Vince Flynn, author of the "Mitch Rapp" series of anti-terrorism thrillers, was intervieeed tonite on a special Hugh Hewitt radio show.
For those of us who are Flynn/Rapp fans, it was all good news.
Flynn announced that there will soon be a movie in production, based on his "Concent to Kill" book.
He also suggested strongly that the studio was interested in a second book as a movie basis, but it was not clear at the time of the broadcast precisely which book would be the vehicle for the second movie.
Flynn was unable to commit to an actor to portray his iconic "Mitch Rapp" character, but he difininately confirmed that Matt Damon would not be a possible candidate.
Media blogs (specifically "Dr. Blogstein") suggests that the starring role will be played by "Jon Hamm", whoever the heck that may be.
My personal choice? Jason Stratham, of "Transporter" fame. Only he could make this scene work, from Transporter I:
Friday, February 06, 2009
You be The Judsge
Taurus International Manufacturing Inc - Taurus Judge 3" Video:
Taurus International has introduced a new version of their popular revolver (3" barrell ... it says here) chambered for either the .45 Long Colt or .410 shotgun Shell in the five-round cylindar.
To dramatize the introduction at the 2009 Shot Show, they have provided a dramatic video. This consists of a 30 second 'scnearion' featuring "The Melon Head Gan", followed by a 3+minute "The Filming Of The Melon Head Gang video".
the video takes a long time to load, Taurus's website obviously has bandwidth issues. I had to reload the video 3 times to view the whole thing, don't expect to see that your response is any better, and response time will probably deteriorate as the website becomes more popular.
Still, it's worth the patience to see the whole thing.
In the slow-motion portions of the video, you can actually see the "Eagle Flight" of .410 rounds meeting the watermelon targets. It's worth the price of admission.
Taurus International has introduced a new version of their popular revolver (3" barrell ... it says here) chambered for either the .45 Long Colt or .410 shotgun Shell in the five-round cylindar.
To dramatize the introduction at the 2009 Shot Show, they have provided a dramatic video. This consists of a 30 second 'scnearion' featuring "The Melon Head Gan", followed by a 3+minute "The Filming Of The Melon Head Gang video".
the video takes a long time to load, Taurus's website obviously has bandwidth issues. I had to reload the video 3 times to view the whole thing, don't expect to see that your response is any better, and response time will probably deteriorate as the website becomes more popular.
Still, it's worth the patience to see the whole thing.
In the slow-motion portions of the video, you can actually see the "Eagle Flight" of .410 rounds meeting the watermelon targets. It's worth the price of admission.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Beam me up, Scotty
The "Numa Numa" song.
It started out as a charmingly candid short home-made video on YouTube ...
... and eventually became a home-made video on CS6, the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Today, it has become this story:
More information can be found on the Navy Times website.
It's a damn shame that a man with this verve, this joy in life, had to come to such a sordid end.
As Buckaroo Banzai famously said: "No matter where you go, once you get there ... there you are!"
It started out as a charmingly candid short home-made video on YouTube ...
... and eventually became a home-made video on CS6, the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Today, it has become this story:
Financial problems may have led to the murder-suicide of a woman and her sailor boyfriend who posted a controversial YouTube video of his shipmates dancing, MyFOXDC.com reported.
Electronics Technician 2nd Class Michael Joseph Missimer was shot and killed Jan. 27 by his 43-year-old live-in girlfriend, who then took her own life, police in Annapolis, Md., said.
...
While serving aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise, Missimer filmed and edited a five-minute video of his shipmates dancing and spoofing a YouTube clip known as the "Numa Numa video," the Navy Times, reported.
His video, called "Enterprise Numa Numa," has been viewed almost 2 million times on YouTube.
The man in charge of Missimer’s unit told the Navy Times that not everyone liked the spoof, which wasn't made for public distribution.
"He caught a lot of flak about that," Petty Officer John Fallowfield said. “It was just something they pulled together when they had some time on the carrier ... we did this with the understanding it would be in-house."
Police say Clapsaddle called 911 shortly after midnight telling them that when police arrived at her apartment, they'd find two people dead — including her, MyFOXDC.com reported. She abruptly hung up.
More information can be found on the Navy Times website.
Oddly, this may have been Missimers Five Year Voyage to .... "Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations in an expanding vast universe."Missimer’s shipmates were stunned by the news of his death.
“He was what you’d call the life of the party,” said Information Systems Technician 1st Class John Fallowfield, the petty officer in charge at Missimer’s unit. “He always knew how to make you smile and laugh. That’s probably one of the best traits, his sense of humor.”
Fallowfield recalled some Navy leaders were not happy with Missimer’s video, which showed sailors mocking themselves and dancing irreverently.
“He caught a lot of flak about that,” Fallowfield said of the video. “It was just something they pulled together when they had some time on the carrier.”
The video’s widespread distribution caught Missimer off guard.
“You would look at that and think we’re fairly open,” he said in a 2006 phone interview with Navy Times. “[But] we’re all pretty modest people. We did this with the understanding it would be in-house.”
It's a damn shame that a man with this verve, this joy in life, had to come to such a sordid end.
As Buckaroo Banzai famously said: "No matter where you go, once you get there ... there you are!"
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Il Est Mort
A few months ago I noted that my web host was unable to accept any more updates to my Online Video Gallery. He had changed servers and could no longer spare the space. He did allow it to stay up with the current content, however.
On that same host, I kept a small library of images, and other small files.
Last week I noticed that i was no longer able to connect to that library via my FTP software. I was distracted, so I didn't bother to investigate it at the time.
Tonight I see that the entire website is missing. All of my videos, all of my photos, all of my minor files are just ... no longer there.
As a consequence you may notice some broken links on 'old' articles. Sorry, until I find a new host I probably won't be able to fix them. Even then (whenever I get around to it) the chances are that I won't reload the files and change the link URL.
(However, I have deleted the links to these now-nonexistent webpages from my sidebar.)
Add this to the recent developments on YouTube, which has begun to delete or otherwise render unusable videos which are scored with 'unauthorized' music (even though I bought the CDs from which the music came).
Consequently, the 'old' Cogito Ergo Geek doesn't look much like it use to.
The future of Cogito Ergo Geek is also now questionable. It will take a lot of time and effort, and a bit of money, to recover the resources which were once available, but are now dead, Dead, DEAD!
I'm disappointed because of the untold hours of work which have gone into creating this minor blog. It has been a hobby, an avocation, an outlet and a means of relaxing from the cares of the world for me. For my readers it has been the occasional source of information, amusement, and cheerful ridicule.
At this point I'm wondering whether to continue with this project.
My personal life has changed dramatically since July 27, 2008 (when SWMBO's doctor informed her that she has lung cancer), and I have been contributing at a much slower pace than has been my usual practice for the past four years (since the blog inception in December 15, 2004).
I would rather not discontinue the blog. It would be like losing a child ... a fantasy child, perhaps, but real to me.
My readership has been fairly consistant for the past few years. I rarely register fewer than 200 page-loads a day, averaging between 1500 and 2000 page-loads a week (depending on whether I've found a topic of common interest).
I'm no Kim du Toit; I have a total of just over 200,000 hits, total; Kim would get that many hits in a slow day.
On the other hand, Kim turned in his badge a couple of months ago, so who knows whether it is wise to know when your day as a blog author is over?
For now, I'll continue to write in my desultory manner. (Huh? I just lost my cursor ... is God trying to tell me something? Oh never mind ... it's back.)
Whether I decide to continue blogging, and rebuild the website, or whether I just give it up for a while and go fishing, depends on a lot of factors. Most important, I guess, is whether I can find the initiative to make the effort required to resurrect the website in the manner in which I would prefer ... a full-service blog that talks about shooting-sports issues and only incidentally provides a service to my readers.
In other words, if I can get the gumption to start actively competing in USPSA matches on a regular basis, I'll probably be more inclined to want to continue the writing, too.
I won't know until I survey the past articles, and find out how much content has been rendered useless (due to broken links), whether it's worth the effort to resurrect the old girl.
So ... watch this spot. Whatever I decide, I'll let you know my decision in advance so that, if I decide to discontinue the Blog, you'll have plenty of time to remove the link from your Bookmarks.
On that same host, I kept a small library of images, and other small files.
Last week I noticed that i was no longer able to connect to that library via my FTP software. I was distracted, so I didn't bother to investigate it at the time.
Tonight I see that the entire website is missing. All of my videos, all of my photos, all of my minor files are just ... no longer there.
As a consequence you may notice some broken links on 'old' articles. Sorry, until I find a new host I probably won't be able to fix them. Even then (whenever I get around to it) the chances are that I won't reload the files and change the link URL.
(However, I have deleted the links to these now-nonexistent webpages from my sidebar.)
Add this to the recent developments on YouTube, which has begun to delete or otherwise render unusable videos which are scored with 'unauthorized' music (even though I bought the CDs from which the music came).
Consequently, the 'old' Cogito Ergo Geek doesn't look much like it use to.
The future of Cogito Ergo Geek is also now questionable. It will take a lot of time and effort, and a bit of money, to recover the resources which were once available, but are now dead, Dead, DEAD!
I'm disappointed because of the untold hours of work which have gone into creating this minor blog. It has been a hobby, an avocation, an outlet and a means of relaxing from the cares of the world for me. For my readers it has been the occasional source of information, amusement, and cheerful ridicule.
At this point I'm wondering whether to continue with this project.
My personal life has changed dramatically since July 27, 2008 (when SWMBO's doctor informed her that she has lung cancer), and I have been contributing at a much slower pace than has been my usual practice for the past four years (since the blog inception in December 15, 2004).
I would rather not discontinue the blog. It would be like losing a child ... a fantasy child, perhaps, but real to me.
My readership has been fairly consistant for the past few years. I rarely register fewer than 200 page-loads a day, averaging between 1500 and 2000 page-loads a week (depending on whether I've found a topic of common interest).
I'm no Kim du Toit; I have a total of just over 200,000 hits, total; Kim would get that many hits in a slow day.
On the other hand, Kim turned in his badge a couple of months ago, so who knows whether it is wise to know when your day as a blog author is over?
For now, I'll continue to write in my desultory manner. (Huh? I just lost my cursor ... is God trying to tell me something? Oh never mind ... it's back.)
Whether I decide to continue blogging, and rebuild the website, or whether I just give it up for a while and go fishing, depends on a lot of factors. Most important, I guess, is whether I can find the initiative to make the effort required to resurrect the website in the manner in which I would prefer ... a full-service blog that talks about shooting-sports issues and only incidentally provides a service to my readers.
In other words, if I can get the gumption to start actively competing in USPSA matches on a regular basis, I'll probably be more inclined to want to continue the writing, too.
I won't know until I survey the past articles, and find out how much content has been rendered useless (due to broken links), whether it's worth the effort to resurrect the old girl.
So ... watch this spot. Whatever I decide, I'll let you know my decision in advance so that, if I decide to discontinue the Blog, you'll have plenty of time to remove the link from your Bookmarks.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
you can't ... you can't defend your home?
Xavier Thoughts: Ryan Frederick's Interrogation
The trial of Ryan Frederick is in progress.
Xavier Thoughts has a video of the initial interrogation of Ryan Frederick immediately after having shot dead a police officer who was "busting through" his door.
A quick recap: Ryan Frederick was at home, alone, in his home when he heard someone "busting through" his door. His dogs were barking, he had discovered a break-in the previous day and was already fearful for his property and his life. When he heard the noise he reacted instinctively to repel what he considered (perhaps rightly) aggressive attackers.
The man who was "busting through" his door was a police officer. Failing to identify the person who had forcefully entered his home without previous warning (remember, Frederick was asleep) he shot and killed that person.
Last September I wrote about this, in what may be a slightly more complete summary.
The police arrested him, and this entry replays the audio record of his initial interview ... while he was still suffering from "Fight or Flight" overload, without benefit of a lawyer, and deeply in the pangs of conscience.
As Xavier states in his article, "It is not easy to listen to Ryan Frederick's interrogation immediately after he shot a police officer. It is, however, informative."
Frederick's mood shifts moment to moment, from fear to grief to aggressive to defensive to explanation to expiation to anguish to trepidation to ... it's difficult to name an emotion which does not appear in this (about two minute, maybe three) video.
A few statements ring clear:
If I had found myself in that position ... If I had discerned that someone broke into my house and didn't steal anything ... I would have reached the inevitable conclusion that the people who entered my home uninvited weren't after My Stuff. I would have assumed that they were after ME!
But hey, I'm just another paranoid gun-nut, right?
There were elements which set up this situation, elements of which the police were aware but Frederick was not. Among these elements was the fact that the police had been told by an informer that Frederick was growing Marijuana for sale, that the informer had illegally entered Frederick's home the previous day looking for evidence of a 'growing operation', and (having found no such verifiable evidence) reported the presence of scales, bags, fertilizer, grow-lights and "a plant" that looked like Marijuana. In fact, the plant was a juvenile ornamental with a leaf structure similar to Marijuana, and all other items were part of his hobby ... growing ornamental plants. (NOT Marijuana.)
One interpretation of the events which seems acceptable (at least, to me) is that Frederick was the victim of an unreliable police reformer with ties to the informal drug culture, that the informer had personal animosity toward Frederick, and that he (the informer) was determined to interpret his findings in the light which would best encourage the police to treat Frederick as a "Major Dealer/Grower".
Testimony has suggested that the police did announce themselves before engaging in an aggressive entry. Ryan's initial interrogation seems (again, to me) reliable in stating that he did not hear an announcement that he was being visited by the police. As he said, "I was asleep ... there was nobody in the house but me and my dogs" and he was awaken by the barking of the dogs.
And he grabbed his gun, and someone "busted through my door", and he thought someone was trying to kill him. So he shot at them.
And hit, and killed, a police officer.
---
The police confiscated a lot of 'stuff': grow-lamps, scales, small plastic bags, seeds, etc. All things which would logically be expected for the police to find on the premises of a Marijuana Grower.
But they didn't find any Marijuana plants.
---
I personally find it all to easy to believe that the police, in their zeal, took the unsubstantiated word of an informant (a known felon) and aggressively assaulted the premises of a man who they believed to be a Grower.
Frederick, who probably was asleep when the assault began, reacted as if he was the victim of a Home Invasion. (We hear about that often, and the police cannot seem to do anything to protect us from this criminal phenomenon.)
Ultimately, to my mind, this seems to be a situation in which the police did invade a home of a private citizen who interpreted it as a Home Invasion, and reacted to defend himself and his property.
But the police will never give up in their prosecution and, ultimately, persecution of Ryan Frederick. They are unable to admit that they made a mistake in judgement. They are unable to admit that their aggressive tactics may have served to construct a situation which the home-owner could only react in one way: to defend his life.
And so it comes down to a trial, in which the police may find themselves as much on trial as does Ryan Frederick. With one significant difference: The police are a unified organization. They only see one color: Blue. There are no shades of grey in their universe.
Frederick, on the other hand, is and remains a man who is confused, frightened, and (as he says): "I don't have anybody!"
A rich man would have walked by now. There is no evidence that Frederick as participating in any illegal activity apart from the private consumption of Marijuana (a "crime" punishible by nothing more than a fine, much like a traffic ticket.) Not much justification for killing a policeman.
Frederick is A Man Alone. Confused, frightened full of remorse and finding himself in a position similar to a kernal of corn in a remorseless grinding mill, Frederick has no-one to call upon for help. No family. No friends. No helpful member of the Third Estate. (Well, perhaps except for one.)
From Xavier thoughts of Match 23, 2008:
---
As I listened carefully to the original interrogation tape, I was struck by they image of Frederick in a Cage, bouncing from one set of bars to the next, bruised and battered but certain only of his inalienable rights to defend himself and his home.
Except for that one moment, when in the smallest of voices he asks:
"You can't ... you can't defend your home?"
---
I think he can. And I think the aggression of SWAT teams who, masked and costumed and armed with all of the latest Big Ticket Item armor and weaponry, is probably wasted on such a small-time operation such as that which the considered Frederick to be a very minor member.
The police have screwed the pooch on this one. Instead of simply saying "OOPS! My Bad!" -- they have no choice to go after Frederick in the most aggressive manner possible, in the sure and certain confidence that their local Presecutor will support them beyond the point of reason.
After all, they're The Good Guys.
Aren't they?
As you will find, Curt has been keeping track of this case far better than anyone else.
The trial of Ryan Frederick is in progress.
Xavier Thoughts has a video of the initial interrogation of Ryan Frederick immediately after having shot dead a police officer who was "busting through" his door.
A quick recap: Ryan Frederick was at home, alone, in his home when he heard someone "busting through" his door. His dogs were barking, he had discovered a break-in the previous day and was already fearful for his property and his life. When he heard the noise he reacted instinctively to repel what he considered (perhaps rightly) aggressive attackers.
The man who was "busting through" his door was a police officer. Failing to identify the person who had forcefully entered his home without previous warning (remember, Frederick was asleep) he shot and killed that person.
Last September I wrote about this, in what may be a slightly more complete summary.
The police arrested him, and this entry replays the audio record of his initial interview ... while he was still suffering from "Fight or Flight" overload, without benefit of a lawyer, and deeply in the pangs of conscience.
As Xavier states in his article, "It is not easy to listen to Ryan Frederick's interrogation immediately after he shot a police officer. It is, however, informative."
Frederick's mood shifts moment to moment, from fear to grief to aggressive to defensive to explanation to expiation to anguish to trepidation to ... it's difficult to name an emotion which does not appear in this (about two minute, maybe three) video.
A few statements ring clear:
- Somebody was busting in my door!
- I thought they were trying to kill me.
- You can't ... you can't defend your home?
- "You can't just shoot through a door! (police interrogator)
- Frederick: Somebody broke into my house yesterday, and ...
- Interrogator: What did they steal?
- Frederick: Nothing!
If I had found myself in that position ... If I had discerned that someone broke into my house and didn't steal anything ... I would have reached the inevitable conclusion that the people who entered my home uninvited weren't after My Stuff. I would have assumed that they were after ME!
But hey, I'm just another paranoid gun-nut, right?
There were elements which set up this situation, elements of which the police were aware but Frederick was not. Among these elements was the fact that the police had been told by an informer that Frederick was growing Marijuana for sale, that the informer had illegally entered Frederick's home the previous day looking for evidence of a 'growing operation', and (having found no such verifiable evidence) reported the presence of scales, bags, fertilizer, grow-lights and "a plant" that looked like Marijuana. In fact, the plant was a juvenile ornamental with a leaf structure similar to Marijuana, and all other items were part of his hobby ... growing ornamental plants. (NOT Marijuana.)
One interpretation of the events which seems acceptable (at least, to me) is that Frederick was the victim of an unreliable police reformer with ties to the informal drug culture, that the informer had personal animosity toward Frederick, and that he (the informer) was determined to interpret his findings in the light which would best encourage the police to treat Frederick as a "Major Dealer/Grower".
Testimony has suggested that the police did announce themselves before engaging in an aggressive entry. Ryan's initial interrogation seems (again, to me) reliable in stating that he did not hear an announcement that he was being visited by the police. As he said, "I was asleep ... there was nobody in the house but me and my dogs" and he was awaken by the barking of the dogs.
And he grabbed his gun, and someone "busted through my door", and he thought someone was trying to kill him. So he shot at them.
And hit, and killed, a police officer.
---
The police confiscated a lot of 'stuff': grow-lamps, scales, small plastic bags, seeds, etc. All things which would logically be expected for the police to find on the premises of a Marijuana Grower.
But they didn't find any Marijuana plants.
---
I personally find it all to easy to believe that the police, in their zeal, took the unsubstantiated word of an informant (a known felon) and aggressively assaulted the premises of a man who they believed to be a Grower.
Frederick, who probably was asleep when the assault began, reacted as if he was the victim of a Home Invasion. (We hear about that often, and the police cannot seem to do anything to protect us from this criminal phenomenon.)
Ultimately, to my mind, this seems to be a situation in which the police did invade a home of a private citizen who interpreted it as a Home Invasion, and reacted to defend himself and his property.
But the police will never give up in their prosecution and, ultimately, persecution of Ryan Frederick. They are unable to admit that they made a mistake in judgement. They are unable to admit that their aggressive tactics may have served to construct a situation which the home-owner could only react in one way: to defend his life.
And so it comes down to a trial, in which the police may find themselves as much on trial as does Ryan Frederick. With one significant difference: The police are a unified organization. They only see one color: Blue. There are no shades of grey in their universe.
Frederick, on the other hand, is and remains a man who is confused, frightened, and (as he says): "I don't have anybody!"
A rich man would have walked by now. There is no evidence that Frederick as participating in any illegal activity apart from the private consumption of Marijuana (a "crime" punishible by nothing more than a fine, much like a traffic ticket.) Not much justification for killing a policeman.
Frederick is A Man Alone. Confused, frightened full of remorse and finding himself in a position similar to a kernal of corn in a remorseless grinding mill, Frederick has no-one to call upon for help. No family. No friends. No helpful member of the Third Estate. (Well, perhaps except for one.)
From Xavier thoughts of Match 23, 2008:
Frederick was armed with a .380 pistol. He fired at the figure. The shot killed a police officer, Jarrod Shivers, who was serving a "no knock" search warrant. Shivers was a narcotics detective and a father of three children. Frederick had no prior criminal record, and he was not growing marijuana as a confidential informant had claimed. Frederick was arrested and charged with first degree murder. Two .380 shell casings were recovered, as well as a .223 hull. Judge Thomas M. Ammons III has denied bond. Frederick is represented by attorney James Broccoletti.
---
As I listened carefully to the original interrogation tape, I was struck by they image of Frederick in a Cage, bouncing from one set of bars to the next, bruised and battered but certain only of his inalienable rights to defend himself and his home.
Except for that one moment, when in the smallest of voices he asks:
"You can't ... you can't defend your home?"
---
I think he can. And I think the aggression of SWAT teams who, masked and costumed and armed with all of the latest Big Ticket Item armor and weaponry, is probably wasted on such a small-time operation such as that which the considered Frederick to be a very minor member.
The police have screwed the pooch on this one. Instead of simply saying "OOPS! My Bad!" -- they have no choice to go after Frederick in the most aggressive manner possible, in the sure and certain confidence that their local Presecutor will support them beyond the point of reason.
After all, they're The Good Guys.
Aren't they?
As you will find, Curt has been keeping track of this case far better than anyone else.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Captain Jeremy Fresques
I recently received an email from a friend ("Bill S.") commenting on a 2005 event where-in a 'local resident' (living near an U.S. Air Force base) complained about a fly-over at low altitude near a residential community.
The entire story is told here.
The original complaint was:
The response (from a U.S. Air Force member) was:
It's not uncommon for those of us who are not members of the military to misunderstand the arcane things they do. In this case, the original complaint performed a service to the community, which was not expected. (The writer of the complaint also provided an apology, which was perhaps not entirely necessary .. but still, I'm sure, gladly received by both the Military unit which performed the fly-bay, and Captain Fresques' family.)
Although this story is somewhat dated, still it serves the purpose of explaining that, while some of the things which the Military does are often incomprehensible, our military continues a centuries-long tradition of respect to its fallen members.
Perhaps we too need to make an effort to honor their sacrifices.
_________________________________
My personal thanks to Bill S., one of whose sons served two tours in "The Sandbox" as a combat medic, bringing his family much honor. Bill sent the basic information in an email, and I'm grateful for his intention to high-light the difficulty of communication between the Military and we Civilians.
And of course a special appreciation to the memory and family of Captain Jeremy Fresques.
The entire story is told here.
The original complaint was:
"Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated."Cranky? Yes, but understandable.
The response (from a U.S. Air Force member) was:
On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship flyby of F-16's from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt Jeremy Fresques.
Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.
At 9 a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend.
Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.
A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in defense of freedom.
We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.
The letter writer asks, "Whom do we thank for the morning air show?"
The 56th Fighter Wing will call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.
Lt. Col. Scott Pleus
CO 63rd Fighter Squadron
Luke AFB
It's not uncommon for those of us who are not members of the military to misunderstand the arcane things they do. In this case, the original complaint performed a service to the community, which was not expected. (The writer of the complaint also provided an apology, which was perhaps not entirely necessary .. but still, I'm sure, gladly received by both the Military unit which performed the fly-bay, and Captain Fresques' family.)
Although this story is somewhat dated, still it serves the purpose of explaining that, while some of the things which the Military does are often incomprehensible, our military continues a centuries-long tradition of respect to its fallen members.
Perhaps we too need to make an effort to honor their sacrifices.
_________________________________
My personal thanks to Bill S., one of whose sons served two tours in "The Sandbox" as a combat medic, bringing his family much honor. Bill sent the basic information in an email, and I'm grateful for his intention to high-light the difficulty of communication between the Military and we Civilians.
And of course a special appreciation to the memory and family of Captain Jeremy Fresques.
Family Values: Firearms Safety and Good Sportsmanship
Fifty one weeks ago I posted an article titled "John McCain on the Second Amendment".
In that article, I was not only critical but perhaps dismissive of Mr. McCain's position vis-a-vis the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms". His published position was not substantively more appealing than that of Mr. Obabma.
(Is it too late to repeat my disappointment that the Republican Party was unable to offer a truly Republican candidate?)
Recently I received a late, but interesting comment on that article.
A reader signing himself "Anti gun banner" asked:
My response would have to be --- absolutely nothing.
In fact, I received training which introduced some of the elements the commentator described, at Helen McCune Junior High School when I joined the Rifle Team.
This group of middle-school students met once a week (I believe it was Tuesday after school) to practice shooting 'gallery rifles'. There we learned much about gun-handling, safety, and accuracy (and "following the rules").
I'm convinced that this training made better people of all of us.
Note that I later continued my participation in "Gallery Rifle" shooting in High School (Pendleton High School, in Oregon), while also shooting competitively at the "Senior Club", which met on Thursday evenings in the basement of a downtown retail store.
Thus the Middle High School, the Senior High School, and an independent group of adults provided a variety of venues for young people to shoot in a highly technical competitive milieu.
The Junior High School, and the Senior high School, both allowed us to bring our 'personal weapons' to school ... although of course while attending the Middle (Junior) school I did not have a driver's license so I was obliged to use the equipment (rifles, magazines) provided by the school.
In both schools, we participated in "Postal Matches", and occasionally travelled (or hosted) matches involving direct competition with shooters from other schools.
I remember travelling to Pasco, Washington, at least once a year during the six years during which I competed in "Gallery Rifle" during my school years. There I usually threw up at least once because of the combination of compettive stress and the strong aroma of gunsmoke permeating the enclosure of an indoor rifle range.
Vomitting notwithstanding, it was my opinion (at the time, and enhanced since then) that these experiences not only intruduced me to the concepts of Firearms Safety and Good Sportsmanship, it also allowed me and my companions to perceive that the Shooting Sports were not the harbringer to what we now commonly refer to as "School Shootings", but instead were just another way in which young people can compete with each other in a manner which did not necessarily require dependence on having an Athletic Body.
Yes, I was a Geek 50 years ago, and I remain one today.
But looking back on the original question:
"What would be wrong with firearms saftey and penalties for wrongful use of fource with firearms tought at a middle school age level?"
Actually, upon reflection I am disappointed that Firearms Safety is equated with Penalties for wrongful use of force with fairarms.
It is, I suspect a sign of the times that these must necessarily be the two primary concerns in 2009.
In 1959, "firearms safety" was assimilated from our fathers who gave us a .22 rifle for our 10th birthday and threatened to take it away from us if they ever saw us using it in an unsafe manner.
When we had demonstrated our ability to safely handle a rifle, they gave us a deer-rifle for our 12th birthday (or Christmas). The gift included the same precautionary note, but by that time it was essentially an empty threat. We were aware of the deadly power of a firearm, and we knew all about firearms safety.
Now, approximately 50 years later, the culture has changed dramatically ... and not to the good.
The firearms training we enjoyed in the 20th century, expected from our fathers, is no longer available.
In this century, the saying "It's a Wise Man who knows his own father" is not only even more valid, but it's a poignant reminder of a culture which has been allowed to fall by the wayside.
No longer is there a strong male presence in the family. No longer is there an experienced shoter, perhaps even a shooter, who is available to teach both son and daughter how to hunt, shoot, and handle firearms safely.
(In my own family, my elder sister had no interest in hunting. But we both learned to shoot ... accurately, and safely. My own children learned the same lessons, in the same way.)
In the aftermath of the break-up of The Nuclear Family, it is no longer sufficient to rely on the presence of a strong Male parent who is sufficiently experienced to teach these Family Values.
The Male Parent is not only not necessarily "strong" (nor grounded in the fundamentals of Gun Handling", but is Missing, more often than not.
But we still have guns, and we still have children. Our choices are simple. Either:
I don't like it, but there it is.
In that context, I cannot even object too strongly to the idea that part of the things the Schools will be training our children includes "Penalties for wrongful use of force with firearms."
That is, I know that the concept is necessary to be taught our children, but still I object to the context.
Our children should not be schooled in the penalties. They should be taught that shooting at another person, even by accident, is anethema. They shouldn't be focused on the "Penalties". Instead, they should be focused on the wrongness of the action.
---
The original question presupposes that our children will be out-of-control. It's misleading in that the concept of 'legal penalties' is not as effective as the concept of 'societal penalties'.
We need to get away from the litigious penalties for "Doing Wrong". Instead, we need to establish in our children the idea that "Doing Wrong" is just ... wrong. And that it will not be accepted.
Fifty years ago, the penalty for a child harming another living person was not a pre-designated number of years in some lockup. It was the virtual ostracism by civilized society, combined with the imperative that acceptance by civilized society was the norm, which was legitimately pursued by us all.
This is part of what is referred to by the common phrase "Family Values".
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: the attempt by a large society to impose legal constraints upon unsafe or unacceptable activity is misguided. The attempt by Government to impose the same code of conduct (typified by "Family Values") on individuals as would ordinarily be imposed by the Family ... is also misguided.
The ONLY way to reduce the number and chilling 'quality' of public misuse of firearms is to work to re-introduce the concept of Family to the general public, and to provide such community obligations as to make it seem both workable and attractive to both adults and their children.
This is much more difficult than introducing a piece of legislation ... and consequently much more likely to achieve the desired results.
Is it a good idea to require Middle Schools to teach "... firearms saftey [sic] and penalties for wrongful use of fource [sic]with firearms..."?
No, it's not
But it's not the approach which will achieve the un-stated goals:
No More Columbines!
In that article, I was not only critical but perhaps dismissive of Mr. McCain's position vis-a-vis the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms". His published position was not substantively more appealing than that of Mr. Obabma.
(Is it too late to repeat my disappointment that the Republican Party was unable to offer a truly Republican candidate?)
Recently I received a late, but interesting comment on that article.
A reader signing himself "Anti gun banner" asked:
What would be wrong with firearms saftey [sic] and penalties for wrongful use of fource [sic]with firearms tought[sic] at a middle school age level?
My response would have to be --- absolutely nothing.
In fact, I received training which introduced some of the elements the commentator described, at Helen McCune Junior High School when I joined the Rifle Team.
This group of middle-school students met once a week (I believe it was Tuesday after school) to practice shooting 'gallery rifles'. There we learned much about gun-handling, safety, and accuracy (and "following the rules").
I'm convinced that this training made better people of all of us.
Note that I later continued my participation in "Gallery Rifle" shooting in High School (Pendleton High School, in Oregon), while also shooting competitively at the "Senior Club", which met on Thursday evenings in the basement of a downtown retail store.
Thus the Middle High School, the Senior High School, and an independent group of adults provided a variety of venues for young people to shoot in a highly technical competitive milieu.
The Junior High School, and the Senior high School, both allowed us to bring our 'personal weapons' to school ... although of course while attending the Middle (Junior) school I did not have a driver's license so I was obliged to use the equipment (rifles, magazines) provided by the school.
In both schools, we participated in "Postal Matches", and occasionally travelled (or hosted) matches involving direct competition with shooters from other schools.
I remember travelling to Pasco, Washington, at least once a year during the six years during which I competed in "Gallery Rifle" during my school years. There I usually threw up at least once because of the combination of compettive stress and the strong aroma of gunsmoke permeating the enclosure of an indoor rifle range.
Vomitting notwithstanding, it was my opinion (at the time, and enhanced since then) that these experiences not only intruduced me to the concepts of Firearms Safety and Good Sportsmanship, it also allowed me and my companions to perceive that the Shooting Sports were not the harbringer to what we now commonly refer to as "School Shootings", but instead were just another way in which young people can compete with each other in a manner which did not necessarily require dependence on having an Athletic Body.
Yes, I was a Geek 50 years ago, and I remain one today.
But looking back on the original question:
"What would be wrong with firearms saftey and penalties for wrongful use of fource with firearms tought at a middle school age level?"
Actually, upon reflection I am disappointed that Firearms Safety is equated with Penalties for wrongful use of force with fairarms.
It is, I suspect a sign of the times that these must necessarily be the two primary concerns in 2009.
In 1959, "firearms safety" was assimilated from our fathers who gave us a .22 rifle for our 10th birthday and threatened to take it away from us if they ever saw us using it in an unsafe manner.
When we had demonstrated our ability to safely handle a rifle, they gave us a deer-rifle for our 12th birthday (or Christmas). The gift included the same precautionary note, but by that time it was essentially an empty threat. We were aware of the deadly power of a firearm, and we knew all about firearms safety.
Now, approximately 50 years later, the culture has changed dramatically ... and not to the good.
The firearms training we enjoyed in the 20th century, expected from our fathers, is no longer available.
In this century, the saying "It's a Wise Man who knows his own father" is not only even more valid, but it's a poignant reminder of a culture which has been allowed to fall by the wayside.
No longer is there a strong male presence in the family. No longer is there an experienced shoter, perhaps even a shooter, who is available to teach both son and daughter how to hunt, shoot, and handle firearms safely.
(In my own family, my elder sister had no interest in hunting. But we both learned to shoot ... accurately, and safely. My own children learned the same lessons, in the same way.)
In the aftermath of the break-up of The Nuclear Family, it is no longer sufficient to rely on the presence of a strong Male parent who is sufficiently experienced to teach these Family Values.
The Male Parent is not only not necessarily "strong" (nor grounded in the fundamentals of Gun Handling", but is Missing, more often than not.
But we still have guns, and we still have children. Our choices are simple. Either:
- We give up the private ownership of firearms;
- We find a way to teach these same Family Values without the support of the Family;
- Or we allow access to guns to people who have learned neither basic firearms safety not the values which enable our children to be safe, respectful members of society.
I don't like it, but there it is.
In that context, I cannot even object too strongly to the idea that part of the things the Schools will be training our children includes "Penalties for wrongful use of force with firearms."
That is, I know that the concept is necessary to be taught our children, but still I object to the context.
Our children should not be schooled in the penalties. They should be taught that shooting at another person, even by accident, is anethema. They shouldn't be focused on the "Penalties". Instead, they should be focused on the wrongness of the action.
---
The original question presupposes that our children will be out-of-control. It's misleading in that the concept of 'legal penalties' is not as effective as the concept of 'societal penalties'.
We need to get away from the litigious penalties for "Doing Wrong". Instead, we need to establish in our children the idea that "Doing Wrong" is just ... wrong. And that it will not be accepted.
Fifty years ago, the penalty for a child harming another living person was not a pre-designated number of years in some lockup. It was the virtual ostracism by civilized society, combined with the imperative that acceptance by civilized society was the norm, which was legitimately pursued by us all.
This is part of what is referred to by the common phrase "Family Values".
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: the attempt by a large society to impose legal constraints upon unsafe or unacceptable activity is misguided. The attempt by Government to impose the same code of conduct (typified by "Family Values") on individuals as would ordinarily be imposed by the Family ... is also misguided.
The ONLY way to reduce the number and chilling 'quality' of public misuse of firearms is to work to re-introduce the concept of Family to the general public, and to provide such community obligations as to make it seem both workable and attractive to both adults and their children.
This is much more difficult than introducing a piece of legislation ... and consequently much more likely to achieve the desired results.
Is it a good idea to require Middle Schools to teach "... firearms saftey [sic] and penalties for wrongful use of fource [sic]with firearms..."?
No, it's not
But it's not the approach which will achieve the un-stated goals:
No More Columbines!
Oops! Typo! My Bad
'Human error' shuts down Google - Times Online
I, of course, as a CoOmputer Prefessional, have never done anything like this.
Boy, I'm glad I don't work for Google. This stuff happens all the time. Usually, it's caught in User Testing before it goes into Production. But occasionally the press of business requires that 'minor changes' be pushed into production without at least two levels of testing.
Boy, it must be tough having the Eyes of the World watching your every keystroke!
For the poor schmuck wh\o made this single-keystroke error ... man, it sucks to be you!
THE world’s biggest internet search engine temporarily shut down today, leaving hundreds of millions of surfers stranded in cyberspace.
Google broke down for forty minutes this afternoon, paralysing everything from internet-dating to people checking out the latest news.
Anyone searching for a site using Google was blocked with the warning: “This site may harm your computer.” The problem started at 3.30pm.
As fear spread across the internet that hackers would bring the mighty search engine down and cause millions of pounds in damage, it emerged that the entire search engine was crashed by a rogue “/”.
I, of course, as a CoOmputer Prefessional, have never done anything like this.
Boy, I'm glad I don't work for Google. This stuff happens all the time. Usually, it's caught in User Testing before it goes into Production. But occasionally the press of business requires that 'minor changes' be pushed into production without at least two levels of testing.
Boy, it must be tough having the Eyes of the World watching your every keystroke!
For the poor schmuck wh\o made this single-keystroke error ... man, it sucks to be you!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
NRA on Ballistic Fingerprinting
A couple of years ago (March 14, 2007), the National Rifle Association posted a video on YouTube which purported to legitimately point out the fallacies they found in a "60 Minute" segment discussing "Ballistic Fingerprinting".
There are several problems with the NRA production, perhaps as problematic as the 60 Minute segment. (Which I have not seen.)
In the first place, the NRA production failed to define the term "Ballistic Fingerprinting". Perhaps their point was that all "Ballistic Fingerprinting" techniques were fatally flawed. But my instinctive willingness to forgive the NRA is as insupportable as their nine minute video.
During discussions, the NRA seems to be talking about one aspect while demonstrating another. Most notably, during one sequence the seem to be talking about comparing the rifling marks on a bullet. But much of their footage demonstrates not bullet striations, but comparisons of the base of the cartridge.
Strangely, while they are in the middle of demonstrating how easy it is to change the striations on a bullet (they seem to be suggesting that simply cleaning the barrel, or perhaps using buffing compound to clean the barrel ... they are not clear here), they cut away to a shot of a lab technician filing the firing pin.
It's intuitively obvious that filing a firing pin will change the configuration of primer indentation, but they never mention that.
I have some doubts about the efficacy of a "fifteen second" application of (again, presumably) an abrasive grease on a bore cleaner rag at a cost of "no more than 20 dollars" will definitively change the striations on a bullet.
Not only do I suspect that this light-weight effort will significantly change the striation marks on a bullet ... regardless of their assertions ... but I even question the price they quote; I'm not sure where one can purchase a buffing compound which is so abrasive that it costs $20 for what appears to be a six-ounce portion.
I have no way of knowing how much time, effort and money the NRA has expended to produce this video, but I am disappointed. I have no doubt that any reader here could have been a better, more fact-based Producer or editor.
I have never been an enthusiastic supporter of the National Rifle Association. It's not that their espoused goal is not worthy of my support, but they all-too-often produce arguments in support of the Second Amendment which are so lame that I am embarrassed to admit my association with them.
While I appreciate the effort the NRA put into producing this video, I'm disappointed that they couldn't find competent editors who would make sure that the result was consistent, illustrative of the point they were attempting to make, and comprehensive.
My NRA membership has recently expired. I have no intention of renewing it. I realize that many readers will suggest that "They may be flawed, but they are the only organization which lobbies for your Second Amendment Rights".
Please.
If this is the best that Free America has to offer, I would just as soon save my $20/year (or whatever) and produce my own videos.
So if you will all please send me twenty dollars, I will replace the NRA. I may not be able to make such 'glossy' videos, but they will be at least better produced with the meager funds available.
Isn't that better than the CRAP that the NRA produces?
There are several problems with the NRA production, perhaps as problematic as the 60 Minute segment. (Which I have not seen.)
In the first place, the NRA production failed to define the term "Ballistic Fingerprinting". Perhaps their point was that all "Ballistic Fingerprinting" techniques were fatally flawed. But my instinctive willingness to forgive the NRA is as insupportable as their nine minute video.
During discussions, the NRA seems to be talking about one aspect while demonstrating another. Most notably, during one sequence the seem to be talking about comparing the rifling marks on a bullet. But much of their footage demonstrates not bullet striations, but comparisons of the base of the cartridge.
Strangely, while they are in the middle of demonstrating how easy it is to change the striations on a bullet (they seem to be suggesting that simply cleaning the barrel, or perhaps using buffing compound to clean the barrel ... they are not clear here), they cut away to a shot of a lab technician filing the firing pin.
It's intuitively obvious that filing a firing pin will change the configuration of primer indentation, but they never mention that.
I have some doubts about the efficacy of a "fifteen second" application of (again, presumably) an abrasive grease on a bore cleaner rag at a cost of "no more than 20 dollars" will definitively change the striations on a bullet.
Not only do I suspect that this light-weight effort will significantly change the striation marks on a bullet ... regardless of their assertions ... but I even question the price they quote; I'm not sure where one can purchase a buffing compound which is so abrasive that it costs $20 for what appears to be a six-ounce portion.
I have no way of knowing how much time, effort and money the NRA has expended to produce this video, but I am disappointed. I have no doubt that any reader here could have been a better, more fact-based Producer or editor.
I have never been an enthusiastic supporter of the National Rifle Association. It's not that their espoused goal is not worthy of my support, but they all-too-often produce arguments in support of the Second Amendment which are so lame that I am embarrassed to admit my association with them.
While I appreciate the effort the NRA put into producing this video, I'm disappointed that they couldn't find competent editors who would make sure that the result was consistent, illustrative of the point they were attempting to make, and comprehensive.
My NRA membership has recently expired. I have no intention of renewing it. I realize that many readers will suggest that "They may be flawed, but they are the only organization which lobbies for your Second Amendment Rights".
Please.
If this is the best that Free America has to offer, I would just as soon save my $20/year (or whatever) and produce my own videos.
So if you will all please send me twenty dollars, I will replace the NRA. I may not be able to make such 'glossy' videos, but they will be at least better produced with the meager funds available.
Isn't that better than the CRAP that the NRA produces?
Rockets In Your Pockets
What the heck.
It's Saturday night, I have had a cold for two days now, and I'm getting cabin fever.
I feel like presenting a video of Alan Sherman's "Camp Grenada" (the official music of the Pacific NorthWet) but I can't find one.
Instead, I am reduced to watching "Whose Line Is It Anyway" videos on YouTube.
That was fun.
When I say I can't find a video of "Camp Grenada" by Alan Sherman, I mean that several videos can be found on YouTube, but almost all of them are without the audio track. A note on their webpages reads:
That's not fun.
I've had that happen to me a lot lately as YouTube is increasingly patrolled by the Music Police. They either disallow access to the video, or delete the audio portion. Too bad, many of the videos are much more interesting with the music soundtracks.
FYI, here is the BEST version of a "Camp Grenada" video I could find ... and I only select it because it includes the written lyrics.
And the sound is terrible. I apologize for the the annoying "truck horn" at the beginning.
Here's a video where the song is used as the basis for a 'RuneScape' style video.
It's Saturday night, I have had a cold for two days now, and I'm getting cabin fever.
I feel like presenting a video of Alan Sherman's "Camp Grenada" (the official music of the Pacific NorthWet) but I can't find one.
Instead, I am reduced to watching "Whose Line Is It Anyway" videos on YouTube.
That was fun.
When I say I can't find a video of "Camp Grenada" by Alan Sherman, I mean that several videos can be found on YouTube, but almost all of them are without the audio track. A note on their webpages reads:
"This video contains an audio track that has not been authorized by WMG. The audio has been disabled."
That's not fun.
I've had that happen to me a lot lately as YouTube is increasingly patrolled by the Music Police. They either disallow access to the video, or delete the audio portion. Too bad, many of the videos are much more interesting with the music soundtracks.
FYI, here is the BEST version of a "Camp Grenada" video I could find ... and I only select it because it includes the written lyrics.
And the sound is terrible. I apologize for the the annoying "truck horn" at the beginning.
Here's a video where the song is used as the basis for a 'RuneScape' style video.
Racism as Defined by Obama, Et Al
"The Highest Social Concern"
Newly elected President B.H. Obama's new Economic Adviser, Robert Reich, has made a clear statement that a major part of O's new Economic Stimulus Plan be should used to get "Long-term Unemployed, Minorities, Women, People who are not necessarily Construction Workers or High Skilled Professionals" hired to repair and construct "Infrastructure" projects.
Reich goes on to clarify that he has "nothing against white-male construction workers. I'm just saying that there are other people who have other needs as well".
... "Criteria can be set so that the money goes to others" who are (women, non-white males, etc. etc. etc.)
(Rangel wants to "... find some way to establish formulas to expedites there where Governors are going to be forced to find some kind of formula to find out how to get the money where the hemorrhages are."
In other words, this is defined as NOT a way to improve the infrastructure ... bridges, roads etc. .. but to redistribute money from productive workers to wanna-be workers who have not the experience to know whether their work will result in another bridge collapse.
In the view of Reich and Rangel, the 21st Century America will rebuild and replace America's Roads and Bridges (etc) not only using the "Lowest Bid" contractors, but also using relatively unskilled labor.
Why is this a valid assertion?
Because Reich (and Charley Rangel) want to to base hiring on Race and Gender, and Economic Need, rather than on demonstrated competency.
While it has yet to be proven that the best use of Economic Stimulus funds will be to address "Shovel Ready" Infrastructure, R&R (Reich and Rangel) seem determined to play both the Race Card and the Victim Card when addressing the vital role of Infrastructure Rehabilitation.
Would I feel comfortable driving across a bridge built by R&R's New Deal Workers?
No, I would not.
Would you?
Newly elected President B.H. Obama's new Economic Adviser, Robert Reich, has made a clear statement that a major part of O's new Economic Stimulus Plan be should used to get "Long-term Unemployed, Minorities, Women, People who are not necessarily Construction Workers or High Skilled Professionals" hired to repair and construct "Infrastructure" projects.
Reich goes on to clarify that he has "nothing against white-male construction workers. I'm just saying that there are other people who have other needs as well".
... "Criteria can be set so that the money goes to others" who are (women, non-white males, etc. etc. etc.)
(Rangel wants to "... find some way to establish formulas to expedites there where Governors are going to be forced to find some kind of formula to find out how to get the money where the hemorrhages are."
In other words, this is defined as NOT a way to improve the infrastructure ... bridges, roads etc. .. but to redistribute money from productive workers to wanna-be workers who have not the experience to know whether their work will result in another bridge collapse.
In the view of Reich and Rangel, the 21st Century America will rebuild and replace America's Roads and Bridges (etc) not only using the "Lowest Bid" contractors, but also using relatively unskilled labor.
Why is this a valid assertion?
Because Reich (and Charley Rangel) want to to base hiring on Race and Gender, and Economic Need, rather than on demonstrated competency.
While it has yet to be proven that the best use of Economic Stimulus funds will be to address "Shovel Ready" Infrastructure, R&R (Reich and Rangel) seem determined to play both the Race Card and the Victim Card when addressing the vital role of Infrastructure Rehabilitation.
Would I feel comfortable driving across a bridge built by R&R's New Deal Workers?
No, I would not.
Would you?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Geek Sick?
There are those among my readers (most of them) who would aver that the title of this article should be "Sick Geek!".
However, it is not my purpose to reward their intemperate canards.
Rather, I regret to report that I seem to have caught the Common Cold.
It has been slowly impinging upon my Co-Workers for a week. Andy had the cold last week, and continued to come to word "regardless". He makes his presence known by the occassional Ka-WHOOP!.
Deb missed Monday, and came in to work on Tuesday where she was immediately dubbed "Coughing Woman". She lasted for about six hours, finally yielding the the gentle advice (Geek in origin) to "Go home!". She hasn't been back yet, yielding three sick days and one sick-but-shoulda-stayed-home day.
This afternoon Mark started clearing his throat -- loudly -- of congestion every few minutes. I realized that every time he HrrrUMPPed!, I HrrrUMPPED immediately afterword. This continued until, about 4pm, I realized that my HrrUMPP was changing to a robust Ka-WHOOP!
And then my nose started to run.
I finally left the office about 15 minutes early, unable to further ignore the undeniable evidence that I was Catching A Cold.
There are more than the usual number of down-sides to this, quite apart from my own discomfort and loss of work-time:
I really don't appreciate it when people bring their Winter Colds to work. It's like "Take Your Daughter To Work Day", only with fewer annoying squeaky voices and more disappointment.
Here's a personal hint, from me to you:
If you have a cold, please stay home and enjoy it. You may feel you are an important contributor to your office (jobsite, whatever) efficiency. In reality, you may be willing to "play through the pain", but the rest of your co-workers are probably going to end up spending some work-days at home. They will not thank you.
Hmmmmm - I'm not sure I got the message through to everybody. Let's try it again:
If you have a cold --
STAY THE #*@& HOME!!!
Thank you for your kind attention.
However, it is not my purpose to reward their intemperate canards.
Rather, I regret to report that I seem to have caught the Common Cold.
It has been slowly impinging upon my Co-Workers for a week. Andy had the cold last week, and continued to come to word "regardless". He makes his presence known by the occassional Ka-WHOOP!.
Deb missed Monday, and came in to work on Tuesday where she was immediately dubbed "Coughing Woman". She lasted for about six hours, finally yielding the the gentle advice (Geek in origin) to "Go home!". She hasn't been back yet, yielding three sick days and one sick-but-shoulda-stayed-home day.
This afternoon Mark started clearing his throat -- loudly -- of congestion every few minutes. I realized that every time he HrrrUMPPed!, I HrrrUMPPED immediately afterword. This continued until, about 4pm, I realized that my HrrUMPP was changing to a robust Ka-WHOOP!
And then my nose started to run.
I finally left the office about 15 minutes early, unable to further ignore the undeniable evidence that I was Catching A Cold.
There are more than the usual number of down-sides to this, quite apart from my own discomfort and loss of work-time:
- I can't be around SWMBO when I have a cold. Her immune system has been entirely suppressed by the chemotherapy, and she isn't really strong enough to deal with a cold.
- The redoubtable Hobo Brasser had planned to come down to visit us this weekend. His Lady Wife, the estimable Mrs Hobo Brasser (aka, in her own right, "Spicey") had planned to furnish dinner ... her made-from-scratch Macaroni and Cheese is reputed to be The Stuff that Childhoods Are Made Of. I am gonna miss this, but they did want to have dinner and visit with both of us, and I am temporarily rendered Hors d'Combat.
- A co-worker has recently purchased a new pistol. I had tentatively planned to take him to the range this weekend to both provide him with an opportunity to shoot it, but also to make sure he has the gun-handling instructions which will help him to use it safely.
I really don't appreciate it when people bring their Winter Colds to work. It's like "Take Your Daughter To Work Day", only with fewer annoying squeaky voices and more disappointment.
Here's a personal hint, from me to you:
If you have a cold, please stay home and enjoy it. You may feel you are an important contributor to your office (jobsite, whatever) efficiency. In reality, you may be willing to "play through the pain", but the rest of your co-workers are probably going to end up spending some work-days at home. They will not thank you.
Hmmmmm - I'm not sure I got the message through to everybody. Let's try it again:
If you have a cold --
STAY THE #*@& HOME!!!
Thank you for your kind attention.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Presidential Agenda: Sportsmen
President Obama's official agenda does not specifically address support for the Second Amendment. However, he nicely covers this under the category of "Sportsmen".
That's nice.
The Presidential Agenda effectively equates the Second Amendment with the right to keep and bear fly-fishing rods.
I wonder what his position is on Deep Sea fishing equipment, which has no legitimate purpose except the wanton slaughter of innocent Marlins outside the 12-mile limit off the American coast.
Sportsmen
President Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America's hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sports. Were it not for America's hunters and anglers, including the great icons like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not have the tradition of sound game management, a system of ethical, science-based game laws and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue the sport. The President and Vice President recognize that we must forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America's hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.
That's nice.
The Presidential Agenda effectively equates the Second Amendment with the right to keep and bear fly-fishing rods.
I wonder what his position is on Deep Sea fishing equipment, which has no legitimate purpose except the wanton slaughter of innocent Marlins outside the 12-mile limit off the American coast.
Maxine for President!
BAIL EM OUT!
Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country and our banking system to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
OPTV
Welcome to "Old Pharts TeleVision"
Dundee Practical Shooters hosted a Club match this weekend, and for the first time in several months I not only attended, I participated.
[sigh]
Good weather (Winter in Oregon, but no rain and no wind), good stages, good people to shoot with. It don't get no better than this.
(click here to see the scores)
I looked very much like a guy who hasn't fired a round in practice or in competition for several months, and I didn't expect much more than a good time.
Going to a USPSA match when you're out of practice is like kissing an ugly girl; you don't expect much, and you're grateful for anything that exceeds your expectations, but mostly you just really, really want to get ... kissed.
I got kissed by the Ugly Ammo girl. I had a bunch of high primers. Out of the 150+/- rounds required in the match, I experienced misfires once on four of the six stages. I've been having problems with my Dillon XL650 for several months, which explains why I haven't shot many matches lately ... at least in part. The high-primer cartridges weren't obvious. I had gauged and inspected all of my ammunition and didn't catch those four. (Sorting through my ammunition box, I found another 'suspicious' round and dumped it into my range bag. I'll check that out 'later'.)
The match was better than my shooting. Evil Bill set up a six-pack of challenging stages which met the minimum requirements for 'rainy season' matches. There was a lot of steel, and in case of rain the targets could easily be replaced right out of stock without time-consuming painting. I talked to Evil Bill about this:
"I've changed my stage designs. If I want to restrict the shooter's access to the target area, I don't often paint it black. I just staple a no-shoot on top."
I saw a couple of black-painted targets during the match, but they were the exception, not the rule. This makes it much easier to replace targets during the match, because there are no concerns that the 'hard-cover' matches the original target.
Evil Bill made the maximum use of steel targets for this match. He had a Texas Star, a plate-rack (you'll see this later), and many Pepper Poppers and US Poppers to provide challenging stages without the need to replace a lot of cardboard targets (both Classic and Metric targets were featured).
The most interesting stage in the match was on Stage 1, Bay 1: "Get Over It".
Brief description: This was a symetrical stage, based on a six-plate plate rack. Vision barriers prevented full view of the plates from either side. You could only see six plate-rack targets, plus a single 9" plate, and 3 full-vision Metric targets from each of the two sides of the stage. Vision barriers forced the competitor to move from one extreme lateral side of the bay to the other in order to see/engage all of the targets. Eight plates and six Metric targets comprised the challenge and for the average shooter 20 seconds with no more than 3 or 4 points 'down' constituted a good run.
Here's how it looked for three Ol Pharts who were all shooting Open Division with varying degrees of success:
One of the things I appreciated about this match, which featured three "lateral design" field courses, was that the round count for most stages exceeded 20 rounds. This challenged the shooters using high-cap (over 20 rounds) magazines to decide when, where and whether they would reload.
The Hobo Brasser twice announced, at the end of these stages, "I should have listened to The Geek". I had advised to use 20-round magazines rather than 25+ round magazines, because that strategy would force the Open shooter to reload during the long run from one side of the bay to the other. The COFs were so challenging that only one or two misses would throw your round-count past your magazine capacity.
I admit, I made the same mistake on three stages, where I ran out of ammunition before finishing the stages (taking a miss rather than do a standing reload).
The thing about Old Pharts is that we know all the ways to screw up a stage, but we are beyond learning from our previous experience or the advice of our peers.
(Incidentally, Fish beat the crap out of Geek and The Hobo Brasser, because he took the time to make sure that he got first-shot hits on the plates. There's a lesson here, but I'm not quite sure what it is.)
And although there were a plethora of Old Pharts shooting Open Guns, one young man named Dante (attending with his father) was also shooting Open in this squad. He did a fine job, even though he forgot his holster and had to shoot from the "low ready" position. [This may be the wave of the future, but I hope not.}
Near the end of the match I approached Dante's father, Adam, and told him:
"I wish you had told us that your son was shooting without a holster because he didn't bring it with him. I thought you were teaching him USPSA shooting before you introduced him to holster work. I have a holster, magazine carriers and belt in my car that I would have been glad to loan him, if I had only known".
Adam replied: "That's okay. It will teach him a lesson. I think he will never go to a match without making sure that he has all of his gear".
(I never mentioned that in the past 25+ years I had forgotten almost every piece of equipment when attending a match, including pistol, holster, magazines and ammunition.)
"So, you are big on giving lessons, are you?" I replied.
"Yes".
"I'm glad you aren't my father" I said.
But this was not intended as criticism of Adam's parenting techniques. Actually, I think he has done The Right Thing. If my father had introduced me to Competitive Shooting instead of to shooting in general, I may have avoided a lot of embarrassing matches.
Here's how Dante looked at one of the match stages:
Dundee Practical Shooters hosted a Club match this weekend, and for the first time in several months I not only attended, I participated.
[sigh]
Good weather (Winter in Oregon, but no rain and no wind), good stages, good people to shoot with. It don't get no better than this.
(click here to see the scores)
I looked very much like a guy who hasn't fired a round in practice or in competition for several months, and I didn't expect much more than a good time.
Going to a USPSA match when you're out of practice is like kissing an ugly girl; you don't expect much, and you're grateful for anything that exceeds your expectations, but mostly you just really, really want to get ... kissed.
I got kissed by the Ugly Ammo girl. I had a bunch of high primers. Out of the 150+/- rounds required in the match, I experienced misfires once on four of the six stages. I've been having problems with my Dillon XL650 for several months, which explains why I haven't shot many matches lately ... at least in part. The high-primer cartridges weren't obvious. I had gauged and inspected all of my ammunition and didn't catch those four. (Sorting through my ammunition box, I found another 'suspicious' round and dumped it into my range bag. I'll check that out 'later'.)
The match was better than my shooting. Evil Bill set up a six-pack of challenging stages which met the minimum requirements for 'rainy season' matches. There was a lot of steel, and in case of rain the targets could easily be replaced right out of stock without time-consuming painting. I talked to Evil Bill about this:
"I've changed my stage designs. If I want to restrict the shooter's access to the target area, I don't often paint it black. I just staple a no-shoot on top."
I saw a couple of black-painted targets during the match, but they were the exception, not the rule. This makes it much easier to replace targets during the match, because there are no concerns that the 'hard-cover' matches the original target.
Evil Bill made the maximum use of steel targets for this match. He had a Texas Star, a plate-rack (you'll see this later), and many Pepper Poppers and US Poppers to provide challenging stages without the need to replace a lot of cardboard targets (both Classic and Metric targets were featured).
The most interesting stage in the match was on Stage 1, Bay 1: "Get Over It".
Brief description: This was a symetrical stage, based on a six-plate plate rack. Vision barriers prevented full view of the plates from either side. You could only see six plate-rack targets, plus a single 9" plate, and 3 full-vision Metric targets from each of the two sides of the stage. Vision barriers forced the competitor to move from one extreme lateral side of the bay to the other in order to see/engage all of the targets. Eight plates and six Metric targets comprised the challenge and for the average shooter 20 seconds with no more than 3 or 4 points 'down' constituted a good run.
Here's how it looked for three Ol Pharts who were all shooting Open Division with varying degrees of success:
One of the things I appreciated about this match, which featured three "lateral design" field courses, was that the round count for most stages exceeded 20 rounds. This challenged the shooters using high-cap (over 20 rounds) magazines to decide when, where and whether they would reload.
The Hobo Brasser twice announced, at the end of these stages, "I should have listened to The Geek". I had advised to use 20-round magazines rather than 25+ round magazines, because that strategy would force the Open shooter to reload during the long run from one side of the bay to the other. The COFs were so challenging that only one or two misses would throw your round-count past your magazine capacity.
I admit, I made the same mistake on three stages, where I ran out of ammunition before finishing the stages (taking a miss rather than do a standing reload).
The thing about Old Pharts is that we know all the ways to screw up a stage, but we are beyond learning from our previous experience or the advice of our peers.
(Incidentally, Fish beat the crap out of Geek and The Hobo Brasser, because he took the time to make sure that he got first-shot hits on the plates. There's a lesson here, but I'm not quite sure what it is.)
And although there were a plethora of Old Pharts shooting Open Guns, one young man named Dante (attending with his father) was also shooting Open in this squad. He did a fine job, even though he forgot his holster and had to shoot from the "low ready" position. [This may be the wave of the future, but I hope not.}
Near the end of the match I approached Dante's father, Adam, and told him:
"I wish you had told us that your son was shooting without a holster because he didn't bring it with him. I thought you were teaching him USPSA shooting before you introduced him to holster work. I have a holster, magazine carriers and belt in my car that I would have been glad to loan him, if I had only known".
Adam replied: "That's okay. It will teach him a lesson. I think he will never go to a match without making sure that he has all of his gear".
(I never mentioned that in the past 25+ years I had forgotten almost every piece of equipment when attending a match, including pistol, holster, magazines and ammunition.)
"So, you are big on giving lessons, are you?" I replied.
"Yes".
"I'm glad you aren't my father" I said.
But this was not intended as criticism of Adam's parenting techniques. Actually, I think he has done The Right Thing. If my father had introduced me to Competitive Shooting instead of to shooting in general, I may have avoided a lot of embarrassing matches.
Here's how Dante looked at one of the match stages:
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I Have A Dream ....
In his August 28, 1963 "I Have A Dream" speach at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. said many things. Among these dreams he described was this one.
Today, January 20, 2009, we celebrate the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama in his term as the 44th President of the United States of America.
As a Conservative American, I find myself less than entirely enamored of this president.
His politics are not only not conservative, but incomprehensible. At best, he can be said to be anti-Second Amendment. At worst, he is a Socialist.
What was his campaign platform? "Change!"
It's not uncommon for a candidate, especially a Democratic Candidate, to run on the platform that "I am Not The Last President", and while that is such a popular platform it remains uncommon for the sole plank to be "change". Usually, candidates are more specific about the changes they would make in the presidential administration. We did not see this in the latest Presidential Campaign.
The primary appeal for this candidate was his race. It is generally accepted that the impetus of his campaign was that he was Black, and his election would validate Dr. King's "Dream" speech.
In fact, Mr. Obama's election on the primary basis of his race is a direct refute of Dr. King's dream.
For any candidate to be elected on the basis of his race is NOT what Dr. King said would validate his dream.
Mr. Obama was elected not because of the content of his character, but because of the color of his skin. Given that his character was constantly assailed ... and the controversy was never answered by the Obama campaign ... it seems only logical to conclude that Race was the primary factor leading to his election.
I can only hope that the low expectations described by conservatives in this country are exceeded by Mr. Obama's performance.
I hope that he respects the Constitution.
I hope that he respects the traditional American values of Capitalism and a Free-Market Economy.
But I don't expect it.
I do, however, expect that these words will encourage his supporters to castigate me as a Racist, because I do not support this candidate on the basis of his policies (as nearly as we can interpret them, given the paucity of his platform definitions.)
I don't think I'm the racist here. I did now admire the Republican candidate's platform, either, but at least I had a good idea where he stood.
McCain was not an appealing candidate; Obama was not a candidate, he was merely an opponent. That should have given him the lead, but not by the margin recorded by the polls.
The single advantage to Mr. Obama's presidency is, that he will make Mr. George W. Bush look good by comparison.
Unfortunately, we must survive the next four years of the Obama Presidency, and the Republicans must field a legitimate candidate, to recover from this administration.
x
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.We celebrated King's birth yesterday (January 19) although his birthday was actually January 15.
Today, January 20, 2009, we celebrate the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama in his term as the 44th President of the United States of America.
As a Conservative American, I find myself less than entirely enamored of this president.
His politics are not only not conservative, but incomprehensible. At best, he can be said to be anti-Second Amendment. At worst, he is a Socialist.
What was his campaign platform? "Change!"
It's not uncommon for a candidate, especially a Democratic Candidate, to run on the platform that "I am Not The Last President", and while that is such a popular platform it remains uncommon for the sole plank to be "change". Usually, candidates are more specific about the changes they would make in the presidential administration. We did not see this in the latest Presidential Campaign.
The primary appeal for this candidate was his race. It is generally accepted that the impetus of his campaign was that he was Black, and his election would validate Dr. King's "Dream" speech.
In fact, Mr. Obama's election on the primary basis of his race is a direct refute of Dr. King's dream.
For any candidate to be elected on the basis of his race is NOT what Dr. King said would validate his dream.
Mr. Obama was elected not because of the content of his character, but because of the color of his skin. Given that his character was constantly assailed ... and the controversy was never answered by the Obama campaign ... it seems only logical to conclude that Race was the primary factor leading to his election.
I can only hope that the low expectations described by conservatives in this country are exceeded by Mr. Obama's performance.
I hope that he respects the Constitution.
I hope that he respects the traditional American values of Capitalism and a Free-Market Economy.
But I don't expect it.
I do, however, expect that these words will encourage his supporters to castigate me as a Racist, because I do not support this candidate on the basis of his policies (as nearly as we can interpret them, given the paucity of his platform definitions.)
I don't think I'm the racist here. I did now admire the Republican candidate's platform, either, but at least I had a good idea where he stood.
McCain was not an appealing candidate; Obama was not a candidate, he was merely an opponent. That should have given him the lead, but not by the margin recorded by the polls.
The single advantage to Mr. Obama's presidency is, that he will make Mr. George W. Bush look good by comparison.
Unfortunately, we must survive the next four years of the Obama Presidency, and the Republicans must field a legitimate candidate, to recover from this administration.
x
Monday, January 19, 2009
New Gun_Grabber bill from Illinois (HR 45)
H.R. 45 - "Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009" (Introduced in House)
From World Net Daily:
From World Net Daily:
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., is hoping to pass a firearm-licensing bill that will significantly rewrite gun-ownership laws in America.
Among the more controversial provisions of the bill are requirements that all handgun owners submit to the federal government a photo, thumb print and mental heath records. Further, the bill would order the attorney general to establish a database of every handgun sale, transfer and owner's address in America.
The bill claims its purpose is "to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale or transfer of firearms to criminals and youth."
... not to get to excited, this is just another "Feel-Good" bill thrown out to make the Congressman look good to his gun-grabber constituents. Still, it's a harbinger of tomorrow's federal legislation.
If passed, the bill would make it illegal to own or possess a "qualifying firearm" – defined as any handgun or any semiautomatic firearm that takes an ammunition clip – without a "Blair Holt" license.
To obtain a "Blair Holt" license, an application must be made that includes a photo, address, all previous aliases, thumb print, completion of a written firearm safety test, release of mental health records to the attorney general and a fee not to exceed $25.
Further, the bill makes it illegal to transfer ownership of a qualifying firearm to anyone who is not a licensed gun dealer or collector. Exceptions to this rule include transfer to family members by gift or bequest and loans, not to exceed 30 days, of a firearm for lawful purposes "between persons who are personally known to each other."
The bill also requires qualifying firearm owners to report all transfers to the attorney general's database. It would also be illegal for a licensed gun owner to fail to record a gun loss or theft within 72 hours or fail to report a change of address within 60 days.
And if a minor obtains a weapon and injures someone with it, the owner of the gun – if deemed to have failed to meet certain safety requirements – faces a multiple-year jail sentence.
H.R. 45 is a resurfacing of 2007's H.R. 2666, which contained much of the same language and was co-sponsored by 15 other representatives and Barack Obama's current chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel. H.R. 2666 was assigned to the House Judiciary committee, where no action was taken.
H.R. 45 currently has no co-sponsors and is likewise assigned to the House Judiciary committee.
The bad news is, this is just the first of many bills which we can expect to be presented to congress in the next four years of the Obama White House.
Is this "Ipso Facto" firearms registration? Yes, that would be the minimum effect of this (and any similar bills).
Sooner or later, somebody is going to propose a gun-grabber bill which is going to stick.
Expect it to be much more egregious than this 'touchy-feely' bill.
Just so you know, the Obama administration will probably encourage a continuing onslaught of bills restricting the Second Amendment.
The only "good thing" about the Obama election is that he will, ultimately, show George W. Bush as a more effective president, in terms of preserving constitutional rights.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
SWMBO and the Get Well Card
I haven't talked about SWMBO lately.
Her Oncologist pulled her out of Chemotherapy at the end of the 9th week during her evaluation. She was so overwhelmed by the chemo, and associated medications, that she was unable to walk unassisted. Also, she was disassociated ... couldn't think straight.
So he too her off Chemo around New Years (December 31st, to be precise) and told her she would have to recover from the debilitation before he could decide on a new course of treatment.
She took a couple of weeks off treatment, to allow the heavy metals to dissipate, went back yesterday for another evaluation.
They did some tests, inclding Scans and Xrays; the doctor said they needed to be able to say that the tumor was ruduced my 50% to determine that the chemotherapy was working.
He was unable to do that.
Show she's going to stay off the chemo for another two weeks, and he'll put her on a weekly regimen of Avastin only (constricts the blood vessels to reduce the amount of nutrients to her tumor ... and also to the rest of her body.)
This every-other-week addition to her weekly infusions have caused her a lot of problems in the past, but her oncologist thinks it will help slow the growth of the tumor, and that the side-effects will be lessened because it will no longer be infused along with the other 'heavy metal' drugs.
So she'll be working on maintenance procedures for a while (indeterminate length, perhaps in terms of years) while her doctors work to find a curative palliative. They're talking about some possibilities, but she probably won't be going back to the normal chemotherapy for the foreseeable future.
The Greeting Card
In the meantime, I received a mysterious message early this week from Mike of Mister Completely. He wanted my street address to "mail (me) a package".
When I got home tonight, after stopping at SWMBO's house to see what I could do for her, I found he Mystery Package. It was a large box, addressed to (Jerry the Geek) "Re: Sandie".
I took it inside and opened it up quickly. Unlike most parcels addressed to me, it did not include reloading components.
Instead, it included a huge Gift Basket with "Get Well" ribbons wrapped around the handle.
I didn't look for a gift card. I didn't even take the basket out of the box to look for a card. Instead, I just came upstairs to email Mike and ask him if this was the surprise package he had promised me.
He said it was (and included the story behind it, which I will not relate here).
---
What a wonderful surprise for both me and for Sandie. I put the box by the door to take out to the car later, so it will stay cool and fresh until I can bring it to her tomorrow night.
Want to know the amazing part?
I've never met Mike. I've corresponded with him, he has posted comments in support of Sandie and me during her current battle, and every year he invites me to the Gunbloggers Rendesvous in Las Vegas (I've never taken him up on that ... I don't like Las Vegas and it's too far to travel.)
In fact, I don't think Sandie has ever heard of him. Well, she hasn't spent much time on the computer lately, and she doesn't surf GunBlogger websites as some of us do.
To receive this open expression of support from Mike is a wonderful thing, in my mind. here's a guy who only knows her third hand ... only knows me 2nd hand, and still he goes out of his way to make such a generous gesture.
I can only repeat the few things that I have said often, but not often enough.
You meet the nicest people in the Shooting Sports. And you meet surprisingly nice people on The Internet.
The combination of the two can only be said to be "The Best of The Best".
Many people have told me, in relay to Sandie:
"If there's ever anything that we can do, please let me know". The obvious reply to this is "okay, can you show up this weekend to vacuum the floors, Friday to do the laundry, Wednesday to do the shopping?" I'm sorry, we sometimes get a little bogged down in the mundane details.
So if you want to show Sandie some support, I'm afraid the the Gargantuan Generous Gift Basket niche has already been filled.
Can you show up on Tuesday to take the trash cans out to the curb?
____________________________-
PS:
Yes, I'm making light of this. What else can one do? But we do receive so much love and encouragement from our friends and acquaintances, and it's impossible to keep up with the volume here. When someone at a match says "Tell Sandie 'Hi' from me and tell her we miss her", I put it on my list and dutifully recite it only a few hours later, when I get back to her. She appreciates your support, and if I don't make the effort to return the greeting, please be patient with me. SHE receives your message, and SHE thanks you individually ... even if not in person.
Sandie and I are both doing as well as can be expected now, and we're hoping that she can spend some time on her day job in the near future, as soon as the worst of the drugs wear off and she canconcentrate again. Her fingers are still numb, so it's hard for her to type on the computer.
But if you will accept a group THANK YOU, here it is.
Sandie will probably not show up at a local match soon, but I do keep her informed on the odd occasions when I show up, such as last weekend's match at ARPC.
And I still have my camera, so unless you want' to be profiled here ... don't shoot yourself!
It's a Jungle out there!
But she can read your messages, or I can read them too her, and we both appreciate
Her Oncologist pulled her out of Chemotherapy at the end of the 9th week during her evaluation. She was so overwhelmed by the chemo, and associated medications, that she was unable to walk unassisted. Also, she was disassociated ... couldn't think straight.
So he too her off Chemo around New Years (December 31st, to be precise) and told her she would have to recover from the debilitation before he could decide on a new course of treatment.
She took a couple of weeks off treatment, to allow the heavy metals to dissipate, went back yesterday for another evaluation.
They did some tests, inclding Scans and Xrays; the doctor said they needed to be able to say that the tumor was ruduced my 50% to determine that the chemotherapy was working.
He was unable to do that.
Show she's going to stay off the chemo for another two weeks, and he'll put her on a weekly regimen of Avastin only (constricts the blood vessels to reduce the amount of nutrients to her tumor ... and also to the rest of her body.)
This every-other-week addition to her weekly infusions have caused her a lot of problems in the past, but her oncologist thinks it will help slow the growth of the tumor, and that the side-effects will be lessened because it will no longer be infused along with the other 'heavy metal' drugs.
So she'll be working on maintenance procedures for a while (indeterminate length, perhaps in terms of years) while her doctors work to find a curative palliative. They're talking about some possibilities, but she probably won't be going back to the normal chemotherapy for the foreseeable future.
The Greeting Card
In the meantime, I received a mysterious message early this week from Mike of Mister Completely. He wanted my street address to "mail (me) a package".
When I got home tonight, after stopping at SWMBO's house to see what I could do for her, I found he Mystery Package. It was a large box, addressed to (Jerry the Geek) "Re: Sandie".
I took it inside and opened it up quickly. Unlike most parcels addressed to me, it did not include reloading components.
Instead, it included a huge Gift Basket with "Get Well" ribbons wrapped around the handle.
I didn't look for a gift card. I didn't even take the basket out of the box to look for a card. Instead, I just came upstairs to email Mike and ask him if this was the surprise package he had promised me.
He said it was (and included the story behind it, which I will not relate here).
---
What a wonderful surprise for both me and for Sandie. I put the box by the door to take out to the car later, so it will stay cool and fresh until I can bring it to her tomorrow night.
Want to know the amazing part?
I've never met Mike. I've corresponded with him, he has posted comments in support of Sandie and me during her current battle, and every year he invites me to the Gunbloggers Rendesvous in Las Vegas (I've never taken him up on that ... I don't like Las Vegas and it's too far to travel.)
In fact, I don't think Sandie has ever heard of him. Well, she hasn't spent much time on the computer lately, and she doesn't surf GunBlogger websites as some of us do.
To receive this open expression of support from Mike is a wonderful thing, in my mind. here's a guy who only knows her third hand ... only knows me 2nd hand, and still he goes out of his way to make such a generous gesture.
I can only repeat the few things that I have said often, but not often enough.
You meet the nicest people in the Shooting Sports. And you meet surprisingly nice people on The Internet.
The combination of the two can only be said to be "The Best of The Best".
Many people have told me, in relay to Sandie:
"If there's ever anything that we can do, please let me know". The obvious reply to this is "okay, can you show up this weekend to vacuum the floors, Friday to do the laundry, Wednesday to do the shopping?" I'm sorry, we sometimes get a little bogged down in the mundane details.
So if you want to show Sandie some support, I'm afraid the the Gargantuan Generous Gift Basket niche has already been filled.
Can you show up on Tuesday to take the trash cans out to the curb?
____________________________-
PS:
Yes, I'm making light of this. What else can one do? But we do receive so much love and encouragement from our friends and acquaintances, and it's impossible to keep up with the volume here. When someone at a match says "Tell Sandie 'Hi' from me and tell her we miss her", I put it on my list and dutifully recite it only a few hours later, when I get back to her. She appreciates your support, and if I don't make the effort to return the greeting, please be patient with me. SHE receives your message, and SHE thanks you individually ... even if not in person.
Sandie and I are both doing as well as can be expected now, and we're hoping that she can spend some time on her day job in the near future, as soon as the worst of the drugs wear off and she canconcentrate again. Her fingers are still numb, so it's hard for her to type on the computer.
But if you will accept a group THANK YOU, here it is.
Sandie will probably not show up at a local match soon, but I do keep her informed on the odd occasions when I show up, such as last weekend's match at ARPC.
And I still have my camera, so unless you want' to be profiled here ... don't shoot yourself!
It's a Jungle out there!
But she can read your messages, or I can read them too her, and we both appreciate
Monday, January 12, 2009
Economic Stimulus Payment Scam
This comes from The HoboBrasser, who can be relied upon to know a scam when he sees one:
From: Internal Revenue Service [mailto:stimulus.payment@irs.gov]
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 8:16 AM
Subject: Please submit your Stimulus Payment form
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment.
Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it.
A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the document attached to your email.
Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit.
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service
If you receive an email similar to this one, it is a good idea to NOT reply to it.
And for goodness sake, don't click on the psuedo-link (which has been de-activated) with the expectation of getting free money from the Federal Government!
Remember the old canard: "We're from the Government, and we're here to help you."
Any time you hear that phrase, or a variation of it (see above), your best chance is to run, don't walk, to the nearest exit.
It's a lie.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Area 1 Director Election
From The Hobo Brasser, Secretary of the Columbia Cascade Section:
If you are a member of USPSA in Area 1, please consider signing the petitions for any Director candidates which you favor. I have already signed the petitions which have been presented to me, for the candidates I favor. It's perfectly acceptable to sign petitions for all candidates. The actual vote will sort out the winner.
I understand that there are more than the two candidates for this position. If you are a candidate, or if you know someone who wants to be considered, please contact the secretary of the Columbia Cascade Section (see here) for information about how to send your petition to be available for member consideration at CCS matches.
Or send them to me (in WORD or PDF form), and I will see that they reach the right person to insure that your petition is made available to local USPSA members.
Mr. Chambers and Mr. Anderson, you have already provided petition copies to CCS, so it will not be necessary to provide them again.
However, prospective candidates from outside the CCS section may choose to solicit support in Oregon's CCS section. Please understand that you are encouraged to solicit support from CCS members by the methods described above.
We only want the most viable candidate to win the election. If you don't let us know that you are a candidate, we won't have the information needed to make an informed choice.
x
Chuck Anderson had thrown his hat in the ring for Area 1 Director. He is looking for signatures for his petition. He will be at Dundee on the 24th.
As with Tom Chambers, the board sends this out as a courtesy to Chuck, a member of the Columbia-Cascade Section. Sending it is for the purpose of information only and does not constitute an endorsement of any kind.
If you are a member of USPSA in Area 1, please consider signing the petitions for any Director candidates which you favor. I have already signed the petitions which have been presented to me, for the candidates I favor. It's perfectly acceptable to sign petitions for all candidates. The actual vote will sort out the winner.
I understand that there are more than the two candidates for this position. If you are a candidate, or if you know someone who wants to be considered, please contact the secretary of the Columbia Cascade Section (see here) for information about how to send your petition to be available for member consideration at CCS matches.
Or send them to me (in WORD or PDF form), and I will see that they reach the right person to insure that your petition is made available to local USPSA members.
Mr. Chambers and Mr. Anderson, you have already provided petition copies to CCS, so it will not be necessary to provide them again.
However, prospective candidates from outside the CCS section may choose to solicit support in Oregon's CCS section. Please understand that you are encouraged to solicit support from CCS members by the methods described above.
We only want the most viable candidate to win the election. If you don't let us know that you are a candidate, we won't have the information needed to make an informed choice.
x
Fish Splash
I went to a USPSA match in Albany this weekend. It was a classifier match, and although I wasn't competing I did show up to see some folks and maybe take some pictures.
The match was almost over when I dragged out the camera to take a video of Fish shooting the last of the two Field Course" Stages, which included a Texas Star, a half-dozen IPSC targets, and a couple of 9" steel plates.
I thought it was a good run, but only mildly exciting (except for the shooter, of course).
When Fish came off the stage, after having bagged his pistol, he held up his hands and announced to The Peanut Gallery:
"Hey, I'm bleeding!"
Sure enough, he was leaking, and from both hands.
As we took a short break to try to staunch his wounds, Fish told us the story.
He started out at stage left engaging four paper targets, then moved to the right to pick up the two steel and two more paper. He said he took the steel first, and that was when one of the bullets (more likely a large, jagged bullet fragment, judging from the way his fingers were sliced & diced) bounced directly and struck him where his fingers were overlapped at the front of the grip.
He said it hurt, but he went ahead and engaged the two paper targets on the right, then moved back a step to engage the Texas Star through the port.
Here's how it looked from the Peanut Gallery:
___________________________
Can you tell when the ricochet struck? I can't. Here's a picture or two from the early attempts to 'stop the leaking'. (Note: if you can't stand the sight of blood, this may not be something you want to look at. But it's not gory, or NSFW.)
Picture 1: Trying to apply bandaids. (Yes, they are trying to use target tape to wrap the fingers.)
Picture #2, after the first couple of bandaids were applied:
Here's the story from Fish, from an email he sent 'later':
Well, it's not the first time we've seen blood on the range, but it is a good example of the concern for safety involved in IPSC/USPSA competition.
After 25 years of competition, I have yet to see an injury which involved more than a few stitches, at worst. I've seen some serious Road Rash in the summer, from people in shorts who fall down while running on the gravel. In fact, I've had a couple of them myself.
And I've known ricochetting bullets to bounce back among the spectators, causing minor scratches or a small bruise at worst.
Compared with, for example, High School Football or High School Basketball, this Practical Shooting thing must be one of the safest competitive activity one can hope to find.
To compare, here are some of the web-based links to injuries in other competitive sports:
In my personal opinion, a sport which most commonly leads to permanent joint injury, or permanent head trauma (eg: boxing) is more dangerous than any of the shooting sports.
It is perhaps indicative that I have made so much of a series of minor slices to the fingers, not even involving broken bones or damaged tendons.
BTW, I labeled this a "KaBoom" moment for purposes of comparison. This was not a "KaBoom"; the firearm functioned perfectly, and the latest word is that there was no damage to the pistol. This would probably not be true if a full-diameter bullet had bounced back with anything near to the initial velocity of the bullet. (If Mr. Fish informs me that the pistol was damaged, I will of course correct this impression.)
The match was almost over when I dragged out the camera to take a video of Fish shooting the last of the two Field Course" Stages, which included a Texas Star, a half-dozen IPSC targets, and a couple of 9" steel plates.
I thought it was a good run, but only mildly exciting (except for the shooter, of course).
When Fish came off the stage, after having bagged his pistol, he held up his hands and announced to The Peanut Gallery:
"Hey, I'm bleeding!"
Sure enough, he was leaking, and from both hands.
As we took a short break to try to staunch his wounds, Fish told us the story.
He started out at stage left engaging four paper targets, then moved to the right to pick up the two steel and two more paper. He said he took the steel first, and that was when one of the bullets (more likely a large, jagged bullet fragment, judging from the way his fingers were sliced & diced) bounced directly and struck him where his fingers were overlapped at the front of the grip.
He said it hurt, but he went ahead and engaged the two paper targets on the right, then moved back a step to engage the Texas Star through the port.
Here's how it looked from the Peanut Gallery:
___________________________
Can you tell when the ricochet struck? I can't. Here's a picture or two from the early attempts to 'stop the leaking'. (Note: if you can't stand the sight of blood, this may not be something you want to look at. But it's not gory, or NSFW.)
Picture 1: Trying to apply bandaids. (Yes, they are trying to use target tape to wrap the fingers.)
Picture #2, after the first couple of bandaids were applied:Here's the story from Fish, from an email he sent 'later':
Trip to urgent care at Kaiser where they gave me a tetanus shot, took a look, and packed me off to the ER at Salem Hospital because of the chance of tendon and nerve damage. I didn't get back here until 8. Several X-rays showed nothing broken and no metal debris in the wounds, but I did have two deep puncture wounds on the middle finger of my left hand, a puncture wound to the middle finger of my right hand, and a nasty cut on the inside of the index finger on my right hand that finally required three stitches to close. Thank you to everyone who helped me, including the unknown good Samaritan at the range with a first aid kit who bandaged me up.
The ER doctor told me the new scars are\will be the sign of a life well lived.
Well, it's not the first time we've seen blood on the range, but it is a good example of the concern for safety involved in IPSC/USPSA competition.
After 25 years of competition, I have yet to see an injury which involved more than a few stitches, at worst. I've seen some serious Road Rash in the summer, from people in shorts who fall down while running on the gravel. In fact, I've had a couple of them myself.
And I've known ricochetting bullets to bounce back among the spectators, causing minor scratches or a small bruise at worst.
Compared with, for example, High School Football or High School Basketball, this Practical Shooting thing must be one of the safest competitive activity one can hope to find.
To compare, here are some of the web-based links to injuries in other competitive sports:
- American-style Football
- Soccer (also called "Football"
- Cheerleading
- Basketball
In my personal opinion, a sport which most commonly leads to permanent joint injury, or permanent head trauma (eg: boxing) is more dangerous than any of the shooting sports.
It is perhaps indicative that I have made so much of a series of minor slices to the fingers, not even involving broken bones or damaged tendons.
BTW, I labeled this a "KaBoom" moment for purposes of comparison. This was not a "KaBoom"; the firearm functioned perfectly, and the latest word is that there was no damage to the pistol. This would probably not be true if a full-diameter bullet had bounced back with anything near to the initial velocity of the bullet. (If Mr. Fish informs me that the pistol was damaged, I will of course correct this impression.)
Friday, January 09, 2009
Have A Ball
video courtesy of John "Big Dawg", who writes: "I am in awe!"
I agree with him, I wouldn't have believed it was possible for a person to be so ... perfect.
A similar video is also available on YouTube.
Same performer, same venue, same costume. Probably the same date.
I'm not going to compare the two performance; they may be the same. Either way, they're both incredible but perhaps you will have the time and initiative to research the topic. The two performances look the same to me.
The all-too-brief intro reads:
XIV Campionado Europa
Torino, 5-6-7 guigno 2008
FINALI JUNIOR CHERCHIO
Boyanka Angelova
www.beatricavivaldi.it
You can find similar performances here ... or not. The website is a detestable pink, and I don't read Italian so I didn't spent any time trying to research the topic further.
Thanks for pointing me to this, Dawg. Yes, I'm just as impressed as you were.
I agree with him, I wouldn't have believed it was possible for a person to be so ... perfect.
A similar video is also available on YouTube.
Same performer, same venue, same costume. Probably the same date.
I'm not going to compare the two performance; they may be the same. Either way, they're both incredible but perhaps you will have the time and initiative to research the topic. The two performances look the same to me.
The all-too-brief intro reads:
XIV Campionado Europa
Torino, 5-6-7 guigno 2008
FINALI JUNIOR CHERCHIO
Boyanka Angelova
www.beatricavivaldi.it
You can find similar performances here ... or not. The website is a detestable pink, and I don't read Italian so I didn't spent any time trying to research the topic further.
Thanks for pointing me to this, Dawg. Yes, I'm just as impressed as you were.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Penn & Teller: Gun Control is B.S.!
You gotta love these guys.
Part I (9:58) "It isn't the number of guns that people have, it's who gets 'em.":
Part II (8:47) "Criminals are scared of people who have guns!" and "If you have a gun, you are stronger than a man":
Part III (9:20) " Every single one of these 'Mass Shootings' has occurred in a 'Gun Free Zone'. If guns are the problem, then explain to me why we haven't seen these shootings in places where there are thousands of guns in hands of literally at least hundreds of law-abiding citizens in places like NRA conventions, or the dreaded Gun Show"
and ....
"Another Gun-Control law, another ban, another bullet-ban, another Assault-Weapon ban, will not stop criminals. Criminals do not obey the laws against murder ... rape ... robbery and arson, why would they possibly obey laws against firearms?"
and ...
"Gang members like myself like Gun Control Laws because they're a joke. Gun laws don't affect the criminal, or the gang member. They restrict the Citizen. I can walk into your home while you're watching this show, and ... hurt you, with a gun.":
Deal with it.
_____________
In the interest of "Fair and Balanced, let's see what Kieth Olbermann has to say on the subject:
Well, there you have it. Who you gonna believe? In this case, the Comedians have it all over the Clown.
Part I (9:58) "It isn't the number of guns that people have, it's who gets 'em.":
Part II (8:47) "Criminals are scared of people who have guns!" and "If you have a gun, you are stronger than a man":
Part III (9:20) " Every single one of these 'Mass Shootings' has occurred in a 'Gun Free Zone'. If guns are the problem, then explain to me why we haven't seen these shootings in places where there are thousands of guns in hands of literally at least hundreds of law-abiding citizens in places like NRA conventions, or the dreaded Gun Show"
and ....
"Another Gun-Control law, another ban, another bullet-ban, another Assault-Weapon ban, will not stop criminals. Criminals do not obey the laws against murder ... rape ... robbery and arson, why would they possibly obey laws against firearms?"
and ...
"Gang members like myself like Gun Control Laws because they're a joke. Gun laws don't affect the criminal, or the gang member. They restrict the Citizen. I can walk into your home while you're watching this show, and ... hurt you, with a gun.":
Deal with it.
_____________
In the interest of "Fair and Balanced, let's see what Kieth Olbermann has to say on the subject:
Well, there you have it. Who you gonna believe? In this case, the Comedians have it all over the Clown.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Cable Modem Death
Okay, I've been faced with this problem before. I'm signed onto my computer and happily sufing the net, when all of a sudden I can't get Blogger pages to load. Then I can't get Amazon to load. Then I check another website (www.tinyurl.com) and it loads just fine.
I stop by browser and open it again. Same thing.
Then I restart my computer. Now I can't even get the TINYURL to load.
What's up with this? Is Comcast Internet hosed? What did I do wrong?
...
The answer is, I did nothing wrong. The cable modem is feeling cranky tonite, and wants some attention.
This is not such an unusual problem that I don't know how to fix it, bu the first time it happened it took a couple of phone calls to Comcast Technical Support (thank goodness I have the phone number!) to teach me what to do. And because I'm feeling very generous tonight ... and because most blog topic seem tepid at best ... I'm going to share some Geek Wisdom with you.
If you have this problem, there is a very simple fix. Pay attention, because this is Compute Technical Stuff ... here's how to fix the problem in five easy steps:
Open your browser again, and you should see normal activity. That is to say, you can view the websites you select .. especially your HOME website.
If that doesn't work, you have entered The Twilight Zone, and that's a topic for a future discussion.
BTW, if you have "The Blue Screen of Death" (see also here) and your computer doesn't work at all, your problems are much more dire than described here. See a computer technician; this may be "way beyond your pay grade".
I stop by browser and open it again. Same thing.
Then I restart my computer. Now I can't even get the TINYURL to load.
What's up with this? Is Comcast Internet hosed? What did I do wrong?
...
The answer is, I did nothing wrong. The cable modem is feeling cranky tonite, and wants some attention.
This is not such an unusual problem that I don't know how to fix it, bu the first time it happened it took a couple of phone calls to Comcast Technical Support (thank goodness I have the phone number!) to teach me what to do. And because I'm feeling very generous tonight ... and because most blog topic seem tepid at best ... I'm going to share some Geek Wisdom with you.
If you have this problem, there is a very simple fix. Pay attention, because this is Compute Technical Stuff ... here's how to fix the problem in five easy steps:
- Turn off your cable modem. There's probably an 'on/off' button somewhere ... mine is on the top of the modem unit.
- Disconnect your cable modem from the power source. No, you can't skip this step.
- Wait at least two minutes. No, you can't skimp on this step. Go play Windows Solitaire or work on your resume, whatever it takes. Or you can do something useful like laundry or walk your dog. Just ... walk away, and don't come back until you have left it off for at least 2 minutes. Forget to check the time? Check the time now, and repeat this step.
- when you are absolutely certain that at least two minutes have passed, plug the modem power source back in and push the On/Off button again. This should restart your cable modem
- Wait until all of the lights are back on. They may come on out of order, so be SURE than all of the lights are burning steady, except for the "Standby" indicator light, which should be off.
Open your browser again, and you should see normal activity. That is to say, you can view the websites you select .. especially your HOME website.
If that doesn't work, you have entered The Twilight Zone, and that's a topic for a future discussion.
BTW, if you have "The Blue Screen of Death" (see also here) and your computer doesn't work at all, your problems are much more dire than described here. See a computer technician; this may be "way beyond your pay grade".
Monday, January 05, 2009
The Unwitting Gun Salesman of the Decade
I haven't been blogging much lately, for personal reasons.
Darn shame, that. I need to write, if only to maintain what small semblance of sanity that remains to me.
I had just come to that conclusion this evening when I checked my email and found an email from The Shooting Wire which put things in some perspective.
The rest of this is a direct steal from Jim Shepherd's column: let's see if I remember how to steal content from a better writer.
If you're not already subscribed to The Shooting Wire, go here and get yourself subscribed. You'll be glad you did.
---
Well, that wasn't so hard.
Darn shame, that. I need to write, if only to maintain what small semblance of sanity that remains to me.
I had just come to that conclusion this evening when I checked my email and found an email from The Shooting Wire which put things in some perspective.
The rest of this is a direct steal from Jim Shepherd's column: let's see if I remember how to steal content from a better writer.
New Tactics Needed
In fifteen days, the firearms industry will find itself squarely in the gunsight of a new administration dedicated to the regulation of virtually everything related to guns, from so-called assault weapons to the elements used in ammunition. Regulation, incidentally, will be defined as "the regulation of everything, and the potential removal of anything we say you don't need."
The leaders of that assault, unfortunately, won't give a tinker's damn about the Second Amendment. Their long-term plans will address that piece of "outdated thinking". But a new political expediency will move firearms - more specifically their nebulous assault weapons -front and center.
The left continues to whine about being used and then cast aside by the new administration. Amazingly, the inclusion of pastor Rick Warren in the Obama inauguration ceremonies is being cited as irrefutable proof of the position.
Even more astounding, the complaints are getting serious traction in the politics and appearances above all segment of the incoming administration.
So, Democratic insiders are telling us the firearms industry will be used as an object lesson to both sides of the aisle.
To the left, it's the always-popular smackdown of a group of right-wing loonies (that's you and me, by the way) who want gunfights on the streets of our hometowns.
To the right, it will represent a little payback for the rhetoric that was taken very personally by the incoming administration. In other words, a little taste of the whip should keep both sides nicely in line.
In other words, last year's unquestioned gun salesman of the year -Barack Hussein Obama - will turn his attention toward a group that has been unrelenting in opposing him throughout his political career.
When that happens, a billion-dollar industry will take another body blow.
Despite the new administration's insistence that jobs and the economy will be the top priority beginning January 20, insiders say payback to the NRA and other pro-Second Amendment groups is high on the agenda. Democratic advisors say the Republican party is "disorganized, disheartened, and dissolving" and it's a good time for the incoming administration to take them on in a core issue - the assault weapons ban is one of three topics they're evaluating.
If the AWB is chosen, everyone expects a pitched battle with no quarter given.
If the attempt to pass this drastically-expanded AWB succeeds, the administration will have proven itself virtually unbeatable in matters of policy. They will also further fracture the Republican party and simultaneously serve notice on any pro-gun Democrats that they'd better get with the new program, too.
Last week, I spent a significant amount of time on the phone speaking with industry leaders about the word on the grapevine from Washington. There were mixed responses. One leader said his political advisors were hearing exactly the opposite- that the AWB was being pushed back to the "second Obama administration". Another said his advisors were getting both reports, but considered an assault on firearms "inevitable" whether now, 2010 or later.
In other words, industry leaders see the fight in terms of "when" and not "if".
At a time when the nation is suffering from economic problems, it may be time to consider a new countering-strategy. In the past, we've won key political and legislative fights based on the Constitution.
This time, I think it may be time to take a page from the James Carville playbook and remind everyone "It's the economy, stupid".
If this new administration goes after firearms, a billion-dollar industry that has never asked for a dime of bailouts and annually contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to conservation and environmental work via taxes will be hammered. That will most certainly result in lost jobs and tax revenues. Entire communities will be negatively impacted.
The Obama administration has said its number one priority will be the economy. I hope they keep that promise - and genuinely hope they are wildly successful at creating a renewed vibrancy. I also believe the firearms industry should be prepared on a moment's notice to clearly demonstrate to local and regional media that banning guns is tantamount to eliminating jobs in their areas.
Yesterday afternoon, I was a guest on Tom Gresham's Gun Talk radio and expressed my concerns about the incoming administration's expressed intent to pass a permanent assault weapons ban and go after firearms in general. When I did, a caller took me to task for what he characterized as an unrealistic viewpoint. After all, he said, Obama said during the election he supported the Second Amendment.
Personally, I'm more inclined to judge someone based on the things they have consistently done versus the positions they've taken during political campaigns.
>From that perspective, I believe that fifteen days from today, Barack Hussein Obama, the man I jokingly refer to as the unwitting gun salesman of the decade, will place his hand on a Bible last used to administer the oath of office to Abraham Lincoln. He will raise his right hand and swear to uphold the laws of this nation - and its Constitution.
At that time, I also believe his administration will almost immediately seek to begin to dismantle or disregard any laws with which they disagree and embark on the total disenfranchisement of anyone who disagrees with their political positions.
That would include firearms owners and the firearms industry.
I'd love to be wrong.
--Jim Shepherd
If you're not already subscribed to The Shooting Wire, go here and get yourself subscribed. You'll be glad you did.
---
Well, that wasn't so hard.
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Sorry, nothing here to add. Personal circumstances render blogging priorities moot. Maybe later this week.
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