First, there's From The Caer A good blog with a blogger that can shoot the wings off a fly with a certain Plainfield M1 Carbine.
Next, There's God, Gals, Guns, Grub The 4 essential G's of good living with lots of good shooting and philosophy of living goodness.
I'm officially declaring this to be a reciprocal blogroll, so if you've placed me on your blogroll let me know and I'll add you to mine.
The laptop computer was beginning to have performance issues (lots of slowness and weird screen resolution issues) so I decided it was time for a rebuild from scratch to clean up the accumulated mess.
The laptop is about three years old and had one hard drive failure/replacement under warranty in the past.
It is running MS Vista Home Premium and there the story, trial and tribulations, not to mention lots of waiting time while stuff installs begins.
So far after 3 days of rebuilding, in which it has been constantly downloading, and installing, Vista updates, the amount of hard drive space being taken up by Vista, its updates, and a limited installation of MS Office 2007 (Word, PowerPoint and Excel, with no Access, Outlook or OneNote) is 51 GB!
Oh, and we're not done yet as it just began installing Vista Service Pack 2.
The Hard Drive is 102 GB.
So 50% of the total space on the hard drive is taken up by just the operating system it came with and was designed for, and the basic word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications that were contemporary with its release.
On the upside, in between multiple restarts for Vista updates, I've re-added the Dell printer driver and it actually connected on the first try, which was impressive, not to mention a full anti-virus suite. I also removed both MS Works and the trial MS Office install that was on it which was interfering with the purchased copy of MS Office - the software license key for the full Office 2007 Ultimate edition that was purchased wouldn't work with the trial (and unlockable for full functionality with a license key) Office 2007 Home and Student version that was installed and the install kept failing so long as the locked trial version was on the system. Lots of fun.
With luck the reinstall will be finished tonight and we'll have our laptop back in use again.
Day 1 of the vacation began early at the Detroit Airport with the TSA security fun as mentioned before.
Interestingly, children now do not need to remove their shoes which makes the process move a fair bit quicker. The TSA also had a family line that was also reasonably helpful and at least didn't completely terrify the kids but did make them a bit nervous.
As a tip to women travelers, don't wear under-wire bras unless you want a pat down, ask us how Natasha now knows.
So after clearing security we went to our gate and boarded our plane. We flew into Orlando on a Delta Airlines 757-300 that was pretty much full.
We then picked up our luggage and found the way to the Disney bus pickup point and boarded our bus, which was comfortable and had nice TV screens for the kids to watch while the bus headed for the resort.
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| Next Stop, Fun! |
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| A room with a view |
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| May the Mouse Be With You! |
Safe and Sound.
And the answer to where I was is:
Blogging will be light.
I can report that I have cleared security with my junk untouched. Both kids similarly got a walk.
However, the female TSA checker did get to second base with Natasha due to her magnetic personality.
Security was rather quick, professional and courteous, and they seem to be paying more attention and no problems encountered so far.
First real vacation with the kids in a couple of years and they're excited about the destination.
I was first introduced to the SIRT produced by Next Level Training by Todd Green at his Aim Fast Hit Fast Class (if you get an opportunity to take his class btw, do so).
The SIRT, the Shot Indicating Resetting Trigger, is an excellent dryfire training tool. It comes with a dual indicator lasers, one that goes off as you engage the rigger and a second as the trigger is fully pulled and the "shot" fired. This helps you work immensely on your trigger control and accuracy. The lasers can be toggled on and off so if you only want a laser on at the shot let-off and not on take-up than that can be easily done.
While there's a lot of fuss, deservedly so, over the overreach and bad effects of SOPA and PIPA on the Internet, this really shouldn't surprise anyone.
This is a couple of bills that are proffered to be turned into law claiming to resolve a problem in response to the demands of a vocal/influential group.
The bills contain such technical inanities inserted by law makers that don't know what they're talking about and don't understand the potential overreaching effects the law will have.
The bills do not solve the real problem presented.
The bills only make law abiding peoples' lives more difficult, restricting their choices and exposing them to felony prosecution for doing harmless acts that were legal up until the passing of the law while the real malefactors ignore the law or find workarounds so it doesn't affect them.
Heck this is nothing new folks, gun owners have been dealing with and living under bills and laws like SOPA and PIPA for years.
Well then, welcome to the party Google, Wikipedia, the Internets, et al! We know you're arriving a little late, but better late than never.
Ah, I now see both Larry Correia and Tam have already posted on this phenomenon.
So the weather forecasters were predicting a massive snowfall Friday dubbed Snowmageddon.
So much so that schools were preparing to close etc. Well, the snow didn't really begin until after 5:00 starting relatively light but building to a decent amount. Driving home late last night from work was more difficult than a standard commute as road markings were invisible under a layer of the white stuff.
On the upside, the snow tires were fantastic - really excellent traction, control and braking distance. If you're in a snow area I'd highly recommend a good set of Bridgestone Blizzak tires for your car, they make a huge difference and are well worth the price.
So in short, reports of a snowmageddon were rather overrated, but then the prediction concerning the first real snowfall around here pretty much is always blown out of proportion.
Since the Costa Concordia Cruise liner ran aground, Italian police divers have been combing the wreckage searching for survivors who may be trapped in the submerged areas of the ship.
You can see some of the pictures that show what the rescue and recovery divers have to deal with. Lots of floating debris and obstacles impairing their progress, not to mention the layout of a cruise ship makes recovery very difficult as the cabins and decks tend to look the same. It is very easy to become disoriented, especially as the ship has a severe list.
In short, the divers are going to have a very tough job making their way through the submerged areas to try and find anyone to save. It's going to take time to completely clear the submerged areas and each day lessens the possibility that survivors will be still living once their rescuers arrive.
It has been rumored that the captain left the ship before everyone had disembarked, and the behavior of the passengers and crew was rather substandard with panic prevailing and the crew not rising to the occasion but sinking into uselessness faster than the ship.
The Detroit Free Press: Michigan couple recounts escape from grounded Italian cruise ship
No ship workers were around, and a person on overhead speakers tried to calm passengers with claims of an electrical problem, Steve Ledtke said.
“To many of us, it seemed like the boat was going to go down, regardless of what they said overhead,” Steve Ledtke said today. “Once things started happening, all the staff was gone – they disappeared.”
The Ledtkes headed to a lifeboat, where they waited. Then another employee ordered them back onto the ship.
It was an hour and a half before they heard “abandon ship,” Steve Ledtke said. “Once we opened it up again, it was almost like a stampede, like a panic after the abandon ship announcement,” Steve Ledtke said. The boat was only supposed to carry 150 people. “It must have been 250 people in the boat.I thought we were just going to fall to the water there was so much weight. It jerked dramatically but then they lowered us to the water, and we headed to shore.”
While America justly celebrates the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, some, including the disgraceful Reverend Al Sharpton, are busy here in Michigan using it as a cover for their own dubious agendas.
Martin Luther King Jr. dealt with real racism and real civil rights issues.
Today, those claiming that he would be against an Emergency Financial Manager law, designed to protect citizens who have suffered from the mismanagement of their leaders, and who play the race card on the law, are just full of it.
The Detroit Free Press: Al Sharpton planning protest of emergency manager law outside Snyder's home
The Detroit Free Press: Guest commentary: Dr. King would want people to fight emergency manager law
The real issue isn't racism, its that an EFM, as stated in the article, can
void union contracts, sell off assets and remove elected officials' powersand thus destroy the cozy status quo that has been ruining those cities now in need of EFMs to solve the mess that has been made.
My first dive of 2012 took place today, under a 7/8" thick layer of ice.
Not only does the Detroit City Council have great difficulty managing the city's finances, members can't seem to manage their own.
The Detroit News: Pugh likely to walk away from mortgage on Brush Park condo
City Council President Charles Pugh is facing foreclosure and says he likely will abandon his $385,000 Brush Park condominium.That's a full 33.333% of the current Detroit City Council facing foreclosure at one time or another while serving on the Council.
His personal financial struggles come as he and council colleagues fight to bail Detroit out of its own fiscal crisis......Pugh is not the only council member to struggle with his mortgage. Council members Kwame Kenyatta and Saunteel Jenkins also have faced foreclosure in recent years.
The Detroit Free Press is calling for revisions to Michigan's EFM law for a problem that doesn't exist. Given how the Freep is rather gainst both the EFM law and the potential for it to be applied in Detroit, they're looking for any chance to knock it.
Editorial: Time to fine-tune state's emergency manager law
The recent flap over how Pontiac receives and administers federal HUD funds suggests an opportunity to tweak the state's emergency manager law for the better -- something Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature should have on their 2012 agenda.In other words, the elected officials and management of Pontiac that the Freep so adores are so inept that they couldn't be trusted to manage federal funds properly.
The dispute arose when Pontiac's emergency manager decided to turn management of the city's HUD funds over to Oakland County officials. His reasoning was sound: Pontiac has a record of wasting the funds so badly that the federal government was threatening to withhold them; Oakland County has a stellar record of managing these funds, and was willing to take control.
The problem was that shifting control entirely to the county would mean a reduction in funds designated for Pontiac; HUD funding is determined largely by poverty rates, and the county's overall rate is far lower than Pontiac's.
So a management improvement would have diluted the program's benefit to Pontiac's citizens in the city.How is the incompetence of the local bureaucrats and officials that caused the EFm to be appointed inthe first place a problem with the EFM law?
That's a failing of the emergency manager law. Because the managers are brought in (typically from outside the troubled community) and given the charge simply of restoring fiscal health, they can sometimes be insensitive to, or even dismissive of, the long-term interests of the cities they are trying to shepherd to solvency.
Pontiac, the situation was abated when members of the Oakland County Commission and U.S. Rep Gary Peters insisted that another way be found. In the end, manager Lou Schimmel agreed that having Oakland County manage the funds but not take full authority over the program was worth a try because it would preserve funding levels. Federal HUD officials have also agreed.In other words, the law functioned fine, others pointed out some options to the EFM and he agreed to it. So what's the need for a tweak?
But this was an ad hoc intervention by the elected officials. Could the law be tweaked to require more input from elected officials?
Clearly, you wouldn't want to force a manager to deal with officials who had helped create the fiscal emergency, but could other officeholders -- from county-level positions or Congress -- be involved?
It is well worth the governor and Legislature's time to consider that. Opposition to the emergency manager law has become organized and fierce. And while the aim of overturning the law outright may be misguided, some of the criticisms leveled against it are valid.
Instapundit links to the Popular Mechanics story Why the Glock Became America’s Handgun
Now in the 26th Year of their production, Glocks are still going strong and come in a variety of calibers. Talented shooters using Glocks have won all sorts of national and international competitions.
The Glock has had a major part of America's handgun market share for good reasons, some of which are discussed in the linked article.
The benefit of the Glock is in its lightweight, reliability and simplicity, not to mention excellent capacity for their size, and normally they run right straight out of the box and need no modifications unless you choose to make them.
In addition to all those reasons, Glock also has R. Lee Emery.
'nuff said.
I keep returning to shooting and carrying my Glocks over other pistols that I've used with the exception of my Kahr PM9. The Glocks I own have proven to be reliable as well as easy to maintain and shoot well, and have certainly been quite accurate. This is coming from someone who, up until he started really shooting Glocks and putting them through their paces, was a confirmed dyed-in-the-wool 1911 guy.
Glocks also can be modified to fit your needs in terms of sights, trigger pull, lights, lasers and .22 conversion kits, so they offer quite a bit of flexibility.
Obviously, Glocks may not be the answer for every shooter.
Your preferences and requirements may, and almost certainly do, vary from mine.
With that said, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Glock to a fellow shooter as a fine pistol for action pistol type competition or self-defense. Glocks are also certainly a better choice as an initial handgun than the typically snubbie revolver that many gun stores recommend as a starter handgun.
Remember back in October of 2010, when The Scum of the Year, Jennifer Petkov who was 33, and Scott Petkov age 30 at the time, were harassing and taunting Kathleen Edward, a 7 year old with a terminal disease?
Sadly, Kathleen Edward has just died of that terminal illness.
The Detroit Free Press: Bullied Downriver girl, 9, dies after battle with Huntington's disease
RIP Kathleen, and in your short life you did more good and were a far better person than either Jennifer Petkov or Scott Petkov will ever be. May your name be for a blessing and their names forever be accursed.
As noted on Say Uncle, The Brady Bunch's latest flame of gun control genius seems to have fizzled out, very much like a candle in the wind.
For their next big thing, I'd offer a modest proposal.
After all, lighting candles can be dangerous and that whole open flame and striking-a-match thing probably scared off some of their more stalwart supporters, the poor easily-frightened dears.
Next year they ought to announce, just on their website mind you, that on the announced DAY X, high school and college age people should wear jeans and business people should wear business attire to support more gun control.
That way, when Day X arrives, they can take all sorts of pictures of people in jeans and business attire and trumpet as to how the whole country is firmly (yet unknowingly) on their side and supports their push for more gun ban laws.
This should be a surefire hit and result in images that they can point to that the American people are right behind them by dressing as they normally do every day.
Even better, there's no chance that their one or two supporters might burn themselves while lighting a candle and their support can be both effortless and unthinking, which it is already.
This certainly doesn't look good for County Executive Ficano, nor for his staff for that matter.
Former Wayne County Deputy Executive Azzam Elder is suing his onetime boss, Executive Robert Ficano, alleging he concocted more than a dozen secret severance deals — including one to Elder for at least $300,000.
The whistleblower suit filed Wednesday alleges that Ficano and his staff intentionally misled the public and the media about a $200,000 severance to former economic development director Turkia Mullin in September.
The previous plan, now rejected as too expensive was allegedly going to cost around $300 million to build and require subsidies in the amount of $6 million per year if not more.
Now they're planning a shorter stretch of light rail:
Operating the 3.4-mile line would require $4 million to $10 million a year, depending on whose estimates you believe.So a shorter rail line will cost $125 million to build and more per year to operate. Either that or they're being more honest about the costs now.
No public transit project will be successful if it requires operational subsidies from local or state government.
"We see light rail as a part of regional transportation, so light rail is not dead," Bing said at a news conference with Snyder and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "It's back on the table" but as part of a plan for a wider bus rapid transit system.
Yahoo News: Egypt: Israeli pilgrimage 'impossible' thus year
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it had told Israel that it would not be "appropriate" for Israeli pilgrims to make an annual visit to the tomb of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in the Nile Delta, as activists mobilized to block the pilgrimage route.
Ceremonies at the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abu Hatizra have triggered yearly political sparring in Egypt throughout most of the last decade, with Islamists, nationalists, and others claiming that the government by allowing the pilgrimage is pursuing an unpopular policy of normalization with the country's former enemy.
Yahoo News:Egypt activists vow no Israeli pilgrimage to tomb
Pilgrimage opponents have decided to stage protests on roads leading to the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira in the village of Daymouta, 180 kilometers (112 miles) north of Cairo, said Gamal Heshmat of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group which is the country's best organized political movement.
He said that the late December and early January pilgrimage would be a "suicide mission" for Israelis, because of popular opposition to their presence in Egypt.
"Normalization (of relations) with Israel is forced on the people, and the visits too come against the will of people and despite popular rejection," said Heshmat, who recently won a seat in parliament in the country's first elections following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian activists have rallied against the pilgrimage every year for most of the last decade. Egypt's daily Al-Ahram newspaper reported Tuesday that 31 parties and groups had joined this year's campaign.
I can happily say it has gone to a good home, where it will be put to good use. Indeed, it has already provably been put to good use.
ProudHillbilly, blogging at From the Caer is now the proud owner of my old Plainfield M1 Carbine, and She's quite happy with it.
Since I hadn't been shooting the Plainfield very much, and I already own a Winchester M1 Carbine, it made sense to sell it to someone who would enjoy and appreciate it. Even as I hate to sell a firearm, the ProudHillbilly's appreciation of the carbine and joy with shooting it more than makes up for its parting from my safe.
The funds generated have just today procured a fine replacement (which was why it was sold in the first place, well that and Murphy's Law's prodding me about selling it which sparked the idea), that will be blogged about, depending on luck and the weather, shortly.
At least for those receiving government benefits, because, you know it would be discriminatory against the poor drug user.
The Detroit Free Press: Editorial: Drug-testing proposal discriminates against poor
he Department of Human Services, in a feasibility report ordered by the Legislature, recommended a pilot program that would require drug screening for pregnant women and low-income families receiving aid from the Family Independence Program. The state would compel those who fail the screening to take a drug test -- costing about $40 -- possibly at their own expense, and reimburse them if no evidence of drug use was found. Those testing positive, or even those who could not pay for the test, could be denied assistance......In the late 1990s, during a decade of welfare overhaul, Michigan started a pilot testing program in three counties, screening for PCP, marijuana, cocaine, opiates and amphetamines. Only about one in 10 of the applicants tested positive..........Finally, kicking people off cash assistance does nothing to help them kick a drug addiction or prepare for the workforce. If legislators approve any kind of drug testing program, they should tie it to drug treatment services rather than ending assistance.
To be sure, many private employers require drug tests of prospective employees. But private employers do not make up a monopoly, as do governments delivering entitlements.
Compulsory drug tests too often deter people from pursuing the benefits, and help, they and their children need. Legislators ought to steer clear of them, especially when those programs aim to punish more than cure.
Today I went to my first ever indoor GSSF league shoot.
It was held at Total Firearms in Mason, MI, so Rob and I drove westbound and down together early this morning.
The match was very well organized and the match staff were very helpful and friendly.
Each course of fire was 50 rounds with some challenging timed strings with distances out to 50 feet. Some strings, including those at 50 feet, were required to be shot using only strong or weak hand to add to the challenge.
I shot both my Glock 17 and Glock 19, with the 17 going first.
I was pleased with my scores of 439/500 with the Glock 17 and then with the Glock 19 a score of 469 out of 500 possible points. Certainly room for improvement on both, especially with distance single-weak-handed shooting. Part of the increase between the 17 and 19 was no doubt familiarity with the course of fire after having shot it once.
There are two more league shoots scheduled, one in February, and one in March and I plan to show up and shoot at both of them.
A great way to spend a Sunday morning.
Detroit faces the appointment of an Emergency Financial Manager or Bankruptcy after being unable to pay its bills after being under a Democrat Kleptocracy for 60 years.
Detroit has been steadily losing population, falling from a high of 2 million down to 700,00 and dropping.
Detroit has one of the highest crime and murder rates of any US city.
Detroit's high school graduation rate at 25% is in the same quartile as its unemployment rate of at least 15%.
Detroit can't keep buses running on time nor keep the street lights lit.
But these are not the most pressing issues facing Detroiters today.
Instead, a growing number of Detroiters are now worried about -- horror of horrors -- gentrification.
The Detroit News: New challenges for Detroit - Longtime residents feel they are getting pushed out by newcomers moving to the city
Yes indeed, Gentrification and the attendant terror that it beings - White People.
"It went from diverse to mainly young and white," said Jack Sexton, a former resident. "That's too bad because a lot of people wanted to stay but they couldn't afford it."....There is a different city emerging in downtown, Corktown and Midtown, data shows, and it is more white and affluent than the rest of the city.This of course doesn't sit well for some:
"It feels like it's not about making things better for everyone, just making it safer for suburbanites. That's just not fair," Garcia said. "I'm still excited to see all the people moving to Corktown and all the new businesses. But every time you read or see something online about the progress, it's this tone the new people are responsible for it all. That just kind of rubs me the wrong way."
Say Uncle notes the discovery of Hybrid Sharks.
Personally, I'm waiting on the discovery of plug-in sharks, they get better nautical mileage.
That, and the evolution of sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads.
To see their current Navy, if they keep stunts like this up:
Yahoo News: Iran threatens U.S. Navy as sanctions hit economy
Iran threatened on Tuesday to take action if the U.S. Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran's most aggressive statement yet after weeks of saber-rattling as new U.S. and EU financial sanctions take a toll on its economy.
The United States dismissed the Iranian threat, saying it was proof that sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear program were working. The Pentagon said it would keep sending carrier strike groups through the Gulf regardless.
Yahoo News: Judge: Black church rightful owner of KKK store
After a lengthy legal battle between a black South Carolina church and members of the Ku Klux Klan, a judge has ruled that the church owns a building where KKK robes and T-shirts are sold.So how did this come to pass?
Ownership of the building was transferred in 1997 to the Rev. David Kennedy and his church, New Beginnings, by a Klansman fighting with others inside the hate group, according to court records. That man, according to Kennedy, was feuding with store proprietor John Howard over a woman and "developed a spiritual relationship" with Kennedy's church, the judge wrote.In other words, the grand dragon was draggin' his feet on letting his landlord inspect the property, as is a landlord's right and he just got slapped by the court on the backside of his robes for doing so. That a Klan store is but a tenant to a Black Church is rather wonderful. Times sure have changed, and for the better in this case.
But a clause in the deed entitles Howard, formerly KKK grand dragon for the Carolinas, to operate his business in the building
Apparently the chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees believes in magic against all rational experience and logic, at least when it is applied to the mere existence of regulations preventing criminal activity.
The Detroit News: Park slaying revives gun arguments
The fatal shooting of a National Park Service ranger at Mount Rainier National Park has renewed debate about a nearly 2-year-old federal law that allows loaded weapons in national parks.Seriously?
The outgoing chairman of a national organization of park service retirees said Congress should be regretting its decision.
The law let licensed gun owners take firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are allowed by state law. Guns are allowed in all but about 20 of the park service's 392 locations, from Yellowstone to Yosemite.
Before 2010, firearms at Mount Rainier were required to be temporarily inoperable or put away so they weren't easily accessible.
Sunday's fatal shooting of park ranger Margaret Anderson could have been prevented, said Bill Wade, a former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, just outside Washington, D.C., who started his career as a professional ranger at Mount Rainier.
As usual with early reports, the facts are pretty well garbled and continue to change.
The Arson suspect believed to be responsible for the millions of dollars in damages in a series of fires in Los Angeles when caught by an LA Sheriff's deputy was originally identified as Harry Burkhart, age 55. Now his age is reported as 24.
Even stranger, he's reported as being a German national traveling on travel documents from Chechnya. That's quite strange, and especially considering the amount of Muslim terrorist activity originating from Chechnya, it is pretty suspicious if correct especially as Chechnya is not exactly on the list of top German travel destinations. How a German came to be traveling on documents from Chechnya is quite strange.
Apparently when arrested, Burkhart stated he hates America.
He's also apparently upset that his mom is about to be deported from the US, for some unspecified reason.
No telling at this point if this is just some nut, a nut with sudden jihad syndrome, a nut sent off with a little terrorist training, or something else entirely.
I spent the New Year in Toronto with the family.
While we were there, Tash and I took the kids to the Royal Ontario Museum.
If you ever visit Toronto, the ROM is not to be missed.
While admission prices have gone up since I was last there, the place was hopping for the holidays.
It has an extensive and impressive display of Chinese and Asian art and artifacts.
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| Look, but don't touch, or I beat you with my stick, Got it? |
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| Northbound end of southbound Chinese Camel. |
The Detroit Free Press: California company cancels $177M Saginaw solar plant
A California-based solar power company says it's canceling plans to build a $177 million solar panel factory in Saginaw.The tax subsidy being offered was around $84,000 per job being claimed to be created by the project. Now, no jobs will result.
San Jose-based GlobalWatt Inc. said the project would create 500 jobs when first announcing it in 2009. At that time, Saginaw was one of two communities in the running for the project.
But GlobalWatt chief executive Sanjeev Chitre tells WNEM-TV that the Saginaw project now is on hold. He says a struggling economy and overseas markets are reasons for the move and says the company might reconsider if the market expands.
Walmart shopper tries to pay with 1 Million Dollar bill
Police say a North Carolina man insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was buying $476 worth of items at a Walmart.
Investigators told the Winston-Salem Journal that 53-year-old Michael Fuller tried to buy a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and other items. Store employees called police after his insistence that the bill was legit, and Fuller was arrested.
The largest bill in circulation is $100. The government stopped making bills of up to $10,000 in 1969.
