How's it look around you?

I noticed over the past few weeks that there are almost NO political signs in yards this year. A definite dearth of bumper stickers, as well. I live outside the bluest of blue small cities, and four years ago there were O signs everywhere. Many of the cars (particularly Subarus and Prii) were adorned with at least one and usually three or more O stickers.

This year? I can't remember seeing ANY signs for O in yards, and one guy on my fifteen-mile drive into town has a big "DEFEND AMERICA: DEFEAT OBAMA" sign in the yard. That's it. ONE sign.

Apparently I am not the only one to notice this (ar15.com).

From the original post in that thread:

Now, the only thing I can figure, is that people feel the division in the air. And it's not just healthy disagreement, it's downright UGLY. [...] I am thinking that people are PETRIFIED (on both sides of the camp) of reprecussions based on their political support.

I agree to a certain extent. I've never been one to advertise my political leanings (besides, "Chewbacca for 26th District!" sounds goofy), but people aren't really talking about it now. I've seen and heard people tapdancing around the issue in various venues, but it's become the elephant in the room.

I'll admit it: I'm actually a little concerned about what the next four months hold.

Occupy offered settlement...

Remember those kids at UC Davis that got pepper-sprayed en masse last year?

Well, the University is offering a $30,000-per-person settlement on their lawsuit.

The pepper-spraying was an "objectively unreasonable" use of force by campus police, a 190-page report by a University of California task force said in April.

I'm actually torn about this.

Yes, they were obstructing a pathway and were (rightfully) subject to forcible removal.

They were also obstructing it peacefully. Anyone know or remember if officers tried simply dragging them away one by one before spraying? I don't.

I don't know where UC police place spray in their force continuum. Wikipedia lists this as a common example:

1) Physical presence
2) Verbal commands
3) Empty-hand submission techniques
4) Intermediate Weapons e.g. closed-fist punches, kicks, baton, pepper spray, Taser, beanbag rounds and etc.
5) Lethal force.

Additionally, the officer was using a non-issue spray, designed for application from 6+ feet ... not 3. He's no longer employed by UCPD.

I suspect most of these students will take the settlement.


Don't get me wrong - I like seeing hippies getting sprayed as a matter of principle - but not for sitting still. Not for protesting, not for speaking freely, not for passive resistance. Not anyone, not ever.

Dinner: "Stuff"

I don't even know what the heck to call this concoction. It's not sweet'n'sour. It's not roasted. It's just "Stuff".

- 2-4 bell peppers, diced to bite-size pieces
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- one can pineapple chunks, drained, juice reserved
- 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 boneless pork chops or chicken breasts
- 2 cups rice
- hot water

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown the meat over medium heat.

Saute the garlic, onion, and celery in olive oil until the onion just translucent. Add the soy sauce, pepper, and pineapple for a couple more minutes.

In a large casserole, combine the pineapple juice, rice, and 4 cups hot water. Add the vegetable mix and stir together. Put the browned meat on top, cover loosely with foil, and put in the oven for 40-50 minutes until the rice is tender.

Bulk ammo...

Oddball snarks about buying "over 1500 rounds of ammunition!" ... which leads me down the path of, "I need to work on replacing some of the .22 I've used this year."

I've burned several bricks over the last few months and haven't bought any. I'm still comfortably in five-digit quantities of .22, but it isn't getting any cheaper, either. On my last trip to Walmart I noticed that they are now selling plastic "ammo cans" of MiniMag... 1600 rounds for $98. Not a bad price at all, since a tray of 100 is $7.

Might need to invest in one. Or more.

... when death is in the cards

Jay really threw down the self-humiliation gauntlet with this one.

I threw in ten bucks in hopes that he'll shut the hell up.

Coming up on that time...

For clocks to change. Yes, it's still a month away, but when they changed Daylight Savings to March and November from April and October, I changed my smoke-alarm battery habits. I just aim for April and October now. To make it even easier, I went to Amazon and set up a subscription for 9v batteries. Every six months, which - if you start now - means late March and late September, they send me a box of 9v batteries. They arrive in the mail, I replace them around the house, life is good.

As a corollary to that, check the manufacture date on your smoke and CO alarms. If they're more than five years old, chuck 'em and get new ones like this. At a minimum, have one on every level of the house. Ideally, have one in every room and hall except the kitchen and bathroom.

While you're wandering around, give all your fire extinguishers a good shake - you should be able to hear or feel the powder inside moving around. If you can't, replace it.

"Religion of Peace" my arse

Pakistani government official offers $100,000 bounty on filmmaker

Claims he's making the offer as an individual, not as a government representative.

Calls a news conference to do it.

Sounds legit.

Rimfire Therapy

Hit the indoor range last night. This will become more common as winter sets in, days get shorter, and getting out during daylight hours gets harder. The indoor range down the road from me only allows cast lead and .22s - so it'll be .22s and .38s for me. I need to load up some more cast .45s at some point...

Last night's trip, however, was all .22. I took the M&P15-22 and the MkIII. Tried a new ammo; the Winchester 555 HVHP. The MkIII didn't care for it: I had half-a-dozen failures to feed over the course of a half-brick; all nose-dives into the feed ramp. The hollowpoint on those is stinking HUGE and probably has something to do with it.

In any case, I haven't completely lost my skill, as this was the result of a couple hundred rounds at 50 feet:

Certainly not spectacular, but I'm not displeased.

QOTD: Adaptive Curmudgeon

[W]hen RPGs are involved diplomacy is long gone.

I'd think that's self-evident, but I'm not a trained diplomat. I'm just one of those gun-hugging libertarians in the flyovers.

Two things...

First: I'm going to have to either turn on the captcha, or require accounts. I'm getting tired of deleting spam. Input welcome.

Second: I'm making the necessary decision to thin the herd a little. Stay tuned for more, but the first two are easy. This isn't finances for once, but an effort to get down to things that I actually use and enjoy.

1) Drop-in replacement barrel for a S&W M&P40c to .357Sig. Factory barrel, blackened/melonited whatever they call it. Unfired. Feeds from standard .40 mags. $75 shipped. I'd also take three 9mm compact mags in trade.

2) M&P9 full-size. No safeties. TruGlo TFO sights (green/green). Includes box, papers, grip inserts, and a LaserLyte RSL that I had problems with. Four ten-round magazines, Serpa holster. It's had a couple boxes through it, no mods other than the sight change. $550 shipped. (S&W SKU is 150828.)

Drop me an email with questions.

Real Estate Available, Washington DC

"To that end, U.S. officials said earlier this week that Marine teams would be dispatched to protect U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya, Yemen and Sudan in the wake of anti-Western unrest in those countries.
[...]
Yemen's parliament issued a statement early Sunday demanding U.S. Marines leave the Arab country immediately, calling the presence of any foreign forces -- and U.S. troops in particular -- 'unacceptable.'"

(Full story via CNN.com)

I know some wonderful real estate in the 2300 block of Washington Ave NW that should be open any day now.

Short and sweet: our embassy is our sovereign soil. If your country is going to deny us the presence of our own security forces, then you're cutting ties. End US aid (fiscal and/or physical), hang a for-sale sign on the embassy, and bring the entire staff home. Declare the entire staff of the Yemeni embassy PNG, and put them on the next flight east. Done.

(Just for a good comparison, take a look through the slideshow in the above article. Now head over to Google Image Search and look for "Tehran 1979". See any similarities?)

Farm's ready!

Hunting Buddy and I made the drive out to the farm yesterday. Brutal humidity, temperature wasn't bad. Checked one stand and replaced a strap on it, checked the second and it needed nothing. Scouted a little bit and found a few good spots to put a blind.

Pulled down the third stand and moved it 75 yards into a better section of woods with better sight lines. It may be a tough stand to hunt, but should yield a big deer for a patient hunter.

Played a little bit, and remembered/rediscovered why I love the 1911 so much. It might be time to start thinking about going back to a 1911 for carry... which would mean a new 1911. We'll see.

Hunting Prep

Nights are getting a hair cooler, but the days are still warm.

Hunting Buddy and I are heading out to The Farm tomorrow to check and perhaps move stands, scout a little bit, clear shooting lines as needed, and so forth.

... And if they'll cooperate, pop a couple of tree rats. Taking the snow-camo'd 20ga and a box of #6 shot.

Come winter, I'll be heading back out there for coyotes with the Pale Horse. :-)

Let's go to the video...

I know we all want to believe cops are all good upstanding citizens, focused on doing the Right Thing at all times. We all (should) know that they're human too, and there are bad people who become bad cops.

Here's a good example.

Short form:
- Two urban youths go to the convenience store on a winter evening. One is wearing a ski mask.
- Cop sees them, decides the mask is suspicious, and stops the one with the mask.
- Other leaves - and I don't know the circumstances in his departure.
- Cop chases down the one that left.
- Cop pistol-whips the kid from behind - with his finger on the trigger.
- Gun fires, no one is hit.
- Cop arrests kid for resisting and assault.
- Surveillance video comes to light, suit is filed.

The taxpayers of Prince Georges County are likely going to eat that 10-million-dollar lawsuit.

Droolworthy

Hadn't heard about this particular product until I saw the picture on Oleg's site.

XS 50-round drum magazine

It's forbidden fruit here in NY, and admittedly spendy ($189 list), but I won't deny wanting one ... or five. Same height as a standard 30-rounder, Cerakoted aluminum... It should be great for balance, and durable as hell. Available in .308 as well, in a variety of flavors.

It'd be a REAL nice fit with the Pale Horse ... if it were legal. *sigh*

One more reason to keep my eyes open ... elsewhere.

Clint, etc

I just watched Clint's speech from the RNC this morning. Others have analyzed it better than I. It got the message across just fine, I think.

But I didn't know I shared an office with The One:

Humbling, I tell you.

Real Men Shoot Purple Rifles

With a hat tip to JayG for taking the picture at blogshoot.

Giveaway: RESULTS

Last weekend I put up a post offering up an Aimpoint just for guessing how much ammo was in the bowl. I let it run the week and got a pretty good handful of guesses.

Last night I dumped, sorted, counted, and photographed.

Clockwise from the top:

- 8 12ga shells

- 16 .45ACP

- 7 .357Mag

- 12 .38Spl.

- 20 .22LR

- 20 9mm

- 6 .44Spl

- 2 .223Rem

For a grand total of 91 cartridges.

That just happens to be the exact guess posted by the one and only...

LIBERTYMAN

Now, his prize... I said it was an Aimpoint, and I didn't lie. I said it was a working Aimpoint, and I didn't lie.

I didn't say what vintage Aimpoint it is. So here it is, in all its glory:

Yes, kids, Libertyman is proud new owner of a genuine Aimpoint 1000. This particular optic is guaranteed at least old enough to drink, as the model was discontinued in 1991. (Libertyman, the manual is available at the above link.) And because I'm a nice guy, I'm going to include a card of fresh batteries - it uses two 357 button cells.

Drop me an email and let me know where to send your prize!

Cycles?

Anyone else have their shooting interests go in cycles? Last night while I was at the range, I was really enjoying myself, trying to find that sweet spot and get "in the zone" with a rifle. Last year at this time, it was pistols. I tend to start thinking about clays and wingshooting as autumn approaches as well...

I'm trying to decide if I'm finding that pistols don't interest me as much, or if it's just another ebb in the cycle. There are only a few pistols I'd still really like to acquire, but rifles and shotguns are calling my name again.