Friday Night Music

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a big Max Stalling fan. SO for tonight, we're going to go with Max singing "Never Need to Fall in Love Again" Hope you like it.

I'd search the trailer parks first

Escaped convicts are of course a menace. You should know that already. You should also know that, in this life, there are certain behavioral indicators that should raise red flags. One such indicator would be a yellow and primer '81 camaro sitting on blocks in the weeds behind a trailer. Another indicator would be inbreeding.

While Welch was visiting her fiance and cousin, McCluskey, at the Arizona State Prison in Kingman in June, a random search of Welch and her vehicle turned up marijuana, heroin and drug paraphernalia

Despite this drawback keeping them from being accepted by polite society, Welch and McCluskey are still out there on the run, like a Stephen Hunter novel gone wrong. I wish there was a lesson to be learned here, but damned if I know what it is.

Wouldn't it be nice?

I had a dream the other night. Gov. Perry commissioned L. H. McNelly the Fourth to form a special battalion of Rangers to go down to the border and settle things down. L.H. the Fourth had the exact same facial hair and jacket that L.H. the First showcased in the portrait on the dust jacket of The Life and Times of a Fighting Man. I showed up and stood in line behind a man named George Durham and in front of a guy named Jack Hayes. Recruits brought their own weapons, but ammunition was provided. Everybody seemed to be carrying either a 1911 or a Walker Colt on their hip. I was issued a bunch of old Lake City ammo for my Remington 7600, which was apparently what my subconscious though was most appropriate after magically giving it a detachable 15 round box mag.

Anyway, we were all ready to go make Texas proud when my alarm went off and I was reminded that, in the year 2010, we don't defy Washington to go into Mexico and recover stolen property, let alone to protect it here.

Friday Night Music

For some reason, I can't ever find decent videos of whatever my current Aaron Watson song may be. So I'll go with one of my first favorite Aaron Watson songs instead. Here he is, with "Reckless"

There's a lesson here, someplace

Out in Arizona, one group of jackasses has legally taken up arms to deter the crimes of various foreign jackasses. This marks the first instance of Mexican nationals crossing into our county to see the donkey show.

The Constitution supports the right of American citizens to bare arms. It also supports their right to think whatever jackassery they want to believe. And, it supports the rights of the media to fasten upon whatever negative aspects they can find on the side they don't like, and paint everybody with the same brush.

And of course, they'll take any opportunity they can find to misinterpret gun laws.

The patrols have been occurring on public land, and militia members have no real restrictions on their weaponry because of Arizona's loose gun laws.

This amounts to the same thing as all the registered guns you hear about on cop shows. Verbal chicanery to make people believe in nonexistent laws. Arizona does have favorable carry laws, but there's nothing legal there that isn't legal in any other free state. Just because D.C., wait, I mean Chicago, err, places that have enacted unconstitutional laws don't allow things doesn't make Arizona's laws "loose". Unless you're comparing them to the gun laws in, say, Nazi Germany or China.

New Shooty Goodness

I bought a barely used Colt Gold Cup today. Unfortunately, I have to go out of town early tomorrow morning for work and won't have a chance to shoot it until my return. Range report and pictures to follow.

Friday Night Music

This week, how about Brad Hines singing "Please Don't Push Me Down Again"?

MHV

Larry Correia is a literary genius. His breakout debut novel, Monster Hunter International was made of cool. His follow up, Monster Hunter Vendetta , doesn't let up on the cool, ratchets up the action, and manages to add even more heart.

Since it isn't out in stores yet, just as an e-arc, I don't want to give anything away, but I liked it. A lot.

Friday Night Music

The greatst song ever written, in the history of the world, about cock fighting. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Joe Ely singing Tom Russel's "Gallo del Ciello"

Week in Rearview

Hurricane Alex dropped some pretty heavy rains on my part of the world, and a lot of mud resulted. We had a Link-Belt 8670 parked on a job site that that was turned into soup. We left it to dry, but last night more storms were coming, so we had to get it to solid ground before things got worse. Even though this wasn't taken in a mirror, and even though I was in my brother's truck, this counts as a week in rearview post.


These are the ruts. It sunk to the outrigger beams, which it turns out do a pretty good job of scraping mud flat.

Eh

I recently read my dad's latest copy of American Rifleman and saw an article on some new offerings from Taurus.

First off, I have to admit that I think the circuit judge is kind of neat. Couldn't tell you why though. I think the super long cylinder looks out of proportion on a revolver, but not so bad on a long gun. If it was in 20 or 12 gauge I'd be all over it, and am still curious anyway, despite having absolutely no need for a .410. Not because I think it is in any way better than a pump, but because of a Louis Lamour book I read a long time ago where the hero had an old Colt's revolving shotgun. SO anyway, I think Taurus probably has a product here that will continue the succes they are having with the judge line.

Next, also on the non-negative side of things, the ranch hand is a mare's leg. Which I want to have one of these days, even though it combines the drawbacks of both a rifle and a handgun. It's cool. As I asked before, who has ever been cooler than Steve McQueen?

That's the end of the good. Taurus/Rossi, sensing the demand of an untapped market, has decided to bring us...a Marlin 336 and a NEF Handi-rifle. Seriously. A Winchester 94 might make sense. Winchester stopped making them. But a Marlin? They're still in the business of making those new. Pawn shop gun racks are full of them. It's not hard to find the genuine article. I'll admit, there are improvements that can be made to the basic marlin product, but does anybody really think Taurus/Rossi/Brastec/WhoCares is really going to do it? Assuming they aren't, I don't get this at all. And a handi-rifle? I bought mine for something like a hundred and thirty bucks and am pretty happy with the bang for the buck there. Is there really so much demand that the folks at NEF can't meet it? Isn't NEF owned by Marlin these days? Does this make sense to anybody?

How's a Marine General supposed to talk?

Marines are supposed to be ready to fight.

"Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people."

Marines are supposed to protect the weak.

He directed that sentiment toward "guys" in Afghanistan "who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil."

"You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them,"

Like Clint Smith said on 60 minutes, "Some people need shooting." As much as it may suprise people in Chicago and New York, a man who has been succesful in the Marine Corp, and succesful in the business of war, is probably going to agree to that sentiment. If he didn't, he'd have become an accountant. And I've never heard of anybody commenting that the accountants have landed. When you need to figure your taxes, that's when you need an accountant. When you need to fix a leeky pipe, you need a plumber. When you need to win a war, that's when you need a warrior.

And for the record, Marine Generals are supposed to talk like Chesty Puller.

"We're surrounded. That simplifies the problem."

Stupid

I just saw a commercial for a satellite provider who shall go unnamed. A guy stands in front of the Alamo and says "Behind me one of the biggest battles in Texas history took place. Every day ---- fights for the people of West Texas against the forces of high cable prices."

I think I'm actually a little bit offended.

What a Wonderful World

I had a case of food poisoning over the weekend. Unable to keep anything down, I was more than a little dehydrated. At one point, as I was laying in the floor somewhere in between the bathroom and the couch, a thought entered my mind. It inspired me to send the following text message to my brother: Damn them to hell for no longer making Lemon Ice Gatorade.

I drink a lot of gatorade as it is. This is Texas, and I have a sweet tooth and spend most of the day outside. But nothing they make now compares to Lemon Ice.

Anyway, to get to the point of my story, today, no longer delirious, my brother and I were joking about it, and we mentioned starting a facebook page to bring it back. Turns out there already is one.

Friday Night Music

Just because it's one of my absolute favorite songs, I'm putting it up one more time. Here are Marty, Bill, Robert, Tom, and Rich. This ones called the Corpus Christi Bay.

Cool shirts

I was at Gander Mountain a while back and picked up some Columbia shirts from their PFG lines. I have to say that I really like them. A button up PFG shirt has goofy pockets, so I got the polo shirts instead. They're vented in the back and cool to begin with. I've worn them in some very hot weather and been impressed. I also like the fit in the top of the sleeves at the shoulders. They're roomy enough to move around in.

Anyway, I'm a big enough fan now that I'd probably pay full price, but if you can find them on clearance they're definitely worth buying.

Somethings got to give

invasion–noun
1.an act or instance of invading or entering as an enemy, esp. by an army.
2.the entrance or advent of anything troublesome or harmful, as disease.
3.entrance as if to take possession or overrun: the annual invasion of the resort by tourists.
4.infringement by intrusion.

Part of a National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona has been shut off for the last five years due to public safety concerns caused by the activities of criminals from across the border.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Federal lands. Within. The. United. STATES. of AMERICA have been shut off from access to American citizens because of the behavior of foreign nationals on OUR SOIL.

Foreign nationals have illegally entered our borders to commit further crimes and acts of violence against our citizens. And the response for five years has been to keep OUR citizens out. As opposed to kicking the criminals out.

Foreign nationals have illegally entered our borders in other places and murdered citizens. And we worry about hurting their damned feelings?

How long can this go on before somebody has enough?

Following your dreams

I'd really like to take a drive up to Alaska and go grizzly bear hunting. It's been something I've wanted to do for at least half my life. So far, I haven't done so. I can remember times when I couldn't work up the nerve to ask out some girl I really liked. I've been to Montana and liked it, but haven't made it back that way.

Gary Brooks Faulkner, of Greeley, Colorado, has made multiple hunting trips to Pakistan in search of Osama bin Laden. While being on the organ donor list. I really don't have any excuse for not going to Alaska now. On the other hand, nobody is currently evaluating my mental health. As far as I know, anyway.

hat tip to The Horse Thief

Week in Rearview

The other side looks a little worse, but I didn't have room to take a picture over there.

Friday Night Music

I'm going to Helotes tomorrow to see the man in concert, so this song seemed epecially fitting today. Here's Robert Earl Keen singing "Swervin' in my Lane"

Bummer

I had a wreck Sunday night. An uninsured girl in a westbound Dodge snuck past all the cars in the middle lanes and ran a light and, while making no attempt to stop or swerve, hit me in the right side, spinning my back end to the left as I continued northward. An innocent bystander of a mid size SUV was waiting in the oncoming turning lane. I knocked them one lane over and thirty feet backwards, and finally brought everything to a halt. Brakes don't work very well on barely attached axles, but on the other hand, trucks don't roll very well dragging axles sideways.

Side airbags are all well and good, but for pinballing through an intersection, I'll take 8,000 pounds of steel over a Prius any day.

Nice to be reminded

Robert at Blackfork has a post up reminding me of something I'd been trying not to remember. I really ought to have a LeMat.

Happy First Birthday

To my niece, LadyBug

Edit: Who, by the way, recieved a Browning Buckmark to go with the M&P-15 22 she got for Christmas.

Lest We Forget

Sixty six years ago today, Operation Overlord was launched upon the coast of Normandy.

Perspective

It's time we had some. Some oil in the gulf is the end of the world? Not hardly.

Sure, it's a bad thing. Fishing and tourism will suffer. On the other hand, problems spur research, and we learn things to help out next time. Learning is important when the world isn't ending tomorrow.

BP has managed to come across in a less than favorable light, as they probably should. That doesn't mean the government can do any better. Obama has promised to get the finest minds in government working on ways to plug the leak. He also claims that "from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge"

I don't know how Barry O thinks the world works, but being involved with the federal government doesn't add a thing to somebody's IQ. The world's finest oil drilling minds are gainfully employed. Any of them who happened not to be have been getting calls from BP for the last month or so. And if the government has such great people working for them, why haven't they had things under control since day one?

BP is doing anything they can to stop hemorrhaging money. That's how capitalism works.

Accidents happen. Mistakes are made. Things don't always go as planned. Not every decision is perfect. That's how life works. If you don't think so then you need to get out more.

Legitimacy

No matter how proud he is of his new hat, it's extremely unlikely that the guy wearing it at the table in a nice restaurant is a real cowboy.

Monday Funny

From Larry Correia, author of Monster Hunter International, we have this week's episode of The Stranger Chronicles.

Chuck Norris stroked his manly beard thoughtfully. “I’m afraid he’s got a point, Mr. Stranger. Sounds like your client started it, and as galactic law clearly states, don’t start shit if you can’t finish it.” Much of the galactic code of laws had been based upon the Planet of Texas.

Go read the rest of it. For that matter, go back to the first chapter and start from the beginning. So far, Adam Baldwin has been President because of the space cowboy libertarian revolution, with Gunny Ermey as his SecDef, and Chuck Norris has shown up as a Galactic Arbiter.

Friday Night Music

From back when he had long hair, this week I'm going with one of my favorite Willie songs, "Me and Paul"

Bigger government

I'm ok with the government owning a few military bases. The White House, maybe a few office buildings and warehouses so they can do the census and deliver the mail. A couple feet of land around the border so they have a place to put a wall. They need a place to put the interstate, too. I'm even ok with Yellowstone National Park.

I am not ok with even the possibility that this may be true.

The end times are near

Willie cut off his pig tails.

Hog hunt

I'm still coming up with nothing to post, so I'm going to recycle some pictures from a pretty good hunting trip I went on last year. My brother, two of our cousins, and a family friend all had a pretty good time in Coleman county. We got fifteen overall, including one stretch where we got seven in about forty minutes, and probably would have got more except the dogs were worn out at that point.

It's really saying something when the guy holding the mule is the least redneck person in a picture.

Paul has a pack of curs and a few hound crosses. We were using three bay dogs on the ground with one catch dog on a lead. The idea is to work them in teams to find and bay the hogs. In theory, curs try and pick up a scent off the wind and then follow it to the source, and hounds will follow a colder trail. They're all a little bit different though, and there may be more difference between two curs than there is between a given catahoula and a specific Plott hound. Some will range out and hunt a little farther than others. Some stay close. Once they find a hog, some are willing to get a little rougher in order to detain it. It's important to get a good combination of traits in the team you're using. You don't want a dog with a lot of range on a small parcel of land. It's also nice to have dogs fast and gritty enough to get a hog stopped fast before it ends up two counties over.

This is Paul and his hunting mule, Lyle. He doesn't bother with a knife, he has a bayonet. The man comes prepared.

Once the bay dogs have a hog found, they start making noise. That allows you to locate them. The hog will either look for a place to make a stand, or try and leave the country. The curs give chase, trying to corner it and get it stopped. If they get it stopped, the noise increases and the hog may squeal. That means it is time for the catch dog.

This is Ada. She is from Norway and enjoys Kevlar and long walks in the brush. Seriously.

The catch dog is basically a platform for transporting huge jaws muscles and large quantities of determination. On this trip we had an Argentine Dogo named Ada. Pit Bulls are popular, as are bull dogs and various crosses. But the Dogo is the Cadillac of catch dogs. There are running catch dogs, but most people keep them on a lead so they don't run themselves out. Once you walk it in close to the bay, you turn it loose. A good catch dog will then plow through brush, small trees, and anything else to get to the pig and grab a hold of it. Most grab an ear. Once they have a bite, they set up and pull. The bay dogs take this opportunity to grab the pig too. Once a hog has dogs pulling on its ears, neck, and shoulders, their fighting and running options are limited. While this is going on, everybody is hurrying to get to the bay. Dogs get tired the longer a bay goes on, and a tired dog is more likely to get hurt. The front of a hog is the dangerous end after all. The first man in grabs the back legs of the pig and flips it on its back, crossing the legs. The next guy in inserts his knife into the pig.

It's a little hard to see from this angle, but me and Ada are having a spirited tug of war with a big sow, and my cousin Kelly is taking his sweet time deciding where to put his knife.

I was the first guy on the scene on all but the very last hog. Depending on who you talk to, either my male relatives are less than zealous, or I have questionable judgement.

Yeah, I'm the one with questionable judgement.



Good catch dogs are persistent. They won't quit too soon. Or even too late.


Depending on the size of the hog and the character of the bay dogs, a catch dog may not always be required.

Mid-week Menaces

I haven't posted much lately, so I'm changing things up. Instead of weekend menaces, I'm going with mid-week menaces. Alliteration is good.

Some things spend their time doing two things: sleeping and looking for something to eat. We call them carnivores. Some of them have a process for determining what they can eat. If it moves and they can get it in their mouth, they eat it. This is one of those things.

I've commented on the pirate menace before, but now it's a little closer to home. Are you kidding me? I'm waiting for one of these border incedents to explode when somebody returns fire. Do you have any idea how many pick ups in this part of the world have a rifle behind the seat?

Friday Night Music

I was busy last week and missed out, so how about three songs this week? Let's go with some Pat Green songs that really aren't that old but seem like they are, "Songs About Texas," "Take Me Out to a Dancehall," and "Carry On." Eight or nine years ago I saw Pat every chance I had. Year before last he came to town with Willie Nelson and only did one of his old songs in among the Nashville stuff. I think the term sell out is stupid, I'm all for ambition and think his goals were admirable, but screw the rest of the world. Come on back to Texas and do things right. Everything you need to know about the rest of the country can be summed up by the fact that "Dancehall Dreamer" is one of the best songs I know of, but it's nowhere to be found on You Tube.


I started to go with a different video of this song where he told a funny story, but this version is more like the one that first lead me towards listening to good music.

While we're at it

Take a look at this page. 180 grain loadings in .30-06 and .308. The '06 is rated for large, thin skinned game. But the same projectile, launched 80 fps slower out of the .308, is only good for light thin skinned game. Then take a look at the 180 grain .303 British chart. Lose 200 fps off of a 180 grain thirty caliber bullet, and you're back into big, thin skinned game. What gives?

Ok, now look at the 180 grain .30-40 load. It starts off slightly slower than the .303, but according to the Winchester people keeps more velocity past three hundred yards. As far as I am concerned, no real difference. So why are they willing to label the British round for large game and not the Krag? Do they put tougher bullets into the '06 and .303? The .303 measures .311, so it's a different bullet. But I seriously doubt Winchester is using up manufacturing space to make two different 180 grain power point bullets for the American 30 calibers.

I'm one of the dozen or so people out there to own and shoot a .307 Winchester. So I took a look at its chart next. Tube magazines require flat nose bullets, so the .307 is less aerodynamic than the others and loses velocity downrange. It starts off faster than the .303 or the .30-40 though. I don't buy that the .303 is magically a more efficient missile of destruction than the .307, but I could possibly swallow some argument about flat nose as compared to spitzer bullets. Maybe. Still don't buy that 80 fps makes that much difference in the .30-06 and .308. There could be that much difference caused a little variance in chamber tolerances. For that matter, I bet the .308 load is faster out of a model 70 rifle than the '06 is out of, say, my 7600 carbine and its 18 inch barrel. Can anybody explain their reasoning here? Is it just the work of stupid marketing people, or is there something going on I should know about?

Cool

My .45 Colt model 625 really loves Winchester Silvertips, as does my two inch Lew Horton 625. They're getting harder to come by though, so I was excited to come across this while doing some Midway window shopping earlier.

Mostly I think it's cool that it's even being offered. Look at the other choices in Winchester's Supreme Elite line-up. Except for good 'ol .45 Colt those are all either service pistol rounds or pocket pistol rounds. In all of the latest news about such and such agency switching to such and such caliber or manufacturer, I don't recall anybody adopting Ruger Vaqueros as their standard sidearm. Check out the bullet weights, they aren't just loading their .45 acp bullet into a .45 Colt case. Maybe there is more demand than I realized from SASS shooters for a home defense round.

There was one thing that really surprised me though. No mention of a loading in .357 mag. There may be a few Rangers or Sheriffs wearing Peacemakers to barbeques or in court, but I'd be willing to bet there are even more model 66's still being worn on duty every day. I'd also put money on there being more .357's sitting in dresser drawers than there are .45 Colts.

For whatever it's worth, I own both calibers, and I keep the 625 on the night stand. Even if I shot a .357 equally well, big and slow bothers my ears less than small and screaming.

Weekend Menaces

Baboons are like the speed freak biker out of a little old ladies worst nightmare. Super humanly fast, aggressive, and strong. And running amok in South Africa. There was a time when big game hunters were pretty common in that neck of the woods.

Geographically closer to home, folks in Chicago are besieged by super raccoons. On the one hand, I feel left out that I never get besieged by super animals and would like to go with the time honored "what caliber for super raccoon?" On the other hand, Chicagoans are obviously stupid.

Edited to acknowledge that not all Yankees are stupid

Friday Night Music

I missed out when he came to town a couple weeks ago, but i'm going to make up for it next chance I get. Here's Jeremy Steding with "Let The Boys Drink Whiskey"

Reasonable Cause

I've been putting a lot of thought into the big Arizona law that is causing such a fuss. A lot of people seem to be forgetting that illegal immigration is, by definition, illegal. Also, they are crying and playing the racism card. So, in my continuing quest to be helpful to Arizona law enforcement officials, I'm going to explain what is and is not reasonable cause to pull somebody over for being in the country illegally.

Two guys wearing flannel, funny hats with earflaps, discussing some sort of strange foreign beer, saying "Eh" a lot, and listening to Bryan Adams? Pull them over right now.

A guy in a hat driving away from a party in which a lot of guys are sitting around eating goat and drinking strange foreign beer on a card table in a back yard, with an orange extension cord running out to power the window unit air conditioner on the center of the table? Pull him over right now. He's been drinking.

Two dark skinned guys in a pick up pulling a trailer full of lawn mowers? Let them go. No probable cause.

Two effeminate guys with shaved legs, listening to Buddhist chants, in an electric car, discussing soccer? Pull them over, rough them up, and ship them back to California. Right now.

Quote of the day

"How wide and deep would a moat need to be to be effective?"

"Depends on if you have alligators or not."

Who you gonna call..

When the people you called can't find you? Buddy the dog.

Life happens

The other day I had lunch at a Hawaiian barbeque place I like. A family of three came in the door as I was ordering. I paid, stepped back from the counter, and stepped right onto their three year old boy. He was stealthy like a ninja, but at this stage I must say he lacks the ninja's speedy reflexes.

Later that day I came home from work and opened the back door to let the dogs in. Cob entered, but their was no Gus. I called a couple times and then he came scurrying in from the alley through a hole in the fence. I replaced the pickets and then, out of curiosity, went out to track his adventures in the alley (I'm no Kit Carson, it rained a lot last week so it was easy to follow him in the mud). As far as I can tell, he spent most of his great adventure coming and going through the hole. At some point he went south a few houses, until big dogs barked at him and he realized he was alone, then ran back to the yard. Then he went west most of the length of the alley, until dogs on both sides of the alley barked. Also, their is a duck that spends a lot of time in the alley. Tracks and other evidence were everywhere. I never would have guessed.

Weekend Menaces

According to the FBI, me and you are just as much of a menace to America as Al Qaeda. I have tried to come up with a way to express my thoughts on this and just haven't been able to put it into words. Fortunately, Tam was able to say it for me.

Friday Night Music

I realize this is a song by and about Okies, but I really like the fiddle playing in this song. Plus, Jason Boland is about the coolest Okie I can think of.

Choices

I may have mentioned a while back that I had acquired a Remington 7600 carbine in .30-06. It's quick to the shoulder and accurate, I'm a big fan. The only question as been as to the best way to aim it. I considered a peep sight, but decided some sort of scope was in order to take advantage of the fact that it's .30-06 and not .30-30 or .45-70. I've been waffling back and forth on what to put on it. A Trijicon AccuPoint 1-4x24 30mm seems perfect. Most of the time when I need a rifle quickly it's almost dark. I've had a little trouble convincing myself to put one on a $400 rifle, but finally made up my mind yesterday. While I was at it I decided to go with the Trijicon rings that are made for the scope. Seemed like a good idea. Except they seem to be back ordered everywhere. Anyway, I'm excited to see how it all works out.

For my Buy a Gun Day purchase I've decided to find a Ruger .44 carbine. I'm curious to see if maybe it's possible to extend the magazine tube on one of the older ones. There's bound to be a way to adapt a tube from a Marlin or Winchester lever gun onto it and hold more than four rounds. That leaves the question of how to aim the thing. My dad's camp .45 has inspired this purchase, and I'm a big fan of the Trijicon RMR reflex sight on it. Now I've just got to decide if I want the same thing, or maybe something different. Decisions decisions.

Friday Night Music

Since last week we rocked out with two of the Braun brothers, this week we'll keep Micky, add Willy and Cody Braun, and slow it down with one of my favorite songs, "Snowfall." Because I'm gonna find my freedom, and brother you should too, 'cause if you don't do it now you'll be one year older when you do.

All Politics are Local

We've got a couple of run-offs to see who gets elected to go off to Austin every other year. This means Delwin Jones gets to talk on the radio even more than usual.

For the part of the planet that is fortunate enough not to know who he is, Delwin is a down home conservative West Texan who stands up for us in the face of all those big time Austin politicians. That's what the ads say anyway. There's also the possibility that he isn't any of those things. He could be a rich kid whose hard working dad would have preferred Delwin to get an actual productive job, but supported him anyway because, hey, it's what Delwin wanted.

Anyway, since I've been old enough to pay attention, his entire strategy is to deny that he receives any funding or support from down state, accuse the other guy of secretly being from someplace else, and remind everybody that they've been voting him in for decades, so if they vote for somebody else now, all his seniority will go to waste. Every. Single. Election Cycle. This year he's also stressing that with him, you know what you're getting, but all anybody else can offer is promises. Nobody ever got a date by saying "The next guy to ask you out might be really ugly or out of work," but somehow this strategy could very well work out for Jones.

He's also introducing threats this time around. In a nutshell, his opponents may point to his voting record on one bill or another, but politics is more complicated than they understand because they've never been Austin politicians before, so they're too dumb to understand that he wasn't voting against concealed handgun permits, but instead he was voting against taxes. So by voting for somebody who isn't Delwin, you're voting for somebody with less political know how. That's seriously the gist of a radio interview I forced myself to listen to yesterday. He never claimed to be a conservative. He never really claimed anything as far as ideology. Vote for me because I'm the only experienced politician in the race, and besides, it's what you did last time.

So there you have it, my thoughts on Sate rep Delwin Jones.

When life gave him lemons..

Cpl. Matthew Bradford re-enlisted in the Marines, becoming the first blind multiple amputee to ever do so. From now on, nobody is allowed to say they have it rough.

This could help

If California falls off in to the ocean, do their elected representatives still have to be seated in D.C.?

Thought Legislation

First off, let me state emphatically that I do not condone murder. I doubly so do not condone murdering somebody so that you can set an ambush at their funeral. That's not acceptable.

It's also not acceptable to classify acts as crimes based on if you like somebody or not.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Falvey Jr. said that while there is nothing wrong with owning guns or hating the government, it is illegal when "people with dark hearts and evil intents" gather to discuss ways to commit violence.

By now, we've all heard about the para-military nut jobs who were arrested in Michigan. The world is a better place with them out of the way. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be arrested. What I'm saying is that an Assistant U.S. Attorney ought to know that life isn't a Tom Cruise movie. You can't know some body's heart or intent.

What about the non terrorist, Nidal Malik Hasan? He pulled off an operation similar to what the nut jobs wanted to do, but instead we're told, not that he had a dark heart, but that he had Pre Traumatic Stress Disorder. What's the difference between the two cases?

I want to know who makes the "dark hearts and evil intents" call, Bill Ayers? I mean, he founded a self-described communist revolutionary group that conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings. That took some planning and discussion. Since he isn't locked up, I've got to assume that his strength is as of ten men, because his heart must be pure. Plus, he's buds with the Big O, so he seems like the logical choice to make the call.

After Sept. 11 I remember all sorts of theories being thrown out there. They were going to use crop dusters to poison out water supply. Tanker trucks would be rigged to blow us all up. Obviously, some people were discussing these things. Were Falvey Jr. and Ayers on hand making sure their hearts weren't darkened by shadow?

I read a post last year about the failures of the president's security team, and remember a comment on how our foes were unserious, or else they could field a few Beltway sniper style teams and really make things tough for us. Oh my gosh, I just realized something. I'm sure I read that on a right wing blog. Since The Great Enlightened Hopeful One is left wing and must certainly have a heart free of darkness, does that mean that right wing people have dark hearts? So was a crime committed when he contemplated that way to commit violence, or is it only when there is a group discussion that a crime is committed?

I just realized something else. After I read that post, I can remember a discussion with another guy about how easily anybody with a welding machine or a gas powered chop saw could derail trains, and how, with a little coordination, several such groups could derail a lot of trains at once. I was in a gathering of people who discussed ways to commit violence. Should I turn myself in to Falvey Jr. and Ayers to await judgement, or just throw myself upon the mercy of The Great O?

Weekend Menaces

Always keep your eye on the ball.

What caliber for sea monster?

What caliber for Australian space aliens?

Friday Night Music

I'm feeling a little exuberant this week, so how about some rock and roll braggadocio? Here's Micky and the Motorcars with "Bloodshot"


And, to keep things from getting to far from normal, here they are with "Million Miles." Remember, done properly, and under the right circumstances, it's ok to rock a little from time to time.

High level dumbness

We're often told that criminals profile their victims. They look for the defenseless, the weak, the inattentive. A smart pirate might go after some rich old guys entertaining some young attractive women on a yacht.

On the other hand, a dumb pirate might go after an American naval frigate.

Myth Busting

I was visiting my parents' house last night and MythBusters was on tv. I kind of like the show. The dude in the hat built a soda can cannon. What's not to like?

Then they decided to find out if you can bullet proof a car with telephone books. There was a cute, spunky girl shooting at a car covered in phone books, with a M1 Garand. Life was good. Until the announcer called it an M14.

I know the m14 is the direct descendant of the M1. I know that, other than the box mag and the caliber, they're pretty much the same thing. Maybe I need to relax, but this stuff bothers me.

For what it's worth, the chick eventually took out the engine block and stopped the car with a .50 BMG.

In other news...

While I was reading about Obama's drilling decision, I came across this: Texas Town on High Alert as Mexican Town Across Border Braces for Cartel Gun Battle.

This isn't the first time violence has spilled across the border. During one of the Mexican Revolutions Rangers from across the state had to neglect other duties to be stationed in El Paso just in case violence spilled across. It was actually considered a form of entertainment to sit on roofs and watch the battle for Juarez.

Back then, the various factions all wanted to be recognized by the United States as Mexico's legitimate government. That gave them a reason to not piss us off. Nowadays, the cartels have been listening to our talk for a while. It seems like they're heeding it less and less.

Where is Captain McNelly when we need him?

(It's not like there was a lull over the last hundred years or so. There were just to many to link too. Go ahead and google it)

Wait just a minute.

I heard the last half of a sound-bite on the radio this afternoon, and it confused me. From what I could tell at the time, Obama had given the okay to off shore drilling, and everybody was mad over it. Something seemed amiss.

I'll admit, when I hear him, or anybody else in D.C. mentioned, my first thought is "What has he screwed up now?" But off shore drilling is something I approve of, so there had to be more to it.

Turns out he didn't okay all off shore drilling, just some of it. And, yeah, when you look at it, it probably is just a gesture to try and appease some folks on the right. And, yes, it will take a while to get any oil from this into the system. There are some good things. Drilling provides a lot of well paying jobs. And more oil, even years from now, is better than more oil never. Sure would be nice if somebody could build some much needed refineries, but hey, baby steps. Right? I'm trying really hard to be positive and look at the bright side.

So why am I sitting here trying to figure out how anybody could have screwed this up?

Weekend Menaces

People, the world is a dangerous enogh place without doing stupid stuff. Remember The Four Rules. Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

Tranquilizing bulls can be tricky business. A half inch or so can make a huge difference, and it's hard to know exactly where the dart needs to go, and harder yet to put it exactly where you want. On top of that, an excited bull, with his adrenaline pumping, may decide not to become tranquil anyway. So I really don't think any less of the folks in Larimer County, Colorado for taking four darts to get a rampaging bull shut down. They displayed good stick-to-itivness in staying after the menace.

So remember folks, use your head and don't add to the list of menaces, and keep in mind that just because you see something all the time on the other side of the fence when you're driving down the road, doesn't mean it can't be a menace under the wrong circumstances.

Friday Night Music

This week I'm going with one that's really growing on me, Wade Bowen's "Matches." I like the tune, hope you do too.

A revealing look

I've encountered a dead cow or two in my day. I've seen the remains and noticed the changes over time. I've even followed the cloud of buzzards and shot a coyote over one as bait. That gave me a general idea of the process.

But I had no idea about some of the details until Robert at Blackfork set up his Dead Cow Cam. There's more to the process than you'd think.

Never would have guessed...

T.C. was only six years younger than Higgins.

So?

Representative Randy Neugebauer shouted out "it's a baby killer" while Bart "thirty pieces of silver" Stupak was on the house floor the other night. Some people are upset by this. Neugebauer, who is my representative, and who I voted for, has apologized and says he was just trying to represent the people of his district.

Here's a newsflash for yankees and californians. He was representing his district mildly. The fact that the clip can be played unedited on television is proof of that. Most people around here used much stronger words to describe the bill. You can make all the fuss over it that you want, this won't change his chances for re-election. Sure, we've got some commies here who don't like him, but they weren't going to vote for him anyway. The local democratic party was on the news tonight condemning his actions, from what I could tell they held their meeting in a janitor's closet somewhere. Really made them come across as relevant. The people who voted for him before will again. The more you outsiders fuss over it, the more people in West Texas are going to stand behind him.

Nothing new to say

I'm not at all happy with the happenings in D.C. I don't have anything to say about it that hasn't already been said though, so I'll leave you with the best of what I've heard.

First, the anger. From the Monster Hunter himself, Larry Correia, I got this.

Nancy Pelosi said that the founding fathers would be proud... Bitch, George Washington would stab you.

Then, from PDB, we get something a little more uplifting.

We are AMERICANS goddamnit. We are the posterity of Patrick Henry, Chuck Yeager, Carlos Hathcock, George Patton, Daniel Boone, Buzz Aldrin, Chesty Puller, John McClane, Frank Fletcher, Thomas Edison and George Washington and countless other hardass shitkickers who stared down tougher opponents than Nanci Pelosi.

Another take on it

I mentioned my thoughts on Idaho giving the feds the finger, but, as usual, Tam said it better.

...the Idaho state legislature has beaten Congress to the punch with the "Get Bent, D.C." Act of '10, which the governor of the Gem State has already signed into law.

Go ahead and read the rest of what she had to say.

What are you willing to do?

It seems that a California meth ring/motorcycle gang is booby trapping police officers who have cracked down on them. I know my answer to this problem, and Jimmy Malone agrees.

Weekend Menaces: Update

The sun came up in the east this morning, water is wet, and there is a lunatic on the loose in New York.

Anybody know the best way to go about getting some silver bullets for my .45-70? How do I get them to engage the rifling?

The Weather

For as long as I can remember, the weather has been a little different pretty much every day. Some years are a little hotter than others. Some years it rains more than others. It may rain a lot in March and not at all in July. We may have a 70 degree day in January and a 20 degree day in April. That's life.

And every year, I hear people talk about how unusual this year as been. It snowed here last night, and I've heard a lot of people act as if that's not supposed to happen once time changes and spring arrives. Bull. I live in West Texas, and it isn't one bit unusual for us to have a snowstorm around Easter. There is some lag time between equinox and temperature change here on Earth.

A few years back we had the wettest year we'd ever had around here, record rainfall and everything. The next year started out as more of the same, and then we went a hundred days without any rainfall. At the height of the dry spell, a lot of people spoke as if the previous year had never happened.

That's how this global warming thing gets by. Everybody wants to believe that "now" is special. They're living now, after all. Guess what, most people can't tell you what they had for lunch last Tuesday. How do you expect them to remember what the clouds did last year?

Weekend Menaces

Life was a little odd this week, even by its standards.

A single engine plane landed on a jogger as he made his way down the beach in South Carolina. Keep an eye on the sky.

We've had yet another reminder that big reptiles will eat you if given a chance.

Sometimes, people are their own worst enemy. I don't even know what to say to this.

Psychos come in all shapes and sizes.

Look up, look down, and look within. Menaces are everywhere.

Quote of The Day

I always knew I liked the guy.

“You can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal."

-Robert Downey Junior

Maybe crime can pay. Nothing is a total loss if you learn from it.

That's the spirit

Idaho is ready to sue the feds if they pass their health care bill. I'm in favor if this, even though the feds have a history of reacting strongly to threats to their rule.

There's a lot to be said for it

Looks like I'm not the only one who sees some drawbacks in doing away with the code duello. An armed society is a polite society, after all.

Friday Night Music

I've liked Rodney Hayden for a few years now, ever since a local station played his recording of "The Real Thing" and I went out and bought the album. He's coming to town in a couple months and I'm hoping to go. Here he is with one of my favorites, "Heartaches and Highways"


And because I feel like it, here he is doing "Broke Down," which gets played on occasion on 95.9 out of Fort Worth, one of the only radio stations worth listening to for music anymore.

Weekend Menaces

Snakes are dangerous, they could even menace dinosaurs.

Independence Day

And on this day in 1836, the Texas Decleration of Independence was adopted, and the Republic of Texas was born.

Happy Birthday

On this day in 1793, Sam Houston was born.

Friday Night Music

Since I liked the movie and the song, this week I'm going with Ryan Bingham and "The Weary Kind." Give the man a listen.

The Week in Rearview

We had a pretty good snow Tuesday, for this part of the world at least. Five or six inches. A lot of people wound up in the ditch. I was going down the highway and saw something big. When I got closer I saw it was a 3/4 ton Dodge that had slid into the ditch while pulling a big module builder. A second 3/4 ton Dodge had gotten stuck trying to pull the first one out. I couldn't resist, so I pulled over and drug the whole convoy out. Four wheel drive is a useful tool.

Crazy Heart

I saw Crazy Heart over the weekend. It was more than worth seeing. I'd recommend it. Like so many other great movies, Robert Duvall is in it. Jeff Bridges wears the part of Bad Blake like I wear my brown shirts. Blake is a man confronting the life he has lead and the mistakes he has made, putting one foot in front of the other, for better or worse. Plus, it turns out that Bridges actually makes a pretty good bar room singer. He sings a couple songs himself, and I was impressed, which got me to thinking.

Technically speaking, most of my favorite singers don't really have text book voices. They don't have huge ranges. They wouldn't make it far on American Idol. As a matter of fact, I've heard various ignorant people say Robert Earl Keen is a bad singer. I've heard the same thing of Jerry Jeff Walker and Chris Knight. None of those guys went off for vocal training at some east coast school. Music moguls didn't pluck them out of the mall and make stars out of them because they fit an image. They picked up guitars and started writing about life. And what they and others like them have in common is that they can sing their stories as if they lived them. Heck, Jerry Jeff wrote "Mr. Bojangles" about a man he met while spending the night in jail in New Orleans. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure Chris Knight didn't live through "Back Down the River." If he had I doubt he'd have made a written public confession in a song. But he still sings it as if he means it. And that's what Jeff Bridges manages in "Crazy Heart." He didn't actually write the title song, Ryan Bingham did. He's been married 33 years and has three grown daughters. He hasn't lived the song, but he still manages to play the role as if he has. That's what makes a good entertainer. I've paid money at the door to see Bingham down town at the Blue Light. If Jeff Bridges ever decided on a career change and found himself on stage playing a guitar in West Texas I'd put my money down and buy a ticket for him too.

Life is Good

I got to see my Great-great-granddad's Colt Lightning last night. I had previously mentioned it as being a Single Action Army in this post, but turns out I was wrong. Either way, it was pretty cool to hold.

Friday Night Music

I'm feeling festive, here's Paul Eason singing "One More Dance." Hope everbody likes it.

Weekend Menaces

Psycho people will always be a menace. Thinking somebody else will protect you can be a menace. Believing a sheet of paper can protect you can be a menace. Not being able to protect yourself will always be a menace. Buy plenty of ammo, practice for everything, think through any potential situation you run across, and stay prepared.

Friday Night Music

This is another song I heard for the first time on my vacation a couple weeks ago and have been listening to a lot lately. It's by Lyle Lovett and is called "Natural Forces." As a guy who covers a lot of ground under the open sky, I like it. Can't say the same for Mr. Lovett's barber though.

The Week in Rearview

That would be the aforementioned four bale trailer, hay already dumped off, being pulled back to the barn.

Going Green

Uncle saw the same commercial as Mad Ogre, and he didn't like it either.

The commercial should have ended with a guy in a big ass Ford Earthf----r that gets 5 miles per gallon with seats made from baby seals blowing past the roadblock billowing smoke. And, for effect, the driver flips them off. I’d buy that car. Not this little compliant pansy car. You appeal to Americans in an ad by showing rebellion and general orneriness. Not passiveness, compliance, or sheepishness.

It didn't take long before reports of this beast started coming in from the wild.

Being an outdoorsy type, I decided to share some of my experience with the creature, performing its namesake act.


Here we have one preparing to burn a lot of diesel. To produce even more hippy tears, the boomlift could have been left running on the trailer.


This is a good example of the Ford EarthF---er upsetting the natural preferences of hippies, not only by directly burning diesel and producing stuff to float up into the atmosphere, but also by providing 20,000 pounds of concrete to replace some of Mother Earth's grass and dirt, all just to put up a fence to prevent our animal friends from roaming as their natures intended. Notice the gray clouds, Gaia was sad.


Here we have a pair of the creatures actually making Mother Earth cry and fight back. Not only were they creating hazardous emissions, but they were also involved in the process of using our peaceful bovine friends for non-vegetarian purposes. To make matters even worse, they were subjugating our equine and canine brothers to accomplish their vile deeds.


As you can see, Mother Earth tried to ensnare the more distant Ford to prevent this tearful act. She came close, but was unsuccessful when the Fords brought in back up in the form of a John Deere EvironmentDespoiler.

Blogroll update

I'm adding Farmgirl, of Tractor Tracks, to the blogroll. She's a wonderful writer and interesting person who I've enjoyed reading for a long time, but have always followed Lawdog's link to get there. Since the world is imperfect, Lawdog doesn't post every day, and so I don't read Farmgirl as often as I should. Problem solved.

Wow

I came across this earlier and was a more than a little bit amazed.

First of all, Holy Cow! Clone a Neanderthal? Seriously? We could do that? I'm impressed.

Secondly, Holy Cow, there are a lot of things to consider here. Cloning a Neanderthal? Has nobody seen Jurassic Park? Science gets out of hand, and there are consequences. Is it morally right to bring a person into this world without any sort of similar people, let alone a family? Would it be raised in a lab someplace? What sort of life would it be able to lead? Would he/she be able to live the same way anybody else can in our society? How well could it blend in? How about society? We've produced Paris Hilton, what would we do to a poor Neanderthal?

This is the most interesting article I've encountered in a while. Wow, on every possible level.

Sparse Hunting

A lot of ammunition is easier to find now than it was a year ago, but I'm still having hard time finding .357 in any sort of quantity. Good thing I've got other calibers to shoot.

Quote of The Day

I missed most of the Super Bowl driving back to town last night, but George, the Mad Ogre himself, watched the game and saw the commercials. He had this to say about some hippy car commercial.

Green doesn't sell except to Liberals and Liberals only want to drive Priuses and Subaru Outbacks. Ford needs to come out with a counter Campaign. BLACK and RED... Because those sell cars. Talk to Car Guys, and they will, in short order, talk about Performance Cars... and you ask them what color... Black or Red. Crank up some AC-DC playing Back in Black with the image of the new Mustang GT (with some new factory independent rear suspension) power sliding across the screen leaving a cloud of smoke... with the tag line “Let the Hippies buy more Carbon Credits” as the car roars off into the distance. Tell me that wouldn't sell some cars. Audi and Toyota can be as Green as they want... American Car Makers need to do what they do best – Being BadAss. Because that's what sells American Car.

Back Seat Driving

This weekend, I found myself once again hauling a four bale hay trailer through a muddy, sloppy mess. Afterwards, I unhitched and chauffeured my Granddad and uncle around. Both gave me lots of helpful backseat advice of the "This part is rough, slow down a little, not that slow, speed up or we're going to be walking" variety. This went on until my Granddad suggested a detour, and when we got around a corner reached a swamp. Seeing our situation, my Granddad said "Oh. You're on your own now Grandson."

Weekend Menaces

As I've mentioned before, people who aren't responsible for their dogs are a menace to both dogs and bystanders.

What caliber for Giant Squid?

Large, speedy, carnivorous felines can't be healthy to have roaming around.

Sometimes, you need a bigger boat.

Friday Night Music

I heard this one while I was off having fun hunting up bulls. It's by a guy out of Fort Worth named Joey Green. Here it is, "Natchitoches Blues"

For The Curious...

Winchester Ranger 230 grain .45+p was carried on the aforementioned outing. I've been very happy with it on hogs, and it has penetrated the skull very well putting down crippled cattle. And no, Winchester hasn't paid me or given me anything for this endorsement, they don't even want me buying the stuff with my own money.

What I Did On My January Vacation

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I've got a pretty good excuse. I've been off gathering cattle.

My family has a place in Hamilton County. The north end of the place is rough and hard to get to. The brush and terrain make it hard to drive the cattle at all. So it turns out that there is some really wild stuff living over there, stuff that has never been caught, or four year old steers that have been caught just once. We've adapted our methods to get them gathered. We put out a round bale as bait and then another guy and I drove in and darted some of the wilder stuff and then radioed in for dogs and cowboys once the herd got spooked. It worked pretty well.


One of the trailers has a winch in the front. After they get tied down, they get hooked to the winch and untied. Once they get off the ground they get drug in. From there we can transfer them to a steel stock trailer when the winch trailer gets full.



We were well on our way to getting the whole bunch taken care of when the rains came. And kept coming. The six inch rain gauge was full before very long. This lead to some complications. The creek got up and we couldn't get the trucks across to load anything. I managed to back up the muddy hill with my stock trailer and get out. Paul managed the same with the winch trailer. My brother did not manage the same.

I tried pulling him out with my truck.




That was a no go, so out came the tractor, right as the rains got heavy.

That made all the difference. Anyway, the flood was the end of our bull catching adventure.

There were some exciting mishaps along the way. Paul took his trailer over a terrace and managed to un-attach it.


Even before the flood came, the creek was slick and steep. The entire trail to the north patch is rough and involves crossing two more creeks. We made it several times, pulling gooseneck trailers. After the flood, there was still hay that had to be put out using a four bale gooseneck trailer. I know Brigid likes her Chevy and JayG likes his Dodge, but for hard use in rough terrain, neither of the two .gov owned manufacturers build anything that will stand up to it like an F250. That answers that question.

I had one occasion to draw my sidearm. Wes and I darted a black dagger horn bull and had to follow it into the thick stuff. Bulls really aren't that distantly related to Cape Buffalo, with all of the exciting Peter Hathway Capstick imagery that that brings to mind. We found him but he wasn't all the way out. We were trying to tie him down when he came to and got up quickly. I was carrying my favorite commander length 1911 in an El Paso Saddlery tortilla holster and made a nice, smooth, four point draw and had that front sight lined up and ready by the time he was up and decided on flight over fight. I was proud that practice had paid off and my draw was smooth when it mattered.

Even if the productivity did end a little sooner than I would have liked, it was a pretty good working vacation.

Friday Night Music

This is one I just heard for the first time and really liked. Give it a listen. Brad Hines singing "Hooked on the Bottle"

Thank You

Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser and Jesse Stone novels, passed away Monday while working at his desk. He was 77.

I hadn't heard about his death until a little while ago, but by some chance I had started re-reading the Spenser series, starting at the beginning, Sunday evening.

Get over it

A man was shot today in my fair town. As I understand it, the bullet receptacle was attempting to enter a home through the back door and the homeowner shot him with a shotgun. There has been a surprising amount of hand wringing and second guessing. Part of this may be because some of the shot entered the guy's back.

Oh my gosh, surely the misbegotten lad was only trying to check the home for unsafe radon levels when the bloodthirsty guy shot him. What was he doing at home during the day anyway, shouldn't he have been at work like a responsible person? Obviously he had some sort of nefarious reason to be home. Probably set everything up so he could ambush a boy scout.

Cry me a river. Life stops being a cowboy movie at the point where somebody makes the decision to forcefully enter another person's home. Somebody turning around could very well be reaching for a gun. Anybody breaking into your home has forsaken their right to a showdown at noon.

Life isn't perfect. Bad things happen. We all pay the price for our decisions. Don't decide to let yourslf become a victim.

While we're on the subject

There is more than one way to qualify as a sub human. This would be one of them.

Humanity and sub-humans

There is some fundamental aspect missing in the character of somebody who will dump a sick or injured dog to slowly starve or freeze in the cold. If you have a short attention span, don't get a dog. If you don't want it anymore, if you can't take care of it for whatever reason, shoot it or put it down. Take it to the pound. Find it a new home. Be an adult human being and take responsibility. It is a dog. Don't kid yourself. If you dump it there's maybe a one percent chance of somebody taking it in, and an eighty percent chance that it dies slowly, alone and scared. Nineteen percent chance that it becomes somebody else's problem and they have to shoot it for chasing livestock.

It's a dog. Humans domesticated its ancestors thousands of years ago. It depends on humans to be responsible for it. If your humanity isn't dependable, don't get a dog.

My Thoughts Exactly

The Horse Thief has a post up that gets across a point I've often had trouble expressing. Go read it. Then take a look at Mike Rowe's website. I'm a huge fan of Dirty Jobs and always suspected Mike was a pretty good guy.

While you're at it, watch the movie Office Space. It makes a pretty good point as well. There is a lot of societal pressure for everybody to go get some plush office job. All the way through school my teachers and everybody else told me "Oh, you're so smart, don't waste that." As if anything that doesn't require a college degree is a waste of time. They also made it seem like anybody who didn't have an inside job was a failure. That's a frightening trend in what passes for "education" these days. The truth is that a high school diploma, and, for that matter, most college degrees, don't mean much these days. I had a roomate who majored in something called Human Development and Family Studies, and I could have aced most of his exams just by being early to the doctor's office a couple times and reading a few old issues of coffee table magazines. That's what happens in a society where everybody must have a degree.

I'd like to see a return to the old way of doing things, where people taught themselves more, but that isn't likely to happen. Who has time to teach themselves anything? If they did that, they might miss American Idol.