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Mar 7th, Sunday, 2004: 2000hrs:
What’s up with the “FEAR THIS” stickers on trucks?
Why should I “fear” anything? I’m a gun owner. Maybe if I
was a spineless Liberal, easily intimidated by anything different from
what I was familiar with… such as Honda Civics and Caffeine Free
Lattes… maybe I would Fear That. I feel sorry for Liberals, I really
do… Living lives like nervous rabbits twitching and darting about from
hiding place to hiding place panicked by such things as wolves and
hawks. Gun owners on the other hand scoff at the easily frightened
folks… feeling comfortable amidst the wolves and hawks is truly a
luxury that they will never know.
Should the US, Canada, and Mexico have completely open borders and a have
a set up similar to the European Union?
Stuart C Reid thinks so. Mr Reid is the Director of Community &
Economic Development for the city of Ogden. He is also completely off
his rocker. That has got to be one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard
of. In all seriousness – with such a political idea, I hope Mr Reid’s
political career ends at his current level and goes no higher. Such a
think would be extremely dangerous and an economic disaster for the
US. Mr Reid, you are a fool.
Taxes - Deficits - Economy. Some people are in a panic about the economy thanks to
spending and the economy. But his can’t see what’s about to happen.
Lot’s of people across the country are going to starting to get tax
returns. This is the country are going to starting to get tax returns.
This is going to be an awful lot of money pouring back in the economy
this happens every year – but his year its gong to be different. Thanks
to these tax cuts, were going to be getting a lot of money back much
more than expected. This is going to put a supercharger on the
economy’s engine. The only downside is the increased fuel prices that
are going to dampen this surge but we are going to get a boost for
sure. With this economic surge – this is going to create more jobs,
more opportunities, more revenue all the way around and the result is
going to be more tax money being paid and I suspect it will end up
being more than enough to balance things out and pay down the deficit.
The Donk’s plan would stifle the economy. We would have no surge. We
would have to same effect as pulling out two spark plugs from your
engine. This isn’t a good thing. In fact, it will cripple us.
I have been known to bash NASA. Every time I do, I get some responses back that are often
insulting. People take it so personally that I don’t like NASA. Why is
that? Is my opinion so important that it hurts your feelings if I
think otherwise? Please… people… We all have our own opinions. If
your dick is that small that you have to have me validate your own
opinion… well… then that is just sad. Some of the email response use
some logic. That’s what I appreciate. If I am wrong about something,
I will admit it. If I am wrong about NASA, show me why. One thing
that I hear back all the time is that we are getting a 10 to 1 return
on every dollar we spend on space. Help me out here, because I’m just
not seeing it. How do we get this ten to one return, and where is this
money coming from? What I am seeing is “It’s official; there may
have been water on mars – maybe.” Uh… how are we profiting on this
revelation? Galileo said the same damn thing hundreds of years ago.
Have we really moved all that much farther ahead? Look, I’m just not
that impressed by this. Show me some sexy Martian babes showering in
Martian waterfalls, and you might peak my interest. Until then, NASA
is just a huge freaking waste. I’m sorry. It really is. Kill NASA,
take 10% of its’ budget and use that as grant money to private space
related industry that is working on something worth while… and take
that remaining funds and pump it back into the federal budget to pay
for something really useful – like the National Endowment of the arts
so we can give 15 grand to a guy that sticks vials of his own blood
into his bunghole and be called an artist. (For a follow up act, he’s
going to use someone else’s blood!)
Hmmm…scratch that.
Let’s kill NASA and that “art” crap too. Remember these are the cats
that gave a million bucks to a guy that had a jar full of urine with a
crucifix in it. They call that “ART” but I wonder what the reaction
would have been if that was a Star of David in the jar or a Kwanza
symbol? I don’t think art is something that needs to federal
inspiration.
Speaking of space, I’ve noticed a show on TV and I caught about 3
episodes of it… it’s called “Andromeda”. I’ve got to admit that I like it. Surprisingly it is made by
the same people as Star Trek or at least produced by the same folks.
It’s pretty cool, very small stage, small budget sort of thing, with
lots of CGI. Kinda like Babylon 5 that way, but with fewer extras. At
first, I’ve got to admit that the show looked rather silly, but it has
some pretty cool characters. It reminds me of the original Trek series
in some ways. Anyways, it’s pretty good sci-fi. Don’t think that I
hate sci-fi, because of my “lack of appreciation” for NASA. I just
think private industry could do it better and faster and give us some
tangible results. Speaking of sci-fi, how come all the sci-fi about
Mars has shown or involved things under the surface or down inside the
crevices and canyons, yet NASA wants to literally just scratch the
surface? I feel we need to put a man on Mars – I really do. But I’m
just not seeing NASA as the ones to do it. But I can see clever folks
like Dick Rutan as being able to do it. I think it’s very possible
with an X-33 type craft as the Lander. That program needs to continue
if NASA is to have any hope. They should also use “Aibo”
Robots as the Martian Rovers, high explosives for “drilling” to see
what’s under the surface… put an MTV Beach House up there… come on
NASA use your imaginations!
Today’s Gun Of The Day: The CZ-97B.
Why the 97? Let’s see… it’s a gorgeous example of metal form art… a
masterpiece of design esthetics with classic lines and contours. Add
to those good looks such things as extreme accuracy and a great single
action trigger break… you really can not get a more accurate for under
600. In fact… you can’t even get a more accurate .45 for under 1,200.
So many shooters have a hard on for taking a 600 dollar 1911 and
putting more than that much back into it to make it “better”. I would
be frightened with what could be accomplished with a 97 if a shooter
was to pursue such customizations and enhancements… considering that it
is shockingly accurate out of the box. I compare it to the SIG P210 in
that regard. Here
is my review of the gun if you have not read it before.
Mar 6th, Saturday, 2004: Early Morning:
A report from the Department of the Obvious:
North Korea supports Kerry. Let’s all think about this for a
second… why would they want Kerry? I know… because no matter what NK
does, Kerry doesn’t have enough dick to do anything about it. Bush
does. Bush probably has to tuck it into a boot to keep it from
dragging the ground. Bush will indeed pull the trigger on NK if NK
needs it… Kerry is too flaccid – he would never fight a fight that
might need to be fought.
Okay, now this is the
biggest bunch of bullshit I’ve ever seen.
You wanna fight
against me and The Horde? Bring it!
“Assumption is the mother of all fuckups.” The Holcroft Covenant
Gun of the Day: The Tubbs 2000. I first saw this gun at 2000 SHOT SHOW. When I first glanced
at it from a distance, I thought it was just an ugly AR-15 and I didn’t
give it a second look. I was with another fellow and we were talking
to Gale McMillan about shooting and about optics… and then Gale said to
look at this… He pointed out the ugly AR. Closer look I saw that it
was a bolt action. This wasn’t an AR at all, but a full blown
competition rifle that redefines the phrase “Fully Adjustable”. He
handed it to me and I was expecting it to be like 6 pounds or so. I
was surprised when it was more than double that. Gale when through and
explained the rifle, the adjustments, and every detail in detail. The
rifle is truly an advanced precision shooting platform that an
exceptional marksman could take full advantage of and be able to
accomplish some amazing things with.
Mar 5th, FRIDAY, 2004: 1000hrs:
You have to be pretty fucked up for Central Africa to refer to you as an
“Ingrate” and an ungrateful guest.
I’m not sure what Aristide’s problem is, but I am sure that
it’s nothing that returning him to Haiti wouldn’t cure. I’m sure there
are a number of people in Haiti that would love to see him. He claims
to have been removed from Haiti against his own free will… I say we
just return him. Drop him right off in the center of Haiti and wish
him luck. I’m sure the Haitians will welcome him with open arms. Drop
him off in the morning, have the funeral at noon, and the party that
night. Make a day of it… start a Haitian Holliday.
Editorial page had a nice letter to the Editor today…
Bob Bowen from Layton Utah says that it’s too bad the NRA isn’t pushing
for things like Ballistic Fingerprinting. It’s also too bad that Bob
has shown Utah is utter ignorance. Ballistic Fingerprinting might work
in a Science Fiction story, but in real life, it doesn't work. Why
doesn’t it work? Same reason that you can’t “fingerprint” the tires on
new cars. Because after so many miles the tires wear down and the
prints change… or you can change your tires. It just wouldn’t work.
Same thing with guns. You could create this great database at the cost
of millions of dollars… then one could buy a gun, take a touch of
sandpaper to the extractor and the inside of the barrel… and presto –
the database is instantly useless. Or just fire a lot of rounds and
let the firearm wear as normal and again – the database is useless.
Fingerprinting makes a nice sounding buzzword but a metal gun has no
genetic code to restore it to new condition after use. But some
people will never learn, they will be eunuchs all their lives.
Classic Mad Ogre Moment
- From May 15th, 2002:
I walked into an establishment to do some business and after
I conduct my transaction I am greeted by a college kid who is decked
out in “Granola Gear”, wearing glasses that look like contact lenses
held in frames made of piano wire, and of course the obligatory
backpack. He was polite, but smelled of elder berries. For some reason
I didn’t like him from the start.
“Excuse me, but I have a question about your hat.”
“Sure” I said as I looked at my watch, making the non-verbal hint that
“You should be brief.”
“Is that some fraternity slogan?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it is… but not for any college clubhouse.”
“Explain?”
Okay, what I can’t communicate is the snobbish air this kid had. He
looked like a good kid, clean cut and clear eyed… but he had an
attitude that screamed jackass louder than his “I buy outdoor looking
clothes and wear sandals, but I’ve not touched actual dirt since grade
school.”
“It’s Greek, and says ‘mo-lone lah-veh’ which means ‘Come an get
them’.”
He looked like he has some questions, but couldn’t formulate the
language to ask.
“That’s what the Spartan King Leonidas said to Xerxes, the Emperor of
Persia who came to invade Greece with 600,000 troops. When Xerxes
offered to spare the lives of Leonidas and his 300 bodyguards if they
would lay down their arms.”
The kid furrowed his brow as he was thinking really hard, and then said
“So why do you have that on your hat?”
“Because I am a gun owner, and the message is the same today as it was
then.”
“You wouldn’t give up your guns.”
“No, I wont.”
“But…” I held up my hand and cut him off.
“No, no, no butts. I’m a citizen who has served his country, I pay my
taxes, I’ve no criminal record, and I even feed a stray cat once in
awhile. I may not be a Saint, but I’m still one of the good guys. There
is no valid reason for me to give up my guns other than to subjugate
me. You and I are not Subjects to Rule – we’re FREE MEN that live in a
Democracy.”
He looked stunned for a second, and yet had a glimmer of understanding,
but then went and said something stupid. “But the Second Amendment
doesn’t say that you can have guns… it says that the Militia can have
guns. An organized group of men with muskets.”
This is where it felt like a white hot needle was shoved forcefully
through my right temple… “Look, it doesn’t say that… I know where
you’re going on this and you’re wrong. Who ever told you that is an
Idiot.”
“My Professor…”
“Is an idiot.” I held up my hand as he started to open his mouth again
to say something stupid. “The militia is defined as able bodied men
over the age of 17. That means You and Me… WE are the Militia. Do you
know what a Militia is? It’s a group of Civilians that come together to
fight. The militia is at all times a group of regular people… until the
moment we are needed. You’ve’ heard of the Minute Man? The colonial
citizens that at a minutes notice can grab a rifle and join the line…
They are ready to go and fight because they have military weapons. They
own them.”
He thought he had me here “Yeah, muzzle loading muskets… not Uzis!”
(Why is it that the Uzi is the icon of Evil? I’ve got to get one!)
“So you think that the right to keep and bare arms is limited to a
musket?”
“Yes, because that’s all that was available to the people at the time
with that law was written.”
“Okay, that fine… You hold on to that argument. No apply it to the rest
of society today and all the other Amendments.”
“So?”
“So?! That means the Freedom of speech is limited to your own vocal
range and what you write with a Quill and a bottle of ink on Parchment…
and maybe a typeset printing press that can only stamp out one sheet at
a time, because that is all that they had back then. That means no
radio, no TV, no movies, and certainly nothing on the internet… none of
those are protected forms of SPEECH. If the founding fathers couldn’t
imagine an Uzi, how could they imagine computers, cell phones, and
satellite radio? You limit one Amendment you have to limit all of
them.”
The boy looked like I hit him on the head with a rock.
“What part of ‘SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED’ is hard to understand? Look,
I’ve got to go.”
“Thanks for talking to me.”
“No problem.” I said and started to walk away.
He called out “Where can I get a hat like that?”
“You have to earn one.”
I posted the above conversation that I had some two years ago, because of
an email that reminded me of it: “Greetings again Ogre, This is Tasos from Athens again,
and I am checking you out earlier than I thought. I spent the better
part of one rainy afternoon browsing through your site and I believe
that you are a very likable guy. The kind that I would like to hung out
with occasionaly and talk about Country and guns, but unfortunately
distance is one thing that technology has not defeated yet.
While looking at your pictures, I was struck speechless by something that
I was discussing this morning about, with my best buddy. You are one
good looking stud (just kidding) but this is not the reason. You have
posted a picture of yourself holding a Benelli Nova (ugly but
avantgarde, I prefer Mossbergs myself). What hit me though is the
baseball hat that you have on. It reads
ΜΟΛΩΝ
ΛΑΒΕ, in my
native tongue, Greek. I do not know how this found its way around the
globe on top of your head, and I bet that you know what it means, for I
understand that you are an educated man.
This morning my best friend, who is also the second ranking IPSC official
in Greece, let me in on some news. State is moving towards banning all
gun ownership. If you think that you have problems with gun legislation
there, you should see us here. I have been dragged around by Police for
a whole year in order to get a lisence (oh yes you need to get a
lisence first) to buy a .22 conversion kit for the 9mm CZ 85 that I
already legally own!!. Funniest part, my request has been denied
twice on the grounds of public safety (whatever that is), despite the
fact that there is no law against what I am asking, and I arleady own
11 firearms without having as much as a ticket for illegal parking.
It gets even better, the same State that does not trust me with a .22
cal slide, hires me during the Athens Olympic Games as the Master at
Arms so to speak of the shooting events and lays upon me the
responsibility of keeping and running a full armory and a vault with
the firearms of the best 500 shooters in the world during the Games.
Did I mention that a shitload of rounds and a crowded stadium are
involved? Go figure. In any case back to
ΜΟΛΩΝ
ΛΑΒΕ, this is what me and my buddy decided upon when we heard the news from
our enlighted government. Or as your Mr.Charlton Heston put it more
graphically FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS. Probably you receive mails
from nutheads like myself all the time. I guess I wanted to share these
bad news with someone and although I do not know you, I have come to
respect you through the reflection of you that I have seen in the site.
I even start to believe that we share some things in common, other than
guns. I am former military (ex-marine sgt.), and I also write. I have a
steady column in a greek magazine named
ΠΕΡΙΠΟΛΟΣ
(Patrol) publishing articles and gun reviews. I spent a few years in
your country, as a University student and have come to the conclusion
that what we would call the " average American " is a polite and well
humored person that has little in common with the hysterical Yuppies or
the ghetto types that your country is most known for. I hope you get
the chance to drop me a mail sometime. Yours
truly,
Anastasios P. Syrmas”
Forgive me, Tasos, for using your unfortunate situation as an example…
But this is what we are heading for if we let John F’d Kerry win the
White House. I know some of us are not happy with George W Bush for
whatever reasons – but not voting for him is like voting for Kerry.
Kerry wants to get rid of all of our guns… he wants to gut the
military and turn it over to the U.N… everything else he wants to do is
just as repugnant. Most of the Democrats out there don’t even want
him – they just want to defeat Bush because that is all that matters to
them. No matter what happens, Kerry is going to have a solid voter
turn out for him. We can not afford to let Kerry win by us splitting
our vote on some other candidate, Libertarian or Reform or what ever it
is. Such a vote is useless and is in effect just a throw-away vote.
You might as well have voted Kerry in the end. I get emails like this
one from Tasos… and I get scared that such as thing is awaiting us if
we let our guard down. If the Left was divided between liberal
candidates – then we would have room for our own third party candidate…
but right now the battle lines are drawn and it’s going to be a knife
fight. Please – don’t even think about a throw away vote!
Email from the Horde
Officer:
“Thanks for turning me on to some alternate Blogs. It is refreshing
to read some honest to goodness free thought once in a while. I was
especially intrigued by Gut Rumbles and his lack of pulled punches.
Some Bloggers have removed him from their link list for some recent
Un-PC posts. It is their prerogative to censor but they lose
credibility in my book. Keep up the damn fine work. Thanks again.
JRS”
Some have removed him… yes, that’s sad. Many bloggers wont link me
because on top of not being quite so PC, I’m also a *shock!* Mormon!
Whatever… if they are that shallow and bigoted – I wouldn’t want a
link anyway. I am not concerned about the linking “blog roll” game. I
only link blogs that I like for whatever reason… this is based on their
own commentary and or style or something along those lines. If I see a
blog I like, I’ll bookmark it and watch it… and maybe link it. Just
like my requirements for posting an email – “Have a take that doesn’t
suck.” Or as the case is now days – “Have a take that doesn’t suck
that expresses in the best voice all the other emails I have on the
same topic.”
Email from Horde Officer: “Well, there's practical libertarians, who want to
maximize personal liberties in the real world, and then there's the X-TREEM
libertarians, who are so offended at having to pay taxes that they want
to dissolve the US in live in a corporate-run non-state, under the
apparent belief that replacing government with a bunch of private
companies would, in the end result, change a thing. (Personally, I
think whether it's the US gov't or JP Morgan that holds all the chips,
you're going to have to pay your tab on time, and there's going to be a
big guy there to make sure you do.)
See, extreme libertarianism is based around the fundamental idea that
no one has the right to tell anyone else what to do. This is true, in
theory. In the practical real world, life is UNFAIR, and always has
been. These people talk of utopia, Ogre, and I don't think a lot of
them have studied enough history and other subjects to really get that
utopias never work.
Still, I'd like to see it tried, the "libertarian non-state". A chunk
of land with no government, where private industry sets up the
communities, provides the policing, etc. It's be interesting,
academically, to see if living in a private community with its own
rules, fees, and what have you ended up being any different than living
in a city with taxes. I'm willing to bet it wouldn't be.
It'd be especially interesting to see how such a place handled a
hostile invasion. Would a plethora of private security armies be able
to mount a successful defense against an invading army? How heartily
are these corporate troops going to fight?
Personally, I'm a lot more likely to risk my life in the Army, over
things like duty and honor, than I am in the service of the company,
over a paycheck.
In any case, Ogre,
I can't be a libertarian. I *gasp!* go to a public university, and
I've even gotten financial aid! *double gasp* I guess I'm just a
socialist leeching this country dry with my redistribution of wealth. –
Michael”
I’m in the same boat –
using a federal grant to help pay for my education puts me at odds with
the Libertarian stance. It would be hypocritical of me to be
Libertarian. That and I don’t like the idea of completely open
boarders and legalized drugs, but that is an issue for another time.
Gun of the Day: The Mk-19.
I have a brutal, pounding migraine headache this morning that can make
me think of only one gun... a full automatic grenade launcher like the
Mk-19. These things can unleash some serious devastation on the enemy.
I’ve heard rumor of a case where a single Mk-19 suppressed an entire
Iraqi battalion. I can see that happening. 40MM Grenades raining down
on you like hailstones would damper one’s motivations. Just like the
pounding in my skull and the tunnel vision and the bright lights and
even the clicking of the keystrokes here… times like this I think –
maybe medicinal use of Marijuana wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Ah –
look at that… a step towards libertarianism. The Military was
thinking about replacing the Mk-19 and the M2 .50 caliber machinegun
with the Objective Crew Served Weapon system that I understand is now
cancelled. Good. For the .50 and this 40MM – they do just fine thank
you very much.
Mar 3rd, Wed, 2004: 2100hrs:
The Iraqi jet, an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat, was found buried in the
sand after an informant tipped off U.S. troops.
The MiG was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al
Taqqadum airfield by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The MiG was
reportedly one of over two dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sand, like
hidden treasure, waiting to be recovered at a later date. Contrary to
what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found were
from the Gulf War era.
The Russian-made MiG-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S. Air
Force troops in the photos is an advanced reconnaissance version never
before seen in the West and is equipped with sophisticated electronic
warfare devices. U.S. Air Force recovery teams had to use large
earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long
and weighs nearly 25 tons. The Foxbat is known to be one of Iraq's top
jet fighters. The advanced electronic reconnaissance version found by
the U.S. Air Force is currently in service with the Russian air force.
The MiG is capable of flying at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour, or
three times the speed of sound, and at altitudes of over 75,000 feet.
The recovery of the advanced MiG fighter is considered to be an
intelligence coup by the U.S. Air Force.. The Foxbat may also be
equipped with advanced Russian- and French-made electronics that were
sold to Iraq during the 1990s in violation of a U..N. ban on arms sales
to Baghdad. The buried aircraft at Al Taqqadum were covered in
camouflage netting, sealed and, in many cases, had their wings removed
before being buried more than 10 feet beneath the Iraqi desert.
The discovery of the buried Iraqi jet fighters illustrates
the problem faced by U.S. inspection teams searching Iraq for weapons
of mass destruction. Iraq is larger in size than California, and the
massive deserts south and west of Baghdad were used by Saddam Hussein
to hide weapons during the first Gulf war. U.S. intelligence sources
have already uncovered several mass grave burial sites in the open
deserts with an estimated 10,000 dead hidden there. In addition, Iraq
previously hid SCUD missiles, chemical weapons and biological warheads
by burying them under the desert sand. U.N. inspection teams found the
weapons in the early 1990s after detailed information of the exact
locations was obtained. Top U.S. weapons inspector Dr. David Kay is
known to favor human intelligence as the primary means to find Iraq's
hidden treasure trove of weapons and secrets. While there are rumors
of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons being shipped to nearby Syria,
the weapons may very well still remain inside Iraq buried under the
vast desert wastelands. Some critics of the Bush administration have
claimed that the inability of U.S.. forces to uncover weapons of mass
destruction is proof that the president misled the nation into the war
with Iraq. However, in recent days the critics have fallen silent as
word quietly leaked from Iraq that major discoveries have already been
made and are now being documented completely. Bush administration
officials are keeping any such discoveries secret for the moment.
1400hrs:
The more I study the
contemporary view of PTSD & its treatment – the more I am convinced
that it is wrong.
The current Diathesis-Stress model of PTSD is more accurate
than what we have had in the past, however I think we have a lot
farther to go. In my opinion, we are only just starting to understand
PTSD. In my psychology studies I hear the phrase “We’ve studied it for
100 years” in an effort to give credibility to the current
understanding. The reality unfortunately right now is that what we
have is thin. It’s kind of like early radar systems. We can see there
is something there but we still don’t know what it is. It could be a
flock of birds, or it could be inbound Japanese Zeros.
The biggest problem is that current thinking is to lump all
traumatic stress into “PTSD”. This is fine for generalized statements,
but the problem is that we are basing all of the study and effort on
these generalizations. In reality, there are two basic divisions
within PTSD. I have attempted to make the distinction between the two
divisions there and I ask for any Psychologists who read this to please
use these distinctions when you are working with your patients. I also
invite dialog with any therapist working with PTSD patients. I want to
hear from you guys who are “In the Trenches” because right now my
channels within academia are just not open to any ideas that do not
come down “from the top”.
1.
PTSD-V:
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – Victim.
Victimization is the first and the best understood form of PTSD as
there is always a fresh supply of willing patients seeking treatment.
These are the victims of rape or other violent crimes, disasters or
terrorist attacks. Because of the greater number of patients of this
side of the PTSD coin, and because the nature of these patients are
more open and cooperative… and more importantly because more
psychologists can understand what the patients have been through… we
have a greater understanding of this disorder. PTSD-V is now a very
treatable condition with patients achieving great results from
treatments.
2.
PTSD-C:
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – Combat.
Soldiers enlisted or commissioned, Militia, Volkstrum, or others who
fight in combat operations designated or unofficial, conventional, low
intensity, covert, or otherwise. These patients may have engaged in
combat or supported combat operations in such capacities as Medic,
Medivac, transport, pilot, supply, imbedded journalist or photographer,
or other supportive roles where the person was near the combat or under
the general threat of danger of harm or death. Also under the PTSD-C
designation, we can include law enforcement officers, fire fighters,
and the like. The main difference here from the Victim designation is
willing participation.
When one is raped or attacked or survived a disaster, the
person had the event visited upon them. Here is where the critical
difference is from PTSD-C… with PTSD-C, the person knowingly entered
into harms way, and may have either witnessed horror or knowingly acted
to cause harm to another human being regardless of the reasons for
doing so. Because of this, the psychological damage can be much
deeper, and on different levels of the person’s psyche. Often the
person’s actions were in conflict with personal moral, ethical,
intellectual, political, or spiritual beliefs. The terror and fear of
death/harm/capture/torture is only part of the psychological damage
here. Often times the PTSD-C patient has gone past that fear.
Because of the nature of these patients, having survived the
worst of humanity, having gone through what they have gone through…
they are not so willing to seek treatment. They are not so willing to
communicate the situations and the actions and the feelings that they
have about it. They often have little faith in the psychologist to
understand them let alone to help them. The approach often used with
these patients tends to turn them off treatments or seeking further,
continued treatments.
This is why the current thinking shows that women are more
likely to likely to have PTSD. PTSD-V patients are often treated as
part of the police procedure to have these victims given counseling of
one sort or another. There is a great number of men who have never who
may not even know they have PTSD out there, who never seek treatment,
who think that they may have it, but refuse to seek treatment for fear
of showing weakness. For these reasons the DSM-IV-TR needs to be
revised in revision V or later.
The question of Nature vs Nurture can be applied to PTSD
(General Definition). Some studies have shown brain differences
between patients with PTSD and others. The problem with these studies
is that it creates the question of “The Chicken or The Egg”. Does a
brain difference make one more susceptible to PTSD or does PTSD cause
the brain differences.
The problem with the MRI studies that have been conducted
is that they are comparing apples and oranges here. They show that
patient with PTSD has a difference is the brain… but they do not show
weather or not the person had the brain differences before the person
experienced the traumatic event that lead to the condition or the
activation of condition just waiting to happen.
The human brain is truly an incredible thing. I have a
friend who as suffered a severe stroke. Part of his brain was damaged
and he was impaired to a high degree. Already his brain has rewired
its self or has retrained its self and today he is not just ambulatory,
but 75% functional in relation to himself before the stroke… and every
day he is getting better. Before, the medicos who treated him gave
grim predictions. Now they are saying he will be able to fully
recover. While the brain may not be able to grow new neurons (say that
ten times fast) it is able to make the best out of what it has. Any
differences in the brain either before or after the traumatic event are
probably moot in relation to the patient’s PTSD condition.
Similar brain differences have been measured in patients
with major depression. Did one cause the other? Has the brain reacted
with a physical changes or did the physical changes cause the patient’s
reaction? Further study is needed here too.
One thing is for certain; many patients do have altered
brain chemical states at play that can change the patient’s mental
state. What is not understood here is the cause of the changes in
brain chemistry.
I think the bigger effect on the PTSD Patient’s psychology
is the Nurture side of the question. The mental conditioning the
person has gives the person their perspective on the events. This
perspective is based on the individual’s education, beliefs, and
experiences. The mental armor to the harsh realities of life can be
damaged or penetrated by the traumatic event. The damage done
internally depends upon the condition of that mental armor and the
person’s perspective of the traumatic event(s).
This article goes into some details about a trend in
psychology that is to blame conditions or susceptibility to the
conditions on child abuse. While child abuse is a contribution to many
issues… I really don’t think PTSD, especially PTSD-C has anything to do
with it. The theory that these people were already Maladaptive before
they went into the situations is flat out insulting, and any person
taking this theory seriously is doing a disservice to the patients they
treat.
The theory here is that basically the PTSD patients were
already messed up before the stress, and that the trauma was only the
trigger the condition that was virtually lying dormant. What the
author’s fail to realize was that the trauma was just that – trauma.
This direction is just minimizing the damage of the event, minimizing
the condition, while at the same time insulting to patients. It’s at
least insulting to this one. Psychological Trauma is/can be just as
damaging as physical trauma to the body and these author’s take no
consideration into that. This is typical of most psychologist…
especially to those patients with PTSD-C… because they simply can not
understand the nature of the mental trauma and the traumatic event.
Personally, I am not sure that we are that much further
along in treatment or understand of PTSD-C, as we were after WWI when
it was called simply “Shell Shock”. We have made huge advances in
brain study and in the biological science behind the studies… but when
it comes right down to treating the patient, we are just not that far
along. I think the ecological paradigm is the one that needs the most
focus. The Biological direction will only lead to the prescription of
drugs that may not even be of any actual help. Talking to Veterans who
have sought treatment, most of them are not satisfied with having been
given pills because the therapist had no other idea what to do with
them.
PTSD is a very complicated and deep condition that can not
be generalized and treated with any pattern of drugs. I feel that the
drugs should only be used when the individual case is more extreme and
that there is a specific reason. Right now the pattern is “Drugs Then
Hugs”… and this isn’t working… at least not with the Veterans. I’m
talking with a large community of veterans to include veterans from
other nations… The pattern I am seeing here is painting a grim picture
for me. The first thing that needs to be done is the APA’s recognition
of the differences between types of PTSD.
Lunchtime:
McDonalds is
killing the Supersizes. You
know what I think about this? I think it’s too little too late. Even
with the regular “Large” sizes… that is more fries than anyone really
needs. No one needs more than 10 French Fries. Health
officials have shown time and time again that more than 10 french fries
leads to health risks. We need Federal Legislation to Ban all Fry
Boxes or Fry Baskets, or any device for containing or service French
Fries that can hold more than 10 French Fries. These current High
Capacity Fry Boxes are dangerous and need to be banned. How many times
have you witnessed the horror of seeing a lardass ignorantly or
negligently consuming huge quantities of greasy, fatty, high
cholesterol French Fries. Please, think of the fatass children!
0900hrs:
Email from one of
the Horde:
“My understanding of what happened... They passed and attached an
AWB extension amendment, a trigger lock amendment, a center-fire
cartridge/cop killer ammo amendment, a LEO CCW amendment, and a gunshow
amendment, in hopes that at least a few of those amendments would make
it through the house and end up in the final bill Senator Craig, just
before the final vote, called the bill "dramatically wounded", and
recommended that the bill NOT be passed in its current form. It didn't
pass. I believe that is good news for us, and that the AWB will now
sunset when it should. The anti crowd seemed to be absolutely shocked
that the sponsor repudiated the bill, and that the bill died right then
and there. (That must mean that what happened was good.) The sad
thing is - all but the last 9 people that voted for passage of the bill
will now be able to claim credit, when it is convenient for them to do
so, for having voted against the AWB, voted against the gunshow
amendment, and voted against the rest of the crap - by pointing out
that they voted AGAINST the bill containing these amendments at the
end. Thus, they can claim that they SUPPORTED gun-owners rights.
This is BS of the highest order and magnitude. – Robert” Thanks
for the summary Robert.
Email from our newest Horde Member from Athens Greece:
“Greetings Ogre My name is Tasos and I live in Athens, Greece. I
accidentally run into your site, while looking around for some
accessories for my new Saiga .410. Well, I dare to say that I am going
to be checking your good work out regularly from now on. I really
enjoy your comments on the RONIN movie. It so happens that Mr. De Niro,
as well as J. Reno and S. Bean are amongst my favorite actors. It was
good to know that I am not the only buff who rewinds movie scenes, just
to have a closer look at the guns (as my girlfriend usually claims). I
may be able to assist you about the mysterious REGIMEN that Bean's
character keeps on talking about in the movie. He refers to the 22nd
SAS, a former member of which he implies to be. This is how the Brits
affectionately refer to this elite unit. My claim is verified by the
fact that in the "Ambush Planning" scene, when an unarmed De Niro
surprises Bean with a cup of coffee, he keeps on asking him "What
colour is the boathouse at Hareford?" Hareford is the village where
the 22 SAS camp is located. Hope I did not waste too much of your
time. – Tasos” Thanks for the email, Tasos. Guns, car chases, a
beautiful woman… it’s a great movie and DVD that gets it’s share of
spin time over here at Ogre Manor. I get a lot of emails from guys
around the world… all of them shooters. This warms my heart. I am
glad to see that through the bullshit smoke of politics and the tidal
wave of ignorance we all have to endure – the shooting sports remains
strong. Let us know who your Saiga shoots for you and how you dress
it up with accessories and any modifications. Take care!
Here is an email that gives me hope: “Ogre: Today is Freedom Day for me! What is
Freedom Day, pray tell? It is that day I finish my last exam for my
last class for my MBA. Tonight, after 10PM, I will have completed all
requirements for a Master's of Business Administration at the
University of Texas at Dallas (insert Howard Dean-like yowl of
defiance). Four years of night classes after work, two classes per
week, and most weekends shot buried in study. I can not imagine how I
ended up meeting and marrying my wife during that time, since my
principal recollection is a blur of work, school, and study. I
generally spent 1/4 to 1/3 of my vacation during the year taking time
off from work to study or finish projects. I hope to actually see my
wife during the week from now on, get involved in a Bible study, and
even spend more time at the range. Life is good. – Jason. BTW, I can
not imaging having to do it with a wife AND 5 children. I suspect much
consumption of caffeine and simple sugars on your part.” I have
no less than 17 empties on my desk right now, 3000 words to write,
breakfast to make, and some laundry to do today.
Email from an infrequent reader:
“Ogre, I just read Kim Du Toit’s page and he has the same list of
Republican traitors as you do. He says he got the list from the Anti
Idiotarian Rottweiler. Then I look at your site and you have the same
list. Yet you did not give credit to Misha. You piece of shit.”
Internet content does not appear in the chronological in which you view
it. As unimportant as this is, I’ll address it. If you look
carefully, you will see the times in which we all posted those names.
I posted the list hours before
Misha did, and almost a day before Kim did. Yes, if you look at
the order of the names, they are all the same. So what? That means we
all got the same list from the same source. And you are right – none
of us gave credit for that source. I tried, but I lost it… and didn’t
bother searching for it. It was in one of the many political threads
yesterday on THR.  That’s
where I got from. That list didn’t appear anywhere in the blogosphere
until after I put it there, thanks to THR. You are right – I should
have made a better effort to find that original thread. However let me
point something. A list of names of the asspirates that voted against
us is not original copyrightable content. Oh, but I guess that if
Misha posts something – I have to worship Misha if I have posted
it already? What is the internet like a fucking Simon Says now? I try
to give credit where credit is due. Get bent, get a life, and get
the fuck off my internet.
Early Morning:
Yesterday’s ups and
downs. I have a ton of emails yesterday – more than I have ever had
on a single day. This just goes to show me that The Horde, and
America is PRO-GUN. We are very interested in the preservation of the
Second Amendment, because the rest of the Bill of Rights, and the very
Constitution of the United States hangs by that thread. Should it be
cut, everything else will fall. For this reason alone – even if you
hate guns – if you love America, you need to fight politically to save
it. 2004 is going to be a long hard battle, that we have got to win…
if we lose ’04 we are done. Because for ’08 the Donks are amassing
their biggest guns their biggest warchests. If we can’t win this year
– there is little chance of winning in the years to follow. In all
seriousness… regardless of what you think is going to happen later –
make 2004 the “Year of the Gun” and buy some guns. Buy a whole crap
load of ammo for it. Rule of thumb – spend as much on your ammo as you
do on the gun. That means if you have 800 bucks, get a $400 dollar
weapon and $400 dollars worth of ammo. AK-47 type rifles, Shotguns,
Handguns… Buy what you can. You now have deadline. If anything, as
the history of Gun sales and values show – guns are a better investment
than gold or the stock market.
Why in the hell do we
really care about Haiti at all?
I mean really. Do you know who should help Haiti? The Dominican
Republic. The DR should mount up it’s Army – roll in – take it all
over and claim it to be theirs. Restore the order and they even get
some more property out of it. *sigh* No, instead, this shitstorm down
there is now somehow all George W Bush’s fault. Kerry’s
snot-faced brat thinks it is. Bush is late on this issue? How
the hell is it his issue? How the hell is he late on it? I seem to
remember that Haiti was a CLINTON issue that Clinton himself dropped
the ball on. Typical – a Democrat a mess, then leaves, then blames a
Republican for not cleaning it up for him. These sorts of attacks have
absolute zero weight to anyone with any intelligence. That leaves the
Liberal out in the cold, scratching their soft heads and wondering what
is going on. The UN has said that they are unable to help Haiti. They
can’t help a small island nation – and they are the ones that want to
rule Iraq and to tell America what to do? Right. That makes a lot of
sense. The only thing that Haiti needs to help Haiti… the Haitians.
These guys are so fucked up, even those who are fighting don’t even
know who or for what they are fighting for. They have no goals, no
objectives, no victory conditions… they are just fighting because it is
fun or something. But to blame Bush for Haiti is perhaps the most
disingenuous thing that the Donks could do… and not only are they doing
it… you watch – they are going to make it an election issue. Haiti,
no matter what happens… is going to bite Bush in the ass unless the
Media does the right thing and stops it… “Hey, uh, that’s some nice
rhetoric and all… but really this is a mess Clinton made and left to
fester when he could have cleaned it up before it rotted.” Of course
this is something that the Media will never ever do, and no matter what
happens in Haiti – no mention at all will ever be made of Clinton and
his withdrawal of US Forces from there.
Emails: “Alright, Ogre: Like you, I am an old fuck going to school at night. I
left work for the classroom totally stressed that we lost the important
political battle, and my group of snotty nose illiterates can't write a
fucking paragraph on a ten page paper due in two hours to save their
fucking asses (so, you know who did the fucking work, don't you?
Fuckers.). Anyhow, I get home, it's late, I'm tired, still pissed, and
I grab some liquid relief as I peruse the Internet. I come to your
column and you are talking about pardons. What the fuck happened? What
did I miss? If you can't answer me direct, please address it in the
column. Thanks, bud. By the way, I'm glad I'm not the only SOB that
shoots with one eye! Steve” Thanks for the email, Steve. Good luck on your schooling – I am in
exactly the same boat over here. What happened yesterday was that we
got fucked, then we got kissed… but we didn’t get any dinner or movie
out of it. This isn’t a total loss as the laws didn’t change… All that
heat, and no light. We are today, the same place where we were day
before yesterday. The downside is that Gun Makers can still be sued if
a criminal uses a gun to commit a crime. More on that a little bit
later.
“Okay, okay...I'm still fuming. I live in Ohio and I voted in today's
primaries. I worked all day and just barely made it to my neighborhood
polling place to vote. I took a Republican ballot and voted for the
incumbents that I knew of, including my state's treacherous Senator
Voinovich. Oops. I didn't know about the Senate's AWB vote until
after I got home. I wish I had gone home first because checking your
site is a ritual for me. I woulda known better than to vote for one of
my state's invertebrate backstabbers. I guess I should have known
better. I'M SO FREAKIN' MAD!!! As you may know, we just passed (some)
CCW legislation here. I was feeling good about my state again--until
today. I should've known better. Rest assured, this dirtbag will
never get another vote from me. On behalf of the other bamboozled gun-totin'
Buckeyes out here, I apologize for helping to put this idiot in
office. I hope to help rectify this in November. Oh, and I hope to
help kick DeWine (or DeWhine) out in two years as well. - Chris”
“Hey, Ogre, take it from a subject of Illinois who is busily gathering
the resources to make a run across the Mississippi to freedom: expect
nothing from our legislators, and at least you'll be prepared. Dick
Durbin voted for the AWB extension, but he's the most liberal SOB in
the legislature right now, bar none (Teddy K. is only better at finding
cameras--the blinking red lights somehow sear through the alcohol haze
and he just snaps to attention like a bitch in heat.) So that's to be
expected. But Peter Fitzgerald is a unique blend of RINO and
maverick. At the time he was elected, the Republicans were THE force
to be reckoned with at the state level in Illinois. The Democrats
owned Chicago, but the Republicans had managed to dominate the state
government since the 1970's. When Democrat Governor "Walkin' Dan"
Walker got sent to prison, Jim "Big Daddy" Thompson took the
opportunity to set up an empire. He refined patronage into a highly
developed and complex art with definite rules and eventually
traditions, and used his vast army of patronage dependents to rule the
state with an iron fist. Anyway, along comes Peter Fitzgerald, and he
wants to be a Senator. He's pretty moderate on issues and yet hungry
for power, so he doesn't much care which party he's with. Oh, and he's
filthy rich. He lays out a ton of cash and gets elected as a
Republican. But to Fitzgerald, being a Republican is like being
Skins. You've got to pick a team to play, and Shirts was losing when
he got to the playground, so Skins it is. Now, in addition to being
genuinely anti-gun in his personal beliefs, Fitzgerald has become a
little more than moderate in the last few years. He has made his
reputation on fighting his own party when he thought it necessary (and
honestly, he has often been right.) Most recently, this took the form
of opposing vast amounts of pork funds the Republican party wanted
allocated to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. It's one of
those things that sounds great to most people who hear the five second
pitch: it's a feather in Springfield's cap, it'll bring in lots of
tourism money, it'll mean jobs. The only problem is that it's now
nearly a year and a half behind schedule with no end in sight. At the
last firm estimate, it was upposed to be open last fall. It's a
boondoggle, plain and simple. There are people getting rich off it, of
course, but not the average employee—and they're getting rich at YOUR
expense. Fitzgerald, having his own money, doesn't need the party's
money or approval and is free to speak out on things like this, and to
his credit he does. But it does present us a problem, because you
can't very well argue to a man like that that we'll defeat his party.
He doesn't much care. He's also retiring at the end of this term, so
you can't even threaten his re-election. He knows he's a lame duck, so
he considers himself untouchable, which for all intents and purposes,
he is. - Don”
“Dear Ogre, I am a
long time reader and follower of your web site. I find it quite
informative. The thing I don't understand is this AWB bill. What the
heck is going on??? I have read that it got added to the bill to
protect the gun industry from lawsuits. If it did then how was this
done? Was it so that if you voted yes both were done away with? I
frankly am quite perplexed on this matter. I dont know to support this
bill or go against. Did the senators do the right thing or the wrong
thing? Dazed and Confused, an Armed Okie”
Okie, I’m still sorting this out myself.
“Good call on gun of
the day! :) I love that movie. Because of the identical house bill,
some are speculating that the senate [gun liability] bill was a
calculated risk, designed to absorb the anti-gun amendments and
"scuttle" the whole thing. If that was the case it was an excellent
ploy. - Rob”
Interesting theory, but I think such a ploy would have taken more guts
than they have. You would need stainless steel balls for that...
something that is in short supply.
I’ve got tons more… all like this… Every Horde Member and Reader has
chimed in on this one. I just don’t have the space to post all of
them. One of the questions was about my picture up there on the
right and if I was smacking Kim Du Toit. No... that picture has
nothing to do with Kim and his handgun pose. That photo was
actually taken for a magazine article, and I just happened to like it.
I was tired of my old one. I think it looks more Ronin than it
does Kim.. although Kim and I do have many similarities... We are both
getting old, have the same taste in female appreciation, both like our
food, and he is in Germany right now when I would love to be in
Germany. No, Kim has my respect, but I am not trying to
copy cat him. Perhaps I should change the picture if that is what
the impression is. Just let me point something out here... while Kim
and I are both holding .45 automatics... I am wearing a jacket, and Kim
is not... "Sam" the character in the Ronin movie poster there... he is
wearing a jacket. See? Okay, enough being silly.
Gun of the Day: The
Thompson.
This is the gun that made “Roaring 20’s” roar. Used by both hero and
villain alike, the Thompson, also known as the Tommy Gun, was very
popular. Chambered for the .45ACP cartridge, this gun was an
incredibly potent package. So much so, the Thompson entered US Service
and remained in active service throughout the Vietnam war. A quote
regarding it says “Ounce for ounce, the Tommy gun is the deadliest
weapon known to man”. At the time, this was true. The Thompson can be
fed from stick or drum magazines or both depending upon the version. I
believe some tank crews still used Thompsons even during the Gulf War,
with the shoulder stock removed. This gun also serves as the base gun
for the modeling of the famous M41A Pulse Rifles in the movie Aliens.
These guns are still being made and you can still buy one brand new.
They are heavier than the look, but few .45ACP SMGs are so controllable
that you can write your name with them. They are also surprisingly
accurate… spending a day with a Thompson on an open range with a big
box of .45 rounds… you will be surprised at how quickly you are able to
peg cans out at 100 yards. The Thompson is a classic… so much so that
even today it remains one of the most recognizable firearms in world.
My link above is to the version I would love to have if I had the means
– and by that I mean money.
Mar 2nd, Tuesday, 2004: 1400hrs:
So the bill is dead in
the Senate now…
I am still trying to figure out what is going on – what happened. I
took my boys swimming and come back to a 180* turn around. I feel
like the Governor just gave me a Pardon. Evidently there was a vote
for the AWB extension and that was put into bill, and that bill was
shot down. We dodged a bullet, but this makes me very worried about
the next time this vote comes up. Right now the AWB is scheduled to
sunset and go away in September… but that doesn’t mean that this vote
couldn’t come up again. If it does, we are in trouble as indicated by
the earlier vote. There are ten Republicans in name only that screwed
us. Here are the names:
The Republican
Traitors:
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island
Susan Collins of Maine
Mike DeWine of Ohio
Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois
Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
Richard Lugar of Indiana
Gordon Smith of Oregon
Olympia Snowe of Maine
George Voinovich of Ohio
John Warner of Virginia
These people need to be flogged, tarred and feathered, and rode out of
DC on a rail… the way they handled shitbirds in old days. Since we
can’t do that… we have to settle for what can do – Let these people
know that you are going to support financially their political
opponents, vote against them, whatever it takes to make sure that these
jackholes are out of a job come the next election. Let them know that
we are all extremely unhappy with what they did today. If you know how
to make voodoo dolls... Get busy.
Thanks for all the
emails from all my readers…
I have the best readership… seriously.
Noon:
Stupid Cowards.
Ignorant fucking sheep…
Fucking Warner in
Virginia, that asshole is going to be getting bounced next election.
So should ever single useless, dickless jackass that claims to be
Republican but votes like a Democrat on this issue. We own the House
and the Senate, and this shit passes. Useless, drooling,
slack-jawed, monosynaptic, imbeciles. They passed the Assault
Weapons Ban. DAMN IT! I am so OUTRAGED! This is total BULLSHIT.
The FBI, CDC, and every other agency that tracks statistics… they have
all shown that the assault weapons ban have done NOTHING to reduce
crime… not a damn thing.
 This is FUCKING
BULLSHIT! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! All does is hamper our constitutional rights. This is a black
day. DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!
DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! I can not believe that these
Republican PUSSIES are actually this FLACID to let this happen. DAMN
IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!
1000hrs:
Coordinated attacks on
Shiite shrines on a holy day. Massive
loss of life, many wounded. This is indeed horrible. However
considering the Shiite stance on terror actions such as this, “Hey, if
it’s directed at the Americans, I’m okay with it” then I am not too
heart broken about this. I wish such things in the world were not so.
But they are and they are always horrible. This is looking like the
beginnings of civil war in Iraq. This isn’t cool because we have our
troops right there in the middle. There are thousands of years of
grudge going on between these different Muslim sects there in Iraq and
it looks like they want to throw down. This isn’t a civil war that the
US should be involved in, not in any way. Perhaps our troops should
pull back to certain areas… like Kuwait. What is frustrating about
Iraq is that the people there are intelligent people and have great
potential to really stand out in the world. Such a fantastic history
there too… Babylon and the site of one of the 7 Wonders. Yet they
would rather thrash on each other. It’s pathetic. I say we take those
troops in Iraq and move the majority of them into Afghanistan to help
hunt for Osama and the test to defend specific priority targets within
Iraq and we just let the Iraqi’s have at each other.
The AWB is being voted
on today.
Kerry of course has voted to extend the ban. I am upset about this.
I was hoping the Republicans would do a filibuster or something... but
no... they couldn't do it... they are letting it be vote on, thus
putting our rights at risk. I am expecting for our Republican
representatives to not just drop the ball, but to field-goal-kick it
through the enemy’s uprights. The Republicans we have in office are the
most gutless collection of useless men ever assembled as a whole.
Maybe there are some bright spots in that black hole, but it doesn't
stop the super flushing sound I'm hearing from Washington DC.
Gun of the Day: Ash’s
Boomstick.
When it comes to movie super shotguns, Ash’s Boomstick ranks number
one. (Number two is the shotgun in “Jake Speed” but I’m not going to
admit I’ve ever watched that movie) S-Mart’s top of the line shotgun
has a walnut stock and a hair trigger and is able to knock the deadites
dead. If you do not know who Ash is… you are missing out. Rent “Army
of Darkness” and enjoy one of the most brilliant cheesy B-rated zombie
movies ever made.
March 1st, Monday, 2004: 2200hrs:
After 12 hours of
study and another exam, I am spent for the day. I’m
literally too brain-fried to continue rational thought or to express
coherent opinion. However, as promised, check the
Cougar Review for a sneak peak at the magazine article. Most of
the images are removed, but I have two new ones for you. Others will
come later, sometime after the article is published… so if you want to
see them, you shall have to
get the magazine.
I am so going to bed…
after I play some Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and I kill all the
Haitians. It helps me relax. (note: I have nothing against Haitians,
it’s just a joke about the controversy surrounding the game. In the
game, a gang leader orders you to do that and you go and do it a bit
and that’s the mission for the game. Well, evidently the Haitians were
really pissed out that. Of course they never said a word when you do
the Haitian mission where you kill all the Cubans. Funny how they
never mentioned that, huh?)
1300hrs:
The Oscars. I admit
it, I watched the Oscars.
Okay, truthfully I watched the last few minutes of it. I
caught Sean Penn winning best Actor award. The Four Horsemen are
saddling up as you read this. Sean Penn… an Oscar. WTF? Sean Penn,
AKA Robert DeNiro’s Mini-Me… an Oscar. What a joke. He beat Ben
Kingsly, Johnny Dep, and even Bill Murray… this is outrageous. Lord of
the Rings winning 11. That’s awesome. LOTR deserves it. LOTR, when
you look at all the work that went into it, and all the time that went
into it… it’s amazing. I don’t think any movie was so ever so
exhaustive to produce. LOTR won for a good reason. I was pleased to
see that Annie Lennox won something too… she has always been my
favorite female vocalist since forever. She isn’t much to look at, but
her voice is just stunning. She has more range than any of these
current Pop Tarts could ever dream of such talent and ability.
Last night I put off
cleaning my Beretta Cougar until this morning. After I cleaned it out I decided to lube it up with
Brownell’s Action Lube Plus. This stuff is some seriously slick shit.
The Cougar cycles as smooth as butter on a hot pan right now.
Unfortunately this black grease is just filthy much that looks like
hell. I think the ideal application for ALP is shotguns. The internal
sliders and action bars inside a shotgun would benefit the most for it
and the gun wouldn’t look nasty. Tetra Gun Grease is almost as slick,
but doesn’t look like you defecated into your gun.
Looks like my “I hate
the AR-15” article has become the subject of discussion again.
(it’s in the Weapons Section, go look for it) This time on some video
game discussion board. An email tipped me off about it. This
discussion is almost amusing. Especially considering the source of
some of these comments. 14 year old PlayStation worshippers who have
yet to kiss girl not related to them are going to try to bash me? No,
I’m not posting the link. I don’t want to give them that much
recognition. *sniff* These kids these days can be so mean… *sniff*.
I read on Slashdot that Rockstar Games is busy making Grand Theft
Auto 5: San Andreas. As horrible as GTA is, it has got to be one
of the best game series ever. Huge environment that allows totally
open game play… it really is something else. I don’t think I want to
even bother with this other wannabe came called “True Crime”. No
thanks… I like GTA, I like the style, the interface and the humor. I’m
looking forward to this new edition that should be out next year. Yes,
I like this game. Sick and violent and funny as hell… I’ll admit it.
I am a grown adult, responsible and intelligent… and I love GTA and
other such video games. I also love reading, and writing and science
and history… I just enjoy the escapism that can be found only in
exceptional videogames such as these. If you don’t like it, fine. Go
read a book. I’ll join you at Barnes and Nobles right after I finish
killing all the Haitians.
The Anti-Idiotarian has a very interesting bit on Kerry.
Check this out.
Looks like John F Kerry was playing too much Grand Theft Auto himself
back during the Vietnam War. Unbelievable.
Okay, I’ve
procrastinated enough…
time to get back to the books.
Early Morning:
The Passion.
I watched it Saturday night. Very powerful film. The criticisms of it
being too graphic are misleading. It’s only very realistic.
Mel Gibson only filmed what we read in the bible… what we just don’t
want to visualize it. That this is what He went through… that is what
is shocking. Sacrament will never be the same for me… never the
traditional motions on Sunday again. The meaning and the significance
are much more visceral to me now, and I think that was Gibson’s
purpose. This is something all Christians can appreciate. I am still
shaken by this film. I can’t even express it. It has indeed
bolstered my reverence of the Savior and my faith. I wept for a long
time during this film… and twice after it. It’s unbelievable. Forgive
me if this shakes the Ogre Image, but I am a very spiritual person.
Gibson may be Catholic and I may be Mormon, but I can see we share the
same vision about what happened and why he endured what he endured.
If you believe in him or not, this movie gives you much greater respect
for him.
Note to self: Add
Maureen Dowd, New Yuck Times journaltwit to
The Fecal Roster.
She says that The Passion is promoting intolerance. *sigh* If you
get the message that the movie is all about, you know that the whole
thing is about showing tolerance. Get it? The whole “Love your enemy
thing”? You must have missed that part Maureen… it only hit people
over the head, but since yours was up your ass, it was lost on you. I
have a feeling that this chick gooved on “The Last Temptation”, but I
am not sure. Liberals tend to flee anything having to do with Jesus
Christ when there is no “H” in the name. I am not surprised that she
said that… working for the NYT, it’s her job to be as dense and
hatemongering as possible. She even said that the film used classical
Anti-Semitic images. What images would those be, Maureen?
The Cross? Excuse me, but study of Roman execution methods show
that they did indeed use crosses back then from time to time.
It’s not like he was hung from a tree or stapled to a wall... and
another thing, a cross is not Anti-Anything
unless it’s on fire in your front lawn. (for you, that can be
arranged) I think you are confused with the swastika… I can
see the resemblance… they both have straight lines. Maureen, you are a
maroon.
I like this
picture... I think it's a keeper.
Full schedule over
here Yesterday.
I attended church, and after that I had to hit the range to take some
photographs for the magazine article and then after that I had about
2,000 words I needed to write for a psychology article regarding PTSD,
and one about Borderline Personality Disorder. Didn’t finish. Oh, I
didn’t mention the big Psych Exam I took Friday night, the one I was
studying for so hard all last week. I think I might have aced it. It
was a 90 minute exam, multiple choice on a “scantron” sheet. Since I
had all the knowledge down, I raced through it in only 20 minutes.
This exam felt as if it was easy. Those in my study group finished it
in about 30 minutes. I feel really good about it… there were only 2
questions that gave me pause, but I think I worked them out just fine.
Anyways, sorry for the lack of updates yesterday and the short one
today. I have some work to catch up on. Oh, over in the Weapons
Section I will be updating the Cougar review with a few more words and
with some new photos, because if anything else, I got the magazine
article finished and submitted. Oh, and because of that, I will
have to take a trip to SLC in a couple weeks or so. If anything
else, to just field test a gun borrowed from one of the Utah Chapter
Alumni because they want another article from me. Cool. I'm
thinking a CZ this time. The Rami or the P-01... or something
interesting. We shall see.
Thanks to the
help from Steve, my Asian brother from another mother, Outlook 2003
is rock solid. Something about authentication caused the problem.
Weird. One tick in a check box and I've not had one single error
since. Technology that doesn't involve triggers and primers, I
just don't get. Outlook may be from Microsoft... but damn if
doesn't have the best spam filtering. Sitting in a doctor's
waiting room last Friday I picked up a copy of some PC magazine that
was rating email clients... Outlook 2003 had the highest rating.
Thanks Steve. I owe you lunch. I owe you much more than
that, my friend, but for now lunch will have to do.
While speaking of
College matters, I have been nominated by my writing professor to work
with the Rhetoric program.
I’m not sure what it will all entail, but I will be given an extra 500
something per semester for my efforts. That is some good news… I can
use all the cash I can get. I need more ammo money! I took Mrs. Ogre
out shooting with me yesterday and she blasted through all my .45
rounds! D’oh!
Gun of the Day: The
Colt Peacemaker.
Also known as the Single Action Army. The gun from the 1800’s is
still popular today. Now more than ever in fact. It is being made by
more companies than ever right now… One of my favorites is the offering
by Beretta called the
Stampede. Something about the finish on the deluxe version
(pictured) that
just trips my trigger. Gorgeous!
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