Sunday, January 28, 2007

John Kerry, Patriot


I believe that criticism of the government is a vital component of being a republic. However, I also believe that the place for that criticism, when you are a member of that republics government, should take place among it's citizens, not among current/former representatives of totalitarian governments.

I cannot read of this man without a deep-seated revulsion bordering on nausea.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Insights Into Multicultarism & Immigration

Gates of Vienna has a great post from Denmark on the world view of opposing sides regarding immigration, most of which is muslim in that country.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Ah, That's Why The Hijab Is Important In Islam

In her petition, Ayesha Siddiqa Din told authorities that her husband "has been extremely violent towards her throughout their relationship and has often beat her leaving bruising and injuries that would have been visible had it not been for the fact she is required to wear a 'hijab,' " a religious head-covering.


Read the rest here.

Well, It's About Time

Thanks to this product, my dog can now be as fat and lazy as I am.



Pet shop owner creates beer for dogs

Acinetobacter baumannii



Another new bug. Wonder how long it'll be before we start seeing this in the general population of hospitals outside the military system.

"Oppose The War, Support The Troops"

Yeah, right. I've been there, on the deployment side. Yes, it is a burden on the employer. However, it's still in the best interest of the citizens to have soldiers who are not part of the standing army. Long term vets like this lady provide a connection between the general population and the military that contributes to a lessened "us vs them" mentality.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Hillary's Coming!

Yes, soon we'll be seeing this face non-stop on the local news:



Foolish woman! You are no match for our local presidential candidate, Gov. Tom Vilsack; A man of such presence and august majesty, none may hope to compare to him in dignity and magnificence-





Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I Need To Spend More Time Reading

To believe one is incompetent to bear arms is, therefore, to live in corroding and almost always needless fear of the self - in fact, to affirm oneself a moral coward. A state further from the dignity of a free man would be rather hard to imagine. - Eric S. Raymond, Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun

In a state of psychological weakness, weapons become a burden for the capitulating side. To defend oneself, one must also be ready to die; there is little such readiness in a society raised in the cult of material well-being. Nothing is left, then, but concessions, attempts to gain time and betrayal. - Alexander Solzhenitsyn


Written better than I could have said it.....

Thanks to The Smallest Minority

Choices, Choices

When given the choice of voting for this-


and this-



I choose this:



(image of my preferred presidential choice, taken from a commentor on Tamara K's blog).

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

State of the Union Address Impressions

I was impressed with the President's opening comments regarding the Speaker of the House. While I have no kind feelings towards her, I thought it was a fine example of graciousness often lacking in politics. I was pleasantly surprised on his intensity when initially addressing the war and the related struggle against "radical" Islam. The comment on "lifting needless restrictions on Iraqi and Coalition forces" was welcome.

I found the long-lasting shot of Senator McCain apparently in a deep slumber reinforcing my opinion that John McCain's greatest interest is John McCain.

Hallelujah! A statement of intent to expand the active duty forces. Long overdue. And a proposal to establish an essentially civilian technical corps to supplement the military's needs overseas. I think there is a deep reservoir of veterans who would be intensely interested in this.

A surprising mention of Darfur; unfortunately he failed to address exactly what and who the problem is.

An ending comment that "our cause in the world is just" was a great, unequivocal statement of belief.

I hope he disregards the opinion polls and continues to do what he believes to be right, rather than popular.

Overall, a well spoken address.

Monday, January 22, 2007

14 hour day

Fourteen hours at work today, and I'm not even the last one to leave. Long day, so a quick peek at some of the blogs I enjoy. Checked out PDB's blog, where he covers a situation dear to my heart: people who cannot spell. Check it out to see what spelling has to do with this (compliments of the fine folks at dlisted).

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Fast Weekend

Spent the better part of the weekend working on the upstairs bathroom. I have a full-size pickup bed full of plaster, lath, sheetrock, and dismantled bathroom vanity. As always, there were suprises when I started peeling away layers. The heat for the adjoining room comes up through the floor, under the base of the old vanity, then into the wall, where the grate is held in place by a paste of sheetrock parts and wallpaper. Found three separate electric lines for the lights, receptacles, and fan, including two different types of wiring. Also a large hole in the floor where the vanity used to be.

Finishing this is going to take awhile.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Three Day Weekend

I've worked enough callback this week to get tomorrow off. It's time to commence the final assault on my upstairs bathroom.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Monday Night Small Bore

I was able to get away from work early enough to make it to my club's smallbore rifle league. Because of the volume of electrophysiology studies and pacemaker/ICD placements we do now, I'm lucky if I can get there every other week, and it shows. I'm shooting a bull-barrel Winchester 52B made in the late '30's mounting a BSA target scope in a modified stock. It's certainly able to do it's part, if I can live up to the rifle's capabilities. However, shooting an approximately 12 pound single shot .22 from the unsupported standing position accurately is a challenge for me. Tonight I shot a 354 out of 400 possible in four-position smallbore. It's not god-awful atrocious, but when the guys you shoot with score in at least the 370s or higher consistently, it's not a confidence builder. On the flip side, the heft of this rifle has made shooting CMP type rifles easier, as they feel light in comparison, and the number of .22 rounds expended contributes to better form in shooting positions.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Wisconsin Rifle Match




Returned from rifle matches taking place in Prairie Du Chien this weekend. The local club put on CMP matches for M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, and Vintage Rifle match. Suprising myself, I placed 2nd in all three events,


and received a bronze pin for my score of 269 with the M1 Garand.


The weather cooperated for the most part, and the club members there were friendly and helpful. There was an interesting display at noon with various members giving live fire demonstrations of a BAR, Sten, Thompson submachine gun, and muzzle-loading cannon.


I'm looking forward to returning to their next CMP match.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

It Could Be Worse.....

Sometimes, I think the area I live is horribly dull. Then I read something like this and think, no, it's really not bad here at all.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

I love lead

Nearly 16 hours at work yesterday, well over half of it wearing a full-wrap lead apron. Some days I feel well older than I really am.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

The ´Halal´ Way To Beat Up Your Wife According To Islam

Another look into the Religion of Peace courtesy of one of it's leading lights at http://islamthreat.blogspot.com/2007/01/alal-to-beat-up-your-wife-according-to.html#links.

I've Been Outed

After reading pdb's latest post at http://pdb.blog-city.com/news_to_me.htm, I realize that my cover as an atheist is blown.

Also, my wife and I have completed our haj to acquire a new bathroom vanity, Praise Be To Allah.















We did stop at Scheels in the Jordan Creek mall to check out the used rifle racks. Slim pickings, with lots of empty slots. Ran across a Remington 513T without sights, in otherwise decent condition. Also spotted a S&W Model 66-1 formerly owned by the Iowa State Patrol, in stainless with a four-inch barrel. The State Patrol issued these in 1980, and replaced them with S&W .40 caliber semi-autos in 1993. Carried a lot, shot a little; severely tempting, but cash in hand is lacking at the moment.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

The Vanity Quest

We started our quest for a period appropriate vanity for our upstairs bathroom yesterday, only to find there wasn't much out there that appealed to us and is affordable at the same time. However, we did have a great time buying things in Cabela's in Owatanna. Ran across a Finnish stamped SVT 40, and two Japanese carbines that were there the last time I was there 4-5 months ago. They both still have the massive dust bunnies in the bores that preclude any investigation of the muzzle condition. I'd love to buy any of them, but this Cabela's tends to overvalue their milsurps by quite a bit.

Later today we'll check out Des Moines for bathroom vanities. Of course, there is that Scheel's with a large used rifle collection in that area......

A First Attempt

A first (modest) attempt at blogging. I'll be looking at the items in blog's name, with detours into other areas of interest to me.