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I didn’t want to know what they were going to do… so I didn’t look it up. I didn’t want to know. Had I known, I wouldn't have let them do it. I would have told them "He got hit by a truck." Or something along those lines... or I would have taken him up to Flaming Gorge and set him free to run wild with wolves out there. Something. Anything. I don't know what... but I wouldn't have let this happen.

Could they have just snipped his tubes and tied them off? Oh, sure - but they didn’t. They took Ranger… my cool dog… and cut his balls off. Castrated him like a fucking SHEEP.

The poor thing is just laying at my feet… sleeping and alternately looking up at me with his eyes saying “You fucking bastard!”

I keep telling myself, it was for the best. Ranger... PLEASE, PLEASE, forgive me.

Nuclear Weapons. I agree Bruce, but they are for now, a necessary evil. Someday, Bruce. Someday.

Coal-Based Power. I agree. Unfortunately this means we switch over to Nuclear Power. But before we do this, we have to come up with a better solution for what we do with the nuclear waste, and get over the liberal agenda to stall all constructions of nuclear power stations.

The internal combustion engine. Sorry Bruce. This aint going to fly. Not yet… and not for a long time. When you can give me an alternate fuel powered vehicle that can match my Jeep on capacity and all the performance parameters… and the same range… then we will talk. Oh, and my Jeep and Subaru are paid for. But I’ll trade you straight across. Deal?

Incandescent light bulbs? Of all the problems in the world… light bulbs? Here is something that needs to be fixed first. I light bulb is 50 cents. A florescent is like 4 bucks. When the one becomes as cheap as the other, then the incandescent ones will go away.

Landmines. I want to agree with you, Bruce. I really do. They are an ugly tool of war, but they have a purpose that so far we still rely on. Area denial. Landmines are the easiest way of doing that. But I am with you. If you can come up with a better way, call the Pentagon.

Manned Space Flight. You know, I’d like to get rid of almost all space flights. The shuttle missions are bogus. Satellites can be launched cheaper with just a rocket booster. There is no reason for us to be in space. Come on. If God wanted us in Space, he would have put breathable air in Space. Okay, that’s a bit glib, but we are spending way too much for useless bullshit. I really don’t care what is on the dark side of the moon or what is under the ice on Europa. Sure, it’s interesting… but it’s useless information because we don’t have a way to capitalize on it. It could be populated by sexy nymphomaniac elvish aliens with baskets of gold, but it wouldn’t matter. We aint getting any of it.

Prisons. Sorry Bruce. Prisons are needed. They will always be needed. However what is also needed is a reconstruction of the entire legal system because more than ½ the people in there – shouldn’t be there. That and we also need a lot more executions.

Cosmetic implants. I disagree. I think there is a place of these. I think the problem with them are the fact that they are not biological. If they had living tissue that could be implanted, then that would be different. Give it time… implants will get better. This is a matter of personal choice if one wants them or not.

Lie Detectors. Interesting choice. I agree, but I would also take it a step further and include wiretapping and other mass surveillance technologies. Then again, I’d rather be living back in the 1950’s when we didn’t have all these social problems that have made these technologies attractive to those that have implemented them.

DVDs. WTF are you talking about? A DVD is a huge step forward from a VHS tape… but you are correct, they are a flawed technology and they need improvement. I would rather see DVD’s in a cassette form like a ZIP disk. As for the content on the disks… the maker’s do that for money reasons. I just wish greed wasn’t the prime motivation for providing content for those guys. But it is. That’s the prime thing that needs to die… Greed. Just be glad that these spam messages are commercial in nature and not political propaganda like it could easily be. *shudder*

The new Democrat war cry: THE RULE OF LAW. Somehow a name was leaked to the press, and now the Democrats are “outraged” and are crying about “the rule of law”. Okay, fare enough. But first, let’s have a call about “the rule of law” regarding a few other issues:

Where was the Democrat’s outrage and call for justice then? How convenient that the media ignored all these matters, and it wasn’t brought out to the lime light. When it was in the news, the Media was right there to Spin it faster than centrifuge. You know, I am so sick and tired of the Democrats putting the needs of the Party ahead of the needs of the Public or the actual rule of law. To them, The Law is a political tool instead of the rules that we all live by. If they can’t follow the law, they have no right to call for it. They think they are above the law… and during the Clinton’s administration, they were. They still think they are. They had better check themselves before they cast any stones.

Never mind the fact that this is a smoke and mirror issue with no substance. The chick was not even an "Operative". Such bullshit.

Sep 29th, Monday: 1400hrs: Another email talking about “blog-rolling”:

“Dear Mr. Mad Ogre: Do I call you Mad or Ogre? I have enjoyed your weblog a great deal. I found it off Google while searching for information on The Matrix. Has it occurred to you that you would get better publicity and notoriety if you joined a ‘blogroll’? - Andy”

Ogre is fine. Mad is just my emotion, not my name. Yes, it had occurred to me. No, thank you. Why would I? You just said you found me with Google, not some other blog. What more would I want?

Look, if someone links to me, and I find that I like their site, then I may link back to them. If I like some other site, and they haven’t linked to me… I may link to them anyways. MadOgre.com is about my opinions on things. I don’t care who is linking to who and who is quoting who. For example, I have a link to The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. I have it because that Misha cat is quite funny, and I like reading his stuff. Same thing with Kim du Toit. (who has excellent taste in both guns and women) I don’t expect them to link back to me. Blog-Rollers do for some reason.

Remember back when the internet had a lot of “Web-Rings”? Those were only moderately useful devices to share information about a subject or item of interest. Blog-Rolling is just a new way of doing web rings. If your into that, then fine… but don’t be angry if I decline. I would rather keep flying under the radar for the most part. Thanks for your concern for my well being. But if you want to help, then please just make a small donation into my PayPal “Buy Ogre a New Computer before his machine flatlines completely” account. I'm one of the oldest web-logs on the internet. I am also a low key web-log.

It wasn't until relatively recently that I even started using tables to give me this format... it was just like a note-pad scrawl. Check the archives... oh... and I was web-logging well before I started to even archive stuff. I used to just delete older content. Like all the stuff I had on Paintball and other such things. At the time, I didn't archive, so it's gone. But most of the old original stuff has remained. If you look around you will find a lot of stuff that was originally written in 1997. Lots of upstart blogs less than 2 months old with Web-Log-Roll lists a mile long... it lacks authenticity. I was Ogre, before Ogre was cool. MadOgre.com remains pure Ogre. Essence of Ogre. 100% Prime Grade A Ogre.

Yet more “What about the Glock 36?” emails. Guys, I only put up guns that I have first hand knowledge of. Meaning that I have fired it, and not just handled one at a gunshow. How can I suggest a gun that I have never fired? Look, the Glock 36 might be the Ex-fucking-Caliber of CCW guns, but unless I have actually fired one then I don’t really know that. Do I? And If I am recommending guns that I have never fired and have no first hand knowledge of… then my recommendations wouldn’t mean shit, would they?

1030hrs: Today is the day... Poor Ranger. He is going to the vet to get fixed today. He will stay over night and will be able to be picked tomorrow after 3:00PM. Poor thing. This is actually hard for me to do! I don't want to take him in! Well, I do, but not for this! I've noticed something on him I want to ask the Doggy Doc about, and then to just get him checked out. Unfortunately I have no choice in getting him fixed. This was a condition of the animal shelter's rules regarding animal adoption. Oh well. Maybe this will make Ranger a bit more calm. If it does, then it's a good think I guess. Still... I do not like the idea of legally required animal mutilation. This should be a choice, not a requirement. I think the Animal Control people are a little too full of themselves to mandate such a requirement.

As expected, the emails are already coming in about CCW guns that should have been on the list. But what really bugged was one who didn't like my division mark of 9MM. ".32ACP should be the dividing mark at the top end of your Backup Category..." Hmmm... Maybe so, but that wouldn't change anything on the Duty side, and only limit the Backup list, removing some fantastic CCW options for no better reason than arbitrary lines in the sand. The SIG P232 for example is an outstanding self defense gun, and one of the best ever made, but had I drawn the line at .32ACP, it wouldn't have been mentioned. (This is all discussed in yesterday's post if you are wondering where this is)

Let’s just call this “Yet Another Reason”: Woman calls 911 about a shooting. Cops arrive… 12 HOURS later. Let’s talk about all the things that are faster than that. My Pizza Deliver is faster than that. My Plumber is faster than that… virtually any call and come here business is faster than that. What can you do in 12 hours? Me? I could drive to Seattle in 12 hours. In 12 hours, I could fly to Richmond, kiss my Mom on the cheek and fly back home in 12 hours. In 12 hours, I could be ½ way around the freaking world. And these cops couldn’t roll 3 minutes to a freaking shooting call? Excuse me? Look, if they can’t get there in 3 minutes or less, they are pretty much nothing more than the clean up crew. Janitors with badges. Oh, but let’s not forget something extremely important. The police is actually under no obligation to actually protect you. Some departments my have “To protect and serve” as a motto or on the patrol cars or something… as noble cause as that is, it’s a fallacy. Individuals joining the ranks of the Law Enforcement armada may go into it with a feeling of such higher callings… but it’s short lived and after a while, they are just as jaded as most. Sure, there are exceptions, but I only know a few. I’m not bashing law enforcement, I’m just making a point… Self Defense is a Self Requirement. It’s not something that you can expect others to do for you, not unless you are some elected official on Capital Hill.

Sep 28th, Sunday: 2200HRS: I almost didn't get anything posted today. It was a bitch getting my machine to boot up today. Everything here is off my iPaq, so forgive me any errors you find. I am almost ready to sell my iPaq, as much as I like it, so I can buy a used MAC G4 off Ebay. If anyone has a used G4 that would like to trade for a 3955, then I'm your guy. Let me know. Seriously.

Could some please explain to me the necessity of Winchester's new marketing ploy? The new short rounds... not just the new WSM (Winchester Short Magnum) calibers... but the even newer and shorter WSSM (Winchester Super Short Magnum) rounds.

Back in the day, these kinda rounds became popular with bench rest shooters because they had an edge in accuracy. In a hunting rifle that is fired off-hand or from

A hasty braced position, you are not going to notice any differences in accuracy. Sorry, but no, your not. If you have the magnum equivalent of these rounds already, I don't see any reason to go out and buy a new rifle that's otherwise identical to what you already have. Just because these new rounds are different shaped, doesn't make them necessarily better.

I need to point out one disadvantage to these short-fatties... You can fit fewer of them in your magazines. Fewer shots on tap isn't a worthy trade-off considering the very slight-if any advantage you might get from these rounds.

Of course, I may be wrong and the karma smiled on Winchester so the resulting alchemy is greater than the sum of parts... But I doubt it.

I've had these thoughts about the WSSM rounds since I first heard of them. I almost felt like "maybe I'm wrong" or "maybe I shouldn't say anything". Then I read Jeff Cooper's take on these rounds and I felt my opinion justified and validated.

I have a small confession. You long time Readers remember me saying how much I said I disliked the Hummer H2 truck? Well, how do I say this? I like the H2's now. The wheelbase, the whole thing...it's all good. Built from off the shelf GM parts? Even better. It grew on me... I'd take one. No, really... I'm serious. Check out the H2's angle of attack... That's nice. Just wish it corresponding ground clearance... But hey. It's good enough for 99% of the stuff out there.

I'd rather have an H2 than a regular Hummer for most of the time. A regular GI Hummer isn't really any advantage until you are out deep in the bush, and traversing some really wicked terrain. I think those traits are secondary considering the H2's advantages on road and the fact it can do 99% of what the Hummer H1 can do. I'd rather be comfy on that (fast) cruise to Denver than to be able to scale a cliff that I could drive around if the going gets too tough. Just my opinion.

Top 10 CCW picks:

There are really two classes of CCW choices. I'm calling them Duty and Backup. The relative size of gun isn't the dividing line, but the caliber. Duty level guns are chambered for duty level calibers; 9MM being the marker. Anything smaller than 9MM is a backup caliber. You will see as we continue that some guns in the Duty category are smaller than those in the Backup category... Try to play along with the caliber division, okay? Now, the other thing you will note, is that I am not putting them in any order. I’m giving you the nominations as I see them, with explanations to follow. You can put them in your own order as you see fit.

The nominations for CCW Duty;

Taurus Millennium series.

Springfield XD Sub-Compact.

Glock 26/27.

SIG P-239.

Steyr’s “S” model.

CZ-75D PCR (With the P-01 as alternate).

Taurus CIA (or any other small snub .357).

Kahr M9/M40.

Beretta Cougar 8000, 8040, or 8045.

HK USP Compact

The nominations for CCW Backup;

North American Arms Guardian

SIG 232

Beretta 84/85 Cheetah

Beretta Tomcat

NAA Mini-Revolver .22 Magnum

CZ-83

Kel-Tec P3AT

Walther PPK

Makarov

J frame sized .38 Revolver (any)

Now, please don’t be offended if your favorite picks are not on the list. There are so many good solid choices out there that it makes any such effort to pick the best ones most difficult. This top 10 for the Duty category could easily be the “Top 40”.

Most of these choices should not be any surprise to MadOgre.com regulars. I’ve mentioned most of them in the past. Some selections here are unique.. such as the Kahr and Kel-Tec nominations that I normally don’t endorse or even admit to liking… Really I don’t even like the Kel-Tecs, but the new P3AT model is a great example of the breed and it’s reported to be remarkably good for the Kel-Tec line. The P-11 Kel-Tec, in 9MM is an iffy proposition at best, and I wouldn’t carry it if my life depended in it.

The rest of the choices here above… I would. I would and I wouldn’t really worry about it. All are proven worthy.

The Steyr S model, for example… Neat little gun. I really like it… Just wish it fit my hand better. It’s the grip angle that doesn’t agree with me. If I take a normal grip and bring it up to sight plane – the barrel is pointing up above the target, so I have to bend the wrist to bring it down onto the target. In my opinion this ruins the gun for defensive work. For a defensive gun, you need to be able to bring the gun up and it be on target. Because when it comes to crunch time, you might not have even that very slight fraction of a second it takes to make a sight picture.

Now I’ll admit that I was splitting hairs with the revolvers. I consider the small .357 Magnum revolvers to be the duty options, and the put the .38 revolvers in the backup… Your results might vary… .32H&R Magnum is becoming very popular in some circles as an ideal backup gun, or a gun for a female shooter, that could very well be your Backup choice, with the .38 in the Duty and that would be just fine.

The CZ P-01 is an interesting small automatic, but to be honest I have never seen one, but if its as good as the other CZ-75 based guns – then it would be a smashing success, and probably bump some other choice off the list to make room for it.

The Taurus Millennium series is back in good graces now that Taurus has quietly and reliably fixed the issues that these guns initially suffered. I’m still waiting for the Titanium slide version of the .45, but I don’t think its coming.

The Cougar is an option you can take in whatever caliber you like, they are all good… take your pick. 9mm, .40 or .45... Where is the .357SIG version?

The NAA Mini Revolver is an incredible little chunk of CNC milled hardware. It is so small, that I used one as a key chain fob for over 2 years. (I really don’t recommend doing that, but hey, it’s that small) Shooting wise, well, 4 shots of .22 Magnum to an aggressor’s belly makes the aggressor much less aggressive. The proper why to do that is to shove it into the middle of badguy’s guy at an upward angle… Hitting the liver is good, but if you can hit the heart, even better. Ideally, if the tactical situation allows it, you screw the barrel into your attacker’s eye socket before you touch it off. This is one way to insure a higher probability of a one shot stop. An Ear would do well too, but there is a lot more bone mass to break through that way, where an eye socket has a then layer of bone just behind the ocular orb.

The other NAA gun on the list is the Guardian. Great gun, extremely well made... and available in 3 calibers. .32, .32NAA, and .380. My personal choice would be the .32NAA or the .380. I really like the .32NAA for its improved reliability and high muzzle velocity. I reviewed a pre-production example of it and found it to be amazingly effective.

The Mak is an interesting and excellent option. It could very well go on the Duty side of the list. It’s round is similar to a .380, but much more potent… however the rule was 9MM as the marking point, so I had to stick with it. The Mak has served as the side arm of the Iron Curtain for pretty much since there was such thing as an Iron Curtain. You can get a Mak for very little jingle, and the ammo to go with it. If you like the Mak, but want something more upscale, refined, and in .380, then the CZ-83 is for you. It is an improvement over the Mak in many ways. Nice gun, good choice, and they shoot very well.

I feel bad about not putting the HK P-7 in here, as it’s a great CCW gun, but like I said, there are so many solid options. Even worse of me is to not mention any of the fantastic sub-compact 1911 options that are popping up all over the place… The Ultra Compacts from Springfield, Kimber, Para… you gotta be kidding me! They are all exceptional choices, but for the sake of making an interesting list… I excluded them. Otherwise this list would have been dominated by them. Para’s LDA system makes for a unbelievably good CCW option and might be the #1 if I was to put them in order. Another item on the list that could get replaced is the HK USP Compact. As good as they are, in whatever caliber you like, they are trumped by what is just around the corner, the P2000 and the P2000K. If they ever arrive.

One little pistol failed to make it on the list, and I’ll use it as an example of a breed of pistols that are not mentioned. Downsizer has a little gun called the “Downsizer”. (www.downsizer.com) It’s a modern version of the old Derringer concept. Super small, in full caliber, but with only 1 or 2 shots. An American President was killed by a Derringer (A cap and ball variety) and some of the most notorious outlaws of the Old West fame have used Derringers as well. These guns do have a place. They could be the ace up your sleeve when the chips fall… But I would only put them in a Back-Backup category due to the very limited capacity. They are worth mentioning if you are looking for the smallest of small guns for very deep concealment. Because sometimes even a very small weapon is too big.

Also worth mentioning is the value of a good defensive folding knife. Knives for close in work have been extremely effective since Man Kind figured out how to use the Thumb. If a gun is not an option, maybe a knife is. Unless you are going on a commercial airline… then you have ZERO options. I’d rather fly from a small unsecured commuter runway in a crop-duster than fly a commercial aircraft again. Seriously. Or better yet, I’d rather just drive myself. Don’t tell me all that shit about safety records and all that. It’s about the principle of the thing. I love flying, that’s not the problem… but the way passengers are being treated now days… fuck’m.

Where was I? Oh yeah… guns. No matter what gun you choose, it does you no good if you don’t have it on your person. This is why I made these two lists. (that and a lot of people asking me to) Find a gun that you can have on you ALL THE TIME. Don’t give me that “I carry a 1911 Government Model all the time” bravado if you don’t really carry it all the time. If you do – fine. But really, smaller guns are a lot easier to carry all the time than bigger ones. If a SIG P-239 is too big to carry all the time, get something smaller… just as long as you have one of them on you. Even at home. If your on the couch watching Mash reruns and some thug knocks your door in… your Seecamp .32 in your bedroom doesn’t do you a damn bit of good, does it?

Sep 27th, Saturday: 2200HRS: Just watched a really good flick called “Confidence”. This was a pretty damn cerebral con artist flick, and really enjoyable. You liked the characters, the dialog was pretty good and the story unfolded so well with a really slick plot twist that just nails this one to a 5 star rating. If you like flicks about criminals picking on criminals, then this one is for you.

I saw something that you don’t really see every day. Three bright yellow Lamborghinis. One was a Countach, one a Diablo, and one an older Miura. They rolled past doing exactly the speed limit, with 2 cop cars trailing at a distance… just waiting for them to go one over. Each car had a little Italian flag on the side that I observed, just behind the front wheels.

I don’t know anything about these cats, but I just hope they made it out of town without getting pulled over. You gotta give the Italians credit for style. Those cars commanded everyone’s attention… with the ultra wide, low profile stance and authoritative rumble from what? 36 cylinders? Is it 28 or 36? I’m not sure about the Miura, is that a V-12 or a V-8? I think it’s a 12. If you have never seen one, you might have and thought it was a Ford GT-40… if you have ever seen one of those… Never mind. Bad to the bone whatever it is. If anyone knows why 3 Italian super cars would be cruising through BFE, Utah… I’d like to hear the story!

Email came in asking about my Top 10 CCW choices. Hmmm. I’ve not made a list of those, but I do have a top 10 handgun list. Looking at that, I can see they are not all CCW options are they? I’ll thing it over. I have 8 in mind, but to put them in proper order and nominate 2 others… Let me think about that for a bit, I’ll get back to you tomorrow.

1000hrs: I love choppers. I have always loved choppers. But no one makes the chopper than I want. I want a stretched frame chopper with low profile drag style handle bars... like you see in a lot of well done choppers... but with the engine of a Honda VTX 1800. A little more detail... I want a soft tail... I want a 5 gallon tank... If you build it, I'll ride it. From coast to coast... stopping only for necessities and more fuel and the occasional nap. This is the bike of my dreams.

Okay, I also want another Honda-hybrid-chopper... but with a 2.5 or 3 gallon tank, the engine out of a Honda VFR 750 that is over-bored and supercharged. With this one, not so much of a rake on the front end, and again with the drag style handle bars. I'm talking a smaller chopper capable of attacking most bullet-bikes. That's what I want for around town. Why the VFR engine? Because it is hands down one of the absolute best cycle engines ever engineered. Smooth power, high revs, lots of torque, good balance, and very little wrench time required. 4 cylinders in a V configuration, it even looks good.

These two bikes… If I was a rich bastard, I’d give Jesse James of West Coast Choppers 250,000 to build these bikes for me. West Coast is hugely popular now thanks to the Discovery Channel, but If you check out MadOgre.com’s history, you will find I was singing West Coast praise long before Discovery’s shows. There is something about the way he shapes his bikes that just speak to me… they are just right. For me at least. You might prefer other styles, but Choppers have an artistic quality that speak to people differently… and West Coasts speaks to be the most. Know what I mean? Ogre’s dreams here… we all have them.

Harleys are fine if you are a fan of the Village People. But I want to ride not wrench. And don't give me that line about new Harley’s being more reliable... Feh! Look at the tag on the rear view mirror of a new V-Rod. You have to check the oil every time you stop for gas. If it loses any oil - the engine could be damaged! And that little radiator? On a Harley? Just something else to go wrong… and eventually it will… because it’s a Harley. There is only 1 Harley that I would ever consider, and that’s the 882. I like the looks of that one, even if it’s not the typical form of bike that I like. No, no, I would not be wearing leather chaps with it… but I do like the form of the 882. I'm not sure why.

Sep 26th, Friday: 1600hrs: Email from Reader: “M.O., I agree that Luther had massive nuts. To defy the greatest power in Europe at that time meant one thing. Well Done or Extra Crispy! Maybe even a little tenderizing before hand. But imagine just how far in life he would have gone if he picked up a sword instead of the pen? Did he really change that much? We have a new offshoot of Christianity called "Protestants" which means protesters! Did we get ride of the corruption and greed any? Nope. About all that has changed is that Priests can have wife's, which must make little boys everywhere happy. But I'll be shucking out my 8 bucks to see it anyway. AMF John” John, no need to be so formal… Ogre is fine. Or just OG for short. Corruption and greed? Let’s see. Luther opens the doors for Protestants, Puritans, and the Church of England. Church of England being corrupt? A church founded for the sole reason to let Henry 8 get a divorce? Naw. But let’s not go there. That’s a whole other debate. Can of Worms that I am not opening at this time. Maybe later. Still, we all owe Luther a great deal. If it were not for him, we would all be Catholics if we liked it or not.

I’m going to see this flick (Luther) in the theatre when it gets here. There is another movie in the theatre now that I want to see, “Book of Mormon”. I read the book, (me being Mormon it’s kind of expected – unlike early Catholics and whatnot who were not allowed to read the Bible… yeah, I have read that too, but come on... the BOM is more fun to read, really it is) but I don’t know anything about the movie. Didn’t even know it was made until I saw it on the billboard. The movie has potential if it’s about what’s in the book. It’s as epic in scope as Lord of the Rings in terms of heroes and battles and all that. Another movie, of an unreligious flavor is looking so awesome to me… Kill Bill. Can’t wait for that one either! Once upon a time in Mexico… I’ll never be able to see that one. Salma and Mrs. Ogre do not get along.

Another email mentioned a Physics Major who believes that a longer barrel gives you greater accuracy. This is untrue. There are many factors that contribute to accuracy, but barrel length is not one of them.

Remember, class, what I said before… as long as the barrel is long enough to impart a stable spin on the bullet, it can be accurate. That length can be as short as 2 inches depending upon the caliber and the load; be it rifle or handgun. In fact, the longer barrels have even more problems than shorter ones. Let's review...

First thing is the bullet’s fit in the bore and how that bullet engages the rifling. You might note that the super accurate match loads in the old bullseye .38’s use a hollow based full wadcutter slug. The full wadcutter (meaning its flat) profile allows the bullet to cut a clean hole for scoring. The hollow base not only gives the bullet a more stable center of gravity for it’s flight – but it also allowed the base to open up and engage the rifling deeper. This is also what made civil war rifles more accurate… the use of these hollow based conical shaped slugs. There are documented shots of heroic accuracy that are still enviable today.

This brings us to another accuracy factor… the base of the bullet. Any deformation to the base of the bullet will adversely effect the bullet’s accuracy. As the bullet flies through the air, spinning for stability, even a slight deformation changes the air flow over the bullet. This acts like an airplanes aileron or rudder and can throw the bullet off. This is why sometimes we see weird things when firing tracers at night… like shots that fly off like a major leaguer’s curve ball, or a funky corkscrew pattern… because the base of the bullet is burning asymmetrically.

Another factor is the barrel’s harmonics. When you fire a shot, the barrel vibrates like a tuning fork. The longer the barrel, the more vibration propagates. This is why during the 70’s 80’s and even today, glass bedding became popular… and why pressure points were always popular with rifle makers… the fact that the barrel vibrates isn’t the problem, it’s the consistency of that vibration that makes the difference. As the bullet leave, the barrel’s vibration can kick the base of the bullet, causing an instability from the start. Consistency is one critical element all rifle makers strive for. From Manlicher style rifle stocks that have the wood flowing from the butt to the muzzle, to our modern “Free Floating” barrels that doesn’t let anything touch the barrel forward of the action… they are all ways to find consistency.

Then there is the muzzle’s crown. This is also critical. It does a couple things. Most basic of which is to protect the rifling, but also to help funnel the shot’s gasses like a nozzle on a water hose to provide a uniform escape route as to not push on the base of the bullet asymmetrically after the bullet leaves the barrel. (I’m going to get emails arguing this, but this is how the late great Gale McMillan explained it to me and if your credentials are not better than his, you can just shut the fuck up) This is why your accuracy can go to pot if you ding the muzzle’s crown… re-crowning is your only option to restore that accuracy if nothing else was effected.

A physics major that can explain how a 24 inch barrel is inherently more accurate than an 18 inch barrel is either a bullshit artist, ignorant of the science of Shootenology^TM, or a mad scientists that knows something we don’t know.

However, this being said, I would like to hear him explain why a Thompson Center Contender chambered and scoped for the same caliber, using loads from the same lot of ammo… all things being equal… can be just as accurate with barrels of different lengths. Ballistics is a vast and interesting subject… this is why so many devote so much to it. Fascinating stuff.

Any questions? Okay, your homework for the weekend is to go shooting... take two rifles or revolvers of different barrel lengths and see which one is more accurate. Then examine the guns and write a paper explaining why. If you want to use two automatics, you can, but they must be built by the same company to the same standards... like Springfield's basic Commander length auto and Longslide auto. Dismissed!

Took an exam today that really has me flustered. I was actually angry. One of my classes has a Professor who is actually a doctor in subject. Should be an awesome teacher, right? Wrong. So very wrong. She is several chapters behind in her lectures so she says to just read ahead and test off the book. WTF? If all I have to do is to read the book, then what the fuck do I need to attend the lectures for? Why am I even taking the damn class if all I have to do is read the book? Why spend all this fucking money and effort on the class at all, if all I have to do is order the book off Amazon.com (for ½ the price it demanded at the book store) and read it at home at my leisure while sipping lemonade! (not that I actually drink lemonade – that was just figurative) Then the questions themselves are all multiple choice with ½ of them either not in the book or with multiple correct possibilities! I HATE TESTS LIKE THAT! You now know one of the reasons why Mad Ogre is a Mad Ogre. I feel totally disenfranchised with this instructor… and I am not the only one in the class that has muttered the same frustrations. More like ½ of us. I don’t know about the other ½ because I have not talked to them. Yet. I’m chilling out now… I have a couple papers to write, but that is no big deal because as you can all see, I have no problem with coming up with shit to say.

Speaking of shit to say… What about the political situation? I got ten bucks that says Arnold wins California, and another ten that says General Clark becomes the Sacrificial Lamb to open the door for an easy Hillary win in the Democratic Convention for the 2008 election. Hold this thought and lets see how it all plays out.

The AWB. I’m not having any good vibes on this now. While the Democrats are the Minority across the board, the majority of the Republicans are complete Limp Dicks and wont be able to stand up for letting the AWB sunset. Indeed they are a congress full of pussies… they couldn’t even get Estrada approved and that man was pure gold. Something as inflammatory as the AWB? Watch them roll over and die like a bunch of overheated, cowardly, Frenchmen. Or more aptly, like a bunch of UN bureaucrats in Iraq. “Oh no! We have Democrat Opposition! Oh No! We better surrender now because we can’t get our fucking act together or grow any dicks because we are all too busy choking on Tom Daschle’s!”

More and more people are becoming intolerant of the political parties out there. There is not ONE of them that I can get behind. Not one. The political boundaries can no longer be divided into left or right, because we have no leadership from either side wanting to push forward. All they want is to defeat the other side like a bunch of damned Medieval Shogun fucking Samurai Warlords. No one cares about any issues anymore… issues are not the goal, but the weapon now. I for one have had it with the lot of them. The only candidate on any level that I could vote for right now is Arnold… and only because he is at least entertaining even if he is an elitist prick. And could someone please give his wife a bloody sandwich, please? I am so pissed off about the political world, that I am getting a headache. I’m not sure if it’s the politics or that shitty exam I had to take.

There is an upside to all this… I am doing a project for my psychology exam that involves guns. I have some volunteers lined up from the local State Police and Sheriff’s department to do the shooting for me while I play Head-Shrink. The variable is music played and the state of calm or anxiety that it places on the shooters before they enter the stage of fire. I’m looking for both speed and precision of fire. My theory is based on the “Smooth is Fast” principle and that the Officers who chill to Vivaldi played on strings and woodwinds will give a better performance than those who got worked up listening to Guns & Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle”. This is just a theory that those listening to the classical music will be more calm, more precise, better focus on the basic shooting fundamentals… while the rock and rollers get the shots off quicker, do more missing, and thus perform with less precision than the classically prepped shooters. So when hitting the targets, the classical shooters knock all the pins down first. The basis of this is that many shooters do great, but choke during competition because of the stresses and pressures of the competition and if music can help. Control group shoots with no music before hand. Anyways, so this is my theory and if anything will be fun to do while making it into a good grade. Psychology is more than just lab rats in mazes. I will of course post the findings and whatnot for the edification of all.

Sep 25th, Thursday: 1500hrs: Email came in about AR-15 rifles… or more specifically about AR-15 Owners. “Hey Ogre, check this thread out. Now, apparently you can't use the phrases "main battle rifle" and "assault rifle" to differentiate between different classes of military arms. The AR-15 guys get all offended if you imply their .223s aren't main battle rifles and fire an intermediate cartridge.

Geeze. You can't even talk about rifles without them getting their manhood stepped on. It's like, no matter what you're discussing, it's always "The AR is just as good, and powerful, and lighter, and you carry more ammo, and...and...and...YOU'RE A CALIBER SNOB!" Crimeny.”

Without reading the thread, I can imagine exactly how it went down. Same way it’s gone down for the last 6 years of firearm discussions on web forums. But here we see an example of the new trend... new in this thread and others like it, is the attempt to redefine what a battle rifle is, and what it fires. Let me clarify the terminology for the new readers. When intermediate cartridge firing assault rifles came out during WWII, these were new things. All the soldiers already had Battle Rifles in the forms of the Springfield 1903 and the M1 Garand, and the Germans had it in the form of the Mauser. We also had Submachine guns, like for example the Thompson. There was a big difference there. The sub-guns (another name for the Sub-Machinegun) fired pistol ammo, like the Thompson’s use of .45ACP the same as the GI Issued 1911 pistol, from 30 round stick mags. The M-1 Garand fired a full caliber rifle cartridge, the .30-06 from 8 round blocks. One was good for close quarter fighting and the other for traditional battle field long range work. The Germans cut it down the middle by creating a rifle that could be used well in both situations because of it’s size and weight and high capacity load of intermediate sized cartridges. It was called an assault rifle.

The M-16 is, at best, an assault rifle. No matter what is said about it, or my whom, it’s still an assault rifle by definition. Making the assault rifle longer and heavier still does nothing to change the fact that it still fires the same intermediate cartridge. No matter how fat the barrel is, it’s still a weak sister to a real battle rifle cartridge. That’s not a matter of opinion; that is the facts of the physics. The whining, sniveling, and moaning of the Napoleon Crowd can do nothing to change these facts. Caliber snob? Please... Face it guys - Size Matters. Sure, other things all play together for the final resolution... shot placement, foreplay, yeah yeah yeah... but it's big bullets and big dicks that bring home the Prom Queens.

To the amateur historians and AR advocates, let me remind you, WWII was won 8 rounds at a time. We didn't even have an assault rifle unless you want to call the M-1 Carbine one. And that's fine if you do, especially the 3rd variant. The M-1 Carbine is a nifty weapon. But what I don't understand about it is this: .357 Magnum is worshiped for it's authoritative stopping power by handgunners everywhere. The M-1 Carbine hits harder than the .357 Magnum. Yet the M-1 Carbine is derided as being less effective in combat by the soldiers who used them. Doesn't matter really. The M-1 Carbine is a unique piece of history that you can still own... and a very worthy one at that.

I’ll admit that an AR-15, when functioning, is a fun rifle to shoot. But it’s not battle rifle, just like the US Army’s new Stryker fighting vehicle is not a Tank. But hey, if it makes them feel better about themselves, let them call it whatever they want. They could call it a Garden Weasel or Thor’s Hammer all they want. Just as long as it shuts them up.

Speaking of the AR-15… I see that Bushmaster is now making the Carbon-15 rifle. This is an all plastic rendition of the AR-15 that was plagued with little annoying issues with reliability and accuracy… but it was still a cool little rifle. Very light weight and quick handling, the only drawback was it’s use of the AR-15 system. Had this been designed around the AK or FAL system, then it would really have been something special. For a Ranger or Cop – the light weight might be an advantage. The caliber and the lack of reliability or consistent accuracy are major drawbacks, but usually they always fired the first round with no problems. Now that Bushmaster is making them… wait a second… are they really making them now or just parts of them and tagging the Bushmaster’s name onto them? I don’t know. I’m curious to know if the bugs are all worked out and if you can get it in a different caliber. By bugs I mean the following: Star shaped bolt, plunger ejector, and direct gas operation.

Computers. My PC has about had it, and I with it. I need a new computer badly. I have got to have one for school. This one is dying on me. It took 30 attempts before it booted this morning. It’s getting harder and harder to get it to work. The problem is that I am a full time student and have no job. I am tempted to seek out a student loan for a new one. If I don’t have one, I am royally hosed and wont even be able to finish the classes that I am taking. On top of that, my Subaru is giving me fits again. This morning it wouldn’t even shift out of 1^st gear. So I need a new computer and a new car. If I had my choice: A PowerMac G5 with a Gig of RAM and a Ford F-150 extended cab, short bed, 4X4. Can I put those on a student loan? No? Damn. I’m not even healthy enough to sell my blood. Double damn. I wonder if a sperm bank would buy Ogre sperm. Hmmm. I guess I’ll have to turn to a life of crime.

0830hrs: Just caught a news report on a TV showing Democrat Candidate hopeful Clark. I laughed my ass off. He had more people behind him with hand painted signs promoting Clark, than there were people in front of him listening to his bullshit speech. I call it bullshit because he was typical of the left... All he could say was Bush bashing rhetoric and condemnation with no answers or ideas of his own. Not only that, but he refused to answer any questions from the press. Funny that. Could it be that 4 Star General Clark is just an Ass-Muppet for the Democrats? I think so.

"Luther" A new movie coming out about Martin Luther. Should be interesting. The guy had to have some massive nuts to do what he did. If you don't know, study it. Fascinating story.

Okay, for those that wont bother looking up some history, back in the day the Catholic church was it. The sole proprietor of salvation’s word. They brought us the Crusades and the Inquisition and all that… Well Luther had a list of questions that the church didn’t have answers for. So he took that list and nailed it to the door of the church. This started a movement. You have heard of the Lutherans? There you go.

The main thing about the importance of this is that this opened the door to religious freedom. Not all at once, but a step at a time. Soon you had the Protestants. Then you had the church of England and the Puritans. Then you had Puritans coming to the New World to setting in America… colonies… the intolerable acts… the Boston Tea Party… and George Washington on his horse and a new nation.

Colonization was rather slow before the Puritans started coming, and colonial survival was an iffy proposition. An influx of some 20,000 Puritans in a years time helped the colonies a great deal. Why did so many come? Because the Puritans were obnoxious and disliked. They were assholes. They believed everyone was going to hell except them, and then only if they were as pompous as possible. You can thank the puritans for the Salem Witch trials that we all know about… but did you know about the French Puritans and what they did? They slaughtered and burned 15,000 people in one area for fear of them being Werewolves. No, I’m not kidding. Look it up.

The upshot is that this opened the door for other new churches as well. Like it or not, the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian values and principles on top of the philosophy of the Greeks and Romans. So we all owe a great deal of gratitude to Martin Luther’s questioning what was then the ultimate authority at the time. The same people that imprisoned artists and scientists back then. Interesting period of time. Funny how it’s called the Dark Ages, eh?

Iraq-Politics is turning very-very nasty. Surprisingly it is the New York Times that ran the poll that things are actually going well in Iraq. This was even mentioned by Bob Bennett during some congressional meeting. Wait a second. Things are going well in Iraq? That's not what is being reported by most of the media... Could it be that the media is just a parade of Democrat/Liberal Ass-Muppets? I think so. This is what makes this poll-report so surprising to me… that they actually ran it.

Sep 24th, Wednesday: 0900 hrs: Emails about shotguns have been flooding in. The first time I mention that I am not strong with a weapon, that’s all I get in the In-Box. Funny that.

First email that I’m posting is a shotgun testimony. I’m posting this one because it mentions the slick Saigas that I like:

“Hey Ogre, Saw your comments on shotguns. Shotguns are probably one of the most versatile weapons a person can own, don't require the focus and determination in training and practice a handgun does. Yet still offers quite a punch for home defense. But why am I telling you that...

I have a Saiga 12. Had it for years now. I tried to get these guns waaay back in '97. I found a dealer importing them at that time, price to me was $225 in quantities. Well the deal fell through, import buried all the dealers in paperwork, and we didn't see the device for a couple more years. By that time price was going for $450 or so. I believe they are down to around $200 now days.

It's a novel idea, and has it's merits, namely you can quick load to whatever type of shell you want. Got a pheasant out back needs blasting? Load up the bird shot. Got something bigger than a pheasant, that walks on two legs? Load up the 3 inch 00BUCK. So you got that, and that it is semi. But of course that means you only have five shells, thanks to the AW ban. That's about it.

But to be honest most of the time it just collects dust in the closet. Whenever something is up I just grab me trusty ol' Mossberg 590. It's hard to argue with 8 shots, and the fact that you never have to worry about problems with the action cycling in time of battle. Plus you can feed an extra shell or two between shots.

Figured I might also mention a company selling bolt-ons for shotguns. They sell recoil reducing stocks, pistol fore-ends, and drum fed magazines for the Mossberg pumps. Worth a looksee, haven't bought anything…yet. For what it's worth… Bryan”

Thanks for the email, Bryan. I have seen these (the Saigas) use 7 round mags. I have also seen them in regular “AK” configuration, but with that, you are stuck using 5 round mags. I swear, gun laws make no sense. There is a good article in one of the gun rags about the Winchester lever action shotgun. Interesting thing, but your still limited in round count and you have to load each shell individually. I love the Saiga platform. I think it has great potential. It also has it’s shortcomings. Slug Select drills are more difficult to perform, but in real world situations, you probably wont have to do that in .34 seconds like you do at a 3 Gun match.

I totally agree with you about the shotgun being versatile. I don’t need to be sold on that. In fact, every time I get an email “Ogre, what kinda gun should I get?”; I always answer with “a pump action shotgun”. (check my FAQ) Simple to operate and can handle 99% of the problems likely to be encountered, it’s a natural for home defense work. You will get no argument from me about that. But then again, that is pretty much the limit of knowledge about them. I am not saying that I haven’t used them to good effect, I’m just saying that these are not the weapons that I would call myself experienced with.

Should every home have a shotgun? Yes. Should every home have a .22 rifle? Indeed. With these two tools, you have the means of both protecting and providing. The Mossberg 590 remains my absolute favorite shotgun system provided it is fixed with 2 things. 1. A six shell side saddle. 2. A folding stock from Butler Creek. (specifically Butler Creek, as no other folder will do) This allows the big shotgun the versatility it requires for going in and out of a vehicle, storage in a reasonable sized locker or closet or gun case… A 590 is one bigass shotgun. Fully loaded it is freaking heavy to. It’s like wielding a freaking I-Beam. For that reason, option 3 maybe required if this is to be carried for any length of time. A sling.

I don’t know a lot about the different shells and loads and all that. But I do have some that I prefer. I like Winchester’s AA loads. I like Federal’s Reduced Recoil Tactical loads. I like Federal’s solid copper, hollow point, sabot load. 1997 was “waaay” back? Only if you are young. I remember rolling around Richmond in a Caprice cruiser with a 590 next to me. (Modded as described above) I can still remember it clearly. If I can still remember it, then it’s not waaay back.

The next email is a technical question about an automatic shotgun. Remington’s 1100. A fine shotgun and one of the favorites of those who favor the autoshuckers. But I’ve never owned one, nor would I really care too. It’s not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t turn one down, but I am not going to go out of my way for one.

“I have friend with a Remington 1100. The gun has always worked fine. The problem is that he never cleans it. We took the gun apart and cleaned everything. Put it all back together by the book and now when you shot it, it will not cycle. We have used low brass shells and have yet to try the high brass. It worked before with the low brass. Any suggestions on what to try ??? Help me if you can, I hate feeling so stupid about something like this.”

I have no specific technical knowledge of the 1100, but here is a general suggestion for any gun: If it's not working, and it worked before... then obviously it wasn't reassembled right, or something busted. Take it down again and examine each part very closely. Rub all the parts down with a good lube while you examine them. Then take it step by step, slowly putting each part back together again. Be careful to make sure each part fits with the others as they are supposed to, check the bearing surfaces. Lube where needed.

If it STILL doesn't work - have a gunshop take a look at it. Maybe there is something wrong and you didn't see it, or you are still putting it together wrong. In case there is some tip or trick for the 1100, you can email this poor fellow… what a gunsmith might call a “Basket Case”… and offer your advice.

This is all I have for the day right now. I have another paper to write, and a chapter to still read. TTFN.

Sep 23rd, Tuesday: 0820hrs: Anger Management. This flick makes me laugh harder than any of the recent comedies out there. Good writing backed up by fantastic talent. Mrs. Ogre bought me the DVD today and tonight we had to watch it together. Talk about a gut buster! My sides are still hurting. The DVD its self is one of the best DVDs I’ve seen when it comes to the actual DVD authoring. This is one to buy for the collection. Jack is amazing. The “I feel Pretty” scene is classic.

School went very well yesterday. So well in fact, that someone returned my iPaq to me. I had totally written it off. The fellow had not contacted me about it because he did not turn it on to read the owner information in it, so he waited until the class met again and came in asking who it belonged to. I was stunned. Thing still had a full charge of juice. Note to self: Etch my name and email address on the back of the case. How it escaped a zippered compartment from inside me briefcase, I don't know. I think I am getting this college thing down again. The only issue I have is technical really. This PC of mine is still giving me fits. I want a Mac. I don’t have the money for a Mac. It was suggested that I get a student loan for one. Not an option. I don’t like loans. Besides, even if I did… I’d have to buy all new software for it and I shudder at the thought of buying software. Well, at least I have Office for OSX… but other than that? I think I like the idea of wanting a Mac more than the idea of actually changing to a Mac. This I can live with. For now. Can you hook your iPaq to a Mac? I don’t know. I love the iPaq, but for a pocket pc, if I was to buy a new one I’d roll with the Dell handheld. It’s bigger, but you can hold it in your hand and actually use it better. That’s an important aspect that the iPaq overlooked. If Apple had there own PDA, that would be great. Yeah, I know all about the Newton. I almost bought a Newton when they first came out. I loved the hole PDA concept even back then. The only problem is that Newtons are orphaned. Apple should roll a new Newton and make it look something like the iPod, with the iPod’s storage capacity… and the Sony Clie’s built in camera feature… If Apple did that – It would shake things up.

I keep getting questions about the Springfield XD-9 Sub-Compact. Yes, it’s good. It’s very good. But I am not the expert on this gun, just an advocate. Check out the forums over at HS2KT for more information. My opinion is that it’s currently the best sub-compact polymer automatic on the market and my first recommendation. However my recommendation doesn’t mean jack if the gun doesn’t fit your hand. My opinion is pointless if you can’t grip the gun well. This is why I always try to mention other options. Steyr has a mini, Glock has a couple minis, and Taurus has a couple as well. Try them all and see which one fits YOU the best. If you have a quality firearm that is reliable and you can shoot it well – then you made the right choice.

While we are on the subject of firearms, I was asked recently about “The Missing Top 10 Lists”. I think he was referring to Shotguns and I don’t know what else… Squirt Guns? To be totally frank, I am not a shotgunning guru. Shotguns are not my friends. I have only owned a few different ones, so my level of experience… you don’t want to share any of it. I have my opinions about what I like and dislike, but I don’t feel qualified to really go there. I like the Benelli/Beretta shotguns, the Moss 500/590s, and the Winchester 1300 Defenders… because I have owned them. That’s about it. I would love to get one of those sweet AK based shotguns, because I can reload a box mag easier than individual shells. That’s about it on the shotguns… Let’s talk rifles and handguns instead.

Sep 21st, Sunday, 2100HRS: I guess I can say that I got what I deserve when it comes to my dog. Ranger is a very cool dog, and when he wants to be, he can be an absolute prince. The only problem is that he is rude and rebellious the rest of the time. He has his own mind about things too. Like earlier today when he and I went exploring a river bed. The rocks there were nice round ankle breakers and I was wearing my boots for the adventure, but the ground was still treacherous. At one moment of off balance vulnerability, Ranger gave a strong tug that I wasn't expecting. I took a spill and Ranger was off like a shot as soon as my grip on the leash was at a minimum. He went tromping through the little pools and trickles and had a great time. I didn't even call to him. I just stood up and dusted my self off and watched the dog frolic. After a few minutes I sat down on a large rock and considered the situation. Chasing him would be impossible. The ground prevented it, and my sore ankle forbade even the consideration. After some time I gave one short but loud call. Wouldn't you know it... he returned and happily let me take the leash again with out a fuss. Good Dog! I found him some new dog food and he seems to like it okay, but not as much as he likes the canned meat chunks. This is the stuff that you pour water on and it makes "gravy". The stuff is foul and I don't like giving it to him... but he eats it. That's all that matters, right? This last picture of him makes him look small. He isn't small. That's Ranger standing up next to my wife in the other pics... yes, my wife is stacked, so don't even go there. Yes, I am a happy Ogre. These pictures are taken with a pathetic Intel CS110 webcam that CompUSA gave me because they had a lot of junk crap they were getting rid of. The pictures are just horrible, but this is the only camera that I have that works. Anyways, you can't see his obvious German Shepherd markings, and ears... but you can see the Siberian Husky markings on his throat. He is turning out to be a good dog. Not bad for 50 bucks from the Animal Shelter. To think they were going to put him to sleep.

1030hrs: The other day I started getting a new kinda spam message. Increase your gas mileage 27+% with the “Fuel Saver Pro”. Guys, let’s look at this for a second. With all the car companies out there now trying to make cars more fuel efficient, do you really think for a moment that a simple bolt on aftermarket product wouldn’t be something they would already use? Don’t believe this.

Fuel atomizers as this looks to be work by misting the fuel. Unfortunately this doesn’t do jack if your not mixing it with cool fresh air because the fuel will just return to liquid even if it mists or atomizes at all… because the fuel still has travel the rest of the way to the engine. So if you’re misting the fuel before it gets to where your car mixes fuel and air, you are wasting your time and money on this gimmick because it will not do anything for you but to separate you from your money.

You want better fuel efficiency? Remove all the junk from your trunk save the spare tire and jack the important stuff… change your air filter, change your oil and oil filter, pump your tires up to specs, stop running the AC on MAX, drop a bottle of fuel injector cleaner into your tank, and get a fucking tune up.

Email from a reader: “I read your site often, You are the kind of person this country needs...YOU KICK ASS! You don't bother being PC and that is what never ceases to keep me interested in you site.” Thanks. I don’t go out of my way to be politically incorrect, I just happen to be that way naturally. Now if you will excuse me, there is a cow in my back yard. I’m going to shoot it, lop it’s head off, throw it onto my grill until it stops twitching, then read both the Bible and Declaration of Independence while eating rare meat, cracking the bones, and sucking the marrow. Oh… I’ll also have a carrot to go with it, and I’ll eat it raw.

My folks in Virginy still have no power. This concerns me. All the food stuffs that they had have spoiled by now. This isn’t too much of a problem because they didn’t have that much food in the fridge to begin with, but they did have lots of cold diet sodas that are now warm and distasteful. They always eat out anyways, but if they are out of power, are there any good restaurants around that do have power? Man can not live on Chinese buffet alone. Wait a sec… yeah you can.

The other day I was at my folks house here in Utah… my inlaws… I call them Mom and Dad too, because they are such awesome people and I love them a great deal. Well, I was standing on their porch a couple days ago and went to step off it. Just as I put one foot forward, I blacked out completely. I came to a second later at the bottom of the steps. I wasn’t hurt but shaken by this turn of events. I have had spells when I blacked out before… but not in a long time. Maybe it was just because I was very tired or something. Still, I’ve got an appointment Monday to get checked out. Scared my wife to death when it happened… but I’m even more scared of the Doc. I’m afraid of bad news or something.

Sep 19th, Friday: 2245HRS: Some more thoughts about China. We have seen a very large ramp up of China’s military power the last 12 years, with the most being in the last 5. There are 2 reasons for this.

First we have The Wall coming down. This shook up the Soviets, ended the cold war, and put everyone over there out of work. Russia all the sudden had lots of excess military hardware, and lots of Ex-Soviet countries had a lot too when what they really needed was capital. So they all started having yard sales. Well lots of people started buying the stuff up. Tanks, APC, Weapons, all the goodies. China picked up the higher dollar items. Cruisers, Destroyers, Bombers, Fighters, all kinds of stuff. They did it quietly and rather slowly… not quite a feeding frenzy unless you put it into fast forward.

Then something else happened. This happened many many years ago. England made a deal with China to borrow Hong Kong from them. A few years ago the lease expired. China was just handed over a huge pot of gold when they were give Hong Kong back. Now they have the money to do some bigger projects. Like finishing up the carriers that I mentioned before. So if we want to blame anyone else for China’s belligerence of late, we can blame those limey Brits across the pond. Freaking English. They are called French Fries, not Chips! Oh well. What do you expect from an island nation that has the world’s oldest penis?

Email came in from a reader. He actually had the audacity to question me about my gun “Top Ten” selections! No, I’m not making it up… he did! Here is his email to prove it. Warning – Profuse use of exclamation points ahead:

“You guys have something against Glocks? Are AK's (the most successful assault rifle in history) not good enough for you? Galil only halfway down the list? Do I really have that much more to learn? (Trust me, I've been there), or do you guys just want to be controversial and stir us up? I do have to give credit where it's due.................. I HATE AR's TOO!!!! P>S> Love this site.”

Note: After consideration I altered the list slightly… well, here is what I said:

“Something against Glock? Naw. Glock us just Number 11. The Galil is a fantastic rifle. The only downside it has is that it’s a little too heavy for it’s caliber. That does give it an advantage in full automatic fire, but still, it’s a fat chunk. Why it’s down in the middle of the list is not a slight to the weapon at all… especially when you consider the weapons that are ahead of it. The FAMAS is perhaps the best example of a bullpup rifle anywhere. (This is opinion as the AUG has a lot of good merits too, unless you have the Australian version) The only thing wrong with it is that it’s a .22 caliber and it’s from France. If the FAMAS were Italian, Czech, or German, everyone would be drooling over it. If it was in a heavier caliber, it would probably top the list. #3 is the HK G3KA4. This is a shortened and refined example of the one of the finest .308 battle rifles ever made. You can’t question that one. #2 is the FN FAL. I shouldn’t have to explain the FAL, should I? The G36 series… My #1 pick. This is was a tough one. Here is what I like about it… it has an operating rod to cycle the action in the exact way the M-16 doesn’t. The use of high-tech lighter weight polymers for the receiver reduced the weight of the weapon, and that’s a very good thing. I like the charging handle up to so righties or wrongies can cycle the action easier… but what I like the best is the integrated optical gun sights that make engaging and hitting your target quickly and accurately much easier and likelier. That’s why it’s #1. So it is no slight for the old AK system to be in #5 position. However, I do need to change that… the Galil, as good as a weapon as it is, isn’t crap when putting it next to the SIG 550 series. I’ll have to edit my list next time I update. Stir controversy? Me? Naw… Okay, I just called the Galil crap – if that doesn’t stir the pot, then I don’t know what will.”

Then I got this in reply: “Looks like I've more to learn than I thought. Thanks. I'll humbly learn my place on this newfound site! Appreciate the info, and look forward to learning more.”

That is what I am here for, Cass. Oh, one important thing... there is no “You guys” here… it’s all me, baby. 100% Pure Unrefined Ogre!

Ranger got loose again today and went after the cows. He wont hurt the cows, but has a lot of fun shepherding them. He gets downright giddy about it too. Unfortunately he has a problem with obedience, in that he will hear me call for him and decide to go the other way. I’m at the end of my ropes here because in our training sessions he responds flawlessly. It’s just when we go outside and the chain is off, he hears the call of the wild and he bolts like a freaking Patriot Missile after a Scud.

I talked to one of the Canine Unit deputies of the local Sheriff’s Department and he suggests a shock collar. I’m afraid that this is going to have to be the route I take with Ranger. I don’t want to go there, but I don’t have a lot of options. I really don’t want to hurt my dog – seriously – I really don’t. However if the choice is such drastic training measures or Ranger getting gored or trampled by a bull, or shot by the rancher and me getting sued for it… I really have no choice. Well, I guess I could just forever keep him tethered by chains for the rest of his life, but I think that is even more inhumane. I don’t want a dog that’s bound with chains. That’s not why I got a dog.

I want Ranger to play and be happy and have some degree of freedoms, but going next door to chase a cat or to jump the fence to chase cows… these things just can not happen. I’m looking into the electronic fence thing, but WOW those are spendy! The shock collar is the way to go. The only problem is that they are spendy as well. A lot more expensive than we can really afford right now. Ranger is a big dog. Over 60 pounds. Collars for a dog of his size are a premium. 250 bucks for the decent ones. That’s a lot of jingle, but considering the other options, I have no other choice.

We gotta get one. I don’t want Ranger getting himself killed because he decides to ignore our commands. It’s really a question of do we want to keep the dog or not. If we do, we have to use a shock collar. If we don’t, I might as well take him up to Northern Idaho and set him free out in the woods. I didn’t get a dog for that. Ranger’s problem is that he was pretty much a wild dog before Animal Control picked him up. He has had no discipline until we took him. This is the second or third time he has gone after the cows. Those bulls are getting even more fed up with Ranger than I am about this. They are getting right pissed about it.

I talked to my folks out in Virginia today... they are doing fine. The only damage they have is a rain gutter that was knocked off. My brother is not so lucky. His chimney was knocked in and it collapsed or something, so now he has a huge hole in his roof. They have no power and the water in not safe to drink, but other than that, they are doing okay. Well, if you don't worry about the jackasses running around the hood firing guns up into the air. And they are in the "good" area of the greater Richmond area. In other areas they have active looting and pillaging going on. And people wonder why I left Richmond. Richmond is a big ass riot just waiting to happen. This is why I am no longer there. My Dad had matter well in hand in case the hooligans decided to break in. How? Did he have a phone ready to call 911? Nope. He had a handgun at the ready. He takes personal and home defense seriously. However I think now he is in the market for a pump action 12 gauge. I have a recommendation for one: The Benelli Nova Special Purpose.

Sep 16th, Tuesday, 2003: 1700hrs: Did I mention that my Subaru was up for trade? It’s a 1992 Legacy LS 4WD automatic. Has power everything and a few quirks. Fast. Runs great. 6 month old skins on the front, brand new skins on the rear. I am looking to trade it for a pickup truck. I don’t care about the year or mileage of the truck, just as long as it runs strong, is in good mechanical shape. I don’t care about the looks either… Paint can be ugly, or no paint at all… just as long as there are no chunks missing. Anyone interested? Let’s talk.

1430hrs: I told you this would happen. I knew it, and said so 3 years ago. If we push North Korea, would have to be ready to push China as well! I saw this coming way back. China, for those that don’t know, is the absolute biggest threat to the United States next to Hillary Clinton. I wrote up something I called, The China Report way back then and some people scoffed. How do you like me now? Scoff no more. Anything that what were even thinking about doing to NK is now put in check. Here is what will happen… let me outline this conflict for you. We push on NK. China revs up and pushes back. We lose most of our assets in South Korea and pull way back, basically running for their lives. China uses advanced strike aircraft to fire standoff weapons at our carrier battle groups. Expect to lose ½ our surface strength there or more. This Red Tide washes over great portions of Asia, including Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. This is best case scenario. Worst case would involve all the above with the additional use of Tactical Nuclear Weapons. Basically what goes down is this – We shove NK, and China shoves us to the ground, thus establishing China is the #1 global super power. If I was POTUS, I’d move everything to that theatre, right the fuck now. 80% of our boomers would be over there already… yeah… I said 80%. Almost all of them. The others would be placed to cover some of China’s other assets. Can you say “Panama Canal”? I knew you could. Let me make this brief… what you are looking at is a possible WWIII right here. China HATES the US. Every single freaking dollar you have ever spent buying silly plastic shit from China has gone directly into military upgrades, new equipment, new weapons, more ammunition, and all the fuel it needs to come kick our asses. I believe it’s the Jews that has a little story about this… we create a Golem that wants to kill us. How do you say “Oh Shit!” in Chinese?