Sep 24th, Friday, 2004: 0940 hrs:  Thanks for the suggestions for new links… Looks like I have some more to add.   And it seems my new links have been met with approval.   No one suggested de-linking anything either.  Good.  This is very good.  It means you all have very good web-taste.  But of course you do, you read MadOgre.com.  How silly of me to even question. New additions: Allah is in the house, LGF, Powerline, Lileks, Survival Arts, and the others are all going up on the roster to the left for a grand total of 72 links to noteworthy blogs.

Drudge linked to a story that requires registration… so I wont link to it.  But I will talk about it.  The Democrats are violently defending Teresa Heinz Kerry’s personal finance records… their lawyers are doing everything they can to keep those records secret.  I wonder why.  What is she hiding?  I bet she is laundering a great deal of illegal campaign contributions for JFK2.  That’s just my guess.  She’s just some filthy rich beotch giving John all the money he needs for whatever he wants… so if you wanted to give John more money than allowed to pay for more forged documents, you give it to her instead.   Just a hunch.  Or maybe we would find that she isn’t paying taxes like a good girl… keeping all her wealth in tax shelters so she doesn’t owe anything… or that she has benefited greatly from Bush’s tax cut and possibly even that Tax cut has helped finance Kerry’s run.  All possibilities one or all.  Whatever it is, it’s something that has given her and the Democrats a great deal of motivation to hide it or keep it under wraps at least until after the election where it’s too late for anything negative to effect the election.

The Democrats want to talk about truth and opening up all the records… just as long as they are not Democrat records.  They continue to call for more Bush records, but Kerry has still not released his, or his wife’s.  People, these should be huge Red Flags.  These are warning signs.  I know that the Horde is savvy enough to see this, but we all know people who are not.  Point this out to them and if they are Kerry supporters, ask for their explanation on this.  After all, what is good for the goose is good for the liberal jackasses.

Oh, yeah right… CBS’s lame attempt to seem fair and balanced.  Talk about a stunt.  CBS’s headman coming out and saying he is for Bush.  Right.  This is why he still has Dan Rather on the payroll and has his news people trash Bush every chance they get.   True or not, this changes CBS.  CBS is now no longer an unbiased news source, but now an organization under the direction of an activist.  

I don’t blame him at all… not only that, I think his statements pretty much go for all of the paparazzi.  That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Next week it’s all about exams.  Already.  Sheesh.  I’ve got two huge ones.  Aarrgh.  So this weekend it’s all about reading and rereading text books and taking an insane amount of notes.  Good grief.  These tests… one is going to be easy.  It’s all multiple choice.  But the other?  It’s ALL essay.  He has a number of questions and he says he wants about a half page each questions… then he has the “Long Essay” question.  2 questions and you pick one… and answer it on 4 pages.  Oh for the love of pete had I known that, I’d have not taken the class at all.  Your whole grade wraps up in how much bullshit you can put into a question that you can answer in 3 sentences or less, to stretch it to 4 pages.  Oh this is going to be painful.  I can’t write by hand that long!  I have freaking arthritis in my hands!   Hell.  Well, if anything, writing is a strong point for me so I can probably bank of it.  But come on – why can’t he just do the multiple choice thing like everyone else?   Aarrgh. 

Our guys in Iraq are over there for all of us.  I’m getting sick and tired of the Democrats using our forces as an item of debate and contention.  I’m sick of Kerry’s waffling bullshit about what he is going to do with our troops and with the war on terror.  Kerry doesn’t deserve the honor of even being in the presence of our soldiers.  As long as they keep the fight in the enemy’s back yard, the fight is not in our front yards.  I don’t care where you are politically, as an American, you owe them your support and allegiance no matter who is in the Whitehouse.  American Soldiers are our people… our friends… our brothers… our sons… They are OURS.  And they are doing it for us.  Give them some support.  Send them some stuff that they could use that they can’t get over there so easily.  
1. Medicated foot powder
2. Huggy's baby wipes (great for when you can't take a shower)
3. Magazines. (SWAT, CCM, Outdoor Life, Road & Track, Maxim etc)
4. Candy Bars and other junk food
5. OFF bug spray
6. Deodorant sticks
7. Latest issue of the local newspaper.
8. Anything else you can think of that they could use.  Anything.  Not all the guys over there get something during Mail Call… they could sure use something to boost their moral… even if it’s just a letter expressing your support.

Here is the address to send stuff to:
Commander
1-33 FA
Operation Iraqi Freedom FOB Summerall
APO AE 09303
Send anything you feel would make life in the desert a little more bearable.  I’ll be sending a big box shortly.   For you soldiers over there – If I could go, I’d be there.  But I can’t, so I’m going to help you in every way I can.   I’m going to send you everything I can that will make your life easier and more comfortable.   And then I’m going to fight for you guys here at home so that your sacrifices won’t be in vain – so that when you come home the freedoms you battled for won’t be given away by the Liberals who would make us slaves to the UN… so that our rights wont be banned so that we can all be “safer”… so that when you get home you will still be free.  That’s my oath to you guys.  God bless you.

Sep 23rd, Thursday, 2004: 1500hrs: We had a pleasant visit with my mother and father last night and today.  They flew out from Virginia to escape the rains and to visit the family out here in Utah.  My Dad’s favorite past time out here is to bash Utah… but Momma loves it out here.  She’s more of a Western Girl at heart than Dad is.  I invited them to go on a little off roading trail and Momma was down for it but Dad was, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about it.  Oh well.  They got to play with the boys at the park and they had a good time about it.  They are now on the way back to SLC to visit more folks and then back to St George and then Vegas for the flight back home.  They are trying to see everyone they can while they can inside a single week.  

Email: “I see the House of Representatives kicked the liberal bastards, and especially those despicable liberal judges, right square in the nuts with their vote to keep the Judiciary from ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance. I hope the Senate follows suit. I would love to see it be an issue in this year's election. I think it would be safe to say that if it were to be an issue the US battleship Bush would blow the Euro-Commie faggot (or is it frigate?) Kerry clean out of the water. However, it will be interesting to see what spin Bitchillary puts on it in the next election. Of course, she'll probably abstain or be conveniently absent from the vote because of its potential volatility. I don't think the American people want God tinkered with by those bozos. Religion, in particular Christianity, is a precept the founding Fathers believed in. Fucking with God is almost as bad as fucking with the 2nd Amendment. Leave it alone.”

I don’t even know what is going on here… I’ve not checked the news since yesterday afternoon.  From what I am gathering, Kerry is making a gigantic ass of himself about Iraq… so that is nothing new.  Well, I’ve got my history class tonight… and not much time left to prep for it.  So It’s back to the books and I’ll leave the News for after class.

Blogs of note:  Read these until I get back from class.

The Captain’s Blog.

The Policeman’s Blog.

Cowboy Blob.

And a magazine… Code One. 

Guys, do this… Look at all my blogs over there in my list… and rank them or vote to cut them or maybe even suggest a good one (Pro-Gun being the requirement) or a good sight… This is The Horde’s list.  And these new ones here… Are they worthy to be included?

As the Governor of California says… “I’ll be back”.

Sep 22nd, Wednesday, 2004: Ranger Time: My Dog:

What a smarmy bastard.

Noonish: Thank you for all the well wishes about my health.  After a solid 72 hours, I am feeling better again.  Nasty bug that one, it’s left me rather weak, bleary, and I feel like I have a hangover.  But other than that, I’m doing fine.  Sunshine and daisies.

I’ve started writing the review for the Eagle Twins.  I should have that done soon enough I guess, but I’m not going to rush it.  I was thinking about the next article and I am not sure exactly which one I should do.  I’m enjoying writing articles about the guns you might not expect to be read about… the Detonics, the Cougar, the Mak… and now these Baby Eagles.  You don’t get to read about these very often.  These guns are certainly not going to grace the covers of American Handgunner or SWAT.  They are not exactly the “New Hottness” with all the hype.  In fact, the little Eagles and the Cougar… most people don’t even know what they are when they see them.  A Beretta 92FS, a 1911, Glock, SIG… those are universally recognized and even gun zombies know what those things are.  

Unless you are a fan of the movie Romeo & Juliet, and in this case you have to email me to ask me about them. How in the hell did I become the recognized expert on Leonardo DeCaprio’s weapons?  My hell, man.  The guns are not even cool in that movie.  They were designed by the Costume Mistress, so do not ask me where you can get a gun like that.  Judas Priest… if you want a Sword 9MM, you are talking to the wrong guy!  Maybe is should do a Guns Of article about the movie just so I don’t have to get those bloody questions anymore.   It’s not a bad movie.  In fact, I think it’s brilliant.  It’s giving you a classical Shakespeare story and dialog while putting it in to a context that today’s youth can understand.  I have to admit I love movies like this… “Richard the Third” is another one.  Then there is “Much Ado About Nothing”.  While not set in a more modern setting, its style and energy are universal and this movie is probably the most enjoyable ways to experience the story.  And you will see a young Kate Beckinsale who becomes a vampire death dealer in Underworld… there is a sequel to Underworld coming out BTW. 

Wait a second… where the hell was I?  Oh… another gun article, right.  I’m thinking about doing the Beretta 9000.  It’s not a common handgun out there, and to Beretta aficionados it is the gun the like to hate.  Maybe a detailed examination of that one would be interesting?  Perhaps.  Just a thought. Maybe I’ll review a Sword 9MM.

I’m not surprised the terrorists have killed the hostages. These assholes, they don’t care who or why they kill.  They are just murderous bastards who want only to sew the seeds of chaos.  Don’t let them get to you.  Being afraid of them is giving them what they want.  Harden your resolve… and the only thing you should give them in return is lethal violence.  That is the only way to stop them.  President Bush is doing the right thing.  Remember September 11^th 2001?  The terrorists did that to us before we invaded Iraq… they did that to us before Abu Grab-Ass.  They did that because America is free and our women do not wear burkas and if we pray we don’t have to face east.  They want to kill us because they hate us. 

The liberals would have us try to “understand” the terrorists and blame ourselves for their actions… same things with American criminals.  It’s not the criminals fault he stole everything in your house and raped your daughter.  It’s President Bush’s fault and yours for being so damned wealthy and not sharing!   
Screw that noise… The Liberals in this country have no grip on reality.  Neither does JFK2. 

JFK2 is ripping on Bush’s actions in Iraq and yet when asked his plan for Iraq he doesn’t know.  He’s give time tables of 6 months, 6 years and 10 years.  Face it… He has no clue.  How could he?  He only attends to 20% of his duties.  4 months of a 13 month tour in Nam, Security Council meetings in the Senate…   To vote for Kerry, you would have to be a totally gullible dunderhead.

Christmas in Middle Earth - this had me laughing. 

Sep 21st, Tuesday, 2004, 2200hrs: How humankind branched into liberals and conservatives

The division of the human family into its two distinct branches occurred some 10,000 years ago, a few hundred years after the flood. Humans coexisted as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers. In the pivotal event of societal evolution, beer was invented. This epochal innovation was both the foundation of modern civilization and the occasion of the great bifurcation of humanity into its two distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.
 
Once beer was discovered, it required grain, and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle or aluminum can had yet been invented, so it was necessary to stick pretty close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.
 
Some men spent their days killing animals to barbeque at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of the conservative movement.
 
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting, learned how to live off conservatives by showing up for the BBQs every night and doing women's work like sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the liberal movement. Later, some of the liberals actually became women.
 
Liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, invention of group therapy and democratic voting to see how to divide the beer and meat that the conservatives provided. Women were not interested in democracy at that time because most of them were still women back then, and the conservatives fed them.
 
Conservatives are symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.
 
Modern Liberals like imported beer (they add lime), but most prefer white wine or foreign water in a bottle. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are on liberal menus. Their women have more testosterone than the men. Liberals like deviant sex and want others to like it too. Their first successful city governments were Sodom and Gomorrah.
 
Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, and group therapists are Liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule in baseball because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher also bat.
 
Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat, and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumber jacks, construction workers, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, soldiers, athletes, and generally anyone who works productively outside government. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
 
Liberals do not produce anything. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what is to be done with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals just stayed in Europe when conservatives were coming to America.
 
Conservatives have principles, believe in a Creator, and the rule of law. They practice charity and give to the poor, normally through their churches. When in doubt on an issue, they check both the Bible and the Constitution, which they use as a constant reference in a changing world. They believe in the concept of truth.
 
Liberals do not have principles, except for their dedication to stealing production of conservatives and undermining principled references such as the Bible and Constitution. They are never in doubt on an issue because they always do whatever is best for them without regard to others. They have no standard of reference. Liberals do not give to charity. They cultivate the poor like a cat cultivates a field of mice. They use the poor as voters and give them a portion of stolen tax money which they vote away from conservatives.
 
Conservatives believe in self defense, both at home and abroad. They own guns and use them to discourage liberals and other common criminals. They provide guns to the armed forces to discourage foreign liberals and other foreign criminals.
 
Liberals do not believe in conservative self defense. They disarm conservatives, and then attack them with impunity by liberal armies with guns. King George, Hitler and Stalin were all liberals who abandoned the rule of Law, had no principles except their own self indulgence, and attempted to tax and govern conservatives. Liberals believe in BIG government. They think the United Nations is the ultimate answer.
 
Conservatives believe in the rule of law and when sitting on juries, convict common criminals and acquit fellow conservatives who have been charged by liberals. When serving in the armed forces, they shoot liberals from other countries who want to govern our country. Conservatives know the difference between a common-sense law and a bone-headed statute passed by some liberal from Massachusetts. When sitting on juries, they do not enforce bone-headed statutes, and don't explain their reasons.
 
Liberals only believe in whatever laws are appealing to them, such as the privilege of making a living by taxing conservatives. When sitting on juries, liberals convict producers and acquit liberals and other common criminals. Modern Judges are all liberals as they do not produce anything except chaos, and are paid with confiscated tax money. They consider it against the law to reference any source of law such as the Bible or Constitution. Like other liberals, they just make it up as they go and do what is best for them. Judge Roy Bean is their model.
 
The American cowboy, of course, is your basic, full-bore Conservative. A hundred years ago, an Englishman visiting Texas was attempting to find the owner of a huge cattle ranch. He rode up to one of the ranch hands, and inquired, "Pardon me, but could you perhaps tell me where I might locate your master?" To which the cowboy replied, "That sumbitch ain't been born yet".
 
So, what'll it be? Wine or Beer? Domestic or Imported?”

Noon-Thirty: Oh man… I feel sick as a dog.  Last two days I’ve had some serious gut rumbles and rhea going on.  I was up all night last night with heaving and dry heaving.  For that reason I am late in posting the little rant I wrote last night… because I was just flat out too ill for dealing with the internet.   

Kerry says he wouldn’t have ousted Saddam.  Uh, I have to call bullshit on this one.  Listen to everything he has had to say about it… Okay, don’t listen… read it quickly, and then get back on track.  He doesn’t use the words ousting Saddam… but he is pretty much behind going to war.  Even voting for it.  He said somewhere that you shouldn’t vote for him if you don’t want to go to war.  Now if you are going to go to war with a country like Iraq, against a cat like Saddam… how the hell do you win without taking Saddam out of the picture?  You can’t.  Taking out the Command and Control is the first order of business.  That’s what we did.  That’s why it was so much easier for us to run in and take the whole damn country.  Because no defense could be organized.  It’s like a game of chess… it’s over as soon as you put the King into Check Mate.  Done.  Kerry knows this.  While he didn’t say that, that’s what he was getting at.  There is no nuance there.  Then all the sudden he changed his ficklefucking mind after Bush pulled the trigger, he was against it.  Even to the point of voting against the operation that he voted to start.  That vote against created a shortage of body armor for the troops, reduced strategic capability and generally put a bigger torpedo in the side of the US forces than any militant’s car bomb.  Very nice move Kerry.  Send the boys to war but don’t give them the weapons to fight it.  Brilliant.  Wear is the nuance Mr. Kerry?  That’s just flat out treasonous.  Go to war… then fight against your own troops… He’s even done this TWICE now.  Once in Vietnam and then again in Iraq.  Hmmm… a traitor to the armed forces of his own country.  Where have I seen this before?  No, really, it sounds sort of familiar, but I can’t quite place it.  What a bag of feces.

Email:  “Dear Ogre, I have made 2 firearm purchases for CCW in the past 3 months. The first was a Beretta Mini Cougar 8045. This weapon is an absolute pleasure to carry and shoot. I picked it up slightly used at a FL gun show for $400. This particular Cougar had probably less than 2 boxes of ammo put through it before I bought it. Talking about whistle clean boy! Shoots on the money, no malfunctions after 1000 mixed rounds, and is the sexiest little piece of steel I've seen since the 1975 Datsun 280Z.   

My second purchase was a 9x18 Bulgarian Makarov picked up at a another show in FL. When bought it was completely gunked with Cold War Cosmoline and it's overall condition was questionable until stripped and thoroughly cleaned. After it's makeover, I delighted when discovered that this little gem had probably never been fired, the finish was perfect and is a completely reliable little shooter that hits what it's pointed at. Not bad for $140.00. I'd recommend replacing the factory 15# spring with a 17#er and adding a set of Pearce Rubber Grips as found on www.makarov.com

Thanks for your professional input on both of these weapons. I had you in the back of my mind when pulling my wallet out to purchase both of them.  Your website is first class.

One more thing. Can you put more pictures of your wife handling firearms on your website? She is a doll and makes me all fluttery when she's poised with a weapon. Maybe some poses with a tight dress and heels? These requests are made with all due respect to you and your wife. Please take no offense because no malice is intended...... I'm a recovering Catholic and hope you understand.  Best Regards to You and Your Brood, Peter”

We might be having a few photos of Mrs Ogre with a couple Desert Eagle pistols... but we shall see.  Now, you have the Cougar... excellent choice.  You can see why I like mine so much.  Out of all my handguns, the Cougar remains my Go-To handgun.  There is something about Beretta handguns... something that they have that other handguns don't.  Class?

Email about Collide: “Odd that you chose to bring up Collide again, as just recently got the three CDs I ordered through Amazon (the order was delayed because it contained Unfit for Command).  I'd been meaning to let you know how pleased I was with the purchase and wanted to thank you for many hours of enjoyment between Evanescence and Collide (I bought Beneath the Skin, Some Kind of Strange and Chasing the Ghost -- all three are very different, and I seem to have trouble picking which one I prefer.  I think it depends on my mood.  Beneath is hard driving industrial Goth, Some Kind of Strange is more gentle and haunting, and Chasing the Ghost is some weird hybrid I can't put my finger on).  A shame they had to give a plug to F911 on their site, but I'm not going to stop listening because of politics.  If I did that, I'd have to give up the music of despicable anti-semite and proto-Nazi Richard Wagner, and I'm not willing to do that (and I'd probably have to give up most of my jazz on the premise that patronizing such music promotes alcohol or heroin abuse).  Besides, kaRIN(sic) has a helluva sexy voice, and that makes up for a lot of sins.  Keep up the music recommendations.  You seem to have much the same likes in that regard that I do, which means you are obviously a person of exceptional refinement and taste. GSB”

There is a group called Hex that you would like if you like Collide.  One album they have is just called “Hex” and the other one is called “Vast Halos”.    Pretty good stuff if you like the ethereal stuff.  It’s softer than Collide… more seductive.

This little Kel-Tec P3AT is kind of strange.  It’s so small and light… it doesn’t even feel like a handgun. It’s an interesting pistol to say the least.  The shape of the slide acts as sights and allows for fast snap shooting at close to short ranges.  It also points very well for a gun so small.  Better than the NAA Guardian in the same caliber.  I’m not a fan of the .380 auto, but it sure trumps all other small calibers for use in a gun like this… a true pocket pistol.  I’m of the opinion that’s the best way to carry this gun or guns like it.  In the pocket.  Front pocket, strong hand side.  Because packing the gun there allows you to act very casually while covering the gun with your hand… it is almost a low ready position.  This can give you a very large tactical advantage if you are in a potentially hostile situation.   While this gun might not be ideal weapon for an armed confrontation, but it can be with you in places and times other guns can not be.   For those living in Utah, this makes a good choice for attending church with or attending classes at the U of U.  The first priority when carrying concealed, is concealment.

Sep 20th, Monday, 2004: 0930hrs:  Kel-Tec: The P3AT is now mine.  This deal was struck with the good people at Kel-Tec CNC and all parties are satisfied.  Understand that this review was written and accepted by the publisher before I decided that I wanted to buy it, so there was no special treatment or considerations.  As I posted in the addendum to my review, “This kind of service, if this is what Kel-Tec customers get on a regular basis… this raises the bar.”  Horde Commander Nate chimed in and this cinched my decision to make this P3AT mine.

“Same circumstance with the gun I showed you when I visited last spring, I had some problems, I sent it back to K-T asking for repairs and I got a brand new gun in return. It had my gun's serial number on it but it was a new gun. K-T's explanation was that since my gun was an early production model, to implement all the improvements would be more difficult that sending me a new one with my serial number stamped on it.

My current gun works perfectly with every brand of ammo I've tried through it. A few seconds with the link pin chucked into a Dremmel tool and some file work increased the depth of the spring retention slot and so it never shoots loose now.

Its still in either a pocket holster or the Thunderwear under my pants any time I leave the house. And K-T really does do that kind of customer support if there's a problem. Do they make mistakes? Sure. They sent you back their gun, their demo gun that goes out to every gun tester that asks. But you got the normal customer treatment and turn around and a gun that you can depend on. Regards, Nate”

Outstanding.  Now if they just made a little .45 sub-compact.   This little pistol has already become my Always On Gun. (AOG)  And this is exactly the gun’s whole point and mission.  I’m still a .45 guy, but I have to admit to you guys… the P3AT isn’t riding backup any more.  Unless I’m going out after dark, it’s all I’m packing with me other than my knife.  

Now I just have to order one of those P-Sights for it.  Maybe.  It’s accurate enough without it.  

Collide:  This is some strange music.  I like it a lot.  I really can’t describe the music in genre.  I’m not sure what it is supposed to be, I can only tell you what it is to me.  It’s haunting and sensual… last night my sweetheart and I had some incredible sex to this music.  I’ve got all the downloads I can find for this group, but I am thinking I might have to buy the CDs.  Okay, there is no “might” about it.  I’m getting them next time I have money to spend on music CDs.

Dan Rather is such a git.  “We were deceived.”  Geesh, Dan, ya think?  Or is it that you were just busted for trying to deceive the rest of us?  There is a side to this story that 60 Minutes didn’t mention.  The fact that had the Blogosphere not thrashed every shred of his credibility over these lies, Dan Rather would still be standing behind his story, these documents would be legitimized by a lack of accountability, and CBS would be knowingly and willfully damaging the reputation of a sitting American President. 

Question for you, Mr. Rather.  How many of us do you think are still going to believe you after this and after you stretched this bullshit out for as long as possible before admitting you were caught in a Check Mate?  How can anyone trust your “news” ever again?  I’m not asking for myself… I never “trusted” your reporting.  Ever.  I’m asking for those out there who are stunned and shocked over this snafu… those that had believed this.

The scary thing about this are all the people out there who still believe these docs were legit and are thinking that it’s some Conservative Conspiracy that forced some asshole who hates the President to create the forgery and send it up the chain through the DNC’s machine and to CBS.  Funny how these newly discovered documents meshed so closely with everything that the DNC was having all its minions regurgitate.  

MSNBC is pondering where Kerry went wrong. I submit that it was here, if not earlier.

Sep 19th, Sunday, 2004: 1400hrs:  This morning I was working on a paper for school, listening to Joe Satriani, looking at the web and doing the normal computer using stuff, right?  Well, the computer kinda bogged down a little like it’s always done when I have a dozen windows open.  Then I remember that the warranty on this Dell has expired.  I’m free to mess with it and add stuff to it without fear or danger of voiding it should I have needed it.  So I went to my old PC with the DOA MoBo and pulled the RAM out of it.  Perfect match.  Now this Dell machine is running 1.25 Gigs of sweet DDR RAM and it there is no more bogging.  This unit had 512 which one would think is pretty good.  But when you using Microsoft applications like Word, Outlook, FrontPage, Media Player… Those things really suck up your memory.  XP recommends at least 256 megs… Feh.  512 is the minimum.   There was a real bottleneck in memory with only 512.  I’m not doing anything drastically memory hungry over here, but there is a solid improvement in everything now.   I should have done this as soon as I got the machine, but I didn’t want to mess with the warranty.   I might throw in the Nvidia GeForce Ti 4600 now.  This Dell is running an FX 5200 and it’s a pretty good card, but it doesn’t quite do as well on the games as the Ti card did… or maybe that was a RAM issue.  I’m not sure yet.  I’ll have to run my Mad Onion SE2001 benchmarks and see. 

Aarrgh.  This paper.  I’m supposed to write a paper about a person.  Any person.  My choice.  Out of all the people in the world that I can write about… I have to chose just one.  Knee-jerk reaction is to pick Kerry.  But that might not be Grade-Safe if you know what I mean.  So I think I’m going to just do an average chum.  I don’t know.  There is a kid I know out here that is a gay Mormon and hiding it from everyone.  He’s pretty conflicted about it too.  That might be an interesting paper.  Might go over very well in the class.  Hmmm.  Then I have to finish reading “The Two Lives of Charlemagne”, 2 chapters in each text book and 3 in one of them.  Sheesh… and I’m sitting here blogging.  I’ve found my chosen study hall location.  With 5 kids, it aint here, that’s for damn sure.  The Dinosaur Brew Haus in town.   Small pub with big tables, good fries, Cold Ones, and 2 girls work there from one of my classes.  So it works out to be a good place for brain storming.  At least it is for me.  

Early Morning, 0100hrs: Macaulay Culkin turns into Steve Buscemi. The Smoking Gun is there.  This is what you call a dumbass.   This is also an illustration why it’s not a good idea to let your kids do show business.  This type of story is all too common with child actors.  The fame and the money rips away a child’s normal upbringing and development… Sure, they have all that you could ever want to give them when it comes to material possessions… but at a much greater cost.  Give this kid a few more years and he can aspire to become this. 

Bush fires back about the documents from Kinko’s.  It’s about time too.  Notice is isn’t stooping to try answering to false charges… but he is pointing a finger at the fake docs themselves.  This is a good movie.  Just because he is the President, that doesn’t mean he can’t call a spade a spade.

I get a big kick out of these Swiftboat Veterans.  These guys have the balls today that they had 30 years ago during the war.  Outstanding!  The more they piss people off, the more their message gets out.

Castor Troy is over here smirking about this one.  Face-Off.

Now this is something that bugs me.  Police Chiefs don’t like civilians with guns… You Horde Cops, don’t take offense at that… it’s just the predominant opinion of that group.  Same with the Fraternal Order people.  So when someone makes an almost viable tool for self defense, these same people freak out about it.  Civilians can buy a civilian version of this weapon device, but it is watered down a great deal.  The LEO version of the X-26 uses small cartridges to shoot the prongs out so they hit the target, penetrate to the skin and into the skin, don’t fall out and pretty much make the system work as advertised.  The Civilian Cake version, the X-26^C uses CO2 like a BB gun.  It has less range and the prongs are less likely to penetrate to the skin and they are more likely to fall out.  You need two prongs in the target to give the target the shock.  If one prong falls out – no shock.  If one prong misses – no shock.  If one prong doesn’t penetrate to the skin – no shock.  And no shock means you have one pissed off adversary that is fully capable and highly motivated to eat your lunch. 

I submit that the Civilian version of this device is a tactical liability and should NOT be used by anyone for self defense.  No one.  A firearm is much more reliable, longer range, more effective, and if luck is with us all – you actually remove the goblin from the population so we don’t have to pay for feeding and training the criminal so he can come back and try his hand at crime again.  And my hell, these things are almost a grand!  You can buy a good gun for less than ½ that!   

Take this test.  I got a 96.  Whoo-hoo!  Okay, I took it the first time and got a 92 but some of these question can have more than one answer.

Detailing your engine:  I ran a used car lot while I was going to college the first time.  The trick then was cheap labor and pressure washer.  I had to do it once myself because the kid was late and I had to roll the car out.  He was so fired.  Pressure Washer... couple cans of engine degreaser... A cart full of shop towells... spray bottles full of Simple Green and Formula 2000.... and a lot more patience than I had at the time.

Then I learned a secret.   I’ll share it with you.  A pocket full of quarters.  Seriously.  I’m talking SUPER WASH.  Get the engine hot by driving around for a few miles.  Go to the Super Wash and hit the engine bay with the degreaser until you run out of time.  Let it sit 10 minutes.  Rinse with high pressure and then degreaser again till you run out of time.  Let sit 10 minutes.  Repeat one more time and that should do it.  Everything should be clean.  If not, repeat as necessary.  Once it’s all clean, soak a rag with Formula 2000 or your favorite shine and wipe down everything that's black.  That's about it.  Okay, kinda.  You will still have some areas that just wont come clean like that.  For those areas you have to scrape and scrub.  Elbow grease.  But if you stay on keeping the engine clean, then the Super Wash method works perfectly every time.

I had some fun with the Bronco today… I had to get it.  The Edelbrock Pro-Flow 1000.  I'm not going to say any bullshit like I got 25 more horses or anything like that... because I don't know. Like I said before, I liked the unit for it's small size, access to the carb body without removing the old large unit that was broken and had the intake neck flopping around banging into crap. So anything else not withstanding - I'm calling it a good change right there.  But after driving it... it gets better. 

The difference is not just noticeable, but obvious and almost drastic. It feels like I have a lot more low end, a lot more torque. This unit flows a hellofalotof more air than the old unit and paper filter did.  Either that or the old unit wasn't flowing hardly anything. My Bronco feels downright SPRY.  I was able to dance up steep portion of the trail that is normally... how should I put it? Laborious.  I'm not frosting this... I'm not BSing... because I actually like to break the news to people that some hyped up product engineered by the marketing department is actually crap. I wasn't expecting any performance gains out of this unit. But I got them. Good grief - do I got them. 

My old unit's air filter was 4 months old... and it still looks pretty clean. Fram. Evidently Fram paper air filters do not pass enough air.  I don't know if this is a testament to the new air cleaner, or an indictment of the old one using a Fram standard air filter. Take it for what it is.

The thing looks out of place under the hood. Kinda goofy if you ask me. But it works.  I'm just tickled.  There was a good idea given to me… use a round pan style air cleaner and use a diesel filter in it.  Well, the local shop didn’t have one.  They had a generic 14 inch that was actually more than this unit was, and they had no diesel filters that would have fit it.  For the same price there was a tight little 10 inch round unit… it looked pretty cool.  But they didn’t have any actual filters for it save the one that came with the unit.  One is cool, but what about down the road?  This Edelbrock unit… there were replacement filters on hand if needed, but it’s reusable so that’s not so much of a problem.  That and I can use filter foam from the hardware store for a de-humidifier and cut it to shape and use that.  So I’m good to go there.    If I have problems with this unit – such as I decide I want to so some mudding and this unit is not good for mud – then I’ll do something else… try to find the diesel option.  But for now, I’m happy with this unit.  Bonus… this will work with the Holly Avenger Offroad carb when I eventually get that.

Sep 18th, Saturday, 2004: 1000hrs: I just placed an order with Amazon.com yesterday and noticed I saved a couple bucks on an “A9 Discount”.  Huh?  What’s this?  There was a link on it so I clicked on that to get an explanation about it.  Check this out: 

“Ogre, since you've been using A9.com recently, virtually everything at Amazon.com is automatically an additional ^π/₂% (1.57%) off for you. Collecting this discount is zero effort on your part. It will be applied automatically at checkout (it will happen whether you use the shopping cart or our 1-Click Shopping®). You don't need to do anything to get this discount except keep using A9.com as your regular search engine.

We don't advertise this additional discount that we give in exchange for using A9.com, so if you want your friends to know about it, please tell them. It is probably the only way they'll find out. All they have to do is use A9.com as their regular search engine. They should make sure they are signed in to A9.com (it should be recognizing them by name) so that we can be certain they get credit for their visit.

While the ^π/₂% discount is a good additional reason to use A9.com it isn't the best reason. A9.com licenses its web search results from the industry leader Google, and then supplements those results with Amazon's Search Inside the Book™ results. The coolest feature is that A9.com keeps track of your search history for you on the server side. To see how this works, do some A9 searches from your computer at work and then sign in to A9.com from your computer at home.

How can we afford this additional ^π/₂% discount?

Sponsored links revenue -from the small text-based ads on A9.com and Amazon.com search results pages -will help offset costs we incur through the Rewards promotion. With our automatic ^π/₂% discount, we are effectively sharing with you some of the money we collect from sponsored links, i.e. sharing the pi.

Please use A9.com and tell your friends.

Okay, that’s pretty cool.  Use A9, order from Amazon, get a nice little discount.  Factor in Amazon’s free shipping on orders over 25 bucks (can you spend less at Amazon.com?  I can’t!) and you pretty much have the best and cheapest source on the web for ordering stuff online.  Yeah, I know I bitched the other day about Amazon orders being slow to arrive, but that was my bad… that wasn’t Amazon exactly but the cats that sell used through Amazon.  So those orders didn’t come from Amazon.com.    With that free shipping… Man… that’s a sweet deal… because when you live out here in the middle of nowhere – this is a seriously cool.

I’ve only had one problem from Amazon.  One of the used book sellers there.  And I can’t even say that it was Amazon’s fault.   I search for a book, find it, and then order it used for half the price. But he doesn’t send me that book that I thought I was ordering.  His item says Paperback… the 6^th edition of the book is paperback.  His packing slip even says “paperback”.  He ships me the hardcover 5^th edition.  If I was not taking a class, I’d have thought this was great because this is a very nice copy.  But I am in a class and the Professor pitched a fit about it.  I kindly asked the seller if he could help me remedy this situation.  He/She/whoever the hell this person is has refused to take the book back or exchange it for the right one.  I’d be perfectly willing to pay the difference… I don’t care.  Nope.  This nugget is just not willing to do a damn thing.  Lesson learned – Amazon used book sellers can be just like Ebay sellers.  Now I know. 

Sep 17th, Friday, 2004: 1445hrs: Some things just piss me slam the hell off.  Like this.  I can be very reactionary sometimes, and I can respond with swift violence when injustice is witnessed.  This guy, I’d hand this guy a Category 4 Beat Down^tm if I was there and saw this happen. 

Liberals are just a heartwarming bunch of peaceful humanists, aren’t they?  Oh man... I hope Bush wins in a landslide and we clean Congress out.

EDIT:  Wait a second... There is some evidence that this might be a put-on.  Still, the question remains... who is this prick?  Is that this guy's own son?  I'd still smack him up.

There is question as the "Mad" in the title of this website.  Mad Ogre can mean different things.  It doesn't necessarily mean I am angry all the time. 

1130hrs:  Kel-Tec.  The P3AT came back.  I had returned it because I was finished with it for the purposes of the review.  Evidently they thought I returned it for service and worked some serious magic on it.  The paper in the box said “REPAIR WORK ORDER – Malfunction type: Jams.  Repair: Replaced slide and barrel assembly, test fired.”

I can tell you one thing for sure – they did more than just replace the slide.  The trigger is now about (I don’t have a trigger scale here to measure) 6 to 8 pounds and breaks crisp and clean. All the problems with the trigger I mentioned before… gone.  If this trigger was on a S&W revolver, you would be well pleased and the corners of your mouth would curl up into a smirk.  But this isn’t.  This is on a tiny little pocket auto.  So instead of a smirk you would be wearing a big Cheshire class grin.  

This is not the same gun I sent back… can’t be.  I had to double check the serial number to be sure it was the same gun.  Yup, it is.  If I was a Kel-Tec owner and this was my gun… I’d be doing a Snoopy Style Happy Dance.  The gun was delivered to them, according to Fed-Ex tracking, exactly 2 weeks from yesterday.  They blessed this little gun and sent it back over night in only 2 weeks.   That flat out impresses the hell out of me.  Last gun I sent back to the maker, Springfield, took a month and 4 days.  This kind of service, if this is what Kel-Tec customers get on a regular basis… this raises the bar.  Two thumbs up. 

Now, I really don’t want to sent this gun back yet I am obligated to do so.  This gun, is not mine and remains the property of Kel-Tec CNC.  Damn.  I’ll put this note on the Kel-Tec’s review on my web page.

Email about Jeep:  “Ogre, I saw the Rescue at last year’s Chicago Auto Show, it was cool but not something you'd want for other than professional use.  The one they had was without a top, so you got a really good sense of scale looking at it.  It was basically a wrangler scaled up to humvee+ size with a huge winch and lots of SAR type tools.  Cool looking but way too big to be used anywhere, on or off road.

I have a friend at Chrysler who has seen info on some of the models jeep and Chrysler are coming out with and they seem very cool.  Pass on the rescue and wait a few years.

I'm interested in the diesel KLR-650.  Enfield (indian) makes a diesel bike, I wonder if that’s available in the U.S.? Mike” 

Thanks for the email, Mike.  Scaled up to Humvee sized?  Is it bigger than a full sized Bronco?  Because my Bronk is flat out one huge Wrangler when I take the top off and I've not had any problems off roading with it.   In fact, I've used it to help Wrangler owners get unstuck in places I've crossed with no problems.  Size does matter and it is about how you use it.  The photos don't make this new Jeep look all that big... but if it's that big... I love it!  Big size might mean you are going have some problems going between trees and tight spots… but that’s not such a big problem.  If it’s not as big as an Army Deuce, then it’s not too big for its purpose.

About the KLR... The only outfit that I know that makes a diesel version in the US is F1 Engineering.  They make the diesel version specifically for the Military.  And they also give it a fuel tank that holds an extra 2 gallons.  Unfortunately due to Department of Transportation rules and regulations, they can not sell the bike to civilians or private corporations.  They can't even sell the motor.   If I could buy one of these - I'd already have it.  105 miles per gallon with about 8 gallons of fuel.   I could ride all the way to Richmond VA and get some of my Momma's cooking with only 3 stops for fuel.  Talk about a Cheap Ride! 

More about the Forged Documents:  A couple people have disagreed with me about my opinion about the charges in these forged documents being voided.  Let me put it this way – Have you heard of the phrase “Fruit of the Poisoned Tree”?  For example, if a cop was to just walk past your car and look in the window and see a bag of dope on the front seat… he can arrest you.  The dope was in plain view.  Anyone could see it.  Now if the cop, without your consent, just pops your trunk open and starts searching… well that’s an illegal search.  If he finds a bag of dope in there – he can’t use that as evidence against you… okay, well, he can and will arrest you for that but when it gets to court it is thrown out because that was an illegal search.  The evidence is the fruit of a poisoned tree and not valid.  Even if that really and truly is dope in the bag, it’s not allowed in court as evidence.  This is the same thing going on with these documents.  Allowing prosecution for having dope discovered during an illegal search like that is not kosher at all because it validates committing the illegal search.    In the case of these documents, there was not even the honest attempt at doing something good… this was a malicious act.  Some asshole fabricates a fake document using all the current charges against the President and tries to make it look like this was a memo typed 30 years ago by an Officer who is no longer alive… This forgery is absolutely disgusting.  Not only is it obviously a fake, but the date on the memo places it as supposedly having been written a year after Bush was out.  This memo is pretty much the same thing as that cop’s illegal search.  Any accusation put forth in the memo – no matter how valid the Liberals think it is – is fruit of the poisoned tree.

Can you understand that?  No?   One more example then. 

A thief holds up a 7-11 and steals all the money and a bunch of Scratch type lottery tickets.  The next day he scratches the tickets and finds one that wins him a hundred grand.   Can that thief go cash in that ticket and get the money?  Of course not!  This memo is the same thing.  

Category 4 Duct-Tape Warning:  Okay, you have to get ready for this one.  Get out your duct-tape because this one is going to make your head explode.   We’ll wait.  Are you ready?  Okay, Horde Officer Amy sent us a link to this news report right here.  

Amy says: "Muslims Only" day at Six Flags over New Jersey.  Sickening, no?  I'm trying to work up a little righteous anger in the blogosphere over this, in my own small way.  Not that religiously themed days are bad, but they were trying to set it up as an exclusively Muslim park day.  I suspect it got overlooked because of Rathergate.  I'd like everyone to simply deluge Six Flags with hate mail.  If I ruled, that's how I would have it, anyway.”

This is beyond my ability to process at the moment.  The number of things wrong with this is staggering.  I don’t know what Six Flags is trying to do with this, but it is in extremely poor taste. 

Do you still have your heads wrapped?  Here is another one, this one from Andy: 

“If you thought Micheal Moore's abortion of a movie was a cheap shot as an attempt to affect the November elections, wait until you hear what premiers October 1st.  I found the movie below as an active listing on the Hollywood Stock exchange website.  It's listed as a documentary, but how bloody objective do YOU think it'll be?

Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry

Genre: Documentary  Phase: Release

0 Release Date: 10/01/2004

Description: George Butler directs the documentary examining Senator John Kerry's Navy tour of duty, his involvement in the peace movement and his political career. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is loosely based on a novel by Douglas Brinkley and includes footage and photos taken by Butler during his 35-year friendship with the Senator. This film premieres at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival.”

THE LONG WAR?  HE WAS ONLY THERE FOR FOUR MONTHS!!!!  4 months! Arrghhh I HATE KERRY!

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