Friday, December 25, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Times Are Tough All Over
Imagine waking up every morning and heading into work at your desk at the Onion, and having to top this:
"You might be able to make this up. But it would require a pretty disturbed mind. Where to begin. Initially being investigated for disabling the fire alarm systems in his hotel room, due to shower steam, he claimed, it was discovered he had replaced the hotel room door with a piece of plywood. The plywood contained a circular padded hole believed to be used for sexual acts."
I guess if you are making six figures a year keeping the proles in line, you can afford to do your own remodeling at a motel.
Jack booted thugs need love, too, you know.
"You might be able to make this up. But it would require a pretty disturbed mind. Where to begin. Initially being investigated for disabling the fire alarm systems in his hotel room, due to shower steam, he claimed, it was discovered he had replaced the hotel room door with a piece of plywood. The plywood contained a circular padded hole believed to be used for sexual acts."
I guess if you are making six figures a year keeping the proles in line, you can afford to do your own remodeling at a motel.
Jack booted thugs need love, too, you know.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Just Saying
Friday I noted that Craftsman had made last minute Changes in his Copenhagen schedule.
The rhetoric from the administration remains apocalyptic and a random search of scare words and "global warming" generates grave, grave, grave predictions and protestations...
Fucking luddites, the lot of them.
I don't have the time or tech chops, but somebody should to do a "Hitler Rant" on Obama being told that Al Gore has backed out of Copenhagen.
Obama would explain that "Climategate" would only matter for a news cycle or two, but only if the scammers don't back off. I'd prefer that he refer to Mr. Gore as "the wooden man" at some point. Bonus points from the Academy if Biden gets labeled the "first White House garden gnome".
Obama would point out that the burlap boxer/bra-less/birkenstock legions that are the BASE don't read past the New York Times or watch anything but MSNBC or listen to anyone but NPR (except during pledge weeks). And how much "Climategate" news is there? Really?
He'd also remind Emmanuel, Gibbs, and Axelrod that all that one green world horseshit was just that, and that Team Craftsman was and always has been in the revolution business. He would also remind them that BIG lies are the key; that turning back, temporizing, or stooping to honest debate are certain roads to defeat.
That little bit at the end of the video, where Hitler's voice drops and he is hunched over the table - that could be rewritten to show Craftsman directing that his minions get busy about finding the next CEO for GM. No particular care should be taken that the candidate be fit for the job; they just need somebody who looks good on TV and won't go tits up before they are ready for him/her to go...
AGW is this administration's "Jewish Problem". Make no mistake about it.
Feh. Maybe I've overdone my Craftsman attention for the week.
You have a fine Sunday, and a better week. I'll be shoveling snow tomorrow.
The rhetoric from the administration remains apocalyptic and a random search of scare words and "global warming" generates grave, grave, grave predictions and protestations...
Fucking luddites, the lot of them.
I don't have the time or tech chops, but somebody should to do a "Hitler Rant" on Obama being told that Al Gore has backed out of Copenhagen.
Obama would explain that "Climategate" would only matter for a news cycle or two, but only if the scammers don't back off. I'd prefer that he refer to Mr. Gore as "the wooden man" at some point. Bonus points from the Academy if Biden gets labeled the "first White House garden gnome".
Obama would point out that the burlap boxer/bra-less/birkenstock legions that are the BASE don't read past the New York Times or watch anything but MSNBC or listen to anyone but NPR (except during pledge weeks). And how much "Climategate" news is there? Really?
He'd also remind Emmanuel, Gibbs, and Axelrod that all that one green world horseshit was just that, and that Team Craftsman was and always has been in the revolution business. He would also remind them that BIG lies are the key; that turning back, temporizing, or stooping to honest debate are certain roads to defeat.
That little bit at the end of the video, where Hitler's voice drops and he is hunched over the table - that could be rewritten to show Craftsman directing that his minions get busy about finding the next CEO for GM. No particular care should be taken that the candidate be fit for the job; they just need somebody who looks good on TV and won't go tits up before they are ready for him/her to go...
AGW is this administration's "Jewish Problem". Make no mistake about it.
Feh. Maybe I've overdone my Craftsman attention for the week.
You have a fine Sunday, and a better week. I'll be shoveling snow tomorrow.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
MMMmmmm Good
Team Jones is doing ten pounds of bone-in picnic pork roast.
Peel and cut four apples into rings (red delicious this year).
Sea salt and coarse ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh pressed cider
tbsp extra virgin olive oil
tbsp BRUTAL oak aged balsamic vinegar
tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
teaspoon soy sauce
dash tabasco
1/3 cup dried ground onion (we forgot to buy a fresh sweet onion)
tbsp garlic powder (you can use cloves of garlic, but powder seems to work better in the slow cooker)
dash paprika
dash ginger
two scruples parsley flakes (gives contrast to dried chopped onions/forms nice coating on meat)
Some recipes call for putting in two bay leaves and removing them after some time interval. The last two times I tried this, I left them in too long and was not impressed with the result.
To cook:
Get all your ingredients located. Locate the meat thermometer. Go down to your daughter’s room and steal back your heavy gauge extension cord so you can put the six quart crock pot on the end of the long kitchen bar.
Sear the meat in a dutch oven. You want it smoking hot with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the oven. The roast will shed enough fat to do the rest of the job. Have your big honking fork and heavy mitts on hand (so to speak) BEFORE dropping the meat in.
Mix the wet and dry spices and set aside.
Turn on the crock pot - set for “High” tempature for 3 hours.
Place 3/4 of the apples in the bottom of the pot.
Take the seared roast out of the dutch oven and place on a cookie sheet or platter. Rub pepper and salt to taste (less salt is always better - look at all the other spices already in the broth). I fork the heck out of the meat, and cut a shallow slit in the top as well, to allow the spices to penetrate. Fat side up with pork, always.
Place meat on top of apples, skin/fat side up. Place remaining apples on sides/top of meat.
Pour spice broth over meat, cover, and cook on “high” for 2-3 hours, then reduce to low heat for about 3-4 additional hours, until a meat thermometer pushed to center of roast reads 150f. According to some recipes you may remove from heat now and let stand, and then serve when temp reaches 160f. We usually leave the roast in until the temp actually registers 160f.
Make sure to argue with your spouse about whether or not to reduce the fat that will accumulate in the pot; every body needs a Thanksgiving tradition, you know.
Serves four adults with generous leftovers for sammiches.
Peel and cut four apples into rings (red delicious this year).
Sea salt and coarse ground pepper
1/2 cup fresh pressed cider
tbsp extra virgin olive oil
tbsp BRUTAL oak aged balsamic vinegar
tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
teaspoon soy sauce
dash tabasco
1/3 cup dried ground onion (we forgot to buy a fresh sweet onion)
tbsp garlic powder (you can use cloves of garlic, but powder seems to work better in the slow cooker)
dash paprika
dash ginger
two scruples parsley flakes (gives contrast to dried chopped onions/forms nice coating on meat)
Some recipes call for putting in two bay leaves and removing them after some time interval. The last two times I tried this, I left them in too long and was not impressed with the result.
To cook:
Get all your ingredients located. Locate the meat thermometer. Go down to your daughter’s room and steal back your heavy gauge extension cord so you can put the six quart crock pot on the end of the long kitchen bar.
Sear the meat in a dutch oven. You want it smoking hot with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the oven. The roast will shed enough fat to do the rest of the job. Have your big honking fork and heavy mitts on hand (so to speak) BEFORE dropping the meat in.
Mix the wet and dry spices and set aside.
Turn on the crock pot - set for “High” tempature for 3 hours.
Place 3/4 of the apples in the bottom of the pot.
Take the seared roast out of the dutch oven and place on a cookie sheet or platter. Rub pepper and salt to taste (less salt is always better - look at all the other spices already in the broth). I fork the heck out of the meat, and cut a shallow slit in the top as well, to allow the spices to penetrate. Fat side up with pork, always.
Place meat on top of apples, skin/fat side up. Place remaining apples on sides/top of meat.
Pour spice broth over meat, cover, and cook on “high” for 2-3 hours, then reduce to low heat for about 3-4 additional hours, until a meat thermometer pushed to center of roast reads 150f. According to some recipes you may remove from heat now and let stand, and then serve when temp reaches 160f. We usually leave the roast in until the temp actually registers 160f.
Make sure to argue with your spouse about whether or not to reduce the fat that will accumulate in the pot; every body needs a Thanksgiving tradition, you know.
Serves four adults with generous leftovers for sammiches.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Warning Order
Weather permitting, this Saturday morning at 0900 The Team, friends, and a random number of FYM*, will be on the ground here:
View Larger Map
We will be in the clearing shown in the center of the map, with the tube set up at about 6 o'clock oriented WSW to have the ridge as a back stop.
Yes, Virginia, it's time to shoot cannon. And Mosins. And whatever else we decide to throw in the truck.
The forecast is better than we expect for late November, but rain is still a possibility.
Anyone who is interested in this outing, or simply interested in going shooting, can contact me at tmjutahAThotmailDOTcom.
Bonus: There is a 1943 Izhevsk arsenal retired PU at the West Jordan Big 5. It is on sale at $99 dollars right now, and will be marked down to $89 from 0500 to 0900 on Black Friday. This rifle has excellent rifling, a pristine, compound radius crown, and I believe that the stock is custom to this action. By this I mean that the wood to metal fit exceeds any example of Mosin I've seen to date, that key dimensions are "fat", most notably the wrist and fore end diameters, and finally that I think the wood may not be birch but some other hard wood. The shellac finish is very well done, with no flaking.
The receiver marks are clear, with a lined-out seven digit serial number on the left side above the wood. There are the typical welded holes visible through the open receiver. Matching numbers throughout, including the bolt. It appears to me that the straight bolt handle was attached to the originial sniper bolt. I have never felt an action so smooth on a Mosin. I didn't have my scale with me, but the trigger felt like it broke clean at somewhere around four pounds - sweetly clean, too.
I have called a few friends about this one but money is tight. I also found a 1935 Tula retired PE in Sugar House today, and it did follow me home. I considered trying to sell Mrs. Tmj on getting both rifles, but she remembered that there are already two 1943 Ishevsk retired PU's downstairs.
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Keep your powder dry.
*Fine Young Men. The Goddesses always have a few following them around.
View Larger Map
We will be in the clearing shown in the center of the map, with the tube set up at about 6 o'clock oriented WSW to have the ridge as a back stop.
Yes, Virginia, it's time to shoot cannon. And Mosins. And whatever else we decide to throw in the truck.
The forecast is better than we expect for late November, but rain is still a possibility.
Anyone who is interested in this outing, or simply interested in going shooting, can contact me at tmjutahAThotmailDOTcom.
Bonus: There is a 1943 Izhevsk arsenal retired PU at the West Jordan Big 5. It is on sale at $99 dollars right now, and will be marked down to $89 from 0500 to 0900 on Black Friday. This rifle has excellent rifling, a pristine, compound radius crown, and I believe that the stock is custom to this action. By this I mean that the wood to metal fit exceeds any example of Mosin I've seen to date, that key dimensions are "fat", most notably the wrist and fore end diameters, and finally that I think the wood may not be birch but some other hard wood. The shellac finish is very well done, with no flaking.
The receiver marks are clear, with a lined-out seven digit serial number on the left side above the wood. There are the typical welded holes visible through the open receiver. Matching numbers throughout, including the bolt. It appears to me that the straight bolt handle was attached to the originial sniper bolt. I have never felt an action so smooth on a Mosin. I didn't have my scale with me, but the trigger felt like it broke clean at somewhere around four pounds - sweetly clean, too.
I have called a few friends about this one but money is tight. I also found a 1935 Tula retired PE in Sugar House today, and it did follow me home. I considered trying to sell Mrs. Tmj on getting both rifles, but she remembered that there are already two 1943 Ishevsk retired PU's downstairs.
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Keep your powder dry.
*Fine Young Men. The Goddesses always have a few following them around.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Blink
Jerry Pournelle has observations on last night's house vote here.
I left my some opinions here.
My wife of twenty one years will not speak of politics or the economy with me any more. She will not understand that “Healthcare” isn’t about care, it is just another brick thrown on the back of a national economy and society about to break.
I have failed as a husband here; I cannot protect my family from a threat they will not see.
I left my some opinions here.
My wife of twenty one years will not speak of politics or the economy with me any more. She will not understand that “Healthcare” isn’t about care, it is just another brick thrown on the back of a national economy and society about to break.
I have failed as a husband here; I cannot protect my family from a threat they will not see.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Range Day
I will be at the Lee Kay Hunter Education Center in West Valley City tomorrow, hopefully arriving between noon and one.
My veterinarian friend is coming out (if he's not needed in surgery) with his P17 and my partner from work will be there around two as well. No word at this time if Mrs. Utah will be up to a session or not, or if the Goddesses or their Fine Young Men are interested and/or available, either.
I will shoot. I will coach. I will not think much, frankly.
What a week this has been.
God bless the dead of Ft. Hood, and may He keep and comfort the survivors and the wounded.
God help us all in this country under siege. We are a nation bending dangerously under the weight of an evil and corrupt administration. We are a society weakened by generations of sloth and ignorance and these are sins that will be paid for.
We will bear the burden of a defeat by retreat in this round of the war against Islamist fascism. Our elected representatives fully intend to shove this war behind socialized health care and American Idol.
Our economy and our freedom are under attack. The crises are upon us, and they are indeed just too "good" to waste. In 1982 unemployment topped ten percent but 83 and 86 saw tremendous growth... after tax cuts, easing of government regulation across many sectors of the economy, the dawn of the information age, and most importantly the appeal from the chief executive to the citizenry to be Citizens.
The Obama insurgency is not about any of that. Incompetence or mere corruption would be bad enough but this administration truly sees itself as the instrument that will end the republic. Make no mistake about that.
God bless and keep you in the dark, dark days ahead.
My veterinarian friend is coming out (if he's not needed in surgery) with his P17 and my partner from work will be there around two as well. No word at this time if Mrs. Utah will be up to a session or not, or if the Goddesses or their Fine Young Men are interested and/or available, either.
I will shoot. I will coach. I will not think much, frankly.
What a week this has been.
God bless the dead of Ft. Hood, and may He keep and comfort the survivors and the wounded.
God help us all in this country under siege. We are a nation bending dangerously under the weight of an evil and corrupt administration. We are a society weakened by generations of sloth and ignorance and these are sins that will be paid for.
We will bear the burden of a defeat by retreat in this round of the war against Islamist fascism. Our elected representatives fully intend to shove this war behind socialized health care and American Idol.
Our economy and our freedom are under attack. The crises are upon us, and they are indeed just too "good" to waste. In 1982 unemployment topped ten percent but 83 and 86 saw tremendous growth... after tax cuts, easing of government regulation across many sectors of the economy, the dawn of the information age, and most importantly the appeal from the chief executive to the citizenry to be Citizens.
The Obama insurgency is not about any of that. Incompetence or mere corruption would be bad enough but this administration truly sees itself as the instrument that will end the republic. Make no mistake about that.
God bless and keep you in the dark, dark days ahead.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday (Updated)
I got her back from the smith later Thursday. I had the barrel flutes peened in hopes that she would return to reliability without the purchase of a new op rod or gas cylinder. Saturday at Lee Kay I divined that Something Was Wrong. The bolt wouldn't open far enough to lock into the receiver. Wouldn't open far enough to accept a clip, for that matter.
I took her apart on a table at Lee Kay to find that the clip release tab wasn't connected correctly over the follower assembly. It's been literally years since I've taken her down to pins and springs, so I just put her back together with the tab in the "right" spot and headed back in to see if she would shoot. The bolt went all the way to the rear but the clip would not seat. I declared surrender and waited to get back home and the reference books to figure out what was going on.
Last night I found that the follower assembly was installed backwards. The fact that it had fallen out instantly when I detensioned the operating rod spring earlier at the range should have been a give away. So I put it in correctly and loaded a dummy clip with zero problems.
This morning I fired three clips with one FTF. In the course of this action I noticed that the front sight on my rifle is no longer stamped "NM" for National Match.
***UPDATE: Upon further review of my records, I found that the only part that bore an actual "NM" stamp when I purchased this rifle in 1987 was the operating rod handle. Old age is creeping up on me.***
I will discuss these ***assembly*** issues with the smith on Monday. (That didn't happen - got home after dark again.)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Well, I Wasn't That Into The Show Anyway
CBS is trying to piggyback on the success of NCIS with a star power spin-off set in LA. LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell work at it, but two episodes I watched before tonight required more suspension of disbelief than even a Kucinich voter might marshall.
Then tonight, the shark jumping moment came when the crack NCIS psychological profiler opines on why a former Marine, recently in the employ of a private security outfit and working Iraq, beat a victim to death and left him hanging in the back of a gun shop instead of just stealing the missing pistols.
The babe with large breasts and legs up to her shoulders ponders (paraphrasing; I wasn't listening real close): "The report says he was beaten to death; why go to the trouble? Why not just steal the guns?" And the Dr. Freud character drops this line on the room (which contains LL Cool J's character, a multi tour SEAL)
"He was an interrogator in Iraq. He might have gotten a taste for it."
And everybody in the scene nods sagely, because EVERYBODY knows that Marines just love hanging sand n**** ass from a hook and beating it all bloody, over there in the sandbox. Or where ever that Evil Boosh war is still sputtering along.
Nobody in the room of full of crime solving geniuses wonders why the dead guy was dead... or why the suspect, whose only link to the victim was that of being a childhood friend, was automatically the killer. We're halfway into the episode at this point and nobody has thought to ask why the guy was shot AT at the airport... when he wasn't a deadly threat. Or why he carjacked a car by gently pushing a woman out of the way instead of incapacitating or abducting her.
The night wasn't a total waste. From now on I get another hour on Thursday night to do something productive.
Then tonight, the shark jumping moment came when the crack NCIS psychological profiler opines on why a former Marine, recently in the employ of a private security outfit and working Iraq, beat a victim to death and left him hanging in the back of a gun shop instead of just stealing the missing pistols.
The babe with large breasts and legs up to her shoulders ponders (paraphrasing; I wasn't listening real close): "The report says he was beaten to death; why go to the trouble? Why not just steal the guns?" And the Dr. Freud character drops this line on the room (which contains LL Cool J's character, a multi tour SEAL)
"He was an interrogator in Iraq. He might have gotten a taste for it."
And everybody in the scene nods sagely, because EVERYBODY knows that Marines just love hanging sand n**** ass from a hook and beating it all bloody, over there in the sandbox. Or where ever that Evil Boosh war is still sputtering along.
Nobody in the room of full of crime solving geniuses wonders why the dead guy was dead... or why the suspect, whose only link to the victim was that of being a childhood friend, was automatically the killer. We're halfway into the episode at this point and nobody has thought to ask why the guy was shot AT at the airport... when he wasn't a deadly threat. Or why he carjacked a car by gently pushing a woman out of the way instead of incapacitating or abducting her.
The night wasn't a total waste. From now on I get another hour on Thursday night to do something productive.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Clarity
The Obama presidency isn't merely a bumpy stretch of road in the American journey.
It is intended to be an end to the Republic and a beginning of utopia.
"Whatever Barack and the people he has surrounded himself with may profess with their mouths at any particular time, their actions show they still loathe America and our standing as most powerful nation on earth, as well as our free enterprise, individual liberty, reverence for family and local communities, Main Street, the U.S. military, Christianity, and every other hallmark of the traditional culture and values of Western civilization.
And now they think they have the power and position to do what they've always wanted to do - tear it all down and remake it in their millenarian image of Leviathan. As philosopher Erik Voegelin would say, they don't merely intend the immanentization of the eschaton, they are securing the appropriations and regulations to make it happen.
Viewed from that assumption, things become so much clearer. On foreign and military policy, Obama's dominant principle is to apologize, to reverse a previous course - thus disavowing the intrinsically moral role of America in protecting freedom - and to seek rapproachment with our enemies on their terms."
I can't talk politics or finances with my wife any more. At all.
Will I have a job a month from now? Will we have capital in any form other than what's on the shelves in the basement or in the cans next to the safe?
And I grew up thinking that watching the wall fall was the pivot of my generation. Not nearly. Not even close.
(via Instpundit)
It is intended to be an end to the Republic and a beginning of utopia.
"Whatever Barack and the people he has surrounded himself with may profess with their mouths at any particular time, their actions show they still loathe America and our standing as most powerful nation on earth, as well as our free enterprise, individual liberty, reverence for family and local communities, Main Street, the U.S. military, Christianity, and every other hallmark of the traditional culture and values of Western civilization.
And now they think they have the power and position to do what they've always wanted to do - tear it all down and remake it in their millenarian image of Leviathan. As philosopher Erik Voegelin would say, they don't merely intend the immanentization of the eschaton, they are securing the appropriations and regulations to make it happen.
Viewed from that assumption, things become so much clearer. On foreign and military policy, Obama's dominant principle is to apologize, to reverse a previous course - thus disavowing the intrinsically moral role of America in protecting freedom - and to seek rapproachment with our enemies on their terms."
I can't talk politics or finances with my wife any more. At all.
Will I have a job a month from now? Will we have capital in any form other than what's on the shelves in the basement or in the cans next to the safe?
And I grew up thinking that watching the wall fall was the pivot of my generation. Not nearly. Not even close.
(via Instpundit)
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Just Trying To Help
Somewhere in England, just before D-Day, General George S. Patton speaks to his Thrid Army:
"When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
Times have changed quite a bit since June of 1944 but the sentiment expressed in Patton's words still pertains. Amphorous hope, suggesting change without purpose, and huckster populism as foundations for political power fade against stark failure on the part of The Won. Town Hall tension and TEA Parties are just the foam on the crest of the wave that is rolling across the nation.
We've elected the hind tit on a boar hog, haven't we? Pay attention, Mr. President. It's not going to get any easier.
It's turning out to be a lot more of a bummer, this bringing down the system, than TOTUS man thought it would.
Silly little Marxist. The Soviets tried for sixty years, and had nukes, armies, and half the cabinet agencies in the government, and they got beat by blue jeans, toilet paper, an actor, a British dame, and a Polish Pope.
Just who the f*** did Obama, or his handlers, think he was, to succeed where Vlad's best and brightest had failed?
It's going to get ugly... but my money is on the possibility that Team O will be going under the bus they've so readily tossed all those other folks, and a lot sooner than they ever thought such a thing could happen. The nation will not shed a tear for their absence.
"When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."
Times have changed quite a bit since June of 1944 but the sentiment expressed in Patton's words still pertains. Amphorous hope, suggesting change without purpose, and huckster populism as foundations for political power fade against stark failure on the part of The Won. Town Hall tension and TEA Parties are just the foam on the crest of the wave that is rolling across the nation.
We've elected the hind tit on a boar hog, haven't we? Pay attention, Mr. President. It's not going to get any easier.
It's turning out to be a lot more of a bummer, this bringing down the system, than TOTUS man thought it would.
Silly little Marxist. The Soviets tried for sixty years, and had nukes, armies, and half the cabinet agencies in the government, and they got beat by blue jeans, toilet paper, an actor, a British dame, and a Polish Pope.
Just who the f*** did Obama, or his handlers, think he was, to succeed where Vlad's best and brightest had failed?
It's going to get ugly... but my money is on the possibility that Team O will be going under the bus they've so readily tossed all those other folks, and a lot sooner than they ever thought such a thing could happen. The nation will not shed a tear for their absence.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Fall
Fall. Turn of the season, or something else? Who knows?
Gagdad Bob popped up on my screens ,via Van der Luen, this morning:
"Just as it is possible for a person to lose the grace, so too can a nation; in other words -- or symbols -- no (↑), no (↓). With an Obama presidency, we will find out what this will be like. It may well turn out to be as his spiritual mentor, Reverend Wright says: God damn America!
And why not? If we abandon any pretense of spiritual ideals, it is not God who will damn America. Rather, we'll do it ourselves. I'm pretty sure we'll discover what it felt like to be a Christian living in Rome, as the barbarian hordes were about to put an end to that world (which at the time was "the" world)."
Interesting times of the Chinese kind are upon us.
We are heading into a winter of discontent, boys and girls. I was going to set some fence posts today but I think I'll just grab the Mosin closest to the door of the safe and a jump bag and head across the lake instead.
We have been up on a neighbor's roof for most of the last week, after work, to help him get it sound before the weather breaks this coming Tuesday. Mrs. Utah cannot stand very well so she has spent two days scooting about on a six inch foam pad helping to hand supplies down from the crown to where ever they have been needed. We have a third of the surface done complete and lack only shingles on the other two thirds. Hopefully the owner wasn't too conservative in his estimate but we think we may need another two units of shingles. Roofing in this corner of Happy Valley is as close to an Amish barn raising as I'll ever see. Very, very good times.
I hope you have a fine week.
Gagdad Bob popped up on my screens ,via Van der Luen, this morning:
"Just as it is possible for a person to lose the grace, so too can a nation; in other words -- or symbols -- no (↑), no (↓). With an Obama presidency, we will find out what this will be like. It may well turn out to be as his spiritual mentor, Reverend Wright says: God damn America!
And why not? If we abandon any pretense of spiritual ideals, it is not God who will damn America. Rather, we'll do it ourselves. I'm pretty sure we'll discover what it felt like to be a Christian living in Rome, as the barbarian hordes were about to put an end to that world (which at the time was "the" world)."
Interesting times of the Chinese kind are upon us.
We are heading into a winter of discontent, boys and girls. I was going to set some fence posts today but I think I'll just grab the Mosin closest to the door of the safe and a jump bag and head across the lake instead.
We have been up on a neighbor's roof for most of the last week, after work, to help him get it sound before the weather breaks this coming Tuesday. Mrs. Utah cannot stand very well so she has spent two days scooting about on a six inch foam pad helping to hand supplies down from the crown to where ever they have been needed. We have a third of the surface done complete and lack only shingles on the other two thirds. Hopefully the owner wasn't too conservative in his estimate but we think we may need another two units of shingles. Roofing in this corner of Happy Valley is as close to an Amish barn raising as I'll ever see. Very, very good times.
I hope you have a fine week.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Local News
I stopped by the American Fork Big 5 on the way home Friday evening and found out that they will be stocking M38 Mosins in the near future.
The counter staff headed back and pulled out a couple of examples for me to look at. I liked what I saw, but I am not sure that I can really justify another Mosin right now. I may have to put a couple my 91/30's up on KSL.com Classifieds in order raise funds as well as to open up some space in the Team Armory.
One of the two they brought out has a bunged up front sight, which probably happened in transport. The globe and post is knocked almost out of its dovetail slot. The damage to the slot would require five minutes of work on my anvil with the right mandrels but I have gotten deals on marred or damaged merchandise here before.
This rifle is the one of the two that has the actual M38 stock - not a more common cut-down 91/30 stock. So I'll probably mosey over there after lunch...
In other news, youngest Goddess attended Homecoming dance last night and had a fabulous time. Unfortunately, she found that her high heels were poor equipment choices for operating our Dodge Dakota. She slipped off the pedals and punched a parking bollard just left off center of the trailer hitch at some speed and shoved the rear bumper right against the bed. The tail gate will still open, but just.
She gets to learn the economics of body work. This will be her first experience with higher education.
The counter staff headed back and pulled out a couple of examples for me to look at. I liked what I saw, but I am not sure that I can really justify another Mosin right now. I may have to put a couple my 91/30's up on KSL.com Classifieds in order raise funds as well as to open up some space in the Team Armory.
One of the two they brought out has a bunged up front sight, which probably happened in transport. The globe and post is knocked almost out of its dovetail slot. The damage to the slot would require five minutes of work on my anvil with the right mandrels but I have gotten deals on marred or damaged merchandise here before.
This rifle is the one of the two that has the actual M38 stock - not a more common cut-down 91/30 stock. So I'll probably mosey over there after lunch...
In other news, youngest Goddess attended Homecoming dance last night and had a fabulous time. Unfortunately, she found that her high heels were poor equipment choices for operating our Dodge Dakota. She slipped off the pedals and punched a parking bollard just left off center of the trailer hitch at some speed and shoved the rear bumper right against the bed. The tail gate will still open, but just.
She gets to learn the economics of body work. This will be her first experience with higher education.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
ROE
Via Belmont Club:
"U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village."
It is my personal opinion that we no longer have any business putting American servicemen in harm's way in Afghanistan. I will be writing my representatives and senators to urge them to end our involvement in the nations of Afghanistan and Iraq.
NCA has abandoned the mission. We are not willing to kill the enemy where we find them, when we find them. From this day forward our dead, wounded, and maimed are pawns in a game that has already been conceded.
Wish it wasn't that way. Tomorrow in the anniversary of a tragic day. I will remember where I was that day. Just as I remember 1979 and 1983, when I first noticed the war.
Our government, too busy attempting to overturn the Republic, will accept a trickle of pointless deaths until they are ready to formally surrender.
"U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village."
It is my personal opinion that we no longer have any business putting American servicemen in harm's way in Afghanistan. I will be writing my representatives and senators to urge them to end our involvement in the nations of Afghanistan and Iraq.
NCA has abandoned the mission. We are not willing to kill the enemy where we find them, when we find them. From this day forward our dead, wounded, and maimed are pawns in a game that has already been conceded.
Wish it wasn't that way. Tomorrow in the anniversary of a tragic day. I will remember where I was that day. Just as I remember 1979 and 1983, when I first noticed the war.
Our government, too busy attempting to overturn the Republic, will accept a trickle of pointless deaths until they are ready to formally surrender.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
They Said There Would Be Tests.
Howdy.
Mrs. Utah and I are spending the weekend in the idyllic metropolis of Pocatello, Idaho. Why, you ask?
I'm glad you did. We are here because I didn't work today, Wendover, Nevada holds no attraction as an escape, and Vegas is too far away.
This morning we made our way out to the boonies and paid our fees to shoot at the Oregon Trail Shooting Club. Mrs. Utah is bad, bad news with our compact Glock 26. Once again she has proven a better shot with a pistol originally intended for me.
I elected to take one of my Mosin carbines, a beautiful model 91/59 I picked up a few years ago. This weekend marks the third time I've had this one out. I shot about thirty rounds offhand, mostly mixed lot old milsurp light ball, and then moved to a bench after my groups started to show I was getting tired.
The groups tightened nicely from the bench. I was shooting across the top of my range bag at my fifty yard target the same time as Mrs. Tmj was shooting to my left. Her target was out at fifteen yards to start and later moved out to twenty five. She shot scary good; sight radius on a 26 is about as long as that of a derringer and she was still putting all the rounds inside a twelve inch bullseye at the close target and almost all of them at the twenty five yard range.
This is the unscripted weekend. As we shot, we chatted back and forth. We have a lot to catch up on with my work taking up so much of our time. I had just finished complimenting her on her marksmanship when I turned and buckled down to dump another bullet into the black...sights lined up, target on the post, finger sliding down to caress the trigger, stop breathing, begin to squee...
*clonk*
I own and shoot a lot of military surplus weapons in many different calibers. I've had production lots of surplus ammo where every second round was a dud and every third was a true one-second hangfire. (Pakistani production .303 Mk VII headstamped early sixties. Useless stuff.) This morning I'd already noticed some cracked necks and one spectacular split on one of my spent brass cases.
So a misfire, possibly a hangfire, I thought. Wait for a solid thirty seconds, keeping the muzzle aimed at the target. I turned my head to explain to Mrs. Utah what I was up to at the same time I gently worked the bolt to extract the bad round. I was too vigorous and the "dead" round flipped over the edge of the table before I could catch it. No biggie - I'd police it up with the spent stuff later.
I broke the rules right there. Did you see it?
I went to return the bolt to battery on top of the next round. The bolt refused to seat. I immediately executed Mosin Sticky Bolt Immediate Action and slapped the crap out of the bolt trying to get it down. I could slap it forward where it just started to rotate down, but there it hung. So I pulled the bolt back, this time catching the good round before it could get away. I inspected the open bolt and the face of the chamber that I could see. There appeared to be some soot or lube build up on the mating surfaces so I pulled a q-tip out and made a few passes around the radius of the chamber face. Then I initiated another round of Immediate Action, actually getting the bolt to drop a few degrees. I stood up to get better leverage and then had a thought. I pulled the bolt out of the rifle, then dropped the floorplate and emptied the last two rounds from the magazine.
I stepped over to the side of the table where I'd lost the "dud" round and inspected the ground. Twenty or so spent cases... but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see a bullet anywhere on any of those cases.
I picked up the rifle and looked through the breech up the bore... into blackness. The primer detonation (clonk) had pushed the 147gr steel core bullet out of the empty copper washed steel case ALMOST far enough for me to chamber another round behind it.
We searched through the empty cases on the ground and found, indeed, one case that didn't have soot in the neck, but just a patina of corrosion with red specks from the primer material.
If you have a misfire on the range - anywhere out of combat, actually - you must wait safely for a hangfire (fifteen seconds in some books, I believe in thirty myself) and then open the action and inspect the bullet AND the bore.
If I'd been a little more committed to trying to close that bolt you wouldn't be reading this. Or if the squib bullet had been a sixteenth of an inch deeper into the bore, as well. Mosins are widely acclaimed for being a weapon that often requires a highly physical manner of operation. They aren't acclaimed at all for surviving a shot taken with the bore plugged by a squib bullet.
It's all a test. Study, learn, and live.
(UPDATE 2100 08/23) Here is a picture showing (left to right) a normal fired case, the case that had no powder, and the bullet I punched out of the bore:
Mrs. Utah and I are spending the weekend in the idyllic metropolis of Pocatello, Idaho. Why, you ask?
I'm glad you did. We are here because I didn't work today, Wendover, Nevada holds no attraction as an escape, and Vegas is too far away.
This morning we made our way out to the boonies and paid our fees to shoot at the Oregon Trail Shooting Club. Mrs. Utah is bad, bad news with our compact Glock 26. Once again she has proven a better shot with a pistol originally intended for me.
I elected to take one of my Mosin carbines, a beautiful model 91/59 I picked up a few years ago. This weekend marks the third time I've had this one out. I shot about thirty rounds offhand, mostly mixed lot old milsurp light ball, and then moved to a bench after my groups started to show I was getting tired.
The groups tightened nicely from the bench. I was shooting across the top of my range bag at my fifty yard target the same time as Mrs. Tmj was shooting to my left. Her target was out at fifteen yards to start and later moved out to twenty five. She shot scary good; sight radius on a 26 is about as long as that of a derringer and she was still putting all the rounds inside a twelve inch bullseye at the close target and almost all of them at the twenty five yard range.
This is the unscripted weekend. As we shot, we chatted back and forth. We have a lot to catch up on with my work taking up so much of our time. I had just finished complimenting her on her marksmanship when I turned and buckled down to dump another bullet into the black...sights lined up, target on the post, finger sliding down to caress the trigger, stop breathing, begin to squee...
*clonk*
I own and shoot a lot of military surplus weapons in many different calibers. I've had production lots of surplus ammo where every second round was a dud and every third was a true one-second hangfire. (Pakistani production .303 Mk VII headstamped early sixties. Useless stuff.) This morning I'd already noticed some cracked necks and one spectacular split on one of my spent brass cases.
So a misfire, possibly a hangfire, I thought. Wait for a solid thirty seconds, keeping the muzzle aimed at the target. I turned my head to explain to Mrs. Utah what I was up to at the same time I gently worked the bolt to extract the bad round. I was too vigorous and the "dead" round flipped over the edge of the table before I could catch it. No biggie - I'd police it up with the spent stuff later.
I broke the rules right there. Did you see it?
I went to return the bolt to battery on top of the next round. The bolt refused to seat. I immediately executed Mosin Sticky Bolt Immediate Action and slapped the crap out of the bolt trying to get it down. I could slap it forward where it just started to rotate down, but there it hung. So I pulled the bolt back, this time catching the good round before it could get away. I inspected the open bolt and the face of the chamber that I could see. There appeared to be some soot or lube build up on the mating surfaces so I pulled a q-tip out and made a few passes around the radius of the chamber face. Then I initiated another round of Immediate Action, actually getting the bolt to drop a few degrees. I stood up to get better leverage and then had a thought. I pulled the bolt out of the rifle, then dropped the floorplate and emptied the last two rounds from the magazine.
I stepped over to the side of the table where I'd lost the "dud" round and inspected the ground. Twenty or so spent cases... but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see a bullet anywhere on any of those cases.
I picked up the rifle and looked through the breech up the bore... into blackness. The primer detonation (clonk) had pushed the 147gr steel core bullet out of the empty copper washed steel case ALMOST far enough for me to chamber another round behind it.
We searched through the empty cases on the ground and found, indeed, one case that didn't have soot in the neck, but just a patina of corrosion with red specks from the primer material.
If you have a misfire on the range - anywhere out of combat, actually - you must wait safely for a hangfire (fifteen seconds in some books, I believe in thirty myself) and then open the action and inspect the bullet AND the bore.
If I'd been a little more committed to trying to close that bolt you wouldn't be reading this. Or if the squib bullet had been a sixteenth of an inch deeper into the bore, as well. Mosins are widely acclaimed for being a weapon that often requires a highly physical manner of operation. They aren't acclaimed at all for surviving a shot taken with the bore plugged by a squib bullet.
It's all a test. Study, learn, and live.
(UPDATE 2100 08/23) Here is a picture showing (left to right) a normal fired case, the case that had no powder, and the bullet I punched out of the bore:
Monday, August 10, 2009
Spur Of The Moment
(UPDATED: Expletives deleted. I apologize for letting my tiredness make me lazy.)
Howdy. Busy as heck, hair on fire, no time for anything like following current events.
I spent my Sunday off not thinking of work, though, so I eventually had to spend fifteen or twenty minutes looking at news.
Our money comes out of what is left of our stock market portfolio next week.
If you were a president bent on destroying the constitution you were elected to protect, wouldn't it be wise to remove Congress at some point? Even given the fact that the hockey helmet and rubber spoon political class as exemplified by Pelosi and Reid is temporarily an asset (in a sad and twisted way) for The Won in that they make Obama appear a tad less incompetent and terrifying than he is, really, at some point it will be necessary for them to ... go away.
What's the no go point for keeping them around? I'd expect it would be failing to pass cap and trade; health care is programmed too far out to do more than exacerbate the catastrophe inherent in cap and trade.
Were I a Senator or a Rep, I'd make it a point to keep lots of the administration's people in the Capitol building during business hours. Shucks, it's not like there's not enough Czars to fill all the hearing rooms twice over, right?
What a world we live in.
Howdy. Busy as heck, hair on fire, no time for anything like following current events.
I spent my Sunday off not thinking of work, though, so I eventually had to spend fifteen or twenty minutes looking at news.
Our money comes out of what is left of our stock market portfolio next week.
If you were a president bent on destroying the constitution you were elected to protect, wouldn't it be wise to remove Congress at some point? Even given the fact that the hockey helmet and rubber spoon political class as exemplified by Pelosi and Reid is temporarily an asset (in a sad and twisted way) for The Won in that they make Obama appear a tad less incompetent and terrifying than he is, really, at some point it will be necessary for them to ... go away.
What's the no go point for keeping them around? I'd expect it would be failing to pass cap and trade; health care is programmed too far out to do more than exacerbate the catastrophe inherent in cap and trade.
Were I a Senator or a Rep, I'd make it a point to keep lots of the administration's people in the Capitol building during business hours. Shucks, it's not like there's not enough Czars to fill all the hearing rooms twice over, right?
What a world we live in.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Passi It On
The following excerpt is from a recent essay posted by Cobb:
"What I do believe we all should be involved in no matter what our background is the principle and practice of advanced civility. What America lacks is a firm sense of practical decorum. The proper way of doing things is in doubt. We haven't completely forgotten our manners, but we've seen them beat down so many times that we think they don't matter any more. And it has practically destroyed our ability to communicate trust and strong love in public."
I was raised a "yes ma'am/sir" kind of guy, and I am still that way.
I am an anachronism, even here in Milk Toast Valley, Utah.
Civility is the lubricant of civilization. We are running rather more than a quart low. Without the common sense and respect inherent in even minimal form or simple good manners, the machine develops a fine, almost subliminal whining we hear at speed. Without attention, that whine will soon become a knock, then a grind, then a last violent crunch... then silence.
It's a great essay. Enjoy.
"What I do believe we all should be involved in no matter what our background is the principle and practice of advanced civility. What America lacks is a firm sense of practical decorum. The proper way of doing things is in doubt. We haven't completely forgotten our manners, but we've seen them beat down so many times that we think they don't matter any more. And it has practically destroyed our ability to communicate trust and strong love in public."
I was raised a "yes ma'am/sir" kind of guy, and I am still that way.
I am an anachronism, even here in Milk Toast Valley, Utah.
Civility is the lubricant of civilization. We are running rather more than a quart low. Without the common sense and respect inherent in even minimal form or simple good manners, the machine develops a fine, almost subliminal whining we hear at speed. Without attention, that whine will soon become a knock, then a grind, then a last violent crunch... then silence.
It's a great essay. Enjoy.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Great Scott!
Forget politics for second, okay?
There are TWO Mosin Nagant M91/30 retired PU snipers in Utah county.
One, a 1943 Tula with good rifling and a wartime stock, is at Gunnies in Orem and is going for around a $110.00. The other is up at the American Fork Big5 and is a very nice 1944 Izhevsk with even better rifling and a very smooth bolt. Big5 has upped their prices quite a bit, and even on sale this rifle will be above a hundred dollars.
Well... okay, some politics:
This morning I took the Goddesses up to Tibble Fork reservoir for a few hours of fishing and then some gold panning.
No bites, one speck of gold, and a vote on whether or not to go camping next weekend was passed unanimously.
Have a fine week.
There are TWO Mosin Nagant M91/30 retired PU snipers in Utah county.
One, a 1943 Tula with good rifling and a wartime stock, is at Gunnies in Orem and is going for around a $110.00. The other is up at the American Fork Big5 and is a very nice 1944 Izhevsk with even better rifling and a very smooth bolt. Big5 has upped their prices quite a bit, and even on sale this rifle will be above a hundred dollars.
Well... okay, some politics:
This morning I took the Goddesses up to Tibble Fork reservoir for a few hours of fishing and then some gold panning.
No bites, one speck of gold, and a vote on whether or not to go camping next weekend was passed unanimously.
Have a fine week.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Fire Them. All of Them.
I expect 2010 to be the last mostly free and fair election I'll see.
The case laid out in this article closely coincides with my own conclusions as to the origins of the ongoing collapse of our economy.
It is important to remember that the hackery committed by Congress over the last thirty years transcended party lines. The mortgage bubble popped when it did because the government didn't have complete control over the books; the racket was too public/private to be maintained.
The coming failures of Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare will be as bad or worse. Possibly much worse, because millions of Americans still have what is left of their retirement in the market (read this) , which isn't close to bottoming out yet.
All a lot of us will have to look forward to is Social Security. Which won't be there at all.
If we let the wrecking crew execute their 2010 strategy and effectively replace the FEC with ACORN, we'll all know what card check really means.
But we have the power to save ourselves. The first step is to vote out any sitting representative or senator. First or fifteenth term, it does not matter. They know that it's about getting elected FIRST... which is why they - both sides of the aisle - are actively working to destroying our election system or are turning away and saying nothing.
America is under attack. We have pulled the trigger on ourselves.
The case laid out in this article closely coincides with my own conclusions as to the origins of the ongoing collapse of our economy.
It is important to remember that the hackery committed by Congress over the last thirty years transcended party lines. The mortgage bubble popped when it did because the government didn't have complete control over the books; the racket was too public/private to be maintained.
The coming failures of Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare will be as bad or worse. Possibly much worse, because millions of Americans still have what is left of their retirement in the market (read this) , which isn't close to bottoming out yet.
All a lot of us will have to look forward to is Social Security. Which won't be there at all.
If we let the wrecking crew execute their 2010 strategy and effectively replace the FEC with ACORN, we'll all know what card check really means.
But we have the power to save ourselves. The first step is to vote out any sitting representative or senator. First or fifteenth term, it does not matter. They know that it's about getting elected FIRST... which is why they - both sides of the aisle - are actively working to destroying our election system or are turning away and saying nothing.
America is under attack. We have pulled the trigger on ourselves.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
In A Nutshell
Behold the new paradigm:
"U.S. officials claimed that a tough stance toward Iran could backfire, bringing about an opposite outcome to that desired by those who support such measures."
The above statement is all you need to know about the new American diplomacy. It is the distillation of the deepest wish behind all the puppet heads, all the unwashed and incoherent chant leaders, and all the apologia for American exceptionalism these last decades. Moral relativism and narrow political calculation has replaced objective national interest as the philosophical guide of American foreign policy.
Now we will look toward properly credentialed progressive ideologues to support at the expense of democratically elected governments or traditional allies. We will negotiate with the most repressive dictators if doing so gives time for consolidating domestic political power.
We have elected a government filled with a majority that views individual liberty as an obstacle, not the reason for their offices.
I liked Ronnie better:
"If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. We see around us today the marks of our terrible dilemma--predictions of doomsday, antinuclear demonstrations, an arms race in which the West must, for its own protection, be an unwilling participant. At the same time we see totalitarian forces in the world who seek subversion and conflict around the globe to further their barbarous assault on the human spirit. What, then, is our course? Must civilization perish in a hail of fiery atoms? Must freedom wither in a quiet, deadening accommodation with totalitarian evil?"
and
" The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy, the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities, which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.
This is not cultural imperialism; it is providing the means for genuine self-determination and protection for diversity. Democracy already flourishes in countries with very different cultures and historical experiences. It would be cultural condescension, or worse, to say that any people prefer dictatorship to democracy. Who would voluntarily choose not to have the right to vote, decide to purchase government propaganda handouts instead of independent newspapers, prefer government to worker-controlled unions, opt for land to be owned by the state instead of those who till it, want government repression of religious liberty, a single political party instead of a free choice, a rigid cultural orthodoxy instead of democratic tolerance and diversity?"
In this same speech, Mr. Reagan pointed out that the resilience of the free individual was not something to be taken lightly:
"I've often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world. This reluctance to use those vast resources at our command reminds me of the elderly lady whose home was bombed in the blitz. As the rescuers moved about, they found a bottle of brandy she'd stored behind the staircase, which was all that was left standing. And since she was barely conscious, one of the workers pulled the cork to give her a taste of it. She came around immediately and said, "Here now -- there now, put it back. That's for emergencies."
On this Independence Day 2009 do not be dismayed. Proudly fly your flag. Go watch a parade, or attend a Tea Party. Burn some burgers. But do not become consumed by anger, nor pessimism. This freedom we celebrate today sprang not from the right government, but from the people, and we will not let it disappear from this nation.
Barak Obama may have big dreams, but this isn't 1917 and he surely is no Lenin.
God bless America, and keep her strong and free. And God bless you and yours, too.
You have a fine day.
Cannon firing in Cherry Hill Park sometime after three today.
"U.S. officials claimed that a tough stance toward Iran could backfire, bringing about an opposite outcome to that desired by those who support such measures."
The above statement is all you need to know about the new American diplomacy. It is the distillation of the deepest wish behind all the puppet heads, all the unwashed and incoherent chant leaders, and all the apologia for American exceptionalism these last decades. Moral relativism and narrow political calculation has replaced objective national interest as the philosophical guide of American foreign policy.
Now we will look toward properly credentialed progressive ideologues to support at the expense of democratically elected governments or traditional allies. We will negotiate with the most repressive dictators if doing so gives time for consolidating domestic political power.
We have elected a government filled with a majority that views individual liberty as an obstacle, not the reason for their offices.
I liked Ronnie better:
"If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. We see around us today the marks of our terrible dilemma--predictions of doomsday, antinuclear demonstrations, an arms race in which the West must, for its own protection, be an unwilling participant. At the same time we see totalitarian forces in the world who seek subversion and conflict around the globe to further their barbarous assault on the human spirit. What, then, is our course? Must civilization perish in a hail of fiery atoms? Must freedom wither in a quiet, deadening accommodation with totalitarian evil?"
and
" The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy, the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities, which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.
This is not cultural imperialism; it is providing the means for genuine self-determination and protection for diversity. Democracy already flourishes in countries with very different cultures and historical experiences. It would be cultural condescension, or worse, to say that any people prefer dictatorship to democracy. Who would voluntarily choose not to have the right to vote, decide to purchase government propaganda handouts instead of independent newspapers, prefer government to worker-controlled unions, opt for land to be owned by the state instead of those who till it, want government repression of religious liberty, a single political party instead of a free choice, a rigid cultural orthodoxy instead of democratic tolerance and diversity?"
In this same speech, Mr. Reagan pointed out that the resilience of the free individual was not something to be taken lightly:
"I've often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world. This reluctance to use those vast resources at our command reminds me of the elderly lady whose home was bombed in the blitz. As the rescuers moved about, they found a bottle of brandy she'd stored behind the staircase, which was all that was left standing. And since she was barely conscious, one of the workers pulled the cork to give her a taste of it. She came around immediately and said, "Here now -- there now, put it back. That's for emergencies."
On this Independence Day 2009 do not be dismayed. Proudly fly your flag. Go watch a parade, or attend a Tea Party. Burn some burgers. But do not become consumed by anger, nor pessimism. This freedom we celebrate today sprang not from the right government, but from the people, and we will not let it disappear from this nation.
Barak Obama may have big dreams, but this isn't 1917 and he surely is no Lenin.
God bless America, and keep her strong and free. And God bless you and yours, too.
You have a fine day.
Cannon firing in Cherry Hill Park sometime after three today.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Only Few Are Called
I see the Washington Post tried to conduct a revenue stream enhancement strategy.
They forgot to dress for success. (Fast forward to 2:40 if you can stand it.)
We live in the Age of The Won!
Well, the world will turn.
I'm off until Monday. Today I am taking a friend up above Tibble Fork Reservoir for some gold panning and maybe some fishing. That means chores need to get done toot sweet, so you have a fine day and a better tomorrow.
The Team will be burning some powder in Cherry Hill Park tomorrow afternoon, probably after five o'clock.
They forgot to dress for success. (Fast forward to 2:40 if you can stand it.)
We live in the Age of The Won!
Well, the world will turn.
I'm off until Monday. Today I am taking a friend up above Tibble Fork Reservoir for some gold panning and maybe some fishing. That means chores need to get done toot sweet, so you have a fine day and a better tomorrow.
The Team will be burning some powder in Cherry Hill Park tomorrow afternoon, probably after five o'clock.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
On The Road
Tomorrow we are off to Maryland, south of D.C., for a weekender family reunion.
Back on Tuesday.
Have a fine one.
Back on Tuesday.
Have a fine one.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Iran Policy Evolution
Last week, when the first rumbles of unrest began to spread in the wake of the Iranian clown show our media chose to call an "election", the President of the United States voted present.
By Monday last, The Won had seen the poll numbers and came out with a Strong Statement. He even got some props from traditionally conservative folks, too, I hear.
If Barry stays true to script, I guess Thursday we'll get a riff right out of "The Untouchables"...
"I want him DEAD! His family DEAD!"
Then he'll bounce a basketball off a reporter's head and talk some hoop smack. Or something.
Rhetoric aside, The One has let stand the invite to Iranian diplomats for a friendly Fourth of July picnic. I always say there's nothing like a good steak and a cold drink after you get done cleaning your rifle and having a prisoner wash the dried blood off your boots. If Mousavi calls ahead, I'm sure the Leader of the Free World will make sure the embassies clear a primo parking space for the Iranian Diplomatic Ryder Truck.
In other news... my company has been awarded the contract to build the north office tower that will go on top of the parking garage we are halfway done building. I give humble thanks that I will have a job that much longer.
Links shamelessly lifted via Instapundit, American Digest, Weasel Zippers, and Hot Air.
By Monday last, The Won had seen the poll numbers and came out with a Strong Statement. He even got some props from traditionally conservative folks, too, I hear.
If Barry stays true to script, I guess Thursday we'll get a riff right out of "The Untouchables"...
"I want him DEAD! His family DEAD!"
Then he'll bounce a basketball off a reporter's head and talk some hoop smack. Or something.
Rhetoric aside, The One has let stand the invite to Iranian diplomats for a friendly Fourth of July picnic. I always say there's nothing like a good steak and a cold drink after you get done cleaning your rifle and having a prisoner wash the dried blood off your boots. If Mousavi calls ahead, I'm sure the Leader of the Free World will make sure the embassies clear a primo parking space for the Iranian Diplomatic Ryder Truck.
In other news... my company has been awarded the contract to build the north office tower that will go on top of the parking garage we are halfway done building. I give humble thanks that I will have a job that much longer.
Links shamelessly lifted via Instapundit, American Digest, Weasel Zippers, and Hot Air.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Comment
I left this at Protein Wisdom:
"Finding yourself on the side of a road in a driving rain really, REALLY wishing you had a spare tire is nothing compared to the feeling you get when it becomes “Damn, really could use a basement full of Mosin Nagants and a bunch of bullets right NOW”….
… because when you figure out you really need a weapon, it’s generally too late to begin your waiting period."
I recommend the thread. It's all quite good.
"Finding yourself on the side of a road in a driving rain really, REALLY wishing you had a spare tire is nothing compared to the feeling you get when it becomes “Damn, really could use a basement full of Mosin Nagants and a bunch of bullets right NOW”….
… because when you figure out you really need a weapon, it’s generally too late to begin your waiting period."
I recommend the thread. It's all quite good.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Who Knew?
Lincoln was right:
" As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
In other news:
"The bond market is calling the Federal Reserve out," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research Inc. in Jupiter, Fla. "Investors are saying that the Fed can't just print money out of thin air to finance a massive deficit."
I've read history my whole life. Which means that empires' ends are kind of a known quantity.
I never expected to watch it happen from my living room.
Bonus (via neoneocon)
In the week just passed I ran into two former coworkers, a boss from a decade ago, a couple I met through AA back in 2000 or so, and the couple that ran the day care our daughters went to beginning in 1992. All totally random. And all asking "what's next??" somewhere in the conversation.
Wish I knew.
" As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
In other news:
"The bond market is calling the Federal Reserve out," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research Inc. in Jupiter, Fla. "Investors are saying that the Fed can't just print money out of thin air to finance a massive deficit."
I've read history my whole life. Which means that empires' ends are kind of a known quantity.
I never expected to watch it happen from my living room.
Bonus (via neoneocon)
In the week just passed I ran into two former coworkers, a boss from a decade ago, a couple I met through AA back in 2000 or so, and the couple that ran the day care our daughters went to beginning in 1992. All totally random. And all asking "what's next??" somewhere in the conversation.
Wish I knew.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
More Required Reading
Found via American Digest:
" Communists are now nationalists – or national socialists – who have embraced capitalist means in order to achieve the end of capitalism. They do not admit to being Marxists, full of resentment against “that eminent distinction” that “really is distinction.” They call themselves democrats. They win elections under various false flags. They participate the in the process of leveling on their own terms. "
In other news -
On day one of my three days off for Memorial Day, I crushed my left middle toe by allowing an extension ladder to collapse on it.
It sucks getting old. I broke safety protocol first by attempting to collapse the ladder while it was vertical, then compounded my error by pulling both left and right locks at the same time. I had enough time, as the extended section whistled down, to think "I'll pay for this". If I still had reflexes would have more usefully extracted foot from impact area...
I spent Saturday night on the sofa with my foot iced and elevated. This morning the digit was a shade of dark purple more usually seen on Roman cloaks, so off to Critical Care for an xray. Radiologist said broken, doc said badly bruised.
Tomorrow... don't know. Going to bed in half an hour. Will figure out tomorrow when it gets here.
It will just be another day in the age of the One. And me, still waiting for my rocket car. Fishing maybe. More likely run across the lake and burn some powder.
Never pester the radiologist. Diagnosis is not her job.
" Communists are now nationalists – or national socialists – who have embraced capitalist means in order to achieve the end of capitalism. They do not admit to being Marxists, full of resentment against “that eminent distinction” that “really is distinction.” They call themselves democrats. They win elections under various false flags. They participate the in the process of leveling on their own terms. "
In other news -
On day one of my three days off for Memorial Day, I crushed my left middle toe by allowing an extension ladder to collapse on it.
It sucks getting old. I broke safety protocol first by attempting to collapse the ladder while it was vertical, then compounded my error by pulling both left and right locks at the same time. I had enough time, as the extended section whistled down, to think "I'll pay for this". If I still had reflexes would have more usefully extracted foot from impact area...
I spent Saturday night on the sofa with my foot iced and elevated. This morning the digit was a shade of dark purple more usually seen on Roman cloaks, so off to Critical Care for an xray. Radiologist said broken, doc said badly bruised.
Tomorrow... don't know. Going to bed in half an hour. Will figure out tomorrow when it gets here.
It will just be another day in the age of the One. And me, still waiting for my rocket car. Fishing maybe. More likely run across the lake and burn some powder.
Never pester the radiologist. Diagnosis is not her job.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Required Reading
From Belomont Club, best comment I've seen on a blog in years:
"The Fed is an independent entity. It is a network of 12 Regional Federal Reserve banks. The Presidents of these Regional Fed banks are chosen by an independent board of directors. Each Regional Fed bank is owned by member banks, but the board is controlled by non-bankers (6 non-bankers, 3 bankers).
This means that the control of the Fed banks is in the hands of private citizens, and not Congress. Each President works for their respective board, which hires and fires them.
Some folks complain about this arrangement, but it has saved our bacon, IMHO. This independence has allowed the Fed to act without having to go to Congress or the White House for permission. This keeps its OODA loop tight, and helps shelter it from partisan political fights. Its independence has also allowed the US dollar to be the world’s reserve currency.
But here’s things get sticky. The Obama Administration is proposing the most dramatic expansion of Federal spending in history. Trillions of dollars will be added to the Federal Debt during the next 3-4 years, and if they pass healthcare reform, it will get even worse. In addition, by increasing marginal tax rates, economic growth will slow, and growth is the only way we can eventually pay off the debt we have accumulated."
It's all good.
In other news, I had a clinic day at the range on Saturday. I believe that the M91/59 Mosin carbine probably represents the cream of the crop as far as mechanical condition is concerned among that vast ocean of old Russian bolties floating around out there. It would appear that the Commies converted their best 91/30's into the 59's.
I will have the holiday weekend off. I'm trying to get the Goddesses out for a fishing day, but their social calendars are probably already booked. If it's not fishing I'll ask a couple of friends out to Tibble Fork to go fishing and maybe even gold panning.
We are going great guns on my project. Scary fast, some have said. We are going to run out of mud in about two months at the rate we are going, then there will be nowhere to go but up.
"The Fed is an independent entity. It is a network of 12 Regional Federal Reserve banks. The Presidents of these Regional Fed banks are chosen by an independent board of directors. Each Regional Fed bank is owned by member banks, but the board is controlled by non-bankers (6 non-bankers, 3 bankers).
This means that the control of the Fed banks is in the hands of private citizens, and not Congress. Each President works for their respective board, which hires and fires them.
Some folks complain about this arrangement, but it has saved our bacon, IMHO. This independence has allowed the Fed to act without having to go to Congress or the White House for permission. This keeps its OODA loop tight, and helps shelter it from partisan political fights. Its independence has also allowed the US dollar to be the world’s reserve currency.
But here’s things get sticky. The Obama Administration is proposing the most dramatic expansion of Federal spending in history. Trillions of dollars will be added to the Federal Debt during the next 3-4 years, and if they pass healthcare reform, it will get even worse. In addition, by increasing marginal tax rates, economic growth will slow, and growth is the only way we can eventually pay off the debt we have accumulated."
It's all good.
In other news, I had a clinic day at the range on Saturday. I believe that the M91/59 Mosin carbine probably represents the cream of the crop as far as mechanical condition is concerned among that vast ocean of old Russian bolties floating around out there. It would appear that the Commies converted their best 91/30's into the 59's.
I will have the holiday weekend off. I'm trying to get the Goddesses out for a fishing day, but their social calendars are probably already booked. If it's not fishing I'll ask a couple of friends out to Tibble Fork to go fishing and maybe even gold panning.
We are going great guns on my project. Scary fast, some have said. We are going to run out of mud in about two months at the rate we are going, then there will be nowhere to go but up.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Warning Order
I'd like to be upbeat, but I just don't have the will.
Today I see that defining Chrysler's advertising budget has become a presidential duty.
That suddenly Mr. Obama understands what a shit tsunami would accompany releasing more Abu Ghraib photos; what looked like an easy sop to his vicious, anti-American base turns out to carry a cost he declines to pay.
In financial circles, the sucker's rally continues as congress continues to explore yet more ways to tax individuals and businesses.
Just how great a tax burden they will hammer us with is a mystery. What is absolutely certain is that they will continue to shield their own from any annoying questions about ethics.
Here at the home of Utah we are doubling emergency cash on hand at the house, refilling prescriptions out to three months, and have decided to double our garden area. I don't know when I'll find time to tend it properly but I think that come fall we'll be glad we grew our own this year...
What a joke we have become.
Won't be anybody laughing by August, I'm thinking.
Today I see that defining Chrysler's advertising budget has become a presidential duty.
That suddenly Mr. Obama understands what a shit tsunami would accompany releasing more Abu Ghraib photos; what looked like an easy sop to his vicious, anti-American base turns out to carry a cost he declines to pay.
In financial circles, the sucker's rally continues as congress continues to explore yet more ways to tax individuals and businesses.
Just how great a tax burden they will hammer us with is a mystery. What is absolutely certain is that they will continue to shield their own from any annoying questions about ethics.
Here at the home of Utah we are doubling emergency cash on hand at the house, refilling prescriptions out to three months, and have decided to double our garden area. I don't know when I'll find time to tend it properly but I think that come fall we'll be glad we grew our own this year...
What a joke we have become.
Won't be anybody laughing by August, I'm thinking.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Day Of Rest
I just finished watching a couple of episodes of 'Firefly' with Mrs. Utah. Damn, the good die too young, don't they?
We watched 'Serenity' earlier in the week.
In it, the captain utters one of the greatest lines in Hollywood history:
"I aim to misbehave."
Think I'll get that on a smallish sticker for the rear window of my Dakota.
Shooting tomorrow morning. I'm taking a Mosin out across the lake and am going to shoot jugs until I get tired. Then it will be home for yard work until it's time for Mrs. Utah's famous Sunday Night Spaghetti Feast. Now with TWO kinds of homemade bread!
I hope you have a fine week. Comrade. Because now we ALL are comrades...
But I aim to misbehave a bit, myself...
We watched 'Serenity' earlier in the week.
In it, the captain utters one of the greatest lines in Hollywood history:
"I aim to misbehave."
Think I'll get that on a smallish sticker for the rear window of my Dakota.
Shooting tomorrow morning. I'm taking a Mosin out across the lake and am going to shoot jugs until I get tired. Then it will be home for yard work until it's time for Mrs. Utah's famous Sunday Night Spaghetti Feast. Now with TWO kinds of homemade bread!
I hope you have a fine week. Comrade. Because now we ALL are comrades...
But I aim to misbehave a bit, myself...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I Wonder
Working closer to sixty than seventy hours a week now. I've arrived at a state where the macro of maintaining horizontal and vertical control over a city block's worth of parking structure is routine. Not that familiarity has bred anything close to contempt, of course. Far, far from it.
I still cannot prevent myself from listening to radio instead of cycling through my CD's on the commute. With radio comes network news and commercials.
The news talks about our communist president and imperial congress as if they were just the same old stripe of politicians. The commercials are going... well, going green. And going collectivist as well. Lots of PSA's talking about "doing our part" "helping the recovery". The aim is to appeal to community, but the execution is just damned sad and wrong.
My tax dollars paid for them. If I close my eyes I can here the script of 1984.
Or maybe THX1138.
I cannot talk politics with my family. But I can post links like this on the off chance somebody who knows me may wander through and perhaps follow it. There really is nothing to talk about. Nothing I could change. We could change.
I think it's time I bought a grain mill and several vac pacs of hard red wheat.
Depression is a bitch. I will grab a random stack of CD's off the shelf and put them in the truck tonight.
The fifth different surveying outfit to pass through my job has confirmed my control network and adopted my coordinate system. Funny how it all comes down to thousandths of a foot each time. "Close enough" is the goal. Nice that "close" in this case is damn near nuts on.
Back in the hole tomorrow.
(Link via American Digest)
I still cannot prevent myself from listening to radio instead of cycling through my CD's on the commute. With radio comes network news and commercials.
The news talks about our communist president and imperial congress as if they were just the same old stripe of politicians. The commercials are going... well, going green. And going collectivist as well. Lots of PSA's talking about "doing our part" "helping the recovery". The aim is to appeal to community, but the execution is just damned sad and wrong.
My tax dollars paid for them. If I close my eyes I can here the script of 1984.
Or maybe THX1138.
I cannot talk politics with my family. But I can post links like this on the off chance somebody who knows me may wander through and perhaps follow it. There really is nothing to talk about. Nothing I could change. We could change.
I think it's time I bought a grain mill and several vac pacs of hard red wheat.
Depression is a bitch. I will grab a random stack of CD's off the shelf and put them in the truck tonight.
The fifth different surveying outfit to pass through my job has confirmed my control network and adopted my coordinate system. Funny how it all comes down to thousandths of a foot each time. "Close enough" is the goal. Nice that "close" in this case is damn near nuts on.
Back in the hole tomorrow.
(Link via American Digest)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Party On
I went to the Salt Lake City Tea Party at the Federal building. This location happens to be across the street from the hole in which I work.
I estimate minimum seven hundred people. The venue was not all that large, but it was packed. Speakers included the President of the Utah chapter of the Eagle Forum, Rep. Jason Chafetz (freshman, we kicked Cannon out last election), AG Shurtleff, Rep. Rod Bishop. I don't know if any elected Democrat spoke but I was only able to stay for a short half hour. All the speakers I heard made a point of the non-partisan nature of the Tea Party movement. Many passing cars honked in response to signs asking them to honk if they are taxed too much; many thumbs up.
I’ve got to get a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag for the yard; I’ll fly it alongside the Colors on holidays for the next little while.
The protesters were overwhelmingly working and family people and many kids were present. One goober did show wearing a Glock on a duty belt and cammie trousers bloused into Doc Marten boots. His tshirt said something about “combat training team nine” and I overheard him stating that Utah was an open carry state. He was ignored by everybody, including two uniformed cops. One guy on the periphery wore an Obama mask and had a Soviet flag on his shoulders. He danced around whenever a camera got close.
I leave my ball cap in my truck when I get to work in the morning. You have to be wearing your badge, hard hat, safety glasses, and vest to get into my site. So I stood hatless in the rain and listened to the speeches until the rain turned to snow. The crowd was growing larger when I had to leave.
No paper machet heads were hurt in this protest, and we didn’t even kick in the Starbuck’s windows.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Shooting Date
I will be at Lee Kay this Saturday, arriving at nine a.m. and staying for as long as the kids want to shoot.
Plan A was a west desert outing to shoot cannon but the weather just isn't going to cooperate.
Have a fine day.
Plan A was a west desert outing to shoot cannon but the weather just isn't going to cooperate.
Have a fine day.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
What Button?
The DGAF button is officially pushed:
*
What a joke this clown is. What a tragedy we are become.
Done with politics. Just work, chores, sleep. And pay taxes.
You have a fine day.
*
What a joke this clown is. What a tragedy we are become.
Done with politics. Just work, chores, sleep. And pay taxes.
You have a fine day.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Hot Saturday Night!
This is all I have planned.
Happy Saturday, all.
We are inventorying the Team supplies. This means that Mrs. Tmj will finally see the ammo count.
Shucks. Forget the ammo. Ammo is something you can run out of. The Mosin number is what is going to take some 'splainin, I am thinking.
Women just don't understand the finer points of armory markings, stock variations, and proof stamps.
(via Instapundit)
Happy Saturday, all.
We are inventorying the Team supplies. This means that Mrs. Tmj will finally see the ammo count.
Shucks. Forget the ammo. Ammo is something you can run out of. The Mosin number is what is going to take some 'splainin, I am thinking.
Women just don't understand the finer points of armory markings, stock variations, and proof stamps.
(via Instapundit)
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Wowsers
Shooting day, finally! Yes, friends, it is possible to get off work early enough on a Saturday to actually make it to the range. Plan A was for my chain man to join me but we were just too late for him to make the range and get in his bike ride. He's doing a triathlon later this spring and is in training mode.
A few weeks back I mentioned that I had once again added an item to the wall o' Mosin down in the reloading room. I got to shoot that one today.
Just damn.
There is a definite issue with the extractor. It doesn't like to engage over the rim of the cartridge unless you slap the bolt with authority. Being that we are talking a Mosin here, "slap" is or should already be understood to be SOP, but the sad truth is is that I face planted right through the door way of our connex box plan/ break office this morning. The first part of my anatomy to kiss the linoleum was my right hand, which hyper extended backwards as the rest of my body tried to push it through the floor. I got through the rest of the work day with my right hand shoved in my vest and my motivated assistant performing the bulk of the tasks.
So I arrived at Lee Kay and signed in. Check in with the RO and get the last open bench on the line. There are about fifty positions. Full house and then some, today. The timing works out so that I can get my first target out and begin shooting immediately. I post at fifty yards, walk back with the rest of the crowd, and then begin shooting left handed off the bench. Even shooting weak side, I admire the solid, if heavier than preferred by most Westerners, trigger pull. The bolt operates well except for the tendency for the extractor to resist engaging the rim unless I shout "URRRAHH STALINO!!" as I slam the damned thing home with my wounded hand... and my three different flavors of stripper clips function well, too. So I merrily bang away fifteen well aimed rounds and put things aside to cool while I wait for the break to go forward and check targets. My spotting scope was still in the truck and since my glasses prescription is frankly more good intentions, now, than therapeutic I had no idea where things were down on the paper. Old age is creeping up on me at a dead run.
Dad/daughter was shooting on my left, dad/son on my right. I love seeing preteens hitting their targets with an AR. It's just... right. Son on right peeked down range with his binos and asked where I was aiming. I told him six o'clock on the bullseye and he said "You missed, here, look".
Fifteen rounds (Soviet ammo head stamped 1947, light ball, steel case) shot out of a Tula 1944 production 91/30, at fifty yards, shot weak side because of a sprained wrist, from a bench sitting position, not off a bag.
They all landed inside a three inch circle including four rounds in the X ring (NRA small bore 100 yard target).
I fired a satisfying string from the right side, in agony, and then went ahead and tried another of my 91/30's. That was a wasted effort since by then my thumb and wrist were ballooned too tight in my glove to continue shooting. So I came home.
The '44 Tula is going to get a reproduction PU scope - right after the blue job and the stock bedding and refinishing project. I will finally buy a cheap and simple digital camera to document the process, and will post the results here.
Hope your Saturday is going well. I'm off to clean some shooting irons.
(Okay, not all in a three inch circle:
... but that will do for me! The first five shots are the "L" shaped group at five o'clock. Breathing with a wee bit of flinch, I think.)
A few weeks back I mentioned that I had once again added an item to the wall o' Mosin down in the reloading room. I got to shoot that one today.
Just damn.
There is a definite issue with the extractor. It doesn't like to engage over the rim of the cartridge unless you slap the bolt with authority. Being that we are talking a Mosin here, "slap" is or should already be understood to be SOP, but the sad truth is is that I face planted right through the door way of our connex box plan/ break office this morning. The first part of my anatomy to kiss the linoleum was my right hand, which hyper extended backwards as the rest of my body tried to push it through the floor. I got through the rest of the work day with my right hand shoved in my vest and my motivated assistant performing the bulk of the tasks.
So I arrived at Lee Kay and signed in. Check in with the RO and get the last open bench on the line. There are about fifty positions. Full house and then some, today. The timing works out so that I can get my first target out and begin shooting immediately. I post at fifty yards, walk back with the rest of the crowd, and then begin shooting left handed off the bench. Even shooting weak side, I admire the solid, if heavier than preferred by most Westerners, trigger pull. The bolt operates well except for the tendency for the extractor to resist engaging the rim unless I shout "URRRAHH STALINO!!" as I slam the damned thing home with my wounded hand... and my three different flavors of stripper clips function well, too. So I merrily bang away fifteen well aimed rounds and put things aside to cool while I wait for the break to go forward and check targets. My spotting scope was still in the truck and since my glasses prescription is frankly more good intentions, now, than therapeutic I had no idea where things were down on the paper. Old age is creeping up on me at a dead run.
Dad/daughter was shooting on my left, dad/son on my right. I love seeing preteens hitting their targets with an AR. It's just... right. Son on right peeked down range with his binos and asked where I was aiming. I told him six o'clock on the bullseye and he said "You missed, here, look".
Fifteen rounds (Soviet ammo head stamped 1947, light ball, steel case) shot out of a Tula 1944 production 91/30, at fifty yards, shot weak side because of a sprained wrist, from a bench sitting position, not off a bag.
They all landed inside a three inch circle including four rounds in the X ring (NRA small bore 100 yard target).
I fired a satisfying string from the right side, in agony, and then went ahead and tried another of my 91/30's. That was a wasted effort since by then my thumb and wrist were ballooned too tight in my glove to continue shooting. So I came home.
The '44 Tula is going to get a reproduction PU scope - right after the blue job and the stock bedding and refinishing project. I will finally buy a cheap and simple digital camera to document the process, and will post the results here.
Hope your Saturday is going well. I'm off to clean some shooting irons.
(Okay, not all in a three inch circle:
... but that will do for me! The first five shots are the "L" shaped group at five o'clock. Breathing with a wee bit of flinch, I think.)
Monday, March 02, 2009
The Archduke and a Horse Shoe Nail
There are going to be several wars, beginning this spring. Wars which probably would never have happened if America did not shirk the responsibility incumbent upon the most free nation on the planet.
We have not elected a president. We hired a baby sitter. He's got lot of ground rules that maybe, just maybe, all those folks looking for hope, change, and two for one hot wings on game day might should have paid a little more attention to...
Iran and Russia have no common interest in American interest beyond how far we'll retract from interfering in their goals - namely, reestablishment of Imperial Russia and Iran supplanting the Saudis as the leaders of the ummah.
It takes a lot of concentration to nationalize an economy. I can see Putin and Amadinejad going out of their way for eighteen months or even two or three years to say nice and play nice for Obama.
Not that that will do Georgia any good this spring, or stop Hamas from expanding their missile offensive into Israel, using Iranian weapons. Georgia and Lebanon again, only this time the Bear won't even pretend to leave. And Israel gets to choose whether it is better to fight and die on their terms, or to wait on the end of Obama's leash and wait for the blow to fall.
I'm done following politics or news for awhile. Work, sleep, chores.
We have not elected a president. We hired a baby sitter. He's got lot of ground rules that maybe, just maybe, all those folks looking for hope, change, and two for one hot wings on game day might should have paid a little more attention to...
Iran and Russia have no common interest in American interest beyond how far we'll retract from interfering in their goals - namely, reestablishment of Imperial Russia and Iran supplanting the Saudis as the leaders of the ummah.
It takes a lot of concentration to nationalize an economy. I can see Putin and Amadinejad going out of their way for eighteen months or even two or three years to say nice and play nice for Obama.
Not that that will do Georgia any good this spring, or stop Hamas from expanding their missile offensive into Israel, using Iranian weapons. Georgia and Lebanon again, only this time the Bear won't even pretend to leave. And Israel gets to choose whether it is better to fight and die on their terms, or to wait on the end of Obama's leash and wait for the blow to fall.
I'm done following politics or news for awhile. Work, sleep, chores.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Oops.
Small. Rifle. Primers.
Cabela's, Gunnies, Sportsman's. Nada. None to be had here, except for some Remington match primers, and only two boxes of a hundred each of those. I need ... more than that.
They are the only reloading component I don't have in spades. If I can't find Winchester or at least CCI primers in Salt Lake next week I will buy a couple more cases of ammo for my lone EBR. I had never planned on reloading for my Bushmaster but after finding a few each commercial and home brew loads that do work spectacularly well with it I've decided to pick up a single shot or bolt in 5.56 and hope that the same accuracy may be realized across the two different platforms.
Or I may just end up buying a Century Arms AR A2 rebuild. They have three on the shelf here and my research into them shows that purists hate them and hobbyists are perfectly satisfied. I don't need a rifle length AR. I just want a rifle length .223 (yes, yes, I'd LIKE a NATO chambered boltie but I don't think those fall off the tree too often....
It could go either way.
Other than that, just a lazy weekend. No garages were cleaned - but Mrs. Tmj is out and about in her Miata for the first time since Christmas, topless.
Top down. DOWN.
Have a fine one.
Cabela's, Gunnies, Sportsman's. Nada. None to be had here, except for some Remington match primers, and only two boxes of a hundred each of those. I need ... more than that.
They are the only reloading component I don't have in spades. If I can't find Winchester or at least CCI primers in Salt Lake next week I will buy a couple more cases of ammo for my lone EBR. I had never planned on reloading for my Bushmaster but after finding a few each commercial and home brew loads that do work spectacularly well with it I've decided to pick up a single shot or bolt in 5.56 and hope that the same accuracy may be realized across the two different platforms.
Or I may just end up buying a Century Arms AR A2 rebuild. They have three on the shelf here and my research into them shows that purists hate them and hobbyists are perfectly satisfied. I don't need a rifle length AR. I just want a rifle length .223 (yes, yes, I'd LIKE a NATO chambered boltie but I don't think those fall off the tree too often....
It could go either way.
Other than that, just a lazy weekend. No garages were cleaned - but Mrs. Tmj is out and about in her Miata for the first time since Christmas, topless.
Top down. DOWN.
Have a fine one.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Just A Lazy Sunday
Howdy. These things happened last week:
1. I billed sixty two hours. I worked a few more than that. I actually wore shirt sleeves part of two days, too. No thermal under wear those two days, either.
We had our first top - out section on Saturday. My project was a muddy hole in November. Now it's got several hundred thousand tons of steel and concrete where some of the mud used to be. There will be millions before we are through.
2. My government told me that I was a fool to have gone forty seven years paying my bills and debts, and living within my means.
3. Barak Obama and his crew undershot my low expectations for their first month in office. Low by a considerable margin, in fact. I expected nefarious. The incompetence is actually more disturbing.
4. The AG told me I live in a nation of cowards. If you were an honest man, you might take a look about you and accept that the only three institutions in the country that give a damn what color you are are Government, Education, and the NAACP.
My nation is many things, but cowardly is not even on the list. Most of the weak or reprehensible qualities that have come to the fore in recent years are by the design of people just like you, Mr. AG. You think that people must be driven, not lead. You may think of it as baby sitting, even.
5. I observed that patriots actually protesting the destruction of our economy is akin to watching the Osmonds trying to cover Linkin Park. Not a machine made sign nor a paper mache head in sight.
But no masks. I don't think any Starbucks or MacDonald's got their windows kicked in, either.
Well, it's a start.
(Link via Instapundit)
6. I picked up a 1944 manufacture Tula 91/30 retired PU. Just another cheap, reliable bolt in .30 caliber. The barrel contour appears to be subtly different than all my other Mosins of that model; perhaps a tad heavier. The rifling is sharp and clear and the trigger is very crisp even if Mosin-typical heavy. I also picked up a 440 round can of Soviet manufacture light ball a few days later. Both these purchases were at Gunnies in Orem.
They give me a frequent buyer discount now, at least on firearms.
And here it is almost eight o'clock, and I'm looking to be in bed in an hour or so.
I Hope your life is roses and laughter with a healthy dose of spring just around the corner.
1. I billed sixty two hours. I worked a few more than that. I actually wore shirt sleeves part of two days, too. No thermal under wear those two days, either.
We had our first top - out section on Saturday. My project was a muddy hole in November. Now it's got several hundred thousand tons of steel and concrete where some of the mud used to be. There will be millions before we are through.
2. My government told me that I was a fool to have gone forty seven years paying my bills and debts, and living within my means.
3. Barak Obama and his crew undershot my low expectations for their first month in office. Low by a considerable margin, in fact. I expected nefarious. The incompetence is actually more disturbing.
4. The AG told me I live in a nation of cowards. If you were an honest man, you might take a look about you and accept that the only three institutions in the country that give a damn what color you are are Government, Education, and the NAACP.
My nation is many things, but cowardly is not even on the list. Most of the weak or reprehensible qualities that have come to the fore in recent years are by the design of people just like you, Mr. AG. You think that people must be driven, not lead. You may think of it as baby sitting, even.
5. I observed that patriots actually protesting the destruction of our economy is akin to watching the Osmonds trying to cover Linkin Park. Not a machine made sign nor a paper mache head in sight.
But no masks. I don't think any Starbucks or MacDonald's got their windows kicked in, either.
Well, it's a start.
(Link via Instapundit)
6. I picked up a 1944 manufacture Tula 91/30 retired PU. Just another cheap, reliable bolt in .30 caliber. The barrel contour appears to be subtly different than all my other Mosins of that model; perhaps a tad heavier. The rifling is sharp and clear and the trigger is very crisp even if Mosin-typical heavy. I also picked up a 440 round can of Soviet manufacture light ball a few days later. Both these purchases were at Gunnies in Orem.
They give me a frequent buyer discount now, at least on firearms.
And here it is almost eight o'clock, and I'm looking to be in bed in an hour or so.
I Hope your life is roses and laughter with a healthy dose of spring just around the corner.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Required Reading
Via Professor Reynolds, this gem:
"Republic is a complex and profound morality tale in which we can see, if darkly, the reflection of our own republic. Its story is not exactly ours, but we have a lot in common with this once-beautiful city. Specifically, we have the same moneylenders and borrowers. The eeriest similarity to Plato's moneylenders is the agressive (sic) marketing of credit cards to college students. However, the reckless use of home loans on the part of both lender and borrower has proven more devastating."
Working. And more working. Set my second tower crane base on Friday night - a thirteen hour day. Also on Friday they began building the one I staked back in December - adding the number of thirty foot sections necessary to get up to around a hundred thirty feet for the boom. Plus I have been tasked with monitoring two areas for purposes of determining concrete slab/deck shrinkage.
At least the weather hasn't been as nasty. And I couldn't ask for a sweeter control network. Bless those Utah street and sidewalk builders of the past. I can jump outside my hole on three sides of my block and tie into originating control that I can trust at any time.
I have informed the powers that be that I'm only working a few hours next Saturday. I have a shooting date with a busload full of young adults that are friends of my friends, friends of my daughters, and just people who have an interest in learning how to shoot. So next Saturday I'm loading up a butt load of mil surps, an EBR or two, some pistols, an excessive amount of ammo, and heading over to Lee Kay some time around noon.
Last time I was there it was only four dollars to shoot. I don't know if they've had to raise their rates or not. Aside from not allowing silhouette targets or full auto, it's an excellent venue, either for solo shooting or for safe instruction.
Party on! It's like, 1978 all over again.
"Republic is a complex and profound morality tale in which we can see, if darkly, the reflection of our own republic. Its story is not exactly ours, but we have a lot in common with this once-beautiful city. Specifically, we have the same moneylenders and borrowers. The eeriest similarity to Plato's moneylenders is the agressive (sic) marketing of credit cards to college students. However, the reckless use of home loans on the part of both lender and borrower has proven more devastating."
Working. And more working. Set my second tower crane base on Friday night - a thirteen hour day. Also on Friday they began building the one I staked back in December - adding the number of thirty foot sections necessary to get up to around a hundred thirty feet for the boom. Plus I have been tasked with monitoring two areas for purposes of determining concrete slab/deck shrinkage.
At least the weather hasn't been as nasty. And I couldn't ask for a sweeter control network. Bless those Utah street and sidewalk builders of the past. I can jump outside my hole on three sides of my block and tie into originating control that I can trust at any time.
I have informed the powers that be that I'm only working a few hours next Saturday. I have a shooting date with a busload full of young adults that are friends of my friends, friends of my daughters, and just people who have an interest in learning how to shoot. So next Saturday I'm loading up a butt load of mil surps, an EBR or two, some pistols, an excessive amount of ammo, and heading over to Lee Kay some time around noon.
Last time I was there it was only four dollars to shoot. I don't know if they've had to raise their rates or not. Aside from not allowing silhouette targets or full auto, it's an excellent venue, either for solo shooting or for safe instruction.
Party on! It's like, 1978 all over again.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Required Reading
Still breathing. Panting, actually. I've still not seen a Saturday, excepting Christmas weekend, since October.
And I love it.
I am almost at full stop where blogging is concerned. The reasons are simple and unambiguous:
1. I got into blogs and finally blogging in order to explore ideas and engage in debate.
2. I was ignorant of the true character of the Left. I thought they were too stupid to recognize evil when they saw it. Far from it.
This post I found via American Digest pretty well covers all the ground I've traveled these last few years, and then some.
You argue with a competitor. Even an opponent. but what is become of the part of the American polity that supports creatures like Reid, Pelosi, Gore, and Obama are gone a far, far toss beyond of what "loyal opposition" could ever be stretched to mean.
You defeat an enemy. That's all that's left to do.
My sixty-hour work weeks don't leave me time for proselytizing for individual responsibility and against increased government. I have had time to collect about twenty copies of "Atlas Shrugged" over the years. I drop one or two a week off in various public places.
Sounds silly, you say? Our elected government just spent more money in the last six months than it has in the years since I left high school. Harry Reid is Senate Majority leader, the Republicans ran John McCain for their candidate, Charlie Rangel chairs Ways and Means, and Joe Biden is in line of succession to the Presidency of the United States.
Not so silly, I'm thinking.
And I love it.
I am almost at full stop where blogging is concerned. The reasons are simple and unambiguous:
1. I got into blogs and finally blogging in order to explore ideas and engage in debate.
2. I was ignorant of the true character of the Left. I thought they were too stupid to recognize evil when they saw it. Far from it.
This post I found via American Digest pretty well covers all the ground I've traveled these last few years, and then some.
You argue with a competitor. Even an opponent. but what is become of the part of the American polity that supports creatures like Reid, Pelosi, Gore, and Obama are gone a far, far toss beyond of what "loyal opposition" could ever be stretched to mean.
You defeat an enemy. That's all that's left to do.
My sixty-hour work weeks don't leave me time for proselytizing for individual responsibility and against increased government. I have had time to collect about twenty copies of "Atlas Shrugged" over the years. I drop one or two a week off in various public places.
Sounds silly, you say? Our elected government just spent more money in the last six months than it has in the years since I left high school. Harry Reid is Senate Majority leader, the Republicans ran John McCain for their candidate, Charlie Rangel chairs Ways and Means, and Joe Biden is in line of succession to the Presidency of the United States.
Not so silly, I'm thinking.
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