Standards of Care

Milady has a staph infection and is in the hospital. She ran me off at about 11:00 last night. She is scheduled for surgery this morning to clean and drain the site and I am heading for the hospital as soon as I finish my coffee. The surgery is not life-threatening, any more than any other surgery and we are confident of a quick recovery. I'll probably bring her home Saturday morning.

Milday is a registered nurse who deals daily with staph infections and she diagnosed and predicted this hospitalization as soon as the problem began. When admitted, she took charge of her own health care. She is a nursing supervisor at a long-term care hospital that treats the Developmentally Disabled and her unit recently passed an audit on nursing standards with flying colors. She is a subject-matter expert on nursing standards. She is normally a kind, gentle person who cares deeply about the most vulnerable of our citizens.

She defends the nursing profession against all comers, but believes that the best way to promote the profession is to insist on the highest standards of professional care. She will bring smoke and scunion down upon the nurse who gets sloppy within her domain. I observed her last night as I played the role of dutiful husband. She was friendly and open with her nurses, but was watching them like a hawk watches a mouse. I know from personal experience that she can transition from Sweetness-and-Light to Avenging Angel within the span of a heartbeat. It is not a pretty sight, nor one for the faint of heart. Those are her standards, by God, and they will be maintained for the good of the patient and the profession.

Her surgeon, thankfully, is a doctor with whom she had had a long and congenial professional relationship. They trust each other completely and she is in good hands with him. He will practice his craft this morning with absolute confidence and mend her completely.

It's time for me to put on my shoes and head for the hospital.

Winter

I just saw the first robin of the season. Up north, the robin is the first sign of spring. Here in the Deep South, the robin shows up for the start of winter.

I've been watching geese for two weeks. Normally the geese arrive a few weeks ahead of the robins.

Not a lot of folks know this, but robins are fine eating. A mess of robins, a dozen or so, make a fine stew. Just breast them out, add veggies, and simmer in a brown gravy till tender. The meat will fall off the bone. It is dark meat, full and flavorful with very little fat.

I offer the recipe simply as old-time folk knowledge. Robins, of course, are protected songbirds and harvesting them is strictly illegal. I myself would never consider harvesting robins in this day and age. I've been told that the best way to take them is with a pellet rifle, making head shots so as not to puncture the breast. All this information comes from old-timers who did such things years ago. Or so I've heard.

Mel Martinez, Trent Lott?

I see that Mel Martinez is the new RNC chair and Trent Lott is minority whip.

Haven't the beltway Republicans learned anything? Do they know that we call them the Stupid Party.

Jeeze, this is just one disaster after another. Trent "Gimme more Pork" Lott, and Mel "soft on illegal immigration" Martinez do not represent the base of the party. What are they trying to do? Lose 2008 too?

I ain't believing this.

I'm going deer hunting. Call me after Christmas.

Abramoff to Prison

Well, lookee here:

Jack Abramoff, the discredited, convicted lobbyist is still testifying. According to the blog over at ABC News, he talked to investigators yesterday about "six to eight seriously corrupt Democratic senators."

We also understand that he is talking about Karl Rove. At this point, that is almost a bonus.

I'm not going to hammer on the fact that the alledged senators are Democratic. Only that they are corrupt. We have heard a lot about the Republican "culture of corruption", and I'm sick of it. Sick of corruption in government.

At this point, one party talking about the other being corrupt is kind of like the pot talking about the kettle.

And what's up with Nancy Pelosi fronting Jack Murtha as Majority leader? Murtha has corruption issues all his own.

I am just about disgusted with both parties. And don't talk to me about the libertarians. Is anyone ready to bring back the Bull Moose party?

Just being there.

This has been one long week. We started the week with election day, which was a normal eight hour shift. Then, I was tasked with escorting a football team to the bi-regional playoff's. Not a hard detail, just gather up fifty players and the coaching staff, load them on buses and move them 100 miles, play a football game and bring them home safely. After a normal eight hour shift. That turned into a nineteen hour day.

Then yesterday, Saturday, the local high school had a couple of events occuring simultaneously, so I was tasked again with providing a law enforcement presence for multiple events that became a 14 hour day. I'm off today and have to be back at work Monday morning.

As I was working the extra details I was listening to the police radio on my shoulder, hearing my brethren all over the parish, working extra details like mine. Providing a presence. When we work those details, we are the Po-Leese, and field all manner of requests that have nothing to do with police work.

Do you have a key to that gate over there?
Where are the restrooms?
Is there a concession stand on this side of the field?
Have you seen a white purse laying around here?
Where's the Coach?
Could you watch my bicycle for me?
What were all those ambulances and first trucks doing in front of (obscure place name) last night?

It's called Protecting and Serving and it takes many talents, not the least of which is tact and diplomacy. Folks come to an event and the first thing they see, the first thing they truly see, is the cop standing out front. They expect us to know all the answers and to immediately serve whatever role they have come to expect of us. Few of those roles have anything to do with Enforcing the Laws of the State. The fans come out to have a good time and a police presence reassures them that order will be maintained.

For all you rookies out there, listen up. Police work isn't about kicking in doors, or solving homicides, or dramatic car chases. You'll get a chance to do all that, but those are very rare occurances. Mostly it's about being there. Trouble doesn't start when the police are present. After a long day when most of the population is playing, you still have to look sharp, be alert, have your gear polished and your boots laced. You will help old folks walk across a bad stretch of pavement, you'll point to concession stands, you'll answer bone-headed questions and you better, By God, be polite and courteous to everyone. You are expected to know everyone and see everything.

It's called Protecting and Serving.

Tax Cuts

Wait a minute. I'm confused. Way back when I registered to vote, I understood that cutting taxes was the province of the Republicans. We've all heard the chant from the progressives that the GWB tax cuts were designed to help the wealthy. That evil Chimpy oil baron Halliburton cabal trying to shelter the rich from paying their fair share of taxes. Who are the rich, you ask? Beats me, but I ain't one of them.

As I've grown older, I've made more money. I don't consider myself rich by American standards, being comfortably middle class in housing, income, and employment. Last year, my wife and I were shocked to see the total amount of income on line 37 of our combined 1040. She's been doing what she does for over 25 years, and I've been doing what I do for over 25 years, and experience counts for something in the pay column, although we are both just working stiffs.

Then there's this thing called the AMT, or Alternative Minimum Tax, which targets taxpayers making $100,000 to $500,000. I don't qualify for that yet, thank God, but bracket creep and normal career progression are such that we might have to face it soon.

Guess who is riding to the rescue? The Democrats. Yeah, those tax cutting Democrats.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), the presumptive chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, this week put fixing the AMT at the top of his agenda, calling it far more urgent than dealing with President Bush's request to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire in 2010.

Why does Charlie Rangel want to do that? The answer is down one paragraph.

The focus on the AMT is hardly surprising, given that victims of the tax have been concentrated in high-cost urban areas such as Washington, New York and San Francisco -- places that tend to vote Democratic. Rangel, Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the presumptive House speaker, all represent states hit hard by the AMT, which is sometimes called the "blue-state tax." To map states with the highest concentrations of AMT taxpayers is to draw bull's-eyes over California and the Northeastern seaboard.

The hell you say!

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for paying less taxes. Reagan came into power on tax cits. I believe that the economy is strongest when an individual makes his own investment decisions without the confiscatory bother of income taxes. I hope Charlie Rangel cuts taxes to the bone. For all Americans. Rich and Poor alike.

Punching through the layer

Set the scene: July 1980 in a rural town in Northwest Louisiana. Very rural. From the post office, you can look directly across the two lane road into a cornfield. It's early morning and the dew is still on the grass. The corn is tall and heavy on the stalk. A deputy leaves the sub-station and before he is very far out of town, nature calls. The coffee he drank at daylight needs to go away. He turns the cruiser through an open gate and drives down the turnrow for a short distance before the puts in in park and climbs out of the car. He is in a small nondescript cornfield about three miles from town.

He steps through the first row of corn and unzips his pants. While relieving himself he looks past the rows of crops, then looks closely at the plants in the third row. His head jerks, then he looks again. He zips himself up, walks back to the cruiser and calls the station.

Over the course of the next hour, the world descends to tour his little cornfield. Detectives, narcotics, the newly-elected-sheriff-hisself. USDA, the State Police and the County agent. The report writing will go on for hours. Deputies of all stripes will be posted as guards and news agencies will come and go. The new sheriff sets up a command post at the substation and starts contracting for a combine.

Our small town deputy has found a seven acre field of marijuana.

No, I wasn't the deputy. I know him and he'll remain anonymous in his retirement, but still talks about the day he stopped to take a leak.

I was there the day we burned the evidence. Your scribe was a rookie, the enamel not yet dried on my sparkling badge and I was pressed into service to keep out the curious and the mildly hippified who wanted to be there when we lit the torch. The sheriff had combined the whole crop, after pictures were taken and samples obtained. Critters had been arrested and the news agencies briefed. The crop was piled in the center of the field and allowed to dry for four days, under constant guard, then a forester had been contracted to burn the excess.

He brought in stumpage from a cut-over and laced it with dry logs from the local sawmill. I can hear his briefing today as plain as it was that dry, sunny day so long ago. "Boys, I've got to punch through that inversion layer at 5,000 feet with a big dose of hot air. We've got to get it going straight up, so the smoke will disperse above the layer. If we don't do this right, and the smoke stays low, the whole north end of the parish will be high until sundown."

He made it, by the way. The critters went to jail for a long time. The head honcho is still there today, and I don't know why I am recalling this story, except that I am in a mood to reminisce.

It was a beautiful sight.

The morning after.

Well, I see that the Democrats have made dramatic inroads, and have in fact accomplished a remarkable feat. They've captured Congress. Congratulations to all the winners.

The voters have spoken and the major word spoken is Change. We'll see how that plays out, and this post isn't to analyze or whine. The voters have spoken and that is what a democratic republic is all about.

I understand that the President is going to speak at 1:00 p.m., and if it were me, the speech could go one of two ways. The first, and best would be to acknowledge the part that voters play in a republic and that we all have to bend to the wishes of the voters. That is fourth grade civics, but in large part it holds true. He should tell the people that he intends to work with the elected leadership in the Congress and move the United States in a direction that is consistent with the wishes of the voters.

The second way would be to hire a comedy writer and deliver a stand-up routine, a roast if you will, of the last couple of weeks. The United States needs a good laugh this morning. I don't think we'll hear the President cracking jokes this morning.

The election really isn't going to affect me much, in a micro-sort-of-way, except that I need to go ahead and buy that evil assault rifle I've always wanted, in case the new Congress decides to ban them again.

The American people never cease to amaze me.

Election returns

Hmmm.

According to the Sec of State's website, there isn't much gonna change in the Louisiana Congressional delegation.

1st District. Bobby Jindal (R) has it sewn up with 88%.

2nd district. It looks like Karen Carter has pushed William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson into a runoff. That's good for the folks of the 2nd district. That's good for Louisiana. Jefferson has gotten about all the votes he is going to get and right now, he is standing at 29%. However, at this hour, that district is only reporting 258 out of 492 precincts. Most other districts are reporting much larger precinct percentages. It is now 10:15 pm, local time. Might be that the fix isn't in yet on that race. This one may be fun to watch. However, Jefferson should know that he is in trouble. Big trouble. Historically, Louisiana congressmen don't have any trouble getting re-elected and Dollar Bill is running 29%. He should concede. Many more have voted against him than have voted for him.

3rd District. With 493 of 540 precints reporting, we have Charlie Melancon (D) 14 points ahead of Craig Romero (R).

4th District. Jim McCrery (R) has 58 percent of that one.

5th District. Rodney Alexander (R) doesn't need to worry. He's carrying 68%.

6th District. They've returned Richard Baker (R) with 83%.

7th District. Charles Boustany (R) has the nod, at 71% of the vote.

In Louisiana, that's 5 out of 7 in the Republican column. Yee-haw. Now, if the rest of the country can get their act together, and maintain the Republican Congress, there may be hope after all.

I guess we'll know all about it tomorrow.

World Opinion divided

We learn that world opinion is divided on the Saddam Hussein sentence.

I call bullshit.

A ruthless, murderous dictator has sat in the docks, been tried by his own people and convicted in the harsh spotlight of world media attention.

I note that the courts that tried Saddam held jurisdiction in the same land that gave us Hammurabi's Code, arguably the first legal code committed to writing. The Iraqi people have a long and honorable legal history. Through their courts, they have decided that he should hang. Hanging also has a long and honorable history as a way of dealing with tyrants.

For myself, I think he should be returned to the septic tank in which he was found, have a toilet installed, gather a group of Kurds and feed them nothing but Taco Bell until the toilet backs up. But then, world opinion would probably be divided over that sentence, too.

Sunday news

Saddam was convicted and sentenced to hang. Based on the reports I've seen, the verdict goes immediately to appeal and the appelate courts have their say in the matter, if the sentence is upheld, then the law requires it be carried out in 30 days.

This is the first week of November. We could see Saddam hang by the New Year. That's a hell of a lot better than we do executions here in the United States.

I'm feeling marginally better. Still weak, but I don't want to cry each time I swallow. I can't remember the last time I was sick. I guess I'm glad that the worst of it happened on a weekend, although my weekends are precious and these past two days have been a total waste.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is supposed to announce the matchings for the High School Playoffs. Bolton is in the playoffs for the first time in five years. It should be interesting to see who they are matched against.

I think I am going to cook a pot roast for supper. My grandfather's recipe. It's fairly simple, to wit: In a black iron pot, sear your roast all around, then remove it from the pot. Add a half cup of oil and a half cup of flour and make a dark roux. Add water till the pot is about half-full, then add the roast. Peel an onion and drop whole into the pot. Cover and cook in a 350 oven for four hours.

Cold

Not, not the weather, although it is pleasantly cool outside. Me. I've got a cold.

Hacky cough, slight fever, sore throat, back ache, no stamina, nose running like a fountain. All the classic sypmtoms. Milady, who is a registered nurse, applied her considerable talents to my discomfort. Two tylenol, gargle with listerine. Get my butt in bed. Last night I climbed into bed at 7:00 and climbed out at 8:00 this morning. For a fellow that usually gets 6 hours, that may be part of why my muscles ache. Too much mattress time.

I am blessed, generally, with good health. Yeah, I'm overweight and have some bad habits, but I've taken off sick only two days in the last five years.

I don't do "sick" real well. The grandkids are over here this morning and I am letting them run on autopilot. Saturday morning cartoons are on the TV, so I don't have any PawPaw duties to fulfill right now. They're happy to leave me alone.

**Cough**

Winning the War

Michael Ledeen, over at NRO makes some good points about the war on terror and why it is more than just Iraq and Afganistan. His main point is that the war on terror is a regional one, with worldwide implications.

The debate over the appropriate number of American troops in Iraq is a typical example of how our failure of strategic vision distorts our ability to win the war. So long as the terror masters’ killers can freely cross the borders from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iran in order to deliver money, weapons, expertise, and manpower, it is hard to imagine that any conceivable number of American soldiers could defeat them.

It's a great article, go read it.

I note that since WWII, we have forgotten how to wage a world war. Regional conflicts have global implications. To limit our military response to a particular country creates a safe haven for our enemies. During WWII, we invaded Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Italy, France, and Belgium (I'm sure I'm forgetting someone) before we got around to invading Germany. There were no safe havens for Nazis (or the German Military) and we went after them wherever we found them. Eisenhower held together an often fractious alliance without losing sight of the real issues, which was the defeat of Hitler.

Like Mr. Ledeen, I suspect that a lot of us, on both sides of the aisle have been asking the wrong questions about the WOT. If you ask the wrong question, then the answer isn't helpful and the debate is bogged down. Lets ask the right questions.

Wednesday ruminations.

I'm fairly disgusted with most of the politicos hereabouts. The few that don't aggravate me are keeping quiet, which is the preferred manner of keeping for political creatures.

So, that said, my prognostications for the coming election.

Nationally, the Congress might change hands, it might not. I feel like the Stupid Party (of which I am a secular member) might lose it. The thing to remember about Congressional races is that they aren't national. They are very local. For example, my personal congresscritter, Rodney Alexander, is going back to Congress waltzing. His opponent is too little, too late. After the election I am writing Rodney a scathing letter about his spending habits, but that is between he and I. He really needs to pay attention to Porkbusters.

All over the U.S., local elections are deciding the members of Congress. The big question is not whether one party is better than the other, but which party is marginally less bad than the other.

I see that John Kerry has his foot in his mouth again. I look at the two senators from Massachusetts and realize that there are voters dumber than the ones here in Louisiana.

I see the Governor's race is heating up, here in Louisiana. That one's not till next October, so there is a lot of jockeying going on. What is interesting is the number of pretenders who say that they are not running.... yet. Right now, there are two in the race. Blanco, and Foster Campbell. Expect a host of others to join in as we get closer to summer. Historically, the launch of the governors campaign has been the July 4th weekend, at the Penecostal Campground in Tioga. All the politicos are there speaking and at that point we get a pretty good idea about who is running.

As to the mayoral race in the city of Alexandria, who cares? That race has gone to the swine. My only concern about that last sentence is that I may be unfairly slandering the barnyard pigs in the parish. Most of us moved out of Alexandria years ago, anyway. The Alexandria race is a diversion. It really doesn't matter which of the two gets to be mayor. It's my home town, and I love it, but it seems that common sense never seems to catch hold in Alex.

Surplus 4895

There are a couple of powders that reloaders like to have on their bench. These powders are univerally recognized as having a wide range of applications in various cartridges.

Unique, manufactured by Alliant, is one of those powders. It has a wide range of applications in pistol calibers, and is also one of the standbys of cast bullet loads. Most data in the Lyman Cast Bullet handbook includes a load that uses Unique.

These powders may not be the best, the most efficient, the fastest, or the designer powder for a particular cartridge, but they are effective in a wide range of calibers, giving good performance with each load.

Last spring I bought a jug of surplus 4895. The jug came labeled as IMR 4895 with the understanding that it was surplus, not canister grade powder. I started using it for cast bullet loads in the .30-30 Win and found that it gave good accuracy. Particularly, that 27 grains of that powder launches the Lyman 311041 bullet at an average 1927 fps with no leading. The load shoots into the bead of my front sight, which covers just under 3 inches at 50 yards. The group at that distance is just about an inch and a half. This is excellent hunting accuracy. My ballistic calculator shows that sighted 2 inches high at 50 yards, it will be on target at 125 yards and down two inches at 150 yards. At 150 yards it will still carry 843 foot pounds of energy.

Stepping up to the .35 Remington cartridge, I learned today that the same 4895, 34 grains, drives a 200 grain Remington Core-Lokt bullet at about 1850 fps. This load prints on the target at 1.1 inches at 50 yards. This is also excellent hunting accuracy. It has the trajectory of the .30-30 load above. Sighted an inch and a half high at 50 yards, it is down two inches at 150 yards and carries 863 fpe. No deer sized animal could tell the difference between the .35 Remington load and the .30-30 load. 90% of all deer are shot at ranges under 100 yards, so these two loads will take care of most of the hunting I do.

Well, okay, you say. How about a real cartridge? One that can reach out and touch something. How about the .30-06? With a 150 grain Hornady SST bullet over 52 grains of that same surplus 4895, the bullet leaves the barrel at 2925 fps. Sighted in to be a little over an inch high at 100 yards, it is close to target center at 175 and only 4 inches down at 250 yards. At that same 250 yards, it is carrying over 1700 lbs of energy. Did I mention that particular load gives great accuracy from my rifle, putting 4 shots into 0.75 of an inch at 100 yards.

These figures come from actual shooting, by the way. The velocity figures are out of my guns. I used a ballistics calculator to give the long range figures because I have no where to shoot past 100 yards.

Surplus 4895 is an extremely versatile powder, one that should be on every reloaders bench. Unfortunately, the supply seems to have dried up. When I burn through the eight pounds I have on hand, I might have to buy the canister grade 4895, either from IMR or from Hogdgon. IMR has a lot of data on 4895 in a wide range of cartridge sizes. I've only used it in the above three cartridges, each with a particular niche. 4895 has proved to be very useful in each of them.

As an aside, I'm told that Alliant Reloder 22 is singularly versatile in magnum cartridges. I have no experience with it, but I know one reloader who won't use anything else in .270 Win and .300 Win Mag. He's sold on Reloder 22 for large cases.

Compromise

Compromise, generally, is a good thing as relates to domestic affairs. Compromise is also indicated when treating with allies.

With enemies, compromise is deadly. There are people in this world who want us dead or subjugated. It doesn't matter why they want this, or if they have any just claim against us. Subjugated or dead. Those are the choices. Their words are plain.

There are those Americans who don't hear those words, or don't undertand the meaning of those words. Rhetoric has weight and words have meaning. When the President of Iran talks about the destruction of Israel, does the opposition think the is kidding? When al-Queda talks about attacking the United States, does anyone rational think that they don't want exactly that? When Moslem leaders talk about establishing a worldwide caliphate, do we believe that they don't mean exactly what they say?

We are at war, people. This is a war for our way of life. If you think life as a gay person is hard in the United States, imagine what it may be like under Sharia.

Written in Arabic, the fatwa comes from a press conference with the powerful religious cleric, where he was asked about the judgment on sodomy and lesbianism. “Forbidden,” Sistani answered, according to OutRage, “Punished, in fact, killed. The people involved should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.”

As regards women's rights, we have to look at a cleric in Australia, one of our closest allies.

In the religious address on adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, Sheik Hilali said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?

I got a picture from the Gateway Pundit that demonstrates compromise that we can all agree would have been disastrous for the United States as we know it. Yet, this poster was a political cartoon represting Democrats from 1864.



Is there anyone who thinks that the United States should have compromised with the Confederacy in 1864? Is there anyone who thinks compromise with Hitler was a good idea? The French find themselves now in a current intifada with Muslim youth. There are lessons here that must be learned and we must be blind not to see the threat.

Victor Davis Hanson talks about a book in he recently read, A review of Robert Spencer’s The Truth about Muhammad, Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion (Regnery Publishing, 2006)

The mistreatment of women, polygamy, child-marriage, stoning of adulterers, cutting off the hands of thieves, mutilation of enemy corpses, the sentence of death for apostasy, the subjection of dhimmi or Christians and Jews, even the killing of writers who displease the faithful — remember the sentence of death against Indian novelist Salman Rushdie, still in force — all have their precedents in the things Muhammad said and did. And as Spencer documents in his conclusion, this invocation of Muhammad is continually made by the jihadist terrorists themselves, who accurately link their violence to incidents and sayings from the life of Muhammad. To pretend that these devout Muslims are ignorant of their own religion’s traditions or are “hijacking” them is willful blindness.

We are willfully blind at our own peril.

**UPDATE** The poster shown above was not a Democratic poster, but a poliitical cartoon drawn by Thomas Nash that reflected the Democrats’ peace plank in their party platform, adopted at their national convention in Chicago in August 1864.

Strawberry Jam

Daddy had a hankering for strawberries and Momma had a bunch from her late-crop strawberry patch. She converted the surplus into jam. Fresh, homegrown strawberry jam.

I happened to be over there doing some piddling task and Momma asked me if I'd like to take home a pint. Would I? Why of course!



So, for breakfast, I'm having biscuits and strawberry jam. In all of heaven, there is surely not this much flavor.

Note to my sisters: Nyah-nyah-nyah. I got mine.

Vampirism

Vampires stalk the night.

I live in a household infected with vampirism. No, not the lust for blood, the stalking the night hours.

When I worked the line, I worked a rotating shift, some days, some nights. Milady worked an evening (2-10) shift. Then, I got an opportunity to work straight days, and she, of course, got promoted to a new position that requires her to work a straight night shift. She's been on this shift a little over a year, and she is pretty much nocturnal. Even when she has some time off and tries to maintain a daylight schedule, she normally awakens about 1:00 a.m. and stalks around for a few hours. The rising sun makes her sleepy.

We also have in this house a college student who keeps a normal college/working girl schedule. She normally collapses about midnight and awakens in time to shower and get to class. Whenever that is. I'm never around for that part of her day.

In the guest room we have a grown, working son who recently took a job close to here. He's crashing here during the week until he can find digs close to his job. He's looking for a piece of land to build on and commuting to his home fifty miles away during the weekend. Did I mention he works a night shift?

In this house there is someone always awake and someone always asleep. Security is not a problem in this house. There is always a loved one awake, standing guard. Stalking the night.

When I was in the military, in field units, we often ran all night. Combat ops are 24/7 operations and training for combat ops should be 24/7 operations. I was lucky to have commanders who understood that, and who also understood sleep planning. Sleep planning is important. You gotta sleep or you can't function over the long term, so there is a time to be up and a time to be down. In the military, in law enforcement, and in the medical professions, we never close. We're always open. Somebody has to be awake and alert.

One of the things I learned in the military, and as a cop, was how to sleep. I have the basic ability to sleep anywhere, from a foxhole to a king-sized bed, it doesn't matter. All I have to do is cease movement, relax the mind, and sleep soon follows. When we went on the fishing trip a couple of weeks ago, my daughter took this picture while we were traveling between fishing holes.



Yeah, that's me. Pawpaw hisself. The boat was traveling to a new location. Twin diesels roaring with the accompanying vibration, the boat was rocking and the bulkheads were steel. Naturally, I thought it was a good time for a nap. I wedged myself into a corner and took a break. It's a lot like sleeping in a moving tank, or an APC. If I had been wearing a CVC helmet, plugged into the comms, I would have been in dreamy slumber.

The only problem with vampirism is that when you get your sleep, you are awake. I need 6 hours, and I fell over at 8:00 p.m. last night. At three a.m., I sat up, blissfully refeshed and fully awake. Milady is due home in a couple of hours, and I'm working on a pot of coffee.

FIeld and Stream

I grew up reading Field and Stream magazine. I used to stalk the library shelves in school, waiting for the newest edition. When I could afford a copy off the shelf at the local store, I hoarded it under my pillow till bedtime. Field and Stream was a trusted companion through much of my youth.

I didn't know that they were online, although I should have suspected it. Yet when I looked down their header bar, I saw a little link called Blogs. Blogs?

Sure enough, Dave Petzal is blogging under the banner Gun Nut. I don't always agree with Dave, but I always read him. He's been an outdoor writer long enough that he's found his style and has some authority when talking about hunting rifles.

They also have a newsy blog format called Field Notes. Interesting stuff, pretty ladies, good stories, all done in the quality and caliber we expect from Field and Stream. Well done, folks.

Ranking Congressmen

The American Conservative Union ranks our Congress critters on how they vote on conservative issues.

Bobby Jindal scored a 100, while Alexander only scored a 96 for 2005.

They rate the Senators, too. Landrieu got a 44 rating, while Vitter got a 96 rating.

Hmmm.