I can’t believe that I haven’t added regular commentator and funny guy Thirdpower’s blog to my blogroll.
Not quite accurate
So, Hillary called Cheney “Darth Vader” today. I’ve got to admit, it’s kind of funny – but isn’t it giving Cheney a bit more credit than he deserves?
I mean, Vader was the 2nd in command of a Galactic Empire; he could choke people with the power of his mind, and had a cool spaceship. In comparison to that, Cheney is pretty lame.
Of course, I’m nerding out on you guys right now, but come on. Comparing people to Darth Vader is retarded, and it does a great disservice to one of the greatest movie villians of all time!
Fighting the Bushy-tailed menace
I found this amusing article in the Detroit Free Press on why you should hunt squirrels. While I don’t think that the author ascribes to my personal opinion that squirrels are evil and out to get us, he does make some good points – and elicited a chuckle or two from me in the process.
Now as far as I know, there isn’t a Squirrels Unlimited or Gray Squirrel Society. There’s no Wild Squirrels Federation, like the organization that promotes turkeys, or a Squirrels Forever, like there is for pheasants.
I would definitely shop a store called “Squirrels Unlimited”. I can imagine all the wacky gear and “squirrel scent glands” or whatever that they would have on sale.
All humor aside, squirrel’s provide a decent enough challenge when hunting – they are a pretty small target and not at all easy to hit. With that in mind, it’s worth noting that squirrel season in Indiana opened on August 15th, and runs through Jan 31st. Additionally, September 22nd is National Hunting and Fishing day.
So go blast the Bushy-Tailed Menace!
The NRA and Ahab
Over at his blog, Sebastian has been accused (?) of being an NRA Apologist, with the presumption that being an NRA Apologist is a Bad Thing. Along with that, there’s been a lot of talk lately on this blog, his blog, and whole lot of other places about the NRA. The incident with their one of their board members, Joaquin Jackson did a lot to spark that.
I’m not here to be a cheerleader for NRA, despite what some of you may think. I have been a member of the NRA since I was 18 – joining was one of the requirements to shoot on the Academy’s pistol team at the time. I’ve had a lot of time to formulate my opinion on the NRA as a consequence of that. Shockingly, I don’t always agree with the NRA.
However, I do like the NRA. My url here and screename of TFL is a portmanteau of NRA and my pseudonym. I really do believe as I’ve said before that the NRA is the single most effective organization fighting for the 2nd Amendment in Washington. Don’t believe me? Look at the list of people scheduled to speak at the NRA Headquarters tomorrow. Courting the NRA is necessary for anyone who wants to win a national election as a Republican these days.
Do I think that the NRA is perfect? Of course not. If I had been alive in ’34, or ’68, I probably would have opposed both the NFA and the GCA. But I wasn’t. And to blame the NRA (and still be pissed) for things that happened 70 and 40 years ago is foolish; and it’s even more foolish if you focus on the past at the exclusion of the present.
If you’ve ever wondered why I’m an NRA Lifer, that’s precisely why. A lot of things have changed in 40 years, including the NRA. If I want my kids, and their kids to grow up in a place where I can take them shooting as I please, than its important that I throw my weight and money behind an organization that actually has muscle where it counts.
Do I think that every gun owning American should be a member of the NRA? Actually, I do. Can you imagine the political clout of an organization with 80 million members? To give you an idea – 122 million people voted in the last US presidential election.
Actions speak louder
Than sudden shifts in policy positions for presidential candidates. This article illustrates perfectly what I was talking about here and what Sebastian was saying here.
As a whole, gun owners who are even remotely involved in Pro-2A activities are extremely wary of Rudy G. and Mitt Romney. I personally feel like their sudden conversion to the pro-gun side is merely an attempt to appeal to the votes they know they need.
I am looking forward to reading about the speeches this Friday at the NRA though – most of the major Republican candidates are going to be there. It does really illustrate how far the NRA has come – wooing the NRA (and gun owners) is now seen as mandatory to have a chance of winning the Republican nomination.
Spam comments
I was cleaning out my span filter and I noticed some legit comments in there; one about a shotgun post, another about Fred Thompson, and yet another from my elder brother.
If you’ve posted a comment that hasn’t shown up, let me know. I need to keep a weather eye on my spam filter. Sorry for anyone who has comments not go through, I promise I’m not starting up some Reasoned Discourse.
Coast Guard rescues 3
Off the Carolina coast. Pretty much par for the course, but there’s one part of the article that I wanted to point out in particular.
After a four hour transit, in 10 to 12-foot seas and 30 knot winds, aboard their 47-foot motor life boat, Station Wrightsville Beach’s rescue crew arrived on scene at 12:00 a.m., and took the sailboat in tow.
Emphasis is mine. Now, if you’ve never been on a 47-footer, it is not a big boat. To say that it is a “tight fit” is putting it nicely. Four hours in that boat on smooth as glass sea would be a long time, to say nothing of 10 foot seas and 30 knot winds.
The 47 is a great rescue implement – in fact it’s one of the toughest little boats ever made. Four hours on that boat in that kind of weather takes a special kind of person – a person called a Coastie.
BM1 Schwalm and his crew get a hearty Bravo Zulu for their successful rescue.
Kitchen clean up
My office has a small kitchen, that is shared by the the 30 or so employees in my company. The job of cleaning this kitchen is rotated through our various employees on a weekly basis. I have no problem with cleaning the kitchen, as it is an assigned duty.
However, I made the mistake of actually thinking about what I was doing. You see, by the time I had lifted my third straight half-full coffee/hot chocolate/soup mug out of the sink, rinsed it, and put said mug in the dishwasher, I was starting to get pissed.
My problem comes from the fact that everyone who works is ostensibly an adult, like me. Which to my mind means that everyone who works here should be smart enough to know that if you all share the same space, it’s simply polite to rinse your dishes and put them in the dishwasher. For example, say you had lunch, but you didn’t finish everything on your plate. Instead of tossing the plate with half-finished food into the sink and leaving it, you should probably rinse it off first. Of course, this gets compounded by the next lazy jerk that comes in and just plops his plate right on top of your plate; which covers the bottom of his plate in your food as well. Genius.
Like I said, I don’t mind the action of cleaning up. What concerns me is that it’s necessary to enforce things that should be part of basic sanitary and courtesy habits.
Check your gear
This letter in Buckmasters provides an excellent example of why it’s imperative that you check and maintain the weapons you use.
I raised my rifle, took a shot and the buck just stood motionless. I reloaded and took another shot. The buck jumped and ran into the trees.
After sitting there for some time, I decided to start looking for the buck. I raised my rifle to place it onto my shoulder and then I heard a clank. My scope was loose in the rings and had slid back about a half an inch.
Now, this story does have a happy ending (turns out he didn’t miss), but it is an excellent illustration as to why it’s important to check and maintain your gear. This applies to more than hunters as well; obviously to the military, but even to the CCW holder.
I’m not talking about press-checking your Glock in bathroom stalls or anything like that. What I’m more referring to is making sure that your iron works and shoots where you want the bullets to go. The easiest way to do that is to shoot your carry gun, with your carry ammo. The purpose of that is to make sure that the gun functions, and that it shoots to point of aim with the ammo you’ve chosen to stuff into your blaster of choice.
I’m not saying that you should ignore expenses and burn ammo like there’s no tomorrow. But you can ask the guy with the buck, or anyone who has ever had a gun go “click” when it should have gone “bang” how important it is to maintain your equipment.
Young Hunters
The Michigan DNR is taking steps to get more youngsters involved with hunting and shooting sports.
The annual two day special season is one way the DNR is getting a new generation involved in the sport. New rules this year allow properly licensed hunters to take an antlered or antler-less deer.
Excellent. I always say that getting more kids into the shooting sports is a good thing. Whether it’s skeet, hunting, or target shooting with .22s, adding a new generation is a good thing. It’s important to bear in mind that starting the kids out as hunters is a perfect gateway for education on the 2nd Amendment, and other pro-gun issues.
I guess I should give some props to the Michigan DNR for taking these measures. Well done.