Blast from the Past

Succinct, poignant, and guaranteed to arouse the BDS among any passing trolls:

Purloined from the Hughniverse Duane's World blog..and my answer is the same as Duane's: Yes, I do!

We get letters (continued)

I got the following passed along from a good friend, Major Joseph DiMento, former USAF B-36 RDO (Radio Operator). Joe says, "I don't think I've ever seen the differences explained any better". What do you think?

The Difference
I don't think I've ever seen the differences explained any better....

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a liberal
doesn't like guns, then no one should have one.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a liberal
is, he wants to ban all meat products for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to
defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and
still look good.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly enjoys his life. If a
liberal is homosexual, he loudly demands legislated respect.

If black or Hispanic men are conservative, they see himselves as
independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as
victims in need of government protection.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his
situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches
channels. Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church. A
non-believing liberal wants all churches to be silenced.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about
shopping for it, or he may choose a job that provides it. A liberal
demands that his neighbors pay for his health care.

WARNING! Do NOT view close to meal times!

Culled from a related Hot Air! post, ol' Whoopie attempts to absolve "Cornhole" Polanski of his 31-year-old crime using the usual Lib equivocation shuffle. Click below if you dare hear this crap. What I am wondering is how would Goldberg feel if she was partying with Roman and he did to her what he did to the 13-year-old?

Oh God! What a horrible thought!



UPDATE:..who else here thinks this woman (Whoopi Goldberg) reminds you of one of those incoherent bag ladies who sidles up to you at the Albertsons and tries to bum a buck off you for a bottle of Sneaky Pete?

The Real Deal..

I must be honest, I had a brush with a "troll" the other day and it has turned out to be a very delightful experience.

No, not that I bested him in some imaginary verbal ju-jitsu match or dispatched him howling in pain with a fusillade of witty ripostes. But rather, much like that classic scene in one of those old Civil War movies where the Union soldier and the Reb strike a momentary peace to share tobacco, 'tack, and coffee, we found a few things we mutually liked and could discuss quite away from the heat of the political smirmishes around us. I regretted from the second or third round of our commentary calling him a "troll"; I rescind that unkind remark.

In any event, The Reaper - his sobriquet - called attention to the fact that he was on the flight line at Elmendorf AFB in Alaska when a Mig-29 landed for a scheduled refueling. I guess it was about the time the Soviet Union was floundering and on the brink of collapse, if it had not already suffered that fate. In any event, Reaper (a) must have been a brother member of the USAF (or a contract worker there) and (b) was witness to somehting that is not seen every day: the most advanced of your enemy's aircraft landing at one of your strategic outposts.

I mean, our Buffs or B-2s have not been dropping out of the sky into Tehran International from Whiteman or Diego Garcia, have they?

Anyway, it brought to mind a book I read about a very famous (and brave) young Voyska PVO (you know, Войска ПВО) pilot -- Lieutenant Viktor Belenko -- who defected with his Mig-25 to Japan back in the late 70s, looking for a better life and the reward that the government was offering to such people. Of course, they're heroes in our book, but the USSR had other ideas.

I stumbled upon a great book about this event and recommend it to you if you would like to really understand what life was like in the Soviet Air Defense Force back durig the Cold War. Back then, when I was in the Air Force, we did not have a lot of money to spray around on the niceties (O-clubs, recreational areas, or other such luxuries) but Lieutenant Belenko and his regiment had it far worse. They served long tours in very desolate stretches of their country. I mean, Minot or Grand forks were raging metropolises compared to the bases he was assigned to in Siberia.

Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia on Belenko:

Viktor Ivanovich Belenko (Виктор Иванович Беленко) (born February 15, 1947) is an American aerospace engineer and lecturer of Russian origin. Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment, 11th Air Army, Soviet Air Defence Forces based in Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai. His name became known worldwide on September 6, 1976, when he successfully defected to the West, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 "Foxbat" jet fighter to Hakodate, Japan. This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, and it revealed many secrets and surprises.

Belenko was granted asylum by then U.S. President Gerald Ford, and a trust fund was set up for him, granting him a very comfortable living in later years. The U.S. interrogated and debriefed him for five months after his defection, and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter.

The MiG was disassembled, examined, and returned to the USSR in thirty crates. Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 "Foxbat", expecting to assist American pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft. However, the Japanese government only allowed the U.S. to examine the plane and do ground tests of the radar and engines.

Head over there and read the entire story, it's fascinating. Also, I highly recommend the book.

And, as a matter of courtesy and profound curiosity, I will invite the Reaper to comment on his experience up in Elmendorf for your benefit. But you all have to promise to be on your best manners and show him how nice conservatives can truly be.

Separated at birth?

(
I kept having this eerie, nagging feeling every time I'd head over to Track-a-'Crat's site and see a post on England's PM, Gordon Brown. I kept wondering who Brown reminded me of and then it finally hit me: Rowan Atkinson, the delightful comedian and inventor of the zany Jacques Tati ripoff, Mr Bean.

..although, for the life of me, I wonder who is funnier, Mr Bean or Mr Brown.

(By the way,  Mr Brown is the bottom photo.)

An Ordinary Citizen

It seems perplexing to me that we elect such fools and bid them attend our needs by staying within the bounds of common sense, clear thinking, and our Constitution and they continually make a hash of it.

My question is: what cesspool of cerebral vacuity do we reach in every two years to draw them from when we have ordinary citizens like the grandmother at the right writing with such clarity on how to resolve the problems that beset us?

I do not agree 100% with everything Norma White has suggested in her guest column, but I believe that she has a lot of good ideas and they sure beat the crap out of the slime that oozes from either chamber of congress or the White House these days.

Anyone want to launch a campaign to see that this women and the millions like her across the country supplant the occupants of this fetid and festering candidate pool?

Proffered without comment for your enjoyment..

The e-mails continue to pour in:

Dr. Timothy McCarthy while receiving a medical award for creativity, reported his findings to the "Fellows of Plastic Surgery" concluding with this case study: "Several years ago a woman was high on cocaine and marijuana and she rode a horse into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the woman's hair and the horse's ass. I was able to put them together and now she's Speaker of the House".

(From my good friend, fellow amateur radio op, and USAF Auxiliary member, Bill Preston.)

Just Visiting

I'm getting to like blogging a whole lot. Not just because I can paste together some self-important banalities and stick it out on the internet for everyone to see, but because I have some really, really nice people stop by to leave comments.

And you know what? I get a chance to go visit their blogs and see what nice work they have done.

Having done so, I would like to give credit where credit is due and pass along a good word for those who have had the courtesy to stop by and leave a comment. (And that goes for my pet troll as well.) And I can tell you that these folks have put considerable effort into their blogs and a visit will reward you with a visual feast, joy at reading their posts and their thoughs, and laughter from their humor. Their work is truly of a high caliber and a standard for me to shoot for. I am singularly honored that they have spent some time here to comment.

I started out blogging because of two sites: The Illustrated Conservative and Track-a-'Crat. These fine gentlemen, one from Texas and one from deep in the inner sanctum of our nation's capitol, endured my inane comments until both essentially told me to buzz off and do this on my own. Actually, they are both far too polite to be that direct, but they did encourage me and I am grateful.

And I am no less grateful for the visits from The Wisdom of Soloman who has a site riddled with great commentary and visuals. He also has a side-splitting You Tube of a George Carlin rant about environmentalists that is required viewing by not only you but those priggish, self-important Enviro-Nazis who seek to order our lives from the cars we drive to the toilet paper we use. Old George may have been a liberal but his rants made sense and were eminently listenable.

As a result of nothing but curiosity occasioned from a post by Track-a'Crat, two lovely ladies stopped by and commented. When I visited thwir sites, I was very impressed and recommend you take a look. The mind-boggling picture at the head of this screed was ripped off from the banner of the MAinfo -- another blogger forced to labor in the perdition of liberal surrounds, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. incidentally, can you imagine how obtuse the knee-pad media and our government must be to look at a scene like that and attempt to discount it as a minor assemblage of consevative Nazi racists? The picture is typical of the intersting items that festoon the MAinfo site.

Equally tart and insightful is the work over at Can we keep our Republic?. Her most recent recommendation for Christmas gift-giving will have you stampeding the malls after you stop rolling on the floor with laughter.

As far as totally outrageous pictures and a site created by a guy who I am glad is on our side, head over to Global Domination Through Applied Inactivity. Lightening Steve's a fearsome person with a talent for photoshopping some outrageous images to depict the absurdity of recent politics. He has an iron-hard Curriculum Vitae and I would not want to mess with him. Like I said, I am glad Steve's on our side.

So why is this interconnection and visiting good? Well, aside from the entertainment one derives from seeing others' fine work and reading their opinions, developing our internet voices will go a long way to blunting the waves of media propaganda that will be rolling our way as the 2010 elections heat up. The following I wrote as a comment on a Track-a-'Crat post probably best (albeit melodramatically) sums it up:

It is marvelous that you have achieved the traffic that you have because it is a lesson to all of us that getting the message out can be done. The foibles, absurdities, and abuses that are foisted off on the good citizens of this country do not have to be tolerated. These sites and the alternate media portraying the Town Hall protests, the Tea Parties, and the demonstrations are the modern day equivalent of the Committees of Correspondence that preceded our Revolutionary War.

That bloggers like you -- and those whom you have inspired -- will be ready and in operation will become very important when the thousands of Soros/Emanual/DNC funded trolls are unleashed on the internet next year. The effort put into positing clear, concise, reasonable arguments and conservative opinion will easily help us to deconstruct their pathetic paid-per-post, cut-and-paste talking points. Doubt me? Think of how the honest citizenry have exposed the stupidity and arrogance of our pathetic members of congress at their Town Hall charades this past August.

So get out and visit these folks..

..and start a blog of your own.

The Axis of Idiots

Another one of those e-mails I receive from time-to-time that implores me to pass the message along. This is from my good friend in the USAF Auxiliary, Kevin "Sky" King. Sometimes these are so good or so much in line what I would like to write that it just makes sense to post it as is..

..besides, it's Saturday morning and I am really going to be lazy this morning.

Enjoy:

This retired USMC Sgt. Major has his shit together.

"The Axis of Idiots"
J. D. Pendry, Retired Sergeant Major, USMC

Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the runner-in-chief.

Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the USS Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately, they grew bolder, until 9/11/2001.

John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam. Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You've accused our military of terrorizing women and children in Iraq. You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, and the same words you used to describe Vietnam. You're a fake! You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it.

John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt, and washed up old fool. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's ass. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.

Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned Southeast Asia to the Communists. Now you want to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us! See Dick run.

Ted Kennedy, for days on end you held poster-sized pictures from Abu Ghraib in front of any available television camera. Al Jazeera quoted you saying that Iraqi's torture chambers were open under new management. Did you see the news, Teddy? The Islamic Nazis demonstrated another beheading for you. If you truly supported our troops, you'd show the world poster-sized pictures of that atrocity and demand the annihilation of it. Your legislation stripping support from the South Vietnamese led to a communist victory there. You're a bloated, drunken, useless old fool bent on repeating the same historical blunder that turned freedom-seeking people over to homicidal, genocidal maniacs. To paraphrase John Murtha, all while sitting on your fat, gin-soaked ass in Washington

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Pat Leahy, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, the Hollywood Leftist morons, et al, ad nauseam: Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers - the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers - cause to think that we'll run away again, and all they
have to do is hang on a little longer. It is inevitable that we, the infidels, will have to defeat the Islamic jihadists. Better to do it now on their turf, than later on ours after they have gained both strength and momentum.

American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one united with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can't strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.

You are America's 'AXIS OF IDIOTS.' Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist-abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don't ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam. If you want our Soldiers home as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies.

Yes, I'm questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I'm also questioning why you're stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don't deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it.

Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within.

Simper Fi,

J. D. Pendry - Sergeant Major, USMC, Retired

This is a savvy man. He has nailed it down pretty good. Too bad it won't do any good. There won't be 1 in 10 that receive it who will forward it.

A man's got to know his limitations..

The image on the right is the work of Madame S. Weasel, a truly talented and witty blogger in England and American expatriate, I believe. Track-a-'Crat turned me onto her site with a magnificent photoshop she did of the infamous Arlen Sphincter.

Once there, I was hooked; the wit and irreverence of her posts and her commenters drives me into paroxysms of laughter.

Some time ago, I happened to post a comment that she should start a dead pool (here I grasp for any fleeting fragment of fame I can) and she ran with the idea. It became immensely popular with her (mostly conservative) audience jumping on the bandwagon with all manner of selections. Some had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, some were just old, and some were..well..just greatly disliked liberal icons of our media firmament.

Well, the cool thing is that it's racked racked up three winners so far -- Teddy Kennedy, Patrick Swayze, and now Susan Atkins. Of course, we all lament the passing of Swayze, but the other two don't overwork my tear ducts a great deal. This last entry was the woman who followed Charlie Manson's orders and stabbed Sharon Tate and her unborn child some forty years and one month ago. She's been in prison all this time and recently contracted brain cancer which was the cause of her death, of course.

Slow and painful; Sharon Tate would have wanted it that way.

The winners actually get a prize, I believe culled from whatever S. Weasel has lying around her pantry. A couple of prizes were canned haggis and spotted dick.

Don't ask.

Anyway, the message here is that -- like the Clint Eastwood movie -- her Dead Pool seems to be working out. I think with the new round, there's selectees like Jimmy Carter, Michael Moore, and the other usual, odious suspects. So, if you have a fave, waltz on over and jot down the name.

You could be a winnah!

Oh well, I lied..

I just took a look at the first run of the new production job (see post below) and things look rosier that at first suspected, so I'd though I'd share this. I know I'm a little late to the dance with this item. But it seems that the stunning jet at the right will be squiring our hatchet-assed, botox beyotch House Speaker around the nation, mostly between those two anal pores of our nation, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Herewith is the text that accompanied the notification e-mail I received.:

"And the Democrats want to talk about Sarah's dress??? Conservatives! Are you out there?

"Madame Pelosi wasn't happy with the small jet USAF C-20B, Gulfstream III, that comes with the Speaker's job...no, Madame Pelosi was aggravated that this little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat 200-seat USAF C-32, Boeing 757 jet that could get her back to California without stopping!

"Many, many legislators walked by and grinned with glee as Joe informed everyone that Nancy's Big Fat Jet costs us, the hard working American tax payers, thousands of gallons of fuel every week. Since she only works 3 days a week, this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and she flies home to California , cost to the taxpayers of about $60,000, one way! As Joe put it, 'Unfortunately we have to pay to bring her back on Monday night.' Cost to us another $60,000.

"Folks, that is $480,000 per month and that is an annual cost to the taxpayers of $5,760,000. No wonder she complains about the cost of this war...it might cramp her style and she is styling, on my back and yours. I think of the military families in this country doing without and this woman, who heads up the most do-nothing Congress in the history of this country keeps fueling that jet while doing nothing.

"Madame Pelosi wants you and me to conserve our carbon footprint. She wants us to buy smaller cars and Obama wants us to get a bicycle pump and air up our tires. These people are nuts. {And also EVIL!!!}

"One wonders what her total package cost us? And she wants to tax our IRA's & 401 Ks!"

Now, exscuse me while I go vomit.

In 2010, we can change the signs..

Just put a new system into production and will probably have a lot of bugs to fix -- which shows you how smart I am to kick off something like this before the weekend.

Anyway, don't feel like writing much now and will be busy later, so i'll let this little beauty do 10,000 words or so for me. You know, a case of life imitating..

..well, er, life.

Like I said, maybe we'll get sufficiently pissed off that we can reverse the seating arrangements in November 2010.

Need a gun to cling to? Buy one from the Government!

There is so-o-o-o-o-o-o much going on recently -- The Head Pantload and his crew are running this country into the ground at such a rapid rate -- that it virtually impossible for anyone writing a blog and holding down a regular day job to keep up. It's kind of like that Martin Sheen quote in Apocalypse Now:

"Oh man, the bullshit piled up so fast in Vietnam you needed wings to stay above it."

Truth be told, I admire those that do manage a steady, conscientious stream of commentary but I am too beset with my own special version of ADHD to chronicle effectively. So, time for a break and some news of one "sort of" area where the gummint does something right.

Obama's now-famous comment to the quiche-eating, Chablis-swilling set in San Francisco about bitter Pennsylvanians (and, by extension, fly-over Americans) and their frustrations:

"So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

So, you don't have a gun and would like to get one? Figure it would be nice to have one around "just in case". It seems a lot of folks thought that way when Obama was elected and the Democrats took control of every branch of government in sight. Lines at guns stores backed up around the block and the wait time to get into gun shows were over an hour; guns disappeared from the counters and ammunition flew off the shelves. Of course, this story was delightful for the Knee Pad Media to write about as it seemed to confirm Obama's sentiment.

Well, currently the "Obama Bullet Bubble" -- this run on guns and ammunition -- has dissipated somewhat. Boxes of .223 and .30-06 are to be had, although the price is a little dearer since this clown became POTUS and you still have to jump through the hoops you did before: background check, 5- to 10-day waiting period, etc. Out here in California we pay $25 pwer long gun, wait ten days, have our purchases "DROS'ed" (Dealer Record of Sale), and are limited to purchasing one gun per month. Guess they want to stop us left-coast clingers from raising our own standing army.

But what if I told you there was a way around all of this bravo sierra (sort of), that you could own a piece of history with the help of the Federal Government? Well, it's a fact. It seems that, in saner days bordering on ancient history, it was recognized that our military -- principally the U.S. Army and Marine Corps -- needed their conscriptees and enlistees to be familiar with firearms and at least be a passing fair shot. Familiarity with firearms in the olden days was an asset to them; they could proceed on to the next level without having to tell a new private that the stock goes to the shoulder and the muzzle is pointed down range.

Then someone in the government had a blindingly brilliant idea: make available (i.e., sell for a reasonable fee) surplus military rifles to civilians to cultivate these skills:

1905- On March 3, 1905 another act of Congress authorized "That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to sell, at the prices at which they are listed for the Army, upon request of the governors of the Several States and Territories, such magazine rifles belonging to the United States as are not necessary for the equipment of the Army and the organized militia, for the use of rifle clubs formed under regulations prepared by the national board for the promotion of rifle practice and approved by the Secretary of War. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized in his discretion to sell to the several States and Territories, as prescribed in section seventeen of the Act approved January twenty-first, nineteen hundred and three, for the use of said clubs, ammunition, ordnance stores, and equipments of the Government standard at the prices at which they are listed for the Army." Remember that the National Matches were limited to the Regular Services and the State National Guard organizations. This act was mostly to allow the National Guard organizations, which were not as organized as they are today, to get access to the rifles used in the National Matches. They were more like state militia, than the National Guard of today. The National Matches were held at Sea Girt.

Originally starting out life as the DCM (Department of Civilian Marksmanship), it morphed into its present organization, The CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) and is a quasi-governmental organization squirreled away under the Department of the Army. The CMP maintains two stores: one in Anniston, Alabama and another in Port Clinton, Ohio. It also conducts rifle matches, rifle safety programs, and an intense youth firearm education program. From it's charter page:

HISTORY OF THE CMP. CMP history goes back to late 19th century efforts by U.S. military and political leaders to strengthen our country’s national defense capabilities by improving the rifle marksmanship skills of members of the Armed Forces. The CMP traces its direct lineage to 1903 when Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt established the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) and the National Matches. From then until 1996, first the Department of War and later the Department of the Army managed the program that became known as the “civilian marksmanship program.” During this period, program objectives shifted from military marksmanship to training civilians who might serve in the military to developing youth through marksmanship training. In 1996, Congress acted again to establish the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearm Safety that now governs the CMP.

Don't take my (or their) word for it, look into it yourself.

While the availability and prices have changed over the years, one can expect to find a decent surplus rifle for a reasonable price. Currently, an M-1 Garand is available for anywhere from $375 to $995 depending on grade and manufacturer. The CMP also sells the long-time favorite M-1 Carbine from about $420 to $700, again depending upon grade and manufacturer. It also has the older, bolt-action Springfield 1903 available as well. Additionally, they sell ammunition (surplus .30-06 and some .30 caliber for the M1 Carbine) although quantities are getting scarce -- especially since November of last year, if you know what I mean.

The catch is you have to become a member of the CMP and that includes being a citizen of the United States (sorry, Abdulla), be old enough to buy a firearm, be eligible to buy a firearm (i.e., not a convicted felon), be a member of an organization that supports the CMP, and have demonstrated range marksmanship or firearm activity. The organization requirement may be satisfied by joining the Garand Collectors of America for $25. It's a good organization and you get a quarterly magazine with some great history, pictures, and pointers on collecting the M-1 Garand. The marksmanship activity requirement can be satisfied by going to a local firing range, popping off 50 rounds or so and have the range master attest to the fact that you knew which end of the muzzle to aim at the piece of paper.

And here is the great thing -- especially if you live in California -- once you place your order, when it comes up (there is a 120- to 180-day delay in some cases) and they send it to you, they send it to you. There is none of that crappy sending it to a local FFL'ed gun dealer where you have to pay money to have him DROS it and sign it over to you. The federal background check is done by the CMP and you get your Garand Fedexed to you..

..and, believe me, there's nothing cooler than having the delivery guy ask you to sign for the long, rectangular box realizing you have flipped off the gummint with the help of one of their own organizations.

Take that, Obama!

By the way, this has become an obsession with some folks (collecting these rifles, not flipping off the government). Their collections can number into the hundreds, with folks trying to get one of each type from each era, etc.

 I'll leave it there for now. But a thought: this rifle is a certifiable piece of our history. It was one of the best battle rifles for its time. It was designed by a genius (and a Canadian, by the way), and of which Patton said:

The greatest battle implement ever devised by man.

Owning one (or more) in this day and age is arguably like a person around the Civil War period owning a Revolutionary War rifle. I will pass mine down to my son who, I hope, shall pass it along to his son. Imagine in 100 years having one of your descendants say, "Wow, this was one of the rifles that helped win WWII."

Pantload's Wife Wading into the Fray

Uh-oh, we're in trouble now. We didn't listen to Big Chief Pantload and now he's unleashed his main squeeze on us. Seems that Michelle will be out stumping for the flagging health care plan in an attempt to reverse its code blue status and get it off life support.
So we catch up with our beloved First Lady as she begins her little foray into this crusade by snuggling up with Kathleen "The Sultan of Sneeze" Sebelius before laying down the law to we mortals.

Later, she decides to take a carbon-footprint intensive grocery shopping trip because the White House cupboard was a little bare and, well, we can't get caught short of arugula, can we?

I just got one question; What's up with that belt? I mean, that came from the same place she got her $6,000 purse and the $500 sneakers?

Hey, Charlie Gibson, ya catch Jay Leno the other night?

Just sayin'

Land of the Free, Home of the Pantload

Take a good look at this, old son. Is this the future of free speech in our country or did Maxine Waters just tell security to "probe" this guy?

Our beloved Leader is giving (yet another) health-care harangue when he is heckled by some folks in the stands. Ultimately, what this guy has to say offends the POTUS and the law comes to remove the heckler. Kinda chilling, ain't it?

Didn't your mother tell you to clean up your room!

Late to the dance on this one, but here is what I was looking for: the contrast between the mess left behind by those celebrating this Pantload-in-Chief’s inauguration versus that left behind by the 9/12 marchers. These pictures were from the Gateway Pundit's post -- he has a great pictorial comparison with some great comments. On the left is a picture of the mall soon after the demonstrators closed down business for the day.

And over here on the right we have the detritus left behind from Obama's 20 January inauguration. Kinda says it all, don’t it?

Update: You really do owe it to yourself to head over to Gateway Pundit (link above) and read the comments on that post. There are some real side-splitters ~~ plus a few good dissections of clueless trolls. Offer of proof is this comment regarding the picture at the right:

"Looks like someone threw out a perfectly good handicapped person, shame on them for littering"

merkin | 09.13.09 - 7:40 pm | #

A Great New Blog Resource!

I'd like to call your attention to my blog list over -- if you will excuse the expression -- on the left. There is a link to an absolutely wonderful blog called "Another Black Conservative" whose author does a marvelous job of skewering the Left and presenting a great conservative message. What's even more wonderful is his blog list containing links to yet more black conservative blogs.

But I was always led to believe that that was an impossibility; that the Democrats and the Left spoke for African Americans. That was their province.

Why, who knows? This "Content of one's character" thing just might catch on. I mean, it would be the death of identity politics as we know it. 

Seriously, wander over there and take a look. It is terriffic!

Head Count

About the most compelling photograph of the assembled masses last Saturday (9 September 2009) is the one on the right which I gleefully and remorselessly ripped off from Associated Press. (See the "Tale of Two Marines" post below.)

To be sure, there is a heated controversy concerning the head count for that event. The Obama administration, the Democrats, the Left, and all those banging the drums for status quo "Hope and Change" want to minimize the participation and discredit the event. On the other hand, those who got off our butts and made the journey --  or those of us who merely did so in spirit -- want the number to go through the roof in order to stick it to the other side, to get in their face, and to prove to ourselves that our anger and frustration is not misplaced.

You know, to prove that we are not alone.

To that end, as one wanders around the internet and culls opinion from the various posts and attached comments, one finds a variety of headcount algorithms to substantiate their arrived-at totals. There are comparisons to various sold-out stadia events ("it was bigger than Woodstock", "I remember when I was at Super Bowl XXII.."), body mass calculations ("An average human occupies five square feet"), traffic flow computations using the Pennsylvania Avenue "People Meter" and so on.

Possibly the best summary of all of these head count methods was done by Charlie Martin over at Pajamas Media who -- to the dismay of the left and the discreditors -- arrives at a very conservative figure of just about one million. Now, I will tend to believe Charlie because I am told that he is a fellow computer scientist and I'd trust a guy like that over, say, an ACORN office worker or someone in the DNC.

Seriously, Stephen Green expounds on Charlie's street creds and I rely on Stephen's drunken blogging to get me through those interminable and innumerable televised speeches by our Beloved Pantload. So Charlie's good to go in my book.

But, gentle readers, I believe we're missing the point. I think all but the most obtuse can agree that -- by any standard -- the turnout exceeded expectations. Put another way: the discreditors are working awfully hard to make their case for a conservative fizzle. I mean, the Kneepad Media are really craning their collective necks to avoid the story and the folks over at Huffpo are turning this crowd downsizing effort into a cottage industry.

Me? Well, I am just sitting here like lot of you, feeling fat and happy because I know in my heart that there were a lot of angry people who got off their ass, paid about a grand and went to Washington, D.C. to express their displeasure to Congress, an unresponsive government, and the HopenChange crowd.

And if almost a million went to D.C., then there were -- what? -- ten or twenty mil who wanted to go but were shackled to the homestead by such mundane things as work, families, kids just starting school, televised speeches by Obama. You know, the usual,

Also, consider that there were pretty big demonstrations in Quincy, Illinois and in Texas and elsewhere across the nation.

Oh yes, and add to this the fact that this occurred after a couple of buses started a month earlier in California and made their way across the country, made about three dozen stops, and rolled up some pretty impressive crowds in flyover country.

And, in the mean time, what was the big news story in July and August? Angry citizens showing up at their senators' and representatives town hall meetings expressing their displeasure with congress's general disregard for their constituents.

All in all, I'd say that We the People are a pretty pissed-off bunch and we are staring down opposition who either does not care, is living in denial, or has it's head in the sand..

..or elsewhere.

Israel forced to cozy up with Russia because of The Pantload?

An item appearing on Drudge today reports that Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret pilgrimage to Russia Monday:

senior Kremlin official confirmed Wednesday to the Russian paper Kommersant that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did indeed make a clandestine trip to Russia on Monday.

There was a great deal of plausible deniability, massive fits of the vapors, and even some pants wetting by the Israeli press for not having been kept abreast of the PM's absence from the country, but most speculation lays this visit as being necessitated by Russia's recent dealings with Iran:

What is almost as mysterious as whether the trip took place, is what might have been discussed, with speculation focused on Iran, possible Russian arms deals to Iran and Syria, or the disappearance of the Arctic Sea cargo ship - suspected of carrying Russian made S-300 anti-aircraft missiles bound for Iran - that went missing last month.

The trip, if indeed it took place, would not have been the result of an impromptu, emergency decision, since there was already talk among Netanyahu's inner circle during his visit to London and Berlin two weeks ago about a possible visit to Russia ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meeting at the end of the month.

.But ya gotta love it, don't you?. One of our staunchest allies forced into the arms of our former Cold War enemy because the Pantload-in-Chief is butt-smooching all of those camel jockeys?

(Sorry, you want PC? Go elsewhere!)

A Tale of Two Marines

You know, it's very difficult to type with tears in your eyes.

Friday, 4 September 2009 was a very meaningful day in this household: our son came home a United States Marine. His mom and I bade him goodbye on 8 June and he endured three months of the Marines' tender mercies meted out by the Corps' fiercest members, their Drill Instructors. He took their best shots, the yelling, the discipline, the 0400 wake-ups, the incessant PT (with IT for indiscretions), the endless drill, the training, and the monastic existence in the middle of downtown San Diego.

This past Friday, we family and friends of five hundred and fifty-two of the nation's best, roughest, finest young men, assembled in the reviewing stand in front of the MCRD/SD parade ground and watched them pass in review for the final time of their 13-week training. Each young man, their D.I.s, their NCOs, and their officers flawless in the execution of that awesome display.

I was an officer in the United States Air Force and no stranger to military pomp, circumstance, and ceremony. Yet, the sight of the Battalion Commander greeting Fox Company and having these 552 young men snap to attention from parade rest and -- in perfect unison -- reply, "Good morning, Sir! Ooh-rah!" made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. As that cry echoed across the grinder, there were audible gasps of awe in the stands.

We were, to say the least, blown away.

Afterwards, I got to greet my Marine and gave him the longest hug I have in all of his 19 years. It was of necessity, to hide the tears of joy I was shedding to have him back with me -- if only for 10 days leave. I did not want to ever let him go.

To sum it all up, he did well -- qualified Rifle Expert with a 310 (top 10 in his platoon), earned PFC, and was made a squad leader. Those who know the USMC knows that, like everything in the in the Corps, these are earned, not given. As proud of him as I am, however, I am proud for the honor of having been allowed to join the "Marine Family" as they like to call it. The Marine Corps does not just take your son from you, they make a great effort to involve the moms, dads, brothers, sisters, wives, and sweethearts in the life of the Marine. Your son or daughter is told "once a Marine, always a Marine" and, lovingly and respectfully, they extend that feeling to the family and friends as well.

It is an honor I accept and will treasure for the rest of my life.

So, while the joy at having my son come back to me suffused my thoughts, that evening when we returned home, I read about Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard and wept inconsolably. Here was a another young Marine who was going to return to his father and mother -- yet under far sadder circumstances.

Joshua Bernard was killed in action in Afghanistan on 14 August 2009. He is now a townsmen of a stiller town.

This tragedy -- as bitter as any loss of our dear, beloved fighting men and women in combat -- became controversial because an embedded photographer caught Joshua's last moments on camera. And, while his father (a retired Marine) pleaded with AP to refrain from publishing the photograph, the sensationalistic, headline-grabbing people with that organization, disregarded Sergeant Bernard's wishes and splashed the image all over the internet. Predictably, the creeps over at Huffpo and on the left side of the aisle rattled on insensitively about supporting the troops but that it was necessary to show the brutality of war and all of that. Elsewhere, the debate raged about privacy versus the public's right to know; all of those self-righteous, self-serving, holier than thou opinions, trampling on the simple dignity of a father's grief and a brave Marine's tragic death.

I will link to no articles nor post any pictures of Lance Corporal Bernard because to do so, would eventually run you into that awful, tasteless photograph of this brave Marine's last moments. If you want to read about this controversy, then you Google it yourself.

And, if you do, you will come across Joshua Bernard's recruit training graduation picture (the standard one all boots have taken during their 13 weeks) and you will see what a handsome, kind, and gentle young man Joshua Bernard must have been and what a sweet, kind, and innocent face that young man had.

I stared into five hundred and fifty-two of them last Friday morning, and the tears have still not stopped.

God Bless Joshua, God bless his father and Mother, God bless the Marines, God bless our fighting men and women, God bless the United States of America..

..and God damn the AP!

Жуткий залог Обаме помещал в напряжения советского Государственного гимна

(Translation: "Creepy pledge to Obama put to strains of Soviet National Anthem")

I stumbled onto this post by Michelle Malkin a couple of days ago and it just -- well -- creeped me out. Not Ms Malkin's post, but the You Tube embedded video by these lobotomized Obamabots intent on gathering in a giant circle-jerk of orgasmic supplication to the Premier Pantload, swearing undying allegiance to his exhalted and venerable self.

Now, I have no idea when, where, or by whom it was created. It was just one of those things one happens upon when searching the internet. You know, like crime scene photos, traffic accident pictures, or .wmv files of the inside of a working abattoir. One or two viewings is quite sufficient before one moves on or leaves the computer, launches one's lunch into the porcelain maiden, flushes, and opens a window for fresh air.

Yeah, that bad.

However, mercifully, there's been some blow-back, comrades, and it pleases this member of Войска ПВО greatly. Someone has over-dubbed the mindless dialog with the Anthem of the Soviet Union which supremely satisfying on many levels, the principle one being to drown out the puerile bleatings of these cretins.

Here is the real thing with suitable translation:

Actually, the anthem is quite a stirring melody; quite listenable. As with the premise of this blog, it is reminded that the U.S.S.R was an entity whose basic political philosophy was communism and its goal was the the spread of that philosophy throughout the world. It was open and forthright in its intentions. Taken in that context, it was recognized as an enemy, respected for the danger it represented to this country, and required to be defended against.

With the crowd currently occupying the White House and the idiots they have secured to their movement, one is never sure. At least the over-dubbed version of this mindless pledge by these beatific, clueless pawns let's one know what they're up to.

UPDATE: I note that one of these mindless drones says something to the effect, "I pledge to always represent my country with pride and dignity.."

You listening, Jeanine Garafalo, you tattooed, greasy-haired, blackhead-faced, zit-infested, sallow-skinned, skank?

..I thought not.

Pat Buchanan, Prescient Douche Bag

Seems Pat has run his mouth again and gotten his almost-octogenarian tit in a wringer. In a post over at Pajamas Media, this garrulous old fool has been kinda sorta, well, you know, defending Hitler. Not sayin' this exactly..

..just sayin'.

Well, this may be a little off-topic from that post, but raise your hand if you find Pat Buchanan beyond tedious. I get dead-tree mailings from him hyping his commentary in a newsletter decrying Obama and his pathetic conduct.

If I remember correctly, it was Buchanan who threw Bush under the bus and gave juicy butt-smooches to the current Pantload-for-a-POTUS.

It is not that George Bush was all that great (insert usual disclaimer about disagreeing with "W" on some points and that he is not a true conservative here), but for a guy like Buchanan to ask me to fork over my hard-earned gitas for his prescient persiflage and conservative prognostication, one would expect him to at least anticipate the trail of tears we are now wandering along. You know, the little things like savaging our economy, spending almost a trillion dollars and cultivating 9.7% unemployment while prostrating himself before the world in an epidemic of apologia.

The guy is, as far as I am concerned, one of those old freeze-dried codgers sitting out on the park bench on an grey, October day, feeding the pigeons and drooling all over his frayed sweater-vest.

Suck a shoe, Pat!