Thursday, July 31, 2014

Ballseye's Portable PVC Target Stand

Last August, I got the plans to build a firearms target stand over at Bob's site: The Wandering Minstrel. I should note that Bob was not the originator of those plans, he got them at accurateshooter.com and according to that site, the plans were created by Utah shooter "Cheese". My thanks to all of them, especially to Bob though because if not for him, I would never likely have seen them.

I thought about building one back then but the truth was and is (that besides being The Great Procrastinator) I had little use for a portable target stand at the end of last summer. I rarely shoot anywhere other than my local ranges unless I am hunting. Of course, during the last couple of summer, I attended the Fifth & Sixth Annual Northeast Blogger Shoot and will be attending the seventh one this weekend. I thought - what better place to use a portable target stand and that was what got me motivated to get around to finally building one.

I went to Home Depot a day or two ago and picked up a two 10 foot lengths of 1.5" PVC tube, four 1.5" PVC elbows, two 1.5" PVC T's and two 8 foot long lengths of 1.5 x 1" pine furring strips. I had the guy at Homer's cut the PVC tubes in half for me so they would fit in the car. If you ever need anything cut, like a length of PVC or wood or whatever you are getting at Home Depot, may I recommend you cut it yourself it you want a nice even cut. I did not mind that when the HD guy cut the PVC, the ends were cut at uneven angles. I had plenty to spare in each 5 foot piece, so I cut the ends evenly once at home. Then I pulled up the plans (actually a detailed diagram) of what length pieces I would need. I got to measuring and cutting once I had found my tape measure and lugged the chop saw out of the shed where it has been pretty much forgotten for years. Amazingly it still worked okay.



Photo source was accurateshooter.com,
click on the link for the exact page.
As you can see in the above plans/photo, I only had to measure and cut 8 lengths of PVC (although I cut another 20" piece later for an improvement I made and added to T's), and cut two furring strips in half then whittle down one end on each of them a bit. It was a small and quick bit of work. In all, I am going to figure that from the total time expended, including bringing in the material in from the garage, getting the saw from the shed, setting up the saw, finding my tape measure and a marker and then going at it until finished was about 15 - 20 minutes for the original design. No sweat, I even got it right he first time round. I later added about another 10-15 minutes of work making some of my own design improvements. 

My new and improved version: Ballseye's Portable PVC
Target Stand. Note the additional materials.
Click on the photo to enlarge it.
After slapping the it together based on the original plans, I realized that a simple design change would add some strength and support to the stand. The addition of two T's and one more 20" cross member would make it stronger overall especially on windy days. I attached the two T's to the tops of the 24" uprights and placed a 20" cross member between them to bridge the gap between the uprights. About the only other thing that needed to be done was to cut the pine furring strips to size. I bought two 8' lengths. While the design calls for two 48" strips, since they are wood I wanted spares in case of bullet damage. I cut each of the 8' lengths in half. Then I whittled down the corners on one end of each of the now four strips. I started at 8" from the end and just took off the corners a bit down that 8" length. The strips then fit into the open top end of the T's on the upright PVC lengths with just about 36-37 " of the furring exposed.

I also did some drilling, something that was not in the original design. Bob had recommended holding down the whole thing with sand bags during windy weather. While Bob's idea was a good one, I did not like the idea of needing to lug around heavy sandbags that might leak sand in my trunk. At first, I though the solution to potentially messy sandbags might be stakes to hold the bottom of the target in place - either an inverted L or U shape but I could not find anything like that at Home Depot. Then I had another idea and I bought some galvanized 8" long spikes (they look like really big nails), six of them to be exact and six flat washers to fit. I drilled a hole into about the center of each of the lengths of PVC that rests on the ground, and can now use the spikes to hold them in place against the ground on windier days.

One of the 20" base pieces shown with the 8" anchor spike.

With my design though, you need to consider the possibility of ricochets if you shoot the spikes and although I think the risk of that is minimal I guess there is a small risk of hitting part of the spike and having fragments come back at you. Truth be told though, you would have to be near to being a terrible shot to have that happen since the spike head would be about 2" above ground surface if fully driven down to the top of the PVC.  
 
Be careful when drilling the holes for the anchor spikes, PVC will crack.
 
Another word of caution, when driving the spikes into the ground, through the holes in the PVC, make sure you do not hit them so hard as to drive the head into tubing with enough force to crack the PVC. PVC does crack as can be evidenced by the accompanying photo of a piece that cracked while I was drilling one of the spike holes (my only screw-up while making the stand).


The almost finished stand, I added the
drilled holes to each base piece later on.
 
There you have it, my version of a portable target stand.

All the best,
Glenn B










 

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Holy Galloping Gatling Guns Batman...

...at long last, tonight, I finally finished cleaning the remainder of my guns. Now I can get a bunch of em all fouled up again at the bloggershoot this weekend.

later 4 U,
GB

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Smith & Wesson Model 22A-1 - First Impressions

As I did, for the Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro, in my post immediately prior to this one, I am about to give my first impressions of my as of yet unfired Smith & Wesson Model 22A-1. It is, in my opinion, an unmitigated piece of $#!+ (if you can decipher that code you must be a genius) and I think Smith and Wesson should have been unwilling to have released this particular pistol for sale (and if they are all like mine then likewise for the lot of them).

As I always do, I decided to field strip mine and clean it prior to firing it. So, I read the directions as to field stripping (in fact I first read the manual in its entirety). I read the field stripping instructions a second time because there is so much redundancy about assuring you are doing it safely that I had to reread it all to make sure I did not miss anything while I was getting annoyed at all that extra precautionary stuff - and I do mean extra. I can safely say (pun intended) it is akin to one of my own YouTube videos on firearms wherein I go overboard with safety (yes I am or have been guilty of it myself). I can also safely say - that will change regards to my future videos after reading this S&W manual as I can now see how annoying it can be when someone goes overboard on safety. 

Anyway, there seemingly are problems with my particular S&W model 22A-1 pistol, so much for quality control at S&W. First off, when trying to remove the magazine for the field stripping process, I pressed the magazine release button (located on the front strap - front of the grip) several times all to no avail. The button barely depressed and my finger started to hurt as I was pushing it in that hard. Finally, I took a brass punch and depressed the magazine release and there was a click and the magazine still did not come out. I had to gently pry it out while pushing in on the mag release with the brass punch. I put the other magazine into the mag well (it came with two mags) and depressed the mag release. That magazine fell free with a normal (fairly light) press on the mag release button. I tried a few more times, that second mag came right out each and every time. The first mag though, that remained a problem. So, I am guessing that the magazine is faulty.

I continued on with the takedown process. Again, the instructions were somewhat annoying but I read each one completely as I went along. The manual says the takedown button may be difficult to depress, they were not kidding. I could not do it by hand and had to use a nylon hammer head against it, with the palm of my hand depressing the opposite side of the hammer head to get it to depress. I must admit, it seems to have broken free from whatever was causing that initial freeze up and I can do it with my thumb now. The barrel assembly came off fairly easily once I got the take down button freed.

I kept following the directions exactly as they wrote them and moved onto the slide removal. At this point there was another problem. I allowed the slide to move forward until it stopped just as they show and carefully lifted the rear of the slide while moving the slide forward and the recoil spring suddenly popped out some near its forward end and had a definite bend it. An examination of the recoil guide assembly showed that the white nylon (or plastic or whatever material) piece at its rear end was stressed as if under too much pressure (which would explain the spring popping out like that). The stress marks within the plastic were clearly visible. Mind you, I will say it again, this is a new gun, in the box and unfired - and it is obviously so (in other words, this stuff should not be happening).

Trying to figure what went wrong, I looked at the photo of the recoil spring assembly in the manual and counted the coils of the recoil spring that extended beyond the front end of the recoil spring guide when the rod is out of the pistol and the spring is relaxed. From what I could see, there were 13 coils showing in that photo but there are 15 coils on my spring that extend beyond the end of the guide rod. Not sure if that would cause too much tension but maybe that is the case. I know of another particular type of pistol that comes with different sized recoil springs and the difference is only about two or three coils and that little difference in length makes a difference in performance.

One other thing, while I was examining the recoil spring guide rod, that white plastic piece I mentioned fell right off with just the slightest nudge as I turned it in my fingers to look it over. Why S&W used plastic (or nylon or whatever) instead of a tightly fitted metal piece is beyond me except I think maybe that it saved them 1/10 of a penny on each pistol. Funny, on my pistol it is white plastic (nylon or whatever) but in the manual it is dark, like maybe it is made from metal. I also noted some of the parts of the frame appear to be plastic (maybe polymer) insets. I like my Glock with its polymer frame and some polymer and or plastic pieces but am none too sure of those types of parts on the S&W because the plastic (nylon or whatever) piece on the recoil rod already seems damaged and the gun is unfired and new from the factory.

I suppose it is needless to say but I will say it anyway, I am not too satisfactorily impressed with this pistol, in fact I am somewhat disappointed. Anyway, it has been cleaned and reassembled and is ready for the range. So, I will bring it along this weekend to the Seventh Annual Northeast Bloggershoot, hopefully for some shooty goodness this coming weekend. (I hope it actually fires and functions alright.) Maybe after some use, that magazine that was not dropping free will come out as it should when the mag release is depressed. I will do a review of how it shoots sometime after that. I will also probably contact S&W about what seem to be the existing problems and will clue you in, at a later date, as to how they respond. Hopefully mine is just a fluke.

All the best,
Glenn B

Political Humor Mirroring The Feelings Of Our Time


Yesterday In History - July 28th 100 Years Ago

It was on July 28, 1914 that the first hostilities of World War One commenced. That means that yesterday (pretty much still today for me since I am still up and about) was the 100th anniversary of its first hostilities. The first artillery salvo of the war was fired on Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in preparation for an invasion of Serbia to avenge the death of Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to that empire, and his wife Sophie who was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Yugoslav national, Gavrilo Princip, exactly one month before on June 28th.

The irony of WWI was that when it commenced it was thought by the most of involved world leaders that it would be over quickly, within months at most, with minimal losses. The war lasted until November 11, 1918 and was one of the bloodiest conflicts ever. There were 38,880,500 military casualties consisting almost 10,000,000 dead, 7,750,000 missing in action and almost 21,220,000 wounded in action. Those were only the military casualties (source).

It is often referred to as the first modern war and many of the weapons we use in warfare today were first used in battle in WWI. Those weapons included large scale gas warfare, the tank, the submarine fired torpedo, the depth charge and so on. Read about it here or at any of the many available websites covering it or in many more books published about the War to End All Wars.

All the best,
Glenn B

Monday, July 28, 2014

Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro - First Impressions

The Great Procrastinator (who would be me) has finally gotten around to taking a decent look at my Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro pistol in .45ACP. I guess it is about time, but not too bad for me since I picked it up in mid June earlier this year and this look omes sooner than for some of my other guns. I took a little more than a look at it today, I gave it a good cleaning too. Even though sold to me as new and unfired it needed to be cleaned prior to me firing it and no I have not fired it yet.

The asking price, on the label on the box, was $483.00. I got it at auction for $225.00. I seriously doubt that this pistol would have ever sold for the $483 asking price but who knows. As I write, there is currently a used one up for auction on Gunbroker that has a bid of $255 so far. Other used ones, without any bids yet, have required starting bids of anywhere from $175 to $425. I saw two listed as new in box with asking prices of $375 and the other at $495.99 with a buy it now price of $499.99. Go figure, it looks to me as if I got a pretty good price on mine but considering I had to leave it at the auction house, then get the necessary paperwork from my county PD and return to the auction house to pick it up that added a considerable mount to its cost. Still a good deal I suppose on the pistol itself.

The pistol comes in a black molded plastic box of the type without hinges, the plastic on back, where the hinge would be, acts as a hinge until bent enough times then usually breaks on this type of case. Same for the locking tabs on the front, no hinges just bendable plastic. The things included in the box were the pistol's papers consisting of a manual, a warranty registration card, an instruction sheet for the magazine loader. Accessories included in the box were a spare magazine, a magazine loader and two pistol lock keys for the built in pistol lock. Of course, the box also contained the pistol and an inserted magazine (total of 2 mags, both steel with polymer bottom, and both 10 rounders).

The pistol itself is a combination steel slide and polymer frame. The grip, to me seems to be on the smaller side as compared to other pistols I have shot with double-stack magazines. It is not so much that it is small overall but feels very narrow from its front of the grip to the portion of the backstrap where the webbing between your thumb and hand connects with the grip. Gives it kind of a funny feel at least to me but seems like it will be manageable. Time, a trip to the range, and shooting at least 250 rounds of ammo at the Seventh Annual Northeast Bloggershoot this weekend, should tell.

Taking the pistol down for cleaning was pretty straightforward and easy. It is also necessary to take it down for cleaning before shooting it if new. Take my word on that one because Taurus apparently filled it to the gills, so to speak, with a white and very thick protective grease; there was a good amount of it in there though relative to size not quite much as there would be Cosomoline in a Mosin Nagant rifle but maybe half that much relative to the sizes of each of those guns. I would imagine that if you took one of these right out of the box new and fired a couple to a few hundred rounds through it that you would wind up disappointed, because with all that goop in there it would, in my estimation, wind up failing to function sooner than later. Do yourself a favor and clean it before shooting it.

Disassembly consisted of taking out the magazine, assuring it was unloaded, locking the slide to the rear with the slide catch lever (their terminology), turning the disassembly catch clockwise, removing that latch, releasing the slide catch, pulling the slide forward while pulling on the trigger to remove the slide, removing slide spring and guide (again their terminology), and removing the barrel. Reassembly is basically done in reverse order. It was easier than a 1911 or a Ruger MKII, that's for sure.

The action is double action for the first shot, then single action for the ensuing shots. The trigger reset after each sot seems minimal and to me it felt surprisingly by feel but when I watched it function it seemed about average. If you let the trigger go fully forward after you pull it the first time in double action mode, you will find that there is very little resistance in pulling the trigger a second time once the gun recocks. If you are checking this without ammo in the gun, you need to action the slide after pulling the trigger in double action mode to get the effect so that the gun is now cocked in SA mode. The trigger pull necessary to fire in DA is on the lighter side as compared to other DA/SA pistols I have fired and the SA trigger pull also seems light to me. I am guessing around 5 pounds of tension required to get it to fire in SA mode but that is just my guess.

The rear sight on mine is the Heinie Straight Eight sight which apparently is a rear combat style, single dot sight, maybe adjustable for windage by way of drifting it. The front sight, also a Heinie, is a single dot sight that appears as if it may be adjustable by drifting it. Note I am not to sure on either sight being adjustable by drifting them so make sure to check with Taurus before trying to adjust them in any manner.

The barrel is blued at the front portion but unblued at the chamber. It is 3.35" long with a 1:12" rate of twist with 6 grooves. It is chambered for .45 ACP. With a fully loaded standard magazine and one round loaded in the chamber, this pistol holds 11 rounds (10/1). Note the this pistol has a built in locking device that when activated, with a key, makes it inoperable (not a feature I like at all in a self defense pistol). Overall length of the pistol is 6.125", height is 5.125", width is 1.25" and the weight is 22.2 ounces (I am guessing unloaded). Overall, the fit and finish appear to me to be at least very good. There were some sticking points when I tried to take of the slide during disassembly but I am hoping that is just because it is brand new (old stock); if that is a problem not due to the newness of the pistol but due to fitting or finishing of parts, that would drop my estimation of the pistol to a much lower level. As I said though, my guess is probably because it is brand new. The source of these specifications and more information about the Taurus PT145 Pro can be found at the following link: http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=39&category=Pistol

Note that this pistol is no longer in production. According to a check by serial number, on the Taurus website, mine was produced in 2011 and is the Taurus model PT145BP with no mention of Millennium Pro in there; however, the pistol is clearly marked that it is the PT-145 Pro on the left side of the slide and also clearly marked Millennium on the right side of the slide.

My first overall impressions, while not yet having fired it, is that this is a mid level to maybe somewhat high quality pistol in a mid budget price range that has a less than desirable addition of a built in locking device. Once I have fired it this weekend, I'll write up what I thought about its performance.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Ruger MKII - After All These Years - Still A Pain In The Arse

I've had a Ruger MKII for many years now. Not sure how long, I'd guess since the mid eighties; no not the 1880s but sometimes it seems like it's been that long. It's a really fun gun to shoot. My version is a MKII with 5 1/2 inch blued steel target barrel, alloy frame and adjustable sights. I've had a lot of fun with it and my son Brendan has gotten to shoot it a few times in free states outside of the communist republiKa of NY. The thing is, as many of you know, the Ruger MKII can be a pain in the arse to disassemble and reassemble for cleaning and maintenance.

Now, I have been taking care of mine for many years but I probably only take it apart for cleaning about 4 to 6 times per year. You would think that in the past (I'm getting up to find the receipt to see when I bought it) 30 years (yes I found the receipt) I would have gotten pretty adept at taking it down and reassembling it. But no, I have not been able to burn the takedown steps into my little gray cells in all that time and often need help remembering the required steps. The takedown is really pretty easy, just remembering the steps required is not. Anyway, a quick look in the manual or a quick look at my online Ruger MKII disassembly video and I can get it done in a Jiffy. If I don't have access to them, I can usually figure it out, just takes a bit longer. of course, if mine was a new Ruger MKII, it would be a pain in the arse regardless of having the manual or not because the housing latch would be nearly impossible to operate. Mine though is well broken in as far as that goes and the latch comes out pretty easily.

Reassembly is another story. The reassembly steps are pretty easy to remember because it pretty much goes in reverse with just a couple of things that you need to remember as to parts placement to get it to go back together right. Still, even though I did both a disassembly video and a reassembly video on YouTube and I usually sit down to watch my own very informative step by step reassembly video when doing it, I can still have problems getting it back together. I just cleaned the darned thing and it took me at least 10 to 12 attempts to seat the bolt stop pin correctly so it did not pop right back out as soon as I started to seat the main spring housing. I paid particular attention to making sure the hammer and hammer strut were in the proper position each time - well at least each time but one. When I finally got the bolt stop to stay put, when I swung the main spring housing into the backstrap, the gun looked assembled correctly. Nope, not a chance - a quick test showed that it would not function because I did not pay attention to the hammer strut that one time and it was seated in the wrong position. So, I took it apart again, slapped it back together figuring it would not take yet once again and holy horse doody everything fell into place perfectly, truly easier than pie. This happens way too often; not everything just falling and snapping into place but the doing it over and over and over again before I get it right. That holds even when I follow my own advice in the Ruger MKII reassembly video that I made and that other folks have said was the trick to help them getting it done (even though it is very detailed and overly long at almost 13 minutes).

I am not the only one who thinks that Ruger MKI and MKII pistols are a pain in the posterior. (I cannot speak to the MKIII, never even held one let alone took one down or put one back together.) There are plenty of us in the world who all think likewise. Yet, we keep them and love them because they are fun to shoot and at least used to be fairly inexpensive. (I have no idea what they go for today but I got mine for about $180.) Maybe too, we love them because they are a bit of a challenge to we who love such a thing or whom some consider to be we the easily challenged ;>). Anyway, I still have mine and its been one heck of a long love hate relationship. Wow, I just realized how ancient I must sound, I have owned this gun for over 30 years and it's not the one that I have owned for the longest either. Jeesh - it probably should be about time for my daughter or son to think of making some grandkids so I am still alive and kicking when they are old enough to learn to shoot - don't ya think! I'll have to start dropping hints, at least to my daughter who is married. Maybe I should hold off with my son since he isn't married yet.

As for gun cleaning, I'm still not done. A few more pistols to go for tomorrow. Then that will be it except for the one long gun I forgot about - my Remington 870; it's around here someplace.

All the best,
Glenn B

More Gun Cleaning Today,...

...isn't it ever over! I've been cleaning my pistols, this evening, in anticipation of the Seventh Annual Northeast Bloggershoot this coming weekend. Been taking my time at it and so far, I have cleaned only four of them so I still have several handfuls to go.

Exactly as I just left it to do this blog-post. Before anyone asks,
yes that is a bottle of vodka, right next to the water and no I am not imbibing
while cleaning guns. I know a lot better than that. I do have it to look forward to
once I am done with all of my gun cleaning chores. Later for a vodka/fruit smoothie!
I am happy I decided to clean them now and did not wait even one day longer. One had some very light rust a forming (or maybe it was dirty oil) but it wiped right off with a solvent soaked cloth. Another, a Beretta 92FS, was dirty as all hell because I shot it a lot recently and was lazy and did not clean it right after shooting. I rediscovered a hard to see spot, on the inside of the frame, that had three grooves that were filled with caked carbon fouling and I do mean filled. I must have forgotten to get those grooves last couple to few times I cleaned that gun. That fouling would probably
explain a few failures to cycle properly last time I shot it. Man oh man was it dirty in general but especially in those spots. The two other guns were pretty much spotlessly clean but I still gave them the once over for good maintenance.

I almost cannot believe it is only 6 days and a wake-up before we leave to head up to the sooperseKrit location for the Seventh Annual Northeast Bloggershoot, then one more day until the actual shoot. I am looking forward to it and so is my son, as I think is his girlfriend. I am looking forward to seeing both of them shoot more than me shooting although I am sure to have lots of fun blasting away at whatever targets we set up.

A couple to a few full auto guns are promised to be there and I have ammo for at least two of them. That should be some fun shooting. I am bringing along a decent supply of binary bang stuff that we will mix once there for some really fun targets. Not too much in one container though, the folks sharing their range with us have neighbors. Then again, I guess our bangs can be at least as loud as the cannon blasts that start and end the shooty goodness of the day.

Enough keyboard jabbering, I've got to get back to pistol cleaning. I have those on the table and more to go.

All the best,
GB

 

Saturday, July 26, 2014

One For The Men - Camel Toe Which Survives

There I was, watching a rerun of one of the original Star Trek episodes - That Which Survives. It costarred Lee Meriwether as a deadly alien vixen. As I was watching, I was struck by the irony that not only was the episode called That Which Survives but Star Trek is that which survives. Then again it also a case of camel toe which survives. In this instance it was a case of CT in triplicate. How they got away broadcasting that in the 1960s is beyond me.

Yes men, it's there; click on the pic to see it.
All the best,
Glenn B

 

While It May Never Come To A Zombie Apocalypse...

...we are ready or one, and I mean it - well I sort of mean it anyway. A zombie apocalypse may indeed be farfetched, even impossible, but a major shit hits the fan (SHTF) or the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) situation seems to be not all that improbable considering the current state of the world and of our nation. There are several catastrophic situations in which we could find ourselves, a few examples being: a set of worldwide and fairly well-coordinated chemical or biological or radiological attacks by a terrorist group, a third world war or another great depression. It seems we may be headed toward all three. Then there are natural events. A tsunami, and earthquake, major flood and storm damage are all quite possible.  While remote, there is also the possibility of the earth being hit by a huge meteor. That does not seem all that likely but is possible. Speaking of natural events, from space, how about the earth being hit by a coronal mass ejection? Sure you know what that is, or don't you? It's when the sun throws off huge amounts of mass and energy in a huge solar flare. There was a lot of talk about one of those going to hit us two summers ago, the Blogosphere was abuzz with it. Thing is, it missed us. (source)

We may have been very lucky that  particular solar flare missed us even though it, like a similar solar blast back in 1859, was a moderate one. The scientific types at NASA and others seem to be claiming that had that one hit us two summers ago, we may have faced outages in the electric grid for months and that full repair of the damage may have taken years. They use as an example, a similar solar event called the Carrington Event. During that solar storm, from August 29 to at least September 3, 1859, there were northern hemisphere disruptions of telegraph service (basically the electric grid of that era).  Telegraph operators were reportedly shocked by current off of the telegraph lines that had been powered of and some telegraphs supposedly still could send messages even though they had been disconnected from their power supply (source). Imagine that much electricity added to our power grid and what that surge could do to the grid let alone our household and business electronic devices. During that solar storm, there were also major disruptions of the earth's ionosphere. Both the Aurora Borealis and the southern aurora were seen far beyond where they are normally witnessed. The Aurora Borealis, for instance, was seen as far south as Cuba and Hawaii.

It is believed that if we were hit with a solar flare like that (or greater) it would cause major damage to the electric grid and would cause power outages lasting months if not longer. I can tell you, it was nasty living for a few days (or a bit more) without power after Tropical Storm Sandy. Think of what it would be like with intermittent or no electric power for months. People would be out of work because their jobs would have no power source. Food production and deliveries would halt or at the very least would slow to a crawl. Water, certainly at least clean water, would be a rarity in many locations. Security systems, 911 call centers, would all be without power. Hospitals and medical centers would maybe have minimal power by way of generators. Homes would be with heat in many cases. It would be dark at night, no street lights, no businesses lit up, no lights in your home except maybe candlelight.

The rats (four and two legged) would crawl out of their holes and be looking to get whatever they could take. It possibly would be anarchy. Yeah, sure, the police would do all they could do and the military would probably be called in to assist, or at least the National Guard would be out tromping about. They, the government types, would get almost all of any available fuel for generators. You and I likely would get none. There would be rationing of everything. Obama's law allowing for seizures, from U.S. Citizens without probable cause or due process, of just about anything imaginable would go into effect. You remember that law - the one that also allows him to put you in a FEMA camp for your own protection and the one he said would never be necessary. When did that law go into effect - think about it. 

Yes folks, it would certainly be TEOTWAWKI, at least temporarily.  Think about how bad it could be and ask yourselves  - are you prepared! Prepared for what you may wonder and I say just prepared to survive with the basics like shelter, food, water and the ability to defend yourselves. Really, if a solar flare could disrupt, maybe even completely fry our electrical grids for months, what would life be like. Would you be willing to depend up, maybe even begging, the government to allow you to depend upon it? My bet would be that a months long power outage would result in something between daily riots by the unscrupulous and unprepared to FEMA rounding up and disarming citizens and then putting them in emergency government camps for the duration, of course - all for their own good (I hope you feel the sarcasm in those last few words).

Camp life would not be for me or mine. There is no way the government is prepared for something like this and no way they could do better at protecting me and mine than me and mine doing it ourselves. So, I’d prefer to take my chances with the rioters. Thus, even if the Zombie Apocalypse never hits, at my place we are kind of sort of ready for something like that anyway (at least at this time of year, I don't know about winter but I think we could make due then too). No, we are not preppers - not in the classic sense – but we are prepared at least somewhat.
 
Oh, I guess I should also mention, this could all amount to a hill of beans (or a few large cans of them that I have in storage) and leave us prepared for nothing catastrophic at all. In that event, I'll get to feed the family on the cheap for a good while once I decide to open our emergency rations.  Beyond that, Brendan and I can shoot a lot at the range too once I crack open the ammo cache. Either way, we win.
 
All the best,
Glenn B
 
 
 

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Thank Heavens He Was Running As A Democrat...

...because otherwise the anti-gun crowd would be all over this like white on rice. I am willing to bet that the leftists would be out there already marching and chanting about changing the guns laws to make them more restrictive - that is if this guy, Mark Byrge as per my source, was a Republican, a conservative or a libertarian. He is none of those, the report says he is running for the Utah legislature as a Demoncrat Democrat. Here is what the Democrat Party reportedly had to say about him:

"Utah Democratic Party spokeswoman Anna Thompson said the party was not working with Byrge on his campaign." (source)"

As for the reason they apparently distanced themselves from him, my guess would be because he was arrested for allegedly
kidnapping and then assaulting a man and for obstruction of justice. Police are saying that this guy forced a man into his home and then pistol whipped him in an argument over money owed to the suspect by the victim. The dispute, they say, may have been related to money owed to the suspect over a prescription drug debt owed to him by the victim or his girlfriend who allegedly may have had received prescription drugs from the suspect (they apparently developed that lead through reading text messages between the suspect and victim). According to the report, the suspect's wife as also arrested for obstruction after he allegedly told her to, in essence, destroy or get rid of evidence. (Plenty more here at the source.)

Funny, I do not recall the article mentioning that the suspect legally owned the gun, had any type of license for it or if one was required, or obtained it illegally. I also did not notice anything about if he possessed or needed a pharmacist's license to dispense prescription drugs. It was mentioned that he had a prior criminal record though. "Court records show that from 1991 to 2001, he was convicted or pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault, violating a protective order, intoxication and interfering with an arrest, among other counts."  (source)

Yep, for once I truly am happy someone was running as a Democrat. Thing is, unless he is convicted before the election, it appears he can remain on the ballet. Somehow, I doubt he will win even if he runs.

All the best,
Glenn B

Let's Go, Let's Go, You and Me...

Let's go, let's go to WWIII.
Let's go, let's go - you and me,
Let's go, let's go fight WWIII...

It may be closer than you think. See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/24/pentagon-evidence-shows-russia-firing-artillery-uk/

Then again why should we believe the Pentagon now after their so called fiasco relative to claims of WMD in Iraq. Funny, I believed them then and believe them now too even though Buffoonicus majoricus is in power as opposed to Buffoonicus minoricus the last time around.

I think WWIII may be closer than we ever imagined, at least within the last 31 years or so.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Have Better Things On Which To Waste My Time...

...than wasting it on New York State government bureaucracy and inefficiency. I hold a security guard license in NY State. It was an unarmed guard license that I upgraded to an armed guard license (at great expense to me). In June, the state sent me a letter saying I am missing an armed guard course. I called the state offices on this this, every person to whom I have spoken has said my training is up to date and complete. My license expired yesterday (July 23)because someone in the state government's licensing division keeps saying that my guard training is not up to date and specifically that I am missing an armed guard course. My training is up to date, has been ever since May 5th, but the state has seen fit to allow my license to expire even though, each time I have called them about this snafu and it has been several times now, they ultimately have told me my training is up to date. Not only has it been fairly expensive to maintain all of the training as I have done, but it is about to get more expensive in that I may lose the prospects of two places that are considering me for employment. That would truly suck and I see no light at the end of the tunnel.

As I typed the above, one of the state employees called me to say I am missing last year's armed guard course. I explained that I only switched from unarmed to armed guard last year and thus took a 47 hour armed guard course last year. Had they granted my armed license for the normal 2 year course of issue, I would have been required to take an 8 hour firearms course this year, then again next year before July 23rd BUT they only gave me a year on the armed license . So, even this guy then said all I needed was the training I already have taken. Yet, he had no solution.

He did have more bad news though. A person I spoke to previously said all that needed to be done was that a roster from one office had to be sent to another office documenting my training, regardless that they could already see it in their computer system, and then my license would be issued. The guy who I just spoke to was the guy I was supposed to tell that too as per the person I spoke to earlier today. he said that is wrong, they already have my info in their computer system and they do not send a roster from one office to the other.

If this is not the stereotypical mess that is bureaucracy then what is it?

All the best,
GB
Edited to add: Found a message on my cell today, July 25th, from a lady at one of the braches involved with training and licensing. She told me all my training is up and she cannot figure out why they have not issued my license renewal. She also told me to call a specific supervisor. Called him and he seems to be the go to, get it done, kind of a guy. He had also been contacted by the guy who ran my armed training course (good guy) who is also trying to help me on this. Well, the gentleman I spoke to today said it should be straightened out by Monday and he will call me back then. I am optimistic.

Only 7 days and a wake-up...


...before Brendan, Haylie and I head of to the sooperseKrit location for the Seventh Annual Northeast Bloggershoot. I have enough ammo (yes there really can sometimes be enough even in today’s hard times of finding ammo for sale at decent prices). I have enough guns, at least for this shoot. Not too sure just yet as to how many of them or which ones I will bring but am pretty sue I will drag along the two latest purchases. They would be the Smith & Wesson Model 22A-1 and the Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro. I am almost certain that I will also bring my Remington R1 1911. My Glock 26 (will be on my hip for the trip).

In addition to those I may bring a couple or a few other 22 pistols. As for the rifles, I am none to sure yet but right now am planning on my Marlin 336 (it’s annual field test prior to hunting). I may also bring: the Marlin XL7, and obligatory Mosin Nagant or two or three (need something with a sharp and pointy end for the bayonet charge at the end of the day). The tough question would be what to bring in addition to those, if anything else? Maybe the Romanian WASR-10 and some rifles in 22LR and of course Brendan will want the Marlin 25MN.  Oh yeah then there are the shotguns... As usual it’s time for decisions, decisions, decisions!
 
All the best,
Glenn B

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Open Carry Does Not Make You A Lawman

Just because you live somewhere in which the law allows for open carry of a firearm, and you decide to openly carry one, does not mean that you have been granted any type of police authority by the open carry law. I would guess that most of you who carry realize that but there apparently are some folks out there who do not. Picture if you will that you are openly carrying a pistol in an exposed hip holster. You walk into a local shop to make a purchase and another customer see that you are armed, demands that you show him you pistol license, then when you do not produce it, he draws his own pistol and again demands to see your license (which the law does not allow in this instance). What would you do?

The guy who was drawn on, in this story, was pretty reserved about it and just made his purchase and left the store. Then he called the police. The jerk who allegedly pulled his pistol out reportedly did not aim at the other man but there certainly was a threat of imminent death or serious bodily harm and that was more than enough justification to use deadly force against him to put a stop to the threat he was posing. I am none too sure that I would have thought it safe to merely walk away while that moron had his gun out. In fact, I am none too sure that the guy who demanded to see the pistol license, in that particular manner, would still be standing had he done it to me or even with me present while doing it to the other guy. As it turned out, the police responded and arrested the guy who had drawn his pistol. More here: http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/todays-top-stories/x1736693358/First-day-of-new-gun-law-leads-to-arrest.

This happened in Georgia on the very first day of a new law allowing for open carry. Under that new law, even the police cannot demand to see your license. I like the law, I think it is great. I am none too sure I would open carry but think the option should be there for everyone. The law though does not convey any police power or other authority to anyone merely because they are now allowed to openly carry a firearm. In other words, just because you have one on your hip, you do not suddenly become Wyatt Earp and that holds true even if you bought yourself a shiny plastic badge in the local toy store. I am hopeful that the moron who pulled his firearm is charged and gets jail time for that one. If not jail time, maybe a judge will see fit to have him hand out fliers to folks explaining that open carry of a gun does not magically make you a lawman.

All the best,
Glenn B

Monday, July 21, 2014

Busy With Yard Work - No Range Time

Started cleaning the BBQ grill today, had to stop because I ran out of cleaner. Tomorrow for that. Continued working on back lawn, ripping it up with a pick axe, little by little, and planting a new lawn. Did that up front, half the lawn is lush with thick bladed grass, the other half is partly grassy but looks like a 25 year old guy in the middle of going bald. I don't quite get why one side of the front lawn has one type of grass - nice thick grass blades and the other side a different type, thin like an old hag's hair. Maybe I used some old seed before I bought the new stuff. Wish I could remember what was the old stuff cause I put the new stuff in for the back yard too and it is coming in like it is in the front - partly baldy and the grass leaves are thin, skimpy looking sad little things. Oh well, I can check online before I buy more seed cause I am not going to ask one of the buffoons at Homer's Depot again.

The work in the back is going slow. I probably did an 8x8 or maybe 10x10 area today. hacking away with the pick axe to turn the soil down to a few inches and rip up whatever grass is there. Then kneeling down and pulling away all the old grass and weeds, getting whatever soil off that I can free from the roots, and trashing the rest (some going on the compost heap but  that may be a lost cause this year, my son kind of messed it up trying tom do a good deed). As for the back yard, some parts are bare other parts a lush. Just had a paving block walk and small patio put in and they filled in around it with dirt because they put it in above grade due to the nature of the grade. What they did though was put new fill atop old grass and dead grass roots. Just makes it more difficult hacking away at it with the pick axe but I got through all of that, or so I think. Just one small patch to go and I will have completed about 1/2 of the back lawn/yard. Have it all fenced off so the dogs wont mess it up. I will let that grow in and establish itself somewhat and only then will I start the other half.

Also, I went to Homer's Depot tonight to get more topsoil for fill. Taking out the old grass sure removes a lot of soil. My backyard is small and so far I have bought about 20 cubic feet of top soil. My son thinks it is too much but I am pretty sure it will not be enough. Cheap enough, so no big problem, just a bitch unloading the car tonight because right after going to Homer's, I hit the gym and did 4.5 miles on the treadmill. Then I come home to find my son's car in the driveway, meaning I had to park across the street and lug ten bags of that dirt into my backyard from there instead of much closer. Not the end of the world though, I found his stash of two bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky in the garage and cracked one open (with his permission). I am enjoying it now mixed in with a Kirkland Signature Pale Ale. Delicious! My son is enjoying knocking back a few at the local family pub. More lawn work for me tomorrow and watering the flowers and veggies and cleaning the grill and cleaning some of the critter enclosures and little to no time for the range.  I need some range time badly, want to finally sight in my Mossberg XL7, just received a laser bore sight for it. The Gods know that it is about time, heck I have had it well over a year and have not shot it even once. Maybe I can do that Wednesday or Thursday.

All the best,
GB

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Smart Reuse Of Corks Or Is It A Training Video For A Future Alcoholic...

...or maybe it is both. I am making no judgments about this one; all I can think is that with all those corks - somebody must be drinking a lot of wine.

http://www.ulive.com/video/wine-cork-coasters-3-more-ways-to-use-up-your-wine-cork-stash

I supply the link, you watch and you decide.

All the best,
GB

Why Resort To Deadly Force?

Watch the video and tell me do you see a need for the police officer (the guy with the number 99 on the back of his shirt) to evidently have applied a choke hold to the suspect. I have watched the video repeatedly over the past couple of days and no matter how many times I watch it, I do not see a reason for him to have resorted to deadly force. Do you see any reason for the officer to have resorted to the use of deadly force?

As I said, I sure don't but maybe someone else sees it another way and can explain to me why deadly force was applied. Yes - choke holds are considered deadly force. If that was not a choke hold, I sure missed or misunderstood something in my martial arts and law enforcement training.



I could understand resorting to deadly force, even a choke hold, if the officer had the required amount of reasonable cause (or probable cause - which was required on my job to use deadly force) necessary to believe his or another's life was in danger or that the threat posed risk of serious bodily injury to him or others. I saw no need for deadly force to be employed - none at all - but maybe you see something I am missing. The only thing I can think of is that the offender had a history of using deadly force against officers in the past and that could be figured into the reasoning, along with his resisting, for the officer to use deadly force - but I think that is a stretch. Otherwise, I just don't understand why it was used.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Friday, July 18, 2014

I Think He Got Only Half The Beating He Deserved

A father reportedly walked into a room to see another man allegedly sexually assaulting the father's 11 year old son at a home in Daytona Beach, FL. A short while later, the dad called 911 to report:

 "I just walked in a grown man molesting...and I got him in a bloody puddle for you, officer."

In addition he also told the police:

"He is nice and knocked out on the floor for you"

The boy reportedly said that the man, identified as Raymond Frolander, took him to a another room in the house and pulled his pants down (I don't know if that means the suspect pulled his own pants down or if he pulled the boys pants down).

The suspect reportedly told police: "I'm guilty" when he was questioned by them.

More at the source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/18/florida-dad-beats-man-found-raping-his-son-report-says/?intcmp=latestnews


I would say that the guy is lucky to be alive and that he probably only received about half the beating that he deserved. I have to say though, only half the beating was one hell of a whooping. Just look at that face!

The father was not charged. However, if the father is arrested and charged for this at a later date, and if there is a legal defense fund set up for him (of which I become aware), I am pretty sure I will make a donation if the facts remain as reported. I have to hand it to him, the father showed a lot of restraint. As far as I am concerned, he deserves a medal for giving him a beating and not outright killing that piece of dirt. Now, I would guess that is he is convicted, the suspect will have lots of really close buddies while in prison - really close and intimate too! It does not get much better than that.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Even Though The Evidence Indicates The Separatists Fired The Missile...

...each party involved reportedly is blaming another. The Ukrainians have blamed the Russian backed separatists and say they have recorded phone calls that prove so. The Russians, in the form of Putin, are blaming the Ukrainians - not for firing the missile but Putin says they caused the unrest and that led to the downing of the plane. (Source.)

I am not sure if the Russians or the Donetsk People’s Republic (the separatists) are the ones doing what I am about to mention but I believe it is the Donetsk People's Republic, in particular the Cossacks among them. They are blaming someone alright but it may not be whom you would expect. They have blamed, in effect, Malaysian Airlines. The following is part of the third of the recorded phone calls, purportedly between Russian Intelligence and members of the Donetsk People’s Republic, and it pretty much places the blame squarely on Malaysian Airlines:

““... They shouldn’t be fucking flying. There is a war going on.”" (Source of quote.)

I guess my theory that maybe Muslim Extremists were involved has been flushed down the toilet, which I pretty much expected would happen but I never would have imagined that anyone would have blamed the airline, the plane, the crew or the passengers. One would think that in a war, proper identification of the target would be a primary concern. Would these arsehats have blamed the flight crew had it been a Russian or a Donetsk People's Republic military plane that they shot down  by mistake? I doubt it, they probably already would be facing a field court marshal or have been shot by now. That they were arsehats though there is no denying. Not only were they desperate enough to try to push the blame onto the airline by saying they should not have been flying over the disputed territory in the Ukraine, they also took it a step further. See those three dots in the above quote, they indicate there was something in that quote before the part I quoted. Here it is:

"That means they were carrying spies..." (Source of quote.)

The person saying that is referring to the aircraft flying over disputed Ukrainian territory. That part makes the quote complete and shows the utter outlandishness of the separatists in trying to assuage their own responsibility for killing 298 innocent people. Blaming it on the victims seemingly never gets to old to use just one more time. Let's hope things don't get much crazier than this; lesser incidents than one like this have led to major wars in the past.

I guess the only ones I have not heard from regarding placing blame for this is Malaysian Airlines. I imagine they have a lot more important things to attend to right now than that.

All the best,
Glenn B

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Here Is One For The Conspiracy Theorists (or Is it Two)

We assumed that either Malaysia Airline flight MH370, that disappeared in march either went down because of catastrophic aircraft failure or because of terrorism. The airliner has yet to be found but we have some clues leaning toward terrorism such as the deviation in flight path of that plane, the fact that the pilot said everything was okay despite the deviated flight path, the flight simulator in the pilot's (or was it co-pilot's) home and so on.

Now we have a second Malaysian Airlines aircraft, flight number MH17, a Boeing 777 like the first, that has gone down. This one over the Ukraine but evidently shot down by a missile. Now the pundits are saying it had to have been either shot down by the Ukraine, or by separatists in the Ukraine, or by Russia. Each might have something to gain if they could get it to appear that the other side did it. ach would have a lot to lose if the blame was assigned to them.

Presuming that MH17 was shot down by a missile, might we also put forth the hypothesis that yet another party may stand to gain if they shot it down instead? I am also wondering if it is a sad coincidence that this is the second Malaysian Airlines aircraft that apparently has gone down in a few months or was it not coincidental. In other words was this a planned attack with Malaysia Airlines as the target? Thinking along those lines makes me ask myself, who other than Russia, the separatists, or the Ukraine might have done it and, then who could gain the most from it and pretty much stand to lose nothing if they were found out. The answer that keeps resonating throughout the little gray cells is: Muslim Extremists.

In the case of extremists attacking flight MH17 (the one that was shot down today) by coincidence, they might have done so to gain increased infamy among their cohorts, furtherance of the Extremist Islamist jihad against the rest of the world, and probably an increase in recruitment. They might gain if they cause an all out war between Russia and the Ukraine just by their having attacked it or any other company's airliner. If war broke out over this because it was wrongly believed it had to have been Russia, or separatists, or the Ukraine, when it fact it may have been Islamic terrorists, other countries might ultimately become involved in that war. Thereby, enemies of Islamist extremists (virtually any non-Muslim country and even many Muslim countries) might be weakened by involvement in such a war. The combatants who would be busy fighting one another would have less time to devote to the cessation of terrorism and the termination of Islamic extremism. 

Now maybe the flight today and the one in March were targeted purposefully. Why target two Malaysian Airlines flights months apart? Well, Malaysia is over 60% Muslim. There are conflicts between Muslim groups there on a regular basis, deadly conflicts. The government of Malaysia is trying to quell the conflicts and thus in essence has taken a sides. The airline is run by the government. There you have it, reason enough for one extremist group or another to attack their airline, simply because it is associated with a government they oppose.

Note, I am not saying that this flight or even the first missing Malaysian airliner in fact was brought down by Muslim Extremists. I am just putting forth the hypothesis that both could have been and that maybe it is not coincidence that the flight shot down today was also a Malaysian Airlines flight. I will leave it to those conducting the investigation to determine such but it certainly is something interesting to ponder for now as long as the evidence does not rule it out.

All the best,
Glenn B
   

Talk About Precise Aim

Talk about precision aim, I have only seen an aim as good as this guy's once before. I saw the following video over at Wirecutter's blog and it immediately reminded me of another excellent piece of work and precision aiming so I had to steal it and repost it here:



That was an excellently calculated perfect job when it came to tree cutting. Can you imagine an aim that precise! That man is a modern artist at work if ever there was one.
 
Seeing that video brought to my mind another man with a precise aim when it came to downing trees. Heck, I have not thought about this in probably more than 30 years and it happened several years longer ago than that. Back in the mid-seventies, I watched my friend's dad chop down a tree at their cottage in upstate NY. We used to crash there after partying in New Paltz; we would raid parties at the college or just bar hop in town - at that time more bars per square foot of any town I had ever visited - pre 21 year age drinking laws.

Well, he chopped down a tree, close to the cottage, close to their garden and picnic table and other structures as I recall. Everyone except him thought the tree was going to fall in the exact opposite direction than he had planned and onto the house, but he told us exactly where the tree would fall. He held out his arms to indicate the width of the tree, walked a path where he said it would fall with arms still held out. We all thought, 'yeah right' and wished him luck. He just went back to cutting.  At one point, near the end, he stopped, examined his work, decided to start cutting somewhat more on a different side and at a different angle and we all thought "Oh Shit" since he seemed to be changing his cutting plan.

When the tree began to fall, it started to come straight down, sliding down - the upper cut area against the lower for a split second. It looked as if it would just replant itself by impaling the cut end of the trunk back into the earth. Then amazingly to we who watched, it started to tilt and somehow fell in the right direction. Not only did it go the right way, it fell exactly where he said it would fall - all in less than a second or two.

He did not use chain saw, he did not use wedges, he used a hand saw and an axe - and a lot of muscle and sweat with that axe and saw - mostly the axe. I vaguely recall that we gave him some help with the saw. He reserved the axe for himself and we just did a bit and only exactly how he said to do it with the saw. He was the artist, the grand planner maker, the master tradesman at work. How I wish we had had an 8mm or 16mm camera to film that at the time (no video recorders or cell phones cameras back then). It was a work of art and he was truly akin to da Vinci at getting it done. Oddly enough, he too, like the guy in that video, was pretty thankful that it had fallen the right way and he wasn't thanking himself either.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is There Really No Doubt That Things Have Gotten Better Mr. President?

by http://www.dailymotion.com/GWHH19" target="_blank">GWHH19

Tell me Mr. President, do you believe your own absolutely baseless bullshit rhetoric that the economy is improving and that we may be about to see the end of the recession. It's been three years since you said that; I do not see an end to the recession on the horizon - do you! Do you still blame George W. Bush for the terrible state of the economy under your administration. Heck you said it had gotten better but evidence has built up, over the three years since you said that in June 2009, to show that the economy is actually getting worse. Gasoline prices are high as the sky for longer than under any other president in my lifetime. The U.S. economy is still shrinking (in fact it shrank its worst in 5 years in the first quarter of 2014). See:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101787838 

Oh how the left loves to claim it is already rebounding - seems we keep hearing that a lot then the facts refute it). Taxes have risen markedly  with you at the helm which is often a harbinger, if not the cause, of more economic failure to come. Yet, in states where taxes have been lowered their economy has improved, take for instance Kansas - see:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/sectors/item/18685-kansas-tax-cuts-already-improving-the-state-s-economy.

You go ahead Mr. President, keep on promoting higher taxes and more government spending to supposedly create jobs. I really mean that because I am hopeful it will help assure you go down as the worst president in the history of the USA. Of course, you try to blame another, there are jobs, or lack of them, that you have blamed on your predecessor. Yes the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 under the previous president but  as you can see in the government's own statistics on unemployment, the rate was on average much lower under that president - much, much lower. Under you President Obama, the rate kept rising for a few years, then slowly has fallen but unemployment is still way above the average it was under the previous administration. When it comes to current unemployment, it appears things are about to get worse. Microsoft has announced that it plans to layoff 18,000 employees over the course of the next year, see:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/07/17/microsoft-to-eliminate-up-to-18k-jobs-over-next-year/

Indeed, you announced cutting our military forces to the lowest level since prior to WWII. See both:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/13/pentagon-gives-pink-slips-to-hundreds-soldiers-including-active-duty-officers/ and

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/24/soldiers-troops-fired-reduction-downsizing/5560515/

Now tell me please, President Obama, where do you think those military personnel will find employment once back home? They will not find jobs at companies like Microsoft and certainly not at companies already cutting employees because of Obama-care. Then again, why are you (note I said "you" instead of we, just as you so often say "I" instead of we) downsizing the military in the face of renewed hostile actions in the Middle East. Did we fight a war only to see our accomplishments destroyed in the blink of an eye because we were no committed to prevailing over the long term?

You sir have just about destroyed the economy and the American Way. Helping you along the way have been your henchmen such as Geitner who headed the IRS but could not or would not file his taxes properly. Lerner who targeted political groups for tax harassment and who then when faced with an investigation seemingly destroyed her own government emails although it was mandatory for her to retain them. Pelosi who said over and over again that keeping people on unemployment for a longer time makes the economy grow (she truly seems to be out of her mind and you rely on her over and over again as an ally). Eric Holder who seemingly knows nothing about anything from Operation Gunrunner or Fast & Furious to the murders of Border Patrol Agents on our southern border, to him calling the Fort Hood massacre "work place violence" instead of labeling it terrorism thus showing he does not understand what constitutes a terrorist act. It appears to be just one scandal after another with the Holder.

Then again, it is pretty much the same with the incompetent boobs you have placed into positions of power such a Hillary Clinton of "...what difference does it make" relative to the killings of U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Sebelius reportedly seeking payment from U.S. corporations to help pay for Obama-care, the head of the GSA under whom the GSA held an extravagant party in Vegas during a conference at which it spent over 800 grand, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson using an alias when she corresponded in official government emails, Joe Biden (yes your VP) forcing a reporter to wait in a closet. There are many more examples of incompetence and scandals within your administration. Please explain to me how anything, except for an extreme leftist agenda that is weakening America, could be getting better due to anything you have done?

The truth is that our economy, and the remainder of issues falling under the state of the Union, continue to trudge through the mud. We are facing not only economic ruin but the destruction of the American way under your command as you incessantly fail to work with Congress and claim you will go it yourself even though that is likely in violation of the Constitution in many instances of the action you take. Is it true sir, what you said: "So there's no doubt that things have gotten better ...." I don't think so but I do believe what you said a moment later, in essence about your rhetoric: "... But that's little comfort if you're one of the folks who have lost their job, and haven't found another". Mr. President you were right on the money when you said it was little comfort to folks like that and it remains so as the economy remains in a major slump and is once again about to be losing high numbers of jobs. I conclude sir, that you are, without doubt, the worst president of my life time.

All the best for America,
Glenn B

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

ZoNation Shoots A Bull's-Eye



The aim of these guys was true and they hit dead center of the bull's-eye, the target being the leftist agenda on firearms ownership, the NRA and race baiting.

All the best,
GB

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

I Thought I Had Miserable Luck...

...but some guys just have worse luck than mine - much, much, much worse than mine.



None of my girlfriends ever had one of those, at least not attached to them!

A hat tip to Enrique P for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B