Coulda happened here ... maybe

Blogmeat for March, 2009!

This is devoted to the weird and awful things that "just happened, I don't know why!" around the world,

Chances are, a careful review of the TCPALM ("Florida's Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches") would reveal similarly bizarre stories. Such as here and here and here -- just for example. But tonight we're criticizing 'those other folks'.

So let's be about it.

First, in Indonesia:

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world's largest lizard species.

Police Sgt. Kosmas Jalang said 31-year-old Muhamad Anwar was attacked on Komodo, one of four islands where the giant reptile is found in the wild, minutes after he fell out of a sugar-apple tree on Monday.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Next, two stories from Ireland:

(1) "Naked ******
Paintings Removed" I'm not sure what "taoiseach" means, but two paintings of the Prime Minister of Ireland (Brian Cowen -- naked) have been placed on display in Dublin Art Galleries.

A painting of Mr Cowen holding his underpants appeared in the Royal Hibernian Academy and one of him pictured on the toilet ended up in the National Gallery.

Sounds scandalous, right?

One woman who saw the painting reportedly offered to buy it.

(2) From "The Independent"

Man who shot himself "by accident' is critical":

A WELL-known criminal who is a central figure in Limerick's ongoing feud was in a critical condition on a life support machine last night after he accidentally shot himself.

Feared gangster Philip Collopy (29) from St Mary's Park, Limerick is in the city's Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he has been since he shot himself in the head on Saturday morning.

The career criminal shot himself with a glock handgun at close range in a house at St Munchin's Street, St Mary's Park. He had been inspecting the gun and removed the loaded magazine from it while handling it. However, he failed to realise a bullet was still in the chamber before he discharged the weapon while it was pointed at his head.

(No comments about "Darwinism In Action" or "Chlorine in the Gene Pool" here. Move along.)



Finally, let's hear it for Vietnam, where three men trying to saw through a war-era bomb (apparently an artillery shell, irresponsibly left laying around by those vexatious Americans):

The men, between 19 and 44 years old, were trying to break open a 105mm shell when the blast happened in southern Tay Ninh province on Friday, local policeman Nguyen Minh Kha said.

"The poor men wanted to sell the metal for money. They could not escape the sudden blast,'' he said.

According to earlier figures from the Public Security Ministry, more than 38,000 Vietnamese nationals have been killed and 100,000 injured by explosives left over from the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.

This is another thing I don't understand. My Vietnam experiences taught me that the Viet Cong were experts at recovering expended 'dud rounds' as the basis of what we then referred to as "Booby traps", and which are now demurely referred to as "IEDs" (Improvised Explosive Devices).

What happened? Have the Vietnamese grown soft? Have they not passed their skills down to the Next Generation? I guess, in this case, we can truly refer to them as "X-Gen".

Yeah, the "Late X-Gen", here.

I can understand the recovery of the metal ... sort-of. But to whom did they plan to sell the explosives?

Never mind, it's all academic now. Except to the three squatting savages with a hacksaw and without a clue ... or (now) contiguous body parts. I have seen the uncomfortable results of too-close consanguinity between Viet Names 'civilians' and Artillary. It's not a pretty sight. Apparently, Capitalistic ingenuity and high-explosives are still a deadly combination.


Okay, I can't let this go without including a couple of stories from the United States:

First, "Miss Cleo" (late of "The Psychic Hotline") is Back! She's bad, she's free, and she's gay.

At a tiny, earth-toned coffeehouse, the fliers advertise mediums and meditations. Wind chimes ring and dream catchers spin.

It's early afternoon. The plush couches sit empty.

And seated at a table, a silver snake earring dangling from one ear, Miss Cleo says she couldn't be happier.

''I'm a proud voodoo woman,'' she says in the thick Caribbean accent that many late-night television viewers can well recall. ``And I make no apologies to anyone.''

Around the turn of the millennium, Miss Cleo was the face and voice of the Psychic Readers Network in TV commercials and infomercials across the country, many of which still live on at Web sites like YouTube.com.

Draped in colorful robes, she urged nighthawks to call in because ``the cards never lie.''

That lasted until the Psychic Readers Network, run by Access Resource Services of Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here., succumbed to a storm of lawsuits from consumers who said they were grossly overcharged.

Cleo, a spokeswoman but never the boss, was sued, too. But she was not found liable.

Ultimately, let's look at Cane-Fu.

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. - Pay no mind to the groans that come with stretching, to hair that is gray or gone altogether. Ignore the cautiousness of their steps and the canes in their hands.

These seniors are ready to fight.

A rainbow of martial arts belts dangles above the mirror along one wall of this small dojo; swords, nunchuks and sickles hang near the front. Punching bags and torso targets line the room, but they'll need none of these. Their weapons are their canes.

At the helm of the class is one of the country's most recognized cane fighters, Mark Shuey, a slight man who, at 62, has hair and skin starting to show signs of age. He has traveled from Lake Tahoe, Nev., to teach this group of 16 how to protect themselves from attackers.

He calls it Cane-Fu.

Cane fighting classes have popped up all over the country, in part due to the influence of Cane Masters, the company Shuey founded that sells wood canes made of harder, thicker wood, to sustain wear and wider crooks to fit around an attacker's neck. Now, it's being offered at dojos and increasingly in senior centers and retirement communities.

(See the link for details and a video. Video also available at AOL.)

"It's a medical device, you need one to get around on. And they do let you on the airplane with it."

Geez, I wish I had thought of that.

I coulda been a contender!

That's it for Blogmeat on Tuesday, March 34, 2009.

Lunge, Parry, Thrust

Thanks to Jim Shepherd at The Shooting Wire, I have here an excellent summary of recent Federal attempts to infringe upon your Second Amendment Rights.

Some of these issues I have already mentioned; some ... not.

First issue: The National Park Service attempt to 'technically' renege on its recent agreement to allow shooting on Park Service land.

Second, reports about the "Springfield Armory Historic Site and Museum" being newly lead by a director who doesn't think that people are interested in "old guns", and consequently may want to shut down many of the services and exhibits. I don't get that one at all; maybe you are more intuitive than I am.

Finally, new Justice Department head Holder is taken to task by 65 Democratic members of congress in response to 'whispers' that the 1994 Assault Weapons band may be re-instated by the Obama Administration. Response: "We never intended to do that AT ALL!" That one I do get. We knew long ago that Obama is no friend of the Second Amendment. Hint: Obama will never directly attack "The Gun Lobby". He hasn't the intestinal fortitude (or has too much Political Ambition) to attack gun owners directly. He will always, always use his henchmen and attempt to maintain a position of "The High Ground". Look for statements such as: "I will not contradict nor oppose members of my cabinet as they go about addressing issues in the way they think best. If Congress sends me a bill addressing Public Safety issues, I will sign it."

Weasel, words, to be sure. Bush did the same thing during his tenure, and it bit him so hard that he still carries teeth-marks on his sit-down. (And well deserved they are!)

Now read Jim Shepherd's latest article:

Lunge.

Parry.

Thrust.

Sounds like the three key elements of fencing, but it's the government moving up- and back - on firearms and ammunition restrictions. Last week, two thrusts, a feint, and some retreat made the week infuriating, but telling to gun owners.

First, the National Park Service bans lead - all lead - on any property under NPS control. Then, the Department of Defense puts ammo brass into a different category for disposal. Rather than being able to sell the spent casings, they'll have to be mutilated.

Two lunges.

The first parry came from Senators Tester and Baucus of Montana - a letter advising them that such an action might have consequences for DoD funding. The DoD quickly issued a clarification saying they weren't really intending to go through with the mutilation, they were going through a process of review because of -you guessed it- the catch-all excuse of all excuses - national security issues.

Now, the National Park Service says its no-lead declaration last week was a "misstep" and the lead ban was for the National Park Service employees and agents only. "You can still use lead shot and lead ammunition. The point of the announcement was to let the public know that internally we want to get away from lead-based products," said Bert Frost, Associate Director of Natural Resource Stewardship & Science for the National Park Service."

Now I got it. Thanks for that clarification. Maybe the next time they close down a shooting area for no apparent reason, we'll find it's only closed to NPS employees and agents.

The latest thrust is a disquieting report we've received concerning the Springfield Armory Historic site and museum. As we reported in last Friday's edition of The Shooting Wire, sources at the NPS tell us there's a new boss at the museum, one who doesn't think people would be interested in "old guns". Consequently, a change of emphasis seems to be taking place there - as in closing down research, reassigning employees and maybe- we're told - even planning to return the weapons to storage.

As we promised last week, we're on the story. And, as expected, we're up against a stonewalling process. But we're still tracking on the story. So, too, is our colleague Michael Bane. They'll find Michael's considerably less patient with bureaucrats, so they can't say haven't warned them.

See a pattern emerging? The process of incrementalism through a ceaseless pushing of the boundaries of tolerance. It's as if the anti-gun groups have studied the advancement process of crabgrass. Once it's in the yard, it's almost impossible to get out without wiping out the yard and starting over. As the anti-gun philosophy seems hard-wired into the current administration's thinking, it doesn't look like relief is in sight.

Sixty five Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent Attorney General Eric Holder a letter last week in which they served notice that they will vigorously oppose any efforts to reinstitute the 1994 ban on select semi-auto guns and magazines. They reminded Mr. Holder that the '94 ban was an abject failure, but don't count on his remembering the warning - or the assault not coming from another quarter. Incrementalism relies on that continued pushing. Politicians have managed to add an element of misdirection, but the ultimate goal is the same- disarming "average" citizens.

And the Illinois Supreme Court has dismissed another baseless lawsuit against a firearms manufacturer. In 2001, a suit was filed against Beretta U.S.A. Corp. following a criminal shooting. The suit, as was the pattern at that time, basically sought to hold the manufacturer liable for the shooting. The dismissal was based on the 2005 Protection in Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act which bars lawsuits against firearms manufacturers and retailers for the criminal misuse by others of lawfully sold firearms.

It's not all good news for gun owners. A federal judge has blocked former President Bush's last-minute rule allowing visitors in national parks to carry concealed weapons.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued the ruling in favor of the three groups bringing a suit against the rule - the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. Those groups, expectedly, hail the decision as keeping the parks safe for visitors. Hopefully, those visitors won't walk up on any of the illegal drug growers and manufacturers who have discovered the advantages of setting up shop in national parks and wildlife management areas.

(If you are not already subscribed to The Shooting Wire, I urge you to do so here. Geek Rated "Alpha Geek" ... and it don't get no better than that!)

Daniel Patrick Moynihan

I have before, and I will again, make casual reference to the Anti-Gun stance (and legislation) exhibited and proposed by the late Democratic Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

To facilitate our understanding, these are the anti-gun bills which he proposed in a single Legislative session. (I don't have the session number, or the year, immediately available. I'll see if I can research this to our mutual satisfaction 'in the future'.)

S. 152 Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY-D)- would increase the tax on handgun ammunition and impose special occupational tax and registration requirements on importers and manufactures of handgun ammunition. To the Committee on Finance.

S. 153 Sen. Moynihan- would prohibit the use of certain ammunition. To the Committee on the Judiciary.

S. 154 Sen. Moynihan- A bill to amend title 18, US Code, with respect to the licensing of - ammunition manufacturers, and for other purposes; To the Committee on the Judiciary.

S. 155 Sen. Moynihan- would require the collection and dissemination of information on injuries, death and family dissolution due to bullet-related violence; require the keeping of records with respect to dispositions of ammunition, and increase taxes on certain bullets. To the Committee on Finance.

S. 156 Sen. Moynihan- would prohibit the manufacture, transfer or importation of .25 cal., .32 cal. and 9 mm ammunition. To the Committee on the Judiciary.

S. 157 Sen. Moynihan- would tax 9 mm, .25 cal. and .32 cal. bullets at 1,000%. To the Committee on Finance.

S. 158 Sen. Moynihan (D-NY)- would regulate the manufacture, importation and sale of ammunition capable of piercing police body armor. To the Committee on the Judiciary.

For our own purposes ... that is, to demonstrate how extreme measures can be proposed by an honorable and conscientious legislature "for our own good", these bills are noted that they were all left to die "in committee" for the simple reason that they were demonstrably too extreme to be acceptable to the voting public.

Let us leave these bills in their rightful place of obscurity, but remember them as a measure of anti-gun rhetoric and extremism.

TSA "Reconfirms" Commitment to FFDO Program

ALPA, Intl. FastRead
(Please click on the above link to read the entire statement in its original form.)

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), in a response to an editorial from the Washington Times, confirms that the dera; Flight Deck Officers program (FFDO), which allows airline pilots to be armed in order to defend against aggressive take-overs of civilian airline planes, is NOT being terminated by de-funding the program. Rather, the program is expected to expand.

This is in stark contrast to not only the WaTimes editorial, but also to early reports that the United States Federal Government has historically made it exceptionally difficult for qualified Flight Deck Officers to take advantage of the opportunity to qualify for the program OR to acquire the training.

During this initial report on Cogito Ergo Geek ("Guns On A Plane"), we noted the difference between an "Editorial" and a news report. We also noted that this "opinion" is "... long on opinion and short on facts."

Historically, Liberal MSM sources have blurred the difference between "News" and "Editorializing". In this specific instance, the (conservative) Washington Times has fallen into the same editorial trap, to its supposed embarrassment.


We're not convinced that this 'expansion' of the program is the original intend of the government; it's possible that the clarification was the direct result of the initial outrage of those writers who took the Times Editorial to be literal fact.

Yes, I am suggesting that the intentions of the Federal Government have been changed in response to public outcry.

However, there is no evidence currently available to support this presumption, so I don't propose it as a valid 'conspiracy theory'.

On the other hand, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

Social Security Warning - Not a Current Bill!

Boy, it's sure hard to keep up with the junk mail we get.

This week I received the following email from a well-meaning friend:

SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES

It does not matter if you personally like or dislike Obama. You need to sign this petition and flood his e-mail box with e-mails that tell him that, even if the House passes this bill, he needs to veto it. It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government gives benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives?

As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow 'illegal' aliens access to Social Security benefits.
Attached is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to that social service.

Instructions are below. If you don't forward the petition and just stop it, we will lose all these names.

If you do not want to sign it, please just forward it to everyone you know.

Thank you!

To add your name, click on 'forward'. Address it to all of your email correspondents, add your name to the list and send it on.

When the petition hits 1,000, send it to comment@whitehouse.gov

PETITION for President Obama:

Dear Mr. President:
We, the undersigned, protest the bill that the Senate voted on recently which would allow illegal aliens to access our Social Security. We demand that you and all Congressional representatives require citizenship as a pre-requisite for social services in the United States.

We further demand that there not be any amnesty give n to illegal aliens, NO free services, no funding, no payments to and for illegal immigrants

(follows: 994 names, with city and state of residence)

With a little help from GOOGLE, I determined to my own satisfaction that this was not a true interpretation of any current bill. I send the following to all of the original recipients of MY email, and I encourage you to pay attention to the cautionary statement:

I think this is not a current bill.

There was some discussion about a similar bill in 2006:
http://www.factcheck.org/article447.html
(Note that this source is dubious, as 'factcheck.org' is a notiously Liberal website.)


The nearest thing to a current bill with reference to Social Security requires a valid SSN.


I see no other current bills which refer to a clause which will allow benefits to illegal aliens ... assuming that these individuals do not have a valid Social Security Number (A Tax Identification Number, which most illegal aliens use to report taxable income, is not sufficient.)

There remains a problem if illegal aliens are able to acquire a valid SSN in their own names. I would rather see a move to tighten up the regulations regarding the assignment of new SSN to "Undocumented Immigrants" (eg: "Illegal Aliens").

---

Please remain dubious about any internet/email 'warning' which does not cite a bill number. Usually these are generated by people who fall within three groups:
1.) they don't understand the bill that they read
2.) they don't realize that the bill is 'old news'
3.) they are deliberately 'scamming' the public just to cause trouble.

I assume that the originators of this email alert fill into the third category. If they are upset about a bill which is three years old, they would still identify the bill. These folks didn't perform that basic requirement, so I can only believe that this represents a deliberate attempt to embarrass recipients/responders, a thousand people at a time.

Also, sending the 'petition' to the whitehouse when it reaches a given number of names (here, 1000 names are required) will inevitably result in more confusion than it would be helpful. Expect that each person forwards the email to 4 or 5 other concerned friends; the petition sign-up will result in tens of thousands of petitions with the same people signing up. Also, petitions are not legitimate without the full residential address. Just giving the town and state does not uniquely identify petitioners.

Finally, we should all be more considerate of our own and our friends' confidentiality. We don't want our names to be displayed across the internet, if only to protect ourselves from Identity Theft.

Please, for your sake and for mine, do NOT proliferate SPAM ... for this is what we see here.

I've just spent 5 minutes researching the subject and came up with links showing that the last time a bill even close to this one is at least three years old, and no current bill comes close enough to the 'warning' to be a definite match.

As concerned citizens, we need to be aware of current pending legislation; but signing 'email petitions' is not the way to respond to offensive bills.

Instead, if you would rally your friends and neighbors, do the research and ALWAYS include the bill number (and date, and applicable text to support your contention that the bill is odious.)

And then, do NOT add your name to a chain-letter. Write directly to your congress-critter. Or better yet, send a snail-mail letter, or phone their congressional office.

Whatever you do, don't send it to me!

Guns on a plane

Washington Times - EDITORIAL: Guns on a plane

After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.

Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.

This looks like completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots....

A recent Washington Times Editorial suggests that President Obama's might be quietly taking steps to undermine the FFDO (Federal Filght Deck Officer) plan which allows some airline pilots to take special training to qualify them to carry firearms on the Flight Deck of airplanes, to defend the flight crew and passengers from Terrorist attempts to take over control of in-flight airplanes. (See: Twin Towers, Penatagon, Pennsylvania, 9/11.)

The article ... and please note that this is an EDITIORIAL, which means it is someone's interpretation and extrapolation of minimal FACTS ... describes the othewise-unsupported conclusion that this is a subtle blow at teh FFDO program.

Well, maybe it is. We note in passing that annual funding for this program is on the order of $15 million, and it's difficult to see where the money is being spent since anecdotal evidence is that pilots pay for their training, on their own time. What has the money been spent on so far?

The assertion that funding is being diverted "... to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots." Our interpretation is that the Obama Administration is adding one more layer of bureaucracy to a program which is already under-funded, unsupported (by Congress, and other layers of the Federal government) and is the "Red Headed Stepchild" of 9/11.

Still, this ... "editorial" ... is long on opinion and short on facts. It's either a "good catch" by investigative reporters, or an unsupportable logical extention proposed by an Editor with an axe to grind against the incumbent administration and it's carefully hidden agenda vis a vis Gun Control.

Doesn't that about summarize the alternatives?

I have a lot more to say on this subject, but rather than to bore you with my personal interpretation I'll just provide the link and allow you to make up your own minds.

A thorough reading of the comments attached to this post will serve to acquaint you with the various 'positions', in response to the article. Although there are a few commentors who seem to be completely Clue-less about the concept of "Concealed Carry", both sides make pertinent points.
'
Usually, the discussion focuses (Rightly, I think) on whether the ruling is significant; and if it is, what does that mean?

I'm not as entirely clueless as I probably sound, but this uncertainty about the factual basis of the EDITORIAL is regretable. I would wish that the author had made a more thorough search on the background, the effect of the ruling, and the consequences. Does this mean that fewer FFDO's will be certified to carry a weapon on the flight deck of commercial airplanes? And what about the efficiency of U.S. Marshals riding (armed) on no more than 3% of the domestic flights?

Oh yes, while I have much to say, I have more to ask. Which is why I'm not saying much, while at the same time suggestion questions for the discerning reader.

Hopefully, during the next few days, more information will become available ... which will allow we few to form an informed opinion.


The best I can say at the moment is;
it seems folly to allow almost ANYONE on board a vessal which can easily be turned into a Weapon of Mass Desruction. (CF: 9/11)

Also, we already know (if we have read our day-to-day News Reports) that the FFDO program is not widely supported among Democratic Congressmen ... who form a majority in both houses.

Finally, we know that Gun Control measures, no matter what name they may hide behind, are only likely to significantly affect the Law Abiding. Terrorists will not be inconvenienced, let alone disuaded' by the potention penalties they may have to pay if they are found having toboard an airplane while in possession of a clearly definable "WEAPON".

Until we have more information, we are lot likely to express an opinion.

Still, it does generate some very interesting questions.

Military Brass Unavailable: Change 2.0

Feds undercut ammo supply

But wait ... there's more!

As soon as I announce the End of The World, there's a new story to tell.

This has to do with the U.S. Military announcing that they will no longer make used Military brass available for public purchase.

Well, things have changed.

A couple of Congressmen (Democratic Senators from Montana) heard about the Department of Defense (DOD) plan to 'mutilate' all used brass before offering it for resale. They realized that it would constitute a serious lack of availability to reloaded ammunition in Military calibers, and they responded by encouraging the "Defense Logistics Agency" (DLA) to reconsider the decision.

Again, the reason was that it would reduce the amount of affordable ammunition to the public, which they (rightly) decided was A bad Thing.

Given the concerted Senatorial attention, the DOD and DLA crawfished as fast as they could, and today released a notice that they have reconsidered their plan and scrapped it.

The policy already had taken a bite out of the nation's stressed ammunition supply, leaving arms dealers scrambling to find ammo for private gun owners.

Mark Cunningham, a legislative affairs representative with the Defense Logistics Agency, explained in an e-mail last night to the office of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that the Department of Defense had placed small arms cartridge cases on its list of sensitive munitions items as part of an overall effort to ensure national security is not jeopardized in the sale of any Defense property.

The small arms cases were identified as a senstive item and were held pending review of policy, he said.

"Upon review, the Defense Logistics Agency has determined the cartridge cases could be appropriately placed in a category of government property allowing for their release for sale," Cunningham wrote.

The Defense Department liaison was responding to a letter yesterday to the Defense Logistic Agency's Vice Admiral Alan S. Thompson from Tester and fellow Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus. The senators argued "prohibiting the sale of fired military brass would reduce the supply of ammunition – preventing individual gun owners from fully exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We urge you to address this situation promptly."

That's right. Once-used Military brass will once again be available for resale to the Public (eg: private ammunition remanufacturing companies such as Georgia Arms) in un-mutilated form.

Note that this offers little or no direct benefit to the hope that more brass will be made available to other cartridge manufacturers who are experiencing a market down-turn on the availability of raw materials to form 'new cartridge cases' from raw materials. The availability of alloy appropriate to 'New' cartridges made in the United States will remain low, if only due to the increased Military demand for ammunition.

Consequently, those of us who use a LOT of 'new cartridge cases' in non-military calibers will continue to pay premium prices (often over twice the price at which they were available only a couple of years ago).

Still, this is overall Good News if only in that some members of Congress realize that military expedience and Political Correctness should not, and (now) will not, take precedence over protection of the Second Amendment.

Specifically, any Governmental rules which infringe upon the free access to affordable ammunition also infringes upon the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

After all, if you can't afford or Can't Get the ammunition, a firearm is nothing more than a doorstop, or an expensive club.

This facet of the Second Amendment has been made clear, now, and although we will probably have to fight the same battle again, under a different scenario, at least this small battle has established a precedence which confirms the right of private citizens to not only "Keep and Bear Arms", but also to be able to feed those arms rather than to allow their utility to be undermined by the lack of affordable ammunition.

Take THAT, Daniel Patrick Moynihan!

No More Military Brass

Michael Bane's Blog laments the recent decision of the Department of Defense to discontinue reselling used Military brass to ammunition reloaders.

Michael goes into fine detail, citing at least two sources, and I encourage you to read the article for the details.

We're here to talk about the consequences of this decision.

Essentially, the DOD will no longer resell 'used brass' to reloaders. Instead, the new requirement is that the brass must be "mutilated" to the point at which it is no longer usable for reloading.

If you reload in the common Military calibers (to include .223, 9mm, .308 and/or .50 BMG), you have probably already noticed that the cost of reloaded ammunition, or the cases thereof, has at least doubled during the past year or two.

In fact, if you reload ANY caliber, you have seen the same or even greater effect. The U.S. Military is taking so much of the product of ammunition manufacturers that components have become almost prohibitively costly ... as availability is reduced. (The Law of Supply and Demand rules, it's a Free Market thing.)

This latest ruling, though, takes an even bigger bite out of the availability.

For those of us who use exotic or esoteric ammunition, such as .38 Super or .40 S&W ... or almost any caliber which is not commonly identified as a 'military component', this might serve to hold steady, or even lower the cost of reloading components.

If the problem is that 'original' cartridge manufacturers (such as Winchester) and 'original' component manufacturers (such as StarLine) find it difficult to compete with 'reloaded' ammunition, this decision dumps what may turn out to be "A Bunch" of ammunition-appropriate brass metal alloys on the market.

Starline et al (Cartridge Case manufacturers) cannot compete directly with reloaded ammunition manufacturers. The best they can do is to cut corners in their industrial process, and emphasize their availability of 'new' brass in all calibers ... subject, of course, to the availability of raw materials.

This new DOD directive renders an increased availability of raw materials. In fact, they are not exactly "new". That is to say, the market for 'amunition quality' materials may have just increased expodentially.

The composition of the metallic components of cartridge cases is, we suppose, not terribly different for .50 BMG and 9mm Parabellum. Any raw (or recycled) metal is cost-effective depending on the similarity between the available metal, and the end product.

Since 'mutilated' military brass is likely to be metallurgically similar to the desired end product (I'm making up terminology as I write, I hope you don't mind), the cost of converting "mutilated military brass" to "marketable civilian cartridges" should logically be minimal; after the Smelter costs (to convert "mutilated military brass" to ingots appropriate to an industrial production line), there are NO further economic differences between "mutilated military brass" and ingots produced by a smelter. In fact, it should be less expensive because there is little or no need to add other metals to change the base metal to that alloy which is appropriate to cartridge cases.

We're going out on the economic limb here, but it seems reasonable to expect that within the forseeable future (three to six months), the cost of 'new' brass in "non-military" calibers might actually be LESS than the current prices, assuming that the manufacturers pass on the savings to their customers.

And why wouldn't they? If they don't, their competitors will.

I don't much like the Obama Administration. My personal prognostication is that, because of his economic miscalculations alone, Barry Obama will be the most-despised president since Jimmy Carter .. if only because the Presidential priorities tend more toward encouragement of Socialism than toward Economic Health for this nation.

But while this policy seems, on the surface, to encourage the increase in price for the Reloaded Ammunition market, it may ultimately result in a decrease in price of at least one component: brass for less 'popular' calibers.

Save your Confederate Money, Friends.

The South Will Rise Again!

The Brits and The Brats

EU bans use of 'Miss' and 'Mrs' (and sportsmen and statesmen) because it claims they are sexist | Mail Online


In the past we've indulged ourselves here at Geek Central pointing out the social and legal (and cultural) "Faux Pas" of our lovable, cuddly friends in England. Oh, it's not their fault that their governmental lackeys seem determined to undermine their entire culture. After all, they are accustomed to being British "Subjects" .... which is entirely different from being "Citizens".

And it's also not their fault that writers Aldous Huxley and George Orwell (two Brit writers of some reknown) seemed to feel free to base "1984", "Brave New World" and "Animal Farm" on the 'if this goes on' Science Fiction tool of extending 'current' English cultural trends into the future, to the present embarrassment of their fellow countrymen.

But now The Brits have a New Master: The European Union. You know, the friendly neighborhood Spidermen who attempted to make it a crime to advertise supermarket produce price by the "Pound" rather than by the Kilogram. (Hereinafter referred to as "The Brats".)

Today, The Brats have, in their infinite wisdom, decided that it is politically incorrect to use the terms "Miss" and "Mrs".

Also verboten: "Policeman", and any other reference which refers either to gender or marital status.

Instead of using the standard titles, it is asking MEPs to address women by their names.

And the rules have not stopped there - they also ban MEPs saying sportsmen and statesmen, advising athletes and political leaders should be used instead.

Man-made is also taboo - it should be artificial or synthetic, firemen is disallowed and air hostesses should be called flight attendants.

Headmasters and headmistresses must be heads or head teachers, laymen becomes layperson, and manageress or mayoress should be manager or mayor.

Police officers must be used instead of policeman and policewoman unless the officer's sex is relevant.

The only problem words that do not fit into the guidelines are waiter and waitress, which means MEPs are at least spared one worry when ordering a coffee.

You may consider this latest scheme by The Brats to exceed the bounds of permissibility in their attempt to 'standardize' terminology.

In point of fact, so do a few of the Brits:

[MEPs] (Members of European Parliament?) have reacted with incredulity to the booklet, which has been sent out by the Secretary General of the European Parliament.

Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson described the guidelines as 'political correctness gone mad'.

He said: 'This is frankly ludicrous. We've seen the EU institutions try to ban the bagpipes and dictate the shape of bananas, but now they seem determined to tell us which words we are entitled to use in our own language.

'Gender-neutrality is really the last straw. The Thought Police are now on the rampage in the European Parliament.

'We will soon be told that the use of the words "man" or "woman" has been banned in case it causes offence to those who consider 'gender neutrality' an essential part of life.'

I happen to agree with MEP Struan. This latest decision by The Brats seems not only unilateral and arbitrary, but excessively determined to fix a "problem" which doesn't generally exist.

Want to know the really SCARY thing?

Read the comments. There are actually British Citizens Subjects who approve of this in the COMMENTS section following the article:

This is one EU decision that's very good. I don't view it as being politically correct, but simply fixing an outdated title system.
- Jo, Cheshire, 16/3/2009 11:18

Darn! The Brits have a Brat in their midst.

Those Poor Brits.

On the other hand, are we so far behind? After all, we are currently under the leadership of "The O".

SWMBO: Back Home On The Range

This weekend there was a match at the Albany Club (ARPC).

I had planned to shoot the match, but I couldn't reload ammunition because my reloading press was then, and remains, 'broken'. So I decided to just show up and monitor the progress of the Certifying Students from last week's Introduction to USPSA class.

To my surprise, the night before the match SWMBO suggested that she might want to go to the match with me.

I say "to my surprise", because I had been expressing the same idea for several months. Since the chemotherapy was discontinued, she began regaining her energy and her strength (not to mention her hair). And she has missed the people we meet at the USPSA matches.

Saturday morning SWMBO and I returned to our past weekend routine: up at a reasonable hour (7:30), breakfast from Burger King to eat on the way to the range, after we had geared up in waterproof clothing because not surprisingly the weatherman forecast rain.

We arrived at the range perhaps 20 minutes before the 9am beginning of the match, and it was a treat to see the surprise on the faces of our friends as they realized that when I attempted to introduce them to "My New Girlfriend", it was SWMBO.

Neither of us signed up to shoot the match, but we followed the crowd through the Walk-Through. On the first stage, Match Director Mike McCarter re-introduced SWMBO as " ... a competitor who has been missing, and missed for several months". Dozens of our friends stopped by to say hello to her, and to get her traditional greeting hug.

That afternoon, SWMBO and I had a big meal in celebration. She did not rest well that evening. She was unaccustomed to the exertion of walking, to eating foods which were not on her 'normal' diet, and perhaps to the excitement of going to the range.

But we both slept well, having experienced one more surprising event.

The postman brought her retirement check. She is unable to work, but when Social Security Disability kicks in (and later Social Security retirement funding), she will be able to pay the bills necessary to ensure a full, if frugal, standard of living.

Sandie and I would like to thank our friends for their fulsome welcome and constant support.

What is it with March Hares?

There's a lot of maniacs out there, we know that. But during the past 15 or so years we have learned to expect them to 'act out' during April.

Mostly, this is because the homocidal maniacs slash mass-murderers in public places have generally chosen April (Hitler's birthday) as the best time to strut their insanity.

I may be wrong on some of the dates, but if I recall correctly we can place the Oklahoma Bombings, Ruby Ridge and Waco (reverse psychology ... it was the FEEBS), Columbine, etc. in April.

Perhaps the 21st Century Assholes have decided to advance their agenda. Let's look at March 11, 2009:

Witness:

• Alabama: guy kills his family, and strangers; total of 10, plus he suicides when cornered.
  
• Germany: Kid kills sixteen at his former school before police shoot him.
• Illinois: Gunman shoots preacher in church, plans "Death Day"; accidentally stabs himself with his own knife defending against outraged congregation.

That's all bad, all the time. They're all mad as March Hares.

Even the "Good Guys", those which stop unwarranted violent attacks, aren't completely unscathed:

• Palm Beach (March 9): Convicted Rapist breaks into old woman's home at night, is beset by ex-bouncer (300#) son of old woman, who rips him a new one with rapist's own screwdriver. Says Bouncer/Son: "Son, You're Going To Die Tonight!" (Rapist doesn't die.)
  
• Imo, South Carolina (March 9): Pair ambushes Pizza-man, Pizza-Man shoots the crap out of assailant (who dies). Pizza-Man 'suspended' by Pizza Hut. Pizza-Man states "That's okay, I needed some time off."

(This last story is most upsetting of the two. What happened to the Second Amendment? Nothing, it doesn't apply to your employer. OR does it? Remember the precise words?

" A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. "

Infringed by whom?

Does it apply to Congress only? To Federal and States Legislation? To agents of the State (eg: universities, who charge a student, faculty or staff with 'tresspassing' and/or discharge from employment or enrollment for carrying a handgun on campus, or to employers who discharge an employee for carrying a weapon on the job?

I don't know for sure, but I suspect it does. Still, this stuff goes on and Pizza-men all over the country lose their livlihood for protecthing their lives and their employer's small-change.

But I digress.

The thing is, we keep getting more 'anti-gun' laws passed to restrict the rights of honest men and women to protect themselves, but the March Hares keep on slaughtering honest men and women (and children) because the laws don't apply to them.

We still have "Gun Free Zones" (and "Gun Free" occupations), and the only ones who are limited by these laws and zones are the innocents.

This is the way it has been for centuries. Even with the advent of the United States of America, and it's constitutionlly protected right to "Keep and Bear Arms", bureaucrats and 'elected officials' have found ways to get around the strongest possible support for free men to defend themselves.

Legal restrictions, economic restrictions, 'safety' restrictions ... "If It Saves Just One Child!" restrictions. They're all bogus, they're all phony, and they all make criminals of honest men.

In the meantime, the March Hares are like wolves circling a flock of sheep, picking out the young and the old and the lame ... the weakest victims with the least ability to defend themselves.

The Yaks and the Gnus and the Elephants and the Zebras of the animal world know that the strong must protect the weak, but humans .... ah, humans!

We're so civilized, we emasculate the strong and then fail to protect the weak, thus making victims of our most vulnerable members.

Why?

Poliltics.

Politicians make the laws. You know them. You voted them into office.

Why do they do this? To protect their own positions, by appearing to 'do something about the problem' while acting to make the problem even more unsolvable by hamstringing our natural defenses against Predators ... who, like The Poor, "will always be with us".

And not incidently, in doing so they encourage the Predators by insuring that they feel free to act aggressively, with little fear of retaliation.

Folks, I don't know why this world is full of Predators, but it is; always have been, always will be. The way to fight them is not to expect Bureaucrats to defend us. The only way to fight them is ... to fight them.

In the final analysis it doesn't matter whether the Predators choose to prey upon us in March or April. The only thing that matters is that a reliable personal defense is not the responsibility of anyone but you.

Nobody else.

Just you.

It Sucks To Be Geek

This may have been titled: "No Match This Weekend: Further adventures of the XL650" . But that was insufficiently pithy.

And it goes beyond that.

You may possibly have noticed that we haven't been doing a lot of writing lately. Many reasons for that, mostly involved in the un-Geekly concept of "Having A Life".

There is a phenomenon in living which might be summed up as "Everything Breaks At The Same Time". My bathroom sink hot-water tap is shut off because the washer is eroded, but so is the screw holding the handle onto the tap and I can't get it off to replace the washer. Speaking of washers, my washing machine has decided that there is no need to actually spin during the spin cycle, so if I do laundry I have to hand-wring the contents before I pop them into the dryer ... for two or three hours until they dry out (the clothes, of course, are stiff with soap which has not been adequately removed from the material).

I can't get get a repairman in .... can't spare the full day off work to watch him earn his money. And I can't get a new washer installed, because I'm doing my annual Spring HouseCleaning and the path to the utility room through the garage is cluttered with boxes of 'stuff' which has been accumulating through-out the house during the winter months.

Oh ... and my water heater can just barely produce enough hot water for a 2-minute shower. It takes me 3 minutes to get clean. At least I can be sure that my shower will wake me up in time to get to work, except that I dread my morning shower.

To complete the litany of 'water-related' foibles, the garbage disposal unit in the kitchen sink is hors de combat, having been jammed by a penny in the whirly-gizmo unit. No, please don't ask me how the penny got there, but I am reminded of the poem about "for the want of a penny, an nail was lost, for the want of a nail a shoe was lost ..." etc.

Oh, and as I FINALLY decided to actually write something tonite, I discovered that the battery on my hotsy-totsy wireless mouse was run down. No, it's not replaceable -- it's rechargable and the recharging unit chose this day to turn itself OFF without stopping the mouse to be running all day. (My failure to put the mouse back on the charging cradle correctly may have played some small part in this Domestic Tragedy). I have barely enough charge (now that I have it charging correctly) to jump my cursor from one place to the other in this screed, so if it looks really negative, that's my excuse.

But you know what really frosts my cookie?

Two things:

First, two weeks ago the STI started acting up, and I never found a thing wrong with the gun. Doesn't matter, I don't have ammunition for it anyway.

Second, the Dillon XL650 is also devolved into a pile of metallic sludge, metaphorically speaking.

Last night and tonight I have spent two hours changing the press from the .38 Super configuration (small primers) to .10mm configuration (large primers). I found a primer had jammed UNDER the primer feed disk, which explains part of my pre-existing problems, and thought I had it fixed.

It took most of last night to find all of the parts, including the primer feed tubes for Large Primers.

Tonite I actually reassembled the press in the new configuration, only to discover that no matter WHAT I do, the Primer Feed Disk will not index all the way to align with the thingy that punches the primer into the base of the case. I have never claimed to be 'mechanical', but this goes beyond all expectations in the "Screw The Geek" category of Machinery's Little Ways To Frustrate Humans.

The funny thing is, I finally found all the XL650 parts and all of the reloading components, and still I can't reload ammunition.

So here I sit, smoking on a Marlboro and sucking down some cheap Canadian Rye Whiskey, trying to figure out how I am going to load 150+ rounds of ammunition before bed-time (approximately 1 hour away) so I can compete at the ARPC match this weekend.

[NOTE: my spell-checker on BLOGGER isn't working tonite, either. At this point, it would be disappointing if I could go for a half-hour without finding some other piece of Technology to betray me.]

In this situation, what would a Normal Man Do?

I phoned SWMBO. I told her that I was having a frustrating day, she gave me some "Poor Sweet Baby" consolation, and I'm going to eat dinner and go to sleep.

Somehow, it just doesn't matter that Technology Hates Me. SWMBO likes me, all's right with the world.

The match on Saturday? I have three students from the Introduction to USPSA class last weekend who will be competing safely to complete their certification. I told them I would be there at the end of the match to give them their certification card, and I will. I can probably do a lot of Range Officer stuff during the match, and a lot of visiting with my friends and neighbors. The shooting is only 50% of the event anyway; I go as much to mingle with the good people I've met at USPSA matches as I do to shoot.

And I'll call my landlord next week to get the faucet and the garbage disposal fixed. My landlord can also decide what he is willing to do about the water heater ... that's one of the benefits of renting instead of owning a house.

I'll shop for a new washing machine, and let the delivery guys figure out how to get it through the garage to the utility room.

I'll call DILLON and see if they can suggest how I can fix my primer feed mechanism ... or will send me a new one.

Only thing is, my car needs to go into the shop. The power door locking mechanism will unlock every door except for the driver's. I think I'll have to drop the car off at the dealer's garage, right?

Is that what you would do?

Here's the good thing: What else can go wrong?

DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE!!!

I would rather it come as a surprise to me.

DST

Daylight Savings Time is officially HERE.

Don't muck about. Don't diss me. Just set your clock forward one hour.

As they said about the 55MPH National Speed Limit a decade ago:

It's Not A Good Idea -- It's Just The Law.

Introduction to USPSA: Class of March, 2009

This weekend I was privileged to instruct four potential USPSA competitors in the Albany Rifle & Pistol Club's "Intro to USPSA" class. If you are a regular reader, you may be aware that I have been volunteering my time to perform this necessary function since July of 2008.

This may be my fifth or sixth class ... I've already lost count of the classes and the number of students ... and as usual I found the experience taught me as much as it did my students.

INTRINSIC vs EXTRINSIC attitudes:
The people who sign up for this class (free to ARPC club members) are highly motivated, which is the best condition for any training situation. The alternatives are those who are Intrinsically motivated (these people, who sign up "just for the fun of it", or because they derive a benefit from the course of instruction), or those who are extrinsically motivated ... they sign up because they are obliged to do so because it is a necessary stop to achieving another goal.

Intrinsic motivation insures that the student performs to his/her highest possible degree of endeavor.

Extrinsic motivation tends to result in poor student performance; he just wants to get through the day and achieve certification which allows him to compete.

I have been fortunate in that most people who enroll in this introductory course want to learn the skills necessary to compete successfully in USPSA competition. They have an intrinsic interest, because they want to learn how to shoot safely, and to feel more comfortable in the competitive environment.

Those students whose motivation is extrinsic seem, if a generalization may be suggested, to only want to achieve a sign-off. They usually have the attitude that they already know everything they need to compete, and anything that they may learn from the instructor can readily be picked up during competition.

I've been fortunate so far in that most of my students are intrinsically motivate. Those students who are only extrinsically motivated are easy to identify: they either don't show up for the confirming match (see below), or the do show up and are filtered out because they are demonstrably unable to compete safely. It's a Darwinian solution: they drop out of future competition because they don't have the skills, and they are too proud to ask for help.

We know who they are before the complete the "Introduction" class. They don't want to learn, they are confrontational, they "have an attitude".

__________________

The Class Experience:
I was extremely fortunate in the four students who arrived early for the class, and were happy to help set up the stage props for the class.

Here's the student roster. (I feel confident in revealing backgrounds while maintaining a sufficient degree of anonymity. As is my usual practice, I provide my blog URL and my personal email address on a "Get Out Of Hell Free" card so they can monitor what, if anything, I have to say about their course of instruction.):

"TOM" is the friend of Aaron, an experienced USPSA competitor. Aaron is actively encouraging his friends to try USPSA competition because it's fun.

"WES" signed up for the course because he wants to compete. I have no idea what his background is, because the training is so compressed into a short time period that it is impossible to interview the students individually. What I know about the students is whatever the volunteer during the training period. It's perhaps enough to know that Wes is willing to work as hard as is required to learn new skills.

"Don" is a USPSA member, a LEO, who has 'other' training and has demonstrated his gun-handling skills during the course of training. As is true of almost all students, I don't really know whether he has actually competed in USPSA matches.

"Chase" is a youngster (perhaps 10 years old ... I don't know, and I didn't ask) whose father "Wade" enrolled him in the class. I don't know if Wade is an experienced Competitor, and I didn't ask.

I won't get into the individual details of training, because frankly the skills and familiarity with USPSA range commands, practices and procedures is almost invariably know and is universally confusing.

The most telling significant events are how they handled themselves and their firearms in situations where the one-hour discussion of test questions and hypothetical scenarios were not adequately covered. It's impossible to cover every event they may encounter, and that's precisely why we start with exercised designed to introduce skills and procedures in a manner which limits the 'new things' they need to do.

First scenario: Load one round in your magazine. At the sound of the starting buzzer, shoot target T1 with one round only.

The purpose of this exercise is not only to familiarize the new shooter with the standard range commands (and his response) but to allow the shooter to make mistakes and see how he handles them.

One shooter responded to the start signal by drawing his pistol and then racking the slide of his semi-automatic pistol ... thereby ejecting the single cartridge. His response was to wait for further instructions from the Range Officer.

Positive results: he knows he doesn't know everything he needs to know, so rather than compound his instinctive error (he is not accustomed to a structured shooting scenario), he waited for, and actively requested, further instruction from the Range Office.

Instruction received: "The clock is still running, you may reload with another magazine and continue to satisfy the requirements of the published Stage Procedures".

Lesson learned: the competitor is responsible for every event which occurs after the starting signal.

The second scenario: Load with a full magazine, carry every reload magazine you can carry. Engage target T1 with at least 2 rounds (Comstock scoring), perform a mandatory reload, and engage target T2 with at least 2 rounds.

Objective: become familiar with the 'reload' requirement; also, indexing between targets, be aware of the passage of time while striving for accuracy.

Note that all scenarios were scored by the RO, and time was announced as well. Class members were designated "A Squad", and were required to tape and reset all targets ... to familiarize them with the etiquette of "everybody works".

Reportable Event: One shooter performed the reload when appropriate, but then racked the slide of his pistol, ejecting a perfectly good round and incurring a 'time penalty'. The student said to himself: "Oh, I didn't need to do that. I'm sorry." Not necessary to comment, of course, but it's important that he realized that he had performed an unnecessary function, and understood that time was a necessary factor in his competitive performance even though the defined imperative was first to shoot safely, and second to shoot competitively.

Note that the competitor is ten years old, and he is THIS aware of his priorities!

Also note that the competitor experienced a jam during the reload. He immediately effected the "Tap/Rack/Bang" resolution, in which he smacked the magazine to seat it ("Tap"), racked the slide ("Rack"), and continued shooting ("Bang!") , apparently without even having to think about it. Excellent gun-handling skills, you can tell that the shooter has been well trained.

Also in the same scenario of engaging two Metric (cardboard) targets with a mandatory reload between targets, another shooter demonstrated his prior training by NOT hesitating after successfully engaging the first target and then performing the mandatory reload. Typically, the new student will hesitate between the first target. He will obviously begin to engage the second target, realize at the last moment as it occurs to him that there is something he needs to do before engaging ("shooting at") the 2nd target. Instead, this student got too good hits on T1 and immediately performed his reload.

Lesson Learned: Know what you need to do before beginning the stage. Walk through the functions you must perform at each significant tactical point, and be prepared to perform that function without pausing to think about it.

Finally, we get into the ultimate scenario:

Engage two Metric (cardboard) targets from the shooting box. Move to the second shooting position (in a shooting box behind a Bianchi Barricade. Engage a Pepper Popper from the left side of the Barricade, index, engage a U.S. Popper from the right side of the Bianchi Barricade. Minimum number of rounds: six shots.

Mandatory reload between the two shooting positions (eight feet apart). Do NOT attempt to reload "on the move". (Safety/training issue.)

One student experienced some problems engaging steel targets around a barricade. He ran out of ammunition for his Single-Stack 1911 Pistol. During the standing reload, he forgot to remove his finger from the trigger. He had been repeatedly warned during the exercise to show that his finger was NOT on the trigger during movement, clearing a jam, or while reloading. Still, he had his finger within the trigger-guard while performing a standing reload.

He was DQ'd (Match Disqualified) as a consequence of egregious failure to observe basic safety rules. The failure was carefully explained to the entire class. The consequence of his Match DQ was that he was required to reshoot the stage safely, which he did.

Why do we expend such effort to train new shooters?
Our goal was primarily to train the new competitor in safe shooting, which includes and emphasizes safe gun-handling skills. All students are required to either demonstrate his ability in a beginning "Introduction to Pistol Shooting" class, or to convince Range Staff that he has the skills. When these skills are not demonstrated during the Advance "Introduction to USPSA Competition" class, we have two options:

1. Re-enforce the necessary skills through repetition;
2. Require the student to successfully pass a (remedial) "Introduction to Pistol Shooting" class, and then require that he successfully pass the "Introduction to USPSA" class.

In this specific instance, the first step was adequate to allow him to move forward.

The next step in certification if that each student must successfully complete an actual match. This explicitly requires that he shoot all six stages without violating safety rules. We watch New Shooters very carefully, and nobody gets a "Free Pass". The new shooter is held to the same standards of Safety as is every other shooter.

The Downside:
Yes, we have lost enthusiastic, motivated new competitors because they are unable to safely complete their first match.

Yes, we regret that they lost confidence in themselves to the point that they declined to continue trying to safely complete a match.

And yes, we have had people who required more than one match to learn how to shoot safely, but had the confidence and the "gumption" to keep coming back until they learned how to shoot safely.

We regret the loss of New Shooters who are discouraged. And we recognize the courage and determination of those who are willing to learn the lessons we teach.

This is an entirely self-regulating sport, and one which potentially can result in injury, even death, when the mandatory safety rules are not instinctively observed.

But the record of injury and death is less than the record of injury and death incurred in High School Football.


Bad Days:
We realize that we are 'playing' with tools which are essentially deadly weapons. We make every effort to train new practitioners. We use multiple levels of caution to prefent unsafe actions of every competitor, no matter what their level of experience may be. And if you, as a competitor, violate a single Safety Rule in even the most minimal manner, we will disqualify you from competiton for the balance of them match. The rationale is that you have demonstrated that you are unable to compete safely today, and while you may be more "in the game" tomorrow we are unwilling to risk injury to yourself or to others by permitting you to continue shooting when you are "having a bad day".

We don't do "Bad Days".

We train you so that you know if you are having a Bad Day.

We don't want you to have a "Bad Day", because we want everybody to go home in exactly the same condition as you were in when you showed up at the range. Nobody bleeds, and if you leave limping it's only because you pulled a muscle by trying to move faster than your physical condition would allow. You may be tired, but nobody was seriously damaged because firearms were involved in your chosen sport.

Practical Pistol Competition is the safest sport in the world, because we make the effort to insure the safety of everyone who shows up at the Range on Match Day.

I guarantee it.

Skin

Last October, I noticed that I had developed what can best be described as a "Callous" on the ball of my right thumb. I ignored it, assuming that I had some kind of bacterial infection on the place where I used to put of the safety of my pistol and otherwise used during shooting as part of my unique grip on the pistol.

The dry skin condition continued for a while, and spread to other fingers in my right hand (my "Strong Hand").

A week after this appeared, I managed to knife a hole in my left hand while boning chicken for dinner. Within a few days, this area also demonstrated the 'callous' appearance.

For two weeks, I watched the "infection" spread from my thumbs to my index finger, and then to my middle fingers.

I mentioned this to The Hobo Brasser, who affirmed that he also from time to time discovered a similar skin infection on his fingers. He mentioned that he got a prescription from his doctor for 2% Hydrocortisone ("anti-itch") creme. I had been wearing bandages to protect the infected areas, and that solution was unsatisfactory. Every time I went to a match, the mechanical interaction between the pistol (especially racking the slide) exacerbated the condition. So I began treating myself with over-the-counter 1% Hydrocortisone cream.

That made me more comfortable, because my fingers were not as painful. But it did't stop it from spreading, let alone cure the uncomfortable condition.

(As my hands dried out, the affected area of my skin spread and the center of each infection split. This was similar to a paper cut: a minor wound, but the outer layer of skin sloughed off exposing the nerve endings on the 2nd layer of skin, making it very tender. For example, it is difficult to perform such simple everyday tasks as buttoning a shirt, putting your hand into a pocket, or typing on a keyboard. Bandages only make your fingers more clumsy, and it's hard to 'touch type' with bandages on.)

So I went to my doctor.

My initial complaint was "Eczema", which he decided was probably due to a fungal infection much similar to Athlete's Foot.

My doctor (during a period covering not days, or weeks, but months) prescribed the following treatments:

• an anti-fungal cream (not available over-the-counter) but in a 1 ounce tube, which was used up after the first week.
• "Fluocinonide", which is a steroid cream (applied topically, similar the the Hydrocortisone and the prescription anti-fungal cream) in 2 ounce tubes, with two refills.
• a new 'systemic' drug: "Ketoconazole". I took one tablet a day for 14 days. At the end of two weeks, my infection was much less obvious and it didn't seem to be spreading. But it wasn't killing the infection.
• Prednisone. I take 3 tablets in the morning after meals for three days, then two tablets for three days, then one tablet for three days.
• He also suggested that I get some Lamisil, which is an over-the-counter remedy for Athlete's foot. We're still working under the presumption that this is a fungal infection.
• During that evaluation, the Doctor took scrapings of the infections. His lab reported NO sign of fungal infection. He had cautioned me that fungal infections don't always find fungus from scrapings because the actual fungus may not be evident on the surface of the skin. Interpretation: he still doesn't know what causes this condition.)

(I have continued to treat my hands four times a day. I put down Lamisil as a base coat, then when it dries I cover it with Fluocinonide. When that coat dries I apply Hydrocortisone to protect the active ingredients when I wash my hands. And at night, when I go to bed, I continue to apply Neosporin to help heal the split skin and protect the lower layers. Overkill? I think not. At least some areas are still healing, but not 'healed'.)

Saturday was my second day on this regimen. I taught a class on Introduction to USPSA. I was out in the weather (cold, but dry) and I was fairly comfortable because the worst of the infected areas were not 'active'.

Until I put on gloves to protect my hands when I put the props and targets and stands away. In a half-hour I had new areas of dry-skin callous on my fingers and thumbs, and three of them demonstrated split skin. I have no way of knowing whether it was because the gloves provided a warm, damp environment which encouraged the infection to grow, or because the abrasion between my fingers and the gloves caused the situation to worsen. (I am unable to find the correct terminology, because I don't know WHAT is causing this situation.)

During the class, I 'drafted' an experienced USPSA competitor to help me as a demonstrator. When we were talking, I noticed that his hands, too, exhibited the typical scaling of skin on his fingers. I mentioned it to him, but we didn't have time for me to discuss his experiences with scaly skin and splitting callouses.

This was the second USPSA shooter I've met (besides The Hobo Brasser) who had the same condition which has been haunting me for the past six months ... most of that period I have been under the direct, concerted care of an experienced physician. He doesn't know what is causing it, he doesn't know how to treat it, and my guess seems to be as good as his, so far.

I'm beginning to wonder whether this is a condition which is common to IPSC/USPSA competitors?

This evening I was exchanging email with Bill S., who reports that he is inflicted with this skin condition every Spring, and he has for years.

So there's me, there's The Hobo Brasser, there's Bill S., there's Aaron (the demonstrator) , and there's a Geek in my office who have the same skin problems.

The following photos depict the BEST my hands (fingers) have looked in the past 5 months.

Picture #1: Right thumb. You can see the dried "callous" appearance on the pad of the thumb. This is very sensitive, and when environmental conditions are less than optimal the dried area increases in size, and the skin splits horizontally. This can occur within a matter of less than an hour.



Picture #2: you can see that the little finger has a small patch of skin missing. This area is not physically in contact with any other infection, because the ring finger shows no sign of infection.




Picture #3: The left thumb is strongly infected. The left index finger is partially infected (down to the second knuckle) and the left middle finger is lightly infected. The infection is indicated by small areas where the first layer of skin is missing. Left untreated, these areas will exhibit signs of "Callous".



Picture #4 Right Fore-finger ("Pointing Finger"): this finger exhibits the typical 'scaling', where the first layer of skin remains in patches, and is surrounding by the second layer of skin. This seems to be representative of cases where some treatment has been applied, but with limited success. Note that when treatment has not been attempted this 'scaling' is dramatically more pronounced.

Most of my readers are IPSC/USPSA competitors. If you have the same condition, I wish you would write to let me know about it. Is this a long-term, repeating condition? How long? How are your symptoms the same, or different, from mine? What does it look like? How have you treated it, and how effective has your treatment been? Have you seen a physician, and has he diagnosed it as a Fungal infection, or something else? Has he prescribed a remedy, and has the medication proved effective both in relieving your skin condition and preventing it from spreading?

I'm more than a little worried. In recent weeks, the infection on my right hand has skipped the Ring Finger and started in on the Little Finger. Why? I've assumed that the infection has spread from each thumb to the adjacent Index Finger and also by contact from the Index Finger to the Middle Finger. But this has skipped a finger, and I don't know why.

(I feel so lame whining about skin conditions, but it has affected my ability to enjoy my favorite participatory sport ... Practical Pistol Competition ... and also my profession as a Computer Applications Programmer, so it's more than an inconvenience. It's debilitating.)

Buying Reloading Components In Bulk

Several USPSA competitors in the Columbia Cascade Section (NE Oregon) are using VihtaVouri (VV) powder when they reload ammunition. This is popular not only for Open Guns (usually .38 Super or .38 Super Comp, or Major Nine), but also for Limited, L-10, Singlestack Divisions (eg: .40 S&W, .45 ACP, etc.)

I use VihtaVouri N35o for .38 Super, VV N320 for 10mm (loaded to .40 "Slow and Wimpy" performance level), and VV N330 for .45 ACP. I've used other powders for 10mm and .45, but I like the VV for a lot of reasons: not a lot of smoke, reliability, consistant measure, grain shape and size, and I have good load specifications worked up for all 3 calibers. I suspect these are the reasons why many of my colleagues also choose VV.

There's another reason why I use VV: Price.

Yes, that may come as a surprise for those of you who have tried VV, but my 'secret source' is a local shooter who buys bulk and passes the savings on to his friends: Big Dawg.

I've written about Big Dawg before, and posted many videos of him in competition. As his name implies, Big Dawg (BD) could hardly be described as "petite", but he moves with an economy of motion which belies his bulk and he is deadly accurate. More important, he is a true gentleman and, as I said, he passes on bulk powder savings.

Of course, that can be ascribed to simple economics: If he can get a 110# order by soliciting others to pay for most of it, he can get a good price on the powder he needs.

Right now, he can sell a 4# order of N320 powder for something like $86, which works out to $21.50/lb.

Going prices for the same powder (less the Hazard Material -- "HazMat" -- fees) run around $29/lb. for small orders.

E. Arthur Brown Company lists VV N320 at $29/lb for a typical one-pound bottle of pistol powders. Here is a list of their VV gunpowder offerings, mostly at $29/lb., and also includes (as an extra charge) the "HazMat" fees. Best deal of HazMat adds $42 for a six-pound order, up to $51.94 for a 32-pound order.


MIDWAY also offers some VV powder. Here is VV N550 at $53.99 for a 2# bottle. (They don't mention a HazMat fee, but they do note that it is "Discontinued by the Manufacturer".)

An English website offers some VV N320 (which I have arbitrarily chosen as a standard) powder at 31.25 english pounds per pound, plus a 15% VAT. The English Pound is currently approximately 1.6 times the American Dollar, which makes the price of the order of $47/#.

Here's what Big Dawg currently has in stock:

3 - 4lb - N320
2 - 4lb - N350
3 - 8lb Tightgroup
4 - 5lb Silhoutte
3 - 4lb N330
3 - 4lb N340
4 - 2lb N540

UPDATE: later in the night ...

Well I sold most of the in stock powder Saturday. All I have left is ;

2 - 4lb N350, some N330 & N340.

I am waiting to fill a back order & will try to get some N320.

I'm not trying to sell Big Dawg's stock here, although if anyone is interested in purchasing some VV powder from him I will forward requests to him until March 15 as long as there isn't too great a volume for me to act as a 'broker'.

What I'm trying to do is to encourage shooters to consider banding together in sort of a cooperative venture to minimize their individual reloading costs.

What you need to do this, ideally, includes the following group resources:

• DEALER: Find a local person with a dealer license, who operates more out of his home than from a 'brick-and-mortar' store.
• SUBSCRIBERS: Find enough local reloaders (subscribers) who go through a large volume of reloading components during a relatively short time period. USPSA/IPSC competitors reload a LOT of ammunition, and are always looking for a way to save money.
  
• DISTRIBUTION: Establish a method of distributing the orders. Usually, this is someone who will pick up the entire order, and bring the product to (for example) local matches where the SUBSCRIBERS can pick them up. This minimizes shipping costs .. all of which inevitably include secondary HazMat fees.
• BROKER: If the DEALER is not able or willing to distribute, or pay for the oreder, you need to find someone to "Broker" the deal. This person must be able to either front the entire cost of the order, or collect payment from subscribers before the order is placed. He may pick up the bulk order from the DEALER and transport the product to a central distribution point (eg: USPSA matches in the near area)or other arrangements may be made.

A lot of the process described above depends on trust. The subscribers trust the dealer and the broker, who in turn depend on the subscribers. Much of this is subjective, but it's not unreasonable to require that the subscribers pay cash-in-advance. In this case, the subscribers trust the dealer and the broker.

Sometimes this trust if broken.

I once (several years ago) was a subscriber to a [brand name] bullet order exceeding $1000; my part was less than 1/5 of the order. We ordered through an out-of-state dealer whom we had ALL ordered from individually for years.

In the actual event, the Dealer was (unknown to us) in a very difficult personal and financial postion. The Dealer left town with no warning, taking our money and making no effort at all to even order, let alone deliver, the product.

We contacted, the [brand name} bullet manufacturer, who reportedly had never received an order from the Dealer.

I mention this only as anecdotal evidence that the element of trust is important, and if you choose to attempt establishment of a Cooperative bulk purchase ... do be certain that the people you deal with are worthy of your trust.

The couple of hundred dollars I wrote off on this purchase was actually less than the amount of money I SAVED over several years of bulk purchasing power.

One of the best ways to avoid breach-of-faith failures is to use LOCAL dealers and brokers. These would (idealy) be people that you know, people that have no hidden agenda, and generally reliable. It probably goes without saying that it helps if you know them personally, and know where they live. They may skip town, but it's less likely if your trust is supported by personal knowledge of their day-to-day financial and character assessment.

Think about it. Consider that Bulk purchases offer significant monetary savings. It may take some effort to put together a 'consortium' of buyers, but as much as the time you spend reloading ammunition is only a part of reloading, the time spent putting together a bulk reloading components order is probably a write-off.

I mention only buying powder in this article, but obviously the savings on a bulk order can be available when buying primers, bullets and cartridge cases as well. As long as you order from a single manufacturere, or manufacturer's representative, you stand to save money even when your powder order includes several powder, cartridge, bullet or primer 'types'.

The thing about gun-owners and those who support their sport is that most of them are people you know personally and (as long as you deal with people in the same geographic area) peoplw whose reputation is worthy of your trust.

The Liberal Point Of View

Xavier Thoughts today features a letter from a self-professed liberal who owns a gun. His main complaint is that if he joins the "gun community", he has to associate with gun owners. Essentially, he objects to conservative politics and the frequent assertations about "Gun Grabbers", etc.

I found that I agreed with some of his views. I think it's important that we read and hear more from the Liberal viewpoint. Not because it affords Conservatives with the opportunity to convert a Liberal, but because when we just talk among ourselves we don't learn anything.

I recommend you read the entire article, along with Xavier's response. That way, the day won't be a total loss.

At least, that's how it worked out for me.

Mr. Completely: e-Postal Match "Smoke 'em & Hope"

Mr. Completely: e-Postal Match "Smoke 'em & Hope"

February Dundee Match

I competed in the Croc Club match this weekend (see scores here), and the weather cooperated beautifully. Cold, yes; but there was no wind, no rain, no dark of night. The postmen like that kind of weather and so do Practical Pistol shooters.

Dundee put up an excellent match under the combined leadership of Paul and Evil Bill. There was a good variety of short and long courses.

The shortest was Stage 4 (Turn the Egg). It required a minimum of 7 rounds ... two moving paper targets and 3 steel. (The steel targets -- two pepper poppers front and back and a U.S. Popper between them, were aligned so you couldn't see the 2nd and 3rd targets until you knocked down the front target.) The two moving cardboard targets were activated by knocking down the front and back pepper poppers. I had a good time at 7 seconds flat, but I came in 21st place out of 45 shooters. Well, I got a couple of D-zone hits. The fastest was 4.36 seconds! Norm The Ungrateful turned in that excellent time, but he was beat by MD Paul who took 4.48 seconds but scored a perfect 35 out of 35 possible points.



The longest was Stage 5 (Chad's Wish) with 145 points possible. Eight cardboard targets and lots of steel (13), including the Texas Star. Norm the Ungrateful regained his honor by getting 137 points in a time of just under 30 seconds.

This stage was my undoing. I had a series of jams ... TEN of them ... most of which required a significant amount of time to clear. I don't know what happened, I was using the same ammunition through the match, but I had stovepipes, feeding failures (including double-feeds and ammo caught upside between the slide breech and the chamber), and sometimes the slide just didn't go back far enough to even cock the hammer! I came in dead last of those with a positive score. But I did get 140 points. I got my hits, only made up two missed-shots on steel, and it just wasn't enough when my time was 4 times the stage winner's.

NOTE: the embedded video shows why I qualified for some kind of "Stick-to-it-iveness" award, but it's depressing and lasts for two minutes, five seconds. It's only value is to prove that I am familiar with, and instinctively use the "Tap/Rack/Bang" method of clearing jams. (Unfortunately, none of my problems were caused by the magazine.)


My squad finished up on Stage 6: Vanilla Chips. Six cardboard targets and . I borrowed a gun from The Hobo Brasser. This was his second match using his completely rebuilt Caspian, with a shorty barrel, hybrid comp, and he finally threw away the Beer Can dot sight and mounted a C-More. I loved that pistol by the time I finished shooting the stage. I had a decent time of 20+ seconds, but I skipped over one of the seven steel targets and got a 20 point penalty. So much for "It Looks Good On Video". The Hobo was happy because I didn't beat him with his own gun; he finished in 19+ seconds, no penalties.

The bummer for me was, until that stage I had a clean match going.


But I wasn't the one who had the worst day. That would be Walt the Revolver Shooter. Walt was trying to work up a new, more reliable load, so he brought samples of several loads to test in real time. This did not work out well for Walt. He got a Squib on the first stage. The second stage, he got three squibs ... and neither he nor the RO realized it. He had a couple of powder-puff loads at the beginning of the stage and the RO was looking for puffs of smoke to see if they were squibs.


The thing they both forgot was that with a revolver you will get a puff of gunsmoke even if the barrel was totally obstructed, which his was. When he came back from using his squib rod at the safety table, he showed us what he had found. (Click the image for a larger view.)


Three bullets had been lined up in the barrel, nose to tail. but his Ruger GP100 was strong enough that the multiple squib loads didn't damage the revolver. While it was embarassing to both Walt and the Range Officer, it was a sterling testimonial to the strength of the Ruger Revolver.