End of an Era

This man's only daughter passed away last week.
She would have been 88 on the 4th of July. Her little brother is still alive and shockingly youthful and fit for an 82 yr old.
Grandpa on a 1918 Indian (so far as I've been able to deduce by vigorous study) was an actual wetback. He jumped ship in Vancouver harbor and swam ashore abandoning the Royal Navy or Merchant-marine mid-passage. Official Papers state he "went missing."
By trade he was a paperhanger and painter - so maybe my years spent in the Theater Arts as a painter and scenic artist comes genetically, and that whole thing with motorcycles - it got an early start. His boat/navy thing may also account for his son's time spent at Annapolis (instead of West Point).
Anyhow, Godspeed Auntie Sue...a chapter is closing.
There are only a few who share the family name remaining in existence - it didn't make the transition from Albion to these shores with much genetic tenacity, not like all the Smiths, Carpenters, Bakers, and Johnsons - and everyone else who's names so generously filled 19th Century shipboard manifests.

Happy Friday, finally.

The air on the walkway is scented with plywood sawdust as one of my downstairs neighbors undergoes a bit of renovation - and I might have stayed longer at the lake if I had brought my PFD instead of just a sandwich, and taken a dinghy out for a sail, dipping my flip-flops in the brackish bay-water.

In the opposite direction behind trees and sloughs, on the other side of the hill with my back to it about a mile away, is gigantic old Hanger-1 that harbored the Macon. My dad's buddy from the Academy - his dad was the skipper of that - after he crashed the Akron anyhow - the Past is like another world to this one.
And I found out that a friend has just 2-6 months left.

The New Money, coming to a wheelbarrow near you

We're rich!!
...

Obamerica

What a day. H/T Alan But FIRST it was the thing with the kids that got me.
Despite and amid all the circus smoke, buckets of tinsel and confetti, and wacky mirrors of ginned-up "outrage" over AIG and the general confusion caused by money in amounts so huge it could go around the Moon twice, yesterday the US House of Representatives shamed itself in a huge way. They might as well have poured a bucket of liquid excrement upon themselves.

It pushed-through something called the "The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act" - known as the GIVE Act, by a 321-105 margin, which now goes to the Senate. It seems there's even a provision for Uniforms(SEC. 1508.) and of a PERMANENT CADRE.
Since when in a Republic (or a real Democracy) do we use the Euro-words "cadre"? It's a kinda give-away to who's/which Central Committee is planning this...

Obama Youth will be indoctrinated in the principle of "service learning," which will be a "mandatory part of the youth curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency". I think it sounded better in original German in the 1930's when it was announced on the floor of the Reichstag - before they burnt it down.

Then there's the whole redistribution of wealth thing that's the main, big, Rocky and Bullwinkle Media slight-of-hand, nothing-up-my-sleeve - it's all about chewing up the airwaves and demanding attention to prevent any bit of light from being shone behind the curtain. Like the above action. And the ilegal AND unconstitutional bill of attainder, which wouldn't pass even the most cursory constitutional challenge; so it was re-written to be broader...

Then Journalist/blogger Fetching Jen sends me an email of some further intentions by our non-taxpaying Socialist Apparatchik Overlords:

Friends:

I just found out about a meeting coming up on April 2nd that is being held by Common Cause. It is being billed as a "Community Discussion about Local media" but buried in the memo is:

"The Federal Communications Commission has proposed the establishment of community advisory boards to local advise local broadcasters. How would the community benefit from this?

How would the stations benefit?

Should local print and Internet resources also have community advisory boards? Why?

The Obama administration is trying to create "advisory boards" that will control the content of all media: print, radio, television and internet (bloggers).

We must attend this meeting and stop this immediately.

The evening’s discussion will be recorded and a report submitted to local media and the Federal Communications Commission. Feedback may help establish federal policies impacting local media ownership, increased localism, the establishment of community advisory boards, radio and television licensing procedures, and more. Read the memo.

It reminds me of the time I visited a nasty little village and had to walk past an outhouse on the way to get there. The out-house was called Checkpoint Charlie and it was a rather ugly and dreary place. This is exactly how a portion of the STASI did their thing, through constant monitoring of Communication channels. Then they sent reports to their superiors.

I thought we got rid of this ugly, vile, filthy crap twenty years ago when the Berlin Wall came down - something I had prayed for ever since visiting the rotten, pustulant, open-wound that was East Berlin. It was a project that started on 6 June 1944 and was never quite finished.


But noooo, now we have a disproportionate bunch of greedy, unscrupulous, tax-evading, power-hungry Senators and Congressmen in office who have forgotten what it was all about.

Oakland Cop KIlling

Over the weekend Oakland had four of its Police Officers murder by a violent felon who was out on Parole, charged with armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon from an incident he had perpetrated across the Bay Bridge in San Francisco.
Life is cheap in Oakland and violent killers often have illegal weapons unavailable to the law-abiding - like full-auto AK's.
Here's the 2007-'08-'09 Oakland Murder Map. Remember that '09 is only a few months into the year and this doesn't go back to '06 and '05 and '04 etc. or further - nor does it include Richmond to the north where a great deal of similar activity in the same quantity occurs.


UPDATE: Here's a link to the SFGate.com map of Homicides in Oakland 2007/2008 that you can zoom-in and move around. Again, this is a limited year data-set of homicides only, and doesn't include armed robbery, auto theft, rape, kidnapping, arson, and all the other shit that goes down in the festering swamp of criminality that used to be a nice, relaxed, family-oriented city with large lots, sunny streets, and front yards where children could play...

Shopping for Soldiers

Spent the day mostly buying various things to send to Teh Nephew #2 who we recently found out is at FOB Diamondback. It's where what used to be the Mosul International Airport and was formerly a Republican Guard base. He's been there eight months already, so much for Inter-Family Communications.
Besides unscented baby-wipes, gum, beef jerky, batteries, shaving gel/razor/blades, other hygiene items, and energy bars, and I got him a little Pentagon Molle light, a .223/5.56 BoreSnake, a few Hoppes pre-moistened gunwipes, some toothbrushes and an itty-bitty bottle of CLP.
In another package that should be outbound already, whipped-up in a frenzy at Brigade Quartermaster's, are socks, a 5.11 brand t-shirt of some kind of super-special fabric, MALICE clips, special de-odorizer for armor, other gun-cleaning items, and a CRKT Guppie multi-tool. Got to include some fun stuff besides toothpaste and DEET.
Judging from Google it's a fairly hoppin' place with a lot of guys and gals living in metal CHUs (contained housing units) and with Internet access - but still it's Mosul.

Just One State

UPDATE: I need to edit-in a HT to Dear Phlegmmy for this one - I am not credit-worthy!
Notwithstanding the incredible financial burden that the Obama Administration's ram-rodded Porkulus package will provide for uncountable generations to come, Nancy Pelosi is pushing for illegal-alien amnesty which cause an additional financial drain and result in the creation of the most massive welfare state the world has ever seen.
Rather than outsourcing labor she has decided to in-source it:

the Democrats are putting together an elaborate con job: using tough-sounding rhetoric while working behind the scenes with open-borders advocates in the business community to win support from from firms that have become very dependent on cheap foreign labor. The goal of these Democrats — and possibly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well — is to defeat a bipartisan bill that takes a no-amnesty, enforcement-oriented approach to illegal immigration.

Verified on Snopes.
From the L. A. Times
1. 40% of all labor in L. A. County ( of 10.2 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
2. 95% of Murder Warrants in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the Most Wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking.
10. There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County in which 5.1 million people speak English, and 3.9 million speak Spanish.

(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare.

Over 70% of the United States' annual population growth and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York results from immigration.

29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue.

Obama Weirdness in Germany

Thanks to David's Medienkritik we have an alert to this bizzaro Spiegel Online culinary wonder of wonders.
Is it racist, or just a Teutonic homage to Obama's world citizenery-ness?
In order to eschew the necessary German tendency for literal exactness and ultra gesprochen precision there's this disclaimer: The word "fingers" in the name refers to the fact that it is a finger food. "It's like hotdogs,...No one would ever think they are actually from dogs."
Or would they? As David points-out:

Some Germans love to criticize American products - then turn around, walk into a McDonalds, and gorge themselves. In Nuremberg, there seems to be a McDonalds, BK, KFC, Starbucks, or some other American joint on every corner. Here's an idea: If you don't like something - don't consume it. If you do consume it - don't blame the country it comes from for devaluing or diminishing your culture! The same goes for music, fashion, etc.

And as a reminder of the Germanic Left's cultural sensitivity there's also this cover from the famously leftwing newspaper Die Tageszeitung celebrating (and foreshadowing) Barry's Democrat Party presidential nomination as, "Uncle Barack's Cabin." To which the German MSM spokenazi of course said covering their arsch, "The headline is intended to be satirical," Ja, ja das ist richtig, nein?
Servus mahlzeit.

Wildflowers and BMX tracks

In a critical departure from stuff about guns and looking at a weeks worth of good weather, I present a wild downtown front-yard, and some enterprising kids who have been building a tactical jumpy wondergound for themselves and their pedal bikes. Also I'm testing out a new camera, the Pentax Option W60...

(^ Clickit Mo'Bigga ^)

(^ Clickit Pana-Vue-Monster ^)

Debt Star

From Kevin by way of ARfcom, and from comments: Darth Jar-Jar. Eeeek!!!

March Practice

After three weeks of rain and constant overcast and weekend rain we finally had a break in the weather window, and another teachable moment about light and sights.
The conditions were excellent but I was rusty and blind - I need to use my computer glasses or get a new perscription filled because I could not get a sharp focus on the front post. I shot a measly 412-2X. But it was a GREAT day and beautiful, until the next storm front moves in to blanket us down. (Click to Upscale)

Observations on (non-) Bite and Grip

Update: Welcome Say Uncle readers! Feel free to leave a comment if you have one about where to find slim-grips for a Sig, or technique.

Colt original '43 wide-spur hammer is close but not quite (excuse the fuzzy stuff) snapping at my hand. I guess I'm lucky that I've never been bit by the hammer or slide on my old geezer-gun.

Compared to the 1911A1, the Sig 220 hammer and slide have even farther to go - but also in more ways than one - I have to grip around it more. My fingers don't quite match the circumference.

The tape measure from IKEA shows a number of 5-3/16" on the Colt and 5-3/8" on the Sig. As shown in the pic on the right, I can get my hand around more of the Colt compared with the Sig's more voluptuous grip-shape where I come up a bit short, and that's without requiring the reach to the double-action trigger.
The Sig is nonetheless very comfortable to shoot, has a bite-prevention slide-design, and the sights are better (as they should be since it's 46 years younger).

But still there's enough mitt on the Sig grip to hold it good and tightly. My hands wear a size XL glove and my middle fingers blow-out the tips before other parts wear out. I think it's just the shape and a bit of the slipperiness of the plastic. With the Colt my fingers find their way around a bit more, and thumb can lock down on the middle finger a bit more.

Droopy Tuesday

OK yeh, it's not Tuesday it's Thursday, but this is the second illustrated installment. I want to thank everyone who advised me on belts: Derek, Alan, Linoge, aczarnowski, and Sevesteen.
The thing about the cool and dressy Ye Olde Gould & Goodrich holster (that I got off eBay) is the amount of up-high top-leverage it can deliver against the thin band of the belt. With nothing better to do, such is illustrated herewith:
As you can see from the close-up it's going to have to use an intermediary belt-loop to prevent the tragedy of spill-out.
So...maybe it wasn't the best choice, but I was attracted by the siren lure of the built-in extra mag holder. Having loaded the Sig into the rig and topped it up with the extra mag, one can see how much of the load is up and over the center of gravity.
If this were a boat it would capsize. If this were a dirtbike I'd install bar risers to resist all the up-high moment of intertia that occurs when standing on the pegs.
No big deal, this seems to be a dress-belt kinda thing you wear with a suit, not a Tactical Ninja Kydex holster or a an plain-clothes IWB and as a worth-while learning experience it's also a not too-expensive means to evaluate stuff.
I think I might even still have a suit hanging around here somewhere among all the Hawaiian shirts.

The Grey and the Gray

UPDATE & PREFACE: To be completely FAIR and forthright, at no time has C-Products claimed or advertised their followers (as far as I'm aware) as exclusively being those manufactured by Mag-Pull - I only received a couple of happy and lucky instances (if I remember correctly, it waas a while ago). It's just something I noticed and the differences are merely interesting to me.

From Haji's note in comments that, Grey is the current version of the Magpul follower. They're also making them in hi viz orange this year. and Alan's comments in notes on his shiny new Kindle 2 The Kindle 2 supports more shades of grey, so graphics are much improved. - I thought this might be an opportunity to illustrate various shades of gray that matter.
The MagPul follower is a softer and lighter dove-gray with an ball-park estimated RGB level of somewhere around 200-200-200, while the unknown manufacturer is a shade darker gray, somewhere around an RGB level of 120-120-120.
I don't have my Pantone Color swatch book nearby to be more exact than that but it's distinct enough in hand to distinguish the two.
Also the angles, profiles and shapes are somewhat different and more abrupt on the unknown while the MagPul has smoother more rounded contours and generous radiuses (radii?) - and finally the MagPul follower has that neat, quasi neo-nuclear, semi-grunge half-life style logo.
So, color matters if you're a graphics guy. And I revised my posting methnd to present smaller load thumbnails that can be UpClicked to a bigger pic.