Saturday, February 14, 2009

Firmly Advancing Into Middle Age



We bought one of these tonight while killing time:


and I was more excited about it than my wife. I went a year without access to good bread while deployed, and now I'm making up for it. With taking terminal leave, I've enough time to work on actually baking bread than buying it. So when The Wife and I ran across this unit at %50 off, and with a store gift card in hand, plus another 15% for using the in-store credit card, I snatched it up faster than a free case of Sam Adams Boston Lager. Which means I now have a powered bread hook for the first time since I was slinging pizza dough back in the '80s.

I'll be spending tomorrow in the kitchen.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Bipartisanship: Conform Or Else



The more often I watch CIC BO stump for getting the spendulus passed, the greater my conviction that any time a politician demands his pet project be passed it's probably in need of extended exposure to sunlight.

Demands for bipartisanship, are in general, a sop to the mentally deficient who believe there is a way we can all live with, if all of us are simply understanding and respectful enough. The problem from their perspective is that so many of us are so obstinate in refusing to compromise. Which is the problem that those of us who have beliefs about the value of individual worth have with the other side's idea of compromise.

I believe the other side believes they are right. I believe that for the most part, those that are driving the ideological engine of the White House are sure that if the peasantry would shut up and stop being unruly, they could do their job of making everything run the way it should, and everything will be fair. Which is why political opposition is so important. It seems many of the public thinks disagreement is the greatest threat to the general well-being. Apparently there is something about never having lived under a one-party political system that makes them look attractive for the sake of efficiency. I'd wager this same segment of the population was forced to suffer through history in high school, and hasn't willingly had an encounter with a book dealing with political history since then.

It's given me a small measure of hope that most Republicans have been resisting the financial time bomb being whipped up. It's my hope that some of the younger members of the party are willing to get aggressive, and continually point out the waste folded into the plan. That should hardly be difficult.

They might actually gain some seats when the time comes to vote again, if they stop trying to be Democrat Lite.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Response Time



This recent video (note: pawn shop ad precedes video) from a home owner's surveillance system demonstrates why no police department, no matter how efficient, can be counted on as a first line of personal defense. Unless your home is a military-grade bunker, retreating and calling 911 wouldn't have kept these intruders out. Given the speed of this assault, I doubt the owner would have had time to even make the call. There is no substitute for having a personal defense weapon readily accessible in the home. You can't guarantee surviving an exchange of gunfire, but your odds are better with an exchange versus simply receiving. Few criminals are willing to press home an attack when their own lives are suddenly at risk.

H/T to Survival Blog.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Home Again

Finally back in the family housing unit. Which means inspecting the armory, building repair/improvement lists, and schlepping frozen dog poop out of the back yard. And then it's back to work! (eventually).

Ugly Gun Sunday


This would look simply fabulous with this:




Saturday, February 7, 2009

Inconceivable!


Linked by Brigid. My thanks, and a goblet (iocaine-free) raised in salute.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Ugly Gun Sunday



If this doesn't scream "I'm a man of refined taste" the same way a bad toupee and new sportscar shows what a stud a man is, I don't know what does.