A Nice Afternoon

On a whim, I took off late this morning and headed out to Tracy, CA. I had 2 reasons for doing this. #1, they have a Sonic Drive-In there and I love the banana shakes you get at Sonic. #2, I always wanted to check out Bethany Reservoir. I had seen it on maps and seen the signs from Grant Line Rd pointing to it, so I decided to go check it out. I found the Sonic with no problem, but I guess they moved the reservoir. I ended up in Brentwood (Contra Costa County, not L.A. area). I then decided to check out Los Vaqueros Reservoir, between Brentwood & Livermore on Vasco Rd, another one I had been meaning to check out. It was somewhat overcast with a bit of wind when I got there. Since there weren't a lot of people I decided to give it a try. I started fishing at 1pm, quit at 4pm. In those 3 hours I caught 3 trout between 10" & 14" and had 2 others throw the hook before I got them to shore. Not bad. I would have stayed but since it wasn't a planned trip I didn't have a book to read or a walkman for music, so I decided to call it quits and head back. If you live in the S.F. Bay Area, or are planning a visit, I would recommend a visit to Los Vaqueros.

A Real Sportsman

From the No Quarters Blog, a link to a great story about a man who is helping those who thought they could not hunt on their own. Read the blog and the article, and then visit the MTM Hunting website. Please also pass the link around. If all of us sportsmen (and women) tossed MTM a 5 or a 10 I'm sure it will make a HUGE difference.

When your done with that, check out the Geek's adventure at Best Buy.

Self Indulgent Plug

On my "work blog", LoanGuyJeff Says..., I recently posted a reminder that I am going to post here. If you live in the Western or Midwest States, you can get a free copy of your credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com. Folks living in the Southern States can begin getting their free reports June 1, 2005 and those in the Eastern States and all U.S. Territories can begin on September 1, 2005.

France supports preemptive war...Sort of

A long as it's by a major trading partner. It's funny that on the same trip that the Chinese government agreed to buy 10 of Airbus' midsize jets and 5 of the A380 super jumbo airliners, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said he supported China's anti-secession law, which is aimed at Taiwan. More.

I guess if we'd have had the foresight to buy a few planes, they'd have helped us in Iraq.

I'd be disappointed to hear of any of you doing this, but since it was an off duty cop, I'm not surprised.

Oh no! Unfair! Let's pass a new law!

It's funny. For years & years the liberal left has enjoyed a near monopoly on the "mainstream media" and the flow of information. Until it's repeal in 1986 the "Fairness Doctrine" required broadcasters to provide time for opposing views. It's a little fuzzy in my memory, but I recall 1 time seeing a "guest" take advantage of the rule to go on the air with a viewpoint different from the station. They stuck him on in a very short time slot after the late news.

Fast forward to the late 80s & early 90s. Rush Limbaugh, while maybe not the first but definitely the biggest, starts a wave of conservative talk radio. Finally, the "silent majority" has a home in the media. Immediately it seems, the leftists start ranting about "fairness". Despite still having many outlets that spew nothing but leftist bile, the left cannot handle opposing viewpoints being disseminated. In 1987 & 1993 attemps to reinstitute the fairness were defeated.

According to WorldNetDaily, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is attempting to reintroduce legislation (H.R. 501) requiring stations to provide "equal time" to opposing viewpoints. So after your 3 hours of Rush, I guess you'd get 3 hours of Hillary. Yeeeechhhh.

Read the WND article linked above. The mind reels at the possible abuses such a law would allow. All in the name of "fairness". Don't like a host who says illegal immigrants are a drain on the public treasury? File a complaint. Don't like a host who opposes gun control? Petition for the revocation of the outlets license on the grounds they are not meeting the "public interest".

Will we, as bloggers, have to allow posters with differing viewpoints to post on our blogs? The FEC has already decided our blogs are political speech and have value according to campaign finance law. Will we become "media outlets" requiring registration and licensing? Rep Tom Delay (R-TX) reprised Charlton Heston by holding up a gun and proclaiming "From my cold dead fingers". Will we have to do that with our keyboards?

The liberals just don't get it. Conservative programs are more popular and have higher ratings because THEY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE LISTENERS! With the popularity of the internet, the genie is out of the bottle. The left will try, and try again & again, to regulate what we are allowed to see, hear and read. They will try to regulate what we are allowed to think & speak. But they will never succeed.

A project brewing in my brain

I've always been interesting in shotguns. Actually guns. Any kind. Any type. But one thing that has always rattles around in my brain was the thought of going a whole year hunting with nothing but a shotgun. Big game. Small game. Birds, of course. Recent slug technology has made this thought seem even more likely to be successful.

I am thinking that for the 2005 - 2006 hunting year (7/1/05 - 6/30/06) of using just a shotgun. I will make an exception should I get lucky enough to be draw for a premium tag here in CA, or make an out of state hunt, then I will use whatever firearm I deem best for that occasion.

So which shotgun? I am thinking of going one of two ways with this. One option is an old Marlin Goose Gun I saw on the "used and abused" rack of a local gunshop. It has a 26" barrel with the Marlin facoty C-Lect Choke. Looks like a Poly-Choke to me. Another option, and the way I am leaning, is to use a Remington 870 with a vent rib barrel of about 22" long that is set up for the Rem-Choke system. I can use a rifled chock tube for slugs, and the appropriate tubes for different bird hunting. I'm not interested in using different barrels, I feel that would be cheating. What are your thoughts? I am interested in knowing. Email me with your opinions.

The Target

I always hold a 6 o'clock hold right at the bottom of the 5.5" Shoot~N~See target. With my handloads that will put the shots between the number 10 and the 10 ring at 12 o'clock. About 3" high at 100 yards, which is how I like it. Shots #1, #2 & #3 were shot with the forearm and buttstock supported by sandbags. #1 and #3 cut the very top of the target, hitting about 5.5" high. Shot #2 is slightly higher and to the right. It was a called flyer as the gentleman shooting 2 benches over touched off a .300 mag just as I was squeezing the trigger, causing a slight flinch.

Shots #4 & #5 were fired using a sandbag rest with the buttstock supported by me. That is how I also usually shoot my handloads. They were closer to the usual impact point of my handloads and pretty close to an inch apart. This target is useful as it is a good example of how different holds will deliver a different point of impact, even using the exact same aiming point. The fact the 2 shots which were held the same as the hold I use for testing handloads came in just a little high also shows how different ammo will have different impacts. I still have some different factory rounds. I think I'll take another trip to the range and hopefully have another instructive target to show you.


Instructive Target

The Evil Black Rifle

The EBR (Evil Black Rifle..so called by my ex-wife) and I went to the range last night. It's a Savage 100 with a synthetic stock in .30-06. I went not out of any big desire, just because I hadn't shot it for quite a while. I didn't have any handloads for it so I grabbed a box of factory PMC 150gr PSP ammo, my eye & ear protection & off we went. With my handloads, this rifle will consistently shoot sub 1" groups. That wasn't the case with this PMC ammo, but it could have been close. I didn't take anything special to steady the rifle on the bench, I just used the range 4X4s, carpeting and sandbags, as shown in the photo. I think with good equipment to steady the rifle, the groups may have been as good as I get with my handloads.

The EBR

We were lied about (again)

There is a new show on CBS called "Numbers". During the week I had seen the previews of tonight's show about a series of copycat sniper killings. It is now 5 minutes into the show. It opens with the sniper looking through the scope, making his range adjustments while sighting on a woman pushing a stroller...before shooting a postal carrier (how ironic is that?). This first little segment ends with Lou Diamond Phillips, as a FBI Sniper, telling the co-star "There will be more killings. We like it. That's a fact". That may not be word for word, but it does capture the message. Snipers LIKE killing. Not that it's a job. Like Mr. Phillips or a Hollywood screenwriter would know anything about shooting or snipers.

Ok, 2 shootings, and they have figured different shooter. The kicker is shooter #1 is a white supremest with a long rap sheet and a bunch of ugly guns hidden at his house. How surprising is that?

30 minutes into the show. 7 shootings. They theorize 7 different shooters. But...not once has the term "sniper rifle" been mentioned. No, they talk about "hunting rifles". As they go to commercial, we are left with the idea that everyone with a hunting rifle may be the next sniper.

40 minutes. 4 of the 7 solved and naturally they are ridiculous killings. All the better to show gun owners as nuts. So far, none of the rifles has been mentioned as being stolen. The implication is the owners went nuts. With the exception of the aforementioned white supremest. We already know he must be a nut. Oops, 1 was also identified as a gang killing. Ok, gun owners are either gang members or nuts. 2 new murders added and now a theory that at least some of them were done by the same person. This segment opened with the cops raiding a house and coming out holding up the rifle like a trophy. Cops 1, Rifles (gun owners) 0.

It's over. They caught the bad guy, of course. He was an anti-social loser. Got kicked out of the army. Couldn't keep a menial job. Couldn't handle authority. Drove an old (real old) van. And had a really cool break down sniper rifle. Now how can a guy who wasn't able to hold down even menial jobs able to afford something like that? Again, no mention of ANY of the guns used having been stolen. No mention of the fact that the white supremest was a felon and unable to legally own a firearm. No mention that (since this takes place in Los Angeles) in CA even buying a used gun you have to have a licensed FFL dealer handle the transaction and submit the transaction to D.O.J for approval.

Conclusions. Anyone who owns a hunting rifle is a sniper just waiting for an excuse to shoot someone. Even a loser unable to hold down the most menial job can afford to buy a really cool breakdown rifle, carry it around in a small suitcase, and wreck havoc while he gets his revenge.

The seeds of disinformation have been planted. What are you going to do before they sprout & grow?

Volunteer Day

I think today should be renamed "Volunteer Day." This is the mandatory day by which we must voluntarily file our income tax returns. The front pages of the 1040 booklet tell us so. Our voluntary participation. Reminds me of how the students in the old Soviet Union used to turn out at harvest time to "voluntarily & patriotically" help harvest the crops. Which really meant the farm machinery was broken again and the students were conscripted to manually help with the harvest. How today, so many Chinese factory workers (inmates) "volunteer" their time to make goods to be sold here. By being in the factories, they are repaying the cost of "re-education" to get those troubling thoughts of freedom from their minds. Speaking of freedom, we are only 2 days away from Tax Freedom Day. That's 107 days to pay the 2005 tax burden. I guess that puts us more on par with the students than with the factory workers. We only give up a little over 1/4 of our year.

You know, I am a religious man. Many don't know that because I don't try and push my beliefs on others. God only wants 10% of my income. Why does the state claim to need so much more? I guess because in this era of statism, the state has become the god for many.

A final thought and then I'll leave you with a link to some humor. Our "tax season" starts generally around the end of January with the arrival of W-2 forms and runs through today. Has anyone else noticed that in January & February, the papers and financial magazines have stories not only about tax strategy but about how "X% of filers with XXK+ income are audited", or "Watch out for these audit triggers"? Is the underlying message one of "don't even think about cheating or we'll get you!"? Or how at this time of year, you can find articles claiming that by filing with the last minute masses, your chances of an audit are still the same? Another "don't cheat" message? It used to be at this time of year, someone big would be in the papers after being nailed for tax evasion. Another subliminal "don't screw with us" message. Maybe there still was one of those this year. I listen to the mainstream media less and less these days. I am tired of the propaganda of the fourth Estate.

Ok, on to the promised humor. It ties in nicely with the first paragraph. Have a nice Volunteer Day. Made in China and full of patriotism.

Overpenetration & The Box of Truth

The title sounds sexy, doesn't it? But it's not about sex, sorry. If you have a handgun for self defense, or have thought about getting one, you've probably heard many times "Be careful with those (insert caliber here) Magnums, they'll shoot through the wall, across the street, go through your neighbors house and cause a massacre at the schoolyard!" There are also those who rationalize that heavy clothing will clog the hollow point on bullets causing a failure of expansion. What's the truth? Thanks to a South Texan with extra time on his hands, we may now now. See the results at The Box of Truth.

In addition, here is a good read. I don't totally agree with the way he defines the "Warrior Spirit", but it is a good commentary, IMHO.

Birthday Musings

Yep, it's late enough in the day, I will admit it. Today is the 46th anniversary of my entering the world. I've done more than some, less than others. Good things, bad things. Good decisions, Bad decisions. While I would do some things differently if I had it to do over again (who wouldn't?), I would not trade my life for anyone else's. One of my mistakes was getting married too young, while I was still too immature. Yet from that, my greatest legacy sprung. My son. 21 years old, full of "piss & vinegar". Before he was old enough to legally drink a beer, he was a combat veteran. Now back home, he pursues his goals, and each one he attains brings me a new measure of pride. Since he is now a man, all I can do is offer advice and let him decide whether or not to take it. Watching him make his way forward is one of my greatest joys.

Another great joy is the woman I was fortunate enough to meet a little over 2 years ago. She's a little older than I, but has aged very gracefully. She is downright beautiful. I am very, very glad she is a part of my life. Those who say "the best is yet to come" may have a point. I look forward to spending my years with her, exploring and building a world together.

I am a very fortunate, very blessed man.

Newflash! Iraqi's Lives Changed!

For the better even! To watch the news on NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN, you'd think that American Soldiers are universally despised in Iraq, and that the Iraqi people wish we had never shown up.
Is this true? Were they really better off under Saddam? Read this for a few of their thoughts.

Very Cool Story

I think the headline says it all:

Groups Provide Homes For Disabled Iraq Vets

May God bless them all.

Not for someone, but against

When I first created my blog, it was in response to a C-Net article about a coming crackdown on bloggers regarding political speech. If you haven't been there yet, be sure to check out the McCain-Feingold Insurrection. Those 3 links will give you a little background on my blog, and tell you why I am posting this today.

I'm against Hillary Clinton. I was against her husband for President, I did not like seeing her as First Lady and I do not like the idea of her as a Senator. I abhor the thought of her as President.
Luckly, forces are marshalling against not only her perceived re-election campain in 2006, but also on the much pontificated plans for her to run for President in 2008.

I could repeat items found on The Drudge Report and WorldNetDaily, but instead you can check them out yourself.

So there, FEC, a political item on my blog. Do something about it.

Jeff and Codydog


Jeff and Codydog. Codydog is the blonde. LOL

Buddy, can you spare a book?

If you are like me, even though I spend a lot of time on this computer, I still read real books. Yeah, the kind they print on paper. Kinda quaint, isn't it? After a bit, they pile up and you have to go through them to decide which are worth keeping and which should be sent on, usually to Goodwill or The Salvation Army. Sometimes donated to a library.

Our problems (at least for getting rid of books) are solved. Books for Soldiers. You can send your unwanted books to them and they will forward them to servicemen & servicewomen stationed around the world. Or you can go to the bulletin board on their website and find a particular person to whom to send them.

Please check out the site, even if you don't have any books to send right now.

Something good going on

It's easy to cruise the various online news sources, blogs and newsgroups and get your blood boiling reading about all that is being done that is wrong. Not only things that people do to other people, but also things our own government is doing or trying to do to us.

Here is something that is good for a change. The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. Not only did the clinic just complete it's 19th year, but Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz took time to praise the volunteers.

I hope those articles touched your heart like they did mine.

It's sunny & supposed to hit the mid 60s here in the SF Bay Area today, so I'm going to get myself moving and go enjoy some of the sunshine with Codydog.

Have a great weekend!

Just a quickie

Yesterday, I referred you to Kim du Toit's site. Today he does it again, taking on the AARP & "The Big Lie". One thing I thought I'd point out is that most of the discounts that I am aware of that AARP offers are also available with a AAA Road Service Membership. I'm not old enough for AARP, but my girlfriend is. When we've compared hotel discounts, my AAA membership has always gotten us a better deal. Just something to consider before you send AARP your money.

BTW, try and get AARP to tow your car!