Baby Steps

My four year old, who has been potty trained for a long long time, just pee'd in his pants.

Whats annoying is as my wife's pregnancy progresses, and his behavior becomes worse, we joked last night that at least he hadn't reverted to going in his pants.

Guess again. The wife told him that going potty in his pants is the one thing about little baby's that we really don't like. He seemed to understand.

Why My Son Can't Be President

Neither can my wife.

You see, they were both born at Sibley Memorial Hospital in the District of Columbia, and as Stephen Colbert reports are ineligible to run for President.

Sexy Gun Goodness

You probably know it already, but the Carnival of Cordite.

Read it out now! Resistance is Futile.

Throw The Bums Out

As if I needed any more reasons not to vote Republican.

I know Jerry Lewis. I don't know Leticia, but do know lots of his other staffers. Sadly, there is nothing remarkable in this town about the slime they exude. Disgusting.

Incidently, I've taken my I Blog For Bush sticker down.

Monday Morning Song Lyric

For Bill (my soon to be former boss)

Take This Job and Shove It
lyrics by Johnny Paycheck

Take this job and shove it
I ain't working here no more
My woman done left and took all the reasons
I was working for
You better not try to stand in my way
As im a walking out the door.
Take this job and shove it
I ain't working here no more

Ive been workin in this factory
From now on fifteen years
All this time I watched my woman
Drowning in a pool of tears
And Ive seen a lot of good folk die
Who had a lot of bills to pay
I'd give the shirt right off of my back
If I had the nerve to say

(Chorus)

Well that foreman, hes a regular dog
The line boss, hes a fool
Got a brand new flat-top haircut
Lord, he thinks hes cool
One of these days, Im gonna blow my top
And that sucker, hes gonna pay
Lord I cant wait to see their faces
When I get up the nerve to say

(Chorus)

(Instrumental)

Take this job and shove it

Sucking Clay

No, not Clay Aiken, I mean the clay sports.

Trap, Skeet, Sporting Clays.

For some reason, I am sucking it up hard this summer. Used to be that I could not shoot a shotgun sport for a year or more, show up, and at lest hit 14 or 15 no problem - and was in the 20s after a few rounds under my belt.

No more. I shot poor last week. I shot equally poor this morning.

Trap - 9, 10
Skeet - 8, 13, 11

Whats up with that????? With the fall fast approaching, I need some serious work. Needless to say, I will be taking a shotgun lesson one night this week - either Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Big News

Someone landed a new job today complete with

a) a significant pay raise;
b) control over a budget thats quite a bit bigger than my current boss's budget;
b) a friendly boss;
c) a friendly staff;
d) potentially a lot more hours and significantly more travel (including a 2 week trip to the corn fields of Iowa at the start of deer season) and a lot more responsibility.

That means, as of September 1 blogging here is going to take a slight break until I can adjust to my new role, get a grip on my resources, and figure out a plan to efficiently manage my time. Its not going to stop, its just going to be occurring less frequently and at more specific times. Of course, I also hope that it drives me to increase the quality of my posts.

Here Piggy Piggy

I knew Smithfield was headquartered in Southeastn Virginia but didn't realize the states largest swine operation was actually in Northern Virginia.

Living in the very conservative Commonwealth of Virginia - I would have hoped my elected representatives understood the value of small government.


Guess again!!

For the longest time, I was in do-nothing-fence-sitter-Tom "Worthless" Davis's (R-VA) district. In fact, I used to be a precinct captain for the local republican party in his district. Sadly, but not unsurprisingly, Congressman Worthless scored a stellar 16% (or 3 good votes out of 19).

Good thing, you say, that I am no longer in his district.

Yes, as a quirk or gerrymandering I left his district and with no movement on my part at all, found myself in Frank Wolf's (R-VA) district. Wolf, the allegedly more conservative and down to business long time congressman also happens to run the Appropriations committee. Not surprisingly, he's also willing to wholly sell the country down the river scoring a whopping 0% (0 out of 19 votes) according to the Club for Growth.

What I find most amusing though, is the utter surprise of my fellow local Republican party members (one of whom threatened to have me thrown out) when I told him I was going to hold my nose and vote for a straight line Democrat ticket this fall.

Of course, this isn't foolproof solution since the local child-beating-Mastercard-low-interest-loan-recieving Congressionalthiefinchief Jim Moran (D-VA) also recieved a stellar 0%.

But hey, better the enemy you know and all that.

Throw the bums out.

New York, New York

Incest

Apparantly, Tori Spelling's mom fucked her hard, and it doesn't sounds like she is enjoying it.

Something Doesn't Sound Right

IN this story on the teenage sniper, CNN states

The teen apparently had been arguing with relatives over gutting a deer during a hunting trip about 20 miles south of Seymour, Jackson County Prosecutor Stephen Pierson said.

I don't live in Indiana, but I can't imagine they allow you to hunt deer in the middle of July.

And in other news . . .

the sky is blue.

And you wonder

why I am not a member of the ABA??

Disaster Planning

Glenn's disaster blogging again.

Thats a good thing since he reaches lots of Sheeple and can actually drive coverage in the IMSM (inept main stream media).

Check his post out but also make sure to hit Les Jones's excellent Emergency Supplies roundup from last fall too.

He's got some good links there and a list of things to consider purchasing.

Consensus, Finally.

Hallelujah!

Ten climate experts who are sharply divided over whether global warming is intensifying hurricanes say that this question, a focus of Congressional hearings, news reports and the recent Al Gore documentary, is a distraction from “the main hurricane problem facing the United States.”

That problem, the experts said yesterday in a statement, is an ongoing “lemming-like march to the sea” in the form of unabated coastal development in vulnerable places, and in the lack of changes in government policies and corporate and individual behavior that are driving the trend.

Whatever the relationship between hurricanes and climate, experts say, hurricanes are hitting the coasts, and houses should not be built in their path.

And when they are, you and I shouldn't be forced to shell out for their reconstuction.

Quote of the Day

Who cares. The whole fucking thing is built on smoke and mirrors anyway.

We don't do anything anymore. We just puff up our abilities to manage what China creates and ships here.

If we fail, well, blame the other guy.

A colleague on the collapse of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization's negotiations.

Rock City

Awesome

FWIW, I used to have a resident pass to Rock City. We still go 2 to 3 times a year and always over Christmas. Simply a wonderful family experience.

Suicide Girls

Here's a real life one.

Delina Papit is a stupid, clueless, bitch

And an idiot ta boot.

New Shooter Alert

There will be new shooters (and some returning shooters) tonight with me at Bull Run Shooting Center.

UPDATE Yes, it happened.

Yes, even with a brief rain delay a good time was had by all.

No, we didn't shoot skeet. Because of the rain delay, and the fact that the newbies were required to take a class there, we only had time for one round of trap.

No, your not going to find out how poorly I did in trap. My excuse? I hadn't shot trap in months and besides I had a skeet choke on and wasn't wearing my glasses. Plus, the only thing important is that we all had fun and only one of the newbies beat me and he got lucky.

Also, its certainly worth pointing out that some of the local kids hanging there - especially the ones of the female kind are fairly attractive. Yes, you heard that right guys, there was both a real cute brunette and a very cute (and pretty incredible shooter) blonde that made it sort of difficult to focus on the competition at hand. The Blonde was an incredible shot, and quick too. Anyone know who she is? We were all impressed. Her license plate was Shotgun Chick (but abbreviated). WoW. And, fwiw, the brunette had a big 'ol do me doggie style tattoo . . . which isn't my thing but seemed to work on her.

With any luck, I'll be back again tomorrow.

Update #2 Apparantly the blonde is a member of the Olympic's development team and actually training for the olympics. She's listed on the Shooting USA web page.

Also, everyone is itching to go back and there is serious discussion about returning on Sunday. As I commented to Bitter in an email, my assistant was supposed to be working on a project for me and when I went over to check it out found him surfing the Berretta shotgun page. I've got no problem with that. :)

Rockstar: Supernova

Go Storm Large, even if she's more strip club honey and rock star goddess.

And go Tommy Lee. Nail that contestant. Make her #10,001. That's the Rock Star way.

Cowgirl

Yep, Kimbalina's hot, even if she does like country music.

Rockstar: Supernova

Just some thoughtful advice on the new generation of Rockstar: Supernova contestants.

1) Get down, get dirty. You look WAY too clean and commercial to pull off a heavy metal show. Ingest some substances. Your singing to Tommy Lee for chrisakes. And a guy from Guns n Roses. Not to mention the bass player from Alcoholica.

2) Scream, don't sing. Its not American Idol. Your not trying to be the next boy band pop star. You want to be a Metal God. And what does the metal god do??? He elicits ear piercing, angry, death defying screaming lyrics. My wife's reaction to Jenny Galt's performance last night? Where is the angry growl??

3) Stop the gotdam grunge. Seriously, with the exception of Newsted, the other guys you are auditioning to all lost their jobs because Nirvana and STP came on the scene (and Gilby's gotten screwed twice - first with STP and know watching Slash sell millions with Scott Weiland as his singer). Do something else. Do something to impress them. Do something with real passion.

Kuda's to Dana Andrews for "going underground" with the High Road Easy. Didn't care for the song itself, but it had passion, it had screams, and it wasn't another fucking song out of Seattle. How many times do we have t listen to these guys. Want a song to sing? Want to stand out and win?

When they ask for blood, give it to them! Channel some Bon "Fucking" Scott!!

Whole Lotta Rosie
Music by Angus and Malcolm Young
Lyrics by Bon Fucking Scott
I wanna tell you a story
'bout a woman I know
When it comes to lovin'
Oh, she steals the show
She ain't exactly pretty
Ain't exaclty small
42-39-56
You can say she's got it all

Never had a woman
Never had a woman like you
Doin' all the things
Doin' all the things you do
Ain't no fairy story
Ain't no skin and bone
But you give it all you got
Weighin' in at nineteen stone

You're a whole lot of woman
A whole lot of woman
Whole lotta Rosie
You're a whole lotta woman

Oh honey you can do it
Do it to me all night long
Only one that turns
Only one that turns me on
All through the night-time
Right around the clock
To my surprise
Rosie never stops

You're a whole lot of woman
A whole lot of woman
Whole lotta Rosie
You're a whole lotta woman

The Anarchangel, as always, has been all over Rockstar. Check him out for better coverage - and my further thoughts - in his comments.

Holy Fucking Comeback, Batman

A day after blowing his lead in the Tour de France by finishing 8 minutes behind and dropping out of the Top Ten, Floyd Landis crushed the field today embarking on a solo break with 130km left to finish 5:42 ahead of the stages second place rider and jump into 3rd overall only 30 seconds behind.

Landis, the favorite to win going into the mountains was giving no chance of even placing on the podium. Now, the American, the best time trialer left standing has to be considered a serious contender (and once again the favorite) for the Yellow headed into Paris.

Fire Phil Fulmer

and hire David Cutcliffe.

Hot Chicks With Guns

One last one.

My Kind of BARbie

For Bitter

Jackie Jackie Jackie

Deflowered

More chicks with guns

Go Jessica Go

Go Penny Go

As you can see, things are busy around here. Heck, with any luck I might even have a new job that I like with people I like by the time I get home tonight.

As a result, to quote the Uncle, there's been lots of linky and little thinky.

Here's some more.



Way To Go Penny!

Go Jews!!!!!!!!!!

Kill The Terrorist!!

RIP

Robert Brooks, the chairman of Hooters has died.

R.I.P.

In his honor, I urge all my readers to check out American Drumslinger today (NNSFW).

Monday Song Lyric

In the Phish post earlier today I referrenced things changing in 1994.

I guess it wouldn't be complete without mentioning that I spent a large part of the year living in London where I parited it up and really got into the indie-soul-acid jazz thing (which was already taking up - via Shockra - a large part of my musical attention here in the states). One of the bands that had the most impact on me therer was Primal Scream.

In 1994 - while touring behind Give Out But Don't Give Up (my southern readers will dig the cover) - Melody Maker described them as a british version of the Black Crowes and when I saw that they would be playing with George Clinton I made sure to check them out. Now, Primal Scream was - along with Oasis - one of the biggest bands in England at the time. In fact, they were headlining the show but when they came out at the begining announced to the crowd that they decided to go on first cause they would be too tired to play if they had to follow the Father of Funk. We ended up stumbling out in a psychedelic daze about 6 am the next morning.

Anyway, Primal Scream hit it pretty big over here in the States with their 2000 release EXTRMNTR, which included the infamous Kill All Hippies (which, btw, is also a ring tone on my Razr now).

Kill All Hippies
Lyrics Primal Scream, M. Nelson

Hello this is gorgeous, anybody out there read me?
10-4 I read you.
My handles gorgeous, pretty vacant, eh
Subvert normality
Fuuuuuck you!
Punk is not sexual, its just aggression
10-4 old buddies
Destroy, kill all hippies
Anarchy! disco sucks
Subvert normality

You got the money, I got the soul
You got the money, I got the soul
You got the money, I got the soul
Cant be bought, cant be owned

You got the money, I got the soul
You got the money, I got the soul
Cant be bought, cant be owned
You got the money, I got the soul

You got the money (x3)
I got the soul
I got the soul
I got the soul
I got the soul
I got the soul

Signing off, this is gorgeous signing off.....

With Cops Like These . . . Who Needs Criminals

or . . . . don't call 911 when the rapist is breaking in.

At least not in gun free DC.

Bear Alert!!!

It was spotted just down the road from me the other night.

Here's what I posted at Ravenwood's

Apparantly there was a black bear spotted within 1/2 mile of my house this weekend. I don't live in the wilderness - but instead in a townhouse 1 mile down 123 from Tyson's Corner. The exit ramp from the Toll Road to 123 is literally in my backyard, but one of the things that attracted us to our development was the terrific greenspace the surrounds us and has been developed by the Homeonwers Association over the last 30 years. 50 yards from my patio is a major thoroughfare, but there is dense woods and a great hiking trail between me and it.

Anyway, we sat out last night on my patio (yes, a slate patio - no crappy wooden deck) grilling up some seafood and drinking Mojito's (delicious, remind me to post the recipeie some day) with no fear, realizing that two of us had Colt 1911s and another had a Taurus revolver with .357 and I of course had my Marlin .336 and a slugged up shotgun resting next to my chair.

Overkill??

Only if your not staring down the face of a hungry bear.

I'm serious about the Mojito recipie . . .

Fan-fucking-tastic . . .

and don't give me shit about drinking with guns around. No one was drunk, we were all being responsible adults, just trying to enjoy a beautiful summer evening out-of-doors.

Phish

I saw a lot of Phish back in the day - mostly in bars and small theaters - but after spending a large part of 1994 in London, something changed when I returned to the states. The venues were getting bigger, the crowds younger and more annoying. The annoying hippie crowd was always there of course, but I just looked past them and enjoyed myself as any spoiled prep school hippie would - grooving to the music, imbiding in the vibes and nailing the earth mamas. I also was trying to earn a living as a photographer (I'll post some pics one of these days).

Here's two videos from back in the day.

This is from a small festival they put on in Massachussets in 1990. I didn't attend this one, and kicked myself for a long time for having missed it. Fluffhead was some good stuff.



This, from their Halloween concert in 1994, was the last time I saw them. By the summer of 1994, things had changed for the worse with them. They were getting real big, had stopped playing the bars, theaters, and hockey rinks I had seen them in and started attracting lots of folks who were simply seeking out a replacement for the crazy scene around the Dead.

If you like over the top progressive space rock - think ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc - then you could probably appreciate what they were doing.



Smelly hippies aside, they were pretty good

Prep School Hippie
Words and Music by Phish

Prep school hippie
Or hip school preppie
I can't decide
Should I spend my adolescent days wearing tie dyes or Vuarnets
I can't decide
Big ten kegger at the frat
Or watching Jerry shake his fat

Prep school hippie
Or hip school preppie
I can't decide

I can't wait 'til I'm 21,
Dip into my trust fund
I can't wait 'til I'm 21,
Dip into my trust fund
I can't wait 'til I'm 21,
Dip into my trust fund
I can't wait 'til I'm 21,
Dip into my trust fund
I can't wait 'til I'm 21,
Dip into my trust fund
Dip into my trust fund
Trust fund

Prep school hippie
Or hip school preppie
I can't decide
Should I spend my adolescent days wearing tie dyes or Vuarnets
I can't decide
I can't decide
I can't decide
I can't decide

Free Ringtones

Awsome

Of course, you need a Mac and a Motorola Razr but I suspect you could figure it out for other phones too.

Israel's Next Target

Syrian Dictator Bashar Assad

I have faith in President Bush that we will be right there as well.

Inside Out of the Enzo

Awesome and full of British wit.



and just a bit of Floyd

Weekend Quote

Andrew Lloyd Webber sickens me. He's in your face all the time and what he does is nonsense. It has no value. It is shallow, derivative rubbish, all of it, and it makes me very gloomy. Actually, I've never been to one of his shows but having put that slightly savage joke on the record, I thought I'd better listen to some Andrew Lloyd Webber and I was staying in a rented house in America this summer and the people who owned the house had a whole bunch of his rubbish so I thought I'd listen to Phantom Of The Opera and I put the record on and I was slightly apprehensive. I thought, Christ, I hope this isn't good - or even mediocre. I was not disappointed. Phantom Of The Opera is absolutely fucking horrible from start to finish.

--Roger Waters Q Magazine, November 1992.

My thoughts exactly.

A Hokey Pokey Stick

Al's got one foot out and he's shaking it about. When's he gonna turn himself around and do the hokey pokey dance? (Sub. Required).

It is routine these days to read in newspapers or hear -- almost anywhere the subject of climate change comes up -- that the 1990s were the "warmest decade in a millennium" and that 1998 was the warmest year in the last 1,000.

This assertion has become so accepted that it is often recited without qualification, and even without giving a source for the "fact." But a report soon to be released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee by three independent statisticians underlines yet again just how shaky this "consensus" view is, and how recent its vintage.

The claim originates from a 1999 paper by paleoclimatologist Michael Mann. Prior to Mr. Mann's work, the accepted view, as embodied in the U.N.'s 1990 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was that the world had undergone a warming period in the Middle Ages, followed by a mid-millennium cold spell and a subsequent warming period -- the current one. That consensus, as shown in the first of the two IPCC-provided graphs nearby, held that the Medieval warm period was considerably warmer than the present day.

Mr. Mann's 1999 paper eliminated the Medieval warm period from the history books, with the result being the bottom graph you see here. It's a man-made global-warming evangelist's dream, with a nice, steady temperature oscillation that persists for centuries followed by a dramatic climb over the past century. In 2001, the IPCC replaced the first graph with the second in its third report on climate change, and since then it has cropped up all over the place. Al Gore uses it in his movie.

The trouble is that there's no reason to believe that Mr. Mann, or his "hockey stick" graph of global temperature changes, is right. Questions were raised about Mr. Mann's paper almost as soon as it was published. In 2003, two Canadians, Ross McKitrick and Steven McIntyre, published an article in a peer-reviewed journal showing that Mr. Mann's methodology could produce hockey sticks from even random, trendless data.

The report commissioned by the House Energy Committee, due to be released today, backs up and reinforces that conclusion. The three researchers -- Edward J. Wegman of George Mason University, David W. Scott of Rice University and Yasmin H. Said of Johns Hopkins University -- are not climatologists; they're statisticians. Their task was to look at Mr. Mann's methods from a statistical perspective and assess their validity. Their conclusion is that Mr. Mann's papers are plagued by basic statistical errors that call his conclusions into doubt. Further, Professor Wegman's report upholds the finding of Messrs. McIntyre and McKitrick that Mr. Mann's methodology is biased toward producing "hockey stick" shaped graphs.

Mr. Wegman and his co-authors are careful to point out that doubts about temperatures in the early part of the millennium do not call into question more-recent temperature increases. But as you can see looking at these two charts, it's all about context. In the first, the present falls easily within a range of natural historical variation. The bottom chart looks alarming and discontinuous with the past, which is why global-warming alarmists have adopted it so eagerly.

In addition to debunking the hockey stick, Mr. Wegman goes a step further in his report, attempting to answer why Mr. Mann's mistakes were not exposed by his fellow climatologists. Instead, it fell to two outsiders, Messrs. McIntyre and McKitrick, to uncover the errors.

Mr. Wegman brings to bear a technique called social-network analysis to examine the community of climate researchers. His conclusion is that the coterie of most frequently published climatologists is so insular and close-knit that no effective independent review of the work of Mr. Mann is likely. "As analyzed in our social network," Mr. Wegman writes, "there is a tightly knit group of individuals who passionately believe in their thesis." He continues: "However, our perception is that this group has a self-reinforcing feedback mechanism and, moreover, the work has been sufficiently politicized that they can hardly reassess their public positions without losing credibility."

In other words, climate research often more closely resembles a mutual-admiration society than a competitive and open-minded search for scientific knowledge. And Mr. Wegman's social-network graphs suggest that Mr. Mann himself -- and his hockey stick -- is at the center of that network.

Mr. Wegman's report was initially requested by the House Energy Committee because some lawmakers were concerned that major decisions about our economy could be made on the basis of the dubious research embodied in the hockey stick. Some of the more partisan scientists and journalists howled that this was an attempt at intimidation. But as Mr. Wegman's paper shows, Congress was right to worry; his conclusions make "consensus" look more like group-think. And the dismissive reaction of the climate-research establishment to the McIntyre-McKitrick critique of the hockey stick confirms that impression.

God Bless Gun Control

Some sources said the entire length of the Mall was being covered by only six police officers Tuesday night, when a pair of masked robbers preyed on six tourists, holding them at gunpoint, taking their cash and roughly groping one of them.

Sgt. Scott Fear, a Park Police spokesman, said roving officers were on patrol that night in cars, on scooters and on bikes, in addition to the ones standing guard at the monuments. That was one of the changes made after an earlier series of Mall robberies in May, when six people were held up in three attacks. Those robberies grew increasingly violent against women, ending in the rape of a teenage girl near the Smithsonian Metro stop.

Now tell me, Ms. Norton, why shouldn't I have the right to kill these animals when they attack me and my family?

UPDATE: After dinner, I had to drive back into DC to pick something up at my office. Decided to drive around the mall to check things out . . . tourist wise. There was an accident at Constitution Ave and 17th Street (the intersection by the WWII Memorial and DAR Hall) and all the cops seemed to be there. Not many elsewhere on the mall and i saw lots of unsuspecting tourists walking around in fairly dark places looking awfully oblivious to the dangers that lurked nearby. Most of those, I suspect, aren't reading the local papers or watching the local news.

Your Not Gonna Believe It

But the NY Times has a pretty good piece on getting a concealed license.

In the end, and to my surprise, I learned about more than shooting. I learned about not shooting.

Seriously

In two months, he said, the license should be in the mail from Austin. And then what? I wondered. Would I really go around armed? I thought not.

But it’s good — and a little scary — to know I could.

Read the whole thing. What do you want to bet, Bloomingidiotberg is real pissed off about now.

Look Around, Feel The Sound

Notice a theme here this week???

Disarm The Police

and take away the DC Council's security.

Then, lets declare open season on them (its only fair right, it seems its open season on us too).

Heck, without their guns, lets see how long before the barbarians are raping Linda Cropp and sodomizing the incompetant and corrupt Chuckie Ramsey.

The gates have been crashed and DC's elected officials are still worshipping the sweet sounds of peace and harmony coming from the gun banners.

D's want to win votes this fall . . . and show they are really truly in support of the 2nd Amendment????? How 'bout allowing folks to protect themselves in D.C.

Heck, they might also consider simply throwing some of these animals in jail.

According to D.C. police, 420 juveniles taken into custody on armed-robbery charges in the city this year had been arrested before. Including the robbery case, 144 of them have been arrested twice; 102, three times; 74, four times; 44, five times; 29, six times; 10, seven times; five, eight times; five, nine times; three, 10 times; one, 11 times; one, 12 times; and two, 14 times.

Surely even the most asinine of the gun banners can agree to that? Can't they?

Sarah Brady, Go To Hell!

Michael Bloomberg too

When the struggle started, police say, two other men came into the house and started beating on George. That's when George's 12 year old son made the move credited with scaring the accused thugs out of the house, and stopping the burglary without even firing the gun.'

. . .

George says he has five guns in the house. His taught his son how to use each of them. [SIC]

Screw Rosie too.

h/t to Zendo Deb

So Wrong

on so many levels.

Astronomy Of A Genius

Takes Two To Know

A Jug Band Plays In The Sky

The Greatest Book Review Ever???

Perhaps.

I'm reading additional novels he has penned. If you get a chance, I would read them before Hollywood ass-fucks them.

Read the whole thing.

Shine On You Crazy DIamond

RIP, Roger Barrett

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

Don't tell me there aren't any coincidences.

Heh

If people were willing to buy an item called Garbage Burgers, McDonald's would put it on the menu and sell it, especially if they thought Burger King might come out with the same item.

Good Thing Guns Are Illegal In DC

cause things would get real bad if the savage little rodents had access to real firepower.

Who knows, they might just visit tony Georgetown . . . but only if they were allowed to have guns. We wouldn't want them raping and murdering anyone now, would we??

The two were rummaging in the trunk of a car when they were approached by three men wielding a gun and a knife. Police said Piper, who had the gun, grabbed the woman and began dragging her down the driveway. Out of view of his companions, he tried to pull off her clothes, police said. The attacker made a comment "in reference to his intent to commit a sexual assault," said Lt. Robert Glover of the police department's violent crimes branch, which is handling the investigation.

Meanwhile, the two other assailants grabbed Senitt, stabbed him and slashed his throat.

As Senitt lay dying, the three men fled with the woman's purse.

Or even attack the disabled and helpless.

Chris Crowder, 44, was shot multiple times and found by police next to the wheelchair he had used since 1990, when he was shot and paralyzed from the waist down on a playground in the same neighborhood.

Good thing, isn't it, that we don't let people defend themselves against these savages. I'm just wondering when the residents of the District are going to wake up and start demanding that these goblins be treated like the varmints they are.

Might even consider a good 'ol fashion bounty on them. Open up the season.

A Sad Sad Day

It looks as if my Sonicare toothbrush has died after 5 faithful, hard working, years.

May It Rest In Peace

Gun Goodness

The 64th edition of the Carnival of Cordite is up and spanking donkeys everywhere.

What He Said!!

Indeed

Droooool

Huntin' season is just around the corner, and while I already have a nice padded leather sling, I could really see myself getting one of these.

The CMP and Camp Perry

Bill and Denise at the Ten Ring made a visit to Camp Perry, home of the CMP and the Camp Perry National Matches.

Needless to say, its also the home of your Garand (you do have one, don't you?????)

Google Maps has a great picture of the base, including the rifle range.

Cool

Lance Who??

Don't look now, but us American'are doing pretty good in this years tour.

We have 1 guy in the top 5, two guys in the top 10, four guys in the top 20, and 6 folks in the top 25.

Heh.

For more on the tour, including great minute by minute updates, check out Velonews's Tour Page. For excellent commentary and more, head on over to the Dummocrats.

Virginia: Illegal Arms Dealer To The Nation

Or, maybe not. In D.C. it appears the police department is once again the prime source of those crime spree guns.

Ban Power Saws

And require their owners to use trigger locks!!!

Syriana

After a crappy day yesterday (including a meeting that went from 2 until 6:00, a 1 1/2 hour commute home, and a dog that puked all over the house) I decided to rent some movies and relax (as opposed to the original plan to go shooting with Bitter).

One of the movies, and hte one I watched, was Syriana. Pretty good movie - very much reminded me of Traffic - but probably not the thing to watch after feeling like the oil and electric utility folks played me like a cheap violin at the long meeting.

Of course, when I found out this morning I prevailed over their (actually, their outside consultants) wishes, I felt better. But still. . . .

There are ALWAYS hidden agendas. Washington is never what it seems like.

Da Chronic

Seems everyone's talking pot today.

Uncle, Bitter and her virgin lungs, and Bullseye (NSFW) who sums up my attitude nicely (except for that thing about Jerry Garcia).

Oh yeah, check out Jay G's comments.

Cut Their Balls Off

Literally

I know some of them perform a somewhat valid service - and without the ability to collect debt then lenders would be much more reluctant to lend - but something needs to be done about unscrupulous debt collectors. Whats more, its not a minority of them but a majority of the industry that engages in unscrupulous practices.

Want to solve it? Propose a two strikes law that puts the senior management in the federal pokey with the booty bandit.

As it is though, you can generally sue not only the debt collection agency but also the lender who claims the debt for statutory damages (10k) plus attorney fees under the Fair Credit Reporting Act if they are going after you for a phoney charge. Most folks don't realize that though, and these serpents play upon the consumers lack of knowledge.

As I said, cut their balls off. It'll fix the problem

That Star-Spangled Banner Yet Wave

Lyrics by Francis Scott Key

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The Bombs Bursting In Air

Happy 4th of July.

I'm headed back to DC today, but really enjoyed the baseball game and fireworks last night at Bellsouth Park - even though the Lookouts lost 5-2.

The Rockets Red Glare

Great story in the Post story longing for the great roadside fireworks displays and backyard fireworks wars of yesterday. The writer laments the passing of time and the inability of todays kids to really enjoy the fourth of july. Well, as I emailed, thats not the case everywhere:

Great story on fireworks. Luckily, this year we are spending the Independence Day weekend in the Chattanooga Tennessee area where the great state of Tennessee not only doesn't impose an income tax but also hnoors and trusts its citizens to play with fireworks and actually recognizes the 2nd Amendment.

But this is about the fireworks. Massive fireworks. Things that go boom. The rockets red glare. Bursting (BOOOOOOMING) in the air. Huge Wal Mart sized Fireworks Superstores.

Its a beautiful thing to behold. A joy to take my four year old to one.

Oh, and least you think this is some red state blue state thing, the governor is a Democrat and there is a better than even chance that Sen. Majority leader Bill Frists seat is gonna be won by a Democrat - Harold Ford, Jr. Democracy at work - what you get when politicians don't offend common sense and their constituents civil rights (see Al Gore for the opposite result).

A Warm and Heartfelt Monday Song Lyric Posting

FUCK THE UN

The Greatest Love Of All
By Whitney Houston

I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone to fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me

[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

[Chorus]

And if by chance, that special place
That you've been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love

Bang Bang Bang Bang (x2)

Ping!!!!!

Went shooting again today. Really, can you think of a better way to celebrate independence day? Brought along the Garand (hence the title) the Marlin 336, K31, a S&W Model 66, Ruger Blackhawk and of course the Colt 1991A1



Couple of things to note. I intended to test out that Hornady Leverevolution ammo.
Here it is

L to R 170 grain Winchester Silvertip .30-30, 170 grain Hornady Custom .30-30, 160 grain Leverevolution, and surplus .30-06

It was pretty dam accurate and blew a heck of a hole through my wet phone book. That said though, I was a bit annoyed that its average velocity through the chronograph clocked in at 2309 fps when its advertised at 2400 fps. The old dad thought it was probably because the test barrels are longer than my Marlin's 20 inches. Could be, that certainly makes sense, but strikes me as a bit dishonest since most Marlin 336s come stock at 20 inches.

Also wanted to test out some 200 grain Georgia Arms .45 ACP hollow points I loaded up. Ended up sending a 10 through the wet phone books (NoVA White Pages, at least 8 inches thick when wet) and none of them expanded. Instead, they all blew through and it was pretty obvious with the three rounds I was able to recover that they filled up right away with paper and just acted as 200 grain bullets.



Got to shoot a CETME too.


It was loud, but the .308 didn't have too much of a punch.

One final thought, and this is intended to start a fight.

Black guns suck in the heat. All of them. Whether plastic or steel, I simply couldn't justify owning one without also having a pair of gloves on. The temerature at the range today was a might toasty 98 degrees with a full sun blazing. Tried to shoot my Ruger Mk II and I could barely hold it, it was so damn hot. Same with every other black gun on the line (and my stainless steel ones too). However, the old timey mil surplus and Marlin 336 all had wood stocks and hence were very shootable with nothing on them to burn sensitive fingers.

The Rambling Old Dad has more, including some better pics (my camera, as you can see, is over exposing everything. Not quite sure why).

Lazy Summer Days

Had a great day today.

The local airport had their monthly fly-in plane show. Lots of opportunities for kids to get up close to the planes.


Then of course, we headed off to Menlo, GA for a patch of blueberries



Here's a portion of the two gallons we picked - at only $5 a gallon.

Don't Tell Bitter

But I'm enjoying a Cherry Limeaide right now.

A Holiday Travel Extravaganza

They are saying 40 million folks are hitting the road this weekend for the 4th of July weekend.

I'd believe it. We drove down last night and it took 3 hours to get out of DC. Once past Manassas - at 7:00 pm - traffic finally eased up though I was a bit surprised to hit traffic slowdowns in Knoxville at 1:30 in the morning (and a 35 minute wait at the McDonalds drive through). Ended up geting in to our house at 3:30 am - the drive from Knoxville down to Chattanooga was packed with cars - as busy as if it had taken place at 5:00 pm on a Friday afternoon. Incredible.