But I didn't want to buy stock in banks or auto companies!

Who else thinks the bailout of banks and automakers is a bad idea? How dare the Federal Government buy stock in banks (preferred stock at that which has no voting power) and interfere with the operation of private companies by forcing out CEOs? When will some government functionary come tell me I can't raise my voice to my grandson when he screws up for fear that I'll hurt his self-esteem?

We can't afford the "bailouts," and I'm not interested in giving our government more powers that the Constitution doesn't.

ECS

Snow Day! (Update)

Wow! Springtime in Oklahoma! It started snowing around 10:00 am and is still snowing with the occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder. So far we have about 5 inches of snow at my house.

Must be all that global warming.

We ended up with 6 inches of snow in Owasso. Out west at Fort Supply, Oklahoma, they had 25 inches with drifts 6-10 feet. The roads off the major highways are a sloppy mess. It's supposed to freeze tonight which will cause the roads to be icy. I'll probably have to take my daughter to work in the morning.

Bed time.

ECS

Range day

On Saturday my daughter, my brother, and I went shooting. My first order of business was to zero the laser in the Crimson Trace grips on my former TPD Smith & Wesson Model 681. Since this revolver is my wife's "house gun," I zeroed it at 25 yards with .38 Special +P 125 grain Remington semi-jacketed hollowpoints. Once I got it dialed in, I checked the strike of the rounds at "living room range." It's good. My wife is very happy with it now.

Then, some practice with my carry guns at 3, 5, 10, and 25 yards just to keep my hand in. I was satisfied with the palm-sized groups I shot with the Smith & Wesson Model 13 shooting .357 Magnum 125 grain Remington semi-jacketed hollowpoints and with the Taurus 85SSUL shooting .38 Special +P 135 grain Speer "Short Barrel" hollowpoints.

After that, I shot up about a box of HotShot 98 grain 7.62x38R Nagant ammunition from my 1929 Tula arsenal Model 1895. I'm amazed that the Nagant lasted so long in Russian/Soviet military service, but I think it will do nicely for small game hunting. Besides, it makes a good counterpoint to my Mosin-Nagant M38 carbine in 7.62x54R.

Finally, I shot the Mosin-Nagant over my Chrony. At 10 feet instrumental distance, 147 grain "light bullet" Bulgarian ammunition clocked an average of 2622.52 feet per second yielding 2,245.49 foot/pounds of energy. The 203 grain Barnaul soft points were slower at 2289.46 feet per second but generated 2,363.30
foot/pounds of energy. At the plinking range where we set up, I hit everything at which I shot, but the 100/200 yard benchrest range was jammed so I didn't get a chance to shoot for groups.

Take a friend shooting this weekend.

ECS

IndyMedia anti-1st Amendment trolls attack!

Well, brave Anonymous from IndyMedia has decided to defend the indefensible behavior of the cowards who attacked the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Berkeley. Then, he/she/it decided to attack me personally because apparently, he/she/it doesn't like guns and believes that people like me need guns to "feel manly." Like the rest of the cowards on IndyMedia who remove any posts contrary to their myopic "world view," Anonymous is convinced that Berkeley is the United States when, in reality, it isn't even a pimple on the ass of California.

Just for their edification, "moral victory," "making a statement," etc., all translate as "lose." That makes them "losers."

My other anonymous friend reported that the IndyMedia "turds" deleted his comments as well. Those are the actions of cowards who will not tolerate the voicing of any opposition to their weak-minded beliefs, who will shout down people saying things they don't want to hear, and who denigrate their betters, who are those who risk their lives to defend this country and the cowards' right to be stupid.

That's the way I see it.

ECS

Stop the bailout, stop the stimulus.

Our new President insisted that he had to have the second half of the $700,000,000,000.00 TARP bailout released without strings, and now we have a tax evading Secretary of the Treasury. No accountability, no ethics, no big deal to the Democrats in Congress or apparently most of the Republicans.

Now we're in the middle of a fight over the "stimulus" package that our new President is insisting needs to be done without delay , or apparently any scrutiny. Nancy Pelosi pushed the package through the House of Representatives without a single Republican vote and had the gall to talk about "bipartisanship." Of course the only "bipartisanship" was the few Democrats who voted with the Republicans. In the Senate, the "stimulus" bill has ballooned to over $900,000,000,000.00, and Senator Harry Reid and his cohorts are trying to "pull a Pelosi." The Democratic Senate leadership is also talking about "bipartisanship" because at least two RINOs have signed on while negotiations are on-going. With any luck, the negotiations will cause some of the more hardcore leftists to abandon ship like Senator Di Feinstein who is upset about tax cuts of all things.

One good thing about all this is that it reveals our new President as an empty suit devoid of any understanding about how to get things done. "We won the election! You're supposed to do what we say!"

ECS

Don't you just hate being sick?

Haven't been active here due to some health issues. "I shall return." - Douglas MacArthur

No guns for Christmas

It's true. I didn't get a single gun this year from Santa or anyone else. The refrigerator died after seven years (I though they were supposed to last longer!), and my gun money went into a new one. This refrigerator deal is some sort of racket! I could have bought a new SOCOM II for the kind of money they wanted!

Oh, well. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a prosperous New Year.

ECS