Captain of a Crew of One

Looks like it's time to get off my duff

2012-01-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

I have a private url and plenty of server space that I've been renting for over three years, and I've thought, off and on, about moving my blog over there and hosting it on wordpress or whatever (I'd buy Ansible to use, if Robb would ever finish it).

Looks like it's time to evacuate my bowels or unseat myself from the lavatory.

The Web giant announced Tuesday that it plans to follow the activities of users across nearly all of its ubiquitous sites, including YouTube, Gmail and its leading search engine.

Google has already been collecting some of this information. But for the first time, it is combining data across its Web sites to stitch together a fuller portrait of users.

Among the google products I use are Youtube, Blogger (and the linked photo hosting site Picasa), and I recently opened a Google + account for no particular reason (I wanted to see if it's better than facebook).

All of those things have non-google alternatives and I actually already have accounts with alternatives to all of them but blogger. All I need to do is set up blogging software on my domain, move my blog over to there, and cancel all my Google services.

I'm on it.

I'll let you know when my url changes. It would be a shame if my readers (all three of you) couldn't find me any more

It may be a little while because I don't have a lot of spare time to do these types of things, but it will happen.

Maybe I'll go for a little re-design while I'm at it. Heck, this could be the impetus I need to get back into blogging regularly...who knows. Stranger things have happened.

Regarding the Playoffs

2012-01-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

I've never been a "fan" of the 49er's, but I had nothing against them either. Up until a few minutes before game time yesterday, I was rooting for them because it's been awhile since they've been to the big show and I thought they were due.

Right up until the utter disrespect and despicable actions shown by the crowd during the singing of the National Anthem. I realize they weren't booing the anthem, but were rather booing something going on on the field, or on the big screens, but the fact that we could barely hear the rendition of our anthem for the cheers and boos absolutely infuriated me.

When I attended the two NFL games I've been to, there were, admittedly, some people not showing proper respect during the anthem, but for the most part, the crowd stood, and paid their respects, so I'm pretty sure that egregious behavior is not endemic to the NFL.

The 49ers can bite my keister. They'll never get my support again. If their fans can't control themselves for two minutes during the national anthem to show their respects to the nation and the service members who were on the field, I have no respect for them. At All.

BTW: The rendition of the national anthem...at least what I heard of it over the boos and catcalls, was beautiful.

Not worth publishing

2012-01-11T08:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Weer'd posted about the response of one of the handful of anti-gun bloggers out there to the counter-demonstration staged in response to their "stop a bullet with a candle" publicity stunt.

I don't read the anti-gunner's sites because they don't say anything worth reading and it just gives them traffic. I believe the best way to deal with them is just to ignore them and let them wither on the vine. If it weren't for pro-freedom people reading and linking them, they wouldn't have any traffic at all...or at least very, very little.

With that said, I used to engage them and try to discuss the issues with them, as they inevitably claim they want to do. Every time I did so, I was met with derision, name calling, obfuscation, and the breaking out of "reasoned discourse" wherein any comment they couldn't refute, was simply not published, followed by unfounded and unsupported claims that the unpublished comments were harassing, threatening or obscene.

The conclusion I drew from these experiences is simply that the anti-freedom lobby is made up of flatly dishonest professional victims who are incapable of actually engaging in discussion about the issues, whereupon, I stopped reading or engaging them.

This background was necessary in order to illustrate the irony of the comment that Weer'd pointed out in his post:

So far, no comments from the gun rights extremists are worth publishing. Come on guys, you can do better. “Dancing in the blood of victims”? Really guys. How rude and insensitive.

As if they actually would publish a comment that they can't think of a way to dismiss out of hand. That's funny right there.

I couldn't resist so I actually followed the link to her place where I found some other aspects of her position that I just had to respond to:

No one said candles would stop anything. You totally missed the point of the whole thing- on purpose I would add.

...

You seem to have forgotten the many other people for whom the bell was rung and for whom candles were lit on Sunday. Jan. 8th was the anniversary of a horrific national tragedy that highlights our lax gun laws. The vigils on Sunday were to call attention to the way too many victims of gun violence. Gabby Giffords story is known to the world. There were videos and photographs of her plastered all over the media all over this country calling attetntion to the one year anniversary and many of them to our lax gun laws as well.

To which I responded:

We didn't miss the point at all and I think you know it...because you know as well as we do what the point really was. It was about attempting to commandeer the memorial of a tragedy to exploit it for publicity and political gain.

You can claim that your sideshow was, in part, to honor the victims of the Tuscon tragedy all you want, but I find it interesting that at the ACTUAL memorial service, no mention was made of you, your group, your agenda, or your political stunt.

You know what I find rude and insensitive? People exploiting the deaths of others, even of loved ones, to push a political agenda that has virtually nothing to do with, and would not have prevented, the incident(s) being exploited.

This is how you honor them? By using their suffering and even death like a poker chip in a political game? By trying to use their victimhood as a shield against criticism?

It's not just rude and insensitive, it's downright disgusting.

You should be ashamed. But I'm pretty sure you're not. Which is why I don't much bother any more.

So far that one "wasn't worth publishing".

In response to commenter "Country Tea", she asserted:

No one is going to take your rights away Country Tea.

To which I responded:

"No one is going to take your rights away Country Tea."

Especially not the Brady Campaign, that's why they tirelessly fight for your rights.

For example: They strongly supported the effort to overturn Washington DC's unconstitutional ban on defensive firearms in the home.

Oh...wait...

Well, they strongly supported the effort to overturn Chicago's unconstitutional ban on defensive firearms in the home.

Oh...wait...

Well, they strongly oppose the proposed ban of certain types of firearms specifically protected by the second amendment under the "in common use" language used by the supreme court in the Heller decision.

Oh...wait...

Well, they strongly support the property rights of individuals re: the ability of citizens to lawfully sell their privately owned property without the interference of the government.

Oh...wait...

Well, they strongly support the right of law abiding citizens to practice the "bear" part of "keep and bear arms" and carry defensive firearms in public.

Oh...wait...

Well...never mind all that. They really don't want to take any of your rights away; just ask them, they'll tell you.

That comment was likewise deemed unworthy of publication.

Just not worth it I guess.

Rushing to Judgement

2012-01-09T12:49:00.001-05:00

Remember the case of the woman who believed New York to be a part of the USA and, therefore, assumed that it recognozed the rights spelled out in the Constitution?

The one who, when she realized she was in a "gun free zone" tried to do the right thing and turn the gun, for which she had a Tennessee Concealed Handgun permit, in to the police?

You know...the dangerous criminal who was immediately arrested for trying to do the right thing?

According to John over at No Lawyers - Only guns and Money, Mayor Bloomburg, upon hearing that she was found to have had a couple of "glassine envelopes" of white powder in her possession, immediately declared her guilty of possession of cocaine.

Upon Further Review:

But Bloomberg's claim was refuted by science when the NYPD toxicology lab recently returned results that said the white powder in her purse was not an illegal substance, police confirmed.

You'd think a person with an MBA from Harvard would have at least a rudimentary understanding of the term "innocent until proven guilty".

My immediate thought when I heard the term "glassine envelopes" containing white powder was: gee I wonder if they looked anything like these.

That's just the ones from my desk drawer. I keep a good supply of them at home, in my range bag, my motorcycle, my truck, my first aid kit...

Why? Heck I don't even get migraines. But for regular old headaches and general aches and pains, those things work faster and better than anything else on the market.

But I guess it's a good thing I don't live in New York (as if I would ever even consider it), the Mayor would probably already have me on death row.

As a matter of fact, I do feel lucky...

2012-01-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

...but not for the reasons that CNN Money implies:

The United States holds a disproportionate amount of the world's rich people.

...

So where do these lucky rich people live? As of 2005 -- the most recent data available -- about half of them, or 29 million lived in the United States...another four million live in Germany. The rest are mainly scattered throughout Europe, Latin America and a few Asian countries.

The implication, of course, being that we Americans and Germans, and other western societies have achieved wealth through nothing more than "luck".

As I said in the title of this post, I do feel very lucky (I actually prefer the term "blessed") to have been born into a society that fosters personal achievement and success and not into one of the cesspools that punishes it.

But that's as far as the luck goes. It isn't "luck" that has resulted in the success of the western world, it is a superior economic, governmental and societal model. I'm very blessed to have been born into that superior society, but the success that free-market, democratic societies enjoy over other societal models has nothing to do with luck.

As a side-note: Saying that the US has a "disproportionate amount of the world's rich people" is like saying that bodies of water have a disproportionate amount of the world's fish.

OF COURSE you're going to find a "disproportionate" amount of things in the places that make it possible for them to exist. That this would be surprising to the geniuses at CNN money says more about their biases and ideology than it does about the "distribution of the world's wealth".

What could possibly go wrong?

2011-12-15T12:09:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama has abandoned a commitment to veto a new security law that allows the military to indefinitely detain without trial American terrorism suspects arrested on US soil who could then be shipped to Guantánamo Bay.

Link

You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered. --Lyndon Johnson

And that's all I've got to say about that.

Excellent use of tax dollars...

2011-12-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

...in these tough economic times:

The state of Delaware will hold a "gun buyback" event Dec. 17 at churches in Wilmington and near New Castle in a new effort to get weapons off the streets.Individuals will receive a $150 prepaid debit card for turning in a handgun, $200 for an assault rifle and $100 for shotguns and low-powered hunting rifles. The buyback is being funded by $100,000 in state tax dollars the Legislature appropriated for the pilot program earlier this year.

I think this is the first of these misnamed "gun buy-back" programs I've seen that was funded by tax money. If individuals and organizations want to waste their own money on their feel-good programs, although I disagree with them vehemently and think they do nothing but give criminals a pass, I can at least give them credit for putting their OWN money where their mouths are.

The State of Delaware is soaking their taxpayers to fund criminal activity. If I lived in Delaware, I'd be livid.

Here's a letter I sent to the paper and the author of the piece - I'll let you know if I get a response:

About your article:

The article mentioned the city's 19th homicide, the fact that no questions will be asked and that the guns will be destroyed immediately, So when I bring in the murder weapon from that 19th homicide with my fingerprints all over it, it will be accepted no questions asked and promptly disposed of, thus precluding me from ever being convicted of that crime, correct? Gee that works out well for me as a murderer, where do I sign up?

And, let me get this straight because this sounds too good to be true: I can actually fence all of the guns I've stolen - directly to the police no less - for debit cards that are as good as cash money, no questions asked, with no threat of arrest or prosecution?

I better get busy and steal some more, I've only got until December 17th to stock up. Heck, all I've gotta do is steal ten or fifteen more guns between now and December 17th and I could pay for my whole Christmas. What a great bargain.

Some might think It's kind of a shame that the people I stole the guns from will never get their rightfully owned property back...I mean guns are worth hundreds or thousands of dollars when purchased on the legal market...but I guess getting stolen property back to the victims of the crimes is pretty small potatoes when compared with destroying evidence that could link me to a murder...er...getting guns off the streets, huh?

And all at taxpayer expense. Double plus good stuff here, because everyone knows that tax money is free. What with our booming economy and all, I'm sure the taxpayers are more than happy to pay criminals like me good money to dispose of crime guns and fence our stolen goods.

Criminals all over Delaware (and probably many neighboring states as well) salute you.

ps: From paragraph 2 - "low powered hunting rifle?" Did you add that term, or was it used by one of the organizers of the event? If it was used by an organizer, did they specify what they meant by that, because I've never heard of a "low powered hunting rifle"? When I'm out stealing guns, all I usually find are high powered hunting rifles like .270, .308 and .30-06 - way more powerful than those wimpy "assault weapon" calibers - what are they offering for those?

"Assault Weapons" and homicide

2011-11-22T15:29:00.001-05:00

In another case of a comment that turned into a post:

My good friend Thirdpower, over at Days of our Trailers, pointed out the fallacies in a recent editorial by perennial anti-gun bigot Jesse Jackson.

Although Thirdpower did a good job of succinctly pointing out a major problem in Mr. Jackson's first point, I don't feel he went far enough.

Under a federal assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004, there was a 60 percent drop in assault-weapon deaths. - Jesse Jackson

There was a 60% drop in ALL homicides during that period. -Thirdpower

I've looked at this issue in detail before, when researching the issue in forming my own opinion about it (an exercise I heartily recommend for anyone before taking a position on an issue) so I started to put some of my findings out there in his comments section. As usual it got too long for a comment, so here's the truth about "assault weapons" and homicide and the effect of the ban on scary looking cosmetic features (sometimes referred to as the "assault weapons ban"):

All my data came from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Not from the NRA, or Brady Campaign, or any other biased group that may have massaged the numbers to make them say what they want them to say.

Every year's UCR has a table that breaks down homicides by weapon for the year of the report and the preceding 4 years.

The UCR doesn't differentiate between "assault weapons" and other rifles (probably because there IS no functional difference) so the numbers I use to represent "assault weapons" is actually the number of homicides where ANY type of rifle is used.

That's an important distinction because it means that these numbers are actually TOO HIGH. We don't know by how much, but they are, in fact, inflated in favor of the anti-gun position.

So: What do the numbers say?

In 1994, the year the ban was passed, and the first year Mr. Jackson cited for his claim, there were 22,084 homicides. Of those, 15,463 involved firearms. only 724 were committed with rifles of any type.

That means that rifles of any type were used in 3.3% of all homicides in 1994 and only in 4.6% of "gun homicides"...the metric that the anti-gun lobby likes to use because, I guess, you're less dead if you're killed with a knife or something.

Although the number of homicides decrease steadily throughout the period 1994 to 2004 (a trend which actually began in 1991, well before the passing of the Clinton Crime Bill), so did the use of rifles...so the percentage remained fairly steady.

In 2004, the year the ban expired, there were 14,210 total homicides, of which 9,385 were committed by perpetrators using firearms, and 403 using rifles.

To give credit where due, Mr. Jackson was correct that there was a 60% decrease of homicides in which rifles were used (actually 55.6%, but that's close enough for government work isn't it?)...but Thirdpower was absolutely correct that there was a corresponding decrease in total homicide (64.3%) and firearms homicide (60.7%). In fact, if we pretend (as the anti-freedom lobby regularly does) that a simple correlation can be used as proof of causation, then the assault weapon ban decreased non-firearm homicide more than it did firearm homicide.

At any rate, getting back to my point: crunching the numbers again, we find that a very similar percentage of homicides were committed by criminals using rifles of any type: 2.83% of all homicides and 4.29% of gun homicides.

So there may have been a slight decrease but the numbers are remarkably steady.

But, since Mr. Jackson's contention is that the ten years of "assault weapon ban" CAUSED that slight decrease, obviously, when the ban expired in 2004, the rate of murders with "assault weapons" MUST have gone back up right? Especially when you consider the huge upsurge in popularity of the AR-15 style platform in all types of shooting endeavors.

Um...not so fast there buster.

In 2010, there were 12,996 total homicides...note the continued decreasing trend...including 8,775 gun homicides and 358 committed by criminals using rifles.

Hmm. That means that in 2010, 2.75% of all homicides were committed using rifles of any kind, and only 4.09% of gun homicides were committed using rifles.

That's six years AFTER the ban expired.

Hmmm.

Something doesn't add up here.

Something is definitely causing our homicide rate to decrease, but it sure wasn't any ban on pistol grips and barrel shrouds. In fact, there is no correlation at all between any gun control measure and the significant decreases in homicide rates we've been enjoying since about 1991.

You know what HAS correlated nicely with the decreasing homicide rates?

(click the image to go to the source)

One other point to make regarding the use of "assault weapons", or any rifles for that matter, in homicide:

According to the same FBI Uniform Crime Reports - hands, fists and feet are consistently used two to three times more often to commit homicide in this country than rifles of any type.

Two to three TIMES more often.

That's 200 to 300 percent.

Perhaps we should be registering and restricting ownership of bodily appendages.

You see how it works? By focusing on one small element of the issue, and ignoring the greater context, they can make something relatively minor look like a much bigger problem than it really is. So-called "Assault Weapons" are involved in only a tiny fraction of homicides and even if restricting them were 100% effective (which it would not be...in fact, the 1994 to 2004 AWB demonstrated pretty thoroughly that such a law is approximately 0% effective), it would only reduce homicides by less than 3 percent...and that's assuming that the bad guys don't just use their hands and feet instead.

This is what is known as "a solution in search of a problem"; and is prima facia evidence of the lack of rational thought that goes into your typical anti-freedom advocate's issue selection process.

If you want to verify that the information I presented here is an accurate representation and not just "cherry picked" to reach a predetermined conclusion (another favorite trick of the anti-freedom lobby), here are links to the source data:

1994 to 1998, Table 2-10 (pdf): http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/1998/98sec2.pdf

1999 to 2003, Table 2-9 (pdf): http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2003/03sec2.pdf

2004 to 2008, Table 8: http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_08.html

2006 to 2010, Table 8: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl08.xls

Reading Between the Lines

2011-11-16T12:15:00.000-05:00

DC Shooting suspect could be a threat to Obama

Police believe the suspect, 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega of Idaho, is mentally ill. Ortega has an extensive record, ranging from domestic violence to drug charges. Sources say a police investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting Ortega has a fixation on the White House.

No mention of this person's political affiliations or alliances. Just that he's nuts.

Hmm.

Who wants to place a bet that this guy is a fanatic liberal and is angry with Obama because he's disappointed that The One hasn't lived up to the liberal hype?

Do you think there'd be no mention of it if this guy had a history of voting for Republicans, was a Tea Party supporter or had a bunch of conservative literature around?

If there were no indications at all about this guy's political leanings, you don't think they'd find a way to jump to Tea Party conclusions like they did with Jared Loughner?

Sure.

What that tells me is that they know full well who this guy is and what he believes, so they come to the conclusion that he's just obviously insane. No way he could actually be a violent liberal. Everyone knows that liberals are all about peace and love and tolerance; that only those evil, tea bagging conservative Rethuglicans are capable of violence right?

This part is especially brilliant:

U.S. Park police say Ortega may have spent time blending in with Occupy D.C. protesters.

See? No way he was a part of the OWS crowed...they're peaceful, loving, tolerant, smelly hippies. He was just "blending" with them. You know: like a disguise.

You think it would have been framed in the same way had he been "blending in" with a Tea Party group?

Nope. No bias here.

And they wonder why their industry is dying.

Trust us about Global Warming...

2011-11-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

...because Scientific Consensus* cannot be wrong.

Shechtman, 70, from Israel's Technion institute in Haifa, was working in the United States in 1982 when he observed atoms in a crystal he had made form a five-sided pattern that did not repeat itself, defying received wisdom that they must create repetitious patterns, like triangles, squares or hexagons.

"People just laughed at me," Shechtman recalled in an interview this year with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, noting how Linus Pauling, a colossus of science and double Nobel laureate, mounted a frightening "crusade" against him, saying: "There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists."

After telling Shechtman to go back and read the textbook, the head of his research group asked him to leave for "bringing disgrace" on the team. "I felt rejected," Shechtman remembered.

*I realize that there is no consensus about Global Warming, scientific or otherwise; but the myth of "Scientific Consensus" is a common rationalization used by supporters of the hoax to dismiss dissenting opinions.

The World as they would have it.

2011-11-15T05:53:00.000-05:00

Want to have a constructive discussion about something important to you? Want to give people the opportunity to hear what others have to say, to evaluate their points on the merits and come to an informed, educated decision?

Not so fast there buster.

No sooner had the panel finished opening remarks last night than a woman scampered up onto stage and yelled, "Mic check!" It was an orchestrated effort by several dozen activists to use the People's Mic to interrupt a forum at Town Hall—a forum in favor of Occupy Wall Street, featuring three wonks and three activists from Occupy Seattle. Their stunt replaced what was supposed to be an informed discussion of the movement with an uninformative, shout-a-thon about process that consumed most of the evening. They booed opinions they disagreed with and drove supporters out of the building.

"I walked in supportive and left unsupportive," said 69-year-old Mary Ann, who declined to provide her last name. "I’m turned off by the negative shouts, repetition, and all I can think about is a cult. And I believe in every one of their damn principles." [bold in original - ed]

The part that I found the most amusing was this one:

As the clock counted down, it was apparent that Occupy Seattle had repressed whatever thoughtful ideas the panelists brought to the stage and were willing to fill the time with chatter about unenlightening process. They wanted more power; they wanted to speak. They were also being rank hypocrites. Here is a group purporting to give people a voice and cut through the bureaucratic layers of government and capitalism. Instead, they silenced speech, quashed ideas, and replaced it with their own bureaucratic process reserved for a minority that wanted power. One gray-haired woman who was walking out put it like this: "It was very divisive. Now they are a little group, like the 1 Percent."

...

Wong justified the interruption, saying, "We need to respect the movement that uses this process. I stick to it because it is a democratic process." Some shouted, "This is what Democracy looks like."

And Wong was right. That IS EXACTLY what democracy looks like...and is EXACTLY why our founding fathers rejected and eschewed mob rule when creating our Republican form of government.

Traction

2011-11-14T17:32:00.000-05:00

as in....can't get any.

As hard as they try and as much help as an eager and supportive media give them, they just can't get any traction.

How many protesters do you count in this video?

I count four.

A protest of four?

And this is newsworthy enough to send out a camera crew and do a full 2 minute news segment on it?

Either it was a VERY slow news day yesterday, or the media's bias is showing.

Again.

I'm pretty sure I know which one it is.

As an aside: Notably NOT found newsworthy by the media was the fact that hundreds if not thousands of guns were in the immediate presence of hundreds if not thousands of people at this venue throughout the weekend, and nary a report of mayhem, death-and-destruction or crime was presented.

Hmmm.

It's almost like guns really aren't the problem after all.

Hat Tip to Joe, who was actually there and mentioned it first, but the story with the video popped up on my Google News Alerts later on in the day.

11111111!!!one

2011-11-11T11:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Veteran's Day to all my Shipmates of all branches of service (yes, Jarheads, even you too).

Sage Advice

2011-11-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

Marybeth Hicks:

Call it an occupational hazard, but I can’t look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters without thinking, “Who parented these people?”

...There are some crucial life lessons that the protesters’ moms clearly have not passed along.

Here, then, are five things the OWS protesters’ mothers should have taught their children but obviously didn’t, so I will:

Well worth the read.

Hat tip to family friend and fellow blogger Vanilla, both HERE, and HERE.

Completely at a loss

2011-11-04T09:13:00.000-04:00

I don't know where to turn.

I've discussed my problems with Perry, Romney, Gingrich and the rest before.

Now I'm beginning to have doubts about Herman Cain.

It's not the fact that someone has brought up some old, unspecific charges of sexual harassment. That's not unusual at all for someone in a position of leadership as he was at the time. The charges, as I've seen them so far, seem pretty weak and seem to me more along the lines of someone misconstruing actions or statements that were either completely innocent, or at worst "overly friendly".

The charges just don't seem that serious to me. The fact that the Restaurant Association settled rather than go into litigation doesn't mean squat either. Only that the association chose to avoid the publicity and make the issue just "go away". The fact that the "victims" agreed to gag orders as a part of the settlement seems especially suspect to me. If you had genuinely been victimized by someone, wouldn't you want it made public so they couldn't continue that type of behavior and continue to victimize others? Taking a relatively small payout and promising never to tell anyone about it just doesn't seem reasonable to me to someone who was genuinely victimized.

So, basically, the charges don't sour me against Herman at all.

What has made me doubt his suitability for the office of President has been the handling of the charges by Herman and his team.

That never happened.
Oh wait, I do vaguely recall something like that happening - I had forgotten.
Oh wait, I guess I did mention something about it to my campaign back when I was running for Senate, but the charges were false and it never amounted to anything.
Oh wait, perhaps I do recall something about a small settlement.
Oh wait, perhaps the settlement was a little larger than I remember.
Oh wait, perhaps the settlement was MUCH larger than I remembered.
This is an attack by the Perry Campaign
Well...maybe it wasn't an attack by the Perry Campaign...it must be Race Related.

Give me a break Herman. Can you remember what you had for breakfast yesterday?

That whole cycle calls into question Herman's ability to perform under stress, to make solid decisions under pressure and to take the time to evaluate things thoroughly before responding "half-cocked".

And the whole fiasco of blaming the Perry Campaign, which, of course, necessitated him admitting that he had warned a staffer about the event that he had just claimed he had no recollection of during his Senate campaign...a staffer who now works for a company that has done work for Perry.

And it wasn't "we suspect" or "we believe that it could be so" or "we have a hunch".

It was "The Perry campaign is definitely behind this and they owe us an apology"

Followed by the accused person denying it and giving blanket approval for any media person he's spoken to, to "out" him if he was the source.

Followed by the Cain campaign saying "oh...well, maybe it wasn't THAT guy, but we still think the Perry campaign is behind it".

Come on guys...this is basic common sense. You don't accuse someone of something unless you KNOW they did it and can PROVE it.

Then, Cain had the audacity to play the race card. Are you KIDDING ME?

Is this what we can count on from President Cain? Lies, dissembling, denials, unfounded accusations and just arbitrarily deciding that any criticism is "race related"?

Just writing it all out like this has gelled and clarified it in my mind (which was kind of the point). I've lost all respect for Herman Cain over the past couple of days...not because he was accused of sexual harassment a decade ago, because his REACTION to that accusation has destroyed any confidence I had in his ability to deal with the challenges he'll face as President in any kind of mature and responsible way.

Crap.

Now I've got NO ONE to vote for in the Republican Primary. I'll probably vote for Bachmann, but she doesn't have a chance in hades of winning.

And we're back to RINO Romney probably winning the primary and me voting Democrat in a presidential election for the first time in my life.

Gag.

Please...someone, anyone, convince me that I'm reading these things wrong and that we're not in as dire a straights as a nation as I think we are.

Please?

Anyone?

More from the Irony Factory

2011-11-04T08:16:00.000-04:00

"We're protesting income inequality. It's no fair that others have more than we have.

What? You don't have as much as we have and you'd like some of ours? Go fly a kite you slacker bum!"

...the protesters said there are people who have been taking advantage of the movement by sleeping in donated tents and eating donated food.

“I know we’re supposed to be helping the 99 percent, but they need to help us help them by not being a drain on our resources,” said Otto Wagner.

They wouldn't move their encampment for any minor little reasons like, it's illegal and it's a nuisance to the citizens and residents of the area, but they're more than willing to move it when they feel that such a move would help them protect their donated riches from those poor unfortunates who have nothing.

I guess greed isn't such a bad thing after all in the right context.

Stupid Question

2011-11-02T18:12:00.001-04:00

Update: The polls have changed so the one shown in the screenshots is no longer at the link. You'll have to take my word for it, it was there yesterday and the second screenshot shows the results as of about 5pm yesterday evening.

In the right side-bar, down about half-way.

Duh.

I am the 53%

2011-10-28T20:39:00.000-04:00

Great counter to the "99%" nonsense via Lawyer with a Gun.

Here's Mine:

I've been working full time since I was 16 years old (that's 31 years for those who are counting). I joined the Navy at 17 and served my country for 21 years, spending long periods overseas, away from home and missing birthdays, holidays and anniversaries.

I've worked two jobs more than once to make ends meet when it was necessary. Twice I had to take jobs that required me to commute 250 miles from home during the week and return home only on the weekends. I did it because it's my responsibility to take care of myself and my family, not anyone else's.

I completed an Associate's degree with a 4.0 gpa and no debt by taking courses one and two at a time and paying for it as I went...while also working 50 to 60 hours a week.

The longest period of unemployment I've ever experienced was five weeks. During that time, I made it my job to find a job. I worked 8 to 10 hours a day doing nothing but searching for jobs, submitting resumes, going to job fairs, walking in for "informational interviews" etc. I did not apply for unemployment because I had my emergency savings to live on during that time.

I took the first reasonable job offer I got even though it wasn't a job I wanted; it is MY responsibility to earn the money I need to live on, even if it's not doing what I want to do. I used that job as a springboard to future employment and am now happily working in my chosen field at a good company at a good salary.

I've raised two children who are now adults and are both employed, self-sufficient, contributing members of society. I have four beautiful grandchildren which is really irrelevant to this rant, but I just like to boast.

I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. My life has not all been sunshine and roses and I face new challenges every day. I do not expect the government, the Banks, Wall Street or anyone else to deal with those challenges for me. That's my job. I am the 53%.

OWS Irony-fest

2011-10-27T13:15:00.002-04:00

The rise of the flea party has resulted in a seemingly endless stream of irony, from reports of violence, charges of rape and molestation, theivery, complaints about the "Finance Committee" withholding funds, missing donations, "unauthorized" registering of protests as non-profits*, etc etc etc.

The proverbial straw that finally prompted me to post on it, however, was this story from today:

The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a “counter” revolution yesterday -- because they’re angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for “professional homeless” people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters.

The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife...the OWS crowd's primary complaint (if there can be said to be one) seems to be railing against rich fat cats who make "too much" money and won't give it to them.

But when people who are worse off than the protesters try to avail themselves of some of the riches of the OWS crowd they're met with derision and ostracism.

I guess helping out those less privileged than yourself has a cutoff level.

Not to mention the irony of "the homeless" and "the underprivileged" and "the less fortunate" being dismissed by these heartless and greedy protestors in such disparaging terms:

“We need to limit the amount of food we’re putting out” to curb the influx of derelicts, said Rafael Moreno, a kitchen volunteer.

A security volunteer added that the cooks felt “overworked and underappreciated.” Many of those being fed “are professional homeless people. They know what they’re doing,” said the guard at the food-storage area. [bold added - ed]

How un-PC of them.

So...what do you think? Is this nothing more than innocent irony, or does it rise to the level of blatant, unadulterated hypocrisy?

I vote for the latter.

*I loved this one: in the movement that touts itself as purely democratic and self-governing, a member of the Finance Committee provides a lesson in how quickly mob rule can turn into a dictatorship. It's the very basic mindset of the left that leads to such things. Quoting the member who took the unauthorized action:

"I've tried explaining it to them, but they won't listen to me."

In other words..."we believe in democracy until the group refuses to make the decisions that we choose for them. We know best so in the event that the democratic decision doesn't go our way, we'll just do it anyway. It's for their own good after all".

How the leftist members of this movement can ostensibly embrace mob rule, while at the same time actively working to try to tell everyone else how to live their lives in a "socially acceptable" way, is just mind boggling to me. How psychotic does one have to be to try to reconcile those two aims without their head exploding from the cognitive dissonance?

Custody Case

2011-10-26T17:52:00.001-04:00

Indianapolis, IN - A seven year old boy was at the center of a Marion County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Indianapolis Colts Football Team, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

Contributed via e-mail by CB

Preventing Gun violence

2011-10-25T22:16:00.000-04:00

While reading an article about another Police abomination pointed out by Mad Rocket Scientist at Random Nuclear Strikes, a minor point in the story just jumped up and slapped me right in the face:

Richards was...charged with aggravated assault of a police officer with a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Police said they found a gun at the scene.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Richards pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced to a year in prison. Because he had already served 113 days in custody, he spent two more months in prison.

Let's see. two months is about 60 days. Plus 113 days time served = 173 days.

The last time I checked, a year is 365 days long.

So...guy pulls a gun on police, only gets a year, and actually serves less than half of that.

But according to the gun banners, making it more difficult for the millions of people who DON'T pull guns on the cops to buy, keep and use them will cut down on gun violence?

If you believe that one, I've got a heck of a deal for you on some oceanfront property in Nevada.

I agree completely...

2011-10-25T08:34:00.002-04:00

...Plaxico Burress shouldn't depend on a gun for self defense.

Before his speech on Monday, Burress told reporters that he now felt it was foolish to rely on a gun for self-defense.

For several reasons, not the least of which is:

"...because I couldn't see myself actually pulling the trigger."

However, for those of us who have determined that we place the lives of ourselves and our loved ones over the lives of those who would endanger us for criminal gain...for those of use who are willing to learn the applicable laws and jump through the hoops to obey them...for those of us who are willing to take the time and make the effort to learn how to do so safely without shooting ourselves in the leg (while carrying a gun out getting drunk and partying) - for us, a gun is a useful, viable and practical tool for self defense.

I applaud Plaxico Burris for recognizing his shortcomings and admitting that he is not responsible enough to carry a firearm for self defense. If his intent is to urge others to refrain from carrying one illegally and irresponsibly as he did, I support him 100%.

If, however, his message fits within the greater Brady Campaign propaganda - that no one is responsible enough to carry a firearm for self defense - I must request that he refrain from projecting his own failures and weaknesses onto the rest of us.

Seattle Pictures

2011-10-22T15:55:00.000-04:00

Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy since I got back. Better late than never.

I did my sight seeing on Saturday. The day started out a bit cloudy, but cleared up in the afternoon. It was a bit cool which I think thinned the tourists out some which was a blessing. I'm not a fan of big crowds.

The Hotel shuttle dropped me off downtown just up from the Pike Place Market...home of the low flying fish.

I wandered through there, bought a couple of souvenirs and stood at the Fish Market for a while, but didn't get to see any fish thrown. Apparently that only happens when they make a sale and sales seemed a little slow that day.

Right across the street from the market is the original Starbucks. The old buildings along the waterfront create a nice contrast with the modern steel and glass skyscrapers in the background I think.

After the market, I walked back toward the city center to catch the monorail to the Space Needle. The Occupy Seattle gaggle without a cause was occupying the park right across the street from the building that the monorail station is housed in.

The anti-capitalist message being portrayed there was quite a contrast with the small business people in the market, busily perpetrating the age old American Tradition that the protestors were so adamant was the root of all evil.

The crowd was actually pretty strong and, to be honest, didn't appear any more...um...strange...than what is typically seen walking down the streets of Seattle every day.

There was a pretty good representation of people sporting the "homeless" look, and a fair share of flat out strangeness, but there were a surprising (to me) number of older, normal looking people in attendance as well.

The message was definitely as mixed...and unrealistic...as I've seen it portrayed, however.

Are you sure it's because we're not paying attention? Or could it be because you're not making any sense?

Signs like these are simply too infantile to address rationally. "I took out loans to go to college and now I have to pay them back...NOT FAIR! You meanies."

Of course, you can't have a leftist protest without defacing a flag or two.

Funny. Having been raised on a small farm, I always thought food belonged to the people who grew it. At least up until they sell it to someone else, then it belongs to the people who bought it.

Apparently, these people think it just naturally belongs to everyone, no matter who put the effort into cultivating it. The story of the ant and the grasshopper comes to mind here.

I've got a bunch more pictures, but I think you get the idea.

With that, I'll leave this off 'till a later time. My next stop was the Space needle and I've got a bunch of pictures from that too, but this post is already long enough.

Until next time...

Norfolk makes International Headlines

2011-10-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

The UK Daily Mail:

A middle school security guard used pepper spray on children after a food fight broke out in the cafeteria.

Schools officials are investigating after the unnamed female guard used the powerful weapon to break up a fight during lunch at Lafayette-Winona Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia.

I heard about this on the news yesterday, but hesitated to post anything because I believe the media about as far as I can throw them. Collectively. All at once.

In other words, I don't trust them at all.

Fortunately, in this case, I have an inside source: I have a close relationship with a teacher there.

The press is portraying this as a harmless food fight...I get the mental image of kids laughing and throwing spaghetti noodles and bread at each other...and that an incompetent security guard over-reacted by wantonly showering the room with pepper spray.

My source paints a much different picture...which is pretty much as I suspected, considering the neighborhood that this school is in...and my utter mistrust of anything that the media spouts or prints.

Basically, the "children" in this school are out of control. They're a bunch of junior, wanna-be thugs from your stereotypical broken home who've never learned any discipline or how to function in civilized society. Fights happen at this school on a daily basis and these "food fights" occur regularly. It basically starts out as one kid throwing food at a rival in an expression of disrespect, a few rounds of counter battery fire by the disrespected and their compatriots, and then rapidly devolves into a violent, multi-participant physical fight.

According to my source, when the security guard tried to stop the food fight before it inevitably turned violent, several of the kids involved rushed toward her, she pepper sprayed them in response to being rushed, not to stop the food fight. Only about 4 or 5 of the thugs were actually sprayed, but apparently the drama department of this school is very successful because half of the school's inmates...er...students, lined up at the Nurse's office to report that they were just too traumatized to continue and needed to be released for the rest of the day.

An interesting side note: The security guard has been placed on Administrative leave during the investigation. However, at least one of the kids who instigated the incident was released from custody and was back in school yesterday...at which point this pillar of society was promptly involved in another violent incident which required her to be restrained by the authorities. Nope...no pattern of violent behavior to see here. Move along folks.

After talking about it for a few minutes and wondering why this story isn't being reported more thoroughly and accurately by the media, my source and I came to the conclusion that the school doesn't want it to be reported accurately. If they defend the security guard's actions, the school's administration would have to admit they are incapable of maintaining order and controlling the children they've been charged with overseeing. That would make them look bad, so it's easier to just throw the security guard under the bus and hope it all blows over.

Either that, or it's simply a matter of it being easier for the media to just provide a superficial report about the incident than to actually, you know, commit journalism and investigate things a little bit.

And they wonder why their industry is dying.

DOGS (7) - THE WIFE (0)

2011-10-19T08:46:00.005-04:00

As I was posting a suggestion to my friend, Bridget, to check out The Husband's blog, I noticed something in my peripheral vision . Under "Labels", the Dogs have me 7-0...WHAT?

Who IS this person I've become?

Don't get me wrong... I enjoy my computer, email, learning new things, being informed, etc. It's just that my personality is more the "social director"; which is a direct quote from The Husband. I just need people on a daily basis. I went from not being able to get out and ask for directions at a gas station, to having some kind of verbal interaction with a large percentage of the people I come in contact with on a daily basis; sometimes much to the chagrin of The Husband.

Now that I am on the other side of the hill at the ripe, old age of 44, and realizing my four-legged children are growing up SO fast, I've decided to become more educated about what is going on in the world and make sure I know the facts. Thanks for all your work on this blog, Curtis, I love you.

Seattle

2011-10-15T19:47:00.000-04:00

I went and did some sightseeing today, including a trip to the top of the Space Needle and a bunch of pictures of the Flea Party (Occupy ~~Wall Street~~ Seattle) "protest without a cause", but apparently Windows 7 64 bit doesn't support my digital camera.

Sigh.

I have a reader that I can connect to the computer to read the memory card from the camera but I didn't bring it because I didn't used to need it. Sometimes getting a new computer is a pain.

I'll have pictures for you after I get home next week.

In the mean time, just one comment about the protest. As I was heading back to the hotel, Pine street was shut down and the protest began marching down the street towards the waterfront, chanting silly things and carrying silly signs. I get a kick out of penchant that the socialists and outright communists in the Flea Party seem to have for using phrases from our founding documents (about as far from socialist/communist ideals as you can get) on their signs. Apparently, they're way too dense to get the irony. But I digress...

As they were marching, I was walking in the opposite direction. One of the more Flea Ridden specimens was carrying a hand written sign that said "Ignore me. Keep on buying". Apparently, his goal for the protest is to convince everyone to stop spending money, or something.

I looked him right in the eye, smiled a big smile and said "OK".

He glared at me, but kept marching.

My little contribution to the counter-protest.

Disheartening, but probably true:

2011-10-13T12:08:00.000-04:00

Heard on the news this morning:

"Herman Cain is the flavor of the week in the Republican Primary race, but when it comes down to it, Americans generally avoid the exotic flavors and choose Chocolate or Vanilla"

Or something to that effect.

In other words, we'll dream about trying something different for a while, but when crunch time comes, we pull back from the bold choice and choose to remain safely within the arms of the current big government, nanny state status quo.

I hope the talking head was wrong this time, but from a historical standpoint, I fear that he may have been right on the money.

If Romney wins the nomination, it will be a very hard choice for me. I trust that snake oil salesman just about as far as I can throw him.

The big danger is, if the Republicans take control of the Senate, he would very likely have a de-facto rubber stamp in Congress. That scares me because his record demonstrates domestic policies that are not dissimilar from Obama's.

If Obama remains in office, with a Republican congress, the damage can be minimized, because many Republicans can be counted on to oppose anything Obama proposes just out of partisan interests, with Romney in the White House, those same proposals would have a good chance of passing for the same reason.

With a Republican controlled congress, we'd be in better shape with Obama in the Whitehouse than Romney, in my humble opinion.

There's still hope that Cain can maintain his momentum; or, failing that, another more acceptable candidate (Perry or Gingrich either one I could hold my nose and vote for, they aren't perfect, and they're both big government statists, but at least they aren't RINOs) could come to the fore, but if the candidate is Romney, I may be voting Democrat in a Presidential election for the first time in my life.

So, here's a summary of my thought process right now:

If the candidate is Cain, Bachmann, Gingrich, Santorum or Perry (in order of preference), I vote Republican. Even the less palatable of those choices would at least be forwarding Big Government, statist control from a conservative perspective rather than liberal.
If the candidate is Paul, I vote for my dog. If the rest of the country wants an obvious loon in charge, I won't work against it, but I won't support it either.
If the candidate is Romney (RINO) or Huntsman (RINO), I vote Democrat and trust that a Republican controlled congress will limit White House damage to just what is caused by maintaining our position in the international community as the resident laughingstock.

Trade Shows

2011-10-09T08:20:00.000-04:00

The reason I was in New Orleans last week was to attend the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) convention and trade show.

The only thing even similar to this that I've ever attended is the NRA annual convention. As impressive as that event was, it had nothing on the APTA trade show.

I apologize for the crappy pictures. Since I was only there for a few days I traveled light so I didn't take my camera, so the only pictures I got was with my phone. They may not be production quality, but they'll at least give you an idea.

They had absolutely everything there that you can imagine, from old school trolleys.

To the latest in Hydrogen Technology.

Double Decker Buses.

Light Rail Vehicles.

Fully functional (less water) automatic bus washes.

Vehicle simulators. I didn't stop and ask, but I assume that these are for training operators.

I could post hundreds of pictures of vendors that produce vehicle component parts alone. Everything imaginable was on display: tires, train wheels, wiring harnesses and connectors, brakes, electronics packages, hydraulics...oh...and engines.

And the piece de resistance: one enterprising vendor brought in an entire, real, two car passenger train, complete with rails.

How they even got the thing in there is beyond me.

Whatever you think about public transportation, you gotta hand it to the vendors that support the industry...they certainly spare no effort or expense when it comes to making a statement at a trade show.

Phishing Warning

2011-10-08T08:48:00.001-04:00

I usually post these things as a humorous thing, to demonstrate how ridiculous they generally are, but this time I'm posting it as an actual warning.

I got this e-mail this morning (posted as an image, to show the whole thing, the link is dead):

This one worries me because it's actually pretty well done. The English isn't ridiculously bad, the grammar is pretty much correct, the "reply-to" address isn't in nigeria (although it's probably a dead address, since they chose a different route). It even includes a legit looking logo at the top and a friendly reminder to protect your password to lend credibility. How ironic is that?

It concerns me that some people with less experience on the net may fall for this one, click the link and enter their information. I did not follow the link to see how professional the actual phishing page itself looks, but if it looks legit at all, some people will fall for it.

This one was easy for me to recognize as a scam because I don't have a Wells Fargo account. But if someone does have an account and gets an e-mail like this, the biggest indication that the e-mail is fake is by hovering the mouse pointer over the link.

The author of the e-mail can change what text is displayed in the link, while the destination of the link is someplace completely different. Hovering your mouse pointer over the link, causes the actual destination of the link to pop up in a "tooltip" box, or possibly down at the bottom in the status bar.

Here's what it looks like when I hover the mouse over the link using my e-mail application:

As you can see, the destination of the link has no relationship to what's printed in the e-mail. This is an immediate indication of a scam.

I'd be willing to bet that if you reply to this e-mail, you'd get "address does not exist" failure. They created the "reply-to" address out of thin air, just to make it appear as if the e-mail came from someone at Wells Fargo. It didn't.

Here's the most important tip I can give: Never, Ever, Ever click on a link from an unsolicited e-mail and enter any sensitive data in the resulting page.

If your bank really does want to verify your information, they won't send you to some unusual page and ask you to enter your account info, they'll ask you to log into your account and verify the information there.

If you get an e-mail like this, and you really do think it's legit, call your bank and ask them if it's actually from them. If it's real, they'll know it and they'll be able to tell you so. Most likely, it's not...no matter how realistic it may look.

Next Couple of weeks

2011-10-03T09:49:00.000-04:00

Haven't been blogging much because I just haven't had much to say. It seems I've flogged all the deceased equines to the point where I just can't find anything new or exciting to ruminate about.

I need to get back into the gunsmithing stuff and write some posts about that, but due to lack of time and fundage, I haven't even been to the range all year, except that one time to teach a class, let alone having extra money to buy parts, accessories or guns.

Let my range memberships lapse. Haven't bought any ammo in forever because I haven't shot any up.

So, for those few who are still around, wondering if I'm ever going to say anything interesting again, thank you. Hopefully someday I'll get back into it, and I don't want to close the blog down because I still get people who comment on or e-mail about the "how to" posts I have up and I'm glad someone finds them helpful.

In the mean time, you probably shouldn't expect anything of import any time soon, but don't give up on me yet. I may yet get back into the swing of things and start producing some useful content again.

At any rate, the reason I started this post was to let you know I'll be busy for the next couple of weeks. Heading to New Orleans tomorrow for a conference, back home for one day next weekend, and then immediately heading to Seattle for a week and a half.

I'll let you know if anything exciting happens while I'm gone.

Petitioning your government for redress of grievances

2011-09-29T06:21:00.000-04:00

I doubt that this is news to any of the few regular readers left here (considering my lackluster blogging performance over the past year or so), but just in case any of you haven't heard about it:

The administration has started a petition web site that allows citizens to submit petitions requesting legislation. If those petitions achieve a minimum number of signatures, the whitehouse will supposedly release a statement on the subject.

Now, I strongly doubt that the Obama administration would seriously consider submitting legislation regarding my pet issues, but, hey, if nothing else, something like this could clue him in that passing legislation (or executive orders, which is his (unconstitutional) legislative tool of choice) in opposition to them might be a bad move politically.

An any rate, there are a few petitions that have been submitted that are worthy of our support, if you don't mind registering to do so. Might as well face it, if there is a government list that we would want to avoid being on, if you've ever bought a gun from a dealer and had a NICS check run, you're probably already on it.

Anyway, again if you're willing, here are the petitions that I know about. There may be more:

Support HR822, the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act

Repeal the prohibition in the FOPA to own automatic firearms produced after 1986 (Firearms Owners' Protection Act)

Lead the way in removing silencers from the National Firearms Act.

Lead the way in removing arbitrarily designated "short-barreled" rifles and shotguns from the National Firearms Act.

Rick Perry's obfuscation

2011-09-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

I just left the below as a comment on another blog. Rather than write the same thing in a slightly different way over here, I'm just going to copy and paste it.

The comment was in response to this:

I do not totally agree with Governor Perry’s stand on In-State tuition, but at least he never prescribed this policy at a National level; nor did he disavow his opinion - he defended it. That I can respect.

What I can’t respect…and I’ve been meaning to blog about this since I heard him being interviewed by Hannity on the radio on the way home from work but haven’t had time…is his continual use of meretricious arguments to defend this action.

“You don’t have a heart” is not a defensible position.

Appeal to emotion.

He keeps insisting that if they deny in-state tuition that these poor illegal aliens will become a drain on society.

So he’s saying that no one without a college education (like…say…me for example) is a contributing member of society? Or even that a large number aren’t?

Strawman.

He implies that if they don’t go to college and inevitably end up on the public dole, they will be a drain on society. Um…they’re illegal aliens…how could they get on the public dole in the first place?

Strawman.

He keeps saying that they are in the state through no fault of their own, so they shouldn’t be punished by their parents choices.

So a kid who’s parents live in Kentucky has a choice about it?

A kid who’s parent is in the military, stationed in Texas, but still an official resident of another state, isn’t deserving of the same consideration? The military brat is at fault but the illegal alien kid isn’t?

Double bonus points for combining a strawman with an appeal to emotion.

His insistence that this is a “state issue” and has no bearing on national politics would be true…if he weren’t running for President. It’s not a question of whether this law and decision were legal or not, it’s a question of whether the decision was RIGHT or not. It speaks to his judgement and, therefore, absolutely IS relevant to his Presidential bid.

Strawman.

We’re all just meanies who don’t want to accept people with last names that sound a certain way.

argumentum ad hominem.

I COULD have respected him even though I disagree with the decision he made IF he had addressed this issue in one of two ways: Either explain his reasoning for the decision in logical, clear terms without resorting to such transparently disingenuous rationalizations, OR if he can’t logically defend the decision, admit that it was a mistake.

He’s done neither and simply tries to evade it through underhanded and deceitful debate tactics.

Nope…no respect here. He’s lost my vote in the primary on that alone.

----------------

By the way...as an addendum to that comment: I'd already pretty much ruled out Perry as a result of his insistence that he sees no problem at all with legislating by fiat and undermining individual liberty as long as he can rationalize it as "erring on the side of life". This issue just pretty much underscored it for me.

And for the record, yes I realize Romney's doing the same thing vis a vis "Romneycare" and, had he not already lost my vote due to his history of supporting gun control and just being a RINO in general, he would have over that as well.

For me, the field is narrowing. I'm actually disappointed that I can't support Perry. He's reportedly great on one of my primary issues, but I'm not a single issue voter.

It's basically down to Herman Cain or Michelle Bachmann.

I have to admit that I'm leaning toward Cain. I'm still concerned about his lack of experience...and apparent lack of an articulable platform...on foreign policy, but I think he has the economic and business background we need on the domestic front and I believe he has the acumen to surround himself with people who can guide him in the areas he's lacking.

Bachmann is still a viable candidate in my mind...I haven't written her off by any means, but considering that her only job experience before running for congress was as an IRS agent...I'm skeptical that she has the background needed for a cohesive and effective economic policy.

Again, as with past posts on the subject, I'm willing to discuss it.

Tea Party Debate

2011-09-13T14:29:00.000-04:00

Again, I didn't watch the debate live, but through the magic of Al Gore's interwebtubes, I didn't have to.

My assessments didn't change much since the last one.

Perry admits that enacting mandatory HPV vaccines through an executive order was a mistake, but can't seem to grasp that his excuse of "I'll always err on the side of life", to me sounds eerily like "I know what's best for you, just shut up and do what you're told".

Not exactly what I'm looking for.

Also his defense of allowing in-state tuition for illegals falls very flat. To rationalize this policy, he relied on a false dichotomy: "we chose to provide them the opportunity to become contributing members of society rather than be on the government dole".

This is a false choice for two reasons...the assumption that without a college education, one cannot contribute to society in a meaningful way...and that illegals should even have the OPTION of being on the "government dole".

Problem with uneducated illegals eating up all your welfare and food stamp money?

DON'T GIVE THEM WELFARE AND FOOD STAMPS.

This isn't rocket science folks.

The previous Texas Governor who became President didn't handle illegal immigration with any effectiveness and I don't think this one would either.

Not impressed.

On the question of whether the prescription drug benefit to medicare should be repealed, Romney, Pawlenty, Perry and Paul, to a person, blinked.

"It was a mistake and we don't think it should have been enacted....but we don't want to say we're going to repeal it...we just going to make it work."

Huh?

How - specifically? Magic fairy dust?

On Social Security, they all chickened out as well.

Perry thinks it's a Ponzi Scheme, but it's a good Ponzi scheme and those at the top of the pyramid can continue to profit from it. It's all the suckers at the bottom who are going to have to continue to pay for the ones at the top...while at the same time, fund their own private accounts so that they'll have something to retire on.

That's what's happening now isn't it? I don't think any of us are stupid enough to believe that when we're 65 (or 75, or 90, or whatever the age gets extended out to), there will be anything for us to collect. So we're already having to fund our own retirement accounts...while still paying into a social security program that we know darn good and well we aren't going to "collect" from.

So, how are any of their "plans" different than the situation as it is?

Or are they somehow implying that the people who are collecting now, that are being guaranteed their benefits won't be affected, are going to get their future Social Security checks from Unicorns and the Tooth Fairy?

We're all for smaller government and reduced spending, but we're not going to actually cut anything to get it done.

RIIIIIIGHT.

Hate to tell you this guys, but that money's gotta come from somewhere.

And Newt...eliminating fraud and abuse would be a great thing. I just can't wait to see your proposals to do that which don't include vastly increasing the size of federal law enforcement. And we all know how sensitive to respecting citizens rights federal law enforcement are don't we? Heck, just ask Randy Weaver and his Wife...oh...wait.

I can't even begin to address all the ways that this is a bad idea in a reasonable amount of space. It would be easier to point out all of the federal enforcement agencies that have NOT become out of control, ridiculously expensive, overbearing behemoths. Lets do that:

Ok...I couldn't think, of any, can you?

The Fair Tax was brought up and quickly dismissed with no follow up. Basically, Herman Cain is the ONLY candidate (among those who I'm still taking seriously, more abut that in a sec) who understands that our ridiculously complex and oppressive tax system needs to be completely thrown out and that we need to start over again with something fair, equitable and easy to understand.

The rest of them simply want to "reform" our tax code...which generally means make it even more complicated than it already is, while still enabling the rich and well-connected to escape it.

Put a fork in him...Ron Paul is done.

Strike one: The Jihadis attacked us because we were mean to them. Because everyone knows that fundamentalist Muslims have, throughout history, been a kind and peace-loving peoples all through history, right up until the United States deployed troops to Saudi Arabia.

or something.

Strike Two: We have troops in 900 bases and 140+ countries around the world. What would we do if China had troops stationed here?

Well...I guess it depends on whether we INVITED THEM or not. Most of those places in which we have a military presence don't WANT us to leave. In fact, the only two I can think of in which we could even be remotely considered an "occupying force" is Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not too many years ago, the government of the Philippines asked us to kindly remove our bases from their territory. What did we do? We left.

Same thing decades ago when we were politely asked to remove ourselves from Libya.

Granted, it wouldn't break my heart to see the number of foreign US bases greatly reduced, or possibly even eliminated, but to imply that we're occupying those countries against their will is simply disingenuous.

Strike Three: Speaking of disingenuous...when Pawlenty rebutted the contention that the 9/11 attacks were our fault and laid the blame where it belongs: at the feet of militant Jihadists, Ron Paul constructed a fine strawman in retorting that America needs to stop trying to blame ALL Muslims for the attacks.

Bovine Manure.

That's not what Pawlenty said and not what most Americans believe. Dr. Paul, if you're going to respond, at least respond to what was actually said, not to what the voices in your head tell you other people are thinking.

He's outta here.

If Ron Paul wins the Primary and is up against Obama, I'll write in my dog's name.

Roxy for President!!!!

Pawlenty: "Look how COURAGEOUS I am!!!111!!one11!"

Mr. Pawlenty, let me give you a tip: If the only way we can discern your courage is by you telling us about it, I'm thinking it's probably not your most prominent feature.

He scored a few points, and probably did better this time than last time, but he again came across as someone out of his depth and trying desperately to be noticed.

The Jury is still out on Herman Cain. He's got some good ideas and, although I like the Fairtax better, His "9-9-9" plan has some merit. Simplify the tax code, don't continue to complicate it.

With that said, I'll need to hear a lot more from him on his plans in other aspects of government before I can consider him a serious candidate.

I feel that Bachmann did a bit better this time. Didn't seem as "off" as last time, although there was one time that she wandered off into the weeds and left me thinking "What the heck is she talking about???" I do think she's too invested in this HPV vaccine thing. Yes, it was a mistake. No it shouldn't have even been done through legislation, let alone an Executive Order. You oppose it. We get it. Move on already.

Beating dead horses and all that.

Huntsman...you're not funny. Stop trying to be.

Again, his style would be well suited to speeches, but falls flat in a debate forum. Everything is too practiced and rehearsed. He comes off as a phony...which, based on what I know about his record, isn't too far off. A commenter on one of the political blogs said "Isn't he running in the wrong primary?"

Indeed.

The one person who I think really did a lot to help himself was Newt. By staying out of the infighting (which all of them claim they want to do, right before stabbing each other in the back), he's coming across as the adult in the room...and he hasn't said anything incredibly stupid.

Yet.

Too bad he's already proven himself to be a big-government Republican or I might have thought about jumping on the bandwagon.

None of them, so far, has jumped up and grabbed my vote, but I can say that I'd support any of them EXCEPT Ron Paul against Obama.

Again, not trying to influence anyone else, just spilling my impressions and thoughts out there for anyone who cares to discuss it.

I'm open to being convinced. If I'm reading something wrong or not considering some aspect or another, I'd be happy to hear about it.

The Obligatory 9/11 post

2011-09-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

Ten years after 9/11 and what I'm feeling is

Disheartened

Depressed

Dispirited

Others that feel the same way have said it much better than I ever could, so I'll just lead you to their words, rather than try to articulate it as well as they did, and probably fail.

First, from N.U.G.U.N.

We watch our children cower in terror. Not from islamic terrorists but from people in U.S. TSA uniforms. The enormous measure of damage to U.S. citizen’s rights is huge, and growing.

I feel we’ve lost. Had we rebuilt those towers. And kept our freedom. Than we would have been the victors. Ten years later I must conclude we have lost.

And Kevin, with a lengthy quote from Mark Steyn:

In the months after 9/11, I used to get the same joke emailed to me every few days: the proposed design for the replacement World Trade Center. A new skyscraper towering over the city, with the top looking like a stylized hand -- three towers cut off at the joint, and the "middle finger" rising above them, flipping the bird

...

But the years go by, and they stopped emailing that joke, because it's not quite so funny after two, three, five, nine years of walking past Windows on the Hole every morning. It doesn't matter what the eventual replacement building is at Ground Zero. The ten-year hole is the memorial: a gaping, multi-story, multi-billion-dollar pit, profound and eloquent in its nullity.

Both are worthy of a "Read the Whole Thing" recommendation, and sum up how I feel about the whole thing pretty well.

The only disagreement with those two piece is that we lost against the terrorists by fundamentally altering what it is to be an American.

With that I disagree. We didn't lose. We surrendered.

And because of that, I hold out little hope of our once great nation ever again being able to lay claim to the lofty description "Home of the free and land of the brave".

Debate

2011-09-09T13:51:00.001-04:00

I didn't watch the Republican debate the other night. That's the beauty of the Internet, I can watch it on my time rather than theirs.

I did watch it though and one thing struck me through the whole thing. Something that really surprised me: There wasn't a lot of dancing around the issues. The hosts unsurprisingly peppered the candidates with questions they intended to be "gotcha" questions and none of the candidates, in my opinion, shied away from calling them out and addressing the issues head on.

I'd never deign to try to tell anyone else who to support, but I thought I'd put a couple of thoughts out there for discussion if anyone is inclined.

1. Why does Rick Perry seem to have a lot of support from tea party types? He strikes me as just another big government Republican...just like Romney.

He says what he thinks we want to hear, but if he gets elected, I get the distinct feeling that it will just be business as usual in DC: Ever growing, ever encroaching government, just growing a bit more slowly and with a slightly different flavor than under a Democrat administration.

2. Romney: see my objections to Perry. Add RomneyCare, history of support for gun control and his tax and spend policies as governor and you've got a no-win situation in my mind.

2. What is it about Michelle Bachmann that strikes me as...off? Her voting record is excellent, she supports all the right things for me to support her, she doesn't sound like a babbling moron when she speaks in public, but something just bugs me about her. The bad thing is that I can't even put my finger on what it is. Someone help me out here.

3. Santorum is out of his depth.

4. I really like Herman Cain, but that doesn't mean I think he'd make a good president. The jury's still out on that one.

5. Is Ron Paul as grumpy and inarticulate in real life as he appears in every public appearance I've ever seen him in? I hope he doesn't win the primary because, if for no other reason, the general election is as much popularity contest as about the issues. Ron Paul will lose that battle.

6. Gingrich is another big party Republican. I'd expect business as usual with him as well. Plus his obvious contempt for the "little people", including his expressed disdain for the tea party, pretty much takes him right out of the running for me.

7. Huntsman. Seriously? If he doesn't have the intellectual equipment necessary to see through the Global Warming hoax, he doesn't have what it takes to get my vote. I can forgive a democrat for publicly supporting the AGW hoax...most of the people they have to fool into voting for them have bought into it (although the numbers are dwindling daily)...but for someone to buck the trend of the voters they are trying to win over in support of it MUST be a True Believer...which is a scary thought.

I can picture him in another time losing his butt investing in Snake Oil futures and Perpetual Motion machines.

At any rate, I mostly wrote this down just to help me clarify thoughts in my own head...but any input or other opinions are welcome. Even if they're wrong.

I never thought I'd say this...

2011-09-07T22:36:00.002-04:00

...but I finally found a rap song that I like.

This is in response to the recent flap about some rapper I've never heard of saying "F- the troops" in a "song".

As a vet myself, even though I wasn't Army, I can say that the artist in this piece is right: When Soulja girl dissed the Army, he dissed my brothers and sisters.

I've got your backs shipmates.

Fair warning: if you don't like bad language, don't play this.

Hat tip to Irons in the Fire. If it weren't for Firehand, I'd have never heard about this story and probably would have never found a rap song that I like.

Contradiction

2011-09-07T11:46:00.001-04:00

— n

a statement that is at variance with itself (often in the phrase a contradiction in terms )

conflict or inconsistency, as between events, qualities, etc

contradiction. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved September 07, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/contradiction

Headline:

Dolphins 'Talk' Like Humans, New Study Suggests

From the story under the headline:

"It does not mean that they talk like humans, only that they communicate with sound made in the same way," Madsen told LiveScience.

So the study suggests that dolphins talk like humans...except for that part where the author of the study says that they're not suggesting that.

or something.

I realize that the author of the article doesn't write the headline...but, if I may be so bold, I offer a small suggestion for editors everywhere: It might help if you actually read the article before writing a headline that directly contradicts it.

Just Sayin'

Pet Peve...grammar edition

2011-09-06T09:36:00.001-04:00

Update: A post criticizing grammar wouldn't be complete without the mandatory grammatical error...in the title no less. I, of course, meant "Pet Peeve". For all who noticed and didn't drop a bomb in the comments: thank you.

I'm really not that much of a grammar nazi. It does bother me a little when I see incorrect word usages, improper spelling or punctuation etc...but I rarely proofread my stuff carefully enough so I'm sure I'm as guilty as the next guy; so, I don't often mention it.

However, there are a few turns of phrase that really bug me...mainly because they make it obvious that the person using them is only repeating something that they've heard said many times. They may have a superficial understanding of what is intended to be conveyed, but obviously don't know to what the expression is referring or what the expression is analogizing.

For example...the expression is "toe the line" not "tow the line". The image is supposed to be of someone in a tightly controlled situation, say boot camp or prison, being required to stand with their toes exactly on a line. To "toe the line" means following the rules.

"My boss really expects me to tow the line" doesn't mean what the author thinks it means.

Another one I ran across today. Kevin posted a story this morning that included a link and invitation to check out the amazon.com reviews of a book about educational "improvement". Among those reviews was this one from someone calling themselves "beachteach".

This book is nothing more than a progressive's journey to power. Its socialistic dribble espousing redistribution of wealth from "whites" to everybody else is disguised by the author's attempt to raise cultural awareness among teachers.

See the problem?

Here's a hint:

drib·ble
[drib-uhl], noun

1. a small trickling stream or a drop.
2. a small quantity of anything: a dribble of revenue.
3. Sports . an act or instance of dribbling a ball or puck.
4. Scot. a drizzle; a light rain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved September 06, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dribble

I think what they were really shooting for was a different word that, in certain contexts, can have a similar meaning:

driv·el
[driv-uhl]noun,

1. saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver.
2. childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.

drivel. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved September 06, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drivel

I could go on and on, but I don't want to beat a dead rented mule (that was a joke). This one really struck me profoundly because it ostensibly came from a teacher.

Windows Phone Follies

2011-08-31T09:33:00.001-04:00

Last week, my company finally decided I was important enough to shell out for a smart phone.

I ended up with an HTC Imagio with Windows 6.5.

I've had some growing pains with it. I've been having trouble getting it to sync correctly and I can't get Microsoft Zune software to work with it for some reason.

Other than that it works pretty well.

I downloaded and installed a couple of apps using the Marketplace software that came installed on the phone. It worked great until a couple of days ago. I could still browse the available apps, but when I tried to download something, I'd get an error message: "Marketplace could not connect to the Windows Live ID service. Please try again later."

I was able to log into windows live from my computer, and even could log into the web site from my phone, but the Marketplace app just kept giving me that error.

I did some searching and found this thread on the Microsoft Answers forum.

Basically, plenty of other people have been having this same problem since at least April. Interestingly, the very first reply was from someone from Microsoft, assuring us:

Hi,

We're aware of this problem and we're working on it.

In 8 more pages of comments on that forum, there is no further followup from Microsoft and, obviously, they have not fixed the problem.

After five more pages (and over a month) of people having the same problem and begging for a solution, a helpful poster (not Microsoft) responded with this:

Thank you Arup Chaki for this fix! To fix the problem you need to reinstall MyPhone. Follow below.

1. go to http://myphone.microsoft.com/install from your phone.
2. Tap on start download and follow the rest of the process.
3. The application will ask you to reboot the phone and just follow it.
4. Open My Phone from your phone and log in

Several people posted that the technique worked for them, so I gave it a try. Much to my dismay, when I went to the linked website, I got this helpful message from Microsoft.

If you click on the link for more information, basically it says "sorry buddy, you're SOL".

Sigh.

After some more searching, I did find out that the app is still available for download, even though it's no longer supported. It can be found here

I downloaded and reinstalled the myphone app, and, Viola!, Marketplace is now working again.

Don't ask me why.

And no thanks to Microsoft.

I can say unequivocally that if this is the level of customer support that I can expect from Microsoft on their Phone products, I won't be buying one. If the one I have hadn't been provided by my company, I'd take it back and get a refund.

There's simply no excuse for this kind of neglect and I'm just glad I was able to find someone helpful to assist in figuring it out, because Microsoft sure wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit on this issue.

Buyer beware.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this, my phone stopped working. I could get online, check e-mail, etc, but when I tried to use my phone as an actual...you know...phone, it would error out. It did helpfully offer to send an error report every time it refused to work.

Sigh

I ended up having to do a hard reset (which, of course kills all user data and resets the phone to factory defaults). This worked and my phone now works as a phone again, but now windows Marketplace refuses to work again. I guess they really don't want to sell me any apps for my phone after all. I'm just going to uninstall the stupid thing and leave the phone as-is. Although I must ask: What's the point in having a phone they bill as a "pocket PC" when the software that comes on it doesn't work and you can't install any new software without fear of killing the phone?

I'm seriously considering giving this stupid "smart" thing back and asking for my old dumb phone back again.

Freaking ridiculous.

What the headline should have said:

2011-08-30T09:30:00.000-04:00

Syracuse criminal gets light sentence for brutally beating and robbing a 73 year old man.

Instead, the "journalist" chose to depict this as a child falling afoul of an unjust system:

A 15-year-old Syracuse boy will spend the next two to six years in juvenile detention and the rest of his life as a felon as a result of his sentencing today for a robbery that netted him and an accomplice seven cents.

No, this criminal isn't going to suffer these very minimal consequences as a result of his sentencing, but as a result of his crime. And the implication that the size of the haul is relevant is sickening.

This criminal didn't lift seven cents off a lunch counter or steal it from the change drop of a soda machine...he took it from the pockets of an elderly man he'd just violently beaten to the ground.

He had no way of knowing how much or little money the victim had to steal...would the sentence, in the view of this "journalist" been more just had the victim been carrying more money to steal? How much is enough to justify a harsh sentence for a violent crime? Ten dollars? A hundred? A million?

BS. I don't care if the victim didn't have a cent to his name, it is completely irrelevant how much money was involved. What is relevant is that these criminals violently attacked a man they perceived as weak for no reason other than to take what didn't belong to them.

And, in a few years, when this violent felon is back on the streets beating, robbing and possibly murdering the vulnerable and weak of our society, "journalists" like this will insist that it's because the law abiding are "allowed" to purchase firearms, not because of the thugs that they coddle and empathize with as they insist that they be left free to victimize and brutalize over and over again.

And they wonder why their industry is dying.

Irene's unnatural strength and devestating damage...

2011-08-29T08:08:00.000-04:00

...were the result of global warming.

Hurricane Irene has a middle name, according to progressive author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, and it’s “Global Warming.”

The Daily Beast columnist says that because ocean temperatures are “bizarrely high” this year, a hurricane that couldn’t normally maintain such a high level of intensity north of North Carolina will reach Washington, D.C. and New York while still a Category 3 storm.

or not.

I'm thinking that, in order to prevent themselves from looking like complete idiots (versus incomplete idiots), they should probably wait until after the disaster has actually occurred before trying to unjustifiably blame it on global warming.

Saying "if it weren't for global warming this disaster couldn't happen" followed by the disaster promptly not happening, is...um...somewhat less than convincing.

Of course, they can always fall back on the standard warmist response: "Just because NONE of our wild predictions have EVER come to pass, doesn't prove that humans aren't causing global warming...er...climate change".

Looks Like We Made It

2011-08-28T08:10:00.002-04:00

Bonus points to anyone who gets the song reference in the title of this post.

I was going to post an update with another video (pretty much the same as the previous ones) before going to bed last night, but the internet connection was down.

The storm wasn't nearly as bad as the media had us expecting. 100 year storm? I think not.

That's not to say that it couldn't have been worse. I got the feeling that it weakened significantly after making landfall in North Carolina, so by the time it got to us, it simply didn't have the oomph that they were expecting.

Not nearly as bad as Isabel, which just dealt us a glancing blow. This one went right over the top of us, but just didn't have the energy to do any serious damage.

The Wife and I went over to her parents house this morning to check on it. They bailed a couple of days ago. Their house is right on one of the small rivers that flow through this area and can flood with a big storm surge, so they button up and leave town when hurricanes approach.

The drive over confirmed my impressions. I've seen worse damage from a Nor'Easter.

Lots of limbs down.

Some small trees uprooted.

But none of the widespread downing of old growth, big trees. I'm sure we lost some in the area, and The Wife said that an 11 year old kid was killed when a tree fell on their house yesterday. As devastating as that is on an individual level, big picture-wise, this just wasn't that bad a storm for a hurricane.

The worst damage we personally saw was in the circle outside The Wife's parents house. One of the medium sized pines in the circle went down and took the cable and phone lines with it.

They currently have no power and the surge had delivered about three inches of water into their garage, but was receded by the time we got there and the house proper was fine.

They're used to that and all the important stuff was already up off the floor, so no real damage to speak of.

We saw several places where cable and phone lines were down, but no downed power lines.

There are obviously some areas with no power, but it doesn't seem to be as widespread as with Isabel...which makes sense considering the sheer number of big trees that Isabel brought down.

Overall, we got off light and, unless it picks up a lot of steam again before hitting New England, they should be fine.

Oh...one casualty: My truck isn't running right. There seems to be a cylinder not firing all the time. I looked and there is a bit of water in there on the block so it may run better after it dries out. If not, I'll have to figure that one out.

Update: I decided to go ahead and upload the last video I took last night. This was at about 6:30pm and during the worst part of the storm. I caught the very tail end of a really big gust of wind at the beginning of the video, but after that died down, as you can tell, sustained winds just weren't that bad. Some of the gusts were pretty intense, but not many, and not as strong as I was expecting.

All in all, much ado about very little.

Storm Update 2

2011-08-27T16:54:00.000-04:00

Really not much change from last time, just wanted to check in. The storm seems to have slowed down considerably and the eye is still just south of us.

Still raining, still windy and still plenty of stupid people out driving around in it.

Had a big branch break from a tree next door, but didn't do any damage. Lucky it didn't take out the power lines which run right below it.

Still a long way to go, but so far so good.

Storm Update

2011-08-27T12:15:00.002-04:00

I was just getting ready to post an update earlier when the power went out. It came back on a few minutes ago so kudos to Virginia Power for getting it back on so quick.

I've taken some video of the storm (nothing earth-shattering, just rain and trees blowing around in the wind, but I'm having trouble transferring it from my fancy new smartphone. I'll update this post with it when I can get it uploaded.

There are a surprising number of idiots driving around in this.

So far not too bad. Lots of rain, lots of wind, but I haven't seen any trees go down and it actually doesn't seem to me to be as bad as Isabel was several years ago, even though we're taking a more direct hit.

Of course, the worst may still be on the way, so time will tell.

So far so good.

Update: Got the video up:

Update 2: Sorry, I had the wrong image embedded before, it's fixed now.

And so it begins

2011-08-27T00:57:00.001-04:00

Hurricane Irene, knocking at the door.

We're in the Norfolk area, right at the northern edge of the storm.

The view from the front porch at about midnight Friday night/Saturday morning. This was using a very long exposure so the rain is hard to see because it's blurred, but it's basically just sprinkling right now with very little wind.

I have a feeling that power outages are going to be widespread and lasting in this area so I may not be able to update throughout the storm, but we'll see what happens.

The last hurricane that hit us (Isabel, several years ago) knocked out power for a week, but the cable connection was still working the whole time. I've got a generator, so if I can get an internet connection, I'll try to bring the computer up long enough to post some updates when I can.

It's looking like it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I hope he's dusting off his resume.

2011-08-25T06:35:00.000-04:00

Because this Congressman, obviously, has no idea what his role or place in society is:

Monday night, at a “town hall” meeting in North Avondale featuring U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, video cameras owned by two Democratic activists were seized by a Cincinnati police officer at the direction of Chabot’s staff.

A public servant, at a public venue, and at an event that was open to the public and covered by the press, wouldn't allow private citizens to video record him?

Under what authority or Ohio law did he make such a determination?

And the scary (though not surprising) thing is that the thug with a badge that was present at the event, happily acted as the good congressman's enforcer, rather than telling the representative's staff to pound sand when they tasked him with a clearly unethical, if not unlawful and unconstitutional, assignment.

What is surprising is that this was a Republican representative. This is the kind of thing I'd expect to hear about Maxine Waters or one of the other dem congressthings who seem to have a habit of being recorded exuding bile and hate at their town hall meetings.

The silver lining in that is that he will probably be held accountable at the ballot box. Republicans tend to set a higher standard in their elected officials than Democrats.

Democrats, on the other hand, seem to consider unethical, and often even criminal, behavior to be a basic requirement for the job, not a detriment to it.

Hat tip to BFF CB via e-mail.

Remember 8/23

2011-08-24T21:35:00.000-04:00

Hat Tip to Turonistan

Earthquake Damage Report

2011-08-23T15:49:00.000-04:00

Damage reports are beginning to come in.

Just saw this one on Facebook

EARTHQUAKE!!!!111one

2011-08-23T13:59:00.001-04:00

We just felt an earthquake in Hampton Roads.

The Wife felt it too and called immediately. Wasn't a big one, no damage that I'm aware of, but definitely felt it.

I'll post an update if I hear any news reports about it.

UPDATE: USGS Report Magnitude 5.9

Map:

View 8/23 Virginia Earthquake in a larger map

Just give them what they want

2011-08-23T08:29:00.000-04:00

Lots of ways to look at this story out of Chicago:

Moments before she was slain last week on Chicago's Southwest Side, 17-year-old Charinez Jefferson begged the gunman not to shoot because she was pregnant, prosecutors said today.

Despite her plea, Timothy Jones, 18, opened fire on Jefferson anyway, yelling an expletive at her as he shot her in the head, prosecutors said. He then stood over her as she lay on the ground and fired several more times, striking her in the chest and back.

First, I'd like to offer my sympathies to the family of the victim. There is an infant involved and I offer my hope and prayer that he not only survives, but is healthy and able to lead a productive life.

This post should by no means be considered a criticism of the victim. I don't know anything about her other than that she seems to have been born into a crappy culture and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With that said, there are numerous aspects of this story that could be explored and learned from.

There's the fact that Illinois in general and Chicago in particular have some of the strictest gun laws in the nation...which do nothing to prevent senseless crimes like these.

There's the long criminal history of the perpetrator, yet he was still on the streets, able to freely continue his chosen life of crime and violence.

There's the culture of violence that permeates the inner cities and leads to a society in which you can be summarily executed for the egregious crime of being seen with the wrong person.

There's the scourge of gangs that infest the major cities of this nation and others.

But the point that I'm choosing to make is in reference to the anti-gun contention that the law abiding shouldn't carry the most effective tools of self defense available because money and property aren't worth the risk of taking a life over.

They contend that the best option is just to give the bad guys what they want and everyone will live to see another day.

But what if "what they want" is nothing less than your life?

Letter of the Day/Week/Year...

2011-08-15T08:40:00.000-04:00

...whatever.

Sent to me by CB, authored by Seth, and reprinted with permission:

Dear Ms. Brezosky,

Thank you for your interesting article on the "unauthorized immigrant" who was found sleeping in Abraham's bosom in a Texas canal.
(www.mysanantonio.com/news/state/article/Dog-comes-home-with-human-hand-1878350.php)

I note with eager excitement your use of a new euphemism, "unauthorized immigrant," for "illegal alien." But the euphemism is insufficiently documented in this case. Specifically, we don't know whether the son of Adam, who was found having met his maker, was an unauthorized immigrant, or an unauthorized visitor, or an unauthorized burglar, or an unauthorized worker, or an unauthorized drug seller. More specifically, it is unfair to immigrants to call him an "immigrant" when we certainly have no information as to how long he intended to stay. If he intended to stay permanently, he might have been an immigrant. If he intended to stay briefly, to visit the Alamo, he would have been a tourist. We just don't know. But we do know that he was not a citizen. In plain terms, he was an alien.

Nor do we know whether he was "authorized" or not. His mother may have authorized him to visit her, or may have authorized him to depart Mexico before he departed this vale of tears. A human-rights group may have authorized him to enter the country. So, he may very well have been authorized by someone. We just don't know. We do know, however, that the United States government did not authorize him to enter the country. Put in stark terms, but terms that are easily understandable, he was in the country in violation of the law, i.e., illegally.

So, in using the new euphemism "unauthorized immigrant" to describe the person who was found in the canal, having bought the farm, you were really displaying your callous indifference to accuracy. All that is known about the fellow who kicked the bucket is that he was a non-citizen in the country illegally. In other words, before leaving this mortal coil, the decedent was an illegal alien.

Better luck next time.

Warmly,

Seth

Man with a gun!

2011-08-09T06:05:00.001-04:00

Update: Sorry, forgot the link. It's there now.

Smelling an opportunity to score cheap political points, the reliably anti-gun (bias? what bias?) Roanoke times featured an editorial (it was in the "news" section, but it was an editorial piece nonetheless) regarding the recent "man with a gun" ridiculousness on Virginia Tech.

The only thing surprising about the piece is that they actually printed a quote from Phillip Van Cleave, president of the VCDL...I suppose so that they can at least claim some semblance of objectivity.

The line that caught my eye, however, was this one:

But public university administrators are taking pains to keep guns off their campuses

That's a knee-slapper.

Um...no they're not.

They're taking pains to keep LAWFULLY CARRIED guns off their campuses.

They apparently have no problem with loons and criminals bringing guns onto campus because they aren't doing anything special to prevent that.

Events like the Virginia Tech fiasco of a few years ago must not bother them too much because they insist on nothing less than providing the next sociopath who blames the world for his shortcomings with a veritable cornucopia of disarmed, defenseless targets to slaughter at his leisure after chaining the doors shut.

Doesn't the concern for their students and faculty just warm your heart?

Layers of editorial oversight

2011-08-08T10:54:00.001-04:00

Anyone else see anything wrong (other than the obvious typos) with this story?

An engineer working on an airplane iengine(sic) in New Zealand was sucked into the machine and killed.

Air New Zealad (sic) confirmed the man's death, saying he was working on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules engine early Monday...The engine was not attached to a plane, but was on a stand when the incident occurred.

Here's a hint. This is what a C-130 looks like:

Notice anything funny about those "jet" engines?

Like, say, for instance, they're not jet engines?

The C-130 uses the Allison T-56 TurboProp engine. I'm very familiar with these engines as they are also used on three of the aircraft I worked on in my career: The P-3, E-2 and C-2. Although the engine works on principles similar to TurboJet engines, they don't generate their power through thrust as jet engines do, they generate power through torque which drives the prop.

I could be wrong, but I can't imagine that a T-56 generates anywhere near enough suction to pull a full-sized human into its intake.

How about this picture of a T-56 engine on an engine stand.

See the intake there on the bottom? It would be barely big enough for a human to fit into. How easy do you think it would be to get sucked into that?

Even more telling, a picture of a T-56 with no cowlings.

Notice the fixed vanes at the intake? Even if a person could get sucked in, they'd get stuck before getting into the actual compressor stages.

Not to mention that I never, in a 21 year career in Aviation Maintenance, saw a turboprop engine being run on a test stand without the prop installed. I can't say that it's NEVER done because I've never worked at depot level where they completely break engines down to their component parts, but I've never seen it done.

Is it possible that someone got jammed into the intake and the pressure killed him, perhaps through suffocation? I suppose. But is it plausible? Not based on my experience.

Considering that the "journalist" in this case can't spell and didn't even get the general type of engine right, I'd say that there's considerable room for doubt here.

Much more likely that he was hit by the prop, rather than sucked in.

The point, of course, being: LAYERS of editorial oversight.

As I've said many times before: when the media gets it wrong so obviously, so many times, in instances where I know something about the subject, what would possibly possess me to just blindly trust what they say in stories where I know little about the subject matter?

And they wonder why their industry is dying.

The Journey is the Destination

2011-08-05T08:10:00.001-04:00

Traveling by motorcycle is a much different experience than traveling in an auto. Not only for the obvious reasons of differing controls and half the number of wheels on the road, but because of the whole environment.

On a motorcycle, you are one with your environment. When it's hot, you're hot. When it's cold, you're cold. When it's raining, you're wet.

You are sitting higher, in general, than in a car and your field of view has fewer obstructions so you have a better view of your surroundings as well.

Because you can't easily have a conversation with someone else...even a passenger on your own bike...while riding a motorcycle, there is plenty of introspection and you simply spend more time just looking and thinking about what's around you and your place in it.

But what that also means is that, when you stop for a meal or for the day, you have plenty to talk about, discussing the sights seen and events that occurred while on the road that you couldn't comment about except to yourself at the time.

It's just an entirely different experience than traveling by car.

For those reasons and more, the title of this blog post really does say it all when it comes to a motorcycle trip.

Some of my pictures aren't exposed exactly right because the sun was from the wrong direction, some are a little out of focus because the camera focused on the wrong thing, some may be a little off-kilter because I wasn't holding it exactly straight,

but I hope that these pictures at least give a little bit of an idea what a motorcycle trip is all about and why riding for hours and miles on end, exposed to the heat, cold, rain and sun, is really worth it.

My dad used to say you don't stop riding because you're getting old, you get old because you stopped riding.

It truly is about the journey. The destination is just a good excuse.

The Journey Home

2011-08-04T21:51:00.005-04:00

On Sunday, our intrepid group parted ways. Cousin's bike was still in Vermont and he and his wife were still in a rental car.

It was decided that Uncle and Aunt (who are retired) would accompany them to Vermont. They'd return the rental car and then ride Uncle's bike back to Indiana so Cousin could return to work. Uncle and Aunt would then remain in Vermont and, when ready, would ride Cousin's bike back to Indiana.

Meanwhile, my Brother and I decided to head back to Mom and Step-dad's place to spend an evening with them before heading home.

Boy, we sure can complicate a simple vacation, can't we?

At any rate, we parted ways. Brother wanted to hit route 1 for a while and ride it along the coastline, so this we did.

The east coast version of the Coast Highway isn't nearly as impressive as its western relative, but it was a nice ride and, at times, gorgeous. We even got to see a couple of Maine's attractions like the Penobscot Bridge Observatory

and Fort Knox (the one that's not in Kentucky)

For lunch, we stopped at the world famous Moody's Diner for a snack and the best piece of Apple Pie I've had in years...including my own, which is saying a lot because I make a mean apple pie.

We stopped for the night in Fishkill New York. I asked the hotel clerk if she was embarrassed to tell people where she lives. She replied "not at all...then again, I don't live in Fishkill, I just work here..."

The next day we continued on to Commodore PA and had a nice evening with Mom and Stepdad on their farm.

After one of Mom's patented "you'll gain ten pounds in ten minutes or less" breakfasts, I headed out the next morning and scooted for home. The GPS said travel time on the route it laid out was 6 hours and 35 minutes. I left at 10am and got home at 5:05. 7 hours and 5 minutes total. Not bad...but boy was my butt tired. I only stopped three times, twice for a splash of gas and once to check the GPS for a better route...didn't find one.

By riding that hard, I was able to miss the various rush hours in the various cities I had to pass through and made really good time.

Anyway, back home again in Virginia safe and sound.

Final Tally:

Days on trip: 12
States Visited or passed through: 12*
Beginning Mileage: 51981
Ending Mileage: 55666
Total miles traveled: 3,685
Sights seen, camaraderie shared and families ties tightened: Priceless

Tomorrow I'm going to put up a final post with some of the other pictures and perhaps some thoughts...but mostly pictures.

*Unique visits not including home state of VA. The route took me from VA - WV - KY - OH - IN - OH - PA - NY - VT - NH - ME - NH - MA - CT - NY - PA - MD - VA for a total of 18 state visits.

Saturday, August 30

2011-08-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

After a night back at the hotel in Bangor, we headed back to Bar Harbor on Saturday to do some souvenir shopping.

The day started out looking a little ugly, but quickly cleared off and became a very nice day.

We found some interesting artifacts including the moose antlers being modeled here by the Sister-In-Law. I picked up some toy lobster magnets for the grandkids, and got a good deal on a pair of hats and a pair of T-shirts for myself and The Wife.

We ate lunch at a really interesting place, the Bar Harbor Route 66 Restaurant, where I partook of Clam Chowder and a Lobster Roll.

The inside of the place was as interesting as the outside. The original restaurant burned in the mid-80's; when it was rebuilt, some of the features of an old church that was being demolished were incorporated. The stained glass windows and fancy bannisters and railings provide a unique look.

Toss in a lot of '50s and '60s antiques and you get a pretty memorable atmosphere.

And the food was excellent too.

After lunch, we hit Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium for Ice Cream. I just had to try the Lobster Ice Cream, if for no other reason just to say I'd tried it.

I have to admit that it was...um...different. Probably not a flavor I'd go out of my way to get in the future, but definitely worth trying once.

After lunch, we hit the road again and did an even bigger loop around the perimeter of the entire Mount Desert Island.

Lots more great views and interesting roads and even included a stop at an operating Light House.

We made kind of an early day of it so we could get plenty of rest for the final leg of our journey the next day.

Next Time.

Friday (continued)

2011-08-04T08:29:00.003-04:00

After the boat tour and lunch on Friday, we took a ride to the Acadia National Park. We decided to do the park loop road, but first rode up to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

As we approached the summit, we drove right into a cloud so the view from the top was less than ideal.

Although there were periods where the clouds thinned out enough for us to get a view of the surrounding areas.

We didn't stay long at the summit and headed back down. As we drove out of the cloud at the top of the mountain, the views cleared and we stopped at some of the scenic overviews to take in the vistas.

After Cadillac Mountain, we continued on the road that loops the perimeter of the park, stopping occasionally to see the sights, like "Thunder Hole"

The tide was going out, so the booms weren't as impressive as they say they are with the tide incoming, but it was still pretty neat.

We had a little excitement toward the end of the day. We hadn't gassed up since leaving the hotel in the morning and, after riding the perimeter of the park, we were getting pretty low on gas. We all assumed that a gas station would be nearby, but the GPS said the nearest one was 12 miles away. We were pretty much going on fumes by the time we got there and are lucky that none of us ran out completely on the way.

BTW: After gassing up and heading back, we realized that the GPS didn't have all the gas stations in memory, because if we'd turned right at one intersection versus left as the GPS directed us, there was a gas station about 100 yards from the intersection. We'd have had gas some 6 miles closer than the station the GPS led us to.

Oh well. At least we all made it.

More Later.

Thursday and Friday

2011-08-03T22:04:00.000-04:00

Thursday was a pretty uneventful day, as we basically waited until about noon to see if Keith and Susan were going to be continuing with us or renting a car. As soon as it was obvious that they were going to have to go find a rental, my brother, his wife and I headed on to Bangor, Maine.

The drive was very nice, although seeing these signs every few miles was a bit disconcerting.

I've heard of people surviving motorcycle/deer accidents, but never a motorcycle/moose high velocity interaction.

Regardless, the scenery was beautiful, whether of a mountain vista in the distance

Or of a bubbling river running alongside the road.

We even got to Bangor in time to go catch the new Captain America movie before the rest of the crew arrived...half of them on four wheels.

On Friday, we headed to Bah Hahbah (that's the local pronunciation, those who aren't "r" challenged say it "Bar Harbor") and took a boat tour of the area, some of the bays and the Cranberry and surrounding islands.

I won't bore you with the hundreds of pictures I took, but I do want to show you a few. The wealth and opulence on display, both ashore,

and at sea, were staggering.

But, right alongside the playthings of the ridiculously rich, were the people who, through hard work and perseverance, make their livings from the sea.

The most interesting thing about the houses...some would say mansions...that line the coast, is that most of them are empty except for a few months during the summer. Just little summer cottages on the coast of Maine.

It was a very interesting tour of the harbor and we even got to see a few of the more colorful local residents, including the Osprey currently residing in "apartment 2A" as the tour guide called it.

We were out during high tide. The guide seemed to think it unusual, but there were plenty of seals sunning themselves on the low (or high, depending on your perspective) rocks in the bay.

And Cormorants and Seagulls were in no short supply.

It was a very nice tour and the weather couldn't have been better after the morning fog burned off.

After the boat tour and lunch, we headed to the Acadia National Park for a ride up Cadillac mountain and around Ring Road, but I think I'll leave those pictures for the next post.

Sorry it's been so long

2011-08-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

But better late than never I guess.

I was having serious trouble getting photos to upload from hotel internet connections. On a trip like this, words without photos are useless.

Let's see, when I last left you, it was last Tuesday and we were in Vermont.

The bad news is we had a casualty. Cousin Keith's Goldwing didn't weather the weather very well and quit running in Vermont. They're still trying to fix it, Keith and his wife Susan rented a car and have been tagging along on twice the recommended daily allowance of wheels (not healthy, but better than sitting in Vermont with a busted bike).

On Wednesday, Uncle Ron took those of us who still had operating motorcycles on a tour of the area of Vermont we were in. Among the sights were the Maple Syrup Museum

The Cabot Creamery

Where I finally got a good idea of exactly what it was Little Miss Muffet was eating, although I'm still a bit unclear on exactly what a "tuffet" is.

The Vermont Capitol Building which, although small, is very interesting.

The Ben and Jerry's factory

And the Trapp family lodge, site of the Von Trapp family home (please refer to the musical "The Sound of Music" if you don't know who the Von Trapp's were/are)

On Thursday, after waiting around for a while to see if Keith's bike was going to get fixed (it didn't), we headed out and made it out of Vermont, all the way across the vast state of New Hampshire and into Maine, landing in Bangor for the meat of our vacation.

We headed into Bah Hahbah (Bar Harbor) both Friday and Saturday to take in the sights and headed out for the final leg of our journey on Sunday.

In order to keep this post from getting ridiculously long, I'll hold off and post more pics and narrative on the later days in future posts.

Trip Update

2011-07-26T22:44:00.001-04:00

Finally in a hotel with an internet connection. I haven't been able to get any more "Welcome to" state pictures because we've been crossing state lines on such small roads they haven't had them.

On Sunday, after stopping for breakfast at IHOP and taking a "beginning trip" group picture...

...we drove from central Indiana, across Ohio, to Commodore PA and stayed at my Mom and Step Dad's place.

Just a hint...here's the view from their yard just in front of the house.

Hit a little rain in Ohio, but not bad and it stayed cloudy all day which kept it cool.

On Monday, we rode North and East to Utica New York. Upstate New York is absolutely beautiful. It's such a shame that a great place like that would be ruled by a majority crammed into a tiny section of the southeastern corner of the state.

Again, some sun, a bit of rain (once non-stop for almost three hours, which was...unpleasant), but the temps stayed reasonable even when the sun was out.

Today, we continued on from Utica to Fort Ticonderoga. Very cool and interesting place if you enjoy history at all.

From there we took the ferry across into Vermont and ended up in a tiny town called Lyndonville, VT.

Even more beautiful countryside, and VT 17 between Jerusalem and Irasville is a great motorcycle road with lots of twisties.

We ran into more rain today mostly in pockets. It rained for about ten or fifteen minutes at Ticonderoga just as we were getting ready to leave. For about the last half hour or forty-five minutes of the day's journey it rained very hard. Visibility was challenging it was coming down so hard. It stopped just as we were reaching our destination. The up side is that the temps have been very pleasant. Not at all what I was expecting after my roasting last Friday on the way out.

The rain has been tough from time to time and everything being damp is getting annoying, but overall, it's been a great trip so far.

Been quiet around here

2011-07-23T10:18:00.002-04:00

For the past few weeks I've been getting ready for the annual family motorcycle trip. My bike had been running rough and I had to rip the carbs off and rebuild them; of course I lost a part and had to order a replacement...then found the original almost immediately after receiving the replacement; then I had a couple of other minor issues that I had to take care of...so for about the past month, every evening from the time I've gotten home from work to bedtime has pretty much been taken up with something.

So with the excuses out of the way, consider this the first official post of the annual Stone Family Motorcycle Trip.

I'm blogging from my BFF's house in Indianapolis after riding in a sauna all day yesterday.

Holy cow...I've never ridden in such consistently hot weather.

Starting Mileage from the East Coast of Virginia:

Sorry for the fuzzy picture. Couldn't get the cheapo camera to focus correctly. That's 51981 if you have trouble reading it.

The states I drove through yesterday.

I was thinking that being in the mountains around noon to early afternoon would be nice because it would be cooler in the altitudes there.

No such luck. Hot as Hades the whole time.

Through West Virginia and into Kentucky.

I actually got rained on in Kentucky. For about 18 seconds. Just a sprinkle. Not enough to cool anything off.

My route takes me around Cincinnati on 275 so I'm in Ohio for about ten minutes or so.

And, Back Home Again in Indiana.

This is actually the first time crossing over into Indiana.

When you take 275 around Cinci, you go from Kentucky to Indiana first. You're in Indiana for about 2 or 3 miles, and then into Ohio.

When I was crossing from Ohio to Indiana, it was about 6:30 pm heading west. The sun was right in my face so the picture came out very dark. This one was headed north so it is a much better picture.

Anyway, total trip of 720.5 miles by the odometer (which reads a little low...I've never seen a motorcyle with an accurate speedometer/odometer. Don't know why). Total time 13 hours and 15 minutes including three gas stops and one hour-long meal stop.

The actual trip starts tomorrow morning at 0500. We're heading Northeast this time and ultimately will end up in Bangor Maine.

It might be a couple of days before I have a good internet connection again, so don't worry if you don't hear (read) anything from me right away. I'll update when I can.

More fun with math...and the English language

2011-07-08T08:34:00.000-04:00

This time, I'm not doing the math...the government is:

President Barack Obama and lawmakers are considering cutting Social Security and increasing revenue by changing the way the government measures inflation.
...
There is a “pretty widely held” consensus among economists that the bureau’s methodology exaggerates inflation because it doesn’t fully account for how individuals respond to rising prices, said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.

It accounts for those who buy cheaper brands of wine or steak when those prices rise, though not for those who opt instead for beer or chicken. That means it overestimates inflation, which leads to cost-of-living increases for Social Security beneficiaries, veterans and federal retirees that are bigger than necessary to maintain their purchasing power.

in·fla·tion
[in-fley-shuhn]
–noun
1. Economics . a persistent, substantial rise in the general level of prices related to an increase in the volume of money and resulting in the loss of value of currency ( opposed to deflation).

inflation. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved July 08, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inflation

So...the very definition of inflation in economics is an increase in prices due to a drop in the value of the dollar.

But, according to the government hacks in this story, if the cost of steak increased, say, 5%, and the cost of hamburger increased by the same amount, but now more people buy hamburger instead of steak so their total grocery bill doesn't increase equally, the value of the dollar didn't decrease at all.

Exactly how stupid do they think we are?

Don't answer that...rhetorical question.

For the record, I am a retired, 40% disabled vet. I receive two government checks each month, one retirement check and one from the VA for my service-connected disabilities. Although this is true, I am willing to face the fact that our country is in serious financial difficulty. Were they just to come out and say "we can't afford these cost of living raises any more and we need to cut them", I wouldn't like it, but I'd accept it as a necessary evil.

What torques me off is not the fact that they're trying to reduce government expenses by cutting COLA increases, what chaps my hide is the mealy-mouthed, dishonest and flat out dishonorable twisting of the meaning of words to rationalize it.

One more point before I go...although I am rated at 40% disabled, I have been blessed by God with employment opportunities that fit within my physical limitations and enable me to remain a contributing member of society. A cut in COLA increases would impact me, but not insurmountably.

This policy will also affect veterans who've suffered catastrophic injuries in the service of our country to the point that they simply cannot support themselves any more. For them, the disability benefits that have been rendered to them in compensation for their sacrifices is all they have. A slight decrease in their benefits may very well mean the difference between being able to pay the rent and keep the lights on, not just whether they can afford steak versus hamburger.

They voluntarily sacrificed their ability to support themselves, in support of us, this country and this government...and the government repays that debt by declaring "let them eat cake."

Despicable.

Come on...it's obvious!

2011-07-07T15:55:00.000-04:00

A "one of a kind" storm has brewed up on Saturn.

Such planet-wide weather disturbances are rare on Saturn, where the atmosphere is typically hazy and calm. Since 1876, astronomers have observed only five other megastorms on Saturn.

...

Scientists don’t exactly know what stirs up the storms, but they think it could be linked to the change of seasons.

An unexplained weather event that is outside the norm?

The cause is obvious. Just ask Al Gore.

It's GOT to be anthropogenic global ~~warming~~ climate change. We've got to stop emitting carbon dioxide immediately, before we ruin Jupiter and Mars too.

Everyone....hold your breath...

How Convenient

2011-07-06T12:13:00.000-04:00

When it's a white person who robs, beats up or otherwise assaults a black person, it's a "hate" crime.

but when this happens:

"They just said 'Oh, white girl bleeds a lot,' " said Perry, 22, who was attacked at Kilbourn Reservoir Park over the Fourth of July weekend.
...
a mob they said beat and robbed them and threw full beer bottles while making racial taunts. The injured people were white; the attackers were African-American, witnesses said.

The narrative is:

...Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn noted Tuesday that crime is colorblind...

"We're not going to let any group of individuals terrorize or bully any of our neighborhoods," Flynn said.

I think thought-crime laws are a terrible idea from the get-go - crime is crime and assault is assault, what the perpetrator was thinking when the crime was committed is irrelevant. All violent crimes should be treated equally...and harshly - but if those crimes are going to be on the books, then by law, custom and the US Constitution, they need to be enforced equally, regardless of the race creed or color of the perpetrators.

US Constitution, Amendment 14:

"No State shall...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Oh Noes!!!

2011-07-01T06:36:00.000-04:00

Apparently my e-mail address has been compromised, I just got this official e-mail from my service provider this morning:

From: etwerp@cox.net
Subject: Update your Account Now!!
Date: July 1, 2011
Reply-to: update55@qatar.io

Dear Account user

We are bringing to your notice that our customer service will be damaging down some
email users in our data base, due to the high number of different emails that has been
violated by our email policy, terms and conditions we are destroying down some email users.

if you still choose to maintain your account with us.

Provide us with the below info :

E -mail:
Password:
Birth date:

send all informations to: update55@qatar.io

Email owner that refuses to maintain his or her email after 2-3 working days of this notification will loose account permanently from our site. NOTE !!! account user that refuses to maintain his/her account will have account permanently removed from our data base for email violation.

ÃÂ© 1998-2011
Cox Communications,

Hold on a minute while I send them my e-mail address, password and birthdate immediately.

I'm back.

Whew! I feel much better now that that's done. My e-mail account is safe again.

Is there an award for "worst phishing attempt ever"? If there is, I need to enter this one into the contest.

Shesh.

Disgusting

2011-06-27T08:29:00.000-04:00

The story:

On a balmy early Saturday summer evening, the U.S soccer team played for a prestigious championship in a U.S. stadium … and was smothered in boos.
...
Even its national anthem was filled with the blowing of air horns and bouncing of beach balls.
...
Most of these hostile visitors didn't live in another country. Most, in fact, were not visitors at all, many of them being U.S. residents whose lives are here but whose sporting souls remain elsewhere.

You may note, if you follow the link, that not once does the author characterize the participants of this disgrace as "US Citizens", but only "US Residents". At least he was technically honest, if not exactly forthcoming.

But what really got me was this part:

"I love this country, it has given me everything that I have, and I'm proud to be part of it," said Victor Sanchez, a 37-year-old Monrovia resident wearing a Mexico jersey. "But yet, I didn't have a choice to come here, I was born in Mexico, and that is where my heart will always be."

Excuse me?

The country of your birth was so screwed up you admittedly had no choice but to flee (probably illegally), you recognize that you had no future there and came to the US to survive and even thrive. And yet your "heart will always be" with the country you had to flee?

Are you stupid?

Rhetorical question.

Our country is being destroyed from the inside out.

WOT Redux

2011-06-21T06:21:00.002-04:00

I never did do a follow up to my post on Women On Target.

This is an NRA program that we host at Airfield Shooting Club once or twice a year (which I have allowed my membership to lapse...I was in Germany when renewals were due...and it keeps slipping my mind to get it taken care of).

We generally have several instructors, both men and women, who generously donate their time in the effort to introduce new people to the shooting sports.

Women on Target is specifically designed to provide a non-theatening, low stress environment for ladies to be introduced to the sports with a group of their peers. Because they're all beginners and they're all women, it seems to make for a much more comfortable environment than a mixed crowed of varying experience levels. There is no feeling of competition...the only goals are to get familiar with the basics, including safety, and do as well as one can...oh...and have fun.

This session started out on a serious note. ASC's Chief Instructor, Dale, lost his mother recently, and another ASC supporter and member lost a son, so seven of the instructors, led by Dale's wife...a retired Naval Officer, fired three volleys in honor and memory of those lost.

As usual, we had women of all ages and demographics in attendance.

We covered all the major disciplines: Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol and Archery.

The weather was beautiful, if a bit warm for this early in the year.

As usual, it was a great day. The ladies were a joy to work with, were attentive, engaged and seemed to be having a great time.

There just aren't very many better ways to spend a Saturday.

A short video to recap the day:

Father's Day

2011-06-20T18:35:00.002-04:00

I know I'm a day late, but I was busy yesterday.

Spent the morning in Church, then the afternoon with The Wife, then the evening with The Kids and The Grandkids.

But I was definitely thinking about my Dad.

I've posted a bit about my Dad in the past, including this heartfelt homily a few years ago on Father's day. I've never been much of one for repeating myself so I've not put up another one...though I could say volumes about how great a man my Father was, I just don't think that adequately tells the story.

I would like to say something about him and why this never occurred to me before, I truly don't know. From here on out, assuming I remember and am not wrapped around the axle on something else, I'm going to post something about my dad every year on Father's day and on his birthday. Just a short anecdote or factoid to let you know who he was a little bit, and also to save his memory for posterity.

I don't really know much about my Grandpa on my Dad's side. The first funeral of my memory was Grandpa Stone's. He died when I was fairly young. Dad told us what a great man he was, but very few details. I just don't really know much about who he was or what he was about.

I don't want that to happen to the memory of my Dad, so I'm going to write a little about him here, and hopefully my kids and grandkids will be able to look back at this and get a feel for who he was.

I think my first installment is going to be Dad's favorite joke (mom wasn't overly fond of it and would groan every time he told it).

Dad was a very serious man and didn't show much emotion...including humor. Things that would have the rest of us rolling on the floor with laughter might get Dad to smile a little bit and maybe even let out a little snort of laughter.

So seeing him tell this joke and laugh out loud was something of a thrill. It makes me smile (and tear up a little bit) just thinking about it.

Dad loved airplanes and had a private pilot's license. He couldn't afford to fly much, but he did when he could and would take us up in little Pipers and Cesnas to fly around the countryside and see things from a bird's eye view.

Because of his love of flying, his favorite joke was fitting:

An old farmer and his wife were at the county fair. The fair was being held on the grounds of the local grass airstrip and there was a pilot there offering rides in his nondescript four seat plane of uncertain descent (and maintenance).

The old guy had never flown before and thought he'd like to give it a try so he approached the pilot and said "The missus and I's never been in one of them fancy flyin' machines...how much fer a ride?".

"$50 for a half hour" the pilot replied.

"Fifty Dollars!" the old farmer exclaimed; "that's a fortune. I reckon we're gonna pass."

"Well..." said the Pilot "...if you really want to fly and you've never been up before, I guess we might be able to work something out."

"How about this: I'll take you up for the half-hour and give you the ride of your life. If you can both finish the whole ride and not make a peep...no screams, no crying out, no begging me to stop...you won't have to pay me a cent."

"But" he continued "if you cry out even once, you've got to pay me the whole $50....deal?"

The old farmer thought about it for a minute. Looked over at his wife...she was a steady ol' gal and not prone to swooning or hysterics...and made his decision. "You've got a deal" he replied.

The deal struck, they boarded the plane - the Pilot up front and the farmer and his wife in the back - started up, taxied down the grass and lifted into the clear country air.

Immediately, the pilot gave it full power and climbed as fast as he could, putting as many g-forces on that old plane as it could handle. As he reached altitude, he turned the yoke until the plane rolled onto it's back and then pulled back into a screaming power dive, reminiscent of his days as a P-47 pilot in WWII. When he got enough airspeed, he pulled the yoke back to the stop again and brought it up into an inside loop...and he was just getting started.

He flew barrel rolls, spit "s"s, hammerheads, Immelmen's...anything he could do to shake up his passengers and get them to cry out. Every maneuver was performed a little more aggressively than the last in the effort to break their resolve.

Over and over he shook the old farmer and his wife, tossed them, scrambled them as best he could.

After 30 minutes of non-stop aerobatics, and without a sound coming from the back seat of the plane the whole time, the pilot finally gave up and reluctantly returned to the airstrip.

He landed gently and idled to to the parking area, his admiration for the old couple growing by the minute.

He cut the engine and as the prop slowed and the plane coasted to a stop, he said over his shoulder "Well, I've gotta hand it to you. I threw everything at you that this old bird could handle and you never gave in. I guess that was worth the $50."

"Ayup" said the old farmer. "I gotta admit that you just almost had me there once. I almost cried out when the missus fell out, but fifty bucks is fifty bucks."

[rimshot]

Ok...so it's a little corny...but Dad loved that joke and it makes me laugh out loud thinking about how much he enjoyed telling it.

Happy belated Father's day to my Dad and to all the other Fathers out there who dedicated their lives to making us hard-headed kids into functional members of society.

Wanna know how old I am?

2011-06-20T06:34:00.000-04:00

This is where I went to Elementary and Jr. High school.

Sent to me by bff CB, who was a schoolmate there.

That's just sad.

It would have bothered me less if there was a shopping center, housing development, even a corn field.

That would be a sign of progress...that the site has become useful in other ways.

Seeing the ruins just sitting there, forlorn and abandoned tears at my heart.

The school was built in 1910 (IIRC) as Windfall High School. A POW camp was housed on or near it's grounds toward the end of WWII. I remember it as a stately, brick four story building that always seemed to me as impregnable and indestructible as a fortress.

Everything that has a beginning, has an end.

(Image borrowed from Classmates.com)

Revenge is at hand.

2011-06-10T18:35:00.000-04:00

Remember a few weeks ago, when I related how I found that great bargain on the priceless memento of our President?

How I sent it to a friend of mine as a gift and how he responded?

Thank you so much for the Milton Bradley Commemorative Barack Obama "Yes We Can!" puzzle. I'm at a loss for how to show my most heartfelt appreciation. Email won't come close. A proper response requires pen and ink on paper. Honestly though, I fear that alone will surely fall short as well. I'll put serious thought toward how one might properly reciprocate such a thoughtful and beautiful gift from as dear a friend as yourself.

Well, his response came today.

All I can say is: well played, my friend, well played.

I must admit that I'm a bit torn. Do I leave it in the packaging, helping to retain it's obvious collector value and to pass down to my children and grand-children as a cherished heirloom? Or do I open it so that I can grow and enjoy it as it was intended?

Anyone ever had one before? How long do the plants live? If I'll only be able to enjoy it for a couple of weeks or so, It's not worth ruining the collector value.

What say my faithful readers?

Quote of the day...week...month...whatever.

2011-06-10T07:50:00.000-04:00

Truer words were never spoke:

If the government can’t be trusted to obey “shall make no law,” ”shall not be infringed,” or “shall not be violated,” when it’s spelled out plainly, why can it be trusted to obey other limitations on its power? -wfgodbold

She had to ask

2011-06-09T18:47:00.001-04:00

Jennifer asked for us to share our stories about how we became "gunnies".

If you've read the "about me" blurb in my blogger profile, you already know that I'm a redneck by birth, so it goes without saying that I've never lived in a home without guns.

But I wouldn't say that I was raised as a gunnie. The guns I grew up with were tools. They were never points of fascination or great enthusiasm. Having a gun in the house held about as much significance for my family as having a hammer or chainsaw.

That is not to say that I didn't enjoy shooting. I did. I shot BB guns constantly as a kid, played Cowboys and Indians and Army with my brothers with toy guns, got my first .22lr rifle as a young teen and just about wore it slam out (I still have that rifle). My friends and I used to go shooting all the time as a teenager. But there were other things I enjoyed as well. Shooting wasn't my life by any stretch of the imagination.

Gun ownership carried over into my adult life and, like I mentioned, I don't believe I've ever lived in a home that didn't have at least a couple of guns around.

I shot fairly regularly, but I wouldn't call it "often". I'd go to the range (or a friend's backyard range when available) every few months. Whenever I went home on leave, I'd take a couple of guns with me to shoot in the back yard reminiscent of my youth.

I always took gun ownership for granted. It never occurred to me that this American tradition could ever be endangered. Of course, by the time I reached the age to become conscious at all about politics and laws, the Gun Control Act of 1968 was ancient history so it seemed to me that there had ALWAYS been some level of government control over gun ownership.

Then in the late '80's and early '90's, gun control really seemed to pick up some steam. They had a run there for a while where it really seemed like they were on track to get gun ownership banned completely.

The passage of the Brady bill and the faux assault weapon ban in 1994 was the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak and I began to get politically active with respect to the Second Amendment, began studying the history and the laws, joined the NRA as well as several of the other smaller civil rights organizations, and made a point to get more practice and range time in. It wasn't long after that I started shooting with the Navy Marksmanship team as well.

My first few years in the movement was taken up with attending rallies, writing letters to the editor (even got one or two published) and to our representatives and senators in Washington, but sometime in 2005, I discovered blogs and Captain of a Crew of One was born.

You might notice that my archives only go back to 2006. That's because after about a year or so of blogging regularly, the blog was beginning to feel like a job, rather than something I was doing because I enjoyed it. I shut Captain of a Crew of One down and even deleted it from blogger. I took about a 6 month or so break and then started it back up again late in 2006, determined that I was not going to be a slave to it and that I'd only worry about posting when I had something to say.

As regular readers well know, I've kept to that decision very diligently, which explains the weeks-long lapses in posting from time to time.

At any rate, it was basically the successes of the anti-freedom lobby that spurred me to action. Since I've become active in the politics, I've also become much more active in the community in general. I'm now an NRA and 4H instructor, Range Safety Officer, Active in both National and Virginia gun rights politics, and still even blog occasionally.

It was the successes of the Brady Campaign and their ilk in the late '80's and early '90's that proved to be their downfall. Many of us were spurred to get active in Second Amendment politics around that time. They woke the sleeping giant, and boy was he pissed.

The battle's not over and probably never will be, but the successes that we've realized, through the tireless efforts of many great and dedicated patriotic Americans, are difficult to believe having come from where we were just a few short years ago.

I'm proud to have been able to play a tiny part (and, believe me, my part has been TINY) in that success, and seeing young, up and coming activists and representatives of the shooting community like Jennifer and her husband Michael, is very encouraging for us old codgers.

Oops!

2011-06-09T08:34:00.000-04:00

As seen outside Sailorplatz this morning:

Apparently, they slightly miscalculated the angle of the dangle when placing their sign.

I'm surprised I didn't hear the bang when it fell over sometime last night.

Credit where due

2011-06-08T07:14:00.000-04:00

I'm always one of the first to excoriate and ridicule the Main Stream Media when they show their ignorance and bias, so I think it's imperative for me to be equally quick to praise when they actually do it right.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said one obvious flaw in the al-Qaida video is the inaccurate claim about buying automatic weapons.

"Machine guns cannot be purchased anywhere in the United States without going through a detailed and lengthy background check, paying a $200 tax, and notifying local law enforcement," he said. "Additionally, in Virginia the gun would then have to be registered with the state within 24 hours."

Van Cleave acknowledged "nothing can stop a determined terrorist from getting a gun" through illegal or lawful means.

"One can never ignore such threats," he said, "but we should not be running to dump our civil liberties overboard, either. The more armed the populace is, the quicker a lone wolf, if one pops up, could be put down."

Kudos to the Virginian Pilot's Julian Walker for presenting a balanced, and well presented piece on a controversial subject. It's good to know that there are at least a few Authorized Journalists out there who seem to remember that journalism is supposed to be about finding and presenting the facts, not pushing an agenda.

"What did you hope to accomplish?"

2011-06-06T17:36:00.000-04:00

On the drive home, I was listening to talk radio. I'm not a big fan of Hannity, but he was playing live a press conference called by Representative Wiener.

What was interesting is that Andrew Breitbart, the non-authorized journalist who broke the story about Representative Wiener's wiener, had heard about the press conference, happened to be in New York at the time and decided to drop in and see what the good Representative had to say.

When the authorized journalists realized he was there, they started asking him questions, so he took the stage and began answering them.

The video embedded in the linked story cuts off before this occurred, and I doubt you'll see much about it in the main stream media, but one of the authorized journalists asked Breitbart a question that just blew my doors off.

I may not be remembering it verbatim, but it was something to the effect of:

"What did you hope to accomplish by breaking this story."

Um.

Excuse me?

What does ANY journalist hope to accomplish by breaking ANY news story?

Isn't it supposed to be informing the public about the news?

What does it say about the Authorized Journalist in particular, and the Main Stream Media in general, that they would even consider that a legitimate question? Why would it even occur to them that a fellow journalist (albeit unauthorized) would be intending to "accomplish" anything by breaking a story, other than the very act of breaking the story in itself?

The only reason I can think of is that the Main Stream Media, in deciding which news stories to break and which to ignore, are themselves trying to "accomplish" something other than news gathering and dissemination. Accusing Breitbart of it is nothing more than projection.

Granted, anyone who's been paying attention for the past 30 years or so already knows this, but in my humble opinion, the fact that the question even came up is prima facia evidence that the Main Stream Media has an agenda and any news disseminated by them is crafted and engineered to support it.

Which is why the existence of unauthorized journalists like Breitbart vexes them so. They no longer control the narrative like they did for many, many years, and it really gets under their skin.

BTW: Breitbart handled the question very well. His response was something to the effect of "What do you mean what was I trying to accomplish? It was a news story."

Just a quick 6,000 words...

2011-06-05T21:01:00.003-04:00

...on how I spent my Saturday:

Update: Primarily for the participants who happen by here: all 419 photos are now up on my personal web space (Click HERE) for you to see and download. The Airfield Shooting Club, as well as staff members and participants in the event are free to use the photos in any way they see fit. Everyone else should consider the photos to fall under standard copyright law and refrain from copying, reproducing or publishing the photos without permission and attribution.

(As usual...click to make bigger)

Possibly my favorite picture from the whole day:

Poof...it's gone.

I took over 800 pictures (after eliminating the chaff, I ended up with around 400 good shots), plus video, so I may put more up later with a little commentary about the day.

Has it occurred to anyone else...

2011-06-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

...that the former American Jihadi PR mouthpiece that spouted off about muslims in America exploiting the gun show loophole to get automatic weapons with which to commit acts of terror, did so exactly to get the kind of reaction that's happening across the anti-gun and media (but I repeat myself) realm today?

I mean...consider this: The Jihadis aren't stupid. They plan meticulously and do their homework. This guy in particular is a former American. He speaks the language and has lived under the laws. Anyone who does 2 minutes of research knows that what he said was bunk...but it plays right into the propaganda that the anti-freedom proponents have been spouting in this country for over 20 years.

How convenient.

Here's the thing: Do you think that the Jihadis like the fact that any American they encounter, just about anywhere in the country, could potentially be armed?

Having even a small percentage of potential victims draw their own guns and fight back could completely reverse the desired effect of an armed terrorist attack. Whereas an attack like in Mumbai, against a forcibly disarmed citizenry who knows they are helpless in the face of such an attack, strikes terror into the hearts of the people; an attack here, would result (and has resulted) in the exact opposite: anger, resolve and determination to be ready to stop it the next time. It would result in more and more people arming themselves and being prepared to defend themselves, making future attacks increasingly difficult.

So, what happens? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The result is two completely disparate forces of evil, who have no relationship with each other, with no coordination or collusion required, and who would disavow each other in a heartbeat, end up working together for a common cause.

The Jihadis would love to see the eventual disarming of Americans just as much as the Bradys and their ilk would. They are patient, they are methodical and they are smart.

This video is eliciting exactly the response that the former American Jihadi had hoped when he produced it. The goal wasn't to get American muslims to go to gunshows to obtain automatic weapons that they know good and well aren't available for purchase there, an act that would do nothing more than draw attention to them and possibly get them arrested.

The purpose of the video was to provide further propaganda to assist their unwitting allies in doing something they could never get accomplished on their own...the elimination of the biggest roadblock to tyrants and terrorists alike...an armed citizenry.

Quote of the day

2011-06-04T05:49:00.000-04:00

thebardofmurdoc:

Well after fifty tries
I got a real surprise:
A job that now relies
On bloating peoples’ thighs.

Each morning I arise
And clean sleep from my eyes;
I head to work that ties
My life to apple pies.

“Perhaps you would like fries?”
My clients I advise,
“Or maybe Supersize,
And get a Nobel Prize!”

Barack might improvise,
But doesn’t realize,
The jobs his plan supplies
Michelle would criticize.

I can only dream of being that creative.

Well played oh humble Bard.

From comments here (and the post is worth reading too).

If only...

2011-05-31T08:28:00.000-04:00

If only the state were given a monopoly on the use of force...

If only we would just trust the government to protect us and defend us from criminals...

If only we limited the use of firearms to military and law enforcement...

Gun violence and domestic violence could finally be ended.

Or not.

During a violent Memorial Day spree, an off-duty Franklin County deputy shot and killed his ex-wife in a Roanoke convenience store parking lot and then fled in his patrol car, police said.

Then, after a nearly hour-long pursuit that ended in Montgomery County, the deputy was stopped by police gunfire — after a state trooper was wounded...

A tragedy to be sure, and my sympathies go out to the family of the victim...but the fantasy that the fellow citizens to whom we delegate the power to enforce the law and apprehend criminals are somehow granted with superhuman resistance to the same vagaries and weaknesses that plague the rest of humanity is as ridiculous as the pipe-dream of "keeping guns out of the hands of criminals" by making the legal purchase and ownership of firearms more difficult for the law abiding.

How's that for a run-on sentence? But I'm sure you get my point, grammatical faux pas notwithstanding.

Stand by for even higher food prices

2011-05-27T07:41:00.000-04:00

Family friend and blogger vanilla, in a recent post, noted as an aside:

A side effect of the wet weather that we observed as we travelled across the Heartland, and a most serious one it is, too, is the fact that much of the farmland is not yet planted, or even under cultivation. In fact, much of it is under water. This, combined with the serious flooding in the Mississippi Valley, bodes ill for us all.

I'd noted the rough midwestern weather and Mississippi valley flooding with interest, but that aspect of it hadn't occurred to me...although it should have.

Not getting the fields planted before memorial day? That's trouble.

Even if they get planted in the next couple of weeks, the plants will be at their most fragile stage during the hottest, driest part of the summer and, in many places, won't be ready to harvest until there is real danger of losing it to freezing temps.

We've already been experiencing serious inflation of food prices (which the government conveniently doesn't count in calculations of the official "inflation rate"); this spring's weather means it's going to get worse before it gets better...if it ever does.

Walgreens fires Employee of the Month

2011-05-26T11:16:00.000-04:00

Remember this story?

But there was one thing two robbers didn't anticipate when they barged into a Benton Township Walgreens drugstore early Sunday and tried to march workers into the back room: A worker already in back carried a handgun and knew how to use it.

Township police Lt. Delmar Lange said the worker fired multiple shots at one of the bandits, forcing the men to flee.

"He could see the hostage situation developing," Lange said. "He could not retreat any farther. He was in the back room. If it was me, I would have done the same thing."

And how did Walgreens respond to an employee that very well may have saved the lives of himself and multiple other employees?

Fire him.

The Herald Palladium reports that the national chain fired 35 year old Jeremy Hoven, a licensed conceal and carry gun owner. Walgreens wouldn't comment on the firing of Hoven...

I e-mailed them this morning informing them that I was not pleased with their decision:

My family and I have been loyal customers of Walgreens for many, many years.

That ends today.

An employee is a hero. Potentially saves the lives of himself and every other employee in that store, is lauded by the police for his actions....and you reward him by firing him.

Apparently, you would prefer to have several employees brutally murdered by armed assailants than have one of them violate company policy (I assume that's going to be your excuse for firing him) by daring to be prepared to defend himself when working for an employer who so obviously doesn't give two hoots about his well-being and that of his co-workers.

Of course, you are completely within your rights as an employer to set the terms of employment. You are completely within your rights to enforce a "no self defense" policy and abandon your employees to their fates.

And I'm within my rights to never set foot in your stores again; as I'm within my rights to be sure that everyone I know is aware of this situation so that they can make an informed decision for themselves. To that end, I'm cc'ing this e-mail to everyone I know who may be a customer of Walgreens and I'm going to be posting about it on my blog.

If you respond, I reserve the right to publish any response on my blog as well.

The bottom line is, unless you publicly rescind this policy, hire back the employee who was fired as well as giving him back pay for the time he missed, a bonus for the inconvenience and a raise for being a hero in the first place, I'm done with Walgreens.

Happily, there are plenty of alternatives.

Sailorcurt

Here is their response:

May 26, 2011

Dear Sailorcurt,

Thank you for taking your time to contact our Corporate Offices. We appreciate hearing from our customers and value all comments received.

Thank you for contacting Walgreens regarding this matter. Our policies in this area are designed to maintain the maximum safety of our customers and employees.Store employees receive comprehensive training on our company’s robbery procedures and how to react and respond to a potential robbery situation. In past incidents, employees have told us they’ve found this training effective.These policies and training programs are endorsed by law enforcement, which strongly advises against confrontation of crime suspects.Compliance is safer than confrontation. Through this practice, we have been able to maintain an exemplary record of safety.We’ve made significant investments in security technology in recent years, including increasing the number of digital surveillance cameras at our stores.With upgrades to security technology, we are able to provide police with high-resolution photographs and video of crime suspects.We continue to invest in state-of-the-art security measures and high-definition surveillance equipment and hope that the apprehension of robbery suspects in the Benton Harbor area will prevent future crimes. Thank you for contacting Walgreens to share your comments.

Again, thank you for contacting our corporate office. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your comments.

Sincerely,

Kristen
Consumer Response Representative

I do not deign to try to tell others what to do, but I'll not be darkening the door of a Walgreens again, and I'll be telling everyone I know why, so that they can at least make an informed decision.

Hat Tip to The Clue Meter

Oxymorons

2011-05-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

And other types of morons too:

As the deadline for the Apocalpyse passed in the Pacific islands, New Zealand and Australia, it seems the end of the world prediction is fizzling.

Here's the part that really got me:

The doomsday message has been sent far and wide via broadcasts and web sites by Harold Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer who has built a multi-million-dollar nonprofit ministry based on his apocalyptic prediction. [emphasis added -ed]

Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else that the terms "non-profit" and "multi-million dollar" should be mutually exclusive concepts?

A sign of the times?

2011-05-20T05:30:00.000-04:00

The Wife and I were out shopping last weekend and we came across a toy sale.

One of the things on sale was this puzzle. I don't know how long they had had them in stock before the sale, but they had at least three full pallets of these things.

Apparently they weren't selling very well.

We decided to buy one as a (gag) gift for a friend who's family does a lot of puzzles, so we picked one up.

Imagine our surprise when, at the register, it rang up for 50% off of the sale price.

Yes, we purchased this amazing representation of President Obama's legacy for the staggering sum of 54 cents.

I guess the Administration has been right about the economy all long. No inflation here folks.

Apparently the Hope and Change luster has lost some of its sheen.

ps. I had to wait to post this until my friend had received his "gift" so as to not spoil the surprise.

His reaction was...interesting:

Thank you so much for the Milton Bradley Commemorative Barack Obama "Yes We Can!" puzzle. I'm at a loss for how to show my most heartfelt appreciation. Email won't come close. A proper response requires pen and ink on paper. Honestly though, I fear that alone will surely fall short as well. I'll put serious thought toward how one might properly reciprocate such a thoughtful and beautiful gift from as dear a friend as yourself. It will most likely take a few days of pondering, but fear not. A solution will come.

On a more mundane note, the transaction you completed prior to making me this wonderful gift is a testament to the efficiency by which the market clears precious commemorative items such as these. $1.07. Priceless.

Fun with Math

2011-05-17T13:43:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across this story on Drudge this morning.

Solar farm near Climax losing money because of property taxes

Producing 225,592 kilowatt hours of electricity in its first year of operation, a solar farm in eastern Kalamazoo County that went online in early 2010 has exceeded expectations.

Also exceeding expectations is the property tax, said Sam Field, a Kalamazoo attorney and one of the owners of Kalamazoo Solar.

Granted, this is a bit outside the normal fare for my blog fodder, but a couple of things about it jumped out at me.

“The property tax burden on our solar project is 60 times as much as the property tax burden on the [Palisades] nuclear power plant when calculated on a per kilowatt hour basis,” he said.

Um...perhaps that's because the Nuclear Power plant makes more effecient use of the property they pay taxes on than does your Solar Plant?

Earlier in the same story:

Producing 225,592 kilowatt hours of electricity in its first year of operation, a solar farm in eastern Kalamazoo County that went online in early 2010 has exceeded expectations.

So, you produce 225,592 kilowatt hours on 1.1 acres of property (from the picture caption on the story).

That works out to 205,083 KW-h per acre.

So, how does the Nuclear Plant do? According to Wikipedia, the Palisades Plant produces 5,826 Gigawatt Hours (5,826,000.000 kilowatt hours) of electricity annually, on 432 acres of property. which works out to 12.236 GW-h per acre...or 12,236,000 KW-h per acre.

So, based on some simple math, the Nuclear Power Plant uses the property upon which they are paying taxes 59.663 time more effeciently than the Solar plant.

Coincidentally, almost exactly the difference factor per kilowatt hour of the taxes paid between them.

Seems to me that the two endeavors already have a pretty level playing field when it comes to property taxes, don't you agree?

Oh...but wait:

The $27,689 tax bill for the Charleston Township property means that the owners are losing money, even when being paid a premium price of 45 cents a kilowatt hour by Consumers Energy, he said.

“That Michigan property tax burden works out to a cost of 12.3 cents per kilowatt hour,” Field said. “That amount is more than the retail value of the electricity.” [Emphasis added]

Excuse me? The retail value of electricity is LESS than 12.3 cents per KW-h, but the Solar Project is being paid 45 cents? What was that about a "level playing field" again?

What that means is that this boondoggle is being funded to the tune of a 375+ percent subsidy on the per kilowatt hour price of the electricity they produce and they're STILL losing money?

And all that needs to happen for this to work is for them to get ANOTHER subsidy in the form of reduced property taxes.

There's the current state of Solar Energy for you: 4 times as expensive, 60 times as much land required, and will still be losing money unless they get taxpayer subsidies.

What a bargain.

As an aside: the lack of journalistic integrity on display in this story is almost breathtaking. I find it difficult to believe that the "journalist" who wrote this puff piece was too stupid to figure this out at a glance, which means the subterfuge was wholly intentional.

And they wonder why their industry is dying.

HA HA HA HA ha ha ha ha!

2011-05-16T17:52:00.004-04:00

We have a new entry to make to the Journalists Guide to Firearms Identification:

The infamous 12-gauge “street sweeper” assault rifle.

The no-questions-asked program yielded more than 200 nonworking guns, 170 rifles, 219 handguns and even a 12-gauge “street sweeper” assault rifle.

That's just funny right there. I don't care who you are.

I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe that any cop could be firearms ignorant enough to make a statement like that in seriousness.

It's possible that the "authorized journalists" just wrote the quote down wrong, or perhaps even made it up out of whole-cloth. In my years of exposure to the media, diligence and integrity are two traits that have not stood out to me as being among their strong suits.

But I'm really beginning to wonder if the cops feed reporters these sorts of descriptions as a joke: just to see if they're ignorant and incompetent enough to put them into their stories without bothering to do the thirty seconds of research it would take to figure out that the statement is BS to the point of ridiculousness.

And "journalists" wonder why their industry is dying.

This has got to be...

2011-05-11T16:48:00.000-04:00

one of the stupidest assertions I've ever read:

But Minnesota law already allows for the use of deadly force, without an obligation to retreat, in order to prevent danger within the home.

While there are those who disingenuously suggest that current Minnesota law does not ensure this right, no one has ever been prosecuted under Minnesota statute for legitimate self-defense. [emphasis added - ed]

Um.

Of COURSE no one's been prosecuted for "legitimate self defense" under Minnesota statute.

Legitimate self defense is not a crime under Minnesota statute.

Even in gun-free utopias like Chicago and Washington DC, "legitimate self defense" is generally not prohibited by the criminal code.

The problem with this ridiculous assertion is that it assumes that, since crime reports listing "legitimate self defense" as the charge are no-where to be found, no one has ever been wrongly prosecuted for homicide when, in fact, they were actually defending themselves, their families and their homes.

Now, I don't have the time or energy to dig through every Minnesota homicide case in history to determine if anyone in the state ever HAS been wrongly convicted of a crime when engaging in self defense, and even if I did, I'm not really qualified to make that determination anyway.

But I'd wager that the editorialist that penned that asinine statement has never done the research to back up his bald-faced assertion of fact either. Which means that the argument that no one has ever been prosecuted for legitimate self defense is...well...illegitimate.

Not to mention the fact that these laws are also needed to protect those who defend themselves against violent criminals, from frivolous civil suits.

In our broken legal system, one can be completely justified in their actions and still be ruined, bankrupted and destroyed by the expenses and stresses involved in defending against such civil claims, even when vindicated in the end.

There is no excuse for a legal system (I refuse to call it a judicial system because our system has nothing to do with seeking justice) that can again victimize the victim of a violent crime just because that person had the audacity to defend themselves.

I'm sure there are plenty of rights (that whole "remain silent" thing comes immediately to mind) that make the jobs of police and county attorneys more difficult. Fortunately for us, rights aren't exercised for the convenience of public employees. If defending the rights of the citizens as they have sworn an oath to do is too difficult for them...perhaps they should consider alternative employment opportunities.

The Wicked Witch is Dead

2011-05-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

Or so they've been saying on the news.

Osama bin Laden has been killed, a United States official said Sunday night.

Personally, I don't think it's that big of deal. I actually presumed he'd been dead for some time now, his body moldering in some collapsed cave in Pakistan somewhere.

That he was still alive all this time is of little more than emotional value to either us or the Islamic extremists in my humble opinion. He has been on the run, hiding in caves and trying to stay alive for the past ten years or so and, as such, has not been a viable threat, other than indirectly as a figurehead and motivating figure for Islamic extremists.

Seeing justice done is nice, but doesn't do squat to bring back the dead or restore the wounded, and I really don't think he posed much of an immediate threat. I don't think he's had much tactical control over anyone for a long time and, as such, even though it's welcome news, I don't really think it's that important in the grand scheme of things.

Karlsruhe Germany

2011-04-22T09:00:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to get this post up since last week but keep having issues getting the photos uploaded.

Better late than never I suppose.

Karlsruhe is a medium sized, young (by European standards) city near the French border in southern Germany. It was founded by Karl Wilhelm in 1715 after a dispute with the citizens of Durlach, the previous capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach.

The city is built around the Margrave's Palace and the major city streets radiate out from the palace grounds.

As you can see from the picture, they're currently renovating the gardens in the front of the palace. Typically, townspeople and visitors are able to use the palace gardens for walks, picnicing etc.

The palace, as well as a goodly portion of the rest of the downtown area, was badly damaged by bombing during WWII.

After the war, the palace and many historical downtown buildings were restored, however, the residents tell me that the palace gardens were not the same as original. Apparently, the current restoration project is to make the gardens more like they were when the palace was originally built in the early 1700's.

The palace now houses a museum. I didn't get a chance to go to the museum this time, but I will at some point.

Karl Wilhelm himself is interred in a small pyramid in Marktplatz, a shopping square directly in line with front doors of the palace.

Sorry about the crappy picture. The sun was wrong for this angle, but it was too crowded on the other side to get a decent angle.

Interestingly, the city plan of Karlsruhe was one of the plans provided by Thomas Jefferson to architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant upon which to base the design of Washington DC. The streets radiating out from the central, circular Palace grounds is mimicked throughout Washington DC including, most prominently, the streets surrounding the US Capital.

Karlsruhe is a very pleasant city. Most residents of the city proper reside in apartments in multitudes of multi-story apartment houses.

This is the view from the company owned apartment I was staying in.

In spite of the population density, the city is relatively quiet and low-key. Karlsruhe is home to an extensive public transportation system which is very well utilized.

Even walking around the city is very pleasant and it never ceases to amaze when you happen upon a path through a park-like area in the middle of a crowded block where you can lose yourself in nature for a few minutes.

Karlsruhe is steeped in traditional German culture.

Just kidding.

Although there are several American icon establishments (McDonalds, Burger King, etc), Karlsruhe really is steeped in German culture and is a wonderful place for good food, interesting architecture and good-old German hospitality.

Karlsruhe is also the home of the Karlsruher Sports Club (KSC) soccer team and my company is a sponsor so I was able to attend a game while there. My first time in a VIP box. Very cool. But there will be another post about that as soon as I can get the pictures uploaded. And I'll probably have a final Germany post about my general observations and impressions at some point.

I'm in Frankfurt tonight and will be catching a flight back to the good-ole USA tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to getting home, but I have to say my visit to Germany has been very enjoyable all the same.

OK. This is just weird

2011-04-16T20:28:00.000-04:00

I couldn't sleep.

It's about 2:15am in Germany and I turned on the TV.

They're showing "Hart's War" dubbed in German.

Kind of strange seeing American soldiers (including the Black ones) speaking German to each other.

Not to mention the whole concept of seeing an American movie about soldiers who are prisoners of war in a German POW camp, in Germany, dubbed in German.

I have to wonder what the Germans who are watching this think about it.

BTW: Bruce Willis' voice sounds really strange when he speaks in German. Doesn't sound like him at all.

Tips from Germany

2011-04-14T12:17:00.004-04:00

First, my tip:

If you're going to borrow a docking station with a keyboard when visiting Germany, you must know how to touch type and you must be intimately familiar with the locations of all the special characters you might need.

Also, be careful of capital letters and carriage returns.

In case you weren't aware of this, although most Germans speak English, the language they prefer to type in is, oddly enough, German.

Furthermore, in case you weren't aware, the German alphabet is not exactly the same as English. Therefore their keyboard layout is slightly different.

The interesting thing is that the character set that your computer uses is not controlled by the keyboard. The difference is only in the character printed on the key, the signal sent to the computer is virtually identical whether it's a German, English or Pig Latin keyboard. What makes the characters print differently is the language selected in your computer.

Therefore, it is perfectly OK to use a German keyboard on an American computer, you just can't look at it while you're typing or you'll be reversing your Y's and Z's and your punctuation marks and special characters will be...um...interesting. (Note to self: Ask German co-workers if they refer to their keyboard layout as "QWERTZ")

I'm a fairly experienced typist so I just followed the advice of tight rope walkers the world over and didn't look down which served me quite well.

The only real issues are the left shift key and the enter key. On American keyboards, they are both wider than on the German version so I kept typing strange characters when I was shooting for a capital letter on the right side of the keyboard or a carriage return.

It was interesting. But it was nice having a full sized keyboard and monitors to use.

The other tips about Germany that I have aren't from me: One of my good-natured German co-workers forwarded me a pdf that was a series of excerpts from the blog of an American who works in Germany.

In the e-mail to which the pdf was attached, the co-worker commented: "there is a lot of truth in the attached".

I looked up the blog and there's a lot more where the excerpts came from. In my limited experience I can't attest to most of these assertions, but the one's I've experienced seem pretty reasonable...especially the one about learning German:

Living in Germany is great, and I would recommend it to anyone. Speaking German, on the other hand, is terrible and it should be avoided at all costs. In fact, Mark Twain warned us way back in 1880 in his essay The Awful German Language not to bother with this language. There are countless reasons not to learn German, so let’s discuss a few:

He even includes a handy chart that just cleared right up[/sarcasm] one of the things that's been giving me fits about the language:

So for every single noun out there, you need to memorize a gender as well (the are some rules for determining gender, but for every rule there are just as many exceptions as examples that fit, so you still have to memorize every single one individually). But you also need to change the article, based on the case that you are using the noun in. Let’s see what this looks like in German:

German
Nominative der das die die (pl.)
Accusative den das die die
Dative dem dem der den
Genitive des des der der
Now let’s translate that table into English:

English
Nominative the the the the (pl.)
Accusative the the the the
Dative the the the the
Genitive the the the the
Do you really want to learn a language that has 16 ways to say the word “the”?

	German
Nominative	der	das	die	die (pl.)
Accusative	den	das	die	die
Dative	dem	dem	der	den
Genitive	des	des	der	der

	English
Nominative	the	the	the	the (pl.)
Accusative	the	the	the	the
Dative	the	the	the	the
Genitive	the	the	the	the

For much, much more, start here...then click "Newer Entries" and just keep reading.

Very entertaining, but plan on spending some time there, and keep all drinks safely away from your keyboard and monitor. You've been warned.

Public Apology

2011-04-13T00:56:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I used a fictional account of my wife and I's finances as a metaphor for government spending.

I didn't speak to my wife about this before hand and I didn't think to explain it to her before I left for Gerrmany.

So, when she read it, I was 6,000 miles away with 6 hours of time difference between us. She was understandably upset with me for not talking to her before using her in my metaphor. I should not have done that and I apologize to her with all my heart.

No hurt or harm was intended and I'm sorry for any that my thoughtless action caused.

Mental Exercise

2011-04-09T23:00:00.000-04:00

I'm leaving tomorrow for my trip to Germany. Hopefully I'll have some interesting stuff and pictures to post later on.

I have some more CZ-82 pictures to post that I just haven't had time to get up too. Sigh.

In the mean time, I want to get your advice:

We've got a financial problem in our household. Every month we spend $1,270 more than we take in. The credit cards are all maxed out, but so far I've been able to get them to raise my limit every few weeks to make up the difference.

I'm pretty stoked though; My wife and I have been arguing about this for months now but I think we've finally come to an agreement.

She wanted to buy a new car, a new Big Screen TV, and keep buying the extra-special (extra expensive) dog food for the dogs. She also wouldn't even consider cutting back on her cell phone minutes or getting rid of the premium channels on Cable.

I think that this level of debt is unsustainable and I've been trying to convince her that we need to make some deep cuts to keep our financial house of cards from collapsing.

This week we finally came to a compromise. As a result, we're going to drastically slash our spending by about $40 a month.

We're saved and the financial crisis is over, don't you agree?

No?

Then someone please explain to me why the geniuses in Washington think we should be jumping for joy over the deal they just cut?

Projected 2011 deficit: $1,270 Billion
"Historic" budget cuts just agreed to: $ 40 Billion
Remaining 2011 deficit: $1,230 Billion

We're drowning in a sea of debt and our "saviors" just scooped one bucketful out and called it Miller Time.

Somehow I feel somewhat less than saved.

For the record, the above family financial issues are metaphorical. My wife and I are not at loggerheads about our spending and she is very reasonable in her expectations.

And we never spend more than we make. A lesson that our "betters" in Washington just can't seem to figure out.

Bad Blogger!

2011-03-26T09:45:00.000-04:00

I've been remiss in updating for a while because there's been a lot going on and I've just been pretty much on the run.

The week after Kellen was born, I headed out on a business trip.

Some of you may recognize this skyline. The white skinny structure to the left gives it away.

Yes, that's the space needle. I spent the week in Seattle a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, my time was taken up with business so I didn't have a chance to get together with any of the fine gun bloggers in the area. There are a bunch in the Washington State area and it's a shame I didn't have time.

Maybe next time...and there will be a next time.

BTW: for anyone who's never been there, the above shot was taken from Highway 5 on the way into town. There's a place where you come over a hill and around a curve and the skyline just appears before you. It's breathtaking the first time you see it.

Of course, the weather for the week was typical Seattle spring: cloudy, drizzly and dreary.

After I got home from that trip, we got ready for the next one...back to Indiana in a whirlwind 4 day round trip.

Since the crash and the miracle that is my sister's recovery, she has become all to conscious of the fact that life is too short and precious to let any of it go to waste. She and her fiance of several years finally decided to tie the knot. Once the decision was made, they didn't want to waste any time, so it happened pretty quickly.

It was a beautiful, small and tasteful ceremony and The Wife and I were thrilled to be able to attend.

I present Mr. and Mrs. Bart and Yolanda Butler.

Her eyes look a little off because she didn't want the pictures taken with her glasses on...but that means she was essentially blind while they were being taken.

That minor point aside, they make a great looking couple don't they?

I haven't seen her that happy in a long time.

I got some pretty good pictures so I'm going to share a couple. I may put more up on Flikr or something.

The bride and step-dad Bill

The flower girl was Yolanda's daughter Paradyse

She's a cutie isn't she?

She's smart as a whip and is very affectionate too. She's gonna be a heartbreaker.

Cutting the Cake

Anyway, it was a great day.

In a couple of weeks, I'm going to be going to Germany on a business trip, during which time The Wife is going to go on a road trip back to Indiana to spend time with the happy couple and also to Wisconsin to see some of her family, so it doesn't look like it's going to get any less busy any time soon.

Oh well...keeps life interesting.

Fresh out of the oven

2011-03-04T08:46:00.001-05:00

The newest addition to the Sailorcurt clan, grandson Kellen, born yesterday at 8:30am. Weighing in at 7lbs, 4oz and standing 21" high, he promises to be a formidable middleweight contender.

Kellen and big sis Savanna

CZ-82 Success story and guest post

2011-03-01T18:05:00.000-05:00

Update at bottom

Someone who stumbled across my CZ-82 posts wrote me to tell me about his project.

He broke down, stripped, blued and reassembled his CZ-82.

The final product looks great and he graciously granted me permission to post the picture and the process he used.

As usual...click to make bigger.

Looks really nice doesn't it?

To answer your questions before you ask:
1: No, the serial numbers haven't been altered, I used the smudge tool in Gimp to blur them out. Privacy and all that...

2: He got the grips from grips4u.net and reports a perfect fit out of the box with no fitting.

These are the steps he used for stripping and blueing, as passed to him from another helpful gunney:

1. Stripped paint with Jasco paint stripper/remover from Lowes/Home Depot. Don't forget to remove your grips and move them well away from your work area. This process may take a few applications. I used a brass and nylon brush to remove the loose paint and get inside of internal parts of the gun.

2. Once stripped, I saturated it with degreaser (BC Gun Scrubber), just to make sure all paint and oil was removed.

3. Of course this process removes ALL paint, so don't be shocked when your white dot sights go away (this can be taken care of easily later).

4. I used 600 grit, cloth backed, wet/dry sand paper to begin the polishing process. Use long strokes to go with the grain of the metal. I left the top of the slide alone as not to polish off the matte. I then move to 00 steel wool, and then to 0000 steel wool. Clean and degrease when done (steel wool has some oil in it that needs to be removed before bluing).

5. I used Oxpho Blue, 100% cotton cotton balls, Q-Tips, 0000 steel wool, and some chop sticks (for dipping cotton balls into the bluing), and a blow dryer for heat. Don’t forget to glove up for everything after the initial stripping of paint. Oxpho Blue supposedly doesn’t have a problem with oil from fingers, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.

6. Heat the metal and use long even strokes with an Oxpho Blue covered cotton ball and/or swab. It will dry quickly on the heated metal and begin to oxidize / rust. Give it a minute to sit (60 – 120 seconds) and then burnish well with your 0000 steel wool. To really get a good blue you need to spend the time to burnish well. This process evens out the blotchiness of the bluing process and preps the metal for the next application.

7. I repeated this process 6 times before I was happy with the color match and sheen of the cold blue (heat, blue, burnish).

8. I then took the parts and put them in boiling water for about 3 minutes. I then applied a slurry of baking soda to all newly blued parts, then after about 30 minutes, I dunk the blued parts back into the boiled water to remove the slurry. This process neutralizes the acids in the bluing process and begins to help eliminate the smell.

9. I then use a light gun oil, like Rem Oil or a little CLP and some 0000 steel wool and shine op all the blue. This is really the final burnish for your bluing.

10. (This one is an extra step, but a recommended one) Now to completely remove the smell I put the blued parts in a gallon ziplock bag filled with motor oil for 48 – 72 hours.

11. Degrease completely, when clean and dry, oil and grease the gun as you would after a typical cleaning. Apply a very light coat of CLP to all metal surfaces

Update:

The generous gunney who was the originator of the procedure above gave permission to post a picture of his own CZ-82 that he refinished using this procedure.

Again, click to make bigger.

This one has original grips which the owner obviously did some polishing on as well. Very nice job on both the metal work and the grips.

These little guns really clean up nice...and they shoot great too.

People of the Gun

2011-03-01T08:10:00.001-05:00

I meant to post about this days ago, but things just kind of got away from me and I never got it done.

It seems that Jeff over at Alphecca...creator of the People of the Gun web site...has gotten sponsorship and a new host for the tribe.

The theme is what it always was: A tribe of firearm owners and bloggers; just ordinary Americans, many of them your friends and neighbors. We believe in and practice the constitutional and natural right to protect our families, ourselves, and our homes.

Ammo.net, an online ammunition retailer with great prices and a bangin' selection (sorry, I couldn't resist) has become the new home People of the Gun, of which I'm a proud member.

You can find the newly designed and hosted web site here, and you may notice the updated banner in the sidebar.

And if you're not a member of the tribe...why not?

Job Opening

2011-02-27T07:49:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine from my Navy days has informed me that the company he works for is hiring.

They're looking for someone in electronics who can teach basic electronics as well as do some electronics engineering work.

Basically, my friend was in Navy EOD for over 20 years. The company teaches EOD principles and techniques to law enforcement, military and contractors.

The job really sounds like it would be fun and interesting so if anyone out there in the Hampton Roads area (or willing to move here at your own expense...they're a small company and can't afford to pay moving expenses) submit your resume right away, they're wanting to start looking at resumes next week.

Here's the job listing.

Democrats offended again

2011-02-24T06:08:00.000-05:00

Representative Debbie Wasser Schultz (D-Victimhood) contended recently that the use of the term "Obamacare" is a "disparaging reference" and that those darn teabaggers had better stop using it or she'll hold her breath and stomp her feet until they do..

OK...I made that last part up. She didn't say anything about holding her breath.

Irony or hypocrisy? We report, you decide.

The Knowledge Police

2011-02-18T06:38:00.001-05:00

Gun dealers and employees in New York arrested for providing information to customers:

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice says a 10-month investigation found the gun dealers modified assault rifles to bring them in compliance with state law. The dealers then would instruct the undercover officers posing as customers how to change them back into full-fledged assault weapons.

Scene: Mom and pop gun shop in up-state New York

Gun dealer: "OK...you passed the background check, have filled out the forms, jumped through all the hoops and paid all of your poll taxes. Here is your firearm which has been cosmetically altered so as to no longer look scary in the eyes of the law."

Customer: "Well, what would I have to do to make my firearm look scary again?"

Gun dealer: "What, are you stupid? Obviously, you put the cosmetic parts back on that we took off: flash hider, bayonet lug, adjustable stock, shoulder thing that goes up, etc."

Customer: "I'm an undercover Police Officer. It's too hard and dangerous to track down actual criminals so you'll have to do: you're under arrest for selling me a perfectly legal gun and telling me how to make it look scary. Book-em Danno".

Cut to Press Conference later

Customer - cum - Police Officer: "No need to thank me, putting my life on the line to arrest these dangerous store clerks and business owners is all in a day's work. The real story here is that we succeeded in taking this dangerous information off the streets. Today was the first step in making our state dumber...er...safer."

Main Stream Media Journalists: "You're our HERO!".

Alternative Media Journalist (blogger wearing jammies and bunny slippers): "But, Officer...isn't this information freely available on the Internet?"

Customer - cum - Police Officer: "Inter-what? What are you talking about? Fellow Police Officers...arrest that man, he's a subversive! Charge him with conspiracy to disseminate information and throw him in jail with those evil, dangerous store clerks and businessmen!"

Main Stream Media Journalists: "Sigh" [eyelashes flutttering] "You saved us again, brave Policeman. May we have your babies?"

OK, OK...I'm not much of a humorist. Sorry about that. I'll leave the humor to the people who are actually good at it from here on out.

The 90 Percent myth:

2011-02-12T06:00:00.007-05:00

The definitive answer:

It has now become quite common to hear U.S. officials confidently assert that 90 percent of the weapons used by the Mexican drug cartels come from the United States. However, a close examination of the dynamics of the cartel wars in Mexico — and of how the oft-echoed 90 percent number was reached — clearly demonstrates that the number is more political rhetoric than empirical fact.

Good stuff. Go read it all.