Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Y'know....

I'm up past my elbows in crockigators right now....(At this point, I may never take a few days off ever again...it ain't worth the trouble when I come back) and can barely find time to do anything, much less blog.

But it occurs to me that this last weekend, there were a great  number of visitors to the Circle City (and the NRA Convention)...tens of thousands of visitors, carrying firearms (the actual number of CCW folks? Who knows? ) all packed into a fairly small place...

Yet there were no reported shootings, no mass murders, no faceoffs in the aisles of the convention...No one slapped leather in the parking garages....The restaurant and bars and taverns didn't have anyone jerk a smokewagon and let fly with hot lead....

Odd, that.

The Anti-Gun folks claimed that the prevalence of firearms would lead to all sorts of mayhem. And there were  fairly large number of carriers of firearms that weekend. More than on most nights, what with all the visitors. According to them, red blood should have run ankle deep in the streets of downtown Indianapolis.... Maybe deeper.

Yet it didn't.

Wonder why not?

Cultural? Demographics?

One wonders.


Tuesday, April 29, 2014

It occurs to me...

That if Cliven Bundy were all that smart... He'd just shut the hell up and let people think he is a dumb cattle farmer.

Instead, he keeps opening his mouth and helping the left to remove all doubt as to his intelligence.

I don't think he is stupid, but why give your opponents ammunition?

Monday, April 28, 2014

Something to think about

One of the bloggers I met this weekend was relaxing a bit in the media room with his daughter, whom he had brought to enjoy the show with him.

He said "I'll remember, when I am old, the time like this that we spent together".

And I replied "but more importantly, SHE will remember" ....

Not like she's gonna say "I remember all the times I didn't spend with my dad 'cause he was too busy". SHe'll remember the times you spent together, not the times you spent apart.


BTW, You are doing a GREAT job with yer kid there.

Home again.

WWII soldiers remains repatriated after explorers find dog tags.

AAR: The class

So I got to not only meet the Great and Mighty Ambulance Driver , but was able to go to his class and (hopefully) learn something from him.

Now, being as he is, after all, and ambulance driver, he is somewhat blase' about the whole blood guts and dismemberment thing. But he did keep the class entertained with stories and anecdotes along with his very competent and pointed instruction on what TO do what NOT TO do and what to look for.

I hadn't taken a class for about 5 years, and was surprised about how much had changed....I remember about 25 years ago bringing a guy into the emergency room with an improvised  tourniquet on his leg because of persistent spurting from the wound that Direct Pressure just wasn't gonna stop (I tried) and being lectured by a doctor that he was likely going to lose his leg because of the tourniquet.(Hey, Doc, I got him here ALIVE and not all bled out, what would you rather I had done? Let him bleed for 25 minutes??)...and here I got a tourniquet in class!?! and discovered that in today's world of EMS, it is, if not the first choice, certainly not the last choice of first aid options.

We did the standard resuscitation with compression only CPR (had that class 4 years ago) and then we were presented with a trauma first aid kit...and taught HOW to use the items in the kit.

BTW, I'd like to thank the folks who donated materials and such to make this class possible.....Bound Tree Medical, who provided the kits at cost, and who will certainly get my business when I build another kit or 4....and a special thanks to Larry Weeks from Brownells, who basically gave Kelly anything he asked for for the class....Now, I am already a customer of Brownells, but their sponsorship and support has made me decide to make them my first choice for my shooting supplies rather than just one of many when I am buying.....

The class was fun, informative and entertaining. Yeah, some of the slides and videos were not pretty, but WE ARE TALKING ABOUT TRAUMA HERE. It ain't cupcakes.

If you get a chance, next time you have one, to take an updated course, it ain't a bad idea to refresh your training.

Remember, under stress we don't rise to the occasion, we fall to the level of our training. Make sure that training isn't 20 years old.




I have a poster hanging on the wall of my business:

For each of my people to see, and hopefully learn from.

It says:

"Business goes where it is invited, and stays where it is cared for".

Is it any wonder why Toyota is moving?

In Today's world, information infrastructure and connectivity means that there is no real barrier to placing your headquarters anywhere you wish to.

You can run a business from nearly anywhere...

So why not choose a place that welcomes businesses and that keeps your cost low? Why NOT move away from a place where you are taxed and overregulated? Where you are made to feel unwelcomed and undervalued...

Why not take your approximately 5000 employees (and their spending) to a place where you feel welcomed and where you aren't hindered at every turn?

Expect more of this soon. Especially from NY, NJ, Conn, Illinois, the rest of CA and, if they don't wake up, Wisconsin....and other bluer states




'Zactly

THe choice is bad (vote GOP and they'll keep on doing what they have been, which is driving for the cliff at 40 MPH instead of 75 MPH....In other words DNC Lite...

Of don't vote at all, which gives the DNC free reign...Which lead to the cliff at a speed of 125MPH.....

Borepatch has it right.

Me? I sometimes wonder if staving ff the inevitable as long as possible is that good of an idea...maybe we SHOULD make the crash happen sooner rather than watching it like a slow motion train wreck...

The only thing I am sure of is that voting for the GOP won't fix things.

Whargbargle

So there is nothing like leaving the fun of the NRA/Blogger rendezvous only to have to fill in for an injured employee...

16 out of the last 24, with more tonight and tomorrow.

I'm gettin to old to do this.

The change was....dramatic.

Which, BTW, is why yer not getting pictures from the show. I have the camera, I have the memory card. What I cannot do it get the pictures off of the memory card with the equipment I have ere at work. Apparently I forgot the proper incantation or whatever.

SO no pics of the shiny new boomsticks and accessories that I got to fingerfondle at the show.

Hell. I'm just trying to keep my eyes open here.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Back to real world.

It was nice meeting with everyone. I have a ton of stuff to go over and a boatload of pictures to rassle out of the camera.

It was wonderful reconnecting with my Indy blog friends, and meeting new ones.

A BIG thank you to Old NFO for his shindig. Sorry you left before I could say goodbye last night, and that we missed you on Sunday before we had to hit the road...(we went to Room 120 several times, but you weren't there when we were).

In talking a with a bunch of the staff at the convention, it was clear that they were impressed by the crowd. The cops said that they were bored, as NOTHING happened...The folks serving drinks and food said that they weren't used to people being polite and saying "Please" and "Thank You" and the people responsible for policing wayward trash hadn't done much policing all weekend because "one of y'all will likely pick up stuff and put it in the can before we get to it".

I was kinda proud of my tribe there....

More later, I gotta work...

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Awesome day.

SO Friday was the day I had planned to spend at the NRA show, and that is what we did.

Saturday was the famous "All you can eat and carry"... "get 'em while they last"... "One day only" shooters blowout class by Ambulance Driver hisself. I had my training refreshed, and learned a bit and was entertained. My thanks to Kelly Grayson and to TOTWTYTR for their class

Then,  lunch with friends and then a walk around Broadripple with Karl Ushanka and the lovely Mrs. Ushanka while I was accompanied by Midwest Chick.

Then Old NFO's blogmeet extraordinaire.Not sure what it cost him, but the beer and drinks flowed and the food was awesome.

If you weren't there for all of these then you really really missed out.

I'll try to do an AAR  for each later.

Outa time

As you read this...

I'll be in Kelly Grayson's class.

Then more NRA and then Old NFO's big blowout.

Day one was a blast. Saw a bunch, met some people. Some I liked, some I didn't.

Rode with Midwest Chick as she took some folks on a whirlwind tour of the lesser seen parts of greater downtown Indy....

Maybe more as I get a chance.


Friday, April 25, 2014

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Dubble sekret probashun

Or something like that.


Barry isn't kidding this time. 

He means it.

Seriously.

THis time he's real.

Guaranteed.

For sure.

Seriously.


Exactly

"I like vegetarians....Almost everything I eat is a vegetarian".

Yep.

Does it rain on your property?

Does water ever run across it, or pond in a low spot when it rains heavily?

Is there ever a "seasonal stream" when the snow melts? When heavy fall rains happen?

Does a stream, creek, or other waterway ever overflow onto any portion of your land?

Does it ever rain on your land enough that the water runs off into a stream or creek or other body of water?

Then you don't own your land.  Seriously

Well, you may hold title to it, but the EPA controls it, so they actually own it....If they have their way.

Call your senators.  Congressmen. Tell 'em to stop this.

And oil up your boomsticks.

Yer likely gonna need 'em.


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Sanity breaks out in Georgia

As pointed out to me by Opie:

Georgia passes a true Common Sense concealed carry bill. 

Now if only the rest of the country's state  lawmakers could wake up and smell the bullshit, we could all enjoy this sort of freedom.



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Intellectually, I knew this

But I hadn't realized that they are so easily gotten to.

How to stop an MRAP. 

Normal truck brakes.

I actually stopped and looked at one the other day, just to check. The police were VERY happy to show it off.

Now you know. I would imagine anything comparable to a .308 or .30-30 would do. A 55 grain 5.56-45 might not, at least not in one shot. But a heavier bullet should.

Now you have a disabled and non-mobile Mrap.

How things progress from there is up to you.

All knowledge is useful at some point.

Free Michael Z.Williamson

No, he ain't in jail or anything.

I mean free stories by Michael Z. Williamson.

HERE.

Link fixed now.


Earth day

What a farce.

For one day people are all "green".

Then they go back to their old lifestyle.

I live the lifestyle every day, as far as that goes. Every day.

This is like Christians who go to Easter and Christmas services, but no others.
Pathetic.

Monday, April 21, 2014

I finally had the time

To sit down and read "The Grey Man" by Jim Curtis. (AKA Old NFO)

This is an excellent book. It doesn't drag, it hangs together, and it captures you and holds you from the first few pages. It is a story many of us can relate to, and all the rest of you will find highly entertaining. It is, actually, fairly hard to put down.

Highly recommend.

One wonders:

Just how easy is it to get onto the tarmac (or ramps) of the San Jose airport in California?

Just where was security that a 16 year old boy can waltz his way across an airport loading ramp and climb into a wheel well of a transoceanic aircraft?

Why are we working so hard to keep passengers in line when apparently anyone can wander up to and into an airplane?

Seriously....If he can do so, so can anyone...say a terrorist intent on blowing the plane up.

No ordinary weakling:


Found this at Blues Blog










And?

So Sunday, I was doing yard work and replacing a 40 year old Craftsman garage door opener, as I generally don't do the whole organized Christianity thing, 'specially on high holidays (Always thought it was sorta hypocritical to go only when God is especially watching or whatever....either get with the program or don't, but attending Church on big Holidays only seems wrong to me..., but that's not what I am writing about.) Anyway.....Sadly, Sears doesn't stock parts for openers made more than 10 years or so ago, and I couldn't find a latching relay that would replace the badly worn one on the otherwise fully functional unit that came with the house when I bought it....So upgrade time it was. I only hope this new Chamberlain lasts half as long as the unit is is replacing ....the original was installed in 1972!

Anyway, as I passed a "milestone" birthday a while back, I've been thinking a lot. No surprise there, but I have come up with a few things to comment on...Might take a few posts.

So I have been on this earth for 50 years plus or minus a few days and hours. Now, the first 30% of that I was too busy being a boy to pay that much attention to too may things, and then the next 20% I was too busy learning to live as a man does (and chasing girls and women) to pay much attention to how things were working.

But lately,  in the other years I've lived,  I gotta say that I am becoming more and more (in a nearly exponential curve) disillusioned with my country and my government. My government has, since I can remember noticing it, become ever more increasingly intrusive into people's businesses and lives. I started noticing this about the time I became aware of things political....at the end of the Carter administration. I was adult enough to be embarrassed by the debacle of the Iran Hostage affair, and then began noticing how his Departments of XXX slowly grew in size and power....In cost...and intrusiveness.

It is now a Government by the People and for Itself....not by the People and For the People. It exists, like any lifeform to grow and adapt and feed upon something else....It no longer holds the Welfare of the Citizens first, and it is no longer constrained by any rules or law....Government exists, it seems, with no restraint and for itself and its minions, not for the purpose for which it was created and shackled by our Constitution. It rules by Executive Fiat and Regulation, with no legal oversight nor limit. THe Legilators aid and abet at worst, and simply ignore at best it's ever growing lack of control, and for the most part the Courts simply rubber stamp the regulations and executive orders.


We have the EPA which has caused no end of trouble for people..Not to fix the environment, but  to make sure that we all do the "right" things for today's ideology ...It hasn't  made the environment better, (at least not in the past 20 years)...hasn't cleaned up the air or water that much, HAS raised pricing for food, manufactured goods and electricity and gasoline prices...nearly everything else by a significant amount and soaked up a great deal of taxpayer money...Effective? Not really. Wasteful? Yes. Intrusive? You betcha.

The DOE (Department of Energy) is another. They cost us a LOT of money, change our way of doing business and we get very little for the changes to our lives that they cause.

OSHA does a lot to keep the workplace safe, but in typical government style it goes completely overboard in a lot of ways.

Lets not even go there when it comes to the NSA....Or the War on Drugs...

But seriously, I WANT THE GOVERNMENT THAT I WAS TAUGHT ABOUT IN HIGH SCHOOL. Not the one we have now. I want the limited government which plays by the rules that are spelled out in the Constitution. Not the slapdash-lackadaisical sorta law-abiding half-assed Congress and Executive branch that we now have. I want Congressmen with guts enough to stand up and say STOP!....and NO!!! And those who will limit the excesses of our government agencies....And make sure that if we pass laws they are enforced.

I WANT THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT that I was taught about in school...... I want the COUNTRY I was taught about in school. I want to know what the hell happened to it.

I want a country that works as well as the one I grew up in in the 70's. Where people worked and were able to find work. Where help was there if you really needed it, but not as many people were needing or willing to take it. Where the incentive was to find a job.

And I am willing to try to get it back with the Soapbox, and the Ballot box and yes, if necessary (although I sincerely hope it isn't), the other box. 

Also,where in the hell is the flying cars they promised me in Popular Science?

Get the hell off my lawn. 

Sunday, April 20, 2014

SO

So ya gotta wonder what the folks in Lexington and Concord thought on the next day, April 20th:

"WTF did we do yesterday?" ?

"Can we get out of this fine mess?" ?

"Finally glad we got a chance to shoot those bastards."?

Seriously, what does one think the day after one starts a revolution?


Saturday, April 19, 2014

Here's why

Here is why I asked you all to say a prayer for my friend Brigid.

Never met the dude, but if he is half as good as she is, the world lost a great deal yesterday.

April 19

Many things happened on this day in history:

Beginning of the American Revolution

(depending on whose material you check) Hitler's birthday (or maybe it is tomorrow)

Warsaw uprising:

First Parachute Jump

The end of the Waco siege.
(which led to)
Oklahoma city bombing.

Many good things happened on this date in history, and many bad as well.

On THIS date, I turn a half Century OLD.

I'm not too sure what to think about that.

One the one hand, it is just another day on the calendar.

On the other hand, The frigggin AARP tells me I can join them.

I really gotta tell ya, I never seriously planned on living this long anyway, so it is all a bonus. 

Ah, well. .

Friday, April 18, 2014

Y'all take a moment

And say a prayer to whomever or whatever deity you talk to, or if none of those, send good thoughts towards Brigid's direction.

Can't tell you why, I'll let her explain when she decides to.

But prayers and thoughts would be nice.

Please.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

"If you have a Boehner lasting more than 23 years...."

Watch:




You KNOW you wanna vote for this guy.

At least he has balls enough to "approve this message"


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Question:

Since the cattle wranglers (Cowboys) who were hired to round up Cliven Bundy's cattle were paid for with government funds...

And Government funds are public property...


Can someone find out the names of those hired cattle wranglers?

And publish them?

Let the people decide how they should be treated?

I'm not talking violence here, but rather, should other ranchers decide that they don't need their services, and veterinarians choose not to take care of their horses, and other people in their communities where they live choose not to sell them groceries and mechanics choose not to work on their cars and parts stores not sell them parts, andother merchants choose not to do business with them.....

Would that send a message?

;Perhaps the working for the Federal government isn't such a good idea?

Let the community as a whole make that decision?


Smells right

You've probably seen it already, but if not, take a few minutes (11 actually) and watch and listen.

Video  and website HERE.



I can't verify much, but it all hangs together with what we have seen and heard over the past few days.

Draw your own conclusions.

H/T Free North Carolina


good kwestion:

.





Stolen from HERE

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

yep

Brake

So I am shopping online for parts to build a new "Ruger" 10-22.

(not that it will have many (if any?) Ruger parts in it)..


Anyway, I find that about 2 out of 5 retailers AUTOMATICALLY  disqualify themselves....

Hint:
If you aren't aware that is is spelled Muzzle *BRAKE* not BREAK, then I really don't want to do business with you. Period. Just because spellcheck doesn't flag it doesn't mean it is the right word. Really, it tells me that you have zero knowledge of the products you retail.....None at all, or you wouldn't spell it wrong.



(Although, I can't find any reason that a .22 caliber rifle needs a muzzle brake anyway, to be honest, but if you choose to buy one, that is your business).

A muzzle brake is a device for redirecting propellant gasses to the rear (or upwards) to reduce felt recoil.(Wikipedia)....We are talking a .22 rimfire (or .17HMR) here. Not too much felt recoil anyway, to be honest. Not like you are shooting on full auto or anything....

Kinda like putting a "Flash Hider" on your 10-22. Flash hider? No need for one no matter how dark you shoot in . (But again, should you choose to waste spend your money on one that is up to you....)

Now both *might* be useful on a pistol, but on a rifle?

And for gods sake. learn to spell it right if you want my business.

I'm open to suggestions from anyone as to specific parts to buy or vendors to use...If they can choose the right word in their descriptions.

Monday, April 14, 2014

They bloom in the spring

But only on even numbered years....

No, I am not talking daffodils, nor Tulips, nor Crocusses (crocci? Croccu? Crocus?)

Anyway, what I am talking about is the proliferation of political signs.

Meh, were it not a choice of the lesser weasel evil, I'd not vote for a one of 'em.

In light of the events last week:

Listen and think:








Waco happened, Ruby Ridge happened... others as well... Partially because we didn't know, were less well informed due to the Government being able to spin information and because they had a pet news media....Then, the internet was in its infancy....But they happened because we as a nation, and we as patriots, and we as CITIZENS allowed them to happen.

Because we forgot the lesson.

I am proud of those folks who won against the BLM....and somewhat ashamed that I wasn't there with them..
 




At least the rain stopped

After I was done....

So I lend my Kubota tractor and loader and bush-hog to a friend about 20 miles away from my house last week, so he can do a bit of land clearing at his new digs and general yard cleanup for a week or so.

He's done, his yard looks Fabulous!  and I'll need the thing this week, so I get my yard work and general home improvement tasks done about 4...looking at the weather, I can make it to his house and load up the tractor onto the trailer and just beat the rain home with enough time to unload, if I don't dawdle.

Over to his house I go. We load up the tractor and just as I am leaving, the rain starts.


No big deal, it's coming in from the west, and I am going east.

 Half a mile from his house, I am out of the rain.

Cool.

So about halfway home, I see smoke coming from the right side of the trailer....looks like a wheel.

I figure that it is a brake dragging (with the torque of the diesel engine, it is hard to notice until you see smoke). I pull into a (very handy) Home Depot parking lot and get out to look. Things are warm, but not hot,  no smell of smoke, so I back up a few feet and then pull forward. Nope, doesn't appear to be any brake dragging, and I can't see any smoke.....I pull out onto the State Highway and start for home.


4 miles later, I see smoke again. as I am pulling over to a turn lane so I can see what is going on, I hear the muffled Bang! and feel the familiar wobble and shake as the tire begins its final death dance against the fender.

I limp the truck/trailer at an idle for a mile to a nearby truckstop and pull in so I am out of traffic and on reasonably level ground to change the tire.

As I get out, the rain begins. At first a tiny drizzle, but as I get the jack out and the 4 way wrench and all the other accoutrements of tire changing it begins to build.

So I crack the lugnuts and jack up the trailer with the tractor on (Hydraulics are a WONDERFUL thing) and pull the blown tire...which is totally shredded.

Dismount the spare and put it onto the hub.


Some dude ("Cletus" kinda looking guy) wanders over and says:

"Flat?"

"Yep" I reply, (not wanting trouble by asking "WTF does it look like? You think I'd be jacking this pig up in the rain if I didn't have to? ") as I snug up the lugs.

"Lucky you had a spare". (Luck? Not a bit. I planned for the eventuality that I might blow a tire)
Cletus isn't getting too close and isn't saying anything, but seems fascinated by my actions, as if he had never seen anyone change a tire, so I continue my task.

As I jack the trailer down and tighten the lug nuts, the rain, of course, fades to nearly nothing. As I put things away, the show over, "Cletus" wanders off. And the rain ends.

I get home (no issues) just in time to unload the tractor from the trailer in the rain....and it ended just as I was parking the truck after unhooking the trailer.

At least it was fairly warm.  Coulda been 34 instead of 60.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

Tortises (tortisii?) were unavailable for comment

So..... with all the BS going on at the BLM and the Bundys...

I guess now that all the solar Reid controversy and the Turtle Sanctuary or conservatory or whatever and the euthanization of thousands of "endangered" turtles...


This whole thing really wasn't about saving turtles, was it? It wasn't about conservation and it wasn't about "endangered" turtles that aren't and it wasn't about anything but using the Federal Government to squeeze the little guy.

Except in this case the little guy had fangs...and lots of friends.


What caliber

For moles?

Little bastards are destroying the little grass that I have left.

Advice? Special loads for your favorite caliber? Barrel lengths and/or scope combinations?

And no, filling the tunnels with flammable gasses isn't the optimal solution. Don't ask me how I know.

After I deal with the damned moles, then I'm gonna start on the Chipmunks.

I got a question:

Not to beat this Bundy/BLM thing to death, but I have questions:

Are the BLM "Police" really law enforcement officers?

How do they have the right to close public roads (and "Public" lands) to keep people away from an area?

While the above was happening where were the true law enforcement officers: Sheriff and Nevada Highway Patrol? One would have thought that they might have been interested in such happenings in their state/county, and possibly the citizens therein. Were I a citizen of that state (and especially Clark County, I'd be asking....

Enquiring minds want to know...

ETA: News reports all say that the "Tea Party and Militia" protesters were "Heavily armed with rifles". Strangely, I have yet to see even one photo or video clip showing even ONE rifle. Not one.
Is this just spin? Fears that the Feds had that some of the protesters might have had the ability to project force if they were fired upon? Or were there really rifles in the crowd?


Victory

 Controlling the signal:


So it seems to work like this:

something happens, and the people get interested...

People get interested enough to put things on the internet.

Enough people read it and then make posts,show video on YouTube,Vimeo and so on...Facebook entries,etc.

Then people begin to show up in support of the action,

Video is taken (More YouTube), and then more people show up.

Eventually, a reporter (notice I didn't say "Journalist") takes notice and broadcasts it on local media

If this happens often enough, National media takes notice, All those people make good press.

And shortly thereafter, once the light is shown on an overreaching government, the situation is resolved.

People won this for the nation today. Support of the Bundy's got enough media attention that the BLM had to either back down or have their actions placed under close scrutiny.


It may not be over, but Saturday, April 12th was a victory, a great one.

The difference between this situation and Waco and Ruby Ridge was that people were informed early and in detail thanks to the internet, and some folks reacted early enough to get there before the situation could be contained and the story controlled by the feds.

Thus endeth the lesson today.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Breaking:

BLM backs off due to "safety concerns".

Whose safety? Theirs? Of the public? Or the contractors? 


Looks like the attention they garnered got the public too riled for them to continue their game.

I am proud of my fellow citizens today.

ETA: " Based on information about conditions on the ground, and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public."

I am sure that the BLM management was worried about the safety of the public. Certainly.


There are those who believe that the BLM backed off because of the fact that Harry Reid's involvement came to light. Could be true. The rumors were there, but I could find no proof, despite looking.

(ETA) Other say it is about water....controlled by H.Reid.

I dunno. 

"Not leaving"

Or so she said, one week ago.

Know how to tell if an Obama administration Director is lying?

Yeah, you know the rest.

It was interesting

The power of the repeated lies is amazing....


It was interesting, last night, to hear the views of some of my fellow gun club members the other day regarding Cliven Bundy and his struggle against the BLM.

They, sadly, had only the information that the media had doled out, and some of them believed that he was the entire problem, and that the BLM was innocent.

Now I really doubt that either side is innocent in this struggle. Bundy hasn't played this as well as he could have, and AFAIK, doesn't have the money he owes Clark County/BLM in an account somewhere waiting to be paid when this is all over...Nor is the BLM innocent in this struggle either.

Having said that, again, it was interesting to see that the opinions of my fellow club members had been....guided by the media.

Now these folks are not necessarily anti government, but neither are they great supporters of said government either. They, like most of us, feel that the Federal and State government should be the servant, not the master. But given the information they had gotten from the media, they had sided with the Feds.

I pointed out that they only had part of the story, and should know better than to believe the meme provided by the media. 

Once they had more information, provided by myself and others, they, like me, weren't ready to place blame on either side.

These men should know better, and DO know better, They have seen how anti gun lies memes are presented by the government using the press.... but the stories presented by the media work even against people like these.


And it gets curiouser

Seems that the BLM has some real pull with the rest of the Fed world..


Or thre is more to this than we realize.

Now the FAA has closed the low level airspace .

And for some reason, the cell towers seem to be having issues....

One might think that the Feds/BLM have something to hide....

Friday, April 11, 2014

INN-teresting

So HERE is a slightly different viewpoint on the whole Bundy Ranch kerfluffle.

Can't verify, but it does hang together as a story....Better than the BLM's does, anyway


Indeed



1970494_10152011574615911_1694985175_n

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Rats leaving the sinking ship?

CNBC reports that Kathleen Sebelius is resigning.

I guess that Obamacare isn't doing enough and she needs another place to fail...


Or another agenda to LIE about...

IMO, Were it a just world, she would be shot for treason, after a good and fair trial...Then hung on the white house gates so as to be a lesson to others.

History will remember he name as one of the enablers of quite possibly the most damaging legislation in the history of the United States. 

Perhaps she is leaving before things get all wobbly. 


Heh...

This is good.







If you laughed, I'll save you a seat in hell.....Close to the stage....

Stolen from HERE

It is accelerating again:



The protesters are growing less compliant.

And the BLM cops are afraid. Watch the video. It shows


I expect that since the BLM boys are outnumbered about 2:1, that at some point someone on the protesters side is gonna strike one of 'em, and at that point things will go all pear shaped.

The cops are gonna react, and draw guns, and then the other side is gonna do the same.

I hope not, but I foresee this happening of someone doesn't back off.

Not sure what the laws are in Nevada regarding the carriage of long guns, and the open carry rules aren't clear, but at some point a protester is gonna use one if the police continue. If a protester is shot, or a cop, then it'll become real war.

I'd hate to see that happen, Hate to see a cop (or a protester) get hurt or killed.... but I think if it does happen it'll change a lot of attitudes. I wonder if Mr. Bundy is willing to see anyone killed for his principles? I wonder if the cops are willing to get killed for their bosses position (or are willing to kill for someone else's principle)?



I notice that these protesters seem to know all the tricks...How far to push the police, and how to counter the Tazers and a lot of other tricks....Are they professional protesters? Or are they friends, neighbors and family? It makes a difference. One would ask what a pregnant woman is doing on the front line of such a protest (if she is really pregnant).

One point:
 The BLM refuses to manage the overpopulation  of wild horses and burros that has been an issue for years, the excess horses outnumber the cattle and are as "harmful" to the desert tortoises as the Bundy's cattle are. But they claim they don't have the money to round up the horses...but they have the money to round up the cattle.




**ETA: Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval pointed earlier to what he called “an atmosphere of intimidation,” resulting from the roundup and said he believed constitutional rights were being trampled.

But, sadly, the good Governor isn't willing to do anything about the overreaching feds...

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

And yet, the police do it all the time....

Former firefighter acquitted after mistaking police for burglars.

Seems he heard noises and saw shapes in his neighbors yard and took his firearm with him to investigate.

It were the Po-Po, who took offense at being interrupted while searching for a suspect, and the fact that a citizen had a gun (We are talking New Jersey here...)

Anyway, they claim he pointed it at them. He claims otherwise.

But the money quote?

“I just don’t see how people can grab a shotgun and rack it and stand on their front porch and point it at someone,” said Pennsville Police Chief AJ Cummings.

Yet how many times a day does a cop draw on a person whom they have no reason to believe is a danger?

"Only ones" and all that.....

If they had a fence to cross

Then they'd have known that they were on the wrong side of it...

"Those individuals were part of a counter-narcotics operation, which had taken place a few minutes prior on the Mexican side of the border. The two members of the Mexican army did not see any sign notifying them that they were crossing the border."


Wrong side of the border...ok, I can accept that they, without any markings, might have made a mistake. 

But holding Customs and Border Patrol agents at gunpoint? 

Yeah, one wonders....

Were they escorting someone?

And is anyone working for Barry doing anything to keep this from happening again. 

101 year old mail

One might have thought that it had been handled by the USPS, having taken that long..

But no, it was a true message in a bottle, tossed into the sea in 1913. Held and returned by King Neptune.

Found by a fisherman, and returned to the descendant of the author of the postcard.
(which shows a great deal of integrity on the part of the fisherman, Konrad Fischer)

I wonder what paths the bottle took in that 101 years? Where did it go?




With all the talk

in the past few about the 2016 presidential candidates, I gotta say this:

If the Republican Party wants to have even a chance to win, they will NOT support a candidate like Jeb Bush.

Period.

If they do, they'll guarantee a loss.

That simple.

 A LOT of folks voted for McCain, even when they had to hold their nose in order to do so. He frightened them less than Barry O did, so they made the best of the bad choices.

Then we had Mittens 4 years later. And fewer folks voted for him. Some held their nose, but really, many chose not to, and either didn't vote or voted third party.

This left us with another 4 years of Mr. Soetoro.

Why, oh why, can't the RNC figure it out? We need a clear difference in our choices. "Democrat Lite" won't get people to vote for someone with an "(R)" after their name.

And unless we vote (and vote smarter), we are NEVER gonna find our way out of the swamp we are in.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

More on the Bundy/BLM issue

HERE


If you read the article, you'll find that apparently the rest of the counties in the state and neighboring counties in Utah want absolutely NOTHING to do with this. They don't want the confiscated cattle even entering into their counties....for fear that the residents might get violent with the BLM agents.


I wish that I could join these folks

There are those who think that this is all about the Desert Tortise....But really, it is about control.


at best it'll break even

This fuel from seawater story sounds like someone wishing things would happen...

At best it'll be break even energy wise. An energy storage medium.

And where will they find enough power (and heat) to make the reaction happen?  

Didja ever wonder why we are losing

Losing the conservative/liberal....Republican/Democrat...White/minority...Rural/Urban battle?


This map will show you why.

Go ahead, go there. Look at the country as a whole.....Look at the races. Look at the populations......

Scary, ain't it?

We are doomed to lose. Period.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Ruby Ridge happened

As did Waco, because we as citizens allowed them to. Because we foolishly, chose to accept the authority of some federal officers who we later found out were terribly wrong.

Randy Weaver and his folks stood alone.
The people at Waco stood alone as well.

A government agency perpetrated a terrible crime both times. And it didn't have to happen, but the might of the government came down upon those people.

We, as a nation, chose NOT to interfere. We, as a nation, were wrong to choose that path. It matters not whether it was indifference, fear of reprisal, or just plain ignorance, the fact is that we allowed these injustices to happen (and, while that is a topic for another day, we allowed those who perpetrated these tragedies to remain free....and alive).

As an aside, not only did we as patriots fail these people, but the Press did so as well....

It looks like that sort of injustice may happen again.

If WE LET IT HAPPEN. If we stand by and allow the Feds to overreach their powers again.

Will we?

What would happen if each Federal Agent were shadowed by 3 or more concerned citizens? Armed Concerned Citizens? If every vehicle entering the "closed area" were followed by another, privately owned vehicle....again, full of ""Concerned Citizens" .....

What happens when they try to stop people from coming into the area that they have chosen to close off for no real reason and they are ignored? They can't arrest 1500 people....They can, but they won't....

Remember, the Feds chose not to push this and backed off 2 years ago.

Now if I can only find a way (and the time) to get there......

HatTip: Outrider

ETA: It is accelerating .

Pointing firearms at people not breaking the law? Arresting them for being on a public highway?

Where are the other authorities? Afraid of the feds? THIS IS THE Bureau of Land Management for Christ's sake. Just because the BLM (and who says that they have any authority?) says some land is off limits, it gives them a reason for all this?


Sunday, April 6, 2014

SO I gotta question:



Question for the Geeks:

Since modern aircraft are apparently connected full time/real time by satellite and other methods of data communication, why aren't the Flight Data Recorders given a channel to transmit data ?

I mean, the actual amount of data is really fairly small. A few Kilobytes a second for flight instrumentation and engine data, a few more for cockpit voice and radio traffic.

Really a fairly small amount f data, considering the connections most modern aricraft have today to send and receive data from their systems.

SO why? Why don't we have a portion of one of these channels set aside? Why don't we have the last moments of cockpit and voice data and radio traffic stored on someone's server where we could get to it to see what the pilots were seeing and hearinf and saying to each other?

Sure, these systems could be disabled, and the Flight Data Recorders (the "Black Boxes" which are actually bright orange) would be the only backup. But if they were disabled, we'd know that something was up....




Friday, April 4, 2014

Now where can I buy these

'Cause i need some for each range bag/box, and a few for my preps and some for general first aid kit and then there is the ones for gifts for like minded friends and then.....

Simple invention for penetrating wounds gets FDA approval

Seriously, I'd buy a bunch if they were available today.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

At least it ain't an ice floe

But still, being held captive because someone decided that you are too old to take care of yourself?

Bet it happens here is the US soon as well.

Elderly couple demand hospital end "Illegal Detention"

So this couple in British Columbia (Victoria)goes to the hospital (clinic at the hospital) for some medical care....

The doctors and hospital staff decide that they are unable to take care of themselves (being 84 years old and all)....

They prevent the couple (both of them) from leaving...Even to putting Mr Allen in (essentially) a straitjacket and cabling him to the bed.
They freeze access to their bank accounts. Their assets are under control of a Public Guardian.

They aren't allowed to determine when and how they get care....they couple would prefer to have a nurse visit them weekly AT THEIR ASSISTED LIVING HOME. They wish to be as independent as possible in their old age.

It is currently in the court system.

Soon, it'll happen here.
Bet on it. 

There is a LOT of money to be made in situations like this.




Yoots

And, strangely, no real description of them.

No hair color..

No height...

No weight....

No race....

Just yoots.

Who killed a man.

Yet no description.

Interesting. Seems to be a LOT of that going around.

Yes, we can read between the lines when there is no mention of race. But one wonders.....Why?

Things like this help no decent citizen find equality....And they don't help quench racism. Not that the perpetrators care. We, o course, are supposed to not notice, but we all do.

The sad part

Is that anyone needs this sort of law.

The fact is that anyone that disciplines a schoolkid for the things protected in this law demonstrates that they shouldn't be in any position of responsibility over children. If they have so little sense, then they really shouldn't even be AROUND children, much less teaching them.

Immigrants:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
Theodore Roosevelt – 1907

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Margin of cheat

Of course we don't know who they voted for.....

I mean, it could be that these suspiciously alike voters (and a bunch of dead ones) could have all voted Republican....right? Nearly 200,000 of them in North Carolina alone... How much more do we need to see here? How much more fraud before we find out that our President and Senators have not the votes to make us believe that they won beyond the "margin of cheat"? How much more before we no longer believe that our government isn't a giant fraud perpetuated on the American people?

I know, if you are a liberal, you are saying "it couldn't happen"

Believe that? Really?

Wanna buy some great farmland in Florida? How about some beachfront property in Arizona?

I got a cousin has a bridge for sale....

ETA: How many of these people will be prosecuted for Voter Fraud?


Indeed:

As pointed out HERE, 7.1 million (supposedly) people signed up for Obamacare...

But the plan was SUPPOSED to insure the (mythical) 48 Million that were uninsured.

Not working out that well, is it?  And on wonders just how many of those 7.1 million were those who had no choice because the new Obamacare regulations caused them to be uninsured from their old plan.....How many people of that 7.1 million were newly insured? People who didn't have any insurance before?

BTW, link is SFW, but the main page is definitely *NOT* SFW. 


Fookin A

Yeah, if things were really the way they should be then THIS is what would actually happen.

Sadly, Officer Friendly doesn't exist anymore.

Instead, we have gestapo like tactics, and the Police and Border Patrol are not respected. Instead, they have made themselves the enemy of the lawful citizen...



If you don't read Resistor in the Rockies daily, you should. 


Despite the hype

about 7.1 million new obamacare policies and all that...

Really only a bit more than 10% have PAID for and actually have, (not just signed up for) an insurance policy via Obamacare.

The rest are just people who have enrolled but are not, until they PAY, insured.

Plus, the article says that few, if any of the newly signed up were uninsured before...

What a farce this whole thing is. And Congress and the MSM allow it to happen.

Sad.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

SO just what are we paying for?

While I am not so certain that the current hubbub about GM ignition keyswitches is all that big of a deal, the fact is that the NHTSA KNEW that there was an issue.

And they chose to do nothing. Nothing for YEARS.

So what, exactly, are we paying for all those folks at the NHTSA ? We apparently aren't getting anything for our money except a whole lot of bureaucracy, but nothing that keeps anyone safe.

Why, again, does this agency exist? 


It could come here soon

Seems that there is an outbreak of Ebola in Africa (Guinea, to be exact) and there may be related outbreaks in Sierra Leone and possibly Liberia.

Now most of us feel that this is happening "Over there" and really don't care. Few are worried that is could come here, and to a certain extent, they are correct.

BUT.

We have air travel now....And people travel from the affected areas to the US, Canada, and Europe EVERY DAY. (this time the tests show that the passenger, who is still in intensive care, doesn't have Ebola....But he DOES have something that is making him very ill)...How would you like to have been a fellow passenger on the plane he flew in on? Breathing the same air as him for hours and hours.....

Think about it.

(For me, dying isn't something I fear....But dying while bleeding from the eyes....)


My grandfather

Was a staunch Republican voter for his entire life.

But sadly, he passed away several years back.




He's voted a straight Democrat ticket ever since.