2008 Croc Match Stages

Thanks to Evil Bill ("I am but a lowly stage designer, trying my best to provide some sort of shooting challenge"), we have the stage designs for the 2008 Labor Day Weekend "Another Day in Paradise " High Round-Count match at Dundee, Oregon.

This match is scheduled for Auguste 30-31, 2008. That's Saturday and Sunday. If you haven't already signed up, be sure to get to the match early. You can find sign-up information here.

You can download the stage designs and procedures at the marked links. File sizes are marked on each stage. Although I don't plan to compete in this match (don't have ammo loaded, etc.), after a look at the stages I may show up just to take pictures. Maybe even some video. (See Below #1)

Stage Bay: 1
Title/Link: The Long and Short of It [59 kb]
Designer: Keith Tyler
Round-count: 54/270 points
Targets: 24 IPSC, 6 plates
Description: Comstock Field Course
Comments: Box activates 2 swingers, shoot from the box. Lots of vision barriers.


Stage Bay: 2
Title/Link: Shooting Paradise [391 kb]
Designer: Eric Falkner
Round-count: 55 /275 Points
Targets: 24 IPSC, 2 PP, 5 Plates
Description: Comstock Field Course
Comments: The "5 plates" are on a Texas Star/ Narrow bay, trees are probably hard-cover, shooting through ports and around vision barriers ... including especially the Texas Star. Four shooting positions, plus a bottle-neck 'free fire zone' in the middle; watch your 180 there!


Stage Bay: 3
Title/Link: Over the TipTop [71 kb]
Designer: Mike McCarter
Round-count: 48/240 points
Targets: 18 IPSC, 12 USP
Description: Comstock Field Course
Comments: The USP (U.S. Poppers) are in 4 groups of 3, stacked in front of each other. A Lateral COF, with 3 ports between vision barriers plus shooting around the ends of the vision barriers ... all shooting from "Box A Only". Use of the term "Field Course" here is incorrect, of course, because of the "shoot from the box only" restriction. As is typical of a Croc Match, this stage defies being categorized. Just ... do what you have to do. Note that the IPSC targets are arranged in six arrays, glued on top of each other with limited access to 2/3 of the targets. This will be an Accuracy-intense stage. Good news? This is decidedly NOT Revolver-Friendly. (Okay, I was kidding about the "Good News" thingie.)


Stage Bay: 4
Title/Link: Darn Popper [151 kb]
Designer: Trevor Ott
Round-count: 51/255 Points
Targets: 25 IPSC, 1 PP
Description: Comstock Field Course, although all rounds must be fired "from within fault lines and Box A", and an irregular hexagon fully enclosed by 'fault lines' as of this writing. Again, defies categorization in this respect.
Comments: The single Steel Target (a Pepper Popper which appears to be partially hidden behind a (low?) vision barrier on the far end of the bay must be engaged from within the starting Box A. Note that "Still will flip up T11 and T12, which are also behind the "low(?) vision barrier". As a further complication, there appears to be a vision barrier within the fault-lines, running from uprange to downrange; it seems to be intended to force the shooter not to engage all targets from a single point. It may not survive Stage Construction. The stage design features many barrels between shooting position and targets. The stage procedure does not specify whether the barrels constitute hard-cover or soft-cover, but Croc Matches typically define them as soft-cover. This is because time available does not allow for complex Range Officer decisions about whether a shot is a legal hit or not because there is a hole in the barrel.

Stage Bay: 5
Title/Link: Paradise Island [105 kb]
Designer: Paul Meier
Round-count: 59/295 points
Targets: 25 IPSC, 7 USP, 2 Pepper Poppers
Description: Comstock, shooting from with fully-enclosed fault-lines and from atop a platform.
Comments: Start sitting in a chair, unloaded pistol on a table, ammo on person. At least two moving targets (swingers?) activated apparently by shooting either USP or Pepper Poppers. This is probably presented in the "Punch Bowl" bay; very close shooting, a lot of walking up and down the hill to score, tape and reset the targets. Again, another slow stage. Bay is in the hot sun, you'll get tired of walking up and down the hill for a minute's rest in the shade of the Rifle Bench-rest area. Bring lots of water and sun block. (See Below #2.)


Stage Bay: 6
Title/Link: Just Another Set of Standards [69 kb]
Designer: Brad Sitton
Round-count: 48/240 Points
Targets: 6 IPSC
Description: Fixed Time
Comments: Six strings, 6 seconds per string. From different distances, with different stances and grips (kneeling, freestyle, strong hand, weak hand, mandatory reload). This will be a very time-consuming stage. Prediction: it will slow up the match, their will be penalties for following the wrong procedures from at least one distance/shooting position/array; this will be the most hated stage in the match.

Stage Bay: Croc Bay
Title/Link: Freestyle Paradise [438 kb]
Designer: "Evil" Bill Marrs
Round-count: 66/330 points
Targets: 25 IPSC, 4 Pepper Popper, 2 USP, 10 Plates
Description: Comstock, legal shooting area defined by fault lines. Starting position is of interest: "Any body position, any hand position, any safe "gun ready" condition and position that complies with the rules. You can not start a stage touching the gun or ammo! (rule 8.2.3)"
Comments: "All props are soft cover -- except the barrels." Note that this stage features the "Evil Oregon Star". Note that this stage features at least 4 IPSC targets which seem to be activated by hitting steel plates. There have been issues with this arrangement ... what if you hit the plate and it doesn't bring up the IPSC target? What if the 'head' of the IPSC target is bent to the point of inaccessibility by the repeated action of being rapidly moved from a prone to a vertical position? Look for this stage design to be changed before the start of the match; there are some potential administrative problems associated with the stage design as I have interpreted it, so don't take this as fact. This is the biggest stage of the match (in terms of number of targets and points available.) Still, it looks like the most fun stage of all. I want to shoot this stage!

* See Below #1:
I may show up for the match, and I hope to take pictures and films some videos.
Heck, I would love to shoot the match. But, as I have frequently mentioned here, considering the dramatically increased cost of components, I don't feel that I can afford to shoot a "Lost Brass Match".

This match is not publicized as a "Lost Brass Match". However, there are so many rounds fired on each stage, the shooting positions are so far apart, and the pace of the match is so fast, there is no time to do much brassing. Even after a stage is completed, you just want to get off the stage and on to the next one.

Folks, this is not intended as a criticism of the match. On the contrary, this is the most exciting and downright FUN match in the country today. I'm describing a personal decision here, and it probably doesn't apply to you. Don't assume that I'm trying to talk you out of shooting this match, because I wouldn't want anyone to miss it because of something I have said.

* See Below #2
Friends, if you're not accustomed to shooting matches in Oregon, there's some things you should know.

First: During the month of August, the weather is hot hot HOT! Bring lots of water, sun-block (pf 25 should be a minimum, and refresh it every 2 hours), wear light clothing.


Second: After Labor Day, the weather changes dramatically. We get rain, and sometimes it turns into a real drizzle. Prepare for it by bringing Rain Gear, hats, towels, and anything else which you expect to need to continue to compete during a downpour.

Third: Sometimes, the Weather doesn't understand the calendar so well. Expect to encounter the First conditions. Prepare yourself so that if the Second conditions prevail, you will not be uncomfortable in the rain.
_______________________________________
Oh, yeah.

You want to know what a Croc Match stage looks like, when it's Done Right?

Once again, here's Stage Winner Yong Lee on Stage 5: The Doors.

This is the 2005 Croc Match.

Stumble It!

Phishing for Gullible Geeks

Four days ago I wrote an article called "Comcast Hell".

It was as long, and as difficult to read, as a Melville novel.

Moby Dick:
This was a long, convoluted story of my attempts to resolve a billing problem with my Internet Provider, Comcast. (Note: no, it has not yet been resolved to my satisfaction. I estimate it will take 45 to 60 days to get all of the billing issues resolved. Perhaps as much as 90 days, if the Comcast Service Representative didn't actually do all the things s/he said s/he did.)

After I published the article I read it. I thought "That's a lot of whining for one post, even for a Geek! I ought to just delete it. But it's late, I'll sleep on it first. " (Not the first time I've had that thought, and from time to time I have acted on it. You may not have noticed. That suggests that it's usually a good decision.)

However, I didn't. Call it Sloth. Call me Ishmael.
__________________________________________

The Phisher:
A couple of days later at 6:13 am, someone who represented himself as a Comcast employee posted a comment offering to help.

All I had to do, he said, was to email him my phone number, and my Mother's phone number.

The return email address he provided was "cable.comcast.com". (Which, according to Whois.com, is not a properly formatted domain name. But email routers often have extensions like this.)

The guy must not know me for the cynical, suspicious Geek that I am. The idea that I would send personal information to a stranger from a strange land is just something that I cannot Grok.

How did this purportedly concerned Comcast employee know that I had a problem with Comcast? Comcast knows me by my Primary User Name, which is certainly not public knowledge ... certainly not something which is available to someone who knows me by Blog. Of course, he didn't know that for sure. But with a phone number, and an email address, it may be possible to access a commercial account and (if you're a fast talker) convince the CSR to allow you access by, among other things, resetting the password.

Given the Primary User Name, and a password, the amount of damage is literally incalculable. It depends upon their skill as a Hacker.

So I didn't send him any phone numbers. Instead, I replied to the email address and told him that if he was Legit, he could look up the company records and contact me by a more secure method.

This was, of course, an attempt to get HIM to reveal more about himself.

In the meantime, I contacted Comcast and described the situation. I contacted the Help Desk, and also the Vice President in charge of Operations. I asked them to vet this person, if they could; I also asked them to tell me if they had ANY idea who that person was.

I've received a reply from Comcast (not with the same "cable.comcast.com" email format, by the way) stating that they had nobody like that anywhere in their organization. They advised me to reject any requests from that source.

That was easy to do. All I had to do was to accept that he was Phishing for information which would allow him to steal from me, and not respond as he had requested.
_________________________________________

The White Whale
The reason I'm boring you with all this is to impart a message:

If you use the Internet, someday somebody may come up to you and say: "Just give me your personal contact information, and I will solve all of your problems. If I am lying, may the Jack of Diamonds jump up onto your shoulder and piss in your ear."

Friends, resist the natural inclination to believe in this person. As sure as you do, you will end up with wet ears.

If you find yourself with yellow ear-wax, what can you do?

Consider the scene in "True Grit", where Rooster Cogburn discovers that he is sharing his domicile and his dinner with a large, gray Rat. First he tried Legal recourse:

"Mr. Rat, I have a writ here says you're to stop eating Chin Lee's cornmeal forthwith. Now it's a rat writ, writ for a rat, and this is lawful service of the same. See, doesn't pay any attention to me."

When that doesn't work, he shoots the rat.

That's the best way to deal with a Phisher, too.

Tell them that you heard it here, first.

Stumble It!

2008 Croc Match

The Croc Match (*) is alive and well, thriving with eight (8) stages and requires 400+ rounds MINIMUM to complete the match.

I knew you would like that last part.

The link to all information for the match is here, and even though the URL suggests that this is information for the 2007 match ... trust me, it's everything you need to know for the 2008 match.

This is perhaps probably the premier "High Round Count" match for the season. Expect to shoot much more than the minimum "400+" rounds. Expect your gun to be over-heated to the point where you wish you had an ice bucket to store your pistola between stages (and why not? I've done that!) And expect that you will have more fun than you previously thought possible without taking your clothes off.

The match runs for two days ... August 30/31, 2008 ... which fits nicely into the LONG Labor Day Weekend. (They planned it that way.)

Paul will probably be the MD, and Evil Bill will probably be the RM. Look for the most evil ... sorry, I mean EVIL stage designs, targets and props you would never imagine.

There WILL be Revolver Shooters at the match. If you've never watched anyone making 9 or 10 reloads to complete a single stage, this is your chance.

Shooting Production, Single-Stack or Limited-10 Division? No problem. I've shot this match more than once with a 1911 Single Stack, using a mix of 10-round and 8-round Chip McCormack magazines. Yes, the other members of my squad did actually say 'We only found Jerry at the end of the stage by following his trail of expended magazines". (If they didn't say that, exactly ... they meant to. And they should have.)

What they actually said, when they saw me shooting 50+ round stages with 8-round magazines, was: "I felt so sorry for Jerry".

Never mind. I hear that a lot even when I'm shooting a 'regular' match with a hi-cap Open Gun.

We're talking Trail of Tears, folks, and if you ever decided that you had 500 rounds of loaded ammunition that you wanted to shoot up, and leave it on the stage because you were too tired to pick up your own brass, this is the match for YOU!

Registration is limited to the first 120 entries, but chances are good that it's not too late to register.

This match isn't for just anybody. Come on out, shoot your aspirations out, and prove to yourself and to your friends that you are Man Enough to take on the Iron Man Match From Heck.

(No, I'm not man-enough this year. Also, I don't have enough ammo loaded. But don't let that stop you.

Stoke 'Em Up, Brother! You'll need every magazine you own, and you'll laugh more than you cry.

Probably.

Stumble It!

2008 Area 1 Multi Gun Championship

2008 Area 1 Multi Gun Championship

... I missed it.

I was sick that weekend, didn't go to watch (and report on) the match even though it was only 20 minutes away from my sick bed.

Didn't talk to anybody. Didn't get any photographs or videos. .

I couldn't even find a link to the match results, year.
Watch this space. As soon as I learn anything, I'll pass it along.

(With luck, someone who was there will be able to provide a link to the match results in the COMMENTS section, and I can update this article with the link URL.)

Sorry, folks. Not saying I'll do better next time, but at least I recognize my own failings.

Stumble It!

Olympic Sport: Sheep Sheering?

Australia targets Olympic sheep shearing

Peter Artridge, of Sports Shear Australia, one of the industry's governing bodies, said: "We think shearing has as much right to be called a sport as any Commonwealth or national games event.

"Shearers should be up there with other Australian sporting champions.

"Some of these guys train for months to be at their physical best. They're going to the gym and doing yoga and following special diets. They're outstanding athletes.

"If people could see the skill that is involved, they'd be interested."

Sheep Shearing? And the IOC doesn't think that Practical Pistol is a worthy addition to the Olympic Games?

Bloody Hell!

Stumble It!

Day by Day Cartoon Fund Raising

Day by Day Cartoon by Chris Muir

It may not be obvious to the Casual Observer, but from time to time I do present a fund raising appeal here on Cogito Ergo Geek.

They're all based on the Internet because, like, I'm a Geek.

When I read about something or someone I'm interested in, I like to throw a few coins into the metaphoric hat.

There was Michael Yon, some poor 80-year-old retiree in NYC who got mugged in an elevator and lost his Social Security Check ... you know; whatever catches your attention. It may be organized, it may be ad hoc, but charity is among the Good Works demanded of a civilized person. We get to choose the beneficiaries, and if with you it's usually your church or your adult kids or your ne'er-do-well brother in law, that's okay. It probably isn't a lot, but while you got it, you can share it.

It's not condescending, it's lending a hand. You can even brag about it, if you feel the need.

The thing about giving when you don't need to give, is that it makes you feel good. That's okay, too. Most of us "do" for others because it meets a need that we have, as much as it meets a need that they have.

Money, time, a ride to church, take a cake to a wake, spend an evening listening to a friend who is down, donate a holster to a Junior USPSA member drive, buy a raffle ticket 'to a good cause' when you know you'll never win ... all of these are "charity". Also known as being a responsible member of your family, your church, your community, your society.
__________________________________________________

Reason I'm saying all of this is that I have been reading Chris Muir's Day By Day cartoons every day for a couple of years now, and it isn't even a subscription service. It's just out there, every day, and I go read it and laugh or shake my head. Or both.

Chris gives something to me every day: an appreciation for a point of view that doesn't always agree with mine, but even then it's entertaining.

I spend a lot of money on books every month, because they give me hours of entertainment.

I read DBD every day, and I pay nothing for the minute or two of enjoyment it brings me. You probably do, too.
______________________________________

Chris put out an appeal for funding today. He sent out a first appeal last year and received sufficient funding to support his art for a year, in a single day. Unfortunately, it didn't last for a year. It lasted for 8 months. Immediately, he lost his Day Job, and has since been subsisting on his contributions. Which are drying upl

Many blogs feature DBD on a feed ... mine is always at the very bottom of the page, and the pages are often very long so you may not have noticed it. (Just hit the END button right now, and you'll see his latest cartoon. Then come back here.)

Read the text below the cartoon. It'll be in place for about a week, but in case you don't get around to reading this, here's the essential part:

1031 people came through in the last Fundraiser; according to 'The Long Tail' theory of internet readers, there's usually a core 1% that come through for internet publishers. All donations are critical, and I also ask again of that '1000'. Look what Leonidas did with the 300-except I don't have a 6-pack, I'm not a leader, and the thought of all of you in G-strings frankly worries me a bit.

But we share the same beliefs, I think.

The site's been redone, there's a forum coming up, there's an email subscription, searchable archives, new avatars, a new DBD banner that shows the strip in a popup (so you have more advertising space on your own blog),twitter, free Wowio DBD ebooks, and when you donate to DBD you receive pdfs of never released drawings of DBD's start back in 1998 (yes, 2 years before DBD went up), examples of just how different Jan, Damon, Sam, and Zed were before 2001.

Depending on which of the 4 Donation Levels you select, there is also a DBD Playing Card deck, Sam posters, plus Original DBD hand-written script sheets complete with hand-signed strips that derive from those scripts.

That was the carrot, now for the stick, and...I don't have a stick. I'll still try & get DBD out.

I kind of like his determination to continue the website, as long as he can. Starving artist, while admirable in the abstract, are not very appealing in real time. They tend to end up pumping gas into your Ford Explorer. This guy offers something too valuable to be lost, and I would like to see that he is recognized for a much higher contribution to society.

Here's the bad news: Chris can only accept donations via PAYPAL. If you don't have a PayPal account, or if the funds are currently deleted, you can transfer funds in three to five days. (You can set it up to add to the PayPal account online directly from your checking account.)

Here's the good news: There's a "DONATE" button in a box in the upper right-hand corner of the DBD website, and there's also an AMAZON.COM donate button just below it.

Maybe there will be a PayPal direct pay button added, just to make it easier to donate and reap the benefits of receiving a variety of DBD products depending on the amount of the donation.

Frankly, the best reason to donate is to ensure the continued availability of The Further Adventures of Jan, Damon, Sam, and Zed.

Go to DBD, read The Whole Thing.

Then (as Doctor Laura would say) ... Do The Right Thing.

Stumble It!

Political Differences

Sharing: A lesson on human nature

I was talking to a friend of mine's little girl the other day. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, "I want to be President!" Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there. So then I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give houses to all the homeless people."

"Wow - what a worthy goal." I told her, "You don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where this homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house."

Since she is only 6, she thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Also from the same source:

The Democrats have suddenly developed a keen sense of morality. John Edwards has been banned from making a speech at the Democratic convention for having an affair and lying about it.

In his place Bill Clinton will be speaking.

The Hobo Brasser

"A liberal is a person whose interests aren't at stake at the moment."
-- Willis Player

"A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money"
-- G. Gordon Liddy

"The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too."
-- Oscar Levant

Stumble It!

Now what?

'Guns in the hands of good people' - The York Daily Record

Kim du Toit

You're driving down the road minding your own business, when you suddenly see a Road Rage; two out-of-control guys react to a minor fender bender, and attack a car driven by a woman, another woman and an undetermined number of children in there with her.

The guy car rams the car with women, and block their escape. The guy driver, hostile and loud and abusive, threatens mayhem at the top of his voice.

You've followed them into the parking lot where they ended up. Your wife is in the car with you.
What do you do?

In the actual event, one man ends up dead ... the attacking man.

One man ends up in handcuffs ... the non-involved, defending man.

On June 28, 2008, Brian Fentiman shot and killed Doug Needs, who threatened a carload of female drives, Fentiman, and Fentiman's wife.

Fentiman was not a party to the original road-rage incident: he was a witness, and stopped to render what help he could to the two victim females (and their children) and, when Need threatened the Fentimans, he used his final defense ... a pistol, which he was legally licensed to carry.

This may be one of the most revealing and cogent tales in recent history of a man who just wants to defend victims of violent crime ... which threatens to degenerate.

(For a comparative example of Road Rage Gone Wrong, see "Minor Wreck turns into Deadly Trauma in Florida" ... an unrelated incident.)

Stumble It!

Is this GEEK enough for you?

I was getting ready for bed, emptying the pockets , and looking down on the contents of the nightstands it occurred to me that these were the pockets of a Geek.

Whoa! Who knew?

Some of you may think that the appellation of "Jerry The Geek" is a pejorative term, but I so named myself 12 years ago and I have never found reason to reject the nomenclature. Witness the contents of my pockets ... the stuff that I carry EVERY day.


In fact, these objects (along with my keys) are my SHTF objects. I can get into my car and my home, where more GEEK stuff is stashed in case I really, really need it. But that's the context of another, very much overworked meme.

Here's the inventory of what I carry in my pockets every day:

• Moneyclip: includes analog battery driven clock, cash, and all credit/identity cards (including Concealed Handgun License)
• Cigarette lighter, small version (I smoke, but this is also useful for 'other purposes)
• Small knife, very sharp, one locking blade
• Small LED flashlight
• Cell phone: this is my only phone, I have no 'landline'. All of my contacts are here. Also GPS capable; Blackberry capable (but not activated); backup watch.
• At LEAST one Flash Drive. It's only coincidence that I have two with me today, but I have all of my computer signons and passwords (all encrypted) here.

A note about the proliferation of Flash Drives:

A few years ago I bought a Cruzer Flash Drive, my first, with a capacity of 256k for about $35.
Two years ago I bought a 1GB Flash Drive for just under $100.
A few months ago I bought the 2GB Flash Drive (seen here) for $9.95. I bought two.
Two weeks ago I bought the 8GB Flash Drive (seen here) for $28.95. I bought two.
Friday, I found another 8GB Flash Drive at TigerDirect.Com for under $25.

I hadn't yet unwrapped my second $28.95 8GB Flash Drive.

It's axiomatic in Geekistan that as soon as you buy Computer Stuff, it is obsolete.

But my 2GB Flash Drive holds 95% of My Music, which was loaded to my personal computer from CDs that I bought. Any three of the 80+ CDs in that directory cost more than did the 8GB Flash Drive, which now holds the entire directory ... plus a backup copy of my current "big" programming project from work, plus another work-related file folder. And it is still not full.
________________________________

This is a First Generation MEME. I've sent it out to a dozen bloggers. Let's see how geekish THEY are.

Stumble It!

When Will This Nightmare End?

ObamA Chooses Senator Joe Biden D. Deleware as his Vice Presidential Running Mate by Carol Lloyd — obama choses joe biden as vp mate | Gather

To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, Obama has had a difficult time selecting a vice-presidential running mate for the 2008 Presidential elections, because everyone he would have selected had resumes so much better than his that it made the (presumptive) Presidential candidate seem incompetent.

(And so it should.)

Consequently, BHO has chosen the absolutely perfect running mate: Joe Biden, The Distinguished Dipshit from Delaware.

What's good about this? They are both about as deep as a mud-puddle n a parking lot, and Biden is perhaps the only U.S. Senator who typically embarrasses himself in public with his "unscripted remarks" more regularly than does Obama.

In a word, Biden is so bad, he makes Obama look good ... in comparison.

This, my friends is what makes Politics a dirty word in any honest household.

As author John Barnes said: "This is an idea so stupid that it could only have been conceived by a Politician."

...

For those of us who are Second Amendment believers, Michael Bane had a few words (and more links) to illustrate exactly why Biden is so repugnant.

Both Biden and Obama are determinedly Anti-Second Amendment ... despite Obama's "Urban Liberal" frantic attempts earlier in the year to position himself as Pro-Second Amendment.


His To Lose
In January, Salon announced of McCain that the Republican Nomination (over Romney) was "His to Lose".

More recently (February), The Economist announced of Obama that the Presidential Election (over McCain) was "His to Lose".

These to final candidates are equally so repugnant to most Americans, there is little to select from.

Obama, the most Liberal Democrat in the senate (and nearly the most inexperienced, with absolutely no background except for Academia, Law, and Politics) is completely acceptable to most Democrats.

McCain is an acknowledged War Hero. (Wasn't that big on the Democratic priorities when John Kerry was running against "The Draft Dodger Bush" in 2004, and Al Bore in 200)? ... and below the Event Horizon when Bill Clinton ran against George Bush Sr. in 1992? Curious how the concept of Military Experience varies for Democrats depending on the party affiliation of the candidates.)

McCain has proven leadership qualities during his time in the military.

On the other hand, his recent legislative record (Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants; Campaign Finance Reform) has been both anti-conservative and anti-constitutional. These political antics, if nothing else has alienated what might have been his "Conservative Base". Consequently, a lot of Republicans may vote for him (especially Second Amendment voters, under the umbrella of "Anybody But The Anti-Gun Urban Liberal"), but many true conservatives ... who have more than a single issue ... may choose to NOT vote for him. They may write in a candidate, refuse to vote (under the principal that there is no reason to vote for McCain), or indeed they may actually vote for Obama.

This last decision is usually based on the reasoning that "We can't vote for a Conservative, we might as well vote for the Liberal. Sure, he'll trash the country. But it may make it easier to get true Conservatives elected into Congress in 2010, and a Conservative may be a more palatable candidate in the 2012 Presidential Elections."

I don't know where they're going to find this hypothetically electable Conservative Candidate; we sure couldn't find one this year.)

...

For now, our choices seem to range from A to B. And that's pretty much the way it looked while we were looking for an acceptable Republican (Conservative?) candidate, and many of us are disappointed that there seems little reason to choose one of the 'final' Presidential candidates.

How can you make your choice?

I can't speak for you. But for me, it was bad enough that Obama was the not-middle-of-the-road choice of the Democrats, but to put Biden on the ticket was the ultimate statement that the Democ-Rats don't care about the electorate, and they are so arrogant that they think ANYBODY could win as long as he wasn't McCain. The sad thing is, they may be right.

What can McCain do to fight this "All Losers, All The Time" Democratic ticket?

There are two choices, and maybe a few variations on the themes:

First: McCain can choose a real Conservative as his running mate. I'm not sure where he could find one, I'm not happy with another politician from Arkansas and I'm not sure how many other Conservatives would be.

Second: McCain can choose a Non-Conservative, to make himself seem more appealing to middle-of-the-road voters. Again, this may be the more viable choice, but I don't know who he could pick who would be acceptable to Republicans, not entirely odious to Conservatives, and perhaps attractive to a few semi-liberal.

This seems like Political Suicide to me, but McCain has never shied away from Liberals and Liberal Political Concepts before.

The worst possible case is that he would choose (as has been suggested) Joe Lieberman for a running mate. Lieberman has been 100% Liberal on all issues except Iraq, so why McCain should choose him for his VP is entirely beyond me. But it could happen.

Bottom line?

Conservatives and Republicans alike are not going to be very comfortable over the next four years.

Hopefully, The Nightmare Will End in 2012. In the meantime, we can expect a lot of liberal judges to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Great. Just what we needed.

We are so screwed.

Stumble It!

De Agony of De Feet

Taekwondo athlete faces lifetime ban for kicking referee in the head

One-time Olympic taekwondo champ Angel Matos of Cuba was booted from the sport for life after angrily kicking a referee in the face following his disqualification in a bronze medal match.

Matos - who took the gold in 2000 - flew into a rage Saturday after referee Chakir Chelbat disqualified him for exceeding the one-minute limit for injury treatment.

There's a lot that we can say about this. We can decry Matos' obvious failure to understand the concept of "Sport". We can talk about his not "being a good loser". And we can discuss the many ways in which his intemperate reaction has put his chosen sport (which was his life) in "Ill Repute".

Let's roll it all up into Door Number Two: "Being a Good Loser".

Many serious competitors will respond with this acerbic quote: "Show me a Good Loser, and I'll show you a Loser."

For the most keenly competitive, there is no acceptable alternative to winning. That is what makes them good competitors. They don't know how to lose "gracefully". They will not allow the concept of losing to taint their determination, and it is all part of their plan to win. Often, this is the critical 'edge' which turns a stellar performance (in a field of stellar performers) into a Win.

And win they do.

Matos won in the 2000 Olympics.

He came in at 11th place in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Clearly, he was disappointed in this finish, and his determination was even more powerful than it had been in 2000; back then, he didn't have a reputation to protect. Today, he did.

When he was knocked down today, he was either unwilling or unable to regain his feet after the 60-second countdown. (Boxers only have 10 seconds!) The referee "disqualified" him, which we can only assume was vaguely similar to being "Disqualified" in IPSC/USPSA shooting competition. (Note the vague nod to the notional theme of the blog.)

Matos reacted badly. He physically assaulted the referee who had DQ'd him ... more than once. And then he spit on the mats to further express his extreme disgust at what he must have perceived to be an unfair judgment which had nothing to do with his competence at his sport.

He really thought he could win.

After all, he was fighting with two broken toes. The endurance of pain in pursuit of victory is a primary indicator of excellence in all sorts of competition.

I'm not excusing Matos' out-of-control behavior. I'm only trying to understand it.

At that level of competition, nobody is a "Nice Guy". To Win, is everything. And in his pain, and disappointment, and sense of having not being dealt with fairly he lashed out against the perceived author of his loss ... the referee.

The referee just ... walked off the floor.

After Matos departed, Cuban coach Leudis Gonzalez said the decision to disqualify the Olympian was "too strict" - and suggested the match was fixed. Gonzalez claimed he was offered cash for Matos to throw the fight.

The World Taekwondo Federation announced a lifetime ban on both athlete and coach, ruling neither can ever participate in any championships sanctioned by the organization.

And the WTF could do nothing less, to defend the sport.

He did The Wrong Thing, so they Did The Right Thing. This is one time that "Throw Him Under The Bus" was needful.

Matos, of course, is ruined. As is his coach. And this is as it should be, because at the extremely high level of competition, it must not only be fair, but it must be seen to be fair.

Moving back to the world of IPSC/USPSA, if a competitor exhibited a similar expression of outrage ... or, as we say in the real world, "threw a hissy-fit", that competitor should similarly be banned eternally from competition.

Unfortunately, that is not always the way it works.

But even if the competition is only at the Club level, that is the way it should work.

You know what I'm saying?

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Comcast Hell

I didn't get any blogging done Thursday night. I was in Comcast Hell.

It's kinda complicated, and I'm not sure I can tell the story right, but I'll give it a shot.

Mom moved into this trailer park several years ago, and one of the attractions was that she got free Cable television. Comcast Cable (TV) connection was part of the deal.

She pays x number of dollars for the space, and the traier park pays her Comcast cable connection as part of the rent.

Step one of Comcast Hell.\

I'm not sure how the next step happened, but apparently Mom got a Good Deal on Comcast Telephone. They send her a bill, she pays the bill by check, and she hastaken Step Twin Comcast Hell.

In May of last year I organized a high-speed internet connection for her using (you guessed it) Comcast Internet. It was her birthday (or Mother's Day ... not sure now, they are only two days apart) but it was a good deal for her. It got her out of AOL Hell (dial-up modem, slow download, all of her thirty-something nieces sending her jokes and pictures and such, she needed a faster download time.

You guessed it: Step 3 in Comcast Hell.


It took a couple of months, but I managed to get the autopay contract with Comcast so that her Internet connection was automatically deducted from my bank account. And every month, I checked my bank statement online to confirm that her Internet bill was being paid.

At least, that's what I thought. Little did I know that I had just entered the Comcast Twilight Zone.

About three months ago (I learned, reviewing past bills), Comcast arbitrarily and unilaterally changed the account number on the autopay I had set up. I was no longer paying Mom's Internet charges, I was paying her phone. I'm fairly certain that this was the result of Comcast Shenanigans, because I did not now her 15-digit account number for her phone account. Comcast never acknowledged this, but that's not surprising because the did not warn either Mom or me that they had changed the account arrangement to which we had agreed.
(That's not entirely true. They sent me a bill every month, warning that the Internet account was in arrears. Of course, I didn't open the hard-copy statements, because I was confident that it only acknowledged that I had automatically paid her bill for Internet access, as it had done for several months previously.

The Comcast Hell time-bomb was ticking, and yesterday (Thursday), the Bomb exploded.

As I was getting ready to leave for the office, I received a phone call from my (much older, retired) sister announcing that Mom's Comcast account was being closed because she had not paid her Internet bill. She had, in turn, been warned because Mom had received a visit from a man who was an employee of Comcast, and had been set to rip out her cable connection. Thankfully Mom turned him away without allowing him access to the physical premises. But it was clearly a crisis, so I told my sister [yawn!] that I had to finish dressing for work, and I would handle it after I got home at the end of the day.

I was phlegmatic about the affair, because I KNEW that I had been making monthly payments on the account. In proof, I had my ban statements which cited that I was making two monthly payments to Comcast: one for my own Internet connection, and one for Mom's.

...

Move to 6pm, and the moment when I received an almost-tearful phone call from my 90-year-old mother, who ALWAYS pays her bills and pays hem as they come it. She has NEVER had a utility cut off, because she is nearly fanatic about paying all of her bills, on time if need be but usually ahead of the due date. She is not familiar with the experience of being dunned for payment on account, and didn't know what to do.

After a half-hour conversation, I had convinced her that I would handle it. This was surely nothing more than a Technical Glitch, and it was certainly nothing that she should worry about.

"I'll call you in a couple of hours, Mom, when I get off work and can talk to the good folks at Comcast. I'm sure they'll understand."

The thing is, they were not at all understanding; if Mom hadn't faced down the Comcast technician at her door, he would have removed all physical connections between Comcast cable and her home.

He would have removed the Cable TV connection, the phone connection, and the Internet connection ... all because the Internet bills was in arrears ... because Comcast had changed the billing.

That's right. As I later learned, my monthly automatic payments were being applied to Mom's Comcast Phone Bill instead of to her Internet Bill. This was not a change I would have, or could have, performed. I didn't even know her 16-digit acount number; It would have been impossible for me to change, even deliberately.
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After Mom's phone call to my desk at the office, I scooted for home and got on the phone. After four hours on the phone, I learned that the bills had been sent to me but I had ignored them because I arrogantly assumed that the latest statements were the same as those I received a year ago ... noting more than an acknowledgment that the monthly bill had bee automatically paid.

I was soon dis-abused of this misconception as I spen the next hour and a half with the Customer Service Representative, "Arland", who apparently felt obliged to restate in every way possible the many ways in which I was entirely in the wrong. (He calmed down when I stated that my intention was to pay the bill. He lost interest when I said I wanted to change the billing so I was paying the Internet Access, and that a monthly bill for the Comcast Phone Service should be sent to my mother, as it had been for the past FIVE YEARS!

So I spent a couple of hours talkng to a CSR about the account, and a couple more hours talking to a Technical Person named "Jessie".

Jessie, in turn, pointed me at an online webpage where I could address qustions to an autobot ... an online program which would feed me canned questions and magically wink-out what needed to be done to resolve my problem.

As I had expected, and as I had mentioned to Jessie ... the auto-bot was unable to help me; The question was (in a manner reminiscent of Obama's response to Pro-Choice questions) "above mypay grade."

Eventually I made online contact with a CSR who could type, and that person (afer I had provided all inf the information available) assured me that all of the Billing changes I had requested, had been accomplished.

I'm warmed by her re-assurances; but I am not convinced. I suspect that I will have to take the same, or very similar .. steps until the billing priorities are p roperly established.
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Here's the bottom line:

Unless you are a Corporae Lawyer, avoid paying for a 'portion' of someone else's COMCAST services. They are not competent to establish, track and control such a bizarre arrangement. Imagine a son paying for his mother's internet access. I think this is certainly not in their Job Description.

Howevre, Comcat is very good at shutting off ALL services (not just the service which is in arrears), and intimidating 90-year old widows at their doorstep.

It took me part of he night just to pay the total outstandig bill, and receive assurances that her services would NOT be cut off.

Translated: the service guy has gone home for the day. We can't hurt ou any more, sopay the bil and we'll forget to send him back.

Eventually, we got the services restored and Mom is much happier now. I think this is much beter than it was before, if only because my mother is no longer crying.

I finished my Thursday night on-line, arrangngfor the biling o be 'as it was before.". I think. But it takes six week for the changes to go into effect, and nobody knows WHAT Comcast will actually do to resolve the problem. Remember, these are the same people who originally avowd that the entire contretemps was MY fault.

So expect the same, or similar confusion next month.

And do NOT expect Comcast to take any extreme measures to shield us from Comcast Hell.

I'll keep your posted.

Stumble It!

Are we there yet?

My, how time flies.


It has been eleven years since Nick Alexakos, President of the International Practical shooting Confederation (IPSC), petitioned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to accept IPSC as a "Demonstration Sport" in the 2004 Olympics.

The IOC replied, essentially: "Not only 'No', but "Hell No!" Their determination may have been fueled ... it may have been decided ... by this statement from a non-IOC source:

ISSF (International Shooting Sports Federation) Secretary General Horst G. Schreiber:

They have approached us once, but we said we are not cooperating with them. We want nothing to do with them. The black sheriffs [security guards], the bodyguards—they're all members of this practical shooting. We want none of them in our group....It is not a sport. I think it's a camouflage for those who are supposed to deliver their high-power .45 pistols to the government, and they [seek to] find some sort of a legal possibility to keep possession of their revolvers or pistols.

So, an international shooting organization pierced the proposed demonstration with a bodkin of pure hatred for pistols, and for a sport which is designed to poke holes in cardboard ... with the added caveat that the request may be nothing more honorable than a crass commercial venture.

Thank you, Herr Schreiber. "What did YOU do in the war, Daddy?"

On the other hand, I find it somewhat charming to learn that the people ["black sheriffs"] who protect the bigwigs [ the Schreibers of this world] enjoy and appreciate Practical Pistol competition. Maybe we need to find a new class of Elitists.
____________________________________________

This defeat for IPSC was a source of great amusement to the Violence Policy Center (VPC), which (in their "Gold Metal Gunslingers" series) gleefully recounted the story.


And some IPSC members, including myself, castigated Mr. Alexakos for his poor timing. The consensus among this disappointed group was that this effort, its rude rebuff, and the resulting bad publicity set back the cause of International acceptance of extreme Competitive Shooting at least a decade.

In the light of this year's Olympic competition in the shooting sports, and the perceived greater appreciation for pneumatic, smallbore and shotgun competition, at least one Gun Writer wonders whether it isn't time to include Practical Shooting to The Olympics, if only in very small mouse-steps.

It may ... be time to start lobbying the USOC [Ed: United States Olympic Committee] for practical shooting.

It's not beach volleyball, but watching shooters run, slide, shoot, reload and shoot again is- at least in my opinion - a made for television event. Telegenic events get coverage- shooting events, especially the moving and shooting events, can draw crowds and encourage participation- and media coverage.

There are the obvious concerns, but it would seem that lower-power equipment combined with electronic scoring technology (and a few lasers, sirens and some pyrotechnics maybe to familiarize shooters with distractions) could add up to rivetingly entertaining competitions.

But that may be the television producer in me looking for more shooting on television.

-- Jim Shepherd, "The Shooting Wire" August 18, 2008

(Shepherd is speaking in the context of the Scholastic Clay Target Program, which encourages young people to compete in Shotgun shooting.)

In its eight-year history, the SCTP has brought nearly 30,000 youths into trap, skeet and sporting clays competitions. But the program's undisputed validation as an international training ground came this past week in Beijing.

... it is now obvious to everyone that the SCTP program and its tough series of qualifying competitions can identify world-class shooters early in their shooting careers. It's an argument that has quietly -but not always civilly - raged between shooting disciplines that cross-pollination doesn't work, but it's hard to argue with the results. The names Hancock and Cogdell make that point impossible to argue.

Medals, as they say in Olympic sports, are what matters. SCTP shooters have produced two medals in the best Olympic showing the United States has made in more than four decades.

SCTP shooters have produced.

Shepherd's theme is that the SCTP program, introducing young people to the shooting sports and providing coaching and other support and encouragement, can produce World-Class Competitors ... and (most impressive to the USOC), bring Olympic medals back to America.
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I don't know. I would like to think that Shepherd is right; the Olympics (especially the Summer Olympics, with its emphasis on outdoor sport) has a long history -- a couple thousand years -- of testing military prowess among the participating athletes. Recent world cultural evolution has chosen to ignore the genesis of the Olympics, but one need not be especially perceptive to recognize that most Olympic sports are based upon warfare.

Think: Javelin (spear-chucking), Discus (rock-chucking), running (Battle of Marathon?), low-jump (broken field running = military assault), pole-vaulting (take the castle), wrestling (hand-to-hand combat), fencing (swords), equestrian sports (cavalry), weight lifting (raw strength) ... we could go on and on, but you can supply your own interpretations.

The Olympics were based on military conflict. In fact, all sports may be said, in one way or another, to be based on conflict whether military or not.

For the IOC to deny another category of competition because it is based on conflict, because it demonstrates weapons prowess, or because it includes hardware (modern weapons) which were not technologically available 2000 years ago seems disingenuous.

In the final analysis, the attempt by Mr. Alexakos 11 years ago to introduce what may be interpreted as Combat Pistol (this was the original name for IPSC competition) as a legitimate Olympic sport in any context, seems to me to have been doomed by purely political imperatives. This, I'm sure, comes as no surprise to anyone.

And whether Mr. Alexakos should be castigated for his poor timing is now of only historic interest.

You may not agree with Mr. Shepherd, but perhaps today is the time to begin campaigning for a "Practical Shooting" event, either as a "demonstration" or as an entirely accepted Olympic "event".


Think ... Archery, 21st Century Style.

Stumble It!

Should Teachers Be Allowed To Carry Guns?

Should Teachers Be Allowed To Carry Guns?, Tiny Texas District OKs It; Could It Prevent Columbines?; Issue Debated, On The Early Show - CBS News

This is news, but it isn't exactly "new news".

Yesterday, a school district in Texas announced that they were seriously considering allowing their teachers to carry guns.

Why? Because they are a very SMALL school district, and they are a half-hour away from any reasonable response time in case of an emergency. Having watched the news on television, the district Board of Education were aware that schools were typically considered a "Gun Free Zone", and that is interpreted by predatory types as meaning "a safe-to-shoot, target rich environment zone". (cf: Columbine)

(See link to CBS video here.)

Knowing that they couldn't count on 911 to save their students the BOE elected to adopt a down-home security solution. They can't afford the ability to lock down their school, and aren't certain it will provide reliable defensive capability, so they'll allow their faculty (and staff) to act as impromptu security guards.



Harold, Texas,School Board Superintendent David Thweat:

"The people who are going into these situations are evil ... I'm not going to be Politically Correct on this ... I don't care what their problems are, they've gone in and killed children. And if they come into our school, they are going to meet resistance. And I think if they did, these crack-pots would stop going into them."

Oh, there were some restrictions. The teachers (assumedly, also staff including administrators such as the school principal) must complete training to qualify, and must hold Concealed Weapons permits issued by the county sheriff after all requirements had been met. But Texas is a "Shall Issue state", and that mean exactly what it says. If the applicant meets the requirements, the sheriff shall issue the permit.

Also, of course, the teachers were required to keep the firearm completely concealed so that nobody knew who was and who wasn't packing. And one assumes that the individual was responsible for securing the firearms at all times. Also, they teachers who volunteered for this must be approved by the School Board.

Let's recap:

• Applicants work at schools in the district -- check.
• Applicants receive appropriate training -- check.
• Applicants apply for, and receive, carry license from sheriff's office -- check.
• Applicants are all volunteers -- check.
• Applicants are pre-approved by the School Board -- check.
  
• Applicants are responsible -- check.

So we have a bunch of certifiably responsible citizens with guns, who are voluntarily willing to put their lives on the line to defend their students. Where's the down side?

Oh my, let me count the ways.

No, that's not necessary. According to the CBS news story, which has so far received 381 comments on the original short article, there are at least three typical responses by the reading public:

One: "I think this is a wrong!"
Example from Isobel36:

To arm teachers is wrong! Their main duty is to educate not to think about a resonse to a dangerous student. There has to be a better way. If not, take your child out of the public schools!

Well, that was enlightening. But typical.

Two: "I think this a wonderful idea."
Example from behappy2-2:

I think it is a wonderful idea. Who would be in a better position to defend the kids from an armed intruder than the adult responsible for them while they are in school? The teachers (at least most of them) care about the children as if they were their own. That is why they teach, it surely isn''t for the money. Remember: when SECONDS count, the police are only MINUTES away!

This at least relates to reality.

Three: "I don't know if it's a good idea or not, but it's a sad commentary on our current society!"
Example from Gaye5:

If it has got to the stage where teachers have to wear guns to protect themselves and other students that is pathetic. It is about time that our authorities and families start to wonder why this is happening and when society started to get so bad.. I know why and many of you out there do also.
I am old enough now to remember when a child was well disciplined and sat in school and learnt, they grew up to be health, hard working well disciplined adults who brought up children the same.

Actually, there's a fourth category of responses: "I don't really like it, but I can't think of a better idea, either."
Example from patriot12436:

I have mixed feelings about this. I see the need for protection because of the violence from students against teachers and bus drivers, but i would want very strict training required before they start carrying in schools. Having lived in Texas i understand where they are coming from and the point that the nearest police station is 30 minutes from the school is also a factor.

Apparently, the middle-of-the-road veers toward the right.

Oh, I almost forgot the sneering, dismissive, ad hominem attacking group.
Example from Joe Transit:

Of course teachers should carry guns, students should wear full body armor, the principals office a gun turret. The school bus replaced with a tank. The caulk board should have little ducks moving back and forth. Any student making less then a B, shot in the head right between the eyes. No more Ritalin. That way if Bush needs to look for WMD''s he can find it in his Texas backyard.

(Actually, I agree with the "no more Ritalin" part.)

and ...
Example from cbs3200:

The American Idiots Association (AKA the NRA) fully supports guns in the classroom.

There's always the greviously misinformed:
Example from IDDNSG:

Gun owners KILL THEMSELVES with their guns MORE OFTEN than they kill anybody else. I supose [sic] that''s a good thing!

... continued with another post from the same source:

"Guns dont kill people,it takes someone to aim and pull the trigger."

And EVERY SINGLE TIME, that "someone" is a GUN OWNER!

Conclusion: Guns don''t kill people. Gun Owners Kill People! Obviously, we should OUTLAW Gun Owners!

They''re all a bunch of re.tards anyway! Case in point: they all think that a gun can PROTECT them, when a gun, by design, can only KILL. Killing someone is NOT the same thing as protecting yourself.

Besides, if a Gun Nut can have a gun, so can EVERYBODY else. Whoever shoots first wins (''cause the other person is DEAD!). Everybody shoots everybody. Everybody dies. That''s NOT safety! It''s INS.AN.ITY! The END of civilization.

Gun Nutz are anarchists!

Well, geez, it's really hard to shoot a gun if you don't have one.
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What do _I_ think?

Frankly, I think it's worth trying. No other security measure which has been attempted in this country has so far stopped the crazies from killing innocents in Gun Free Zones (eg: schools, churches, shopping malls, restaurants, etc.)

On the other hand there have been instances when in these SAME "Gun Free Zones", one or two armed responders have been seen to stop, or significantly reduce the number of casualties, in the same venues.

But there have been very few times when Schools have been willing to have armed citizens on-site.

Isn't it about time to try it? If nothing else, the publicity might be sufficient to warn predators that they won't have a free shot at their victims.
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Surely someone will, eventually, suggest that this policy, the arming of people in a usually Gun Free Zone, will attract a predator. Just to try their luck, and thumb their nose at the audacity of peaceful honest citizens to protect themselves.

I think that if the predators are so sick that they consider this a "challenge", they are already predisposed to shoot up their local school. At least this way, there's a chance that they may be thwarted.

I repeat: Where's the down-side?

Stumble It!