Sad but true….

Update: The creator of the sign found. With h/t to Eyes Never Close.

According to Six over at The Warrior Class, I and worthy of the Stylish Blogger Award thus confirming at least one of his three major concussions.

As per the “rules,” part 1 requires that I must fess up seven things about me that must people do not generally know. So here I go:

1. I can make old school home-made napalm: Gasoline and real soap. It is tricky as hell to make but it burns better in my opinion than the Styrofoam & gas mix. It also came in handy a couple of times as deterrent South of the Border.
2. I have no phobias or any other type of irrational fears. I do have a healthy animosity against snakes and I’ve been known to dispose of them with the above-mentioned method.
3. I inherited my mother’s green thumb but hate gardening. If I had my druthers, the small garden we have would be covered in paving bricks with a twice-yearly application of eradicator for any wandering blade of weed.
4. I used to hate cats till I got married. My wife won that fight among many others and now I serve a feline.
5. I drive like an old lady and respect the posted speed limits plus 5 mph. I have never got a moving violation in my life. However, if you are in my vehicle, do not taunt me and dare me to drive fast as you will finish the trip with gray hair and a bad ticker.
6. I hold grudges forever. I am still holding on 2 from my second grade.  I will easily rescind with a heartfelt apology but there is an expiration date depending on the quality of the offense.
7. I will not step into any body of salt water. The damn seas tried to kill me three times plus I get seasick. I am dumb and slow to learn lessons, but this one is officially engraved in my neural pathways. “But you live in Miami!” you say. Yes, but 11 miles inland.

And now I must nominate 10 bloggers to become also recipients of the Stylish Award.

• Suburban Sheepdog. My shooting friend Robert (The loudest Voice in IDPA measured in decibels alone) recently started his blogging discipline.
• Monster Hunter Nation. Larry Correia (and I announce it Portuguese) and the whole MHI world.
• Uncommon Gunsense. Gail being Gail and I am not saying more because I am afriad of her abilities with a knife.
• My Gun Culture. There is something wrong with the mind behind this blog…I love it.
• Every Day, No Days Off. On design alone is deserving, but the content sometimes is apotheosis.
• Anthroblogogy. The description of the blog is worth the award alone. I still cannot pronounce the damn name of the blog.
• The Massad Ayoob Blog. It is Mas… what else do you need to know?
• no guns – keine waffen ! A German pro-gun Blog. It is hard and ballsy to be the lone voice in the ordung wilderness. No, I don’t read German but I abuse Google Translate.
• Day by Day. I really don’t know if you can call it a blog in the strict sense of the word, but it comes out daily and it bites hard. Plus it has the hottest cartoon chicks since Jessica Rabbit.
• Conservative Scalawag. The name alone is stylish!

I am missing many more and probably repeated awards, but that is my list and I am sticking to it.

(sent via email by my beloved blond)
An old prospector shuffled into town leading an old tired mule.

The old man headed straight for the only saloon to clear his parched
throat.

He walked up and tied his old mule to the hitch rail.  As he stood
there, brushing some of the dust from his face and clothes, a young
gunslinger stepped out of the saloon with a gun in one hand and a bottle
of whiskey in the other.

The young gunslinger looked at the old man and laughed, saying, “Hey old
man, have you ever danced?”
The old man looked up at the gunslinger and said, “No, I never did
dance… never really wanted to.”
A crowd had gathered as the gunslinger grinned and said,  “Well, you old
fool, you’re gonna dance now,” and started shooting at the old man’s
feet.

The old prospector –not wanting to get a toe blown off– started
hopping around like a flea on a hot skillet.  Everybody was laughing,
fit to be tied.

When his last bullet had been fired, the young gunslinger, still
laughing, holstered his gun and turned around to go back into the
saloon.

The old man turned to his pack mule, pulled out a double-barreled
shotgun, and cocked both hammers.

The loud clicks carried clearly through the desert air.
The crowd stopped laughing immediately.

The young gunslinger heard the sounds too, and he turned around very
slowly.  The silence was almost deafening.

The crowd watched as the young gunman stared at the old timer and the
large gaping holes of those twin barrels.

The barrels of the shotgun never wavered in the old man’s hands, as he
quietly said, “Son, have you ever licked a mule’s ass?”
The gunslinger swallowed hard and said, “No sir….. but… I’ve always
wanted to.”

There are a few lessons for us all here:

Never be arrogant.
Don’t waste ammunition.
Whiskey makes you think you’re smarter than you are.
Always, always make sure you know who has the power.
Don’t mess with old men, they didn’t get old by being stupid.

Just so we are clear: It will not happen anytime soon.

The reason? The “A” part and the “T” part in ATF. The yearly income for  excise taxes for Alcohol and Tobacco is somewhere in the 25 to 30 billion dollars range according from what I quickly gathered in the interwebs which goes to fund SCHIP and killing funds for that program is political suicide anywhere.  Excise taxes for firearms and ammunition in comparison rack under 500 million dollars yearly which half goes back for wildlife conservation (Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act) which is not politically sexy across the board.

So if instead of Blog Chest Puffing we use a bit of common sense, we could achieve what needs to be done.

1) Have Congress create legislation that separates any weapons criminal investigation from BATFE and have it transferred to the FBI. Also anything that is related to NFA records and compliance.

2) Keep the excise tax control in the hands of the Treasury Department so they do not have their accountant bitch too much.

3) Have the Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility review the files of every ATF agent involved in weapons’ investigations and, if their credentials are impeccable, allow them to transfer to the FBI or given a choice in another Federal Law Enforcement agency. Prosecute only the most blatant of violators and let the rest go.

It is my opinion that this will be the smartest way to amputate the rogues in the agency and bring peace to gun owners.

The results are in.

CDP Champion: Todd McGowan    Master 42.75 (11)
ESP Champion: Morgan Allen    Master 39.15 (1)
SSP Champion: Andy Zavalla    Master 41.31 (6)
ESR Champion: Gregg Kratochvil    Expert 44.56 (4)
SSR Champion: Gregg Kratochvil    Master 44.73 (7)

High Senior: Jose Garcia    ESP – Expert 43.80 (5)
High Lady: Katherine Spolsdoff    SSP – Sharpshooter 56.95 (13)
High Law Enforcement: Daren Kirts    SSP – Master 41.33 (11)
High Press: John Strayer    ESP – Master 47.71 (8)
High Industry: Matt Holmes    SSP – Master 45.82 (12)
High International: Mikhail Gushchin    SSP – Master 44.25 (19)
High Junior: Katherine Spolsdoff    SSP – Sharpshooter 56.95 (13)
High Military: Mikhail Gushchin    SSP – Master 44.25 (19)
High Military Veteran: Todd McGowen    ESP – Master 40.66 (8)
High Distinguished Senior: Bill Nesbitt    SSP – Master 42.42 (4)
Most Accurate: Leonard Greski    SSP – Expert 53.80 (0)

I want to particular congratulate Jose Garcia who shoots in our club and the nicest guy you could ever wish to shoot with for coming first in High Senior. And as I am reminded 1) High Senior means highest Senior Score, not under the effects of pain medication and 2) I am one now….damn it!

I am kinda behind several things and I must get them done. Truck needs an oil change and a check up before going to the Florida IDA State Match, need to drop by Home Depot and get the materials for the modification of the Tactical Green Kid’s Wagon (What i use to carry all the shooting crap), find a huge umbrella for such wagon, finish one article and edit it plus edit the one is already finished and send them to Kathy, buy socks, buy raincoat for both the missus and myself (she will kill me if it rains again during the match)….. and I know I am forgetting something……

Crap… gotta go to the range and practice some. At least I reloaded enough ammo.

I have to admit, it made me smile. 🙂

This evening, Monday March 7, 2011, at approximately 7:07 p.m., Portland Police officers responded to a residence in the 2700 block of Southwest Rutland Terrace after a subject called 9-1-1 to report that he just broke into the residence and that the owner arrived home. The caller told 9-1-1 that he was concerned that the homeowner might have a gun.

The homeowner arrived home and found the suspect inside the house and the suspect was in the bathroom taking a shower. The homeowner, along with his two German Shepherds, asked the suspect what he was doing in the house and the suspect then locked himself in the bathroom and called 9-1-1. The homeowner also called 9-1-1 and told the call-taker that he found a man in his house.

Officers from Central Precinct along with a K-9 unit responded to the residence and took the suspect into custody without incident.