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.