I’ve been quieter than usual lately. Bunch of stuff came down at work… not necessarily bad, just has necessitated most of my attention.
Thankfully I have kali class tonight. That should be some welcome stress relief. 🙂
I’l resume shooting my mouth off as time permits… hopefully soon, as fires are coming under control.
Shoothouse Barbie just moved into some new digs. Consequently, decorating had to happen. She didn’t just throw up random nick-nacks… she made things were both decorative and functional.
Placement of mirrors and other reflective surfaces so you can see vital spots (e.g. front door) from secure and defensible locations is a good thing.
This whole “birther” thing regarding whether President Obama is a natural born citizen or not… there’s one way to end it quickly: show the birth certificate.
I’ve never been a proponent of the “if you’ve got nothing to hide…” line of reasoning, but I do understand where it comes from. Furthermore, there’s no question that it does arouse suspicion because if things were the way you say they were and could easily prove it, why wouldn’t you? It would put an end to the whole thing. Done. ’nuff said.
So it is curious why President Obama doesn’t just put a simple end to this.
But the birthers have to realize one important thing. If you do get your way, then that means we’ll be stuck with President Biden.
I don’t know if that’s an improvement. 😉
After obtaining my snub nose revolver, I got curious about the differences between the S&W 442 and 642. I touched on them briefly here, but I figured why not ask Smith & Wesson themselves and get the straight skinny.
I emailed and received a response.
Hello, the only differance is the cylinder, the main reason is some people do not like a silver firearm. Do not use any cleaner which contains chlorine or ammonia, the finish is a spray coat which is prone to show wear but the trade off is the light weight.
So if I’m reading his response correctly:
The only differences between the 642 and 442 are the finish and the cylinder. That is, despite what Tam says, the barrel is the same. The cylinder materials are different: the 642 with stainless steel and the 442 with carbon steel.
The finish of the 442 is a spray coat (that surprised me). Of course, I wasn’t told exactly what the coating was. I’m assuming Hoppes #9 is OK for cleaning.
Anyway, there you go.
Witnesses said that when Doggett was asked whether he would support the [Obama health care] plan even if he found that his constituents opposed it, Doggett said he would. People then began chanting “just say no” and overwhelmed the congressman as he moved through the crowd and into the parking lot.
Emphasis mine.
Wow. So your constituents say no, and you — as the person that is supposed to represent us — opts to ignore us.
Folks, it’s time (well, it’s well overdue) for Lloyd Doggett to go. I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican or whatever political ideology you subscribe to. This goes well beyond that. This is someone that has demonstrated he doesn’t care about you and will vote and behave in whatever way benefits him most. He has demonstrated a flagrantly disregard for the will of the people that he supposedly represents. If he doesn’t want to listen to us, then he doesn’t deserve to be our representative. He has totally forgotten what his job is all about.
Tam recounts some silliness at her local gun range. In short, there’s now some new rule at the range that basically is saying no loaded guns in holsters at the firing line. Of course, there’s not much logic to this:
Now the pistol of mine that was so safe that morning eating breakfast at Le Peep and that afternoon at the grocery store was unloaded so it would be safe at the pistol range, too. Raise your hand if that makes sense to you.
And wouldn’t you think gun folk would know better? Apparently not.
See, this is one Lowest Common Denominator “safety” policy that is only going to lead to unnecessary bullet holes. If rigidly adhered to, it means Cletus and Jasper have to fiddle-fart around with loaded guns twice; once on arrival and again on leaving, instead of leaving them safely in their holsters andnot touching them. Now, the po-po firearms training building at Iggle Crick is right off the parking lot and has a handy sand-filled clearing barrel, but how many people are going to look for that, much less use it religiously?
Remember: One handy rule for preventing negligent discharges is stop touching your damn gun so much! Think about every story of an ND you’ve heard: It was somebody holstering or unholstering or clearing or loading or otherwise somehow futzing with the gun, right? It’s almost never “The gun was sitting in the holster and went off.” Why then, in the name of safety, would you encourage the former rather than the latter?
As previously noted here and here, there were issues with the way US Customs and Border Patrol was reclassifying certain knives. It would have risked instantly criminalizing millions of law-abiding US citizens as well as removing many useful tools from everyday use.
I received an email update from the KnifeRights.org folk:
Customs Officially Backs Off
In a letter to Representative Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Customs and Border Protection has officially backed off their proposed revocations and rulemaking in recognition of the Amendment that was passed by the Senate which would add a new exception to the Switchblade Act covering assisted and one-hand opening knives, at least until the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill is acted upon in Conference Committee.
You can read the letter here <http://www.kniferights.org/Customs_response_07212009.pdf> , but the key paragraph reads “The amendment would effectively obviate the need for CBP’s proposed revocations and render the current issue moot. Additionally, due to the numerous comments received in response to the proposed revocation, it is unlikely that CBP will take any further action prior to passage of the Appropriations Act.
This is about as close to a victory as we can come at this time. It may not be over until the fat lady sings, and we actually get the Amendment through Conference Committee, but for all practical purposes, we shouldn’t have to worry about Customs reaching into your pockets for your pocket knives anytime soon. Do take note that Customs has included some ambiguous wording in their letter, leaving their options open, no surprise. But, make no mistake, they have gotten the message; don’t mess with our pocket knives!
This is a welcome bit of progress, and it shows how a vigilant citizenry is the only check against government running amuck across our lives. There’s still work to be done, but so far so good.
The Rangemaster August 2009 newsletter is now available. Contains a lot of good data and information that dispels many of the common myths and hysterics about guns.
Gun folk might know Michael Janich from his co-hosting of The Best Defense TV show. He’s also an accomplished martial artist with a background in escrima. Here’s a video with him explaining “Heaven Six”, a foundational drill in Filipino martial arts such as escrima, arnis, and kali.
What I like about this video is it shows how the basic “Heaven Six” movement goes beyond the sticks. Janich demonstrates a lot of empty hand application, from strikes, to blocks, to joint locks. Certainly he’s just touching the surface, but it does point out all that you can do with just that simple movement.
I haven’t regretted my decision to study kali. This sort of power in simplicity is awesome.
Got a call from my Mom this evening. Told her how I had just finished eating dinner. What was for dinner? Why pork ribs. But not just any pork ribs, but pork ribs I obtained myself! BTW, they were damn good… dry rub of my own creation, mopped in apple cider vinegar, let it sit for about a hour, then into the smoker at about 300-325º for 90 minutes or so, oak wood for smoke. Damn fine. But I digress.
I just said that I had ribs from the pig I shot on my hunt, and Mom didn’t flinch. You see, Mom isn’t exactly thrilled with my love of firearms… safety factor, guns in the home leads to kids being hurt, and all those other things that is understandable to think but data demonstrates otherwise. But Mom actually thought it was pretty cool. I was surprised, but welcomed her support.
After hanging up with Mom, I opted to call Dad just to say hello. Told him the same. Dad’s a little more on the gun-friendly side of things. Told him about the night hunt and the deer lease. He thought that was all pretty cool, and inquired if I was going to take the kids hunting. I said Oldest and Daughter, yes, but Youngest hasn’t shown much interest in guns period (no need to push it). Dad had to get going to dinner with some friends, but it was still a good chat.
It was welcoming to hear such support from my folks. Not that they’re unsupportive of me, but like in Mom’s case she wasn’t too hot on the guns so this was a surprise. And then for Dad to ensure I take the kids out was cool. See, Dad never took me hunting. I did have my first actual firearms experience with him (took me to shoot skeet once), but not a whole lot. So, all of these things were just welcome things to my ears. 🙂
Of course, what it means to me now is I need to have a lot of game in the freezer for when they come to visit. Gotta feed the folks well. 🙂
