B-b-b-Bye ATF?

I received an email from "Llago" (not necessarily a frequent reader of this blog) which provided the (undated) text of a Townhall.com correspondent Katie Pavlich column, suggesting that the Department of Justice agency "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives" *(BATF, frequently referenced here as "ATF")* might possibly be deactivated:

Bombshell: DOJ Considering Elimination of ATF

• 
• Katie Pavlich
  Columnist, Townhall.com

Multiple sources, including sources from ATF, DOJ and Congressional offices have said there is a white paper circulating within the Department of Justice, outlining the essential elimination of ATF. According to sources, the paper outlines the firing of at least 450 ATF agents in an effort to conduct damage control as Operation Fast and Furious gets uglier and as election day 2012 gets closer. ATF agents wouldn’t be reassigned to other positions, just simply let go. Current duties of ATF, including the enforcement of explosives and gun laws, would be transferred to other agencies, possibly the FBI and the DEA. According to a congressional source, there have been rumblings about the elimination of ATF for quite sometime, but the move would require major political capital to actually happen.

“It’s a serious white paper being circulated, how far they’d get with it I don’t know,” a confidential source said.

After a town hall meeting about Operation Fast and Furious in Tucson, Ariz. On Monday, ATF Whistleblower Vince Cefalu, who has been key in exposing details about Operation Fast and Furious, confirmed the elimination of ATF has been circulating as a serious idea for sometime now and that a white paper outlining the plan does exist.

Sounds great right? Eliminating ATF? But there is more to this story. Remember, low level ATF field agents, like ATF whistleblower John Dodson, were uncomfortable conducting Operation Fast and Furious from the beginning, but were told by high level officials within ATF that if they had a problem with the operation, they could find a job elsewhere.

“Allowing loads of weapons that we knew to be destined for criminals, this was the plan. It was so mandated,” ATF Whistleblower John Dodson said in testimony on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2011

In fact, not only were the ATF agents forced to carry out the operation, they were told to go against what they had been taught in training.

“This operation, which in my opinion endangered the American public, was orchestrated in conjunction with Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley. [Emory Hurley is the same Assistant U.S. Attorney who previously prevented agents from using some of the common and accepted law enforcement techniques that are employed elsewhere in the United States to investigate and prosecute gun crimes.] I have read documents that indicate that his boss, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, also agreed with the direction of the case,” Special Agent Peter Forcelli said in testimony on Capitol hill on June 15, 2011.

(Look for the name "Dennis L. Burke" near the end of this essay .... you may not be entirely displeased by the context.)

In the interest of "full disclosure", I checked the TOWNHALL website, and researched their archives for the correspondent, with no luck. I looked back for three weeks and didn't find the article cited. It's certainly possible that if I had taken my research farther back, I would have found it. [see update at the bottom of this article]

I did, however, find several current and/or recent (as of October 1, 2011) ATF-related articles by Pavlich, which suggests that she is pursuing the ATF-related theme assiduously.

Good on you, Cobber.

[In passing, I note that as of this date (October 1, 2011) the ATF website mentions neither the transition of the ATF director, nor the controversy of the "Fast and Furious" program. However, on August 17, 2o11 it does refute the "... Inacurate news report regarding 'Fast and Furious' personnel' ". The disgrace of the temporary, transitional and FIRED! acting temporary Director has yet to be addressed. Typical.]

You may not find the above-quoted material convincing; since I was unable to find the original article, and the submitted material did not include a publication date, I have no way of convincing either you or myself that it is legitimate. However, I am personally acquainted with "Llago". My own private conclusion is that the correspondent did write the article, and my inability to find it reflects upon my own lapses, rather than the correspondent or the website or the person who sent me the full text (the full text is available to you upon request, as email).

So, is the ATF dead in the water? I don't know.

I do know that, since Prohibition, ATF has been responsible for a LOT of "governmental intervention" in the realm of private activity. Were they more of a help than a hindrance during prohibition, when they prevented a lot of "bathtub gin" from being sold to private citizens? Perhaps ... but if the federal government (in it's wisdom) had not prohibited the legal production of SAFE gin, it might never have been a problem.

In the area of firearms manufacture and sale, what positive influence have they been?

In the 1992 "Ruby Ridge" fiasco, ATF agents entrapped Randy Weaver into cutting the barrel of a shotgun shorter than the ATF found acceptable, and then while trying to arrest Weaver an FBI
"Hostage Rescue Team" sniper (was there ever a more ironic acronym?) shot and killed Weaver's wife "accidentally". Was this an "Accidental Discharge"? No such thing; it's a "Negligent Discharge", to give it it's proper nomenclature.

And in the 1993 "Branch Dividian" massacre, ATF was instrumental in the assault on the Waco compound of David Koresh resulting in the death of over eighty American citizens ... including many children who can never be describe other than as "innocents". As the "Serendipity" website describes the situation:

After the February raid by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) of David Koresh's dissident religious community at Waco, Texas, the FBI and the U.S. Army took over, mounting a 51-day siege. This included such psy-war tactics as sleep deprivation of the inhabitants of the community by means of all-night broadcasts of recordings of the screams of rabbits being slaughtered.

(emphasis added by the editor)

Now we see "Operation Fast and Furious", where the ATF deliberately allowed the (questionable) sale, transfer and transportation of American firearms to "straw purchasers" ... which would ordinarily be rejected by the governmentally. audited retailer ... with the final disposition of those firearms to violent Mexican drug traffickers. The ATF has jumped through every hoop it could find to defend it's OFFICIAL "hands off" policy, based upon the concept that allowing such purchases would allow them (the ATF) to track the movement of arms to its ultimate receiver.

The tracking effort usually failed (not least because the "tracking devices" sometimes embedded in the illegal firearms were powered by "Radio Shack" batteries, which had a very limited life ... someone didn't think that through) and the basic fallacy of the policy became tragically (an embarrassingly ... for the ATF) obvious when a U.S. Border Patrollman was killed by one of those same "Fast and Furious" guns. The consequence: the egrigious and controversial "temporary" ATF chief, Kenneth E. Melson ... and his accomplice (the U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, AZ --Dennis L. Burke) were "replaced".

You know the old joke: "What do you call 600 attorneys drowning at the bottom of the ocean? 'A Good Start' "?

Well, this was another "Good Start".

It's not enough, but it's A Good Start.

Neither Burke nor Melson will lose their lives in as a consequence of their horrendous lack of judgement.

Unfortunately, we can't say as much for the innocent-but-dedicated (and now deceased) Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry.


Surely, Brian Terry wasn't the only victim of this ill-conceived and poorly-executed, failed Federal policy. But he is the sacrificial lamb who will inevitably be overlooked by history.

The ATF may be eliminated? Can you say "Goodbye and Good Riddance?" children.

I knew you could.
________________________________________________
UPDATE: OCTOBER 2, 2011

This morning I found the original article link on the front page of TOWNHALL. You may read the entire article here. I could not find a date on the original article, but the first of the (over 300) comments was dated September 30, 2011.

Oregon appeals court throws out university gun ban

Oregon appeals court throws out university gun ban:

Now they tell me:

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon University System cannot ban guns on college campuses, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a decision that overturns a decades-old prohibition.

I worked on the OSU campus for 15 years, and while I always had a firearm on-campus (if not on my person), the policy was that if I was CAUGHT with a firearms ... even though I had a legitimate CCH (Carry Concealed Handgun) license, the university was allowed to fire me if they found me in possession of a firearm on campus.

Now, I have been retired for about FIVE months, and the Oregon judicial system has only just decided that my determination to protect my private person is legally justified.

Why didn't they do this 15 years ago, when I first started working for them?

Fifteen years of bringing a concealed handgun on campus every day, worrying every day that I would be discovered; and all this time I never fired a gun .... never assaulted anyone ... never caused my co-workers to fear that I would attack them because of the rage which they KNEW was generated from the mere fact that I had a gun and might "go postal" at any given moment~



Gee, Folks. Had I only been able to testify that I had a gun on campus for fifteen years and my co-workers were still safe from me, I would have felt that my presence was justified. Maybe if I had felt that my job and my co-workers were still safe even though I carried (or perhaps they were 'more safe'), this dorky "administrative" rule would have been abrogated years ago.

Thank you Oregon State Court Court of Appeals, for finally noticing that University Workers were not the threat you should be worried about.

I will not even link to the Virginia Tech issues, or the comments I have already made defending the Oregon University System student who was busted a couple of years ago for having a weapon on campus.

I can't even say "It's About Time".

All I can say is ... "Thank God" that the courts have made this small step, which brings University Policy in line with State Law.

As for the Oregon State universities?


What a bunch of maroons, that it took a judicial ruling to make them wake up!

Felons BUSTED in Kansas for illegal firearms ownership

Shooting Wire

The folks in Kansas (and also the ATF) are SERIOUS about enforcing the law(s) which prevent convicted felons from possession of firearms .... and I'm glad!

WICHITA, KAN. - Sixty-seven defendants have been charged with federal and state crimes as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wraps up an 11-month operation aimed at taking guns out of the hands of convicted felons, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced today. Leaders of ATF, the Wichita Police Department, the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office, the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office and the Wichita Area Gun Task Force joined Grissom for a news conference to announce the indictments.

This operation was planned for one purpose - to make Wichita safer, Grissom said. I believe that every weapon taken out of the hands of a convicted felon represents lives saved and violent crimes prevented.Dozens of law enforcement officers and agents executed arrest warrants this week. Prior to the execution of arrest warrants, the operation recovered 200 firearms, including guns that had been reported stolen and sawed off shotguns, as well as cocaine, crack cocaine, Ecstasy, marijuana, methamphetamine, PCP and prescription drugs.

We focused resources on offenders who use and provide guns for the commission of violent crimes, Grissom said.

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from possessing firearms or ammunition. It also prohibits drug traffickers and users of controlled substances from possessing firearms.

I believe that this kind of action is a direct response to the constant complaint from responsible gun owners (including the NRA), which has for decades complained of Federal, State and Local administrations that " ...they want to impose new firearms restrictions on honest people; why don't they take guns away from the criminals, and --- oh, yes --- how about enforcing the 20,000 existing gun laws?"

Now they are. A lot of people are in a world of grief, because they are being prosecuted for making responsible gun owners look bad.

(Well, and also because they are violating laws which do NOT apply to responsible gun owners.)

The National Rifle Association has been true to the mantra for years; criminals should and MUST be prosecuted for violation of gun laws, in addition to their other felonies. While the NRA has not always had the same priorities as I do, at least this time SOMEONE in Kansas and ATF have listened to me, even if they haven't heard me. And I'm fully willing to credit the NRA for their continued drive to require enforcement agencies where the most egregious violations occur: the criminal element in our society.

Now we only need to other communities and states to follow the excellent example of Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita, Kansas.

"Dances With Wolves" would be proud of them.

My Fellow Americans ....

We get letters.

Being a blog, we get letters from special interest groups asking us to please use our private forum to espouse their private interests. Sometimes I reply, usually I ignore them.

In fact, one of the reasons why I have been shamefully reticent about blogging for so long is that my "Irish" is up, not the least because of the 9/11 anniversary which I dreaded because I feared

Recently (shortly before the 9/11 tenth anniversary), one special interest group has been particularly adamant for me to post their plea for support of the cause of Islamic Acceptance. Finally, I declined, with reason.

Here is the original email, asking me to "sponsor" (by presenting their message) a group which wishes to portray Islamic Americans as just more "Americans". I like the idea, but not the manner in which their video proposes their message.

My Fellow American is a film project in the United States devoted to recognizing that Muslims are our neighbors. I am reaching out to you because you addressed the recent events in Oslo, Norway, on Cogito Ergo Geek and I am hoping you will share this message of tolerance with your readers. We’ve put together a 2 minute film that I believe you will be interested in sharing, watching, and discussing:

http://myfellowamerican.us

I would love it if you could post or tweet about this and share the video. If you can, please let me know. I am here if you have any questions. Thank you so much.

Incidentally, I do not ascribe to the philosophy of many radio talk-show host, especially Micheal Savage (who was extensively quoted in the video), because their format tends to demonize groups rather than the actions of individuals. On the other hand, some groups tend to have too many members who are just as fanatic as (for example) Savage ... except sometimes members of these groups use physical violence to further their aims. I don't like Savage, but I fear Jihadists who believe that the world should become a Caliphate, even by the Sword. To put it in simplistic terms: Savage is a nut; islamicists are a danger to innocents.

And I am reminded of President Theodore Roosevelt's speech regarding "HyphenatedAmericans" ... which includes Islamic Americans:

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all... The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic... There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

I will discuss the subject of "Islamic-Americans" later in this post. Briefly, I think that's the crux of the problem. And no, the term "Islamic-Americans" is not mentioned in the video.

Just so it's clear, I think that our allegiance should be to our country, rather than to the unique religious choices we make. On the other hand, I realize that many people of every religion would disagree with me. For many people, their religion-of-choice is their primary guideline, and that's fine ... as long as they abide by the existing laws of their espoused country. For me, the deciding factor is whether our political or religious beliefs allow the slaughter of innocents.

The slaughter of innocents. That's a powerful term. And either our political or religious beliefs may take precedence, depending on our national culture. Still, we should not support any belief system which encourages us to murder our fellow man because he doesn't believe the same things as we do .... as long as his beliefs are similarly accepting of the right to exist.

In the U.S., we went through a terrible period of "Racism", where 'innocence' was often defined by race. We've pretty much got through that, even though we're still struggling with residual hatred. But it is not a national policy, and it is not supported by federal law (more on that later). We're making progress, even if it's slow.

Getting back to the video, it shows friendly, cheerful and productive Islamic American citizens who are free to practice their religion in public. If you are not an Islamic , you cannot practice your religion in ... for example .. Saudi Arabia. Do you know that you cannot bring a bible into Saudi Arabia? And they are a friendly country to the United States. How multi-cultural is that? Are they working to get past that? No, they are not; it is national policy, and national law.

Here's how "Multi-Culturalism" is working out in Europe:

(From "Mark Steyn Online: The Department of Sharia /September 20, 2011 and also published in National Review Online)

And in Egypt, also a Friendly State to America and generally considered one of the most 'liberal' of Islamic States (actually, not generally considered an "Islamic State", even though they are becoming more Islamic daily), if an Egyptian citizen held up a sign stating "Christianity Will Dominate The World: Islamic Statism Can Go To Hell" --- that person would be lucky to be arrested before the mobs murdered him (as was Egyptian Presidant Anwar Sadat after he had ratified a peace with Israel in 1981) ... or sexually assaulted her.

No, I do NOT believe that every Islamic is a terrorist. However, in the past ten years, every Terrorist has been an Islamic.

And before you say it, I am quite aware that this particular catch-phrase has been used so often that it has become associated with anti-islamic hysteria for the past ten years. As in; since September 11, 2011.

Name me one terroristic act in the past ten years which has NOT been perpetrated by an Islamic?

It use to be that we could point our fingers at the Irish. Sinn Fein seems dormant. The IRA hasn't made a lot of headlines lately, although it still active ... 22 terrorist acts in 2009, 39 in 2010.

But that is small change, and generally restricted to Ireland and GB. Islamist terrorism is ... may we say it? ... worldwide, and almost indiscriminate.

So why not accept Islamic terrorism with the same seeming equanimity as Irish Terrorism?

The difference is, many Irish are outraged by Irish Terrorism. We heard a lot of that in the Bad Old Days, but now the terrorist acts are so few and so relatively minor (when's the last time the Irish attacked America, or blew up skyscrapers, or tried to blow up airplanes filled with anonymous innocents?) that they pale to insignificance when compared to Islamic terrorists.

But I'm still not a supporter of the brand of terrorism that a few Irish support, even though they didn't demolish buildings and innocents on a grand scale ten years ago. Or ... ever.

And ... getting back to that video that we linked to earlier, with the smiling Islamics in America? Where in that video did anyone refer to, let alone OBJECT to, the terrorist acts repeatedly committed by their coreligionists?

No where.

Another reference to Mark Steyn, who recently (September 18, 2011) posted an essay called "MOLLIFYING MUSLIMS, AND MUSLIFYING MOLLIES", where he mentioned, in part:

Take this no-name pastor from an obscure church who was threatening to burn the Koran. He didn't burn any buildings or women and children. He didn't even burn a book. He hadn't actually laid a finger on a Koran, and yet the mere suggestion that he might do so prompted the President of the United States to denounce him, and the Secretary of State, and the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, various G7 leaders, and golly, even Angelina Jolie. President Obama has never said a word about honor killings of Muslim women. Secretary Clinton has never said a word about female genital mutilation. General Petraeus has never said a word about the rampant buggery of pre-pubescent boys by Pushtun men in Kandahar. But let an obscure man in Florida so much as raise the possibility that he might disrespect a book – an inanimate object – and the most powerful figures in the western world feel they have to weigh in.

Aside from all that, this obscure church's website has been shut down, its insurance policy has been canceled, its mortgage has been called in by its bankers. Why? As Diana West wrote, why was it necessary or even seemly to make this pastor a non-person? Another one of Obama's famous "teaching moments"? In this case teaching us that Islamic law now applies to all? Only a couple of weeks ago, the President, at his most condescendingly ineffectual, presumed to lecture his moronic subjects about the First Amendment rights of Imam Rauf. Where's the condescending lecture on Pastor Jones' First Amendment rights?

The President of the United States publically denounced this irrelevant clergyman for speaking his mind

And that, friends in INSTITUTIONAL terrorism, committed by our own Federal Government. It is a matter of national policy that nothing which can remotely be described as detrimental or insulting to Islam will be tolerated in The Land Of The Free and The Home Of The Brave.

Why is that so?

It happens because our national leadership has decided to meddle in the 'national conscience', to determine what is and is not acceptable for us to think about religion, tolerance and acceptance in America. The Constitution of the United States be damned; Obama didn't like it, and so he sent the attack-dog lackeys of the American Press to vilify this private individual.

(Yes, the parson is a jerk. The First Amendment of the Constitution was codified to protect the rights of Free Speech for unpopular opinions. If we liked what he had to say, we wouldn't need a First Amendment.)

It's not enough that the president has infringed on the First Amendment Rights of a private American citizen, but our current culture has gone totally ape-shit in its surge to back the president .... in an attack on a private citizen who had broken no laws. And it is, the press at the same time supported an attack on the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. So much for the white coat-tails of the Fifth Estate.

---

So, when I get emails asking me to "sponsor" a video which presents Islamics in America as totally joyful and non-aggressive, I have to ask: "Where's the beef?"

What happened to showing both faces of the culture which is not assimilating itself into the American culture? Instead of becoming more American, and speaking out against terrorism ... adherents of this religion expect us to accept it without acknowledging that many of its members have as its basic priority that we should be forced to abandon our culture in favor if its religious fanaticism?

I don't think so.

When I see that the News Of The Day features Americans (who just happen to be Islamics) speaking out against terrorism, I will consider supporting that concept.

But that won't happen until Islamics (who just happen to be Americans), have made it a priority that they don't want to change the American culture.

Today, Islam is not just Another Pretty Face. If they want to be accepted, Islamics must conform to American culture; not we to theirs.

How You Tube Really sucks ....

How not to change a mag. - YouTube

Here is a video of an IPSC shooter who does a mag-change, with an Open Gun, and rocks with the next 18 (+/-) rounds to finish a stage on what appears to be in indoor range.


The shooter is shown without any reference to the target, so it's difficult to see the shooting problem which he is addressing.

But look at the comments on the video ... almost everyone who contributes to the discussion is critical, but they're not clear on why they denigrate the shooter.


Some of the critics mention the high-capacity (?) magazine, but even they are not clear on why they seem to think this is 'a bad thing'. Could it be because they are not permitted to have a magazine with 19 rounds capacity in their home country?


Okay, I'm not really sure why the commenters are so critical about this shooter. Sure, he bobbles the mag change .... but most people who care enough to contribute comments don't seem to care much about that, although those who DO mention it seem either to hot have mucked up a reload, or they have no idea what it's like to reload a 170mm magazine.

My personal evaluation is a combination of the above. Specifically:
(a) they don't like that he has a big magazine;
(b) they don't really understand what IPSC competition is about;
(c) they are envious that he has "better" equipment than he has;
(d) they are entirely ignorant about the nuances of IPSC competition
(e) they are a bunch of people who are so dominated by their country's political limitations on their persona freedoms that they can't understand that a man DOES have superior competitive equipment, because he CAN buy anything he can afford.

I think it's sad that this guy is denigrated by people who should be his "peers". The comments reveal their "Sour Grapes" attitude. Because they can't legally own equipment which is competitive, they feel the need to criticize him because he lives in a country which is constitutionally forbidden to deny his right to buy reliable pistols without restricting magazine capacity.

I'm going to keep an eye on that YouTube Video. Reading the criticisms there helps me to remind myself that a LOT of people do not have access to normal equipment ... and they are so pissed off about it, they are ready to criticize a man who has full rights to buy and use whatever equipment he can afford.

What a bunch of maroons!

The First Priority

Sue's DQ - YouTube



The YouTube Video is not clear, but it seems that the lady brought loaded magazines to the Safety Table in her hand. This is a clear violation of rule 10.5.12:

10.5.12 Handling live or dummy ammunition (including practice or training rounds, snap caps and empty cases), loaded magazines or loaded speed loading devices in a Safety Area, or failing to comply with (http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Rule 2.4.1. )
The word “handling” does not preclude competitors from entering a Safety Area with ammunition in magazines or speed loading devices on their belt, in their pockets or in their range bag, provided the competitor does not physically remove the loaded magazines or loaded speed loading devices from their retaining or storage device while within the Safety Area.

If the shooter brought loaded magazines in her hand to the safety table, the rule is appropriately applied.

This is a rare and difficult enforcement of the rule; it requires that the competitor violate safety rules in the presence of a Range Officer, or someone wh is qualified to act in that capacity.


IF the supposition is true (the competitor did 'handle live ammunition' at the safety table) then the DQ is legitimate. No question about it.

This has always been one of the more difficult Safety Rules to monitor. Again, it presupposes that the infraction occurred in the presence of a Range Officer.

At the same time, it's one of the easiest Safety Rules to break. You see in the video that the competitor was paying more attention to her conversation, than to the safety rule.

It may happen that the purpose of this competitor's live is to provide a good example of a bad practice.

Competitors may handle ammunition ANY WHERE on the range .... except at the Safety Table. Until she actually laid the loaded magazines (?) on the table, she was deemed "safe".


During my "Introduction to USPSA" classes, I try to emphasize that all safety infractions are similarly penalized by a Match DQ. This rule is difficult to illustrate, because I have never seen a violation. Now I have seen one, and while the Match DQ seems "friendly", it had the same necessary consequence; the competitor seems to be insufficiently aware of safety considerations, and is disqualified from further competition.

I think this DQ Judgement, while unusual and perhaps a little bizarre (given the circumstances) may well serve as a valuable example to both new and old shooters, for a variety of reason:

• ALL Safety rules are equally applicable, and must be imposed upon EVERY incidence;
• Participants in USPSA/IPSC competition are perceived in a common practice; running around with loaded gun (not at all times ... supposedly). We are all subject to the most stringent safety rules, and a violation of ANY rule necessitates a Match DQ, because it illustrates that the offender is not in the right mental state to be trusted with his/her loaded gun;
• This incident was clearly a situation where the 'offender' has been distracted, and yet the most powerful consequence (being disallowed to continue in competition) has arbitrarily been imposed upon her. This is entirely appropriate. The existing rules serve to identify an "un-aware competitor", and remove her from the competitive. The rules work to support the primary goal of "SAFETY", above all other considerations.
  
• If the safety rules sometimes seem to be too harsh, they still impose the SAFETY priority; even in marginal circumstances, they identify and remove unsafe shooters from the competitive environment. This serves the sport, and guarantees the safety of other competitors wh share the range with the unsafe violator.

The last two discussion points obviously overlap. This is entirely within the philosophy of competitive Safety Ruless, which apply a "Belt AND Suspenders" method of stopping unsafe shooters before they can violate even more drastic Safety Rules.

We want everyone to go home from the match without injury, or fear of injury. If one competitor is forbidden to compete (for reasons of safety), that is MUCH better than that this or another competitor be injured.

We will NOT accept an unsafe shooter into our ranks. If a competitor cannot understand, accept and practice the safety rules 100% of the time, it's better to penalize that shooter than to ask other competitors to accept the risk of allowing unsafe conditions to exist.

We are safe.

That is the first priority.

Judge Judy on TSM: Entitlement?

The Smallest Minority: The Entitlement Mentality

"You know what I'm sayin'?"


I get SO tired of hearing that from clueless persons.


Kevin BAKER zeroes in on "What's Wrong With America Today!" *


*(Freeloaders who think they're 'entitled' to the money they get for 'free'.)*

Wil and Grace

Actually, their names are William ("Call me Wil") and Betsy. Betsy is Wil's sister, and they magically appeared at the August "Introduction to USPSA" class at the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club.

Will and Betsy are brother and sister, and I was privileged to provide instruction to them about IPSC Competition. Yes, I've spoken of this "Introduction to USPSA" class before, and invariably in positive tones. I love teaching the class, because it provides me with the opportunity to meet some of the very nicest people in the state with the goal of introducing them to the principles and policies of IPSC competition in Oregon.

Of course, we're trying to acquaint them with the culture and practices of competition, but we're also trying to help them understand the Safety Rules which keeps us all safe while we're running & gunning with pistols ... "designed to shoot people", as the gun-grabbers contend, but actually the most fun target practice to come our way since Pub Darts.

Wil and Betsy are gregarious, nice people who have no desire to shoot other people. They're just tired at shooting at [ho-hum, BORING] bullseye targets, and thought that a more complex shooting sport would add vinegar to their sports shooting. (Not to mention that it would confirm the three rules of shooting safety, and help them feel more comfortable during their first few matches -- because it will teach them what to expect, how a pistol match is conducted, and how their fellow shooters will expect them to act.)

A word about the "three rules of shooting safety", and how the Intro to USPSA class reinforces them:

(1) "ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction."
This is enforced by the IPSC/USPSA safety rules, which dictate that anytime your pistol wanders away from being definitively pointed 'downrange', you will be stopped by the Range Officer and you will not be permitted to continue shooting for the duration of the match. The basis for this penalty is that you have demonstrated that you are not in the "safety" mind-set today, so while you are welcome to stay and watch ... we don't trust you today. Maybe next week, eh?

(2) "ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot".
Another safety rule in IPSC/USPSA -- you must keep your finger off the trigger (a) when you are reloading, clearing a jam, or otherwise not actively engaging a target and (b) when you are moving, unless you are actively and obviously engaging a target.

(3) "ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use"
IPSC/USPSA ranges are always "cold ranges" .... the only time you can handle your pistol AND your ammunition is when you are on the line, ready to begin engaging legitimate targets, and under the direct personal supervision of a Range Officer.

(Actually, the founder of IPSC .... Colonel Jeff Cooper ... proposed a fourth rule:

"Be sure of your target and what is behind it."

Since IPSC/USPSA competition always takes place in a closed and supervised range setting, the target and background are placed and constructed to be ALWAYS safe .... so while this rule is certainly valid, it is accepted as a 'given quantity' in this milieu.)

Back to the class:

Actually, Wil's wife, Beth, would have also attended this class. Unfortunately, she was physically unable to attend because she had taken her penultimate Chemotheraphy treatment on Thursday. As we know, the day after Chemo the patient feels great; but when the drugs wear off, in about 36 hours, they feel very not-so-great and do not feel attracted to any physical activity, nor do they enjoy the heat of an August Saturday at the range.

I understand this. My personal experience with the long struggle with Cancer treatment which SWMBO endured has sensitized me to the discomfort of Chemotherapy. I had, in fact, tried to avoid the subject when Wil and Betsy were going through the course. It was only toward the end, when Wil asked my direct questions about SWMBO (I had unwisely referred to her positive experiences with IPSC/USPSA competition) that I admitted, that ... well, SWMBO didn't make it. The chemo never worked for her.

---

The good news is that, again, Beth is completing her treatment, and it seems to be working for her. Wil tells me that she is in fact an NRA instructor, and they are both active in the Four Corners Gun Club in Salem. Going through the certification course is something that Beth wants to do at least as much as Wil and Betsy did. I've made tentative arrangements with Wil to provide a special class next weekend, with Beth as the only student and Wil there to provide support.

Wil and Betsy are good people. They both agree that Beth is the 'pistol' (in the sense of being very competent, very goal-oriented) shooter in the family. As they talked about Beth, the things they say about her reminded me very much of the things I've always said about SWMBO: competent, strong, dedicated and a leader.

I'm looking forward to meeting Beth. Maybe she will let me talk about her experience in a week or two.

And if she won't ... I won't talk about her. She must, after all, "be obeyed".

Doorbell | Power Line

Doorbell | Power Line

No comments:

"Are You Still Alive?"

Last week I received a phone call from my friend, The Hobo Brasser, asking if I was still alive.

Good question.

His point was that I haven't been attending IPSC matches locally, haven't been in touch with my Usual Suspect friends, and haven't posted anything on this blog since ... Whew!

Independence Day!

When I responded to the effect that I THINK I'm still alive, he responded with the emphatic suggestion that I ought to, at least .. "Write Something!"


Good Idea.

The thing is, there is SO much going on (Norway and El Presidente being two very good examples) that it's difficult for me to write without blood dripping from my well-bitten tongue.

I don't know what to write about first, given that my sense of outrage over The World's increasing propensity for outrageous can't begin to keep up!

SOooo ... forgive me if I don't try to Keep Up.

For example:Norway's modern-day pseudo Viking slaughters 6+ random strangers with a bomb and goes on to slaughter 86 (+/-) teens on an isolated island ... and NOBODY raises a hand to stop him for hours? I cannot begin to express an opinion here. I don't know whether to comment on the increasingly virulent anger of "non-socialized" sociopathic predators, or the society which denies that they exist, have ALWAYS existed, WILL always exist ... and in their liberally blindered home-made society refuses to acknowledge the continuing existence of evil; or whether to comment on an American President who seems determined to spend-and-tax the richest nation in the history of the world into bankruptcy.

God knows I'm incapable of properly addressing either phenomenon, let alone both.

I've resolved to allow other writers, who are capable of dissecting sociopathic abnormalities more eruditely than me, to address these immediate stories.

The truth is that I am so absolutely appalled that I cannot fathom either phenomena, let alone dissect either with the hope of providing some profundities for your erudition.

There was a time when the worst we could imagine was the total destruction of the world in a whirlwind of Atomic Fire.

At the time, we thought that was The Worst Thing That Could Happen.

Now we imagine that the world will end, as T.S. Eliot suggests, " ... not with a Bang, but with a Whimper".


Forgive me if I seem excessively negative, but for me; I would vote for the Big Bang Theory of TEOTWAWKI ("The End Of The World As We Know It")


Note: I also thought that the best world I could leave to my children was one in which my children would NOT have to go to war. Now my son is in the Navy, and is a Master At Arms ... essentially, a Navy Cop. As it happens, this is among the brighter hopes for tomorrow, as I see it now.


"A Penny for The Old Guy".

One of the Good Things about growing old, is how much we can learn about our changing world. I'm glad that my Gentle Ben is learning to be aggressive, skilled, reactive and proficient in the ways of personal combat .. and most recently he's gone to Armorer's School. This may be one of the most positive influences on my personal Next Generation.

Well, along with the cranky Black Irishmen that my daughter had the presence of mind to marry.

Anyone who prefers 18 year old Jameson is okay in my book.

Independence Day

The preparations for The Geek Family Independence Day are progressing well, thank you for asking.







Life is good when you're the King of the Family.

ChronoGeek, Part 1

Today was the RO Match at the USPSA Area 1 tournament --- Albany Rifle and Pistol Club; Shedd, Oregon.

(Actually, it started yesterday but the Chronograph was not yet operational. The equipment had not yet arrived.)

A bit of explanation here. I'm claiming the title of ChronoGeek because it's my blog, and I can do that. But I'm not the CronoDude. That would be Loren (whose name I invariably mis-spell, so I'm not going to worry about it). Loren has been officiating at IPSC/USPSA matches for literally Decades, and many of those tasks he shard with his wife, Sherrie. (Loren lost Sherrie to Cancer a year ago last December, and since I have lost Sandie last November, we have a lot to talk about. He's good company, and I admire his skills.)

We decided that Loren would handle all things related to the CE Chronograph ... actually, two chronographs arrayed in tandem in a light-box ) and I would just be the shooter.

As it turned out, I'm not only doing the shooting, but I'm also pulling bullets from the 8-round "sampler pack" and weighing them so we have 1/2 of the equation for determining Power Factor.

Loren records the bullet weight before I fire the competitor's ammunition from his/her firearm, and the new-version CE chronograph hardware/software determines the power factor. This is a great improvement on previous chronograph versions, and it simplifies our task of determining whether the competitors makes Major Power, or even meets the Minimum Floor for Minor Power (especially in Production Division, where everyone is deemed to be shooting Minor Power regardless of the caliber and PF of the actual load.)


This morning we met at the range at 7am, SHARP! The two new Chronograph arrays had arrived from Competition Electronic (CE), as promised.

It took 3 hours for Loren to assemble the dual-chrono array in the light-box, and even then he couldn't get it to work. Apparently one of the sensors was not registering the 'exit' incident, so it could not compare the velocity recorded by the first chronograph.

As it turns out, Loren had a 'older' (but compatible) sensor array, so he replaced the malfunctioning sensor with a proven working sensor, and we finally ended up with a tandem array with working sensors which could be mutually verifying. It was almost noon when we could begin actually chronographing the sample loads collected the previous day, and during the Thursday shoot.

In the meantime, I was busy pulling bullets from each ammunition sample, and recording the bullet weights.

I discovered that being the "Designated Shooter" at the Chrono Stage is a dream job. I would have done this for no pay at all! (Actually, I did; although the MD bought lunch for all the RO's, we don't get paid unless we are from "out of town", in which case the Match Director pays for our housing. I live 20 minutes from the ARPC range, so I donated my time and mileage in return for a free lunch, and the opportunity to shoot the firearms of over 300 competitors, plus 50 match-staff .. using their guns and their ammunition!

Talk about a Dream Job!

Tomorrow, we find ourselves beyond the R.O. Match and working with paying customers. Loren and I have had this one day to work up our routine, and by the end of the day we were running shooters through the Chrono stage with fair efficiency.

There were only a few incidents to blight our enjoyment.

If the first ... oh, I don't know --- about 100 competitors including the match staff .. we had to disappoint two shooters when their ammunition didn't support their declared "Major Power" status. I hate it when that happens. It's like DQ-ing a shooter, except it happens more frequently. Major bummer, for them and for us. We always want everybody to make Major Power if that's what they need; unfortunately, either because of using factory ammunition, or because of different climatic conditions between their home range and 'this' range, it doesn't always happen.

The other Major Disappointment of the day was the last shooter that we Chronographed. We had only a few shooters who hadn't had their ammunition chronographed, so we pulled them off the last stage of their day and ran them through the Chrono Stage. This shooter was still waiting to shoot the last stage of his first match day, but agreed to go through the chronography experience anyway, just so Loren and I could close down the stage and go home.

The first shot I fired through his Open gun was weird; when I tried to pull the trigger; it wouldn't move. I had to put a LOT of pressure on the trigger to get it to fire; it was extremely resistant to ANY movement of the trigger.

The second round, I tried 3 times before I could get the trigger to move. I commented to the shooter: "What's with this trigger, how can you shoot with it? It must be at least an 8 pound trigger, and I have to really work to get it to break!"

He said: "I don't have any problems with the trigger, it's not that tough".

So I pulled the trigger on the third round ... and the left-side of his ambidextrous safety fell off.

Oh, he made Major Power, okay. But his gun was broken and he still had to shoot his last stage of the first day. Plus come back the next day and shoot another half-dozen stages.

I really hope he's a very good gunsmith, AND that he has extra parts. Because the left-side of his ambidextrous safety looked well and truly broken, both to me and to Loren.

maybe he was lucky. If he had shot that gun on the last stage, he would have zeroed the stage. Nothing we did would have accounted for the breakage; it was just bad luck.

At least this way, he has the overnight opportunity to find and install replacement parts.

I hope he can manage it.

We'll let you know tomorrow how this works out ... if we can track the shooter.

Pendulum Waves

YouTube - Pendulum Waves



Hat Tip: G-man

Ho Hum - Bicycles: just another Excellence in Performance video

YouTube - Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home"


I want you to watch this video, and think about just how much Excellence in Performance is demonstrated here.


Done watching?

Pretty damn impressive, wasn't it?


Now, go watch Athena Lea's performance at the latest major USPSA match ... 2011 Double-Tap Match. Go ahead; if you haven't seen it yet, go watch it. We'll wait.

No, even if you HAVE seen it before, go watch it again.

And while you're watching that video, keep in mind the differences between the two videos.

The Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home video showed one person, in carefully chosen milieus, performing stunts which the common person could not even imagine himself doing. It's breath-taking. It's beautiful (not in the least because of the background music) ... in a controlled, stolid and consistent setting. When we watch this, we are in awe. We can only imagine the years of practice and dedication which allows and leads one person to accept and overwhelm such challenges of balance, speed, and power.

I'm impressed. Aren't you? If you aren't, you should be.


But consider the Athena Lee video. How are the challenges SHE faces any less intimidating? How many years has she practiced her skills .... and in the effort competed against a multitude of people no less skilled, no less dedicated, no less practiced over and over again.

Or, how are her challenges MORE intimidating? Other than, of course that she is competing, rather than making a feel-good video?

Danny has a 3 minute (more or less) video, which is obviously the result of hours of filming. It's like a Jackie Chan movie ... who knows how many takes each shot required, before he got it 'right'. Sure, he may have injured himself in the filming; we don't know. What we saw here were only the very best of an unknowable number of 'takes' before everything was just right.

Now look again at Athena Lee, or ANY USPSA/IPSC competitor. They only get one run, one chance to make the perfect run on any given stage ... On EVERY Stage! If it isn't perfect every time, they don't get another go at it .... their time and score is recorded and they stand on their single best/worst/good/mediocre performance. They have to be ALWAYS at the top of their game on every stage at every match .... or nobody cares about them.

I think that when people look at videos of USPSA/IPSC matches, they tend to say "ho hum, just another day at a match".

But when they look at a bicyclist riding a child's bicycle, they say "Hey, Wow! That's rather a dicey place he's put himself into, isn't it?"

Bicycle riding is ... I don't know if I can put it in to the proper framework. I'm impressed by the amazing stunts they can do, but I'm always aware that they probably didn't do it 'right' the first time, no matter what stunts they do.

USPSA/IPSC competition, however, is ALWAYS "do it right the first time, over and over, or you're merely an "Also Ran". (And we all know how many of us fit in THAT category, don't we? Show of hands? I thought so.)

I'm not saying that the antics of grown men on kiddy-cycles isn't impressive, because it is.

And yes, I've deliberately used the most demeaning buzz-words I could imagine in describing this phenomenon, because I am trying to demonstrate the wide gap between appreciation of one "non-spectator sport" and another.

When we see a grown man on a kiddy bike jumping walls and riding rails, it's justifiable impressive.

But when you see a truly champion-class Practical Pistol shooter (Athena Lee, for example) doing everything right, on every stage of a bit match, it's all to easy to say "Ho hum, just another IPSC match." You and I could probably do a fair approximation of Ms. Lee/s performance, couldn't we?

Well, maybe so, maybe no. But the point is ... you can't get your name in the winners' circle with a "maybe". You need to perform better than everyone else, first time and every time. Or you're still a "Ho Hum" performer.

I think that the kind of competition as typified in USPSA is the finest, most point-of-the-sword kind of competition available on this planet. This is roughly equivalent to Olympic quality athletes, but looked at in a different way.

(And do NOT get me started on the stupid failed efforts of IPSC to make Practical Shooting a "Demonstration Event" in the International Olympics a decade or so ago. I'm still frosted about that; this was the most inept political effort in recent history, in ANY venue, and a child could have told the IPSC President ["He Who must Not be Named"] that it was ill timed, poorly conceived, and ineptly executed.)

Yes, Practical Shooting could and perhaps should be elevated to an Olympic level, but that's a Political Decision, and IPSC/USPSA is not a politically-correct "sport" (Quotes used advisedly, well knowing that they are included in the sardonic sense.) In a single sentence: Kiddy-Bike rail-jumping will be elevated to an Olympic level before Practical Shooting is, because Kiddy-Bike rail-jumping is not politically incorrect ... even if it's EASIER TO DO.

Scroll back:
Biking looks good, because you get a lot of tries and it's not competitive AT ALL!

Shooting doesn't look good, politically, and it's easy to lose because you have only ONE TRY and the competition here is fierce, man. Truly fierce!

No, I'm not putting down biking, whatever the venue. Some of the stunts I see in the provided video ... oh hell, ALL of them! ... are just beyond the concept of the common man to perform.

But when I look at videos of USPSA/IPSC competition, I'm even more impressed. I KNOW I can't do that, because I've tried, for over 25 years, and I know that however well my performance may look on video, there's always some one else who can do the same thing better, smoother, faster. It's like the Bionic Man:

"We can do it. We have the technology. We can make him better .. stronger ... faster."

Yeah, but can you make him "better .. stronger ... faster" than everyone else? Or can you just make him look good on Video?

Here's the point:
You can look at a lot of video events, and you can look at a lot of competitive sports. But there are very few events which are both competitive sports, and which position each competitor against every other competitor .. in a field which may include 300 or 400 other competitors ... and elevate one single person above all of his or her opponents. This kind of competition selects the best, the fastest, the smartest and the most consistently excellent person in the field.


This kind of competition is found in very few venues; these venues include ..... well, The Olympics. And all subordinate versions of competition which qualify competitors for The Olympics.

No mistakes. No awkward moments. No minor slip-ups wit the penalty of only a second or two accumulative over multiple efforts ..... and the first try you get is the ONLY try you get.

Child bike-riding looks really good on video, but when you compare it to IPSC/USPSA competition (remember, these people are shooting real guns and a moment's slip-up could result in disaster!), it's just a kid sport.

Ho hum.

Area 1 Director wins "Super Trooper" at FNH USA 3-gun National Shoot-Off.

Shooting Wire: "Anderson Wins 3GN Shoot-Off, $5K From Warne":

"PARMA, Idaho - A year ago, Chuck Anderson came up one run short. This time around, he could not be denied.

Anderson, delivering remarkable speed on the pistol, upset perennial favorite Daniel Horner in the finals of the FNH USA 3-Gun Nation Shoot-Off, Presented by SureFire, following the MGM Ironman to win $5,000 from Warne Scope Mounts on June 11.

Anderson qualified for the 3GN Shoot-Off by defending his Trooper class title at Ironman, one of the most unique divisions held anywhere. In Trooper division, competitors are required to carry all their gear on their person for the duration of the match. With shooters carrying as many as six firearms, ammunition and gear, especially at the physical slugfest that is MGM's Ironman, winning Trooper division is a major achievement." (emphasis added by Geek)

Congratulations, Chuck!

I've watched Mr. Anderson compete in USPSA matches for years, and he has always been among the top shooters. A working LEO, Chuck has always been a hard man to beat. Although I'm not familiar with the "Trooper division", it sounds like a true Iron Man category.

I'm impressed, you should be too.

I'll be working the Chrono stage at the Area 1 match later this month. Hope to see him there, so I can offer him my personal congratulations.

Fred

I had to vacuum my Antelope today.

The dust-bunnies were just getting too darn thick; every time I looked at him, he appeared about to sneeze.

That's a pretty tough trick for a critter who has been dead for going on 30 years.

Actually, it's hard for me to decide exactly how long I've had "Fred". I took him in SE Oregon during a season during the early 80's. It was probably about 1982 or 83, because my son was still a toddler and he was born in 1980.

My father and I had been hunting antelope together since I was in high school, which means our first hunt was probably in the autumn 1963. We went to Wyoming then (the area around Rawlins) and we both bagged decent Buck Antelope although they were nowhere near trophies.

Then we started applying for tags for Eastern Oregon Antelope hunts. They were limited, we had to put if for the drawing, and had to specify the area we wanted to hunt in. We found a dry lake bed just outside of Burns, Oregon, and thought that it would hold little attraction to most hunters even though it was just a few miles from an Antelope reservation area. We figured there might be a few drifters from the reservation, and that they would probably be lone bucks or old bucks with a small harem. We got our tags, drove down there in a teensy little datsun pickup (attached to a motor home ... we like our comforts when we can get them) and spend a couple of pre-season days scouting the area.

We saw a TON of good, shootable bucks as we were driving around the day before the season opened. but when we went back to the same places on Opening Day, we didn't see any Antelope at all. We decided that Antelope are like Deer; they know when the hunting season opens, and plan to make themselves scarce.

But the second day we move a little bit west, where we hadn't scouted before, and found a magnificent 100-foot tall mesa that was narrower than it was tall, and it had a slope on the south side that we could easily climb.

When we got on top of that mesa, we could see for miles in either direction. We saw two water tanks of which we were not previously aware, so we decided that this was good hunting country because both the cattle (which were pasturing in the area) and the wildlife would know that there was a reliable source of water.

We also saw a few antelope ... a small bunch of five or six ... about a mile away. By that time of cay (about 9am) they had already watered for the day and were now grazing. Or browsing, more likely, because like Deer, Antelope feed less on grass than on bushes and brush ... even sagebrush.

So we took a compass bearing (NE by N), climbed back down from the mesa and headed out on the same bearing. After trekking about a half-mile, we started still-hunting.

Antelope like cattle; in Antelope country, you don't always look for Antelope. Sometimes you look for cattle, and when you find them you begin to hunt Antelope.

So it was that day. Cattle were scattered all through the area, but we found Antelope in the near vicinity.

The big buck had a small harem of 3 does. There were a couple of young bucks loitering around the area, sniffing around the does. The big buck had apparently been successfully fighting them off, as all three males showed signs of fighting. The most obvious evidence of this was the chips off the horns.

We sneaked around the harem, Pop in overwatch and me doing the sneak. I came around a big sagebrush, glanced to my left, and saw the biggest damn Antelope I had ever seen in my life. He was looking straight at me from about 35 feet away, and (they are so fatally CURIOUS about things!) the old boy kept watching me as I faced him, raised my .25-06, and shot him ... and missed!

I've missed game before, but never that close, standing still, and just begging to become my dinner. I guess it must have been Buck Fever, or I just rushed my shot so badly because it was so PERFECT I didn't want to blow it.

So I blew it.

The buck didn't wait around for me to repeat my invitation to dinner. He wheeled on the proverbial and headed for parts West ... back toward his harem.

I had no good shot. So I racked another 117 grain Nosler Boat-Tail Partition bullet in that customized 1903-A3 and shot him right in the ass.

Pitiful. Broke his leg at the hip, and he kept ON running hell-bent for leather with one hind leg literally flapping in the breeze. Who knew a hundred-ten pound Antelope could be so tough?

He went through the sage like a swallow goes through a swarm of gnats. I locked down the ought-six and took off running after him. The sage brush was tall, over my head, and he didn't need to bob and weave to quickly get out of my sight. But he wasn't hard to track. There was a plain blood trail that my 2 year old son could have followed. About a hundred yards away I came up on him. He was laying on his side, bleeding and broken, and looking up at me with the biggest dark eyes the world has ever known.

I feel like the biggest jerk the world has ever know. Rather than put another high-velocity bullet in him, I pulled my 1911 and put a 230-grain hardball through his heart. But THAT took me two tries, as well, before he finally put his head down, sighed, and died.

I was so ashamed of my self. I sat down in front of him and started to weep. I was only a couple of years back from Viet Nam, I had killed men, and none of that ever affected me as much as this horrible, sloppy inexcusable murder of an innocent beast.

My father walked up on my while I was sniveling; he saw what was going on, and just stopped. Waited for me to settle myself down and get back up on my feet. The old man surprised me a lot (as I got older, he got SO much smarter!), be never as much as when he said: "That's okay; a man who has no feelings for the animals he kills, is a man I don't want to hunt with."

I never figured out exactly what that meant, but it made me feel better about it even though it was a nasty, sloppy kill.

I started field dressing the critter while Pop went to get the pickup. When got looking at him close, I found that my first shot had not been a clean miss. The view was quartering me more than looking head-on, as I had thought. I only know this because I found a shot low on the ribs from the front aspect which went through a little meat before exiting ... the light hollow-point bullet wasn't hitting bone or enough meat to cause it to expand. The poor old fellow could have run a mile with that hole before he bled out, and I might not have ever tracked him to his death spot because he was only bleeding heavily from the second shot, the leg-breaking hit.

We got him cleaned up, washed out the body cavity with five gallons of water we had hauled for that purpose (no Virginia, it doesn't ruin the meat to pour water on it; it cools it off and keeps it from getting gamey in hot weather) and put him in the back of the truck.

On the way out, we ran across another small bunch. Parked the truck, I bird-dogged with the binoculars and Pop stalked down a very nice young buck (no harem there ... the buck was about 2 or 3 years old as were his bachelor buddies) and took him with one clean shot. That 7mm Magnum hit right in the neck, a broadside standing shot at 200 yards, and that Antelope collapsed just like a puppet when his strings are cut. Never saw a more instant kill before, never did again. That was a beautiful shot; he never knew he was dead. Well. Pop was ever the better hunter.

We dressed the second buck, and t when we got back on the graded dirt road we were met by an Oregon State Wildlife (Fish & Game) Ranger. He checked our tags to make sure they were attached and filled out properly, and admired my buck.

He admired it so much, he took a picture. He said they like to post them on their bulletin board at the Ranger station, so hunters stopping by can see what fine Antelope they grew in that area.

We took our bucks to the local taxidermy station (they set up in the boondocks during Antelope season, it's just good business.) Eventually it cost me about $350 to get a full head-and-neck mount, and I've cherished that singular trophy ever since. Turns out, the tips of both horns were broken out (see the photo), apparently Fred was fighting off the young males to protect his harem. I guess one of those two young bucks fought off the other to game breeding rights ... but that's all Antelope Culture.

Oh ... when we finally got back to Oregon, I took Fred to a professional butcher. Ordered all cutlets ... no roasts, no chops, no hamburger. But I did ask them to turn all the stuff that would ordinarily be used to make hamburger, to be made into salami.

Fred may have died hard, but the meat was tender and absolutely delicious! Since then, I've had all of my antelope processed the same way.

---

We (Pop and me) went back to Wyoming three other times ... it's where we had our last hunt as well, in the mid 1980's. It was sad, as it was the last hunt my father went on. I found him a good big antelope with good horns and a beautiful black face, but he couldn't see it even using the scope mounted on his 7mm Remington Magnum rifle. Two years earlier, he did just fine, but Pop was in his late 70's and his eyesight was going and so was his stamina. I hunted the last day by myself, because Pop was too pooped to make it up those steep Eastern Wyoming hills in the strong winds. I found a little doe and I had an "any-sex" tag, so I shot her down like a mangy dog, gutted and dragged her to the truck, and went back to camp so we could pack up to go home.

I haven't hunted since. It's no fun, unless you have the Jaeger Meister with you.

Eviscerating Sarah

Palin and Paul,
sitting in a tree,
K.I.S.S.I.N.G.

Earlier this month Sarah Palin told a group of Massachusetts tourists that The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (originally described by Longfellow as "Paul Revere's Ride") included warning the British that the American Patriots were waiting for them and would not willingly give up their guns (many of which were stored in an arsenal at Concord, Massachusetts).

In fact, Revere was captured by the British and held at gunpoint.

Palin's assertion that Revere "warned the British" was recorded, and subsequently her grasp of historical fact was gleefully derided by many Liberal sources.

Chris Mathews on HARDBALL stepped on Palin's neck, asserting that Palin "... don't know much about history" and "I think that speaks for her credentials more than anything else". Quoting John McCain, Mathews said "She Doesn't Know Anything".



(Why is the Lame Stream Media so focused on Palin?
No matter what she does ... or doesn't do ... she is criticized. Even if the LSM pays more attention to Palin than to supposedly 'major' Republican candidates, the story is that her day-to-day activities are more emphatically (and critically) reported in the News than "mainstream" Republican candidates. And the reason for this is .. . what?)


One radio commentator was so astounded (after stating that "She's an idiot .. it doesn't matter") when his staff informed him that Palin's assertion was accurate, that his head exploded ... leaving only his mouth to further his political agenda regardless of the facts.



These were his earlier comments ... before he realized that he was entirely clueless:


What a bunch of maroons!

When asked by Fox News about her supposed faux pas, Palin confirmed her assertion, saying "I know my American History".




And in fact, according to the Massachusetts Historical Society, Palin was exactly right.

In a much later letter written long after the event, Revere said (in part - note that variant spellings and grammar are reproduced exactly as written):

I got a Horse of Deacon Larkin. While the Horse was preparing, Richard Devens, Esq. who was one of the Committee of Safty, came to me, & told me, that he came down the Road from Lexington, after Sundown, that evening; that He met ten British Officers, all well mounted, & armed, going up the Road. I set off upon a very good Horse; it was then about 11 o'Clock, & very pleasant. After I had passed Charlestown Neck, & got nearly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on Horse back, under a Tree. When I got near them, I discovered they were British officer.

One tryed to git a head of Me, & the other to take me. I turned my Horse very quick, & Galloped towards Charlestown neck, and then pushed for the Medford Road. The one who chased me, endeavoring to Cut me off, got into a Clay pond, near where the new Tavern is now built. I got clear of him, and went thro Medford, over the Bridge, & up to Menotomy. In Medford, I awaked the Captain of the Minute men; & after that, I alarmed almost every House, till I got to Lexington.

I found Mrs. Messrs. Hancock & Adams at the Rev. Mr. Clark's; I told them my errand, and inquired for Mr. Daws; they said he had not been there; I related the story of the two officers, & supposed that He must have been stopped, as he ought to have been there before me. After I had been there about half an Hour, Mr. Daws came; after we refreshid our selves, we and set off for Concord, to secure the Stores, &c. there. We were overtaken by a young Docter Prescot, whom we found to be a high Son of Liberty. I told them of the ten officers that Mr. Devens mett, and that it was probable we might be stoped before we got to Concord; for I supposed that after Night, they divided them selves, and that two of them had fixed themselves in such passages as were most likely to stop any intelegence going to Concord.

I likewise mentioned, that we had better allarm all the Inhabitents till we got to Concord; the young Doctor much approved of it, and said, he would stop with either of us, for the people between that & Concord knew him, & would give the more credit to what we said. We had got nearly half way.

Mr Daws & the Doctor stoped to allarm the people of a House:

I was about one hundred Rod a head, when I saw two men, in nearly the same situation as those officer were, near Charlestown. I called for the Doctor & Daws to come up; - were two & we would have them in an Instant I was surrounded by four; - they had placed themselves in a Straight Road, that inclined each way; they had taken down a pair of Barrs on the North side of the Road, & two of them were under a tree in the pasture. The Docter being foremost, he came up; and we tryed to git past them; but they being armed with pistols & swords, they forced us in to the pasture; -the Docter jumped his Horse over a low Stone wall, and got to Concord.

I observed a Wood at a Small distance, & made for that. When I got there, out Started Six officers, on Horse back, and orderd me to dismount;-one of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came from, & what my Name Was? I told him. it was Revere, he asked if it was Paul? I told him yes He asked me if I was an express? I answered in the afirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston? I told him; and aded, that their troops had catched aground in passing the River, and that There would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the Country all the way up.

(Note: this was the part where Revere "ratted out" the American Patriots.")

He imediately rode towards those who stoppd us, when all five of them came down upon a full gallop; one of them, whom I afterwards found to be Major Mitchel, of the 5th Regiment, Clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name, & told me he was going to ask me some questions, & if I did not give him true answers, he would blow my brains out. He then asked me similar questions to those above. He then orderd me to mount my Horse, after searching me for arms. He then orderd them to advance, & to lead me in front. When we got to the Road, they turned down towards Lexington. When we had got about one Mile, the Major Rode up to the officer that was leading me, & told him to give me to the Sergeant. As soon as he took me, the Major orderd him, if I attempted to run, or any body insulted them, to blow my brains out.

We rode till we got near Lexington Meeting-house, when the Militia fired a Voley of Guns, which appeared to alarm them very much.

As you can see from Revere's own words, he was repeatedly threatened with sudden death and yet he had the presence of mind to "warn" the British that Americans were prepared to resist British efforts by force of arms.

He had no real knowledge even that Americans would respond to his call to arms, let alone how many might show up at concord; but Revere valiantly presented to the British that they would be resisted.

I didn't now this about American History. Did you?

But Sarah Palin knew it, and was so secure about her knowledge of American History that she placed herself in a very dangerous position .. and then defended her position, successfully. Did she have a very knowledgeable staff? Or was she just so confident that she was willing to place herself in a position where she had to confirm her knowledge about America, to make a point.

B. H. Obama would NEVER do this!

This was not, as may be assumed by some leftist Americans today, an attempt to appease his captors. Instead, it was a exercise in what we would call today "disinformation". At the point of his capture by aggressive British soldiers, Revere played his sole remaining trump card and threatened the British with American Resistance.

Revere had no reason to believe that the British would not execute him with no notice; yet he continued his resistance even though he knew that it could incite the powerful military to violence ... at the cost of his own life.

We can only wonder why the Liberal Press has reacted so fervently against Palin's History Lesson. Was it because they thought it made an American hero, Paul Revere, seem less than fervent in his revolutionary ardor?

No, probably the reaction of the Liberal Press was solely because Palin is a Conservative, and they will not consciously miss any opportunity to portray her in the most unfavorable light.

The MSM, as antiquated as they are, will always portray a female conservative as dim-witted.

Fortunately, they don't do their homework, as Sarah Palin obviously does.

My thanks to Conservatives4Palin, for the link to the original Revere letter; also, to "Legal Insurrection" for the link to the link.

Also, note that Yahoo News in their article "How Sarah Palin Got It Right about Paul Revere 'Warning The British'" for their link to the link to the ... well, you know.

Fortunately, we don't have to rely on the Main Stream Media for information. They don't do their homework, and they should be ashamed of their lapse.

Incidentally, this puts the MSM long-time claim that "Bloggers aren't reliable news sources, because they don't have the staff to confirm the validity of their information" completely out of our realm of approbation. In this case, as in so many others, the MSM doesn't do their homework.

Bloggers do.

And so does Sarah Palin.

IMDb Video: Eyewitness

IMDb Video: Eyewitness

Several Incidents .... Adam-12 full episode link

Amazing Products We Don't Need: Pistol Bayonet

LaserLyte : Rear Sight Laser : Laser Gun Sights : Laser Bore Tools : Pistol Bayonet

"Haven't you always wanted a Becker Tac Tool for your gun?"

"Quick detachable, looking good on your gun. Now you can have the best of both worlds. Even comes with a polymer sheath".

They don't saw what the "both worlds" thingie means. Nerd and Non-Nerd?

The time was, the concept of a "pistol bayonet" was a joke. (I've got a picture here somewhere ...)

In my mind, it still is. And that's not just me.



UPDATE: June 12, 2011




... and an alternative to the Pistol Bayonet: The AR Chainsaw Bayonet!

Athena Lee and the 2011 Double Tap match (Shooting Wire/Youtube)

Athena Lee can be seen in the video below, shooting all 12 stages to win the Women's Open title at the 2011 "Lost/Atlantis" Double Tap match in an extremely close-run race for the title.




You can see this video, and several other similar videos of the 2011 Double Tap Championship, starting here.

These videos are especially helpful to competitors because they demonstrate how to handle difficult challenges such as retreating uprange, safely (with out sweeping yourself) opening both doors and 'windows', shooting "off balance", and the value of timely and reliable reloading of magazines.
Comparing the videos of Athena's performance vs 2nd place Valerie's demonstrates how a bobbled reload (stage 3) and a jam or two (stages 8 & 9) can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Athena was shooting Minor power; Valerie was shooting Major. The Athena won the match by lest than 0.98 points.

Get more information on this match, and other recent (June 08, 2011) Major Match information from "Between the Berms" thanks to The Shooting Wire.

Welcoming Returning Vets at Port of Entry

Tommy, Et Al

Kevin Baker always has topical, interesting thigs to say. That's why I check his blogspot frequently.

Tonite (well maybe a little bit earlier), he quoted Rudyard Kiplings "TOMMMY" and followed it up with a short video of newly minted Vets returning from ... presumably ... The Sandbox.

I loved it, and I'm pretty sure you will too.

But three is a point to be made: when we returned from RVN, we never walked into an airport to receive this kind of ..l.. I don't know; let's call it ADULATION.

Because my flight on 20 September, 1969 landed at Oakland, CA. around 5pm, by the time we got into a civilian airport to catch a (civilian) ride home, it was after 11pm. Nobody watched us walk through the door, and frankly I'm just as happy; we had all HEARD about people harassing returning veterans, but we were spared this.


Instead, we were greeted with stolid indifference.

By the time I got to SF International Airport (I didn't understand the geography, nor did I know how to see when the next flight 'home' ..... to Oregon .... was scheduled, I arrived to discover that:

The next flight was at least 12 hours away
There were no provisions suitable to find a room for returning vets over night
There WAS a USO shelter ... but it was completely filled

All of these situations were endurable; I found a couch and made it mine for the next 12 hours. When the morning 'commute' flight to Oregon was available, I was among the first in line.

I know I've told this story before, but I was impressed that the Stews upgraded my seat to First Class, and asked what they could do to make my flight more memorable.

As it was a "Red Eye Special", early morning version, they couldn't offer me a drink.

MY Second choice: Chocolate cake, which they COULD (and did) provide. That was the sweetest thing I had swallowed after a year of accepting unworkable orders from .

clue-less brass. I wasn't really in the mood for Chocalte Cake, but they had it and I choked it all down

.... after we arrived at PDS, the stews were lined up to say goodby, and thank me for my service. I had no clue that anyone noticed up to this point, so it was with gratitude that I thanked them

This is not a "Baby Burner" story, only a moment to explain that air crews understood what we had gone through.

And if the video is to believed, many other people feel this way too; that we should have immediate short-term recognition of what American Soldiers do for their country, after a tour "overseas".

I loved the video. I hope you do, to..
x

Courtesy at Sea

I know this is an old, OLD joke but it's so old I had forgotten the punchline.

Very well done. Don't know who made the video, but it's wonderfully well done.





H/T to G-Man

HP Printer Technical Support

Sorry, folks, I have no knowledge or experience which qualifies me to comment on the technical reliability of HP printer/copier/fax/whatever hardware.

However, this soldier is obviously not impressed.




May I add that I am not all that impressed with his combat skills? He's got this very nice, very expensive high-tech full-auto rifle/Machine Gun, and he can't hit a big-assed printer from 20 feet away in his first two bursts?

Dude, you are spending WAY too much time in the office, and WAY too much time whining .... and WAY not enough time on the range or in the field!

One can't help wondering how much of the problems are related to the hardware, vs how much are related to operator error.

That question applies to problems with both the HP and the MG.