...and one on McCain

I have never understood the great flurry of interest in the selection of a Presidential running mate. This is a person who gets a few photo ops with the Candidate on the podium at the convention, makes a few speeches during the campaign, and gets one debate with the VP candidate from the other side. They are supposed to bring votes to the top guy in a region or state where they are weak. Then, when elected, they sit in their office for four years doing nothing, attending state funerals when necessary, and collecting a paycheck. Why this is deemed important is beyond me.

This election (assuming that McCain is the nominee of the Republicans), the VP nomination takes on some level of meaning beyond just a few uncommitted votes in the deep south.

John McCain has been clashing with conservatives for many years, and has missed few opportunities to poke them in the eye (as examples, I give you his "agents of intolerance" quote, McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and the "Gang of 14"). But now, he needs us. He needs us to come out and vote for him on election day in order to offset the Obama Zombies. His rhetoric has been changing somewhat toward us, and he has apparently seen the light on solutions to the illegal immigrant problem. Still, most real conservatives don't trust him any farther than they can throw him.

This is where his choice for VP becomes important. There are rumors of Giuliani or Romney, neither of whom are conservative, and neither of whom inspire much of a following (all we have to do is look at their primary performances to see that). If McCain picks anyone like these two, or someone who is a "moderate", there won't be much of a chance for real conservatives to embrace McCain.

However, if he selects someone who is a known, committed, real conservative, it can be seen as an indicator that he understands at some level that it is conservatives who are going to win this election for him, and not crossover democrats and liberal republicans.

It would remain to be seen if this epiphany would last beyond Inauguration Day, however. There's that trust thing again.

A Couple of Observations on the Democrat Candidates

1. Has anybody noticed that now that Hillary Clinton is actually having to campaign and fight for her political life, she doesn't know how to do it? She is fine when all she has to do is show up and run out the party platitudes and everyone votes for her, but when she has to actually think and plan and work and contend, she just whiffs? If she can't stand up to someone as insubstantial as Obama, what is she going to do with Achma-whatshisname, or Putin, or even Gordon Brown?
   
2. What is with the Obama supporters? Those on the left consider those who listen to Limbaugh or Hannity to be "mind-numbed robots", but even the biggest Hannity "Great American" sycophant is Albert Einstein compared to the breathless and brainless followers of Obama. Seriously - the guy has all the substance of a bag of rice cakes, and you Obama people are OK with this?
3. So it looks like McCain v. Obama this election cycle. Volatile v. Vapid. I'm just inspired. Not.
   

Here's a point to ponder...

I haven't talked about (so called) Global Warming lately, but I read this statement today and thought it made and excellent point:

"Once the government gains control over energy decisions, do we really think they will relinquish it after manmade global warming is realized to be a false alarm? It has been said that whoever controls energy, controls life. Right now, the free market (which means you) controls those decisions. Do we need to remind ourselves how well things went in the former Soviet Union when the bureaucrats made the economic decisions, rather than letting the collective will of the people, expressed though a free market, govern the economy?... What will people do when they realize that going along with the 56-percent scientific majority has resulted in them giving up much of their personal freedom in the process? I wouldn't trade that freedom for any presidential candidate."

Climatologist Roy Spencer

Do People Actually Think Like This?

From an AP report on a protest by families and victims of the VA Tech gunman;

Va. Tech Families Protest State Gun Law

Published: 1/21/08, 10:25 PM EDT
By KRISTEN GELINEAU

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Survivors and families of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings faced off Monday against gun-rights advocates over a bill that would prevent criminals and the mentally ill from buying firearms at gun shows.

About 100 supporters of the measure lay on the Capitol lawn to honor the victims of gun violence, as about 200 opponents stood nearby, holding signs that read, "Here Lie Disarmed Victims."

At one point, Jeff Knox, director of operations of the Manassas-based Firearms Coalition, approached survivor Colin Goddard and said students could have stopped student Seung-Hui Cho's rampage if they had been allowed to carry guns on campus.

"I would have stopped him," Knox said. "Because when I went to school, I carried a gun. It was legal; I did it."

Goddard, a Virginia Tech senior who was shot four times in the April 16 massacre, was taken aback, then said: "I feel sorry for you - the fact that you feel you need to protect yourself in every situation.

"You're afraid of crazy situations happening. I've lived through this and I know that I can't continue in my life afraid of things," he said, adding that he put his "full trust" in the police to protect society.

The bolding is mine.

When I read this I was speechless. I just don't understand this mentality.

Good for the VCDL - they got it just right! "Here lie unarmed victims"

Bush Administration sides with DC on Heller?

That's right. Ol' "Compassionate Conservative" George had his Justice Department file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the Heller case that sides with Washington DC.

Syd Wheedon, from "The Sight M1911" says it very well:

While I try to avoid doing too much direct politics in this newsletter, except as it relates to gun rights and law, I feel compelled to express my utter outrage at the Bush administration’s filing of an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in support of the Washington DC handgun ban. According to the Washington Post, the government’s brief includes the following, “The court's decision could be read to hold that the Second Amendment categorically precludes any ban on a category of 'Arms' that can be traced back to the Founding era," the government argued. “If adopted by this court, such an analysis could cast doubt on the constitutionality of existing federal legislation prohibiting the possession of certain firearms, including machineguns.” Sorry guys, but it’s the Second Amendment itself that “casts doubt on the constitutionality of existing federal legislation,” and not any decision by a court.

Government is jealous of its power and it seems that parties and promises get thrown under the bus when the rubber meets the road. I am truly and profoundly disappointed.

I couldn't agree more.

German Educrats At It Again

In an article in WorldNetDaily.com, Bob Unruh reports:

A German family has completed its flight to Great Britain after the mayor of their hometown filed a court action to give custody of the children to the state because the parents have been homeschooling, according to officials at Netzwerk-Bildungsfreiheit, an advocacy organization addressing such issues.

Officials there said Klaus and Kathrin Landahl and their five children, including four of school age, "are in safety in England. They reached Dover on Saturday midnight."

Can you imagine having to leave your home, family, friends, and country just because you don't want the state to teach [that is, indoctrinate] your children, and some petty tyrant decides he knows better than you do? And the Landahls are not the only ones being forced into this decision.

Make no mistake, tyranny has returned to Germany and is growing.

Read the full article here.

More on Mitt

Not to be piling on or anything, but this quote from Mitt Romney in a recent interview with Tim Russert has just got me grinding my teeth. The gist of the answer is that Romney supports the 1994 (so called) Assault Weapons Ban and would sign one if he were President. Then he goes on to say:

"And if there is determined to be, from time to time, a weapon of such lethality that it poses a grave risk to our law enforcement personnel, that’s something I would consider signing. There’s nothing of that nature that’s being proposed today in Washington. But, but I would, I would look at weapons that pose extraordinary lethality…"

This has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard any politician say. "Extraordinarily lethal"? So that would make you "extraordinarily dead" instead of just dead if one of these weapons were used on you? Does it also kill your wife and firstborn child when it kills you, even if they are in a different part of town? Are you any less dead from taking a 30mm cannon round (think A-10 Warthog) through your head as you are from taking a .22 cal round (think Ruger 10/22) through the head? I know cleanup would be more of the pressure-washer variety than just stuffing you into the body bag, but you're still dead!

Maybe they could take you to Miracle Max if you weren't "extraordinarily dead" and get you back on your feet that afternoon! You're only mostly dead!

No politician spouting this kind of twaddle should be on the ballot for Dog-Catcher, let alone President of the United States!

Mitt Romney's speech

I'm sure I'm going to get myself in trouble with the thought police and the Federal Bureau of Intolerance with this one: I can't vote for Mitt.

According to some, this makes me a hater of Mormons. Honestly, the fact that he's a Mormon isn't at the top of my list of reasons not to vote for him. At the top of my list is that he has no moral compass when it comes to the issues that matter to conservatives. As I understand it, orthodox Mormon doctrine would be considered pro-life, pro-family, and against special homosexual "rights". Historically Romney has been none of these, but now that he's running for President he expects us to believe he is a faithful Mormon and has changed his mind on all this.

While that may have happened, it is likely it happened because he realizes that in order to become President he needs to hold those positions. Of course, once he's elected how do you know what you can count on him to do? His track record indicates he has not been what he now says he is.

Frankly, I'm tired of finger-in-the-wind politicians in both parties who have no convictions except for their need to stay in office or advance to the next office. And by all appearances that's what Mitt is.

The second thing that bothers me is his statement in his recent speech about his faith that "no authorities of my church" would influence him as President. That seems to say a lot, but to me it creates more questions than it answers.

Objectively, a man's faith has got to be the thing that drives him and influences everything he does, whether it is Mormonism, Buddhism, or atheism. Certainly then the leaders of that man's religious group would exert a certain influence on him, as they do on all their "followers" (for lack of a better term). I know my Pastor would exert a lot of influence on me if I were President, because he would be the one who was encouraging, exhorting, and teaching me. I would bring all this to the decision-making processes of the Presidency.

I would have respected his position a lot more if he would have said something like "My faith drives my life and influences every decision I make. I would seek the counsel of many in the decisions I would have to make as President, but ultimately those decisions are mine alone to make."

I know you're from Michigan, Mitt, but that alone isn't enough for me to vote for you.

Button Bucks and Feeling like a Schmuck

The Michgan DNR puts out it's annual Hunting and Trapping guide, and it talks about deer identification. It essentially says that while it is perfectly legal to take a "button buck", you should avoid it so they can grow up and produce more deer. They also give tips on how to know the difference between a button buck and a doe. It has something to do with the buck having a shorter face than the doe.

As you can probably guess, I took a button buck this year, and I am feeling like a schmuck about it. My father-in-law and the next-door neighbor (both experienced hunters) are telling me that there was no way to tell, but it isn't helping me much. I feel like I have violated some unwritten rule and will be looked down upon by other hunters ("That's the guy that shot a button buck last year. Yeah, what a schmuck!") Somehow I now have the Scarlet "BB" branded on my camo.

Having pretty much only seen does in the eight years I have been hunting deer, I guess I didn't have anything to compare deer face lengths to. At least, not until now.

Oh well, it's still venison in the freezer. That's a good thing.

For those interested in this sort of thing: 295gr Powerbelt hollow point over 105gr Triple-7. 30 to 40 yards, double-lung, through and through. Scoped T/C Encore. Dropped where he stood.

One interesting technical note - I used a monopod shooting stick for the first time on this shot and found that I didn't like it too much. The adrenaline was pumping so hard that I was shaking like a leaf and was having a hard time keeping the crosshairs on target even with the stick. I think my lightened trigger helped me here as I didn't need much force to touch it off, so when the crosshairs were in the right spot I just gave a little twitch on the trigger and it went off.

I am certainly preferring a well-braced sitting or rested shot rather than the monopod. Maybe I should try a bipod shooting stick and see if those are any better.

Firearm Deer Season 2007

Well, this week marked the start of firearm deer season here in Michigan. So what was I doing on opening day? Sitting in my office! Yes, you're right - I'm likely not going to shoot any deer from my office, especially considering it's in the basement, and my employer is rabidly anti-firearm and anti-self-defense.

When these arrangements were originally made, I agreed to take the 2nd week of the season because the other guy who I back up with SQL Server administration tasks wanted to take the week to go visit his mom in Arkansas and spend Thanksgiving there (American, not Canadian Thanksgiving, for my readers in the land of the Maple Leaf). The boss likes to have one of us here at all times just in case something needs to be administered.

Today, I find out that the trip was cancelled, and that said co-worker will be working on his roof repair project all week, which he has been working on since the spring! Not a full roof re-do, mind you, just a small overhang on his front porch.

So here I sit, working and blogging, rather than being out in the woods freezing my backside off and hoping a deer decides to amble across the path. I did go out two Sundays ago and made sure my deer gun, a nice Thompson/Center Encore 209x50 muzzleloader, was properly sighted in, and it was putting those 295 grain hollowpoints right where I wanted them (as it usually does). I put a new trigger spring in it over the summer, which gives it a very light 2-1/4 pound trigger pull. My gear is washed with the soap that smells like dirt and leaves, and tonight I will be checking my fanny pack to see that all my "survival gear" is packed and in good condition. I may even go out and get my kill tags tonight if I have time.

But I won't get out into the woods until Wednesday. *sigh*

But at least I get to go out! And there are still Muzzleloader and late firearm seasons before the end of the year, so there are plenty more opportunities to go out. Perhaps I can find a place to blog in the evenings if there are any interesting stories to relate.

Swedish Nitwits and other Idiocy

The Paul W. Smith Show on WJR once again provides me with fodder for my blog. No, it isn't the spat between State Police Col. Munoz and Sheriff Bouchard (which was, by the way, disgraceful). In fact, Paul didn't even talk about these two items while I was listening this morning. I have to give credit to the news staff at WJR for these:

Item Number 1: Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize. This prize was once coveted as one of the highest honors anyone could get for their humanitarian or scientific work. If you were a Nobel prize winner, you were something!

Today, these Swedish knuckleheads have once again displayed their foolishness for all the world to see by naming AlGore, that well known purveyor of lies, disinformation, and junk science, the recipient of the formerly esteemed Peace Prize. This is how low the "scientific" community has sunk. It's no longer about science, or peace, or truth, or the enduring worth of someone's body of work. It's about giving the finger to anyone who doesn't toe the ideological line espoused by the Nobel committee. Ask Raymond Damadian. Never heard of him? Ever had an MRI? Then you know about his work.

Source 1
Source 2

So, you readers of my blog who are Nobel Prize recipients (I'm sure there are lots of you out there!), be aware that your awards have been stripped of all honor and integrity by these ignorant, vindictive Swedes.


Item Number 2: Michigan House of Representatives sends new helmet bill to Senate. In an apparent fit of pique at not getting every last percentage point of tax increase they wanted, the Michigan House has passed a bill that will allow motorcyclists to ride their machines without a helmet - if they pay the state $100 per year for the privilege.

So I guess now we have the "No Helmet" tax. No word on whether the Senate will relegate this foolishness do the nearest dustbin. Supposedly the Governess does not support this new tax. Yeah, right - she's a Democrat, she never met a tax she didn't like, or a new means of regulating everyone's behavior she didn't want to implement.

And just for the record, I oppose helmet laws as an unlawful and unnecessary infringement on the right of people to make their own choices for themselves. I'm not a motorcyclist, but if I were I would always wear a helmet when riding. That would be my choice.

More on MSP Headquarters

Several weeks ago I blogged briefly about the proposed new headquarters building for the Michigan State Police in downtown Lansing. Last night on WXYT Channel 7 in Detroit, reporter Steve Wilson asked some very hard questions and got some very interesting answers. You can go here to view the video or read the transcript. This is a two part story (so far, there is more coming) and you can link to part 2 on that page.

The Joel Ferguson angle is interesting. No-bid contract, long-time supporter and contributor, downtown wasteland. Corruption is the word that comes to my mind. And why is it only ONE legislator, out of the whole bloody lot of them, is standing up and questioning this? ONE!

So, Michigan voters - you elected this person. Are you blown away yet?

The Problem, encapsulated

Reading The Detroit News coverage of the Michigan House debate overnight on the state budget, and I gleaned this nugget:

The lone Republican "yes" vote was cast by Rep. Chris Ward of Brighton. Because he voted against the Republican tide, he temporarily stepped down from his leadership position as House minority floor leader.

"Our state is on the brink of a constitutional crisis, and the time has come for all of us, regardless of party, region and philosophy to pull together to show that our state government can work," Ward said. "The institutions of our government are bigger than any one person."(emphasis mine)

Rep. Ward's comment epitomizes the problem with government at every level. Those who are in government think it is their job to perpetuate and increase it. That it is their job to take money away from people who can't afford to have it taken away, and turn around and give it away to people or entities who either don't deserve it or who shouldn't be getting government money anyway.

Rep. Ward, not only should you resign from your Minority Floor Leader position, you should resign from your House seat. You are a disgraceful example of the worst things in government.

Here's a news flash for ya Rep. Ward, straight from a real Republican - Ronald Reagan: "Government isn't the solution to our problems, Government is the problem." Learn it, live it.

Hail to the Victors? Not!

A little sports commentary today, reflecting on the weekend events. If the Tigers hadn't lost yesterday, my sports weekend would have been complete, as MSU and the Detroit Lions won, and UM and Notre Dame lost.

Good wins for the Spartans and Lions, but with these teams performance over the last few years, cautious optimism is all I can muster up for them. I enjoyed the games, especially late when the game was on the line, when both teams responded on both sides of the ball.

I do have to make a comment about UM folks who were ready to fire Lloyd Carr after the Appalachian State debacle. The nastiness I have heard about him is just incredible. I'm no UM fan, but for crying out loud people - this man has done more for UM football than even your precious Bo Shembechler (who never won a National Championship like Lloyd Carr did), and you people are ready to draw and quarter him and send the pieces to all the UM Alumni clubs around the country. Any football program in the country would be tickled pink to have his record, and you want him gone? Puh-leeze! Get a grip! This ain't the 60's and there are no more football factories, and you people need to pull your heads out and realize it!

Coach Carr, here's one Spartan who respects what you have done even when it's often been at our expense. You should retire whenever you want to, walk out with your head high, and tell all those UM doofuses what they can do with their maize and blue.

Arts, Beats, and Eats on Labor Day

A bit belated, but a tip of the cap to the City of Pontiac and Chrysler Corp for their very enjoyable Arts, Beats, and Eats festival over the Labor Day weekend. We attended with my friend Aaron (from The Shekel Blog) and his family. His account of the day, including a tutorial on Fish & Chips, is here.

One thing that caught my eye was the Gem, an electric vehicle project by Chrysler.


I am the furthest thing from an eco-nut that you could ever imagine, but I am interested in vehicles like this as alternatives to gas-powered vehicles in secondary applications like commuting or utility work on a farm or large property for example. This particular car isn't a regular commuting vehicle, as it only has a top speed of 35mph with limited range, but it's interesting to see the advance of design and technology. They market them as useful for golf carts, retirement villages, and large manufacturing plants.

They had several examples at the festival, and they were also being used to transport food and supplies to the vendors, and equipment for the bands. I took a few minutes to sit in one, and they are suprisingly roomy for as small as they are. I am 6'3" and broad-shouldered, and I had no problem fitting into one - there was at least 8 inches between the top of my head and the roof of the cabin. A few more inches of beam would have been nice, but Aaron and I both sat in it together without feeling too cramped.

The funniest thing was finding the habits for our regular autos didn't fit this one. Looking for the shift lever, for instance: there isn't one! Just a rocker switch on the steering column pod: forward, reverse, and off. I didn't ask, but it is likely that it has a transmission similar to a golf cart or snowmobile, where there are no gears, and your top speed is limited by the speed the motor can run without tearing itself apart.

So, an interesting not-ready-for-prime-time vehicle which has lots of possibilities for niche applications.

We also spent some time in the Ontario Tourism pavilion. It was nice and shady there, and I'm sure Aaron enjoyed visiting his Canadian roots (having been raised in suburban Toronto). He was scouting future dive sites around Tobermory.

Topping off the experience as we were walking back to the cars was an excellent Blues band. I don't remember their name, but they sure knew what they were all about, and their progressions followed us until they were blocked out by some buildings. We had a lot of fun and appreciated the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Shekel and their beautiful daughters.

Finding the gun she likes - my Wifes story

I want to tell this story because it reinforces the advice constantly given to us males to let our wives/girlfriends/moms/etc. pick their own gun. And also to brag on my wife a little.

It started several months ago when I was standing at the gun safe. I don't remember if I was putting away or getting out, but my wife looked at me and said "Where's mine?". I thought "Oh, she wants one of her own - great!", now which one? All we had were a .38 snubbie and a 1911, which is my carry gun.

I was just smart enough to remember the advice given in many places to let her choose her own, but we don't have the money to be buying a lot of guns to try out until she finds the one she wants, so I was a little stuck. Most people I know who have guns are guys and they probably didn't have a good selection and variety of guns that would fit a woman who was trying to find her first gun. Plus, the one shop in town that rents guns doesn't have much of a selection of rentals. So I was kind of stuck.

Fast forward to last month, when I am reading the forums of one of my state's pro-gun organizations (Michigan Gun Owners), one of which is for the club I belong to (Capital City Rifle Club), and there was a post highlighting an article in our local birdcage lining supplier uhh, I mean newspaper about one of their female reporters going to a "Ladies Night" at the club and learning to shoot. One of the active forum members, a lady named Kay, was one of the instructors at that event, and I had corresponded with her a while back on some club matters so I knew who she was.

Well, I remembered my wife's question and I, not always needing a 2x4 before "getting it" understood this would be a great way to accomplish my goal of finding something that she likes to shoot. So I contacted her and asked when the next ladies night was and what kind of a selection they usually had, and that I would like my wife to come and check it out.

To my utter amazement, she sent back that she prefers 1-on-1's, and would love to do one for my wife, and let's schedule it. So we did.

It was understood from the beginning that this was to be between Kay and my wife, and I was to be relegated to the 50-yard line to shoot my rifles (Oh darn, what a punishment) [Edit: Kay asked me to test a .30 Carbine magazine she had just picked up, as long as I was down there]. Kay pulled a small suitcase full of handguns out of her trunk (literally) and proceeded to go through them all with us. She had everything from a little Beretta .25 (I think she said it was a Bobcat) and some .22 revolvers up to some 9mm Glocks and Springfields. She had some .357 Magnum revolvers, too. A very nice selection, indeed.

[Edited to add "Kay even had a .40 S&W or two in that suitcase". Sorry Kay - I forgot!]

They shot for a good 2-1/2 hours, and by the end of it, my wife had learned a lot more about guns and how they worked and why there were things like decockers, and she had found 2 guns she liked - a Bersa .380 and a Springfield XD9 Subcompact. She thought the Springfield was ugly but she liked it the best. She also had a huge grin on her face at the end, and took her targets home to show off. She's also talking about getting a couple of her friends and going to a "Ladies Day" next month, where they will add rifle and shotgun to the handgun, and give them a taste of everything.

Guess I'll be selling that snubby to help finance an XD for her! Christmas is coming, after all...Now, will she want basic black, OD green, or Coyote Brown? Decisions, Decisions...

Michigan State Police Headquarters

My Dad, a retired 26-year veteran of the MSP, passed this along to me. I suspect it is from the MSP retiree listserv he is subscribed to. It was written by MSP retiree Earl James.

I’m retired from the Michigan State Police. My duties took me from Calumet in the north to Detroit in the South. I have donated thousands of man-hours to the people of the state and have shed my blood in hand to hand combat. I served in several different capacities including the Governor’s Authorized Representative for Communications with the United States President during both man made and natural disasters. So, in the light of the above: I believe I have earned the right to speak out on a vital matter of public concern regarding whether the Michigan State Police should move their headquarters to the so-called “Triangle Project” site in Lansing. Such a move is foolhardy and the majority members of the Michigan State Police are opposed to such a move. Below are some of the reasons why most State Police are opposed to the move, most reasons correspond to the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

1) The annual cost for maintaining the new building would far exceed current expenses.

2) The new building would ignore the Michigan State Police rich history. One of the main buildings on the compound is known by all state police officers as “Mapes Hall”. Corporal Mapes was shot to death outside Sturgis, Michigan when he tried to arrest a dope runner.

3) For decades recruits were trained to become troopers at the Michigan State Police compound.

4) For decades, the Operations Division on the compound controlled the State Blockade System to apprehend kidnappers, prison escapees, bank robbers and other felons.

5) I have not talked with a single former trooper who believes this move by the state police to downtown Lansing will better serve the people. Most believe the supporters of this plan have little or no concern for the troopers who must work in this building. For example, current personnel working at the headquarters can park at the compound free of charge. In addition, they do not have to pay Lansing City Income Tax. So this means that personnel assigned to the new building would actually receive a cut in take home pay if forced to move to the new headquarters building.

Employees have to be concerned about where records are stored in the new building because the building will be in a flood plain. This has happened before when the Court of Appeal records were damaged in the same area.

The supporters of this project claim it will provide jobs for 500 people. Are taxpayers being asked to support a version of the old WPA project? (The WPA stands for Works Progress Administration established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930’s depression)

Let us remember these 500 jobs would be short term at best.

In the final analysis, we must ask ourselves, who really benefits from this move? It certainly is not the people of the State of Michigan. It isn’t the Michigan State Police, but it is obvious the Land developers stand to pocket the most by ridding themselves of property of questionable value during a time period of economic down turn in Michigan.

Since it appears some politicians, Representative Jones and Senator Brown are notable exceptions, are thumbing their noses at the citizenry of Michigan and are disregarding the wishes of the vast majority of Michigan citizens who are opposed to building the new state police headquarters in Lansing during these hard uncertain times.

Perhaps this is the appropriate time for a federal investigation into possible corruption

Earl James Lansing, MI

This is something the Governess has been proposing for a while, and I never understood the need for it, just like I never understood the need to move people out of the State Secondary Complex south of town into downtown Lansing. The tax angle makes it very plain, as a typical Democrat loves to make people pay more taxes. This is one they can impose without increasing rates. I'm sure Mayor Bernaro has his hands in this cookie jar!

Working in Information Technology as I do, we have to do a lot of planning for what is called "Disaster Recovery", that is, what to do when things break, fail, or are destroyed. Everything from recovering a deleted file to restoring you operations and systems in case of some natural disaster like a tornado or a flood which destroys your primary site. Think New Orleans and you'll understand the scope of things that need to be planned for because if you don't, your operation is dead.

It seems to me that in addition to the reasons Mr. James lists, having important command, control, and communication facilities scattered ("distributed" is the IT term we use) makes a lot more sense than having them concentrated as the Governess proposes. This goes to the point about the flood plain that Mr. James made - it's a single point of failure. That means that a single event can incapacitate or take out all of the facilities you might need to respond to a disaster.

So, it seems that once again, the Governess is looking for political points at the expense of prudent planning. The new headquarters, if built, will probably be named the Granholm Headquarters Complex.

Does she know Robert Byrd?

It's getting positively Nagin-esqe here in Michigan! Like we need that...

Fun with Full-Auto

I was honored to be invited to travel to "The Pit" in Lapeer, MI on Aug. 8 for some full-auto fun with The Shekel and the owner of Lagniappe the dog and Lagniappes Lair. These two are into full-auto firearms and were very generous in sharing the fun with several of us.

For a full account, click on over to Lagniappes Lair. There's pictures and everything!

I also got to shoot my M1 Carbine a little more, and my Enfield went out for the first time in my hands. I had done a little judicious polishing and bending of the follower in the 10-round magazine I had for the M1, and it performed flawlessly. I shot a full box, so that was five loading/shooting cycles without a jam. We'll see if that continues - hopefully it will.

"The Pit" is maintained by the Michigan DNR, but there are no shooting benches so it's hard to do some serious accuracy checking, so the Enfield No. 4 Mk. 2 got a 20-round box of Igman .303 British 180 grain bullets put through her, to check for function of the magazine and bolt. This gun is a surprisingly soft shooter, probably due to it's weight. I get a much bigger thump in the shoulder with the Mosin-Nagant (7.62x54R) and the Mauser (8mm Mauser) than with the Enfield. I seem to remember reading that the .303 is at the low end of the power scale for the cartridges of the major belligerents of WW2, but I don't know that for sure. I'll have to do a little more research into that.

One thing I do know is that I now have a couple of guns I can shoot at the ID4 match at the Capital City Rifle Club next summer!

"Mississippi of the North"

That's what Detroit Branch Chairman of the NAACP, Rev. Wendell Anthony, called Michigan today, after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that a valid photo ID must be presented in order to vote in Michigan.

Somehow, in the twisted logic of Multiculturalism and Diversity, proving who you are in order to vote is racist, suppresses your right to vote, and is a Poll Tax. Rev. Anthony, this ruling is no more racist than you are - in fact, it's considerably less racist than you are, judging by your comments.

Common sense (which seems to be severely lacking in the NAACP/Rainbow Coalition camp) dictates that the principle of "one man, one vote" has four pre-existing conditions. Making sure everyone who votes has met these four conditions will guarantee the integrity of your election (except in the minds of those who think that Al Gore actually won in 2000):
1. You are a live, living, breathing, function human being.
2. You are who you say you are.
3. You are living where you say you live.
4. You are eligible to vote.

When you walk into a polling place you should be able to prove all four of these things, otherwise you should not be allowed to vote. It's that simple. The right to vote is one of the most hallowed rights given to man, and we must not trivialize it with the kind of logic being applied in the media by the good Reverend and those who are his colleagues and constituents.

Since Rev. Anthony is alleged to be a Christian minister, let me apply a little New Testament to his comments and attitude. He should not object to this, since it is supposed to be a part of the source of his faith.

Galatians 3:26-28

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Here we see three distinctions being made between people: Jew/Greek, Slave/Free, Male/Female. The Apostle Paul (the author of the Galatian letter) was a Jewish Christian writing to a predominantly Roman/Greek audience, who were converts to Christianity from Judaism as well as a host of pagan religions. The cultural differences betweens Jews and the Roman/Greek culture around them was significant, as was their ideas about men and women. And the slave trade flourished throughout the Roman Empire in these times. What Paul was saying to these Galatian Christians was that the distinctions of culture, class, and gender were not important anymore among believers, because they had been made one in Christ Jesus.

It could also be said that this passage should be applied externally by Christians as well as internally. One of the imperatives of the early church was to share and spread their faith with everyone, but if you as a Christian held yourself aloof from others because of these different distinctions, then you were not fulfilling your commission from Jesus himself.

Now let's bring this back to Rev. Anthony's time. Rather than working to promote understanding and acceptance between people who have some sub-cultural differences, you sit back and call everyone (Christian or not) who supports this law and this ruling, as well as the MCRI, racist.

Rev. Anthony, you have a clear choice to make. You can choose to follow Christ who commands you to put away these distinctions and work to bring people to the knowledge of Christ, or you can choose to disobey the clear teaching of scripture to promote your political agenda.

Which will you choose?

Update on New Aquisitions

After a thorough detail-strip and cleaning, I took the new M1 Carbine out to the range this weekend. My main goal was to try to get it in some semblance of on-the-paper, and to see how consistently it groups.

My first adventure was to find ammo for it. I have purchased .30 Carbine at WalMart in the past, but this time there was none to be found there (the WalMart gun counters around here are no longer selling guns so all they have is ammo and accessories, but the ammo is either 12 or 20 ga. shotgun or 9mm, .38, .357, .40 S&W, or .45ACP.) I would have figured with all the CMP carbines that were sold in the last 2 months, they would have stocked a box or two, but they didn't.

I finally found a box at Dunhams at the Lansing Mall. While there I checked their C&R rifles - nothing much interesting: a couple of Mosin-Nagants, a couple of Enfields, and that was pretty much it. Oh well.

So off to the Capital City Rifle Club I went. I also took along my Muzzleloader, as I put in a new trigger spring and wanted to try it out.

Since I didn't know where the sights were going to be, I set them to zero windage and 100 yds (Type 3 sights for those of you who know M1 Carbines) and sat down at the 25 yard line. Ten rounds went into the magazine and promptly went downrange. My spotting scope revealed a nice ragged hole about an inch in diameter slightly high and right. WOW! I didn't really expect that kind of accuracy right off the bat, especially with no more support than my elbows on the table! A couple of clicks brought the group back to center, and then I moved down to the 50 yard line. I didn't shoot quite that well at 50 yds, but I think the caffeine from the large soda I drank on the way to the range was starting to kick in at that point. My groups were about 5 inches here.

A couple of observations. I really like this carbine. It's light, easy to handle, has minimal recoil, and is just plain fun to shoot. I can see why guys in WW2 liked it. Shortly after I set up at 5o, a nice gentleman set up on the bench next to me to shoot his Garand. He had never handled an M1 Carbine, so I let him have a fondle and he made pretty much the same comment: "I would rather carry this than the Garand!" He also observed that it was easier to load the magazines on the Carbine than the en bloc clips on the Garand - another point in it's favor.

I also need to get better magazines. The one that came with the gun is crap, and seemed likely to come apart the more I shot it. The follower would get stuck at an up-angle, so the bolt couldn't grab the rim of the next cartridge and feed it. I made do, but it was frustrating.

Now I have to do the same process for the Enfield. It also seems that I will be buying some reloading dies for these two, as ammo is hard to come by for them at a decent price.

The muzzleloader once again proved itself to be very accurate, hitting the 50 yard bullseye with ease. It's a Thompson/Center Encore 209x50, and I was shooting 295-grain Powerbelts over 105 grains of Triple-7. The trigger is now a very light 2.3 pounds (according to my Lyman trigger gauge), and it was definately lighter than what the original spring was giving me. Trigger finger discipline will be even more important this fall in the deer woods. My thanks to Bellm TC's for the spring and the spring tool to get it in, as well as the detailed instructions on how to detail strip it. Perhaps this year I will notch my first buck, after 6 does.