upset that The Obama isn't loading his cabinet with commie-level progressives. Including this prime piece of idiocy:
“There don't seem to be any liberals in Obama's cabinet,” writes John Aravosis, the editor of Americablog.com. “What does all of this mean for Obama's policies, and just as important, Obama Supreme Court announcements?”
There are, among others Hillary Clinton and Tom Daschle in that cabinet, and they're 'not liberals'? You do tend to wonder what these people are smoking.

Awww, the poor little NYEffin'T writer is mad because a mere plumber has dared to write a book:
The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet?

I didn’t think so. And I don’t want you writing books.
Well, Mr. Egan, there's a slight problem: he doesn't care that you don't want him to write. Neither does anyone else outside your little circle of jerks. Go read what Tim Blair has in response, it's well worth it.

As my last item right now, I have to note this demonstration of insanity(or stupidity, or a combination thereof) from Andrew Sullivan. This (fill in the blank, I can't think of a proper word) is still chasing the 'Trig is not Sarah Palin's son!' idiocy around the tree. Hell, his own STAFF says he's lost it on this. At this point, I think he shouldn't be allowed outside without being on a leash; he's liable to wander into traffic.

And on that happy note, I'm going to cast some bullets.

Several things to note

Son is off with friends, so I'm sitting here all alone and browsing around, and found some stuff.

You know, he does kind of have that look...


I'd not heard of Cherry River Blog before, but Joe Huffman had a link to this on the Mumbai attack. One part:
The overwhelming characteristic of this attack was the dependence upon there being both an unarmed citizenry and an almost-unarmed, and unaggressive, local police and security apparatus. These attackers knew full well they faced no opposition whatsoever, a concept fully borne out in the real-life results. They were able to land, advance, control territory, move freely, and command local conditions with veritable ease. There was no opposition. They had practically nothing to fear, in terms of the success of the terror attack.
I'm reminded of this article from (fG)Britain a year ago on what disarming the honest has done; one of the important paragraphs:
We are so self-congratulatory about our officially disarmed society, and so dismissive of colonial rednecks, that we have forgotten that within living memory British citizens could buy any gun – rifle, pistol, or machinegun – without any licence. When Dr Watson walked the streets of London with a revolver in his pocket, he was a perfectly ordinary Victorian or Edwardian. Charlotte Brontë recalled that her curate father fastened his watch and pocketed his pistol every morning when he got dressed; Beatrix Potter remarked on a Yorkshire country hotel where only one of the eight or nine guests was not carrying a revolver; in 1909, policemen in Tottenham borrowed at least four pistols from passers-by (and were joined by other armed citizens) when they set off in pursuit of two anarchists unwise enough to attempt an armed robbery. We now are shocked that so many ordinary people should have been carrying guns in the street; the Edwardians were shocked rather by the idea of an armed robbery.

And from a current article:
For anybody who still believed in it, the Mumbai shootings exposed the myth of “gun control”. India had some of the strictest firearms laws in the world, going back to the Indian Arms Act of 1878, by which Britain had sought to prevent a recurrence of the Indian Mutiny.

The guns used in last week’s Bombay massacre were all “prohibited weapons” under Indian law, just as they are in Britain. In this country we have seen the irrelevance of such bans (handgun crime, for instance, doubled here within five years of the prohibition of legal pistol ownership), but the largely drug-related nature of most extreme violence here has left most of us with a sheltered awareness of the threat. We have not yet faced a determined and broad-based attack.

The Mumbai massacre also exposed the myth that arming the police force guarantees security. Sebastian D’Souza, a picture editor on the Mumbai Mirror who took some of the dramatic pictures of the assault on the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, was angered to find India’s armed police taking cover and apparently failing to engage the gunmen.


With Zimbabwe going into the toilet trap, with cholera now helping things along, Mostly Cajun takes note of what Mugabe and socialism has done to the place. I'll add, Mugabe lost the first election and(as I recall) made so many threats and screamed so much to people like Jimmy Carter that a second election was held. Despite the first having been noted a remarkably clean. And, of course, Mugabe won the second. Maybe this marxist jackass would have come into power later anyway, but still... I'd hope Carter felt shame for what he'd helped along here, but I don't think he's capable of either shame or thinking he ever did a thing wrong in his life.

Speaking of the son, somebody pointed me to this
which does remind me of something; namely, his mother calling/writing me to note "Your son did/did not/won't (fill in the blank)." To a lesser extent there were "Your daughter" calls/e-mails, but for the most part it was son. The last while it's been "There's another box here for your son" when something he ordered arrived.

As an aside, this is another marker of how much things have changed. In WWII and Korea, a letter from a relative in the war zone was a happy thing, and you might get one fairly regularly- as in every few weeks- depending on where stationed, etc. Vietnam, pretty much the same. And so on, until now you can get e-mails from an FOB in Outer Bugtussle and an occasional phone call. Amazing, isn't it?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some ammo to load.