Good news for Garand Fans

The word over at Culver's Gun Talk is that the CMP has arranged for a shipment of M1 Garands, bayonets and 70 million rounds of 30-06 ammunition from Greece.

Many, many, many (did I say 'many'?) near mint rifles with nothing wrong but the trigger group and/or stock were switched. I think a third or more of what I saw was truly excellent like this, and it actually became more unusual to see one with the correct trigger group and stock. As to condition, these could be anything from fairly used to nearly unfired (if not completely unfired). But there were many that were right as rain and nearly unmarked - clearly collector grades. If that holds across the board it means that there were over 6000 rifles that were collector grades or a stock/trigger group away from collector grades.

I'm not in the market for a collector grade Garand, but I might like one, or several, shooters. And, with 70 million rounds of ammo coming, I might be able to afford a couple of cases.

I meant last year to get my paperwork complete and submitted to the CMP and this gives me the motivation to do that.

Hat tip to The Gun Counter forum.

Tam's right

Tam says that the loaded chamber indicator is the dumbest thing they've ever put on a pistol.

Its very existence betrays a bad mindset to have around guns, which is the idea that "This one's loaded, so I'll treat it with extra special caution!" The problem is thinking that way implies the unwritten corollary that "I don't think this one's loaded, so I can handle it sloppily," which almost unfailingly comes back to bite the unwary in the arse and leave bullet holes in things better left unpunctured.

As usual, she's right.

1. All guns are always loaded.

Cessna Caravan

The Cessna Caravan (208) is a fixed gear, high wing turboprop aircraft used as a regional airliner and cargo aircraft.

And as a warbird. Aviation Week has photos of a Caravan outfitted with Hellfire missiles, flying out of Meacham Airport near Fort Worth. The aircraft are being modified by ATK Integrated Systems, who has a major facility at Meacham.



The article says they're slated for the Iraqi Air Force. Ain't that interesting? I've always thought that if I ever win the Powerball, the Caravan would fit nicely into my millionaire portfolio. Who knew you could get them with missiles?

Deer Cam Pics

I went to Momma's today to check the deer cam. I have them set for Central Standard Time so that I won't have to change everything over once the time changes on the first Sunday in November. (That's next weekend, by the way.)

Here's a nice pic of a doe near the feeder with a small buck in the foreground. Of course, you can click it for a bigger image.



And, here's one of that same little buck looking at the feeder. You can likewise click it for a larger view.



I know that this is one of the most inexpensive of the game cameras on the market, but I'm having a ball learning how to use it.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog likes being scratched, and he'll stop for scratching at any given time.

Here, he's sitting with Milady, demanding attention while she reads the newspaper.



It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

More on Oath Keepers

I was surfing the liberal side of the intertubes today and came upon a little piece over at Associated Comment, entitled The Oathkeepers Need to Be Put in Check. Hilarity ensues, but not so much from the reason of the author, but from his total lack of understanding about what it means to be in the military or the cop profession.

Let's look at one little bit of blunder, shall we?

To pledge to willfully obey orders is in direct conflict with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ.

Uuuh, no. To willfully obey orders is the hallmark of both the oath of enlistment and the oath of commission. However, all military members are schooled at least yearly that they have a duty to not obey illegal orders. The Nuremberg Defense died during the end of WWII. I suspect that the author meant to say that "to willfully disobey orders...", but he didn't. Either his understanding of the UCMJ is sorely lacking or his proofreading skills are sorely lacking. Either way works for me.

Another burst of lunacy is shown in the concluding paragraph of the piece.

Just because a person is in the military or on a police force doesn't give them the right to arbitrarily interpret laws and act according to what they perceive as threat.

We might quibble about the use of the modifier "arbitrary", but as a police officer it is exactly my job to interpret the law and to enforce it to the best of my ability. That pretty much defines police work.

Imagine if active duty soldiers were not allowed to act on what they saw as a threat. While we're imagining, how about if police officers were not allowed to act accordingly to what they perceive as a threat. That's another huge part of my job. Reacting to threats. That's what I'm paid to do.

Should the military and police be subject to civilian control? Certainly, that's also one of the hallmarks of service. We're subject to the lawfully constituted government. No one's arguing that point. Should we also question orders that might be illegal and refuse to obey those orders when our moral compass tells us that to obey orders is wrong? Of course.

There's a catch-22 involved in that action, that we might be prosecuted for failing to obey an order that's later interpreted as lawful. That's a risk we take, but an order that skirts that close to the line between lawful and unlawful should be carefully considered before it is issued.

Once, years ago I was talking with a commander who told me that in the absence of orders he expected me to conduct myself in a manner that was morally, ethically and legally correct. Then he illuminated that guidance by telling me that if the moral and ethical conflicted with the legal, he expected me to act on the moral and ethical. That's good advise and a beacon that I've tried to follow during my twin careers in the military and law enforcement.

Would that our elected leaders were bound by that same guidance.

Elyas

I was surfing over at my daughter-in-law's blog and snatched this picture of the youngest grandchild at a pumpkin patch. It's a good photo of the kid.



I miss that boy. Hopefully we'll see him sometimes soon.

Huge slide

We've got this huge blow-up slide in my side yard, rented by my son's girlfriend for a kid's birthday party. Some of the grandkids are over here now and the remainder of the party is arriving soon, but I had to capture pictures of this thing for posterity.

To give you some idea of scale, the fences in the background are 6 feet tall.



Here's a close-up with three of the grandsons on it.



I've got to fire up the charcoal pit soon to cook hot dogs. It's going to be a bang-up time.

Bolton Wins!

I was wrong about Bolton losing their homecoming game tonight. They beat Avoyelles High School in overtime, 39-36.

Great job by the coaching staff and a monumental effort by the kids.

It was 11:30 when I left the parking lot. That's more than 16 hours today, but everyone went home safe and sound.

Rain

We got rain today. Lots of rain. Accuweather is showing that the main body of thunderstorms is east of us. The front has been moving from the west to the east all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be a drying-out day starting with cloudy skies and ending with a clear evening. Temps in the mid 40s. It should be a good night for high school football.

I'm glad the weather is cooperating. Tomorrow is Bolton's homecoming and the kids have a lot of activities planned, starting with float preparation in the morning, a parade in the afternoon, a pep-rally in the stadium, then prep for the game, with kick-off at 7:00 p.m.

I'll be there for the whole thing, getting to the school house at about 7:00 a.m. and leaving after the game tomorrow night, sometime after 10:00. For reasons known only to the coaching staff, we chose this game for homecoming against a winning adversary who is having a really good season. We're going to get our butts kicked.

Go Bears.

I.P. Shutting down in Pineville

The International Paper plant in Pineville is shutting down, according to the Town Talk. The last day of operations will be December 15th, with 200 employees laid-off.

That plant has been around since I was a kid, making container-board for worldwide markets. It's been an economic engine in central Louisiana for decades.

Just Damn!

Oath Keepers

There's a group of people called Oath Keepers. They've started to come onto the mainstream media's radar. Most recently, the founder, Stewart Rhodes appeared on MSNBC's Harball with Chris Matthews. David Codrea talks about it in his Gun Rights column.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has them listed as an organization that bears watching.

Oath Keepers, the military and police organization that was formed earlier this year and held its April muster on Lexington Green, may be a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival. Members vow to fulfill the oaths to the Constitution that they swore while in the military or law enforcement. "Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders," the group says. Oath Keepers lists 10 orders its members won't obey, including two that reference U.S. concentration camps.

If you do a Google search, you'll find lots of folks concerned about the Oath Keepers.

I've taken oaths, both in the military and as a cop. They require me to protect and defend the Constitution. I really don't see anything right-wing or reactionary about taking such an oath. In fact, my oaths are to the Constitution, not the government. Governments change quite regularly and it's my job to go about my duties without worrying about the government.

As I read the Oath Keepers list of orders they won't obey, I myself have been guilty of raising hell when some overzealous bureaucrat tried to order something that would have gotten him in trouble. I once risked my career by offering to arrest a Chief Deputy if he insisted on giving an order that was plainly unlawful. He came to his senses and backed down, and we remained friendly associates.

The Oath Keepers isn't about taking up arms against the government. If you look at the oath, it's about peaceful non-violence in the face of unlawful orders. When you consider that the oath is about "standing down", it is fairly remarkable that a group of armed citizens is willing to do nothing when faced with orders that might violate the Constitution. That's what the oath is all about.

The "just following orders" defense died at Nuremberg. As an armed officer of the law and a retired military officer, I see no conflict. I followed lawful orders under Carter, Reagan, Bush(1), Clinton and Bush(2). I'm still following orders under Obama, but I refuse to follow any orders that violate the laws of the State of Louisiana or the Constitution of the United States.

This isn't about armed resistance. It's about standing down, something that a few of us have done over the years against plainly illegal orders. That's the beauty of the whole concept. Peaceful non-compliance. Ghandi would be proud.

I'm having trouble understanding why they're considered a right-wing hate group. I guess dissent isn't patriotic, after all.

Internet troubles

A bunch of teachers went to the main School Board Office today for a workshop on using the internet in the classroom. I noticed them coming back to school earlier than expected and learned that the internet access was down for the school district. We could still use the intranet, but the internet is down. Something about AT&T and a trunk problem. It's way over my head.

Police work has changed in the past several years because we all use computers to submit reports. I had to do a report today and emailed it to my supervisor. He called a few minutes ago and told me he never got it. Duuh! I should have known that he wouldn't get it. The internet was down. I told him I'd try again tomorrow.

Back in the day, I'd take a report with two forms and a pad of lined paper. When I finished my report, generally using ball-point pen, I'd call a supervisor, we'd pick a place to meet and I'd give it to him (or her). He'd read it, tell me to make corrections, then he'd take it to the office. Nowadays everything is email or fax. It's a lot easier to submit a report online and saves a lot of wear and tear on vehicles and supervisors.

Until the internet goes down.

Hunnert Percent

I went to the Ford dealer today and bought the DPFE hoses that I needed to complete the tune-up. Installation was easy, peasy, a ten minute job. My old '01 F150 is 100 percent and by my estimation it should be good for another couple of years or so.

With new truck prices being what they are, it's nice to be driving a vehicle that's paid-for.

Game Cam

You might recall me talking about the game camera I put out at Momma's house. I hadn't had a chance to check it until this morning after church. It took 20 photos, but only a few of them showed game. I'm in the learning curve on this camera and I have some adjustments to make on the infra-red (night time) shots.

However, I've got a couple of good shots of deer. You can click on them for a bigger version. Here's a doe and what seems to be a nice four-point.



Here's another, of a doe.



I'm still in the learning curve on this camera, but I'm encouraged with the prospect of learning.

Sunday Morning Dawg

It's a brisk 42 degrees on the back porch this morning. The dog didn't want to stay outside, so he came inside and assumed his spot under Milady's computer chair.



That mutt needs a haircut. Needs one desperately.

Saturday

I spent the day at second son's house, helping him with a variety of tasks. Late this afternoon he changed the sparkplugs in my pickup truck. I'm much obliged. Changing sparkplugs on the 4.6 or 5.4 Ford engines is an exercise in aggravation. I'd have never even found them.

When I learned to drive and mechanic on vehicles the plugs were easy to find. I've changed dozens of sets of sparkplugs. Nowadays we change sparkplugs every 100,000 miles. I'm continually amazed at the complexity and dependability of common vehicles today.

While he was under the hood digging around, he found two little hoses that his educated eye told him needed to be replaced. They're made with a silicone lining and connect the EGR system with something called a DPFE sensor. The hoses are dealer-only parts and the dealerships won't be open until Monday. We replaced them with some silicone lined fuel hose, but he told me that it was imperative that I pick up those hoses on Monday and install them Monday afternoon.

Tonight, we're going to a costume party.

News Quiz

I was surfing over at the Cajun's and clicked his link to this Pew News Quiz.

I maxed it. I wasn't sure about one question, so I took my best shot, but I must have gotten it right.

Huh!

Marriage

This is why we need to separate marriage from the State.

It seems a Justice of the Peace in Hammond, LA refused to marry an inter-racial couple, on the grounds that it would be unfair to the children. Seriously.

What a jackass.

Makin' Do

I got home this afternoon and realized that I was out of bourbon. Well, damn. We live in a dry portion of Rapides Parish and I was dreading the trip to Alexandria to buy whiskey. I can't buy whiskey on the way home from Alexandria because I'm in uniform and the Sheriff frowns on us buying whiskey in uniform. So, when I need booze I've got to go home, change out of uniform and make the trip back across the river.

Milady reminded me that I'm retired from the military and there is a PX at Camp Beauregard, just up the road from home. About five miles. So, I hied myself over to the Camp and found the PX. They didn't have exactly what I was looking for so I decided to console myself with a half-gallon of Jack Daniels.

On reflection, a fellow who has to make-do with Jack Daniels doesn't have much to complain about.

Refreshing

That's what the weather map says for Saturday. Refreshing. I've seen a lot of things on surface maps, but I've never seen anything like that.



I hope they're right. I could use a little drying-out time.

Extreme Addiction

No, not me. Well, on second thought, maybe me. I'm addicted to hunting. My buddy, Craig Lewis has started a company that sells fishing and hunting supplies. He called me today talking about a new deer attractant called Extreme Addiction. It's put out by Extreme Wildlife Concepts out of West Monroe, LA.

Some attractants work in some areas and don't work in others. One popular attractant, Deer Cocaine, has some great adherants but I've never seen it work as advertised.

Something that does work on our lease is peanut butter. Regular old peanut butter. The way you use it is to buy a large jar of peanut butter in the plastic jar. Go out to your hunting area and take the lid off of the jar. Nail the lid to a tree, about waist high. Then, screw the peanut butter jar onto the lid. With your pocket-knife (you DO carry a pocket knife, right?) cut the bottom out of the plastic jar.

The deer love it. When the season is over, remove the jar and lid and nail in the tree. We don't want to ruin any bandsaw blades.

I bought a jug of the deer attractant and I told him I'd try it. We'll see. I hope it works, for his sake. If it works as advertised, I'll trumpet it here and he can use me as an unsolicited testimonial.

Which reminds me, I need to buy some peanut butter.

The Rams

So, Rush Limbaugh wants to buy the Rams, huh? That's what's been reported, although Instapundit thinks that it's a trap set by Limbaugh himself. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) talked about it recently on the floor of the House.

First, what business is it of the Congress why anybody should make a legitimate business deal?

Second, why get your shorts in a knot over this? The NFL has plenty of felons playing ball. Are they worried that Rush might tarnish the image of the NFL? Worry not about that. I consider the NFL little better than a criminal gang. Little better than ACORN. At least they're entertaining.

It's not like the NFL is a wonderful organization of Boy Scouts and church choir members. They've got more problems than the ownership of arguably the worst team in football. I don't even follow football and I know that the Rams are horrible.

I think the nay-sayers are playing right into Rush Limbaugh's hands.

Rain

Someone the other day told me that it rained 22 days in September. I don't doubt it. It's rained every day in October here on my acre in Pineville.

Daddy used to say that we had two seasons in Louisiana. The wet season and the dry.

I'm not trying to call the thunder, but I am evermore tired of rain. Next week I start building an ark.

Putting out feeders

The boys and I went out to Momma's place this afternoon. We hung the feeder and the game camera. It'll be interesting to see what gets in the viewfinder. I'll check it in a week and see if we're getting any traffic.

The feeder I use at Momma's house is the Moultrie 5-gallon hanging feeder. We bought several of them for the deer lease and they've proven to be durable little feeders. They don't hold a lot of feed, but if you set them for a 4-second spin time, there is enough feed in the hopper to last several weeks. It runs on four AA batteries and in our experience if you use good batteries, like Duracell or Ever-ready Energizer, they'll last the whole season. It's a simple little collapsible feeder that takes very little space on the 4-wheeler.



Moultrie has them listed at an MSRP of $69.99, buy they're found at a discount lots of places. I see that Simmons has them for $14.99, which is a heck of a discount. You can get the solar powered version for only $5.00 more. That's probably the best deal in feeders today. The only drawback is that they're hanging feeders, but a frugal outdoorman could make a work-around that would let you put them anywhere.

Heck, I might buy a couple more to keep in the attic. Seriously, these are great little feeders.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog follows Milady around, because in his eyes she is the end-all and be-all. Wherever she goes, he follows. When she's in her closet, he sits by the door, patiently guarding the opening.



It's a cool rainy morning in Central Louisiana. Under 60 degrees on the back porch with a fine misting rain.

The Nobel Prize

I'm told that our President was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace recently. Good for him.

Alfred Nobel was a chemist and inventor of some note. He owned Bofors, a large armaments manufactory and was the inventor of dynamite. When he died, he left a substantial portion of his estate to the funding of five prizes,the first three for physical science, chemistry, medical science or physiology. The fourth is for literature, the fifth is for the person or organization who renders the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses. This is the Peace Prize we hear discussed.

Prizes are awarded by the Nobel Foundation. On their website they specifically state that the prizes are not the result of a competition or lottery. In short, they can give the prizes to anybody they wish.

It's their money, they can do with it what they will.

Much ado is being made in the blogosphere about our President being the recipient of the peace prize. I don't care one way or another. As a staunch believer in freedom of all stripes, including economic and property freedom, I reiterate. It's their money, they can give it to whoever they wish.

It's not a competition, it's an award. They can do with the money as they will.

Long Day

I'm home just long enough to drink a glass of iced tea and harass the dog. Our school is hosting a football game tonight and in about ten minutes I'm going to put on my duty rig and take the radio off the charger.

Accuweather shows a line of thunderstorms coming with a 70% chance of rain during the game. Oh, joy!

**UPDATE** It rained the whole game, from start to finish. Final score, Bolton 31 - Jena 0.

More Piracy

It seems that some Somali pirates mistook a French naval vessel for a commercial carrier and fired on it. Not a good idea.

PARIS — Somali pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel early Wednesday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat, the French military said. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates.

Suspected pirates? They were off the coast of Somalia in a couple of skiffs, firing at ships. Of course they are pirates.

The French should have just riddled the skiffs with machine gun fire and left the outlaws to the tender mercies of the sharks. They were 250 miles off the coast of Somalia. It would have been an interesting swim to shore.

Hawk

We've got a fairly active pigeon population around our high school. We're about as urban as you can get in Alexandria, situated between the Garden District and city park.

Pigeons attract raptors, and I've often got a hawk or two circling the school. It keeps the pigeons honest. Today I walked out under the oaks and spotted a bird on the limb over my head. It waited until I got my camera from the truck and let me snap a couple of pictures.



The bird is just a little larger than a pigeon and while it was sitting on that limb, the squirrels were noticeably absent. I believe it to be a juvenile red-tailed hawk. He didn't seem bothered to have me taking photos and when the bell rang a few minutes later to announce the end of the school day, he was still sitting on that limb.

I thought it was cool.

Command

The high school has a Veterans Day assembly coming up and they want to highlight the faculty members who have served. The head of the ROTC department asked me for an old photo that showed me in uniform.

In February 1977 I took command of a company. The Army was winding down from Viet Nam and there was a shortage of company grade officers. I happened to be standing in the wrong place at the right time and suddenly, as a butterbar with less than two years of service I found myself as a Company Commander of a training company. We were running an AIT unit, training tracked vehicle mechanics (63C10) for the Army. I would make 1st Lieutenant a month later, but the Battalion Commander wanted me to sit for a command photo.



Commanding a company was the highlight of my military career. Once you've been in command, you're ruined for staff work.

This next one was taken in about 1987 while I was in the Army Reserve. Desert Storm was two years away and we were at annual training at Fort Polk, LA. By that time I had transitioned out of Armor and was wearing the MP brass. At that time I was the Provost Marshal of my reserve unit and would be called up for Desert Storm with the MPs I was training that summer.



Little did I know at the time, I'd finish my career in an Armor unit, one of the few reserve formations that fielded M1A1 tanks.

I'll take both these pictures to the school house and let them use whichever they want to use.

Is it possible that it's been thirty years?

Pack like a Seal.

Not the fur bearing creature, the Navy warrior.

Dave Petzal talks about packing for a hunting trip and recommends the Navy Seal mantra: Two is one, one is none. Dave recommends packing two of everything that might make or break your trip.

Good advise if you're jet-setting around the world. I wouldn't know, I don't jet-set.

I get in the pickup truck and run down the road. Most of us do. If I get into the woods and I've forgotten something, too bad. Forgot my ammo? I'll watch game until I get tired, then I'll take a nap. Forgot my lunch? I'll go hungry, or go to the diner in town. Batteries on my camera run out of power? No pictures today.

I'm an Eagle Scout and I understand the mantra Be Prepared. I also know that most of us carry way more stuff than we need. Dave recommends carrying a spare rifle scope. Heck, some of us don't use rifle scopes.

Hunting is supposed to be enjoyable and I try to make it so. I pack a good lunch, extra batteries for my camera, and I put a magazine in the hunting bag along with a thermos of coffee.

It's not a military mission.

Chili

It's finally gotten cool enough that we can start cooking the cool night dishes.

Tonite, I've got a pot of chili on the stove. It's been a while since I've had a bowl of the red. This chili may not be original, but it's what I grew up with and with a few crackers and some iced tea I'll be near heaven.

One of these days I intend to cook a bowl of The Cap'ns green chili. The Cap'n is one of two actual rocket scientists I know. He's retired from NASA and put his considerable skills to work on camp cooking. His recipe for Chili Verde looks very good.

Supper's on!

Patriot

That's my boy! Waving the flag.



I know that he lives in Florida, but we've got to do something about that Gator Tee-shirt. Before they left the Gret Stet, even their dog had an LSU bandanna.

There are more pictures at his Momma's link, above.

Handi Rifle

The week before Labor Day, I ordered a Handi-Rifle from my favorite gun shop. I want a .30-30 for several reasons. First, I want to try the cartridge with pointed bullets. The normal .30-30 rifle is a lever action and it's dangerous to use pointed bullets in a rifle with a tubular magazine. If the point of one bullet contacts the primer of the following cartridge, that following cartridge might fire, resulting in a hearty Ka-boom in the magazine. That would be disastrous.

Secondly, I want to scope the rifle so I can wring out the accuracy. I've always considered a scope to be a heresy on a lever gun. It ruins the balance and the lines of the rifles. I don't happen to own any Marlin .30-30s right now, both of mine are Winchester 94s, which don't lend themselves to scope mounting.

Third, the Handi will make a dandy grandkid rifle. One cartridge, one shot, I like breaking in new shooters with single shots. It teaches them to shoot and it's safe. The .30-30 can be loaded down for young shooters so that the recoil doesn't bother them enough to induce a flinch. The recoil from my .45-70 is punishing when I load it heavy. Light bullets and moderate velocities might be just the key for a light, easy recoiling kids rifle, but one that will still have enough punch to take deer-sized game.

I've been checking regularly with the counter-folk at the gun shop and they can't find a .30-30 Handi, new in box. I talked to the guy today and he's been checking with all his distributors and they don't have any.

Those that know about these things tell me that Harrington and Richardson, the grand-daddys of the Handi Rifle, was acquired by Marlin in 2000, and then in 2007, Remington bought Marlin. Because of these acquistions, Remington is now making Handi-Rifles. The guys at Greybeard Outdoors tell me that the rifles are now made in the Ilion plant and there's a satisfaction poll at that forum. Reviews are mixed. Some are getting great service, some are complaining of long wait times.

The Handi is still shown on the H&R 1871 website and the .30-30 is still listed. Why they're not available is a mystery, but I've got my order in and I'll be happy to see it when it gets to the shop.

Sunday Morning Dawg

You've all seen this shot of the dog peering under the fence gate



Well, here's what he looks like from the other side.



That cracks me up.

Who cares?

I guess I oughta talk about this, but I'm told that the Olympics are going to Rio. Good for them.

Personally, I don't care. The Olympics are a side-show of politics played in the venue of a sporting competition. They're fun to watch on TV and the gold medalists should rightfully be lauded for excellence, but in the long run, they really don't change anything.

I don't take any joy from our President being handed his ass after making the pitch for the Olympics to come to Chicago. No joy at all. I do wonder what he was thinking. The Olympics is supposed to be about excellence, transcend politics, and honor the athlete. They're supposed to be games. Who cares where they're played?

Rain

I was going to take the deer blind to the hunting lease this morning, but the weather isn't cooperating. Accuweather is calling for rain, with 80% chances all day. It's shaping up to be the sort of day where we stay inside, do paperwork and lounge around.

I'll be at church this morning, then piddling the rest of the day. Who knows? I may even fold clothes.

More survival rations

Bob says in comments:

MANY years ago I'd eat a can, maybe even two, of Vienna Sausages sitting/waiting in a pirogue or in a blind, but there is no way in the world I'll have a bunch of them for emergency rations. That would be far over my limit. :-)

Ha! I understand completely. I love vennie weenies and I'll eat them at any turn. My big drawback is potted meat. For years I carried a small tin of potted meat in my hunting bag. When I'd get hungry, I'd take that tin out of my pocket, read the ingredients thoroughly, decide I wasn't hungry, and put it back in my pocket. I carried that tin of potted meat long after the label had disintegrated.

Imagine my surprise when, eight years ago, I met my bride. She loves potted meat, keeps cans of it in the cupboard. She'll slather it on bread to make a sandwich or eat it on crackers. When she's doing that I try to suppress the gag reflex.

She, however, cannot abide vienna sausage. The grandkids and I love them.

That's why they make both kinds, I guess.

Opener

From my kitchen table, I can hear gunshots and I'm reminded that it's the opener of squirrel season in these woods.

It's been a long time since I participated in the opening of squirrel season. Not that I don't like hunting them, but for the past decade it's been too hot to get out in the woods the first weekend of October. Squirrel hunting in a tee-shirt, swatting mosquitoes, looking for snakes at my feet really doesn't appeal to me. I much prefer to wait until the leaves are off the trees and I can slip through the woods with a .22 rifle.

Still, this is an opening morning and I don't live so far from the woods that I can't hear gunfire. We've been one more trip around the sun and it's hunting season again.

Confusing

So, Sen. Thomas Carper (D.-Del.), says he's not going to read the language of the health care bill because it's too confusing. Seriously.

“I don’t expect to actually read the legislative language because reading the legislative language is among the more confusing things I’ve ever read in my life,” Carper told CNSNews.com.

It's too confusing to read.

How about this, Senator. Go back to the drawing board and write a bill that's not confusing. That's your job. Better yet, Go back and read Article 1 of our Constitution and tell me where you find that it's government's job to worry about health care.

Dumbass.

Survival Rations

Instapundit links to Popular Mechanics testing survival rations.

I've eaten my share of MREs, LRRP meals, C-Rations and K-Rations. I've even sampled the 10 man field ration. They'll keep you alive and keep your gut working, but they're expensive and sometimes they're hard to find.

On the other hand, with a big dutch oven and a fire you can feed yourself and your family for little or nothing. A big bag of beans, some ham or bacon, or vienna sausage and you've got a heck of a meal. Catch a chicken and make a gumbo, or a pigeon. There are lots of pigeons in the urban landscape and they make a fine gumbo.

Recipes? Use your imagination. But, some basics are in order. While the electricity is still running, go over to the cooking section of The Frugal Outdoorsman and look at the menu board. We've got everything over there from beer bread to salsa to pot roast. All the menus are game oriented and are designed to be cooked outdoors.

Once you've mastered the basics of gumbo and bread you can get creative, make your own recipes. You can also take a couple of MREs and make them into something special. Some pepper sauce, some garlic, maybe a little cajun spice and you've got a great meal.

Remember, there have probably been more meals cooked over an open fire than inside a kitchen in the history of man. This isn't anything new. What works in the campsite will work in the backyard. But you've got to practice.

Terrain

We've got a major, defining terrain feature in Central Louisiana. It's called the Red River. Yesterday afternoon we got a taste of how deficient our road network has become.

There was a horrible accident on the Pineville Expressway near the Purple Heart Memorial bridge. For those of you unfamiliar with our road network, there are three bridges linking Alexandria and Pineville. The Purple Heart is the big bridge, six lanes. The other two are antiquated two-lane bridges that should have been replaced forty years ago. One links the downtown areas of the twin cities. Both of the others are on US Highway routes.

So, we've got three bridges and there is a horrific accident on the big bridge. First responders closed the big bridge so that they could clean up the carnage. It is right and proper that they did so.

Traffic in the Alexandria-Pineville area immediately turned to shit. It stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon. The delays cost commuters (taxpayers) aggravation, lost time, worry over picking up kids, and other burdens that can't be readily catalogued. In short, it was a hell of a mess and we can lay the blame at the malfeasance and incompetence of our elected officials.

The road network around here is horrible. It's at capacity and has been for several years. We've still got US routes that are two-lane roads. The two small bridges should have been replaced 40 years ago. The fact that they're still being used is an outrage to all the taxpayers in this area.

We wonder why Central Louisiana is still a backwater area? Simply because the roads and bridges don't handle the traffic we have now. Our infrastructure is crumbling and all we get are platitudes from those who are supposed to take care of such things. Roads and bridges aren't sexy. They're not politically hot-button issues.

The fact that closing one bridge causes untold problems to those of us who have to use the roads everyday is simply an insult. Closing one bridge should simply be a five-minute delay while we route to another bridge. It isn't. It's a major delay that causes untold losses in opportunity. The officials responsible for our transportation should be called to answer for their incompetence.

Best all-around

One of the commenters over at The High Road forum (.us, not .org) asked the question, what's the best all-around caliber for North American game.

Four pages later the discussion is still going on. The consensus is that the best all-around caliber is the .30-06. It's hard to argue with that answer.

The .30-06 is one of the best, ever. It's been around since 1906 and it's still going strong. Every bolt-action manufacturer that I'm aware of chambers rifles for that cartridge and the ammo manufacturers commonly list it in the top three of cartridges sold in North America.

You can buy ammo anywhere, virtually at any big box store, any gun store, and almost any country convenience store. Ammo is easy to find. It's easy to reload for, too. Page after page of .30-06 recipes can be found in virtually any reloading manual. I've loaded it hot, for velocity. I've loaded it down (about 1800 fps) for plinking. The best cast bullet group I ever saw was shot with a 200 grain Lyman bullet and the bullet traveling about 1600 fps, out of a bone-stock Remington 700 in .30-06. That 5-shot group fell into 0.76 inches with a called flyer. If he hadn't flown that bullet, the whole group would have been under half an inch. I didn't shoot it, but I saw it and it was the damndest exhibition of cast bullet shooting I'd ever seen.

By best target from my Savage goes into 3/4th of an inch. This with a 168 grain bullet traveling 2800 fps. Don't let anyone tell you that the .30-06 isn't capable of fine accuracy.



If you're hunting game up to the size of elk, the .30-06 will do the job. If you're hunting whitetail deer, the .30-06 will do the job. If you want one rifle that'll kill nearly everything in North America, the .30-06 is your medicine.

Every cartridge has its fan club. Some like the .270, some like the .243. I love the .30-30 and think that it'll do anything a .30-06 will do inside of 100 yards. Truth be known, most game animals are killed inside 100 yards. There are others that think the 7mm Remington Magnum is the cat's meow for all game. If you want a nice, light carbine get the .30-30. If you want the full size bolt action rifle, get the .30-06. I love my .30-30s. I currently own two and have one on order.

The hunting season is upon us, and while I'll likely be carrying one of several rifles this year, I know that I can rely on my .30-06. It's not flashy, it's not a whiz-bang magnum, it's not the latest, but it's likely the greatest.

Folks ask, what caliber should I buy if I can only buy one caliber. Either the .30-30, or the .30-06. I've never felt undergunned with either of them. But, if you're looking for best all-round, the .30-06 is the cartridge.

Reader Poll

I finished the basic carpentry on the box stand today. I have to do some little finishing touches, like hanging a door and a panel to fill the shooting window. And painting. Always painting.



So, the question becomes: What colors do I paint it. I asked my work crew and got a number of answers. Bright-assed yellow. Hunters orange, Navaho Red. One young lady even recommended (horror) some green/brown/black camo scheme.

I decided to make it a readers poll.

What color should I paint the box stand. Everyone is welcome to weigh-in, but it'll be a couple of more days before I buy paint. Answer in comments. What color?

Sunday Dawg

Sometimes when the dog feels threatened or uncomfortable (like when I'm taking pictures), he hides under the buffet. If he's under there, I have to get down on my knees to get him.



Like this.

Report shelved waiting decision

I'm told that the Pentagon is holding a report from General McChrystal pending a decision from the White House about what strategy it wishes to pursue. Yeah. That's what I'm hearing.

KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has submitted a request for more troops, a spokesman said Saturday, but the Pentagon will hold it while President Barack Obama decides what strategy to pursue.

That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Make a decision then read the report.

Afghanistan is ours to win or lose, but it's time to make up our minds.

If our President hasn't made a decision yet, that means he hasn't had a strategy. To my mind, it might be good to read the report from the commander on the ground, then make a decision based on that report and other intelligence that we're able to gather. But that's just me. Whatthehell do I know?

I don't give a tinker's damn whether we fight in Afghanistan or not. The only thing I care about is 1) the vital interests of the United States and 2) the troops under our flag. I think it's important to ourselves and (how did Jefferson put it?) to a decent respect to the opinions of mankind that we finish this fight, rather than tuck tails and run. If we intend to finish this fight then it might be a good idea to read the report of the commander, fully resource his needs and unleash our boys and girls to finish the job.

I've long been of the opinion that US Servicemen are hindered by many things in combat, not the least of which are restrictive rules of engagement that actively hinder military operations. War is hell, and when we put an army in the field we should visit hell on all who oppose us.

But that's just me.

Spider Lilies

We've got spider lilies popping up in the front yard. They're delicate little plants that you never see until they bloom. The bulbs lay dormant all year till the middle of September, then you get a dash of color.



I love planting these things. They're the ultimate no-maintenance flowering plant.

Game Cameras

Game cameras, also called trail or scouting cameras are a relatively new item in the outdoors retail market. It's a simple concept. Put a camera on a tree and take pictures of things that walk by, whether it's game, or poachers, or whatever it might be. It's a form of outdoor photography that's fairly new and fairly basic.

Some folks say that the flash of the camera disturbs the game and old Mossy-horn won't get caught by that trick twice. Other folks say that the flash doesn't bother game. Some cameras use infrared light to take nighttime photos. The claim is made that the infrared flash doesn't disturb the game.

Everything that I've read suggests to me that game can't see infrared light any better than we can, so the camera shouldn't spook anything moving about at night.

Today I was walking through Academy Sports and Outdoors and saw a camera that caught my eye. The Wildview TGL3IR Game Camera. It's an entry-level game camera that has an IR emitter for nighttime use.

I bought the thing and I've played with it enough in the backyard that I'm comfortable with the way it works. I think I'm going to put it at Momma's place overlooking a feeder and see if I can catch any pics of animals using the feeder. It ought to be an interesting experiment.

Online gun auctions

Over at the High Road forum there was a discussion of gun prices, and commenter Willpete made the following observation:

One of these days, I'd like to start some sort of project where one compares the values of reasonably common firearms over the United States. I think it'd be interesting to see how much a .30-30 M94 goes for in LA, or TN, or PA vs. TX or MT or somesuch.

It's true that gun prices reflect regional variations. What sells in one part of the country seems to have less economic value (price) in another part. That's part of our large, vibrant economy and based on the idea that people place different values on things.

Another part of the equation is the condition of the item for sale. I've seen (for example) two rifles on the shelf together in vastly differing conditions. One virtually pristine, the other willfully neglected. The pristine one commanded a higher price than the neglected one. Other considerations that drive price are things like historical value, age, individual history, fit, finish, and buyer's perception. If the buyer perceives that he's getting a good deal, then he'll buy the piece. If not, he won't. Buyers can have vastly different perceptions for lots of good reasons.

However, there are a number of online sites that list perceived values of firearms. Places like Gun Broker and GunsAmerica. These online auction houses work like Ebay or any of the other auction sites, but cater to the gun trade. With one important caveat. All sales of firearms must be processed through a local Federal Firearms Dealer.

The way it works is when you bid on a gun, you contact the seller and give him the information on your local firearms dealer. If you win the bid, he ships the firearm to the dealer, who calls you and tells you your gun has arrived. When you get to the dealer, he completes the NICS check and you get to take your gun home.

No, Molly, you can't get a gun through the mail, unless you buy it from the US Government. The CMP still ships guns through the mail.

But, what Gun Broker and like sites have done is to set up a nationwide clearing house for gun values. I've never bought a gun through them, but I've used the resource to research gun values. If I can see what a like item is selling for across the country, I can judge whether or not the price is in line with what I'm seeing locally. That's valuable information regardless of what you're buying or selling.

The Dog ate it.

Oh, really? They've lost the data? It seems so.

Imagine if there were no reliable records of global surface temperature. Raucous policy debates such as cap-and-trade would have no scientific basis, Al Gore would at this point be little more than a historical footnote, and President Obama would not be spending this U.N. session talking up a (likely unattainable) international climate deal in Copenhagen in December.

As it turns out, we don't have to imagine it.

Steel yourself for the new reality, because the data needed to verify the gloom-and-doom warming forecasts have disappeared.

How the hell did something like that happen?

Apparently, they were either lost or purged from some discarded computer. Only a very few people know what really happened, and they aren’t talking much. And what little they are saying makes no sense.

Well of course, that would explain the whole thing.

The problem with the Global Warming argument is that it's based on data. If you don't have data, then you don't have a scientific argument. Anyone telling you different is full of crap.

Four years?

Mostly Cajun reminds me that four years ago today we were digging out from Hurricane Rita.

Being a deputy, I don't get to stay home when the weather is bad, and that day, the weather was really bad. Horribly bad. Not as bad as the Cajun had it, but bad enough.

I was working a shelter where they had brought 70 geriatric mental patients from a nursing home in Lake Charles. At the height of the storm, all the electricity went out at the shelter and we were reduced to using the only flashlight in the acre (mine) and having no water pressure, no way to cook food, and no climate control. It was an unbridled disaster.

As luck would have it, my relief showed up on time and I was able to go home, grab a shower, get some rack time, and head out the next morning. We had some lawn items that "went away" during the storm, never to return. It blew my fence down, but that's just material possessions. I was able to rebuild my fence.

But when I think of the suffering of those old folks in the shelter, I cringe. They didn't understand why their world had been uprooted and I didn't know who to explain it to them. Nine days later we put them on buses to Arkansas where a new nursing home had been made ready for them. The next day, school opened and we resumed living our normal lives. Which is a whole lot better than the nursing home patients got.

I like the Cajun's take on the matter.

2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana. The media is too focused on the perpetually peeved and professional beggar class in New Orleans to pay much attention to people who got up out of the wreckage and debris and went back to work.

Throwing it away

Talk about throwing good money after bad! The gummint is thinking about bailing out the newspaper industry.

Newspapers are failing for a very simple reason. They don't serve their readership. Purely and simply.

Our local rag, the Daily Wipe, can't even reliably deliver a newspaper to my mailbox each morning. It's always subject to debate whether the paper will be there at any reasonable time. I consider a reasonable time to be 6:00 a.m. Anything later than that is reprensible. We still take the daily paper. Milady likes to read it with her coffee. She alights at 6:00 a.m. and most mornings the paper hasn't made it yet.

Our paper, of course, isn't owned by anyone local. It's part of a big conglomerate and I'm told that in very few weeks we won't even have a local printing press. They're using a bigger one from down South.

I don't get my news from the newspaper anymore. I can't depend on them. They've failed to serve me.

Damn all bailouts, everywhere. If you want to survive in business, you'd best be looking after your customers.

Street Gangs

I've been working the high school beat for seven years and I've learned a lot about working in a high school. I'm good at my job and I've learned to do it with as little fuss as possible. Part of it, I guess, is that I talk to the kids, listen to them, and try to notice what's going on around me. Another part of it is that I've got a cops mentality in that what the school administration might consider a problem doesn't much register on my radar at all. The vast majority of the problems in a high school don't have a law-enforcement application. As a result, I spend a lot of time with a bemused look on my face. It isn't a law enforcement problem, and I'm not going to get involved.

Today I learned that I'm considered one of the experts on the local street gangs. That's news to me. I know really very little about street gangs. Fifteen years ago I could have been considered an expert when I was on my beat in Natchitoches, but today? Not so much.

I'm reminded what my Daddy said about experts. That an "ex" is a has-been and a "spurt" is a small drip under extreme pressure.

My boss called today and told me to attend a meeting where we'll be discussing local street gangs. He didn't say that I had a speaking part and that's good, because I don't know what I'd tell the people at the meeting.

Pawn Shop Crawling

I stopped by the pawn shop on the way home. I haven't been there in several weeks and they'd been weighing on my mind. Something told me that there was an interesting rifle in the racks, and I wanted to check on the status of my .30-30 Handi.

The counter guys told me that they'd called five distributors this morning and hadn't had any luck finding the Handi. Their main distributor has 30 of them on backorder. I don't know what the problem is in filling an order of .30-30s, but hunting season is coming.

However, they had one rifle in the rack that piqued my interest for reasons I don't understand. This is a Ruger Model 77/44. It's a bolt action Model 77 chambered for the .44 magnum cartridge. I've got dies and brass for that caliber, but I'm trying to understand the niche of a bolt-action .44 magnum. It's marked at $529.00 and I can get them to shave several dollars off that price, but the question becomes, do I want the rifle? I don't currently have any .44 magnum revolvers, but I've got plenty of .357 magnums.

It might make a good grandkid rifle and it would be a nice companion piece to a Ruger Blackhawk. The irons would suffice, but a low-power scope would make it shine. It's a lightweight, blued, walnut stocked rifle and seems to be in pretty good shape. The price seems right, and I could dicker with them.

Decisions, decisions.

**UPDTE** I've talked myself out of that rifle. The .44 magnum is a pistol cartridge, suited to revolvers and lever guns. A bolt action in that caliber is a niche rifle that I don't have a niche to fit. As unique as it might be I don't really see a use for it that justifies the expense.

Slow news Monday

Ir was Monday today, all day. After work I ran errands for a couple of hours, then came home.

Eldest son started work today at a new job. He's been laid off for about five months, so we're celebrating his return to the working stiffs.

I need to do some carpentry, to cobble together the box for my deer stand. Deer season is just around the corner and I haven't got that done yet. I intended to buy materials today, but it's raining. Again. There's been a massive low-pressure system hung up over Louisiana and we're getting so much rain I might mildew. They're predicting rain for most of the rest of the week. Maybe I can buy the materials on Friday and get some work done over the weekend.

I haven't checked on my .30-30 Handi in a week or so. I'm interested for it to come in so that I can do some evaluation. I'm not sure what the hold-up is, but I've never waited this long after ordering a rifle.

Sunday Dawg

Saturday was busy around PawPaw's house. I had to fix a lawnmower before I could mow the lawn, it being extremely difficult to mow a lawn with a lawnmower that won't start. I suspected that there was trash in the carburetor and wanted to take it off the lawnmower and blow out the fuel pick-up tube.

So, while drinking coffee on the back porch with Milady and the dawg, I asked him if he'd start disassembling the lawn mower while I finished my coffee. Milady looked at me over her newspaper and remarked that he couldn't hold a wrench. He's got no thumbs.



That's a shot of the dawg, feigning disinterest. He's not much of a mechanic, but makes a good superintendent.

Runaway Convicts

I was over at Clayton Cramer's Blog and came upon this amusing quotation from a book published in 1840.

A bowie-knife, dirk, or pistols, commonly occupy the desk-drawer of Congressional members; who, as a close observer remarked to me—"not only look four ways at once, but in manners and deportment strongly remind me of runaway convicts." [Henry Cook Todd, Notes Upon Canada and the United States: From 1832 to 1840 2nd ed. (Toronto: Rogers and Thompson, 1840), 181]

Ha! The look of runaway convicts. Nothing much has changed since 1840, has it?

Happy Birthday

We've got a small Air Force ROTC detachment at the high school, and today they celebrated the birthday of the Air Force. It's 62 years old.

Happy Birthday, zoomies!

Efficient cook stoves

When you're camping, or in the alternative, in a refugee camp, it is nice to have a cook stove that you can use to cook food using the minimum fuel necessary.

Instapundit links to Popular Mechanics who posts a video talking about an efficient cook stove that was invented to help the Darfur refugees cook their food using a minimum amount of fuel. That's all well and good, but they're touting it as something new and revolutionary.

Simply, that's bullshit.

The Boy Scouts have been using such stoves for years, either home-made or bought commercially. The Volcano II is one such stove that's been available commercially for awhile.

I myself remember some stoves that looked surprisingly like the one they're touting. When I was the Scoutmaster of Troop 60 in Natchitoches, LA, the kids had some small stoves they'd use to cook on.

Matter of fact, here's one that Junior made for 2 cents. We call this a Hobo stove. I've been cooking on stuff like this all my life.

I bet the folks in Darfur are laughing at the scientists who spent all that time and effort making that stove. It's nice, but it's not new technology.

What's for Supper, PawPaw?

That's the question that the grandkids ask when they come over and PawPaw is on the hook for Thursday night. The eldest son takes his two to karate practice and we started cooking for them on Thursdays.

Tonight, the menu is Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, early peas and store-bought rolls. I stopped on the way home and picked up several pounds of ground meat, an onion and a couple of cans of Lesueur early peas. I've mixed the ground meat with a couple of eggs, some Tony's seasoning and some bread crumbs. Patted them into suitable patties and fried them in a skillet. While the meat was cooking, I sliced that onion into rings and put it in a big dutch oven with just a dab of vegetable oil.

There's something magical about cooking an sliced onion in vegetable oil. I'm sure a chemist could tell me, but the heat does something to the onion and makes it sweet. My father-in-law would say "Cook it till it's sweet". The onion starts to brown, wilts, and the flavor changes.

Anyway, once the onion is sweet, I put the hamburger patties in the dutch oven and covered onion, beef, and all with McCormick's brown gravy mix. I know that's cheating, and I could have made a roux gravy, but I'm being lazy and McCormick makes a pretty good gravy packet.



I'm not going to peel potatoes, either. About a half-hour before the boys get here, I'll break open a box of instant potatoes, put those early peas in a pan, and I bet they won't turn their noses away from it.

Thessalonians

I was told once by a wise law enforcement officer that if an organization wanted to remain effective, it should avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

The tortured reference to Thessalonians notwithstanding, that advise is good advise for any organization in the public eye. ACORN would do well to heed that warning.

Bertha Lewis, the CEO of ACORN has come out on record playing the vicitm card. She's claiming that 1) the videos were doctored , or 2) that it's all an unwarranted attack on her organization, or 3)that the applications would never have made it past the approval process. She's also launched an internal audit to try and clean up the mess. Good for her. I'm sure that she's a wonderful person and wants to do what's right. I'm not judging her, but rather the actions of her subordinates.

What I'm concerned about is the appearance of impropriey and the organizational climate that makes it so easy for low-level employees to advise others to skirt the law. It's apparent from watching the videos that low-level ACORN employees don't have any problem advising people how to skirt the law. It's one thing for a single employee to do something stupid, but it's another thing entirely to have multiple employees in multiple cities repeating the same mistakes over and over. That goes to the internal climate of the organization and gives us an insight into the leadership of the group. I certainly don't want any such organization using taxpayer dollars, whether federal, state or local money.

If, when these young citizen journalists had gone into an ACORN office and started their speil, the employee would have been outraged or dismayed and shown them the door, I wouldn't have any found any fault with them. They didn't, and there is the problem. Playing the victim card doesn't help ACORN either. They're not victims in this mess. It appears that they are enthusiastic participants.

I'm sure that ACORN does good work in many places, helping low income people with any manner of problems. That's no excuse. Al Capone, in Chicago, ran soup kitchens for the homeless and poverty stricken during the Great Depression. That didn't mean that he wasn't running a criminal organization at the same time.

The US Taxpayer should not fund any organization that skirts the law. ACORN should clean up its act, or risk losing all taxpayer money. The "internal audit" should only serve as the basis for a full investigation by the Justice Department.

**BREAKING UPDATE** The House of Representatives voted today to cut funding to ACORN. In a bipartisan effort, the House voted today 345-75 to not fund ACORN any longer. President Obama would do well to applaud this bipartisan effort and immediately sign it into law. It looks like it's veto-proof and is evidence that Congress can do the right thing when the evidence is overwhelming.

Also, there is a new video out. This one out of San Diego, CA, where they talk about smuggling underage girls across the border.

Connecticut Shotgun?

Never heard of them, but I read about them over at Phil Bourjaily's blog and I'm impressed. Classic, American double shotguns. Fine shotguns.

You've got to go to their website and look at these shotguns. But, I'll give you a teaser.

RBL 28ga- This RBL 28ga is available immediately in the following features. Black American Wood upgrade 3X. Splinter forend, Double triggers, Straight grip. 14 1/4" LOP 30"M/F. This gun weights 5lbs 12oz. This unbelievable American classic is available immediately. Cased with all accessories. It is brand new, warranty and available immediately.

Price, you ask? A piddling $4035.00. Granted, they're too rich for my blood and I'll have to make do with the odd Remington 870 and Winchester Model 12, but it doesn't hurt to look.

Aaah, hell, here's one more. The A10 American. It's a 12 bore, with sideplates, modestly engraved.



It's good to know that wonderful shotguns are still available. Now, what did I do with that lottery ticket?

Tires

I went by D&J Tire today and looked at the Hankook tires. They're good looking tires and the salesman told me that they're Korean and they have sold lot of them. I got the DynaPro ATM, which isn't as aggressive as I might have liked, but they're quiet on the road.

My truck is a bone-stock 4X2 F150 and isn't set up for the mud, but getting stuck on wet grass is a bit too much for me.

Probably the best truck I've ever owned for rough duty was a '79 F150. It had the 300 CID inline 6 cylinder engine and a posi-traction rear end. It was a torque monster. I was in the cattle business at the time and I put Co-op grip spurs on it. I could cross a muddy pasture and never look back. Of course, at anything over 40 mph you couldn't hear yourself think from the whine of those big mud-grips.

Those grip spurs were made by Kelly-Springfield and were in the old style numbering system. I think I used 9.00X15s on that old truck. They were tube-type bias ply tires with a really aggressive tread and they'd pull anything. They were built for the farming trade and wore like iron.

But, they were noisy. I've been looking for a link to show what they looked like, but haven't had any luck. Ah-hah! My google-fu is stong this evening. Here's a picture of a grip-spur tire, stolen shamelessly from here. Scroll down for his take on these tires.



That's what a mud-grip ought to look like.

New Acorn Video

There's a new James O'Keefe video out about the Acorn scam, this one out of San Bernadino CA. It's great stuff, shocking.

In the video, ACORN employee Theresa Kaelke talks about killing her husband, and I'm not familiar with the applicable California statutes, but it sounds chillingly like manslaughter to me. Then, in the next minute, she threatens a neighbor across the street with his life is he talks about anything he's heard.

I'm still amazed. Let's embed it, shall we?



These people use tax money and the videos we've seen so far show that they're willing to ignore the law to defraud the government, hide income from the IRS, traffic in underage children, and now Theresa Kaelke talks about manslaughter, running a prostitution service, violating campaign finance laws, and communicating threats.

Congress should pull their funding, today. The various District Attorneys should immediately launch investigations into individual offices and the various US Attorneys should pursue RICO indictments against everyone employed. It's becoming increasingly obvious that ACORN is a continuing criminal enterprise.

Tires

I need to put some tires on my pickup. The rear tires have a little better than 40K miles on them, and they're getting a little threadbare. It's a Ford F150 and it's got 16 inch wheels, for the life of my I don't know why Ford went to 16 inch wheels on that truck. All my adult life, 15 inch tires worked just fine. But, the tires need to be replaced. I got in a little mud yesterday and put the truck sideways. While that's fun when you're playing around, it's not a lot of fun if you're not expecting it.

At any rate, I need to find some tires and that's one type of shopping that I absolutely abhor. This is Louisiana, and it's coming up on hunting season, so I'm thinking mud grips. (You Yankees call them snow tires.) I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon and they couldn't help me. I'm looking for something mildly aggressive that will let me go down dirt roads without sweating whether I'll come out. I got stuck on some wet grass a couple of weeks ago, and those street tires just don't cut it.

So, tomorrow I'll call around to the local tire places and see if they can fit the truck with some mud grips. I just called D&J Tire in Tioga and the guy said that he had some tires that would fit. Hankook Tires. Never heard of them. The guy told me that he's been selling them for the past three years and that they're good tires. Again, I never heard of them. I'll go look tomorrow.

Grrrr.

The Craziness Continues

This is absolutely too weird. From AFP:

World celebrities sing to stop global warming

Yeah, really.

GENEVA — British rock group Duran Duran and heavy metal band Scorpions are among 55 world celebrities who have joined in recording a song to draw attention to the global warming crisis, organisers said on Monday.

If you've paid any attention to the global warming nonsense, then you know that carbon dioxide is one of the biggest concerns of the climate change idiots.

If those celebs get together to record a song, they'll be exhaling.... wait for it... carbon dioxide. Will someone explain to me how 55 idiots all exhaling at the same time will have any impact on climate change? Except in the negative? Oh, please, they've got to breathe anyway, so I don't guess it makes any difference at all.

Now, if they'd all stop breathing, for say, 10 days, that might make an impact on climate change.

I'm just sayin'

ACORN is a criminal enterprise

There is an independent film-maker, James O'Keefe, who has made some film in ACORN offices in Baltimore, Washington DC, and New York City. It appears that each of these offices gave him advise on how to commit felonies, including human trafficing.

If three offices of an organization give advise about how to violate the laws of the United States, then that's not a fluke. That's a pattern.

ACORN is denying everything, but the films tell the tale. ACORN is corrupt, more corrupt than many of us ever imagined. Criminally corrupt. Immorally corrupt. And, they draw a lot of their funding from the US Goverment.

Big Government.com is all over it, and Fox News has picked up the story. What's interesting is that ACORN's press release by Bertha Lewis, chief organizer, returns a blank page. Maybe their servers are down from the heavy traffic.

At any rate, it's clear now that ACORN is a continuing criminal enterprise and should immediately lose all funding from the US government. Then, they should be prosecuted under the RICO statutes and the ringleaders imprisoned.

Whaddya think the chances of that happening under the Holder justice department?

Sunday Dawg

There are two sides to every door. The side that Milady is on, and the wrong side. The dog frequently finds himself on the wrong side of the door, realizing too late that Milady is on the other side. Then he freaks out, whines, and generally makes a nuisance of himself until he gets to be on the right side of the door.



I apologize for the darkness of the photo. Here, the dog demonstrates that he is on the wrong side of the door.

In other news, we went to church this morning and spent the afternoon turning wrenches. My step-son's car needed help and when we got into it, realized that the help it needed was immediate. We've replaced the front bearings, a tie-rod end, a ball joint and put brakes on the front wheels. The car is safe now and my grandchildren can ride in it in relative safety.

Dance Club

Milady and I are members of the Magnolia Dance Club, a local gathering of 30-odd couples who meet 10 times a year to dance. We meet at the YWCA in Alexandria. Each month three member couples are tasked with hosting the dance, which means that they set up, decorate, and clean up afterwards. The dance begins promptly at 7:00 p.m. and ends promptly at 10:00 p.m.

We're a bunch of old fogeys, okay? Ten o'clock is plenty late.

This month, the theme is "tailgate party" and we're instructed to wear our favorite team logos. The only college team logo shirt I have is from the University of Alabama. Go Tide! Mildady, an alumni of LSU, has also chosen to wear an Alabama shirt.

This is Tiger Country, and Alabama is generally considered to be persona non grata. We ought to be quite the fashion highlight of the evening.

Luckily, tonight LSU plays Vanderbilt. If they were playing Bama, we'd be ridden out of the place on a rail.