This just in

D Wade just took a shot in the paint and miraculously, a foul was not called on the Mavericks.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Lawrence of Suburbia: Lawn care without lacerations

Pretty funny little article.

NEVER use a weed whacker in the nude.

Amen, brother.

Tourist Dies After 500-foot fall in Yellowstone National Park

Have you ever driven over a bridge in Texas and seen the "No Fishing From Bridge" signs? Ever wonder why they're there?

Signs are usually put up because someone was stupid enough to do something...well...really stupid.

Park officials say a woman lost her footing after stepping over a retaining wall to take a picture and went over a cliff, falling 500 feet to her death in a canyon.

I wonder if they developed the pictures?

Stupid is as stupid does

"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism," Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. "Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole countryÂ… I don't see why people care about patriotism."

The Dixie Chicks just keep getting dumber and dumber. They apparently haven't learned the lesson of just show up, sing, and go home.

The fact that these nimwits can't understand the concept of patriotism doesa lott to explain their mental capacity. Or lack thereof.

Hillary OKs ‘loving couple’ strategy for 2008

Wow, is anyone surprised that the Clintons have to actually act like they have a loving relationship? Why in the wide wide world of sports would they have to put on this illusion unless the opposite were true?

I mean, can you imagine a similar story about George and Laura Bush? That's because there's no doubt about their feelings, #1, and #2, the Bush's didn't have to make their relationship a story.

The Clintons are truly pathetic and the thought of the Hildabeast in charge makes me want to vomit.

IPSC Jihad

Dirka Dirka Mohammed jihad!

This video will have you spewing Dr. Pepper all over your screen....

For geeks everywhere

Check out this vid of a meteorite hitting the moon. Pretty cool!

Phoenix sweats most but Miami suffers more

Phoenix on Wednesday was named the sweatiest city in the United States, but Miami topped the list as the most uncomfortable American city due to its mix of humidity and heat.

Obviously these people have never been to the armpit of Texas, most commonly referred to as Houston.

Busy busy

Sorry for the slow blogging on my part lately; luckily JR and the Big D are keeping things going....
Trying to keep up with a VERY active lab pup is certainly taking a toll on my blogging efforts the past few weeks!!

Here's some things I've been reading lately though that I thought you might enjoy:

And you thought bat wings were only something you saw in a James Bond or Batman movie?? Think again!!

Algore has been taking some pretty massive hits about his bogus global warming catastrophe. There's been two stories in the past couple of weeks, both solidly refuting the whole sky is falling BS that is spewed daily from the econazis.

Story 1 starts with one of the best introductory paragraphs ever:

You'll often hear the left lecture about the importance of dissent in a free society. Why not give it a whirl? Start by challenging global warming hysteria next time you're at a LoDo cocktail party and see what happens. Admittedly, I possess virtually no expertise in science. That puts me in exactly the same position as most dogmatic environmentalists who want to craft public policy around global warming fears.

The article goes on to quote a 1975 Newsweek article that states the following:

"Climatologists," reads the piece, "are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change. ... The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality."

But...... the article is not talking about global warming. No, dear reader, it's talking about a coming ICE AGE! Read the whole thing.

Story 2 has caused me to rethink my attitude about our friends to the north.

"Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply ncredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention.

You know, those of us here at the Tattler have been saying as much since day 1. It's good to see someone else reporting it. I'm taking bets as to how long we'll go before we see this reported, or even mentioned in the New York Times or on CNN.

And, on a gun related note, I installed - check that - Brad installed a new front sight on my Limited blaster yesterday - a Dawson fiber optic. I've tried a fiber optic before, 3-4 years ago and wasn't too thrilled with it. This fiber, though, is significantly smaller/thinner than the last blob of light I used so we'll see if I like it or not. In addition, I picked up this front sight off the prize table at a match last weekend so if it doesn't pan out I'm not out any $$$.Match report Saturday night...

Bugs Bunny sparks security alert

Here's a gun-related post for a change.

Ms. Vinnicombe, 34, was told the toy was technically a 'weapon' and would have to be registered at the firearms desk.

And what IS this scary "toy" gun? A pellet gun? An airsoft gun? A replica look-alike gun?

A girl of six triggered a security scare at an airport – with a pink Bugs Bunny water pistol rammed full of sweets.

A candy-filled, bright pink, Bugs Bunny water pistol. I can certainly see why the authorities were alarmed. It's a slippery slope from pink candy toy pistols to armed hijackers. Lord knows she fit the profile for terrorists.

A Cape Town airport spokeswoman insisted: 'It's better to be safe than sorry.'

Amen, Miss Airport Safety Lady. We can all sleep better tonight knowing that 6-year-old terrorists can't put one over on airport security.

Who's the Idiot of the Week?

I missed this one earlier this week. Looks like Terrell Owens is leading the polls by a wide margin.

And then there's Dallas Cowboy Terrell Owens, who ticked off fans of his new adopted city by wearing a Shaquille O'Neal Miami jersey at the Dallas-Miami game last night ... a day after showing up eight hours late for his own youth football camp!

Roethlisberger in hospital after motorcycle accident

Steelers quarterback , Ben Roethlisberger, who has said he dislikes wearing a motorcycle helmet, was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash and taken to a hospital Monday.

Over the course of my life I have, on many occasions, done a lot of things that were viewed by some people, as reckless and dangerous. I was lucky to make it through my teens without suffering serious injury. After growing into adulthood, I still did dangerous things, but after gaining a certain maturity I assessed everything with a risk vs. reward mindset, and did what I could to minimize the risk while still being able to enjoy the reward. I have been a motorcyclist since I was 16. Even back then I was smart enough to know that you need to wear a helmet. I know that wearing a helmet is a choice we all get to make, but let me put this as plainly as I can.

If you throw a leg over a motorcycle and you are not wearing a helmet, you are an idiot!

Gravity and the forces of nature are a bitch. When you are at their mercy, you have no control over what happens next. More than likely, your head will hit something that is harder. The harder object will win the battle and you will break the hearts of everybody in your life. I think the choice to not wear a helmet is more of a vanity thing than a freedom thing. Get over yourself and put on a damn helmet! If you choose not to wear a helmet, do somebody a favor and fill out your organ donor card.

Des Moines' well-endowed flood control

Because there can never be too many dick jokes:

City design with a vast difference

And this one:

The nearly four-acre basin was constructed about two years ago and "took some of the load off of the pipe downstream"

Man accused of crashing UBS servers

Note to management: do no piss off your IT staff.

He created the logic bomb which would delete all the files in the host server in the central data centre and then every server in every branch. Some 2,000 servers did go down and 400 branch offices were hit. Backup systems did not work and files were deleted.

"So what?," you might say.

A US court has heard how a disgruntled IT manager allegedly wiped out all UBS Paine Webber servers for a day leaving traders unable to trade because he was unhappy with his bonus.

Ouch.

Nonetheless, I don't feel sorry for this guy:

Roger Duronio was paid a salary of $125,000 by the bank and was expecting a bonus of $50,000. When he only got $32,000 he decided to take revenge on the bank, prosecutors claim.

I'm sure he'll get a dose of reality in Federal PMITA prison.

Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Killed in Air Raid

Adios, mother f*cker!

Study says millions have 'rage' disorder

I think the "researchers" that did this study missed the real cause of road rage. It's caused by stupid assholes who drive 50 mph in the left-hand lane, because the slow lane is apparently the left lane where they come from, those stupid bunch of inbred, 2 bucket-of-chicken-eating, cousin-marrying, mouth-breathing, trailer-dwelling pederasts, who shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car in the first place. Dammit. Of course, "scientists" have their own explanations:

Coccaro said the disorder involves inadequate production or functioning of serotonin, a mood-regulating and behavior-inhibiting brain chemical. Treatment with antidepressants, including those that target serotonin receptors in the brain, is often helpful, along with behavior therapy akin to anger management, Coccaro said.

Wait - you can get drugs for having this? Cool. But wait, there's more. This disorder has a name:

For a couple of decades, intermittent explosive disorder, or IED, has been included in the manual psychiatrists use to diagnose mental illness, though with slightly different names and criteria. That has contributed to misunderstanding and underappreciation of the disorder, said Coccaro, a study co-author.

IED. Where have I heard that before?

The Concealed Handgun Law: Ten Years Later

I missed this article when it came out - a friend referred me to it today. It's a testament to the effectiveness of the CHL laws in Texas, and a testament to the anti-gunner's folly.

Ten years later the facts paint a different picture. Texas under the Concealed Handgun Law isn’t the Wild West, but the Mild West. No recurrent shootouts at four-way stops, no blood in the streets. Quite the contrary, Texans are safer than before.

There are even stats to back this up:

Since the passage of the Concealed Handgun Law, the FBI Uniform Crime Report shows an 18% drop in handgun murders, down from 838 in 1995 to 688 in 2004. And a 32% drop in handgun murders per 100,000 population, down from 4.5 murders per 100,000 Texans in 1995 to 3.08 per 100,000 in 2004.

Not only that, but it proves those of us with CHLs are actually good, responsible citizens:

According to the report, the more than 200,000 Texans licensed to carry a concealed firearm are much more law-abiding than the average person.

The report illustrated that Texans who exercise their right to carry firearms are 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for a violent offense. They are 14 times less likely to be arrested for a non-violent offense. And they are 1.4 times less likely to be arrested for murder.

My favorite part of the whole article is the quote from John Holmes (no, not that John Holmes), former Harris County DA:

"As you know, I was very outspoken in my opposition to the passage of the Concealed Handgun Act. I did not feel that such legislation was in the public interest and presented a clear and present danger to law abiding citizens by placing more handguns on our streets," Holmes wrote. "Boy was I wrong. Our experience in Harris County, and indeed state-wide, has proven my initial fears absolutely groundless."

The biggest point of this whole article is that a government should spend more time legislating crime, and less time legislating law-abiding citizens.

MAVS ADVANCE TO THE NBA FINALS!

This is unbelievable. The Mavs second round of the playoffs against the Spurs was some of the best basketball I have ever had the pleasure to watch. The series with the Sun's had me riveted. Now the Mavericks will take on Shaq and the Heat in the NBA Finals. I can't wait!

Here is a great picture of Dirk making Tim Thomas his bitch.

Your tax dollars at work

As we enter yet another horrifying hurricane season (anyone panicked yet??!!), here's a little tale about a victim from Katrina last year, living on your (and mine) tax dollars...

After being flown here for free back in September, Johnson's been at the Holiday Inn since Super Bowl Sunday. On April 21, the hotel served Johnson with three notices of occupancy termination, saying that it would begin court proceedings if he wasn't out by May 9.

And poor Mr. Johnson has also received, in addition to free lodging and food, $9,000.

He's been broke for over a month now. fema sent him $9,000 in housing aid, but he spent it all on booze, cigarettes, some clothes, and food-partying, mostly.
"I spent my money just the way I wanted, and I think [fema] should send me some more," he says.

It gets better. The Holiday Inn, proving that no good deed goes unpunished, will likely end up PAYING Mr. Johnson to leave. The article speculates somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200.

So, to recap - our federal government flew (at no cost to Mr. Johnson) this scumbag to New York City. Put him up in a series of hotels, etc from the time of the hurricane in August last year till May. Fed him. Gave him 9K in spending money. Offered to fly him back home at no charge. He refused, using tenant law to continue to freeload off the Holiday Inn until they will eventually PAY him to leave.

You know, some people are just oxygen thieves.

Judge: It's Unconstitutional To Make Students Stand For Pledge

Wow, and people wonder why teachers are quitting the industry in droves? I can tell you this - it's why I'm not a teacher, and I actually went to college with every intention to get a job teaching when I got out...

"Cameron Frazier, then a 17-year-old junior, was told by teacher Cynthia Alexandre that he was "so ungrateful and so un-American" after he twice refused to stand for the pledge in her classroom Nov. 8, the lawsuit said."

Sounds to me like the teacher was doing a damn good job. Too bad the days of taking young Cameron outside to have his ass whipped are long gone.

And again, our dear friends in the ACLU continue to take steps to destroy this country.

Show some freaking respect people. We've got men and women fighting and dying right now for your right to stand up and recite the pledge every morning. The least you could do is honor their sacrifice by pledging your allegiance to the country that allows you to be such a dumbass.

And please, repeat after me, with feeling!

I pledge allegiance
to the Flag of the United States of America,
And to the Republic for which it stands:
One Nation Under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

Muslim terrorists? Not here!

In yet another case of shoddy reporting, we find out about a group of:

"Canadian teenagers and young men in their 20s, accused by police of being members of a suspected homegrown terrorist cell...."

Now, when you read that, just who do you picture in your mind's eye? I picture a group of white, anglo (or french) Canadians.

It's not till you get 4/5ths of the way down the article do you find out that islam is involved.

Heaven forbid we get a headline or lead paragraph that goes something like "Today, a group of islamic men were arrested for ties to terrorism." I'd hate to implicate that muslims have anything to do with terrorism or something like that (because we all know that islam is THE religion of peace) but hey, let's not let the facts help us to make up our own minds or anything like that.

And the news media wonders why their ratings and sales continue to decline. Whatever happened to just reporting the facts?

I am also curious as to how within days of each other, we have seen reports of large terror-related investigations in England - our closest ally in the Long War - and Canada - our neighbor to the north; but as of today, nothing brewing here in the good ole US of A. There have been large scale, and sweeping arrests in both countries - does this mean there's nothing going on stateside, or we just haven't caught 'em yet?

As Bill and Ted so eloquently stated, something's strange afoot at the Circle K.

Shatner Singing to Lucas

My nerd is showing, but this might well be one of the most awkward/funny things I've seen in a while.

Seniors and STD's

I think this is what they call the law of unintended consequences..... Mix in a little viagra with a retirement community and look what happens!!

Gun rags

We've joked here from time to time that there's never been a gun writer that met a gun he didn't like....

Get the inside story on how gun articles come together by clicking on the link.

Memorial Day

From a page on Memorial Day History:

"Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day.... It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all."

Surfing the web over the weekend, I couldn't find anything more fitting a tribute than what I found on Outlaw 13's blog. If you have a chance, give him a read - very thoughtful, well written, and he has some great pics posted online.

Here are his thoughts about today:

Some Names I'll Always Remember

CW2 Paul Timmer; CW3 Rex Kenyon; CW3 Chuck Fortenberry; As I'm sure you know it's Memorial Day weekend. And I'm sure we'll see gallons of ink spilled and entire forests decimated in the quest to tell us how we should all feel about the sacrifice of people like Paul, Rex and Chuck. If we are honest with ourselves those articles accomplish nothing, the people who really need those words will never read them and if they did the meaning of them would escape their grasp. If you are reading this the odds are good that you already appreciate the sacrifice of our soldiers in the cause of freedom... So I am in some respects preaching to the converted.What I intend to address is the issue of how we honor and remember the sacrifice of these and other soldiers. Having known these three guys pretty well I can say that they really wouldn't be going to any parades, wreath laying or any other type ceremony unless you forced them to... so I think the best way to honor these guys would be to do the things they would be doing if they were here today. At your BBQ have another Shiner Bock for Chuck, a burger for Paul and some chicken for Rex. See a ball game, go water skiing, go slow in the fast lane on the interstate. It's all these things (even things that piss you and me off) that these guys died to protect... if you want to honor them have some fun and when you get a second or two have a drink on Paul, Rex and Chuck.

I'll be hoisting a beer at 3pm - our National hour of remembrance. I hope you'll be joining me.

Bonds Passes Babe With Home Run No. 715

This really makes me sick. I blame Major League Baseball as much as I blame bonds. They let this go way too long without doing something about it. Before you know it, he will be passing Hank Aaron. Aaron weighed a whopping 159 pounds and didn't use any performance enhancing drugs. He was an honest man and a pure hitter who should not have his record broken by someone who is not only a cheater, but one of the sorriest pieces of shit in professional sports. It has been proven he cheated, so ban his sorry ass. If you aren't convinced just take a look at the two pictures below. One is a recent photo, the other is his rookie card.

A Puppy Update

Well, we've had a new puppy in the house for about 2 weeks now. Not too many messes just yet, although today she did manage to chew through my keyboard cable....

She's definitely more of an alpha female than she showed us when we picked her from her litter. She has our 2 year old Boston Terrier absolutely terrified, and over the weekend while visiting relatives, she bullied a male lab pup who was a week older than her without mercy.

I'm using Richard Wolter's outstanding guides on training working dogs. At 8 weeks plus 2 days, she's sitting on command 85% of the time, and has been doing very short, 3-5 feet retrieves with probably 99% success. I've introduced her to water, in the form of a shallow creek behind JR's house, and she's finally accepting her confinement in her crate without endless crying and whining. Wolter's work was revolutionary 30 years ago or so, and it continues to be the standard. Long story short, bring the pup into your family as early as possible, and give the pup lots and lots of love and attention. For the next 3+ weeks, she'll be in what Wolters calls "pre school", with lots of learning involved revolving around the basic commands you'll use later. Very little discipline is involved, other than with the pup learning what "NO" means - but right now it's all fun and games. At 12 weeks, "school" starts for real with actual consequences for bad behavior and when the real learning starts.

I think next week we'll work on sit/stay and get her back into some deeper water where she'll have to actually swim, rather than just wallow around in it!

And of course, what would a talk about a puppy be without a picture??

Where was this beer can?

Felony Chicken

One whole chicken.

One can of beer - see above pic.

Garlic, limes, poultry seasoning.

Your favorite BBQ rub.

Take your chicken. Make sure it's defrosted, and the giblets are removed.

Fire up your BBQ grill, drink 1/2 of a beer. Rub the outside of the chicken generously with your BBQ rub. Sprinkle poultry seasoning on the inside of the birds.

Crush and dump one clove of garlic into each can. It's going to fizz, it's okay.

Split your lime into quarters and place two quarters on top of the can of beer.

Grease the outside of your beer can, and insert your chicken onto the beer can, so that the two legs of the chicken form a tripod with the beer can being the third leg.

Carefully place the upright chickens on the grill, close the lid and cook until the juice runs clear at the joints.

Carefully remove the chicken and can from the grill and very carefully un-violate the chicken. Slice and serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I found this splendid little recipie on the Law Dog's page I made a couple of minor changes - I made up a little basting sauce of olive oil, Cabela's Kansas City Rub, a pinch or two of chipotle ground red pepper and brushed that on at the beginning, and then about every 30 minutes while it was cooking.

Cooked it in my smoker at between 175 and 250 degrees, depending on when I went out to check on the smoker. About 4.5 hours was just perrrrrfect.

Huge White Cock

The Girl and I drove to Wichita Falls today to shoot the "Front Side Championship" at Double Tap Ranch. It's my birthday, and I like to grant one wish to a friend. Since she was nice enough to ride with me, I decided to give her that wish.

I asked what she'd like, and, well...here it is.

Man, 33, marries woman, 104

A 33-year-old man in northern Malaysia has married a 104-year-old woman, saying mutual respect and friendship had turned to love, a news report said. It was Muhamad Noor Che Musa's first marriage and his wife's 21st,

I hope he has a pair of leather gloves and an oyster shucker for the honeymoon. He'll need them.

Dog Rescues Boy, 9, From Colorado River

A Labrador retriever rescued a 9-year-old survivor of hurricane Katrina from a river after the boy's raft hit a log and he fell overboard, authorities said.
The 2-year-old Lab, named Zion, jumped in the river and swam to Ryan after he began screaming for help, said Chelsea Bennett, 13, the dog's owner. Ryan held on to Zion as the dog swam back to the bank.

Now that is a good puppy dog.

Texas to Soon Have Country's Highest Speed Limit

WOO HOO! We win!

Several hundred miles of Interstates 10 and 20 in west Texas will soon have the highest posted speed limits in the country. A measure which takes effect next month will allow Tex-DOT to raise the speed limit to 80 miles an hour on Interstate 10 between Kerr and Culverson counties, and on Interstate 20 in Ward and Culberson counties.

"One of the fascinating things we've already learned from raising the speed limit from 70 to 75 is that the accident and fatality rate has actually gone down in those counties, because people get where they're going faster."

Man Arrested For Robbing Round Rock Bank

From the other JR in Round Rock, where this master criminal operated:

"After receiving an undisclosed amount of cash, Gunn calmly sat in the bank lobby.

The police department is located half a block from the bank and police were able to close off the area around the bank. Traffic was rerouted around the bank for under an hour, police say."

Maybe he was just unclear on the whole bank-robbing concept...

Members of the SWAT team entered the bank and Gunn surrendered. No weapon was used during the robbery and no one was injured.

Strippers Fight Outside Burning Club; At Least One Arrested

There is a headline you don't see every day.

A huge fire gutted a Metro East adult entertainment club Thursday evening. It happened at C-Mowes Show Club, located at 111th and Forest Avenue in Washington Park, Il.

The video is a little funny, but they should have named the club Mowes House Of Bruises and Track Marks.

Florida teen does good

Just when you're starting to worry about the future of our country, a story like this comes along. The kid did good!!

Not pissed yet? Read on.

Still not pissed at the way the United States Senate is destroying the United States by pandering to the open borders/illegal crowd? Take a gander at this amendment, passed IN A FREAKING REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED SENATE. YES, I'M PISSED! H/T to Michelle Malkin, who continues to be all over the fiasco that is the US Senate's immigration bill.

"Senator Dodd's S.Amdt.4089 contains the following language:
(b) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.--Consultations between United States and Mexican authorities at the federal, state, and local levels concerning the construction of additional fencing and related border security structures along the United States-Mexico border shall be undertaken prior to commencing any new construction, in order to solicit the views of affected communities, lessen tensions and foster greater understanding and stronger cooperation on this and other important issues of mutual concern."

"S.Amdt.4188 - Specter: Managers' amendment, a collection of amendments, including Dodd's S.Amdt.4089 that requires local, state and federal governments to consult with Mexican counterpart authorities before commencing new construction, was PASSED on a 56 - 41 vote."

We had all better start calling our Congressmen. It's clear the Senate, even a Republican controlled one, is lost to the dark side.

German Farmer To Auction Toilet Seat Used By Paris Hilton

An enterprising German farmer is hoping to cash in on a recent Paris Hilton restroom break at his home by auctioning off the toilet seat she sat on. Hilton was caught short on a recent helicopter flight in Europe and demanded the pilot land his toilet-free chopper. The farmer, who offered up his toilet, is now looking to auction the seat his celebrity guest sat on.

I'd be framing that thing and hanging it above the fireplace.

Trooper Stuck in Concrete During Chase

A chase through a construction zone landed a state police cruiser in wet concrete Wednesday afternoon. The van it was chasing crashed farther up the highway and the driver, who fled on foot, was then hit by a tractor-trailer.

Nice work, boys.

The Media fails. Once again.

Anyone surprised you don't see this story on CNN? Didn't think so.

Read it all.

And pass it on.

H/T to Outlaw13, recently back from Betty Ford, where he lost 15 pounds and incinerated countless pieces of plywood into oblivion. Or maybe he was out training. Yeah, that was it.... ;)

Woman's Toes Licked By Man Hiding Under Car

This one's for my pals in the Tulsa PD. Crime strikes in the most unlikely places.

I felt something lick my foot," the woman said. "I looked at him and I said, 'What in the hell are you doing?' And that's exactly what I said, 'What are you doing?'

Seems obvious to me. Duh.

The Four Rules - Absolutes?

The Four Rules

1. All firearms are loaded

2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy

3. Keep your finger off the trigger unless your sights are on the target

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

There's been a bit of talk going on about the 4 rules of firearm safety. I'd like to open this up for discussion. While I do agree that under most situations, these rules ARE absolute. However, there are times that they are NOT.

For example, #2. I have heard of a few occasions from police types that their new officers are so beat down about never ever pointing a gun at a person that when it comes time for them to do so in the course of their job, they can't do it; or struggle mentally to do so. I can also think of a scenario where a loved one is being held hostage in your home - you arrive home from work and hear screaming, run to see what's going on and there's a man holding a gun/knife/whatever to your significant other's head. You ARE going to end up pointing your gun at your spouse if you choose to engage the threat. Are you going to not do so; in order that you may stick with rule #2?

Concerning rule #3. Let's say that you have 2 bad guys, with a hostage/spouse/whatever between them. Are you going to engage bad guy #1, somehow avoid pointing your pistol at the hostage in the middle and thereby violating rule #2, take your finger completely off the trigger and then re-engage the trigger when the muzzle has been moved to bad guy #2? Granted, your chances of EVER having to do this are probably less than getting struck by lightening, but to say that a scenario such as this would be impossible would be kidding yourself. Instead of the old standby of "keep your finger off the trigger" I like better the concept that the most basic skill you must master in shooting is properly controlling the trigger. If you learn to properly control the trigger, you're well on your way to mastering the skill of shooting.

Concerning #4. The body must be an acceptable bullet trap. I by no means advocate or advise anyone to spray and pray, whether it's at a match or on the street. I would also like to think that I would have the ability to figure out pass through angles, etc if I am ever unfortunate enough to be involved in a shooting. However, I would also like to think that the bullets I choose to carry will not over-penetrate the target and I'm not going to spend a lot of time worrying about it if it comes down to nut cuttin' time.

There are other rules that bear consideration.

Let's say you have a squib round. If you're at the practice range, or the match - you are instantly (if the safety officer is paying attention) told to stop. However, what are you going to do in a life or death scenario? I don't know about you, but I'm pulling the trigger again and hoping the stuck round makes it out the barrel. For the record, I HAVE seen that happen and know it's possible.

Let's say you have a jam. The mother of all jams. Slide's stuck and won't come back, no matter how hard you tap/rack/click/tap/rack/click.... The usual fix for this (and don't try this at home children, without me actually showing you how to do it) is to grasp the top of the slide with your weak hand, and then smash your strong hand into the grip of the pistol. 99% of the time, that works. But let's say you're in a gunfight - and you don't have time! I once saw an honest to goodness old school lawman do this one time in a match - I NEVER would have thought about doing it to my weapons. He was behind cover engaging the targets. Gun jammed as described. He spent countless seconds trying to clear it. He then gripped the gun tightly with both hands and punched the barrel he was hiding behind with the muzzle of his pistol. The shooter calmly racked the slide, ejected the stuck case, and started shooting again. (in the process violating rule #2 - I'm sure he didn't plan to destroy the barrel).

I think the 4 rules are a fantastic guideline for life at the range, or around your house, or out hunting with your friends or just about anywhere in your day to day life that you'll be touching a gun.

But in a gunfight, they could also get you killed.

I'll close with a couple of quotes, one from a movie, and one from someone who's been there, done that and has the t-shirt, scars, and medals to prove it. First, from the movie Blackhawk Down - "My finger is my safety." And from a warrior - "I don't want shooters who can think. I want thinkers who can shoot." Hope this gets YOU thinking.

U.S. man seeks $1.6 mln in dead dog suit

I gotta get me one of those dead dog suits...

Seriously, don't they have proofreaders at major news agencies?

READ MY LIPS: NO NEW AMNESTY

Once again, Ann Coulter hits the nail right on the head.

On the bright side, if President Bush's amnesty proposal for illegal immigrants ends up hurting Republicans and we lose Congress this November, maybe the Democrats will impeach him and we'll get Cheney as president. At least Bush has dropped his infernal references to slacker Americans when talking about illegal immigrants. In his speech Monday night, instead of 47 mentions of "jobs Americans won't do," Bush referred only once to "jobs Americans are not doing" — which I take it means other than border enforcement and intelligence-gathering at the CIA. For the record, I'll volunteer right now to clean other people's apartments if I don't have to pay taxes on what I earn. Also, someone must have finally told Bush that the point about America being a "nation of immigrants" is moronic. All nations are "nations of immigrants" — as Peter Brimelow pointed out brilliantly in his 1992 article in National Review on immigration, which left nothing for anyone else to say (Time to Rethink immigration? ). Of the "nation of immigrants" locution, Brimelow says: "No discussion of U.S. immigration policy gets far without someone making this helpful remark. As an immigrant myself, I always pause respectfully. You never know. Maybe this is what they're taught to chant in schools nowadays, a sort of culticultural Pledge of Allegiance. ... Do they really think other nations sprouted up out of the
ground?" Brimelow then ran through the Roman, Saxon, Viking, Norman-French, Welsh and Celtic immigrant influences in Britain alone. Instead of a moratorium on new immigration, I'd settle for a moratorium on the use of the expression "We're a nation of immigrants." Throw in a ban on "Diversity is our strength" and you've got my vote for life. Bush has also apparently learned that the word "amnesty" does not poll well. On Monday night, he angrily denounced the idea of amnesty just before proposing his own amnesty program. The difference between Bush's amnesty program and "amnesty" is: He'd give amnesty only to people who have been breaking our laws for many years — not just a few months. (It's the same program that allows Ted Kennedy to stay in the Senate.) Bush calls this the "rational middle ground" because it recognizes the difference between "an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently and someone who has worked here for many years." Yes, the difference is: One of them has been breaking the law longer. If our criminal justice system used that logic, a single murder would get you the death penalty, while serial killers would get probation. Bush claimed the only other alternative — I assume this is the "irrational extreme" — is "a program of mass deportation." Really? Is the only alternative to legalizing tax cheats "a program of mass arrest of tax cheats"? This is the logic of the pro-abortion zealots (aka "the Democratic Party"): Either lift every single restriction on abortion or ... every woman in America will be impregnated by her father and die in a back-alley abortion! Those are your only two answers? Do you need another minute? How about the proposal made on
Brimelow's Web site, Vdare.com, that illegal immigrants be told they have two months to leave the country voluntarily and not have their breaking of our immigration laws held against them when they apply for citizenship from their home countries — or not leave and be banned from U.S. citizenship forever? Or how about just not giving illegal aliens green cards — as Bush is proposing — and deport them when we catch them? Instead of choosing immigrants based on the longevity of their lawbreaking, another idea is to choose the immigrants we want, for example, those who speak English or have special skills. (And by "special skills" I don't mean giving birth to an anchor baby in a border-town emergency room.) Why not use immigration the way sports teams use the draft — to upgrade our roster? We could take our pick of the world's engineers, doctors, scientists, uh ... smoking-hot Latin guys who stand around not wearing shirts between workouts. Or, you know, whatever ... As Peter Brimelow says in his book AlienNation: Common Sense About America's Immigration Disaster, why not choose immigrants who are better than us? Bush thinks it's not fair to favor people with special skills — a policy evidenced by his Harriet Miers pick. How about this: It's not fair to want to go out with someone just because that person is attractive and has a good personality because it discriminates against people who are ugly with bad social skills! That's our immigration policy. Press "1" for English; press "2" for a new president ...

COPYRIGHT 2006 ANN COULTER

Edited by JR:

Two Saudi men arrested for boarding school bus to Wharton High School

I'm sure this was just a harmless mistake.

I'm sure it wasn't something akin to a dry run or anything like that.

And just what the hell was wrong with the bus driver that LET these guys on the bus?

Nagin Wins Re-Election As Big Easy Mayor

Stupid is as stupid does. You asked for it, New Orleans - you got it. While Ray's sipping Starbucks and champagne, you will continue to dig yourself out from the rubble on your own.

If you haven't seen New Orleans lately, you owe yourself a trip there for some sightseeing. You won't believe your eyes. Most of the city still looks like the hurricane happened last week.

As for all the absentee votes that were cast - why don't you people go home already?

JS Online:Editorial: There is a middle ground

Here we go again. The NRA's convention is in Milwaukee. The local news has an op-ed piece on "reasonable gun control," and couches it in phrases of civility and good-natured "can't we all just get along" rhetoric. Then they spoil their "reasonable" approach with an insipid statement like this:

What we do have a hard time buying is that military-style, semiautomatic weapons are essential to the right to hunt. Yet in backing a federal ban on such weapons, we find ourselves accused of trying to outlaw all guns. These rapid-fire weapons are a favorite of organized gangs and mass killers and a peril to law officers. So as we see it, the NRA's successful lobbying to lift that ban aids the bad guys.

One more time: the Second Amendment to the Constitution does not guarantee a right to hunt. It guarantees a right to keep and bear arms. It's real simple. As for those dastardly military-style semi-automatic weapons, keep your stinkin' hands off mine. I don't need a reason for having one. I have a right to have one. You don't have a right to take it away. End of debate.

Now go enforce the laws we already have too many of.

Do You Know What This Picture Is?

A friend of mine sent me this email. I found very interesting. I looked it up on snopes and confirmed that it is true. This is just sickening.

The email pretty much says it all.

I thought this might just interest some of y'all.. I think it's noteworthy!
Obviously, it's a picture in a cemetery. What cemetery and whose grave? Yes, it's sadly the grave of Casey Sheehan. After two years, and a DOD payment of $250,000 life insurance to the "Peace Mom", she has not had the time or bothered to have a headstone placed on this young hero's grave, and she doesn't even have to pay for one. The DOD will provide one: "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) furnishes upon request, at no charge to the applicant, a government headstone or marker for the grave of any deceased eligible veteran in any cemetery around the world. For all deaths occurring before September 11, 2001, the VA may provide a headstone or marker only for graves that are not marked with a private headstone. Flat markers in granite, marble, and bronze and upright headstones in granite and marble are available. The style chosen must be consistent with existing monuments at the place of burial. Niche markers are also available to mark columbaria used for internment of cremated remains."
She can find time to protest on at least 3 continents, get arrested various times, go on vacation in Hawaii, have photo ops with the Marxists in Venezuela but can't seem to find the time to properly mark her son's grave.
oh yea - Cindy Sheehan recently treated herself to a brand new Volkswagen Beetle convertible. She still can't be bothered to order a grave marker for her son.

Pink Taco Restaurant Name Causes Stir

Nearly half a dozen people in the upscale city recently expressed their objection to the name, claiming it's a derogatory slang term for a portion of the female anatomy.

These are the same people who objected to some restaurants and other businesses in the past that included "The Bearded Clam", " We Have Crabs", "The Red Snapper", "Bunghole Liquors", "The Hot Spot", "The Promised Land", "Meat Pockets", "The Finger Hut", "Joe's Crab Shack", and "Jack in the Box".

Restaurant spokeswoman Lisa Perez said the company's name comes from one of its menu items.

I am sure the place will be a big hit with the lesbian community. They love to eat out.

New addition to the Catfish Family

Two months ago, I had to put my 7 year old hunting buddy, the most wonderful dog I've ever owned, down. She had bone cancer and I wasn't about to put her through months of chemo and amputation - she was too good of a dog to have to deal with that.

Today, we have a new pup to fill some very big shoes. As it stands now, she's scoring high on cuteness factor. Time will tell on the rest, but we're sure going to give it a good shot.

Here's a couple of gratuitous puppy pics.

I will, of course, post updates as we get into the training program!

Florida alligators kill 3 women in a week

Omigosh. This is worse than the bird flu. It's a gator epidemic.

As a general rule, I tend to avoid vacation spots where the wildlife CAN EAT YOU.

"You just don't think of your daughter dying from an alligator,” Ms. Campbell's mother, Dawn Marie Yankeelov, told the newspaper.

To say that quote is obvious would be...well, too obvious.

However, this might help:

Gary Goodrich, Ms. Cooper's brother-in-law, told the newspaper that officials said her purse was found near the water and drugs may have played a factor.

Thank goodness for the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission:

Florida residents are warned not to swim in heavily vegetated areas, feed wildlife or walk pets near the water, especially between dusk and dawn when gators are more active, Mr. Morse said.

Seems to me it's not the wildlife that needs conservation here...

Bears Eat Monkey in Dutch Zoo

Now, if you want to get my money, I expect something in return. Those Dutch have legal prostitution, legal drugs, and in the entertainment trifecta, monkey-eating bears. If they didn't talk so funny, I'd consider going there.

Wonder if it tasted like chicken...

Name that ship!

Hloy Siht!

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!

My life as a grammar/spelling nazi is over.

Charlie's Angels

It's been awhile since we've done a dedicated 'gun post' and this is one that I've been contemplating for a while.

Today I'll talk about a pet peeve of mine when watching new (and sometimes experienced) shooters move. Largely, I blame it on Hollywood, but there's some blame to go around to the gun rags as well - most of which may know a lot about guns, but not much about shooting. I love seeing a picture of some gun rag author talking about how controllable the recoil is on a given pistol, and the picture shows the gun in full recoil with the muzzle pointed straight up in the air, but I digress.

Today we will discuss about something that we have affectionately termed "Charlie's Angels". Charlie's Angels is where you move from point A to point B with the gun pointed straight up in the air, ala the old Charlie's Angels posters. It looks something like this:

Inevitably, the same people that do this also have their trigger finger wrapped squarely around the trigger, just like the Hollywood movie heroes.

I'll be blunt. Don't do this. There are several reasons.

1. The threat, or the target, will practically never be above your head. They are going to be somewhere in front of you, if you are paying attention. By pointing the gun in the air, you are wasting valuable time that you do not have to waste in either a gunfight or in a match. It's a bad plan.
2. What IS likely to be above you are people you care about if you are in an office building, or a home with 2 stories. If you have an AD with the gun pointed above your head, that's a bad thing if you're at an office or home environment, not to mention outdoors in an urban setting like where our range is. Gravity being what it is, the round will HAVE to land somewhere, and Mr. Murphy says it will hit something you'd rather it not hit. It's a bad plan.
3. If you happen to trip and fall while moving from point A to point B, and your gun is pointed up, it's awfully easy to wind up pointing the gun at your own head and having an AD while you're trying to catch yourself on the way down. If you trip and fall into a barricade, the gun will hit you in the head or face. It's a bad plan.
4. If a bad guy happens upon you with your gun pointed at the ceiling, it's a simple matter of physics and control to push the pistol into your face, keeping the barrel pointed up, while his other hand is either shooting you, cutting you, or hitting you in your now unprotected belly. It's a bad plan.

The gun is either in the holster, or it's pointed downrange. Period. This is assuming that you, as a responsible shooter, have absolute control over your trigger finger. If you don't, then you don't need to be carrying a gun. I cannot tell you how many times authors on this blog have slipped, tripped, or just fell on their own accord (JR) while running with a gun in their hand and have not had an AD.

Here's a better example of a low ready, or ready gun (whatever you want to call it) that will serve you much better than Charlie's Angels:

If I need to from this position, I can take the shot. I am also in very little danger of having my gun taken away from me or controlled by an opponent. If I am unfortunate enough to slip, fall, or have an AD, the round will have very little chance of striking me. If you're moving more than 3-4 steps, you can take your weak hand off the gun and haul ass - but your strong hand and the gun will stay essentially in the same position you see here.

If you're pointing the gun up when you move, I really hope you stop doing it. And you damn sure won't be doing it when I'm the Safety Officer or Match Director. If you want to shoot yourself, do it on your own time.

Claude Lelouch: Rendezvous

This is amazing. I can't believe in all my years, that I am just now seeing this. The video is 10 minutes long and worth watching all the way through. The driving is fantastic, but hearing the Ferrari's V12 sing is even better.

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris. The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.
No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit. The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.
Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground until a DVD release a few years ago.

MUSIC CITY USA DUKEFEST!

Speaking of Hillbilly White Trash.

Celebrate one of America's best-loved television shows with two days of music, car stunts and fun for the entire family. Show your love for the Dukes of Hazzard with your dedicated car. And of course, it wouldn't be DukesFest without the General Lee.

Don't miss the "Mullet Contest", "Redneck Bikini and Camel Toe Contest", and the ever popular "Pickled Pig's Foot Eating Contest". Sign up early to get your camping spot!

REGISTER NOW FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP TO CMT DUKESFEST 2006 ALONG WITH A VIP MEET AND GREET WITH THE CAST OF THE DUKES OF HAZARD.

Ex-Teacher Still Jailed After Strip Video

Hot for teacher? Damn straight.

A Tennessee teacher is being held without bail after she allegedly sent a strip-tease video to her former student.

Video may not be safe for work. No nudity, but unbelievable hotness and gratuitous ass shaking.

The video was allegedly shot after Rogers was arrested and remanded to her own custody for using a MySpace Web site to contact the boy.
Rogers spent six months in jail for having sex with a 13-year-old student was arrested in April, for violating probation by apparently communicating with the victim.

Hillbilly White Trash: The Ecosystem grows

We're hot stuff now. We're brand-new members of the Hillbilly Ecosystem. Yeee-haaa!

Ariz. Posse to Round Up Illegal Immigrants

Now this is what I call a pretty smart move. Since it's quite obvious the Federal government is going to do nothing to stop the flood of illegal immigrants into our country, the State of Arizona passed a law making it illegal to smuggle humans across the border.

The law made human smuggling a state crime in Arizona - it was already a federal crime - allowing local law enforcement agencies to arrest suspected smugglers. It was meant to crack down on smugglers, but under a disputed interpretation, County Attorney Andrew Thomas argues the law can be applied to the smuggled immigrants themselves.

Once again, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is making headlines:

"I'm going to catch as many as I can and throw them in my jail," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "And the jails are not that nice."

Why is it that a little Sheriff out in the desert gets it, but the fat cats of both parties in Washington don't?

As you would expect, some lousy, flea bit, slip and fall lawyer has threatened suit against the Sheriff, but the Sheriff's not backing down:

"I get sued when I go to the toilet. You think I'm worried about it?" he said. "If they think I'm going to slow down because of these threats, I've got news for them - I'm not going to slow down. I'll do more of it."

The whining is endless, with illegal - no - I mean, undocumented immigrant's rights groups stating that "every act like this contributes to the angst and anger and desperation in our community...." waaah waaaah waaaaaah. I suppose that our angst and anger that the horde of illegals crossing into our country creates doesn't mean anything, right?

I really don't give a shit, if it hurts the feelings of the illegal immigrant community and fortunately for the citizens of Maricopa County in Arizona, neither does the Sheriff. Now if only we could get something like this going here in Texas....

Man charged in dildo assault

A 37-year-old man remained in police custody Tuesday, charged with a violent assault against his former girlfriend. He has testified that his only weapon was a dildo.
"It lasted 10 to 15 minutes, max," he told the court. "I didn't hit her with anything other than a dildo."
He also suggested the woman may have had bruises from before the assault. "She doesn't tolerate much because of anorexia."

We're a Large Mammal

It's been a while, but we're back in the ranks of Large Mammals in TTLB's ecosystem. We're presently ranked #708 of all the blogs tracked there (which is most of them). Not too shabby for a little Texas blog.

I still think they're measure of average visits is WAY wrong (we get about 1200 visits/hits a day - they say only 40), but I'll take what I can get.

Moussaoui recants testimony

Moussaoui to Judge: "I changed my mind. I don't want to go to Federal PMITA prison."

Judge to Moussaoui: "Suck it."

It's Bush's Fault!

Wall Street barreled higher Friday, sending the Dow Jones industrials up 138 points to a new six-year high

Oh, wait. That's good when the stock market goes up, isn't it?

The Dow rose 138.88, or 1.21 percent, to 11,577.74, its best showing since the Dow reached its all-time high of 11,722.98 on Jan. 14, 2000.

I guess terms like "best showing" and "all-time high" are good, right?

I'm sure there's a reason why this is due to the Democrats, but they're too busy blaming the Administration for everything that's wrong in the world.

Ocho

Wilson has maintained his innocence since being charged in the crime.

What this news article doesn't talk about is the victim's family, the prosecutors, and the investigators on the case. They watched the execution, too, and talked about the incontrovertible evidence that led to this monster's conviction.

Jackie Wilson, 39, was condemned for taking Maggie Rhodes to a field on November 30, 1988, and raping and suffocating her. Wilson then drove over the girl's body.

Not one single tear was shed in that room. This guy apparently died a liar, still in denial of the crime he committed.

Wilson's DNA was found on the girl's body. His fingerprints were found on the apartment's broken bedroom window and Rhodes' hair was found in and on the underside of the car Wilson was driving.

The girl was 5 years old, taken from her bedroom in Arlington, TX.

There's one less monster in the world.

Pharaoh's Phallus Phound

Evidently, King Tut's weiner was believed to be missing.

There was speculation that it had been stolen and sold to a private collector. There are people who do collect such things.

Yes, they're called "wives."

In any event, it was there all along. I don't suppose Tut will be making any Enzyte commercials soon...

Man With Prosthetic Legs, Deaf Man Brawl

Hisey, who has two prosthetic legs, stopped his car at the Porter County Airport, got out and used his walker to go around to the passenger side, where he grabbed Mills to pull him from the car, police said.

Mills allegedly pushed Hisey to the ground, causing him to hit his head.

Okay, there are just waaay too many smart-assed comments for this one.

I'll open this up to our readers.

The Korea Times : Korean Scientists Develop Female Android

From a distance, the android could be confused with a real, flesh and blood human being, according to Baeg.

After a few beers, so could my wife.

But can she cook? And what, exactly, makes her female? That's the part that makes me wonder about these Korean scientists...

Video Shows Al-Zarqawi Fumbling With Rifle

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S. command, mocked al- Zarqawi as the previously unseen footage showed a smiling al-Qaida leader first firing single shots from a U.S.-made M-249 light machine gun. A frown creeps across al-Zarqawi's face as the weapon appears to jam. He looks at the rifle, confused, then summons another fighter.

I'd like to join in on the mockery, too. I watched the video. This hero of islam is nothing more than a paper tiger, and leaves the dirty work to slavish drones who've been brainwashed into executing innocent women and children.

And they're smart, too:

His fellow fighters and associates appear similarly inept in the newly released footage. One reaches out to grab a just-fired weapon by the barrel, apparently unaware that it would burn his hand. The camera quickly pans to the ground and then away.

Nice New Balance shoes and pickup truck, Al. Watch the fun for yourself.

Constant Sexual Arousal Plagues NorCal Woman

Lund has a rare sexual disorder. Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome. She suffers from unrelenting sexual arousal.

Rare, my ass. It's called being a man.

Maid Of Honor Takes Bullet During Bouquet Toss

"I didn't hear anything. I just knew I had a hole in my arm," said Campbell. "It was painful, but it wasn't terrible, but it did feel like I was shot. There was really no other way to describe it."

Texas women. A hot girl who can take a bullet - why's she only the maid of honor?

Dean fires Dems' gay outreach chief

It looks like Dean discharged the gay Hitchcock because his boyfriend was a pain in the ass. This leads to new blood near the bottom of the DNC.

Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean fired the party's gay outreach adviser Donald Hitchcock on May 2 less than a week after Hitchcock's domestic partner, Paul Yandura, a longtime party activist, accused Dean of failing to take adequate steps to defend gay rights.

More insanity

You have to wonder just what the hell is wrong with 3 jurors on the Moussaui trial. I couldn't give a rat's ass whether or not his father beat him, whether or not he was the runt in school and everyone made fun of him and ruined his self esteem. That is not an excuse for being a terrorist thug. Period.

This scumbag needs to be taken to the back of the barn, shot, and then thrown to the pigs as a lesson to the rest of his ilk.

But instead, because of 3 idiot jurors, the scumbag gets to live off our prison system for the rest of his life. Again, your tax dollars at work.

Our system's failure to dole out justice in this case is sickening.

TxDOT

Whatever rocket scientist in TxDOT that decided it was a brilliant idea to shut down two left lanes of traffic tonight south of the Lake Lewisville Bridge, and two right lanes on the bridge itself needs to have a serious ass whipping.

It's probably the same dumbass who was responsible for the FUBAR'd overpass problem at 407 where it crosses I35E - the two opposing sides of the overpass were only a foot or two off center, and the whole project had to be started over from scratch.

Your tax dollars at work folks.

GasBuddy.com - Find Low Gas Prices in Your City

This is pretty handy (for those who haven't seen it already).

Bank heist heroes get rewarded

I never get to shoot anybody, much less make 500 bucks from it. From Paris, Texas, where good old-fashioned justice still prevails:

A Paris man who used his bicycle to chase a suspect in a bank robbery and a Slabtown man who shot the suspect later that day were rewarded Friday with five crisp $100 bills.

Another story you won't read in the MSM

Excellent read from the Marine Corps Times. Gee, I wonder why it hasn't been picked up by the New York Times??

For some reason, the image they described of Zarqawi cracked me up - black PJ's and New Balance running shoes. I guess that's because the little rat is really good at running and hiding?

It would appear that the guys at the tip of the spear respect Zarqawi as an adversary; they speak volumes of his leadership ability and his willingness to lead from the front. It is also interesting to note that they're focusing on Zarqawi and not Bin Laden. Makes sense to me. At least Zarqawi has the balls to show his mug on video, compared to Bin Laden. But hey, what could you expect from someone who targets innocent people going to work or on vacation?

At the end of the article, a key question is asked:

The U.S. knows of “high-tier” al-Qaida personnel in multiple European countries, he said. “They’re around the world ... The point is, does the U.S. have the resolve … to go conduct a unilateral operation to get these folks?”

Listening to the libbys whine and pander to our enemies, I really have to wonder. I know I have the resolve, as well as the bulk of people that I know. But I hang around gun toting, right minded individuals. Sadly, I know not everyone is like that.

GYLLENHAAL OFFENDS GULF WAR VETERANS

Here's a newsworthy item. Jake Gyllenhole, who played a Marine in the movie Jarhead, has gone and shot his mouth off. Quoth the cornhole cowboy:

"The US soldiers were sent to the desert for 122 days and they sat in the same tent and did nothing, except a little too much masturbating."

Typical Hollywood, confusing crappy movies with reality.

I don't reckon he'll be making the next USO tour.

OOPS! St. Pete Police taser one of their own

This is truly a great news story.

One cop was waving a golf club, acting as a threatening criminal.

Two officers in patrol cars nearby heard over the police radio, there was trouble in the area.

So from the time they heard the broadcast, to when they arrived, they thought they were dealing with a crazed suspect.

Bill Profitt, St. Petersburg Police Spokesman:
"They saw him make a threatening move with a golf club towards one of the officers. They issued a verbal warning, 'taser' he didn't respond. So they tasered him."

Safe to say, it's a good thing the cop who was in on the drill wasn't using a gun.

Also, according to the original story, there were 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers there, doing a ride-along. Like that had anything to do with anything.

Amazing shot cited as self-defense

Click on the link above, and read the story. See anything wrong?

The officers ordered the man to drop the gun. Instead, police said, he squared up against them. 'The officers returned fire in response to that deadly threat,' Kimerer said.
Both officers, armed with Glock .40 caliber semi-automatic handguns, fired. One fired four shots; the second, three shots.
One of those bullets ended up in the gunman's gun -- jammed into the cylinder of his revolver. The department released photos Wednesday showing the cracked brass of a bullet shoved out of the rear of one chamber.
Fire medics arrived but were unable to revive the man.

I'm going to have to assume, because the story doesn't actually say it, that the police struck and killed the gunman, too. Not one mention that they shot the perp, just a lot of fascination over the fact that they shot his stupid wheel gun.

Nice reporting. No, I mean really. They're being so nice in the news these days, you'd have a hard time recognizing that a bad guy was shot and killed for squaring off against 2 police officers. I suppose I shouldn't expect too much from a Seattle news source. Here's the first indication that something bad happened to the gunman:

Wednesday, the King County Medical Examiner's Office had yet to release the identity of the gunman and were still trying to notify his next of kin. Kimerer said the man turned 18 about a month ago.

I guess that at least one of the 7 rounds fired actually found their target. Incidentally, the gun wasn't the target.

I suppose the other interesting observation about this incident is the fact that in a deadly force confrontation, you focus on the threat. When you're aiming a gun, what are you looking at? The person holding it? Nope. In fact, a large number of gun-on-gun confrontations involve the gun being shot, because that's what the shooter's focused on.

Press corpse

This is not a spoof! Actual transcript of a member of our beloved press corpse whining and sniveling that the TV's are tuned in to Fox... H/T to Michelle Malkin.

What a pathetic example of the mindset of the people that are supposed to objectively report the news to us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q It's come to my attention that there's been requests -- this is a serious question -- to turn these TVs onto a station other than Fox, and that those have been denied. My question would be, is there a White House policy that all government TVs have to be tuned to Fox?
MR. McCLELLAN: Never heard of any such thing. My TVs are on fourdifferent channels at all times.
Q Because you have four different TVs. But every time I've ever been --
MR. McCLELLAN: Every TV in the White House also has channels every --has a split screen, where they can --
Q Well, they always seem to be tuned to Fox, and there's been requests,and these are paid for by taxpayer dollars. And my understanding is thatyou guys have to watch Fox on Air Force One. Is that true?
MR. McCLELLAN: First time I've ever heard of it. First time you'vebrought it to my attention, meaning the first time the press corps hasbrought it to my attention. In fact, I've watched other channels on here.
Q There's one --
MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on, Jim, come on. I've watched other channels onhere, so I don't know where you're hearing that. But it's the first timeanyone in the press has raised that question with me.
Q You've watched other channels other than Fox?
MR. McCLELLAN: On here, yes, sure.
Q I've never seen -- they're always turned to Fox, which a lot of peopleconsider a Republican-leaning network.
Q Scott, is it one -- on the airplane, is it one for all? I mean, ifit's tuned for Fox here, is it Fox everywhere?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think that certain areas may be interconnected, butI'll have to double-check which.
Q Is yours off, wherever you are?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the conference room, or the senior staff office,the staff office, they're different TVs, and you can switch to differentchannels. I'm not sure if some of these in the back are connected tosome of the others that are watching right here, right now. It doesn'tlook like it to me. I've never known anyone that's raised a complaintabout a request from back here to watch a different channel.
Q I'm officially raising it and officially complaining about it.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm going to go see if we can change the channelfor you. Have you called up?
Q I was the Fox victim, and I was told -- the quote was, "No," when Iasked for CNN.
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know who you talked to, so -- it didn't come tomy attention. You don't know who you talked to either?
Q Well, the magic people at the other end off the phone.
MR. McCLELLAN: The magic people at the other end of the phone. Well,I'll see if this cabin is --
Q I was told, "We don't watch CNN here, you can only watch Fox."
MR. McCLELLAN: As I said, it's hard to respond to something when I don'tknow who it is you talked to.
Q I used the phone back here.
MR. McCLELLAN: I find this all quite amusing, to tell you the truth. Imean, there are a lot of people on this plane that do watch that channel.
Q I've never been told, no. They're such nice guys up there.
MR. McCLELLAN: First time you brought it to my attention. I'll go seewhat we can do on it.
* * * * *
MR. McCLELLAN: We just called up. They're going to be changing it, atyour all's request, to the channel that you requested, which is CNN --from the press corps.
Q Thanks, Scott.
END 11:39 A.M. EDT

Man Saddles Up In Response To High Gas Prices - News - MSNBC.com

Very industrious of this guy, but what about methane and the ozone layer?

Egon Settle does hair for a living and now tows his horse with him to work every morning.

During the day, Settle rides the horse around Arlington to get coffee, lunch or go to the beauty supply store, and just leaves Free Fallin' in the parking lot.

He's a hairdresser???

High gas prices propel a new 'moped madness'

"This [moped resurgence] is a reflection of a deeper generational shift going on," says Neil Howe, a cultural historian and coauthor of "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation." "The idea of a big, bad, dangerous gas-guzzling machine is not the millennial style. They prefer something that is not only socially responsible in a big sense, but also in a little sense: It makes less noise, and it's less likely to get them into an accident."

The hardest thing about riding a moped is telling your Dad you are gay. Grow a set and go buy a real motorcycle.

Tempest in a D-cup as bust sizes grow-Revised

Bra producers have been forced to offer bigger cup-sizes in China because improved nutrition is busting all previous chest measurement records.

Wow, I never thought I'd say this about the Chinese, but...those lucky bastards.

Happy now, Robert?

Clinton nearly sees rocket's red glare

Clinton was preparing to hit his second shot on the fifth hole at Las Vegas Country Club on Saturday when Secret Service agents halted a birthday party fireworks event. It's a birthday that Savanna Muirhead, the 5-year-old daughter of 28-year-old porn star Sophia Rossi, won't forget. Savanna was preparing to launch a remote control 18-inch rocket when Clinton's bodyguards "came out of nowhere" and had the launch scrubbed.
Rossi, a busty blonde who grew up in Las Vegas, is one of the stars in Jenna Jameson's Club Jenna lineup. "I'm just disappointed I didn't get a photo with him," said Rossi.
"If we'd known it was Bill Clinton, we would have invited him to the party," said McKelvey.

I'm sure he would have considered it his duty to attend.

Phoenix police shoot dead hostage taker

Another good headline. Why would the guy take dead hostages? They are hell to carry.

That isn't even the funniest part of the story.

An armed man hijacked a Krispy Kreme delivery truck and led police on a chase across the city and into a shopping center, where officers shot and killed him.

Never get between the police and their doughnuts. You will be terminated with extreme prejudice.

Costner exposed as actor behind sex act claim

The Hollywood star was accused of taking off his towel during the massage at The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Fife, in October 2004, exposing himself and then performing a sex act.
Last month, the Scottish masseuse told the tribunal in Dundee that she was mortified" when Costner removed his massage towel before engaging in a sex act.
"It was disgusting and, even though he was a Hollywood superstar, I couldn’t believe he thought he could get away with something like that," she said.

I've heard of a massage with a happy ending, but I've never heard of somebody providing their own happy ending.

MLB: Oakland 3, Texas 2

Monday wasn't the best night ever for Dallas-area sports teams. The Stars came from behind, only to lose 5-4, and the Rangers lost, 3-2.


The cool part is that I was at the Ranger game Monday night. EDS sprung for a luxury suite on the lower deck, directly behind home plate.









Beer, barbecue, chips, dips, veggies...even peach cobbler. Air-conditioned comfort, and 2 rows of seats outside the suite, out on the balcony. Private bathrooms, and your own private suite steward.





I could get used to that sort of treatment.

PS: nanny-nanny boo-boo.

Range Report

RONIN’S DRILL (named after the fellow in Central Texas who designed this drill)

Set up 3 USPSA targets- 3 feet apart, shoulder to shoulder. For the purposes of this drill, targets are numbered A, B, & C. The goal is shoot A’s in the given par time. Score is applicable to major or minor depending on caliber used.

PART 1
50 YARDS
1 shot on A, prone -- 7.5 secs -- 5x (5 rnds)
2 shots on B, standing -- 5.5 secs - 4x (8 rnds)

35 YARDS· 1 shot, reload, 1 shot on C -- 5.5 secs - 6x (12 rnds)

TOTAL HITS: A=5 B=8 C=12
TOTAL ROUNDS/POINTS: 25/125

PART 2
25 YARDS
1 shot on A -- 2.3 secs - 3x (3 rnds)
1 shot facing left, right, and back on B - 2.5 secs per shot (3 rnds)
2 shots on C, hands various positions - 3.0 secs - 3x (6 rnds)

TOTAL HITS: A=3 B=3 C=6TOTAL ROUNDS/POINTS: 12/60

PART 3
15 YARDS
1 shot on A, B, C various hand position and target order - 3.0 secs - 3x(9 rnds)
1 shot, reload, 1 shot, reload, 1 shot on A, B, C -- 5.5 secs - 2x (6rnds)
1 shot, weak hand on B, C, A - 5.5 secs - then C, A, B (6 rnds)

TOTAL HITS: A=7 B=7 C=7TOTAL ROUNDS/POINTS: 21/105

PART 4
15 YARDS· 2 shots - strong hand only on A, B, C - 6.0 secs (6 rnds)
1 shot head on A, B, C - 4.0 secs (3 rnds)10 YARDS
2 shots on A, B, C - 3.0 secs - repeat C, B, A (12 rnds)

TOTAL HITS: A=7 B=7 C=7TOTAL ROUNDS/POINTS: 21/105

PART 5
10 YARDS· 2 shots on A, B, C, reload,1 shot head on A,B,C - 6.5 secs - (8 rnds)
2 shots body/1 head on A, reload, repeat on B, C - 8.0 secs (9 rnds)
2 shots on C - 1.5 secs - 5x - (10 rounds)

TOTAL HITS: A=6 B=6 C=16TOTAL ROUNDS/POINTS: 28/140

PART 6
7 YARDS
1 shot head on A - 1.5 secs - 6x - (6 rnds)
2 shots on B - 1.3 secs - 3x (6 rnds)
1 shot, RL, 1 shot, reload, 1 shot on C - 4.5 secs -2x (6 rnds)

TOTAL HITS: A=6 B=6 C=6TOTAL ROUNDS/POINTS: 18/90

TOTAL ROUNDS: 125 TOTAL POINTS: 625

Today I shot this drill for the second time. Didn't shoot the 1st string going prone because I'm a ninny and didn't feel like dragging out the carpet and didn't feel like going prone on the rocks....

I scored 577 pts out of 600; 96%.

Your turn.

San Jacinto Day

Today we celebrate the 170th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Yet the silence we celebrate in continues to boggle my mind. We loudly celebrate Cinco de Mayo - the 5th of May - where a Mexican army defeated an imperialistic venture of Napoleon III on May 5th, 1862.

The United States was too preoccupied with its own Civil War to react to a French attempt to take over Mexico, and a smaller Mexican army defeated a much larger French army, ending Napoleon III's venture before it got out of hand. In many ways, we should be thankful that Mexico defeated the French. I mean, after all, could you imagine having a French state as a neighbor? It's bad enough to have Quebec so close to American shores!

But still - we celebrate with sales, parties, and lots of drinking the 5th of May. Why is it that April 21st passes in such silence? The 18 minute Battle of San Jacinto was, without much exaggeration, one of the most important battles in the history of the United States. By defeating the Mexican army and capturing Generalissimo Santa Anna, Sam Houston and his ragged volunteers created the Texas Republic, which lasted until annexation by the United States in 1846.

Shortly after annexation, the Mexican War took place (1846-1848) and ended with the United States in control of the vast majority of what is today the American West. New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, and parts of Colorado entered the Union and the United States was well on its way to becoming an emerging world power.

So tonight when you're out to dinner or out with your friends, drink a little toast to Sam Houston and the Texicans that allowed us here in Texas to live in the greatest state in the Union.

Cheers!!

Storm Evacuees Placing Strains on Texas Hosts - New York Times

Like the bumper sticker says:

Welcome to Texas. Now go home!

McClellan out and who's in?

Now wouldn't this be nice?

7-Hour Standoff Ends; Police Discover Nobody In Home

For hours, according to reports, they tried to make contact with anybody in the house.

At about 3:30 a.m., agents approached the house but found nobody inside.

I can't believe my child is going to attend college in Oklahoma...

May Day

Perhaps you've started to catch rumors of the big "nada gringos" day scheduled for May 1. What we're being told is that this has been organized by immigrant's rights groups in California or even, in the case of this article, " high school students have been the most active so far in organizing rallies and educating groups on the proposed changes to immigration laws."

However, do a little digging and you find that the real push behind this event is none other than the IWW. As in, the Industrial Workers of the World. An organization that's been around for awhile, and you could say was synonymous with communism and socialism. I'm sure those of you with half a brain recall that May 1 is otherwise known as May Day in the old Soviet Union. I'm sure it's just a fickle coincidence that this "walk out" is scheduled on the same day here in the US.

In their mind, they want to go back to a system that has never worked under any circumstance in any part of the world, at any time in the history of the world. Capitalism is the most evil thing that ever existed and all of the world's evils can be traced directly to capitalism and therefore the United States.

I can tell. Some of you are saying "come on Catfish, no one is that stupid any more. This is the 21st century!!"

Ok dear readers, don't take my word for it. Read the mission of the IWW for yourself. For those of you too lazy to check out the link, here's a little taste:

Instead of the conservative motto, "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work," we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, "Abolition of the wage system."
It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with
capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.

Yeah. Freakin' commies. Just when you thought all we had to worry about was crazy jihadists and greenies, the commies are sticking their ugly, unwashed, unshaven, long haired, maggot infested, berkenstock wearing mugs back into our daily lives.

Anyone who thinks the upcoming "nada gringo" event on May 1 is about immigrant rights - how does it feel to be a pawn of the communista?

Shooting Stars And The Clash In The Heavens

The Way to Truth is a website that we spotted on the way to Waco the other day (or one just like it, anyway. I Googled "truth about islam" to find this jewel), and thought I'd see how enlightening it was. Here's a direct quote from the page linked to above:

Whether they might label me as unscientific or a skeptic, it is not more reasonable, in my opinion, than trying to find a political purpose behind those philosophies to attribute to those people who have made gigantic advances in science and technology such theories as biological "evolution" and that the Western brain is apt, because of its biological composition, for science while the Eastern brain for romanticism and the Negro brain for jazz and athleticism.

There's your "enlightenment," kids. I almost stopped reading after that. The writer of this article is as backward, ignorant, and reprobate as that last sentence would indicate. It appears that Koranic morality is subjective and flexible. In other words, it lacks moral absolutes ("right" vs. "wrong" are open to interpretation, depending on circumstances):

Do not kill anyone which God has forbidden, except for just cause. al-Isra’

Unfortunately, "just cause" seems to be based on an individual's interpretation of morality:

There is in principle nothing, other than his free choice, to dictate his fate.

Sorry, but that's creepy enough for a government to subscribe to without an entire religious philosophy subscribing to it. No wonder they have no problems justifying the murder of innocent people. Savages.

Bush Taps Portman

I was about to be impressed, thinking it was Natalie Portman. But it's just some political thing. Rats.

Record Heat Prompts Rolling Brownouts

Hot enough for ya?

I love Texas weather. Maybe what we need is a good, hot, dry summer to run off the riff-raff.

I understand Pimp Daddy had the rolling brownouts, but some Imodium fixed him up.

Qur'an 47:4

Yep. It's the religion of peace folks. But only if you are a member of that religion.

Oops, scratch that. You'll get killed if you belong to the other sect of the religion of peace too.

Qur'an 47:4 tells believers to "strike the necks" of the unbelievers. Or maybe I'm reading it wrong.

Gingrich warns Republicans Americans want change

The Republican Party is in serious danger of losing political ground in November elections if it does not enact reforms that eliminate waste and hold the federal bureaucracy to higher standards, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Sunday.

The former representative from Georgia said the "debacle" over measures to strengthen U.S. borders and create a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants "was one more piece of the puzzle" for many voters who have lost faith in Republican leadership.

With the federal budget deficit at record levels, Gingrich said Americans are losing patience with "pork," the discretionary spending earmarked to benefit local political constituencies.

"We were sent here to reform Washington, not to be co-opted by Washington," he said.

Amen, brother.

Road Trips & Elements

As you may have seen from The Girl's previous post, my car is a Honda Element, irreverently referred to as "the Toaster."

I'll have you know the Honda Element is a very fine vehicle, and is particularly suited to my lifestyle. Namely, I'm a slovenly slob when it comes to car care. It's got plastic floorboards, stain-proof seats, and even plastic quarter-panels. In short, it's a man's dream car. It's even been vomit-tested by a 14-year-old cheerleader (another story, and don't get all pervy on that).

No, it's not the most aerodynamic vehicle ever built, but it's got a 270-watt, 7-speaker sound system that makes my XM radio the best thing ever. It's got copious space for 4, and a ridiculous amount of headroom. It carries all our shooting gear, and leaves plenty of legroom. In short, it's an awesome road trip car, and has performed very admirably for well over 50K miles.

On the way back from Waco, we stopped somewhere around Waxahachie to fuel up, and pulled up next to another Honda Element, piloted by some teen (maybe post-teen - I'm not getting any younger, and they all look the same to me) guys. They were driving - *sigh* - "Dad's" Sunset Orange Pearl (SOP in Element circles) Element, and the battery had apparently croaked. It looked like they'd been there a while, too sheepish to ask anyone else to give them a jump. When we pulled up, they ran straight over, and asked if I'd help. They didn't even have cables - the kid went inside to buy them. Of course we helped, and sent them on their merry way. Just for the sake of this blog, we took this pic. Not much point to this whole post, just thought I'd share.

A little perspective

VDH hits the nail on the head. Again. Read it all.

I myself recently returned home to California, without incident, from a visit to Iraq’s notorious Sunni Triangle. While I was gone, a drug-addicted criminal with a long list of convictions broke into our kitchen at 4 a.m., was surprised by my wife and daughter, and fled with our credit cards, cash, keys, and cell phones.
Sometimes I wonder who really was safer that week.