Nov 30th

Nov 30th - Harry Potter. Just watched the movie. Very well done. Finally, a first! A book has been made into a movie without totally fucking up the story! I am impressed. If you haven't seen it, it is worth the read. Seriously. It isn't the best movie I have ever seen - but for those morons that have said "I'll wait for the movie" instead of reading the book... You finally have vindication. Suck it up while you can. I am pleased that Hollywood wasn't in control of making this... if they did make it... they would have put in a gun fight, a car chase, and a sex scene.

There are a couple things that Ogre is grateful for right now. #1 is FOUR WHEEL DRIVE. #2 is a FIREPLACE. Why? I'll tell you why... because in the last 24 hours Orem Utah has been subject to a downfall of 2 feet of snow. Other places in Utah has more. It has been falling non-stop... hasn't even slowed down yet. Normally, I don't care about the weather... but this is just different. This is enough to convince me that I will never buy anything but a four wheel drive vehicle. I've seen only a few accidents and this is good. Normally Utah drivers are rude jackasses, but at least they know how to drive in the snow. If this was in Virginia, it would be a state of emergency and everything would be shut down. People would be getting killed on the roads because they don't know how to drive in the snow. Even guys with Land-Rover 4X4s. I saw a brand new LR Disco spin out and slide off the road into a tree. Still had the window sticker in it. Totaled because the jackhole didn't know how to drive it. In Virginia - and this is the truth - if it is reported that there will be snow, within the hour there will be such a run at the stores that all the bread and milk will be GONE. Seriously. Utah? Man, it just keeps going. You can't even use this weather as an excuse for being tardy!

Nov 29 - US ARMY SNIPER TRAINING. For those interested in this stuff... (I am) Here is the US ARMY's book: GO ARMY!

Reader Mail: “Hey Ogre, Just picked up the Pro Eclipse today-wow, what a beautiful gun! If this thing shoots as good as it looks.... I also wanted you to know that I have been following the page for a while, good stuff. I guess my question is, could it be that you were adopted? My wife yells at me for most of my thoughts on certain issues so it's good to find a "kindred soul" for a good laugh and an occasional "amen". I hope everything is going well with the wheat thing and the whole liver deal. If there is ever a time when I could be of service, I would be honored. Thanks for the laughs at a time when we all need them, and the wake up calls for those of us that get caught sleeping (sometimes). Just a note to say thanks, Jim” Thank you Jim... I am glad you like your new Kimber. There is something about a 1911 that just feels right. I can't put my finger on it - but it is there in the 1911 (Any 1911) and not really found in other handguns.

Iraq says it will defeat a US Attack. Right. Just like they did last time. Sodamn Insane is posturing for his slaves or subjects or what ever he calls the poor saps that live in Iraq. Iraq couldn't defend us last time, you remember that don't you? That was when we liberated Kuait and ravaged Iraq's military. We destroyed every military asset across 1/2 the whole country and since then we have enforced a no fly zone that covers over 1/2 the country. They can't even fly in their own dang country! Screw Iraq. We need to liberate Iraq from this insane Dictator and establish a US Friendly puppet government. Coming soon: An email from some Iraqi-American telling me to fuck off!

Nov 28th - I have acquired a new bit of software... Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I am glad I didn't pay full retail on this. It is a typical FPS game that is very much like Quake II. It looks great as it is built on the Quake III engine. You can read my discussion about it over at TFL.

Email from reader, Matt again... "Dear Ogre, Being fairly rude upon occasions yourself, I consider this a compliment... The "kiss my ass" part does not translate well as is, I would suggest "m'embrasser le cul" instead of "embrasser mon âne", which really means "kiss my donkey"... Have a nice day!" Ditto.

Nov 27th - Email from a reader: "From: Mathieu Thibault [mailto:meanfrenchie@yahoo.ca] Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 6:01 AM: Dear Ogre, Let me introduce you to my son. His name is Simon Guillaume Thibault, he is 21 months old. His first ancestor to set foot in America was Michel Thibault, arriving c.1669 in Quebec city, where he settled with his second wife. He survived the Indian Wars of c.1700 to die at over 100 years of age. Three of my son's ancestors were hung during the 1839 repression of the Lower Canada Patriots for their participation in an attempted coup to overthrow the British occupation. His grandpa and grandma were jailed for 8 days in October 1970, without formal accusations, under the War Measures Act because they had in their possession poetry books by so-called subversive authors. Yet, he is what you call a "French Canadian", and you openly despise him for belonging to an ethnic group. On his behalf, mine and my 6 million fellow citizens, fuck you, George." Hey, thanks for the email Matt, I am glad that you and your 6 Million read Mad Ogre and are so passionate about it! You know, I have met and delt with many French Canadians and have found them all to be bloody rude bastards... Thanks for proving my point. Seriously though... 8 days for a poetry book? Damn... That is some harsh shit. You have my deepest condolences. Vous pouvez embrasser mon âne.

Nov 26th - Shallow Hall, you know the guy that plays Hal... His name is Jack Black. Jack has a little band called Tenacious D. It is some pretty cool music. Okay, uh, not cool like Pink Floyd or Limp Bizkit cool... but it's own kinda cool. It's funny stuff that you can't take very seriously. Check out the D's site, I linked it above. The video Wonderboy is getting some good play time on MTV but you wont be hearing it on the radio any time soon. This site also has some other videos worth listening too. They have a pathetic server - so unless you are patient with buffering and rebuffering - just go for the audio.

Technical Report for Mad Ogre's recommended gun care product. This stuff needs to be in every shooter's range bag and cleaning kit. If you don't have any, you can get it at most any gun shop and its less than 5 bucks a bottle. Go, get it. Now.

Nov 25th - HOME AGAIN! The following are posts I made on a laptop while up at the family cabin... I had no internet access... but I did have a few feet of snow and satellite TV. One thing to mention here... I am VERY glad to get home. You see my family and I almost got killed Saturday evening. We were heading south about 7 miles north of the Utah border... we were cruising at a nice 75 miles per hour. We went over a little bridge and the moisture over it became a nice thick layer of black ice. The Jeep went into a skid... One second I was driving along just fine and in an instant I was 90* to the left, still moving in the same direction at 75MPH. I am a pretty good driver and have spent a great deal of time driving sideways... but NEVER in a Cherokee and NEVER with my family. I was able to correct the Jeep's attitude and get us back in line just as we hit dry pavement again. Had I been slower to correct the attitude, or if we kept going around... we would have rolled. We had been driving in a convoy with some other family... My Mother-In-Law had been leading. Her tires are damned near bald. When I took over the lead she was driving last in the pack. Dacia and Jared were right behind me at about 12 car lengths driving in a 4X4 Toyota pick up. They saw us slide and slowed down... they slid too but not as bad and came out okay. Mom was able to slow down enough so that she went over just fine. Had she gone over 1st or even 2nd she would have... well, she wouldn't have been able to recover the skid. I can't describe just how fast this all happened. 75 miles per hour equates to 1 mile going by in only 43 seconds... so in the space of just a few seconds, you can see that you cover a lot of distance and on a winter road you have to more than triple your distances for reaction times and stopping. This instance happened in just seconds. We had been blessed.

Now - where was I? Oh yes... from the cabin:

Thanksgiving Day: We woke up early in the AM before the sunrise. We loaded up the Jeep Cherokee full of sleeping boys and headed out. North. Over the rivers and through the woods. We had about 50 people at the cabin. We had 4 tables loaded with food. After dinner and everyone stuffed to the gills, we gathered in front of the fire to pow-wow and share the years highlights. It was a good gathering... Tears, laughs and family... Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Nothing even comes close. I'd rather have 2 T-Days than have a Christmas. T-day rocks.

T-day+1... At the cabin we have a nice big whirlpool bath... I enjoyed a nice long soak when I finally woke up. I slept in late, took a long bath, and when I finally came up stairs lunch was rolling on. There was a platter of peeled and devained shrimp. I called that lunch. Along with some crab-cheese ball eaten with some white corn chips. Hey, for the sake of Breakfast I did down a large glass of OJ. Feeling good! Today is a work day for me... I took with me some homework from, uh, work... and will work on getting everything double checked and corrected and updated. There will probably be another "Audit" shortly after I get back from this little vacation. In the mean time I will be munching large shrimps and kicking back while doing the paperwork. Island Park is just awesome this time of year... The boys are all out playing in the snow and having a ball and the littlest is being spoiled rotten by grandmas and great grandmas and the assortment of Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. Last night we stayed up late - till like 2AM playing a game... Everyone sitting in a circle with someone in the middle and that person has to catch the others passing a "sign". A sign can be a wink, a twitch, a raised eyebrow, or any little gesture... It sounds lame, but it was a real blast. We always have a good time together when the family gathers. Man, that is what it is all about.

I wish my side of the family could come out and share this stuff with us too... My side is all back in Virginia at the family Manor. Nice place... but we on that side rarely if ever gather for these kinds of things. There is a lot of love and respect and it's great... but there is also a distance. It's fine... but it is also great when the family can come together and get involved.

Snow Muffins. WTF? My bro-in-law has a pair of snow muffins that he is convinced is the next best winter article of clothing next to the Parka. What it is a pair of furry socks that are thick up top but thin on the bottoms... this lets you wear them over your socks and in your shoes... giving you a second layer of warmth.... The problem that I have with them and why i will never wear them is that you tuck your pant legs into them and they look like something a 17th century French Fop would even call "Gay". RuPaul wouldn't even wear Snow Muffins. My bro-in-law is usually very cool... but I think there is a part of him that might be broken... hence the snow muffins.

Sledding with the boys... Simple joys in life are often what make the most lasting memories... Making a dozen runs down the sled hill with my boys was a lot of fun... the best is that we will always remember it.

After the Shrimp was all gone I soon realized that there is nothing left that doesn't contain wheat. Here we are with a pile of food and I can't eat a bite of it. Nice.

If you look through some gun magazines you will find ads for Cylinder & Slide's SFS device. What this does is allow the shooter to take his single action auto (1911 or HP) and "Decock" it. Meaning that you can lower the hammer and when you need to fire it, take it off safe and the hammer snaps back into its proper position. This allows more confidence for the uninitiated to safely carry a 1911 or HP "locked & cocked". It is a good device in that it totally avoids the nagging gun-idiots from tell you that your gun is cocked. I hate that. No kidding! But what you will also get is the Single Action gurus giving you no end of shit for packing a 1911 in Condition 3. You can never win. Anyways, I bring this up because Para Ordinance totally ripped off C&S when they made the LDA. What they did was to make this device "Double Action Only" but internally what your getting is the same damn thing. Para made it just different enough to avoid getting sued but it is essentially the same damn thing in my opinion. If you are thinking about buying an LDA, don't. For only 169 you can buy the SFS. Save the cash and give Cylinder & Slide ( www.cylinder-slide.com ) your business. In today's economy it is a win-win for you both. That and the Para LDA is just plain wrong. A DAO 1911? I don't think so! If you want a Double Action auto - buy a SIG or HK or a CZ... or a secret favorite... The Browning BDM. The BDM is now discontinued for some reason, but it remains a personal favorite. Its only down side is that it is A. 9MM and B. not Match Grade accurate. You can still EASILY shoot a 3 inch group with it at combat ranges so it is perfectly fine for a defensive gun. If you see one on a gunshop shelf - check it out. I've seen one for only 399.

Nov 21 - Email from reader: "OK man, your solution about Peace Talkers is very fine and good. I live in France, and there 're a lot of pacifists who talks too much of freedom. Those ignorants don't realize they're talking as in 1933 in Great Britain or in France. They can loose this freedom at any moment. I'm not militarist but this is the best solution versus 1-neuron-human beings. Sorry for my English ;-) BrutalTroll from Lyon-France" BrutalTroll, you have earned 200 cool points for your Alias. Okay, now to business... Your right about the 1933 talk. You could also say they are talking like Americans did back in 1941 before we were rudely awakened to reality by Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. I am not an alarmist, I am not a violent person either. But I do believe in protecting my family. Sometimes this means going after the threat before it can come after you. Your English is fine... And hey, you don't have to apologize for being French. At least your not French-Canadian! Peace!

BREAD. Damn it... I want a tuna and cheddar cheese sandwich on wheat bread. I have a huge craving for thick cuts of wheat bread slathered in tuna and cheese. (not melted) Why is it that as soon as you can't have something... it becomes your biggest desire? I can count on one hand how many times I had a wheat bread and tuna sandwich. I never even liked them before. I never thought "Hmmm... I could go for a tuna sandwich!" No! That was always something I would settle for if there was nothing else to eat. This new diet just sucks. But I guess its better than have total liver failure and dropping dead! People, Let me tell you. I have liver damage. I am not sure just how I have it... but it is serious. This has caused me a lot of pain and illness over the last year or two. I am not sure how I got it or when I got it. I also have a food allergy to wheat. This is new to me. It is possible that the food allergy has caused the liver damage. It is also possible that pain meds have caused it too. I take a lot of pain pills because of my migraine headaches. Now, the damage could be from one or the other... or both together. I've stopped taking all pain pills and eating wheat. This will let my liver heal (hopefully). The downside is that I am fucking HUNGRY because EVERYTHING is made with wheat... and my head is KILLING ME. Why do I have such headaches? Because I have fused cervical vertebra. The bones in my neck are fused solid. This was the result of trauma. Not sure when it happened... Motorcycle crash, Rappelling fall, Helicopter crash, Rolling cars, or whatever else I have done that was generally un-wise. Anyways, this causes neurological "Feedback" that gives me severe migraine headaches. The only thing left that could give me relief would be smoking pot. But I don't smoke pot. (anymore) All I can say is that life sucks. But this is okay... I just move on. Just deal with things one day at a time. The Upside? I can go get me some Chicken Nachos any time I want them!

Nov 20th - Ghost Recon. The Demo of the game SUCKS. I mean seriously. If it is trying to give you a TASTE of what the real game play is like... then save your cash... If you want that taste, just lick around the underside of the toilet seat in any public restroom. If you want good military gaming... it's Operation Flashpoint. If you want a first person shooter... then check out Max Payne. If you want more Rogue Spear... then get the new Black Thorn expansion. Ghost Recon? Screw it. Red Storm Entertainment blew it on this one. I'll wait to try the retail version of Ghost Recon if someone hands me a "Gold Edition" disk. (Call it a CD Backup Copy) And even then, I'll only take the time to try it out if I am BORED OF PICKING MY TOENAILS.

Nov 19th - EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Brittany Spears! Read it here.

There is a growing list of reports regarding the Taurus Millennium series... Big Problems. I am very troubled by this because I have seriously loved these guns. Especially the .45 variant. It is an incredible little gun. It's hard to believe that these little guns hold 10 rounds of full house .45ACP. With these problems being reported by so many people - its no longer a freak occurrence, but a design issue. Mad Ogre's recommendation: Avoid the Millennium until Taurus has these issues sorted out.

Went out shopping for a suit. With the business and everything... I need a suit. I found THE PERFECT SUIT. Awesome. Italian. But I am not spending 1,200 on a damn suit. Forget it. Now, I will spend that much on a gun - but that's different. Isn't it? Anyways... like every other time I go out shopping for my clothes - I just got really depressed and walked out with out even buying a pair of socks.

Last night HBO showed the Brittany Spears concert. I can not describe just how much her show sucked. She has just about ZERO talent. She is just totally void of talent. There is nothing there. What was there was a fashion show. That was it. She even had a runway where she walked back and forth in different outfits. Then she had the gall to mock Madonna. Right. Spears can not even hold a candle to Madonna. Madonna's HBO show was incredible. Madonna is incredible. Spears? Nothing but a nasty little slut that has so many people drooling over her body that she thinks she can sing and dance. Hey Brittany - cut to the chase - just freaking get nude and walk back and forth on the cat walk and you'll not have to open your mouth and insult the people watching by subjecting them to your pathetic, nasally, whinny voice. Everything in the show was not just lame, but void of any creative effort. Not only that, your clothes looked nasty too.

Nov 17th - I downloaded the Demo of Ghost Recon to try out. It runs great on my machine here which is nice, because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to play it. My PC is buffer than I thought. Now there is not much I can say about it because the Demo only gives you 1 single map. The control interface is awkward but I will get used to it. The graphics in the game are great. It really LOOKS good. The weapon effects look good too... but the M-203's grenades are not as effective as they should be. If Rogue Spear: Urban Operations is a 10, then so far this is only an 7. It looks great but its so far only eye candy. There are some things about the interface that I don't like... but let me get used to it before I really review it. The reason I have only given it a 7 is because RS:UO is so flexible with your weapon selection and kit contents... Ghost Recon is very limited in these regards. I think that is a huge setback... but that's just me because RS has spoiled me with the guys out there making really good mods for it and it's expansions. Anyways - this is only a Demo. It's only supposed to give you a "Taste" and is very limited on purpose. The map of the castle ruin is very cool, sure... but the area is very small compared to Operation Flashpoint. Say you have run low of ammo... and your right by a bunch of guys that you have mowed down... you can't take a weapon, ammo, or any equipment. If you want a realistic game... you have to be able to do some looting. So far... OFP is the better game. Flashpoint has good machineguns... Ghost Recon still has unrealistic "Reticule Bloom" with the machineguns. How so? With a real M249 SAW I can unload an whole 200 round box of belted 5.56MM into a human sized target at 100 meters pretty easily. You can walk your fire and lay down a good long burst of suppressive fire... You can't do that in Ghost Recon. You CAN do that in Operation Flash Point... And loot... and steal Mi-24 Hind helicopters... and run all over the freakin place... It's just the better game.

This no wheat thing is really bugging me. Everything is made out of wheat... everything... even a head of lettuce. Okay, maybe not that... but once you start reading labels... damn. I went shopping today and Mrs. Ogre was keeping me in check on the fine print. Even cream soups are made with wheat products. Steaks and Salads. *Sigh* I hate salads most of the time and steak is something I can only eat once in awhile or I get really sick of it. This is a huge pain in the ass. I WANT SOME DAMN PIZZA!

The Star Wars Discussions - The latest trailers are out and the newest one is called "Forbidden Love" which gives a huge spoiler and hints heavily at the plot. A very interesting plot. We see Anakin falling for Amidala and the hints that this is not a good thing. We see that Anakin is breaking away from the Jedi. We also see the young Vader riding a speeder bike... we can tell he is going to be an evil bad ass because unlike other speeder bikes, his is a CHOPPER! How cool is that? Bobba Fett is running around firing guns like someone else is buying the ammo... guns, yeah... a pair of guns. I didn't know John Woo is directing Star Wars! Watch this trailer and you will get excited for Episode Two! Mad Ogre will be posting a lot more Star Wars discussion as new information comes out... These will be put into the Star Wars section.

Nov 16th - Harry Potter... You know... People are just fucking stupid creatures. There is more news about people bitching about how EVIL the Harry Potter series and movies are. "Harry Potter is the SPAWN OF SATAN!" or so they say. Gimmie a freaking break. Look, Evil knows Evil... and I have read the whole Harry Potter series (at least the first 4 books that are available right now) and I have found NOTHING about it to be Evil. Its a fun work of FICTION. FICTION PEOPLE! FICTION! Now, normal people know that a work of fiction is called fiction because IT IS NOT REAL. I found the books to be a hell of a lot of fun to read. And kids think it's fun to read too. This is a GOOD THING! Anything that gets kids to want to read is a very good thing. Once they read Harry Potter - they can read The Hobbit and then Treasure Island. Are these same book burning morons going to cry out against Treasure Island? "Oh, Pirates are EVIL! Kids will want to scuttle ships!" People, people, people... Get a clue. Please.

Yesterday I went to see a Doctor about some of my health problems. There are two issues I have with my health... 1. My liver isn't functioning very well. More like just barely. Most of my health problems are stemming from that. 2. I have a food allergy to wheat. This wheat thing is probably only a complication from #1. and it is hoped that once #1 is fixed, that #2 will take care of it's self. The day after Turkey Day, I am going to be on a very strict medication to basically give my Liver CPR and see if it can be revived, reinforced, and revitalized. I'll have some side effect issues from the meds... but for the most part I should be okay. Now, this wheat thing is a problem. EVERYTHING has wheat in it. Let's see... what can I eat? Chicken, Rice, Taters, Beans, & Corn... Oh, and fish... I can have fish too As long as its not breaded. Fast food is almost totally out. Wendy's has chili and taters and salads... Nice. Pizza? Nope... crust is made of wheat. I'm in hell. T-Day wont be too bad... I can eat the bird and mashed taters and... damn. That's about it. Sucks to be Ogre! Well, At least my ulcers are okay...

What is the deal with Sen. John McCain? Does he always have to go out of his way to prove just what a gigantic ass he is? Read this. Unbelievable. Guys like McCain are not just fools... they are traitors. This could stem from the fact that most sheeple and McCain included, think that Police and the Federal Government will protect you. The Supreme Court has ruled TWICE that police and the Feds have no obligation to protect you... only to ENFORCE THE LAW. The only person that can protect you - is you. And assholes like Sarah Brady and John McCain are trying to keep you from being able to protect yourself. Fuck these people. Self Defense is a HUMAN RIGHT and not a privilege that is up for debate... or even to be questioned. The 2nd Amendment says very clearly "The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." What part of that do these retards not understand? McCain, and the rest of his ilk need to go hang out with fucking Jimmy Hoffa.

Nov 15th - AMERICANS! ARM YOUR SELVES! This is an article off of World Net Daily written by Joseph Farah, WND's spokesman. Good article. Let's see here... uh... I've been saying this for how many years?

Nov 14th - The Springfield ran well today. I fired 50 rounds of CCI Blazers and 50 rounds of American Eagle. Just a note - American Eagle rounds SUCK. Those shots were all over the page. The Blazers? 1.5 inch groups. Let me say that again... 1.5 Inch Groups! Before I sent this gun in, it was a 3" gun. Now its 1/2 that. That is a great improvement on the accuracy. The reliability was there too. I didn't have a single failure of any sort. The American Eagle ammo was all over the place and the ejection was all over as well. This includes 1 round that went down my shirt and another that landed in my pocket. Anyways... not all is peachy. I have two gripes. 1. The rear sight shot loose to the point I almost lost it. 2. The finish on the top of the gun is delicate... Within 2,000 rounds this gun is going to look as torn up as George Michael's rectum. I'll be touching it up a lot. Would I recommend a Springfield? I don't know... I just don't know. This gun is a keeper though... it's a keeper.

The Prodigal Springfield Returns. Fed Ex just dropped it off. The gun LOOKS beautiful. I have to break it down and give it a good examination... then I shall prepare a feast to celebrate it's return! The gun just looks fuqqing sexy. The black slide over the stainless frame... this is my favorite look for the 1911. I should have got that in the first place. Anyways - to the details... cycling the slide reveals that they didn't do a damned thing to smooth that out like I asked. In fact - it feels like all they did was drop in new parts and put in a heavier spring. I noticed a few things about these new parts: 1. The barrel is a single machined part and not the normal 2-piece barrel that came with my gun in the first place. 2. The barrel fits TIGHT into the slide - when inserting and removing the barrel from the slide it is a little tricky because it is so tight. 3. There is ZERO play in the barrel to slide fit. Zero. When the slide is in battery there is zero play and there is zero rattle... anywhere. I can't go and say this is Match Grade anything - but I have fired a few match grade 1911s from some big named makers and this feels like just like that. In fact it reminds me of an Ed Brown gun I fired. Accuracy in this gun should be better than before... but I wont hold my breath. I just hope its functional. This is essentially a new gun now, so it will require a new break in period of 500 rounds. This will be tested in just a few hours.

Email from Reader: "Ogre, your theory that a missile did the job is not all that far fetched. Take a look at the map in the thread on TFL. Let me put on my tinfoil hat for a second +<:<) The large lump of land just above the crash site is the former Floyd Bennett Navy seaplane base and military airfield. The airfield is no longer used except for the NYPD "Air Force" but does contain a Navy Reserve armory (if the navy calls them armories?) and has a jarhead unit and an Army Signal Battalion as tenants. I was a Company Commander of A company in the Signal Battalion 18 or so years ago. Unit mostly made up of inner city kids of various ethnicities. Also down the peninsula about a mile from the crash area is another Army Reserve unit headquarters, this unit is a 105 towed Artillery Battalion (I was in that unit also for about 2 years) located on an abandoned Nike Hercules launch site!!!! Underground launch bunkers still exist. Next to an abandoned army coastal artillery site from WW2 that had two huge 14" gun bunkers. You can see the bunkers from the parkway easily, they are the highest things around, now situated in a National Park. Lots of trained military personnel in the area and military equipment would not get a second glance from the natives. Most Reserve units draw people from the city and its outlying neighborhoods. Lots of places in the bay to launch a missile without drawing attention. Geoff" Lots of places to open the trunk - pull out a stinger - and drive off unseen. Jetliners don't carry any warning devices that would alert the aircrew either. The voice recorders say the conversation was "Normal" until just seconds before the crash. Bird strikes? No fuckin way. Same thing with TWA flight 800. [sarcasm mode] Would the FAA and the rest of the Government DENY or COVER UP the fact that our airliners are getting SHOT DOWN? NO! They wouldn't do that! [/sarcasm mode]

Nov 13th - What a Day! My oldest just had his first Cub Meeting today... they did the Space Derby. Meaning that last night Ogre was up late with a chunk of Balsa Wood and a Dremmel. My boy took 3rd Place. We could have done better but we kept blowing engines. (breaking rubber bands) I got a couple really good questions for Ask Ogre, so check that out. And I got a cool delivery today in the mail... EdgeWorks sent me a new prototype holster. The G-Code series is my favorite Kydex type system and I've had a few other prototypes of it, but this one is different. Its a G-Code Shoulder Rig! There is a huge void in the shoulder rig line up out there... The G-Code will fill it perfectly.

The Queens Crash. It is being said that the tail of the aircraft broke off before the plane came down... The tail came off and then while it came down, the two engines came off due to the plane's spin. Now, People... Please. An engine sucking in a bird - even a Seagull - will not knock the tail off a plane. To say so is just proof that your a idiot that should shut the fuck up about it. What could do this to a plane? Hmmm... Let me think... Sounds like a damn explosive device to me... Either a bomb on the inside of the plane or one delivered to the plane while it was in the air. How do you deliver it? Stinger Missile. Small, Portable, and fully capable of taking down a jet. That's my guess. You know what? Do you think for a SECOND that if it was a missile, that the fact would not be covered up? If it was a missile and if it got out that it really was a missile... what do you think that would do to Air Travel? Stinger missiles? How did terrorists get one of those? Oh, I don't know... MAYBE THE CIA GAVE AFGHAN REBELS A WHOLE FUCKING BUNCH OF THEM?!?!? Guess what? THEY DID!

Nov 12th - I got a great suggestion via a Private Message on TFL. A nice Mad Ogre rant on just exactly why I hate the AR-15 design. Awesome. I'm going to do it. Just not tonight. Stay Tuned... this will be coming up sometimes this week. Along with a new feature section and a total reconstruction of the Weapons Section.

Mad Ogre will be moving to a new server soon. This will double my available space and allow things to get just crazy. I got some plans... Oh Yes... I got some plans. Another thing... PHP. I just might transition MadOgre.com into PHP, which will improve a great many things here. Such as easy location of the latest updates of my fantastic and interesting Mad Ogre Content.

Let's take a moment of silence for the people aboard yet another airliner that went down. This was a mechanical failure and not terrorists in this case. Just a good old fashioned plane crash. This time the plane was an Airbus A300. This is one of the best jets in the sky. Sad. Very Sad.

My Bros back in Virginia are getting screwed on the GI Bill benefits. Note to all those that are thinking about joining up. Don't do it for "Money For College". If that's all your doing it for - then just go get a regular job. There are a lot of other reasons to join up...

Nov 11th - 2:00 saw me working on Mad Ogre. I fixed a lot of things and edited things in the Star Wars Section. Oh, and I finally put some content into the MOVIES section.

Here is something very annoying. Got a new phone because we couldn't hear the people on the other end. Now, we found out, that they can no longer hear us. The mic in the handset is bad. Dang it.

Nov 10th - What is the easiest way to order a pizza? Right here. Pappa John's Pizza had a nice and simple website that lets you easily order a pizza with some extra goodies... with just a few clicks. This is of course after "Registering" at the site. Start to finish took about 2 minutes to get it set up. After I was all finished, I had a guy knocking on my door with 2 larges in only 26 minutes. I timed it from the PJ's home page. Fast and Easy. Very cool. I like fast and easy.

Okay, what is going on? This is now 31 Days since I have sent off my 1911 back to the factory. Let me recap for those that may have missed it. My stainless steel 1911A1 was beginning to give me some problems. It would give me failures to feed or failures to return to battery. This was after about 2500 rounds and the problem popped up within only about 150 rounds. The spring was fine, and I even tried a different spring and it was still giving me these problems. A good friend of mine had sent his 1911A1 back to Springfield and it came back just totally blessed. So I figure - maybe I should too. Then on TFL I read how there are a number of cases where the stainless steel slides on some 1911A1s broke. In half. The whole front of the gun just broke off. Freaky. Okay - the gun is going back. I send it back with the request that the stainless slide be replaced with a blued carbon steel slide. Springfield Armory agreed to replace my slide. That was awhile ago... now this is 31 days since I sent my gun off. I don't mind that is is now a month... What I do mind is the total lack of feed back from Springfield about what is going on. This is very annoying. I didn't send in a VCR or cell phone for servicing... I sent in an automatic handgun. This is a little more touchy than just some bit of home electronics.

I am just so pleased that I have to migrate my DSL account (And Mad Ogre) over to MSN! I am looking forward to getting only 1/2 of what I am paying for! I am getting instead of 10 megs of email, only 2. Nice. My web space capacity was getting strained at 10 Megs... now what is my web space limit? Danged near nothing. I am going to have DIRECTNIC host my space. The only problem with that is Mad Ogre will then have BANNERS. I will be looking at other options... I don't want any banners on my site... None at all. I am beginning to HATE QWEST.

Shakira, the latin music superstar has a video for her song "Suerte". This has got to be the sexiest music video that I have ever seen. And I don't know why. I have now idea what the hell she is saying and I don't care. Damn she is hot!

Nov 9th - Oh My HELL. Glenn Beck is FUNNY! I have been listening to his show... and have been laughing my ass off. So hard that my sides hurt and I had to vomit. Oh my gosh... I need some pain killers now. AM Radio is now a good reason to turn off the TV.

Speaking of TV. HBO's Band of Brothers is over. I am thinking of killing the HBO package on my Sat TV service. Dish Network BTW. After you watch B.O.B... there is nothing else on worth while.

Did you know that E.T. is being released again? Cool? NO! Not even! It's being redone to add new effects and all that right? You know what else being changed? No Guns. All the guns are being removed. Elliot wants to be Hippie now... He used to want to be a terrorist. His mom says "Your not leaving this house dressed as a terrorist!" Now? It's a hippie. Whatever. Policemen have GUNS. Now they are what? Rentacops? Just radios? Guess what movie my kids are not getting to see? Actually I thought E.T. sucked back then and now it's just going to suck even worse.

In Florida an Infant was found dead in a Day Care van. The driver picked the infant up in the morning and forgot about it until other children found it that afternoon. It was not able to be revived. Fuck Day Care! My kids will NEVER EVER be put into day care not even for ONE DAY. They are thinking about charging the driver. Not a bad idea. Negligent Homicide is a crime. A family has lost a child due to some fucking moron locking a baby in a van for all day. You know what? They should give the parents a slap in the face too. I know this is already a horrible thing and the parents are suffering... but this should really make them and all other parents ask themselves why isn't one of the parents or family watching the kids? Is making 2 incomes really worth it? What are you really getting for both parents working? A bigger TV or a more expensive car? Fuck that shit. It's all about the kids. Your greed is fucking up your kids... mentally, emotionally, and in this case it's even killing them. If you can not take care of your own kids - you shouldn't have kids.

A lot of guys are asking me how to play Operation Flashpoint. Well, its the same as surviving real combat. It isn't easy. You have to stay low and keep your eyes open. When you have a target, aim small and miss small. You can't miss fast enough to win. The person who sees his target first usually wins. Use the binoculars when your not under fire... scan EVERYWHERE. When your engaging targets - use short controlled bursts. If you run out of ammo - Your screwed. You may be able to make it to someone's body and snake his weapon and/or ammo... but its still a bad thing. Here is why. You are firing a combat mix of tracers. Every 4th shot is a tracer. The enemy will know where you are! Even if your hidden, bullets go through bushes. If your missing, and your enemy is aiming carefully - your dead. Now, about staying low and not being seen: When your moving across an open area that may be watched by the enemy, sprint from cover to cover. Sprint and then hit the ground... go prone. Wait a minute to catch your wind again... scan the area. Pick your next stop, jump up and sprint to it. Just because you can not see an enemy, doesn't mean that they cant see you. They may just be waiting to get you good and close before they open up on you. Pick your targets carefully. Kill the biggest threat first. The machine gunner or the rifleman? The BMP or T-72? The machine gunner or the sniper? The officer or the guy with the rocket launcher that is taking a knee and aiming at your APC? Think fast. Also, when moving... you do not have to stay exactly in formation... sometimes you may not want to be even close to formation! When you have a destination to reach... do not just run straight to it. Look around and find cover... Use your map... pick a route that gives you the most cover and is farthest from possible threats. Here is another thing... You see that jeep going by? If you ambush it and kill the driver... (Aim through the windows!) you just might be able to stop it and have a ride. A jeep will make your hike a lot easier and could just get you past a group of enemies that are watching out for guys on foot - not guys in one of their own vehicles! This goes for APCs and helicopters too. You could steal that helicopter instead of destroying it. Seriously, hop in and take it. Get away with it and get near your extraction point - then plant a bomb under it and blow it up at leisure. Same thing for the tanks. Steal one - drive away - jump into the gunner seat and use it to bust up the guys chasing you! Then drive off to a safe area to scuttle it. You may not have to sneak all the way to a target if you can blow it up with an RPG from a distance. NOTE: If you fire a rocket - RUN! They now know where you are! If you have to fire again - do so from a different vector. Fire and then run - don't try to reload the rocket first. This game isn't about using force - but using your brain. Unlike any other game, OFP requires you to THINK through the whole mission.

Nov 8th - I have a new favorite radio show... The Glenn Beck Program. This guy is smart, funny and doesn't have to make shit up like Phil Hendrie (Who I still like). Glenn has a very cool style... You have to listen to him. Guys like this are making AM worth listening to. I don't even go to the FM dial anymore. Take a listen... the website has his shows available to stream.

Nov 7th - New web discussion forum: ZION'S CAMP. This is for Pro Gun Mormons. I signed up.

Speaking of war with Asia... Remember WWII? We had a little thing in the Pacific called War with Japan. It started with them bombing Pearl Harbor one morning. Why didn't Japan attack the US mainland? This question was asked of a Japanese Admiral 15 years after the war... The answer was "We knew that probably every second house in your country contained firearms. We knew that your country actually had state championships for private citizens shooting military rifles. We were not fools to set foot in such quicksand." That is deterrence. That is stopping the fight before it starts. This is why you don't walk up to a 300 pound biker and slap him. You don't confront strength head on. The US had that strength once... back then in the early '40's. Now? Well no... Gun Owners are treated like 2nd class citizens. Guns are shunned. Now, there is hope... Gun Ownership is on the rise now. Hopefully we can get it back up to a level that will make China rethink any ideas of coming over carrying anything other than cameras and traveler's checks.

I have been asked about how I can justify the use of force, violence, and war against another country if Mormonism is indeed Christian. 1st off... Yeah, Mormons believe in Christ. Let me make that clear right here, right now. My faith is in Jesus Christ as my savior and redeemer. How can I raise up arms? Well, that too is easy... I'll start out with the Bible. The bible teaches us a lot about things... war is one of them. 2 Samuels 22:35 "He teaches me hands to make war, so that my hands can bend a bow of bronze." We also read how in the old testament God commanded Israel to wipe out the valley of Canaan. The book of Joshua is basically all about a military campaign. Christ himself made a whip and drove the Money Changers out of the temple didn't he? No, that isn't war - but it certainly is a Use of Force! Now, the Book of Mormon gets into some more warfare... Lots of wars. The interesting thing about the Book of Mormon is that it not only details the actions... but gives a better accounting as to the reasons for the violence. Read in Alma 46 about what is called the "Title of Liberty" "In Memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children." This teaches me... I don't know about any other Mormons... but it teaches me that defense isn't just a human right... it isn't just something for Mel Gibson to make a movie about... but it is actually an OBLIGATION for us to fight for the defense of our loved ones. He gives you the blessings of having wonderful children... and you let the wolves have them? No way. When God gives you a blessing - its something you keep safe. This can mean war. Sometimes to protect your family, you have to take the fight to the threat. It isn't a choice, it is a duty that obligated to us if we are of able body. For those that have not read the Book of Mormon... give it a read. Seriously. It's a good book. I believe it to be scripture just as the Bible is. I have and read both. I am Mormon. I will die Mormon. If need be, I will die defending Mormons. That's who I am. I loved the movie "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson. Great movie. Remember the scene when he is about to attack the British who are taking his son to be executed? He said a little prayer that has become to be known as the Soldier's Prayer. It is short and simple. "Lord... make me fast and accurate." I've said the same prayer a couple of times myself. My prayers were answered. I hope that I never have to say that little prayer again. I hope my own sons never have to say it at all. If your fighting in defense of your home, and pray for help... You'll get it. If God was against this, you wouldn't get that help.

China. What is going on with China? China has never really been a real threat to the US. They do not have the ability to project military force as far as America. Hawaii is even safe. Uh... Not anymore. Let me explain. The Soviet Union was building 2 full sized aircraft carriers. 1 was finished and still in Russian hands. #2 was sent to the Ukraine for completion. It was never completed. Ukraine has now sold it to China. As of Yesterday it was steaming down to China. In just a few years China will have it not only finished, but reproduced. Now they will know how to build more... and what it will take to destroy one. China's new carrier is very similar to the US's large nuclear powered carriers. I estimate within 10 years China will have several carrier battle groups. A carrier is nothing without the aircraft. China has also purchased a great many SU-27 Flankers and Mig-29 Fulcrums. These planes are the most deadly in the sky. Period. The only US plane that can stand up to it is the new F-22 and we do not have anything close to the numbers that we will need to fight. There are people that comparing the Fulcrum to our F/A-18 Hornet. This is a joke. The Hornet isn't even close to the Fulcrum in any area of performance... just a very vague and from a distance appearance to those that don't know the difference. The US had better damn well start building up our military or we are going to be fucked in only about 10-15 years. Oh, did I mention that China now has the Panama Canal? Did I mention that they have a base there in Panama now? Nice. We better get really friendly with Mexico and help them out too because they are now are cushion. Can you imagine US fighters having to fly CAP over TEXAS? That sucks.

This is an interesting time my fellow ogres... We are seeing a lot of strange things going on. Major League Baseball is killing off 3 pro teams. Ashcroft is reversing Reno's marching orders one at a time. Fresno, CA's District Attorney is suing the State about its Assault Weapons Ban. All kinds of different things. But most importantly, we are recognizing as a nation how important Personal Protection really is... and what a HERO really is. Some recognition to the men that have actually given us the freedoms that we enjoy. We are seeing Firemen finally given due credit. Kids are no longing saying Mike Jordan, a man who plays a game for millions of dollars each year, is a hero... You ask kids who a Hero is and they will name off someone they know that's in or was in the service. Or they will name a fireman. There is a new comic book out about heroes and ball players and celebrities are not in it... its the guys who go out and actually help people. I'm saddened that HBO's BAND OF BROTHERS series is over. Talk about some heroes! This isn't a show about fictitious characters... this is a show about real people. Real events that happened. Those men, some are still alive today. These are men that hit the beaches is Normandy and went all the way to Hitler's own house. Those guys are heroes. The firemen in New York - HEROES. America is what it is because of people like that.

And then we have idiots. Such as the person in California that said the Gun Lobby is "Playing Cute" when the DA is trying to fight a gun ban that makes no sense even to the DA. Playing Cute? Some is a seat of power is showing some back bone and that is playing cute? Well then for California, I have something that is absolutely fucking snuggly! Every gun owner in California should flock to the CA Capitol building and protest like mad dogs (or Ogres) and help this DA out. After this fight - get him a bigger office too. They want cute? I got cute. Make this DA the damned Governor! I don't know about all his politics - but he can't be worse then Grey-Out Davis.

Nov 5th - Talk about a bad day. Already. Why? Because I went out and got the right "Line Wrench" to fix my Cherokee. Instead of coming off - the bolt just rounded off! FUCK! So I went to a couple shops to see if they could break that bolt loose for me. Each one of them quoted me about the same price. 80 bucks. DAMN IT! I've already spent that much on the part and the tools I needed to fix this thing myself. Now I have to hand it over to a shop... just for one damned bolt. Nice.

Okay, another thing that is frustrating me... OFP. I am at a mission that I can not get through. Okay, let me explain... I'm running the Commando guy leading a full platoon of thugs into an area with 1 hour to find a SCUD launcher and take it out. Sounds easy right? No at all. This SCUD is protected by several squads of Spetznas and about a dozen armored vehicles of various types. As this was not enough... here is the kicker. As soon as you Rock and Roll on the bad guys, the missile goes into ready 5 mode and you now have only 5 minutes before it launches. Nice. I've played this mission about a dozen times and while I have finally located where the launcher is hiding - and have even killed it once - I've really come to conclusion that I am really no closer into winning this one that the first time I played it. You see, after you kill the SCUD, you have to extract. Frustration! Man, do I love this game! Seriously makes Rouge Spear look just silly.

I have inverted the Ask Ogre line up... New questions are on top like everything else on the site. Some people have complained about this, but others have told me that they love having the newest items on top. This way you don't have to scroll past a lot of text before you get to the new content. Besides, this is how I like doing it so if you don't like it...

Nov 3rd - There are finally some good movies coming out. Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, Donnie Darko, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Windtalkers, Affair of the Necklace, Blackhawk Down, The Devil's Backbone. Maybe there is hope for Hollywood? I don't think so. They are making Stuart Little 2. Most of these new cool movies? All independent and or foreign or not made my the usual crew. Scripts are not from the normal script writers but based on true events or original ideas... But then they go and start making Stuart Little 2. WTF?

OPERATION FLASHPOINT. For those that like Rogue Spear due to it's "realism" you have got to try Operation Flashpoint. Seriously. Op Flashpoint makes the hole Rainbow Six family look silly. OFP is that good. I take my games very seriously and I loved Rogue Spear so much I have played it for over a year now. RS has nothing on OFP. Nothing. The missions in OFP are unbelievable. Okay, here is one situation... You have been a Sergeant and just received a promotion to LT. To reward you for your new promotion they task you to infiltrate and destroy all the Anti-Air units in this area. You have a squad of Grunts and radio contact to 2 other groups. Oh, and Air. Cobras to be exact. Several of them. There are a bunch of nasty tanks in the area. Tanks are deadly serious. If you get jumped by one, you can lose all of your squad and you with just a few bursts from its coax mounted machine gun. Hide in a bush? Not when it can load a HEAT round. Anyways, a T-80 can ruin your day really quick. Best make sure your squad has at least one guy with a LAW. Problem with the LAW is that its WEAK. I remember an ARMY test where a T-72 required no less than 26 hits from LAW rockets before the tank was totally destroyed. The upside to the LAW is that you could hit the tank in the gun and disable it... or in the tracks and park it. Anyways... So you take your squad in through a few groups of Russian infantry to this airbase. You wax the Ruskies and open the way up for the cobras. Save the rockets for ZSU-24's you can kill them with a LAW and let the Cobras eat the T-72s and BMPs. Sounds easy? Not really. In fact, its pretty danged hard. If you fail to kill the ZSU's, then the Cobras will be swatted down as soon as they show up. Watch out for the Russians with the Druganov sniper rifles. Those rifles are deadly and the Snipers can use them to good effect on either you or your squad. So if you see a Sniper out there. Have your whole damned squad target him. Take him out or he will take you out. The coolest thing about OFP is its interactive options. Such as your may be armed with an M-16 Shorty and your running down to your last magazine and its 1/2 gone already. What do you do? That last Ivan you popped? He had a rifle didn't he? Go snake it. Grab some more mags from Ivan's buddy - the one with that RPG launcher. Hey, that may be handy. Better grab it too. Or maybe your running out in the open and the machine-gunner next to you in the formation catches an AK round in the face. Your M-16 is feeling pretty small isn't it? Better off with that M-60 machine gun... take it. Then run back to some concealment, get down into prone and start letting her rip. Rock and Roll! Hopefully you have a squad left by the time you reach the Airport... Make sure everything that is need of a killing gets killed and you can go on the the next mission. Your mission is to locate and destroy a helicopter base. Hinds. I hate the Hind. Not that the Hind is a poor helicopter... it isn't. Its that its a great helicopter! Carries more firepower than an Apache, and more Infantry than a Blackhawk. It's a flying TANK. Speaking of tanks again - OFP makes you take control of some tanks too. So you better get out the JANE'S Armored Vehicle Recognition Guide! OFP is the best game that I have ever played. Seriously. It's not PERFECT, but its the best that I have ever played so far.

Nov 2nd - I am so happy! Two Ask Ogre questions in a row that didn't have anything to do with "Chicks". Sweet.

Nov 1st - Got a page from my boss at work. Called him back and chatted with him for a minute. He is actually being very cool. Things just may be looking up over there.

Last day of October was the last day for a friend of mine. Matt. I was doing the hiring for my group at work and was doing some interviews. I had interviews just lined up with about 40 candidates for 7 positions... I was hopping. So here comes Matt walking into the Interview... Big freaking grin on his face... Arrogant with absolutely no worry showing. A total bastard. He pretty much had the position right there. I asked him a few technical questions and even had my Tech Lead come in and do some grilling... Basically this was just a formality. I knew Matt had the goods technically... We were just looking to see if he could get flustered. Nope. Solid guy. I hired him right there. That was over a year ago. Now he is moving on to another company for a good bump up in pay. Congrats Matt. And good luck. When I go into work today, it will be a different place.

Update to the Ask Ogre page. Check that out Here.

October is Archived. Check it out Here. Again, a link to all the Archives. As if I didn't have enough already.