Jett, In The Living Room, With The Paper Products.

Jett is suddenly developing a fondness for chewing and eating any paper product that happens to get in his area of opportunity.

The latest victim seems to be the pistol card from the new Clue board-game, the classic murder mystery game that Leah generously bought for the family with her own money for Hanukkah.

The family has been playing it and it's fun to watch the kids develop their deductive skills and hear them excitedly cry out "It was Scarlett! In the Office! With the Dagger!".

No trace of the card has been found, and the room where the game was left unattended was thoroughly searched. 

Does that make him a gun dog now?

Hey, I'm Innocent! There's No Proof It Was Me!

Dive 246 - Black Friday In Union Lake

I met up with Jeff at the Union Lake Boat Dock and we kicked off the first annual Black Friday Dive.

Here's a brief video of the highlights of the dive.  Hopefully this video will help to promote Union Lake dive tourism:

Happy Black Friday!  Keep Warm out There!

Dive Time: 25 minutes, dive called when Jeff's hands got too cold to function.  To be fair, mine weren't exactly thrilled with me either at that point.

Max Depth: 38 feet

Water temp: 39 Degrees

Breathing gas used:  700 psi.

Nice and clear visibility, but the trade off is some cold water in which to enjoy the dive.

For The Second Night of Hannukah, My True Love Gave To Me....

A case for my Tavor, yipee!

And not just any case.

It's a Bulldog Ultra-Compact Discrete Rifle Case, purchased from Brownells.

Designed to covertly carry a broken down AR15 without screaming "Hey, There's a rifle in here!", it fits the complete Tavor, with mounted Aimpoint PRO Sight nicely.

The soft padded divider also has 2 mag pouches on the side opposite the rifle.

It's a nice soft padded case, perfect for transport of the Tavor without frightening any of the neighbors when loading the car and it makes for an easy package for transporting the rifle.

Thanks Tash!

Thanksgiving And Jett's First Real Snow

While it's still November and Thanksgiving Day, thanks to the powers of Al Gore, we've received our first decent snowfall of the season.

Where's your global warming now, you jerk?

At least Jett enjoyed it profusely, skidding and slipping on the Driveway of Doom™ and sampling the taste of fresh snow.

Thank goodness his hair is growing back.

He's one happy dog, and in a few more hours, when the Thanksgiving turkey is out of the oven, I bet he's going to be even happier and thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Some Early Black Friday Sales In Footwear

Since money is tight this year, it makes sense to buy needed stuff when it is on sale.

It turns out that on top of their normal discounts, Amazon is running a 25% Off Sale on Footwear

Needing some new boots as my winter boots have become so worn as to be non-functional I went ahead and ordered a pair of Bates Men's GX-8 GTX Insulated Side Zip Boots. Applying the 25% off promo code BFSHOE25 they came out to be about $80 which was much cheaper than anywhere else, and with free returns if they don't fit, it was a no brainer.

The side zips should make them easier to put on when stumbling around in the morning to get up and walk the dog. Considering its snowing and cold today, the boots with their treads and insulation will be welcome when they arrive compared to my old boots with holes, flat soles with no tread left and beaten-down linings.

So if you're looking for some winter boots, hopefully this link will save you a few bucks.

Happy Hanukkah and Happy Thanksgiving

Last night marked the beginning of Hanukkah, and today is one of the very rare occasions where the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincide, currently being given the appellation “Thanksgivukah.”

How rare? Well, we won't see this convergence again until the year 79811 CE.

It's a nice convergence of two holidays that both celebrate religious freedom and thanks for deliverance.

So last night, we gathered with some friends and celebrated the first night of Hanukkah. We then said the prayers and all the kids from the families lit the menorahs/hannukiahs for the first night, including the one made from mini flower pots that Leah made and decorated all by herself at religious school just for the occasion.

In addition to the normal huge batch of potato latkas, Tash also made sweet potato latkas which were awesome. She also made a cranberry relish to go with the standard sour creme and apple sauce for condiments for the latkas.

The kids had a great time together as did the adults and it was

Tonight will be our traditional Thanksgiving feast and the second night of Hanukkah. To celebrate the convergence, challah stuffing is called for, and more of those awesome sweet potato latkas.

So a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and have a very Happy Hanukkah.

Fatal Knife Attack In A Texas GFZ

Yet again, it sounds like a mentally unstable individual wreaking mayhem in a gun free zone.

Detroit Free Press: Nurse fatally stabbed while protecting patients

Gail Sandidge, a nurse in the Ambulatory Surgery Center of Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview, Texas, was pronounced dead Tuesday morning after the fatal stabbing attack by a man who hospital officials said was at the facility to visit his mother.

. . .

Four others were injured in the attack. They are: hospital employee Karen Bobo, and hospital visitors Harris Teel, Teresa Allison and Melissa Simms, Longview police said. Bobo and one of the visitors was treated and released, Altmiller said, while a second visitor remained in critical condition and a third was in good condition.

It's a very good thing that the Medical Center bans the concealed carry of handguns and had a Texas 30.06 no handgun carry sign posted prohibiting handgun carry on the premises.

But for that sign, some person might have gotten hurt bad, or some bad person might have gotten hurt, or something.

And Today's Lesson Is: Don't Play A Thug With A Toy Gun

Once again, if you point a toy gun at police, don't expect them to play along.

The Detroit Free Press: Battle Creek police officer shoots 14-year-old holding fake gun

When you look at the photo of the toy gun at the article, it's quite realistic enough that when the 14 year old, who had been crouching near a store pointed it at him, the officer reacted quite appropriately.

Deputy Chief James Saylor said the boy was shot once when the officer, called to investigate a man with a gun outside a convenience store near the intersection of South Washington Avenue and Grove Street, confronted the teen, who was crouched down outside the store.

The teen was ordered by an officer to show his hands. When he did so, the officer saw that he was holding what appeared to be a large-caliber handgun, police said. The officer fired one shot, which struck the teen, who ran from the scene. Officers chased him and called for medical assistance.

The majority of the comments accompanying the article are what you'd expect form the Freep - ignorant and anti-police with silly statements like the police shot an unarmed kid.

Look people, if you point a realistic looking weapon at someone, you can expect they're going to believe it's real and act accordingly.

Pointing a fake gun at someone armed with a real gun is a way to earn a quick trip to the hospital or your very own Darwin award citation.

10th Birthday Party A Mad Success

 The party started with Minions:

And then the Mad Scientist arrived and began to setup for the show:

Then a gaggle of 18 girls arrived.

The girls played some games while the scientist was setting up the show.

Jett was very well behaved amongst this gaggle and the girls really enjoyed meeting him.

Unfortunately, one of the girls was highly allergic to all dogs, so he got to have a rest in his crate for the rest of the party to avoid any exposure.

Then the show began.

First the scientist demonstrated how some substances could absorb 100 times their weight in water, creating fake snow from granules that expanded when soaked in water.

Then she demonstrated a hydrophobic sand that resisted water, so much so that pushing a match through it resulted in the match staying dry even in a fishbowl of water, which was amazing for the kids to see. Then each kid got a chance to come up and push their finger into the sand and yet stay completely dry.

Then she moved on to fire.

First, some cotton goes up in smoke:

Then a $5 bill (mine!) meets the flames

Talk about a high heat setting while laundering money.

Then she talked about carbonation and mixing acids and bases to create carbon dioxide and even had Abby create a soft drink from citric acid, baking soda, sugar, water, and some pop rocks for flavor.

Next was a plasma ball and how to light up a florescent bulb without plugging it in.

Abby also was invited to touch the ball while sitting on a chair so she wasn't grounded and then shock all her party guests, which was pretty funny to watch as it was a minor shock, less than one you'd get dragging your feet along the carpet, but some of the girls really went overboard on the drama.

After that all the girls were able to make their very own colored slime to take home.

Mad Science put on a fantastic show. It really held the kids interest and was educational at the same time.  It was a perfect presentation for my awesome and adorkable 10 year old.

Then we lit the candles, sang happy birthday and ate the cake.

After the kids left, we cleaned the place up, moved the furniture back to its original locations and went out to dinner at Famous Daves, where Abby got a free kids meal because it was her birthday, and the smoked beef brisket there is simply awesome.

Abby declared it her best birthday ever.

Abby Turns Ten Today

So my oldest is turning double digits today.

Pretty amazing how time flies and how a tiny baby has grow to be a little girl with lots of smarts and a strong personality.

She woke up all early and excited and received a singing of happy birthday and got her presents from us and her little sister.

Then, after breakfast, she went to religious school and after that she went with the school as a volunteer to a retirement home to help decorate it for the residents for the holiday season.

Her party starts at three and we're having a mad scientist / minion theme. An actual mad scientist will appear and do neat experiments for the kids to see. She's very excited as she's very into science and experiments so this should be a lot of fun. There's also games and activities, and yes, there will be cake.

So here's a happy birthday to the amazing kid that she is and will be as she keeps on learning and growing up.

Some Detroit Criminals Make It Too Easy To Pile On More Charges

So a Detroit female is heading into Wayne County Circuit Court to face charges of home invasion, larceny, assault to do bodily harm less than murder, etc.

And, to top it all off, on the way into court she gets caught at the metal detectors carrying a concealed, loaded, unregistered pistol in her purse. You would have thought all the no weapons signs at the door would have been a clue that she's not supposed to do that.

The Detroit Free Press: Woman faces charges after gun found in purse at Wayne County courthouse

The headline really should read that she now faces MORE charges, but it's the Freep, so what can you do?

As one expects:

The pistol was not registered, and the woman does not have a concealed pistol license

Gee, ya think? Think of all the lovely additional felonies she's about to get hit with.

Range Trip With The Tavor

So yesterday I got all my work wrapped up early and it was a nice enough day to have a range trip in the late afternoon.

It was time to open this box.

The contents were very nicely packaged:

The first thing you notice about the IWI Tavor is how compact it is.

Here it is alongside a AR-15 with a 16 inch barrel, this particular Tavor's barrel is 16.5 inches.

It's even more apparent with the AR's stock fully extended:

So I packed the car and headed to the range for my first time shooting my IWI Tavor.

At the range, the Tavor sported an Urban ERT sling and A Vortex Viper PST 1-4x scope in a AR-PEPR QD Scope Mount.

While the trigger is not a perfect as a match tuned AR, I really don't see what people are fussing about. It is perfectly serviceable and not nearly as bad as it has been hyped up to be, and accurate shots were no problem to make.

The Urban ERT is quite perfect for the Tavor. It provides excellent carrying support, can act as a hasty sling and holds the Tavor rather excellently aligned on your body.

The Vortex with up to 4x magnification makes for a very nice scope. Since it is my first variable power magnifying scope, it's going to take a bit of getting used to. The Vortex has remarkably clear glass and is very intuitive to use. I do need to get it zeroed in, as it is currently low and left, but the first shots fired left nothing to be desired group wise:

The only downside to the Vortex is that it is a bit on the heavy side, and there is insufficient room to raise the backup iron sights with it mounted on the PEPR on the rifle.

Trying an Aimpoint PRO on the Tavor made it seem a lot lighter, and the Aimpoint's dot was dead on, and the backup iron sights that come standard on the Tavor come right up and co-witness rather perfectly. The PRO felt faster in acquiring targets when throwing the rifle up to the shoulder, but that's likely just because I'm more used to it than the Vortex.

Shooting the Tavor is a pleasant experience - no recoil to speak of and with the weight towards the back of the firearm, control-ability is great as it settles right into your shoulder and the rubber pad on the butt keeps it fixed there. So much so, you can keep the rifle nice and steady with the rifle snugged into your shoulder and only your firing hand on the grip with your offhand free and still hit right where you're aiming with no wavering.

The Tavor uses standard AR-15 type magazines, and magazine changes are quick and easy to do. The mag well is easy to reach with the rifle on the shoulder and the magazine goes right in while your firing hand remains on the grip. The bolt release is also right by the magazine well, so it is easy to drop out the current mag, reload and drive the bolt home with very few movements.

All brass was ejected forward and right of the Tavor with aplomb. Standing still it would place all the brass in a nice pile.

In addition to shooting the Tavor right handed as usual, I did test shooting it from the left shoulder and no brass came near my face, all of it consistently ejecting well forward. I should note that I completely sucked at shooting off the left shoulder. It felt very weird as I don't do it often, if ever, as I'm just not very awesomely tacti-cool and I've never had a need to do so. There is a left-handed bolt kit available but you don't really need it.

There were no stoppages or malfunctions of any kind with 55 gr Lake City, 62 gr Federal and even 55 gr Wolf all shot through without a hitch.

One quick note, the 150rd packages that Federal American Eagle is packing their bulk green tip packs in, while cute looking, quite simply suck.

Sealed only at the end, folding into the back at the other with no sealing at the sides and a pronounced crease in the middle, the box of 150 loose rounds turns into a partial box with most of the rounds rolling around your shooting bag. This also doesn't give much in the way of confidence that someone else hasn't lifted out a few rounds before you get the chance to buy it.

Aside from the leaking ammo box, there were no issues at the range.

The Tavor ate 200 rounds without a hiccup in a very comfortable manner. While the manual of arms is different from that of an AR-15, its pretty easy to use and adapt to very quickly, and the rifle fits like a glove. Hard to explain but it mounted and pointed very naturally and was a very comfy rifle indeed. Firing slow or rapidly was very easy and the rifle was completely controllable.

Cleaning the Tavor was very easy. The butt is held in place with a captive pin, and once you know the rifle is empty, you pop the pin and begin the take-down procedure, which is ridiculously simple.

The bolt, spring and carrier then come right out for cleaning and you then clean the barrel with a rod from the breach to the muzzle.

The trigger pack then comes out after two captive pins are pushed, but the pack wasn't dirty at all.

After cleaning you put the parts back in the rifle and you're ready to go, it is a very easy rifle to maintain.

In addition to the top rail, there's a side rail installed for mounting lights, and a bottom rail can be added for a forward grip or light/laser there if you wish. Everything seems well thought out for this rifle and it handles very well indeed.

IWI also has or will shortly have available 9mm, 5.45x39 and 300 Blackout conversion kits available for the Tavor, adding to its versatility.

Tavor Pros:

- Really compact form factor

- Reliable

- Easy to take down to clean

- Decent trigger, nice accuracy

- Excellent balance and ergonomics, both for carrying and shoot-ability

Tavor Cons:

- Costs more than a standard AR-15

- The US shooting community is pretty standardized on the AR-15.

- Not nearly as much aftermarket support as for an AR. While it doesn't seem to need much yet, nor is there any need to mess around with the Tavor, spare parts may become an issue.

- Trigger not as nice as a nice trigger on an AR.

In short, to me the pros way outweigh the cons and this may very well be my new favorite rifle.

Some Focus On Treatment For The Mentally Ill Might Help

Instead of the Democrat's losing war on guns and gun owners, it would be nice if they took a moment and worked on treating the mentally ill and by doing so make an effective reduction in mass murders and crime.

After all, earlier this week a Virginia Senator is stabbed by his mentally ill son after being released from the psych ward not because he wasn't mentally ill, bur because they didn't have enough beds.

As a result he's dead and his father badly injured. As usual, there's a lack of help, resources, and focus on the problem until someone gets killed.

Now in Michigan, a tragedy is averted due to only the incompetence of a mentally ill man's plan to blow himself and his entire apartment building up with him:

The Detroit News: Police: Traverse City man tries to blow up apartment building

Police say a Traverse City man tried to blow up his apartment building and told investigators that voices in his head prompted his actions.

Note well, when the voices in your head tell you to do something stupid, don't listen to them, they lie, and it never ends well.

The voices in the head thing is a pretty clear tip-off that yet again, another mentally ill person was trying to engage in mass murder.

However, this will likely not get much more attention as his weapon of choice was a natural gas oven rather than a gun.

Democrats aren't in favor of oven control so this attempt can't be used to further their goals, at least not yet.

Joe Wilson Needs To Take Back His Apology

In yet another revelation of the Obama administration's mendacity.  Vodkapundit notes that even the unemployment statistics prior to Obama's reelection were fabricated to make the economy look better and improve Obama's chances for reelection.

Is there anything that this administration is telling the actual entire truth about?  Anything?

Representative Joe Wilson didn't know the half of it.

To TO And Back

This weekend was rather busy.

First both kids had Girl Scout sleepovers Friday night - Abby at the Cranbrook Science Center and Leah at the Toledo Zoo.

Then Saturday morning after recovering the kids we loaded up the car, dropped off the dog and headed to Toronto for a family function.

It was great seeing everyone, and we all cracked up about the Mayor of Toronto's current train wreck of a personal life.  Kinda sad that even so, he's still better than the majority of precious mayors of Detroit, crack use and all.

A very nice time was had by all, but then late this afternoon we piled back into the car and started driving home.

Right into the high winds and thunderstorms people have been warning about.

Between about London to the border  was massive sheets of rain with sheet lightning large and bright enough to light up the entire landscape as if it was daylight.  Lots of fun driving with massive rain reducing visibility and a crosswind trying to push the car off the road.

We made it home safely despite the winds and rain and are tucked in for the night watching the wind blow and experiencing several power flickers as the night goes on.

Heck, there's even a tornado warning currently for Detroit and environs, though if a tornado did hit the city, you might be hard pressed to tell considering the state of the city even before the tornado hit.  Heck, it might result in some urban beautification.

That Didn't Take Long.....

You know how pet owners make rules about things like no dogs on the bed?

 Yeah, that rule lasted about 3 months.  Good dogs always win.

Renisha McBride Case: Charges Are Going Forward.

Arraignment is set for this afternoon and charges are going forward.

Unfortunately, the live feed is so messed up I could not hear what the charges actually were, but Worthy stated that she believes he did not act in lawful self-defense.

Thanks to the Detroit News it appears the charge is Second Degree murder, manslaugher and possesison of a firarm in a felony.

Homeowner Theodore Wafer, 54, faces arraignment Friday afternoon in the charges, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced.

At least some information was understandable during the feed and worthy stated that the shot was through an open front door but a closed screen door, and she confirmed McBride was intoxicated.

The media also asked some really stupid questions regarding the "Stand Your Ground Law" and a howler asking Worthy if she could confirm if McBride was wearing a hoodie - nice job trying to taint that jury pool there guys.

Charges To Be Announced in Renisha McBride Case, Tox Report Shows She Was Very Intoxicated

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy at a news conference set for today at 11 am will be announcing charges against the homeowner who shot Renisha McBride.

The Detroit Free Press has a live feed setup.

In other developments, it turns out (unsurprisingly) that the 19-year old Rensiha McBride was very, very intoxicated that night - .218% BAC and with marijuana in her system. Yes, that's not .021 but .21. This likely explains the car accident and perhaps the rest of her inexplicable behavior that night.

Witnesses also state she was speeding when she struck the parked car, and as we know, she left the scene, passed by numerous public establishments where she could have gone for help, and three hours later shows up on this guy's front door step.

We don't know what happened there.

Given the racially charged nature of the case, expect at least a manslaughter charge, especially if, as the Detroit Free Press keeps stating, the man did say he fired his shotgun accidentally.

Michigan's SB 610 Passes The Senate - On To The House

SB 610 cleared the Senate by a very wide margin - 36 in favor, only 2 against to pass the bill in the Senate legalizing ownership of short-barreled rifles and shotguns as long as the purchaser complies with federal law.

If you asked me ten years ago if we could have gotten SBR and SBS reform through the Senate in Michigan I would have laughed in disbelief.

The bill was recommended for taking immediate effect, and now it will go to the Michigan House for a vote.

Excellent news indeed.

You Can't Make This Up - Dysfunctional Obamacare Head To Visit America's Most Dysfunctional City

Fresh off the most dysfunctional government website and program roll-out in history, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is coming to Detroit to visit America's most dysfunctional city for an event promoting Obama's most dysfunctional program, Obamacare.

The Detroit News: Sebelius plans visit to Detroit for Affordable Care Act event

A spokesman for her department did not immediately provide the location and time of the upcoming event, but sources confirmed she is planning a visit to the Motor City.

                                                                 ..............

The event in Detroit is designed to draw attention to the benefits of the health care act and encourage enrollment, sources said.

Has Obama been watching the Kentucky Fried Movie in between ongoing ACA fiascoes lately or what? He's sending quite a lot of the higher-ups involved in Obamacare to Detroit lately.