Clear but Cool

The last fading light.

Semi-Busy week

Today I uploaded some work to an online portfolio site in case the people who seem interested in my work might pay me to do some.  It's been a damn while and at this age I wonder if I'll even ever work again, that is without a paper hat.
And then this is for Tam, found through a link at Borepatch who's been going through a tough-patch.

Union Bitches and the Government Pimp

This week we have seen the true, scabby face of the Public Employees Union revealed in the mirror.
This is no "free-market exercise" against "Giant Corporations" whatsoever - not even close.
Quite the opposite they can be readily seen as what thugs they are:

1. Public-employee Unions organized against the Taxpayers, 
2. allied with the corporate power of the Government to 
3. enforce tax-collection from which they get paid.  

It's a hand-in-glove pickpocket operation, riding the coattails of the Monopoly Man. Who's your Daddy Warbucks now?

Paddles-Up

With the roofing work banging and pounding all done (it seems) we decided it was safe to put the paddles back up on the Bamboo-Room entry wall.

We're finally safe from the rain, and it's been a deluge the past three days.

Arch of an Eyebrow, Bevel of a Smile

Subtle contours that are different, the top radius vs. the bottom radius, a near ogive contour on the left vs. a nearly Doric cut on the right. The dovetailed front sight higher and prouder compared to the lower contour of the forged sight.

The gently arched top vs. the flatted one.

The Twins at Rest

Held slightly proud of the buff-colored paper backing by six rounds of .45ACP...

Triggerguard Traction-Grooves

The new one has some traction on the trigger guard that the old one doesn't.
They both have groovy triggers.

Clicquez Vous Pour les Engrandissement

El Presidente Perpetua Maximus Torpedo

The most damaging man in American economic history:

15 Tax Hikes Hidden In Obama's New "Budget"

Business insider Link
* Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%. This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike

* Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%

* Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million. This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike

* Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike

* New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years

* New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years

* New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years

* Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years

* Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years

* Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income. This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years

* A giveaway to the trial lawyers—not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement. This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years

* Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing. This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.

This new-president dude is scarin' me.

Tritium Toast

I think I need to get me some radioactive bug-juice in these things.

The front one is marked with a "6" so that's some height designation.

A Sig-fan salesman admitted he wasn't so keen on their night sights - I kinda like the semi express-style of my other-one, and shouldn't a two-is-one gun be as similar as possible?

Always a project...Always click to embiggify.

What's Old is New - Web Belts

My Rendezvouser friend Linoge at Walls of the City has a post about web-belts titled, a snake around your waist...."a potential replacement to my inevitably-failure-prone 5.11 belts."
Admittedly I never thought of it that way, maybe becausewhen I was wearing a fancy dress-belt mine was Crocodile, so I thought I'd share my non-fancy, old-school style web-belt. I always wanted to get a 100-round Mills belt for the Krag - or a 60-loop Spaulding... (Captain Spaulding? One morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas, I'll never know.) - but they're a fancy-price nowadays.

Clicky-mo'-biggie

New Word: Narcomenudistas

Unlike a Narcotraficante who is The BigGuy, Mr. Narcomenudista - (which at first I thought had something to do with Menudo) is a small-fry, a retail-level punk. From WordReference.com: "Menudeo means retail, so these must be street peddlers, not drug lords". It's the kids in the mix, evidentially, as Mexico swirls ever closer to the event-horiozon.
And they're all dead, shot in the head. (Caution: nasty pictures of dead and bloody kids)
Use the "Translate" button at the top-left of the blog to get that working.)

Last Sunday there was a slaughter in Nezahualcoyotl, eight people were executed. ... correspond to the name of Jorge Sandoval Ordaz, Russian, Carlos Alberto Gray, The Cookies, Daniel Marquez Marquez Valentin Ramirez Araiza, El Valente, Eduardo Enrique Moran, The Jackal, Juan Luis Aparicio, Mouse, and Moises Hernandez Perez The Moy.

I don't think I'm going South for vacation any time soon.

Mr. Manchurian Torpedo

The most economically destructive president in our History.

H/T Fausta:

♥ Day

Hug yours if you got one. I could totally relate to something Og said,

We’re an old married couple now. We have issues sleeping away from one another, and the moment we go to sleep together is the very best part of the day, the second being the moment we wake up together.

We lived together for a hundred years before we realized we were getting old and needed to take care of each other. You won't see her here even in reflection because that's not her thing, privacy is. But I don't like being separated. I don't even like going away for the few days of Gunblogger Rendezvous without her. I need her or else I feel all dull and stupid - yeh ok so the Truth hurts, I guess...

Robb says "Please Help!"

Florida Carry Alert–Carry Reform Bill in Committee needs your help now!

Florida Carry

FLORIDA CARRY, INC. LEGISLATIVE ALERT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 12, 2011

SB 234 - FL Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
Hearing scheduled for 2/22/11

SB 234 is on the agenda of the FL Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Tuesday, February 22nd at 9:00am. Florida Carry, Inc. urgently requests that you email via the members of the committee in support of Senate Bill 234.
This NRA authored bill comprises several separate initiatives. These include the option for CWFL holders to carry openly; a provision to authorize carry at career centers, colleges, and universities; the right to store a firearm in one's vehicle wherever it may be lawfully parked; the authorization for the Department of Agriculture to take fingerprints; the repeal of Florida’s ban on long gun purchases in most other states. Quite simply put, this is the most comprehensive carry rights bill since shall-issue concealed carry was passed twenty-four years ago.
Florida is one of only seven states where open carry of firearms is generally forbidden, excepting under certain circumstances. Arguments against open carry generally consist of concerns regarding the fearful reactions of the general population. Some have suggested that an open carrier becomes an instant target, having his firearm snatched by a criminal in line at a convenience store. The facts simply do not support those allegations. In states where open carry is lawfully practiced, citizens have become accustomed to the understanding that a holstered weapon is a danger to no one. There have been no wholesale attacks on open carriers, nor have open carriers been shot with their own weapons. Police officers are not fearful of open carriers as they know that a 5-year FBI crime study has shown that criminals do not open carry, nor do they carry in holsters. Criminals shun attention, something that the open carrying of a firearm invariably draws to some extent. Not a single state that has legalized open carry in recent years has repealed the right.
In 1987, open carry was outlawed primarily because of the predictions of wild west shootouts, blood in the streets, gun battles over parking spaces, and normally law abiding people indiscriminately becoming homicidal maniacs. The main opponent of open carry was Janet Reno, then assistant state attorney. She was able to rally support from a vocal group of police administrators with the doom and gloom scenarios. Amazingly enough, the exact same arguments were heard against "shall-issue" concealed carry. Twenty-four years later, and none of the rampant bloodshed predictions about concealed carry have come true.
With regard to carry on colleges and universities, it is not coincidence that most of the mass shootings in the U.S. occur on the campuses of educational institutions. To believe that a potential assailant would be dissuaded from committing mass murder simply because there is a law forbidding him to bring a firearm on campus is pure folly. Rape, robbery, assault, and murder have all occurred on campuses across the country.
College and university administrators continue to deny the reality that by prohibiting students, faculty, staff, and visitors from defending themselves promotes an unsafe environment. Often ignored by opponents is the fact that only concealed weapons/firearms license holders would be permitted to carry on campus, and the minimum age requirement to have a license is 21. Those students under 21 would not be permitted to carry on campus. Once again, the potential criminals do not care about minimum age or having a license. After all, there are no barriers to access on most campuses.
Florida Carry, Inc. supports SB 234, and encourages all gun owners/carriers to join us in contacting the senators on the Florida Senate Criminal Justice Committee. Please tell them 24 years is enough.

We urgently need you to email the committee members NOW!

Include “Support SB 234” in the Subject Line

E-mail Helper (feel free to cut, paste, and edit to suit)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO:
evers.greg.web@flsenate.gov
dean.charles.web@flsenate.gov
dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov
margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov
smith.chris.web@flsenate.gov
SUBJECT:
Support SB 234 – Support the Second Amendment
Dear Senator,
This e-mail is to express my support for Senate Bill 234, Firearms. As a member of the Florida Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, you will be hearing this bill on Tuesday, February 22nd. I respectfully ask that you wholeheartedly support this bill.
The predictions of doom and gloom that preceded the adoption of "shall-issue" concealed carry have been proven to be fiction. For twenty-four years, Florida concealed weapons/firearms license holders have proven themselves to be responsible to the extreme. Since 1987, only 168 of nearly two-million licenses have been revoked due to misuse of firearms. It is time to recognize that responsibility by giving those licensees the option to carry their firearms in the manor that is most appropriate to their situation, openly or concealed. In the 43 states that permit some form of general open carry, not a single state has repealed that right.
It is also time to recognize that criminals have discovered a target-rich environment at colleges and universities. Rapes, robberies, assaults, and other violent crimes continually occur at and near campuses on students, faculty, and staff alike. Concealed weapons/firearms license holders should not have to relinquish the ability to defend themselves because of a mistaken belief that criminals obey campus restrictions.
Please support SB 234.
Respectfully yours,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
About: Florida Carry is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental civil right of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I Section 8 of the Florida Constitution. Florida Carry, Inc. was organized by a group of Florida gun rights activists in order to better coordinate activities, effectively lobby the state legislature, and to provide a legal entity capable of filing suit to demand compliance with state and federal law. Florida Carry stands only to represent our members and the over 6 million gun owners of Florida. We are not beholden to any national organization's agenda that may compromise that mission.
Florida Carry works tirelessly toward repealing and striking down ill-conceived gun control laws that have been proven to provide safe havens to criminals and be deadly to law abiding citizens.

---

Florida Carry
www.FloridaCarry.org
Phone: 850-270-7486
Fax: 678-359-9816

SiGraybeard says:

on 2/12/2011 9:05:48 PM

All five emailed.

I took a few liberties with your form letter. Feel free to take anything you'd like from this:

While I am not in your district, this e-mail is to express my support for Senate Bill 234, "Firearms". As a member of the Florida Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, you will be hearing this bill on Tuesday, February 22nd, and I respectfully ask that you support this bill.

Whenever legislative bodies, state or federal, act on firearms issues, there are cries of panic that simple disagreements will turn into shootouts, that blood will flow in the streets, that our cities will turn into another Dodge City, or that normal,law abiding citizens won't be able to resist killing the paperboy.

These predictions never come true. They have not come true in Florida or in any other state in the US.

Since 1987, Florida CWFL holders have proven themselves to be extremely responsible; without a doubt they are the people you'd most want to be surrounded by, not the ones you'd want to avoid. Since 1987, only 168 of nearly two-million licenses have been revoked due to misuse of firearms - not even 1/100 of 1%. It's time to recognize that excellent record by giving those licensees the option to carry their firearms in the way they feel is most appropriate to their situation, openly or concealed. In the 43 states that permit some form of general open carry, not a single state has repealed that right.

If there is one thing that these 24 years since 1987 have taught us, it is that criminals take advantage of "gun free zones", and have discovered a target-rich environment at colleges and universities. Rapes, robberies, assaults, and other violent crimes continually occur at and near campuses on students, faculty, and staff alike. Concealed weapons/firearms license holders should not have to give up the ability to defend themselves because some want to believe that criminals obey campus carry restrictions. Of course, this should apply to those who already qualify for CWFL and not to the general public.

Please support SB 234.
Give it a shot, folks.  Fire-off an email. :-)

UPDATE:  Got a response From Dean Charles ("Charlie") Web:

Thank you for voicing your support of Senator Evers’ Senate Bill 234. As a lifelong member of the NRA and a former Sheriff, I know firsthand how important the issues are surrounding our second amendment rights. Senate Bill 234 would allow people in compliance with the concealed carry license to carry a concealed weapon into more areas than originally allowed. Senate Bill 234 is scheduled to be heard in the Criminal Justice Committee, a committee I serve on, on February 22, 2011. When Senate Bill 234 is brought before me, I will remember your e-mail. You can follow Senate Bill 234 by logging on to www.flsenate.gov. Please continue to write to me on issues important to you or whenever I may be of any assistance.

-Charlie

More Guns Less Crime

More Guns less crime, by the Taliban.
H/T Ace on the news that the Army wants more than the five XM25's that are currently active in-theater. 
To start with the Army wants 36.  Paraphrasing Ace:

There are no confirmed kills by the weapon yet, but troops explain that away since it is primarily being used to engage at long distances and in circumstances where other weapons can't hit. We don't know who it's killing and who it's wounding, but we know it's a rapid fight-stopper.

"The XM25 brought the difference to whether they (our soldiers) would stay there 15 to 20 minutes shooting (and) taking pot shots, or the actual fight ended after using the XM25," said Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Smith. "That was due to the defilade capabilities of the XM25 to shoot beyond targets and behind targets."

The XM25 allows Soldiers to engage targets behind a barrier, protected from direct fire. It measures the distance to the enemy's protective barrier, and can then program the round to detonate a user-adjustable distance past that, allowing Soldiers to put an air-bursting round directly above the enemy's head inside their "protected" area.

"The kids are calling it 'the Punisher,'" said Brig. Gen. Peter N. Fuller, who heads up the Program Executive Office Soldier. "I don't know what we're going to title this product, but it seems to be game-changing. You no longer can shoot at American forces and then hide behind something. We're going to reach out and touch you."

"We disrupted two insurgents on an OP (observation point) and we silenced two machine-gun positions -- two PKM positions," said Lt. Col. Chris Lehner, describing some of the scenarios he witnessed in theater where the XM25 had been used. "We destroyed four ambush locations, where the survivors fled.  And when we launched it at a longer range target, who was carrying a machine gun and it exploded near his target -- it either badly wounded him or scared him good enough that he dropped his machine gun and ran away," Lehner recounted. "What our Soldiers have told us is, when we do fire this weapon, it does have a high probability of effect. The enemy stops firing. They flee. They drag off their casualties. Essentially a Soldier is very happy when the enemy stops firing at him."

Army +1, Taliban -5

Investigate the ATF - Grassley Fires Back

From Snowflakes in Hell and from

Dear Attorney General Holder:

During our meeting on January 31, I provided you with copies of my recent lettersto Acting ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson. I had received serious allegations from ATFwhistleblowers. ATF agents told my staff that the agency allowed the sale of assaultrifles to known and suspected straw purchasers for an illegal trafficking ring near thesouthwest border. Authorities allegedly recovered two of those weapons at the scene of afirefight near the southwest border on December 14, 2010. Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry lost his life in that firefight and may have been killed withone of those two rifles. That is why I requested nearly two weeks ago that the ATF brief my staff as soon as possible.
...
After the shooting of CBP Agent Terry, law enforcement officials recovered from the scene two assault rifles.9
On December 16, 2010, ATF’s trace results confirmed that serial numbers 1983AH3977 and 1971CZ3755 match two of the three rifles purchased by Avila and tracked by the ATF nearly a year earlier.10
In addition to these specific weapons, the indictment of Avila and others references approximately 769 firearms. Of those, the indictment refers to the recovery of only about 103 weapons. So, where are the other approximately 666 weapons referenced in the indictment? Why did the ATF not seize them?

David Codrea’s examiner.com site for the Grassley Document.

Callous Brute and Capitalist Exploitation

Danny Dictator is against Capitalist Oppression and his friends are the Unions.

...and the sustainable organic shade-tree coffee growers are Unionized because of the back-breaking and arduous toiling work of sitting under a shady tree nurturing and watering tiny coffee plants with little espresso-cups of organic natural spring water and brushing their leaves with virgin Egyptian camel-hair brushes as they grow, wearing organic hemp-spun ponchos and listening to Indie Rock while reading alternately Proust and Derrida on a Kindle powered by sustainable solar energy.

And the Garment Workers are Unionized because of the back-breaking and arduous toil of punching-in at a time-clock and sitting in front of automated equipment that makes socks and t-shirts and competing Celebrity fashion lines, resisting mightily from raising a massive hammer to destroy the infernal devices of Capitalist Exploitation while taking ten-minute coffee breaks every hour and discussing Oprah in the lunchroom with their oppressed cadre of Union members where the Union Shop Manager has a fling in the washroom with his Union Steward.

And the Teachers are Unionized because of the back-breaking and arduous toil of mashing heavy Leftists fictions and dark fantasies into a gooey pulp that they spread like manure all around their subject-students and squeeze into their tiny heads with finger-numbing funnels and forceps while being oppressed by those same Capitalist-Stooge students, the demented children of largely neoliberal white middle-class and bourgeois raced gendered bodies with their tests and Union-structured lessons-plans and their sipppy-cups emblazoned with cute capitalist-oppressor hyper-exploitive farm animals....

No wait, Teachers are exploited the most by the very Union that claims to represent them, by layers and layers of parasitic Union administration.

Gun eTools

Fellow Gun Rendezvouser and gunblogger Olav at Firearms and Training has produced some nifty things for people who are more telephonically engaged in the 21st Century than I am, apps for mobile hand-computing iPhones. He's a smart guy who worked at NeXT, the other Steve Jobs company, before his return (Jobs') to Apple with a new operating system that would make Macs a viable platform.
Olav is a super smart-guy, like Joe Huffman, who knows the value of guns and technology.
At least I can get to the functionality via the website and my Asus netbook while on vacation...and discover that there's a few gun-shops on Maui, and even on Kauai! Kawa-gunba! Wassup wit Da Big Island, brah? Yep, right there on Mamalahoa Highway in Holualoa! Is this kewl or what?

Lights on Guns

Say Uncle was speaking/asking about lights on guns which coincidentally raised a few points about things and their attachments since I have an interest in that too.

And somehow I got to this via The Wandering Minstrel, from Very demotivationaL.com...

Tigermom, Tigermon, Friendly Neighborhood Tigermom...

What is it with all this Tigermom crap?
From Jewish-Mother to Catholic Guilt, between Heebs and Homos, didn't we just spent two damn decades, the 70's and the 80's listening to The Media tell us ad nauseum how emotionally crippling this kind of wretched, demanding, adult-centric opportunistic behavior was?
Is it or isn't it the cause of broken families and runaway children? Is Tigermom gonna demand that her left-handed autistic kid straighten-up and be right-handed Poly-Sci major? Is Tigermom gonna make sure her gay daughter at Berkeley in Womyn's Studies marries a wealthy jock?
Maybe she did and that's why we're having so many problems with f*ed-up Poly-Sci wonks in DC and celebutard marriages...
Or did Hollywood get it wrong AGAIN?
I don't freaking care.

Danny the Dictator...

Danny the Dictator runs a campaign based on "Equality and Justice" and against crime and injustice. That's because everybody runs on those things, and one is a two-fer. He has a Plan to restore Dignity and make things Great. Better wages and more free stuff.

His campaign is bold and loud, amplified against the backdrop of his opposition. The marketing message hits all the popular buzz-buttons. The words are crafted to do that by competent word-managers who use the same language everywhere and are very familiar with them after years working for The Dictator Cause - it's all they really know. Whether they believe them or not, they keep their white-collar jobs by using them.

More importantly Danny the Dictator gets money from some Dictator friends and gives it to his gang of blue-collar Union legbreakers. They work with their hands all day and aren't afraid to get them dirty now and then. These people rally in the street and deliver strength to the message. They bring friends and everyone they can gather-up, whether weak-minded intellectuals from the coffee shop, or bums from the recycling-center getting $0.06 cents for each empty glass bottle. They give them signs and t-shirts and a buck or two and something exciting to do - project power. Some people feel strongly about belonging to something-anything and get emotionally invested and identify with The Group. They're useful idiots, Dictators love 'em.

Danny campaigns to restore Democracy and demands a democratic vote. With money from his friendly Dictator Club and his Union organization, he stuffs the ballot-boxes like a maniac. More guys from the recycling-center with nothing to lose join in the effort and in return receive a bath and fresh socks, and a few non-empty bottles they can empty on their own time. Danny is a real popular guy in some parts of town.

Someone from The Cause who works at the University writes a charming note about how wonderful things would be if only Danny could do all the things he says he'll do, and that is printed-up by Union printers in The Daily Cause Newspaper. People who read The Daily Cause don't know that the first two words are printed in invisible ink, and only think they're reading the Newspaper. Danny goes on TDC-TV and gets interviewed by a Spokesmodel with a $400-haircut who repeats the same story and tells everyone how wonderful things could be. Then more of the same from TDC-Radio, who are paid by friends of The Cause, the Dictator Club.

The Dictator Club happens to be a very wealthy bunch since they skim the profits of their own countries - and they don't like those profits threatened by any real market-based consortium or Country. Economic Theory is a fine thing, as long as they get their cut - but they don't really know much about it. They get things done the traditional way by means of fear and force, by threats and intimidation or by bank-robbery. They have Poet-friends in one of the most rigid and unbending hierarchical institutions - who talk of Progress and Justice while permitting neither in the Ivory Tower. Their traditional enemy is the Religious because they compete at the top-tier of the caste-system, but often they can work out a power-sharing deal - unless they're atheists then all bets are off.

When Danny Dictator "wins" the Democratic election he sets about making changes in order to ensure his continuance. These mostly involve payback for the support he received. To the Unions go increased wages and hours, and the whole Management Team that worked on the campaign gets assignments to powerful positions where they can extract money from businesses. New regulations require increased staffing to support the demands put in place by the regulations, and those staffers may be required to join the Union and pay dues that flow-back to The Cause Committee.

Pretty soon things in the Economy start going haywire because constant extortion puts powerful disincentives on the Market - but they're Dictators and don't understand the Market, just the Money - so they keep doing what they do. And besides, it doesn't really matter as long as they keep getting their cut.

Right Side Sig P220 ST

Now I have a gun made in this century instead of the last but kinda a Detroit Dinosaur, what with all the steel instead of polymer-juice. Oh well.

(as always click to super-size)

Anybody got any opinions about a light for this thing?

Sig Slim-Grips Win! Nitron-ST

I removed the rubber Hogue grips and installed the Sig slim-grips that didn't fit on my other Sig, the 1989-year P220.  They fit perfectly on this model.

The previous owner had a cat. I brushed out the spring and crevices.
This one has the "Nitron" finish on a stainless steel frame, so it's also noticeably heavier than the other, aluminum-framed P220.  Recoil shouldn't be much of a problem as long as I grow Popeye arms.

The rail is a point where more weight can be added. Pretty soon it will be so covered in pistol-bling you won't be able to pick it up.  I'm thinking a light would be cool, I can't afford a light/laser combo.

Personal Safety Through Superior Firepower

Borepatch has alerted us to a significant literary milestone, the publication of a Medical Doctor-driven analysis of personal mechanical defiance in the face of extreme external threats, it is a compendium that includes, firearm safety, children and firearms, storage, training, ethics and laws, self defense tactics, and first aid for gunshot wounds titled, Keeping Your Family Safe: The Responsibilities of Firearm Ownership.

Here in California there is another book on a similar topic that is also required reading for the firearms owner, whether engaged enthusiast or casual plinker:

Tools and Artifacts

For those of us who view the gun as an important tool of civilization and an icon of culture we have a respect for the traditions they engender and the family history imbued with each ancestral artifact, and the cherished patina that Time bestows upon them.
From Uncle I discovered a modern tradition embodied in the works of 18 Industrial Drive, Exeter, New Hampshire.
It is a legacy of long toil through day and night, through boiling heat and and freezing cold, through the adversity of Teamsters to the salvation of Personal Independence, an archetype of the earliest steadfast man and legendary American Hero - and something that you might win and own in a sweepstakes!

I present to you the Sig P238 Diamond Plate! This treasured family heirloom can be yours for a nominal actual fee, Trucker-Girl grips available soon at an extra price.

From Og: “Sometimes, I fantasize that it’s the white ash of nuclear fallout, mixed with superheated bone fragments and teeth”


White ash erupting from trees.

STGW57 Pouch

Some people thing this is for a K-31 but it's for a STGW-57 magazine. Walter Wyss, was a Sattler in the city of Horgen, on Seestrasse 194 - you can see the exact location. It's near Zurich. Sattler’s or saddlery-makers, make fabric and leather products for horse, carriage and cars. It takes a 3-year apprenticeship to become a Sattler today. He's no longer in business but he trained further apprentices and they are. You can Google him and see the address, now its something else...




This was made in 1967. I don't know how Grandpa came to have it except it is an example of an exceptionally well-made thing, such as the Swiss are wont to do.

Pictures of a Lyman 57SME

This goes on a variety of different rifles, none of which I own. I think Grandpa had it for his Remington 1917, a sporterized .30-06 deer-gun with a scope. I remember well when Grandma cooked the venison, it was better than steaks - which we only had on special occasions. Steaks were expensive. Ground chuck was cheap.






I have the little aperture that screws into the eye-piece and a somewhat battered screw that must replace another in the receiver's side.

S'no snow. It's too bright. Brains...

Since everyone east of the Rockies is experiencing the misery of DeepFreeze and Global Warming I thought I'd commiserate. The little back-east rodent they use for a Weather Anchor would have seen his shadow out here and called in Hair & Makeup to redo his whiskers and pelt.

There's a lot of nasty glare coming in off the window and I need a screen dampen the light and take good pictures of the crap I'm trying to sell on eBay in order to buy a Surefire X300 - or something like it. Surefire, Streamlight or Insight? Maybe I'll wind up with a used X200 - obsolescence is my middle name.


Maybe he would have eaten some 'shrooms, but I'm not giving them a try.


That pic's a couple weeks ago, they're probably wasted from the workers walking around the building and pounding around on ladders and on the roof. The new roof should be done shortly - good thing to have a clear weather-window.

Art any rate I woke up with about a chapter and a half in my head, written in near dreamstate, and put it to digital - so I've made some more progress on my book that used-to be my thesis. It's kinda hellish trying to introduce the caste-system and a rigid social structure in one fell swoop to readers who's orientation is so vastly dissimilar and flexibility oriented. The atomic/individual-freedom perspective is strong in the West, even among the Left of who denigrate it in pursuit of their totally insane plan for World Domination.

Cries of "No War!" remind me of mankinds 7,000-year old battle with himself in the Sub-continent. People stopped there. In the whole she-bang movement around the globe, the migrations out of Africa and across the Asiatic steppes, we find mitochondria DNA that belongs in Australia stuck down in the Dravidians of South India - some second-wave leftovers trapped at the tip of the ocean.
Mehrgarh from 7000 BC to c. 2500 BC - that's a longer settlement than New York city by a bit. "A large urban civilization emerged at the same time as those of Mesopotamia and the ancient Egyptian empire."
People got stuck and stopped moving. The long queue of Humanity on the Move settled down even though it was a hellishly hot and inhospitable place: 2500BCE Mohenjo-Daro at 128.3 °F couldn't have been too much of a pleasure-palace to write sonnets about. According to Wikipedia, "the highest reliably measured temperature in the continent of Asia, and the fourth highest temperature recorded on earth."
People got stuck and got bored and jealous and the heat drove 'em crazy into a frenzy of wicked-weird philosophy - and they started killin.' They must have seen how damn-many extra people there were and realized you couldn't get rid of all of 'em no matter how hard you tried, and Warfare was born.