June 1st to the 15th.   

June 15th, Sunday: 2115MST:  The Government is going to throw away 300,000 M-14 rifles!  Read this article and sign the petition to stop it.  This is asinine.  Throwing away history...  Revolting!  Instead they be issuing these rifles to the Infantry!  I'll buy several if they can be sold through DCM.  This was the best military rifle the US Army ever used.  Period. 

Email from Reader:  “Mr. Angry Ogre:  Greetings. Recent info on the Chinese J-10: http://www.sinodefence.com/airforce/aircraft/fighter/j10.asp Older info from Globalsecurity.org on the J-10: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/j-10.htm  And oh, by the way, they have all kinds of new missiles, guidance systems. radars, ships, as well as our best-that money-can-buy  nuke, stolen of course. But don't take my word for it... http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/index.html  On another topic, something you don't see much in the news: Do you know that we have lost 49 good men in Iraq since the "official end of hostilities" on May 1? Regards,  Justin”  Thanks for the J10 information.   Chinese Defense Today is one of the links in my Links section.  Yeah, I know about the casualties.  We loose about a man a day over there and sometimes more.  It’s far from safe in Iraq.  The only problem is that if we let the Shiites take over, Iraq will forever be a problem.  They hate America probably more than the Taliban.  We have to stay long enough to get things sorted out and then we are out of there.   It would be easy to just get pissed and say “Iraq isn’t worthy of the help we gave them.”  And there is a good argument for that.  But the majority of Iraq is most grateful and are glad we helped… and don’t want is to leave.  It’s a fucked up country and there is no easy answers for it.  We are making progress and things are getting better over there all the time.  We just have a long way to go.  Stay the course my friend, because it’s the right road.  Speaking of roads…

On a thread over at THR I seemed to have stepped on someone’s manhood by insulting his car.  I mentioned the Ford Focus and cast it in a bad light… You see, someone said “That's sorta like saying FoMoCo is totally stupid in all their cars, just on account of the Edsel.” And I said “Or the Mustang II, or the Focus, or the putting Perry Ting in charge of money, or the Tempo. LOL... Ford hasnt made a decent vehicle outside the truck line since 1974. Until the Mondeo and new model Crown Vics and the latest Mustangs. And then they went and killed the Mondeo in America... another smart move.  I gotta give Ford credit for one thing... they have thick skin and a lot of nerve to roll out that Focus.”  Then someone goes and gets offended… someone always does when I don’t agree that what they like is the best ever.  “And your supreme knowledge of the Focus is based on what? Another ignorant ??? commenting on what he knows not. Just what the world needs. Sure I don't like Ruger after his "honest man" b.s. but did you see me calling it out? Nope.  As for my last of the '02's Focus....12k miles and no problems. I must have got one of the rare "good ones". Or is it that after the first year they made all the changes and improvements necessary? Forgive my ignorance, for if it was your car company, you would have done it 100% correct the first time, I understand.”   Well… Let take a closer look at the Ford Focus and how great of a car it is.  Shall we?  Let's not look at the fact the Focus has more recalls than any other car:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news02/ford_focus.html
http://www.safetyforum.com/fordfocus/recalls.html
Or that Regulators are investigating the thing...
http://asp.usatoday.com/money/autos...cus-probe_x.htm
or the Brakes:
http://www.fordfocusbrakeproblems.com/
TDCI:
http://www.bba-reman.com/auto-mine/...immobiliser.htm
Air Conditioner causing the engine to stall:
http://www.bba-reman.com/auto-mine/...tall_aircon.htm
Fuel Tank Sensor:
http://www.bba-reman.com/auto-mine/...tank_sensor.htm
Alternator:
http://www.bba-reman.com/auto-mine/..._alternator.htm
It's not just me... or the cars in the US... they have issues with the thing in the UK too:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/repor...ml?subcat=ford3

Please, let’s cut to the chase and say what needs to be said.  The Ford Focus is a piece of rolling shit and someone thinks its my fault that they were stupid enough to buy one.   But wait a second… I’m just an ignorant ass (the THR language filter changed “ass” to “???”) and I don’t know what I am talking about.  I would like to hear some other opinions from people who have had experiences with the Ford Focus.  Good or Bad – let’s hear it.  I want takes from people who are less ignorant on the subject than I am.  Look, I don’t have to suck on a lemon to know it’s going to be sour.  You took a big suck on a lemon and your trying to tell me it’s sweet?  Well, if you pour enough sugar into it – then sure.  Just like you can take a Focus, drop about 10 grand into it and have something that will out race Hondas… or 40 grand into it and have something that can win World Cup Rally Races.  But that isn’t exactly what Ford is selling to the Young and Dumb are they?   You gotta love that “I’ve had no problems with it and I got 12K miles on mine!”  12 thousand?  The car is still fucking brand new!  If your car reaches 100,000 miles, let me know… we can talk about it then.

1840:  I want to tell my father "Happy Father's Day".  He is a good man with noble heart... I love him a great deal.  I still remember him taking me shooting for the first time.  Not many kids learn to shoot from suppressed automatic .22 pistols...  I'd still like to know how he as a regular Joe Citizen has been able to walk aboard Navy Boomers and EP-3 Orion aircraft... last I heard these things are classified to the gills.  It all sounds rather "spooky" to me.   Of course, he doesn't know anything about Check Point Charlie or speak fluent (East) German either.   ;-)  

Note to readers:  I never said that, we never had a conversation, and I was never here.  If anything happens to me... 

Looks like the Beretta Storm is hitting the market now.  If you know nothing about the Cx4 Storm... Check this site out.  Rumor has it that these things are going to be selling for under 500 bucks.  At least that is the word from a dealer in Florida.  OH MAN!   Who needs an HK MP5 now?   I want one with a suppressor, optics, and a vertical foregrip.

Email from Tracy:  “They are interviewing an ex-cop about what women, and children can do to protect themselves, and he is giving the ole crap about walking to your car, with at least your car keys, in your hand.  Wow, yeah, that will take care of him.  What, he is 250lbs, and boy, you have car keys!!   I know he will turn and run away with that coming at him.  As for kid, in the home, with the bad guy coming at you, your suppose to tell them to run.  Oh wow, yeah, out run a full grown man.  Hey, I am a full grown woman, who has been running for years, and guess what?  I can't out run a man.  So, if that is all they got, for self protection, then Heaven help us.  No No No!!!   You have a guy, and say, "Get the hell away from me, or I'll shoot!"  If they don't turn immediately and run, then you shoot them.  Simple!  You see, I am a scaredy cat.  I don't want to get close enough to have to use my keys, ok????  I don't want them to even get close enough to shoot.  But man, if I pull out a SIG or something just as nasty, my chances are 100% better.  I am soooo tired, of people saying we don't need guns.  It is only going to get worse, and I am telling you as a scrawny little white lady, who does not know how to kick butt, I NEED A GUN!!!   My goal is to get one.  I will carry it with me - on my person.  If your child has to be at home alone, they should know how to use the weapon too.  Even kids, can shoot straight!!!  But they can't take on a 250lb man with car keys, or whatever.  What is wrong with people?  Who are they kidding?  Ask any woman you know, and ask her, if a man was coming toward you, to do bodily harm, what would you prefer to have in your hand?  Car keys or a gun?  I bet there are a few idiots, who would say car keys.  Not me!  I want a gun, with the safety off.  – Tracy”  Tracy, I’m with you.  I’m 240 and 6 feet… and I want a gun too.  I carry a knife… a virtual automatic that some states call a switchblade.  But any time I go out at, I bring with me my handgun.  Admittedly my choice of handgun is very poor for concealed carry… a full sized Beretta.  However if I do have to use it, I am very well armed with 18 rounds of Nyclad hollow points with which I can tag a basketball at 200 yards.  I don’t recommend that for most people… but I’m a big enough guy I can conceal that Beretta just fine.  You being a smaller person would have a difficult time trying to hide such a gun… but it looks like you are on the right path with opting for a SIG SAUER automatic.  Many women carry a SIG P239 chambered for 9MM or .357.  It’s a compact pistol with a good reputation… and no safety to worry about.  With nice grips, the P239 looks very sexy (see picture above).  Keys in the hand, if nothing else can be used to throw at the attack so you can run away.  Maybe if you have a nice enough car the thug will opt for the car.  Don’t buy into the Liberal tripe that if you have a gun the bad guy will just take it away from you and use it on you… but will run from Keys or Pepper Spray.  That is such BS.  Lets look at the matter frankly.  I’ve had to use pepper spray on 4 occasions.  2 times it didn’t work…  That’s a 50% failure rate.   Not high enough for me to want to try unless I have an armed companion covering me.   If you only have keys for self defense – put them in your car and use the car as a weapon and then drive to a police station and report the guy with Goodyear marks across his face needs some EMT help.

1130MST:  Yesterday evening we took our Young Horde to the lake for some fishing.  Seeing the lake did my heart some good.  It has been so low and getting lower these last years that it was not much more than a mud puddle.  Yesterday it looked like a lake again.  The water lever was nice and high, almost to where it should be.   Utah has had a lot of rain so far this year and this is a very good thing.  The winter was again very mild, and we never get much rain, so it’s all about mountain run offs to fill the lakes and reservoirs.  We have been having a drought going on for 4 or 5 years now.  All this rain is going a long way to healing this all too dry state.   Unlike Virginia, which has been raining constantly for months now… they could do well to have a dry spell about now.   My bros in the service were in the field and it rained on them the whole time.  More on them in a bit.  Back to the fishing.  I hate fishing.  Fishing is so bloody boring and disgusting all for the sake of attempting pull from the depths some slimy ancient archipelago creature.  I’ll take a McFish any day.  But it was all about the getting out and doing something with the family and we all had a good time.  And seeing the sunset over the lake was beautiful.

How come every election season the Democrats trump up fear about Social Security?  Do they have any imagination?  They have been pulling this same crap every 4 years for as long as I can remember.  It is only during campaign posturing that they have ever talked about it.  Its never an issue for them... Not until there is an election.  These Liberals are not even fooling themselves anymore.  They are now talking Constitution when it comes to "Pro-Choice".  I've read the Constitution and I found not a single line that protects Abortion.  Seriously... It isn't there.  You know something... Guns are there.  It even says the right "Shall Not Be Infringed".  So how come these cats aren't protecting that?  You cannot pick and choose when it comes to the constitution.  It's all or nothing.  Your either pro-constitution or your not.  When it comes to Liberals, they are not.  They are only trying to pull on a conservative heartstring about our beloved constitution.  Too bad we are smart enough to know more about it they do, and they are not fooling us either.

Why do futurists talk about future warfare in terms of small special forces operations with few people involved?  They want a whole war to be as clean and dry as some Star Trek Away Team adventure.  Let me remind them "War is Hell".  And as modern and technically advanced as military might has become… it’s still going to require the deployment of a few divisions… shipping… Navy and Air Force working to support the Army and Marines who are doing the actual fighting.  All that tech does is support those efforts.  Here is why.  The US doesn’t like to commit to a military plan until the plan contains a great enough probability of success.  That mean putting enough men on the ground to ensure enough asses are kicked that winning is a given.  I would also remind these future thinking fools about what happened to us in Mogadishu… Special Operations had it handed to them when what they needed was good old fashioned armored support from big old heavy tanks.  Trying to move past this fact is pure folly.  While I do like the idea of our boys getting all the tech help they can get… it still all comes down to one key element.  The man on the ground with the rifle.    We need to make sure that that man, and those that are with him are armed with the best weapons possible, and equipped with the best gear possible, and trained as much as possible.  This doesn’t mean that we need the XM-29.  Let’s not go there again.  It means we need to give our guys guns – lots of guns – and they need to know how to use them.  I know the Liberals want to move away from that as fast and as far as they can – but war fighting means guns people.   People who are well armed, and well trained are what saves the day.  These are the 10% that do the 90% of the killing on the battlefield.  What?  Examples?  Okay.  My brothers.  During the Annual Training this last two weeks both of my brothers saved the entire battery because they were smart, motivated and armed with guns not just radios.  Radios are great… but when you see the bad guys coming, you unlimber your M-249 machine gun and hose the freaks with sustained automatic fire until they stop twitching.  This is what one of my brothers did.  He took out the OpFor by himself while everyone else was ducking and covering from the flying hot brass!  A week later same thing happened again… but with my other brother.   The main part of REACTION is the word ACTION.  These guys might have been soaked with rain, slicked with mud, and miserable… but when it comes time to get busy the do the work.  Out of the Battery, they had the best Gun.  I’m proud of these guys and know that if they deploy – they will do well and they will return home with honor.  My only wish would be for them to have been actual Infantry.  Oh well… someone has to save the Cannon Cockers’ asses.

Oh, speaking M-203 in the hands of one who knows how to use it…  one of my bros grabbed a 203 and went to work and hammered the target with 40MM firepower 20 out of 20 shots.  BOOYAA!  (He also qualified Expert with this rifle, tagging the rifle targets 38 out of 40.  Nicely done my brother!  He doesn’t need any XM-29 piece of crap. 

Check out VernalNews.com for some updates there.  I found some troubling local news and reported it.  Very troubling news.  I have got to get a good digital camera for that reporting effort.  I want to be able to take pictures of the persons involved with this crap… namely the city council persons and what they are doing.

Email from Shin Tao: “What do you think of when you hear "Chinese fighter pilot"? Most Americans will think of a young, under-trained man using rigid Soviet style tactics, flying an inferior, antique aircraft in a large formation of cannon fodder. This is a very inaccurate image. The PLAAF has long abandoned the quantity over quality theory of air combat. The PLAAF has, for years, been running aggressor squadrons, conducting DAC with front line fighter units. Recently more emphasis has been put on DAC and dogfighting in general. They are using current tech fighters and practicing flexible, new tactics via DAC. What is interesting is that we are hearing rumors that the J-10 has been observed participating in these mock battles. The J-10 has been almost entirely disregarded by Western observers as having "too many developmental and technical problems to be a threat any time soon". I would disagree. I would also say that China has been subtly fostering this view.”  China has been making huge advancements over the last 10 years.  Huge.  They have modern fighters, helicopters, and weapons.  And when I mean modern, I mean as good as or better than what we got.  China is now the only military force that could go toe to toe with American forces.  I can’t post the images of the J-10 – I’ll try to find some others.  For those that don’t know about it, the J-10 is a modern cutting edge fighter drawing heavily from the Viggen and Euro-Fighter designs.  This is a clear indication that China’s intelligence ability and deep saturation into the west.  West, or every corner of the earth – however you want to call it.  People, China is a THREAT.  And don’t think that they being on the other side of the Globe is any comfort.  They have soviet carriers that rival our Nimitz class carriers, they have tanks that rival our Abrams, and they have a horde of troopers skilled, equipped and motivated.  China is a bigger threat and problem then what the US Government is admitting.  I bet there is a lot of issues that they are not letting slip to the public.

Shin Tao on the .45 Glock cartridge:  “Shin-Tao on .45 Glock I've heard about this cartridge a few weeks ago, and I see the Ogre has weighed in on this. Before this gets out of hand, let me add my own reasoned analysis of this new defense load: YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! GET THAT STUPID CRAP OUT OF MY FACE!! YOU ARE NOT CLEVER, YOU HAVE SOLVED NO PROBLEM HERE!! THAT IS THE MOST USELESS IDEA I'VE SEEN IN DECADES!! PATHETIC!! YEAH!! THAT'S WHAT WE NEED!! .45APC WITH A LITTLE LESS POWER!! IDIOTS!!”   LOL, Yup.  That about covers it.

Email from Mike: “Ever notice what an insecure bunch the AR-15 fans are?  Right now on the High Road, in the Rifle Forum, there's a discussion about the usage of the .30-30 lever rifle as a patrol rifle, or a defensive rifle, or a (I hate to use this term) "tactical" rifle.  With aperture sights and appropriate training, I believe the humble .30-30 would make an excellent patrol rifle for the majority of police departments in this country.  In any case, later in the discussion, a few members chime in.  Their contribution to the discussion basically amounts to "I'LL TAKE MY AR-15."  I mentioned that nobody was suggesting replacing military weapons with lever rifles, that nobody said that the lever rifle was BETTER than a semiauto, and that we already KNOW that semiautos have a higher capacity and rate of fire, it was said basically that "YES I KNOW BUT I'M JUST SAYING, THE AR-15 IS BETTER."  Another chimed in "I CAN RELOAD MY AR-15 FASTER" blah blah blah. NOBODY mentioned the AR-15 at ALL until its fans came in and started preaching the superiority of their little black carbines.  Forgive the disrespectful quote, Ogre, but Judas-Tap-Dancing-Priest!  What IS IT with these guys?  Can't anybody have a talk about rifles without them jumping in with "MY AR-15 IS BETTER"?  Are they really that insecure in their rifles of choice that they feel the need to constantly declare their superiority?  You get the same thing with Glock-o-philes, and it bugs the hell out of me sometimes.  I don't want to bash anyone in the thread, but come on.  "MY AR-15 IS BETTER" is not much of a contribution to a discussion about the defensive uses of a lever rifle.  I don't know why they felt they needed to chime in with that bit of wisdom, but come on, guys.  It's not even valid to the discussion. Rant mode off. – Mike”  I would feel well armed and secure with a lever action rifle in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, or any of the traditional lever action rifle calibers.  No problem.  These AR-15 Nuts are indeed as annoying as the Glockophiles.  You are absolutely correct, they are insecure.  I would be too if I was armed with an AR-15.  I don’t trust the wimpy caliber.  I don’t trust the bolt system.  I don’t trust the gas system.  What I failed to mention about my brothers earlier… they experienced many a jam with the M-16s.  In fact, my brother with the M-249 gave his M-16 to our other brother (they are twins – but don’t tease them because one of them is fucking Imhotep and will kick your ass with a facial expression and spells of ruin) so when he had a jam he could transition to the other rifle.  With M-16s, they really should just go head and issue a few.  Like what the old gun fighters did with all the revolvers they carried.   Teddy Roosevelt and his motley crew of Rough Riders used a lot of lever action rifles to good effect in Cuba.  Thinking about this topic is giving me some chuckles. I'm not clear on some issues here.  Is the lever action outdated and obsolete because:
It isn't box magazine fed?
It isn't semi auto?
It fires a cartridge that is by order of magnitude many times more powerful than an AR's widdle bitty .22 caliber pill?
It isn't black?
It doesn't have a pistol grip?
I'm a little confused.   Box magazine fed... well, neither was the M1 Garand and we stomped the Germans with it in WWII 8 rounds at a time.  Semi Auto... Well I know Ol' White Feather did just fine without an auto rifle during Vietnam.  Are there not official complaints registered about the lack of potency and stopping power with the 5.56MM? I've yet to hear one complaint that a .44 Magnum doesn't have enough stopping power on anything short of a pissed off Alaskan Brown Bear.  Since when does color have to do with the weapon's ability?  In WWII the M3 Grease gun, Sten Gun and MP-44 are the only guns off the top of my head that were all black... And I don't think of them as being any more powerful than anything else... even the much older 1903 Springfield that saw a lot of service.   No Pistol grip. Just like the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine or even the HBAR and the M-14.  If the Lever action sucks, then so did the Garand and the M-14... and anyone who says that doesn't know crap about firearms. Funny how SEALS tend to opt for the powerful no pistol gripped un-black M-14 instead of the black wimpy 30 round packing pistol gripped M-16.  This must mean the IMI TIMBERWOLF sucked rocks, which is why they are highly prized and sought after rifles for shooters that have tastes outside their mouths.  Just my opinion, I may be wrong.

June, Friday the 13th:  1915MST:  Looks like the GOA (Gun Owners of America) has given me a link off their website.  Thank you, Craig Fields.   If you search around you will find that I don’t pursue memberships in “Blog Rolls” or any of that stuff.  While MadOgre.com grows each day – in both size and readership - to me it is just my little means of self expression.  Don’t take me too seriously as I don’t take myself too seriously.  I’ve not created my own gloss (catch phrases intended to make my website and frequent readers unique) but I have used the word Horde to describe those that are in “agreeance” with me.  I write on MadOgre.com the same way I will actually speak to you in person.  Swear words and all.   While some have called it “grammatically incorrect”, I call it “conversational”.  I both think and type how I speak.  Some have a problem with that.  Others don’t.  Take it or leave it.  Actually I don’t mind a smaller readership so I don’t seek attention like some “bloggers”.  I am not even sure if I like the phrase “Blogging”.  I prefer “Posting Criticism and Commentary About Current Events.”  Sure, PCACACE doesn’t have a ring to it… doesn’t roll off the tongue like “BLOG” does... but “Blogging” sounds like something you do while sitting on a toilet.  Back to my first thought as I started typing this… I welcome links but I would prefer to be linked off pages that are Pro Second Amendment.  I don’t need any hate mail from crying Liberals who want to challenge my comments with their emotional and intellectual weakness.   Not that I don’t enjoy verbally tongue lashing them – I just don’t want it to take up any of my valuable personal quite time that could be better spent in the bathroom with a copy of American Handgunner while I’m “Blogging”.   I can say this because I’ve been web logging since 1998 on a free HOTBOT website and MadOgre.com is what has developed from that.  Some of the text in MadOgre.com appeared first back in ’98.  So while I might not have the most technologically advanced website… I have paid my dues and have earned the right to scorn the phrase “Blog”.   Again, thanks, Craig for the link and all.  

I flipped through a copy of Guns and Ammo today.  Probably the latest issue – I don’t keep up with that magazine.   Wiley Clapp is probably one of the main reasons why.  I don’t really consider him to be a worth my while gun writer.  However he would probably make a great copy writer for Glock’s marketing department.  Okay, truly I think he is one of the worst gun writers out there to the point that he makes Jon Sundra and Chuck Taylor look good.   He writes a column and starts it out with a statement that I can only call “Sad if true”.  “One of the more exciting product introductions at this years SHOT show was a new Glock Pistol.”  You have got to be kidding me Wiley… Was SHOT show really that incredibly boring to the point that a new Glock pistol is even remotely interesting?  That is the saddest news I have ever heard.  Oh wait a second.  Reading other reports from SHOT, it turns out your not just wrong, but very wrong, and a hack as well.  This new Glock model 37 is chambered for a new cartridge creatively named “.45 Glock”.  What this round is, is a pretty much just a standard .45ACP shortened by .07 of an inch.  In other news Glock just announced another new cartridge for small framed Glocks called “9MM Glock.”  It is a standard 9MM round shortened to .380 length to fit in .380 sized guns.  (that’s a joke)   “.45 Glock is an intriguing cartridge”  No, Mr Clapp.  It isn’t.  Not even remotely interesting.  There are 4 loadings for this round… 2 with 185 grain loads and 2 with 200 grain loads.   “.45 Glock is very hot”  Who are you kidding?  I’m sure if you’re a Glockopath you probably think this thing is the most nifty thing since the last Glock.  I’m no where near that camp, but I do respect Glock pistols for what they are.  I think the guns are well designed while at the same time being uninspiring.  Same thing can be said for a US Navy sub tender or ice breaker.   If they had made the Glock 37 the same size and a Glock 26 – then MAYBE you might have bordered on interesting… Instead Glock has landed it square solid in the middle of a yawn.  Glock claims improved ballistics with this new cartridge… but this is very doubtful as I have never see a round improved by reducing it’s case volume and limiting the load selection.  They can make it work like a .45ACP and that’s fine… but can you make it work like a .45 Super?  No?  Why not?  Well, there is not enough case volume for that.  You know what?  There is probably not enough case volume for what it’s doing now with these 4 loads.  I bet you anything it’s using a compressed powder load.  These are fine, but they are also prone to detonation.  That is something that the Glock needs like a poke in the eye with a sharpened ram rod.  They already have reputation of frequent “KB” issues.  KB meaning “Ka-Boom” as the cartridge just blows up the freaking gun.  Nice.  Now lets put in some compressed loads into this new Glock.  Did they really need a new model Glock for this?  Well, yeah they did.  Because every freaking Glock looks the same you gotta keep track of the different calibers and by model number is the easiest… that way you don’t have to look at the muzzle or the small print on the barrel.  So does this round have any use?  Not really… nothing that a .45ACP couldn’t do save going into a 9MM sized frame.  Too bad for Glock that Taurus has a .45ACP gun that holds a full 10 rounds while being smaller than the Glock 37 that holds a mere 6+1 rounds.  This is purely an exercise in marketing which I would not want to place a bet to win on.  The round might be interesting in another gun… I’d like to try it in a .45 caliber select fire Uzi or UMP.  The shorter round might let the gun cycle a lot faster.  For example the MAC 10 has an 1100 RPM cyclic rate while the .380 chambered MAC 11 does something sick like 1600 RPM or something… I forget the exact number but it’s so fast it’s silly.  .45 Glock might do something like that too… if it doesn’t just detonate first.  I don’t trust compressed loads at all.     I don’t mind new cartridges.  SIG scored points with it’s “.357SIG” round.  It does something different and useful.  Higher velocity with the improved reliability of a bottle-necked cartridge.  NAA did the same thing with it’s “.32NAA” round and I even like that.  I think it’s the perfect round for a mouse gun.  But .45Glock?  When I first heard this I thought for sure it was a joke.  I still think it is.

“Fair and Balanced News”.  No slight to FOX News… they are my favorite news source… but I am tired of Fair and Balanced news.  Fair and Balanced is referring to political perspective.  I want news without spin one way and then another.  I feel like a load of laundry in a washing machine as all it’s doing is agitating me.  What I would like to see is for a news source to JUST REPORT THE NEWS.  For FOX, I would like them to drop the trying to be balanced act and give the left a big freaking Right Hook to the jaw.  I mean, come on… Hannity and Colmes is all about Sean Hannity and Colmes is just an asshat sitting there to provide some comic relief.  Well, I guess Sean needs a sidekick… Makes the show more lively.  Either cut out Alan Colmes or cut back his air-time.  When he speaks, I cringe.  He makes my brain hurt.  Even Colmes has to agree – he would be much more comfortable working for the BBC like all the other loser liberal pundits.  Fair and Balanced is for the Courts... I'll take my News and my Conservative Commentary straight up.

I’ve been talking gun topics a lot lately.  This is mostly a “Gun site” at least that is what it all started out as.  I saw a new Beretta pistol that I absolutely fell in love with… it’s a “92 Compact L” and it’s pure CCW Sweetness.  Simply a Beretta 92FS with a shorter grip frame, slide and barrel making it more CCW friendly.  OH MY GOSH I WANT IT… with some nice wood grips and a slick leather holster for it. Then have Ernest Langston bless it and lay spells of ruin upon it…  Oh man oh man… drooling… They have 10 round mags right now, but if the AWB goes away you can get 13 rounder for them.  Or you can go nuts and use your 92FS mags and go 15, 18 or 20 with them.  Nice huh?  Gun Lust!  Update:  To get a reality check on this I stopped by a joint called Basin Sports.  This place is staphed by friendly stupid people… except the gun counter which is staphed by rude stupid people.  *sigh*  I don’t get this whole “Because I work at a gun counter I am better than you – even if I can’t answer a single freaking question without looking up the answer.”  There are only a small handful of gun shop people that I know who are both smart and polite.  Anways… back to the point.  I went in and looked at the guns in the case.  They had a nice selection of Berettas to include one 92 Compact L.  I asked to look at it and the guy just hands me the gun.  Right off the bat, didn’t even check the gun.  This annoyed me.  All guns are to be treated as loaded and this cat just hands it to be… muzzle first.  *sigh*  I am one of the customer types that appreciates the 1.5 seconds it takes to drop the mag and jack the slide to insure it’s empty.   However this didn’t bother me as much as this talk skinny buck-toothed kid that looked like the Wilbur Whateley from HP Lovecraft’s Dunwich Horror.   What he looked like wasn’t so annoying as both his odor and his words.  He smelled musky… like sex with no shower some hours later… and suspiciously of sheep.  “You know, that’s the Dee-Cocker right there” he slurred.  “Yes, thank you.  I’m well aware of that.”  I slid a step to the side.  His odor was in a word, strong.  “That’s a Beretti.  It’s an Itilly pistola.”  At this point I gave him my “You can shut the fuck up” look and said “You mean Beretta, Italy and Pistol.  Yes, thank you.”  I think he took the hint.  He walked away.  Normally I am not rude to people who I do not know… but this guy was something I had no wish to associate with.   He wandered over to the fishing poles and mutter to himself about fish.  I shit you not…  Dunwich Horror Personified.  It creeped me out.  I suspect the only reason is was loose was that it was Friday the 13^th.  *shudder*  Anyways… back to the Beretta in my hands.  The 92 Compact L.  It was stainless with black rubber grips.  Handsome pistol.  Trigger felt great both double and single and the grips while shorter than a 92FS, were still comfortable.  The grip is only a little shorter than a full sized 92, but the difference is actually big in regards to concealment the bottom rear corner of the grip is what will print on you and any reduction in that area helps.  The barrel and slide are also shorter… not drastic or anything, but enough to make a difference.  The Compact L is what I would call “Commander” sized in relation to the full sized 92.  It is smaller for better carry comfort, yet big enough for good shooting characteristics.  Perfection.   I know Stainless is ideal for a CCW gun, but I want one blackened with wood grips… If only Hakan made stuff for the Beretta! If anyone has a black one but wants to trade it for a used full sized 92FS… I’m game.

Noonish:  Word in that my Bros will be returning from the field today.  Suspected activity for the remainder of the day for them will be Pizza, PlayStation and Mt. Dew.   Sounds like a good plan.   Enjoy it boys, you deserve it!  Try Mt. Dew "LiveWire"  Its like Sunkist with a ton of Caffeine in it.   Good job guys... Take a break, take it easy... then get your ass back to work Monday.  Do you get me?  Don't make me come over there and smack you up.  

Peace in the middle east looks like its going to be a little further out.  The fighting in Israel is getting out of hand.  The body count is climbing.  We are very sad about this.  Sad because there is no point in this but to satisfy hate and violence.  I don’t believe in fighting unless it’s for Protection.  It’s all about Defense… Sometimes it means a good Offense and I’m down with that.  But This Palestinian situation is just a brawl.  The Palestinians themselves have admitted that they don’t care about a land of their own anymore if ever.  It’s isn’t about Land or Freedom or something tangible.  It’s only about killing Jews.  You can’t negotiate with that.  You can’t come to an agreement with that.  For that reason I wish all the Israelis all the luck in squishing Palestinians under tank tracks.  You gotta love how that HAMAS terrorist leader jack off went out.  Instead of being arrested he grabbed a rifle and was about to yell something.  IDF took him before he could pull the trigger or utter some idiotic remark.  Good riddance.  Now the Palestinians have said that Sharon is now a target.  Right.  Like you guys were not actively trying for that all along. 

This is just awesome… A group of Iraqi asshats ambush a column of American Armor.  Well, in a tremendous and fatal stroke of stupidity they only realized too late that they attacked a bunch of freaking ARMORED FIGHTING VEHICLES.  27 dead morons.  This might be a record for Mass Darwinism in action.   To make matters worse, after they realized how hosed they were, they were hunted down by Apache attack helicopters.  They get extra points for going out big.  Then there are the 70 terrorist wannabes that US Forces waxed yesterday… Keep up the good work guys.

Oh oh… Bad news for the Liberals… Captured Iraqis are spilling the beans about WMDs.  Conservatives don’t care because the WMD issue doesn’t matter… but to the Liberals, it’s a key element in a very poorly planed attempt to discredit President Bush.  There is a pretty solid relationship between these Iraqi guerilla tactics and Liberal political tactics when it comes to picking targets.

Senator John Kerry is calling for tougher fuel efficiency standards for the auto industry.  Tell that to my Jeep Senator.  The damn thing gets about 14 MPG and it’s a 4 cylinder!  YOU GO Kerry!  I’d love for it to be in the 18 to 20 MPG range… that would be great.  “My plan for energy independence calls for a hydrogen based energy economy by 2020 – Kerry”  That is freaking BRILLIANT!  Let me be blunt.  THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.  By 2020?  Okay, first off I am really really disappointed that I am not driving a flying Jeep… all you high paid Scientists have let me down.  I was supposed to be flying my in my Jeep well before now and it’s 2003 already.  Now you want to change energy sources?  First thing is first.  I was never promised Hydrogen powered cars… I was promised flying cars by this time.  First things first Senator.  I have a better plan to make America independent of foreign oil… It’s called “DRILLING” Senator.  We drill the hell out of Alaska and Off shore.  We drill where the oil is, and we drill it good and plenty.  The oil is there.  We just have to take it.  All that sweet and taste crude is just sitting there waiting for us to pump it.  Most of it cant be touched because some Endangered North American Spotted Ridge-Backed Midget Jackalopes are fornicating in the area.   I have an idea for them to… feed them to the Roughnecks who are drilling for America’s freedom.   They make a tasty stew and are very nutritious.  Now shut the hell up Kerry, I’m pumping some unleaded and your breath is flammable.   Hey wait a second.  We could just tap the liberals use all that hot air to spin the turbines at the power plant.

Mother of the Year Award!  Nice job Mom.   Maria Reyes brings stupidity to a new low… she must be a Democrat.   Note to the brainless:  If your going to be doing some illegal shit – Please leave the kids at home. 

0136MST:  Fathers Day came a bit early for me.  My sweetheart obtained for me the Equilibrium DVD.  She must read MadOgre.com some times eh?  This film has amazing depth to it.  Something I don’t feel from most movies.  Hardly any movies anymore, actually.  It has action… lot’s of action… great acting.  Another thing that is lost in most movies.  Most films you have an over paid actor and that’s it.  But in this film, the actors are all awesome… but they are all different from the normal Hollywood super stars.  They have humility and a desire to improve the craft through actual performance and not just showing up.  But there is something else that draws me to this film.  I have mentioned this some time ago… I don’t remember when… but I talked about Samurai.  You see, a Samurai was a super kick-ass warrior that lived the code of Bushido.  But they were also something else.  They strived to live the human experience to the fullest.  They were students of beauty.  They studied art, music, poetry, literature, and song… some had wives and families.  They were well rounded people to the core.  Centered.  This made them better warriors.  They knew what they were fighting for.  People like this are rare… Spectre is one of the few men I know that are like this today.  Centered… and not afraid to sing or to fight.  A true modern Samurai.  If I believed in reincarnation… this cat would have been Major Domo to a Shogun – if not a Shogun himself.   Now, let me bring this back to Equilibrium.  These arts… these are the very freedoms we fight to protect.  Our loves… as well as our hates.  And we have this character named Preston, who fights against what is essentially freedom in it’s purest form.  He is like so many of us… not living at all but just going through the motions with each breath nothing more than a clock ticking… counting down to the end.  Preston realizes what everything is all about.  He looks at a sunrise… he doesn’t just see it – but he really looks at it.  All the sudden the world is a different place.  He then fights for what is truly important.   It’s a great story that is almost allegorical in nature.  The more you watch it, the more layers of depth you uncover.  Sean Bean’s performance alone almost brings a tear to your eye when he quotes a line of especially powerful poetry.  Just awesome. 

Another thing about Equilibrium.  Look at that world that they are in.  No emotional material… nothing that can cause a spark.  You might ask how did it become that way?  It’s easy but it takes a little time.  Look at the history of the United States.  It started when we were offended at a mere 3% tax on something as trivial as tea and we revolted.  Since then taxes have slowly crept up and up until now, the majority of a dollar goes to taxes.  We started out with the right to Keep and Bare Arms…  But now we can only carry a gun if the Government says so.  And not just any gun.  I little nibble at a time…. No machineguns… No silencers… No short barrels on rifles… No stocks on pistols… No high capacity magazines… No .50 caliber rifles… No means of resistance to the all controlling powers of the central federal government.   On bite at a time they have eaten an elephant.  A whole country.    My friends, this is what we must fight against – constantly.  Even if you don’t like the right, please defend it.  Such as the right to burn the flag.  That is no longer allowed.  The right to place an advertisement talking about the political position of someone running for office is no longer allowed either.  Can we see a pattern emerging?   If you believe in anything, you are labeled an extremist and mocked...  and brushed aside as if your opinion is meaningless by the sheep that fear only to be singled out as different when all they want to do is blend into the grey background.  My friends, Equilibrium is a shockingly prophetic film.     I think today I am going to read some poetry to my boys.

June 12th, Thursday I think.  1800MST:  Letter to Senator Hatch.  This letter was a lot longer, but I trimmed it down a few times so he could read it all in one sitting: 

Senator Hatch, 

Out of all the people on Capitol Hill, you are one of the very few people that I respect.  Better yet, you are even my Senator.  I’ve written you in the past about gun issues and I appreciate your strong Pro-Gun stance.  The 2^nd Amendment is Homeland Security.  

Well Senator Hatch, I have something different for you.  I want to give you my personal take on some of the issues I see in our Military.   Let me preface this by saying that I am Pro-Military.  I have served in the Military and have an Honorable discharge from the Utah Army National Guard.  I have studied Military Science at BYU and Military History virtually all my life. 

There are a couple problems that need to be addressed by someone at your level.  While I believe in a strong military, that doesn’t mean I want to give them a blank check to fatten some General’s wallet by pushing a program that falls short of the target.  I have 5 issues.

1.  The V-22 Osprey program needs to be killed.  The V-22 program is an out of control as is the aircraft it’s self when it experiences a vortex ring state.    Please refer to the following online PDF.   http://newsobserver.com/collections/osprey/osprey.pdf  This document details only some of the issues with the Osprey, but plenty enough to indicate that this is not an aircraft we need in service.  Simple yes or no question to ask yourself.  Would you want to fly in one?  I could write a book about all the problems with the Osprey and why it shouldn’t be developed any further.  It continues to fail in critical tests regarding performance, safety, endurance, and lift capacity.  http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/2492476p-2316427c.html  When I was a lot younger, I actually built a V-22 replica from balsa wood.  Its last flight ended in a crash.  I thought it was a failure on my part at the time.  I had no idea that I had actually modeled a real V-22 in a vortex ring state!  Even if that was fixed… Senator Hatch, I am telling you this bird is flawed.  It can’t lift as much as we need.  It can’t carry as many troops as we need.  Sea Hawk, Sea Stallion and virtually any other Helicopter in the US Arsenal can perform any given mission better, cheaper, with fewer birds and with better reliability that an Osprey.  Ask your crew to look into this.  Take a typical Marine, or US Army Ranger mission profile and run the numbers on that mission with Osprey vs a Pave/Low helicopter.  Then look at the costs of these aircraft.  Is the Osprey really going to give us any advantage?  The thing can’t even defend its self!  You can’t mount guns on it.  Helicopters have door gunners.  An Osprey doesn’t.  It can’t.  Read the book Blackhawk Down and imagine that situation with V-22 aircraft instead of the helicopters. How many more Marines must be sacrificed on the alter of bad ideas and pork funding?

2.  OICW.  I was trained 11-B by the US Army.  I was a grunt.  I qualified Expert on Malone 18, the ARM Range at Ft. Benning.  I don’t think I’d be able to do that with the OICW, or as it’s called now, the XM-29.  The rifle is a short 10 inch barreled 5.56MM rifle.  5.56MM is already scorned for it’s lack of potency by those that have used it in recent conflicts.  It is universally regarded as puny, weak, sissy, a “poodle-shooter”, and worse.  The cartridge depends upon it’s velocity for what effect it provides.  This effect is greatly reduced already with the M-4 Carbine.  However it is said that you must shoot your target 4 or 5 times just to get it’s attention with the M-4.   When you shorten a barrel the rule of thumb is that you reduce the velocity of the round by about 50 feet per second.    Now cut off another 4 inches of barrel and this XM-29 is virtually useless.  Thank heavens our troops are skilled with Harsh Language.  They are going to need it with an XM-29.  The little carbine would be much better off chambered in 9MM than in 5.56MM.  Now, the little under-slung carbine is just an afterthought in this weapon system.  The heart is a hi tech 20MM smart gun that can explode a shell over the targets head.  The whole system depends upon a laser for it to function.   I just about choked when I read the details of how it works.  Yes, it sounds impressive on the surface.  And it is probably most impressive on a nice clean firing range during good weather.  But being a grunt that has spent a lot of time out in the field, I’m telling you, it’s almost never that nice when the time comes for action.  Please, go check out the XM-29 and before they give you the demonstration… ask some grunts to throw out some smoke grenades.  See how well that system works then.  Lasers have a hard time with smoke, fog, or even hard rain.  That nice fancy XM-29 will have our boys wishing that had a good old M-203 the first time they find themselves in bad weather… or with dead batteries.  Let’s not blow money on something that can be defeated by a mist and smoke.  The US Military needs a real rifle and a real grenade launcher and training to know how to use them.  The problem with the 40MM grenade launchers is a lack of training with them.  That’s it.  How much will each individual 20MM shell cost over the cost of a dumb 40MM round?  Now how much training are we going to give our guys with these 20MMs?    Training with the 40 is already almost nonexistent even with 11-B Advanced Infantry Training.  Again, I know this first hand because that is the training I had at the ITC in Ft Benning.  I wear the ring to prove it.  The whole XM-29 concept is nifty.  But I would not want to carry it into a fight.  Not on my life.

3.  Stryker LAV III fighting vehicle.   Please read the following:  http://www.g2mil.com/Stryker.htm  This is just one report I have read.  The others are more detailed, but this one is the most positive about the vehicle.  You know… I would have no problem leading a squad of Infantry against a platoon of Strykers.  This is a vehicle for the other guys to have.  These vehicles are horrible.   Just plain horrible.  I’d rather be in a unit with salty troopers and HUMVEES than these pathetic death-traps.   The Sgt York vehicle is a good example for dropping a project when its obvious that it just isn’t going to cut it.  The Strykers are not going to cut it either.  I have friends in the service that have played with them.  They say they are very cool – but not one of them would want to fight in one.  

4.  Boeing Jets.  These are in the news all over the place.  Leasing Boeing Jets for 30 Billion when they could be purchased outright for 20 Billion.  Since when do we lease military hardware?   What happens when we have a tussle with another country and we want to fly some of these jets into the area?  The insurance company is going to demand they be pulled out ASAP.  That is exactly what happened to the UN’s helicopter in Iraq recently.  Left the UN with out air transport right when they needed it the most.   Donald has a good option.  Upgrade the current fleet of C-135s and save over 25 billion.    When did we stop counting things in Millions anyways?  Everything starts with a “B” now.  This Boeing scam is just insane and doesn’t make any sense. 

5.  Last thing Senator… All our armed forces in an area of conflict should be armed with sidearms.  Not just MPs, Machinegunners and Officers... everyone.  It would cost very little (in current terms of counting things with “B”’s) to offer training and provide a handgun for every man and woman away from US Soil.  If we can’t trust them with a pistol – How can we trust them with XM-29 weapons aboard V-22’s and Strykers?   With those things… they will be needing a sidearm for sure.

Thank you for your time Senator Hatch.

Sincerely,

The Mad Ogre

No - I didn't send it to him signed Mad Ogre, but I'm not putting out my personal contact info to you ugly Orcs!    

1400MST:  Letter to my Utah State Senator for my district Beverly Evans:  "Beverly, I am a new resident of your district.  Just moved from Orem.  This is my first letter to you and probably wont be the last.  I read in the online newspapers that Alaska has just passed a “Vermont Style” concealed carry permit system.  In case your not aware of this, in Vermont and now Alaska if you are legally able to purchase a handgun, you are then legally able to carry it concealed without the need of a card.  I would remind you that the Utah State Constitution states that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right.  Yet Utah requires it’s citizens to register themselves by applying for a permit for something that is called a “Right” by the State’s own constitution.  This is a disconnect of logic.  To further confuse the situation, the state doesn’t allow the open carry of a handgun that is loaded… but unloaded is okay.  Huh?  How do the enforcers of the law know the difference between your unloaded gun and a loaded one?  Especially since the first rule of firearms safety is that all guns are to be considered loaded at all times.  That is another disconnect of logic.  If all guns are to be considered loaded, how can one carry an unloaded gun?  Utah is one of the few bastions of conservative thinking.  I am pleased that during President Bush’s election, not one county was in a favor of Al Gore.  I am also very pleased that the Utah State Senate roster has only 7 Democrats listed out of 29.    With this political structure within the Utah State Senate, there is no reason that this type of thing could not be pushed through with relative ease.  In Alaska, this idea was pushed through surprisingly by a Democrat. I urge you to be the one to push for this type of CCW system for the State of Utah." 

I'm having a hell of a time getting this update to update onto the damned web server.  The problem is my internet connection which is pissing me off a great deal.  I can't fucking get this transmitted before it times out.   I hate my ISP.  We are paying a lot of money for a service that is worse than dial-up.  If it wasn't for my ISP, The following update would have been posted earlier this morning.

Noon Thirty.   Forgive today’s posts if I sounds incoherent.  I got very little sleep last night so I am dogged tired.  On top of that I have a migraine burning like coals inside my skull.  On top of that, I had an allergy attack so I took a nose pill that is making me drowsy to the point that I am nodding off just typing this.  My boys are keeping me awake by screaming and throwing pickles at me.  I'm about to unleash them upon the world of men so I can just take a nap.   Selfish of me, but damn... I'm out of it today.

I have always been a 1911 fan... And I always will be.  John Moses Browning was THE MAN.  His 1911 design is shear brilliance.  It is elegant in it's simplicity.  It is graceful in it's lines and form.  It is a beautiful shooting machine.  I've seen plane-jane Government Issued parkerized .45s covered in grime from dust and sweat.  I've seen stock 1911's in stainless with rubber grips.  I've seen shiny new buffed and polished 1911's wearing exotic wood grips.  I've seen full house custom built 1911's covered with gold and engravings fit for a king of Spain.   Every one of them beautiful in their form and function... The gun's design is over 90 years old - but don't call it obsolete.  As far as guns go - it is practically an ancient relic.  But it endures.  It's been carried in every war an American has been in since the gun came to light.  It has even been carried by a Law Enforcement Officer since it's beginning.  No other handgun can claim such a heritage of service.  No other handgun has sprung it's own industry like the 1911.  The only gun that comes close is the original "Wonder Nine" also designed by J.M.B. but many years later in 1935.  This gun is the "Browning Hi Power".  However the HP as it's often referred to, isn't an improvement on the 1911, but rather a different design to suit Belgian needs. The 1911 has been copied, cloned and cannibalized.  Every gun maker out there has made other handgun designs... Made them similar or different - but they have not made one better.  I am related to JMB so I might be biased.  This doesn’t mean I am single minded to one gun form.  I like many guns… There is Beretta… the oldest company on the planet.  The oldest gun maker on the planet. It’s a unique handgun, the 92.  I enjoy it.  It’s sexy in it’s exotic lines, and feels almost sultry in the hand.  Where the 1911 is beautiful in its form and function, the 92 is beautiful in its own way… a more luxurious way.  Then we have this newcomer.  This upstart hottie from eastern Europe.  Springfield is importing it under the name XD.  She is a stacked little power house. Smaller than the others by far… but she has a lot of moxie.  The XD came out of nowhere… Started out as the HS-2000 and it started quiet the stir then… then with the Springfield name change she just got better.  As cool and different as these guns are… I can’t say they are “Better” than the 1911.  The XD does win my recommendation as Pistol of Choice for a few reasons.  1, it’s cheap.  2, life time warranty.  3, makes a good CCW gun due to its compact size.  4, it’s grip frame shape is comfortable for almost every shooter regardless of hand size.  Add to the mix good accuracy and great reliability.  The XD is a great gun.  It’s selling very well to even people who have said they wouldn’t buy a plastic pistol.  Glock people are even switching over to the XD.  This is why the XD is #3 on my top 10 pistol list.

Looks like The Road Map To Peace is out the window.  Palestine and Israel are at each others throats.  Viciousness and Malice are apparent on both sides.  I don’t think there will ever be peace in the middle east.  I know a fellow that lives in Israel and it’s not a fun place.  But it is “Home” to him.  I don’t understand it.  How can anyone really say that the killing is worth it?  I’d move.  I don’t care how important the land is.  The land isn’t more important than my children.  I’d get out of dodge to insure their safety.  I’m not a coward… I’m not afraid of a fight.  But THAT fight isn’t worth it.  It’s not winnable by either side.  It’s just a boiling cauldron where the fighters have lost sight of what they are fighting for.  That isn’t worth it.  If the Palestinians knew what they were fighting for – they would follow the road map because for them it leads to a land of their own.  But I guess it isn’t about that.  It’s about genocide for them.  They don’t want land.  They just want to kill Jews.   Of course when I say “They” I’m not talking about all of Palestine as a whole… I’m talking about the dickwads that are fighting and causing the problems.  I’m a lover and a fighter… I’ve fought before and I am no stranger to most every small arms weapon system.  But at the same time, I am a pacifist.  I seek peace.  I don’t want violence even if I am not afraid to use it in order to secure peace.  But there is no peace to be had in the Middle East.  I would be so out of there.

Public Schools are becoming an issue.  I’m a product of public education, but I was in one private school for a time.  My kids have been in Private Schools 90% of the time.  So I have seen both sides.  Public Schools are more often than not just propaganda mills.  The only thing they are doing is filling the students heads with liberal ideology and propaganda.  Now, I said more often than not.  There are good schools and good teachers in places – but they are stars shining in the void of blackness that is public education.   My family moved around a lot, I went to schools all over the place.  I have had a LOT of different teachers.  I can count on one hand how many of these teachers were GOOD teachers.  Teachers that inspired me to learn.  The rest of them absolutely sucked.  I learned more ditching classes and reading in the library than I did from most of the teachers.  I consider myself to be “Self Educated” because I would only LEARN for about 2 hours a week at the hands of my teachers. The rest of my time I learned all on my own.  I had good libraries and at home I had a father that would lecture history and had a huge collection of books on history social studies and sundry other topics.  I suck at math.  I’ll admit it.  But I excel on other subjects.  Including Science, because I have a loaded calculator and I’m not afraid to use it!   In school I did very well when I wanted to… I always did when the Teacher was a teacher and not a babysitter.  The rest of the time, I was doing other things.  The teacher would be going over the Make Work work on chapter 3 and I was already deep into chapter 12… so I never got good grades because I never did the “work”.  But I slammed the tests.   One day they gave us IQ tests… I was failing the class because to me it was 5 levels down.  The teacher said some snide remark that I could finish the test after class if couldn’t get it done.  Well, I finished the test about the same time as everyone else.  I had the highest score out of the whole class.  Teacher said I cheated.  I don’t remember what I said, but it was something along the lines of “Off these morons?  You are dumber than you look.”  This got me in hot water, but proved my point that I didn’t cheat.  My score was at the genius level and I was failing this teacher’s class.  People who were passing the class with good grades scored between 30 to 50 points below me.  This irked the teacher a great deal and she threw the tests out.  I’m not bragging any superiority – I’m trying to illustrate that my own self education was more effective than the standard public education products offered.  And that was back then when I was grade schooling.  Today the average student is shockingly ignorant about the world.  The scary thing is that by definition ½ of them are even more ignorant than that.   These kids are graduation high school and college not knowing who George Washington is, where Canada is, or the difference between Washington State and Washington DC.  But they do know Guns are Evil, Meat is Murder, and that Brittany Spears is God, and that Sex is a healthy activity between two people who like each other if you are doing it with a guy that has a condom…  That is just great.  No wonder the Democrats have so much influence.   What can we do?  VOUCHERS.  It’s the first and only thing that can save public schools… by forcing them to improve.      

June 11th Wednesday: 1108MST:  US Marines are said to be born for combat.  This Marine was born by a Marine, on a ship in the combat zone and then dropped off on the shore in the combat zone!  Judas Priest!  This kid is going to be the next freaking General Patton!   The mother said “she didn’t know she was pregnant”.  I believe it.  I’ve heard of such cases before even to include the mother not even looking like she was pregnant.  Just all the sudden your in labor and giving birth and well… there you have it… another US MARINE.  I wonder if she is going to name this little boy “Chesty”?    I just hope the Military doesn’t shaft this mother and boy like they tend to do if you do anything different from the norm.  This kid should become a damn Marine Corp icon.  The Marines should give this kid a free pass the Naval Academy at Annapolis.  Born a Marine Die A Marine kinda thing.  Have a little fun with it, you know? 

Hamas has said “We will kill every Jew”.  Nice.  I think the next step in the War On Terror is the War On Hamas.  I know Israel had some bad timing in that rocket attack… but I think the sin in this was that the rockets didn’t do the job.  See, this is why I believe in a combined arms approach.  Use the rockets to knock on the door and follow that instantly with a bunch of infantry to mop up.  Hamas is an enemy to humanity.  There will never be any HOPE of peace in Israel as long as Hamas is still around.   No, I’m not saying they need to wipe out all Palestinians… just this rogue terrorist group.  Destroy them and peace will be possible.  Until then, all these peace talks and efforts are just wasted time.  There is no cease fire if one side keeps shooting.  And no matter what the Palestinians say – Hamas is going to keep shooting.  Hamas is Arafat’s baby.  Always has been, and always will be.  First thing Israel needs to do is shove a hellfire missile up Arafat’s ass.  There is no negotiation with Hamas.  There is no compromise.  There is no coming to an understanding… HAMAS WANTS THE JEWS DEAD.  The only solution is a terminal one.  It’s either Hamas or the Jews.  Even if Hamas kills all the Jews, they still wont stop.  It will then be about the Libyans or the Syrians…. Because those freaks don’t care who they kill – they just want to kill.  I wish Israel all the luck… they need it.  And they need to stop point shooting and start AIMING!

Right Wing News has a great story today about WMD Liars.  It’s awesome.  He has quotes from Madeline Albright, Robert “KKK” Byrd, Jacques Chirac, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, William Cohen, Tom “Dash-Hole” Daschle, Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, and Ted Kennedy.  So what I want to know is how these fucknozzles can say Saddam has WMDs as long as Bill Clinton is in Office, and as soon as a Republican gets in – SADDAM NEVER HAD WMDs.  These guys are LIARS.   What is it guys?  Were you lying then or are you lying now?  It’s one or the other.  (yes, it could be both too)  Here is the deal.  This isn’t about the WMDs and it never was.  It’s about Bush being the President.  If you have 2 synapses to spark, then you know it’s obvious Saddam had WMDs… it’s not even a real question as to whether or not he had WMDs.  Not only did he use them, he declared them to the UN Weapons Inspectors.  We kicked Saddam’s ass because he refused to provide credible evidence that these weapons were destroyed.   The UN documented the following weapons.  520 gallons of Aflatoxin, 2200 gallons of Anthrax, 5300 gallons of Botulinum, 3080 tons of Mustard Gas, 812 tons of Sarin, and 3.9 tons of VX.  That is a hell of a lot of weapons to say never existed.  You know who the Liberals need to ask about these weapons?  How about 100 people from Hajj Umran in 1983, 3000 people in Panjwin in 1983, 2500 people on Majinoon Island in 1984, 100 people in al-Basrah in 1984, 3000 people in Hawizah Marsh in 1985, 10000 people in al-Faw in 1986, 5000 people in Umm ar Rasas in 1986, another 5000 people in al-Basrah in 1987, 3000 people in Sumar Mehran in 1987, and in 1988 the 800 people in Halabjah… ask them about Saddam’s WMDs.  These are the people that Saddam killed using chemical weapons… that we know of.  There very well could be more.  But out of all these dead people… none of them are really dead because Saddam didn’t have any chemical weapons because the liberals say so.   You know, it really doesn’t matter to me what weapon he used to kill these people… he still killed these people.  Knives, Shredder Machines, Tanks, Machineguns, or Bombs… no problem!  Go head.  A cloud of poisonous gas – THAT’S WHERE WE DRAW THE LINE BUSTER!  The thinking is flawed.  Saddam was a murderous sonofabitch and his crew were over due for a spanking.  I don’t care if he was using pointy cushions… the man was pure evil… and his sons were worse.  The real question is who has them now.  I don’t think Saddam sent these over to Iran.  Most of the places he used these weapons were in Iran.  However there is a lot of arrows pointing to Syria.  I am sure we are looking very hard at both countries.

Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor of California? Recalling Grey Davis is now a front page issue.  The once small movement has grown... it is almost there.  But the real question is who is going to take the chair once Davis leaves?  Arnold?  Not a bad choice for the Liberals.  He is popular, well known, an elitist, and as Liberal as you can get.  Liberals hate SUVs, but Arnold has like a dozen Hummers.  You can’t have one.  Perfect choice for California.  Go for it.  Elect him.  California really couldn’t get any worse.  Throw another match on a that bon fire.  At least you can more fun with Arnold while your burning.

Email from one of the Horde: “Ronald Dixon had the GOD GIVEN right of self defense, had a HUMAN MADE TOOL in his house, USED IT, and was convicted of a CRIME.  There's so many things wrong with that I don't even want to start. There's a reason why the commandment is "Thou shalt not murder" and NOT "Thou shalt not kill" (those silly Catholics mixing up everything).   This is just like that poor black guy from New York...hell, I can't even remember his name (all apologies), who had just moved from Florida where he owned the gun legally, just moved to New York, was in the process of registering his tool, and some scuzz-ball broke in and got filled with lead. He protected his family and namely his CHILDREN. By all means him and Ronald Dixon are HEROES. Not CRIMNALS! What will the Lib's do next to screw up my blood pressure?!? Grrrrrr...  These Lib's are more than just annoying. They're the enemy now. They're not viewing our self evident rights as rights anymore, but as priveledges or even as illegal. Why won't they just go north to Canada? They'd be more at home over there anyway. Make more useless laws, like another 5 1/16" legal limit for pistols or something.  Keep up the good work, and don't let the Lib's slow you down. - Robert”   AMEN!

Question came in this morning: “Just wondered if you figured out why they sanitize the lethal injection needles. It seems a waste of time to me but they do anyway. - Randy”  They also swab the area of injection with alcohol before the injection.  This is to prevent infection and spreading of disease.  Why?  Because we don’t want the condemned to get sick in his final 2 minutes.  

June 10th:  1725MST:  You know how I said I registered as a Libertarian?  I did.  But I don’t feel like a Libertarian anymore.  I can no longer say I am a Libertarian.  Now, I agree with a lot of Libertarian stands on issues… but I find that I am starting to disagree strongly with a lot of others as well.  I will explain these things in detail later.  This doesn’t mean I’m going to register as a Republican… but that I am Conservative, but I’m no longer a part of any Party.  You know, I’m not sure if I even want to be a “Party Member”.  Sounds too Soviet for my tastes. 

Email from Tracy:  “Yeah ! Your right!  One of these days, when I have both time, and money, at the same time, I am going to get my CCW permit.  I guess I am a bull headed Clarkson, at heart, cause when someone tells me, I can't, then that's what I want to do.  So, when it comes down to it, I guess I want to be a gun toting, SUV driving, Ogrette!!!  Like you said.  If I have to go to jail for defending my family, then so be it.  But, by golly, I am not going to sit there, and watch someone, walk out the door with my family.  Talk about screwed up law!  A man defends his child against an intruder, and he goes to jail.  I think people are so used to sitting back, and showing "respect" for the laws, they forget, that they can be changed.  We need to change a law that tells me I can't defend myself.  I will go to hell and back defending my family, and if that is a crime, then America as we know it, has gone completely nuts.  Yeah, I suppose there are those who would take advantage of it, somehow.  But, if the lady and her son, knew they had a gun within reach, would they have use it?  Yes, they would have.  Show me someone, anyone, who would have said, "Gee's I have a gun, but couldn't use it, cause it's against the law, when some creep is carrying your child out the door, and you know, it is to rape and kill them??? I bet you even some of the brain dead, liberals, would use a gun, if it were available.  What do you think?  Tracy”  The funny thing is, Tracy, is that it’s the Liberals who are more inclined to pull the trigger than a Conservative.  Here is what I believe about this… Conservatives – True Conservatives – are Moral People to the core.  They will drink lemonade, eat apple pie and hot dogs, and watch the kids play baseball at the park (without the Cork, Sammy) and will stand up and Salute the Flag when the National Anthem is sung.  I will even go so far as to say that they are even “True Americans”.  No True American would have charged this person with a crime.  No True American would even question this man for defending his home, family, and in this case child.  On the other hand, we have Liberals.  They will give patriotism lip service as long as it suites their purposes.  If these Democrats are successful in handing out 400 dollar checks… take that money and go buy a gun and a CCW permit.  Permits are about 50 bucks, classes are about 25, so that leaves about 325 for a gun.  Not much… you are not going to be buying a brand new SIG… but you will be able to find a lot of handguns both new and used for $325.  Police trade in S&W 9MM automatics, .38 Special revolvers abound for that much or less.  But look around, do some shopping, and buy a gun.  Once you do… Send a letter to your local Democrat official and say “Thanks for the money, I was able to get my CCW permit and a pistol with it.  Now I will be able to defend my family.  Thank you very much! XOXOXO”  Whoa, where was I?  Oh yeah, liberals are more likely to actually pull the trigger… see a Conservative is a more intelligent person who sees things both on a big picture perspective and in black and white.  That being said, a Conservative would most likely take the situation on it’s merit and make the judgment call as to wither or not they would pull the trigger.  A liberal would pull the trigger on your ass just for being in disagreement with them.  I’m not even making that up… they have admitted it!  They have said that themselves!  Check out the Democratic Underground sometimes.  Do a google search for it… I wont link it. 

If you liked Equilibrium, the director will be doing a new movie to top it. Its called Ultraviolet and sounds like it’s going to rock to a shockingly high degree.

1157MST:   Email from my Tracy:  “I was so impressed by the mother who tried to fight off the abductor who was taking her little nine year old daughter.  How awful, that you can be safe in your home you think! And the bad guys just waltz right in, beat you up, take your children, and rape them.  I kept thinking, you know, if she had had a gun that would not have happened.  I can't believe how bold the bad guys are getting.  They come into your home, and take your children.  Elizabeth Smart being very wealthy, was not immune.  Kids, being abducted use to happen when they were away from the home, or at least outside.  People need to have guns, in there homes, and they need to be taught how to use them, and to store them.  Self defense is becoming a necessity.  You know, that woman, and her 15 year old son, could not stop the bad guy.  He took what he wanted.  Thank goodness we were able to get him, but how much better it would have been, had they been stopped!  Ok, I'm done now.  I have a big day ahead of me, cleaning up the yard, and then doing some laundry.  I hope your day is a good one. – Tracy”  You speak the truth Tracy, but I want to call attention to one little tiny but absolutely CRITICAL detail.  Just having a gun and knowing how to lock it up safely would not have changed what happened.  This goblin would still have come in, kicked Mom’s and Brother’s asses and dragged the girl off.  You need to have at least one gun in the home LOADED.  I know this goes against the grain of what people have been saying about firearms safety… but one gun must be the designated Home Defense Gun.  The goto gun that everyone knows about, knows not to touch it, but knows how to use it incase of an emergency just like this one.  Trigger Locks?  What the hell is a trigger lock?  It’s something to get in the way in case you really need it.  Something designed to keep the firearm from being used.  Trigger Locks are a joke.  A bad joke.  As if when a bad guy kicks in your door, your going to have all the time in the world to go up stairs, dig the gun out of the lock box or gun safe, and then remove the trigger lock, and then load the gun.  Well, your 9 year old girl is now dragged out of the house and gone and your still looking for the keys.  I advocate the daily carry of a pistol.  You don’t need to lock it up if its on your person and under your control.  Self defense is a human right… and you wont be able to defend yourself if your gun is not within instant reach.  If your always at a desk, and the gun is quickly accessible within the desk – that’s good.  But what if you had walked into the bathroom?  Or into the Kitchen? Well, in the case of a home invasion, it might as well be a hundred miles away.  Home Invasions are on the rise… they are happening more and more because people don’t have guns like they used to... most gun owners keep them all locked up safe and snug upstairs in a safe or someplace.  These things happen lightning fast.  One minute everything if normal and then all the sudden your house is filled with goblins that are either killing you or binding you up and beating you… or both.  Rape is common.  Execution style murder is common as well.  What can you do about it?  #1, get a handgun and a couple different style holsters for it that will allow you to carry that gun at all times.  Even if your at home.  If you have a good holster – you forget your packing.  Seriously.  You’ll always know it’s there, but you don’t think about it once you get used to it.  It’s hidden and no one knows that you are armed.  But should your door suddenly get kicked in – you can instantly be covering the bad guys or plugging them.  #2, Get a CCW Permit.  Being armed and protected shouldn’t stop at the end of your yard.  Learn to carry concealed everywhere.  It’s a little change, not much.  And for most people, you end up dressing better and looking good.  That is what people will notice.  “Did you lose weight?”  No, I just gained a ½ pound.  “Did you get a haircut”  No.  “Did you just ask your doctor about Viagra?”  No.  Packing a heater gives you a higher level of self confidence… it really does.  You don’t go looking to pick fights or anything… but now your not afraid to go into the 7-11 just because there is a creepy looking fellow at the pay phone.  You can tell Pan Handlers to shove off, or toss them a coin on your own free will and not be nervous the guy might get pushy.  You can come out of the movie theatre and walk to the car not worried about the 3 guys following you.  Well, your keeping an eye on them, but your no longer afraid.   I’ve been packing since I’ve been an adult and legally able to own handguns… hell, I’ve been packing heat long before then as well… since I was what? 17?  It’s a liberating feeling knowing that you can face down any 2 legged monster… Big Foots included.   If it bleeds, you can kill it, and I don’t think a Big Foot could stand up to 5 rounds from a .44 Special… let alone that skinny crack pushing pimp.  Of course there are a few other things you need to do – Keep your door bolted and make sure your door frame is solid.  Keep your windows locked. I like them to be reinforced with a wooden dowel or something to physically bar the window.  I know you have a window that was easy as pie to get in through… everyone does.  If you own your home… you might want to consider shrubbery under the windows that have a bite to them.  Keep bad guys out, and sneaky boys in.  You don’t have to be a paranoid freak about things… just use your head, plan things out right and keep your pistol within arms reach.     You might have to change a few habits.  Going to the Post Office armed is a no no.  So don’t go to the Post Office.  Do your mailing from UPS or Mail Boxes Etc or a place like that.  If you do have to go to the P.O., either lock your gun in the car – This is why I always carry a fast knife on a pocket clip – or make sure your concealed weapon is very well concealed and you wont expose it while reaching for your wallet or something, and then be quick about it.  Just because you need to mail off a car payment, doesn’t mean you have to give up your right to self defense.   It’s all about using your head.

Take a look at this news story.  Dad shoots an intruder that was about to take off with his toddler.  His gun was illegal, and he was convicted.  He only had to serve 3 days… but still… even he was sentenced to the full amount of time – that is a trade I would make every day.  The man is a HERO and his child is SAFE.  Well Done Dad!  I think someone needs to slip him another little 9MM as a reward, because the asshat legal system took his gun away.  That’s just great… They can’t secure him, but still wont let him have the means to defend himself.  Lovely.  If you can’t legally have a gun – say you’re in New York or so… I would probably order a couple Cutlasses from Cold Steel and keep them around the house as a “Decoration”.  If you don’t know what a Cutlass is – it’s a sword.  Look it up.  You can’t shoot the bad guy, but you can pull a “Strider” and lop his arm off.   Good enough.  Just have a weapon and know how to use it. 

Remember how all the Liberals were pitching fits that some crap in some Iraqi museum was looted?  All those thousands of priceless artifacts gone… History Raped!  Oops.  I guess the Libs will just have to look for something else to cry about.  I know… How about tearing apart George Bush’s Tax Cut plan, and only let ½ of it pass – and then come back the next day and start putting things back in!  There you go!  You did something good.  Go pat yourselves on the back, have a Coke and a smile, and shut the hell up.

After listening to the news, and reading a little on Fark, Fox News, RWN… I decided to just say, forget the news today.  I’m going to kick back at the park with my Boyz, a Vanilla Coke and a Book.  What?  Oh, what book?  The Four Feathers.  Later! 

June 9th, Monday: 1000MST:  Remember how I made the recommendation for the movie "Equilibrium"?  Well, I have another recommendation for you.  This is another high quality, very good film that got little play or promotion because it was elbowed aside by the bigger high dollar pictures.  The film is titled "Below".  The story is well written with good lines, development, casting, direction and acting.  It's about a WWII US Navy Submarine and her crew, with a ghost.  It's not uber-scary... But it puts on a good creepy-crawly mojo.  This little movie was done really well.  Mrs. Ogre was even getting into it... Whispering "Oh No!" during one tense scene.  Have to admit, I held my breath during the same part the first time I watched it.  It’s’ very subtle too… a lot of communications between people by body language and with the eyes.  You know something is up, but you don’t know what that something is.  This is a good DVD with good Special Features on the disk.  The commentary is great with the principal actors giving there opinions on things and talking about putting the movie together.  You quickly get a much better appreciation for these guys after listening to their comments.  I did.  That’s what I like about a good DVD special features selection.  Some good commentary is essential, behind the scenes is good. Deleted scenes. Out-Takes are always good too... But the best are the added things that make the movie more complete.  I wish DVDs were put together in a way that allowed you to play the flick with the deleted scenes included where they should have been.  Anyways, "Below" is a great movie.

I don’t know why, but I rented Star Trek Nemesis.  I am nothing but an open minded fellow.  I’ll give something a chance.  Trek fans raved about Nemesis.  Trek Fans claimed this one to be better than Wrath of Kahn. (The only tolerable Trek Movie) This was not the case.  This was full of the typical Star Trek silliness that you would expect out of any New Generation episode.  It started out with Data singing an old song… a marriage between the obvious two people… it was all just silly.  When the action started, it was worse than the most retarded action movie… It made COMMANDO look good.  Let me put it this way.  Narrow hallway, 5 or 6 bad guys on one end.  2 good guys on the other end.  Both teams blazing away at each other for 5 minutes and only 2 bad guys go down.  This is despite the total lack of the use of cover or tactics.  The only thing I can attribute this to is the use of “Point Shooting” techniques instead of aimed fire.  But I can’t bust on point shooting THAT HARD… No, this is all Trek Foolishness.  The Trekkers top to bottom don’t know what fighting is about.  Because if that was the pinnacle of “Federation Battle Tactics” then the guys from “STRIPES” could wipe them out in a week. Don’t ever waste your time on this film.  I found doing so to be most regrettable.  I could have been making better use of my time defecating or vomiting.

June 8th, Sunday: 1235 MST:  My take on the following:   Beretta Vertec - Good solid gun.  If you want the light thing, the rail is great.  If you don't want the light, then the rail is just retarded.  The gun its self is everything you would expect from Beretta...  Solid, reliable, accurate and smooth.  The Vertec frame's shape is the departure from the normal Beretta style.  To be honest, I don't think it suites Beretta at all.  No Beretta should try to be something it's not... And in this case, it isn't a 1911.  If a 92 if too big for you, try the Cougar or the Cheetah.  I don't see the reason for the Vertec save a way to try to get guys that don't like the 92's style frame.  If you are one of those guys - then by all means, get the Vertec and enjoy what a great gun Beretta puts out.  Me… I'd pass on it.  Don't like the lines.  But I do like the slide having the dovetailed front sight post.  I’d love to swap slides with the Vertec that is for sure.

The 4 main topics in the news...  1.  The Laci Peterson case. 2.  Iraqi WMD.  3.  Hillary Clinton's book.  4.  Martha Stewart.  Let me give you the run down real quick.  Scott Peterson is guilty as hell.  You can tell by looking in his eyes.  There is no light there... You can feel it when you look at his close ups.  And then there is Amber Fay, his girlfriend… however you spell her name.  I pronounce it “Feh” but that’s just me.  Talk about milking a situation.  She is a complete whore, banking off a married man and now hawking nude photo’s of her self?   For a girl of below average looks, I find it amusing that she is becoming infamous for being a bigger slut than Monica… Hell, she is making Monica look good!   Monica was just a young and stupid girl in love.  That brings me to the next topic…  Hillary Clinton is a lying sack of shit.  Her book is fictional propaganda nothing more.  The real reason her book is selling out is simple curiosity... People want to read about the blow jobs.  America is curious about the relationship between her and Bill and who gave Bill the better blow - Hillary or Monica.   That is the only thing America wants, and the last thing the Clintons want to let slip.  But that is the Clintons.  What about the Democrats?  They just want the Clintons to shut the hell up.  The last thing that the Democrats want are the WMDs turning up.  They will be found in time.  There are people in Iraq that who know where these things are.  One of these guys will talk.  When things come to light, the Democrats will look like total idiots.  They are painting themselves to look like greedy morons... As if Robert "KKK" Byrd needs another coat of that paint.  Ignorance is the only thing that keeps guys like that in power... How ironic Old Sheets is from West Virginia.  Martha Stewart is guilty... But I don't consider her to be worth talking about.  But what is worth mentioning is the asshats that are defending her.  Not defending her in court, but in the court of public opinion.  Typical liberal bullshit that makes excuses by pointing fingers to other wrong doers and asking why they aren’t arresting them... Or that she is just being discriminated against - in this case because she is a rich famous white democrat woman.  She being unfairly treated or singled out.  What they are not saying however is that she is innocent of the charges.  All the above are simply obvious creations of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.   It’s all due to the fact that card carrying members of the VRWC want to bath in Iraqi Oil, look at nude photos of Amber Fey, and imagine the blowjobs from snobbish biatch Martha when she becomes our Intern after she gets out of jail.   THAT is what it’s all about!  Okay, maybe in a Liberal’s mind… what we VRW Conspirators really want is for the Left to shut the hell up and go away so we can enjoy something that Dogbert has so eloquently described:  “I dream of a world in which I can buy alcohol, tobacco, and firearms at the same drive in window, and use them all before I get home from work.”

I’ve had a couple emails the last couple of weeks asking about the Taurus Millennium Pro series.  The early Millenniums had issues… but it looks like they are all ironed out with the upgraded “Pro” series.  Everything I liked about the Millennium is enhanced… a full 10 rounds of powerful .45ACP sweetness in a package that is disturbingly compact and easy to shoot. And you can get it in 9MM and .40 as well.  A .357 version would be great too.  The Millenniums are back on the Ogre Approved Roster.  Said roster will be published shortly in the Weapons Section.

While talking guns again, I’m going to be editing the Guns of the Matrix article… With the help of Matrix DVD owning member of the Horde, I have confirmed the weapon carried by Apoch… it’s an Ingram MAC-10 with a barrel shroud/weight to stabilize the gun in sustained full auto fire.  At first I thought it to be a very compact suppressor of sorts, but in this screen capture you can clearly see the barrel is flush with the shroud.  This means it can not possible be a suppressor of any sort.  That and his muzzle flash is pronounced indicating no suppression at all.  A MAC-10 is crude, but it has a very high rate of fire that makes up for it's lack of sophistication.  Good Anti-Agent choice.  I don’t think even they could effectively dodge 1,100 rounds per minute.  Now, if it was a MAC-11 chambered for .380 this rate of fire would be 1,600 rounds per minute.  That’s just insane, but perfect for Agent hunting.  Wouldn’t you say?  The only down side is that you would have to carry a whole new magazine for every time you pulled the trigger… so I guess 1100 is just fine.  I would love to get a MAC chambered for 7.62X25MM… that would be gloriously Caligula style insanity.   Wretched excess.

Speaking of “Wretched Excess”.  I consider this to be the descriptive term for having a speed boat capable of going “James Bond” up the beach right onto the trailer.  What would be really slick would be to develop a Variable Geometry hull.  The running shallow concept smacks against the ability to run well in open water.  This is why air boats are always seen on inland waterways and wetlands.  Because they can’t handle waves.  They don’t even handle there own wakes very well.  Yet they can slide across wet grass.  A V-hull slices through waves without a problem, and the deeper the V the bigger the waves it can handle.  So we have two different ends of this spectrum.  I was originally thinking of a medium to shallow V.  But this means it wouldn’t do either very well.  A variable geometry hull that would allow you to change the configuration would be dreamlike.  You could flatten it out to sneak up streams and creeks… and open it up for that high speed ocean run back to the submarine.  That would be nuts.  Not sure how to do it… but that would be awesome.  I’m thinking of a stretchable semi rigid skin between sections of fiberglass “slats” that overlap each other like shingles.  This would allow for expansion and retraction of the hull.  Again… these are ideas and would need development.  In the mean time, we would be looking at a double V configuration that would allow for an air effect that actually lifts the boat out of the water at high speed.  This ground effect would make runs over very shallow water to be real rapid transit affairs.  You could be skimming over just an inch of water at full throttle.  This effect will also give us a greater top speed due to reduced friction… And since there is no prop hanging in the water, there is even less drag and no prop bouncing out of water… so we are still getting a push even if we are up in the air not touching the water at all.    Hmmm… I can see this working.  I’ll have to talk to a fellow I know that has raced boats.  Get his take.

Kimber has come out with a new gun… a more “Tactical” 1911 that features a rail.   I am so unimpressed.  Accessory rails are just a cliché now. As if the gun is more effective with a rail than a gun without it. I can see these selling big to the cats that think you can buy skill with a gun. These lights that attach to the handguns are more popular than ever, but they are also freaking expensive and most shooters out there are too cheap to front the coin for a mountable light... These are the same guys who will spend a great deal of cash on a top of the line gun, yet pack it in a 12 dollar Uncle Mike's nylon pouch and feed it American Eagle or Wolf ammunition.  I would guess that over 75% of railed handguns will never have a mounted light on them. But oh, they are just so much more TACTICAL than the guns without... so that if needed you can mount the light.  Whatever.  Like your going to find yourself shoulder to shoulder with a SWAT team looking up at a building and the SWAT guys look at you and say "You'll need this when you go in" and hand you light to clip on your rail.  If you can't tell, I don't like rails. If you don't buy the light when you buy the gun - you’re probably not going to get the light.  Now, some guys out there take themselves more seriously that that and will have lights for these rails.. and will mount them. Such a system is effective and good in the dark. But the cats that will actually make use of them are few.  "Oh, but these guns are meant for real Operators." Said by those that only talk to Operators when they dial Zero. Out of 100 of these Kimbers made, only a fraction will go to guys that will actually use them with lights... and out of those numbers only a fraction will be Operators that don't work for a phone company.  Hey that reminds me of an episode of "WKRP". Do you remember the episode when they break the phone and the one stoned DJ things the Phone Police are coming after him? That was funny stuff. Almost as funny as the Gunstore Commandoes that really think a railed handgun is a more tactical or effective or powerful handgun. These are probably the same guys that forget or never knew that a gunsmith can mount a rail like that on just about ANY handgun you could want. I've seen lights - and I am not kidding here - mounted on a S&W 686. But I doubt S&W is going to break out a line of railed revolvers. Who knows... they might. That's what the fad is.  To me, rails on the gun are ugly. Seriously... just ugly. Ruin the lines of the gun.

Email from the SHIN:  “I was thinking that a good way for the big mil to have  a more effective stopper-penetrator without high re-equipment costs would be to develop a new cartridge using the 5.56x45mm brass. I think 7mm would be good, with a steel core. Have the armories rebarrel the rifles or buy new uppers. All of the same equipment and mags could be used, and the grunts would need no new training, just a new bore brush head. What I would do though, is scrap the 16 entirely and contact HK. Make arrangements for US production of the G36, chambered for the new 7x45mm round. The Pentagon, however would never do something so innovative. We will see more and more AR variants with a dazzling variety of mediocre bullet types flying out of short barrels. The carbines' shortcomings will be camouflaged with expensive and heavy add-on devices. Then the completely useless OICW will be issued for support and more money will be wasted.”  Well, the .300 Whisper is already 5.56MM NATO brass, but with a 7.62MM bullet seated in there.   So I can see we are virtually in agreement about the ammunition.  HK’s G-36 is a great rifle indeed.  It takes it’s action from the Armalite AR-18.  But as much as I like the AR… I think we should contract with an American company.  I hate to say it, but the M96 Carbine would kick gratuitous ass in the military.  If Alex Robinson wasn’t such a asshole I’d even write my Senator about the idea.   But he is, so I wont.  The AR-18 should be upgraded and rechambered.  We could have these new rifles in full production and on the front lines in a matter of weeks.  Hmmm… maybe not.  I’d rather have the G-36K rifles.  Better rifle all around and with a better sight system.  Okay, let’s roll with the G-36K rifles in .300 Whisper.  So let it be written… so let it be done.

June 6th, Friday:  1439MST:  Email from Shin Tao:  “I have long favored 5.56mm NATO. Not as passionately as some of those AR worshipers have. I understand it's limitations and know how...pathetic...it performs out of those cool-looking M4 barrels the tactical freaks love so much. The 5.56mm cartridge NEEDS it's high velocity to do nasty things to targets. Chopping the barrel is a no-go. So I have condemned the 14in barrels and advocated 18in barrels for our door-kickers...but. With the newer types of personal armor being fielded, I no longer believe the 5.56 NATO cartridge is the best choice for Infantrymen or SpecWar ninjas. One may make the bullet heavier and steel-core, but that also kills velocity, leaving you with a small caliber round that will penetrate, but will do little tissue damage once it does. What the brass jackasses don't understand is that a lot of fighters keep fighting when they are wounded. Some of these people react to pain stimulus by becoming enraged and even more aggressive. They do not throw themselves on the ground and cry for a medic or corpsman. A new round is needed. But I don't think running back to the saintly 14 is the answer. That's a knee-jerk reaction, often based on a deep love of wood and bluing. No. Not 7.62 NATO. I still don't believe accuracy and range are the pillars of firefight victory. The enemy still doesn't stand still, facing you head-on while you obtain a good sight picture. He runs jinks, bobs, uses cover and concealment. I still want some form of burst option for engaging real foes. I don't want tiny 5.56, I don't want the big 7.62. Well, it looks like I've ended up pointing toward the 6mm intermediate cartridge people have dreamed about for so long. Now it makes sense to me. These same people who have told us how silly we are for not praying to god for the 6mm SAW round, have also completely ignored what the PLA is now issuing.  They have a rugged new bullpup rifle family chambering a 5.8mm cartridge. Look into it.”  You know, I like short barrels… and I can see the purpose of a short barreled AR-15 type rifle chambered in 5.56MM NATO.  However the purpose is for squirrels, poodles, rock chucks, prairie dogs, rats, and birds… NOT for military operations of any sort.  If your running a Go Team, consider changing your short barreled guns to 9MM.  You’ll have a better terminal effect.  If your wanting a short AR or carbine for home defense, maybe 5.56MM is just fine given the almost point blank ranges your dealing with… but I’d consider 9MM or .40 or even .45 in a carbine for this work.  .357 SIG would be just sick coming out of a longer barrel that uses up all the gasses to drive it as fast as possible… Especially with the hottest of the .357 SIG varieties.  With frangible ammunition, you wont have to worry about over penetration.  The M-4 is a cool looking gun.  It just isn’t that useful.  Putting it in .300 Whisper with a can on the end… there you go.  Short and handy, yet gives you nice hitting power, quietly, and at short to medium ranges.  Long range fights are few and far between… and are generally settled by something coming from overhead anyway.  Yet wait a second… I’m not advocating abandoning all long range marksmanship… no way.  I would also suggest the liberal distribution of M-14s and scopes as well.  Give the grunts a choice.  Oh, one more thing.  EVERYONE gets a handgun.  If I was the Lord Of The Land, I’d contract with Springfield for a bunch of XD pistols in .40 or .357SIG… or both…  Everyone gets one.  And MPs and Officers get 2.  They also get the Mini XD pistols as a back up since they pack pistols as primary weapons.   If an XD breaks – it goes back to Springfield and they send us out a new one.  That’s the contract.  That’s the deal.  Take it or leave it Springfield.  In the mean time, the cats in Croatia that came up with the design… give them a few bucks to see what else they can come up with.  Preferably in a pistol caliber carbine/SMG. 

1040MST:  Yesterday Congress passes a ban on partial birth abortions.  This is one of the best things they have done in a long time.  Partial Birth Abortions are an abomination to humanity and the practitioners of it and the “mothers” who opt for it are criminals in my mind.  Monsters that have committed murder.  During a partial birth abortion, the baby is like 90% delivered, then the murderer or “Doctor” stabs the baby in the head, scrambles the brains, and sucks them out with a shop vac.  Then he collapses or cuts up the skull and removes the corps from the “mother”.  This is an outrage.   I had no idea this kind of thing even happened until like only 5 or 6 years ago.  I remember when I learned of this… I saw pictures of this procedure and vomited all over the place.  At what point is the baby a person?  How far out of the womb does the baby have to be before it is a person?  How far away from the womb does this person have to be?  Some of these Pro-Choice monsters would have a Mother legally able to kill her children at any age!  “I want a 52^nd Trimester abortion.”  Something good happened on Capital Hill yesterday.  Thank heavens. 

I just got an email from Applebee’s:  “Thank you for your note. I have determined that my Applejam Applebee's restaurants will be consistent with our parent company's (Applebee's International) practice of not posting signs prohibiting licensed, concealed handguns. Therefore, in the Applejam of Texas' Applebee's restaurants, we will not post signs prohibiting licensed, concealed handguns.  I look forward to your continued patronage of your local Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar. Sincerely,  Frank DeAngelo” HA!!!!   WE WON!!!!  I think this fantastic!  We won it fast too!  He received over 100 Emails about his anti-gun policy... and quickly came to see the light.  How cool is that?  Just because this cat made this decision based on money doesn’t make him any better - he is still an Anti-Gun jackass.  His first email response to the question regarding the No Concealed Weapons Policy was a slap in the face... basically saying if you pack heat you are trespassing.  Looks like we slapped him in the face right back.  WAY TO GO!

0930MST:    Email from a Reader:  “Rather than use a ducted fan, which would be susceptible to FOD, why not use the Jacuzzi style jet pump as propulsion.  They are also quieter that any fan/prop type of propulsion.  There is the drawback of how do you fold it up for storage on a submarine or a small helicopter. – Vandis.”  Yes, I thought of jets, but the problem is that the idea is to go over shallows.  Jets don't do well in just a couple inches of water and can suck up junk from the bottom that I'd rather just glide over.  Rocks, critters, seaweed.  Traditional airboats can slide over wet grass... but are too tall.  RIBs have all the goodness you want in a tactical boat, but the prop hangs down under the hull over a foot.  Not shallow enough.  Using 2 DFs one at either side of the stern, you would have a boat that is fast, stable, able to go shallow, and maneuverable as a jet ski.  While going to College I was taking ROTC.  I served as a “SPOT” with an Engineering Company and was the Assistant Platoon Leader for one of the “Bridge over Water” platoons.  We used jet boats… this is where I learned a great deal about boats and the pros and cons of jets.  Jets can go in shallow water… but I’m talking about scraping along the bottom in a swamp.  Something you wouldn’t want a jet boat for.  Those Army jet boats were something else.  Twin 1500 horse diesels.  Tons of power to push floating bridge sections up a river.  Amazing.  They were virtual tugs.  Fast too.  Once up on plane, they were every bit as fast as other boats that weighed less than a quarter of what we weighed.  IIRC these boats were like 6 tons  I don’t remember.  But they could move like a sports car on the water.   Anyways…  The folding/stowage of these Air-RIBs would be something that would have to be developed in more detail.  I have ideas, but this is something that you work on by trial and error to get it right.  Money.

Email from one of the Horde:  “Hey Ogre, got a question for you.  You've probably heard many AR buffs go on and on about how the M16 is infinitely superior to ANY 7.62x51mm rifle for military use, because the ammo is lighter and you can carry more.  It comes down to a question of whether you want more ammo or more powerful ammo.  So, back on THR, I posted this thread, doing a little devil's advocacy.  See, I got to thinking, if you're reducing your cartridge size, why stop at 5.56mm?  Why not 5.7x28mm FN SS190 (as in the P90 submachine gun) or the .224 Boz round (a 10mm case necked down to a 5.56mm bullet)?  After all, if what all the serious AR buffs say is true, all military engagements take place at less than 200 meters, right?  Heck, they say that in the Iraq War the ranges were typically 50 meters and in.  So why not?  EVERY SINGLE ADVANTAGE the M4 carbine has over the FAL rifle, the P90 (or similar weapons, such as the NightPup 2000 described in the thread) has over the M4. You can carry even MORE ammo.  It weighs even LESS.  It has LESS recoil. It's super compact and easy to tote.  With the less weight in the weapon you could carry more water, right?  One person said, "but with your proposed .22 SMG round, a 55 grain bullet at 2400fps, you don't get the FRAGMENTATION..."  And we were back to fragmentation.  See, the AR-15 fans talk about the amazing lethality of 5.56mm 55 grain FMJ ammo (and how come it supposedly penetrates less than a pistol round) because it FRAGMENTS.  But fragmentation is BAD on the battlefield.  A round that fragments in the badguy will also fragment in the tree he's hiding behind, or his armor vest. That's one of the reasons the military switched to the heavier (and I think steel-cored) SS109 ammunition, to get better penetration of cover.  So the fragmentation argument is out.  Others turn around and say that "well, your pistol round ISN'T POWERFUL ENOUGH" or "DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH RANGE".  Gee whiz, Ogre, where have we heard THAT before?  See, I'm not suggesting our military re-equip with P90 submachine guns. What I try to do is convince some of the AR-15 lovers that their weapon is not the be-all and end-all, the alpha and the omega of small arms design. From these folks I've heard that it's lighter than 7.62 rifles, but penetrates better.  It fragments so it's more lethal (even though the better penetrating ammo doesn't fragment).  You can carry more ammo, it's range is just as good, and you can use it for home defense because it fragments. AND, I've even heard it suggested by some (Including Olympic Arms) that a light weight AR-15 rifle is a better woods gun than a big revolver, because for just a little more weight you get a lot more shots (never mind that when a big bear charges you, you're not going to have TIME to get off 30 shots, and if your first round doesn't brain the bear exactly he's going to rip you to pieces.  I've heard of .300 Win Mag rounds not successfully penetrating the skull of a bear, if they don't hit right.)  So what do you think about all of this, Ogre?  What would YOU equip troops with if given the option?  I like the idea of a more powerful intermediate cartridge, a 6.5 millimeter or so, pushing a 100 grain bullet at about 2800 feet per second, augmented by scoped 7.62x51mm rifles in a designated marksman role (different than scout sniper...I'm thinking like how the Russians employed the Dragunov rifle).  That, supplemented with 6.5mm and 7.62mm machine guns would give you the best of both worlds, in my opinion.  What do YOU think?”  I think spitting .22 caliber bullets is a bad idea.  Funny how the Army is moving more and more guys to M-4 Carbines, yet Ballistics for the 5.56MM is like you said, ALWAYS quoted for the full sized M-16A2.  You lose about 50FPS per inch of barrel you shorten.  This is not counting the velocity you lose over range as the bullet travels through the air.  So when you have these rounds spitting out of the short barrels at a target 100 Meters down range, these bullets are going well below the 2700 FPS mark that 5.56MM lovers like to talk about.  This means when a soldier with his M-4 is shooting at the bad guy – he might as well be using a .22 Magnum.  What you want is a nice heavy bullet that carries it’s energy over distance.  Also take into account the Army’s direction of moving into “Special Operations Capable”.  So we need a round that can be suppressed without losing even more ballistic energy or with the super-sonic crack that is normal with a rifle bullet.  So the round needs to be subsonic.  This is where the .300 Whisper comes in.  I have a hard on for this round.  Yes, it’s subsonic… but it carries it’s energy down range it loses very little velocity do to it’s long aerodynamic shape.  Fact is, at 100 Meters or beyond it hits harder than full power 5.56MM.  Out of a bullpupped configured weapon, this would be ideal.  Out of all the bullpups out there… I like the FAMAS.  I’d like to refine the FAMAS design, make improvements.  Chamber it for .300 Whisper.  Add a suppressor.  Give it to all our troops.  About the bears… don’t aim for the head.  Aim for the heart.  A bear is roughly like a man when it comes to internal organ configuration.  Just think of the bear like a big fat-assed man, and put your rounds through the heart. Then again, if it’s charging you – your going to be seeing a lot of teeth and a heart shot isn’t likely.  So put your rounds down the throat… Hopefully they will hit spine.  Hopefully your not packing a .22.

June 5th, Thursday, 10:05PM MST: Applebee's is a pretty good place to eat.  However for many people that think along the same lines I do – Eating at a place that requires you to leave your lawfully permitted firearms at the door is not a place worth patronizing.  I give you this thread on THR.  If you believe in the constitution, and in your second amendment rights… Please do not visit Applebee's.  Instead, send them copies of your receipts for meals out where Applebee's could have been the choice for the evening.  Let them know they are losing money.  Let them know they have lost a customer and are going to continue to lose customers until they change policy and embrace the true nature of both Free Markets and Freedom.

While updating this little bit I changed several of my revolving quotes.  I know a lot of sites similar to this are using Zope or Plone or PHP or MovableType... but I find more satisfaction is doing it "The Old Fashioned Way".  After trying my hand at other tools... I am afraid I have lost interest in it.  Know what I mean? 

12:51PM MST:  I have a design concept that I’ve been sitting on.  It’s an idea I had when watching a show about special operations.
The Spec Ops guys were in small boats going up a river.  No problems, but that was because the river was nice and deep.  Then they had to get out and follow the river further upstream because the water was too shallow.
These guys had to hustle because the mission was time critical and they had a long way to go with a short time to get there.  I was thinking that if they had a craft capable of going shallow they could have gone all the way to the target.  They were in a RIB, a rigid inflatable boat, but they had to stop when the prop started hitting rocks.  An airboat would not be low profile enough to slide under the trees that hung low over the water.  So an airboat is out.  A hovercraft is out because when you shut the engine off you can’t quietly paddle the boat up to the shore.  They also have short range because ½ the boats energy is used to keep it up.  They are not able to carry the weight.  This is where the RIB is good… the RIB is light and easily deployable, easily paddled by the team to sneak up on the target the last distance so they could pounce.  But paddling doesn’t give you the speed over range.
This is where my mind started combining different designs and I came up with the solution.
The Air-RIB.  A cross between an Airboat and a RIB. 
It’s simple.  Take your RIB, and pull out the engine.  You need a pair of high powered ducted fans similar to that used on hovercraft but smaller.  They have to be smaller to keep the design low profile.  Two of them will give you the thrust of a bigger one.  Mount them on pivots to allow the thrust to steer the boat like a jet boat.  Mount them a low as possible to reduce the height of the boat.
That is pretty much it concept wise.
This will allow for a small, fast, light boat to be able to shoot up rivers into areas other boats couldn’t reach.    Due to the low profile of the design, it would be faster than a regular airboat.  More efficient and probably faster than a hovercraft as well.
Well, what do you think?  This wouldn’t be for just Spec Ops… that is just where the idea sparked.  If you think about it, it has a lot of applications.  Fishing, and Fish & Game Enforcement.  Sheriff’s departments.  Search and Rescue.  Hunting.  Anyplace where you have few inches of water but it’s too shallow for traditional boats. 
Maybe I am smoking a great deal of crack.  Or maybe I have something here.  Wish I had some money to develop this concept.  Any boat company may use this concept... but I want a grand for every Air-RIB built, and I want 3 of them.  One for me, and a couple for my extended family to use.  I also want to be in on the development and marketing of these things with a small consultation fee.  That's not too much to ask is it?  These items are negotiable. 

10:41AM MST:  Email from Reader:  “Hi Ogre, I am considering trading in my Glock 21 for a Springfield Mil Spec. The thing I notice right off is the grip safety hurts my hand. Being that I am not willing to spend another $200 to get the stainless with the beavertail standard where can I find one that will work on the Mil spec. Are they hard to change? – Gene”  Thanks for the email Gene.  I'd just hunt for a used Loaded Model.   However if your wanting the Mil-Spec, but with a Beaver-Tail... Chip McCormick has a line of Drop In parts that are very good.  This line includes a beavertail.  Many times these do just drop in.  But I'd rather have a good gunsmith put it in for me... Yes, I think they are hard to put in, and often times there is some hand fitting required.   I don't consider this to be something you would do yourself unless you're a Shade Tree Gunsmith.  Between the safety and the fitting... your looking at 65 to 80 bucks to get it and have it put in.  Another 25 or so for a trigger job (which you might as well do if your going to the trouble of having a Smith work on it) and your about a hundred bucks.  So you can either save 100 by going this route or spending an extra 100 and getting a loaded model based roughly on your figure.  Shop around.  Check the For Sale posts on THR... GunBroker.com... pawn shops... Take your time.  A Springfield will last you a lifetime so there is no need to rush it.   ½ the fun is in the hunt it's self.  “Thanks. I appreciate your answer and know you are correct. The cheap side of me is trying to do it this way. The smart side says you got to spend some money sometimes. I will look for a used Loaded Model.  Thanks – Gene”  My Pleasure.  Good luck in the hunt.

French MPs break into song in Parliament.  This isn’t a Monty Python skit.  No really.    The truth is stranger than fiction. 

One of the best lines from any movie:  "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

Coined a new term yesterday on THR.  “Gun Slut: meaning one who buys and trades guns just for the differences regardless of or with little concern for values lost in the exchanges.  Verb - "Gun Slutting" to be in the process of actively looking to turn over your collection for new guns.

Response from Farm Boy: “Your attacking me!”  Not hardly.  I’m using logic to conclude that your true feelings about the SUV are false.  Deep down, you want another SUV but they don’t jive with your sociopolitical views.  You have SUV Envy.  That’s okay FB.  You can come out of the closet.  It’s okay to have contradictions in your life.  It’s human nature.  But uh… you still didn’t give me an explanation.  It was a yellow pick up.  Toyota?  Way back when.  Topper.  Kinda ugly.  This was well before SUV’s were out.  This was back when you had Station Wagons and you had Trucks… so this was a Prototype SUV.  A Proto-Ute.  You, and others like you actually HELPED CREATE the SUV.   You don’t need to be afraid… there are other just like you.  Afraid to come out of the closet and admit it to your family and friends… that you are SUV-Curious!  Embrace the dark side.  Embrace the Ute! 

We just got news that Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd of the New York Times have resigned.   Interesting.  This is the right path, but it’s too little too late to redeem the NYT in public opinion.  Unless you got Matt Drudge to fill the Managing Editor’s slot, they don’t have anything.

I don't get the whole cork issue in a baseball bat.  I think this is bullshit.  It does nothing to reduce the level of skill required to hit a baseball thrown by a major league pitcher.  If corking the bats help a player smack off a home run... all the better.  People watch baseball to see home runs just like people watch NASCAR to see the crashes.  Cork should be allowed.  As for Sosoasoandso picking the corked bat on purpose or not... I don't care.  They better do something to make America's sport more popular again.  I mean, hell Mc Donald's ruined the Apple Pie when the stopped frying them and started baking them.

Sorry the morning update was delayed.  I was writing something for the automotive section, archiving Farm Boy's take on the SUV and putting some other things together.

June 4th, Wednesday, 2:25PM MST:  This is an interesting story out of Iraq.  Over there they call an SUV a “Monica”.  No, Farm Boy, not because they suck… "She's a beautiful girl, and it's a beautiful car," said Ghazi Abdullah Dormari, whose auto-trading lot in the Kurdish city of Irbil features several late-model Monicas… “They are a very tempting car," said Marwan Shaban, an auto dealer in the nearby northern city of Mosul. "Just as Monica tempted Clinton, they will tempt you."   I have to laugh at that.  Yeah, Monica is a pretty girl… but I think the correlation that they are trying to make is a little flawed.  Driving an SUV is as good as getting a hummer from some babe… I don’t know about that.  There is an argument for either side of that case.  Personally, if given the choice between a sloppy blow from some chick or a Toyota Land Cruiser… I’d take the Toyota.  "We think Clinton was a very lucky man."  Uh, Dude, have you seen Hillary?  He is still married to her.  If anything, Clinton is a tragic character.  They do have a point however.  An SUV is a luxurious ride if you define such as flexibility and utility.  SUV’s garner a great deal of hate from a lot of people.  Mainly from the left.  Mainly from people that do not have a lot of children or a lot to do outside of the house.  These guys are funny.  A pickup truck is okay, because it’s a work vehicle.  A station wagon is okay because it gives you space… but because an SUV gives you both, it’s a bad thing.  Huh?  Farm Boy, who reads MO daily, I remember once owned a pickup truck with a topper shell over the bed.  I remember your children even rode in the back.  Now, FB, what the hell is that if not a wannabe SUV?   Come on now… Let’s hear an explanation of that.   Perhaps there is a guilty pleasure in driving a vehicle that is so capable of so many tasks… just like there is a satisfaction of receiving such a wonderful and intimate gift as oral pleasure.  I had never made that correlation before.  Maybe the Iraqis are right.  Just curious… what would they call an Infinity FX?  Here is my next SUV… Okay, maybe not.  I’d rather have a BTR.

The Democrats have been having a bad couple days.  Yesterday Greenspan said that the economy is improving.  So far today the market is showing this.  Numbers are high and climbing.  Looks like a good day if you’re an investor, conservative, or just a patriot.  George W Bush probably has a slight smirk on his face today.  Well, the economy is gaining… what are the Libs going to do now?  They are going to have to come up with another issue now.  The WMD issue is backfiring on them.  Of course they are going to have to play it out to there own detriment… because they can never admit they were wrong.  Perhaps if they consulted Weapons Expert J G on this they could have avoided this self inflicted wound.  The tax cut issue is a total joke and they have looked retarded from the start on that one.  The Democratic Party needs to come up with an issue.  They need a cause.  Especially in the face of one Democrat calling the party Racist!  Geeze.  What can they do?  I have a suggestion for them, but I don’t think that they will take it.  They need to find a real social issue of some significance and champion it, instead of looking for ways to rip on Bush.  Guys, Bush is the President.  Get over it.  Get your own issue.  If the Democrats want to be taken seriously… they need to look for a way to actually improve America.  How about championing production of more off shore oil wells and tapping the vast oil fields in Alaska?  Come on, this is actually an environmentally friendly move.  Fish LOVE the off shore oil platforms.  Just ask the fishermen.  Just ask that one Democrat (cant remember his name) who expressed the concern over security for these platforms because of all the boats full of fishermen who are trying to fish near these things.  Wait a sec.  Did a Democrat just admit that these things are attractive to the fish?  Hold on.  I thought these things were blights on the marine ecology.  Wait a sec… Fish love them?  They flock to them as if they were a reef?  Your kidding.  Obviously this Democratic Senator must have been lying.  What?  Democrats don’t lie?  Okay… well then.  Champion these oil wells!  Help the Fish!  Help the Moose and Elk and Caribou in Alaska by tapping the oil fields.  Because if we have oil fields there, the whole area will be protected from hunters and poachers… food could be dispersed… Biologists could have better access into the areas to study and care for the creatures.  At the same time we are reducing our need for foreign energy.   This could be your ticket!  Oh, please, continue these tax cut things.  Because if you kick back that 400 dollar check to everyone with kids… that would be so awesome.  I will immediately save that money.  Save it in the form of a new gun for my collection. 

There will never be Peace in the Middle East.   I wish this Road Map all the success in the world.  However I believe this to be an unreachable goal.  All the Arab states are united in one thing, and on thing only.  Hatred of Israel.  All of them would love to see the Jews wiped off the map.  Evidently Allah has commanded the faithful (who are also poor and stupid) to blow themselves up near as many Jews as possible.  There will be no stopping this by giving Palestinians there own country.  Here is what will happen in the future.  Palestine will declare war on Israel.  Israel with kick Palestine’s ass and roll over it, capturing and occupying the whole damn place all over again.  At least they will have been given the chance.  Funny how this all happened before.  History is circular isn’t it?

I enjoy boxing.  I don’t watch it very often because all the good matches are only on Pay Per View… When I had HBO, I was already paying for it so I didn’t see the need to spend more just to catch one fight.  However, this is one fight I would have paid double to see.  Bill O’Reilly and Al Franken got into a verbal bought in a book store.  Franken lands a light jab and Bill gives him a solid verbal left hook.  Or would that be a “Right” hook?  I love Bill… he is awesome.  Al Franken however… where did this guy come from?  He wrote a book “Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot”.  One of the most poorly written and poorly conceived attacks ever printed.  Al Franken is a moron.  He is even more stupid than he looks.   And he wants to take on Bill O’Reilly?  You have got to be kidding me.  This is like a drunk spectator getting into the ring with Cassius Clay wanting to go a round.

Email from Reader:  “Ogre, I just watched A Man Apart because of your recommendation.  You are right.  This is one of the best action flicks out there.  If you are right about this, then you must be right about Equilibrium too.  I’ll rent it this weekend. - Jim”   Of course I am right!  You are going to love it.  Why have you waited so long to see it?   A Man Apart has something that many “action movies” do not have.  A real story.  Character development.  Justification for the level of violence that ensues.   I think the lack of these things is due to the fact that Hollywood is populated with moronic liberals (like Al Franken) who don’t understand the subject matter of these action flicks.  Let’s make a correlation here.  The people in Action Flicks are gun owners.  Real gun owners are some of the brightest people on earth who understand a great many things about humanity, the value of human life, love, family, politics, and personal responsibility.   These are things not portrayed in an action flick.  In an action flick, the there is a bad guy that pisses off the hero and then the hero goes and shoots 67 other bad guys before given the chance to shoot the head bad guy.  That’s an action flick.  Take a look at “The Way of the Gun”. Frickin retarded movie.  Celluloid version of Running With Scissors’ game called “Postal”.  No good guys… just some bad guys killing everyone.  A Man Apart broke apart from the normal theme.  It gave you characters you actually cared about.  It gave you a story.  A reason for the violence.  Something that you could understand… Given a similar situation, I would have done the same thing.  I could empathize with the Character.  Not just a “You wronged me, so I am going to kill as many people as possible until I can finally kill you”.   I think Hollywood needs to recognize something here.  Because of LOTR and other good movies… I think American audiences have become more sophisticated.  They expect more.  Hollywood needs to put more effort into making deeper movies than what they usually put out.  If you disagree with me, just go to Block Busters and look at all the flicks with Dolph Lungren in it.    It’s hard to pick out a good movie my friends… it really is.  This is why I have gone to the effort to help you.  I have a list, gathered by you, the Mad Ogre audience and put into order by Ogre’s Dark Council.  It would be wise to join with us.  Print out the list and go through it when you go to your local video outlet.  Sun Coast, Block Busters, Hollywood Video, wherever you go.  Select movies from this list and you can not go wrong.  Stray but a little and your evening could be a disaster.  I am of course accepting new submissions to this list.  All submissions are subject to final approval.

10:18AM MST  "President Bush is a Liar!"  I'm getting really sick of this unsubstantiated accusation.  If Bush lied about WMDs in Iraqi - How come these same liberals didn't call out Clinton when he launched Operation Desert Fox?  How come these liberals have such a short memory that they can't remember events like this?  It's simple as this... If Bush is lying now - then Clinton was lying then.  How come the liberals wont address that?  I’ve not heard one liberal address that or acknowledge that.  Come on now, that's a fair question...  I dare any liberal to explain this to me.  Please.  Enlighten me to where I'm wrong here.    I expect no answers because there is no answer.  I'm not wrong.  They cannot counter this argument in a logical and pointed way.  Let me go through the liberal playbook for you.

1.  I'm a Bush Brown-Noser for asking the question.

2.  Well, why the hell have we not gone into Africa or Venezuela?

3.  I'm an idiot or I misplaced a comma or I have poor grammar.

4.  My teeth are not as absolutely white as possible.

5.  Fine, if Saddam has WMDs, it's our fault because we gave them to Iraq.

Did I miss anything?  Any response from a liberal will be one of these 5 responses or a variation or combination of one of these 5 responses.  Regardless of the response they give - it will not be the answer to the question I asked. 

Politics: Root words are "Poli", meaning "many" and "ticks", meaning "blood sucking insects".  I think politics are driving a wedge deep into the heart of America... Ruining our government.  This 2 party system is tired... Yes there are other parties such as the Greens and Libertarians... But both are too small to be consequential yet save to bleed votes from the two main parties.  Hell, thanks to the Greens bleeding off votes from Gore, Bush won!  Anyways... I think there should be only 2 real parties...  The Government and The People.  If the Government pulls some underhanded shit - they get booed off stage promptly.  This doesn't happen the way it was really intended.  There is no excuse to justify Senator Robert "KKK" Byrd continued presence in Washington D.C..  No, I don't buy "Well, he IS from West Virginia after all." Yes, I know this just reinforces the typical West Virginian stereotypes regarding IQ's being room temperature... But there is more to it, my faithful readers... There is something deeper at work here.  Byrd is still in place because of support from the Democratic National Committee.  A political party wants him there not because he is a good man (because even they can't spin enough to say he is) but because he is a weapon against Republicans... Because he is a Weapon of Mass Disruption.  In short, he is a Tool.  In every definition of the phrase.  I'm surprised Byrd hasn't declared "First Night" rights over West Virginian brides.  I'm trying to find some speck, some mote of good in "KKK" Byrd to justify even his existence… and brothers, I've not found it.  It is easier to find a small jar of WMD material hidden in a foreign country the size of California.  The only thing that we could have to counter Shitbirds like Robert Byrd... Now hold on here... Wait for it... Is to set term limits.  2 terms and 2 terms only for a President... 2 terms and 2 term only for Congress and Senate.  You can run for each slot... Totaling 6 terms possible.  Call that your "Career".  After that, you go back to whatever the hell you did before you took an office.  Your done.  Buh-Bye.  Exit stage left and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.  I know we would lose some great guys on our side... Like Hatch, UT(R).  Great guy.  But I think the rapid turn over would keep things more honest.  That's my opinion... I may be wrong.

This is interesting… Worlds Smallest Belly Dancers.  No Really.  That’s something I guess you just gotta see.  I bet they make a lot on tips.

This takes “For the Boys” to a whole new level.  Now how come the USO clubs never did this when I was in?  Oh, wait a sec… not USO club.  The “Bunnyranch”.  Never mind.  "We wanted to give these guys some special care and attention." Damn, I guess. 

So if you’re a really fat person… and your in a grave yard scraping moss off a tombstone… and you collapse the coffin and your leg punches through into the coffin… what do you do?  You sue the State.  Obviously.  The punch line comes from this 375 pound lady’s lawyer "For them to shift the burden of keeping a place safe only for skinny people is very unfair."    Shifting burdens… I about fell outta my chair laughing at that statement.  A more truthful statement has never been uttered by an Ambulance Chaser.    But seriously lets look at this for a second… Like there are any specs or regulations regarding the safety of the ground over a buried coffin.  Nevermind the fact that this was in Washington State.  It never rains in Washington State… the ground never gets soft… so obviously it’s Washington State’s fault for this accident and should be sued.  I can only image her to sue the Coast Guard if a seagull dumps on her head.  Yeah, this is a pretty horrible thing.  Scary and emotionally damaging… but it is no ones fault.  I think the grounds keepers should sue her for being such a fatty and damaging the cemetery.  It’s not Washington State’s fault she didn’t step away from the tub of cheese covered fried chicken wings. 

Who thinks that Hillary really didn't know?  It is easy to think that "Wow, Hillary must have been really hurt about that Monica thing!"  Normally that would be the case.  However I think Hillary was only upset that Bill got caught in the spotlight over this and not that he was cheating on her.  They really didn't have that Husband and Wife relationship and I'm not sure if they ever did.  I think she was just glad she didn't have that thing in her mouth.  

June 3rd, Tuesday, 11:47AM MST:  I read about a fellow who teaches CCW classes that is telling students to avoid all subcompact automatics because they are unreliable.  My beloved readers, my Horde… please… take your CCW classes to get your permit.  But take your teacher with a grain of salt.  He might come across as a veteran of countless turf wars and confrontations… a modern day street samurai seasoned in wisdom and cold steel… and he could be.  Or he could be just some guy like the rest of us that started teaching and is chuck full of personal opinions – like the rest of us.   These generalized statements are hazardous things.  Perhaps this fellow is speaking the honest truth – from his perspective.  He could have had several small guns that were just pieces of crap.  Or had the wrong ammo load for the gun.  Who knows?  However, I’ve had a different history with such guns.  Some are utter crap.  I don’t trust Kel-Tec pistols, but others have had great luck with them and do trust them.  I had a Detonics Combat Master – one of the first Sub Compact modern autos in a full sized caliber.  It was flawless.  Never jammed on me.  I’ve had others – all very good with reliability on par with any high quality handgun.  I wouldn’t hesitate getting a subcompact.  Specifically the little mini Glocks, the Mini XD, or the Mini P99.  All are fine handguns and you can bet your life on them.  More important than the gun is the load.  Most guns are unique… even mass produced clones.  They have different personalities.  Some are finicky, while others are not picky at all.  But one thing is generally common.  All guns will have there own favorite load.  This favorite load will be the most reliable and the most accurate.  Unless you have a mechanical defect in the gun, once you find that load, stick with it and you will be just fine.  But be aware that the Magic Bullet Of The Month might not be all that out of your gun… Try them.  Try all of them... Find that favorite load.   When I get a new duty pistol, my personal program that I try to follow is to blow through 500 rounds of ammo to break the gun in.  (any ammo… doesn’t matter as long as it isn’t WOLF) Then I find that favorite load for it.  Keep track of your results in a notebook so you don’t forget that your gun just shot ½ the group sizes with Blazer ammo or something.     

You know, I have often wanted to buy one of the Black Powder rifle kits and build my own Musket.  Haven’t you?  Well screw muskets!  This cat went all the way to freaking Cruise Missile! 

Are you keeping an eye on the goings on of the Poli-ticks?  We have people in on Capital Hill that cut Bush’s Tax-Cut plan because it was too big.  Then after it passes, they say “Hey!  Bush didn’t give a tax cut for this!”  So now they are pushing for some more tax-cuts.  I’m all for tax cuts… but this is just silly and I am not understanding the motivation for this stunt.  They are the ones that cut it out of the bill… but are now wanting to put it back in there.  WTF?  Are they just trying to make themselves look good now?  Trying to be heroes?  Guess what?  If you fuck something up and then fix it – your not a hero.  This is just a political stunt to try to improve their own images because they have seen Bush’s popularity climb because of the Tax Cut.  Instead of looking good, these pimples are coming off looking like a posse of asshats.

While I am on the political front now, I am something else.  I am disappointed in the Poli-ticks on the hill calling for an inquisition about the Intel saying Iraq has WMD, and why Bush pushed for the war.  *sigh* These snail-skulled drooling clusterfucks are so short-bussed they have no understanding of what was going on in Iraq right up to the start of the war.  Iraq USED WMDs.  Iraq was making WMDs.  And just before we attacked we have intelligence reports saying that Iraq shipped WMDs to Syria and destroyed the rest.  Never mind we found the mobile factories and labs.  Never mind that we have the mass graves of all the people Saddam used the WMDs on.  Never mind that we found people saying that “yes, I worked on them and we had them”.  Never mind we have people saying “Yes, they had them because they used them on my town and I’m one of the only survivors”.   Never mind that UN Weapons inspectors found them years ago before they were kicked out.  So we know he had them.  It’s not a question that he had them!  These democrats make me sick.  And even more so is that pin-headed fucknozzle that has an R tagged to his name when it should really be a D… Yeah, I’m talking about The Maverick.  He is one former POW I wish was still an MIA.   Look, it doesn’t matter if we don’t find a vault full of live WMD.  Because even it we did, these same people would still say the war was not justified.  Personally, I think we were more than justified.  I think we were over due in kicking Saddam’s ass.  I think we should have did it back in ’91 and just given the UN the finger.  Prisons full of kids, mass executions, inhuman torture, feeding live people into shredding machines feet first, raping brides on the wedding day and killing them, murdering whole villages… My friends, we were indeed over due… WMDs or not.   But this isn’t about WMDs.  This is about the DemocRATS scratching and clawing and trying to hold on to political relevance.   

Quick note:  This is not how to catch a plane when you are running late.  Dumbass.

Here is something… Sex with your Boss is good for your career.  I am sure it is.  Whores can make a lot of money.  Never mind the whole Immortal Soul and Sin issues… let’s not get into that.  Let’s just talk about being a whore.  Throw dignity and self esteem out the window… Who needs Honor?  Be a whore and make some cash!  YEAH!  Pass out business cards offering Lunch Break Quickies for 50 bucks or a quick Header for a 20!  YEAH!  Prostitution isn’t for Crack Whores anymore!

My friends, I am going to tell you something shocking.  Last night I went to a Dance Review.  It was about an hour and half of dancing... the program was called "Revolution" and was a history lesson of the evolution of Dance in the US.  I enjoyed it.  The review was performed by the Powerhouse's dance company.  It was very well done.  I've seen dancers from the other studios around town... all started by former students of the Powerhouse... not nearly as good.  Anyways, yes, I went to a dance review... enjoyed it.  I am a well rounded Ogre and can appreciate the art and talent displayed.  This reminded me of what we an Ogres and Patriots are always fighting for.

Nyclad ammunition… I’ve mentioned them before.  (124 Grain 9MM) Did some testing.  I’ll have to get a camera and take some pics of the bullets.  I didn’t have any Gel so I used clay blocks.  The expansion was explosive.  The penetration was deep.  After fully expanding, the lead rolled back and then fragmented.  Interesting.  I think this was the case because if the density of the clay I was shooting.  I think this stuff tore the bullet apart… this wouldn’t happen in a defensive shooting or hunting.  Meat is different than rough dry clay.   The clay… I wish I had a camera was blown open showing a huge cavity… this would be called the “Temporary Wound Cavity” by some.  What it really was, was the wake of the bullet.  I put no stock into hydro-static shock as a stopping factor.  Still, it was impressive.  Accuracy testing showed these rounds to be much more accurate than I remembered them to be out of my SIG P228.  Did I have any stoppages?  Are you kidding?  The Beretta is one of the most reliable guns out there.  And Nyclads have even made unreliable guns reliable.  I’ll let you do the math… Beretta 92FS + Nyclad Ammunition = Sweet Shooting.  I blew through the box of 147 grain sub sonics I had been packing.  My previous carry load.  I fired one of them into a block and the results were good… deep penetration.  Deeper than the Nyclads by about 4 inches.  Expansion wasn’t as good. 

June 2nd, Monday, 10:00AM MST:  Chalk this up as one of the most asinine actions ever taken.  You know how Bald Eagles are endangered and protected and all that, right?  Well, I guess all of that doesn’t apply to Authorities in Kentucky who just destroyed one of the Bald Eagle eggs.

Just put in the Army of Darkness DVD... Bruce Campbell is a comedy super genius.   Movie rocks.  If you have never seen it... it's a must.  But, uh... you have to be in the mood for it.  It's different.  Get your buds over late one night and watch it...  If your in the mood for a Monty Python type flick... this is it.  "Well hello Mr. Fancy Pants"... classic.

Email from Rob:  “This is just like the fucking Wiz-Kids and the M16.  They insisted their oversized .22 air-field defending rifle would be THE thing for infantry in 'Nam...well, we all know how that ended. A few good grunts and Marine's died because Wiz-Kids KNOW more than the poor bastard who has to do the killing. They blame it on telling the Marine's it was self cleaning...oh FUCK no. That rifle was doomed from the start. At least they put in chromed barrels, that was half of the problem right there...and no thanks to the Wiz-Kids...  The OICW or XM-whatever the fuck they're calling that thing now is just another example of why the Wiz-Kid's equivalent today needs to be drug into the cold street and shot, execution style, as a sacrifice to the God's for penance to not get out troops killed.  300m min range? WTF? The M203 could be fired almost anywhere, and if you got it under range it wouldn't explode...the ONLY under range was if it could hurt you. Now, imagine the XM-whatever in Vietnam...defending a fire base. They're lasing moving targets... lasing... lasing again, don't ever get to fire because VC's are fast sons of bitches. Now the NVA behind them are mortaring the base...the OICW still can't shoot that pea-shooter at the enemy...okay, they're past the first line, you can't use that shit grenade launcher anymore, nor try, you got that 10" rifle barrel in a 60 thousand inch design you can't grip right. What do you do? God damn right, if you haven't now, you drop that and grab a Remington 870. Simple, cheap, effective. VC don't like 00-buck. VC like rifles that can't hit shit. Do it for the VC, don't you want to piss them off as much as I do?  We need the M14 again. Not M16, not M16A2, no, fuck all that. The M14. 800 yards? No problem. 20 yards? No problem. 10 yards? Hey, no problem, we can do that. It's the perfect military rifle. – Rob”  When the going got tough, the tough grabs a .308.  Take a look at the US Army Detachment Delta or the US Navy SEALS… they OFTEN use M14s.  Why is that?  Er… could be because of rock solid reliability, accuracy and firing a cartridge that is full power?  Could be!  Yeah, they’ll use MP5’s and other weapons… but they select them based on the mission profile.  Right tool for the right job.  When it comes to a battle rifle… it’s the M-14.  When it comes to launching a grenade, it’s the M-203 in my book.  You want a modern battle rifle capable of taking on anything?  The late Gale McMillan had the answer.  He had designed a bullpup conversion for the M-14 rifle.  Take that bullpup conversion and give it the SOPMOD treatment... Beautiful.  Unfortunately Gale is no longer with is.  Gale was a great great man… and a Saint among Shooters.  We are at a loss.  Wait a sec.  No… There is hope.  Our man Correia has an answer for us that hopefully someday will come to fruition.  I have seen a picture of the prototype and it is fantastic.  I’ll not discuss it as I don’t want to give Bad Karma to the project.  That and Cavalry Arms would rip it off in a heartbeat if they got a whiff of it.  They ripped off Correia’s Molon Labe hats and stuff… so I wouldn’t put it past them.    When you say your prayers at night… ask for a blessing on the Correia house that this design finds a manufacturer soon.  Oh, and start saving your quarters in your “Cussing Jar” because when this hits – you’ll want to buy it ASAP.  

Email came in from one of the Horde… He was talking about an air powered 9mm gun that gives you up to 950 feet per second.  DAYUM!  That’s impressive.  When I get more information on this, I’ll share.  The only downside is that it’s more expensive than a new AR-180B.  Upside?  No need to worry about federal paperwork to buy one and they can be made to be very quiet.  Killer huh? 

I’ve got some more entries for the Gunsmith Directory and one correction.  Check them out.  Guys, gunsmiths are worth their weight in gold.  If you have an old gun that’s a little rough, send it in for some work instead of just getting rid of it.  You’ll be supporting some good people if you do.

The following is my take on the news from the THR thread that the Army is going to be conducting some kind of Robot Race to develop robotic supply trucks:  I said initially “Robot races?  This better not be Pentagon Funded.  Wake me up when they start shooting each other, and or start hunting humans.”  To which someone said “Yeah, you're right. the pentagon has no reason to spend money on projects that might benefit more than just the military.”  Well, this kinda set me off… I ranted:  We don't need to spend 100 billion dollars to do what a guy in a freaking Jeep can do for almost nothing.  I don't want my tax dollars paying for BS like that. I really and truly don't.   I'd rather that money go to things like:  1. A real living wage for soldiers.  US Trooper's families should not have to be on food stamps. That is asinine.  2. Better equipment for Guard and Reserve units.  I've seen a lot of Guard units using Vietnam issued hardware. Trailers, Guns, LBE, and sundry other items.
3. Better medical training for anyone that responds to the call of "Medic". These guys should all be virtual surgeons... not just some of the special ones. There is no reason they shouldn't be.  4. Give pilots more flight hours. Air Force pilots don't get enough hours behind the stick... I have talked to many jet jockeys that complain of this. I am told Reserve pilots get more hours for some reason.  5. Infantry should be given a lot more live fire trigger time, and courses by serious instructors... not just the Delta and SEAL teams.  6. US Infantry soldiers should be armed with absolutely the best weapons available... not a rifle that is the oldest rifle in service next to some poor countries that still issue the AK and FAL. These poor third world countries are the only ones still issuing these old designs. All the other 1st world nations are all using new modern designs.  I can think of a LOT of things to spend money on. Robotic Trucks are not one of them. What a freaking waste that is. These robots will still have to be loaded and unloaded by people... and even protected by people. What are they saving by not having a human driver? It's BS. Humans can be aware of and react with decision making skills based upon experience and training that a robot can't do. So in the end, I believe even a successful robot will still be 2nd or even third rate compared to even the most stupid red neck truck driver from West Virginia.  Gimme a red neck with a shotgun over a smart robot ANYDAY to deliver my equipment, and spend the hundreds of billions of dollars saved on something more important... like maybe training and educating the redneck and taking care of his family.  Just think about that greater good.  I don't want our warriors looking like Power Rangers while Aberdeen Proving Grounds tries to turn warfare into a video game. This a not just retarded - but a huge drain on our money.  I'd rather give everyone in the service WWII gear and train them to be devils than a have them be so high tech and sterile that they can't even tolerate being cussed at.   And really, who needs to be able to blast a tiny charge over the top of a wall - when you can just blow through the freaking wall down with cheap AT-4?  Or better yet - train grenadiers with the M-203 better!  Why don't they train these guys better? "Oh, well, we only have so much funding for... blah blah blah blah" Spend a few bucks so GI-Joe knows how to drop a 40MM in the enemy's lap and you wont have to spend MILLIONS AND MILLIONS so we can electronically pop a tiny 20MM charge up above the enemy's head.   I remember seeing this video clip of the 20MM OICW fire it’s smart bomb through a window and explode inside a room… peppering the targets inside with little itty bitty bits of shrapnel.  Cost for that little stunt?  Hundreds of millions.  I’m not even convinced that it would have been lethal to any bad guys in there.  I’ve yet to see a test of those rounds vs target dummies wearing typical armor.  Now, if you had a savvy M-203 gunner there, he could have pumped a powerful 40MM round through that window and blow the targets down with authority.  There would have been no doubt the bad guys would have been dead!  I swear... when Ft. Benning tore down Harmony Church they buried their balls!

Oh, the HK OICW prototype is now called the XM-29 by the US Army.  Looks like they slicked it up and reduced some of the dimensions.   However they didn't reduce it enough... I don't know how many people will be able to shoulder it and reach the trigger.  *sigh* Still retarded and under powered, still dependant upon batteries, and still too big, heavy and awkward.  I fully stand behind my opinion regarding the M203.  And here is a big factor in the M-203's favor... The M203 doesn't really have a minimum range other than safe grenade distance... You can thump a target 50 meters away if you wanted to and throw them out to 400 meters.  The XM-29's minimum range is 300 Meters.  Most firefights happen inside 300 meters.  This means you'll never be able to fire your grenades.  So you big bad bulky POS weapon is useless and you will be stuck with the little 10 inch barreled .223 rifle.  That is so freaking useless.  5.56MM NATO rounds are already woefully lacking.  Out of the 14 inch barrels of the M4 carbines they are only barely doing the job.  Now your going to chop off another 4 inches of barrel... dropping the velocity by about another 200 FPS?  You've just turned that weapon into a short range gun.  And if your going to be stuck at short range... you would be better off firing 9MM out of that little submachinegun.   They say that the XM-29 is so easy to use and how fast it is.  3 easy steps... 1. Lase, 2. Aim, 3. Fire.  Wrong.  That's a lie.  It's more complicated than that.  Here is the order of things... 1. Aim, 2. Lase, 3. Adjust the computer's range to detonate the shell where you want it to explode in relationship to the range of the target you lased, 4.  Re-aim to a different point of aim so the shell explodes over what you were wanting to hit, 5. Then you can fire.  I think there is a big difference here in what they are telling people and what the grunt will actually have to be doing to make it really work.  And what if you don't get a good laser bounce?  This is sometimes a problem with laser rangefinders.  So what if your trooper has to lase something, then try to figure out what the range is relative to what he just lased to where he wants to hit...  Guys, I'm telling you - this isn't that easy point and click stuff like in a video game.  Check this out... if you want to know kinda what this is like, you can play a "simulation" of it.  This will give you a rough idea what it's like... Soldier of Fortune II.  It has the OICW system and the targeting ranging is modeled pretty much how it's supposed to work.  Since I have no access to the real OICW system, my opinions are based on this, and my experiences with laser devices... I might be wrong, but you can call this an educated assumption based on related experiences.  My conclusion is that the OICW or XM-29 system isn't as fast or as easy to use as is claimed and this makes it not as far as advanced as claimed over a skilled M-203 gunner.  *hand raised in the back of the room* Yes?  "Uh, what about the laser in fog or smoke?"  *suddenly 3 big goons come out of nowhere to drag the questioner out of the room*  "Any other questions?   No?"  My conclusion is that the XM-29 sucks and needs further development.  It needs to be smaller, lighter, bigger more powerful warhead, and not dependant upon a computer system and a laser.  Oh, one question for the XM-29 team... Do you have 20MM flare rounds and buckshot rounds like the M-203 has?  Are there 20MM training grenades for this system? And what is the cost of these 20MM rounds over the cost of a 40MM round?  I think the XM-29 needs to go back to the drawing board.  It's not ready to be fielded yet.

June 1st, Sunday 10:00AM MST:  Email from Shin Tao:  "I saw the ducted-fan, turbo-fan, pseudo-rotor debate on MO. But there is another, cheap and easy option.  It's called a "Fan tail" or "Tail fan".  What some designers have done is upgraded conventional choppers with larger stub wings and replaced the tail assy. with a single ducted fan. This gives choppers both greater speed and range." Yes it does... unfortunately when you get a chopper with conventional rotors going too fast, the shockwave from the blade moving forward through the sound barrier becomes very disruptive... Fast choppers I don’t think are the problem.  The problem is asshat Politicians and Generals wanting to line their pockets with fat military contractor deals.   I've yet to read any report from any source indicating the Osprey is better than a Helicopter.  All that has been proven is that it's faster, but it carries less, so you twice as many Osprey to do the same job regardless of the fact that the Osprey costs twice as much and will only give the enemy plenty of nice expensive targets to plink at while they are trying to do a nice dainty soft touch down to avoid just flipping over and killing everyone on board.

Here is something new... a whole new way to blow 15 Billion Dollars.  Geeze... The Government spends money like they can just print more of it!  Dude looks like a paintball player.  Silly and wasteful.  Here are some thoughts on the subject from Fark and THR.  What I would really like to see is the Army field a new rifle.  Back in the late 80's the Army was testing many different new rifle designs.  At Ft. Benning I got a chance to check them out.  Some rifles firing fletchets out of smooth bores, others "Duplex" rounds... some crazy designs, others very good and solid concepts.  None of them were selected.  Instead we just got a flat top AR.  The lowest scoring system out of all the rifles tested.  I would like the Army to revisit those trials and bring out something better.   

I find it hilarious that the Europeans call Americans violent, hostile warmongers.  Gimme a break.  That's nothing short of blatant liberal-like hypocrisy.   This so called protest is just bullshit... they just wanted an excuse to loot and riot like the true fucknozzles that they are.  I don't know of too many mass graves here in America... but they are all over Europe.  Those clowns can just shut the fuck up about peace.   France thinks this is going to strengthen any relations with us?  No way.  Forgive France's back stabbing ? France doesn't want anything from America other than our money.  This "Let's fall in love again" campaign is a joke.  French people hate us.  So I say "Screw France"!  France and Russia's only real concern about America kicking Saddam's ass was the protection of high dollar trade deals they had going in spite of UN Sanctions.  Just another feather in the U.N.'s cap of validity.  Kofi, that assclown has got to go.  Not only is he a complete and utter joke, his people are literally eating each other back home.  Okay, not so much as they are eating each other, but they have soldiers eating civilians.   Nice.  I think the U.N. needs to go home and clean them selves up before they stick their noses into our business.  Hell, even if they did get everything cleaned up back home... they can still keep their noses out of our business.  France on the other hand... maybe we should invade them.

Interesting pistol has come up on my Radar.  This might be old hat to some, but to most people this will be news.  The pistols are called the R.A.P. 401 and the 440.  9mm and 40 caliber respectively.  These excellent guns come from South Africa with some strong characteristics.  The gun is similar in appearance to any compact S&W 3^rd generation automatic, but with the safety decocker lever mounted properly on the frame.  There is a discussion of this pistol at TFL, and another good one here at THR.  These pistols can be had for only $225 and look to be well worth it for a solid auto pistol such as it is.  Looking at that pistol I can see it would make for a fine shooter.  I’d love to see what a custom gunsmith could do with one of these… with the solid steel construction, you could do a slick melt job on it with a lot of recontouring… such possibilities remind me of the “ASP” a custom gun built from older S&W autos designed for CCW carry.  Being all steel, I can only imagine this to be a crème puff of a shooter even with hot 9MM +P and +P+ loads.  

Here is another reason to cut California off from the rest of the US.  Like we need any more reasons.  This is just pathetic. 

Last night we had a glorious thunderstorm.  Lightning flashes created a strobe effect in my bedroom and the thunder was Earth shaking.  I loved it.  Then I remembered the large antenna over my roof, stretching 10 feet higher than anything else in the area… this antenna is directly connected to my computer.   I just knew I was going to wake up to Kentucky Fried PC.  I am pleased that this wasn’t the case.  It would have been a huge pain in the arse to dig the old PII system out of the closet.   I was wanting to go out to the Jeep and drive around in the storm.  I love doing that.  don't know why.  Perhaps its my evil side...

I bash my new town quite a bit.  Don't get me wrong... it richly deserves it, but there are a couple upsides to it.  Now, if I could just get my transfer case repaired so I can get back into 4 wheel drive in my Jeep... then life would be a little less sucky here.    My boys are out of school now, so it would be fun to take them up into the mountains for a little off roading.  Momma doesn't like the idea, but really off roading is a much safer activity than for example playing soccer.  Soccer gives you things like parents killing each other off the field while the kids get shattered leg bones on the field.   Oh well, I'll just take the boys shooting a lot.  That sounds like a win-win situation to me.

New additions to the Gunsmith Directory:  David Gentry, he's been featured in several national gun mags. He doesn't list his address as he prefers to talk to people. His phone number is 406-388-4867 and he works in Belgrade, Montana, which is just six miles from Bozeman.  And I also have Dave Sullivan of Westwind Rifles Inc. in Erie, Co. (303)828-3823.  The Gunsmith Directory is one of the oldest pages of MadOgre.com... I'm still missing some states, but I'm not in a rush to fill them.  This roster isn't a phone book for gunsmiths, but a list of recommended gunsmiths by members of TFL and THR.  Not every state has artisan gunsmiths... that's why there holes in the roster.  However if a gunsmith rises to the top... I'd be glad to list him. I've had guns ruined by hacks that called themselves gunsmiths.  Since there was no listing of who was recommended it was a chance I had to take... That was the motivation for me to create this list.  So people don't have to take a chance on some hack that got his "Degree" in home gunsmith repair from some correspondence course he saw advertised on late night TV.  UPDATE:  added two more smiths to the roster. 

While I'm talking gun related subjects, let me throw this out.  A great article comparing the Beretta 92 vs. CZ-75.  They did a great job without a lot of bias.  Pretty much, it's a matter of taste as both guns are excellent... The Beretta is my personal choice, but the CZ's are a lot less coin for a gun that can go toe to toe with it.  You can come to your own conclusion.

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