Gun/Reloading Bleg

Questions:

Does anyone have a good resource for comparing powders volume to weight in grains? What I want to do is be able to tell before I buy approximately how full the brass case will be at a particular load. Example: 51 grains of IMR 4064 fills a 30-06 case to about midway up the shoulder. When I seat the bullet to match the riffling this leaves me with a lot of free space in the case. A bulky powder would help over come this problem.

Does anyone have a good method to determine the rate of twist in an old barrel?

I’m trying to get the bullet to chamber just shy of the riffle lands, does it matter how much of the bullet is left inside the case mouth? One brand of bullet needs to have all but 1/8 of an inch out of the case.

Tools or Toys?

A few months back a friend of mine needed a new drill press. He had a real nice Craftsman press but it couldn’t handle ½ inch steal, so he needed to buy a new one. He couldn’t really afford the new press, but he couldn’t afford not to finish the job he was doing either. Something had to give. He had all but $50 of the price of the new press and he offered me his old one for 50 bucks. He hadn’t used the old press a lot and it was in great shape. It seemed like a fair deal and I’d been wanting a drill press so I bought it.

The wife, who seems to think you should actually have a use for a tool if you’re going to buy it, questioned the appearance of a drill press in the garage but didn’t make too big a fuss.

Today my decision to buy the drill press paid off! I was setting here at the desk and decided I needed to lean back and stretch out. I leaned back too far and before I feel over, I caught the underside of the keyboard shelf with my foot, breaking off the roller arm. The desk is one of the Sauder types so when the screws pulled away they broke out a big chunk of compressed sawdust that the support is made of.

To fix this little problem I needed to drill two new holes in the steal roller arm to reattach it to the desk. Since I bought the drill press I had the right tool at the right time to do the job the right way.

The moral? Men go ahead and buy that new tool you’ve been wanting. If the wife makes a fuss show her this story and say, “see honey, if Res hadn’t bought that drill press he’d have had to buy a new desk”.

Banking

Much has been written about the evils of fractional reserve banking. Little has been written about how we got there, or how to correct the situation.

What is it that the average bank customer wants? I asked this question to a group of community bankers at a conference, some of the answers:

1. a safe place to put their money (FDIC)
2. free checking
3. free check cashing
4. cheap loans
5. pretty tellers
6. good rates on CD’s
7. access to lots of ATM’s

Number 6, good rates on deposits is a quickly fading concern of the average community banker, unless of course they have a large number of older depositors who are looking to preserve wealth. The older generations have a different attitude towards savings than the younger ones.

Numbers 2, 3, 7, and to some extent 1 and 5 are key to understanding the American consumers banking mindset. Most people see a bank as a way to facilitate payments, sort of like a public utility. The bank exists to serve the needs of society. In fact some of this mind set is codified into the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. The public likes free financial services, low rate loans, interest paid on deposits, maximum safety for their money and pretty tellers.

Out of those five desires the only one that hasn’t been turned into a law or other regulatory standard is the tellers with perky tits act. According to industry insiders it came close to passage under Clinton in 1992.

The public has expectations, they get congress to pass a law and then they get to force someone to give them what they want at a lower cost. Bankers may be somewhat boring at cocktail parties, until you compare them to accountants, but they are resourceful when it comes to working the system.

Therein is the root of the situation. Ask yourself which demographic is the largest or at least most powerful banking customer? Who requires the most low cost banking services? Which group most depends on efficient, safe and secure facilitation of payments?

The banker’s dilemma is that he is forced to 1. provide maximum finical safety for depositors (various regulators audit him to ensure this) 2. must facilitate payments efficiently 3. comply with a ton of regulations 4. make a profit. So he begins to work the system and make the system work for him.

Apologies

Between work, my ISP being down and a confidential and gut wrenching issue that I’ve been struggling to help find a solution to blogging was interrupted yesterday. I hope to come up with something profound yet irreverent, entertaining and enlightening for ya’ll soon. Otherwise, I’ll strive for not too crappy.

Fixing Abortion

“So just what the hell should we do about abortion smart guy? SCOTUS decided what the law is not Bush. How can you fix it other than SCOTUS changing its mind?”

Abortion is murder and is therefore totally unacceptable. That is my personal and political position on the matter. The difficulty with the issue comes in how to deal with it. On one hand SCOTUS messed it up and they should fix it. On the other hand it is not now nor was it in 1972 a constitutional or federal issue in anyway. The solution is available to the republican party, right now today, at least as it pertains to the involvement of the federal courts.

Article II, section II, paragraph ii of the US Constitution provides congress the ability to limit the Supreme Court and the lesser federal courts: “under such regulations as the Congress shall make.”

Therefore, I propose a two part solution to the issue. Part one return the issue as a matter of law to the jurisdiction of the states. Part two allow each state to make its own laws concerning the matter.

My solution is open to criticism on at least three accounts.

1. Different states will have different laws. True each state would be free to limit or restrict the procedure as the citizens of that state deem best. This is considered imperfect by both sides because some states would ban and some would permit the procedure. I don’t see this as a problem either as a matter of law or in practice.
2. Persons in a state with more restrictive laws can travel to a state that is more liberal. So what? People could go to Canada or Europe for abortions prior to 1972 too. We can’t be everyone’s conscience or mommy, people will do as they see fit. We only have a right under the constitution to govern ourselves.
3. Politically this is impossible, not because of the Democrats, because of the Republicans. They have no other moral authority on which to rally the sheepal into action or forking over cash. This one issue accounts for about 60% of the reason republicans are able to gather grassroots support. Take it away and you have a party of supply side socialists as opposed to their Keynesian/demand side socialist cousins.

My solution if reduced to a bill before the house would look like this:

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States overstepped its constitutional authority in its ruling on the matter of Roe v. Wade, and whereas the premise of the original case was based on fraud, and whereas the court has failed to remedy the discrepancies in case law or hear the plaintiffs repeated appeals to the court, this solution is hereby enacted as law.

Section one. The decision for the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade is set aside.

Section two. The issue of abortion and reproductive rights is hereby forever returned to the individual states. All authority to permit, prohibit, regulate, tax or otherwise develop public policy in this matter is to be determined according to the legislative process in the states.

Section three. No monies in the United States Treasury or revenues of any kind belonging to the federal government, or any department thereof shall be used to provide for abortion or reproductive services.

Section four. The medical procedure of abortion is prohibited on all federal properties, territories, commonwealth, political subdivisions, military bases and ships. Excepting, the procedure may be used upon affidavit of the attending physician swearing that the procedure is necessary to save the woman’s life, and in cases of rape and incest. In the case of rape or incest the woman must swear out an irrevocable complaint and warrant against the perpetrator or the crime and aid in his conviction by providing truthful testimony and other assistance as is in her power to do so.

Penalties:

A women that has an abortion in defiance of this act, under the requirements of section four, is guilty of a capital offense. Upon conviction on the first offense, if a capital conviction is not obtained she shall be confined to prison for not less than a period of 20 years or other greater period as the court may determine. A second conviction shall constitute an automatic life sentence.

A doctor performing an abortion in defiance of this act the requirements of section four, is guilty of a capital offense. If a capital conviction is not obtained, upon conviction of the first offense be confined to period not less than 50 years to life with no possibility of parole.

Section five. Neither the Supreme Court nor the inferior federal courts shall have jurisdiction to hear any case involving abortion or its practices within the individual states. Appellate and original authority for cases under section four and only section four remains intact. Excepting, the court may not rule on the constitutionality of this act or any portion thereof.

Exceptions and general provisions: no portion of this law shall be constituted to limit the rights of persons to travel, or obtain information, nor shall this law empower the states to pass laws that would serve to do so.

Your thoughts and criticisms are welcome. Other than a lack of politcal self interest why can't the republicans do this or something like it?

Land for Peace Will not Work

The United States has been advancing the wrong agenda in Israel for several decades. There is a commonly accepted position that there can be peace in the Middle East if only the uprooted Palestinians had there own country. To help bring this about the US has helped facilitate several rounds of peace talks and pressured Israel to give up land for an end to terror attacks.

In a speech at Duke University, Brigitte Gabriel, a Lebanese national clarified the situation along the Jordan.

“They blame suicide bombing on "desperation of occupation." Let me tell you the truth. The first major terror bombing committed by Arabs against the Jewish state occurred ten weeks before Israel even became independent.

On Sunday morning, February 22, 1948, in anticipation of Israel's independence, a triple truck bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists on Ben Yehuda Street, in what was then the Jewish section of Jerusalem. Fifty-four people were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Thus, it is obvious that Arab terrorism is caused not by the "desperation" of "occupation" but by the VERY THOUGHT of a Jewish state.”

I believe that the United States and our policy of benevolent meddling has done more harm than good in the Middle East, especially when it comes to Israel. The Muslims believe, as a centuries old doctrine, that they are to “kill Jews wherever you find them”. Yet the US believes that secular solutions can be found to a religious hatred. So as Israel’s biggest arms supplier, we persuade them to negotiate away key elements needed for their security, in hopes that fifthly lucre will pay off religious fanatics.

We are wrong. The only currency that will buy peace and security for Israel is complete victory. Every time we have restrained the Israel’s hand, we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and prolonged the conflict for another generation. Israel must press its advantage over Hezbollah and utterly defeat them. They are winning and must not stop short of the goal.

If we want peace in the region, we need to let the Israelis win, and let them completely conquer their foes. Of course we could follow the UN plan for peace and help the Muslims win and wipe Israel from the face of the earth.

Until one side is victorious there will be no peace.

WTW - Tribute

Hope ya'll recognize some of yer kin, a car, or a hair do that ya had. Remember, please neuter your pets and friends and weird relatives, just like the sign says. Watch those sharp edges.

There is a pic in the montage from my childhood. I’ll send a genuine banjo string to anyone who guesses right. Water Boy may actually remember seeing it when it made the paper.

Twice the Son of Hell

GWB comes out in favor of abortion. To the left it’s not far enough. To the Republican base it’s not even enough of a wake up call to disturb their slumber.

“Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach did his best last week to defend his indefensible decision to allow over-the-counter sales of the Plan B contraceptive only to women 18 and older.

But Von Eschenbach's feeble explanation during his nomination hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was based neither on sound science nor on sound public policy. That leaves only politics and religious ideology, either a poor basis on which to make health-related decisions that affect millions of young women.

Plan B, an emergency contraceptive called the "morning-after pill," prevents pregnancy in most cases if it is taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex. It has been targeted by anti-abortion groups, who say its use does not prevent, but instead ends, a pregnancy, and that it would encourage sexual promiscuity.”

Bush was asked this question in a White House press conference concerning this news:

"Mr. President, some pro-life groups are worried that your choice of FDA commissioner will approve over-the-counter sales of Plan B, a pill that, they say, essentially can cause early-term abortions," said reporter Bill Sammon. "Do you stand by this choice, and how do you feel about Plan B in general?"

His Reply:

"I believe that Plan B ought to be – ought to require a prescription for minors, is what I believe," said Bush. "And I support Andy's decision."

Last week I wrote in the comments on my post “Remember this at Election Time”, this about the Republican Party: “As soon as they gain power they act exactly like the democrats; except on abortion where they are twice the sons of hell, because they only care about that issue as a way to raise campaign money.”

Even Joe (Jumping Ship) Farah, the most unprincipled so-called libertarian, newspaperman in America, who abandoned all pretense of manhood last election when he ran to the protective cover of GWB’s skirts over the War On (what is the war on this week anyway, lower profits for Bush’s corporate sponsors?) is starting to question “Just What Does Bush Believe?”.

He believes in his own power, Joe, and nothing else. Immigration is an issue that GWB looks for solutions to that help his buddy Fox. National security is something we fight for in Iraq but that he lacks the stones to fight for in the Southwest. The tax cuts weren’t permanent, likely never will be. ‘Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose’, Bush and the Neocon Nut Base, are doing their best to erode all personal freedom. The “Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper”. Welfare spending is the highest it has ever been in US history, thanks to a republican president and congress.

Abortion is just a window dressing issue to raise cash off dumb evangelicals. If it ever went away the republicans would have absolutely nothing to rally the troops around. Maybe that explains why they spend so much time on flag burning and other pressing issues while they help steer the nation over the brink.

Russia Does What America Can’t

Russia pays off $22 BILLION in foreign debt.

We have to break the cycle of welfare, warfare and borrow and spend politics that this country is addicted to. A sound economy isn’t possible when government policy is geared towards currency manipulation to empower incumbent politicians.

Okra!!!

Few things are as satisfying to a man as proving his personal prowess and virility. I got okra to grow over 5000 feet above sea level! As of last night we ate our second mess of spiny little pods of southern goodness. I admit it, if I was living in a state with heat and humidity, I’d take one look at these okra plants and proclaim them to be the saddest little guys ever grown. But I’m not living in the south I’m living in the mountain west and some accomplishments are worth crowing about.

Every year we look forward to the fresh vegetables in the garden. Some foods we only eat a few times a year when they come in fresh. It’s mid August and by now most gardeners are getting sick of weeding (I’ve given up on that) and some veggies have lost their appeal till next year. If you live in the deep south you’re nearly done with the whole affair, except for a few late crops.

One veggie I eat only a few times a year is eggplant. I love eggplant. Not that hot house crap you get in a store. God’s own purple goodness is best enjoyed fresh out of the garden. Here’s how you fix it proper.

1. Pick it the day you’re going to eat it, preferably about 10 min before you need to cook it. You want the medium sized ones, large egg plant taste bitter. If it has lots of brown seeds in it, its no good throw it out.
2. Saltine crackers. Grind these into the finest powder you can.
3. Eggs. Brown farm fresh and at room temp. Beaten, not stired.
   
4. Electric fry pan, 400° to 425°.
5. Bacon grease works best to fry in, and it keeps Muslims from eating your eggplant, canola oil works good too.
6. Peal the purple skin off, it tastes nasty, 99% of people who don’t like eggplant had it cooked with the skin on.
7. Slice it, dip it in egg, then in the cracker crumbs and fry it till golden brown.
8. Salt and pepper to taste. I like lots of pepper.
9. When I’m cooking I usually eat half an eggplant right out of the pan before it gets to the table. I recommend this practice, call it quality control.

For the Women Folk

Thanks for the recent posts and emails asking about how Mrs. Ipsa is doing. She is fine and in good spirits. We’re having a good time with the pregnancy. Her condition is good for a few laughs. As a rule my wife isn’t a vain or self absorbed about her looks or weight. Pregnancy has changed that a bit. The other day she was looking herself over and asked me if her butt looked bigger.

Normally I respond that yes she does look fat and no I don’t love her anymore. This time I just said yes. Bad response. She had to get out the tape measure and check to see if it was fatter.

I never knew women measured these things. I’m a guy. I have a butt. As long as it fits in my jeans I figure everything is fine. She gets the tape out to measure; one not so little problem, Pregosaurus Rex can’t see the tape because her belly is too big!!!

We had a good laugh about it!

The last several months have been full of moments like that. This is a fun time for us and little things like the one I just shared have brightened the whole experience.

The pic is some quilts that have recently come into my possession. The top one is one my mother made for our baby, the one on the side is one my grandmother made for me when I was a baby, the one in the middle was made by my other grandmother for me. The one on the bottom has an interesting story that I only learned last month.

My grandparents were close friends with another older couple. They adopted me as a grandbaby when I was born. The lady decided she would make me a baby blanket as a gift. She picked the cloth, pattern and cut it out. Her arthritis was so bad and her eyesight was going downhill so she couldn’t quilt it in time to finish before I was born. She told her husband that he needed to do the quilting and what it was for. So, he got to it, even though by all accounts his arthritis was as bad if not worse than hers.

Before any of ya’ll start snickering about a man doing the quilting, I want you to know something about that man. In 1917 he shipped with the Marine Expeditionary force to Europe and served for the duration. My baby will sleep under a quilt that was sewn by an original Teufelshunde.

Remember this at Election Time

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
--Samuel Adams

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
-- Ben Franklin

The Self Loathing Homosexual Male

“So our host is simultaneously a homophobe and a homosexual? Nice trick."

I’ve known a few homosexual men, although not in the Biblical sense of know, if you know what I mean. I won’t say that I’ve been friends with many gays, because I’ve only known one that I consider my friend. But I have been around several whom were very open in talking about their lifestyle.

One observation I’ve had is that many of these men are open about the fact that they have a problem with what they are doing. It is as if they hate themselves for an activity that gives them pleasure. This explains in my opinion, part of the reason gay men have higher drug and alcohol abuse rates, suicide rates and gay on gay violent crime.

It also explains the need to convince society that gay is “normal”. This is why you’ll see people fervently trying to persuade you that homosexuality is caused by genetics, that they have no choice or control over their actions. This is also a reason behind teaching homosexuality to increasingly younger age school children. Recruitment and acceptance is goal number one. Maybe just maybe, if they can convince society that what their doing is ok, they’ll convince themselves too.

WTW – Sign, Sign Every Where a Sign

Although living in a Yankee state, ole Bill must have been born south of WV. Signs can be found at Casa D’ Ice.

Tricky Dick

This day in history: August 15, 1971. Richard M. Nixon went on tv to announce the end of the gold standard. Many people think that the “M.” stands for Millhouse, really its short for M%#$%@^. Thanks for the inflation and record deficit spending Dick.

I’m not sure what Tricky could have done different. Most of the rest of the world was off gold and silver as a way of financing the new socialism of post war Europe. In 1971 gold was edging up past the fixed rate of $35 per oz. Central bankers were exchanging dollars for bullion as fast as they could and making a profit at our expense. Nixon was correct in assuming that within one year, two at the most the Federal gold supply would be liquidated. So he did the only thing he had power to do (not really but congress let it slide) he took us off gold.

Jeff Cooper on Education

How to educate ones young is a subject that is now becoming very important to me. By educate I don’t mean simply a check list of academic items that one has looked over and passed some form of test. Education is more than that. An educated person will have the ability to make ones way through life in an enlightened state, fully able to cope with what the world offers up.

"In the May issue of Guns & Ammo, we see reproduced an illuminating message from a Friscan - that being a correspondent who signs himself from San Francisco…. This correspondent takes me to task with asperity as "having gone over the edge." He feels that my attitudes about the proper education of a young man are unreasonable and that I expect too much of youth. He feels that people today have no time to supervise the education of their young. Just what they do have time for is unclear. We note that Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, among others, somehow did find the time to do their homework, and they did a fine job in covering the generalized background. The writer feels that it is too much to expect of a young person to acquire basic skills and abilities such as geography, zoology, history, and literature. He goes on to say that today's parent should not devote unnecessary attention to the elementary education of his children. In my view, the supervision of one's child's education is what parents are for. Making money is nice, and I think everybody should have some, but what is more important is a properly grounded offspring."

"The man goes on to ask what degree of competence I feel is necessary. When I say, "manage a motorcycle," I do not mean motorcross, but rather the ability to get from point A to point B with safety on a two-wheeler. When I say "comfortable in a foreign language," I mean the ability to make one's way on the street in an environment in which English is not the primary tongue. When I call for the ability to manage an airplane, I mean the ability to take off and land in a propellor-driven airplane with some degree of security."

"The point is that a young man of 21 should be able to cope with the world around him in a general fashion. One of the measures of his ability to cope should be his ability to educate his son."

"The correspondent feels strongly that I expect the impossible. My own experience and acquaintance indicates otherwise. High goals are not necessarily impossible, or even relatively so. I recall a high school student back in my teaching days asking if the goals set forth by Kipling in the mighty poem "If" were not impossible. The response was not whether they were impossible but whether they are striven for. To set one's goals high is not an unreasonable position. That is what parents are for. It seems to me that the important thing in life is the production of outstanding people - whether we can do it not. It is the attempt that makes the struggle worthwhile."

Biblical Faith is: "Trust and Obey"

This started out as a reply to Taylor in the "Thick as a Brick" post, but I got a little long for a haloscan post. Have a good weekend ya’ll.

Taylor,

There is a theme I see throughout scripture it is simply: obey.

We are to have faith and we are to put that faith into action. Sometimes that means abstaining from things. More often it means doing things in service to God. A legalist will come up with a list of do’s and don’ts to ensure salvation. Mostly it’s full of don’ts and very short on doing. It is a religion of his own making.

"If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence."
Col 2:20-23

Living by faith is a combination of believing in salvation through Jesus and obeying Him according to His Word.

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
John 14:15

“Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me”
John 14:23-24

Who are we to obey and what are we to do, is it men or is it God? Jesus proclaims we are to obey Him and keep his commandments. What is it He is looking for?

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"
Matt 25:34-41

Faith in Christ is a faith of works and not just a belief professed with lip service (James). The path to salvation isn’t through a doctrine of men it is through faith and obedience to the Gospel of Christ. The old hymn sums it up this way: “trust and obey, for there is no other way”.

"For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."
1 Peter 4:17-19

A Closed Mouth Gathers no Foot

Thursday night gun fight was a lot of fun this week. There are several shooting events taking place all over the region and all but 4 of us were out of town in competition or training classes. Someone (who will go nameless since it’s his blog) forgot to pack a 9 volt battery for the timer so I don’t have times to report.

Scores however are another matter. We set up a series of hostage drills. Basically you shoot the bad guy and don’t shoot the hostage. I did pretty well with a best score of 56/60 which means that out of 60 possible points I had 4 shots that hit the “b” ring, not to shabby.

Then it happened. We have a guy, we’ll call him Cop-Wanna-Be (CWB), his father is a world famous author, firearms expert, gun manufacture, tactical firearms instructor, runs a police sniper school, and marksmanship expert. CWB wants to run transition drills, start with a carbine and finish with a handgun, so we do some. He proceeds to pop every hostage on the course. I give him a little crap, next run he shoots every hostage again but not as many times. Third time he double taps em all. I really give him the business about how if the local cop shop ever hires him (and they will eventually) that I want to be the crook if he responds to the crime scene because it’ll be safer than being a hostage. I might have said some other things too.

My next turn, I manage to score a head shot or two on some hostages. I haven’t shot or even nicked a white target in over a year. For the rest of the night I couldn’t avoid hitting a good guy.

Lesson: When your top dog, especially if its because the guys who are good are gone, don’t gloat.

Thick as a Brick

I used to enjoy arguing about religion. I thought it was fun to make witty jabs and air tight logical points that devastated the other guy’s point of view. I’m not into that so much anymore. Even if your 100% right in your argument, it seldom convinces anyone to change their mind.

I think there are a couple of reasons for that. The first is people don’t share a common method of how they approach religion. My buddy Nate and I had an email discussion a year or so back about how to study the Bible. We were talking about doing a point counter point type study to put up on the blog. We tried to arrive at an understanding of how we were going to understand and study the Bible. In theological terms, this is known as hermeneutics.

We had to give it up. The reason was that we couldn’t come to an agreement on how to approach the subject. Both of us had different methods of studying the same Bible and we couldn’t agree which one of us was right. Most of the time he and I arrive at the same conclusion about what the Bible means, but we get there by taking different roads.

Another reason folks can’t see eye to eye is assumptions. We take certain beliefs into religion that we expect will hold true. If they don’t fit, we want to change the religion to fit the existing beliefs. Some times those beliefs are about religion or scripture, sometimes they’re just part of our world view that we’ve accepted.

There are of course some people who ain’t gonna change their mind no matter what. For them it’s easier to stick with what they know than to think about something new. Sometimes these folks are well studied in the teachings of their church, but mostly not. These are people who say stuff like, “religion is like cloths shopping, you look for churches and pick one that fits you”. Church as a consumer good, God on man’s terms, and you can’t change my mind about it.

On the net you run into all kinds. A big problem with Blogs and religious discussions is the folks having them bring in different sets of assumptions, different methods of study and different preexisting beliefs. You’re not going to change many peoples mind about something unless you first understand how they came to believe it in the first place.

WTW – Why You Should Have a Church Wedding

Anybody got any good wedding horror stories?

Holsters for the 45 ACP

My newest convert to KIMBER writes:

“Have you any recommendations for holsters? I saw your reference to Kydex. My only criterion is that I can draw my arm quickly sans any snags. I don't plan on competing. I just want to practice enough to be able to stop any would-be attackers.”

The gun in question is a KIMBER, 45 in a commander size (4in barrel, full size grip) configuration. The person wearing the holster is male about six foot tall, in the 180 lbs range and about a 32 or 34 in waist. This is his first handgun for non-hunting or plinking. I figure the advice on what kind of holster will work for most anybody.

There are 5 basic places on the body that a person might carry a gun:

1. ankle/boot holster
2. shoulder/underarm
3. leg/tactical
4. chest/tactical
5. waist band

There are two basic methods of carry:

1. open, in plain sight
2. concealed

Two kinds of material:

1. leather
2. synthetic

Three kinds of retention system:

1. no retention
2. tension retention
3. barrier retention, strap, snap, flap etc

Observations, a 45 isn’t the best boot gun, its hard to conceal on this part of your body, either of the two tactical methods I mentioned aren’t really a everyday situation for most shooters, the shoulder holster is great if you are wearing a jacket a lot or driving/sitting. My guess is that over 60% of the time most guys carrying a 45 do it on the waist.

Each kind of holster has its place and is uniquely suited for doing the job at hand. The first thing you need to decide is how you’re going to carry the gun, open or concealed. There are any number of holsters that will fit the open carry method. Concealed carry is a different matter all together.

This pic shows the 4 holsters I use the most.

From top left to bottom right:

IWB, no retention, synthetic; IWB strap with snap, leather: OWB, tension retention, leather; OWB, tension retention, Kydex.

The IWB’s are my concealed carry holsters, excepting the #3 holster which I on occasion carry concealed under a jacket.

My preferences:

1. I don’t like fooling with straps, I want an open top holster with either a tension or no retention. I want to grip it and go. I get away with no retention in an IWB holster because my spare tire helps hold the gun in place. In an OWB holster I use tension retention.
2. Leather is traditional, it grips the gun great, Kydex seems to be a half second faster to draw from, because, synthetics don’t trap moisture from sweat as bad I think they’re better IWB. It’s a question of apples or oranges.
3. The pics represent just shy of $200 worth of holsters and I own several more. Which one do I use the most? The cheapest one. It’s the $5.99 IWB that the Kimber was in. Which leads me to point #4
4. There are a lot of great holsters out there and you’re going to end up owning more than one kind for different applications. Pick the applications you’re going to use most and try out several brands to see which one best fits the bill.

OK fellas help a new gun owner out and give him your 2 cents.

*IWB = Inside the waist band, in the gun is inside your pants
*OWB = Outside the waist band.

Vote for Your Favorite Red Neck TV Show

Ole Clem at Hillbilly White Trash is having a vote on the all time best Hillbilly TV show. Stop by and vote if you’re a member.

As for me I gotta go with The Dukes of Hazard.

1. It really is reality TV
2. Daisy Duke rules in cut off short shorts
3. Daisy Duke with her shirt tied in a knot above the belly button
4. I ain’t met many county commissioners that didn’t remind me of Boss Hog
5. The General Lee playing Dixie on the horn
6. I’ve seen a few sheriffs that use ole Roscoe as a role model
7. Did I mention Daisy Duke?

If you’re not a Hillbilly Ecosystem member and want to vote anyway use the comments section here.

That Time of Year

We’re coming up on Rally Week again. For those of you that don’t know Rally Week is the Sturgis South Dakota Harley Division Motorcycle Rally, aka pain in the butt week. Every August the folks in Sturgis sponsor one of the largest and oldest excuses for old fat men to ride around in black leather under a hot August sun.

“Res what do you care what they do in SD”? Generally I don’t much care but Wyoming is the route that 80% of the rally goers from the western states drive through to get to Sturgis. So we get a ton of pre and post rally Harley traffic.

This year the folks in Cody Wyoming totally lost their collective minds and decided to have the Hells Angles invade their town for a pre-Sturgis kick off. This blessed the rest of the state with an influx of drug running, murderous, psychopaths, but then again Cody has a lot of Californians, they may have felt more comfortable among their own kind.

A real “Hog” costs more cash than any normal person should spend on a toy of that quality. There are three kinds of Harley owners/rally goers:

1. Rich guys (doctors, lawyers, Jay Leno) that are looking for some thing, anything that will let them look/feel/fool others into thinking that they are real men.
2. Middle class guys that are neglecting more important things to wear black leather and get stinky in the sun.
3. Criminal underclass that see rally week as an excuse to meet up and swap drugs.

Things they have in common:

1. Inability to drive a motorcycle safely or in accordance with traffic laws.
2. Aversion to bathing or personal hygiene.
3. Fat girlfriends

I asked “why do so many skinny guys with Harleys have a fat chick on the back of the bike”? I was told, “Somebody might have to kick start that sucker”.

How they get to Sturgis:

Rich guys either: a) trailer the bikes behind the motor home, creating another road hazard since they shouldn’t be allowed to drive those either, or b) have a flunky trailer the bike to Rapid City, where they fly to and then make the grueling 45 minute trip to Sturgis.

Middle class guys: a) trailer the bike behind the pick up, b) its rumored that some of them have tried to ride to the rally, c) the trailer/ride method, this is where the strong road warrior stops the truck before he gets to town, takes the bike off and drives it into the gas station to talk with all the other rally goers, the wife then drives the truck to the next rest area beyond the town and waits for him there.

This is incredibly funny to watch, especially when you’re driving on the interstate and see 8 or 10 trucks with trailers unloading at the same spot and then see the same trucks waiting at the next rest area on the other side of town. I’ve always wanted to ask one of the women if they help their man fake orgasms too.

Hells Angles types: They ride it all the way, two reasons a) the contents of the saddle bags are illegal, b) after serving 7 to 10 in the pen, ridding a Harley all day don’t seem so bad.

Kevin Leman, Nut Less Wonder

“Women are manipulators, so they'll never shy away from saying stupid things like: "I think doing the laundry is sexy!"

"The fact that the guy will figure out that she's full of it the first time he does the laundry and she does not exhibit the customary physical reactions nor does she come through on the implied promise tends to escape them. But then, logic and accountability are not strong points for the average woman.”

Vox reminded me of an incident from the early years of our marriage. When we first got married the wife and I worked about 8 to 9 hours a day, but that fall I changed jobs and she had to work at a more remote location. I was working 12 or more hours with the commute and she was working about 10 after the drive. Needless to say some of the funner reasons for being married were lessening.

Mrs. Ipsa prior to getting married was into just about every Christian help book there was. One of the books she had in her collection was Kevin Leman’s Sex Begins in the Kitchen. It should be renamed Satan’s Plan for Feminizing Your Marriage.

In a moment of sexual deprived weakness I read it. Then I got the boss to give me an afternoon off. I did the laundry, vacuumed the house, cleaned the bathroom, and had dinner just about ready when the wife came in the house. She walked in the door, took one look at the tiny amount of flour that spilled on the floor, went to the newly cleaned bathroom and came back and chewed me out.

I learned my lesson. I used Leman’s book for just one more domestic duty, I started a campfire with it. We’ve come along way since then.

I was visiting a good Christian family and had a conversation with the wife in front of her husband. She was joking about not giving her husband enough sex. I asked her if she, as a women, needed him to provide for their family financially. She is a stay at home mom. She said “yes”. I asked if she expected her husband to go to work each day. Again yes. They are trying to get out of debt so they can buy a house, he often works two jobs. I asked how many days a week he worked at the second job. She said “4 or 5 including the weekends”. “So he works seven days a week, to meet your needs?” I asked. “Yes”, she said sheepishly.

“Are you ok with (name withheld) screwing a secretary at work?” I wondered. “NO, I’d divorce him!” Doesn’t seem fair to me, he can’t get laid at home and he can’t get laid work, he works to meet your needs 7 days a week but you can’t find 45 minutes a day to meet one of his. If you were being fair you’d meet his needs daily, twice some days even.

Sex doesn’t begin in the kitchen. Sex begins with you pawning the kids off on someone else for the night. Make yourself appealing to him. Then loop Joan Jet’s “Do You Want to Touch Me There” on the mpg player. When he comes in the door a striptease while you lip synch the song is a good start. Then give him whatever else he likes, you can stop when his balls are blue and you can’t walk anymore.

If he has a heart attack and dies, you’ll have the life insurance and won’t have to worry about meeting a man’s needs again. If he lives, you’ll have a man who wants to do things to make you happy.

The basic definition of adultery is sexual unfaithfulness in marriage. If your man isn’t going to work with a smile on his face, or coming home with one in anticipation of what’s in store, you need to rethink how faithful you're being to him.

It’s Back

My much (for me any way) anticipated return to Thursday night pistol league happened yesterday. Baby birthing classes were, boring. Not because I’m not interested in the subject, I am; I’ve never seen 30 min of information crammed into 6 hours of class held over a 3 week period before.

Last night I get out to the range and we do two different drills. It was great. We started off with some falling plates and moved on to doing tactical speed drills, and even ran some carbine with transition to pistol.

On the falling plates, 2.09 out of the holster cleared the course in 11.03 and 8 shots. (7 plates). Not to shabby for not having shot in awhile. I should have stopped right then and there because it just went down hill after that, I got slower and missed more.

I managed to break 2.00 out of the holster 2 times, so I was happy. I’m still using leather with a tension retention spring, I need to go to Kydex for league, it’ll cut .5 off those times, but I’m funding a diaper fund instead of a toy fund.

One guy brought out a Garand. If you want to see a m-16 look extra wimpy run a Garand beside it on the firing range. It was cool to watch a WWII relic compete, and it held its own.

In other gun news, I have been informed that my post “Wish List” has born fruit and the much anticipated KIMBER has arrived. This would be better news if its owner wasn’t stuck on a business trip to the neither regions of the east coast. Hopefully we'll get a gun review from him when he gets back.

See a Crime Go to Jail

File Under “If You’re Not a Criminal You Have Nothing to Fear”

Philadelphia PA, settled by Germans, fully embracing the Nazi legal system.

"For two months, from mid-November 2004 to mid-January 2005, Odd languished in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, trying to figure out why he was there, and desperately trying to convince somebody - anybody - to set him free.

Odd, 42, was jailed at the request of a Philadelphia assistant district attorney - not as punishment for a crime, but to ensure his testimony as a witness in a murder case.

(snip)

Malone requested a special type of warrant, a "judge-only bench warrant," that only Neifield could lift.

"It was one of the most bizarre cases I ever had," said attorney Marc Neff, who represented Way. "The preliminary hearing went on for nine months."

When Malone finally presented the case - on Dec. 7, 2004, nearly a year after the shooting - he didn't even call Odd to the stand. Neifield discharged the case due to lack of evidence."

Question:

Why isn’t the judge holding the lawyer Malone on a special warrant to ensure he’ll testify at the wrongful imprisonment trial? Perhaps he should and then schedule the prelim 60 days latter.

Topless Swede causes Albanian alert

Published: 30th July 2006 12:51 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=4465

A Swedish tourist caused a military alert in an Albanian village when she decided to indulge in a bit of topless sunbathing.

The woman was part of a tourist group that stopped by at the beach. According to Aftonbladet, Albanian women on the beach fled with their children and called the police, shocked by the sight of the scantily clad tourist.

A military patrol was sent to the scene, the paper quoted Italian daily Corriere della Sera as reporting. The soldiers were unable to do anything, however, as they couldn't communicate with the woman.
James Savage

“The soldiers were unable to do anything, however, as they couldn't communicate with the woman. “

That’s normal for men standing around gawking with their mouths open.

90 Miles off the Florida Coast

Cuba

Castro

Communism

Biblical advice:
1 Kings 2:9

Hugo Chavez will get the message.

How to be a Boy

This last week I did a job for a company that involved me making a 400 plus mile drive around the state. Do you know what I saw? I saw a kid, probably 12 years old, riding a $800 mountain bike, wearing a pink and purple helmet, with little sparkly things on it, carrying a bottle of Evian in his bottle holder. The kid was male, but not a boy.

From Fred Reed:

"Anyway, I’m going to explain to you how to be a kid. This is going to be a technical manual. A few of you already know it. You can hum along.

To begin with, we all had BB guns. It was a rule. You couldn’t be a kid without one.

Today BB guns would be illegal and send mothers screeching and hiding under sofas and calling for federal help. Alabama knew about federal help, and didn’t want any.

You could do sensible things, like line shotgun shells up on a board and shoot at the primers from fifty feet away with the BB guns.

You couldn’t do it today. You’d need a Caring Adult to be in charge, meaning some tiresome school marm who didn’t think you should make black powder and blow things up. What’s black powder for, then? Tell me that.”

A-Freaking-Men! Making black powder fire crackers rocks! Bottle rockets are for shooting at each other out of PVC or copper pipe that you “found” at a construction site.

If you had the cash and knew someone who’d been to a state with legal fireworks, you’d take some store bought fire crackers and a coffee can (Coffee used to come in big cans, with names like Folgers, not in little bags with names like Starbucks. Starbuck was a guy on Battle Star Galatica.). Anyway, coffee can, fire cracker, little sisters wading pool, fill pool with 6in of water, put a small hole in the center of the coffee can with a nail and dad’s hammer, leave hammer in pool, set the can in the water, jam the firecracker into the nail hole and light the fuse. It’ll shoot the can maybe 40 ft in the air.

Bonus all boy points if your little sister thinks you’re blowing up her stuff and rats you out to mom and you get a whoopin. Extra all boy points if you exact revenge by strapping one of her dolls on a big rocket with rubber bands and try launching it into orbit. EXTRA EXTRA ALL BOY POINTS if you went over to your buddies house and did it to his sister too.

You know you had a good childhood if your buddy’s mom got his daddy’s belt and whooped your butt for it right beside him. Call the cops for child abuse? Heck NO! We prayed to God that adults forgot all about what/why/when they whooped us before they saw our parents someplace and remembered to tell them what we did.

No all boy points for rusting dad’s Craftsman hammer in the pool. There are some things that boys just do, nobody knows why. Your sons gonna do it to you. Just remember what you said about “if I had boy who…” I wouldn’t whip him. Yeah right.

Sure, I saw sissy boy and the pink helmet this last trip (likely from California). In a small town made up of near all oil field trash, I saw a real boy. He had a garage sale Huffy dirt bike. Kid was wearing ripped jeans, dusty shirt. He had messed up hair and dirt on his face. I bet he never wore a bike helmet, never bought bottled water. I’d wager my baseball cards that he knows the firecracker trick and he drinks his water the way the good lord intended boys to, right from the hose.

WTW "Florida Hurricane Advice"

We're about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you're going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Gulf of Mexico and making two basic meteorological hints:

(1) There is no need to panic.
(2) We could all be killed.


Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you're new to the area, you're probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we'll get hit by "the big one." Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan:

STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.
STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3. Drive to Illinois and remain there until Halloween.

Unfortunately,statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay in Florida.

We'll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items:

HOMEOWNERS' INSURANCE:

If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements:

(1) It is reasonably well-built, and
(2) It is located in Illinois.

Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay you money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you'll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss.

EVACUATION ROUTE:

If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver's license; if it says "Florida," you live in a low-lying area.

HURRICANE SUPPLIES:

If you don't evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now. Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of Spam.

In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies: 23 flashlights; at least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights. Bleach. (No, I don't know what the bleach is for. Nobody knows what the bleach is for, but it's traditional, so get some!) A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant. A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.) A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through a hurricane; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.) $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth.

Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean.

Good luck, and remember: its great living in paradise.

Much About Mel

As a rule I can’t be bothered to give a flip about Hollywood or the weenies that inhabit it. Take the Gibson story. The facts boil down to: celebrity gets drunk, gets stopped for DUI, shoots off his mouth at the cops, gets cuffed and hauled off to jail. Yawn. Doesn’t this happen on a near daily basis in California?

What’s the big deal? The big deal is Mel made a movie about Jesus that was proclaimed to be the anti Semitic movie of all time. Then when he gets busted for DUI he spouts off a bunch of anti Jewish crap at the Jewish cop that pulled him over.

The reason I’m bring it up is we can learn a lesson form Mel. When you screw up, no matter how bad, apologize immediately. The worse your mistake or the more public it is, the faster and more publicly you should beg forgiveness.

This is where Mel shines in this incident. Look at his words:

"The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person,"

"I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone who I have offended,"

"I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words."

"I'm not just asking for forgiveness," he said. "I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing."

"I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone," he said. "I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed."

This incident will eventually go away for Gibson, at least in the public's mind. He will be forgiven by his newly discovered fan base that is mostly Christian. Even though that group is made up of people that condemn the things he has done. The reason is that Mel made an appropriate apology.

1. Admit you’re wrong
2. Absolve others of blame, “officer was just doing his job”
3. Acknowledge what you’ve done
4. Confess the offensiveness of your action
5. Offer penance

The faster you make amends, the fewer repercussions you will face. People don’t want to look bad to others and being unforgiving in the face of a penitent person is socially unacceptable. After the apology this is what the arresting officer had to say:

"I don't take pride in hurting Mr. Gibson," Mee said. "What I had hoped out of this is that he would think twice before he gets behind the wheel of a car and was drinking. That would be my hope that this would accomplish that. I don't want to ruin his career. I don't want to defame him in any way or hurt him."

Interestingly the cop was also willing to give Gibson a pass on the bad behavior too:

"That stuff is booze talking," the deputy said. "There's two things that booze does. It amplifies your basic personality. If you are a laid-back kind of person, just an easygoing kind of person, booze is going to amplify that and you'll be just sitting around going how it's a wonderful day.

"But, if you are a high-strung person, it's going to amplify that, and all the bad things are going to come out."

Compare the reaction of the cops in the Gibson case to those involved with the Rep Cynthia “Gangsta Bitch” McKinney. McKinney’s statement after assaulting a cop has two main points:

1. It’s whitey’s fault
2. Fuck da police

Reaction towards Mel Gibson has been reconciliatory both from the general public and the police department. Yet the DC cops are still calling for McKinney’s head. Both broke the law, one apologized and the other one refused to accept responsibility and further antagonized the situation.

In a situation you can respond from pride or from humility. If you are humble even your adversary will admire and sometimes defend you. Your sincere apology will soften his zeal in persecuting you.