Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
-- Stephen King
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is stoned to death.
-- Joan D. Vinge
Can't see me? Can't hit me!
-- Jerry The Geek
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Memorial Day, 2010
What does Memorial Day mean to you?
For Me, it means remembering those who went before me.
My uncle Sgt. Doug Phillips, who was killed during the Battle of The Bulge.
My uncle Sgt. Ernest Burnett, who drove the first tank into Rome.
My oldest brother, "Un-Named Baby", who lived for two days after his birth in 1936.
These are the graves ... and memorials ... which my mother has visited every year for at least the past 65 years. She has brought flowers to their graves, and quietly wept over them, for a long as I remember.
The local VFW post has found old men to fire rifle salutes to them, every year, for as long as I remember.
And my family has honored these, the young men who we have lost in war and peace, for as long as I remember.
The weren't Brave. They weren't stalwart. They were just mountain boys who came when they were called, and died -- or lived -- as fate decreed.
They left behind mothers, sisters, wives and daughters who have never ceased to mourn them.
They left behind brothers, nephews, sons who took them for their role models and quietly, uncomplainingly, followed them into battle in defense of their country, their culture, their way of life.
---
For others, it means 'other things', such as this:
But I do not believe that it means more to Oliver North than it means to me.
My mother is 93 now, and for the first time in over a half-century she is too ill to travel 400 miles to the family grave-yard. It has been her practice to quietly honor her son, her brother and her uncle.
I did not go in her place.
But still I honor my son, who has pledged his life for the honor and safety of his country.
My only wish is that I am not called upon to decorate his grave.
Still, if it is necessary, I know that he will defend his country to the greatest extend needed.
That makes me sad. In truth, I care more for him that he should be called upon to give his life for his country.
---
I begin to understand, a little, the things that my Mother has been saying for these many years.
Mexican President Flipe Calederon addressed the American Congress last week, and one of the primary points of his speach was that he "decried" the law recently enacted by the Arizona legislature which enabled local law enforcement agencies to enforce Federal laws which penalized individuals who enter American states (specifically, Arizona) without benefit of Federal permission.
Note that this access is specifically forbidden by Federal law, and the obligation to "protect (our) borders" is a constitutional requirement ... which is not current enforced by the Obama administration.
Specifically, he said:
"I am convinced that a comprehensive immigration reform is crucial to securing our common border," the Mexican president told lawmakers in both parties gathered for the speech. "However I strongly disagree with your recently adopted law in Arizona."
Democrats stood and applauded Calderon's remarks at that point in the speech, while many Republicans remained seated, with no applause.
Here's an interesting ... and perhaps telling .. statement from Calderon:
In asking anew for an immigration overhaul, Obama showed solidarity with his guest of honor, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who called Arizona's law discriminatory and warned Mexico would reject any effort to "criminalize migration." The United States and Mexico share a significant economic and political relationship that stands to be damaged the more the nations are at odds over immigration, which affects millions of people on both sides of the border.
Note that word: "migration".
Has Calderon confused the word "migration" with the word "immigration"?
It sees that he has, and the words we speak without thinking are most likely to reveal our inner thoughts.
Calderon is striving to encourage the United States of America to accept his most impoverished, and least productive, citizens. Those who have no skills to bring to the American job-market, but who are able to perform only unskilled labor for less than and American could legitimately and legally demand for doing the same work.
In a word .... a single word ... Calderon is condemning his "peasantry" to poor, underpaid manual labor for the single purpose of removing them from his country's economy.
He has unconsciously committed them, these "peons", to under-paid, under-skilled wage slavery for the benefit of his country, and for then "excess income" (excess, after mean wage-slave income) which they can garner in our country.
Does Calderon have the best interest of his citizens at heart? No, unless one considers that un-skilled workers are best encouraged to remove themselves from Mexico, and earn what meager salary they can in America.
They can make enough money to send some home? Great for Mexico, which has removed the lowest skilled workers without penalty, and still effect the transfer of literally BILLIONS of American Dollars to Mexico.
Why else would he object to America's attempts to enforce our border/immigration laws?
Remember the difference between "immigration" and "migration".
The first is the legal transfer, with permission, of individuals from one country to another.
The other is the transfer of individuals from one country to another, without necessarily being legally accepted by the receiving country.
Calderon thinks that "migration" is a wonderful, no-penalty solution to his country's overpopulation of Peons.
Obama thinks that it is a great way to propagate his Socialist agenda.
And so there is no difference of opinion between the two national leaders.
Except that American Citizens, who are dying by the thousands every month because 85% of these "migrants" are criminals, and they are underining the infrastructure of America.
But Obama doesn't care, because he plans to make them "legal citizens" through his plan of "immigration reform", and every fricking one of the are going to vote Democratic in 2012.
Why shouldn't they? Obama and the Liberal Democrats have given them the Keys to the Kingdom, and they are very grateful.
The Democrats care not one whit about the security of America. They just want the votes.
The thrust of the article, coming from one who knows and thinks about TEOTWAWKI *, is that "survivorists" or "Preppers" (Prepared For Survival) tend to adhere to one or more of four belief systems which just may be nothing more than "wishful thinking"
"You can defend yourself against the horde" (the folks who haven't prepared for world-wide disaster, and want to take your 'stuff' away from you);
"Stock up on the ammo you'll need to defend yourself with" (you're gonna need lots of ammo to defend yourself against the horde);
"I only need X number of days of food" (surprisingly, the author states that most "preppers" only store a couple of days of food --- then what? They're gonna make a trip to Safeway?)
"TEOTWAWKI will be fun!" (What? Watching your friends and family die horrible lingering deaths will be fun? Your own life will not be ""solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"?)
I think the man has a point. Well, four points. His arguments are persuasive, that, for example, without a functional infrastructure a "lone survivor" will be readily identified by his neighbors and ultimately overwhelmed by them ... no matter the Butcher Bill. After all, they're all starving to death anyway, and everybody has to sleep SOMETIME.
Personally, I'm not into "End-Of-Days" preparedness. And I think some of those who only stock two days worth of food have that same expectation ... if we civilized folks have to live more than two days without an infrastructure, then there is little use in trying to be self-sufficient if Obama won't appear in a sort of Deus Ex Machina last-minute rescue. We're all gonna die anyway, aren't we?
As I said, I'm certainly not a practitioner of "survival preparedness", although I do have the three levels of 'stuff'' to meet emergencies:
What I have in my pockets (knife, flashlight, lighter, etc.)
What I have in my car (clothes, blankets, food, water, tarp, bigger knife, firearm & ammunition, etc.)
What I have in my house (see #2, but more of it, kerosene lamps and a lot of camping equipment)
But heck, that's just basic stuff for getting caught out in the rain, stranded beside the road, the electricity goes out for a few days in the depth of winter.
I don't know ... and I don't much care ... what you have done for your own personal 'emergency preparedness But I suspect that, practically speaking, you may look around and find that you are almost as appropriately prepared as the "Preppers" for TEOTWAWKI".
Oh yeah. Almost forgot. TEOTWAWKI stands for "The End Of The World As We Know It".
If you don't know that, you can't survive. I'm pretty sure it's in a book somewhere.
Saddle Butte Machine Gun Shoot: The Saddle Butte Machine Gun Shoot is May 15th and 16th. Every year we get larger and better and it takes a lot of volunteers to make this a safe and enjoyable event. Volunteers will be needed to serve as Range Officers, balloon/target setters, tee shirt sales, setup/take down (Friday 14th and Monday 17th) and gate/parking lots. Anyone interested in helping please contacted Allen Eriksen at Eriksenor@aol.com (weekends phone 541-967- 4005). Please include your full name, phone number and days volunteering to work. This is a great way to get your work bond hours. Don't worry if you have little or no experience with Machine Guns. We will teach you everything you will need to know to help out.
You, of course, are not likely to volunteer to help out unless you are a member of the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club.
On the other hand, you should know that this event is taking place (happens every year, once in the Spring and once in Autumn) and that it is a heck of a good time.
ARPC members enter for free. All others, it costs the majorly big cost of FIVE (5) BUCKS!
There will be sub-guns and tripod-mounted guns (m-60 and the venerable Ma Deuce [video also here and here])
M60: 7.62 Nato caliber.
Belt fed, weighs about 18 pounds, fires at a rate of about 600 rounds per minute.
M2: .50 caliber Belt fed, weighs about 100 pounds, fires at about 450 rounds per minute, effective range around 2,500 yards.
No, I can't guarantee that either will be there. I can only say that in past events, they HAVE been there.
What does it cost you to shoot it? My understanding is that you have to pay them for the ammunition. Which would probably be a lot less expensive with the M-60 than with the M-2. Whether there is an additional fee required, I can't say You'll have to go see it for yourself.
Personally, I'm planning to go just to get some really good pictures of people having a good time. And yes, if you have not ever shot a full-auto machine gun before, this is a good opportunity.
Oh, and there will be sub-guns there, too. We're talking the venerable tommy-gun and the m3 grease-gun, for starters. I have seen members of the Full-Auto club bring these to the range, as well as MP-5's.
Go here for more information, including directions to the range.
I've finally got rid of all the nasty commercial comments from the guy who wanted to sell me laptop batteries.
It wasn't cheap. I had to actually BUY the ECHO comment moderation software. That required me to reset my PAYPAL account password ... but at least I was able to review my payment history, always good to know.
And I blocked the user. And his IP. And flagged everything he ever sent as SPHAM (deliberately misspelled, so it wouldn't trigger your computer filter). And then I deleted all of his comments.
I suspect I may have deleted some of the comments in my history, too. Or at least, my sidebar section where I display the most recent comments no longer display.
Sorry about that. I hope I didn't lose too much. And I hope the display will begin working again, as soon as I get more comments.
There's a lesson here, and that is -- I can't start a blog and then let it sit without maintaining it.
A Geek's Lot Is Not A Happy One, to steal a line from "The Pirates of Penzance". Because I have been so involved in work, and SWMBO, I haven't been involved in other things that I love. Examples include blogging, and shooting.
I've got back into the shooting stuff by instructing the "Intro to USPSA" classes at ARPC every month (regularly, instead of 'often'), and making it a point to compete at the ARPC match every month.
But even though the two activities should -- and do -- provide material for blog articles, I haven't made time for that, either.
So I've taken the weekend for "Me Time", with a list of things to do. The first item on the list was to reclaim my Blog, which I have just done. The second was to pay bills. The third was to write some of those great articles I've been thinking about. And the fourth thing was to fix my XL650 and start using it. Failing that, I'm going to just buy a new press, and start all over. (After paying bills, I may work harder on the 650. That $1,650 price tag on the 1050 is just a little too steep for me.)
Unessential things, like housekeeping and doing dishes and laundry, may suffer from this concerted effort
But heck, I wasn't going to do that this weekend anyway.
You may note that the 'recent comments' section of the sidebar contains the same message, over and over.
Apparently someone has built a blogger-attach program for base material purposes. It has attached the same commercial message on at least 50 individual articles, and until more 'unspammed' comments are submitted the roster will be unchanged.
I have to say that this is the consequence of ECHO, which replaced Haloscan (even though I had not wished it to, and that's another story), which does not recognize me as administrator. I'm working on that, but even if I regain control over my own comment module, there doesn't seem to exist an option for me to mark the sender or the comments as SPAM ... either as a class or individually.
This is what comes of not maintaining the Blog. At this point, I'm just about angry enough to shut it down permanently.
BTW, as I am devoting much of tonight's posts to Gun Bloggers I Read And Admire, note that Michael Bane has an excellent article regarding "Open Carry" vs "Concealed Carry" (regardless of the "Concealed Carry" tag on this post).
In his view, there is definately a valid reason for Open Carry.
The difference is that "Concealed Carry", which is approved by 90% of states in America, is a relatively new phenomena, and is usually legislated so that practitioners must apply for a permit.
"Open Carry", in contrast, has often been permissible in most states for several years.
The thing is, you can carry a pistol in a holster and it is ... and has been ... legal, without need for a special permit. Not so with "Concealed carry", which usually requires an application for a permit and commonly requires, in most states, that the practitioner meet some standard of training and certification.
Which is better? Why? And why should an individual choose one mode of carrying a firearm in public rather than the other?
I'm afraid this is one question which you must answer for yourself.
This blog was originally created to discuss matters relevant to Practical Shooting (IPSC and USPSA). Unfortunately, since SWMBO has been unable to continue her competitive career due to illness, I have found that I have less time and resources ... and, yes, interest ... in competition for its own sake.
I still love the sport, of course. I enjoy shooting for its own sake, and I have met interesting people and made many, many new friends in the course of my 27 years of participation (with a LONG hiatus from 1988 to 1991, due to personal constraints.)
But I find it difficult to generate the enthusiasm when faced by a loading press which does not cooperate as it should. I don't want to spend almost as many hours loading for a match as I do actually shooting the match. So I have self-limited myself to shooting one, perhaps two matches a month, even in generally clement weather.
So I anticipate with joy the opportunity to introduce new shooters to what I consider one of the most exciting, entertaining and challenging sports in the history of human endeavor.
(I feel that I am justified in engaging in hyperbole, because this is absolutely the most fun you can have with your clothes on.)
ALL OF THIS is introduction to another story about my voluntary function as the instructor to Albany Rifle and Pistol Club's "Introduction to USPSA" class.
The May, 2010, class at ARPC was unique in that of the six people who signed up for, and actually completed the course, half of them were women.
Those of you who know me personally are aware that I believe the BEST thing about USPSA competition is that it supports, and actively encourages, women to enter the sport.
And the fact is, women are not only "competent" in Practical Pistol competition, they are the easiest to teach. Also, they learn faster, are less liable to make the same mistake twice, and they are definitively there to have FUN!
(If you haven't noticed, the nicest thing that Women do for humanity is that They Make Men Civilized. Although women may feel self-conscious about competing in a sport which they perceive as a "man thing" -- in the presence of a woman, men tend to be more conscious about being civilized and do not appear to feel the need to be "Manly". The coarse language disappears; men are not competing against each other for the sake of Macho appearance; and men become people, focused on having fun, rather than pissing higher on the wall than the next guy.)
In today's class, the ladies (and they are all ladies) ranged from a charming ingenue daughter, to wives, equally charming and equally individuals in their own rights.
At the beginning of the class, they seemed to be not entirely certain that they should be there. But they had been the object of quiet encouragement and they were all ready to do whatever it takes to effect their entry into a "Man Sport".
At the end of the day, they were having fun. They discovered, individually and as a group, that this was not a "Man Sport". It was a safe place where they can advance at their own rate, and they were treated as individuals and valued for their own contribution.
I watched them in wonder, as I always do, as they opened up and asserted their personalities.
At the end of the first exercise, I called for people to go downrange and tape the bullet-holes of the single target which everyone had shot up.
Who actually found the tape and taped the targets ? The three ladies.
By the end of the class, everyone was fighting over the rolls of tape, men as well as women.
Aha! A strike for equality; everybody works the stage. Nobody is "better" than anybody else. Nobody is the designated support person. And everybody wants to go downrange and look at the targets, to see how the last shooter has done in the everlasting urge to hit the A-zone. ___
I was impressed by this group of shooters, not only because all of the participants were willing to learn (by no means a universal trait) but also because everyone was a good shot. Every person in the class knew how to shoot, and we saw some spectacular performances. Not on every stage, not on every exercise, but there was not one person present who failed to take the Pepper-Popper and the U.S. Popper as a personal challenge, and to shoot much better when the target was much more difficult.
It's not that they couldn't shoot better when engaging cardboard targets. It was just that they weren't as focused on the big fat brown targets. When the target was obviously harder to hit, they payed attention to sight picture and sight alignment and knocked the steel targets down as if it was easy. Which it was, but it was not obvious in their earlier performance.
Example: the ingenue daughter. Her shots had gone all over the paper targets, often missing them completely. But when she had to hit the much smaller steel targets, she took them down (One! Two!) with no observable lack of confidence. She perceived that the target was more difficult, so she applied her shooting skills much more assiduously. The Pepper Popper went down on the first shot, which hit in the exact geometric center of the aiming circle.
The only problem she had, was that the targets weren't sufficiently challenging. That girl can shoot!
It may take some experience to convince them of it, but all of the shooters are good shots.
And I have no doubts about their abilities. Many of them need experience to build their confidence. Okay, everybody needs that when they first begin shooting competitively. But there isn't a one of them that I would not be glad to squad with in a match. They're bright, they're safe, and they're willing to learn.
I can't speak more highly of any group I've every taught. And we had two shooters, not members of the class but family members or friends, who donated their time and their experience to help everybody there. One was the husband of a new shooter, one was the father of The Ingenue; they helped me get through the day, and they helped the new shooters at least as much.
So, guys: there is no reason in the world why you should not encourage your wives, daughters, and "Significant Others" to learn how to shoot competitively. This is NOT a "Man Sport"; this is a "Family Sport". And if you can convince them that they are ... how can I say this? ... valued as new shooters; if you are willing to spend the time and the money to support them; if you can share the experience with them without over-coaching them (a common error) -- there is no reason why they cannot enjoy the sport at least as much as you do.
Today I had 50% Ladies in the Introduction to USPSA class. If this ration continues both you and I will profit.
I will profit because the sport will grow. Every new shooter is a positive benefit to the sport, and it is a sport which women may generally be better than men on the average.
And you will profit because it is much, much more fun when your family shares the experience with you.
Trust me. I have never enjoyed a match so much, that I would not enjoy it more if SWMBO was there with me, laughing like a Lark and thanking me for introducing me to so many very good people.
Dundee -- SWMBO with a borrowed gun:
(SWMBO shooting steel 'on the move' ... pure poetry in motion!)
Xavier Thoughts has found a video depicting a "Torture Test" on a Springfield 1911.
Dump it in the swamp, fish it out, and see if it shoots.
Sounds bizarre ... we thought that only Glocks were so well designed that they could function even when dumped in the mud.
Actually, the Browning 1911 design was originally conceived to be that battle-field durable. And folks, there is nothing Politically Correct about the 1911.
I'm not suggesting that you, or I, have ever done this. OF course not, we're far to conscious of our own personal security concerns
But people who, for example, have ever used their employers' copy machines to make a 'file copy' of their income tax return may discover that they have just made the entire document available to anyone who eventually buys the leased machine, somewhere down the road.
Lawdog draws our attention to a CBS report. Those machines probably contain a hard drive, and for 300 dollars anyone can buy a used copier ... and reproduce ANY image that the machine has ever copied
Stumble It!
