Oklahoma Celtic Festival this weekend,

which is where I spent most of the day. After I dragged my fat ass out of bed. I think this is the third year for it, and it's slowly growing. I think part of the problem causing slow growth is this is right in the middle of renaissance fair season for a lot of artists and performers, and they have multi-weekend contracts to perform/display. But it's a nice festival, with quite a few performers. Some of whom reminded me about the saying that 'bagpipes indoors are an offensive weapon'.

I'll post a few pictures later. 'Few' because I left the wrong chip in the camera, which means not many pictures.

Oh, and one of the food vendors is a area bakery, with damn good bread and meat pies.

Anony went back to a post a while back on left-wing commie

terrorists, and was appalled that he didn't find 'proper journalism'; that there was bias and emotion and personal opinion.

Hey, dumbass, this is my blog. Which I have described as my soapbox upon which to stand and spout my opinion, spread information and laugh at the monkeys throwing crap. That means, amazingly, that you get opinion, emotion and my bias!

So if you don't approve, very simple solution: go away.

One of the places I don't look at often enough is

Closing Velocity, whose second-to-last post points out that President B. Hussein Cartman Obama seems to have realized(or is just scared of the polls; he IS an Evil Party member) that missile defense just might be a good thing after all, but the idiocy still prevails at this time:

Well, someone at Obama's Pentagon got the message, for Hawaii is being fortified with a new deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors and the SBX is finally putting to sea:

Mr. Gates told reporters that the U.S. is positioning a sophisticated floating radar array in the ocean around Hawaii to track an incoming missile. The U.S. is also deploying missile-defense weapons to Hawaii that would theoretically be capable of shooting down a North Korean missile, should such an order be given, he said.

"We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile to the west, in the direction of Hawaii," Mr. Gates said.

Gates went on to say that the long range Ground-Based Interceptors (GBIs) in Alaska --- slated to be cut by Obama, but-that's-not-important-right-now --- were also ready to engage:

Although Gates did not explicitly say that the U.S. would try to shoot down a test missile aimed in the direction of Hawaii, he noted that interceptor missiles in California and Alaska were ready.

"The ground-based interceptors are clearly in a position to take action," Gates said. "So without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say, I think we are in a good position, should it become necessary to protect American territory."

Perhaps the reality of missile defense is setting in on a few of the adults in Washington. Or more likely, perhaps someone's watching the polls:

A new Gallup Poll finds 51% of Americans saying North Korea currently poses a direct threat to U.S. security. That is the highest percentage seen for eight countries or territories tested in the poll whose political climates or ongoing conflicts present a threat to U.S. interests in the world.

Which, of course, makes this the perfect time to slash missile defense funding --- "Missile Budget Cut Still Stands":

An attempt Tuesday to restore money slashed from the missile defense budget failed to gain traction when an amendment that would have paid for additional interceptors in Alaska was defeated.

You know, it takes a monumental level of stupid to look at the threats from Iran and the Norks, be forced to actually use these systems, and STILL want to chop funding. But that's the HOPE! and CHANGE! we've got.

I had one of those many people named Anonymous comment

on this post that Sarah Palin is (fill in the blank, basically) and a nasty politician, a fake-conservative decoy, etc. I told him he was full of crap. This led to him telling me, among other things,
I think you are your own worst enemy, of the sort who keeps doing the same thing and supporting the same re-tread figures advocated and marketed to you through mass media owned by multi-national corporations, and you cant figure out why you still lose, no matter if its bush or obama in office. they will always be 'one of you' when campaigning and they will always be a dutiful servant of well-paying multi-national corporate interests once they get elected.
Yeah. Right. I supported McCain wholeheartedly because the major media and Stupid Party Brass told me to and totally supported Bush and-

Wait, no I didn't! I think I actually agreed with Kevin that McCain was the least repulsive Democrat in the race! I said nasty things about Bush over the last few years! I even told my kids in 2000 that I had real problems with Bush, but the alternative...

Mr. Anonymous, screw you. I haven't trusted the major media about much of anything since long before I was online, and I've told the Stupid Party numerous times just exactly what I think of them. Here and using their "We need your money" forms to say Hell, no, and explain why. You remind me of the clown who wrote to Lawdog calling him names for being such a suckup to McCain, apparently never bothering to read anything Dog wrote about him.

I'm not a Palin worshipper; I do think she'd make a good President, and I think the type and level of media and celebutard attacks on her speak of just how much they're scared of the idea. She ain't perfect, and I know it; she'd have been a hell of a lot better than either McCain or Obama.

ANOTHER Obama appointee who didn't pay taxes,

and got a very nice deal from the IRS. As Insty says, "I don’t even want to hear anyone in this Administration talk about tax increases, when they can’t seem to staff it with people who have actually, you know, paid their taxes on time."
And, let's note, keep getting far nicer treatment from the IRS than plain old Joe or Jane Citizen would.

Jammie Wearing Fool notes this:
Ms. Marshall may fare better because, after ultimately filing the 2005 and 2006 federal and local paperwork, she was entitled to $37,259 in refunds, according to data she provided to Mr. Lugar.
Ok, how the hell rich do you have to be to not file when you've got money- especially that kind of money- coming back? This flat smells.

Remember President Obama's statement on the murder of Corporal Long?

It may not have actually been a statement from the President:
Which brings us back to C.J. When he contacted the White House for clarification he got a third answer. Not "Sorry, we made an exclusive statement to the AP, check with them" or "we only released that to Arkansas media" - instead, he was told "the President is attempting to call the family of Army Pvt Long".

We've got three different answers now from the White House on the central question "did the President make a statement"? I suspect the correct answer would be a fourth one: "no".
This is the first I've heard of this piece of crap being dug up. A lot of people wondered at the time why it took so damn long for the President to make a statement, and that when he (supposedly) did it was such a piece of garbage; this makes it worse by far. This sounds like some staffer noticed that people were getting really pissed about the matter and made up a 'statement from the President' that he thought would take care of it.

Go over to Mudville and read the whole piece. As Kim used to say, it would be wise to move breakables out of reach first.

I must occasionally be doing something right

A while back I was at the outdoor range, and when I finished the rifle stuff and moved to the handgun side there was a lady instructing another lady(obvious beginner) in handgun basics. The beginner- who was wearing a PD patch, turned out to have just been hired- had a slightly unusual pistol, and I asked her about it:
"When I joined the department, my husband gave it to me. Didn't ask what I wanted, just gave it to me."
It was a Glock.
Pink.
With matching pink handcuffs.
No, she was not overly thrilled. She was happy he'd given her a pistol, but wished she'd had some input on the matter.

While they were working I moved a few places down and started some draw & fire practice. I'd forgotten that I had the extra-power recoil spring in, and so after the first shot I got a double-feed. I dropped the mag, racked the action, new mag(my spare carry-load mag, forgot to reload it with the practice stuff), rack, bang. Finished that mag, and while I was reloading the older lady doing the teaching came over.
"What department do you work for? Sheriff's office?"
"No, ma'am, just practicing."
"Oh, you compete?"
"No. Just practicing."
"Oh. Well, practice is always good."
While I finished reloading, she went back to her student and, due to the electronic muffs, I heard her say "I'd have sworn he shoots competition." Apparently my clear of the jam went I lot faster and better than I thought it did.

Some self-defense and teaching advice

"The handgun would not be my choice of weapon if I knew I was Going to a fight....I'd choose a rifle, a shotgun, an RPG or an atomic Bomb instead."

"The two most important rules in a gunfight are: always cheat and always win."

"Every time I teach a class, I discover I don't know something."

"Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way."

"Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. I may get killed with my own gun, but he's gonna have to beat me to death with it, 'cause it's going to be empty."

"If you're not shootin', you should be loadin'. If you're not Loadin, you should be movin', if you're not movin', someone's gonna cut Your head off and put it on a stick."

"When you reload in low light encounters, don't put your
flashlight in your back pocket.. If you light yourself up, you'll look like an angel or the tooth fairy...and you're gonna be one of 'em pretty soon."

"Do something. It may be wrong, but do something."

"Nothing adds a little class to a sniper course like a babe in a ghilliesuit."

"Shoot what's available, as long as it's available, until something else becomes available."

"If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That's ridiculous.. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have to be paranoid for."

"Don't shoot fast, shoot good.

Found at Theo's place

My day was damn hot and sweaty,

and I need a shower. How was yours?

Friend Oren the gunsmith needed some help getting some things set up in his shop, but what he got was me getting in the way the last two days. Let me set the scene for you: shop building, no a/c, highs upper 90's and enough humidity to remind you of the marshy ground around a pond in the woods. But, despite my contribution, some things were accomplished(in part my threatening his son if he didn't get his butt busy with the mower and weedeater; for some reason he listens to me) in exchange for the effort and sweat.

I must note that things were livened up somewhat by his dog. She lives to have a ball thrown, and has a habit of walking up to you and dropping it- or what's left of it- behind you and standing there with an expectant look. Which can cause some excitement when you step back and either step on the ball or nearly fall over her.

But progress was made, so it was time well spent. Plus he's one of the best friends I've ever had, and I haven't had much chance to spend time with him for a while; worth it for that.

Now, I must move on to the tale of Rafferty the Rescued Puppy
He's the critter my ex rescued from less-than-optimal circumstances. Hard to tell from the pictures, but he's grown a lot. It became obvious that he was going to become bigger than she could keep. But a happy ending ensues; a lady she works with thinks he's The Most Darling Thing Ever. And the feeling is apprently returned, as he starts wiggling and wagging as soon as he sees her, so tomorrow he goes to his new home.

Itzl the long-haired chihuahua will have to get used to not being ambushed anymore,


but I imagine he'll do it quickly. He's become a Dignified Adult(yes, he does tend to act it in capitals) and the pup was about to cause him real annoyance at times.

So tomorrow he and all his toys will exit to a new home(including kids and dogs), which should suit him just fine.

Steve checks his Facebook account;

disbelief follows:
I got a couple of questionable friend requests recently, purportedly from women. One was from an English blond. In her Facebook photo, she wore a white tube top with nothing underneath. Am I a bad person for suspecting this is actually a fat guy who runs a phone sex business? Probably a grizzled Alexei Sayle lookalike who sends friend requests while lounging around in his living room, wearing only the kind of peculiar underwear European men think is normal.

Maybe it’s Alexei himself. I think times have been a little lean for him since “The Bride.”

The guys who pump out bogus Myspace and Facebook friend requests need to understand something. It has probably been 38 years since I realized that really attractive women rarely talk to me or even acknowledge my existence unless they want my money or, maybe, need me to throw water on them because they’re on fire. So when I get gushy friend requests from scantily clad girls named Brittnee or Suzee, I know immediately that I am being scammed.

White House refuses to answer questions on firing of IG;

Nobody Surprised.
The questions relate to a letter Eisen sent to some senators Tuesday night attributing Walpin's dismissal, in significant part, to Walpin's behavior at a May 20, 2009 board meeting of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that oversees AmeriCorps. Eisen wrote that at the meeting, "Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve." After the meeting, Eisen wrote, Walpin lost the confidence of the Corporation Board. The White House conducted a review of the matter, and Walpin was fired. (For a detailed account of Walpin's reaction to the White House charges, see here.)

At Wednesday's meeting, Sen. Grassley's staffers wanted to know more about the White House review. "Unfortunately," Grassley writes in a letter sent late Wednesday afternoon to White House counsel Gregory Craig, "Mr. Eisen refused to answer several direct questions posed to him about the representations made in his letter." Grassley says that since Eisen refused to answer the questions in person, Grassley would submit a dozen of them in writing. Here they are:
Well hell, guy, if you'd broken a law you'd bragged about having a hand in passing, and done things that are making people very upset, you might be sensitive about answering questions, too. Especially if you're a Chicago machine politician who has never liked answering serious "Why did you do that?" questions. And you're not used to having to think about it because the major media has been so far up your butt they needed air, water and light piped in.

This has potential to be really, seriously interesting.

Well, crap, I like Olive Garden,

but if they can't even make up their damn mind about that idiot Letterman, maybe they don't need my money.
Olive Garden’s manager of media relations, who asked not to be quoted on the record, confirmed to POLITICO Thursday that the emails were sent by the restaurant chain, and also confirmed that the company would be pulling its remaining television spots on the program for the rest of the year when asked that question.

But in a statement released later in the day, Olive Garden Director of Media Relations Rich Jeffers disputed POLITICO’s report as “erroneous.”
Sounds like they tried to have it both ways; wanted to say "We don't support Letterman and his 'jokes'", but someone decided they'd rather be connected with him than not. So two stories.

Ah well, there are other Italian restaurants in town.

Kind of in a hurry, so just some roundup this morning

Like the Justice Department Public Corruption Unit is kind of messy; due to corruption in the unit, violations of law, little things like that:
Two months after prosecutors abandoned the criminal conviction of former senator Ted Stevens, the Justice Department unit that polices public corruption remains in chaos, coping with newly discovered evidence that threatens to undermine other cases while department leaders struggle to reshuffle the ranks.
...
At the same time, document-sharing lapses that provoked the Stevens turnaround are also affecting other bribery prosecutions in the state, prompting authorities to take the extraordinary step of releasing two Alaska lawmakers from prison late last week. A new team of government lawyers and FBI agents is reviewing thousands of pages of evidence, trying to assuage the concerns of judges and fielding complaints from defense attorneys.
...
New members of the prosecution team told the judge that they would finish sharing previously unproduced materials by July 31. Already, defense attorneys for the former Alaska legislators have secured scores of pages of newly disclosed materials from the government on the condition that they keep the documents secret.

John Henry Browne, an attorney for Kohring, said he was expecting a dozen or so documents but instead is sorting through a stack of more than 1,000 pages.

"There are a number of smoking guns in here," Browne said. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Justice Department sometimes dismisses these cases" rather than expose the former prosecutors to cross examination about their alleged failure to share documents.
Translation: "Well, we'll see if the Justice Department wants their prosecutors being put under oath and asking why they violated the law and acted unethically."

Corrupt public officials need to be caught and thrown out of office and jailed; so do prosecutors who violate the law to get a conviction 'no matter what'.


Well, well, there are THREE IG's who've been fired, not just one.
This is interesting. I looked around and perhaps I missed it on another blog, but the Chicago Tribune reports that it isn't just Walpin's firing over which Senator Grassley wants some answers. He's worried about a pattern, as no fewer than three IG's have recently been fired, all while investigating so-called sensitive issues. See Michelle for the latest on Walpin.

The dispute comes as Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is looking into the abrupt firings within the last week of two other inspectors general one of whom was fired by the White House and the other by the chair of the International Trade Commission.

Both inspectors general had investigated sensitive subjects at the time of their firings.

Grassley is now concerned about whether a pattern is emerging in which the independence of the government's top watchdogs -- whose jobs were authorized by Congress to look out for waste, fraud and abuse -- is being put at risk.

That some of these clowns just cannot stop smearing and lying about Sarah Palin is amazing; that kind of actual hatred is scary.


Rep. Barney Frank(Evil Party-MA) is a corrupt politician who's just been bought off again from the sound of it; why are these people surprised?


British cops screwing with lots of people simply to provide a racial balance in official statistics. Considering these people seem to have decided Sir Robert Peel never existed, or should never be mentioned, doesn't surprise me.


I'm now off to be (supposedly) helpful on some things.

“Who should we believe,

Obama or you?”
Mr. Obama is a politician, and a very astute one. However, his speech revealed that his view is unduly influenced by naïve desire. His perception of Islam and the reality of Islam need to be synchronized. I am a physician and a realist who has lived and experienced the effect of my Arab culture and Islamic religion since childhood.

The president pandered to Muslims: praised their accomplishments, commiserated with their grievances, and apologized for injustices done to them by centuries of colonialism -- without once mentioning the history of rampant and violent Arab colonialism. He avoided any mention of Jihadi tenets, or of the Islamic political ideology of supremacy over non Muslims -- principles embedded in Sharia law. These are taught and sanctioned openly by Al-Azhar, the university that hosted him, the foremost center of Sharia studies. Obama underscored the supposed American mistreatment of terrorists and apologized for torture in Guantanamo, forgetting that Islamic regimes are brutal to their own people. The president also repudiated significant U.S. contributions in both the lives of its soldiers and humanitarian aid to Muslims across the globe made throughout history -- despite Muslim attacks against America and Americans. In short, parts of his speech sounded like a new Pan-Arab messiah come to usher the Arab world back into its rightful world dominion.
...
Since arriving in the US, I have enjoyed the freedom to educate my Arab brothers and sisters in the Middle East, who yearn for real freedom - and I have seen successes. Mr. Obama calls these very successes into question rather than championing freedom.

As the president embarks on his new task to defend Muslims “against negative stereotypes,” does this mean he will somehow interfere and undermine that message? Or, perhaps it means he may join with the Organization of Islamic Conference, the 57 Muslim countries that work relentlessly to promote a United Nations resolution to suppress voices of dissent against Islam? I am confident we would all come to regret this.

Obama sidesteps the acute state of affairs in the Islamic world with flattery, failing to encourage accountability for rhetoric, practices and the behavior that feed stereotypes. I did not hear an exhortation to the Islamic world to open itself to diversity, to accept women as equal citizens with the same rights and protection under law as men. I did not hear a challenge to the Muslim world to accept other religions and their ability to practice openly within the Islamic world -- where the practice of Christianity, Judaism and other religions could cost an individual his or her life. I did not hear a call to erase for all time, Dhimmi racism -- the Sharia law-based dictate that Christians and Jews are inferior and should be suppressed. Are these “…the principles of justice, tolerance and dignity for human beings”?
A very good piece by Wafa Sultan, well worth reading.

And thanks to The Advice Goddess for pointing it out.

Lessons from Mumbai

Lead and Gold has a link to a report, short and concise. I'd like to quote one bit:
One of the most important lessons of this attack is the continuing importance of an earlier operational form: the firearms assault. While the counterterrorism world has been focused almost exclusively on explosives, this attack demonstrates that firearms assault, while not as deadly as mass-casualty bombings, can be an effective tactic in creating prolonged chaos in an urban setting.
Put bluntly: in a city full of mostly unarmed people, a small group of terrorists with nothing but some guns, unless law enforcement or security forces are right there and capable, can cause an ungodly mess. Which brings me to something Lawdog wrote a while back:
"But, LawDog, I'm a CCW, not a cop. I'm not going to be responding to bank robberies."

Given that terrorism isn't going away any time soon, I'd not bet the ranch on that, but that's a discussion for another time.
Which is as nice a way as you'll hear of pointing out 'something like Mumbai could happen here. And you might be right there in the middle of it.' A flat-out terrifying thought, ain't it?

One of the things that surprises a lot of (sometimes stupid) critics of CCW is that they'll make some snotty comment about "Got to shoot anybody yet?" and the response is something on the lines of "I devoutly hope I never have to." And, in most self-defense uses of a gun, no shot is fired; bad guy finds out the intended victim is armed and ready to shoot, and decides to exit stage left as fast as possible, or surrenders. But here?

If this happens, and you're there, you've got terrorists who plan on dying; they hope to use their own death to further terrify us. Which means, you get caught in that, it's very simple: you may die if you fight, but you- and maybe a bunch of other people- will die if you don't. And you cannot count on the police. Most cops in the US, I think, will not have a problem with 'shoot the bad guys', but if the bad guys are smart, they'll first shoot any cops they see. Or just strike in an area away from them. And that means, if all goes to hell and you're there, you're it.

In the June issue of Guns, in the Odd Angry Shot column, there's this:
Significant numbers of police officers and other public officials resign or are fired- some, because they realize and admit they are not psychologically equipped to deal with events like this, others because their incompetence or cowardice were spotlighted and magnified by it.
Because
Afterward, scads of citizens complained the police hid and huddled right alongside them, refusing, sometimes profanely, to take action against the shooters.
...
...He saw two gunmen "calmly stroll across the station concouirse shooting both civilians and policement," who, he said were armed but did not return fire- they only took cover and hid.
As I say, I think the average cop in the US is more likely to draw and shoot; if nothing else, they've had far more training for such than the Mumbai police. But if they're not there when it happens, it doesn't matter if the guy with the badge is William Butler Hickock reborn.

I'll tell you flatly, when I seriously run through "What do I do if-?" in my mind, about a restaurant or mall or store, it scares hell out of me. And I really, really hope those plans/thoughts are never needed. But I'd rather think them through and sweat, than consider it happening and me not be ready because "It was just too terrible to think about."

Canada's chief censor defends her work

Badly.
Tolerance and open-mindedness are ideals to which Canadians have subscribed, and are part of the quest for equality that has come to define our country all over the world. They are the foundation of the Canadian Human Rights Act, whose promise is to give effect "to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have" without discrimination....
"So we have to censor what you say- especially if you're a conservative or religious or other non-PC type human- to make sure you don't take away someone's opportunity by saying something they don't like."

Isn't it wonderful how tyrants and tyrant-wannabes can justify their tyranny?

"I am an Intern for Congressman Leghorn!"

Four interns sit down in my section and order four Bud Lights.

Me: I’m sorry, fellas, we don’t have Bud Light. We have PBR on draft, though.

Intern #1: (sighs) Fine, four of those.

Me: No problem. I just need to see your ID’s.

Intern #2: You don’t need to see our ID’s. We work for Congressman _______ from ________. (Flashes his red badge)

Me: Sorry, dude, but unless the Distinguished Gentleman from _______ is willing to use his oversight authority to make the $10,000 fine that we’d get slapped with for serving you without ID’s go away, and give me a paying job when I get fired anyway, I’m still going to have to see them.

Intern #1: Wow, “oversight authority.” That’s more knowledge than I’d expect from someone with your job.

Me: And that’s about as much ignorance as I’d expect from someone who agreed to lick envelopes for free.

Robb finds some PSH

of fairly standard type. If you've got the time and stomach(usual 'little penis, violent, nasty, NRA vile people' crap all comes in), you'll find a couple of things in the comments that just about sum it up:
...And while you NRA folks absolutely have the right to your opinions, you're not going to change any minds here with this kind of angry debate. Blogging creates community, and by barreling in with cold statistics and colder attitudes, you are not going to have any kind of positive effect on the readers of this blog.
"How DARE you bring up nasty facts? How dare you not care more about our feelings?" Etc.
So with that I will close comments. Because this has morphed from civil discussion to antagonistic, disrespectful finger pointing... and now we're talking about dick endowment (no pun intended) wtf.
Uh, who brought that up? Wasn't the gun owners.

Looks like ABC wants to become the Obama Media Whore of Choice

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.
Which problem, being pointed out, has caused ABC to act all offended and stuff:
"ABCNEWS alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience."
Umm, Mr. Smith? Part of the problem is that 'ABCNEWS alone will select' crap; with you fairly blatantly sucking up to the administration, it's your selecting who and what gets said and asked that's a big part of the damn problem. And getting snotty and offended won't change that.

Did ANY of the major media have a story on tv about Obama being booed?

Barack Obama isn't used to hearing boos.

For all the young president's popularity, the response he got Monday from doctors at an American Medical Association meeting was a sign his road is only going to get rockier as he tries to sell his plan to overhaul the nation's health care system.

The boos erupted when Obama told the doctors in Chicago he wouldn't try to help them win their top legislative priority — limits on jury damages in medical malpractice cases.
I heard part of this speech on radio; "I don't want government-run health care(or single-payer), though it works just fine in other countries", etc. Basically told them "You need to get with my plan, or Disaste Will Strike.", and the other usual crap.

We'll probably hear about this in a major media broadcast the same time they tell us about Chinese students laughing at the Treasury Secretary when he claimed things were just fine.