.357 SIG article.

A piece on .357 SIG in Guns Magazine

Violence from the left & crickets

An Occupy Charlotte Activist threatens to kill South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley* (R) and is subsequently arrested. What do we hear from the mainstream media?

Does the media go on and on about OWS's violence or violent rhetoric?  Do they blame President Obama, who helped start this phenomenom with his class warfare rhetoric and calls to "Get in their faces?" Do they blame liberal union leaders the way they blamed "extremist Tea Party Republicans?"  Rand Paul was right on the money back in October with regards to Obama's rhetoric inflaming the OWS movement.

*Here's what Mr. Shafer said,

"I hope someone murders you before I do, “How’s that for freedom of speech?”

It's sad actually, because he's too dumb to realize that freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from the consequences of publicly threatening to kill someone.  Then again, no one ever claims Occupy protesters were intelligent.

Quote of the Day - Hayek

"The most important change which extensive government control produces is a psychological change, an alteration in the character of the people. This means, among other things, that even a strong tradition of political liberty is no safeguard if the danger is precisely that new institutions and policies will gradually undermine and destroy that spirit."

- F.A. Hayek

Hayek is sadly right on the money here.  Think about the average person you might meet on the street.  Do they really believe in individual liberty, Constitutional rights, and constraints on government power, or do they just want to be taken care of, freedom be damned?

Wait.  Don't answer that.

CCW going postal?

A lawsuit to remove the ban on carrying at U.S. Post Offices is going forward in Federal court.

It's about time.  "Gun Free zones" are not safe.  They never have been.  I shouldn't have to unholster my gun and leave it in the car because I'm headed to the post office.  In truth, the whole "sensitive places" argument is ridiculous.  What makes a Post Office so special that they need to ban guns?  What makes it any different than a UPS or FedEx store / hub?

I love the commenters who are acting like it's no big deal to just unholster, disarm, and lock the gun in the car.  Ignoring the fact that this leaves you without a means of self-defense, I'll bet those same commenters would jump all over CCW'ers who have ND's while complying with such BS, or blame them when their guns are stolen from vehicles and locked in cars.

We simply can't win.  If we ignore the law and carry anyway (concealed means concealed) we're bad guys.  If there are more guns on the street and more unnecessary holes in things because we comply with assinine regulations we're the bad guys for being "irresponsible."  It pisses me off.

Dirty Hippies

At Occupy DC. Check out the guy by the trashcan.  Is it any wonder people are fed up with the OWS protests?



H/T to Hube

Quote of the day - What a difference one word makes

As far as mine and the occupy folk's arguments being substantially similar: At its core, mine is that those who must rule are running out of other people's money and are going to use every means of government to squeeze the rest of us for what they need. While the people of Zuccotti Park believe that those who must rule are running out of other people's money and should use every means of government to squeeze the rest of us for what they need. That one word makes a big difference.


- Breda's Mike

The OWS supporters, using government as their proxy, want to pillage, rape, and force the rest of us to support them.  Don't believe me?  Go on youtube and listen to their words.  That's the gist of their position, sprinkled with a generous helping of "we hate corporations" and "down with capitalism"

What will they do when their parental government can no longer support them by squeezing the citizenry dry?  I don't know, but I'll stay armed and keep my powder dry just in case.

D'oh

I totally forgot about National Ammo Day!  I'll have to buy a case of .45 ACP or something to make up for it.  I've got perhaps 1K of .45ACP left.

What did you all go out and buy on November 19th?

Quote of the day - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

"Free homes, free electricity, unrestricted use of public property, and waiving all the rules … this isn’t a political movement.  It’s the equivalent of a temper tantrum from a two-year-old.  This is the Freeloader Movement."

-Ed Morrissey of Hot Air

Given the folks who are protesting and what they want, is it any surprise that they're acting like 2 year olds throwing temper tantrums?  No.  This is quite predictable.

This whole damn movement is ridiculous.  It pisses me off.  I mean the ACLU is defending these bums and one of their contentions is that the County government should provide OWS protesters with electricity.  Yes, the ACLU and OWS are saying that the failure of the County to use taxpayer money to provide them with free electricity is somehow a violation of their 1st Amendment rights.

I wish this were a joke, but far, far too many folks in this country actually have this mentality.  When the hell did "free speech" mean someone else had to buy you a microphone, printing press, space in the newspaper, or provide you with an internet connection free of charge?

Still Nothing

I've been open carrying a lot more lately, both on the weekends and when I get home from work, and yet still none of the protestations of anti's or supposedly "pro-gun" open carry haters have happened.  Aside from being asked to leave Food Lion by their unarmed "security guard" it has been completely uneventful*, which is a good thing.

*There are, of course, silly situations when I must disarm around here, but otherwise things have been as they should be.  People are polite, no one really cares, and the most comment you'll get are from children who usually want to tell mom or dad "hey, that man has a gun" or come up and ask me if it's real.

Oh shit!

200 pounds of human shit is found just across from the Occupy Santa Cruz camp, yet the local news claims that the fecal matter hasn't been proven to be from the OWS protesters.  That's either a load of shit or some really shitting reporting, I'm not sure which.

Either way it's disgusting.  Imagine if the Tea Party movement had been this full of shit.

Quote of the day - Political tags

"Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."

- Robert A. Heinlein

I have nothing to add.

Fresh meat

Any suggestions for easy, tasty goose recipes? Sister's husband brought these back while I was babysitting and I've got a ziplock full of meat.*

Also, the kids liked playing with the dead geese, pulling off feathers and running around with them.

*I imagine in some places cutting the meat out of your kill on your front lawn is frowned upon, but their neighbors aren't PETA members. :)







My 7 year old nephew also went goose hunting recently, which is awesome!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

75 Minute

Today was Iron Hill's 15 year anniversary, so I stopped in for a late lunch.

Here's what they had. The elusive Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA.



Tasty! I much prefer this to 90 Minute. It's my 2nd Favorite DFH. It's not quite as sweet as 90 yet more complex and less bitter than 60 minute.

It's a damn shame this is so hard to get & doesn't come in bottles.




This is just the special beer list for today. Impressive!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cute

Cat attacked by a gang of happy puppies!  I laughed out loud.

Sarah Palin - Going, Going.... Gone!

Sarah hits one out of the park in this Wall Street Journal editorial.

RTWT!

Beer labels

A collection of great beer labels.

I love the Hoppopotamus* and the Sexual Chocolate labels.  Check it out, some of them are great!

*I think the Washington Street Alehouse might have the Hoppopotamus.  I could swear I saw it on the board last time I was there.  I'll have to drop by for lunch one day and try it out.  Lucky for me the Alehouse is a 5 minute walk from my work. I'm still kicking myself for not trying any DFH 75 Minute IPA when they briefly had it on tap.

Quote of the day - Obama's Narcissism

Obama is a malignant narcissist and he is angry at the American people because they have rejected his performance, and worse, are laughing at him."



- Commenter "Truebearing" on this Daily Caller article

Quoted because, well, it's the damn truth.

As far as Obama calling the U.S. "A little bit lazy" keep it up asshole.  Keep on showing your elitist contempt for this country and it's people.  There are millions of Americans who do more productive hard work in a day than you do in a year, so don't you dare call them lazy or soft you narcissistic, arrogant bum.  Nothing is worse than a President who constantly denigrates his own country and its people.

Dan Wesson RZ-45's

Grabagun has Dan Wesson RZ-45 Heritage's for less than I paid for mine.

Godfather

No, I'm not talking about Herman Cain.

Looks like I'm going to be a Godfather to the first little girl in the family other than my sisters.  What were they thinking?! Well, I made them an offer they couldn't refuse.....

The evil PRON! Run for your lives!

So former pornstar Sasha Grey** wants to read to elementary kids as part of the Read Across America reading initiative.  Predictably, parents, the community, etc. are up in arms because oh noes, a former pornstar, get her away from our childrenz!!!

Good for her!  I mean why should she back out?  We have NBA and NFL players who work with kids in a similar capacity and many of them have far, far more disreputable* pasts (and presents)

*to the extent that porn and / or working in the porn industry is "disreputable" at all.

Look, the woman is volunteering her time to help kids read, which is more than most people do, yet the response is the equivalent of "Witch! Witch!, she's a witch! Burn her!" Oh my god! A former pornstar, in a school, reading to children!

From what I've just briefly read she seems like an intelligent, successful young woman who is done with that phase of her life and wants to do this because she genuinely wants to help kids.  That's a decent and honorable thing, and where's the harm in it?  This isn't some pedophile or sexual predator, it's a pornstar, yet to moral busybodies you'd think there was no difference. Even if it mattered, t's not like elementary kids would even know who she is without some prudish, guilt-ridden adult telling them.

I dunno, the outrage here just rubbed me the wrong way.....  I mean these parents are just talking out of their asses.  Don't they know Ms. Grey won an AVN award for 2010 best anal sex scene?  Ok, in all seriousness....

**Also, she's quite pretty.  If Ms. Grey can get folks to take her seriously she might be able to get into mainstream acting.  I mean, she wrote a book and she's helping kids read, so she's probably smarter than most of the terrible, bimbo actresses already in Hollywood.

H/T to Nikki, who has an adorable, totally worksafe picture in case you're like me and don't know what Ms. Grey looks like.

Peace through superior beer

Last Thursday night I went to a Dogfish Head beer tasting & 4 course dinner at the Stone Balloon Winehouse in Newark.  The Winehouse is smack in the middle of Main Street, just down from the Brewery.  It's a really classy place, totally out of place in a college town.  I happened to be walking down Main Street one day in September and saw a sign outside the Winehouse for a Dogfish head dinner & tasting event taking place in November, so I thought I'd treat my little sister as a late birthday present.

It was awesome!  The place is beautiful, and really far, far too upscale for me.  When I look at the menu and don't know what some of the words mean I know I'm out of my element.

 The first dish was some kind of Smoked Tuna which looked like I'd hate it when it came out, but something on the plate tasted like bacon, so tuna dipped in that was great.  They paired this with Dogfish Head Red & White, a beligian white ale that didn't have the strong coriander taste I often dislike about belgians. It was my first time trying it.  I'll have to buy a bottle.

The second dish was smoked duck, which was tasty as well.  It was paired with Sah' Tea, which I haven't had in a while.  I'd forgotten how much I liked it.

There's only one word to describe the third course.  NOM!  Braised pork shank that was slightly crispy on the outside, yet fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tender.  If they'd given me 4 plates of it I'd have devoured it all!  The only thing that would've made it better would've been a side of bacon. They paired this one with Bitches Brew, the only dark beer of the night.  Even Breda likes Bitches Brew, and she's more of an IPA drinker.

The last course was something I dug into having not the slightest clue what I was eating. I'm glad I didn't know, because fatty duck liver sounds gross. Foie Gras, which apparently PETA hates!  Good to know I pissed off some hippies!  The beer, a vintage 09' Olde School Barleywine was probably my favorite of the night.  Last time I tried Barleywine style beer I hated it, but maybe if I buy some Olde School and cellar it it'll mellow out, sweeten up and not be so bitter.

Quote of the day - Rulers

"I described them not as liberal or conservative, democrat or republican, or red or blue - these are meaningless labels - the modern equivalent of Guelph and Ghibelline . The next civil war will be between those who must rule, and those who have little need for rulers, and it will not flare into violence until the latter change into those who will not be ruled."

- Breda's Mike

Go read Pt. 1 first.  Lots of QOTD material there too.

Our system will implode if left on its current course, and while I can't pretend to know how the collapse will take place or what the inevitable conflict will look like I know it won't be pretty.  Mike is correct, left, right, democrat, republican are all meaningless.  Despite the danger posed by the Left, Republicans do little if anything to slow the "progress" ruining the nation.  The best case scenario is that they back of the accelerator a bit. 

The conflict is basic and classic.  It is, as it has always been, between the dependent class and those who wish to live free.  Those who must rule will be propped up by those who wish to be ruled.  My biggest fear as an American who loves liberty is that the collapse will begin and end with those who wish to be taken care of.  In my experience you can't even get them to see what's occuring, to understand the inevitable, etc.  They are in denial.......and they vote.

This is evident in the case Mike speaks of in Ohio. Ohians voted to hasten their own collapse.*  Public sector unions pour millions into lobbying to maintain the status quo, meanwhile someone like me, who works in the private sector, has to pay for a portion of his employee benefits when the economy goes south. Simply ask the public sector to do what folks like me have already had to do and all hell breaks loose. The private sector has no taxpayer funded trough to feed at (in theory, although with bailouts these days.)

I don't know what the solution is, but I don't hold out much hope of our elected representatives getting us out of this mess.  How can we expect them to stop the largesse & get our house in order when we can't even get them to sign off on a bill to cut their own overinflated pay by 5%?

I often look at some of my fellow citizens and worry.  We both call ourselves Americans of course, and we both occupy the same country, yet the similarities feel like they end there.  The ideological gulf between us is that vast.  Sigh.  Maybe winter doldrums are making me more cynical than usual?

*government workers work for you and I, the taxpayer.  Why in the hell should they have collective bargaining rights?  Even FDR opposed collective bargaining for public sector employees and understood the toxic relationship it created between unions and government.

1911 Mags

You know what's really annoying?  When you buy a new ~$1100 gun and right out of the box the mags don't want to work.

The DW Heritage shipped with two Checkmate mags.  They are only so-so in the reliability department, with the biggest issue being the first round in the mag nosediving when trying to load the gun.  They do seem to run better at the range as long as I only load 7 rounds, but I don't trust them and they've been relegated to range-only mags.

My Chip McCormick Power Mag Plus mags?  Not a single problem.  They've run flawlessly in the Heritage since day one without my having to download them.

I also bought one Les Baer mag.  With the slide closed I can't even insert a loaded mag.  It'll go 90% in and I'll encounter a ton of resistance.  I'll be giving that one to Laura &  Chris the next time I see them.  Maybe it'll work in one of their 1911's.

I guess that's what you get when you buy a 1911, and why there are a million different manufacturers of 1911 mags.

Just like the Tea Party

A man is shot in the head at an Occupy Oakland protest.  A reporter trying to take video after the shooting was attacked and had her phone taken from her by a protester.  Other journalists fared even worse.

"A few feet away a TV cameraman was shooting footage and a crowd of twenty or so men attacked and punched him, forcing him over the railing of the 14th Street BART Station."

Unprovoked mob violence.  Violence seems to be a common thread with the OWS movement.  The media went apeshit when Tea Party protesters peacefully held signs with "violent" quotes from the Founding Fathers.  I can't even imagine what the coverage would've been like had the Tea Party engaged in the acts the OWS movement has so far.

Can you spot the problem?

A scumbag in New Castle, DE commits 8 robberies in 4 months and only gets 15 years in jail.  Oh, and being a felon in possession he obviously had priors.

Gee, what ever could be the problem?  Could it be lack of gun control, or could it be that when people habitually engage in violent crimes we go easy on them?

Quote of the day - It's called freedom

"Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission."

 - L. Neil Smith  - The Atlanta Declaration - Nov. 1987

Freedom would be nice, wouldn't it?

Safe Space

So the Zuccotti OWS protesters have built a "safe house" housing only women protesters in order to protect them from rapists & other sexual predators.  How sad, naive and disgusting is that?  Why should these women have to huddle in a "safe house" for fear of being raped at a protest?

I'm sure this "safe house" will work about as well as "gun-free zones."  Hey! Why didn't they just call the whole of Zuccotti park a "rape-free zone," put up signs and be done with it?  Who the hell thought that the response to an obvious predator problem was to put all of the potential victims in one centralized location and then magically deem it a "safe place?"

You know where a woman's rape-free "safe place" should be?  All around her, and any rapist who attempts to forcibly violate that should eat lead.  End of story.  Instead a man forces himself on an OWS protester in Zuccotti where one reporter observes,

"The threat of rape is very real here -- for women and men."

Even worse, the reaction of the victim in the article is "I'll try and get him arrested in the morning."  It pains me to see such a "sit back and take it" mentality from the victim.  It angers me to see these things happening, the media largely ignoring it, and the OWS "communities" deciding to internally police the matter.

The picture accompanying this NY Daily News article just makes me shake my head and sigh.

If a Conservative had written this about Barack Hussein Obama

If you read one thing today it should be this Time magazine piece about Herman Cain.  It's a degrading, disgusting, despicable piece of journalistic filth.  Should he be able to say it?  Yes, but can you imagine the outrage if a conservative had written such a piece about candidate Obama back in 2008?

Most of the article doesn't even attempt to attack Cain on policy or merit, it's just chock full of personal attacks.  (and this was written BEFORE the whole "sexual harassment" fiasco)

I'm going to quote the first line of the article just to give you a taste.  It gets worse from there.  He refers to Cain as "Big Daddy Cain," calls him a "clown" a "buffoon"

"This presidential election has not lacked for clowns, and in a circus Herman Cain fits right in. But as the Black clown, Cain’s foot-in-mouth moments mostly involve insulting the Black community."

The lengths people will go to in order to personally destroy black conservatives, and the vitriol aimed at them never ceases to amaze me.

I'm the only one professional enough

Sometimes you have to wonder what kind of "firearms training" the police are actually getting.

A Newark cops shoots another cop.  Let's see.

1. Handing a loaded firearm while not on the range
2. Two officers are handling the "abnormal" firearm and neither think to clear the weapon.
3. Not keeping said gun pointed in a safe direction while engaging in all of this handling.
4. More than likely one of em' put their finger on the bang switch.

According to the article these two officers had just finished firearms training.  Apparently they either can't listen or the Newark Police Dept. doesn't teach The Four Rules.  They might want to start teaching those as well as something Tam is fond of saying.  Stop touching it!

Quote of the day - Right conversion

"If the state converts a right into a privelege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right with impunity."

- State v. Shuttleworth

In theory this is true.  In practice, not so much.  I can certainly ignore it, but there'll be no impunity, that's for sure.

Mom W. is armed!

Mom W. is armed now and I'm not sure how I feel about it.  On the one hand, "Yay, good for her!"  On the other hand, there's now an empty spot in my safe.

 After I first brought her shooting a few years ago she asked "can the little gun be my gun?"  There have been a few more outings with the FS22 since then and I suppose I finally caved.  Sure, it's only a .22lr, but she likes it, shoots it well, and most importantly, she thinks it's "cute."

Now she just needs to buy her own Bersa so I can get mine back.

Oh, and she also said she'd like to get her CCDW eventually.  If you'd told me back when I started this blog that those words would come out of Mom's mouth I'd have said you were crazy.

Quote of the day - Massacre

"There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre."

-Louis L'Amour

I can't speak to whether that statement is true or not, but I do know that history is rife with examples of such massacre occurring.

Booze version of Tofu Bacon

Alcohol-Free whiskey?! 

If you thought tofu bacon was bad, this is even worse!What in the name of John Jameson?!

Oh, and in case you thought it couldn't get any worse, it comes in a CAN.

H/T to Nerdalicious

Occupy Delaware comes here

So it looks like Occupy Delaware is going to be squatting right by where I work.  Management has informed us that there will be extra State and Wilmington police in the area and they have increased our building security guard staff.

As of right now it appears they might be granted a permit to stay overnight for the weekend*, but predictably these folks have no respect for the rule of law.  They plan to stay indefinitely and ignore any orders to vacate the park.  The OWS group seems to think that because their general assembly voted to defy state law that it's perfectly OK.

*It is illegal to be in a state park after dusk in Delaware. This has been the case for years. I actually got chewed out by an OWS protester last week for simply pointing this fact out.

I'm still trying to decide whether I want to head down there tomorrow with my camera.

Oh the OWS Irony

Remember Men's Warehouse siding with Occupy Wall Street?

Well there were more protests by these bums in Oakland last night. The result?

"Other businesses that professed support for Occupy Oakland's general strike didn't escape the damage. Windows at the Men's Wearhouse, which closed Wednesday and put up signs of support, were shattered. "

As for the shotgun-wielding business owner who learned from the LA Riots in 92' and didn't have his shop looted,

"He grabbed a shotgun that he usually keeps at home, went down to the ground floor and "discouraged them,"

He sounds like a smart man who had the foresight to have his gun with him instead of at home.  Good job "discouraging" them!

And of course, had the "violent," "racist" Tea Party been doing things do you think the media would be simply dismissing it as merely a "vandal fringe?"  I think we all know the answer to that.

H/T to Unc

Friday Earworm - Badonkadonk

Religion of Peace?

French paper makes fun of  Mohammed, gets bombed by crazy Islamists.

Religion of peace.

Could you imagine if a group of Christians resorted to violence everytime someone made fun of Jesus in this country?  They'd be mighty busy.

Random Musing

 I was a miracle baby.  According to the doctors I shouldn't be sitting here typing this, nor should I be able to do all of the things I take for granted daily in what is by all accounts a pretty normal life.  I think that sometimes, knowing this, I felt like, "Well, I was given a 2nd chance, and yet I have nothing out of the ordinary show for it."

It's funny looking back, because I realize that I spent far too much time in my late teens / early twenties with that chip on my shoulder so to speak.  Perhaps it was "someone like me" syndrome.  I always felt like I had something to prove because even with my CP, I was one lucky SOB. (whether to others or to myself I don't know.  Probably a little of both)

 It took me longer than it probably should have to realize I should just do what I'm here to do. Live my life, whatever that may entail.  It's amazing just how much more content I was with life in general once I figured that out, and I wish I'd come to that realization sooner.

RIP William

Sometimes good people leave us far, far too early and it's impossible to make sense of it.  William the Coroner was such a person.  Rest in peace William.

I still can't believe it.  Two months ago he was standing right next to me on the firing line at Northcoast.  You will be missed, William.

Quote of the day - forbidding arms

"The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, short swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types of arms. The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings."

- Japanese Dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Yup.  That's kind of the point, which is why every dictator, every tyrant, throughout history has opposed private ownership of arms.

Interpersonal Communication

I love the internet, I really do.  Kids these days have no clue how good they have it. Looking at the way in which we communicate now versus how we did while I was growing up, the difference is astounding.  Just consider the gunblogging community.  Spread across the country you have people of differing backgrounds, races & socioeconomic positions and with wildly varying interests who share an interest in firearms and a love of freedom and individual liberty.

 I grew up playing phone tag constantly and walking to friends houses to see if they were home.  I didn't get a cell phone until high school.  It had awful reception and terrible battery life and was to be used only for actual emergencies and for rides during after school sports.  Oh, and I had to share it with my little sister.

"The internet" consisted of AOL on a dialup modem where you could chat with people via AIM if they happened to be on at the same time as you......assuming no one called your house and kicked you offline.  There was no Facebook, no Twitter, no Blogosphere, nada.

Imagine what the "Blogosphere" would be today if we were using 15 year old technology.  Think of the friends you wouldn't have, all the awesome people you wouldn't know, and most importantly, think of where the gun rights movement would be today.  The internet and social media might well be the greatest tool of those of us who love freedom.

Oh yeah, and suck it MSM!