This Post is for you, Murphy's Law

We were picking up and dropping off kids at camps today, and we visited the USS Silversides museum in Muskegon, MI. I'm also posting the pictures from my iPod Touch, to show it can be done from an Apple device. 

Sorry, no inside pictures. I was busy explaining how the different parts of a submarine work to my wife and daughter. They were amazed at the size of the heads, and how cramped everything was. And laughing at 6'3" me getting through the hatches between compartments. 

Conning tower. 

From the bow, facing aft. 

From the stern, facing forward.  Notice the fog coming in off of Lake Michigan at about 1:30pm. It was probably 78 degrees and sunny, but the wind was out of the northwest and coming in off the lake. Kind of cool to watch, it didn't make it very far onshore. 

Michigan Politicians and how to Fix the Roads

The big news story out of Lansing this week centers around road repair funding, and how to pay to fill in all the extra potholes and repair the crumbling roads that were created by the long, hard, cold winter here in Michigan. 

Most of the smoke and fire centered around the gasoline tax, and how it is inadequate to fund the couple of billion dollars needed to do everything that needs to be done.  Michigan has a flat 15-cents per gallon gas tax (in addition to what the feds charge us) which is decried as a decreasing pot since cars today are so much more fuel efficient, thus using less gas.  One proposal is to repeal that flat tax and replace it with a 15% wholesale gasoline surcharge, so the higher the wholesale price goes, the more tax revenue it (supposedly) churns out.

The other plan that has gotten a lot of churn is one to repeal the gas tax all together and add an extra percent to the state sales tax.

After debating these and other proposals, and all kinds of wheeling and dealing, the pols left for their summer break without doing anything of any substance.  To me, this was the best of all possible outcomes for Michigan taxpayers.

I am as frustrated by the decrepit state of the roads here as the next guy, but I am more frustrated by a political class that is unwilling to do anything but add to the tax burden of an already over-taxed populace.  The hand of government at all levels keeps reaching deeper and deeper into the pockets of its citizens for more and more "necessary" or "compassionate" projects, or "investments in our future" that never seem to pay off, but always seem to require more money than originally projected.

To all you takers in Lansing I say enough!  I say if you want to fix the roads, then cut  some new park that you want to build, or office allowances for legislators, or taxpayer-funded junkets to "open up new markets", or any combination of a hundred things you could cut if you really thought about it for, oh, five minutes or so. 

The other important thing for you economic illiterates over there to consider is this:  one of the axioms of economics is if you want less of something, tax it.  So while the dollar signs keep rolling before your eyes, consider that if you increase the gas tax, you will get less driving because nobody can afford the gas to do anything but drive to work every day.  Those dollars are not going to roll in, and in two years, when you realize it, you will be back in our pockets again wanting even more.

So good for you, legislators, for doing nothing.  It's the best thing you could have done for all of us.

Zapping batteries

Among the several projects I had set for myself while at my in-laws during the holiday weekend was to "zap" the NiCd batteries from my two cordless drills.

There are dozens of YouTube videos on how to do this, using everything from a Mig welder to another battery.  My dead batteries were 14.4 volt, and I used a 19.2 volt battery that my father-in-law had laying around doing nothing.

The first thing I had to do was determine the positive and negative contacts on the battery, since they weren't marked.  I used a multi-tester for that (YouTube is your friend on that one, too!)

I took the multitester and checked the voltage being delivered from the dead battery.  It was about 7 volts.

Once that was done I hooked the negative terminals from both batteries together.  Then I put the wire onto the positive terminal of the 19.2 battery, then used the other end an just touched the positive terminal of the dead battery 10 or 12 times.  Each touch was about a half-second each.

I then tested the voltage delivery again, and it was now around 15 volts.  That was a very positive sign.

Then I put it in the charger.  Before when I tried to charge it, the charger told me the battery was faulty.  Now, it began charging.  Another very positive sign.  So I repeated the process on the other three batteries I had and got similar results.  So it really does work.  For how long I don't know, but for a little while at least I don't have to buy new batteries for two otherwise functional drills.

A couple of things I found while doing this project:

• Don't let the ends of the wires from the source battery touch.  All kinds of heat and smoke will result.  Ask me how I know.
• Apparently, the source battery has to be of a higher voltage than the dead battery. I did see one video where someone used a car battery for zapping and it seemed to work, but most of the videos said you need a higher voltage.
• Two of my batteries had two terminals and two of them had four.  As long as you find positive and negative it doesn't seem to matter which ones you use.
• For the wires, I used some test leads I found, which had alligator clips on the ends and they worked nicely because the terminals on the batteries were blade-types.  If you don't have blade type terminals you will have to get creative with your wiring.  The test leads weren't very heavy duty.  If I were using the welder I probably would have wanted to use heavier wire.
• One video had some separate wires he connected to the dead batteries terminals rather than touching them with the wires directly connected to the source battery.  Sometimes this will generate sparks and it can damage the terminals, which means you will have some touch-up work to do after zapping. Touching the wires rather than directly touching the battery terminals makes sure this doesn't happen.

Home on the Range: Steampunked - ePostal Match Time

Home on the Range: Steampunked - ePostal Match Time



This looks like fun - I think the kids and I are going to try this one!

Suburban Skunks

So the Mrs. and I went grocery shopping last night about 10pm (our only free time available to do it!), and as I was making a trip through the garage to bring in another armload I noticed movement in the driveway.  Another two steps and it was confirmed - a skunk was waddling up my driveway heading for my side yard.  I quickly grabbed the remainder of the groceries in the trunk, took them inside, and closed the garage door.  He didn't seem interested in coming in the garage, but I didn't want to take any chances of coming out to a trapped skunk in there this morning!

I'm really not liking skunks in my neighborhood, and they are more and more frequent visitors.  The problem is - you can't shoot them to get rid of them.  They don't live in my yard so I can't trap them and take them somewhere else.  They probably smell my compost pile, but they are in other parts of the neighborhood too, so it isn't just me they are attracted to.

They seem to be nocturnal, as my other encounters with them have been at night also.  I guess that's both good and bad, since in the dark you don't really know they are there until you are right on top of them, but you aren't out in the yard much after dark, either, so your chances of an encounter are reduced.

Wish I knew of a repellant.  I would spread it around my yard!

Lagniappe's Lair: President Reagan cracks jokes

Murphy's Law found a great one today.



Lagniappe's Lair: President Reagan cracks jokes



I sure miss President Reagan.

Facebook app suckage

Just a vent post tonight. I have the Facebook app on my iTouch, and this must be the worst app in the world. Why? It always crashes on my first attempt to load it, and even if it does load it crashes when you try to scroll through posts, or it crashes when you try to follow a link in a post. Or it crashes when you try to reply to a post. It is a crashomatic. 

Of course, there is no way to send feedback to Facebook about their app, and it would probably crash too if you tried. 

I'm ready to dump Facebook altogether. 

Question of the Day: Freedom.

This question was posed as part of a discussion I was reading today, and it really struck me:

I don't know....I think the cold war definitions of freedom and oppression may no longer be valid. Are Americans truly "free" with Obama as president? Being able to cast a vote doesn't make anyone free. being able to make and keep money and be unmolested in your daily life by the machinations of government is being free. If we actually measured "our freedom" against other people in other countries I think most Americans would totally shocked.

Thoughts anyone?

Oklahoma Sheriffs Visiting State Capitol Ordered to Disarm

This from "The Blaze" (Source Article)

Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert traveled to Oklahoma City, the state’s capitol, earlier this week with 40 other sheriffs from around the state like they do every year — to meet with politicians and lobby.

Everything was going fine in the state capitol building on Tuesday. More than that, “everybody in that building knew who we were,” Colbert told KTUL-TV in Tulsa.

“One of the senators, who they wouldn’t tell us, complained because we were armed in the building,” Colbert added to the station.

Then he said the sheriffs were given a choice — disarm or leave.

“So we all packed up and left,” Colbert told KTUL.

Colbert said he doesn’t know which senator complained, but he has his own beefs about the treatment he and his associates received.

“We’re the people that protect these people,” he told KTUL.

In addition, Colbert said politicians should be more concerned about improving state business than law enforcement officers who happen to be carrying guns.

“If the state troopers are satisfied that we’re OK in that building,” he told KTUL, “I’m pretty sure that the legislators should have something else to worry about such as the economy or something.”

While Colbert acknowledged that some lawmakers have called to apologize about the incident, the insult will be felt for a while.

“Pretty sad day for me,” he told KTUL.

BizPac Review noted that a different account of the incident was reported in The Oklahoman, a paper which serves Oklahoma City.

When the sheriffs entered the Senate gallery, “the sergeant at arms asked the sheriffs to take off their guns or leave the building,” the Oklahoman said. “But a state Senate official says the sheriffs were only questioned briefly before being allowed back into the Senate gallery, still wearing their service weapons.”

I have a couple of comments on this:

1. Sheriff Colbert, I hope this opens your eyes to the state of things for millions of law-abiding gun owners every day who are forced, under penalty of law, to disarm themselves before going into places like churches, restaurants, government offices, post offices, and yes, even State Capitol buildings, because the presence of that gun on their hip is somehow "threatening", even though no one can see it.  
2. Sheriff Colbert also needs to educate himself about the legalities of his statement "we're the people who protect these people".  In fact Sheriff, the Supreme Court has ruled this is not true, and you have no legal duty to protect anyone. (Castle Rock v. Gonzales, DeShaney v. Winnebago County). You may have one in your own ethos, but that is not a legal matter.
3. Someone needs to out the Senator who complained.  I suggest looking for the one who has a package of adult diapers in their office.

A Sunday Symposium

Sitting in the Music Building at Alma College today, where my daughter is attending a Woodwind Symposium for Flutes, Saxophones, and Clarinets.  Her teacher, Dr. Miller, is one of the presenters today.  She was pretty excited about coming, and it was by invitation so there are only a half-dozen of each instrument here, making for lots of individual attention for everyone.

Dr. Miller is also going to talk about performance anxiety this afternoon.  This is what she did her doctoral dissertation on so she should have some good information to pass along to everyone.  I'm planning to attend that one!

I am grateful that we are able to provide these kinds of experiences for our kids - they may well have had them when I was her age, but I was never interested in pursuing them the way they are.  I wish I would have been!

We had a snowy drive up this morning, as another inch or so fell overnight.  Road crews were out, and I was able to average about 60MPH, with very light traffic.  The Camry handled it well, but I realized when I got up here that I hadn't transferred my snow brush from the old car yet, so I went and bought a cheap scraper after dropping Lauren off, just in case.  Of course, now the sun is out, and I probably won't need it, but it's good to have it anyway.

Sochi Olympics

Gee, the winter Olympics start today.  I can feel a huge wave of indifference rising up within me.  I have decided that I will not be watching any of these games on TV or internet.  They may come up in headlines that I see in the various publications I read, but I will not read the articles, or watch video replays.

I did read the article this morning about 3 of the media hotels not being finished yet, and was humored.  That may well be the extent of my reading unless the Chechens get restive.

The Great Debate: Ham v. Nye

So I watched with great interest the live stream of the debate tonight between Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") and Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis).  I may get into more details and specific thoughts later, but I have some first impressions that I thought I would post.

The question the two gentlemen were debating was this:  "Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern, scientific era?"

Frankly, no debate like this has a winner or a loser - it is always a platform to try to promote your own viewpoint or your own agenda.  In that sense it was just as you might have expected.  I can report that neither Ham nor Nye had an epiphany and converted to the other side.

As my blog headings indicate, I am a Christian, and so you might guess what my rooting interest is in this debate, but in this post I'm mostly thinking about my impressions of the men themselves and how they handled the debate, rather than anything specific about their position on the topic being debated.

I was actually impressed by Bill Nye.  He has received great criticism from what he called the "mainstream science community" for even showing up for this debate, and I half expected him to be something of the vile lunatic that Richard Dawkins has been, and I was pleasantly surprised - he was affable, polite, and even respectful.  I give you full marks there, Mr. Nye.

However, it was very obvious from the start that Nye could not for an instant admit that anything "scientific" could come from a creationist viewpoint, or his entire argument would collapse.  Even when Ham offered up such trivial names as Sir Isaac Newton or Michael Faraday, or even Dr. Raymond Damadian (inventor of the MRI), Nye could not admit that anything good or useful could ever come from creationist scientists.  He kept asserting that there was nothing of a "predictive nature" that comes from creationism - that you can't take the tenets of creationism and say that "based on these things being true, that thing will happen".  Ham continued to give examples, but Nye wouldn't hear or acknowledge them.  This condescension got a little annoying after a while.

In some ways, Ken Ham was disappointing.  Even though he has been a public speaker for decades on these topics, he is not a very polished speaker.  His speech is sometimes halting, sometimes stumbling, and sometimes hard to follow.  I would have thought that with all the practice he has gotten he would have been better at this.  Nye certainly came off better in that area of the debate.  Ham made his points and got his message across, but Nye was much more polished.

I found myself wanting more details about all the points that were being made, that would have made things a whole lot clearer, especially when they were talking about radiometric dating, or about increasing complexity in organisms over time.  So all I really got was a 10,000 foot flyover on this topic, rather than anything to really sink my teeth into, and in that sense it was kind of disappointing.  I guess I wanted a more knock-down, drag-out than I got!  But as I said earlier - no debate like this is won or lost.  It's just a platform.

Finally, the moderator.  If you've ever watched a Presidential debate, the moderator is as much of a player as the debaters (see Candy Crowley), often to the detriment of one or the other side of the debate.  Tom Foreman, of CNN, was tonights moderator, and he did an excellent job of staying out of the way and letting the two principals have at it.  He injected just the right amount of lightness and humor and did a fine job.  Frankly, when I saw he was from CNN I was saying to myself "uh-oh!".  But kudos to you, too, Mr. Foreman.  You did a fine job.

"He picked the wrong house in the wrong neighborhood"

Well this just crossed my inbox, and I thought I would share it.

This video forcefully and pointedly answers the questions "Why do you need a gun?" and "Why do you need more than 10 rounds?"

Ice Storm aftermath

As you may have heard, parts of the Great Lakes region was hit with an ice storm Saturday night into Sunday.  At 6:00 am Sunday we lost power, and 28 hours later (as I write this) we don't have it back yet.

Fortunately for us, I was one of those tinfoilers who thought Y2K was going to be a disaster, and so we added a woodstove for heat and kerosene lamps for light, and major food storage in our basement, and now all that prepping has paid off, as we are warm, well fed, and well lit.  The water and gas service are still on, so we can still shower and flush.  The kids, however, are a little stir-crazy, and I think I am a little as well.

So, I packed up my laptop and drove in to the office today, and I threw a couple of gas cans in my trunk so I can run the generator my friend Paul Townsend is lending me for a couple of hours to re-freeze my freezers.  Now, my laptop is charged, and I can use it to charge all our phones so we can stay connected a little bit, although cell service is spotty at best.

This may impact our Christmas plans, as we were scheduled to host it for my wife's side of the family, but we may have to go there if the power doesn't come back on.  We'll have to see.

Jack Morris belongs in the Hall of Fame

So let it be written...so let it be done.

Trade of the off-season, so far

Wow.  Just wow.  Prince Fielder and cash for Ian Kinsler.  I never would have thought that any team would take Fielder and his contract but I'm sure glad someone was, as it was an albatross around the Tigers financial neck, and would have continued to impact the team negatively going forward.

That deal should never have been made at the time.  I postulated a 2-year, 20 to 30 mil deal back then because he was the best bat available at the time, and Victor Martinez had just shredded his knee, but there were probably other options internally that might have been better long-term for them.  Fielder biggest asset is his ability to hit home runs.  But it seems he only does this during the regular season and only if something important isn't on the line.  He now has a proven track record of playoff disappearance (batting average under .200 career, and a handful of RBI), and when the Tigers needed him to step up and carry more of the offensive load late this season because of Miguel Cabrera's injuries, he was unable to do it.  He is Rob Deer with more drama and a bigger paycheck.

This trade brings up some interesting possibilities both offensively and defensively.  Kinsler probably takes Austin Jackson's leadoff spot which is probably a good thing for all concerned.  Cabrera probably stays in the third slot, as you want baseballs best hitter to get that potential extra at-bat every game.  Right now Martinez moves to cleanup, but wait to see what happens now with the opening in left field.  A left handed power-hitting outfielder would look really good there, and V-Mart in the 5-hole worked pretty well this past season.  Jackson then joins Iglesias, and Avila in the bottom half of the order.

The most common defensive scenario has Cabrera moving back to first base, which would probably bring top prospect Nick Castellanos up to third base, with Iglesias and Kinsler rounding out the infield.  Another scenario has Cabrera staying at third, Martinez moving to first, and someone else DH'ing.  Castellanos probably goes to left field in this case.  A third scenario has Cabrera at first, Jhonny Peralta at third, and Castellanos either at Triple-A or in left field, and Martinez staying at DH.

As well as Miggy did at third, for his long-term good he needs to go back to first base, where he will take much less of a physical pounding.  It's better for him and better for the team if he does so.  Then, it depends on Castellanos' ability to hit major league pitching.  If they think he can hit above .270 with some pop he needs to be in the majors, either at third or in the outfield - preferably at third.  If they don't think he can hit at that level, then another year or two of Peralta at third is not a bad or expensive option while Castellanos gets more time to learn to hit at this level.  I don't want Martinez as a defensive regular.  His role is "see ball, hit ball".  Part time fill in at first or emergency catcher - fine.  But his biggest value to the team is his bat.

So now, the biggest holes in the roster are where they have always been; left field and the bullpen.  But now, their ability to fill those holes effectively has been greatly enhanced.

Dave Dombrowski again shows why he is the best GM in baseball.

Gloating tonight

Watched the Michigan State - Michigan game today. I believe the technical term for what we saw there today was "Beatdown". -49 yards rushing. No that is not a misprint. 

No World Series for Motown

Now that this season is over, a couple of Detroit Tigers thoughts. 

1. The biggest weakness this team had is what really cost them in the end - the Bullpen. They tried to patch it all season, but this is THE BIGGEST offseason reclamation project. 

2.  Prince Fielder is ARod with a better personality. You will never win with him in your playoff lineup.  He has not played or hit well enough to deserve the contract he got. Time to admit your mistake and move on. 

3. Miguel Cabrera. On one leg he outperformed Fielder, Jackson, Avila, and Peralta. His case for MVP was only strengthened by his injury. What a disappointment for him to have a scintillating season derailed by injuries. 

4. Jim Leyland. Managed his butt off all season. His detractors are flat wrong about him. His biggest strength and fault is his loyalty to his players and coaches. He needs to let Lloyd McClendon go.

To all the Washington power brokers currently squabbling over fiscal issues

It is no service to the people of this nation to continue a course that will lead to their ruin.  Neither side has any proposals, nor any idea how to solve the financial problems we are facing.  Neither side will admit that there are no easy solutions.  Neither side will admit to the pain and suffering that will be necessary to truly fix the problem.  Both sides continue to listen to academics whose pretty theories have gotten us into the gargantuan mess we are in, and cannot seem to engage the brains God gave them to realize that the academics are wrong.  Neither side is willing to pay the political price that national survival requires.

Obama, Reid, and the democrats will probably win this fight.  Spending the country into oblivion will continue with only lip service toward actually solving the problems.  And all the lemmings who voted for more of the same will eventually get what is coming to them - ruin.  Ruin that will make the Great Depression look like a frat party.  There will be no FDR to steal money to spend on Hoover Dam and the CCC - there won't be any money to steal, and nobody in the world will take our debt.  There won't be any fuel because Obama has shut down all the mines, wells, and pipelines to make his green friends happy. 

That is what this fiscal battle is about in Washington.  And nobody there has the foresight or the guts to do what is necessary to fix the problem.

Tigers Musings

1. As I write this the Tigers "magic number" to clinch the division is 2, and Cleveland is five back with six to play, so it would seem that the boys from Motown will be winning the division for the third year in a row.  Note to team:  you have bigger fish to fry - no champagne showers until you win the World Series.  A celebratory toast would be fine, perhaps a fine cigar of celebration, because being a division winner is certainly an accomplishment.  But you have been here before, and you have three playoff series to win before you can really celebrate.  Then you have to work on sustained excellence.  We'll talk about that later.
2. Here's hoping that the injured Miguel Cabrera doesn't end up looking like the injured Alex Rodriguez did last year - a hobbled shell of a player that hindered more than helped.  I know there is no suitable replacement for him, but his performance has tailed off so significantly the last month that he isn't even a "normal" player.
3. Justin Verlander starting Game 1 of the Playoffs.  Please - not this season.  Max Schertzer deserves that honor more, and Anibal Sanchez should start Game 2 before Verlander.  Game 3 for Verlander.

"I'm Ready for Hilliary"

Seen on bumper sticker last night. 

Friends, nobody has any cause to look down on or sneer at Detroit any more. Why?  Because the whole country is willing to do to itself what Detroit did - elect corrupt and incompetent leaders who drive us to insolvency and collapse. 

Range Day with The Shekel

Well, it was more like half a day, but I recently got to spend some time with my friend Aaron from The Shekel Blog indulging in some high-velocity lead stress therapy.  The link will take you to Aaron's report, where he talks about his new M&P 40c, his 9x18 pistols from Czechoslovakia and Poland, and his new .300 AAC-based AR.

Me - I brought my trusty Springfield XD9sc, which is my carry gun, and which needed the waistband lint blown out of it.

I also brought my own CZ-82, unintentionally synchronizing with Aaron and his CZ, so we were both trying out range commands in Russian in honor of the 9mm Makarov round.  Well, Aaron actually knew the Russian words, I just used a very bad Russian accent. Boris Badenov would not have approved.

I also went a little old-school with my Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver, too.  4-inch heavy barrel for those interested, with the original grips.

Aaron mentioned the FAST Drill we were doing, and which in absolute terms I sucked, but I did a lot better than I thought I would.  I really lost time at the mag change, and picking up the front sight on the first round.  Areas to work on, certainly.  And let's not talk about the mag change on the CZ, except to say that the mag release is a definate weak point of this design, both in its stiff and gritty movement, and in the design of the grips around it.  I may have to attempt a detail strip to see if that can't be smoothed up a little.

I did get a few cylinders full through the revolver before we moved down to the 100 yard line for some musketry (as Aaron put it).  We each pulled out our new beauties, his an AR in .300 AAC and mine a Sig 556R in 7.62x39.  This picture isn't mine, but I neglected to take pictures of it so I filched this one off the internet.  Mine has Midwest Industries iron sights on it, though - for some reason Sig includes a chinzy red dot scope with this rifle instead of their excellent diopter sights which are included on other 550-based rifles.

I had this rifle out a few weeks ago but didn't get to do much beyond function tests at 25 yards, and some test shots at 50 yards just to see what happened.  So today was the first test at real rifle distances.  Everything was shooting off the paper high initially, and I found that the AR-style sight tool I have is slightly smaller than standard size and doesn't fit the Sig.  It was made for the Tech-Sights on my 10/22, and which is not standard AR size.  So I had to improvise for my elevation adjustments, which seem to have worked since the rifle is now just a little high at 100 yards.  Another session or two and I'll have this thing dialed in.

A couple of observations about this rifle.  First is that it is a nice shooter that doesn't beat up you at all.  It's not a mild recoiler like the AR, but it's pretty easy to handle nevertheless.  Second, this thing completely outclasses my AK.  They have very similar operation, but the Swiss have certainly refined it and made it better in every way. I really like this rifle. From what I am reading, this rifle is really showing the true potential in the 7.62x39 round, and with good glass will hit effectively out to 500 yards.  It would be nice to see some decently priced US made brass-cased ammo in this caliber.  The East-bloc stuff can be pretty inconsistent in its quality and consistency.  I suppose it won't happen though - the AK's can't really tell and there aren't enough of the 556R's in circulation yet to make it worthwhile.  I guess you can get Lapua, but that's pretty spendy.

Still, for what I bought this rifle for, there is more than enough good ammo available.

About this time our stomachs were telling us it was time to pack up and go, so we went into Williamston and had lunch at a local diner - a nice sandwich, chips, and drink type of place.

Sorry it took so long for me to post this, Aaron, but it was great to see and shoot with you again!

Chicago: Yeah, that oughta work.

From an article in the Chicago Sun-Times:  (full article here)

Cops knocking on doors of potential shooters, victims

Working from a list of people deemed most likely to become shooters or victims, a Chicago Police commander is expected to start knocking on their doors Friday and deliver letters warning them not to commit any violent crimes.

The “custom notifications” are a pilot program in the Austin District on the West Side. Austin District Cmdr. Barbara West plans to deliver letters to 20 people on a so-called “heat list,” officials said.

Wow.  Just Wow.  Who comes up with this stuff?  A couple of comments I have read about this program were spot-on:

"How many of these functionally illiterate gang-bangers will even be able to read these letters?"

"The U.N. has had great success with their sternly worded letters to rogue regimes all over the world, haven't they?"

A Mid-Season Tigers Post

Offense
Looking just at numbers, you would think everything is fine here, but the Tigers are a strange hot-and-cold team that often disappears in the late innings, and too often they have lost games they should have won because they couldn't score runs late.

The Big 3 of Jackson, Cabrera, and Fielder continue to perform well (Cabrera at his usual MVP level), Jhonny Peralta has been a nice surprise so far, and Victor Martinez seems to be finding himself after missing last season and getting off to a slow start this year.  Alex Avila needs to start hitting, period.  Sub-.200 just doesn't cut it on a team built to go deep in the playoffs, no matter how good you are defensively - just ask Brandon Inge about that.

Defense 
Thankfully, Delmon Young and his brutal defense is gone this year.  Andy Dirks has played a solid left field in his place.  Torii Hunter has solidified right field, while Austin Jackson continues to be one of the best center fielders in baseball.  A lot of the hits and errors from last year have been turned into outs this year because of this crew, with Matt Tuiasosopo filling in ably in left against left-handed pitching.  Glad to see him coming off the DL today.  I agree with Jim Leyland - Avisail Garcia needs a lot more at-bats in Toledo rather than riding the pine in Detroit.

Pitching
At the beginning of spring training, who would have thought that:

1. Rick Porcello would not only be in the rotation, but be one of the most consistent pitchers on the staff.  Except for a couple of bad outings, he has been steady and solid - just what you want from your fifth starter.
2. Justin Verlander would be scuffling and trying to find himself.  And he's still 9-5, and if he hits his stride, could win 20 again.
3. Max Schertzer would be lights out and undefeated on the season.  Last year after the All-Star break he seemed to finally get himself consistently at a high level, and that has carried over to this season.  Better than Verlander at this point, and should start the All-Star game this year.
4. Doug Fister would struggle as much as he has.  Thought he would be much better than this, but the lack of run support has seemed to bite him as much as anyone on the staff. 
5. Jose Valverde would have ever been seen in Detroit again.

We all saw the bullpen issues coming, and it will be a continuing source of nervousness for the rest of the season unless some of those prospects we have on the farm go for a good closer before the trade deadline.  There isn't a lot of help out there though, so what we have may be all we get.  Thankfully, the Jose Valverde experiment seems to be over, although he did accept assignment to Toledo, so he could still get back.  I hope not - he just doesn't seem to have it any more.

Manager
A lot of people think Jim Leyland is the biggest problem with this team, but honestly I don't see it.  I remember people were critical of Sparky Anderson when he managed here, too. Sparky was one of the best of all time and got flamed a whole lot in Detroit.  I'm not saying Leyland is in Sparky's league, but he sure is getting the same treatment.  But people were wrong about Sparky and they are just as wrong about Leyland.

Zimmerman is guilty because...

I had no particular desire to post about George Zimmerman today, or any other day for that matter.  I have not actively sought out news about him, but you can hardly miss the headlines, and occasionally I stumble across something about him in articles I am reading for other reasons.  Such was the case today, when I was reading a talk radio summary published on WND.com.  They were talking about how Michael Savage has passed Rush Limbaugh in listenership this week because of the high number of internet listeners he has.  Then they talked about Savage's conclusion that Zimmerman is guilty because his gun had the safety off and a round in the chamber, and therefore Zimmerman was out looking for a violent confrontation.

It is this kind of willful ignorance that keeps me from taking Michael Savage seriously.  Honestly, I want to, because I love his passion and the unconventional viewpoints he takes on the issues of the day.  But I also see him make careless and uninformed mistakes that shade him toward the crackpot side of the spectrum for me.  So let's explore Dr. Savage's conclusion.

By all accounts, the pistol that Zimmerman used was a KelTec PF-9.  Here's a picture of one:

From the KelTec Website:

The PF-9 is a semi-automatic, locked breech pistol, chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge. It has been developed from our highly successful P-11 and P-3AT pistols with maximum concealability in mind. The PF-9 has a single stack magazine holding 7 rounds. It is one of the lightest and flattest 9 mm ever made. Firing mechanism is Double-Action Only with an automatic hammer block safety.

A cursory look at this picture gives us the first indication of Dr. Savage's ignorance.  There is no external safety anywhere on this gun!  For those reading this that don't know anything about firearms, that little tab above the center of the grip, where you might think a safety would be, is the slide release lever, which automatically holds the slide open when you have fired the last round, or can be manually engaged if necessary. You have to push it down to release the slide from the locked position.  The hammer block safety mentioned in the description is an internal safety which only releases when the trigger is pulled a specific distance, and is there to keep the gun from going off if it is dropped.  So there was no safety there for Zimmerman to turn off, because the gun wasn't made with one.

While visiting the KelTec website, I also looked at the pictures and descriptions of all their pistols to see if any of them did in fact have an external safety.  There are three listed that do, two of which have barrel lengths in excess of nine inches and are not concealable with anything less than a trench coat, and one which is a .22 Magnum - not even close the the caliber (9mm Luger) that police say was used in the shooting.  The three other pistols manufactured by KelTec do not have external safeties.

It should be noted that many of the most popular carry pistols today do not have external safeties.  So again, applying Dr. Savage's logic, thousands upon thousands of Americans are out on the streets every day looking to have a violent encounter because they bought a pistol that has no external safety.  That's like saying a gun is an assault rifle because it's painted black.  It is utter foolishness.

Dr. Savage then goes further into ignorance by concluding that carrying your gun with a round in the chamber means you are looking for a violent confrontation.  If this is true, then a very large percentage of people who carry a pistol, either openly or concealed (which includes police officers, by the way), are actually looking for a violent confrontation every day.  Why?  Because they consider it normal to carry their weapon with a round in the chamber, and would consider any other method foolish.  They take steps to carry it that way safely (they aren't stupid, after all), but they know that if you need that pistol, you are going to need it immediately, and even the second it would take to rack the slide to chamber a round could mean the difference between going home or going to the morgue.  That is the simple choice.  But Dr. Savage would label them all as looking for trouble every time they carry their gun with a round in the chamber.  That conclusion doesn't pass the sniff test either, Doc.

I don't know if Zimmerman is guilty or not.  From the little I have heard and read of the trial, the case is pretty weak, but that remains for the jury to decide.  I do know that Zimmerman was colossally stupid in the way he handled himself in the first few weeks after the shooting, and brought a lot more trouble onto himself than he had to.  He should have lawyered up and shut up.

From the Mackinac Policy Conference: Jeb Bush and Mark Schauer

I'm not there at the conference, but hearing news reports and interviews, so here are some thoughts:

1. Jeb Bush.  This guy seriously thinks he has a shot at the Presidency in '16?  And Republicans think so too?  If they really believe that then they will lose again.  This guy is like Joan Rivers - popping up in the public eye every now and again to try and recapture past attention, but all Joan and Jeb get are yawns and channel changes.

2. Mark Schauer.  This guy is a Democrat running for Governor, a 1-term congressman from Michigan's 7th District, who was defeated by Tim Walberg.  I heard him talking to Paul W. Smith this morning.

Michigan, if you elect this guy or anyone like him, you are fools.  He is Jenny Granholm without the visual appeal.  He will be a return to the meddlesome, pandering, head-in-sand governance that ran this state into the ground during the Granholm administration. 

Make no mistake - I'm not a huge fan of Rick Snyder and didn't vote for him in the primary or the general, but he has made some tough decisions that no other politician has been willing to touch to point this state in the right direction financially.  Do you think Schauer would let those changes stand?  Not a chance.  His Big Labor buddies would have their sweetheart deals all back in place in a heartbeat, and Michigan would resume its downward slide.

Mr. Schauer, on the other hand, seems to think that governments, who can't run cities, counties, states, or countries efficiently, productively, and in the black, are the perfect ones to tell businesses how to run themselves.  In doing this, he shows a fundamental lack of economic knowledge that disqualifies him completely from being dog-catcher, let alone Governor.  All he is is another controlling personality who can't keep from minding other people's business.

I've got an ideal for you Mr. Schauer.  If you're such a talented and resourceful runner of businesses, why don't you become a business consultant?  Companies can hire you to either tell them how to run themselves, or at least ask for your recommendations.  Then you can be judged by the success or failure of your ideas, and your continued employment would depend on those successes.  But you wouldn't be around to shove your failed economic model down our throats like your predecessor Jenny did.

Atheists: Religion a "virus" that must be "cured"

Reading a letter this morning from a Christian ministry that we support, and it was relating a portion of an interview on the BBC between atheist Daniel Dennet and host Stephen Sackur:

SACKUR:  It seems to me you posit the idea that religions are evolving.  That, in essence, they're evolving in a way which is going to leave them extinct.  They are no longer necessary or useful for human beings.  Am I right?

DENNETT:  Well, first of all, even if they're no longer necessary or useful, they might not go extinct.  The common cold is not necessary or useful; it's not going extinct, is it?

SACKUR: Richard Dawkins talks of religion in a way -- to think of it almost like a virus.

DENNETT: That's why I used that example.  There are lots of symbiotes, lots of parasites and viruses and bacteria that thrive on us and other species, and some of them are very useful to us.  We couldn't live without them.  The flora in our guts, for instance.  We couldn't digest our food without it.  Some are just along for the ride, they don't hurt.  And a few of them -- a small minority -- are really harmful. They're bad for us.

SACKUR: And in that sense, in the intellectual sense, in the idea sense, religion is bad for us, and therefore we need a cure.  Is that what you're saying?

DENNETT:  A cure... yes, yes indeed, I think a lot of people are really afflicted by their religion, and I would love to see them cured.

And just for reference, here is a quote from Richard Dawkins in 2006 to which they are perhaps referring:  "Let me explain why; when it comes to children, I think of religion as a dangerous virus.  It's a virus which is transmitted partly through teachers and clergy, but also down the generations from parent to child to grandchild.  Children are especially vulnerable to infection by the virus of religion."

So, let me get this straight - these leading atheist leaders are the bright, shining pathway to a glorious future of humanity, and anyone who gets in their way is a virus that needs a good shot of the penicillin of atheism to cure them (or kill them off).

Before we get too caught up in the wonderfulness of atheism and it's potential to bring humanity to a new and brighter future, let me remind my readers of the history of atheism in the last century or so:

• Soviet Union (Lenin, Stalin, and their successors)
• Nazi Germany (Adolph Hitler)
• Facist Italy (Benito Mussolini)
• Red China (Chairman Mao)
• Cambodia (Pol Pot)
• Viet Nam (Ho Chi Minh)
• North Korea (three generations of Kim)
• Cuba (the Castro's, not to mention Che Guevara, who is dead)
• A host of other lesser lights like Ceausescu, Amin, Chavez, and Mugabe.

What is the common thread of these regimes?  Atheism.  Most are Marxist, but some have their own "denominations" of atheism.  We should ask the hundreds of millions of people murdered by these regimes if atheism was a shining path to the future for them.  Ask them if they would recommend these atheistic systems for a society looking to improve itself.  Ask them if atheism improved their lives.  Friends, we know the answer to those questions - those atheists brought nothing but slavery, misery, poverty, and death.  That is the end of atheism in all it's forms.

Frankly, you see where the current crop are going in the dismissive way that Dawkins and Dennett look at religion and religious people.  They are a problem to be gotten rid of.  Re-educated if possible, but gotten rid of as an infestation like they were a bunch of termites.  We see the characteristic thinking of all those on my list in these these men - willing to kill those who don't think like they do.  And make no mistake - if they are in power they will kill you if you don't convert to their atheism.

Now, the atheists will take my remarks here and point to the religious wars of history and say "see - you're just as bad!"  Take Jillian Becker, atheist and contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph, who wrote in 2012:  "Has anything caused as much human suffering as religion?  You might say disease, but religion itself is a disease, of the human race and of individual minds.  Persecution, war, torture, terror, bodily pain, mental anguish, profound misery, wasted lives are the chief products of religion."

Ms. Becker - I answer emphatically: YES - ATHEISM!  See my list above for examples.

Have there been religious wars?  Yes, absolutely. Atheists like to point to the Crusades as a major case in point, and the standard line is that the Christians made war on the muslims for religious reasons.  Well, the truth is, the Crusades were a response to the Islamic expansions into Southern and Eastern Europe, and to the slaughter of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land (after many years of peaceful co-existence).  Many myths have been promulgated over the last century as to the reasons for the Crusades, which we are now finding to be false.  Myths like a population explosion in Europe and needing more land for all those children, or non-firstborn sons who would not inherit family lands being the ones to go on the Crusade, or even that it was as much against the Jews as it was against the muslims.

But let's say all the myths are actually true.  Let's say that it was everything that standard history says it was, and more.  Let me then ask this question:  has this mindset continued through to today?  Do we see Christian armies plundering and pillaging and laying seige and taking over? Let's expand it and ask the same question about Buddhist or Jewish or even Scientologist armies doing that?  Have we seen that over the last hundred years?  200?  300?  (and if you say George W. Bush I'm going to smack you because you know that isn't true!)

One could say that in a sense Stephen Sackur was right when he said that religions are evolving - at least some of them are.  Evolving to the point were they are more interested in establishing and maintaining peaceful relationships with other countries and even other religions than they are conquering and ruling over them.  But somehow this is a bad thing in the eyes of atheists.  It's a virus that has to be cured.

I have tried to use neutral terms such as "religion", or give a list of religions as examples, rather than to focus on one specific religion.  However, I think Jesus has something to say on this issue:

"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
(Luke 6:43-45)

If we are honest, I think we have to look at the world and at history, and judge the fruit of these different systems.  Which ones have produced good fruit?  Which ones have produced bad fruit?

On the whole, I don't think there is any question where the atheists fall on that scale.

Ultimately, this argument is about truth.  Is there such a thing as truth?  If so who or what defines it?  And where does your truth lead you, in terms of how you view the world and the people in it?

Where do you think atheism lands in that discussion?  What fruit has it produced?  Has it evolved to the better?

The Boston Massacre

The big media outlets seem to be dubbing last weeks bombing at the Boston Marathon "The Boston Massacre". I have to say that while the term massacre may possibly be technically correct, the real Boston Massacre was about free men defending themselves from a tyrannical government, not attempting to slaughter innocents.

This is why I have a problem with the term Boston Massacre being applied to this event. It somehow equates an act of murder by two cowards with heroic resistance to tyranny.

Frankly, I see no equivalence whatsoever.

"Marathon Bombing" is a much better term.

Another Detroit sports legend hangs 'em up.

First it was Steve Yzerman.  Then Nicklas Lidstrom.

Now, it's Jason Hanson.

Hanson announced his retirement today after 21 seasons as the placekicker for the Detroit Lions.  Hanson was a model of consistency and excellence on a team that has had little of either in the last 30 years.

Here is the Detroit News article on his decision and his career.

Thanks, Jason, for your class and for being the one Lion you could always count on.

Behind the scenes of John 3:16

This is from a somewhat surprising source - a movie review of "Olympus has Fallen" on WND.com by Drew Zahn, entitled "How could a loving God create hell?  Original here. 

A pivotal scene in the film, however, prompted me – as it will many in its audience – to ask a question of significance: “What would I do if I were in that one character’s shoes?”

My answer to the question led me further to an epiphany about God, about Christ and about the creation of a place none of us would ever wish to truly ponder, a place called “hell.”

In this pivotal scene – and I surrender no spoiler in discussing it in these terms – the president of the United States is threatened with the prospect of watching his son be tortured or killed. The movie’s villain hopes plying the president’s love for his son will extract from the commander-in-chief a code that can be used to wreak mass destruction on a global scale. The choice threatened: to watch his son be tortured or watch the world burn.

What a brutal choice for a father to face.

Yet what would I, the father of sons and daughters, do in this character’s place? What would I say to my son if he were placed upon the terrorist’s torture block, knowing that negotiating for my son’s life would mean surrendering the lives of millions?

I sat in the parking lot after the film and pondered the question.

Yet it didn’t take long for me to come to an answer. Perhaps my answer would be different in the heat of the moment. I don’t pretend to think I’d have this clarity when my son’s screams were ringing in my ears, but in the stillness of a darkened car in a darkened parking lot, the answer came to me.

What would I say to my son?

“My son,” I heard myself saying, “I love you, and I’m sorry, but remember John 3:16. I am the father, and you are my son, and I love you.”

John 3:16: “For [the Father] so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son …”

The answer settled in my soul – painful, agonizing, but right in my heart. I would not spare my son if it meant the death of millions of other sons.

But I can tell you this much: With the sound of my son’s agony resounding in my mind, I would remember every blow, every howl, every scream. And if I somehow made it out of that situation alive, president or no, if I caught that terrorist who tortured my son, no law, no badge, no gun, no force on earth would shield that man from the full measure of my wrath, burning and heaped down upon his head for all eternity.

And with that thought, I suddenly understood hell.

For the Father did seek to save the world, and the price was the brutal torture and death of His Son at the hands of men.

If God is a God of love, and He loves His Son, then we men, above all, have sound and good reason to fear the Father’s eternal wrath. It could not be otherwise and God to be a God of love.

And in that fury, that imagined rage I felt for briefest moment, I asked myself, what would satisfy my wrath? What would stay this father’s hand from a vengeance most fierce and horrible?

One thing. Only one thing. If my son, somehow brought back to life, were to say to me, “It’s OK, Dad. This one is with me. I forgive him.”

Then, and only then, would that man escape my wrath.

According to Scripture, we are the torturers, the terrorists, the brutal slayers of the Son of God, and the Father’s wrath is in store for us. Not just for those that lived in Jesus’ day, but for the whole of humanity.

Yet so magnificent is the love of Christ for his enemies that He said, “Father, forgive them.”
Somehow, Christ, come back to life, is willing to say to His Father, “It’s OK, Dad. This one is with me. I forgive him.”

The question is, of course, are you with the Son? Have you placed your only hope of salvation in His intercession on your behalf before His Father? Or do you persist in torturing Him?

One great big reason "The Sequester" should happen

From The Washington Post:  Sequester might ground lawmakers

Forget threats of furloughed workers or reduced security at embassies.
Here’s what might be the most powerful incentive yet for members of Congress to come up with a deal to avert the sequester: the head of the Air Force today warned that the spending cuts that will go into effect March 1 could cause the military to eliminate those lovely miljet flights that lawmakers enjoy.

The Shekel - Coins, Law and Commentary: Democrat Cognitive Dissonance On Women And Guns

My friend Aaron over at The Shekel nails the utter foolishness of the biggest gun controllers in Washington:

The Shekel - Coins, Law and Commentary: Democrat Cognitive Dissonance On Women And Guns

Suzanna Hupp testifies again before Congress

Yesterday, Suzanna Hupp testified before Congress on the effects of gun control laws.  This testimony is as moving today as it was in the early 90's when she did it the first time, telling Congress her firsthand account of the Luby's Massacre where the gunman killed both her parents.

I link to the Website of Jews for the Protection of Firearms Ownership, which has conveniently put videos of both testimonies together for your viewing.
http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/movieplay-hupp-congress-swf.htm

I'm probably preaching to the choir, but perhaps someone will stumble across this blog and see these videos of the true impact of gun control and understand how evil and despicable it is to take the right to self defense away from free men and women.

Perhaps even Colorado Rep. Joe Salazar will see this testimony and realize that his idea of women who are about to be raped would be better served by blowing whistles than blowing the brains out of their attacker is perhaps...silly.

I Just have to say it...

Spank!

MSU 75, UM 52

Dear Sen. Feinstein

Setting aside for a moment the fact the Bill of Rights is about rights, not needs, this gentleman answers the question quite directly from his own experience:

A Jew Without a Gun, by Robert J Avrech

Not that the Congress will listen to actual, you know, logic and reason.

Tiananmen Square Survivor reacts to Obama Gun Restrictions

Well, if folks won't believe me when I talk about what the 2nd Amendment means, maybe they'll listen to this gentleman, who has some up-close and personal experience with tyrannical government - Red China.

Musical Interlude #1

This is terrific!

And this one too!

http:\\thepianoguys.com

New Arrest in the War on Terror

A teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, the Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

‘”Al-Gebra is a problem for us,” the Attorney General said. “They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.” They use secret code names like ‘X’ and ‘Y’ and refer to themselves as “unknowns”, but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ‘There are 3 sides to every triangle’.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.” White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President. It is believed that the Nobel Prize for Physics will follow.





http://www.commonsenseevaluation.com/2010/02/15/the-al-gebra-movement/

Republicans Cave

Why do we even differentiate between Republicans and Democrats any more?  They are all the same.  There isn't a dime's worth of difference between them, as evidenced by their total collapse in passing the bills to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff".

There is no principle in the Republican party any more.  They have given the President everything he wanted, and will drive us even more deeply into financial ruin.  Why does the Republican party exist any more - they only do the bidding of the Democrats.  Even when they had the majority, they couldn't do anything with it.  Except be Democrats.

Ban Hammers!!

The Detroit News ran a story today about an Oakland county man who was attacked while he slept by his 19 year old son, who used a two pound hammer to inflict skull fractures and other broken bones.

In keeping with the lessons coming from Dianne Feinstein and her colleagues in the Senate, it is obvious what we must do to stop these senseless hammer crimes. We have to ban these evil devices which have no legitimate purpose. No civilian needs a two pound hammer - no one needs more than a one ounce hammer. And we need to register those one pounders so if they are used in a crime we can track them. Oh, and when you die your estate has to return them to the government for disposal

Sounds pretty silly doesn't it? Well, that's the "logic" of gun banners.

The First Amendment is already under attack

On Saturday I posed the question about the relative importance of the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution, and how the political left is all about the First but not the Second.

Well, as WND.com reminds us today in this article, the left has been attacking the First Amendment since the 2009 passage of Obamacare.

The article reminds us that the free speech rights of the First Amendment have already been compromised by this law, which imposes abortion and contraceptive coverage on all, including those business owners who have deep moral and religious convictions against such practices.  So these business owners are forced to choose between their convictions and bankruptcy, due to the fines imposed by Obamacare.

Friends, the government is not the benevolent force for good that you are expected to believe they are - they are malevolent, always seeking to expand their control over every thing and every one.  Every American MUST fight against these control freaks and their incessant attacks against the rights of free men and women.  The Constitution is the only thing that stands between you and these totalitarian utopianists, and they are trying to get rid of it one Amendment at a time.

A Little History Lesson for Piers Morgan Followers

I watched a YouTube video of Mr. Morgan interviewing Ted Nugent a little over a year ago.  It went something like this:

Piers: Don't you think that not having as many guns available would solve this problem?

Ted:  No.  It is a proven fact that more guns equates to lower crime rates, based on data from the US Government and the UN.

Piers:  Yes, but don't you think that fewer guns would mean fewer shootings?

Ted: No.  As I just said, statistics show that crime drops where there are more guns, and it rises where there are more restrictions.

Piers: Yes, but don't you think that limiting access to guns would mean less crime?

Ted: *sigh*

And so it went.

I haven't seem any of his post-Sandy Hook tirades (although I have heard they are a sight to behold), I understand they take the same line of reasoning:  Less guns means less crime.

Well, it occurred to me that we have an American historical event that we can look to for instructive purposes in understanding what happens when a legal substance that people want is banned.  That event would be the passing of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919, more commonly known as Prohibition.  At the time, the evils of alcoholic beverages were considered to be so great that the Congress proposed and the States ratified the Amendment.  All except for Rhode Island, apparently.

Well what happened?  One of the results of the ban is that people ignored it.  Speakeasy's popped up everywhere, and people still got liquor, even though it was illegal.  Smugglers, called "runrunners" brought alcohol from places where it was still legal (like Canada and Mexico) into the US, giving rise to a criminal class.  Then there was the rise of Organized Crime, and people like Al Capone became household names for all the wrong reasons, not to mention events like the St. Valentines Day Massacre.

By 1933, the States had had enough of the crime, death, and corruption that went along with Prohibition, and Congress proposed and the States ratified the 21st Amendment which repealed it.  But we still have the criminal classes and the organized crime that it gave birth to.  Lucky us.

It has been generally accepted in the United States the Prohibition was the wrong thing to do, and that banning something by government edict generally doesn't work out very well for anyone.  At least, it used to be when actual history was taught in schools, and the lessons of history logically discussed.

So for you Morganites out there, including your leader, here is a factual lesson of history for you:  Prohibitions of anything don't get you what you want, they only increase the mess you are trying to clean up.  I don't care how good, important, pious, or superior it makes you feel - it only makes things worse.

And Piers - when you result to name calling and insults, it only shows you have lost the debate, and your arguments are weak and don't hold up to intelligent scrutiny.

For you Constitutional Scholars out there...

I have a question for you as our nation seems to be rushing toward restrictions on rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Why are 2nd Amendment rights somehow less important than 1st Amendment rights?

Why did the "Occupy" people get to go around raping, molesting, and getting high and getting away with it in the name of "free speech" but one whack-job kills some people and suddenly we have to do away with gun rights for everyone?  How does that work?

Until you people calling for the banning of firearms and ammunition can answer this question in a lucid, unemotional, logical manner, you need to go away because you are whining, not discussing. 

Gun Free Zones

For those of my readers who think Gun Free Zones are the answer to events like Sandy Hook, I offer this insightful video:

Choice

Bravo to ProudHillbilly at From the Caer for this one:

I Really Don't Get It

Spineless

Must be the tears and wailing over the Sandy Hook shooter have rusted the iron spine Gov. Snyder showed last week when facing down the labor unions, because today he completely caved in to the Gun Banners on CPL reform.

I didn't want to believe it when others on my side of this issue were wishing Jennifer Granholm was still Governor, but I have to admit, she was better at signing pro-gun legislation than the Governor we have now.

Gov. Snyder - as of today you are just another politician who won't listen to common sense and sound reason.  There is only one way you get my vote next time around:  Get with Sen. Green, write a better bill (this one had some real malodorous parts), and get it passed by June.  Here is what it must do:

1. Eliminate County Gun Boards.  Most of us wanted the Secretary of State to be the issuing authority for CPL's, but would accept Sheriffs being the issuing authority.  The bill you just vetoed had some good provisions to keep anti-gun sheriffs in line and should be included.
2. Eliminate Gun-Free Zones.  As Sandy Hook proved yet again, Gun-free zones only increase the body count.  Compare Sandy Hook to New Life Church and see what a difference a good guy (or in that case, woman) with a gun and the will to use it will make.  Schools, Hospitals, Sports Arenas - all of them - no longer prohibited.  There is no reason to require extra training or extra anything.  CPL holders in Michigan have proven themselves to be levelheaded and serious about the responsibility we take on when we carry that gun.  Extra training is superfluous.
3. Make it clear that Private Property rights will be maintained.  If a church or business or person wants to prohibit firearms on their property that is their right.  But there should be no opt-outs for schools or other public entities.  If you get state or local funding, you may not prohibit the carrying of firearms.
4. Make it clear that State preemption laws apply to MSU, UM, and Wayne State University.  They don't get to supersede state law.
5. Leave open carry alone.  If nothing else, it is what protects you if the wind blows your cover garment up and people see your pistol and call police, who then hassle you about your pistol and threaten to charge you with brandishing.
6. Eliminate the Permit to Purchase and the resulting pistol registration.

And one more thing, which can't be written into law but should be written in your mind every day:  Stop listening to whining bedwetters who go into a panic whenever something bad happens and immediately want to ban guns.  The problem is not guns - the problem is evil.  And at some point evil needs to be addressed forcefully.

Boehner Must Go

As reported by several news outlets this weekend, Speaker of the House John Boehner is now advocating for a "Millionaire Tax".  Thus the Republican Establishment begins the cave-in to the President on taxes.

John Boehner must not be re-elected to the Speakership in the new Congress.  He is weak and has no core values beyond getting himself re-elected to his cushy congressional job.  Whatever it takes.  Including deals with the devil.

Jeff Feiger on Right-to-Work in Michigan

So I'm driving home from work last night, and I hear a commercial come on the radio that starts out like this:  "Hi.  This is Jeff Feiger".  Instant double-take on my part, as Jeff has been quiet for a while. 

Thus began an irrational spewing of doom and gloom and the same tired old jargon the Jeff and his leftist buddies have been spewing for years.  How Michigan is doomed, and how could we have done this to ourselves, and it's all because of greedy corporate interests that this happened.  And his last three words:  "God help us".  Seriously - he said that. 

Then, this morning, I turned on the radio while getting ready for work and heard him again live on The Paul W. Smith Show spewing the same hogwash.  "Who will want to live here?  It will be nothing but smokestacks!" (whatever that means) And what to him must be the ultimate insult:  "We'll be Mississippi!"  (Honestly Paul W. - why do you keep bringing this guy on?  He is completely irrational, and irrelevant to what is going on in Michigan.)

I don't know if you noticed Jeff, but nobody bought this twaddle when you ran for Governor (John Engler cleaned your clock, and even your own party wanted nothing to do with you), and the number buying it has been steadily decreasing since then.  Your union pals proved that this year by getting drubbed on the two union-backed ballot proposals.

Now, I will give Jeff this much - he is paying for the ads with his own money.  Because our Constitution recognizes your right to sound like an idiot whenever you want, and spend your own money doing it.  It doesn't guarantee that anyone will take you seriously.

More Right-to-Work Hypocracy from the Left

So today the entire Democrat congressional delegation from Michigan flew in to Lansing to lobby the Governor against Right-to-Work, according to The Detroit News.

They are very concerned that this legislation is being brought up and passed in Michigan through some "sneaky parliamentary process", according to Rep. John Dingell.

Umm, folks - may I suggest that you pull the plank out of your own eye before you start working on whatever speck of dust may be in Gov. Snyder's eye?  This is exactly how you shoved Obamacare down our throats, only more so.  Parliamentary tricks, misdefinitions, and stretching of the truth beyond the breaking point, not to mention the Constitution.  Such that the Supreme Court had to set you straight on what you did (yes, it really was a tax, not a fee).

So don't go crying about mean ol' Gov. Snyder and his tricksterism.  Indeed, the republicans have been straight up about what they are doing, not couching it in phony semantic flim-flammery.

Gretchen Whitmer - whiny crybaby

According to an article in the Washington Times, Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Senate Minority Leader is, in essence, saying to Gov. Snyder "If you don't give me what I want, I'm going to get my Big Brother to beat you up".

From the article:

Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer, who on Thursday called the votes to approve the right-to-work measure “petty and vindictive politics,” sparked more backlash Friday when she said she wants the president, who is set to visit Detroit on a previously scheduled political trip on Monday, to push back on Republican Gov. Rick Snyder by holding back federal money for a new international bridge project to Canada and a badly needed mass-transit program in ailing Detroit.

Well, Senator - to take a page from your big brother's book, since a 3 point victory means he has a mandate, I guess the crushing defeat of Big Labor at the Michigan Ballot Box in November means that the Governor has a mandate to pass Right-to-Work.  You just need to sit down and shut up and take it.

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, after all.

The Irony of Right-To-Work in Michigan

Isn't it ironic that the party who loudly champions "choice" when it suits their purposes ("a woman's right to choose" or "lifestyle choice") is so loudly against choice when it doesn't suit their purposes (right-to-work)?

It would seem they are only for choice when you make the choices they allow you to make.  God forbid you should make choices they don't want you to make. 

Just for the record, I am a 23 year member of one of the largest unions in the country, the NEA.  And if this legislation passes, I will be first in line with my resignation from that vile, disgusting organization.

Vote 2012

I just came back from voting the ineligible marxist liar out of the office he usurped in '08.  But that isn't what I wanted to blog about today.  I just wanted to send a message to Gov. Snyder regarding Proposal 6.  For those of you outside of Michigan you probably haven't heard about the issue, but because I'm sure the Governor reads my blog religiously I wanted to comment.

Today I voted NO on Prop 6, but Governor, it wasn't because you asked me to.  It's because Matty Maroun is a sleazy scumball and that proposal was all about him and his empire, and something like that shouldn't be in the Constitution in the first place.

But know this, Gov. Snyder:  I don't like your sleazy conduct on this issue either.  The elected representatives of the citizens of this state (the majorities of which are of your own party) turned down your bridge proposal, and it is disgusting that you decided to circumvent the will of the people as expressed by that vote.  Your conduct is only slightly less reprehensible than Maroun's.

Now, concerning Proposal 1, which amounts to a public ratification of Public Act 4, more commonly known as the Emergency Manager Law.  I get so tired of the whining citizens of these cities and school districts getting on the "you're usurping local elected officials and local control and putting an unelected and unaccountable bureaucrat in charge" bandwagon.

Folks - if your local elected officials didn't have their heads in their nether regions in the first place, you wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place.  And who was it that kept voting the goofballs into office in the first place?  Check your closest mirror for the answer to that question.

So now you've run yourselves into the ground and you can't pay the bills.  Without the Emergency Manager law, your only option would be Municipal Bankruptcy.  And who is making the decisions then?  Why bless my soul, it's an unelected and unaccountable Federal Judge!  So the "Local Control" argument is no argument, but a smokescreen.

Of course, any fat-cat, corrupt politician wants to keep his power, so in order to avoid losing that, he turns to the State to bail him out.  Well folks, when you want the State to bail you out of your predicament there are of necessity some strings attached to that money, and that's where the EM comes in.  Because you're now asking the citizens of the entire state to save you, and that gives them an interest in how your municipality or school district is run.  It can't be business as usual.

Now, despite the "unaccountable and unelected" argument, who appoints the EM?  Why, the Governor of course.  And I'm pretty sure that all Governors in all 50 states are elected by the people of those states.  Ours in Michigan certainly is.  So you have an appointed outside party who answers to the Governor, who answers to the people of the State every 4 years, just like those local politicians you are so concerned about.  It's not like the EM just materializes like something out of a Star Trek transporter room.

Certainly the labor unions in those municipalities - teachers, fire, police, and others - don't like the EM, because all of their contracts quite likely go out the window.  But why should the unions not share in the pain of turning things around?  Nobody gets off scot-free in situations like this.  Yes, there will be job cuts.  Yes, services will be reduced.  Yes, classroom sizes will get bigger.  Lots of stuff will happen.  But those things would happen with a bankruptcy judge too.  So again, this is no argument, just a smokescreen.

All in all, the EM law gets bankrupt units of government back on their feet without having to resort to the  painful, and expensive Federal Court case that will drag on for months and impose solutions that will look pretty much the same as what the EM would impose.  You just get there sooner with the EM, and you retain some level of accountability through the Governors office, which you wouldn't have with the Judge.

Seems to me that is as good of a solution as you are going to get.

An Unexpected Briefing from Air New Zealand

A friend linked me to this, and it's too good not to share.

Russian Navy used as DNC backdrop

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - the Head Communist in Charge used Russian Navy Ships as a video backdrop during the latest coronation at the party convention last week.  Full article in the Navy Times here.

“I was kind of in shock,” said Rob Barker, 38, a former electronics warfare technician who left the Navy in 2006. Having learned to visually identify foreign ships by their radars, Barker recognized the closest ship as the Kara-class cruiser Kerch.
“An immediate apology [from the committee] would be very nice,” Barker said. “Maybe acknowledge the fact that yes, they screwed up.”
The background — featured in the carefully choreographed hour leading up to the president’s Sept. 6 speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination — showed four ships with radar designs not used in the U.S. fleet.
For example, the ship in the foreground, on the far right, has a square radar antenna at the top of its masthead. That is the MR-700 Podberezovik 3-D early warning radar, commonly identified as “Flat Screen” for its appearance, a three-dimensional early warning radar mounted on the Kerch, said Eric Wertheim, editor of “Combat Fleets of the World.”
Similarly, the third ship has a MR-310 “Head Net” air search radar, shaped like two off-set bananas, at its masthead and is mostly likely the guided missile destroyer Smetlivyy. The first two ships seem to be Krivak-class frigates, but it’s hard to discern from the silhouette, experts said.
But the fact they are Russian ships is not in doubt. In addition to the ship’s radar arrays and hulls, which are dissimilar from U.S. warships, the photo features one more give-away: a large white flag with a blue ‘X’ at the ships’ sterns.

And please - all you Obama kool-aid drinkers - don't send me your comments that Obama didn't plan the convention and this wasn't his mistake.  If you're the top dog, you are responsible.  And no comments about how the Russians aren't communists any more.  As long as Putin is running things over there, they're communists.

Saturday Range Trip

Well, it seems that it was a weekend for shooting, as my friends at Lagniappes Lair and The Shekel were out as well.

My trip was experimental in nature.  My kids and I shot a match (the Glassen) at my club last Tuesday, and my 15-year-old was using the club AR that she has been issued, which I equipped with a .22LR conversion kit, since all of her shooting this summer was to be .22.  This worked well all summer, until we went to the Appleseed shoot a couple of weekends ago, where it suddenly began to pattern like a shotgun, and keyholing.  At 25 meters.  To the point of having to borrow a rifle for her to continue to participate.  A closer inspection in the evening showed extreme leading in the barrel and in the conversion unit.  I cleaned it thoroughly the night before the match, but I had no idea how it was going to perform.  Well, to her great and tearful disappointment, the cleaning helped not a bit.  The match is 4 targets, 5 shots each target, in 30 minutes, with 10 sighters, at 50 yards.  Her sighters were fine, but after that she was all over the place, completely missing two of the targets.  She didn't even have her targets scored, she was so upset.

Well, this rifle has run like a top ever since she has had it, so didn't think there was anything wrong with the rifle, but I wanted to make sure, so since I had a trip to Williamston planned for Saturday morning, I packed the rifle up and took it with me so I could pop over to the club after my meeting.  I wanted to fire some .223 through it also, as they recommend doing that once in a while to blow the crud out of the gas tube that can accumulate when firing .22LR.  Of course, I forgot the .223 bolt, so that didn't happen.

I had 3 different kinds of .22 ammo with me:  Winchester M-22, which is a 40-grain "black copper" plated round, Winchester Wildcat, a 40-grain lead round, and some Federal plated stuff in the red 550 round bulk pack - this was a 36-grain hollow point. 

I loaded up the M-22 first to see what would happen.  This was the ammo she used at the Appleseed and at the Glassen.  I shot at 25 yards just to see how it was printing, and because the MRPA was having a match at the 50 and 100 yd lines. Well, I saw the same performance she did - shots all over the place, and a couple of keyholes.  This surprised me as my Ruger 10/22 really likes this ammo.  So I switched over to the Wildcat and got the same thing.  I pulled the conversion unit out and took a look at it, and I did see some flecks of lead on it (likely from the Wildcat), so I cleaned it up a bit and put it back in.  Then I loaded up the Federals.  Wow!  All of a sudden, it was grouping consistently, and with no keyholes!  I put another 20 or 30 rounds of that downrange just to make sure, then I put up a new target and shot a 10 round string from the sitting position with a sling, like they taught us at Appleseed.  My score was 100, 5X.

When I showed her this target later at home, she started yelling "no way!".  I told her this target should be an encouragement to her, because it told her that she didn't shoot badly, but that the gun didn't like the ammo I gave her to use.  I hope that helped her to put her experiences of the past week behind her and look forward to shooting again, because she is really good and I would like her to see how far she can go with this.  It might even help her get some scholarship money for college!

I also shot my Glock 17 while I was there.  I think I want to lighten the trigger on that thing a little bit - I don't know if it's stacking or if it has one of those NY triggers that are over 9 pounds, but it's really stiff just before it breaks.