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.
 |
| Next Stop, Fun! |
 |
| A room with a view |
 |
| 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.
