Epistle

I went shooting with a friend last Thursday morning. I had tried to invite another friend but he's booked with the beginning of the school year. What follows is an edited version of the range report I sent to him:

Howdy, J -

I neglected to save your phone number, and I hate just dropping in on somebody.

We had a clinic day. E brought his P17 Enfield and I shot my Remington 700. His rifle began life as an infantry rifle but was later 'sporterized' and he is in the process of restoring it to the military configuration. He's been a plinker and casual shooter for a long time, but we've got him down to about seven inch groups from open sights at two hundred yards... which is a lot better than 'not bad' considering he's shooting full power .30'06 loads.

Shot the Remington (scoped with the famous Bushnell Game Friendly Variable) with two lots of ammo - one Winchester, one Remington, both in 180gr elk loads. Groups were consistent at a fat four inches, with the Winchester hitting on point of aim (which is what I had zeroed with, two years ago - same ammo ) while the Remington ammo grouped well but about three inches below point of aim.

We closed with two twenty round clips each from my Bushmaster. I wanted to see if my gun show tacticool scope would hold close to the zero I had put on it a few months ago, and the answer was a resounding 'hell YES'; I attached the scope, put the rifle to my shoulder and asked E to watch beyond the target stand and tell me where the impact was - and that I was shooting at the water filled 160z energy drink can we had put on top of the frame. Adjusted the stock, gave a tug to the scope to make sure it was firmly attached, shouldered the weapon, and shot the can off the frame first shot.

We worked through the stuff we'd stood up - four more water-filled targets, some paper targets - well before we ran out of bullets. The reticle absolutely sucks for fine work...but I bought it as a straight tactical option for two hundred yard work on man - sized targets and it's absolutely all of that. I might be able to see a coyote; the can I shot was completely occluded by the vertical reticle. I hit it by putting the horizontal reticle about two inches above and parallel with the top of the target frame. I'm well pleased. I haven't tried those heavy loads you bought for me, nor the ones I already had. All our shooting was with Russian steel case ammo or LE reloads, both in 55 grain.

The pictures are both of E with the Bushmaster. (edit - one of E, the other is The Wall of Old Rifles downstairs) Pardon the lack of quality, they are just from my cell phone. The one looking downrange actually shows him hitting the two liter bottle on top of the target frame; it just looks like a white smudge.

The Nephi venue is actually two hundred yards deep and about fifty feet wide, and bounded by berms on three sides. There is a welded steel frame at the end holding a couple sheets of plywood on which to hang targets. There are benches at one and two hundred. I have one free standing target holder and I think I may actually have yet another one buried in my garage somewhere.

So I take it you picked up the rifle? Please call at your convenience and this time I promise I'll add you to my phone book. We'll get out before the winter gets too foul. I may have a coyote shooting venue in the works, and will let you know how that turns out.

Hope that school has started well and that you and yours are enjoying what comes your way -

A

PS - I'm not sure how smart John McCain is, but he's proven to possess buckets of crafty. At least I can vote for him with a clearer conscience than I could before last week. aj.

Tonight's Fare (Updated)

In about thirty minutes, I'm going to sit down with my wife and the daughter who isn't at work to watch Barak Obama give his acceptance speech as the nominee of the Democratic Party for the office of President of the United States.

When I was a kid, I reckoned that the chances for seeing a black man elected president during my lifetime were pretty good. Mrs. Tmj and I spoke of this this evening with the youngest goddess.

We live in a wonderful country. The best one on the planet, actually, and one that still offers a great future for hardworking folks that will fight for freedom.

I wish Mr. Obama were fit for the office he pursues. I wish his party wasn't responsible a large part of the problems facing the nation. Sadly, the victim politics, the race pimping, the identity politics, and the intent to redistribute the wealth of the nation are now cemented as features of the party, not bugs, with Mr. Obama's arrival as The Candidate. I wish the Senator's party didn't hate this country so much, and out of such depths of ignorance of history.

We are a nation of limitless possibilities. We always have been. I wish the Left could see that; but no, it conflicts with The Narrative...

The Constitution declares the power of government to come from the consent of the governed. The Democrats will do well to remember that should they find themselves in possession of both the executive and the legislature. That document also says you just have to be thirty five years of age and a natural citizen to hold the office. Beyond that, the only direction given is contained in the oath of office:

"I, name, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

We live in interesting times.

Post speech update:

Liberal boilerplate for the most part; I was hoping for better in light of the historic nature of the moment. More than a little red meat for his base - "government that sat on its hands" during Katrina. He had to quash rising chants on two or three occasions. There was some kind of fugly edit between the "make our houses more green" segment and the one that followed; it was jarring. He mentioned clean coal and nuc plants and for all of five seconds you could have heard a gnat fart inside that stadium of filled with seventy thousand bodies. Ditto his promise to bring tax cuts to 95% of the people. Proclaimed his readiness to debate John McCain. It is my understanding that his campaign is actively trying to back out of the previously agreed to schedule.

I wish he hadn't closed with the pledge to "free us from dependence on foreign oil" in ten years. That's such a blatant untruth it kind of soured whatever good feeling I was able to shepherd through the rest of the performance.

Nothing about illegal immigration. Nothing about foreign policy except he pledges to restore our stature. I think Mr. Putin has plans for YOU, Mr. Obama.

No surprises. Not unless you count the amount of botox it must have taken to turn Michelle Obama's forehead into the featureless, deathly still plain that it has become. They were successful in getting rid of the anger crease. Unfortunately, instead of giving the impression of barely restrained rage, her new look is more akin to a state of persistent confusion. And the dress... she's going to expect lots of payback for this night, make no mistake about it.

Now if McCain doesn't absolutely screw the pooch on his VP pick, I can get on with my life.

Rant

What follows is a comment I left on this thread at Althouse:

(No edits. Some additional thoughts in the parentheses, is all. It's a rant.)


I predict that the political class of 2012 won't contain any of the people we are talking about here in 2008, with the exception of Jindal and Palin.

We are already well into fantasy land with the two offerings (assuming Hillary doesn't take out O! on Wednesday) currently before the electorate.

Obama and McCain. Imagine that as a little thought sketch. Combine that one with Reid and Pelosi, and then imagine that as a painting.

Now hang that painting up in the ruins of Pompeii. It looks... out of place (should have written "Looks right at home" - ed) , doesn't it?

Our economy is as far away from collapse as the number of wage earners who believe that their retirements and investments are still liquid.

Our national security is being challenged at home by a flood of illegal aliens threatening to overwhelm our social and emergency services while the national government looks the other way because the parties perceive different, but equally damaging and cynical temporary advantage from the current situation. Abroad, Islamism remains to be confronted while the Bear has begun a program of limited empire.

And as soon as China sweeps up the last of the confetti, they are going to be back on the road in pursuit of becoming THE controlling power on the Rim. (And Africa. And looking hard at Central and South America as buffers.)

Energy policy - all of it, from domestic exploration to refinery capacity to clean coal to drastically overburdened generation and transmission structures to nuc - can't be ignored or yammerheaded any longer. Fuel costs NOW are not sustainable for a slim majority of businesses, and by extension the employees of those businesses. Fuel Oil and Ngas are both going to spike with the first frost (BEFORE the election - and that's a bomb waiting to go off) and on top of that increases of forty to sixty percent for food, transportation, and credit (if the last can be had at any price come winter).

Almost all of our coming pain can be attributed directly and unambiguously to government interference in pursuit of interest group support, failure of government to enforce its own laws and regulations, and a decades long "arrangement" that evolved between congress, the courts, and the executive that some time in the past morphed into a full blown conspiracy to contravene the Constitutional limits of government power.

One push will put us into the abyss.

And we've got Obama and McCain to choose between.

2008 is important, make no mistake. But 2010 is when the hard work of recovery will probably really begin.

Neither one of the candidates (okay, the three, until Wednesday) is inclined, but more importantly is not equipped to deal with what is about to happen.

And they could not give a rat's ass. Honestly. The media that camps their every move - that prides themselves on their connectedness and smarts and conventional wisdom - that media is covering the house kerfluffle then the experience kefluffle then the angry white biddy kerfluffle...(The political establishment long ago ceased operating like the real world meant crap where their ambition was concerned.)

Russia has announced that their borders end where their armor stops rolling.

Iraq, with good reason, wants assurances that we'll be gone by 2011. That's to impart to their population, not ours, that the Americans are soon not to be trusted, and there isn't any time to sugar coat the situation. Media is covering that incorrectly, too.

And last, nobody is reading the financial pages, nobody is watching Bernanke daring the bank guys to blink.

We dance on an event horizon and look to cartoons to save us.

Oy. A knowledge of history can bring the sting, baby, and that's no lie."

Flashback

This is from a post I wrote back in June of this year (boldface added for today):

"P.S. The impact of fuel and other petrochemical products' costs are moving into areas that will start impacting the economy in direct and catastrophic fashion very soon.

All that federal pork in highway bills is going to look pretty silly when it comes time to pay for all the asphalt they've scheduled to place this year. The cost will be DOUBLE if not more than was budgeted.

Gas at $4.00 a gallon today in central Utah; possibly .30 higher in a week.

Watch the markets. It's going to be one of the three stooges (regarding Clinton's "suspension" of her campaign - I saw no stake; she's waiting for a stumble and will be on the floor in Denver, make no mistake about it)in November and the ONLY certainty is that the federal government is measuring corporations, the middle class, and investors for castration."

Now this from today's news:

"The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) says it has to pick and choose which road projects to work on because of shrinking funding. Other states are much worse off.

Regardless of gas prices, the gas tax hasn't changed since 1997. In that time, steel, asphalt and concrete costs have gone up 220 percent."

And more consequences of our insane energy non-policy:

"The Agriculture Department says people should brace themselves for the biggest increase in food prices in nearly 20 years, and even more pain next year."

The Junior Senator from New York appears to be going through the motions expected of a good party loyalist. Folks in the comments seem to think it may not all be about "unity".

And I'm OFF. See you on Monday. Have a fine weekend.

This Is Why

I found this via The Other Side:

"On June 28, only two days after the Supreme Court announced its 5-4 ruling that Washington, D.C., citizens have the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the Constitution, I found myself standing in a pool of blood in York (Pa - ed.), from a man I had just shot. It was not my intent that evening to test the Second Amendment or kill somebody, but events unfolded to make it necessary for me to draw my weapon to defend myself and others."

I carry a weapon everywhere I go, and it's usually a pistol if I'm out with the family.

Every citizen should be taught from early age that they are responsible for their own safety and further that it is a citizen's duty to come to the aid of others who are victims of criminal acts.

A Citizen should not act as a cop, but as a citizen. I call the non-emergency number for taggers and such. I have called 911 and surveilled more than one drunk driver... and a fight in progress that looked to be mutual combat.

No sane civililian wakes up determined to end a human life. But waking up ready?

Every day.

Mucking About

I've made a few changes to TRB:

1. Main body width has been increased.

2. Archives are now at the bottom of the right sidebar.

3. There is a new class of blog roll links called "Arms, War, Law".

I have some dead blogs on the Purser's List, and both Kim DuToit and Callimachus have both given notice that their blogs will be closing soon. Changes will be made there as necessary.

It's a fine day out there. I'm off to do chores.

I Got Your Paradise Right Here

I met Mrs. Tmj through a room mate service in March of 1987. We were engaged in May.

We were married at her family church in Pennsylvania on this day, twenty one years back.

It seems like just yesterday. And not nearly long enough. We have shared so much: two beautiful and smart daughters, a handful of jobs between the two of us, several adventures both at home and on the road, and the financial, emotional, and health challenges that all couples face and overcome to varying degrees of success.

And we're still in love. Still laugh more than we cry. Still make sure we never go to bed angry.

I'm a lucky, lucky guy.

Oh, and she's having a birthday, too. She'll always be my "older woman"; contrary to her sisters' opinion, three years difference is NOT robbing the cradle.

We were supposed to have been married on the seventeenth in order to make it possible for her to say that she was married before (a certain age) but she threw a clot after five or six takeoffs and landings through the eighteen hours it took us to fly to Chester County. At the scheduled hour I went to see her in the ICU, in my Dress Blues.

She'd never seen me in them before that day.

She recovered enough to toe the mark the following day. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Love you, babe. Happy birthday! And I get to wake up with you every day!

UPDATE: Here's Mrs. Tmj's Live Journal entry.

Blink

Just damn.

He's dumber than I thought. What's worse, his team makes him look like Einstein.

Thugs

There is an interesting thread on the Russian aggression in Georgia on Austin Bay's blog.

Mr. Bay addresses some possible options available in the current situation, as well as some options that clearly aren't.

FWIW, I've never been a fan of "Peace Keeper" Units. You train soldiers to soldier, and if you end up using them for something else, you task it as an additional duty.

Soldiers exist to execute national policy by direct violence. Anything else is just a euphemism. Folks would be much better served if they kept that reality up front.

And you can hit any recent thread over at Belmont Club for more excellent blogging on the subject.

I have a few comments scattered through those discussions, but I'm too depressed to try to put together anything for here.

It's like watching reruns, it is.

The real question is which U.S. political party will be the first to formally surrender Georgia? It looks like President Bush is attempting to insert U.S. (and EU or NATO) forces under the aegis of "relief" as a mechanism to stop the Russian aggression, but the Russians are simply making noises about truces and cease fires as they prepare to consolidate their hold on Georgia permanently.

Aside from candidate posturing, there has been zero press on congressional or senate resistance to the Russian aggression that I have heard about.

I bet that President Bush NEVER thought it would be that lonely at the top.

Common Sense

Denver government is exceeding my modest expectations concerning their preparations for the upcoming onslaught of anarchists, communists, militant LGBT activists, pro- abortion types, race pimps, open border advocates, terrorist supporters, and other members of the Democratic base who are all going to meet in Denver during the Democrat Party convention.

Denver expects to have to provide lodging for some substantial portion of these visitors:

" CBS4 News has learned if mass arrests happen at the Democratic Convention, those taken into custody will be jailed in a warehouse owned by the City of Denver. Investigator Rick Sallinger discovered the location and managed to get inside for a look."

The warehouse option is nothing new; way back in the seventies I spent a night in a church basketball gym in Dallas the night before a Cotton Bowl after I got caught standing in front of the wrong party.

I am not providing any links to ACTUP or Recreate '68 or any of the other moonbat clubs that have published their intent to trash Denver. Once Denver's city council was moved to legislate against the private possession and transport of organic debate tools I reckoned that any snark I might attempt would simply pale against the reality to about to unfold in Cherry Creek.

Time Waster

Here's the comment I left here:

"I love my country more than I hate John McCain, but until today I was going to leave my support at the level of a begrudged vote in November. Instead, I've got a McCain campaign snail mail solicitation opened here on the table in front of me, and my check book.

How much money do I need to donate to McCain '08 to show up on your radar?

I can't afford much, but to get a bunch of feckless douchebags like you into my trench I can dig deep."

Comments are moderated, naturally, so it won't be posted. Liberal bullies and cowards (redundancy alert)operate that way.

Please, join with me, and even if it makes your hair turn white, toss the Republican candidate a buck or two.

In other news, tomorrow is my last day with the outfit. Bad housing market, construction downturn, fuel costs. Back to school, I guess.

(via Mr. Reynolds and Iowahawk)

Go Away For A Weekend

... and I miss the kickoff of this century's cold war*. I swear, catching the video bites on our hotel TV was like watching Saddam invade Kuwait all those years ago.

My two cents:

Russian objectives:

Tactical:

1. Destroy the sovereign status of Georgia.

2. Exercise control over all energy transmission infrastructure now existing in Georgia.

Strategic:

1. Demonstrate that the U.S. is worthless as an ally. There's really nothing else this can be about.



I don't know why Putin pushed this while Bush was still in office; the interlocking military moves executed so far by the Russians clearly demonstrate a pre-planned operation. He (Putin) could have waited for the Community Organizer or Angry McAmnesty; chances are Reid and Pelosi would still be on the stage in the spring. Maybe he is petty enough to want to rub Bush's nose in the fact that the United States suffers from rot at the head and sand at the feet... and has, frankly, just a couple two or three real allies on the face of the earth. Most of our "friends" are really just kids we babysit.

Georgia is one of the real ones, though. They've actually bled with us in battle, in a real, if modest, fashion. Putin is betting we'll stand aside. And if we stand aside there, the EU will most certainly lube themselves up good and quick. And next it will be Turkey... or Poland... or Moldavia... pick a 'stan, any 'stan...

Big week coming up.


My guess on what we'll do? No clue; the only option that would serve our interests involves direct military confrontation in theater, with or without (that is also something Putin is highly interested in, even though he's on pretty safe ground, in my opinion, already writing off the EU and NATO)our feckless EU brats.

I believe that President Bush has got to be very, very tired of doing all the heavy lifting. How'd you feel if you knew that Reid and Pelosi had your back? Right? I thought so.

No call.


Oh, and I'm probably done surveying after tomorrow. Fuel costs, housing price losses, and scarce building credit have done their thing. I intend to go back to school on the fifteenth. Studying... history, of all things.

Have a fine one. Hope you liked that 300+ day on the DOW last week. You might want to put it in your scrap book.



* I will never post a link to Wikipedia intending it to be taken as a scholarly or objective citation of fact. Rather, it will be purely intended as an introduction to a topic.

Good News In Green

We just got our first letter from our friend AJ. He went to high school with our oldest daughter and was our guest for many a lazy Sunday and also helped out immensely with our recent living room remodel. Well, he graduated last spring and and has been out at Ft. Jackson, SC for most of the summer learning how to be a soldier.

AJ and his friend Casey came out shooting with us on a couple of occasions, and I was happy to let them both get a feel for our Bushmaster carbine. I warned them that the Army and Navy would have their own training and that they should not put too much weight on anything I might pass along. It's not that I would give them bum data, but that "different" can and does happen.

AJ sent:

"Papa: I got the Sharp Shooter award, the highest marksmanship (score?) in my platoon, and the second highest in the company. I've got to thank you for teaching me how to shoot with that Bushmaster.

It's cool when a whole family helps a friend be a better person. There are many traits I've picked up from the Jones family. I've learned to be accepting of people, to be patient, to be a good leader, and to work hard to get where I need to be..."

He also got to shoot a live AT-4. Feh, next he'll try to impress me with stories about his personal helicopter.

All Marines know how the Army hands their toys out. Geeze.

Casey leaves for the Navy in September. He thinks he wants to spend a lot of time getting wet and sandy. We shall see. I already know he'll do okay with a rifle.

I am very proud of the both of them.

Adios, Hombre

Good news from Texas tonight:

"Medellin was sentenced to death for the 1993 rape and murder of two girls, aged 14 and 16, in Houston, Texas. "

In case you didn't know, the actual criminal event was a multi hour gang rape/torture/murder. Back in 1993. This animal had already been scheduled for execution and then rode the appeal merry go round a few times. Further, Senor Hombre liked to brag about the virginity of his victims out in the yard, right up until his lawyers finally got him to shut up.

Armedariz said she hoped her cousin's body would now be transferred to the family home in Nuevo Laredo. "We can't leave him there. They don't want him. They killed him," she said."

If it's all the same to you, ma'am, we'd have been more than happy if he'd never come here in the first place.

Attention: Mr. Moon, currently latched onto the top teat at the UN, and to the president of Mexico, to various "human rights" NGO's, and the ICJ :

You all can go fuck yourselves.
Dry.

Zoom Zoom. Maybe. Maybe Not.

Well, we went out to Wendover for the ProSolo SCCA event this weekend.

I need opinions:

1. C stock class suspension set up. Konis or KYB's?. Replace the factory springs? The Miata is six years old but only has about thirty K miles on it.

2. Front sway bar. What maker, what size? I'll be replacing ALL the bushings I can with Delrin.

3. Under hood body brace. What maker?

In addition, we are going to buy a set of Falken Azenis high performance street tires (17" - arrghh limitied edition!) on a set of light utility racing wheels.

I don't drive. I just do the maintenance.

Mrs. Tmj set the course record for the C-stock ladies class at the Wendover Solo2 National Event back in ... '95?... co-driving her boss's '91 Miata. That was on race rubber and with the max suspension work that would leave the car in the stock class.

We have been back in the mix with her current car, a showroom stock 2001 Miata Limited Edition, for two seasons... and Mom has seen enough tail lights. She wants to be competitive.

Strike that. She wants to dominate, because she's a racer. And I think that she will at least triple her enjoyment once we get the car just a little stickier on the ground. Speed and power are never the problems with a Miata - it's managing those two factors and staying on the course.

It's nice to see friends and smell the smoke and burned rubber. But trophies... they make every thing a little more worthwhile.

Five Minutes

She took my credit card and asked, "Do you have a Borders Member Card?"

"No."

"Well, if you get one, you get a discount on every purchase, and all I need is an email to register you in the computer. You'll get coupons in your mailbox. Oh, and I will also need a phone number."

She stood behind her register, looking at me through her tortoise shell frame glasses. I thought about yet another card in my wallet. I could take a shot from a medium caliber pistol back there and be oblivious until somebody asked about the hole in my pocket...

"Do you release the phone number to other businesses, or will Borders ever use it to contact me?"

"No and No."

So I agree to become one with the database. Home phone and email.

"What's 'tmj' about? Initials?"

"Sort of. Back in the day when surveyors ruled the battlefield, the communicators never put us on the call sign lists. The firing batteries all had call signs. The supply guys had call signs. Forward observers, infantry platoons, even the chaplain's jeep driver, all had their own assigned alpha-numeric code that changed every twelve hours, or on command. But not surveyors, so we got tagged. I was The Man Jones... which evolved into Tango Mike Juliet inside our battalion, or Echo Four (later Five) Juliet, for regimental traffic."

"Surveyors? Vests and tripods?"

I slid the bag with my new book in it between us on the counter. I put four pieces of change on the counter on my side of the bag. I moved a stapler from beside the register to the counter in front of her.

"Helmets and flack jackets. These coins are batteries of howitzers. They lob shells a long way, and can fire over mountains, like the bag here. Your stapler is a large convoy on the move, and all the batteries have to compute different firing solutions to try to hit it. Without survey, the commanders of each battery have to make their best guess map spot, and could easily be off hundreds of meters, or more, if they or the map is off.

In the desired scenario the surveyors have already gone through and measured, then staked out each battery position, as well as providing another stake defining a known direction - which means that the batteries are all within inches of where they think they are on the map, and share a common grid and azimuth relationship. Now if the Forward Observers up on the crest of the mountain correctly locate and describe the target, the batteries will have effect without having to shoot a bunch of adjustment rounds".

Her eyes are not glazed over. I am surprised.

"They use GPS for this, don't they?"

"Today? Absolutely. I'm a land surveyor still, and GPS is indeed slicker than sliced bread.

"Cool. Here's your book, and your card is in the back. Thanks for the history lesson, Tango Mike."

There is hope for our young people yet.

There Is A Storm Coming

I get no traffic, and justly so. But that doesn't mean I can't sometimes pass on important news:

"Stealthily, with minimal legislative deliberation (much less media attention), a vast new claim on the United States Treasury is being enacted into law by Congressional Democrats. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae with a porked-up bill that allowed only limited debate."

It will be unaccountable government spending nonexistent money that brings us down.

Remember this in November.

There IS A Fire.

And it's not a bad thing. I think. I hope...

Not Ready For My Closeup

Here's what we did today:


In other news, comments here, here, and here, too.

And tomorrow brings - chores! Happy Pioneer Day!

Friday Stumbles In Early

Last week was the first Monday - to - Friday, consecutive days, all day, every day, work week I've been able to put on the board since coming off my winter leave.

And this week would have made it two in a row, too, but for Pioneer Day falling on Thursday, and my company taking the Friday off as well.

I had a darn good three days this week. Wish the diet was going better. Wish Mrs. Tmj's job wasn't so stressful. Wish I had a candidate to vote "for" president...

... but it's gratifying to watch the Hopey Changey one chew up the furniture a little more each day; it certainly contributes to making it possible for me to vote for McCain without barfing in the booth...

But darned glad to be back in the mix just the same.

Mom works a shorter day tomorrow, and we are skipping the barbeque in favor of diet discipline. There will be cannon fire in the park beginning at five p.m..

The next four days will be make and mend here at the Team. I have major clutter issues still to deal with, but intend to commit acts of carpentry before the clock runs completely out. There may be gunfire involved - either at the Provo City Squaw Peak Range or up to my usual haunt, the Lee Kay facility up in West Valley City.

You have a fine one now, hear?

Choice And Food And Diet

Mrs. Tmj and I are on Weight Watchers. She's been doing the points thing for since last August and has just celebrated losing fifty pounds. I started three weeks back and have so far notched a loss of eleven pounds. These eleven were the easy ones, I'm sure.
My early impression is that the system will work if I do my part - and I think that men get a lot more points to play with than women of comparable height and weight, as a tip to the male psyche. I find myself with points left over at the end of the day, more often than not, while Mrs. Tmj routinely expends a bonus point (you get a separate allocation of 35 points above your normal daily number for "emergencies") or two by snacking at the end of the day.

Back before we were attempting to be nutrition conscious we had several buffets that we enjoyed regularly. On our way home from WalMart this afternoon, Mrs. Tmj mentioned that she's found a new one up by her work that may become a weekly stop. The fee for lunch is 6.99, they have sushi and a killer salad bar. She has excellent discipline and can get her money's worth out a buffet.

There aren't any buffets that I think would return value for me as long as I am on this program. It is not good for me to hammer and tong one big meal on any day, even as an outlier, after spending weeks training myself about portion sizes, nutritional balance, and fat awareness.

But if I walked through the doors of an eatery and had to immediately jump on a table to avoid a maddened beef being chased by a pack of bowie knife weilding cutomers and a chef wearing a flamethrower followed by two assistants pushing a bathtub full of barbeque sauce...

I'd pay for a seat at the table.

Sure hope you've had a fine weekend out there. I am not so sure I'm ready for Monday. Not by a long pitch.

Participate

I did:

To Whom It May Concern:

America's national parks should always be the most peaceful places in our country. They should offer solitude and an opportunity for reflection. In recent years, the increasing numbers of park visitors have inescapably resulted in an increase in criminal incidents within our parks and monuments. That's why I was so encouraged to learn that the administration is considering allowing citizens to legally possess loaded firearms in our national parks.

Petty crime, drug dealing, and theft are serious issues in our national parks--and the incidence of all criminal activity as well as episodes of visitor interaction with dangerous animals have been steadily increasing over the years. I applaud the logic and common sense on display here in allowing personal firearms in our national parks. Our park rangers cannot keep up with the activity already happening in our parks, and opening up the parks to allow safe and responsible citizen possession of guns even where hunting is not allowed will enable law abiding citizens a means of defense when the overburdened Park Service employees are unable to help.

Please do open up our parks to citizens who would legally exercise their lawful right to armed self-defense. This administration would be setting a tremendously beneficial precedent by acknowledging that citizens are absolutely empowered to carry loaded weapons in our parks, and that such a situation is in no way abnormal, nor does it put at risk the wildlife that calls these parks home.

Sincerely,

A.R. Jones
Orem, Utah

(via Instapundit)


In other news, today finds me a total of eleven pounds down since I began my diet on 20 June.

Mr. Tony Snow, late of Fox News, then White House Press Secretary, and lastly as a CNN commentator, has passed away of complications associated with his long fight against colon cancer.

He was a pro, and I will miss his take, and delivery, on what is happening in the world around us.

Morning Rounds

Feeling better but still weak.

Being home all week has made it possible for me to pay too much attention to current events, think too much about future events. Such conditions result in me putting up comments like this:

"I understand the leadership vacuum. Better that band of campus commies and hacks chew on each others’ hands than actually coordinate a formal assault on the nation. I further believe that Pelosi and Reid may actually owe their positions to the fact that the brighter bulbs in their party (edit - were not) man enough to step up to the plate knowing what is coming.

I’m getting mighty tired of being Chicken Little but I could die a happy man being wrong … or even half wrong… about what I think is coming down the pike.

The people we elected to govern us have created a government that panders to us, then goes about its business of taking more and more oxygen out of the room. And the people we elected have recognized this for generations yet keep on adding layers and offices and regulatory agencies.

How much of our liberty, happiness, and security are those folks willing to sacrifice to keep what they have usurped?

Fannie Mae/Freddie MAC. Iran. Energy. Inflation. CFR. Where the DOW will be a week from now. Three weeks. And Jesse is miffed that his scam is threatened, McCain can’t find a reason for me to vote for him, and Obama thinks a pressing issue is that my kids can’t order off the menu if they end up in Paris.

We’ve got four thousand and counting lives on top of an unimaginable amount of money toward an ongoing investment in the freedom of over forty million people… as a means to ensure our own national security. And here we are on tenterhooks waiting for our candidates to make their next gaffe or next flip flop. Both of them.

I’m plumb past being scared. Not much I can accomplish going that route anyway. Tomorrow I talk with our financial adviser and get his best guess, then sit down with Mrs. Tmj, maybe telcon with the extended family, and make some moves. Being under the weather is just spice.

Have a weekend. Enjoy. I’m out."



And lo here I am, breathing mostly pain free, on a beautiful Friday morn waiting to find out what will be left of our investments at the end of this day.

I'm sick of being sick, and tired of being scared. Scared for my family's future, for what path our country is about to stumble down, what this election will mean for all the hard work and sacrifice of the last six years or so.

I'm leaving the investments alone. Maybe there's enough years for them to get their value back.

And now I'm going fishing. I'll even take a pan, I think. And a book, something in Prachett.

Have a fine day.

Down Time

I have developed a nasty, dry bronchitis over the course of the last five days. I was able to last a couple of hours in the field this morning but finally gave up and went to CritCare.

The drugs, they are good, but I'm not driving or working anywhere tomorrow.

Have a fine one!

Aid And Comfort (UPDATED)

Lynn Stewart could use some company.

And the New York Times still feigns outrage about the Plame affair. Simply amazing.

Whatever happened to tar and feathers? We could fire every third lawyer and use the money saved to buy tar ponds and chickens. Better value for the money all around, I say.

UPDATE: We may need a longer rail.

On Time One Day Late

We here at the Team have a traditional Independence Day routine.

1. Burn meat in front of the house, feed friends and neighbors.
2. Haul the Team cannon down the block to Cherry Hill Park and burn some powder.
3. Shoot off fireworks in the culdesac.

Yesterday went a little differently.

Mrs. Tmj took a friend's daughter and her friend to Stadium of Fire. And at fifteen minutes shy of midnight, our friend's oldest daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.



My suggestion of "Independence" for a middle name was ... gracefully... declined.

A fine time was had by all.

I have since woken up with a hellish summer cold. Mrs. Tmj, with the use of hooks and elephants, dragged me from bed so that I could make my second Weight Watchers weigh in to log a loss 8.6 pounds since beginning the program two weeks ago.

Forty two point four to go.

Happy Birthday, America. We love you!

Squeak Free

Mr. Reynolds notes that Obama is executing his long expected pivot toward the center where the war in Iraq is concerned.

"You could see this one coming."

I must point out that the move is practically soundless as a result of being lubricated by all those crushed hopes and dreams of O!zombies and progressives who thought they had found a leader they could trust.

New boss/old boss, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

Friend Of The Armed Citizen?

I just got my latest unsolicited bleg from the NRA. I've never seen one like this before.

I open the CD mailer and lo and behold I have in my hands disc one of the "Personal Firearm Defense" DVD series, presented by the American Rifleman Collection. This episode covers "combat focus shooting and home defense tips".

Also included in the box is a nice silver coin with a nice George Washington quote on one side and the NRA seal on the reverse.

The promotional material says the disc is "MINE TO KEEP"... which is true, even before the "IF YOU SEND $12.95" which is in the same sentence.

I didn't ask for it. They mailed it to me; they could have mailed it to "occupant", and if it wasn't solicited from here, it's mine when it hits my mailbox. That's the law, Festus.

However, I believe that the NRA needs every cent it can get to do the good work it does so well, especially since they have this obvious gaping wound in their fundraising model that is comprised of phone banks and now this poorly executed attempt to burden members with what appears to me to be an onion skin's thickness away from an outright scam.

I kept the coin because it's not worth sending back - not because they said I could. The DVD goes, unwatched, back in the provided postage paid return envelope, with a nasty gram for whatever boiler room employee opens it.

Then I sent an email to the NRA directing them here.

UPDATE:

Text of message I sent:

"I just returned the Personal Firearm Defense DVD I didn't ask be sent to me. I am highly irritated.

I wrote about it at

(Linky)

I declined your recent invitation to become a Life Member with a substantial discount off the going rate because I have been using my annual memberships as a way to contribute.

Is there a contact address I can write to where I will stop receiving blegs every other week? I recently contributed fifty dollars over the phone and now regard the decision as a mistake, especially if it puts my name in the hopper for more phone calls and even more straight- to- recycling blegs."

Issue Advertisement

It kind of writes itself, doesn't it?

UPDATE: Mr. Lileks weighs in on Tuesday's Bleat:

"There’s only one sensible response: we have to shut down Las Vegas. Yes, I know, they get their power from hydro, but juice is fungible; the power that goes to light up Vegas could be used to take oil-fired plants off the grid. Closing down Vegas would reduce Nevada’s carbon footprint in other ways: a quarter of all tourists come from California, and I’d wager they drive."

File under: "Can't make this stuff up".

Tidy Tidy

Colonoscopy GOOD. Some tissue off to biopsy just in case.

Doctor's advice: Eat more fiber. Chillax. BRING A BOOK.

Since I was going to be travelling immediately after leaving the hospital on Thursday, they gave me a sedative that didn't have as long a recovery time as the usual stuff.

I was up about twenty five minutes after the procedure and on the road a half hour after that. But I remember NOTHING but a few sentences said by the doc during his post and then back to complete awareness halfway through eating a BK breakfast sandwich, northbound on I15 heading to the airport.

Very laid back weekend. Spent Saturday cooking ribs (whilst having my prejudice against propane soundly thrashed) and helping put up the steel siding on my brother-in-law's barn. Ribs turned out decadent, barn is tight, and I got to watch other people get hammered.

SWEET weekend.

I have the Yugo in pieces out in the garage. There's a few decades' worth of cosmoline trapped in the stock so I'm letting the hundred degree heat sweat it out. I just wipe it down morning and night. The metal parts either in the parts washer or are laying on newspaper slathered in CLP, waiting for the wood to be ready. I shot this rifle over our Christmas visit so I know it is a fair specimen mechanically. The finish shows white on parts of the receiver and barrel, the bore is pretty dark but with distinct rifling, and the handguard has a hairline crack that I'll repair once I've gotten most of the oil out of the wood.

Should be a nice little project rifle, and that's a fact.

No work these past two days. I'm supposed to have a little map tomorrow.

Active Voice

A few posts before this one, I mentioned that I've got a medical issue going on.

Beginning last Saturday I experienced some symptoms that resulted in a visit with my GP. He decided that the best course of action, based on symptoms, his exam, my medical history, and my age, was that I undergo a colonoscopy exam as soon as possible.

That happens tomorrow. I am in the process of preparing for the appointment as I type this, fortified with the bottomless water cup at my side and having ensured that the bathroom door down the hall is open.

My doctor has rendered no diagnosis one way or the other. I feel fine, and the original symptoms have since substantially abated.

Looking back, my previous post was too clever by half. The reality is that my first inclination was to go with a butt joke angle and what I ended up with was instead just tepid and confusing.

I am humbled by the good wishes and concern I have received expressed by both friends and ... friends I just met. Thank you.

The procedure happens tomorrow morning. Afterward Mrs. Tmj will haul my tranquilized ass carcass to the airport, from where we will make our way to the environs of Pasadena, Maryland and the home of our in laws. There we will hook up with the goddesses, who went out there last week, and enjoy a relaxing weekend by the pool.

I get to bring home my present from last Christmas! We have to check it inside a locked hard side case, and also undergo a preflight inspection by TSA, as well.

Have a great weekend.

Local Primary *UPDATED*

Voters in the 3d Congressional District in Utah gave Chris Cannon his walking papers last night.

The morning radio news delivered the pronouncement that the Utah voters wanted a "more conservative" representative.

That's not quite accurate.

We want a conservative representative who gets the job done, and after six terms it was pretty clear that that wasn't going to happen. With the future in the hands of practically unassailable Democrat majorities in both houses we desperately need new voices not tied to the class of Republicans who squandered their mandate in favor of getting along with the opposition and the media.

Back when I was a Republican delegate I had the opportunity to observe, and speak directly with, Rep. Cannon at several different events. The moment that sticks in my mind was when he was questioned about the then - pending immigration amnesty and he interrupted the questioner with the words "We can't deport twelve million people!".

That's not the solution to the problem, and his obvious inability to see that is what compelled me to consider voting against him in that primary. His primary challenger at the time turned out to be an even worse choice than Cannon, so I ended up voting for him as a "lesser of two evils" choice.

Not again.

Thanks for your service, sir.

UPDATE: At 0740, Kelly Patterson of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at BYU was interviewed by KSL radio, and opined that Cannon fell primarily to a growing national anti-incumbent sentiment. First I've heard that it's national. It should be.

Dead Pool

1. How long does the energy supply deficit go ignored before the costs of feed, food, transport, critical fertilizers, asphalt, and the resultant cascade of retail profit loss go on before the argument gets away from blogs and pundits?

We're looking at a wholly avoidable catastrophe here. It is spectacularly crystal clear that nobody in any position of responsibility on any side is willing to stand up and point out that the cliff is probably behind us by now...

2. Will the Israelis use nukes or not when they go to Iran? I am out of the loop on their capabilities to project conventional power. I think that any IDF air operation will demand at least our cooperation if not our tangible support via tanker and reconnaissance assets.

I still believe that the US is going to do the job. Whether in July or after the election, I don't know. The longer time goes by, the less difference in outcome I see between Obama or McCain. Marxism or hubris, take your pick.

3. Is it possible for a political movement to get trapped in an orgasmic state? In my opinion the Dems' proposals to nationalize refining and the statement by the NASA Soros stooge Hansen that oil execs are guilty of "crimes against humanity" and should be prosecuted as such are strong evidence to support such a judgement.

Speak It, Brother!

I have no clue who Spengler is, but I've read and been impressed by his stuff for years:

"A religious leader must say, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," while a head of state must follow the maxim, "Do unto others before they do unto you." What divides the president and the pope is not so much their conflicting positions, but rather a difference in the existential vantage point from which each must respond to the great events of the world."

A very intriguing article on Bush, the Pope, and just how and why they have taken the paths they did. Well worth a read.



On a personal note, here at the Team HQ I've had some possibly unpleasant news of the medical kind. We were scheduled to do a runaway weekend to Maryland to hang with the in laws but I have to be at the hospital at 0830 Thursday for an unpleasant test that requires anesthesia. I have been assured they will fold in the mirrors before they park the bus, but even then the prospect of sitting in an airline seat for four hours later that day is a little daunting. Mrs. Tmj may be traveling alone after bringing me home.

I never turn down a prayer. Thanks.

Overheard

Youngest Princess is off to Maryland. We will join her next weekend for a "kick back weekend" with the in-laws, which we planned during our Christmas visit of this past year.

CNN has a "travellers network", I guess, and they pipe a Headline News - like product into every departure lounge in every airport on the planet.

It was all politics yesterday. One of the other passengers watched for a bit as a parade of congressmen weighed in on whether we should nationalize refineries or simply imprison anybody who works for an oil company. He remarked:

"Every time I see Joe Biden's face on TV I expect a commercial for a laxative to follow."

He pulled his smart phone out of his valise and dove back in for the noise cancelling headphones and paper back book.

"Expecting coherence from congress is like hiring the Taliban to judge a beauty pageant."

Just Saying

The following was posted as a comment here:


The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl is a useful metaphor for what is about to happen to our country.

The Sov engineers were so proud of their efficiency and competence that they ran the reactor above capacity to see what would happen.

Then they started disabling safety systems. To see what would happen.

Then there was an incident.

Our congress and courts are clearly disconnected from reality and have been for quite some time. Obama is poised to be the worst prepared president, philosophically and ideologically, we’ve ever inflicted upon ourselves.

We won’t name our enemies while spending a billion dollars a week, give or take, in combat. With somebody. We won’t name victory conditions. We tolerate opposition politicians consorting with the enemy and leaking anything and everything they think will garner them political points. Or that will hurt the country, which they do in the name of sabotaging the executive, which is the only branch still semi-interested in doing its duty under the Constitution.

We won’t teach our kids to read, write, or do math, or any history, lest they become “problem constituents” who decline to be victims or subsidy citizens. Our teachers UNIONS are a more clear and present danger than any bearded ass in a cave somewhere… but the guy in the cave knows it and uses that knowledge on a daily basis.

We won’t develop our own fuel sources. We won’t invest in infrastructure necessary to process and transport the coal, oil, and gas we have now. We won’t build efficient, safe, and carbon negative nuclear because of a combination of interests that profit from stressed, economically disadvantaged, non mobile populations. High on that list is, again, the vote farmers in the congress, but also independent social engineers along the lines of Soros, Chomsky, and others, who have worked hard to sabotage our free market economy in order that they can have one more run at the utopic marxist state.

They are willing to kill another few hundred million. This time they’ll get it right!

We are turning off the breakers and bridging the fuzes with gum wrappers. CFR, Kelo, Habeous for illegal combatants, socialized medicine, and we’ve got the Democrats slavering the tax the investment class, the middle class,, and the rich out of existence. All the while while emerging foreign economies teach their elementary school kids trig and enact flat income taxes and continue to lower corporate taxes.

We’re going to wake up a second tier country one day soon if we don’t change the agents that are killing our nation. Electing a hack like Obama will just accelerate the process but in all fairness he’s a very small fish in a huge pond full of obscenely bloated carp.

Have a nice day!

Eldest Godess

Found on her MySpace:

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Superman returns
Current mood: adored


You're the killer of spiders,

The catcher of moths

You scare away the monsters you created as a joke

You show us how we should be treated,

By the men we'll love someday.

If needed, it's not a question of when or where.

It won't matter because when we need you, you'll be there.

You'll put on your cape and fly to our rescue,

You're still our superman.

Always and forever.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad.


We love you so much!



And a happy Father's Day to all. I'm a lucky guy.

Bulletin

Oldest Goddess, on the cusp of graduating high school in less than a week:

"Dad, I interviewed for a job and got it!"

Tmj:

"Very good. They know that you can't start until after we get back from Maryland, right? Which eatery did you decide to interview with?"

OG - looking me in the eye:

"Victoria's Secret."

Tmj:

OG:

"The one in the University Mall."

Tmj:

"Well, you could pick up some underwear for me if you get a discount, right?"



Point dad.

Life is flying by, isn't it?

Decorum

I grew up in Texas, then spent some time in the Corps.

One residual effect common to both of those experiences was an appreciation for rules of good behavior.

When the fecal matter is well and truly impacting the oscillating air movement device, there is absolutely nothing improper about bitching about the situation.

Carp, complain, lay blame... just as long as you are moving in a positive direction, moving toward a solution or at least an improvement in the status quo.

Weather. Fiscal problems. Arterial bleeding. When men (and I'm sorry to say that almost all my situational anecdotes for this subject do not feature women) find themselves ass deep in bad news, whether alone or in a group, there are two positive signs to watch for:

1. Somebody bitches about the problem... but in doing so defines it in relation to his or the group's obvious first step toward a solution.

2. The lone victim of adverse circumstance puts aside the urge to complain and gets on with dealing with the situation OR a leader steps from the group and takes ownership of the problem and initiates the solution.

It's an amazing thing to watch people stop being individuals and consciously work toward a greater, common goal. I have swung a hammer alongside Jimmy Carter in his capacity as an officer for Habitat for Humanity. Most of the houses I helped build I thought were executed quite well; some of the later ones... well, that's why I stopped participating after our first few years in Utah. Way back in the mists of time I held on to my piece of the rope as a battalion landing team of Marines pulled a 15,000 lb howitzer up a slope, through head-high cactus, in a torrential, after midnight rain, and back onto a road on San Clemente Island. I've talked across the body of an accident victim we weren't going to be able to save, about kite flying, with a teenage girl.

She kept on saying, "I didn't want this", but she never stopped doing the right thing.

I wish I saw more of that.

But tonight, I need to apologize for indulging in whining when the time for that is long, long past. I see the light coming, yadda yadda yadda.... or maybe, more accurately, the darkness falling...

So tonight, I light a candle and bend to the task of getting ready.

No promises on content or regularity of posting, but I will try to keep the most ballistic flights of hyperbole off this blog.

You have a fine one. And get to work. There is much we must do.

Excitable Andy?

Nope, not Sully. Me. Here's where my head is at today; the following is a comment left on Belmont Club:

Our future?

Collapse.

Social and economic.

I am as depressed as I have ever, ever been.

I'm sitting here at my desk with the McCain campaign's latest missive open in front of me:

"Make no mistake: If the Democrats succeed in gaining total control fo Washington in November, they will instantly move to raise your taxes, expand the federal government, socialize medicine, appoint liberal judges and retreat from Iraq." *break* "As someone who has done so much in the past for our Party, we need your financial support at this crucial time to strengthen our Republican Party's efforts to regain control of Congress and win the White house in November."

Well, hell, Senator; just what have you done for my country?

Thanks for serving in Vietnam, and upholding the highest standards of the U.S. Navy. But as an elected politician, you've authored legislation that strikes a deep and bloody blow at freedom of speech. Your "Republican" credentials are at best asterisked. You are lined up solidly with the Democrats on the most important issue of our time - the AGW scam.

It won't matter how many Iraqis and other brown people die after November; our collapsed economy will probably not leave much room to report on stuff like that.

Mr. McCain, I say now that I will vote against Barak Obama, for the good of the nation.

But every time you open your gob about "cap and trade" I am forced to reexamine what exactly it is that makes you any less harmful than Obama will be.

Good day to you sir.

A. R. Jones
Orem, Utah

P.S. The impact of fuel and other petrochemical products' costs are moving into areas that will start impacting the economy in direct and catastrophic fashion very soon.

All that federal pork in highway bills is going to look pretty silly when it comes time to pay for all the asphalt they've scheduled to place this year. The cost will be DOUBLE if not more than was budgeted.

Gas at $4.00 a gallon today in central Utah; possibly .30 higher in a week.

Watch the markets. It's going to be one of the three stooges (regarding Clinton's "suspension" of her campaign - I saw no stake; she's waiting for a stumble and will be on the floor in Denver, make no mistake about it) in November and the ONLY certainty is that the federal government is measuring corporations, the middle class, and investors for castration.

I can't be expected to vote for the Republicans when their actions are indistinguishable from the Democrats.

Just damn.

Have a fine weekend. I'm unplugging from the grid.

Yah, just a bit over the top. I know just enough about history to be terrified of the likely paths we are about to stumble down. I fear for my country.

I fear for my family.

As I said, off the grid. Later.

Hudna

Curious.


"The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her."

No way the veep slot is even in the room, much less on the table. And this isn't about who gets to socialize healthcare.

Mr. Obama, I think you are in a bad place.

Manly Pursuits For The Weekend

Shooting at Lee Kay?

Nah. The High Command dumped a mission folder on me as I tied on my boots this morning. My mission, which has nothing of the taint of "if you choose to accept it", is actually a string of intermediate objectives like this:

1. Mow the back lawn.

2. Plant the flowers that Mom will bring home in the front beds, and pick yer own for the brick box off the dining room.(Mom is down hard with a summer cold. I did the shopping today -- no flowers.)

3. Coordinate with the West neighbor on completing reconstruction of the W'ly fence line, which still needs pickets.

4. Clean out the right bay of the garage. (Not as clean as I want it, but cubic is precious.)

5. Estimate and purchase sufficient OSB, 15/32 CDL, and 1"x6" sufficient to re-skin the garage addition.

There's more that needs doing ... but that's enough for today.

Shooting TOMORROW at Lee Kay.

Arrrrghhhhh

Enough. I'm going shooting tomorrow morning at Lee Kay. I will be there when they open at nine.

Have a fine weekend.

Oops

What a fine day this has been.

We had guests over to share baby back ribs off the coals and a sitdown to watch the directors cut of Independence Day.

The movie was carried on the Encore channel. They are having a big Memorial Day event and, after the last of the ID credits, rolled one of their extended commercials (I guess it might better be called a trailer) for it.

Well, near the end of the segment the narrator was paying respect to the men and women who over the years have done the muddy, cold, and bloody to preserve our freedoms. As he is speaking, you watch a montage of stills of U.S. servicemen and women from across the wars. Soldiers in Africa. Pilots in their Mae Wests standing in front of a Hellcat. Marines running up a beach. Sailors anxiously scanning the skies from behind the sights of their Bofors guns.

And a tired, unshaven Wermacht machine gunner looking into the camera from beneath his frost covered coal-scuttle helmet, MG-42 hitched over his shoulder. That photo may have been originally published in Signal, the German Army magazine, and most likely taken on the Russian Front.


Now to be fair, it was a tight shot and most folks probably won't look past the exhaustion and pain on the man's face. It is a striking photograph. And the chances that the person who put together the trailer is historically inclined are slight. This is not the picture in question, but it could have come off the same roll.

Oops.

Context Please?

The following vid appears to confirm what a lot of conservative folks thought about the 2006 elections:



I would really like to know where this happened, and what the occasion was. It's a real privilege to see an old hand laying out the tools of the trade, just the same.

Oh, and this is the first video link from Three Rounds Brisk.

We live in wondrous times.

UPDATE: Here's the playah:

"In the 11th Congressional District, Congressman Kanjorski is best known for his efforts to harness federal resources to stimulate economic development and support job creation. He has advanced vital projects such as the $250 million Wyoming Valley Levee Raising Project to protect residents from flooding and the $48 million renovation of the VA Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre. Congressman Kanjorski has also continued to increase flood protection throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania by helping to secure federal funding for multiple flood control projects."

He was a trial lawyer before he hit the big time.

We... the Democrats..." and "Now anybody who was a good student of government knew that wasn't true".

Damn. Honesty is just busting out all over, isn't it?

UPDATE II: Just another defender of American exceptionalism and free markets.

Free Translation Service

UPDATE: What she said:

""My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don't understand it," she said, dismissing the idea of abandoning the race."

Which meant:

"I'd climb right over his cooling body if that's what it would take."

Every once in a while a little honesty creeps into these campaigns. Refreshing, ain't it?

All joking aside, she's right, and not merely in the event of violence. Obama is a train wreck looking for a downed bridge and time is Hillary's friend. Even if she's just pushing her car on the shoulder, she'll still be on the track if Obama takes himself out.

It occurs to me that of the two, I can more accurately predict what Mrs. Clinton might do in a given situation than what Mr. McCain would choose to do. That's unsettling.

We all knew that Mr. Clinton was a liar and womanizer, as well as being light in the political accomplishments column, long before the '92 primary race was decided. The media brought their own kneepads and lined up to service him; being anointed the "Comeback Kid" for not losing badly in early primaries eventually helped land him in the White House. Here in 2008 the hummers are being enjoyed by Mr. Obama, but he looks worse the longer he stumps, which was not a failing of Mr. Clinton.

Everything goes back to Watergate. The denizens of the media want to be anything but objective. They decide which they hold: either the crown or the axe, then set out to fulfill the chosen Narrative for their targets... er, candidates.

Hillary is being ignored in the hope that she will just go away. If that situation isn't a statement attesting to the ignorance of our political punditry and journalism corps I don't know what is.

Madame Senator is pretty tough, in a grasping, mean sort of way. She's a long leg up on the media in that she understands what power really is, and that it's nothing the most conceited, self important talking head or columnist ever get close to.

In fairness, the Junior Senator from the great state of New York is in fact a lot tougher than I ever gave her credit for. Because of that Mr.Obama isn't near out of the woods yet, even with all the favors he's getting from the Best and Brightest.

We live in interesting times.

(UPDATE: Hasty edit for clarity and a flailing attempt to use proper grammar.)

Milestones

I have found in the federal government, for most of my forty-seven years, the most to dislike about this great nation of ours.

I've never been disappointed to be an American. Far, far from it. Embarrassed now and again, of course, by specific acts of specific people that reflected poorly on our community BUT I always remember that freedom means "free to screw up".

So what is the Congress of these United States up to these days? Well...:

"The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow."

Yes, we already knew that there exists a statesmanship vacuum in our hallowed halls. I don't think anybody realized until just now that there is a Special Olympics training camp where the U.S. Congress used to be.

Our legislative branch won't pull the trigger on a soon to be nuclear Iran, and can barely be bothered to acknowledge that the war they did support is almost won, in spite of their apathy, inattention, bad faith, or treason (match the names with the labels; there's plenty in each class). They will shatter the world food market in exchange for farmer/agrigiant money. They won't allow parents school choice, but they will fund charter schools cum madrassas run by Islamic fundamentalists. They won't develop domestic hydrocarbons, they won't permit refineries for the ones we do have, they won't permit nuclear technology, and they think the answer is to SUE nations who we BUY stuff from at world market value.

And with what are they going to threaten the people we BUY oil from? That we will screw with the refining and payment at our end of the pipeline.

There is a silver lining, if only a sickeningly faint glimmer: maybe these feckless bastards and bitches may finally realize that lawyers really aren't "all that" when the real world is the arena. You know, where nations bump ugly.

We are represented by fucking idiots.

And that makes us...?

UPDATE: NO!.

(Update via American Digest) (Link Corrected)

Great News

I have tested positive for Lyme antibodies. But not to a level sufficient to call me infected. I guess it's a clinical thing.

Woot! Oh to not hurt any more; how sweet it would be.

Two weeks of antibiotics, and retest.

I didn't work today, and am on call for tomorrow.

Weekend Snapshot

We got our pander payment yesterday. I purchased two hundred fifty rounds of .223 in 55gr soft point. It's official:

I now have enough ammunition.

And if you knew me, that statement would make your jaw drop. But it's true, just the same.

Today: Yardwork. Tomatoes to be planted. Flower bed to be cleaned out. Lawns are already mowed, next comes fertilizer spikes around the drip line of our mighty, late spring budding, Catawba tree. Weed n' feed the lawn, use Life Begone herbicide on the dirt back drive and the edges of the concrete drives and garage foundation. Paint the vehicle gate on the back fence. Also, helping the One True Love finish details with the near-complete living room remodel on a by-request basis.

I hope to go pistol shooting at Orem Rec Center later today.

Ongoing blogblather: here, here,here, here, and most important of all, here.

Things to look forward to:

Hanging shelf standards where the bookshelves used to live, at the landing on top of the stairs leading from our living room to the basement.

Finding out how the Lyme disease test comes out. I fear I studied for that exam. But it will be nice to have some idea why my major joints don't want to get with the program.

I worked three days last week.

Hope your weekend is going great, and that the coming week brings you good luck and great joy.

Storm Warning

My employment as a land surveyor is tied to construction activity.

I may have more time for yard work, home maintenance, and yes, blogging, in the near future.

I won't be alone.

No Surprises

Obama picks up a key endorsement:

""We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election." Why? "He has a vision to change America."

They like Carter, too, back then and today.

(via Instapundit)


Aside: WE ARE OUTTA HERE... until Monday. Y'all have a fine one. And if you need to blow shit up, make sure the neighbors are cool with it, okay?

Gunners!

It's cannon shooting time.

We'll be on the road Thursday for a weekend with our southern California friends at a location just north of Edwards Air Force Base and east of Feinstein's Folly. We are going to an area the locals graciously revealed and authorized us to use after the state fish cops got around to chasing us out of the original cannon shooting venue (Homestead I) that had been the scene of continuous, biannual cannon shooting parties since the mid-1970's. To my knowledge, this last October (Cali was on fire. All of it.) marked the first interruption of the biannual ritual in cannon party history.

(The actual facilities of the state Park are minuscule, but it exists solely because the boundaries were drawn to screw locals out of long-existing prospecting, off road vehicle use, and shooting venues having nothing to do with the canyon itself. It was done as a pander to environmentalists in the same fashion that Clinton screwed Utah with Grand Staircase)There were no facilities the first four years the area was designated as a park, and then it was merely fenced.)



If you live in the SoCal or southern Nevada area and are interested in an opportunity to participate in a three (and maybe more) tube cannon shooting weekend, contact me by email. There will be at least one bowling ball mortar on the firing line, too.

Since we will be in California, I will not be bringing exotic weapons. However, I am bringing a fair spread of my milsurps and enough ammo for all comers to get a good taste o' the boomy goodness. There are two cannon gongs (300 and 500 yds) and a generous number of targets, such as suspended steel gas cylinders, plates, and three foot harrow discs scattered out to 500 yards as well. The shooting area itself is not as extensive as the old line at Homestead I, but the impact and backstop areas are actually better since there is now way for anybody on or in a vehicle to blunder into the danger or beaten zones.

On Saturday night there will be Mrs. Tmj's camp spaghetti, along with campfire garlic bread... and ...AND... Utah State Fair blue ribbon recipe Dutch oven cobbler. This is all dry camping, no facilities and especially NO WATER. A vehicle with decent ground clearance OR a lot of driver patience is required to access the site.

Have a fine day.

Because I'm Mean

31

The questions asked to determine your score are actually quite pertinent.

I never employed an opponent's body as a weapon, but once used a foe's head to block a punch from the next guy on the dance card.

Where did all those years go?

(via American Digest.)

Flame ON!

Wow. Here's an excerpt from a "Dear Camille" letter:

"The men you always see under her are to a person passive-aggressive, sadistic, mean, little, petty beta-male pieces of work who would not naturally succeed in a common male-type hierarchy. By that I mean an environment that values straightforward achievement rather than the darker political arts."

I could have written that.

Ms. Paglia responds, including this:

"I agree that the male staff who Hillary attracts are slick, geeky weasels or rancid, asexual cream puffs. "

I could have written that, too. Not as well as her, of course.

Who would want Sidney Blumenthal or Sandy Berger on their team? Hell, in their carpool?

The circus continues!

(via Drudge)

On a related note ("flames") I am involved in a contentious exchange here.

Back On My Head

Back in late February, my company approached me about our winter staffing, specifically what was going to happen with my project.

Short story: We needed to cut back due to the extreme weather. Their idea: lay off at least one man, with my immediate assistant seeing his hours cut back at least a day a week for as long as the nasty weather held.

My idea: we put those two in that situation, after training them up with me for one and two years respectively, and buddy, they'll find a job that doesn't require them to be up at five and at the office by a quarter to seven, then out in single digit weather eight or ten hours a day.

So I took a leave, left my second man in charge, and as far as I know the company kept both of them busy. It's a slightly Pyhrric victory, since my longest-tenured man is leaving on his LDS mission later this month... but it was worth it.

I spent March remodeling our living room and being a Mr. Mom. Tomorrow, I go back.

I already feel as if I never left. I am not so sure that is a good thing.

Onward!

Thank Goodness (Updated 4/7)

...that Hillary is coming to save us from that filthy corporate lucre.


"The considerable crossover between the couple's decades of political fundraising and their personal profit also extended at times to the former president's charity work and his presidential library, though many records related to those remain secret. What is clear is that numerous financial patrons -- individuals as well as large corporations -- repeatedly emerge in the Clintons' circle."


What part of "scam" don't people understand?

I can sort of maybe kinda sympathize a little bit with Michelle Obama. Right now, I'm embarrassed to be an American. Surely we can do better than the three clowns and their attendant cast of blowers and flappers that comprise our political cream -
can't we?

UPDATE: Related.

Click

Today I am forty seven years old.

I am speechless.

You have a fine one.

FRIDAY!!!!!

Fridayyy! Off to Wendover, Utah/Nevada for the opening event of Mrs. Tmj's SCCA Solo racing season. Maybe some riflery in the desert.

I'm STILL pulling gunge out of the retired PU I mentioned here.

And talk about time - I put yet another notch on the stick come Sunday. They go by like pickets seen from an express train, don't they?

I have to finish installing the new baseboards in the new living room before then, make a dump run, AND do a roundtripper up to Mrs. Tmj's work in West Valley City to drop off her phone before she takes off at two to head directly to Wendover.

I just got a Big5 gift card from my sis in law. Ah, enablers! I love her so.

I will be around Happy Valley until this evening. Youngest Goddess has a dance recital at seven that I will tape (even if it's digital recording) and then will proceed west on I-80 to join the OTL in Wendover.

Have a fabjous weekend!

Why I Blog

Mainly, because I find essays like this:

"I encounter an enormous and growing number of people who have no frame of reference to the whole world, and everybody and everything in it, except that which they learned from watching entertainment. But unlike the elderly I mentioned, they are not using the TV to remind them of a world they have already participated in. They are deriving their reality from the flickering screen. Every single thing they say or do is filtered almost entirely through the lens of movies, teleplays, and magazines -paper or virtual- things that use reality as a veneer, if that, and simply to lend verisimilitude to wholly fictitious inventions."

... and am able to pass them on.

Well, I would, if I had any traffic.

RTWT.

(via American Digest)

Required Reading

Mr. J.R. Dunn chronicles the origins and history of the bastard stepchildren of classical liberalism:

"Instead of joining the Whigs and Know-Nothings in historical oblivion, liberalism surrendered to its internal rebels, the Democratic Party's left wing, indistinguishable in beliefs and intent from any hardcore socialist party on the international scene. In 1972, they ran one of their own, George McGovern who in 1948 had served as delegate for communist front-man Henry Wallace) for the presidency. "

In my opinion, the elections of 2008 will be the crucible that breaks what is left of the Democrat Party. There's no "there" there, and hasn't been since the eighties. The party convention will be in Denver in the fall. This convention is where their SUPER Delegates will fatally alienate either the Black Democrats, the White Female Democrats, or The Jewish American Democrats, or some combination of the three.

The Party requires all three of those groups to be nationally competitive. They have parsed their victim and identity politics so finely that it is now become impossible to successfully pander locally... which is why their last successful president was smart enough to run just above and outside the Party playbook. Clinton was not a Democrat so much as he was a charismatic, media attractive operator who wasn't a Republican. The Democrats didn't so much as gain a leader as they submitted to a pimp. They've gone the sixteen years since rolling for the Arkansas grifters pretending to be the class of the game, but it's awfully hard to hide the bruises any more.

I think there's a kind of delicious irony there.

Well, they are fresh out of players who can make the act work. While the Super Delegates go about the business of destroying the Party inside the convention center, the Base will be outside destroying any chance that the Party will be competitive in the general elections this November.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATES:

Rumblings from within the beast.

And Karl keeps knocking the ball out of the park at Protein Wisdom.

Trivialities

I went shooting with our veterinarian on March eleventh. I brought my SMLE No.4Mk1 and my most recent Mosin acquisition, a second arsenal refurbished model 91/30 retired PU - type sniper.

I cleaned both rifles after the outing, following procedures used when corrosive ammunition has been fired. I put the rifles back on the rack with damp bores, put the bolts in the safe, and went about my business.

Two days later I returned, wiped down all the metal with a cloth dampened lightly with CLP, and ran patches through the bores of both rifles. The SMLE patch had just a tinge of gray (I clean vigorously the first time, then expect the CLP I leave in the bore to loosen what I missed the first time.

The patch I ran through the Mosin was a lot darker, and showed a tinge of green mixed with the gray. Seeing green indicates that some of the gilding (jacket material) is still stuck in the grooves. I thought "No biggie", ran a brush soaked in Hoppes Lead and Copper through the bore and let it sit overnight.

Okay. It is now two weeks later, and I punch the Mosin in the morning and in the evening, and I'm still bringing out crud. It's as if there are strata of carbon, gilding, and lead packed into spectacularly deep grooves. The cleaning rod swivels like a barber pole going down the bore; a much more positive feel than my other C&R milsurps.

I checked my other retired PU and the two Mosins closest to it on the rack, and upon close examination it appears that it, too, has very deep grooves compared to the "stock" 91/30's.

I'll have to fly this by the folks over at The Gun Thing, but not tonight.

See, I told you it was trivial...

Here They Come!

If you are a fan of old movies, or merely of an age where you grew up watching a lot of matinées, you recognize the pedigree of the post title.

In every movie featuring hordes of hostile aliens/barbarians/tribesmen, there comes a moment where some helpful defender peers over the barricade at the charging host and shouts "Here they come!" for the benefit of any cast member who may have stepped into the outhouse, or for those in the audience who may have become distracted by their date.

I have previously opined here and here that the Black Democrat demographic will rebel at any move on the part of the SUPER Delegates to cross the popular vote results of the Democrat Primary process. Or what is perceived to be the "popular" vote; under DNC rules as they exist right now, only God and Stephen Hawking have a clue what the true value of that quantity is.

I love it when a plan comes together; to celebrate, I am linking to Talk Left where the opposition muses possible action in response to exactly such a move by the SUPER Delegates. (There is a link to KoS on that page. I don't link to those people.)

Big Tent Democrat writes:

"Here Markos and I agree. If Obama is the pledged delegate leader and the popular vote leader (as me, Kos and a cast of a thousand bloggers, NBC, etc, expect), then any action by the super delegates to subvert such a result would be outrageous and wrong, imo of course (his italics in original)."

The real meat is in the comments. I won't quote any of them, you need to read for yourself. It's an exquisite study in what happens when your politics are ruled by identity and expediency. There are some assumptions repeatedly put into play that ... make me giggle. Suffice it to say there are a lot of very unhappy campers, and their default tactic is to throw a tantrum and break stuff when they don't get their way.

It ain't pretty, but then neither is sausage making and we need both breakfast and a government, so there you go. I'm glad I don't live in Denver.

Have a great day! Oh, and here they come!

(via Instapundit)