Monday Again

One would think that once I retired I'd never dread Monday again. Shows what I know. Funny, though, most of my life I had days off during the week. Today I hate Mondays because that's when I start hearing the news.

I don't watch TV except for old movies and NASCAR. (How about Mark Martin, winning at Phoenix?) I hear the news on the radio, listening to Rush, Mark Levin, etc. I'd listen to Hannity but he hardly ever talks about anything except that he's gonna be talking about something later. So when he's on I listen to the country stations.

As an aside, country sure has changed. I'm more likely to slip a Tennessee Ernie CD in, or one of the compilation CDs.

Anyhow, the news isn't great these days. Obama thinks the Presidency is about him. How can someone go to college, Law School, serve in a State Senate and the United States Senate and run for the Presidency and win, without figuring out that the Presidency isn't about a man but the country? Seriously, how can this happen? I keep reading little things about Obama being a narcissist but that doesn't explain things for me, after all, politics is full of narcissists, of both Parties. I can't think of a single US Senator who is not at least somewhat narcissistic, certainly not my two. Politics is that sort of business. And that's the problem.

Somehow we must find a way to change politics as business. I doubt that term limits alone will do it. If a politician is term limited out (s)he just runs for another office so they go from one to another, always at the public trough. Joe Biden got his law degree in 1969 and was elected to the city council in 1970. Thirty-nine years later he still has made his living in the private sector.

Lest one thinks I'm only attacking Dems, my own Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson is little better. After college she went to work for a Houston television station. The same one that led the Jihad against the chicken ranch. (if you are underage, don't ask.) That didn't last, the next thing she was in the State Legislature, then to the Senate, pledging only two full terms. Somehow that pledge is now inoperative.

John Cornyn? From law school to Judge to Texas Attorney General to the US Senate. Don't get me wrong, I like John. But I'd be a lot happier if every one of those people had run a 7-11 or something. Maybe a farm or welding shop. I always said Billy Carter would have made a better President than Jimmeh. Billy knew how to run a gas station.

Politics is littered with career politicians. I have no workable answer to that. I know that something is seriously wrong with a system that allows people making about $170,000 a year to retire as millionaires. Meanwhile having to have two homes.

Much of the problem is the power of government. When government was small there was little reason to make politics a career. Folks went to the Statehouse or to Washington for a term or three, then came home. Or, like Davey Crockett, when defeated for reelection, famously said "Y'all can go to Hell! I'm Going to Texas." And did.

Instead we see the Tom Daschle debacle where he cheats on more in taxes than most folks earn in years. But it's all right, just a mistake. Of course if an ordinary citizen made a mistake involving that much money the courts would make an exception to the "cruel and unusual punishment" thing. After the flogging was finished the miscreant would be hauled to a federal prison, a large hole dug in the exercise yard and be buried up to the neck with a kick me sign.

So, what can we do? Beats me.

Texas Longhorns

Something I've noticed in the last few years is that we have seen a lot of new people raising Longhorn Cattle. Now when I was young we seldom saw a real Longhorn, people wanting beef want Herefords, mostly. And lately there are a lot of Angus, some Charolais and, of course our Santa Gertrudis. There were always some of the old Longhorns hiding deep in the thickets of south Texas and a few of our wealthier types kept some around but commercially they've been out for over a century.

The smaller, more compact Hereford has knocked the old champ out of the ring. There are some obvious reasons, the Longhorn is a big, rangy animal, with far less beef for the size of the critter than some of the other breeds.

And then there are the horns. A Longhorn in a bad mood is quite a critter. Those horns can span ten feet and have points like swords. The stories of cowboys and cow ponies killed by mean steers (and cows) as well as bulls are legion.

Most of the Longhorns being raised are now large family pets. Now some Longhorns are just plain mean, kind of like Dem Congresscritters. Most, though can become quite tame. We see small herds of Longhorns these days, not like the days of Shanghai Pierce and Chisolm, Loving and Goodnight.

The Longhorn is done as a commercial thing, they walk off too much beef. A longhorn next to a Hereford looks like a cow on stilts. They only reigned for a few years. The Longhorn will only come back as a commercial proposition if the doom and glooomers about water are right. A Longhorn can thrive in country that no Hereford can survive.

Anyhow we are three and a half miles from the nearest Farm To Market Road that takes us to Quinlan or Wills Point. We have two small herds of Longhorns between us and the "big" road. Neither small herd is on a humongus ranch. I usually forget to take their pictures, actually when I have the camera they are mostly too far away. This time I got a couple of nice pics. As always, click them to embiggen them.

A Pretty Spring Day Turns Into Disaster

After my "morning" coffee, breakfast and stuff we loaded all three dogs in the car and drove out to the only place within miles with a pretty fair patch of Indian Paintbrush plants. It will be important to note that we drove right past a couple of Bluebonnet Patches within easy reach of paved road and flat, dry parking.

Oh, and "morning" is in quotes because after a lifetime on the swing and graveyard shifts I do not get up until 11:00 AM, just in time for Rush.

As is our usual custom Linda Lou drove while I sat in the backseat with Cochise' Apache Princess and Bingo. Bingo demands a lap and CAP just wants to get in the front and help drive, and also stick her head out the window. That's the disadvantage of the van, no back windows a dog can stick her head out.

So Linda doesn't like to be in the car with all three dogs unless I'm in the back controlling the beasts. This is important to the story.

So we drove out to the place with the Indian Paintbrushes and tried to get within an easy walk. This is where it became a disaster for which I will catch Hell for until either I or Linda Lou dies. You see, I forgot what a city girl Linda Lou is. Instead of taking over the driving I simply told Linda Lou to stay on the grass and drive around the mud and angle toward the flowers.

So she ended up driving into a muddy ditch. Again, this is my fault. Linda Lou doesn't even like dry dirt roads, much less empty fields. So, there we were in our minivan buried to the front axle in the mud, a hundred yards from the public road and further from the driveway we came in on. So we did exactly what self reliant Americans have done since the Great Migration of the 1800s, we got on the cell phone and called for road service. We then settled into waiting. Linda Lou, with her bad knee made no attempt to walk to the wildflowers, proving again who is the smartest person in that car. I, on the other hand, did.

This, of course, after CAP led me on a wild chase through the for sale lot and then the flea market before a women came out to see what was going on with her beautiful little Corgi. I can never remember which kind of Corgi has a long tail and which a docked tail but this was one with a docked tail. Anyhow I caught CAP when she got ready to eat the Corgi and then we walked to the wildflowers.

Please forgive the poor pictures, one I couldn't see the little pic on the back of the camera, I miss the viewfinders on conventional cameras, you looked through the little hole and you could see in bright sunlight. Unlike these electroniwockle ones.

The other drawback was the having to hold the lead with one hand and work the camera with the other.

Meanwhile the wrecker driver showed up and decided he could not get the truck in and out so, there we were.

Enter Francis and her golf cart. Francis is the manager of the big new flea market next door to the disaster. She started calling people for us, plus took Linda Lou to the air conditioned office. First some guy in a pickup truck, no joy. We did, however, manage to pull off the muffler when the chain went tight against one of the supports.

Next try worked. She called someone else who came out, started the backhoe, drove it to us and dragged us to pavement. We then started the car and drove home with the muffler in the back of the van. This is the odd thing, I've never been under the van (although Linda Lou would have cheerfully thrown me there yesterday, but that van must have two mufflers because it was not much louder than before. The most remarkable thing? The guy that dragged us out only wanted fifteen dollars to pay for his helper's time.

It's a cloudy, rainy day today but maybe, just maybe, when the sun has been out for a couple of days I'll take the beasts to the flat place with the Bluebonnets. Or maybe we'll never leave home again.

NRA One Year Memberships For Free

I just saw where the NRA is giving one year free trial memberships. Seeing as how I am unable to remember how to fix what this infernal machine does to my attempts to link I'll just publish the URL. I think you can just cut and paste that.

The URL: http//nra.orgnrabonus/accept-membership.asp

The advantages to NRA membership are obvious. The only disadvantage is the constant stream of E-mails and sometime phone calls. These are fairly easy to deal with.

At any rate it's a pretty good way to make sure that we are more numerous than the ACORNS.

No Big Tea Parties In Quinlan

Well there are no big tea parties scheduled for tomorrow within easy driving distance so I'll just pour a cup and sit out on the front deck with the Pugs for awhile. I have Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast and Earl Gray for fancy teas, my plain vanilla tea is Tetley's British Blend. Okay, so I like limey tea, so sue me.

Actually, I'm told that the Brit control of the tea trade back then is why we Americans developed our love affair with coffee. But it's been a while since the first revolutionary war and I'm not mad at the Brits anymore. I think they're doing some awfully stupid stuff in their government these days but I don't live there, ain't about to move there so it's not my business.

I'm interested in this Department of Homeland Security blurb out with all this right wing groups may be recruiting... As if we haven't had an eight year assault from the left about Bushitler and all. I'm just a little to the Right of Tamerlane but I never wanted to overthrow the government, all I ever wanted was for the Feds to follow the Constitution. Seein' as how the only power they're supposed to have comes from that document, they ought to.

Of course every time I say that on a big blog's comments some lawyer type wants to tell me about how the Constitution is interpreted. They always say I'm stupid when I mention that it ain't in a foreign language but in English and what part of Congress shall make no law needs interpretation?

So now we have a "Constitutional scholar" as President firing executives of private companies and demanding States take money from the Federal Government. I'm kind of curious exactly where in Article Two he has that power. Yes, he gets to make treaties, if the Senate concurs, and appoint judges, if the Senate concurs. Let's see, commission officers in the military, commander in chief, yup. Sorry, nothing there about bullying Governors.

But we have to watch those crazy right wingers. Oh, and veterans. Especially watch the veterans. After all, there might be another Tim McVeigh. I wonder how come nobody ever mentions that it's very unlikely that McVeigh would have blown up the Federal Building if Janet Reno's Justice Department hadn't burned a whole bunch of harmless religious loonies to death in Waco. Oh, sorry, I forgot. The children were in danger! Oh noes! We have to set them on fire! To Save them!

The Left always brings up the white power and antisemitic groups in these arguments, always ignoring that those groups are usually just another branch of that tired old socialism. We of the right think of individuals. The left thinks of groups. Which is more likely to be racist? The one that says "those people" or the one that says "that person"?

In other news I saw my new Neurologist yesterday after he reviewed my MRI. So now I've got a new pill and am off the Requip. This new one is Gabapentin or generic Neurontin. I'm not sure why I'm taking this, it seems my overall weakness comes from degenerated discs in my neck. They are doing something to my spinal cord. So now I'm taking more pills. Oh, goody. And it's another pill that I have to make sure I don't get pregnant, too. Not that I worry too much about that, being old and all. This is quite a pill, though. A month's supply of the generic version is a hundred and three dollars. My insurance makes me pay for a whole two dollars. There seem to be a lot of other possible side effects, too.

While I was dropping the script off I managed to score the last two Dove chocolate Easter bunnies in the store at half off. I usually try to get out early on the day after the "candy holidays" but we're a little short on cash and gas this month so I waited. So I ate the ears and then the tail off one of them already. The next one I'll eat the tail and then the ears. Mmmm, chocolate bunnies. I got a couple of bags of jelly beans and some of those malted milk Robin's eggs, too.

So, good luck at the tea parties if you're going.I'm going to be interested in seeing if the ACORN types try to mess things up.

Update: It's kind of embarrassing to misspell the name of the nearest town but I managed. What can I say? It was late. Anyhow It's fixed now. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do updates to call attentions to spelling corrections like we're supposed to do for factual corrections.

The War On Piracy Was Won On Land

We are still rejoicing over the rescue of Captain Phillips but we need to look forward to the long fight against piracy.

I am on record of arming merchant ships but history tells us that this is only part of it. History tells us that piracy ended because the Navies of the world, with the British Navy in the lead, took the fight to the ports where those ships came from.

There are reasons for that, a merchant ship had a small crew, with only a few guns. They were slow, due to heavy loads. Pirates had fast ships, large crews and plenty of cannon. The pirates would slash down, dis mast the merchantman, board and take the best of the cargo, any women, anyone worth ransoming and kill everyone else.

Now it's hard to enjoy anything but the women and the rum at sea so any successful pirate got to shore at first chance, to sell the cargoes and enjoy their (temporary) riches. The most famous, at least to westerners, of these pirate ports was Port Royal. This was the only one that wasn't destroyed by a Navy, but by an earthquake.

The rest of them were wiped out by Naval cannon and shore parties. Most of these were in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean Sea and the western Atlantic. Including places in what is now the United States. Captain Kidd operated around Long Island. Jean Lafitte from the bayous near New Orleans.

We all know the story of "The shores of Tripoli". Without taking anything from Decatur and Lt. Presley O'Bannon it was mostly the Brits that put paid to most of these pirate fortresses. I don't recall the US Navy doing much in the Pacific back then. And it was the Brits that took out the ones in the Caribbean. Not to mention the heavy lifting in North Africa.

To end these pirates we must go to the places where they go to spend their wealth. We must do this in the Philippines, in those choke points in Indonesia, and on the Horn of Africa. It would be nice if we could get the Brits involved and the Chinese. Especially the Chinese, I'd like our guys to have a close look at China's new Navy for a couple of reasons.

Last, I want to see if the Captain of the Bainbridge gets promoted on time or has to take retirement soon. This will give the really definitive look at how serious this administration is about this problem. Bear in mind there are many who do not believe in shooting the bad guys.

One Returned, One Risen

The good news this Easter. beside the obvious good news we are reminded of every Easter, is the rescue of Captain Phillips. I do have to commend the President for giving the order. Most of all my gratitude is for the United States Navy.

I have seen no details yet but I would assume that is was either the Navy SEALs or Marine scout-snipers or Force Recon. I would assume that the SEAL Team men would be the first choice. It's been a long time since I was at the Amphib Base At Coranado and even then I hardly saw those guys but they did a lot of shooting, including a lot of shooting from small boats at sea. If I were important and needed someone in an out of gas lifeboat to become room temperature suddenly I'd call on those guys.

The only drawback I can see is that one of these pirates survived. I am assuming that this is on purpose so they can quiz him. Unfortunately we have a whole bunch of people these days that are so much smarter than the ones that ended piracy and the slave trade back a couple-three hundred years ago.

Back then they would have questioned the survivor and then hung him from the yardarm. Of course back then we'd have already have sent several Frigates and a couple of Ships O' The Lines into these pirate ports and shelled every building into rubble, then landed shore parties of armed sailors, plus the Marine contingents ashore to hang the survivors.

We don't do things like that anymore, now our mainstream media types write about the good business model of the Somali pirates. It's only a good business model if they survive and there is no good reason for that to happen. We must have thousands of surplus machine guns and antiaircraft guns around that could be put aboard merchant ships for almost nothing. Nor would it cost much to put gun crews on board these merchants. Considering that the current administration is wanting to cut the number of Carrier Battle Groups from fifteen to ten, we have plenty of Sailors and Officers to this job. Say a fifty caliber on the waist, a twin twenty mm on the bow and a double 40 mm Bofors on the stern. Piracy problem solved. At least until the pirates trade in the small boats for ships. Then we can upgrade the guns and crews. I wonder how many five inch guns we have in the mothball fleet.

Oh well, a good day. One returned, one risen. Can't beat that.

A Giant Pot Of Pinto Beans And Other Stories.

Yesterday we mowed. My neighbor has been trying to mow his yard with a little bitty electric push mower. That's fine for a little bitty urban yard, where I live it's all half acre lots. The guy would finish mowing and it would be time to start again. Did I mention that he's in his seventies? Anyhow we got together and took turns on my riding tractor mower and we knocked out both yards after Rush yesterday.

In other news we replaced our back door, the original door was made out of some kind of plastic, the dogs had clawed a humongus hole through it and were using it for a doggie door. This did not last, before winter came we covered up the fake doggie door with plywood. My pal Steve works in the flooring biz, plus whatever else he can manage to keep food on the table, he started looking for a door in good shape from a remodel job, found a nice French door and took it home. He eventually came out and put it in, now we have a real back door, hopefully it will be a while before CAP claws her way through. Seeing as how everything that isn't glass is real, solid wood we ought to have a few years. Of course Linda Lou hates the sound of dog claws on glass. I am deaf enough to not hear it. I also can not hear an Obama speech on the TV. Lucky me.

So we now have the old back door and a bunch of other crap out on the street for a "large object" pick up from our trash service.One of the joys of country life is paying extra for large object trash pickup. This is one reason why one sees so much junk around in the country.

So tomorrow I'm going to the range for a "work day". We are going to mow some, paint the steel targets, put up a sign and do some general upkeep around in and on the buildings.

Linda Lou brought home two pounds of bulk Pinto Beans, a couple of onions and a three pound bag of bacon ends and pieces. So I cut the bag in half, fried up that bacon and put it in the soaked beans with an onion and a half, some chili powder, Cumin, Oregano, Sage, salt and pepper and a can of Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Chilis. It's simmering over a low heat. Tonite I'll make some corn muffins and eat 'til I near explode. Then sleep with the window open.

I poured the bacon grease over the dog food, they love that and I'm told it's good for their coats.

The Puppyblender linked to a James Joyner piece about how men's underwear sales going down are a sign of recession/depression. A while ago I read somewhere that men buying themselves new underwear, without being forced by their wives, is a sign that the husband might be cheating. So, are we in a recession or are more men being faithful? Probably both, seeing as how it takes money to have an affair.

This is why Linda Lou doesn't worry about me running wild with some honey from Home Depot. (Thanks, LeeAnn) I never have any more unaccounted for money than could come from skipping lunch. Or new underwear. Anyhow I hope that link works, it's the funniest thing I've read in days. Nope, go see Look! A Baby Wolf! from Monday, Apr 6th. As much as I love to read the things I find on the interwebs I hate trying to make these things work.

I heard on Rush that the President of the United States of America has nothing to say about the Somali pirates holding a US citizen hostage, instead he says we're talking about housing. Just out of curiosity, who the hell does he think he is? Hey Barry! You work for us! Don't you dare tell us what we need to talk about. You, sir, have no, zero, repeat no constitutional authority over housing. You do, however, have the duty to protect Americans from pirates.

Now I read that they're sending an FBI hostage negotiator team over there. We don't need the Feebs, we need someone from SEAL Team One in Coronado or SEAL TEAM Two from Little River. Come on, Barry, we figured out what to do about pirates back when Britain outlawed the slave trade. When we see a pirate we kill him. We hang them, we drown them, we shoot them. We do not negotiate with them. We've elected an Urkel with delusions of adequacy. A pencil necked geek trying to get even for being picked on in middle school. Barry, I'm sorry your momma fell in with an abandoning louse, don't take it out on my grandchildren, though. Or your own daughters.

I gotta go, I promised myself to write a blog the kids can read to their kids and thinking about this clown makes me want to spew ugly words.

Well, I got the tractor running, I'll start mowing right after Rush. That's a pretty big deal, maybe I'll get it knocked down before it gets out of control.

The bad news is that Obama is coming back. Big news, we're not at war with Islam. I wonder who told him we were. Bush couldn't say three paragraphs about anything without "religion of peace" slipping out.

My problem with not being at war with Islam is simple. There is an unknown, but significant, percentage of Islam that has declared war on us. I am mindful of Palestinians and Pakistanis dancing in the streets on 9/11/01. I am just as mindful of that Imadinnerjacket clown in Iran and his rhetoric. And, not that he's Muslim, there is Li' Kim of the Norks flinging missiles.

Meanwhile, Uh-uhbama is cutting missile defense. So the Nork's biggest exports are fake Viagra and nuclear and missile technology. Iran is working feverishly for nukes of it's own.

Meanwhile we're cutting defense nationally and it's almost impossible for civilians to buy ammunition. This will end well. We've played this song before. In 1940 we kept the draft by one vote in Congress. We had a big set of war games in Louisiana with "TANK" painted on the sides of trucks. We had troops drilling with broomsticks.

I do not know we could do that "Arsenal of Democracy" thing today. We no longer have that kind of workforce. The factories that switched from making cars and refrigerators, sewing machines and typewriters to rifles, tanks and bombers are now located in China. Somehow I doubt that will work.

Now all that doesn't even include what has happened to too many of our young men (and now young women). We have barely enough young men and women to staff our all-volunteer military. Trouble is, there is not the slack for a major war. Does anyone really think we'll have the Infantry to take on Iran and the Norks at the same time? Much less China. In WW2 Harvard and Yale were almost empty while those young men climbed into Uncle's suit. Those kids are not going to volunteer these days. Even with the Draft does anyone think someone taught by that Singer clown at Princeton would be an asset as a Platoon Leader?

Oh well, time to go mow.

Not Yet Competent To Staff The Treasury Dept.

So, Obama still hasn't staffed his Treasury Dept. but he's fired the CEO of GM. I'd like to see the line in the Constitution giving him that power. Shouldn't he first try doing things he is required to do, first? Like make those appointments.

I can't wait to see who he appoints to run GM. Maybe Ralph Nader? Ooh! I know, Marion Barry, he's got those requirements for the Obama Administration, he has no known skills, a history of crack smoking and, most important for this crowd, he doesn't pay his taxes.

Seriously, is there anyone at all in the Obama Administration that you would trust to change the plugs and oil on a 1976 Dodge pickup with a slant six and rusted out underbody? Yet they want us to think that they can run GM? Let's see, how many of those Treasury officials that must be confirmed by the Senate have been? Oh, yeah, the tax cheat. No Undersecretaries, no Deputy Secretaries, just the tax cheat and, I suppose, a few janitors. Helluva job, Barry. I can't wait to see you staff the Warranty Dept. Think you might get the first ones in by 2012?

Something I don't quite understand is these two reporters for Algore's TV network getting caught sneaking into North Korea. Did they think they were wading the Rio Grande? The Norks actually guard their borders, for fear someone might escape, kind of like here once Obama has his Obama Youth up and running. The difference will be that the Obama Youth will let anyone in, the getting out might be tough.

I've been to a couple of sites talking about Hillary and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Yanno, I sure am tired of Democrats running around and calling conservatives stupid and cheap. Where is all this smart diplomacy we were promised? Does no one at all remember the stories coming out of the White House during the Clinton years? How staffers woud back out of the way and look away from the Hildabeast? We already knew that Hillary would never listen to a briefing from a lowly staffer, just because that staffer makes his living studying Mexico. Just like she was too smart to check with someone who speaks Russian.

So, the Party Of The People, they go around saying conservatives will let their neighbors starve while they themselves do not give to charity and, every chance they get, cheat on their own taxes. Meanwhile excusing their lack of charity by saying the government should take that over. While they cheat on their taxes. I'm really starting to hate Democrats.

Get a chance, go over to Iowahawk and watch his video "The Country Is In Great Hands".

In local news I'm back on the old man diet again, oatmeal for breakfast and chili with beans for supper. Had kind of an accident, though, I had the beef cooked and drained when I realized I had no tomato sauce or canned tomatoes. Oops. So I used some spaghetti sauce instead. Now I'm gonna have the Italians on one side and the Mexicans on the other, all throwing rocks.

Note, spaghetti sauce does not make great chili. Better than no chili at all though.

That reminds me, I need to go to the store and get another couple of those sirloin steaks for the freezer before they go off sale. Seeing as how one broiled steak no makes two complete meals plus a major dog treat. Of course I used to could eat one of those, plus a baked potato and some kind of vegetable and not gain an ounce. These days, not so much, half the steak, steamed green veggie of some kind and I'm able to win a belly contest with a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy. I had to get old. Couldn't die young and leave a good lookin' corpse. Oh well, the grandkids are worth it. As long as I have no diaper duty.

Oatmeal. God help me.

It Takes A Lot Of Energy To Turn Sixty-Two.

Don't nobody tell my Doctors but I busted my diet today. It started when I had buckwheat cakes, molasses, three fried eggs and four slices of bacon for breakfast. With a big glass of Orange Juice for Tammi, plus, of course, coffee. Well, Ming and Bingo helped with the bacon but not as much as they wanted to. What can I say, getting old takes strength.

I dunno if it counts but I didn't have lunch. Supper was special, a big sirloin steak and a half pound of steamed Brussels Sprouts. Because I'm way fatter than I need to be I skipped the cheese sauce and just had a little melted butter. I also skipped the baked potato. There is about half the steak left, I'll eat that for Sunday.

My birthday cake was golden butter cake with chocolate icing. Somehow I got in trouble for doing what Linda Lou told me to do. She sent me to the store and told me to get cake mix of my choice and those little number candles, a six and a two. So I did. Then when we were putting up the groceries she saw the number candles and burst into laughter. She didn't think I'd buy them. But she told me to buy them. So I did.

So we had a big party, Linda Lou, the dogs and me. The dogs really like to help with steak. I ate well enough to make it to tomorrow. It might have been nice if one of the kids had thought to call.

Stranger And Stranger Or The Orange Toe Chronicals

The news just keeps getting stranger. So we now think that people are buying fully automatic weapons, along with grenade launchers in US gunshops and smuggling them into Mexico. Um, I spend a fair amount of time in gun shops and can plainly state that nothing is further from the truth.

Even if I had the money and the willingness to go through the reams of paperwork that buying a full auto takes, since the Clinton Administration's rules limiting the number of such weapons make it cost ineffective to do so.

The Mexican gangs are buying their weaponry from the Mexican Army, from Hugo Chavez and from the Castro brothers and assorted other badniks. Don't believe me? Then walk into your friendly neighborhood gun shop and ask for a full auto AK or Uzi. Then click on a website like Midway USA or Graf and Sons and try buying a thousand rounds of .223 or 7.62x39 ammo. Heck, it's still almost impossible to buy a thousand primers.

I am curious why the mainstream press thinks it's a good idea to lie to their customers, over and over again. Any time you see the phrase "gun show loophole" you are reading a lie. A federally licenced firearms dealer has to fill out the paperwork and call the BATF hotline. Period. Now in many states a private citizen can sell his own guns with no paperwork, and yes, some do carry their extra stuff to a gun show. Others advertise in the newspapers, I wonder how come the newspaper people never complain about that?

I find it interesting that most of the people getting these dreaded AIG bonuses have been working for a dollar a year, plus a nice bonus if they stayed the year to wind down those operations. I wonder why Obama didn't tell us that? Or Barny? Seems that a dollar a year is the new rich. If a dollar a year is a bloated plutocrat then what are OUR taxes going to?

I went to the Podiatrist yesterday for some work on an ingrown toenail. No big deal, the only thing that hurt was that cold spray, to numb me up for the shots. I did look kind of funny afterwards wearing my big hat, jeans, western shirt and carpet slippers. Anyway I did my best to ignore the toe, the last thing I saw was the Doc painting my toe with bright orange antiseptic. I then put my nose in my book and next thing I knew she was putting my big toe in a bandage.

From there we drove to Mesquite, Texas to Southwest Ammunition Supply. I wanted another thousand Winchester Large Pistol Primers to load my Cowboy Action ammo. They were out of Winchesters and the Remington Primers are up to $39.99 a thousand. That's up eleven dollars a thousand in only a month. So I bought Mag Tech Primers, a brand I'm not familiar with. Mag Tech is a Brazilian company. Sao Paulo, I believe. I dunno how long they'll be in business as the new regime in Brazil seems to be slightly left of Barack Obama. Still, they just had a vote repudiating gun control.

Anyway it wasn't long ago that primers were less than a penny per for the best, the Federal Gold Medal Match. Now foreign primers are thirty bucks a thousand. Plus tax. Sigh. I think I'll use the Brazilian primers for the black powder .45 Colt ammo and save the last 600 of my Winchester primers for my brass cased shotshells and the few hunting and combat loads for the .45 Colt rifle.

From there, following Doctor's orders (heh) we drove down the street to Paperbacks Plus, a used bookstore. We take old books there for credit and buy more. I scored big. I bought an unauthorized biography of Louis L'Amour, fifteen of his paperbacks, two of Elmer Kelton and Joe Hyams' book, Flight of the Avenger, the story of George H. W. Bush in WW2 and his courtship of Barbara. Plus a copy of Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp movie. So that's 19 books and a movie for $27.60. That's a pretty good deal.

So then it was time to head home, we made a quick stop for dog food and bird seed and suchlike and then home. I made a stop at Pop's Fried Chicken in Terrell for a treat, a dozen fried chicken livers, fries and a couple of his corn meal muffins.

Think the dogs weren't glad to see us? Well us or those chicken livers. It's the next day now and there is only a slight twinge in my toe. After Linda Lou takes her nap we'll take the bandage off, clean it up and put the official Doctor's goo on it and re-bandage. Life sure gets exciting when we get old. I bet I'm the only guy in Texas that dresses up to go to Wal Mart.

Bingo Butt

I think everyone ought to have a good look at a Bingo butt. That was the night he was really proud of it, every time I looked his way he was aiming that butt right at me.

I was going to show some photos of Rex but for some reason we cannot get them to any kind of setup to put them on Blogspot. Oh well, he was still a good boy.

I'm going to see my Neurologist tomorrow, actually a new one. I really like my old Neurologist, Doc Walker but he is just so far away and also, so popular that it can take two months for a routine visit. So, well see how the new one does. I don't know why but in the last few days I've been weak as a kitten. Maybe the Doc will have an idea.

The big news here is that Linda Lou fell again, this time in the shower. Naturally she landed her butt on the faucet and knobs so all that is broken. To add to the fun the water was gushing so I went out to turn the water off at the meter. There is a humongus fire ant nest out there so I got eaten alive, I have thirty fire ant bites on my left hand and arm, more on my right hand, arm and legs. I have that shower plumbing blocked off now but one of the connectors is leaking slightly, I'll get a new connector on the way home from the Doc. Until then it's turn the water off untill we need to flush the toilets, turn the water on, flush, fill the jugs, turn the water off.

People wonder why I'm always in a bad mood. I do not understand why Linda Lou won't be more careful. She knows she has poor balance but she keeps trying to throw herself around like a sixteen year old. Sooner or later she will fall just wrong and break a hip, or her spine. Will she listen? Noooo!

The more poison I put on the fire ant nest, the more fire ants. Lucky me. I hope that the poison just hasn't got carried to the queen yet.

Chris Wrote The Part Of The Stimulus Making Bonuses OK.

So it turns out that Chris Dodd wrote the part of the Stimulus Bill Okaying these bonuses that he is screaming about now. I don't really expect Democrats to be too smart, after all, they're Democrats. Anyone electing Nancy Pelosi as their leader can't be all that bright. But one would thing that Dodd would at least have the sense to talk about something else. Shutting up would be more than I could expect.

Now I know that See BS or the New York Crimes will never mention this but if I know, so do multiple millions of other people. I do not understand how people this stupid can remember to breathe. Dumber than a pile of hammers.

I don't have a lot to say this week. I dunno why but I have no new dog pics, either. And the next Shoot is on the 28thm I may skip it for the second Sunday shoot. The Sunday shoots move faster, they are less crowded. And I have a pal that I might get interested in the game.

I just read that Obambi is taking the guns away from the pilots, the few pilots who managed to squeak through the maze to get them. Oddly, there are still lots of guns on Air Force One. Isn't it kind of odd that the guy who is supposed to protect and defend is worth more than we are? Here is an idea, if we can't have armed protection, neither can he. Let's see how long that would last. There is no word about extra Sky Marshals, either.

I wonder what this peabrain will do after another few airplanes fly into skyscrapers? As hard as the Donks tried, most folks knew that 9/11 wasn't Dubya's fault, we also know that he went into high gear protecting us from the next one. Sometimes a bit too far. Now Obambi is removing the very best idea on stopping the next one. Why? We trust these flight crews with a gigantic airplane with three hundred people on board. Most pilots were trained in the Air Force or Navy, but they can't be trusted with a gun?

I am afraid that it's way past time to ask the question that should have been asked back during the Primaries. Not the one about competence, we know the answer to that one. The question, whose side is this guy on? I don't think we are going to like that answer.

Speaking of whose side is this guy on, now he wants to charge veterans' insurance companies for care for service connected disabilities? Is he out of his mind? Good luck even finding a carrier that would take on veterans.

I made a deal back in '64. I gave Uncle six years, he promised me a few things. One was total medical care if I got hurt. Another was a funeral. Well, Uncle has already reneged on the funeral, no way can I be planted on what they are paying. And now, if I have to go to the VA, they'll charge my insurance? In my case I've fooled them, since I went on disability my insurance is Medicare.

There is a reason, though, that I told the kids not to join during the Clinton years. I believed a Democrat once, LBJ. He said "and we are at peace. And we well stay at peace. Wasn't very long before I was up to my backside in mud with complete strangers shooting at me. Funny, the only difference since then is that Democrats have gotten worse.

How Do We Fix The Banks?

I hope y'all will pardon me for not really understanding the banking crisis. It seems to me that the main problem with the financial system is that the government required lenders to lend money to people who had no chance of paying it back. This was called affordable housing.

Now when I was a boy affordable housing was a small house, often old. There were many people living in affordable housing, many in houses they built themselves. I knew people who still had outhouses built over holes in the ground.

My parents rented a small house up an alley until, in the mid fifties, they bought their first house. Three bedrooms, one bath, no central heat, no air conditioning. Within walking distance of their railroad jobs. The price? A whopping $8500.00. My parents lived there until my stepfather died in '85, my mother would not stay there after that so she and her sister bought a house very much like it 'cross town. That house sold for over two hundred and forty thousand dollars, after whatever mortgage was paid off. So, this house was worth about what the house I finished growing up in, about 8500 1955 dollars.

This is another part of the banking crisis, money just isn't worth much anymore. About that same time, they bought a Mercury. A big old Monterey station wagon with the big V-8 engine, automatic trans, fake wood sides, etc. $4800.00. In those days that would buy a base Caddy, too. The problem there is that dollars aren't worth anything anymore.

In the 1880s a twenty dollar gold piece would buy a new Colt Single Action Army revolver, a box of shells and a holster. Today a Colt SAA will cost well over a thousand dollars but the amount of gold in that 1880 twenty dollar gold piece will still buy a new Colt SAA.

Our currency was fairly stable right up until FDR's time when we went off the gold standard. FDR hurt but our money was still backed by silver so it was still worth something. I remember that gold was worth $32.00 an ounce, we panned a little out of the western rivers. So, those 1955 dollars were worth one thirty-second of an ounce of gold, each. Today gold is about $900.00 an ounce. What that really means is that our dollars are worth about a thirtieth of what they were in the fifties. The biggest difference? In the fifties our dollars were backed by something valuable, first gold, then silver. Today's dollars are also backed by something, a politician's promise.

So, how do we get a handle on the banks? We can't. Geintner can't fill the important deputy and undersecretary positions. Why would anyone take these positions? Anyone who tried to fix the problem in the financial business would be savaged by people like Frank, Dodd and Rangel. And those who aren't smart enough to fix the problem will eventually have to face the vast majority of people, you know, the ones who do not have nine mortgages on that $932,000 house, now worth a dollar ninety-eight on the open market. The ones who carefully put money into retirement programs now worth nothing.

Now Obama is still rairly young, so is Geithner. Plus they have well trained bodyguards. They will probably stay ahead of the large crowds with pitchforks and torches, buckets of tar and sacks of feathers. What about those Undersecretaries?

We are seeing these tea parties now. What will we see in a year or so when Obama's plans come through. When the coal fired plants are history, long before anything is ready to replace them? When energy bills are a lot higher but we still have outages? When the auto companies are history, along with the aircraft industry? When waiters and bartenders are on the street? When the Dow is at 3000?

What will we see when Obama and company get their hands on health care? Sure, Congress will have the same thing they have now, the rest of us? Some of my pills are VERY expensive. I figure I'll be doing without in a matter of a couple more years. Oh, well, I never expected to see the age of 21 anyway so it's all gravy. But what about kids with cancer? There are a lot of people totally dependent on the drug companies, more who are praying for that next breakthrough. When was the last time you ever heard a Democrat thank a drug company? Heck, when was the last time you heard a Democrat thank ANY business?

And that's why we won't see this bank crisis end. The people who caused it are running the "rescue". And instead of doing anything to help, they're spending billions on their supporters.

Update: I just noticed that Obama has an "Urban Czar". His name is Adolfo Carrion. Now I'm sure that this guy is really nice and all but should Obama have picked a guy to save the cities named after dead critters? Is that what our cities will become? Places full of carrion?

Why Didn't Someone Tell Me?

So I brought home two packages of Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts for the freezer because they were on special. Unfortunately the freezer is just about full so I had to cook one. I looked around the recipe sites and discovered that chicken and dumplings takes almost no ingredients, water, chicken, spices and you can make dumplings with canned biscuits. (Don't tell my Momma I'm using canned biscuits)

So I put a package of chicken into a pot with some water, some garlic powder and minced onion and a bay leaf, boiled it for a while with salt and pepper, fished it out, cut it up, put it back in and dropped a can of cut up and rolled round biscuits and cooked it all until it was done.

The next batch I'll try squeezing the biscuit dough down some, other than that it was just about perfect. Someone should have told me how easy it was. So now I have a new thing to eat when I am too lazy to do any serious cooking.

In other news I had my follow up appointment with the Doc, seems I'll live another six months, maybe longer.

Some loud leftie wants Rush Limbaugh executed for treason. But dissent is the highest form of patriotism, doesn't she remember? Is there anything more despicable than a leftist? Have we heard one apology from any of them for saying that The Evil Bush was going to cancel the election or at least refuse to let Democrats take power? Heck, not even one "O" key missing from the keyboards at the White House.

Meanwhile, they're trying to excuse the new Administration's screwups by claiming that Obama didn't expect this much work. Perhaps if he'd slow down the partying he might have time to mind the store. And what is with his Secretary of State and that stupid red button? Am I to believe that there is no one in the entire State Department that speaks Russian? Am I further to believe that someone who just resigned as the junior Senator from New York can't remember that there is an entire neighborhood in New York City chock full of fairly recent immigrants from Russia? I think that whole crowd needs to pee in the bottle. I don't think they'd pass.

Today In History

March 6, 1836. The Alamo fell, all 186 defenders died. They died giving Sam Houston time to build his army. They died giving the women and children time to get out of the way of Santa Anna's juggernaut. They died building a nation.

Best of all, they are still giving the multicultis fits a hundred and seventy-one years later. Those of you who drink, raise a glass to Col. Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crocket and the rest, from Juan Abamillo of Texas to Charles Zanco of Denmark. And don't forget John. His last name and birthplace long forgotten, John was a freed black who died free, fighting for freedom in an age of slavery.

Yearly Shots And A Ride In The Car

Expensive day today. The two Pugs got their shots and wellness checks and are ready for the year. Ninety Bucks. Considering that they wouldn't make a good pot roast between them, that's a lot of money. The Doc wants to expand Bingo's nostrils so he can breathe better. Sorry Bingo, the price he quoted, you're just going to have to wheeze.

The ligaments on Ming's front paws are shot, nothing much to do about that but carry her down the stairs when I take her outside. She can jump up, down is more of a problem. I dunno how long we'll have her, she's not getting any younger.

After that we all went by Wally World to pick up Linda Lou's new prescriptions, Ninety-two bucks just for the co-pay. Getting old is not for the fainthearted. Then, off to Mesquite to the dry cleaner/laundry to pick up our western shirts. I am going to have to check out the laundry/cleaners in Quinlan. We went to the one in Mesquite back when Linda Lou drove right by on her way to work. Seeing as how she's been retired for some years now, and there isn't much reason to drive that far, especially after spending way more than I expected, it's time to make the switch. I am going to miss that laundry, though. The young women that work the front are rather pretty and the minute I walk in the door they ask for my phone number. Now, that's just to identify my laundry but, at my age, I can use the encouragement.

I had planned on buying another thousand large pistol primers since I was near Southwest Ammunition Supply in Mesquite, after the shots and pills that will have to wait. I have a pretty fair supply but each Cowboy Action Shoot takes about a hundred and fifty primers, usually about 120 for the .45 Colt revolvers and rifle, another twenty five or so for the shotgun, the Mag Tech brass shells take large pistol primers also.

I did drop by a used bookstore where I bought another six Louis L'Amour titles. I read most of them back during the Southeast Asian War Games, they were spread out in every base camp and fire base. Mickey Spillane was all over, too. Along with some really poorly printed and bound and very raunchy p0rn. The good news is that it's been so long since I read the L'Amour books that they're new again.

I am going to have to find some new authors, soon though. Mr. L'Amour will write no more books, being dead and all. I have read some of William Johnstone's stuff but it's hard to believe in his heroes. His gunfighters killed more people than Cholera, TB, AIDS and the Black Plague, combined. In every book.

From there I got caught up in rush hour traffic on the way home. I would have gone at a different time but for the Vet appointment. Being retired and living in the country I'm not used to traffic anymore.

I stopped at a Chinese Restaurant and bought an order of curried chicken to go for supper. I'm going to have to learn to cook that. And then, home, the dogs were glad to get there, too. So was I.

In other canine news, Rex died. Rex was a German Shepherd that lived down the street who was in love with a bitch we'd rescued. So he would sneak in the house when we'd let our two dogs in and then lay down and try to be invisible dog. Then the husband of the family decided he liked strong drugs more than his wife, children, home and dog and they all left, leaving Rex. At about that same time our boy in Phoenix got burgled and needed a big dog and a shotgun. So, the next time we drove out, we took Rex. That was quite a little drive in my PT Cruiser, me, Linda Lou, Captain Fatbob the Pug and Rex, plus Linda Lou's ton of luggage.

Anyhow, Rex was getting old and he finally passed. Rex was a good boy. Another dog, waiting at The Bridge for us.

Why The War On Rush?

Was not one of the things everyone was mad at Nixon about was his "enemies list"? So, let me get this straight in my head. Nixon had an enemies list and was just awful. Obama has someone calling reporters from the and he's just wonderful.

The more I read about politics the more I realize that Richard Nixon was not some awful wrecker of the American Way, simply someone doing business as usual. It was the sainted Kennedy brothers that wiretapped Martin Luther King, Jr. Franklin Roosevelt locked people up in mental hospitals all through WW2 if he didn't want to fight the courts, there was no habeous corpus back then for the loony bins.

Woodrow Wilson and the Palmer raids were not a shining example of open and honest government, either. But leftists only believe that freedom can be assaulted by Republicans. After all, Janet Reno's Justice Department burned children to death at Waco but lefties are all up in the air about waterboarding the guy who planned 9/11.

Still, this is the first I've heard of high administration officials having conference calls with news agencies attacking private citizens whose crimes are talking on the radio.It wasn't long ago that the whole media was all up in the air over Bush and Cheney being overheard calling Clymer a um, er, Clymer. And the left claims to hate hypocrisy.

Obama isn't even the worst, though. Imagine that you are in charge of raising money and trying to get Republicans to run for office. Now imagine there is a radio talk show host with twenty million listeners, the vast majority of those listeners of your Party. Imagine that you not only insult that radio guy but then say that your own Party's convention looked like something out of Nazi Germany.

Now I will admit that I've never been elected to anything higher than Precinct Chairman. I think, though, that it's a bad idea to comare my Party to something out of Nazi Germany. Nor do I think that it's a really smart idea to just willy nilly pick a fight with twenty million of the people you are going to be asking for donations and votes.

Now, I don't expect the Party's National Chair to march in lockstep with Rush. He is not required to do that. Rush isn't even a Republican, he is a conservative. Now it happens that the Republican Party is closer to conservatism than is the Donkey Party. But the vast majority of Rush's fans ARE Republicans. Now, the Republicans got fifty eight million votes last election. I think, that's off the top of my head. So the Chairman of the Republican National Committee first calls his whole Party Nazis. Then he compounds this insult by further insulting ONE THIRD of the base. No wonder they call us the stupid Party.

Dear Mr. Steele, you might think about noticing that the Republicans no longer run the White House. So, tomorrow, when the Chief of Staff to the President calls to give you the orders of the day, try to remember, that's not the guy wanting Republicans to win.

Oh, and all you civil liberty types? Why don't you see if Rahm Emanual is making his calls from the White House? That is supposed to be a bad thing, remember? I know this because you keep saying so, whenever there is a Republican in the White House.

Cold Day At Jacob's Plain.

Yesterday was the first Cowboy Action Shoot I've managed to make since my shoulder surgery last spring.I took the old camera, somehow it died, though. So, no new pictures. The hard part is going to be prying the "new" camera from her grip. Anyhow, these pics are a couple years old.

It wasn't that the temperature was so low, the low was 38 and the shoot didn't start until nearly ten AM. Trouble was, the wind. Directly from the north and it eased down to about 20 mph, gusting to thirty+. I don't quite know what I did to Army Wife, Toddler Mom to make her send that awful Newbrasky weather here.

My lack of practice really showed. So did the residual damage from that stroke. I kept blowing the target order. The sweeps were kind of complicated, too. Not that I care all that much, I don't move fast enough to win any matches anyhow. I don't even try, the winners run from point to point. Forty years ago, sure. Today I won't run with a loaded gun. Maybe if the steel outlaws were shooting back...

My handgun accuracy was somewhat off, not catastrophically but still down. My shotgun was okay, a bit slower but the shot went where I intended. My rifle stayed good. Once I put that Marble's Tang Sight on it the rife is like that fancy cannon on the M-1 Abrams tank, it just doesn't miss very often.

Of course it might just be that I love rifles. My only objection to Cowboy Action is that there isn't enough penalty for missing. Some shooters are blazing fast but might miss three or four targets and still post high up in the scores. I was told often that "you can't miss fast enough to win a gunfight".

Since nobody asked me about how to set up this sport I just use these shoots for practice since I got awful bored with just going out and shooting all alone. These complaints aren't important, really. To win a match one needs to be very fast, this includes very low recoiling loads. So the winners shoot light bullets at fairly low velocities, sometimes ridiculously low velocities. That's fine. I shoot heavy bullets at close to the original speeds, over black powder. All those things slow me down, but when I put a DA revolver in my hands it's really fast and easy.

At least at the few clubs I've seen there are very few people who look down their noses at anyone. So, while I'm never toward the top of the scores most folks love the smoke and "BOOM!" of the BP cartridges. So, the important thing is that my shoulder held up, I don't have quite the range of motion that I had but then I can't touch my toes anymore, either.

There were a lot of folks that I don't recall having seen before, this shoot had two kids who looked about twelve or so, one a very pretty girl. For kids they change the rules a bit and .22s are allowed, as well as smaller gauge shotguns. I was pleased to see the girl not worrying about speed much and making the targets ding. I didn't watch her every shot but I did see her using her sights and hitting the steel.

I met a pair of brothers shooting their first ever Cowboy Action Shoot. They shared guns and leather and were kind of fun to be around. So, the club is still growing. The only downside to that is that with so many new shooters it really slows the match down, they need a lot more explanation. Did I mention that it was cold? Actually when the temps get more Texas-like that will be an advantage, especially with the new shade around.

Anyway, even though I have an almost-earache from spending the day in a cold hurricane, it was a good day. Made better by going with a bunch of the folks for a Mexican dinner. I had tamales with refried beans and rice. What the heck, after shooting stinky black powder ammo I needed something to keep the stink up.

Update 3/7/09: I just noticed I spelled my title wrong. It's Jacob's Plain, the name of the shooting range my club holds our shoots. Ooops!

The Housing "Crisis" And Other Stories

I wish I could get this housing bailout straight in my head. Back in Jimmeh Carter's day the government started making banks loan money to people who could not pay it back. This increased during Clinton's Presidency.

Almost all the way through the Bush years they made this work by continually lowering interest rates. These lower interest rates, along with a few other tricks, kept real estate prices going up, far past the actual value. Also, far past what many people who are serious about their household finances could actually afford.

So a LOT of people who could afford a reasonable house payment were priced out of the market, many others had to move way out of town. I understand that there are lots of folks in places like California commuting fifty to a hundred or so miles, one way.

Now this housing bubble could only last so long, it shouldn't have lasted at all. Rising housing prices don't help most homeowners. If I woke up tomorrow and discovered that my house and lot had quadrupled in price that would mean, what, exactly? Well, my taxes would increase. I'd just love that. Oh, but I could sell! And then live, where?

I understand that lots of people who could easily afford their house payments kept refinancing every time their house "value" increased, then took the extra money out out bought fancy cars or big screen TVs. And now we are supposed to feel sorry for them. So, now the paper "value" of their houses have dropped but they are stuck with big payments. Um, if every time they'd refinanced they'd applied that extra money to the principal amount they'd probably be fine. Now we are supposed to beggar the whole economy to rescue them.

So that is two classes we are supposed to rescue, those who should never have bought a house in the first place and those who wasted their opportunities to build their equity. There is a third class, those who bought houses as investments in order to sell them at a profit. Now I have read the Constitution. Nowhere in it is anything about how all investments must turn a profit, nor does it say anything about empowering the government to take money from a citizen who has not made a bad investment and giving that money to someone who has.

The reality of investing is that some investments make money, some lose. The people that sold before the dotcom bubble burst made money. Those that held on too long got burned. Such are bubbles. Oddly, the people who warned about this real estate bubble are blamed for it and the people who caused it are "fixing" it. This only makes sense because the mainstream media has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the political party that caused the bubble. The only good news is that this same media is losing money itself so it is questionable just how long this can continue.

Have you noticed that all of a sudden it's okay that we have prisoners in Afghanistan? Suddenly it's not a war crime to roam the skies of Pakistan with armed Predator drones potting the odd Jihadi? And nary a peep from the left? Now, don't get me wrong, I think potting Jihadis is something we need to do far more of. Thing is, there has been nothing by Congress, nor by the UN, authorizing this. So, shouldn't the left be weeping and wailing?

Does anyone at all plan on stopping Iran from flinging nukes all over? I don't think Israel has planes with the legs to hit Iran's nuke facilities. Seems to me that someone would listen to what this I'madinnerjacket is saying and decide it's kind of a Bad Idea to let this clown have a beebee gun, much less nukes. Just because the Izzies can't do anything nonnuclear about Iran doesn't mean that Iran won't be a bunch of radioactive craters a few minutes after Tel Aviv starts glowing in the dark. I'm told that Israel has a second line in their motto of "never again". That second line is "If again, not us alone." I would be very surprised if the cruise missiles on Israel's subs don't have nuclear warheads. I would be even more surprised if Israel has some hardened sites with cruise missiles aimed at not just Tehran but Damascus and several dozen other Muslim cities. Yet the whole damned world is just letting this happen. Yoo Hoo! World! There is a little something more important than Glow Bull Wurming.

But Congress wants to call up Karl Rove. Congress is dripping with lawyers but they cannot seem to understand that the President doesn't NEED a reason to fire U. S. Attorneys. They serve at the pleasure of the president. Congress can't seem to do anything about Dodd. Or Rangle. Or Jefferson. For God's sake, no one managed to notice that Obama got a sweetheart deal from a since-convicted felon to buy his mansion. But they're still talking about the Republican culture of corruption.

Hey, Holder!

So I read that the Attorney General of the United States says that America is a nation of cowards with regards to race. Actually, I'd say the cowards are people like Holder who do their best to keep people from talking about the true reasons that race is still a problem.

What happens when someone mentions that there is no small amount of trouble caused by some seventy-odd percent of black babies being born out of wedlock.. Hint: Damned few of those babies have white fathers.

I keep reading about hate crimes when the reality is if it were not for black and Hispanic murderers blacks would die of old age.

Sorry, Holder, there are cowards when it comes to talking about race in America, it starts with you. You, Holder, try to shout down anyone who tries to speak. That, sir, is the mark of cowardice.

Oh, and Holder...The Marc Rich pardon wasn't a scandal because of the Jews. The Rich pardon was a scandal because you and your boss were crooks.

Bones and Birdseed.

So there isn't much going on down here. I'm mainly hoping that by the time these Washington idiots are done I'm not trying to eat birdseed and kibble and can still afford the odd bone for the dogs.

I think watching what these clowns are doing in Washington would be easier to take if I could drink. Or maybe strong drugs. Or drink and strong drugs.

Oddly, the birds watch me, from the other trees, as I fill the bird feeders. Yet every time I step out there is a mad scramble to get away. The birds aren't much brighter than the crowd running Washington. The difference is, Washington is doing it's best to make sure that we can't feed them.

The dogs, of course, do not run away from bones. The only drawback is that instead of each dog eating the bone I give them, they go around trying to steal each other's bone. It wasn't too many months ago when Ming would bully C.A.P off her bone, those days are over. Bingo is still learning the rules of protecting a bone.


In other news I got a little piece of the stimulus package:
For necessary and unnecessary expenses related to the Wireless and Broadband Deployment Grant Programs established by section 6002 of division B of this Act, $2,825,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 shall be for Wireless Deployment Grants and $1,825,000,000 shall be for Broadband Deployment Grants: Provided, That an additional $54,000,000,000.00 shall be paid directly to Peter Davis in the form of subsidized loans that do not require repayment. Provided Further, That the funds be used by Peter Davis to Building a black powder buckshot loading company. or for whatever. Provided Even Further, That Peter Davis will receive free Stewart-Hass Racing tickets for life. Provided Even Further Still, That Peter Davis shall be treated as a cabinet-level appointment for the purpose of income tax reporting, and therefore no taxes shall be paid on any of the aformentioned benefits. And one more thing: Jack Murtha is hereby expelled from Congress, effective immediately upon enactment.

So, I dunno what I'll do with all that money, it's too bad I couldn't really slip that into the bill. Considering that nobody really read the whole thing, it COULD be in there.

I've loaded some black powder buckshot shells in Mag Tech all brass cases. The shotgun is one of the only firearms where we don't lose velocity and powder with BP. The reason is simple enough, the allowable pressures in a shotgun can be easily reached with black powder. And the birdshot or buckshot is shaped to where it goes subsonic almost instantly so there is no real reason to try to up the velocity. Plus, with BP a feller could hide in the smoke after the first couple-three rounds. I have loaded 12 double aught buckshot pellets in the brass case. The only disadvantage, aside from the increased cost, is that the weight of the powder charge adds to the recoil.

I just got the February edition of Handloader Magazine. It had a long article on the new Federal .327 Magnum. This new cartridge is in a Ruger SP101 revolver. I have one of those in .357 Mag. Since they seem to have quit making the Remington Medium Velocity .357 round I've had to stoke my SP101 with either handloads or Plus P .38s. I used to be pretty tough but I never could managed full bore .357s in that light little gun. Now this new cartridge can spit out a 115 grain Speer Gold Dot hollowpoint out the three inch barrel at over 1300 fps. And the little SP101 holds six shots, instead of five as does my .357. So, when I get my 54 Billion I'll get a new shootin' iron.

So What Happened To Hollywood?

I watched another couple of old western movies this weekend. The movies starred Henry Fonda and Victor Mature, my Darling Clementine and Glen Ford in Heaven With A Gun. It wasn't very long ago that almost all of the male Hollywood stars were veterans, some with no small amount of heroism during their service. Jimmy Stewart flew B24s over Europe in WW2. Tyrone Powers flew transports for the Marine Corps in the Pacific, including hauling wounded from Iwo Jima.

Glen Ford Joined the Marines, his service was in publicity. Henry Fonda served on a destroyer in the Pacific war. Victor Mature flunked the eye test for the Navy, passed the test for the Coast Guard the same day, ended up a Chief Boatswain's Mate doing patrol duty in the Atlantic.

Pretty much everyone who wasn't too old wore the uniform and many who were too old, like Ronald Reagan wore the uniform anyway. Reagan may have been too old and had vision too poor for combat duty so he made training films. Other stars who couldn't serve in uniform worked USO tours, Bob Hope wasn't even born in the USA but logged USO tours from early in WW2 all the way to Gulf War One.

I really don't know what happened to Hollywood. It's not just that most of Hollywood is of the left, after all, Hank Fonda was a lifelong Democrat, once reported as having a fistfight with Jimmy Stewart over politics. They maintained their friendship by never speaking of politics again.

No, it's more than politics, or maybe politics has become more intense. One thing I do know, the stars of yesterday did not go out of their way to anger some forty-eight percent of the viewing public. Perhaps it's just that yesterday's stars were a little smarter than today's.

Check Between The Cushions

Well, it looks like they are passing the Generational Theft Act of 2009. I looked in the backyard, my money tree isn't showing green yet, it's still winter.

So I looked under and between the cushions on the couch, no trillion dollars there, either. I don't know where this money is going to come from, our kids are busy paying our social security and not very many other folks are having lots of grandkids so that's out.

So check your sofa, it ain't like Barney Frank is going after the twenty million dollars Jamie Gorelick looted from Fannie Mae.

Dear Barack

I don't think you know how hard the Congress worked to put the Military Tribunals together, you being too important to do your job in the Senate. The Military Tribunals are required because the United States Constitution, as interpreted by lawyers, says that the accused can call witnesses and see all the evidence. Since most of the scumbags in Gitmo are there because of the efforts of special forces troops or members of the clandestine services having them testify in open court is a non starter. You, as a teacher of constitutional law, should know that. Demanding that these men show up in open court is a death sentence for their families. Worse, sir, you know this.

Now I realize that you have never held a job before where you were responsible for anything, perhaps you might have thought of this before, but you are now responsible for the defense of the United States of America, and her citizens, some of whom were killed in the attack on the Cole. The wives, parents and brothers and sisters of those are watching you and will hold you responsible. So will the families of others killed in other attacks and, even more, the families of the next attacks. We ordinary Americans do not have Secret Service protecting our children. That does not mean we don't love them.

With your threats to close down missile defense while Iran is bragging about how soon they'll have nukes, and just after they put a satellite up so seem to have some kind of suicidal wish. Well, that's fine with me, I'm not really big on making people live when they don't want to. Thing is, Barack, you are not supposed to take my grandchildren with you.

I understand that you owe much to George Soros but you did take an oath, before God and the nation. There are a lot more of us than there is of Soros. We might just be a little rowdier when aroused, too.

Notice, sir, that I am not accusing you of being a secret Muslim. I am assuming that if you wanted to be the President of Scumbagistan you would have gone there and run. You might just consider what will happen if three hundred million angry Americans start chasing you down the streets.

Love, Peter.

Pulled Pork And Other Adventures

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I've been playing with a crock pot some lately and decided to try some pulled pork. So I sliced an onion up and put it in the bottom of the crock pot, rubbed liquid smoke all over a nice pork roast, made up some sweet BBQ sauce and poured it over everything, added a little water, turned on the crock pot and went about my business.

The next day I got out the two forks to pull the pork apart and discovered that I am a failure. I could not get the roast out of the crock pot, it just fell apart. Instead of pulling the pork I just stirred it around. Princess was in the back yard so Ming got the bone. Bingo doesn't like people food, what kind of a Pug is that?

Anyhow, it ain't pulled but it sure is tasty.

Linda Lou wanted me out from underfoot so Bingo and I went out wandering around today. I drove to Bass Pro Shops to check out some primers, they want five bucks a hundred. They are also out of their minds. I drove a little further, to Mesquite, TX to a place called Southwest Ammunition Supply. There I discovered some new deal of very limited numbers of primers being allowed in each truck shipment. Considering that I have never heard of huge holes in the freeways from ginormous primer explosions I am very suspicious. It looks like another end run around the Second Amendment. I managed to score a thousand Remington Large Pistol Primers but the clerk was telling me that they are having to ration rifle primers. They will only sell rifle primers one hundred at a time unless a customer is buying lots of bullets. If one buys five hundred bullets he can have five hundred primers. I reckon folks that cast their own bullets are going to be making lots of trips to the gun store. And the guys that shoot primer powered wax bullets are out of luck.

I shall look into this some more and see if I can get a handle on what's going on.

From there Bingo and I went to Pet Smart, I got him a blue bone shaped tag with his name and our address and phone number. Everybody loves Bingo. Then we went to a big box home improvement store and bought a new belt for the vacuume cleaner and a couple of wax toilet rings. I am just pan lubing my black powder bullets and I was driving myself crazy doing it. I'd put the bullets in the lube, melt it and then have to cut each bullet out with a homemade "cookie cutter", made out of a .45-70 case. If I just pulled them out

Then a pal up in Wisconsin told me about adding a wax toilet ring to the lube, it makes the lube sticky. So I added about half a ring to the lube I already had in the pan and it works just like I was told.

After the home improvement store we stopped by Wal Mart and got a fifty pound bag of dog food, a script for Linda Lou, some bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. Then a quick stop at Sonic for Linda Lou's burger so she'd let me in the house and home we went.

Continuing Criminal Enterprise

Does Barack Obama even know someone who isn't a tax cheat or thug? His cabinet choices look like a crowd that doesn't quite have what it takes to get into the Mafia so they just hang around the edges.

I didn't much listen to Barky during the campaign, I like to use my increasing deafness as an excuse but truth is, I'm just tired of pencil necked punks telling me I'm not smart enough to manage my life so I pretend I can't hear them. Still, I seem to remember him complaining about the lack of ethics of the Bush Administration. Barky wouldn't know ethics if he was bit on the ass by an ethical alligator.

Two major appointments crash and burn in one day. How many waivers for his super-duper no lobbyist rule so far? Change we can believe in.

I Am Losing My Mind

Saturday was the Cowboy Action Shoot. The weather was supposed to be nice so I set my alarm and went to bed way earlier than normal. The alarm went off I got up, had a cup of coffee and started getting ready for the shoot. I gain two more pounds and I'm going to need new pants.

So, I got dressed and started gathering my gear, that when I discovered that I only had ninety rounds of black powder ammo loaded. Now I haven't been to a shoot since last spring. I load my own ammo. I have thirteen or fourteen pounds of BP left from my last shipment. With the Hazardous Material Fee at twenty dollars per shipment, whether that shipment is one pound or fifty, I buy my powder in large amounts.

So, with the exception of a couple of months when my arm was totally useless, I could have loaded up plenty of ammo, instead I looked at all those boxes and thought I had plenty of ammo. Idiot. So now I have to load up a few hundred rounds, and cast a few thousand bullets. Oh well, it gives me something to do while I listen to Rush. It's amazing how much ammo can be loaded or bullets cast, during a three hour radio show. What is more amazing is that in all these months I never counted my SASS legal ammo.

These problems, of course, are as nothing to what the folks in the Mid-America deep freeze are facing. I hope this warm weather we have had in the last couple-three days is heading that way. I might be concerned with mundane things but I am not serving hundred+ dollar a pound steak with my thermostat up high, either. It must be hard to be in the media. Reagan was savaged in the media for fancy food. Then George W. Bush ridiculed for his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Barky has a super bowl party and Bush was nearly lynched for having a slice of birthday cake during Katrina.

I guess I should look to see who won that game.