Quote of the proficiency

Round counts do not build proficiency. Familiarity builds proficiency.
~Xavier

There has always been an emphasis on round count in practice, but it's really about meaningful practice.

Making 1000 loud noises with your gun won't do much if you don't pay attention to what's happening to you, and your gun while you make them.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you would be surprised what you can accomplish with 80% dry fire, and 20% live fire training.

Jeff Cooper recommends taking your (EMPTY) firearm to the couch, and practicing by shooting every "O" you see on your teevee. I can attest to the success of this form of training.

You will be amazed when spotting a target, snapping your rifle to your shoulder, lining the sights on your target, and achieving a motionless trigger break comes as naturally as reaching your hand out, and catching a ball in the air.

It's a good feeling.

Ca legislature a bunch of April fools

State controller John Chiang says California will be out of money (again) by April 1st.

In other news, Jimmy Hoffa still missing.

I'm actually rather interested to see what kind of gimmicks the California legislature tries to pull out of its hat. It was scraping the bottom of the barrel last time it needed money, borrowing from their future budget, pushing pay dates a few days forward so they land in the next quarter, and increasing withholding even though they know they'll have to give it back as tax refunds.

So what will it be now? Some kind of pyramid scheme? Maybe some snake oil?

Or you could do something less creative and erect parking meters in front of every private and public parking spot in the state.

What's next? Breathing tax?

Quote of the State of the Union

So a Hyde Park-dwelling Harvard lawyer who has never had to make a payroll, live under segregation, or wear a uniform invokes all three of those things. Brilliant! This guy makes Dan Quayle look like Audie frickin' Murphy by comparison...
~Tam

Nick Gillespie hits it out of the park on obesity "epidemic"

From HotAir

BREAKING: Scientists have nothing better to do than think up worst case scenarios

So a bunch of scientists were stuck inside from the rain, and couldn't go outside and play, so they decided to come up with a worst case scenario for California's current El Nino cycle. They proudly present; Frankenstorm.

Frankenstorm is a hypothetical-yet-possible storm system that would build steam over the ocean, then settle onto southern California and dump 8 feet of rain over 3 weeks while pummeling it with hurricane-force winds. Then, a secondary system would do the same to northern California.

Well that's just impressive.

So how is California going to go?

Earth?
Water?
Fire?
Wind?

With our luck, it'll probably be an alien attack.

---

Oh yeah, be sure to check out the comment section if you want to hear people whose disaster kits are probably a box of granola bars and a 7-up bottle they filled with water argue about whether or not this is true, could happen, is prudent to discuss, is Bush's fault, etc.

When the big one hits, you'd better have firearms and training to use them. Because whether by earth, water fire, or wind, there are going to be a lot of people out there who spent their preparation time arguing on the internet about whether or not the big one could happen.

Seriously guys, drop $100 on canned goods and water to last you three weeks. THEN you can argue about whether or not it will happen.

Awwwwww....

DailyMail: Pictured: Three cheetahs spare tiny antelope's life... and play with him instead

Man on sex offender list for animated character "child" porn?

The Simpsons porn lands man on sex offender list

Ok... So, pictures of a nude child is child porn.
I get that.

But drawings characterizing nude children is child porn?
Maybe. There's no victim, but it's still bad mojo.

Cartoon caricatured nude fictional children is child porn?
No.


As an act of defiance, I will now post what must be considered child porn in Australia.


It is very graphic, you have been warned...






Last chance to stop!






There it is. To keep from going to jail, I recommend you erase your internet history, delete your cookies, and fire your computer into space on a rocket ship.

Enlist today!

Imagine Star Wars told from the perspective of a citizen of the empire. Sure, they do bad things, but they also support their citizens. I mean, government can't deliver 100% of the time, or be right 100% of the time, so it's really a best effort. Just how evil was the empire really?

Angel - Massive Attack

This is a (pretty good) fanvid, for the official music video, click here.

Whooaaaa...

Where were you when it happened?

New Los Angeles city council restrictions requires many medical marijuana dispensaries to close

LA Times: Dispensary operators say L.A. marijuana ordinance will harm patients

So... Why?

Why punish the dispensaries?

What was happening with these dispensaries that had to be stopped, and would it be stopped by decreasing the amount of them?

Why punish the medical marijuana users?

Is LA in the throes of a crime spree of medical marijuana users?
Are these medical marijuana users getting in ice cream trucks and throwing free samples at children?
What were these medical marijuana users doing to cause this action?

Ca. plan to release 6,500 felons starts today

UPDATE: 9 days later...

---

Are you ready?

From SacBee: California inmate release plan begins

The state's controversial plan to reduce its prison population by 6,500 inmates over the next year begins today,

6,500 is just the FIRST year. The ultimate goal is the early release of 40,000 felons.

The plan calls for inmates deemed low-risk offenders to earn credits on their prison sentences by completing rehabilitation and education programs [while outside of prison]

Well, they may be low-risk, but at least they're going to keep an eye on them.

In addition, offenders deemed low-risk would not be subject to parole supervision upon release from prison, meaning they would be less likely to be returned to prison for minor parole violations.

So they're going to release these "low-risk" offenders, and they're not going to watch them? And the reason they're not going to watch them is because they don't want to catch them breaking the law, and have them come back.

THAT IS NOT HOW INCARCERATION WORKS.

When criminals keep returning to prison for breaking laws, the solution is not to put on blinders so you can't see them break laws.

If criminals who get let out of prison early on the condition they don't break any more laws, break small laws, THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BREAK BIGGER LAWS!

Corrections director Matthew Cate has called the plan a "landmark achievement" in increasing public safety because it calls for parole agents to focus on higher risk parolees and cuts their average workloads from 70 parolees to 48.

Really? Releasing more felons from incarceration early will make the population safer?

Are you willing to bet your life on it, Mr Cate?


You don't look like someone who would bet their life.

Then why is it that you are betting OUR LIVES?!

What will you say when the first person is murdered?

Claim the system failed?
Argue that we need to try harder?
Offer an independent review?

What's the fucking point when Lily Burk lies dead in her own car with her throat slashed?

Oh yeah... Forgot about that did you?

Due to a clerical error, the violent home invader Charlie Samuel was classified as a low-risk offender. Which is why he was free to roam the streets, and slash Lily Burk's throat with a Pellegrino water bottle.

How many of the 6,500 will be Charlie Samuels? 50%? 25%? 10%? Lets be carelessly optimistic, and say 1%. That's 65 murders this year. Is that acceptable for the minor fiscal savings this program promises?

Lets not forget the plea deals DAs offer to keep the worst crimes off of the criminal's record in exchange for a guilty plea. The people who review these "low risk" cases will only see what the criminal pleaded guilty to.

Law enforcement officials ... expressed frustration at the notion of offenders returning to their communities – without supervision – at the same time budgets are being slashed and officers are getting laid off.

Oh yeah, this is the perfect idea at the perfect time.

You want to know the best part?

California is enjoying the lowest crime rates in decades.

Just as we begin reaping the rewards of the three strikes law, they intentionally begin action to make us less safe.

I'm an optimist, and I always begin by suspecting the best of intentions of others. But this? It's pretty goddamn hard to imagine how this could have been done with intentions other than, "Lets make the people hurt so they'll approve the taxes we want."

Bush and Halliburton!

Obama and Checchi?

HotAir: No-bid war contract goes to Dem donor


I can feel the hopechange!

Nay

Walther G22's 10 minute, 10 cent DIY Trigger Job 2

I was dry-firing the G22, and found that after the trigger break, there was so much overtravel with the tightened trigger, that I was tilting the rifle to the right on my follow through (I shoot left handed). When I slowed down, I could just barely hit the break without too much overtravel or tilt, but the heaviness of the trigger made it hard. The G22 needed a trigger stop.

After looking at the problem for a while, I figured the easiest way to get results was to get a short wood screw behind the trigger.


This trigger stop only works on G22s that have already had the 5 minute, 5 cent trigger job. The trigger break on a stock G22 is too far back to be able to use the trigger stop. Tighten it up to somewhere around here, and you should be good to go.

It was a little fiddly to get the hole started inside the trigger guard, but I did it. I wound up using a small drill bit, and turning it between my fingers.

It was slow going, but without a longer bit, attaching it to a drill would have made me approach the hole from a much steeper angle, and I wanted the hole as straight through as possible. I used the seam in the plastic body to find the center, and switched from right side to left when hand drilling (finger drilling?) the hole. Just make sure you don't go too deep, and start the hole at an angle.

Once it was deep enough to get the wood screw started, I screwed it in a little bit at an angle, just to get it started.


Then pushed the screw straight.


Then finished screwing it in straight with the screwdriver at an oblique angle.





Obviously, it took a little bit of time to adjust it properly. Taking it apart, turning the screw a quarter turn, putting it back together, testing, then doing it over again. Once you're pretty close, you can use needle nose pliers to make eighth turns while it's completely assembled.




When I was done, I had to leave a couple millimeters of overtravel because even through the trigger was tighter, the break was still mushy. Make sure you don't set the screw so far out that when you hit the screw there is a fraction of a second of hesitation before the hammer drops. Set your screw a bit past that, so you can pull straight through for a predictable break, but not so much that overtravel causes noticeable movement in your follow through.

When I was done, I could get somewhat clean trigger breaks, with no additional movement after the hammer drops. In fact, with this addition, I daresay the G22 trigger qualifies as "acceptable."

Not bad for a few minutes work and a screw I found in a jar.

I will of course, update this post if I find any problems with this modification. If you do this, and find issues, please let me know.

Go ahead. Do it. See what happens...

Calif. Democrats revive single-payer health care

Hail.

We has it.

Return of the Space Gun

I got my G22 back from S&W yesterday, and was pleased to find they returned it with a Walther rifle case. The sheet that came with it indicated they had repaired more than what I had expected.
Tight chamber: The reason I sent it in, I'm glad they agreed with my assessment.
Missing springs: Missing springs? What springs would be-- ooohhhh.... the magazine disconnect that I accidentally lost by accident, and not on purpose.
Replace trigger bar: Uh, ok. The trigger bar worked fine, but hey, I'm not going to complain.
Repair broken handle: Handle? ... Where is the handle? The closest thing to a handle I can think of is the raised rail mounted in front of the rear sight, but that's just part of the plastic body. It certainly wasn't broken when I sent it out, but hey, not going to complain...
Replace bolt: They replaced the entire bolt, and left it right-handed even though the original was lefty. Not a big deal, but I didn't see any issues with the original bolt. Not complaining.
Replace ejector: The ejector is a piece of metal. When I sent it out, aside from being caked with a thin layer of stubborn carbon that refused to be removed, it was still a piece of metal. Not complaining.
Tested with CCI STD VEL: Cool.

I immediately took it apart and inspected the parts that had apparently been replaced. The mag disconnect was, indeed, the replaced "missing springs." I quickly re-lost that part, by accident and not on purpose. What? That spring is tiny, and shoots out when you open it up! I removed the bolt and switched it from right handed to left. I couldn't find the original 5 cent trigger job, so I cut up the box it arrived in, and made another. The trigger tightened up nicely, just as it did before.

I lubed, cleaned, and reassembled it for some dry-firing, and found that after the trigger break, there was so much overtravel with the newly tightened trigger, that I was canting the rifle to the right on my follow through (shooting left handed, remember). When I slowed down, I could just barely hit the break without too much overtravel or cant, but the heaviness of the trigger made it hard. I needed a trigger stop.

After looking at the problem for a while, I figured the easiest way to get results was to insert a short wood screw behind the trigger. It was a little fiddly to get the hole started inside the trigger guard, but I did it. I wound up using a small drill bit, and turning it between my fingers. It was slow going, but without a longer bit, attaching it to anything would have made me approach the hole from a much steeper angle, and I wanted the hole as straight through as possible. I used the seam in the plastic body to get my center, and switched from right side to left when hand drilling (finger drilling?) the hole. Once it was deep enough to get the wood screw started, I screwed it in a little bit at an angle, and pushed the screw straight, then finished screwing it in straight with the screwdriver at an oblique angle. The result was a few millimeters of overtravel (had to leave enough to get past the squishy break), and no canting on the follow through. Beautiful. I'll soon have a full post up on this with lots of pictures. I'll call it the 10 cent trigger job :)

Can't wait to shoot it.


There's something about the G22...

Quote of a little-known footnote

If every Jewish and anti-nazi family in Germany had owned a Mauser rifle and twenty rounds of ammunition and the will to use it, Adolf Hitler would be a little-known footnote to the history of the Weimar Republic.
~Aaron Zelman
Co-founder of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

From SurvivalBlog

Dems not sure Bernanke has enough votes to be re-confirmed?!

Hoooolyyyyy sheeeeeeettttt......

I'm no fan of Helicopter Ben. It's almost too good for me to get my hopes up.

Lobbyist firms post double digit increases for the year amid recession!

Huh.

Banner year, eh?

What was it that happened a year ago yesterday?

Damn... It's on the tip of my tongue...

He likes guns.

The reason I keep my blog

To be able to refer back to my thoughts when I want to question the hard decisions I've made.

As much as I want to believe you, I know what's going to happen.

Quote of the fair and balanced journalism

In short, in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees.
~Keith Olberman

Keith, you forgot child molester and puppy kicker.

This is, of course, after Keith said that a win for Brown would be because Massachusetts is racist. (now, not back when they elected Obama by a landslide) Oh yeah, also pickup trucks are racist.

Keep it up Keith.

Keep on digging.

I'm looking forward to not being able to recall your name.

From Uncle

The Last Remaining Light - Audioslave

[direct link]

California tax traps

We've been an LLC for one day, and we've already been burned by California. :)

Nothing too serious, thankfully. Just an expense we thought we'd be avoiding, but it gets tacked on anyway.

Just goes to show; no matter how many people you trust say something, it's always worth your time to do a fucking Google search.

I feel wiser.

But it's that don't-touch-the-hot-stove kind of wiser that you still resent just a little bit.

Some folks are going to get a phone call tomorrow...

Update: Goddamnit. Turns out this will cost more than expected. I begin to doubt the proficiency of the people I've been talking to. Le sigh.

Update again! Wow. There is a staggering amount of misinformation out there. I guess I shouldn't be so upset the people I was talking to weren't 100% clear. We're paying for an hour of a corporate accountant's time so we can get recommendations from someone who really knows. Hell, we might even pay for a second opinion.

Change has come to Massachusetts

I just had to make it.

Requiem for a Dream

The film depicts different forms of addiction, leading to the characters’ imprisonment in a dream world of delusion and reckless desperation that is subsequently overtaken and devastated by reality.
~Roger Ebert

The trailer, while cool, tells you little about the movie.

Two days ago we watched it for the first time, it was on a movie channel, and we missed the first 10 minutes, but the rest of the movie was amazing. Today we just happened to open the netflix envelopes that had been sitting unopened for months (since we were just watching netflix on the XBOX 360) and were surprised to find Requiem for a Dream. Someone else must have told us to watch it. The movie was so powerful the first time, I almost didn't believe it was as good as it seemed. My wife popped it in to watch the first 10 minutes we missed, but we wound up watching the whole thing again.

I think it was better the second time.

The intensity of the movie was not dulled by knowing what to expect, nor was the emotional involvement muted by knowing the ultimate fate of the characters.

I'll have to watch it a few more times to be sure, but this might be my new favorite movie.

Watch it.

80 mph winds, and water spouts, and tornado watches, OH MY!

It got pretty rough for a while there.

It occurs to me that if an official tornado touches down in southern California, the great weather can no longer be a reason stay here.

Quote of the burning of books

The destruction of those firearms I find as, or more, disturbing as I would the burning of books.
~Joe Huffman

The reason a government burns books, is to squelch dissenting ideas. To halt the propagation of ideals contrary to those of the state. How can they control how you think if they don't control what goes into your head?

The reason a government destroys private guns, is to cement their monopoly on force. If you have to make people do things they don't want to do, it certainly won't do to have your agents getting shot. How can they threaten you with violence when you can threaten them with violence right back?

The idea that eliminating private gun ownership creates some utopia of non-violence has been thoroughly disproven by real-life example after real-life example. The only utopia this action creates is one for those who do not follow the law.

The quote was in response to a video at that link. It has to do with the United Nations' plan for "dealing" with private firearm ownership in America.

Rain

Don't get to see this kind of stuff on our radar very often. Even during El Nino, when it rained for almost two weeks straight, I don't think it was as bad as this. It's also really windy, which actually worries me more than the rain. It's supposed to go until Friday.

Honestly, we need the rain, but our already taxed infrastructure has me worried. It doesn't take much to start the dominos, but it's hard to stop them once they've started, and it's damn hard to get them set back up again.

I'll just hope for the best and drive carefully.

I'll probably rotate out the water storage. Maybe get the pantry back up to full capacity too.

Mass shootings, you hear about. Armed citizens stopping them, you don't.

direct link

This one almost slipped past me. Did YOU hear about this on your local news? Or on CNN? Or MSNBC? Did they have 24 hours of continuous coverage of the events? Did they applaud the citizen for stopping what could have been a mass murder by a crazed individual?

Nope.

How often do you think citizens pull guns on criminals, and defend themselves without the police?

How could you even guess when there's no one telling you about it?

Quote of the Nazis

We're not the Nazis, dipwad. We're the people hiding the Jews.
~Geek with a .45

Reporting for duty

Over a year ago, I picked up a Cold Steel Jungle Dart



I got it because it looked useful, but never really figured out what to do with it. So it sat in a box.

A little bit ago I was trolling for new knives I don't need -- because I'm a knife-o-holic -- and found a good suggestion for the jungle dart. Shower duty.

It has a rubber grip on it, so it would still be sure in soapy hands, it's made of fiber glass, so it won't rust or corrode in the hot, wet environment of the shower, it's light, so it won't be heavy enough to hurt if it falls onto you, and it's as simple as any other stiletto, so you don't have to worry if you're caught off guard. I removed the ring it comes on, because it didn't seem to aid in retention in any way, and added another dimension of bulk to it.

So the Jungle Dart reported for Shower Duty last night, after I found it in a box somewhere. First, I tested it out on an old leather couch we had, just for piece of mind. It stopped abruptly at the wood, but punctured the leather easily, leaving a triangular opening. Width is important for puncture wounds, since skin tends to want to close around them. After hitting the wood a few times, I grabbed a knife and shaved a little bit off the point at the last few millimeters. I reduced the angle to make the tip stronger, and leave a sharp point.

Now that I think about it, I can think of a few other places I can hide or tape these. For $6, it's hard not to.

---

Some gunbloggers have been dismissive of the bathroom/shower attack, but I don't understand why. Aside from the external visibility of bathroom lights or fogged shower windows, it's all about cost vs benefit.

The cost is easy; for $6, you can put it on the ledge above your shower. There are no further conceivable costs. You buy it, you put it there, it sits there. No maintenance, no double checking, nothing. It sits there forever.

The benefit is extremely high; a human fighting another human is difficult. We don't have sharp claws, protruding jaws, or armor of any kind. In fact, we're rather fragile against edged or pointed trauma. You can punch or kick, but you're still not going to do a terrible amount of damage, unless you target sensitive areas. A pointed or edged weapon becomes a force multiplier in this situation. A human with a pointed or edged weapon is significantly more dangerous than one without. Getting the upper hand while grappling with an experienced criminal in a slippery shower, or the tight confines of a bathroom is almost impossible. Put a stabbing weapon in your hand, and your chances of not only survival, but actual victory shoot up.

Of course, the chances of you ever having to use it are imperceptibly thin. You're probably more likely to be struck by lightning. But, as I like to say; no matter the odds, people do still win the lottery, and there are some lotteries you do not want to win.

Besides, what's the worst thing that happens if you buy it and don't need it? You're out $6?

But what's the worst thing that happens if you DON'T buy it and you DO need it?

Econ 101: Moral Hazard -- send this to your senator

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like religion without hell.

From HotAir

Powerful: "You're utterly ... alone."

Reporter Steve Harrigan is overcome with emotion in Haiti.


It gets heavy around 2:30.

I'm not a fan of ye olde media, but you just can't catch that kind of emotion from a tweet, or a blog post, or a written article.

Hat tip to HotAir

Actual detail of airport body scanners

So far, this is all we've been able to see of the airport body scanners;




Whoops.



When you watch this video, keep two things in mind.

First, pay attention to the 3D image scanning, and the detail that is visible (franks and beans). The only image of this kind of scan that I've been able to find is the one above, which is significantly less detailed, and implies that this is all they can see. The video shows the 3D imaging is much more revealing.

Secondly, we're used to seeing that ghostly white image of the vague outline of the body shape, but in the video, it's very clear that there is a way to zoom in on the image, and increase the contrast. It seems very likely that presenting the zoomed, low contrast image would have been too shocking to people. Instead, they show the white blob, and let the TSA operator zoom in with a tiny viewing square. I'm sure you noticed that the TSA agent avoided zooming in on the full breast of the woman scanned. I wonder if this was because he knew he had a camera over his shoulder, and didn't want to show just how much detail there is in the zoomed image.

Once again, imagine your wife, son, or daughter being leered at by some minimum wage high school dropout with no criminal background check done prior to employment.

Wonder how many pedophiles are applying to TSA right now...

New Year's Eve - 4:30pm - pounding at your door-

You are expecting someone, but don't think they would knock like that. On your way to the door, you put a small gun in your pocket just in case. Something's up. You look out your peephole and see a young woman, she looks almost like a school teacher, she sees someone at the door, and begs you to let her in-- two men just tried to rape her, but she got away. You can hear in her voice that she's about to break down. She needs your help.

Turn to page 35 to open the door

Turn to page 71 to keep the door closed













You open the door for her, she rushes inside and almost collapses in your arms. You catch her, and as you do, two men appear in the doorway she just came through! You try to reach for the pistol, but your body doesn't react! You try harder but your arm barely moves, you try to warn her, but you can only wheeze. The young woman you tried to help steps back and turns to the two men and gestures them to enter. She says something but sounds far away and underwater. You notice the handle of a steak knife sticking out of your chest. You fall to the floor, numb. You wonder what will happen to your children as the black slowly encroaches on your vision, until it is all you can see.

You have died. You should have read this first.

But you kept your finger on the page! It doesn't count! Go back to page 14?






You reach for the doorknob, but something in the back of your mind tells you you're making a mistake. You tell the woman to wait a minute, and walk to the hall. You tell your wife to call 911 and tell her to arm herself in case the two men are still around. You return to the door and look through the peephole again, the woman looks more annoyed than afraid, you tell her to wait just a little longer, and she pleads that you open the door again. Your wife calls for you to describe her, and you begin describing her to your wife through the peephole. The woman suddenly looks startled and runs away. Confused, you wait for the police. Once they arrive, they tell you a woman matching the description had just robbed a man at knife point, and fled the scene with two men. You get the feeling you may have narrowly escaped something terrible.

Good think you read FerFAL's blog.

Weapon Maintenance

I've was neglecting my workout toward the end of last year, and realized I wasn't developing the lung capacity I should have, so I decided to bite the bullet and do something I've been neglecting. Run.

Of course, running is the most utilitarian skill of survival. Why go straight to survival? Why not just run for fitness? Well, because if I think everything is going to be rainbows and sunshine until the day I die, I don't really care if I'm fat and happy. But, as with so many other things in my life, I'd rather have the ability to run and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Ok, so I want to be able to run. Second problem; the only cardio I did while I was working out properly was stationary bike, and stationary bike exercise does not translate to running exercise. Aside from that exercise, I've been sitting in front of a computer for 6 years, during which time, I developed asthma as a result of a respiratory infection. (I got better :) I pretty much had the lung capacity of a smoker. So I'd have to take it slow. Real slow.

I found this Couch to 5K Running Plan somewhere on the blogosphere, (if you're the gunblogger that posted it, lemme know, and I'll attribute it) and I bookmarked it because it included the word "couch," and actually seemed possible for someone as out of running shape as me.

So all that was left was getting vertical in the morning, strappin' shoes to my feet, and going outside.

I started Monday with what I called my run-jog-walk-wheeze, and got a no-nonsense view of how incapable I really was. It would be good drive to get out of bed next time.

Since I was getting up early, instead of dragging myself out of bed, into the shower, and to work, I had time to fix a proper breakfast. So I've been eating three egg whites with one full egg scrambled with a cut up polish sausage and two pieces of toast. The combination of the 20 minutes of activity and the hearty breakfast has made my days a lot easier to get through. More energy, more positive attitude, sleeping better, just good all around. I'm seriously thinking the human body was meant to run with at least 20 minutes of cardio a day.

The first day was bad. Legs got tight and sore on my shins quickly, and I couldn't keep pace with the 60/90 timing. My lungs weren't keeping up with my legs. I couldn't get oxygen into my system fast enough.

Second day I didn't feel very sore, so instead of skipping the day as in the schedule, I did the second workout. I could tell my lungs were catching up with my legs, and held the 60/90 timing pretty well. I had extra time after I finished breakfast, and instead of just watching the news (if I could find it), I started playing with the violin until it was time to get ready for work. More energy, more activity.

Third day (today) I didn't feel sore again, so I went for it. It had rained, and it the air was cool. I could beat the 60/90 timing by a bit, and my lungs had caught up with my legs, which doesn't say much, but it was definitely an improvement.

I think I'm going to continue not skipping a day between workouts.

I intend on posting my progress to hold myself accountable to teh intarwebz. Who knows? Maybe I'll get back to running as fast as I did in high school track.



This is still funny though.

On a drive through LA

I saw a biker with a crazy design on the back of his leather riding vest. Under the design were the words "Dental Plan." All I could think was "Lisa needs braces."

Razzle Dazzle Space Gun

Even though the Space Gun is not yet back from S&W, I couldn't help but draw up some possibilities.

1


2


3


4


5


6


7


I'm partial to number 5.


thought I was kidding, did ya?

Constitutionality of permanent imprisonment after prison time served up to supreme court

Read that post title again.

The highest court in the land, the supreme court... is going to hear a case... about whether or not it is constitutional... to permanently imprison criminals... after they have served their prison time.

Is that processing?

Now, what on Earth could possibly possess people to believe it could be a good idea to give the government the power to hold people indefinitely, after they have served their time?

Oh shit...

US News: Supreme Court to Hear Sex Offender Imprisonment Case

I didn't realize we were talking about SEX OFFENDERS! Well, shit, in that case, lets broaden the government's powers to identify sex offenders by putting cameras in everyone's home, and give investigators the power to enter homes without a warrant, copy computer contents for review! Hell, while we're at it, lets get cameras mounted to everyone's heads so we can tell if people are looking at children for too long! Fathers that spend hours looking at their kids? OBVIOUSLY SOON-TO-BE RAPISTS! LOCK THEM ALL UP! And teachers? They look at hundreds of children every day for hours at a time! HOW CAN WE LET THIS STAND?! Doctors claim to be doing "medical exams" on children, but WE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE THINKING! LOCK THEM ALL UP!

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!


That's right, even capital "L" libertarians will go "full retard" when the subject of sex offenders comes up. So let me make this clear...


If you want to imprison sex offenders for life, you CHANGE THE GODDAMN LAW.

You do NOT grant a series of bureaucrats a new power to imprison people who- by their own definition- are rehabilitated!


I understand that the system we have right now doesn't work. When people who simply possess a standard capacity ammunition magazine go to jail longer than child molesters, you know the system is broken.

The solution is not to add new powers to do something that we have the power to change.

When the blade on your lawnmower is dull, you don't attach a kitchen knife to a motor, hang it in front of your broken mower, and push it around your yard.

Because that would be obtuse, stupid, and dangerous.

Because that's exactly what this law is.

So sharpen the blade. Fix the sentencing limits. If you think child molesters should get life in prison (and, I do) then change the law so those convicted can get life without possibility of parole.


This is unbelievable.


The Golem will turn.

Is it warm in here?

I think I'm going to switch to shorts.

Believe me, I'll be the first one to list the many, MANY reasons why my state sucks, but the weather sure ain't one of 'em.

Cold enough for ya?

Detail of Airport Body Scanner images

UPDATE: Actually, there may be more detail than I thought...

---

I saw this image, supposedly from the same body scanners that are being proposed for use in airports.


Original, NSFW version

This is an obvious departure from what we are used to seeing from these body scan images. While it was conceivable the resolution was turned down a little bit for the publicly released pictures, it seemed impossible the resolution was actually this good, and no one who knew batted an eyelash when they saw the white blob of shape on the publicly released images.

The site the image was on credits this site for the images. Click left and right through the photos at the top to see scan images.

I found these images distressing.

I do not approve of this kind of detail being visible to the moonlighting burger flippers hired to TSA.

Fortunately, with a bit of digging, I was able to discover the German site that presented the images apparently created a body scan-style effect on stock photos of a nude woman, and put the picture next to a woman of the same body type with a gun jammed in an inconvenient place (the seat of her jeans, presumably because they couldn't find a spot to pretend to hide it on that marvelous example of the female form) and let the viewer assume this was an actual representation of the scanning technology.

Link to the stock photo set here, link to exact picture here. The photo was just too perfect, and the negative of the photo was just barely in color. Just didn't seem right, and it wasn't.

So, it's good news that this kind of resolution is not yet available to the bottom rung of government employees, but to be quite honest; this is still rather revealing. Can you imagine your wife or daughter on one of these scanners?
Actually, there may be more detail than I thought.

Yeah, yeah, I know the guy who reviews these images is supposed to be 3000 miles away, in a locked room, in a bunker, in a hole, in the bottom of the sea, and the software has no storage memory, and it was programmed by Tibetan monks in the witness protection program, but all that kind of flies out the window when Miley Cyrus shows up, and former ditch digger, now TSA employee Zeke McRapist texts his bud in the secret room to take a cell phone picture of the image when he tells him.

Guess we can count the days until the first celebrity body scan gets sold to TMZ for $1,000,000.

I don't give a shit if it looks like Total Recall, these are a waste of money that wouldn't have stopped the underwear bomber anyway.


Meh. Flying's a hassle anyways. I'll swim to Hawaii.

BUSH PROMISES TRANSPARENCY, ALLOWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF ONLY 1 HR. OF NEGOTIATIONS!

Oh, no wait, it was Obama, and -- wait -- what is this? Does this mean...? Do traditionally liberal news agencies care??? Can this be?

Meh.

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.

I'll believe it the third time I see CNN hold Obama's feet to the fire.


Think this is just an isolated thing? Think Obama really is CHANGING things after Bush? Read more of these posts here and think again.

Quote of Obama's War on Terror

I am less interested in passing out blame than I am learning from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer. For ultimately, the buck stops with me. As president I have a solemn responsibility to protect this nation and our people. And when the system fails, it is my responsibility.

[snip]

We are at war. We are at war against Al Qaeda. A far reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9/11, that killed nearly 3000 innocent people, and that is plotting to strike us again. And we will do whatever it takes to defeat them.

Responsibility is something this administration has lacked for a year. I hope this is the beginning of a change.

Obama: "The buck stops with me."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Which president is this again?

But seriously; great speech, and surprisingly direct. Good for him, but I'll hold the majority of my praise for the first national security success under his watch.

From HotAir

I keed, I keed!

Seattle PI: Hanes Drops Charlie Sheen Ads

Maybe they should just have him sell their "wife beater" undershirts.

Convincing

FACT: Saying "fact" before your statement makes it more convincing.

Google makes no suggestions completing the phrase "Islam is"

Google suggest fails to make suggestions for phrases beginning with "Islam is"

Go to Google, and type in "Christianity is" or "Judaism is" or any other religion, and you'll get suggestions for search terms that are usually less than approving of the particular faith.

But type in "Islam is" (without the quotes), and the suggestions disappear.

Google claims this is a bug, and for a minute I almost believed them. Perhaps "is" appearing in the word followed by "is" created some kind of redundancy that the algorithm escaped, but "island is" and "isotope is" work just fine.

What clenched it was when I wrote "muslims are" and the suggestions disappeared again.

Google providing no suggestions for "Islam is" is NOT A BUG.

It's them censoring because they're afraid.

TSA Agents caught at off-duty party doing drugs

CBS News: Exclusive: TSA Workers Caught Using Drugs?

The investigation began late last year when a TSA Agent was arrested for allegedly counterfeiting parking passes at the employee parking lot. In his house, police found a videotape. On it was an after hours party where other TSA agents were allegedly using drugs, reports KCAL's David Goldstein.

TSA sources say the tape was turned over to investigators. Each employee identified was ordered to take a drug test. TSA won't say how many, but each one who failed was fired, Goldstein reports.

Hey, we should just be happy they even tested them.

He wouldn't talk specifics, but said the agency has random drug testing, and claims the employees would have been caught even without the video.

Oh, I'm sure their random drug testing program is effective, because everyone knows that when there is a threat of random drug testing, lots of employees hold parties with their coworkers where they do drugs.

None of the employees was charged with any crimes. Even the TSA agent caught counterfeiting parking passes wasn't prosecuted because no one he sold to would come forward, notes Goldstein.

Yep. Sounds like a federal agency.

These are the folks that are supposed to be keeping us safe.

Is there ANYTHING the government does well? (besides spending our money)

Getting back up to speed

Last month has been demanding, last two weeks have been exhausting, this month is shaping up to be a busy one already. But this is work-for-your-new-small-business-busy, not just life-busy. Any of that kind of work is good work. Made four business calls just today, took furious notes, and coordinated people. Started to feel in my element. It's a good feeling.

Anyway, I've been so busy I haven't even had time to catch up on my favorite blogs and webcomics, so if I've been missed on your comment pages, my apologies.

I've been insta-blogging lately, but I just haven't been gripped by anything enough to get long-winded. Dunno if that's good or bad. Whatever.

One gunny high point was me getting a gun I've wanted for years.

The choice may seem surprising since it's not technically a practical rifle, considering today's alternatives. Frankly, I was considering skipping this rifle entirely, and going for its evolutionary successor, but that would cost twice as much. So I went for it, and boy do I love my CMP service grade Garand. More fawning later.

The Space Gun is at S&W getting repaired, and I expect it back next week. I'm still working on a good pattern for the dazzle camouflage I'm going to give it. It's going to be sweet.

I'll try to finish up some of the posts I have sitting in the draft folder, but I promise nothing. :)

Dunno what movie this is from, but I want to see it.

Today I saw a man

Today
I saw a man
With a flaming eight ball tattoo'd on his arm

Ca. hoist with its own petard on stimulus spending

Mercury News: Calif. watchdog: Historic reviews slow stimulus

Remember how the Governator was begging the Feds for stimulus money? Remember how California found out it was leaving half a TRILLION dollars on the table EACH YEAR because of excessive regulation?

Well, to borrow a parlance of a certain pastor of a certain president, California's chickens have come home to roost.

The Obama Administration approved California's bailout stimulus money, funding "public works" projects and postponing California's inevitable collapse.

Only problem is, California's excessive regulation, bureaucracy, and red tape is holding up the approval of the projects.

Dozens of construction projects funded with federal stimulus money are being delayed in California because the office that oversees historic preservation is overwhelmed with applications, the state's stimulus watchdog said Monday.

Of course, the other issue is the recent budget cuts (the real ones, not the fake ones) have reduced staffing in these offices.

The state Office of Historic Preservation ... is just one of many agencies that must sign off on construction projects before they can begin.

California's bureaucracy puts it in dire financial straits, an infusion of money arrives to help the state stay afloat, and the money is held up by bureaucrats.

It's almost poetic.

Title and story from HotAir