Happy New Year

We're so conservative. Let's get behind 2009!

Two questions

that will never get asked:

1. How much did it cost; and

2. Who paid for it and what have they asked for in return??

Well, so much for what the "experts" say...

Cowboys in the Super Bowl, eh?

Man that sucked.

Merry Christmas

What we're celebrating today, just in case it's escaped notice. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Lawsuit from cheerleader's mother: Carrollton-Farmers Branch schools didn't punish bullies enough

Extra bonus: this story got greenlit on Fark.com. Check out the commentary.

The mother of a former Creekview High School cheerleader has filed a federal lawsuit against Carrollton-Farmers Branch schools, arguing the district did not sufficiently discipline cheerleaders who she says bullied her daughter.

The lawsuit, brought by Liz Laningham, argues that the district discriminated against her daughter and "turned a blind eye" to the harassment. The lawsuit could result in a jury trial.

This is the same batshit-crazy woman who tried to have MY daughter thrown off the cheerleading squad because my kid kissed her little snowflake's boyfriend. Dramatic, but not a valid reason for being kicked off. When the normal process of appeal inside the school system bore her no fruit, she went on the RADIO and told her side of the story. Needless to say, I was not the happiest dad in town.

It sounds awful, but I'm thankful my daughter didn't make the varsity squad 2 years ago.

Fast forward to last Spring, and this woman's little snowflake didn't (*gasp*) make the team. I'm here to testify that shit happens, and girls don't make the squad sometimes. They're sad, then they get over it. It's one of life's hard lessons.

Unless your mom is a Texas Cheerleader Mom ©.

"The girl did not make cheerleader this year after being fairly judged, and we believe that's the basis of this lawsuit," said the district's attorney, Don Henslee. "We issued the discipline we felt was appropriate every time it was brought to our attention."

The girl's mother maintains her daughter did not make the squad because of the harassment that led up to tryouts and possibly unfair judging.

The lawsuit refers to a group of cheerleaders dubbed the Six-Pack. The nickname echoes that of the notorious Fab Five cheerleaders of McKinney North High School, whose exploits led to national headlines two years ago and a recent made-for-TV movie.

I've got my popcorn ready.

And why all the fuss? I think this summarizes it:

Before filing the case, the mother lost an appeal to the district asking that staff members of the high school be replaced, the cheerleading tryout be investigated, and that the daughter be reinstated to the cheerleading squad.

School board members denied the appeal at a special meeting on the parent's complaint on Aug. 21.

The family has since moved out of the district.

Great work there, Mom. I'm sure you've taught your daughter an important lesson. What it might be is anyone's guess.

Uncle Ted Rocks!

All I can say is that I'm glad someone else caught this on video, because my phone video of it sucks!!

JR procured some great tickets to last week's Cowboys/Giants game and Uncle Ted rocked the house down with the National Anthem.

I always get goose bumps when the National Anthem is played, and listening to Ted wring it out on his guitar was no exception.

Bush, Cheney comforted troops privately

Mr. Bush, for instance, has sent personal letters to the families of every one of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in the two wars, an enormous personal effort that consumed hours of his time and escaped public notice. The task, along with meeting family members of troops killed in action, has been so wrenching - balancing the anger, grief and pride of families coping with the loss symbolized by a flag-draped coffin - that the president often leaned on his wife, Laura, for emotional support.

I'm sure most people didn't know that about the man.

Climate Change hits!

Will Canada see its first white Christmas since '71?

SEVERE COLD WAVE TO HIT EUROPE

Beijing's coldest December day in 57 years

Severe Cold Blasts Midwest, East

And a nice, balmy 28 degrees here in the Metroplex...

More California lunacy

Let's face it. Politicians, particularly in Californina, are petrified of guns. Aboslutely positively petrified.

Terrified enough, in fact, that not only have they already banned the eveil .50 caliber rifle, Los Angeles has now banned .50 caliber ammunition.... I guess they don't want anyone throwing a 700 grain bullet at your car as you drive by.

What a bunch of turds.

Why anyone in their right mind would want to live in that crazy ass state is beyond me. JR's visited there before on business. Tells me that the bulk of the folks he met are largely conservative and center-right - but that no one gives a damn and apaathy is rampant when it comes to politics.

I'm sure there's a lesson there somewhere.

Wii puts 10 people in hospital every week

Others have a ligament injury dubbed Wii-knee which some have blamed on the popular Wii-Fit game.
Dr Mukerjee said: “People who are double-jointed are most likely to suffer from Wii-knee — and in extreme cases the knee cap can be dislocated or can even pop out.”

I think I speak for all of us when I say that nobody - and I mean nobody - wants to be diagnosed with Wii-knees.

The next Batman

You know, they're coming out and saying Eddie Murphy is set to be the next Riddler for the upcoming Batman flick...

I say, who the hell cares?? What I can't wait to see is this:

Meanwhile, Brit RACHEL WEISZ is said to be up for the Catwoman role.

Meow!

Oil Tumbles below $40 a barrel

So.

If it's George Bush, Dick Cheney and big oil's fault that oil was up to $4 a gallon earlier this year, do they get credit for lowering prices to below $40 a barrel?

And people wonder why....

McCain lost.

“I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.”

Now that's the level of opposition I'd expect from McCain. Absolutely pathetic.

Again, just as in the 2006 elections; the Republican party moved left. And lost. Badly in '06 and absolutely terribly last month. McCain is the perfect example. Nothing about the man is conservative. And his kumbaya attitude towards the new "boss" (same as the old boss...) only reflects the weakness that is the Republican party today.

No taint seen on Prez-elect, but Rahm Emanuel gave a wishlist for Senate

Some headlines just write themselves, don't they?

I think they're just not looking in the right place.

14 December, 1702

47 of them gathered on 14 December 1702 and, after donning the armor and taking up the weapons from the cache, they set out on their revenge on that same snowy night. Once at Kira's Edo mansion, they divided into two groups and attacked, with one group entering through the rear of the compound while the rest forced their way through the front, battering the gate down with a mallet. Kira's men, many of whom were killed or wounded, were taken completely by surprise but did put up a spirited resistance (one of the ronin was killed in the attack), though ultimately to no avail: Kira was found in an outhouse and presented to Ôishi, who offered him the chance to commit suicide. When Kira made no reply, Ôishi struck off his head with the same dagger that Asano had used to kill himself with. Kira's head was then put in a bucket and carried to the Sengakuji, where Asano was buried. After Ôishi and the others had given the bloody trophy to the spirit of Asano, they turned themselves in.

The rest of the story can be found here.

Thanks, Santa!

Okay, I know I said last time that my journey to the Dark Side was complete. I got a call from Darth Vader himself, and he informed me that while I was close, it wasn't really there yet. So, today, that got fixed. I now have an Aimpoint Comp C3 scope resting naturally on the top of my AR. I'm sure there will be other tweaks to the system, but this looks like the right platform. I'll be sighting it in tomorrow after shooting the USPSA match in Greenville. Range report to follow.

PS: Catfish will need to emote as well.

Pmag issues

Interesting item of note to my fellow gunnies out there. As most of ya'll probably know, one of the fastest growing up and coming "black rifle" companies is Magpul. Magpul started out making an attachment you could place on the base of your AR mags to make them easier to draw out of your mag pouches. From there they've branched out to all sorts of cool accessories, including the Magpul Masada, which was bought out by Bushmaster as a 21st century combat rifle.

Their Pmags have been all the rage this year. I know a lot of folks of the tactical mindset, guys that get paid to get shot at (and shoot back) and they've told me nothing but good stuff about these mags.

So over the past few months I purchased 8 of them. Ran one through my Bushmaster, and it worked just fine. Kept the others tucked away for a rainy day until I tried running the one mag through a DPMS rifle. While the mag seated fine, it wouldn't drop free. Tried the mag out in an Olympic Arms rifle. No go. Not only would it not drop free, I couldn't even get the mag to seat properly.

Got me thinkin'.... So I took out the other mags and discovered the following:

The Bushy liked every one of them; each of them loaded properly, dropped free and locked the bolt back on an empty mag.

The DPMS was hit or miss. Coupla of the mags worked fine, but the rest would not.

The Oly was even worse. I couldn't get any of the mags to seat without beating the snot out of them - and who wants that??

So, word to the wise. If you bought a bunch of the Pmags this year, and stashed 'em, check to make sure they function 100% in your rifle(s).

Obama: Don't stock up on guns

As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month.

Yep. And it's only a cold sore. Not to mention, the check's in the mail...

Lest we forget

Rivalry games

Ahhh, nothing like rivalry games.

Too bad the Army guys couldn't make it a closer game, but that's a helluva good prank.

I imagine Navy's response next year is going to be pretty good.

New rule eases ban on firearms in national parks

Excellent news indeed.

An Interior Department rule issued Friday allows an individual to carry a loaded weapon in a park or wildlife refuge — but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon, and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows loaded firearms in parks.

My Journey to the Dark Side is Complete

That is, until I find something else I really need (want). Check out the MagPul MOE stock. It's the mil-spec diameter stock and 5-position buffer tube. I also picked up the one-point sling, which I like a lot. I had to replace the stock receiver end plate for the hook, and that might needs some filing since it rides up on my right thumb knuckle a little. In spite of that, I think it's just about right. Hmmm...that vertical foregrip is kinda plain, isn't it?...

Market Hall Gun Show

I was too bored for words yesterday, so I took a chance and went to the Market Hall gun show. I met our pal Max there, so I had someone to visit with, at least. It took 20 minutes to get in the place. The line at noon stretched all the way to the parking garage (about 200 people deep). It moved quickly.

Crowded, but not uncomfortable. Too many kids and other non-buyers blocking access to tables, but a good backhand comes in handy.

Prices for anything AR/AK-related were outrageous. Even PMAGs were up to $27-30. ARs were going for $1400. Romanian WASRs for $700. Both were plentiful in supply, but various parts/accessories were scarce. I had no problem finding a sling for my AR. .223 ammo prices appear to be coming down, but everything else was stupid. $18.50 for 50 rounds of reloaded .40. Not really much different from past gun shows, come to think of it...

A couple of the obligatory gang-banger types were there, fingers wrapped firmly around the trigger of their unholstered 9mm shiny guns, but the crowd was mostly respectable. I saw a LOT of camo.

I'll be interested to see what prices do after the hysteria dies down a little. Assuming, of course, there's no good reason for all this price-gouging. I suspect folks that buy right now will largely be sorry for spending so much on a rifle. It's kind of ironic that Obama has been single-handedly responsible for such a boom in gun sales. People that had once been fence-sitters are now out buying. All in all, not a bad thing from that perspective.

I hear a lot of talk from people that are afraid the government will kick in their doors and seize their guns, and most are people who really didn't care that much before this election. It's an interesting set of dynamics. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Hey, look, I'm famous....

Toodling around the internets tonight, I stumbled upon the GSG-5 website. I bought one of these cool little rifles earlier this year and have just had a blast with it.

Seems that my video is featured on their "media" page!

I guess that explains why that particular video has been watched 34,000 + times...

So I present to you, my 5 minutes of fame, such as it is.... LOL.

Great googly moogly

Got my Midway catalog in today... Right on the front page there was an add for Stoner AR mags, 20 and 30 rounders for $9.99. Having seen mags go upwards of $25 and climbing I figure that I just might need a handful of those puppies.

I call up and place my order.

Oops. Appears that Midway recieved a shipment of these mags (30,000) on Monday. And they're sold out by today. Still had about 2500 of the 20 rounders, or should I say 2497 after I placed my smallish order tonight.

Good God but that's a lot of mags sold in a few days.

Asked the guy on the phone if they'd been busy lately and as you guessed it, ever since November 5, they've been selling stuff hand over fist.

Oops: Member of SWAT team forgets rifle near scene of standoff

'It's a terrible mistake,' Salt Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Levi Hughes tells the paper. 'For this to happen one time is unacceptable. The public expects more out of us than this. We're going to take every step possible so that this never happens again.'

I think they should give the rifle to the jogger that found it.

Yeah, we need a voting test

In response to a commenter's statement that voting tests discriminate against blacks, I give you this:



Michelle Malkin points out that:

[The video reinforces a nationwide poll that] surveyed over 500 self-professed Obama voters and has an MOE of 4.4%, with 55% having a college degree and over 90% having a high-school diploma. It asked 12 multiple-choice questions; only 2.4% got at least 11 correct. Only .5% got all them correct.
57.4 could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
81.8 could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6 could NOT correctly say that Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1 % could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).And yet…..
Only 13.7% failed to identify Palin as the person their party spent $150,000 in clothes on
Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her “house,” even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!

I don't give a damn what color you are (or gender for that matter) if you're too damned stupid to vote, you shouldn't be allowed to vote.

Some shooting goodness

Yeah, all doom and gloom make for a boring day! So, I present you some shooting goodness.

First up, just playing around with the GSG-5. 6 shots in well under a second.



Next, I bring you an eviel (in my best Obi-wan voice) AR-15. Bill Drill - 5 rounds on target at about 10 yards. Again, in under a second.



And, for those of you curious abuot just what an Open gun is, and what's the deal with the comp and all that other stuff, I present you my new Open blaster. Note the lack of any muzzle flip...



For compare and contrast, here's JR's SV Limited gun. JR's got a good grip on the pistol but there's still a bit of muzzle flip, especially compared to the Open blaster.



There, I feel better already. How 'bout you?

SEALs Kick some ass

Bet you haven't heard about this fantastic story:

“They knew who was who,” the engineer said. the SEALs quickly demonstrated that, aiming their silencer-equipped weapons to shoot and kill the kidnapper in the room before he could fire a round. The engineer said he heard the sounds of the operators shooting and killing a guard posted outside.

The SEALs turned to the now former hostage and told him they were there to take him back.

“I was in favor of that, 100 percent,” he said. “I was very surprised, very amazed and very happy.”

A successful mission behind enemy lines, snatching an American businessman right out from under the tango's noses and not a peep from our media.

Tragic.

H/T to Outlaw 13.

11/11/08

Thanks to all.

The strangeness continues

First, we were introduced to the darling little children singing the praises of the great leader:



Then we learn about a schoolteacher basically creating a nice little cadre of Obama supporters, complete with boots, camouflage pants and a nifty little rap, pledging allegiance to the fearless leader:



And now we've got this:

Plans are being made to promote a national holiday for Barack Obama, who will become the nation's 44th president when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

Good God man.

How long before the gulags, I mean, re-education centers open up!?? If it weren't so freaking wierd, it'd be funny as hell.

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

What the....??

I have been inclined to sit back and see what Obama does as President before I start heading for the hills.... But I have to admit - I saw this picture of his first presser and couldn't believe my eyes:



You'll note, of course, the seal on the podium. It says "The office of the President Elect".

There's one little problem here, dear readers. And that is, there ain't no such office as created by the law of the land, that is, the United States Constitution! So we have the President Elect - with no Constitutionally mandated authority until he is sworn in - holding a presser, announcing the creation of a new official office, and then telling Congress that he wants them to pass his economic stimulus package before he takes office!

That is taking egomania to an entirely new level, my friends; and it is shaping up to be a very long 4 years.

To Vote or not to Vote...

This week precipitated a running discussion on a couple of websites regarding voting. One position I've seen and struggled with is the one of non-participation. "I refuse to vote, because it's a corrupt system," etc. I've always held voting to be a privilege and even a responsibility. Even if you think your vote doesn't count for something like President, I believe it certainly does count for things at the local, county, state, and federal level. Don't believe that? Look at the results for local elections, bond votes, alcohol sales, etc. I saw a local ballot decided by 3 (yes, THREE) votes this week.

But the ones who actively refused to vote are adamant, even though I've argued that they're merely rationalizing their civic laziness.

The folks who've chosen not to vote have posited that it's their choice - it's a free country, after all. And they're right! We've got freedom of speech, the freedom to express ourselves as we see fit. My counter to that has always been that if you don't vote, you don't get the right to complain. Upon further consideration, I realized that's just not true. You can complain all you want - it's your inalienable right. Just don't expect someone like me to give your complaints any credence. My first question to you will likely be: what did you do about it? If you can't answer that question, I've no obligation to listen to you. If you were content to let others make decisions on your behalf, you got what you deserved.

What do you think? What does voting mean to you, and what's your take on not voting as a form of protest? Use the comments to discuss - I won't moderate unless it gets out of hand.

You have got

to be shitting me....

Gun Pr0n

When I get depressed about...oh...stuff, I like to work on guns. Catfish and I went to the very fine Fort Worth gun show this last weekend, and I picked up some various accessories for my scary black rifle. Note the new grip, the flip-up rear sight, tactical charging latch, the PMags and the rail accessory foregrip. I won the light kit at a match this year - I forget where. Put it all together, and I've got a pretty sweet goblin gun.

I believe Catfish will want to chime in with his purchases from the show...

Embrace the Suck

Well.

Some random thoughts here....

Part of me is happy that McCain lost. I truly hope it leads to a rebirth of the Republican Party. I hope that his loss sends a message to those in power that we will not vote for a man who is a Republican in name only. A Republican who believes in amnesty. A Republican who believes in global warming. A Republican who created the biggest assault on the 1st amendment with his ridiculous McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform. A Republican who is just as likely to vote with Democrats as he is with Republicans.

I'm hoping that as was the case with Carter, we get a Reagan in 4 years. Not a Huckabee, not a Romney, not a Guiliani. A fiscal conservative. Someone who will make government smaller. Someone who will put our country's defense first and stop pandering to dictators large and small across the world. Someone who will respect and protect the Constitution.

I'm also hoping that the Democrats will not kill us all in the next two years. I believe that they will push a hard left agenda very hard before the next Congressional elections. God help us if a conservative judge leaves the Supreme Court between now and then. Buy your high cap mags and AR's now, as I know there will be another round of gun laws coming down the pike. At the very least high demand due to fear and panic buying is going to drive the price up up up.

Radical Islam can not help but see this as a victory. I truly hope Obama is prepared to make the tough decisions that are going to wind up on his desk in the coming years. I doubt very much that he will, but there's always "hope", I suppose.

I strongly suspect that Israel will strike Iran before Obama takes office. I would if I was in their shoes because they know that the United States will not support them after Obama's elected. And their back is seriously up against the wall. They simply cannot afford to have a nuclear Iran on their doorstep. I wish them well because they truly will be alone in the world with an Obama administration.

And a final thought.... Now that we have a black president, does this mean that racism in this country is over? Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be out of the race baiting business? Can we do away with quotas and affirmative action? Will hate crimes decrease? Will dogs and cats finally be able to get along once Obama waves the magic wand?

Obama and the Democrats are about to learn that governing is significantly harder than running for office. The ball is now in your court, fellas. Try not to drop it.

And to you, my fellow gun nuts, conservatives, libertarians, friends... Embrace the suck.

Xavier Thoughts: Vote

Xavier Thoughts: Vote

This has a makings of an Internet meme that will symbolize this election. I never realized how much I respected John Adams until I watched the HBO series bearing his name. He was a true rebel, and while he was a Federalist, he was strong-minded enough to disagree with his party. He represented the British soldiers who committed the Boston Massacre, and 6 of them were acquitted. He helped to draft the Declaration of Independence, and more importantly, fought to gain support for it. His unique beliefs actually led to the idea of "checks and balances." He refused to own slaves. His son became the 6th President of the United States. He died on the 4th of July, 1826, the same day as his friend Thomas Jefferson.

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

--Samuel Adams

All I can say is....

Hail to the Redskins, Hail to the Chief....

Come on guys, beat the snot out of the Steelers.

17-1 is a helluva lot better prognosticator than anything else I've seen on TV.

You're welcome!

When JR and I had the opportunity to visit with the Senator last week, one of the things he mentioned was how drastically different running for election this year vs. the last time was. It's nice to see someone not only embrace the new technology that's out there, but be on a quest for new and better ways to get the news out.

I do believe the Senator even mentioned he Twitters, which made JR quite pleased....

Now get out Tuesday and VOTE, people!

Lunch with Senator John Cornyn

None other than Catfish and yours truly with Senator John Cornyn. We had lunch with him today at Denton County GOP Headquarters. I found him to be a genuinely likeable, very approachable guy. We already know about his politics, so it was nice to meet him in person.

Now go vote!

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

Please read this column by Orson Scott Card, a Democrat and a journalist.

What is a risky loan? It's a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.

The goal of this rule change was to help the poor, which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house, along with their credit rating.

They end up worse off than before.

Well, heck. That sounds like a bad idea. If I were a person of integrity, I'd probably try to stop such a plan.

Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans...

Wait. What?

Isn't there a story here? Doesn't journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren't you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Sen. Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

Where's the outrage? If this were Sen. John McCain, there'd be hell to pay, wouldn't there?

As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled "Do Facts Matter?" (http://snipurl.com/457to): "Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury."

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was ... the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was ... the Republican Party.

Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!

What? It's not the liar, but the victims of the lie who are to blame?

If you're not angry now, you should see what else has gone on. As Mr. Card points out, following the money presented some very uncomfortable facts for a pro-Obama press. The solution? Just ignore it.

But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie - that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad - even bad weather - on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.

If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth - even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.

Card calls the media to task, and he's none too kind about it:

So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means?

Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for?

You might want to remember the way the National Organization of Women (NOW) threw away their integrity by supporting Bill Clinton despite his well-known pattern of sexual exploitation of powerless women. Who listens to NOW anymore? We know they stand for nothing; they have no principles.

That's where you are right now.

But he's not just being critical - he's offering solutions:

It's not too late. You know that if the situation were reversed, and the truth would damage McCain and help Obama, you would be moving heaven and earth to get the true story out there.

If you want to redeem your honor, you will swallow hard and make a list of all the stories you would print if it were McCain who had been getting money from Fannie Mae, McCain whose campaign had consulted with its discredited former CEO, McCain who had voted against tightening its lending practices.

Then you will print them, even though every one of those true stories will point the finger of blame at the reckless Democratic Party, which put our nation's prosperity at risk so they could feel good about helping the poor, and lay a fair share of the blame at Obama's door.

I'm not a betting man, but I will bet that we won't see this happen.

But we will see the consequences of it not happening.

Read the whole thing.

Yeah....

This is who I want leading the free world.

The Mainstream Media Isn't Always Right

I'm just sayin'...

Submit!

Once again, the Obama campaign cuts off those who don't agree. As I pointed out a few posts ago - either you submit to the Obama myth or you will lose access. Frankly, I'm surprised as hell to hear not one, but two interviews bringing up Obama's Marxist philosophy.

What keeps Obama safe could protect the rest of us

Okay, this isn't really fair of me to do this, but Mary Mitchell makes it SO EASY. I've blogged on dear Mary before, because, well...she's insane. As in syphilitic insanity, as in stark-staring, raving, foaming at the mouth, bug-eating mad. But I digress.

Let's examine the backdrop - the South Side Chicago neighborhood of Barack Obama.

When I pulled up near Obama's house, though, I immediately noticed a drastic change in the neighborhood.

Concrete barricades now guard both ends of Obama's block, while metal barricades, like the ones used to hold back crowds during parades, are lined up on Hyde Park Boulevard.

Whatever you do, keep moving.

Secret Service, sheriff's deputies, Chicago Police officers and plainclothes officers are scattered throughout the area.

Sounds like Checkpoint Charlie, doesn't it? Here's where the fun begins:

Frankly, I felt like I had just entered the safest zone in America.

For the first time -- in a long time --while on the South Side, I didn't worry about leaving my car parked on the street or about walking back to it several hours later in the dark.

Obviously, law enforcement is doing what needs to be done to ensure a presidential candidate's safety.

But it does make me think.

Obama's neighbors have been forced to give up certain of their personal freedoms in order to ensure his safety.

Here's the scary part, now: she's okay with this. She is willing to give up YOUR freedom for HER safety. Isn't that nice?

There's no telling how many guns would be taken off the street in gang- and drug-plagued neighborhoods if police were to set up roadblocks and search everyone going into those areas.

For those of you who argue that what I am proposing violates basic civil rights, forget it.

Okay, enough picking on Mary, because she's not the one who scares me. I mean, we know she's a lunatic already. What's really scary for me this Halloween week is this: it's how many otherwise rational, sane people agree with her. Granted, it's not a majority by a longshot, but it does demonstrate a well-worn maxim: some people will believe anything. What's worse, some of these people are voting, some of them for the first time in their lives. You need to get up off your complacent butts and vote, people. Do it now, or you'll have people like Mary Mitchell making decisions for you.

Pass it on, Obama in his own words

So.....

Turned 40 today. Have I achieved dirty old man status yet, or am I still a lowly pervert?

You will be assimilated

And if you don't toe the "Obama as savior" line, you get cut off from future interviews and contact with the candidates.

It would seem that the Obama campaign has no room for the tough questions...

In this interview, Biden gets asked some legitimate questions. Notably, the reporterette asked Biden if he thought that Obama's "spread the wealth around" comment was Marxist in any way.

Instead of answering the questions, Biden dodged. And after the interview,

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

So much for freedom of the press, eh? Either you agree with the Pravda line, or you're cut off.

Say what you want about the Bush administration, but I still recall seeing that hag Helen Thomas at Bush White House briefings.... Not to mention the rest of an overly hostile press.

I wonder if that's the kind of change we all want?

Taking aim at Obama's stance on gun control

If Obama were the true messiah we're led to believe by the traditional media, I would still never vote for him due to his lack of respect for the 2nd Ammendment.

Any policitian who would disrespect the 2nd Ammendment will disrespect the rest. We already know that a Congress controlled by Pelosi and Ried would bring back the fairness doctrine, effectively butchering the 1st Ammendment. Is there any doubt that a Democrat controlled Congress would push for more limits on the 2nd Ammendment with a liberal Democrat in the White House?

John Lott offers some insight into Obama's gun control past and if for no other reason, we simply cannot afford to have Obama as the next President of the United States.

No major-party presidential nominee has ever had as strong and consistent an anti-gun record as Obama. Here is a politician who supported a ban on handguns in 1996, backed a ban on the sale of all semiautomatic guns in 1998 (which would encompass most guns sold in the country), and advocated banning gun sales within five miles of a school or park in 2004 (a virtual ban on all gun stores). He also served on the board of the Joyce Foundation, the largest private funder of anti-gun research in the country.

This evidence should be sufficient, but I have yet another reason to be skeptical. I knew Obama during the mid-1990s, when we were both at the University of Chicago Law School. Indeed, when I introduced myself to him, he said, "Oh, you are the gun guy."

I responded, "Yes, I guess so." His response, as I recall it, was, "I don't believe that people should be able to own guns."

When I said it might be fun sometime to talk about the question and his support of Chicago's lawsuit against gunmakers, he simply grimaced and turned away, ending the conversation.

Raccoon 'burglar' evades Dallas police, wreaks havoc in Kessler Park home

With the raccoon only three feet from him, Officer Ek fired his Taser. The stun gun's prongs struck the raccoon in the back, and Officer Ek held the trigger for several seconds to deliver the voltage.

But the raccoon kept running, past Officer Ek and back toward the front of the house. Finally, it darted into the living room fireplace and up the chimney, apparently where it had first entered the house.

That'll learn him.

Crime in the big city, folks.

Hunters and Shooters Give the NRA an "F" | American Hunters and Shooters Association

The American Hunters and Shooters Association has recently come to my attention. I read the article I've linked to in the title, and responded with a comment. It's interesting to note that none of the articles I've seen on the site have any comments. When I submitted mine, I got this:

Your comment has been queued for moderation by site administrators and will be published after approval.

I'm holding my breath. And my feedback for this pack of liars? Let's just say that I expressed to them that I remained unconvinced that Barack Obama has the best interest of gun owners at heart. Here's their stance on the Second Amendment:

Under the Constitution and laws of the United States, gun ownership is a protected right. But it is a right that when exercised requires the utmost in responsibility and vigilance.

In formulating AHSA legislative policy the AHSA Board of Directors will always weigh the common sense interest of hunters and shooters against basic safety and security interests of our community at large. In this way a rational, well thought out approach to firearms policy will be developed and promoted.

Hmmm. "Common sense" gun laws. Where EVER have I heard THAT before? Moreover, they want to ban the .50 BMG "sniper" rifle (their words, not mine), give the FBI access to NICS, and close the "gun show loophole."

But they're pro-gun. Riiiight. They're completely anti-NRA (whom I hold little allegiance to, but at least they're mostly honest with their protection of gun rights), and spend too much time trying to discredit them. Hmm. One of the most powerful pro-gun lobbies in Washington is a bad guy? It's almost like the Brady Campaign isn't even trying to hide their motives anymore.

It walks and talks like a duck, folks. Quick, better shoot it!

Aliens to appear tomorrow

I guess I can tear up those credit card bills now. Apparently, we're going to be visited by aliens at noon tomorrow, according to Blossom Goodchild. Apparently, Blossom's mommy and daddy ingested lots of dangerous narcotics before giving birth to her.

I thought I'd share the website, because I love to see the follow-ups after ET fails to show up.

How to shoot better, Part 1

Posted this on one of our local shooting forums today and thought I'd also share it here, in an attempt to make the world a better place....


I've tried to explain to other folks before and thought that posting some concepts here for discussion would be helpful.

So, to kick off the discussion, I'll start with this thought:

Things I wish I'd learned earlier in my shooting career.

I. Calling the shot.

I've been calling the shot for the last year or two. I really, really wish I'd focused more on doing this 5-10 years ago. It would have saved me a LOT of grief!!

For those not familiar with the term, calling the shot means knowing, with certainty, where the bullet went the instant you broke the shot.

I preach time and time again that shooting well in a match is not about shooting FAST. It's about being efficient. Remove things from the way you shoot a stage that are not necessary and you're left with the fastest way that YOU can run the stage. Watch Robbie Leatham shoot - the guy can barely walk without limping or gimping his way across the stage - but because he has NO wasted movement, his times continue to be competitive and at or near the top of the heap.

Calling the shot is just another way of being efficient. You lose a significant amout of time trying to either watch the target when you shoot to look for the bullet holes, or leaving a position and having to go back for that last piece of annoying steel you thought you'd hit. At a recent practice, we had a shooter who was clearly losing at least a half a second per shooting position watching the target to confirm his hits. 1/2 a second X 4 shooting position = 2 seconds that he would have lost on that drill, if it were a stage in a match. 2 seconds per stage on a 6 stage match = 12 seconds....

How many of us have lost a match by time a LOT closer than 12 seconds??

I was once taught that we should engage an array of targets with a uniform cadence - which was clearly a step ahead of double tapping the targets. However, the better way to engage an array is target by target and to pull the trigger as fast as you can see the front sight and call the shot on each target as it's presented. If you're shooting an array on cadence, and the targets are all presented with varying degrees of difficulty, then you are always going to be shooting some targets too fast and other targets too slow, which is a great way to tank a stage. Now, if the targets are all in a line, and all wide open, then by all means there should be a clear cadence at play, but how many times in a match are we presented with that kind of challenge?? (It goes without saying that your transitions between targets should be as fast as you can possibly do it without over-running the A zone/down Zero zone of each target...)

So, how do you learn to call the shot, you ask??

Here are a couple of drills I have found useful.

Bill Drills, triple 6's and all you can get. (You can search online for a description of each drill. If you can't find it, let me know....)

Each of these 3 drills will have you shooting as rapidly as you can call the shot on a single target for multiple shots. If you haven't yet learned to call your shot, you'll get plenty of time to watch the slide cycle back and forth on these extended shooting episodes. The goal on each of these drills is not to just waste ammo into the berm. WATCH the front sight closely. Watch it lift out of the notch in the rear sight and watch it settle back down in the notch. With practice, you CAN do it!

The day before a big match, I like to go to the range and blow through a couple hundred rounds or so, and will always include several of these drills, making sure my eyes are focused on the front sight - and an added benefit of the drills are that you will get in the groove of the timing of your gun and your match ammo as well.

To be completely honest, I do not call my shots 100% of the time. Probably the best match I've shot this year has been the Texas Limited. I probably called my shot on every shot; short of 3-5 shots - and each of those were D zone hits... On matches where my focus is not so in tune, then of course that number is not anywhere near that high.

So, learn to call your shot, it'll help you speed up your stage times without doing a single thing faster or changing anything else about the way you shoot.

The Hokey Pokey. In Shakespearean Iambic Pentameter

My daughter's a smart kid, and she's a senior in High School, taking AP English. Let's face it, learning Shakespeare can be tedious at best, and learning the intricacies of iambic pentameter can pretty much do anyone in. However, her English teacher hit on something that I thought was downright brilliant: learn by participation. Yes, the whole class was broken up in groups, and they learned and recited the Hokey Pokey (don't act like you don't know it), but adapted for the topic at hand. I present to you:

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heaven's yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the Poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.

-- William Shakespeare

Try it at home. It works. 'Tis frickin' brilliant.

Tales from the teleprompter...

The Dallas Morning News Sucks

I'm going to cancel my subscription to the Dallas Morning News today. Why, you ask? Because they're too stupid to leave the comics alone. You read that correctly - the comics.

Does anyone honestly read newspapers for news anymore? I can go online and get news as it happens. Reading yesterday's news is almost silly. It's not like I'm waiting on the Pony Express to deliver 2-week-old news, but it's close to it.

I subscribe to the newspaper almost exclusively for the comics. The funnies. Once upon a time, you could read comics without magnification, and they were all in color. Up until this week, the DMN had a "comics" section, with 2 full pages of comics in color, and 2 full pages of comics in monochrome.

I sat down this morning (in the smallest room in the house) and went straight for the comics section, only to find it missing. I looked on the front page for a clue - nothing. Finally, realizing that the DMN had actually done it, I looked in a section named "Guide Daily," which features all sorts of useless information ("Maximize your gym bag's limited space 8E"), concert information, etc., and there they were: buried on page 11, smaller than ever, and not a single one in color.

At the bottom of page 1E is a little note from the DMN: "We have trimmed our lineup of comics, puzzles and advice columns that appear in "GuideDaily. blah, blah, blah..."

You suck, Dallas Morning News.

I'll tell you what just happened

We got screwed.

Again.

Entertaining...

Wait... I thought Congress fixed it?

Wow, with Congress spending $800 BILLION (at the very least, I gaurantee you it will be more) of OUR money on *fixing* the financial market's mess, you would have thought Wall Street would have responded by going up today, eh?

At some point, enough is enough. When the vast majority of the American people are able to shut down the website and phone lines of Congress letting them know of our displeasure with the bailout bill and Congress STILL votes to do so, when does enough become enough?

Utterly ridiculous.

The research story you won't see

New York Times
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published: September 30, 1999

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.

Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.

Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University 's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.

In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent.

Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.

In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.

The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.

In a cursory search of current news stories on the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae "crises" on the Time's own website, I found a couple recent stories. Strangely enough, even though they easily could have conducted some research into their own archives, not a single word about the Clinton administration's role was mentioned.

State of Fear

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 777 points Monday, its biggest single-day fall ever, easily beating the 684 points it lost on the first day of trading after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

That's right - the WORST ever!! Except for one little point. As of today, it's not.

In October 2002, the NASDAQ dropped to as low as 1,108.49 - a 78.4% decline from its all-time high of 5,132.52, the level it had established in March 2000.

To put some perspective on it, the Dow dropped 6.9% today.

On October 19, 1987, the stock market crashed. The Dow dropped 508 points or 22.6% in a single trading day. This was a drop of 36.7% from its high on August 25, 1987.

Again, the market dropped less than 7% today...

One of the books I would suggest that everyone reads is Crichton's State of Fear. He does a fabulous job of explaining how our media manipulates the news to create a constant state of panic and fear. Exactly what we're seeing today. Are the financial markets hurting? Clearly. But the worst ever? Not quite.

Shocked, I am!

The House of Representitives actually did the right thing today and voted down the ridiculous bailout bill.

They must have been hearing volumes of mail from their constituents that the thought of the government taking over the mortgage industry was not a good idea. At all.

I firmly believe that if this ridiculous bill were voted on this time last year it would have passed. But only a little more than a month out from the election? That's much too close for comfort for those running for re-election.

I think this could very well be a foreshadowing of the election. Nancy Pelosi couldn't even get all of her Democrats on board. Obama couldn't lead. Bush continues to serve out his (very) lame duck term.

As of the writing of this post, you STILL can't get onto Congress' website. We, the people, have virtually overwhelmed the Congress critters and for once, they did the right thing.

Religion of Peace update

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but it would appear that a couple of followers of the Religion of Peace were out to take out another airliner...

If you'd just read the first paragraph or two, however, you might not make that connection:

German police arrested two terrorist suspects on board a Dutch airliner Friday, minutes before it was due to take off from Cologne-Bonn airport for Amsterdam. A police spokesman said a Somali man aged 23 and a 24-year-old German born in Mogadishu were escorted off the KLM Flight 1804 at 6:55 am (0455 GMT).

The arrests came a day after police appealed to the public to help track down two missing Islamists, one of them a German convert, who were suspected of membership in a terrorist group called the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), often described as a successor to al-Qaeda.

Police said they were pursuing about 20 leads related to Eric Breininger, a 21-year-old German, and Houssain al-Malla, a 23-year-old Lebanese, were last seen in the zone along the Pakistan-Afghan border. Police suspect they might have secretly returned to Germany.

Seems like some pretty good intelligence work there, but what would I know....

More pics from the mud bowl

Great picture of Dave, gun in full recoil... Now if I could just figure out what's up with that face he's making when he shoots!



Picture of yours truly - the gun started out unloaded on the table, great picture caught right after I'd loaded the mag and am starting to rack the slide....



Cool picture of Greg - the Animal - on many levels. You can see how deep the mud was, the fierce look of determination, and then check out the brass. Two pieces in the air, and the camera caught the next round being loaded into the chamber - pretty cool!



And finally, here's the blog father showing some great finger and muzzle control - this is how you should do it, boys and girls.

Now THAT's funny

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Avast, ye scurvy dogs. Today be "International Talk Like a Pirate Day." Look alive, ye bilge rats, get yer fingers outta the bunghole, scrub the poopdeck, and hoist that there mainsail.

Wanna see a real man's yardarm?

Arrr!

More MudBowl 2008

This video of Catfish pretty much sums up our 2008 Open/L10 Nationals experience this year. This was our 4th stage of day 1, and after rolling through the first 3 stages pretty quickly in spite of the rain, we had to wait behind 2 full squads before we could shoot this one. Yeah, that is 2 hours standing in the pouring rain to shoot. Kinda takes the wind out of your sails just a bit. But we still had a great time - there's nothing quite like putting on the same soggy, smelly cleats 3 days in a row and standing ankle-deep in mud! Can't wait 'til next year...

Mud Bowl, part deux

Snapped some pics from this year's USPSA nationals - and yeah, it was pretty damn muddy.

Here's The Girl....



And JR....



And yours truly after the first stage, last day...

Now that's class

Looks like one of Dallas' own has stepped in the mierda once again.

In a video posted on YouTube, Howard is shown on a football field at a charity flag football game. As the national anthem plays in the background, Howard approaches a camera and says: “‘The Star Spangled Banner’ is going on right now. I don’t even celebrate that (expletive). I’m black.”

Yep, that's right, folks. The same America that has given this moron the opportunity to make millions of dollars playing basketball is the same America that he feels compelled to spit on.

What an asshole.

Nicholas

After a long day at work, one resplendent with hate, ignorance and stupidity, I was ready for someone else to serve my dinner. Of course, the restaurant I chose was packed and noisy. Most of the noise came from squealing children whose parents, equally as tired as I, were content to let them caterwaul at will.

During the course of the meal, I had glanced around, taking notice of the sociological experiment that is the restaurant. There was an Asian family there, the kids in elementary school, still enamored with Star Wars as evidenced by the light saber. Another family had a small child who didn't much care for his high chair, and was sharing his displeasure with everyone within earshot. There was an older couple, sitting with each other on the same side of the booth. I only noted in passing the three women and a little boy in a booth just behind and to my left. The little boy looked tired, resting on his mom's shoulder, and he had an abrasion above his left eye - it looked as if he'd fallen and bonked it pretty well.

Dinner went on, with the predictable botching of the order, constant aggravation of the noisy restaurant, the irritation at paying too much for food, the continual remembrance of the day's events; people acting mean, petty, and selfish. Grown men and women taking offence at the slightest thing, all adding up to what has too often become the norm: just wanting some quiet, away from the meanness and burdensome routine of the daily grind.

I paid my bill, and as I handed the check to the waiter, the 3 ladies with the little boy stood up.

I glanced, thought nothing, then heard, "what's your name?"

I blinked, taken aback, because the little boy on his mom's shoulder had raised his head, and looking at me, asked again, "what's your name?"

"My name's Jim. What's yours?"

"Nicholas." And he put out his hand to shake mine.

"It's very nice to meet you, Nicholas."

And that was it. Children are here to remind us that we're not as important as we like to think we are, and that more often than not, we need to stop and appreciate those around us, and take a moment to make new friends.

It's been a very good day.

Gone Fishin'

Several of us are off to Tulsa for the USPSA L10/Open Nationals. Wish us luck.

For those of you who are Twitterers, follow "jimbob_texas" for updates. I'll have my BlackBerry with me, and will provide Twitterberry updates as the days go by.

Hasta la vista!

Jesse at USPSA nats

Here's a nice little video of JR's favorite shooter!

USPSA nationals

Here is a great link to a local news story about the USPSA nationals in Tulsa going on right now.

In addition, here's another great resource for the biggest shoot of the practical shooting year.

Rev. Jesse Jackson hospitalized for stomach pains

Ladies and gentlemen, when you're chronically full of shit, this is what happens.

Home Run

I like me some Sarah Palin. After listening to her tonight, I was struck by how well she delivered the speech, likely written by a stranger, but delivered by her. She was nothing short of brilliant. She's an excellent public speaker, very graceful, yet disarming. She's honest to a fault, and has the family to prove it.

That was impressive, and pretty much seals the deal as far as I'm concerned. I'd drink a beer with her any time. Hell, I'd even buy it.

Even John McCain liked it. That was a great speech.

Someone

Has way too much time on their hands....

Gustav

Here's a little bit of advice to those folks livin' in NOLA.

Get the hell out of Dodge now. And just like Katrina, you've got no excuse if stay and take your chances...

Editor? We don't need no stinking editor...

Ah, the lovely folks at AP have screwed the pooch again. Check out this story just posted:


And the key error, right here:

The convention, a marquee event meant to send presidential candidate Dick Cheney into the fall campaign with a burst of energy and good feeling....

Cheney, huh? I didn't realize he was on the ticket!

And these are the same people we're supposed to trust with important details, eh?

Sarah Palin

The next Veep is a MILF, and so's his wife.

Gotta give John props with respect to the women in his life...

SUV kills 2 adults, 2 toddlers

From the other JR.

WEST, Texas — A man, woman and two tots are dead after they were hit and killed by a sport-utility vehicle on an Interstate 35 frontage road in Central Texas.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says the accident happened just before 10 p.m. Thursday about 15 miles north of Waco near the town of West.

They said the man and woman were walking with a baby girl and a boy, age about 2, after their car apparently stalled on the two-way frontage road. DPS Cpl. Charlie Morgan said a sport-utility vehicle apparently crested a rise and slammed into the family from behind, hurling their bodies about 100 feet.

The DPS identifies the dead as Brandee Thorpe, 20; Austin Fontenot (FAHN'-teh-noh), 2; and Kinzee Fontenot, 1; all of Hillsboro; and Gregory Howell, 25, of Robinson. Their relationships are unclear.

The driver of the SUV was interviewed, but no charges are filed.

Well, if this isn't from the WTF department, I don't know what is.

I guess SUVs are now stalking and killing people, not the drivers.

Look! A monkey!

Just for you, JR!

Obituaries - Vallejo Times Herald

The Aguilar family apparently has issues.

Dolores Aguilar
1929 - Aug. 7, 2008

Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby.

She is survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona, and son Billy; grandchildren, Donnelle, Joe, Mitzie, Maria, Mario, Marty, Tynette, Tania, Leta, Alexandria, Tommy, Billy, Mathew, Raymond, Kenny, Javier, Lisa, Ashlie and Michael; great-grandchildren, Brendan, Joseph, Karissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, Cienna, Bailey, Christian, Andre Jr., Andrea, Keith, Saeed, Nujaymah, Salma, Merissa, Emily, Jayci, Isabella, Samantha and Emily. I apologize if I missed anyone.

Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.

Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.

There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM.

It's gone from the obits page on the original link, but the Internet never forgets...

And you thought the beach volleyball girls were hot?

Wow - I can't wait for beach volleyball cheerleading to become an Olympic sport.

Ducks

If it smells like a duck, looks like a duck, flies like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a chicken.

Or at least that's what you would get out of reading this story.

Let's see, you have an alleged muslim.

You have an alleged pound or so of cyanide.

An alleged muslim using an almost identical name online allegedly threatened to kill non-muslims.

As a coincidence, I'm sure, the Democrat convention is going to take place just down the street from where the alleged individual allegedly died.

Yet somehow, we are not supposed to call a duck a duck.

Odd, isn't it?

FCC Commissioner: Return of Fairness Doctrine Could Control Web Content

I've had a series of posts recently on "when liberals are in charge"....

Well, here's another prime example.

There’s a huge concern among conservative talk radio hosts that reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would all-but destroy the industry due to equal time constraints. But speech limits might not stop at radio. They could even be extended to include the Internet and “government dictating content policy.”

S.F. pushes legislation to promote good health

Let's nuke San Francisco. In addition to banning the sales of cigarettes in pharmacies, the nanny city has dictated more laws that are good for you.

The supervisors also voted to require chain restaurants to post nutritional information, including calories and fat content, on menus. This follows the creation of a program to recognize restaurants that don't use trans fats and an idea by Mayor Gavin Newsom to levy a fee on retailers of sugary sodas.

The board is also taking up legislation to dramatically curb where smokers can light up, including prohibiting puffing in taxis, lines for ATMs and common areas of apartment buildings. And Newsom wants to close some streets to cars on select Sundays so people can jog, hula-hoop and lay out their yoga mats on the pavement.

What's next from City Hall? A mandate to eat your broccoli and hit the treadmill 30 minutes every day?

Dirty Harry must really be pissed right about now.

Remember - liberals know what's best for you, and this is what happens when you let them run your government. California will destroy this country from within, mark my words. Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein are just the beginning. You Californians need to wake up, grow a set, and get rid of these granola-eco-yoga-cycle-green fascists before it's too late.

Severely burned man rescued from utility pole in Dallas

Here's one from the shallow end of the gene pool.

A man who climbed to the top of a utility pole today in an alleged effort to steal copper had to be rescued after he was jolted by a high-voltage wire and burned over 50 percent of his body, officials said.

I may not be a smart man, but I know what 7000 volts is.

Live TV coverage of the 1 1/2 -hour rescue showed the man's shirt in tatters, his jeans mostly burned away from his body. His skin looked red and he appeared to be in extreme pain as rescue personnel eased him down a fire truck's extended ladder.

That's a good summary: pain. Extreme pain.

I'm guessing Darwin will triumph sooner or later.

UPDATE: He died from his injuries.

Rhonda's Cans

Listen closely to the background comments, if you can hear around the insane cackling...

The concept of this stage was to have you place the appropriate color can on the same color stick. Watch what happens when she throws the green and yellow cans after they hit the ground....

Also watch the fingers of the RO who runs out of fingers for each penalty shot fired with the wrong color can on the wrong color post; which really got me giggling, as you can tell.

The Democrats doing what they do best

Looks like they're waving the white flag here in Texas.... Doing what they do best - cutting and running.

A husband's revenge

This guy has some big brass balls, for sure.

It's Not Easy Being Green

I have had it with "green."

Don't let the kids read this tirade. There will be bad language. I am 50 years old now, and I'm entitled to some swearing, an entitlement I will exercise in this post. If you don't like it, change the channel NOW.

I was just scrolling through my hundreds of FiOS channels in search of something worth my time, when I stopped on a show titled,

Emeril Green

where Emeril Lagasse, the erstwhile Boston Yankee so-called Louisiana chef, will teach you how to cook "green."

Yes, how to be a "green" cook. I am SO tired of the term "green," that it can't begin to describe the color of bile that I puke up when I see crap like this. GREEN cooking? What - has Emeril been grilling Bigfoot filets and Spotted Owl breasts over moon rocks for the last decade or so? Has he been cooking with coal or diesel fuel? Has he been cooking over a short-block Chevy engine? Has he used cattle methane straight from the ass to combust his truffles?

Break. I need a break. Green this, green that. I saw an ad for a "green" CAR DEALERSHIP the other day. They're "green" because they use recycled water for their landscaping. I plan to contribute to their efforts and poop on their grass one night very soon.

There's some moron in my very own neighborhood who's purchased a CONVERTIBLE Smarte Car. A car that 2 drunken teenagers could flip over barehanded. But these vehicles are cool now, because they're GREEN, in spite of the fact that a collision with a Harley would total those French POS-mobiles.

Naturally, politics have gone "green." Algore has repeated a lie often enough that some people, some companies, some communities have begun to actually BELIEVE that shit.

Let's be perfectly clear, people, and I need you to hear me five by five: "Green" is a marketing campaign. It's the latest bandwagon to get you to buy horse manure, snake oil, cold fusion. It's the latest gimmick to get you to buy garbage you wouldn't have bought a mere year ago, simply because it says "green."

It's religion, and an apostatic one at that. Do NOT fall for this nonsense. The dogma that you're being fed via the news, propaganda, marketing and politics is crap that's "greener" and better for your lawn than the truth. Yesterday's hippies are now capitalizing on their newfound legacy, and selling you crap because they're "older and wiser" and you kids have squandered our precious meager natural resources.

Emeril Green? Gimme a break.

Cimarron Canyon

Today at the range with temps at or near 100, I couldn't help but think of my lunch stop hiking up the Cimarron Canyon last week. Temps were probably only in the 70s next to this little waterfall and it was absolutely splendid. The water was crystal clear and cold and the solitude was marvelous.

Mt. Greenie

11,271 ft.

Highest point in New Mexico attainable in a vehicle. The trip up and down was quite a bit of fun, I've gotta say. And the view at the top was awesome.

5,000 gallons of molasses spill on Texas highway

Good thing this didn't happen in the winter. Bonus: it's in Sugar Land!

News Flash: D.C. Idiots Don't Understand English

Apparently the fools running DC can't understand a simple court decision.

Google Trends: ǝlƃooƃ noʎ ʞɔnɟ, Jul 13, 2008

I just noticed an interesting #1 Google trend (follow the link above). It says, "ǝlƃooƃ noʎ ʞɔnɟ." What an interesting trend, indeed.

Winning the Energy War

This is an expanded version of a little thing I sent in to Senator Cornyn's website; perhaps it will show up there as well at some point in the near future. In the meantime, here you go....

All that is required to win the energy war that has been raging in this country since the 1970s is to defeat the radical environmentalists.

Think about it.

Every policy, law and regulation that is keeping us from becoming energy independent has its origin with the environmental movement.

The United States sits on more resources than we could use in the foreseeable future in the form of oil, gas and coal deposits. Add nuclear and emerging technologies into the mix and our reliance on foreign governments that may or may not support the United States would be over.

Yet we are not allowed to mine the resources that we are in fact, sitting on, thanks to the environmental movement. Between the moratorium on offshore drilling that was signed into law in the 1980s, and President Clinton's proclamation in 1996 making 1.7million acres in Utah a national monument and therefore putting off limits billions of tons of clean burning coal - the United States is fighting the energy war with both hands tied behind its back.

Thanks to public reaction to the 1979 movie The China Syndrome, we have
limited the construction of nuclear power plants. Thanks to "do as I say, not as I do" liberals like Teddy Kennedy, we can't build windmills in areas that might ruin the cultural "viewscape." Environmental regulations make it impossible to build oil refineries to the point that we haven't had a new refinery built in the United
States in decades. It makes you wonder just whose side the environmentalists and their lackeys are on because clearly they are not on the side of the American people. It is crystal clear that we are on the cusp of a growing energy crisis yet we as a country are handcuffed at every turn as we search for either existing energy supplies or new sources of energy whether that is nuclear, wind, or water power. To an outside observer, it would appear that the environmentalists want nothing more than to return to the Jeffersonian ideal of an agrarian nation of yeoman farmers.

In order to regain our energy independence, we must turn back the tide of radical environmentalists who would have us believe in manmade climate change. Common sense should dictate that while climate change is real, man has nothing to do with it. Ice ages have come and gone without the internal combustion engine. Global warming is taking place on Mars and mankind has yet to set a foot there. More pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere during a large volcanic explosion than all of mankind's history, from day 1. Yet somehow, the radical environmentalists and their willing accomplices in the media will have us believe that in a little over 100 years, the internal combustion engine is to blame for any climate change we are currently experiencing.

Again, proving that common sense is not so common, let's think about this. We all know that weathermen can't predict with any degree of certainty what the weather will do this weekend. In fact, here in north Texas, we're lucky if they can predict what it's going to do this afternoon with any accuracy! Yet many of these same people who can't tell us what's going to happen 5 days from now will have us believe
that they know for certain what will happen 50 years from now. Am I the only one that sees a problem with this?

And let's look at the expense our economy is paying for "going green". Hybrid cars are great, right? No one ever seems to say anything (with the exception of Car and Driver) that after you pay the premium the dealerships are putting on hybrid vehicles, you'd have to own the car several decades to balance out the cost savings. No one points out that the batteries are going to wind up in a landfill
somewhere. Everyone knows that batteries, even rechargeable ones, die over time. What kind of environmental mess is THAT going to make?

The ethanol gas lobby that is forcing "green" ethanol down our throats adds additional expense to an already tight gasoline market for a gas product that performs at least 10-15% worse than a non-ethanol based product. So you end up using more gas and paying more for it at the pump all so we can feel good about the environment. Governmental entities across the country are spending billions upon billions of dollars to purchase "green" equipment that doesn't work as efficiently or as powerfully as gasoline powered equipment but hey, at least we can all feel good about ourselves, right?

What's the answer? I am surely not advocating strip mining or irresponsible drilling. There have been enough technological advances in the last 30 years that make both prospects environmentally conscious and safer than they were 3 decades ago. (Again, apply common sense. Do you really think that Exxon wants another Valdez? To do so would kill their company in today's climate.) Drill responsibly for oil and natural gas. Mine responsibly for coal. Build nuclear power plants. Develop new technologies that are economically feasible and practical. Deregulate the energy business to the point that they can work to explore and produce additional power supply for the country. Build new refineries. Think about what that would do to job growth alone, not to mention our energy woes! We're the United States of America for God's sake! We put a man on the moon in about a decade of trying, do you really think we can't solve our energy issues if we put our mind to it? But in order to do all of this, we need to stop the hoax that is the
environmental movement and refuse to be bullied by their tactics.

Take away the illusion that leftists are the only ones who *care* about the
environment. I am as avid an outdoorsman as any environmentalist I know. Unlike most of them, who only pretend that they can survive in the outdoors without their A/C and running water, I know (because I've done it many, many times) that I can survive and thrive in harsh environments from deserts to mountains to swamps, thickets and timber. I love to be outdoors and view the natural environment as something to be treasured and enjoyed. But I also understand that in order to
protect and support this thing that is the United States of America, we have to defeat the environmental movement that will have us believe that a field mouse is more important than the survival of our society.

Defeat the radical environmentalist movement, and we are well on our way to winning the energy war.