Quality Hardware

In many cases, I'll buy lower end products if they're cheaper than name brands. I buy Walmart's "Great Value" brand all the time, because those products are significantly cheaper than the name brands. However, one area where I never skimp is tools. When I buy gear that I know I'm going to be tough on, I buy from quality manufacturers who support their products and have a reputation for rugged reliability.
When I was told I needed a flashlight that is NVG Compatible, I immediately thought "Surefire." For those of you who aren't familiar with the company, they make indestructible tactical flashlights and in my experience, they're worth every penny of their pretty steep price tags. The one I bought today, the G2, is one of their cheaper models since its made of high impact plastic instead of their more expensive aircraft-grade aluminum models. It retails for about $40.
They also make a wide variety of accessories, including different colored slip on and spring loaded filters, protective lens covers, and even Infrared filters. White, amber, and red light is not NVG compatible. I already have two Surefire lights that have red lights, so those were no good. Damn, gotta go buy another Surefire! I ended up with a spring loaded blue filter, which is NVG compatible. This is not for illuminating things which I will look at through the NVG's. Its for things I'm NOT going to look at through the goggles. The NVG's have blue filters in them, so they don't pick up blue and green light, meaning I can use the blue light without blinding the rest of the crew.
So, without further ado, here are some pics of the new Surefire setup with some of my other high quality tools. The new one is propped up on my Corcoran Marauder combat boots, with the filter open. The next smaller one is the A2 Aviator model, which puts out low intensity red, and high intensity white lights. The smallest is the L1 LumaMax which puts out high and low intensity red light. The pistol is my Sig P6.



And a close up with the filter closed.

The New Club

I haven't joined the long list of bloggers who were taking sides on the recent issues over at TheHighRoad.com, mainly because I don't have any way of confirming the facts, and otherwise its a big load of accusations from both sides. I didn't know who was right, so I stayed out of it.
Now there's a new club in town. Larry Correia, MadOgre, and some other folks have started www.WeTheArmed.com as a refuge for those who don't want to deal with the THR mess, and anyone else who is interested, as well as consolidating a few other forums. I joined up today and so far it seems to be growing fast. There are a lot of familiar handles showing up from THR, and they have an off-topic section that THR likely never will.
I'm not totally writing off THR. I still like it there. This is just another place to hang out.

Body Language

I just watched a History Channel documentary on body language, and it was enlightening. They discussed real figures who found themselves in the spotlight over the last twenty years, with a few moments reaching back to the Yalta summit. They showed how Bill Clinton giving his famous "I did not have sexual relations" speech, and picked it apart to show that he was not being truthful. They showed Tony Blair on the day after Princess Diana's death, seemingly over doing his sorrow. They showed criminals giving speeches before they were found guilty, and showed the signals that gave them away.
I waited eagerly for some critique of the current presidential candidates, and it was minimal. What they did say was very interesting. They compared Obama's speech patterns to those a Baptist Preacher uses to get his congregation riled up. One expert even said that to spectators, Obama's words really don't matter to his audience, and that the way he speaks is enough to trigger an emotional reaction in his fans.
On McCain's analysis, they said he was almost the exact opposite of Obama, as far as speech patterns go. They said that the way he compresses his phrases indicates that he tells it how it is, which matches his reputation as a "straight shooter."
It was interesting to hear all the stuff we knew all along, like Clinton was lying about Monica, but it was really interesting to hear that Obama's popularity is based on public speaking tricks and techniques, and that McCains body language shows him as a genuine straight shooter. It confirms everything I've known for a while, but I hope some Obama fans saw the show, and it helped see through some of the BS.

Things that make you go "huh?"

So this just occurred to me. While I had taken note of the fact that in the first two trading days after the Marxist Progression Bill passed the market fell over 800pts total, I hadn't connected that drop with the slight rise we saw last Wednesday, before Komrade Karl's bill was signed into law. What I see now, is that the market was going down last week, the first iteration of the Bailout was shot down by congress on Tuesday night, and the market rose a little on Wednesday. The Senate promised to push the legislation through, because if it wasn't passed in the next 15 minutes, the world was going to explode, and the market began sinking again on Thursday. The bill was passed over the weekend and on Monday, guess what. The market TANKED. Soon after, all the pinko commie legislators began reassuring us that this plan, which they had been telling us was an "exploding bill" with a short fuse, obviously wouldn't begin to affect the economy within one or two days. I know shouldn't expect anything more from the Dumbocrats. At this point, to quote one of my favorite bloggers, the whole of the congress, or at least those who voted with the Marxist Party, needs to be lynched.

Guilt by Association

After Sarah Palin went on a slam spree about Barack Obama's associations with the likes of known terrorist Bill Ayers, the Obama camp is coming back with allegations of desperate mudslinging and claims of guilt by association.
Too bad, Barack. Guilt by association is a valid reason to sling mud. The fact is that if it was just Bill Ayers, then maybe we could let it slide. But its not just Bill Ayers. Its everyone you've associated with. Three Obama campaign advisers are corrupt former executives of Fannie Mae, all convicted of cooking books. His longtime mentor, the infamous Reverend Wright, is a known racist and radical preacher who uses the pulpit to spread his message of black supremacy.
Senator Obama, if you knew and associated with just one racist, or one communist, or one crooked CEO, or one terrorist, then it might be a false accusation of guilt by association. The problem is, you have at least one checkmark in each of those columns, and I'd bet money we could find more if we dug deeper into your checkered past. I don't vote for people who have friends like yours.

Don't Use a Scalpel when you need an Ax

McCain has been tiptoeing through the tulips when he should be driving a tank. I have no idea why politicians put up with the crap they do during campaigns. I would be the loudest sumbitch on the campaign trail. My beliefs wouldn't change. I'd be painfully honest with people. If someone asked me a question, I wouldn't bother trying to find out what demographic that person belongs to. It wouldn't matter, and wouldn't change my answer.

If a very nice family of illegal immigrants asked my opinion on immigration, I'd tell them that they are criminals, because they violated one law of this country, and that's all it takes to be a criminal in this country; the cops are on their way to take them back to Mexico.

If a family on welfare asked me what I plan to do for them, I'd tell them in one word: NOTHING. I worked hard to get to where I am, and to achieve what I have, and, as a politician and a leader, I'm not giving a dime to someone who isn't willing to work to support themselves. No more handouts from Uncle Sam, you lazy freeloader.

A victim of gun violence asks what I'm gonna do to protect him? I'm going to make guns easier to get for law abiding citizens, cut the "reasonable restrictions" down to the bare bones Second Ammendment, and maybe a restriction on violent felons; they'll have to wait till their parole is up (sentence plus, say, ten years with nothing any more severe than a parking ticket). After that, I think they've served their debt to society and proven they're no longer violent. They get their rights back as humans and Americans. Every law abiding adult in this country has a right to defend their own lives, granted by God, not the Government. The Second Amendment merely reminds power hungry politicians not to mess with it. The gun control thing could go all day with me, so I'll keep moving.

When an elderly couple asks how much I'll pay for their prescriptions, health care, Hoveround scooters, etc, I'll tell them the same thing I told the welfare people. I'm not paying. People have been living without scooters and hearing aids for as long as they've been dying. Sorry, but you'll have to push your wheelchair around.

I abhor socialism, fascism, communism, etc. I'm a Libertarian Capitalist who believes that my money is best handled when I have it. I know how to manage my money far better than the federal government. Its easy to see that, since I have a few thousand dollars in debt(which is steadily shrinking), because I own a motor vehicle and a college diploma, and the government has TRILLIONS in debt that keeps growing. Who the hell trusts the gubment with their hard earned cash?

I got fired up today and I've been watching the news, which isn't helping. I'm gonna try to study and get some dinner in me, and not watch the news anymore.