Wish I had called the cops.  I will not have such a regret as this again.

8-20-09:  I've been looking at some of the firearms courses offered around the country and I'm just floored. A thousand bucks for one course back east. 1200 bucks for another course. Wow. That's a lot of scratch. What's interesting about it is that they are not teaching anything that I'm not teaching. They charge more, and they have triple the round count. One course requires 1000 rounds of Frangible, Lead-Free ammunition – that's what, 500 bucks worth? That's an expensive way to go get your training. What does my training offer? You will learn the same things, you will have fun while doing it, and you will save time and money. I'm charging 150 bucks for the course and you'll need 200 rounds of ammo. Let's put that into some perspective.... If you are shooting 9mm, that's 51.99 for the ammo at retail pricing so for about 201.99 you get a full day handgun training, or for a bit more a full day of tactical carbine training. That much money doesn't even get you the require amount of ammo for these other courses where you blast targets all day long in repetitive drills. I'm not saying repetition isn't important, it is. But the more you blaze away and the faster you do it all in one session, the less value is placed on each shot. Only hits count. Not how fast you can run your gun empty. I teach you what you need to know, and leave it up to you to practice those skills. You can practice as you can afford to buy the ammo... as you have time. So what do you think? Wanna drop a Grand all at once or about 200 bucks worth and build on it as you can. I'm not trying to be a Dollar Store for Training... Maybe more like the 7-11... it's about convenience. Especially since in a lot of places they just don't have all the ammo you need, or still have limits on it.

We've got some good news from our friends at Armed American Radio. They just jumped from a 1 hour format to a 2 hour format. Bang. Done deal... Do you know what this means? It means that AAR is going to start spreading like a wildfire across all markets. This is a big jump for them. You guys should call up your local radio stations and ask them to consider bringing AAR to their station. It's on the satellites and they have to do is pull it down and give it a listen. You guys heard how condensed the 1 hour show was... now AAR will be able to really get into a topic... it's going to get 100% better.

The Death Book for Veterans: Ex-Soldiers don't need to be told they're a burden to society. This is from the Wall Street Journal. The Democrats keep mocking the “Death Panels” that they were accused of having. Well, it's true that the bill did not specifically order “Death Panels”. But it did talk about End of Life councilling with a political appointee. And any time you have a decisions that come down to whether or not investments should be made in something... there is always a committee meeting, a panel meeting, or a council meeting about it. Hospitals, businesses... this happens. And in this case, it could be two political appointees talking about an Old Republican Vet, and there you go. Water Cooler Death Panel. It's something that will happen if this Public Option for health care goes forward. As we read in this WSJ article, we see that this is actually Old News.  The government has for a long time discarded it's vets and anyone else it deems to rubbish.

8-18-09:  The Gauge: I kind of opened a small can of worms in a comment I made on the radio show. No, I'm not talking about calling the President an Idiot. He is... and everyone agrees. No, the comment was about the best tactical shotgun. My knee-jerk response was Remington 870. Really we could have talked Tactical Shotguns all day long... but the short answer comes down to the 870 every time for me. For a gun that you must defend life and limb with... a gun you have to know will back you up in a fight. Yeah, I'm pulling the 870. And I don't have a bit of doubt about it. No shotgun out there is as brutally tough, rugged, built to last... none else has the long history of hunting and fighting in all conditions... no shotgun has ridden in as many police cruisers... simply comes down to no other shotgun is as proven. No other shotgun has been there and done that like the good old boy 870. You can get the 870 is a whole mess of different configurations to meet your mission requirements, but in the end, it's still an 870 and as a platform it is unrivaled.

Okay, now having said that... I'm not saying that there are no other good tactical gun options out there. The Mossy 590 is another personal favorite if you want a shotgun that can do double service as an I-beam. The semi autos have a lot of good arguments for them as well, Mossy's newest ones are indeed slick as hell and worthy of every consideration. Benelli's and FN's latest shotguns are super slick. No doubt about it. But let me put it this way. If I jump out of a plane and pull the ripcord – I want that chute to open up right proper. In a fight, if I level the gauge at goblin and tell him to stop – I need to know that should I need to drop the hammer – that thing is going to bark on command. I can't second guess it and I can't have a failure. I'm not talking 3gun or any shooting sport here... I'm talking about Lives being on the Line. And that being the case – Remington 870 is my first choice.

8-16-09:  Armed American Radio: The show went well. Very well. I honestly had a great time with this and the show went by too fast. So much to talk about! We could have gone on for hours and we had just one. All too brief. But it was a good show. I'm now downloading via iTunes all the past shows I can get. There will be more news about AAR later. What I tried really hard not to think about – was that I was live in Reno, Carson City, Atlanta and some other areas... and I'm going to be steamed all over the place... I can't think about “Audience”. If I do, I freeze up, stutter, or just choke. But instead I just kicked back, thought about what I was really doing – which was just having a conversation with friends. And THAT made this fun. Because it's always fun talking about guns with friends. Always.

8-15-09:

8-14-09:  What a hell of a day. It was a great day in terms of sales... high end range finders, optics and guns. I did well that way. On the other hand... I had a top shelf, full of BB's and Pellets totally collapse, dropping said little round things to the floor where the containers shattered in a spectacular display of high volume particle physics. Yeah... that was special. Did I mention that I really hate BB's? No? Well, I just found out myself. Yeah, I hate BB's now.

One of the guns I sold today was a little CZ rifle in .17HMR. Topped with a Nikon Monarch 2-8x32... the little Monarch that uses Nikon's Camera lenses. Very clear scope. Incredible. It looked good too. Sweet setup. The price was about 800 bucks out the door after tax, which makes it one of most expensive .17HMR kits I've put together... but it was easily the best.

Last night I talked to Mark Walters... he's the host of Armed American Radio. His one of the columnists for Concealed Carry Magazine, writes “The Ordinary Guy”. Great guy, felt real comfortable talking with him... let me put it this way... I'm now really looking forward to Sunday night now. Mountain Standard Time, 6:00PM we get going. The show will have a call in number, so this will be a chance for The Horde to call in. Ask questions, give me suggestions, just talk. If you are in Reno, Carson City, Atlanta, you will be able to listen up on your Stereo... If not, you can go to 920AM WGKA's page HERE, and click LISTEN LIVE and stream it to listen in. If you miss it, it's on iTunes. It'll be on the AAR page too. Now, if there is something you want me to cover, hit me before hand. What am I going to talk about? I bit about Blogging maybe, I'm going to talk about Crusader, about Training, about Competition, about WeTheArmed.com... this is going to be fun.

8-13-09:  Member of The Horde, Jim – Special thanks goes out to him... Everyone raise a glass... Jim has Sony Vegas on the way to Ogre Ranch. So as soon as it gets here – you will see a dramatic increase in video quality of my YouTube clips... and more importantly... It's another step on the path to Project-X launch. YouTube has been my training grounds... practice... learning things about doing video... all getting ready for Project-X and this is getting us very close. Seriously, Jim, Thank You.

Email from Jim Matheson, my Democrat Congressman:

“Dear George,

I want health care reform that achieves these goals: lowers costs for Utah families and businesses, increases the quality of care provided and expands access for every American.

The President has said he will not sign a health care bill that 1) adds to the deficit and 2) fails to lower the excessive growth of long term health costs. I am on the same page. According to an independent analysis, the bill recently considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee fails on both counts.

Skyrocketing health care costs are straining family budgets, threatening the survival of small businesses and exploding our national deficit. Even Utahns with good coverage know they are paying more in premiums, deductibles and co-payments and they are getting less. Costs are staggering for Utah businesses who try to do the right thing and offer insurance benefits to employees.  Utahns who lose a job, or change jobs, or want to start a business fear they'll have few health insurance options and they will be expensive.

Health care costs are the number one driver of our long-term deficits, which is why achieving health care reform is the single most important thing we can do for our nation's long-term fiscal health.

The status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable. Inaction is not an option.

In years of looking at health care and after meetings with many stakeholders, here's what I know:

• In order to get real cost savings, we must reform the incentives of a system that equates more expensive care with better care

• We need to align incentives for doctors and hospitals so that they're reimbursed based on the quality of care they provide, not on how many tests or procedures they prescribe

• A third of the $2 trillion spent on health care in this country goes towards administrative costs, not to patient care. We need a more efficient, less bureaucratic system.

Americans currently without insurance must have the opportunity to receive affordable coverage. Insurers should not be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. They should not be able to hike premiums when people become ill and they should invest in prevention and wellness programs.

As always I am very interested in your opinion.  Please take a moment to respond to the following survey so that I can hear from you.

Sincerely,

Jim Matheson”

Well, that's a nice letter from my Representative. Must have taken a staffer all day to write it.

My Response to Jim:

Jim, the problem I have with the Democrat's Health Care Reform is that I don't like being lied to. In all honesty, have you read the bill? The President keeps saying that “You can keep your current plan.” That is a bald face lie. On page 16 of the bill says that if you have insurance through your employer, after a grace period, you are moved to the Government plan. If you have your own private insurance plan, sure you can keep it... Until the plan changes in any small detail. At which point you are now required to take the Government plan. The bill requires this information to be given and tracked with your taxes. If you don't take the governent plan when required by law, you have a huge penalty. So the Government plan is eventually compulsory. So the President is lying to everyone and the DNC has sent out all their minions to lie to the American People. The bill stipulates the requirement of End of Life Counseling to tell people who to end their lives. That is in the bill. What else is in the bill? Automatic payment on Abortions and Non-Citizens... Meaning Illegal Aliens get their Health Care paid for. So irresponsible and illegal people get full coverage paid for by blokes like me that work our backsides off to make ends meet. The major decision makers in our health care would no longer be our doctors, but political appointees who's performance metric isn't how many people he's helped, but how much money he has saved by denying coverage or getting people to kill themselves. The Bill penalizes doctors who admit people for the same thing twice... so the bill actually is prevents good health care. What else does it do? Limits access to Specialists and pushes doctors into General Practice instead of Specialties so eventually there will be little or no Specialists. That again means poor health care and not just that, but will cost lives. Pretty much telling Doctors what kind of medicine they can practice. Jim, Socialized Health Care is flat out going to kill people. You have made an argument that reform is needed. That may or may not be true. But I don't see ruination as positive reform. You don't make a plan fly better by crashing it into the ground. I urge you to vote against any health care reform that is not written top to bottom by actual doctors. Sorry, Jim, but I don't want you to be my Doctor. I don't want you to be my pilot. You are not qualified. You are my Representative and that is the only job I want you to do. And if you turn out to be a DNC Muppet, then I don't want you to have this job either.

God's sake, read the bill.

George Hill – Voter.

I've brought up the subject of MHI: THE MOVIE's cast. And this has turned into a great topic over on WeTheArmed.com. Now I want to throw down the more important question. Who is the MHI Director? There are a lot of options here, and a lot of good ones. But who could capture MHI the best? It really comes down to Two Guys: First Option, The Mann. Micheal Mann is strong. The use of guns in a stark and realistic way... Mann is unsurpassed when weapons are involved. His use of light and music set the tone and tension... he is perhaps... no... I'll throw this down, Mann is the Best Director there is. His use of the environment... Mann's locations become their own characters... He really gives his movies the right atmosphere. But can he also capture the Camp and Vibe that MHI has? For creepy vibe and campy atmosphere and fast paced strange story telling with odd creatures, Guillermo Del Toro is a force to be reckoned with. His work on Hell Boy and Pan's Labrynth shows he can Direct strange new worlds. But can he still deliver the stark reality that MHI needs to “Make It Real”? Either way, one of these two Directors could make a fantastic MHI. These guys are my top two picks. But you can only have 1 Director. And neither one of these two guys have the Full Enchilada. We need someone who can not only do both sides of the coin... but we also need a Director that can Respect MHI's original Vision, make it stark and real, with a camp vibe and cool monsters... one that can also make you want to run out off the theater fully pumped up and ready for zombies and monsters. Looking at past movies, looking at what they've done. Looking at how they have done it. Looking at the Vibe and the examining the grain... there is only one man that can truly bring MHI to life. Robert Rodriquez. Because this isn't about doing a good job, this is about getting MHI right and making it the best. Robert Rodriquez takes full control of the directing, uses the latest digital filming techniques and understands how to turn Vision into the Final Cut. Robert Rodriquez is my pick.

I just heard that the US Post Office is going to stop deliveries on Saturday's. This is to save money because the Post Office is unable to make a profit. Yet UPS and FedEx are doing quite well, essentially doing the same job. This clearly shows us in a timely fashion that Private Industry knows what it's doing, and the .Gov doesn't. Yet the .Gov still wants to run Health Care? They can't even drop off a Package and they want to tell Doctors how to run their shit? Asinine.

Guys, I need a hand. I need a bit of software, but I can't afford to buy it right now... I'm not asking for a handout... but just help getting some spare funds for this. You can help me get what I need simply by you getting what you need... When you need some Gun Related Product, please come to MadOgre.com, click one of the links to Brownell's and order what you would have otherwise just got normally. See, if you order through one of those links – I get a little commission. That commission ads up, and presto, my paypal account balance all the sudden has enough credit on there that I can order Vegas. We both get what we need, both win. Gun Lube, Cleaner, Parts, Upgrades... all your guns stuff... get from Brownell's off my links. Another thing that would really help me out – is if you or anyone you know is looking for Optics, especially any optic over 200 bucks... Get it through BasinSports.com and make note that I sent you. That would be awesome.

8-12-09:  This Sunday, I'm going to be the guest on a Radio show. Tune into Armed American Radio this Sunday to catch it. Should be fun. Things to talk about: WeTheArmed.com, Crusader Weaponry, Crusader Training, Politics, and how much fun it is to just get out and shoot. This is going to be fun.

News reports say that Officials see rise in Militia Groups across the US. I'm not really bothered by this... not worried. I see this as a healthy exercise in voicing our Liberty. However I am not a member of any militia group, nor would I join one. I pray that those in these groups take no action. By all means, rattle your sabers guys... voice your disagreements with the Government, but please do so peacefully. The best, most effective mechanism for real tangible and lasting change in our government is built in. If you Militias want to make a difference, then you need to organize a voter drive. Get out to everyone in your area, and admonish them to register to vote, and to get out and vote. If they can't vote on election day, they can vote earlier. Get this information for your area, where to go and how to do it – and spread the word. This will do more good than posting masked videos on YouTube. But it takes real balls to do it. Anyone can hide behind a mask and yell at a camera. Real balls, Real Men... Real Patriots... will push the vote. But it takes hard work and guts to go talk to people you do not know. This is called Foot Work. This is what is required, and this is what is going to save the country. Keep your cool, be calm, arm your self with information, printed so you can hand it out, and go Door to Door. Put up information booths in high foot traffic areas. Make signs. Take out a Radio or Newspaper Advert. Be positive about the political process. And always – always – speak the truth. Tell the truth about Good Candidates... tell the truth about Bad Candidates. If there is no Good Candidate, find one. Or vote for the lesser of the two evils. Be positive and honest and encouraging. THAT is how we will win. Not with a rifle.

However, if it comes down to force of arms... Man... I pity those that oppose us. The Left has no idea the volume and concentration of Whoop-Ass they are open on themselves.

Nancy Pelosy thinks the US Airforce is her Personal Taxi Service? She thinks they are supposed to sit around and wait for her in private jets just in case she feels like flying around... Congress thinks they can just vacation on our Dime? WTF? Who do these assholes think they are? These people need to be FIRED. We need ALL of them to be kicked off Capital Hill. They need to be replaced with people who understand that America is a Republic... a Representative Democracy... and that they work for US, we don't work for THEM.

8-11-09:  What a TEASE! Our friend Larry Correia is writing for SWAT Magazine... he's going to the ITRC competition in WY, Aug 21^st – 23^rd. He's awesome with the carbine but needed a precision rifleman on his team... so he contacts me and I look at my schedule... and that is the one weekend I really can't make it. I can't get away for anything. Man, I so want to go... this isn't even funny. 500 yards to 1000 yards... Most of the shots are between 500 and 700. That's my zone! I smoke Prairie Dogs at these distances... a Man Sized target? Have mercy. Now get this... there is one more tease... They are going to be shooting from moving helicopters! WHAT? I've not done that since the Army. Shooting rifles from helicopters... and I can't make it. This isn't a Competition for me... this is my dream weekend... and I can't go! Damn and blast! So Larry calls the Runner Up Choice... yeah... he can make it... but he doesn't have a rifle for it. So they are going to take my rifle up there and another guy is gets to shoot it. At least if I can't go have the fun, my Remington XCR will get to do it. All the luck. Next time. There had better be a Next Time! AARAARRRRRHGHHGGHGHHGHHH!!!!!!

My rifle in question here is my Remington 700 XCR Compact Tactical, topped with a Pride and Fowler RR800-1 scope and a Harris bi-pod. It will do well. Up in Wyoming to boot... which is what that rifle is zeroed for. I zeroed it at LRI, and haven't needed to touch the turrets since. They are going to be having a ridiculous amount of fun up there without me. Bastards. ;)

We had an attempted kidnapping here recently. Scary situation. Thank heavens for Shalyn Searle who was observant and courageous enough to act. She's a Concealed Weapon permit holder... and a cutie too! So give some applause to Shalyn for stopping evil.
Senator Specter... You are a sad sad man. And you will be out of a job soon. Listen to this clip. Some guy shouts him down, so pissed off he could barely talk... and Spector spins it that the man was just pissed about the “Procedure”? What? And what about Dingell's Town Hall? Is this man pissed about “Procedure”? What people are pissed off about – is the Democrats DEMOLISHING our Nation. This healthcare plan? They want to kill babies, now they want to kill Elderly and Crippled? Obama himself said that maybe it's better to give an old lady a pain pill instead of a needed surgery. Meaning they just send the woman home to die. They want to pick who lives and who dies... Tell me that they wouldn't end up getting political about it... tell me that they wouldn't “elect to neglect” a political adversary... say a Republican who has a Concealed Carry Permit. Tell me he wouldn't get bumped to the back of the line or “just given a pain pill”. Obama's healthcare plan is twisted and evil. And so are the Democrats who support it.

I've got lots of reasons to be critical of Obama... I don't like any of his policies. But to be critical about the Beer Summit? MADD is torqued over Obama's beer summit... I think it was a stupid stunt, and pointless, but it's nothing to get torqued off about. They are saying that the President having a beer is some sort of advocation of intoxication. Come on now. That's just stupid. That's like saying sexy “Catholic School Girl Outfits” is an advocation of Child Porn, Sexual Abuse of Children, and or Catholicism. If you think that, you don't get it... not only that, but evidently you are a dim bulb as well. Come to think of it... I'd love to open up an English Tavern staffed with women dressed like that, serving Guinness and English style foods... I'd call it “The Headmaster's”.

Where was I?  What is really irritating is that the Dems and their Town Hall meetings now want to pick and chose who gets to participate in their Democracy. This hypocrisy is insulting. Check this out. The same Democrats who fight against an ID requirement to Vote, now want to require an ID to come to the Town Hall Meetings.

Every day, the Democrats show themselves to be much worse than the Fascists that they claim Republicans to be. Too many people like to say that there are no differences between Republicans and Democrats... Yeah, keep trying to sit on the fence... there are differences. Stark differences.

Okay, I'm done with politics for awhile. On to more pleasant topics. That Headmaster's idea isn't a bad one.  Anyone want to invest?

Why am I doing this? Me, joining the local Fire Department? Why? I don't know... but I am. Our community is short handed in the Emergency Response, so someone needs to step up. I'll help out when I can.

8-09-09:  Nancy Pelosi says it's “unAmerican” to protest the Democrat's Town Hall meetings. I call bullshit. It wasn't very long ago when Hillary Clinton, in her shrill voice, screeched that it as American's we had the right to protest “any” administration.

Is Nancy Pelosi saying that Hillary meant any administration other than Democrat?  She's calling our side unAmerican, calling us Nazis because a few folks had Nazi swastikas... Nancy is such an idiot... those banners were calling the Democrats Nazis... and they are acting like it too... Nationalist Socialists... acting just like them.  But seriously, Nancy Pelosi is the biggest idiot I've ever seen.  She makes Joe Biden look like he has his head on straight.  And that's a tough act to pull off right there... good job, Nancy.

Email from Scott: “Well said, but I really want to hear what or who made you write it. There's a ton of instant gun experts out there lately. Part of the problem I have is that 95% of gun counter guys are morons. You're among the 5% so take it easy...I'm sure you know what I mean. (Cabela's and the others) Between them and You Tube idiots, these people can learn enough to be dangerous to themselves and unfortunately to others. Unfortunately possession does not equate to proficiency, but try to explain that to some of these folks.”