Quote of the Day

From Eric:
"Yes, they even have clearing barrels in front of the chapel... Because even God hates negligent discharges."

Amen

Mandatory Community Service

A special salute and thanks go out to The Geek with a .45 for pointing out that the first black man elected President of the United States wants to violate not only the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution(and many more, I'm sure), but the 13th as well. For those of us who are not Constitutional scholars, the 13th Amendment is the one that bans slavery and involuntary servitude. Geek with a .45 explains it so well, I won't try to improve. Kim du Toit also mentioned it, and as always, made it a pleasure to read.

Financial Conundrum

As the people of the United States have voted a socialist into power, I am faced with a dilemma regarding his policies. We've all heard his tax policies, and if they remain as advertised, which I don't think they will, many Americans who already don't pay taxes will be getting another check from the gummint. This also applies to big businesses who are getting bailed out.
I am adamantly opposed to government handing out money to people who either didn't earn it, or corporations who screwed themselves. However, the fact that I cashed Pres Bush's economic stimulus check makes me feel like a hypocrite now. The fact is that that check was no small amount of money to me, and I really enjoyed spending it (actually, I saved about half of it), but now I don't know what to think.
I can say I would rather see fewer taxes than the gummint giving out checks. If they can afford to give me a big wad-o-cash, they can afford to cut taxes.
What really spawned this line of thought was last night's Hannity & Colmes interview with Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher. When Allan Colmes tried to slam him for having been on welfare in the past, he said "I paid into welfare. Its there to be used, not abused as it so often is." He then went on to explain how taking money from the rich and placing it in his pocket is "just stealing." Well said, sir.
With my income level and Obama's tax plan, I could theoretically end up getting a check again in the next few years. And what the hell am I supposed to do with that check to keep true to my beliefs? Tear it up? Send it to an unfairly taxed rich corporation? I'm torn. It makes me sick that I could be a beneficiary of socialism. I live comfortably on my salary, but a free check would certainly allow me to increase my savings or buy a new rifle (take THAT Pelosi!). I feel like my decision would represent either foolishness or hypocrisy. Damn Obama for making me a cause and forcing his dirty money on me.

Well, We're Screwed.

I watched the election results with disgust. I really had more faith in the American people. I thought the polls were full of it. I thought McCain would win out with reasonable people. I was wrong.

Now we're screwed. I was out tonight, expecting riots when McCain won. I was met with an Obama win, and car horns in the streets. Every car horn and Obama sticker was met with a disgusted face. I'm a sore loser in this campaign.

My response? I came home and bought my AR-15 Upper Receiver. It cost me quite a bit (I make way less than Obama's $250,000, or is it $200,000, or $150,ooo, or $120,000...I dunno). I still believe that Obama will rape our 2nd Amendment Rights(among many others), so I decided it was time to bite the bullet (so to speak) and blow some money on an "Evil Black Rifle" which he will likely ban. I bought it before a price increase due to the election can occur. Now I'm eagerly awaiting my personal rebellion against gun controllers. I'm going to call it Nancy, in honor of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I would call it Barack, but I only name my Milsurp (military surplus) rifles, and only name them with female names, so President Select Obama is out, due to his gender. So far, I have named my battle veteran rifles ( I have four) with stereotypical names from their country of origin. M1 Garand is Annie; Yugo SKS is Milka(her stock was already engraved by her former owner, probably a Yugoslavian soldier); Mosin Nagant M38 is Natalya, a good, sexy Russian name; my Mosin Nagant 91/30 is Nadia. The AR-15 will be Nancy, as I've said. Its not a sexy name, but a rebellious name.

My political views from now on will be extremely critical of the Obama administration. We'll see.

Where's the Dirt?

When a campaign gets as cutthroat as this one, I gotta ask, where's the dirt on John McCain? His campaign, the press, and other have dug up (and in some cases immediately reburied) a ton of dirt on Barack Obama, while B.O. can't seem to come up with anything bad to say about John McCain other than not wanting to share his toys.
I have a theory on this. Perhaps, there's no dirt on McCain. [gasp] In a world where our lives are all on Google, the media respects no ethical boundaries, and politicians' lives are a matter of public record, the only thing they have on McCain is that he's been divorced and remarried a rich woman. Thats a pretty clean life for a politician. We may actually have an honest politician. I really like that [naive] concept with regards to McCain because he's a military man. I really like to think he has some integrity.
Thats not much compared to the laundry list of unsavory things we know about B.O., many of which he refuses to clarify or disprove. We know where John McCain was born, how much he paid in taxes, his military record, his family's history, and how many houses he owns. Obama refuses to turn over a birth certificate to prove which country he was born in (my pick goes to Kenya). Same with proof that he his still a citizen of the US, not Indonesia, and there's a video out there of him hanging out with a known terrorist leader (not even Ayers this time; yeah, there's another one) which no one will cough up.
I have to wonder just why the American people aren't demanding clarification, and documentation, from B.O. I think he's got some 'splainin to do.

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.