Please have a merry, merry Christmas. May your life be filled with joy this most holy of seasons.
May you be surrounded by loving family, and good friends.
May tomorrow bring you opportunity to succeed at being a better person than you are today.
God bless, and may he keep you well.
I am a lucky guy.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Came to Understand
We don't have a governing class.
They have presumed to be a ruling class.
It's nice to see honest and appropriate descriptive vocabulary every once in a while... but the attack on the Republic is probably going to end up being fought out in the streets.
Fought to the end, in the cold, hungry, dark.
A few years ago some Islamist mook made waves saying that our grandkids would be moslem.
I think there's a better chance they'll be slaves, myself.
They have presumed to be a ruling class.
It's nice to see honest and appropriate descriptive vocabulary every once in a while... but the attack on the Republic is probably going to end up being fought out in the streets.
Fought to the end, in the cold, hungry, dark.
A few years ago some Islamist mook made waves saying that our grandkids would be moslem.
I think there's a better chance they'll be slaves, myself.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Energy Delivered At A Distance
What's a max load for a .280 Remington, using the 160 grain Nosler Accubond bullet over IMR 4350 powder, new Remington nickel plated cases, Winchester standard large rifle primers?
I'm thinking it must be around 53 grains, just looking at case capacity. I'm also thinking that would be a compressed load.
The available industry info I've been able to research indicates they want folks to use another powder... but I'm working with what I've got. IMR 4350 gives excellent results with heavy bullets in this caliber range.
Rifle is a well- cared for Remington 700 from the eighties.
Take your time. This is for a friend, and for next year's hunt.
I've already put together the varmint knockers - 110gr TNT's over 52gr of 4350. They zip right along.
I'm thinking it must be around 53 grains, just looking at case capacity. I'm also thinking that would be a compressed load.
The available industry info I've been able to research indicates they want folks to use another powder... but I'm working with what I've got. IMR 4350 gives excellent results with heavy bullets in this caliber range.
Rifle is a well- cared for Remington 700 from the eighties.
Take your time. This is for a friend, and for next year's hunt.
I've already put together the varmint knockers - 110gr TNT's over 52gr of 4350. They zip right along.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Unfortunate Word Choice
Now I saw the teaser on Drudge, so made sure that it wasn't just a goof. Nope:
"He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, "we can't have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.""
Make no mistake about it: we have a childish ideologue occupying the highest office in the land.
His not being very bright is just spice for the mix.
He's about out of my prayers. Even with two years of lame duck to go.
"He said Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled it out. Now that progress has been made, he said, "we can't have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle class families up in front. We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.""
Make no mistake about it: we have a childish ideologue occupying the highest office in the land.
His not being very bright is just spice for the mix.
He's about out of my prayers. Even with two years of lame duck to go.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Didn't See That Coming.
| You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (76% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid.com: Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test |
sundaySundaySUNDAY!!!!
Required reading:
"These are good men who just happen to hold different beliefs. Like, for instance, you believe in free enterprise and unalienable rights, while they believe you should be their bitch."
Now that's some wisdom.
Jeff Goldstein has been a daily read for me since my earliest days on the web.
If you have ever witnessed or been a participant in an important public event and then found the subsequent reportage to be not quite on the mark... then you might consider following Mr. Goldstein around, too.
Language, intent, control, and what tomorrow may look like. Depending on who controls who gets to think and what they think, of course.
"These are good men who just happen to hold different beliefs. Like, for instance, you believe in free enterprise and unalienable rights, while they believe you should be their bitch."
Now that's some wisdom.
Jeff Goldstein has been a daily read for me since my earliest days on the web.
If you have ever witnessed or been a participant in an important public event and then found the subsequent reportage to be not quite on the mark... then you might consider following Mr. Goldstein around, too.
Language, intent, control, and what tomorrow may look like. Depending on who controls who gets to think and what they think, of course.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Have You Noticed?
Reloading powders are suddenly very expensive. Or maybe I just noticed. I knew that black powder was already way past silly as far as cost goes.
I'm in the middle of working up some Mosin food, using projectiles pulled from some truly horrible Pakistani production milsurp .303. I have arrived at the end of an inherited can of H4895 and went out to pick up another pound and found they wanted $25.00.
The election hasn't even been stolen yet. Sheesh.
I'm in the middle of working up some Mosin food, using projectiles pulled from some truly horrible Pakistani production milsurp .303. I have arrived at the end of an inherited can of H4895 and went out to pick up another pound and found they wanted $25.00.
The election hasn't even been stolen yet. Sheesh.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Oh My Goodness!
What kind of outfit lets a drunk monopolize a microphone at a public event?
"Later in his impromptu speech Mr. Sha turned to an American colleague, singling out Bob Orr, from the executive office of the secretary-general.
"I really don't like him: he's an American and I really don't like Americans," he said.
A second senior UN official who was at the dinner said: "It went on for about ten or fifteen minutes but it felt like an hour.""
Mr. Sha needs himself a cold beer in the Rose Garden. That would set him right up.
(via Instapundit)
"Later in his impromptu speech Mr. Sha turned to an American colleague, singling out Bob Orr, from the executive office of the secretary-general.
"I really don't like him: he's an American and I really don't like Americans," he said.
A second senior UN official who was at the dinner said: "It went on for about ten or fifteen minutes but it felt like an hour.""
Mr. Sha needs himself a cold beer in the Rose Garden. That would set him right up.
(via Instapundit)
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
School is Back in Session
Prepare and eat a light meal, refill your glass, then open your philosophy book to:
"That is, the Founding Fathers took the English constitutional principles, the institutional forms that already existed in the colonies, and set them down on paper. They were not inventing a new society. They only unified and systematized already existing principles. So this is not a revolutionary movement in any way. As a counterbalance to this, some movements which, in the Brazilian popular culture, in the Brazilian mass media, and school textbooks, are regarded as reactionary and anti-revolutionary, such as the Italian Fascism, or even Nazism, are obviously revolutionary. Why? Because they raised the proposition of a radically new society: they would destroy all existing institutions and rebuild everything from scratch. In the German case, this was an even more radically revolutionary because the foundations of the new society to be created were derived from a recent science, evolutionist biology."
You may need to break this up over a few sittings. It's worth your time.
What makes a revolutionary a revolutionary? Just where did the movement of "movements" origniate? I never really gave it much thought.
(via protein wisdom)
"That is, the Founding Fathers took the English constitutional principles, the institutional forms that already existed in the colonies, and set them down on paper. They were not inventing a new society. They only unified and systematized already existing principles. So this is not a revolutionary movement in any way. As a counterbalance to this, some movements which, in the Brazilian popular culture, in the Brazilian mass media, and school textbooks, are regarded as reactionary and anti-revolutionary, such as the Italian Fascism, or even Nazism, are obviously revolutionary. Why? Because they raised the proposition of a radically new society: they would destroy all existing institutions and rebuild everything from scratch. In the German case, this was an even more radically revolutionary because the foundations of the new society to be created were derived from a recent science, evolutionist biology."
You may need to break this up over a few sittings. It's worth your time.
What makes a revolutionary a revolutionary? Just where did the movement of "movements" origniate? I never really gave it much thought.
(via protein wisdom)
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
It's a Circle. (Updated)
Tyrants fear those they rule and they will go to great lengths to keep them unarmed.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes not.
It's about ... 1936 again, give or take a season. No Olympics, of course. But the stage has certainly filled with quite a few interesting players. Who will step out of the shadows now that the cop has officially left the beat?
UPDATE 2000 8/28:
EPA decides to lay back on this one. For now.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes not.
It's about ... 1936 again, give or take a season. No Olympics, of course. But the stage has certainly filled with quite a few interesting players. Who will step out of the shadows now that the cop has officially left the beat?
UPDATE 2000 8/28:
EPA decides to lay back on this one. For now.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, August 09, 2010
Coin Toss
Read the essay here: Borepatch: The Bonfire of the Vanities.
Then go check out the essay and comments I linked to in Positive Waves.
I'm done with the philosophy for a while. About two years back I undertook a short study of litcrit, semantics, and rhetoric using books recommended by Jeff Goldstein. Time well spent, but not an education by any means.
I think it's better for me just to go out and build some big stuff. Foucalt, Gramsci, and company just piss me off, anyway.
Have a fine one.
(H/T American Digest)
Then go check out the essay and comments I linked to in Positive Waves.
I'm done with the philosophy for a while. About two years back I undertook a short study of litcrit, semantics, and rhetoric using books recommended by Jeff Goldstein. Time well spent, but not an education by any means.
I think it's better for me just to go out and build some big stuff. Foucalt, Gramsci, and company just piss me off, anyway.
Have a fine one.
(H/T American Digest)
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Positive Waves
From time to time, Mrs. Utah chides me for being cynical. Everyone gets an opinion, and I value hers most among the people I know.
But she might be just wide of the mark.
The following is a comment left here, in response to a question about cultural evolution:
Have a fine week. Smile. It's contagious!
But she might be just wide of the mark.
The following is a comment left here, in response to a question about cultural evolution:
TmjUtah said...
The essential unit of human advancement is the individual.
Societies that nurture healthy, responsible individuals who are able to realize the benefits of their labors, inventions, or art... those societies leave the others behind.
Free men, in free markets, change worlds for the better. For themselves and their neighbors.
Until they forget that it is the individual that counts first.
Our FOUNDING PRINCIPLES pivot on the absolutely radical idea that before any strongman, before any chief, before any apparatus of The State, stands The Individual, who PERMITS the State to exist, and only exist to perform specific, enumerated duties.
But the individual must be of stern enough stuff to handle the responsibility inherent with being responsible for his own governance. Franklin and Jefferson and to a lesser extent Adams were all right; it would be failure of citizenship, not conscious machination of tyrants, that most threatened the Republic. They were simply off in their time frame.
Principles are just goals, and the absolute very best a mere human can ever hope to accomplish in pursuit of individual achievement is to make progress in the right direction. The pursuit of perfection to the absence of any other standard is always fatal. We are only men.
We are all expendable. But it was expendable men who built the pyramids, harnessed steam, and walked on the moon, too... so there is always that level of "just men" to aim for.
Have a fine week. Smile. It's contagious!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act...
...isn't that like a Dillinger-Kelly-Floyd-Barker Bank Security Act?
Message for Mr. Cloward and Mr. Piven:
Your train is in the station.
Message for Mr. Cloward and Mr. Piven:
Your train is in the station.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
How Did THAT Happen???
Via Instapundit, John Hindraker opines that some folks might be catching on that the President might not be who he was represented to be...
... which indicates that a lot of them just might not notice being raped until the baby was delivered, as well.
In the words of the great tech support gurus: you must RTFB.
... which indicates that a lot of them just might not notice being raped until the baby was delivered, as well.
In the words of the great tech support gurus: you must RTFB.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Summer Half Past
Still here. Still kicking the survey and layout gig up in Salt Lake.
I can't wait to see what happens next.
I can't wait to see what happens next.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Easy Call To Make. No Good Outcome.
General McChrystal should be relieved, immediately.
Failure to do so is just icing on the cake of incompetence and and ineptness that is this administration.
The President of the United States has never hesitated to exercise civilian control over the military when the need was clear and present. Gen. McChrystal's public statements are disloyal to a degree that makes it necessary to relieve and retire him immediately. That the general's staff was poorly led enough to become ammunition in the same article is merely additional proof of the lack of leadership and absence of character that permeates the organization.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are lost. They are over as was the American involvement in Vietnam ended with the ink wet on the paper of the Paris Peace accords. No Democrat congress/Socialis Marxist administration has any interest in dealing with resurgent Islam; less even than in defending our sovereignty or our borders. All that remains where (UPDATE) Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran (END UPDATE) is concerned is to see where the political and human costs will be ultimately levied. A military leader in McChrystal's position, knowing this reality, had two options: push for militarily efficient retreat, and call it what it was, or to resign.
I have no clue what McChrystal thought whining to the Rolling Stone would do for himself, or for the military he thought he might be helping...
His actions make MacArthur's insubordination to Truman look like a class move.
Fire him, or just cement the accurate perception by the world that Obama is incapable of executive command.
Failure to do so is just icing on the cake of incompetence and and ineptness that is this administration.
The President of the United States has never hesitated to exercise civilian control over the military when the need was clear and present. Gen. McChrystal's public statements are disloyal to a degree that makes it necessary to relieve and retire him immediately. That the general's staff was poorly led enough to become ammunition in the same article is merely additional proof of the lack of leadership and absence of character that permeates the organization.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are lost. They are over as was the American involvement in Vietnam ended with the ink wet on the paper of the Paris Peace accords. No Democrat congress/Socialis Marxist administration has any interest in dealing with resurgent Islam; less even than in defending our sovereignty or our borders. All that remains where (UPDATE) Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran (END UPDATE) is concerned is to see where the political and human costs will be ultimately levied. A military leader in McChrystal's position, knowing this reality, had two options: push for militarily efficient retreat, and call it what it was, or to resign.
I have no clue what McChrystal thought whining to the Rolling Stone would do for himself, or for the military he thought he might be helping...
His actions make MacArthur's insubordination to Truman look like a class move.
Fire him, or just cement the accurate perception by the world that Obama is incapable of executive command.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Poorly Yet Honestly Presented
I believe the relationship that now exists between the citizenry and our government - state and local - has evolved to a situation strongly akin to the policy known as mercantilism that was in large part the proximal cause of our original revolution.
Our contemporary political class behaves more as rulers than representatives. Their observed conduct in economic matters defies logic; is it simple corruption, or merely ideological fantasy, that drives their agendas?
The incumbency rate of legislators coupled with the rise of power of public employee unions explains the vicious circle of payoffs to the latter in return for donations to the former. Yes, that's a quid for the pro...
I know the analogy is weak, but at bottom we have a ruling class that has defined the good of the nation as what is best for itself, right now. The elite act as if they are managers of a static environment, and the world is anything but. Something (more) is going to give, and soon.
Our contemporary political class behaves more as rulers than representatives. Their observed conduct in economic matters defies logic; is it simple corruption, or merely ideological fantasy, that drives their agendas?
The incumbency rate of legislators coupled with the rise of power of public employee unions explains the vicious circle of payoffs to the latter in return for donations to the former. Yes, that's a quid for the pro...
I know the analogy is weak, but at bottom we have a ruling class that has defined the good of the nation as what is best for itself, right now. The elite act as if they are managers of a static environment, and the world is anything but. Something (more) is going to give, and soon.
Monday, June 07, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
A Little Gratitude Here
Via Instapundit, I have been gently reminded (again) that we do in fact live in wondrous times:
Tomorrow, please honor those that gave all but always remember:
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
George S. Patton
I live in a culture where the concept of heroism has been sufficiently corrupted so that not merely incompetent, corrupt (or both) men and women but even outright evil individuals and groups have risen to positions of national power.
In spite of that, we still do live in wondrous times. The fight isn't over until the your ashes are in the wind. Never, ever give up.
Tomorrow, please honor those that gave all but always remember:
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
George S. Patton
I live in a culture where the concept of heroism has been sufficiently corrupted so that not merely incompetent, corrupt (or both) men and women but even outright evil individuals and groups have risen to positions of national power.
In spite of that, we still do live in wondrous times. The fight isn't over until the your ashes are in the wind. Never, ever give up.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Return
We had a blast.
Mom sat in this guy's chair.
I sat in on the welcome aboard part of the tour and actually traded some "we had to do this" stories about construction with two Boeing engineers; if I remember correctly the younger of the two gentleman was the program manager for the SGANT system being installed on the ISS as we spoke.
Mom spoke with THREE astronauts. She has pictures to prove it, too!
I got to touch a moon rock. Still get shivers thinking about that.
Three thousand miles.
Mom sat in this guy's chair.
I sat in on the welcome aboard part of the tour and actually traded some "we had to do this" stories about construction with two Boeing engineers; if I remember correctly the younger of the two gentleman was the program manager for the SGANT system being installed on the ISS as we spoke.
Mom spoke with THREE astronauts. She has pictures to prove it, too!
I got to touch a moon rock. Still get shivers thinking about that.
Three thousand miles.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Mount Up!
Mrs. Utah has a slot at the NASA tweet up at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Wednesday May 18th. They offered up one hundred seats and have over six hundred thousand followers. She won one! She's been following NASA since the sixties and this is the second to last shuttle mission; this is real bucket list stuff.
This was all so sudden that I didn't think I'd be able to swing (or afford) the time to go with her, but my boss got wind of what was up and kicked my ass off the job all next week. "Go with her, you moron, because we open the next project in June and we'll be back on fifty-five hour weeks, minimum."
And I was way too conservative on withholding last year, so Uncle Joe got to hold way too much of my money. The refund arrives in our account Tuesday so it's
ROAD TRIP!!!
time.
We will stop in Waco to visit my brother, and then on to Houston where we will be staying with one of Val's friends. I'm going to meet up with an hold high school buddy, too. When we last met, the Knack was bleeding edge.
Where does the time go?
We leave tomorrow at 0430. Y'all have a fine week.
This was all so sudden that I didn't think I'd be able to swing (or afford) the time to go with her, but my boss got wind of what was up and kicked my ass off the job all next week. "Go with her, you moron, because we open the next project in June and we'll be back on fifty-five hour weeks, minimum."
And I was way too conservative on withholding last year, so Uncle Joe got to hold way too much of my money. The refund arrives in our account Tuesday so it's
ROAD TRIP!!!
time.
We will stop in Waco to visit my brother, and then on to Houston where we will be staying with one of Val's friends. I'm going to meet up with an hold high school buddy, too. When we last met, the Knack was bleeding edge.
Where does the time go?
We leave tomorrow at 0430. Y'all have a fine week.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Check
I believe that the timing of the Goldman Sachs suit is near the end of - and possibly the climax - of a decades - long list of actions planned, and now executed, by Leftist agents intent on destroying the Republic.
Destroy the national economy by accumulating debt four or five times greater than the annual GDP, compounded by unbelievably onerous taxation spiced with a shotgun blast of mandates, regulations, new entitlements, and oh by the way destroy the currency while they are at it...
Check.
Destroy the populations faith in free markets by regulating them out of existence over decades of incremental nationalization.
Then blame business for the collapse. Show trials to follow. Followed (immediately, as we have seen in the last couple of days) by even more onerous government siezure of control.
Check.
Destroy the faith of the citizenry in the representative republic form of government.
Well, if Obama, Reid, and Pelosi don't alarm you, you probably don't pay attention anyway...
Check.
Destroy the moral, ethical, and scholarly foundations of what a citizen should be, aiming instead, via public education, to create classes of victims conveniently manipulated as needed by whatever Leftist faction floats to the top of the current political cycle.
Go ask Bill Ayers what a Weatherman would do if he could end up writing curricula for public schools. Bring a camera; he'll be happy to talk to you.
Being right is supposed to bring ... joy? Satisfaction? Not here, not now.
Destroy the national economy by accumulating debt four or five times greater than the annual GDP, compounded by unbelievably onerous taxation spiced with a shotgun blast of mandates, regulations, new entitlements, and oh by the way destroy the currency while they are at it...
Check.
Destroy the populations faith in free markets by regulating them out of existence over decades of incremental nationalization.
Then blame business for the collapse. Show trials to follow. Followed (immediately, as we have seen in the last couple of days) by even more onerous government siezure of control.
Check.
Destroy the faith of the citizenry in the representative republic form of government.
Well, if Obama, Reid, and Pelosi don't alarm you, you probably don't pay attention anyway...
Check.
Destroy the moral, ethical, and scholarly foundations of what a citizen should be, aiming instead, via public education, to create classes of victims conveniently manipulated as needed by whatever Leftist faction floats to the top of the current political cycle.
Go ask Bill Ayers what a Weatherman would do if he could end up writing curricula for public schools. Bring a camera; he'll be happy to talk to you.
Being right is supposed to bring ... joy? Satisfaction? Not here, not now.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Correspondence
To whom it may concern -
Today marks the last time I open a newspaper that I asked to be delivered to my doorstep only to be insulted. And then insulted again.
Our subscription is in the name (of my wife). Cancel it. We will be calling on Monday during business hours to confirm this change.
I used to open up those random copies of City Weekly I found blowing through the streets of Salt Lake just to read the breathless, trapped behind the lines editorials in the front of their cage liner. The casual hate and self righteousness was always good, too.
Your paper makes the vaporing of those overgrown dorm room communists look like journalism.
I'll have to go back to using junk mail circulars for fireplace tinder and drop cloths for painting/hobby projects. The average intelligence of individuals and grasp of current events by the occupants of this house will be vastly improved by the absence of your product from our home.
Sincerely,
A.R. Jones
Orem, Utah
(Edited slightly)
*UPDATE*
Today marks the last time I open a newspaper that I asked to be delivered to my doorstep only to be insulted. And then insulted again.
Our subscription is in the name (of my wife). Cancel it. We will be calling on Monday during business hours to confirm this change.
I used to open up those random copies of City Weekly I found blowing through the streets of Salt Lake just to read the breathless, trapped behind the lines editorials in the front of their cage liner. The casual hate and self righteousness was always good, too.
Your paper makes the vaporing of those overgrown dorm room communists look like journalism.
I'll have to go back to using junk mail circulars for fireplace tinder and drop cloths for painting/hobby projects. The average intelligence of individuals and grasp of current events by the occupants of this house will be vastly improved by the absence of your product from our home.
Sincerely,
A.R. Jones
Orem, Utah
(Edited slightly)
*UPDATE*
"This message is a confirmation that we have received your transaction request. Your request will be completed within two days. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service to you.
Customer Service Department
Newspaper Agency Company"
Saturday, April 10, 2010
In Other Venues
Mr. Cobb asks a question I have addressed repeatedly over the last few years:
See Van Der Luen's Sidelines for more comment.
The socialists are way, way past being out of other peoples' money.
Now we just wait.
"I want to know the financial meltdown scenario that makes domestic politics turn violent.
What do you think? Why is nobody thinking the unthinkable?"
See Van Der Luen's Sidelines for more comment.
The socialists are way, way past being out of other peoples' money.
Now we just wait.
Monday, April 05, 2010
It's Official!
Worst.President.EVER.
The way a strategic deterrent works is that you publish the rules and then follow them. Simple rules. Known consequences. The dead certainty that actions will bring crushing retaliation.
Say goodbye to all that. I believe that this president has never won a fist fight. He might have scuttled the odd career or assassinated a character or two on his way up the thug life ladder in Chi. But the President of the United States has just telegraphed to the world that he thinks that "smart" or worse, "clever", counts for something on the field he's just stepped upon.
Simple. Known. Accepted. Well, we'll see how high the pile is, I guess.
At least now I understand now why Joe Biden is the vice president. Barak Obama picked the Senator from Delaware because Obama valued his keen intellect.
Somewhere, Jimmy Carter is weeping quiet tears of gratitude. He's off the hook.
Will the Democratic congressional caucus be able to fill a bridge table after 2012? If the world was fair - no, not a chance... but the only way out for the Dems is to be ready to impeach Obama at the drop of a hat, and then drop it themselves. And that's not going to happen - not with O being the second black president and all.
Not that the Republicans have anything going for them. But not being a Democrat might just be the most important quality a candidate or incumbent can have going into 2010 and beyond.
I've sold my old burb to the recycler, FedExed oldest Goddesses' long board to the East Coast, and repaired a niggling bolt issue on a good friend's Mosin Nagant M44.
Have a fine evening.
The way a strategic deterrent works is that you publish the rules and then follow them. Simple rules. Known consequences. The dead certainty that actions will bring crushing retaliation.
Say goodbye to all that. I believe that this president has never won a fist fight. He might have scuttled the odd career or assassinated a character or two on his way up the thug life ladder in Chi. But the President of the United States has just telegraphed to the world that he thinks that "smart" or worse, "clever", counts for something on the field he's just stepped upon.
Simple. Known. Accepted. Well, we'll see how high the pile is, I guess.
At least now I understand now why Joe Biden is the vice president. Barak Obama picked the Senator from Delaware because Obama valued his keen intellect.
Somewhere, Jimmy Carter is weeping quiet tears of gratitude. He's off the hook.
Will the Democratic congressional caucus be able to fill a bridge table after 2012? If the world was fair - no, not a chance... but the only way out for the Dems is to be ready to impeach Obama at the drop of a hat, and then drop it themselves. And that's not going to happen - not with O being the second black president and all.
Not that the Republicans have anything going for them. But not being a Democrat might just be the most important quality a candidate or incumbent can have going into 2010 and beyond.
I've sold my old burb to the recycler, FedExed oldest Goddesses' long board to the East Coast, and repaired a niggling bolt issue on a good friend's Mosin Nagant M44.
Have a fine evening.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Batching It
Mrs. TmjUtah and the Last Goddess are on the road to Cabo!
My youngest daughter pulled almost 4.0 the last two years of high school and has been taking college courses this last year as well.
Mrs. Utah and I decided that special effort and results demanded recognition and reward beyond a nice dinner out or a reasonably used economy car... so the Goddess is cruising the Mexican Riviera for seven days, and Mom gets to get out of the house during the last snows of the winter.
Me? I get to finish my garages. The one spanning Block 75 just off Temple Square in Salt Lake, and the modest cinder block affair off the back of the Home of the Team here in south Orem.
I have BIG PLANS... but to name them would kill them. Look for an update in these spaces.
Off to the vet to get our allergy cat shot (with her SERUM. Geeze. Happens every Saturday, folks.)
I'm still looking for a buyer for my old 'Burb; want a parts price (it runs) and then I'll change that gelt right into Mosins or bulk ammo.
On the road....
My youngest daughter pulled almost 4.0 the last two years of high school and has been taking college courses this last year as well.
Mrs. Utah and I decided that special effort and results demanded recognition and reward beyond a nice dinner out or a reasonably used economy car... so the Goddess is cruising the Mexican Riviera for seven days, and Mom gets to get out of the house during the last snows of the winter.
Me? I get to finish my garages. The one spanning Block 75 just off Temple Square in Salt Lake, and the modest cinder block affair off the back of the Home of the Team here in south Orem.
I have BIG PLANS... but to name them would kill them. Look for an update in these spaces.
Off to the vet to get our allergy cat shot (with her SERUM. Geeze. Happens every Saturday, folks.)
I'm still looking for a buyer for my old 'Burb; want a parts price (it runs) and then I'll change that gelt right into Mosins or bulk ammo.
On the road....
Sunday, March 21, 2010
21 March 2010
You may have woken up this morning to enjoy your rights and privileges as a citizen of the world's most successful and powerful republic. Make no mistake about it: your status is not what it was when you were enjoying your waffles and coffee. Citizen? Not really; your ability to pursue your happiness, your responsibility for your own freedom, has been denied by The State.
Subjects? Serfs? I'm not sure what we are now.
Citizens were understood to have rights inherent and inviolable; rights granted by a creator. Government was to be an expression of the people, established to execute those activities generally beyond the scope of the individual. Government was defined by the Constitution, and its duties enumerated.
And all other powers reserved to the states, or the people.
That's over now. We have arrived at that moment where the government that promises to give everyone everything they desire gets down to the business of taking everything we have. Don't know if we are subjects. Merely wards of the state? But we're not citizens. Not in the eyes of the Democratic executive and legislative office holders who earlier this evening nationalized our health care sector.
Oh, and the financing of higher education.
There are judicial challenges on the horizon, for sure... but I've got two words for you: Eric. Holder.
Welcome to the Coup.
I don't feel fine. Not at all.
Subjects? Serfs? I'm not sure what we are now.
Citizens were understood to have rights inherent and inviolable; rights granted by a creator. Government was to be an expression of the people, established to execute those activities generally beyond the scope of the individual. Government was defined by the Constitution, and its duties enumerated.
And all other powers reserved to the states, or the people.
That's over now. We have arrived at that moment where the government that promises to give everyone everything they desire gets down to the business of taking everything we have. Don't know if we are subjects. Merely wards of the state? But we're not citizens. Not in the eyes of the Democratic executive and legislative office holders who earlier this evening nationalized our health care sector.
Oh, and the financing of higher education.
There are judicial challenges on the horizon, for sure... but I've got two words for you: Eric. Holder.
Welcome to the Coup.
I don't feel fine. Not at all.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Eve of Destruction
Professor Reynolds unleashes the ultimate weapon:
HEH.
Here is some required reading from Jeff Goldstein.
Neoneocon brings us news from Mr. York. Silver linings, perhaps?
I expect this weekend to bring the death of the Republic. Hyperbole?
Government now owns our core manufacturing, banking, and insurance entities and regulates the rest to a standstill. The last four decades of government subsidy of various sectors of pharma and health have been the prime mover in the spiralling costs of both. Nationalizing health care (and at the same time financing for higher education; you were not supposed to notice) makes Uncle Sugar your undisputed master... not your representative, nor anything resembling a shield of individual freedoms.
You may think you will have electoral options come 2010. Have you considered how fast this congress and president may move to provide amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens residing in the country? The natural result of such a move would be to invite a flood of yet more illegal aliens banking on the hope that the government might extend that amnesty to them, too. This is exactly what happened the last time an amnesty was tried, back in the eighties.
That legislation had amnesty with an assurance of increased enforcement of border security. That worked out well, didn't it?
Nothing like millions of unskilled workers to take the sting out of twenty percent unemployment numbers, I always say. Especially in the cities.
When the flood comes you must swim across the current to get to shore. Then go from there.
I've got nothing else to say, except for "good luck".
HEH.
Here is some required reading from Jeff Goldstein.
Neoneocon brings us news from Mr. York. Silver linings, perhaps?
I expect this weekend to bring the death of the Republic. Hyperbole?
Government now owns our core manufacturing, banking, and insurance entities and regulates the rest to a standstill. The last four decades of government subsidy of various sectors of pharma and health have been the prime mover in the spiralling costs of both. Nationalizing health care (and at the same time financing for higher education; you were not supposed to notice) makes Uncle Sugar your undisputed master... not your representative, nor anything resembling a shield of individual freedoms.
You may think you will have electoral options come 2010. Have you considered how fast this congress and president may move to provide amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens residing in the country? The natural result of such a move would be to invite a flood of yet more illegal aliens banking on the hope that the government might extend that amnesty to them, too. This is exactly what happened the last time an amnesty was tried, back in the eighties.
That legislation had amnesty with an assurance of increased enforcement of border security. That worked out well, didn't it?
Nothing like millions of unskilled workers to take the sting out of twenty percent unemployment numbers, I always say. Especially in the cities.
When the flood comes you must swim across the current to get to shore. Then go from there.
I've got nothing else to say, except for "good luck".
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Range Day
0900 Saturday, 13 March, Lee Kay Hunter Education Center.
Testing .30'06 in my Remington 700 and Garand, shooting at least two Mosin-Nagant 91/30's for groups using four different surplus ammo lots, various pistols, with a special guest appearance by the EBR*.
If you are in the area, drop me a line at TangoMikeJuliet@gmail.com. Right now it looks like Mrs. Utah, a couple of coworkers, and me. Youngest Goddess is going to pass the word to some of her Fine Young Men and I may end up hosting a few of them, too. That doesn't mean much of anything, except I'll probably pack up my K98 8mm carbine(Russian Capture) and a hat full of that robust Turkish machine gun ammo on top of everything else...
Have a fine weekend, where ever you are.
(*EVIIIIIL Black Rifle)
Testing .30'06 in my Remington 700 and Garand, shooting at least two Mosin-Nagant 91/30's for groups using four different surplus ammo lots, various pistols, with a special guest appearance by the EBR*.
If you are in the area, drop me a line at TangoMikeJuliet@gmail.com. Right now it looks like Mrs. Utah, a couple of coworkers, and me. Youngest Goddess is going to pass the word to some of her Fine Young Men and I may end up hosting a few of them, too. That doesn't mean much of anything, except I'll probably pack up my K98 8mm carbine(Russian Capture) and a hat full of that robust Turkish machine gun ammo on top of everything else...
Have a fine weekend, where ever you are.
(*EVIIIIIL Black Rifle)
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Pretty Full Weekend
Work is NOT going to be ten hours a day, five days plus Saturdays. We'll just get the amount of production in we would have in that amount of time but no man goes over forty until further notice. Without overtime I miss several hundred dollars a week. That stings more than a wee bit.
I previously mentioned that I was having trouble with my reloading hardware. A pleasurable and profitable half hour spent in the august presence of Mr. Lamont Christensen, proprietor of Christensen Reloading Supply gave me the good scoop on how to get my equipment back on line, as well as providing some seriously useful data on loads for some of my favorite calibers. In exchange for his time and counsel I went ahead and purchased a hundred .310 diameter 180gr soft point bullets for building my Mosin target loads.
On Friday night Mrs. Utah and I ran out the last 200 rounds of 9mm Parabellum that was left on the table when the Dillon went down last week. Saturday and today I washed about five loads of laundry, decluttered and cleaned up our dining room and long bar, and in between those tasks went ahead and ran out a small lot of .30 caliber tracers and a test lot of twenty .30-'06 150 gr Sierra FMJBTSP deer loads. I noticed that the stock on my Remington 700 has warped a tiny bit and that it now fails the dollar bill test. So there's another weapon in the safe that needs a tweak...
Have a fine week.
I previously mentioned that I was having trouble with my reloading hardware. A pleasurable and profitable half hour spent in the august presence of Mr. Lamont Christensen, proprietor of Christensen Reloading Supply gave me the good scoop on how to get my equipment back on line, as well as providing some seriously useful data on loads for some of my favorite calibers. In exchange for his time and counsel I went ahead and purchased a hundred .310 diameter 180gr soft point bullets for building my Mosin target loads.
On Friday night Mrs. Utah and I ran out the last 200 rounds of 9mm Parabellum that was left on the table when the Dillon went down last week. Saturday and today I washed about five loads of laundry, decluttered and cleaned up our dining room and long bar, and in between those tasks went ahead and ran out a small lot of .30 caliber tracers and a test lot of twenty .30-'06 150 gr Sierra FMJBTSP deer loads. I noticed that the stock on my Remington 700 has warped a tiny bit and that it now fails the dollar bill test. So there's another weapon in the safe that needs a tweak...
Have a fine week.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Blink
Just a note to say that content will continue to be nonexistent.
I am buttoning up my part of a city block's worth of underground parking plus six floors of a tower...
... and I am back on a five tens schedule - at the very least. There will be some Saturday work, too, to get this baby put to bed.
Random thoughts:
1. The Democrat caucus in DC is acting in a suicidal manner. Good. I hope they get the help they so desperately need. Sometimes stepping off that ledge takes a little push. I've got a shower curtain rod they can tie off on, and a whole closet of out of style ties and dress belts.
Hell, I'll hang an extra rod down stairs if they don't mind forming a line.
2. After fifteen years of faithful service, my Dillon XL650 progressive reloading machine has developed a bind of some sort. Cursory inspection and a tiny bit of web research indicate that the arm pivot bushings need to be greased, but I really won't have a moment to spare to get it done for the next few weeks.
It was quite jarring to realize that the equipment had gone down. At the time the fault manifested I was actually in process of trying to find an empty ammo can to store the 9mm I had just finished loading up. I keep the ready ammo in Dillon Blue boxes, with the overflow living in .30 cal cans. I'm plumb full up. So I guess not having the reloader is not THAT big a deal. Still, it grates. These are interesting times.
I will probably tear it down Sunday...
I am buttoning up my part of a city block's worth of underground parking plus six floors of a tower...
... and I am back on a five tens schedule - at the very least. There will be some Saturday work, too, to get this baby put to bed.
Random thoughts:
1. The Democrat caucus in DC is acting in a suicidal manner. Good. I hope they get the help they so desperately need. Sometimes stepping off that ledge takes a little push. I've got a shower curtain rod they can tie off on, and a whole closet of out of style ties and dress belts.
Hell, I'll hang an extra rod down stairs if they don't mind forming a line.
2. After fifteen years of faithful service, my Dillon XL650 progressive reloading machine has developed a bind of some sort. Cursory inspection and a tiny bit of web research indicate that the arm pivot bushings need to be greased, but I really won't have a moment to spare to get it done for the next few weeks.
It was quite jarring to realize that the equipment had gone down. At the time the fault manifested I was actually in process of trying to find an empty ammo can to store the 9mm I had just finished loading up. I keep the ready ammo in Dillon Blue boxes, with the overflow living in .30 cal cans. I'm plumb full up. So I guess not having the reloader is not THAT big a deal. Still, it grates. These are interesting times.
I will probably tear it down Sunday...
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Manspace
I spent the morning down in my reloading/ gun maintenance/ technical library/ art gallery/ leather crafting/ model building/ and gun safe room. Ten by fifteen feet with no external windows. Twelve feet of bench space is evenly split between the masonite topped half upon which there are two permanently affixed loading presses, and on the other half that I use for cleaning, leather work, and model building which is covered by outdoor carpet.
Wow. How cool is it to have all that in one place? Two places, really, since I store the bulk components and SHTF ammo in cans in the sub basement.
We really do live in wondrous times. I'm not ready for the future. But I'm prepared for it. That will have to do.
Wow. How cool is it to have all that in one place? Two places, really, since I store the bulk components and SHTF ammo in cans in the sub basement.
We really do live in wondrous times. I'm not ready for the future. But I'm prepared for it. That will have to do.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
I wonder...
A poor read indeed, but I made it through the transcript of the State of the Union speech.
I am incapable of listening to the man any more. I thought that the Clintons were offensive but the revulsion induced from being lied to by that happy duo of grifters pales in comparison to the clumsy dishonesty, hubris, and arrogance that is The Won.
In one future to unfold there could be a Democrat desertion from the field; a wholesale retirement or even abandonment of seats from both the senate and the house.
Obama is clinical. He's already killed the Democrats. He's lining up the country for a head shot next.
The first man with black skin elected president, and he ran as a Democrat.
There's no way in Hell they will clean their own mess, our Democrat friends.
They'll bail. And in the midst of the rubble of our once great nation, as the pundits dissect the sad fate of The Won, the Democrats will begin to whisper how racist it was of the Republicans to take down that articulate and clean black man...
Buckle up.
I am incapable of listening to the man any more. I thought that the Clintons were offensive but the revulsion induced from being lied to by that happy duo of grifters pales in comparison to the clumsy dishonesty, hubris, and arrogance that is The Won.
In one future to unfold there could be a Democrat desertion from the field; a wholesale retirement or even abandonment of seats from both the senate and the house.
Obama is clinical. He's already killed the Democrats. He's lining up the country for a head shot next.
The first man with black skin elected president, and he ran as a Democrat.
There's no way in Hell they will clean their own mess, our Democrat friends.
They'll bail. And in the midst of the rubble of our once great nation, as the pundits dissect the sad fate of The Won, the Democrats will begin to whisper how racist it was of the Republicans to take down that articulate and clean black man...
Buckle up.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Spring Is Right Around The Corner
... and there is certainly a glimmer of something good happening out there.
Seriously, though - we had almost TEN MINUTES this afternoon of full on blue sky sunshine. Out on the P1 deck it was almost warm enough to ditch a layer or maybe even go shirtsleeves. Ten minutes. It was fleeting.
Snow tomorrow. But today was a good day.
EXTRA EXTRA - Oldest Goddess living in New Hampshire just texted:
"Oh, and I'm watching MacGyver and he just said 'I hate it when that happens" and made me think of you. Lol, as do his nifty pocket knife skills."
Okay. GREAT day.
Seriously, though - we had almost TEN MINUTES this afternoon of full on blue sky sunshine. Out on the P1 deck it was almost warm enough to ditch a layer or maybe even go shirtsleeves. Ten minutes. It was fleeting.
Snow tomorrow. But today was a good day.
EXTRA EXTRA - Oldest Goddess living in New Hampshire just texted:
"Oh, and I'm watching MacGyver and he just said 'I hate it when that happens" and made me think of you. Lol, as do his nifty pocket knife skills."
Okay. GREAT day.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Me Too
Greg Mankiw, writing in the Gotham Litter Liner, musing about inflation:
"Second, the Fed could easily overestimate the economy’s potential growth. In light of the large fiscal imbalance over which Mr. Obama is presiding, it’s a good bet he will end up raising taxes for most Americans in coming years. Higher tax rates mean reduced work incentives and lower potential output. If the Fed fails to account for this change, it could try to promote more growth than the economy can sustain, causing inflation to rise."
It's a good read. He ends where I have been for the last while - that we are in uncharted territory here.
History teaches that demand and supply will always meet. I believe we are in a Monopoly Money economy already.
Who will kick the board, and when?
(via Instapundit)
"Second, the Fed could easily overestimate the economy’s potential growth. In light of the large fiscal imbalance over which Mr. Obama is presiding, it’s a good bet he will end up raising taxes for most Americans in coming years. Higher tax rates mean reduced work incentives and lower potential output. If the Fed fails to account for this change, it could try to promote more growth than the economy can sustain, causing inflation to rise."
It's a good read. He ends where I have been for the last while - that we are in uncharted territory here.
History teaches that demand and supply will always meet. I believe we are in a Monopoly Money economy already.
Who will kick the board, and when?
(via Instapundit)
Friday, January 15, 2010
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Range Report
Mrs. Utah and I spent a loud couple of hours at Rangemasters of Utah with a friend and coworker of mine. We brought my Springer MilSpec, a Glock Model 26, and our Ruger P89.
He brought his Springfield XD/9 Compact, and I have to say that had I had an opportunity to try one of these head to head with the Glock 26 (last year's Christmas present from Mrs. Utah) I might have filled out my wish list a tad differently.
The two pistols are almost identical in exterior dimensions. Perceived weight in the hand with loaded magazines was very similar as well.
Both compact pistols use a safety action trigger and have striker actions. The XD has a light rail where the 26 does not, and the geometry of the XD trigger was surprisingly comfortable. We traded pistols for a couple of magazines and I actually shot smaller groups with his pistol (nine yards) than I was getting with my .45.
Mrs. Utah humbled the both of us, however, with whatever pistol she happened to be shooting at the moment, which meant that we had a standard range day outing.
No stoppages or FTF for any of us. My friend buys a lot of reloaded ammo from Center Street Brass in Provo. His 115gr FMJ reloads were quite snappy, with expended cases showing some primer deformation and other signs of high pressure. I gave him a box of my 115 FMJ (Blue Dot 8.0 gr.). Cases from my reloads showed no signs of high pressure; his groups tightened up a little but we didn't whip out the compass to generate a number.
A fine day was had by all.
He brought his Springfield XD/9 Compact, and I have to say that had I had an opportunity to try one of these head to head with the Glock 26 (last year's Christmas present from Mrs. Utah) I might have filled out my wish list a tad differently.
The two pistols are almost identical in exterior dimensions. Perceived weight in the hand with loaded magazines was very similar as well.
Both compact pistols use a safety action trigger and have striker actions. The XD has a light rail where the 26 does not, and the geometry of the XD trigger was surprisingly comfortable. We traded pistols for a couple of magazines and I actually shot smaller groups with his pistol (nine yards) than I was getting with my .45.
Mrs. Utah humbled the both of us, however, with whatever pistol she happened to be shooting at the moment, which meant that we had a standard range day outing.
No stoppages or FTF for any of us. My friend buys a lot of reloaded ammo from Center Street Brass in Provo. His 115gr FMJ reloads were quite snappy, with expended cases showing some primer deformation and other signs of high pressure. I gave him a box of my 115 FMJ (Blue Dot 8.0 gr.). Cases from my reloads showed no signs of high pressure; his groups tightened up a little but we didn't whip out the compass to generate a number.
A fine day was had by all.
Friday, January 01, 2010
And A Happy New Year, As Well!
Well, here we are one day closer to spring.
I believe that 2010 will be better for us than was 2009.
In searching my id for resolutions or predictions, the best I can come up with are the following:
1. I resolve to spend an hour every day, by the clock, on decluttering my life. We suffer from an embarrassment of riches and our house leans closer to midden than to home.
We can make that change for the better.
2. 2010 will be the year that the carbon market scam implodes. I am not wholly convinced that Al Gore will be anything like impoverished by this time next year, but I do believe his net worth will be a shadow of what it is today. At the very least, he'll be out of the news. Unless he's been stupid enough to let his name exist on foundational documents...
Hmmm. Have to think that one through.
The cap and trade scam depends on government coercion to work - specifically, that developed Western nations gut their economies. France has decided that EU or no EU, they aren't going to play. Without the French, the EU is officially out of play. Climategate and emerging scientific reports indicate that atmospheric CO2 is not and never has been the villain in climate change/global warming/man's agenda of earth raping destruction...
We have elections in 2010. I am intrigued; how dirty will they be? Will the Republicans find a clue, or is the party truly dead?
I think it is dead - stiffer than a Whig and smells worse than last week's fish. The Republicans under Steele are unfit both philosophically and ethically to be trusted with governance. So what will the coming months bring to us in the way of choices? Who will come forward?
I guess I'd have to insert point number 3 here: Legacy media officially loses the ability to influence the narrative, much less define it, this year. And it's not a moment too soon. I believe that the 2010 mid terms are the last chance we have to keep our Republic via the ballot. More on that later.
I'm all worried out, folks. The only things to do are to not surrender to cynicism and to keep on paying attention and to continue to do the right thing when given the chance.
God bless and keep you all.
I believe that 2010 will be better for us than was 2009.
In searching my id for resolutions or predictions, the best I can come up with are the following:
1. I resolve to spend an hour every day, by the clock, on decluttering my life. We suffer from an embarrassment of riches and our house leans closer to midden than to home.
We can make that change for the better.
2. 2010 will be the year that the carbon market scam implodes. I am not wholly convinced that Al Gore will be anything like impoverished by this time next year, but I do believe his net worth will be a shadow of what it is today. At the very least, he'll be out of the news. Unless he's been stupid enough to let his name exist on foundational documents...
Hmmm. Have to think that one through.
The cap and trade scam depends on government coercion to work - specifically, that developed Western nations gut their economies. France has decided that EU or no EU, they aren't going to play. Without the French, the EU is officially out of play. Climategate and emerging scientific reports indicate that atmospheric CO2 is not and never has been the villain in climate change/global warming/man's agenda of earth raping destruction...
We have elections in 2010. I am intrigued; how dirty will they be? Will the Republicans find a clue, or is the party truly dead?
I think it is dead - stiffer than a Whig and smells worse than last week's fish. The Republicans under Steele are unfit both philosophically and ethically to be trusted with governance. So what will the coming months bring to us in the way of choices? Who will come forward?
I guess I'd have to insert point number 3 here: Legacy media officially loses the ability to influence the narrative, much less define it, this year. And it's not a moment too soon. I believe that the 2010 mid terms are the last chance we have to keep our Republic via the ballot. More on that later.
I'm all worried out, folks. The only things to do are to not surrender to cynicism and to keep on paying attention and to continue to do the right thing when given the chance.
God bless and keep you all.
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