Monday Funnies...

Halloween yuks courtesy of OldNFO:

 Q. Why don't witches like to ride their brooms when they're angry?

  A. They're afraid of flying off the handle!

  Q. Who won the skeleton beauty contest?

  A. No body

  Q. What do skeletons say before they begin dining?

  A. Bone appetit !

  Q. Where do baby ghosts go during the day?

  A. Dayscare centers

  Q. Who did Frankenstein take to the prom?

  A. His ghoul friend.

  Q. What monster flies his kite in a rain storm?

  A. Benjamin Frankenstein

  Q. What do ghosts serve for dessert?

  A. Ice Scream

  Q. What's a monster's favorite play?

  A. Romeo and Ghouliet

  Q. What do witches put on their hair?

  A. Scare spray

  Q. What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost?

  A. Bamboo

  Q. What's a haunted chicken?

  A. A poultry-geist

  Q. How can you tell when you're in bed with Count Dracula?-

  A. He has a big D on his pajamas

  Q. What's pink and gray and wrinkly and old and belongs to

  Grandpa monster?

  A. Grandma monster

  Q. Why did the monster eat a light bulb?

  A. Because he was in need of a light snack

  Q. Why are most monsters covered in wrinkles?-

  A. Have you ever tried to iron a monster?

  Q. What kind of mistakes do spooks make?

  A. Boo boos

  Q. Why couldn't Dracula's wife get to sleep?

  A. Because of his coffin

  Q. Why do mummies make excellent spies?

  A. They're good at keeping things under wraps

  Q. What kind of cereal do monsters eat?

  A. Ghost-Toasties

  Q. What kind of monster is safe to put in the washing machine?

  A. A wash and wear wolf

  Q. What's the first thing ghosts do when they get into a car?

  A. They boo-kle their seatbelts

  Q. What has webbed feet, feathers, fangs and goes quack-quack?

  A. Count Duckula

  Q. What do you call a person who puts poison in a person's corn flakes?

  A. A cereal killer

  Q. Why are monsters huge and hairy and ugly?

  A. Because if they were small and round and smooth they'd be M&M's

  Q. Why wasn't there any food left after the monster party?

  A. Because everyone was a goblin!

  Q. How did the ghost patch his sheet?

  A. With a pumpkin patch.

  Q. What is as sharp as a vampires fang?

  A. His other fang.

  Q: What do the birds sing on Halloween?

  A: Twick or Tweet

  Q: What did the little ghost have in his rock collection?

 A: Tombstones

  Q: Why should a skeleton drink 10 glasses of milk a day?

  A: It's good for the bones

  Q: What do baby ghosts wear on Halloween?

  A: White Pillowcases

  Q: What do you get when you drop a pumpkin?

  A: Squash

  Q: Why did the witches' team lose the baseball game?

  A: Their bats flew away

  Q: What was the witches favorite subject in school?

  A: Spelling

  Q: What does a vampire fear most?

  A: Tooth decay

  Q: Where did the vampire open his savings account?

  A: At a blood bank

  Q: What did the mad scientist eat on Halloween?

  A: Frankenfurters with Ketchup

  Q: Where do mummies go for a swim?

  A: To the dead sea

  Q: What is Transylvania?

  A: Dracula's terror-tory

  Q: Where does dracula water ski?

  A: On Lake Erie

  Q: What kind of boat pulls Dracula when he water skis?

  A: A blood vessel

  Q: What do you get when you divide the diameter of a jack-o-lantern by it's circumference?

  A: Pumpkin Pi

  Q: Why are there fences around cemetaries?

  A: Because people are dying to get in.

  Q: Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

  A: He didn't have the guts.

  Q: What does a ghost eat for lunch?

  A: A BOO-logna sandwich.

  Q: How does the silly witch know what time it is?

  A: She looks at her witch-watch.

  Q: What did the Mommy ghost say to the baby ghost?

  A: Don't spook until your spooken to.

  Q: What kind of protozoa likes Halloween?

  A: An amoeboo!

  Q: Why do ghouls and demons hang out together?

  A: Because demons are a ghoul's best friend!

  Q: What happened to the guy who couldn't keep up payments to his exorcist?

  A: He was repossessed.

Have a scary and safe time tonight with the little boys and ghouls!

That is all.

Anita Hill II: Electric Boogaloo...

You're kidding me. They're pulling this crap again?

Report: Cain accused of inappropriate behavior in 1990s

(CNN) - The campaign of presidential candidate Herman Cain has criticized a news report alleging that Cain displayed inappropriate behavior to two female employees in the 1990s, saying the news media has started "to launch unsubstantiated personal attacks on Cain."

At least two female employees of the National Restaurant Association complained of inappropriate behavior from Cain when he led the organization, POLITICO reported Sunday night.

No names. No specifics. I take the Anita Hill comment back - this is even thinner than the "allegations" against Clarence Thomas. It's rather interesting, though, the interest the media takes in allegations of sexual impropriety against a black Republican rather than, say, oh, a white Democrat...

Again, much like in the Clarence Thomas high tech lynching story, the allegations go back some 10-15 years, with vague hints of "inappropriate behavior" and all the incumbent "wink wink nudge nudge" that comes with it. "Gestures" and topics that made certain people "uncomfortable" are part of the report.


See straws, grasping at...

Having destroyed Sarah Palin, and not content with savaging Rick Perry, they've set their sights on Herman Cain next. He's probably the GOP's best hope at winning next November, given that he takes the "ZOMG RACIST" card out of the deck for the Democrats - and at this point, really, that's all they have. He's also a businessman with a record of success who doesn't carry the political baggage of, oh, the past four years of failed democrat policy.

Hence the desperate attempt to destroy his character.

They can't exactly portray him as the drooling idiot they made Bush out to be. His business record certainly doesn't bear that out, for one thing - and they can't use the "daddy's money" angle to explain away how he managed to become the manager of a business like they did with GWB. So, rather than being stupid, he must be evil - those are the only two archetypes available from Republicans. Sadly, "stupid" is most often correct.

Unless and until they provide more information than "a couple unnamed sources" and more specifics than "made them uncomfortable", I'm writing this off as YALMHP" (Yet Another Left-Media Hit Piece). Unless and until they expend the same amount of energy investigating allegations against BOTH parties, such pieces are suspect.


And now I've got to take a better look at Herman Cain - if he's got the media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) this desperate, he may be worth supporting...

That is all.

When Worlds Collide...

Since it seems to be the ONLY news today, here's a picture from just outside Casa del G.:

Premature snowulation

Our pre-Halloween snowfall has been big news all over the country. Parts of western MA got over a foot of snow - we only got ~ 3-4", but it was heavy, wet snow. Lots of places without power because a lot of trees still had leaves like in the picture - and those leaves get heavy when laden with wet snow. School has been canceled in our area because two of the three towns in the school district don't have power (it's an all-or-nothing thing because we're regional) and my work has no power so we've got the day off...


And no, Al Gore has not been spotted in the Northeast...

That is all.

Happy Halloween!

Yep, it's the day for ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. I wanted to share BabyGirl G.'s awesome costume with y'all. Here's her kit:

Yes, They Come In Pink

And here she is ready to go out:

Watch out Julie Golob!

She's going as a new girl shooter! Now, she's not going right away - she has some behavioral and maturity issues I'd like her to work through first - but I figured it couldn't hurt to get the basics down, right? When we picked up ear protection for TheBoy, the pink set was sitting right next to it, and she practically squeed when I suggested we get them for her "for when she's ready". It's good to have goals, right?


Yeah, I know, some folks don't care for pink, but I think BabyGirl G. looks smashing in it!


That is all.

TheBoy's First Full Range Trip AAR

So I took my son to the range for his first real range trip this past weekend. Daniel in Brookline brought his daughter (Miss Z) to try out the Sig Mosquito (and to get some daddy-daughter range time, something I heartily approve of), so I decided to bring TheBoy along and we would make an afternoon of it. I brought a couple rifles, my Remington 511 bolt-action and the Ruger 10/22, and some pistols (the aforementioned Mosquito and the Colt New Frontier).

This was a kid-oriented range trip. All firearms were .22LR; both handguns are scaled-down models of their full-sized brethren: The Mosquito is a 90% sized copy of the SIG SAUER P226, and the New Frontier is a 7/8 scale version of the venerable Colt Single Action Army. The Remington 511 bolt action rifle, being the only bolt-action rimfire I possess, was a little difficult for the kids to operate so it didn't see a lot of use - although they did really dig seeing the target up close through the 3-9X scope (set on low power since we were only at 25 feet). The 10/22 was a huge hit, although I did discover that it does NOT like CCI Mini-mags and tends to mash them something awful...

TheBoy still loved it:

ZOMG! A 10 year old with an assault weapon!

He really liked the red dot sight, and was delighted to discover that it could be either red OR green. He refers to it now as the "30-round gun", as I have a couple 30 rounders I picked up at a local gun shop for it as well as the flush-fit 10 rounders. He got to see first hand how much easier it was to shoot a rifle accurately vs. a pistol, but did notice that the rifles were a lot heavier...

His favorite gun, though? The wheelgun:

10 Years to CAS...

I don't know why he liked the New Frontier best out of the guns he's shot. I would have thought, given sheer number of rounds fired, that the 10/22 would have achieved "favorite" status (he emptied both 30 rounders and several 10 rounders with it), but at the end of the day he liked the revolver best. That's my boy.

And, of course, Miss Z got to shoot the Mosquito:

Gonna Cost Dad $$$

Y'know, I hope every time I post a picture of young girl with a firearm, Sarah Brady cries.

She seemed to like it just fine - Daniel commented that she was making noises about getting one of her own (!!!) - and I think moving to the indoor range helped that decision along. It's cozy, no doubt about that, but it was also heated and out of the snow - when we finally got ready to leave and came upstairs (the indoor range is in the club basement), we realized that it was snowing hard outside! I think all parties had a grand time, and I'm happy to repeat any time.

And I had the best feedback EVER from my son the very next day: "Dad, when can we go to the range again?"

That is all.

Guess What I'm Doing this Afternoon?

Despite the alleged lousy weather, we will be making use of this:

A good day...

The new ear protection is for TheBoy - so he has his very own set of ears. He's going to try his hand at rifles today (hence the plethora of .22LR) as well as more time with a .22 pistol (and a revolver, too, at his asking!). Meeting commenter Daniel at the range with one of his brood as well, so it's a good Dad/kid day at the range.

Despite the snow...
That is all.

Al Gore Can Kiss My...

(picture from here)

Global warming my hairy Italian ass...

That is all.

Friday Funnies...

Heh. Sent in by Stickman:

Dogs Know,

Have you ever heard that a dog 'knows' when an earthquake is about to hit?

Have you ever heard that a dog can 'sense' when a tornado is stirring up, even 20 miles away?

Do you remember hearing that before the December tsunami struck Southeast Asia , dogs started running frantically away from the seashore, at breakneck speed?

Do you know that dogs can detect cancer and other serious illnesses and danger of fire?

Somehow they always know when they can 'go for a ride' before you even ask. How do those dogs and cats get home from hundreds of miles away?

I'm a firm believer that animals - and especially cats and dogs - have keen insights into the Truth.

And you can't tell me that dogs can't sense a potentially terrible disaster well in advance.

Simply said, a dog just KNOWS when something isn't right... when impending doom is upon us.

They'll always try to warn us!


We should have listened.

I'm sorry - this was too good to not pass along...

That is all.

Things That Are Good to See...

I know I post a lot about things that are not good: Hippies, socialists, anti-freedom forces, etc. Every once in a while it's nice to be reminded that there are still things in this world that are good. Brad_in_MA sends in such a story:

U.S. Army Post Honors Soldier, Dog Killed in Iraq

DENVER – A dog park at a Colorado Army post is being named in honor of an Oregon soldier and his military working dog who were killed together in Iraq.

Cpl. Kory Wiens and the Labrador retriever named Cooper will be remembered at a ceremony Friday at Fort Carson just outside Colorado Springs.

Neither had any ties to the CO Army post; the post just felt it was a nice thing to do. It's also interesting to note that Corporal Wiens and Cooper were buried together. There's just something fitting about that; I understand that the training for folks that work with dogs in a professional setting tends to bind the two; obviously this carries through even in extremis.


Yeah, there's a little dust in the air today, in case you were wondering...

That is all.

Headlines That Could Only Come From California...

Motorcycle gang war started at Starbucks

The latest bloody feud among outlaw motorcycle gangs in California and Nevada grew out of a battle over which gang could hang out at a Starbucks coffee shop in Santa Cruz.



“Only in Santa Cruz could you have biker wars over who’s going to control pumpkin spice lattes,” says Santa Cruz deputy police chief Steve Clark. “It was all about who could hang out at Starbucks.”

Now, don't get me wrong - this is deadly serious business. It's all about turf and respect, and the penalty for disregarding either can be death. These guys do not mess around - if they tell you you're not allowed somewhere, it's in your best personal interest to get as far from "somewhere" as possible. It's just interesting to see that Starbucks, that yuppie hipster icon, is the centerpiece around which this gang war revolves...

It's kinda like the incongruity of the Hell's Angels suing Disney...

That is all.

This Is What It Sounds Like, When Socialists Cry...

Heh. Brad_in_MA sends in this happy little piece of schadenfreude:

Occupy Boston expels 2 finance team members

Occupy Boston has booted two members of its finance team after accusations they spent money without permission and tried to set up a fundraiser with the city teacher’s union.The group identified the accused in a blog posting and in an apologetic letter to the teacher’s union. The Herald is withholding their names because they have not been charged.

"We strongly recommend against giving them any funds for any reason whatsoever," the group said in a letter to the teacher’s union. "We regret that our first point of contact with you had come with such a negative tone. We cherish your support and look forward to working with you in the future."

They "spent money without permission" and "tried to set up a fundraiser with the city teacher's union"! OMG! Firing squad at dawn! Sounds to me like someone on the finance team didn't like the way things were going and decided to take matters into their own hands - and wound up getting their ass in a sling over it. This is me crying real tears here.

It does make you wonder, though, exactly why they're coming down so hard on someone for trying to set up a fundraiser. The ass-kissing gets pretty thick towards the teacher's unions - just who are they trying to appease? Isn't it the very height of irony that the Occupy group - which has prided itself on being leaderless, formless, and of-the-people blah blah blah is behaving just as rigidly as any Fortune 500 company?


In any case, it's always a good thing when communists take it in the shorts...

That is all.

Friday Gun Pr0n #238

Today's pic is something that's been seen before, but with an upgrade in glass:

G-d's Own Caliber, Redux

Savage model 10 bolt action rifle in G-d's Own Caliber (.308 Winchester). 24" heavy barrel, Choate riflestock, Timney trigger, and, new this week, Barska 6.5-20x50mm varmint/target scope. Picked it up on a whim from Amazon, of all places - at that priceI figured it could be a backup spotting scope if it didn't work out on the Savage.

I still need to get her sighted in; she came with a 3-10X BSA Cats' Eye scope that hadn't been sighted in. I have a 12.5-60X spotting scope (also by Barska) that I intend to use for that purpose, along with a LaserLyte boresight laser. My gun club's rifle range goes out to 150 yards, so if the Barska scope can pick up the target at that distance (meaning my old eyes can use the scope to pick the target up), she'll be set up at least that far. If I can get someone to host me at a club with longer range, I might stretch her legs and set it up for 200 yards or so.


In any case, there's some long range rifle shooting in my future - yippee!

That is all.

How's That Shoe Leather Taste?

File her under "N" for "Not ready for prime time"...

Advised to watch words, Warren clarifies Occupy comments

U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren says the Wall Street protests are "independent" and "organic," clarifying a previous comment in which she seemed to be taking credit for the movement.


Warren said today that what she had intended to say earlier was that she had been protesting against Wall Street abuses for a long time.

Gee, if you meant to say "I've been protesting against Wall Street abuses for a long time", you should have said "I've been protesting against Wall Street abuses for a long time". You should have eschewed the Gorian "I created much of the intellectual foundation of the movement" line you actually used in favor of a more general platitude. The OWS may have some folks in it that honestly and truly believe that Wall Street abuses are the center problem; however there's a not-inconsequential number of folks that just want free stuff (student loans, anyone) or to simply mooch.

Add in the clashes with police, the fights, riots, and sexual assaults (that they're trying to hush up - isn't it interesting that when it's the Catholic Church covering up rape, the news falls over themselves to report it, but not the OWS movement...); well, I can see why you would want to distance yourself from this group a bit. Much like Scott Brown and those evil racist terrorist Tea Partiers, who, BTW, leave their protest areas cleaner than before the protest and have an order of magnitude fewer arrests, you can't just pick and choose which elements of the group you want to take credit for/show allegiance with/etc.

In for a penny, in for a pound Mrs. Warren...

That is all.

WHA-WHA-WHAAAATTT?!?!?!?!?!

YH*G*TBSM.

The Perry approach -- campaign first, have ideas later

Washington (CNN) -- Call me crazy, but I recall when presidential candidates ran for the high office because they had things to say. The notion went like this: I have ideas that I think will be great for the country. I have thought about them, vetted them with experts, spoken about them throughout my career. I have refined them, many times, even changed some. And now I think it's time to run for the presidency, armed with those ideas to present to the nation.



So imagine my surprise when, at a recent debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry turned to Mitt Romney and, with a certain amount of disdain, sniffed, "Mitt has had six years to be working on a plan. I have been in this for about eight weeks." In other words, I'll get back to you.

ARE YOU SH**TING ME??? This is from the network that wholeheartedly and unabashedly endorsed, covered for, and otherwise promulgated the fiasco that was the Obama campaign upon America in 2008? They're *NOW* concerned that a candidate doesn't have a firm plan in place? Where where they in all of 2008? Barry got swept into office on wide platitudes, empty promises, and rainbow unicorns - and CNN is putting Rick Perry down because he doesn't have firm plans months before the GOP primaries???

There's biased reporting, and then there's this dreck. There's covering for a candidate or party, and then there's actively going out and doing scurrilous hit pieces on potential opponents - which is certainly what this is. This "analyst" goes through the current GOP contenders and dismisses all of them - except Mitt Romney. Gee, why do you think that is? You think they want Obama to face the weakest possible GOP contender? You know, like they did in 2008?

You know what? We're *still* waiting for a plan from Obama, CNN. He's done nothing but raise taxes and shovel .gov $$$ at companies - remember "too big to fail"? He railed against Bush's "imperialist" foreign policy - and then committed US troops in 2 additional areas. He swore to us that he would shut down Gitmo - and it's still open. He promised us that he would have the most transparent administration in history - and then allows his Justice Department to lie on FOIA requests. These are the actions of a candidate with a plan?


But hey, Rick Perry stands a better chance of beating Obama than Mitt, so let's destroy Perry like they destroyed Palin...

That is all.

How Does MA Differ From Canada?

In Canada, they don't require you to register your longarms... Les and DB sent in similar links to this story:

Canada's Conservative government to ease gun laws

TORONTO (AP) - Canada's Conservative government introduced legislation Tuesday to scrap a controversial law that requires the registration of rifles and shotguns.

Canada has long required registration of hand guns, but the long-run registry law passed in 1995 faced bitter opposition from rural Canada, the Conservative party's base, which considered it an overreaction to the problem of urban crime.

In Massachusetts, every transaction involving a firearm requires that a form (E-FA-10) be filled out for every transfer. Buy a gun? Sell a gun? The transaction needs to be registered. Doesn't matter if it's a longarm or a handgun, a single-shot .410 shotgun or a state-of-the-art polymer wundernine; it needs to be logged with the state. So, basically, Canada has some gun laws that are more lenient than MA gun laws.


Massachusetts: We have worse gun laws than Canada - but then again, just say you're an illegal alien and all is forgiven...

That is all.

Read This. Read It Now. Then Read It Again...

Commenter Freiheit sends this in, and it's well worth your time to read it a couple of times.

RICHARDSON, NATHAN W

Recognize any of that neighborhood behavior? If so, you might want to invest in ADT and a tougher gun safe. What's laid out in that single page is a burglar's wish list: neighborhood where no one questions an unfamiliar face - or doesn't recognize that the face is even unfamiliar; unlocked doors; expensive items kept in standard areas; etc. By being a keen study of human nature (the comment about which houses to hit is especially interesting), he managed to pull over 200 burglaries before getting caught - and one of his accomplices had made over $400K from stolen items.

We can't always be home to assist Darwin when goblins make bad choices. What we can do, however, is mitigate our risk factors. Lock your doors. Close the windows. Fix that window in the basement that never closes right. Take a few moments to get to know your neighbors - and pay attention when they're out of town, or even out for the day in case someone's lurking in the shadows. Don't leave valuables out in plain sight. Break down the cardboard box for the new computer or big screen TV rather than leaving it intact on the curb for all to see. Offering less of a target to a crook is way better than making the Jones's jealous (sorry Les)...


Most of this is common sense, which means that precious few people will heed it...

That is all.

Butt-Kicking: The Historical Perspective...

Heh. Received via e-mail from Wally, who knows these things:

It's funny 'cuz it's true!

It does beg the question, though: Who else could compete? Rifle and pistol are easy, but who else had a combat shotgun? It's hard to consider the M30 Luftwaffe drilling a standard issue arm for the Germans, or a Greener police gun for the Brits... Think we might have won this one by default, but still...

Dee-fault! Dee-fault! The two greatest words in the English language!

That is all.

You're Kidding Me...

A sales call? At 8:20 at night? Not just no but OH HELL NO. If you can't be bothered to call at a reasonable hour (like an hour and a half ago), don't bother.

Doing bad marketing is worse than doing no marketing, and calling people while they're trying to get kids in bed is very bad marketing indeed...

That is all.

UPDATE: It gets even better. We got another call - from an organization with which we've done business in the past - about 25 minutes later. Yes, this organization actually called us at quarter to nine at night to ask why we'd let our membership lapse...

I'll Take "Things Jay Would Pay Money To See" for $500, Alex...

Heh. My #1 Blogdaughter sends this story of "what could have been" to brighten my day...

50 pound slab of blue ice falls off Air Force One narrowly missing “Occupy Las Vegas” protesters

LAS VEGAS - A group of several dozen “Occupy Las Vegas” protesters camping on Clark County land located under the final approach to Runway 19 at McCarran International Airport today narrowly missed being injured when a 50 lb. slab of “blue ice” reportedly landed within feet of their tents.

"Blue ice" is a polite euphemism for the leaking toilet water (it's blue because of the disinfectant/deodorizer) that freezes and exits the plane for a variety of reasons. Most often it falls off in small enough sizes that it's never seen; sometimes it does stick to the plane and fall off in sheets as the plane descends to warmer air. Apparently this sheet nearly hit some OWS protesters...

Because I'm a sick bastard, I liked this:

Clark County Director of Aviation Randall Walker was immediately notified and dispatched airport personnel to the campsite, but witnesses report that the blue ice had melted by the time officials arrived leaving only a smelly brown residue.

No, I'm almost certain that was the hippies...

That is all.

Interesting Claim To Stake...

So Elizabeth Warren thinks of herself as the founder of the Occupy Wall Street movement, does she?

Warren walks fine line on Occupy movement

A widely circulated video for Occupy Wall Street features rousing marchers beating on drums, grainy videos vilifying former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, and a singular voice, held up as a clear-speaking hero: Elizabeth Warren.



The video, filled with file footage of a Warren interview, has been viewed nearly 185,000 times since it was posted on YouTube on Oct. 3 and is one of many indications that some in the movement consider Warren, a Massachusetts candidate for the Senate, their standard-bearer.

You want to die on that hill, Mrs. Warren, please be our guest. While the "Occupy[Insert placename]" movement might be all the rage in the uber-lefty enclaves you inhabit, you'll find support drops off precipitiously once you move out of Cambridge or Amherst. I loved this line:

“I created much of the intellectual foundation for what they do,’’ she told the website. “I support what they do.’’

Could you, in 500 words or less, define exactly what it IS that they do, precisely? The movement has been disjointed; seemingly unlead - except through the addition of $oros$ fund$, with the aims, goals, and boogeymen changing daily - if not hourly. The enemy is Wall Street. Well, not just Wall Street; it's all of America that worked hard and made something of themselves - that's hardly a message you want to push too hard, is it?

You've got these insane and inane "demands" - like free college tuition, universal free health care, etc. - that would absolutely bankrupt the government and shutter many institutions if implemented. To say nothing of the fact that once a college education is completely free, it becomes next-to-worthless. Blaming Wall Street for your student loans because you majored in Underwater Basketweaving at Elite U. might sound like a great plan, but when you start demanding that John and Jane Q. Public pay for your mistake - which is what .gov $$$ are - you start losing support rapidly. Especially with things like this:

Thirty-one percent said they would support violence to achieve their goals, according to the poll. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said they agree the government “has a moral responsibility to guarantee health care, college education, and a secure retirement for all, no matter what cost.’’

Got that? Nearly a third "support violence to achieve their goals". This is the movement Warren is trying to claim credit for, folks. Think about the implications of that statement. A sizeable portion of the OWS crowd would be perfectly fine with government troops marching on private businesses to seize their bank accounts simply because they made too much money. That's not an America I want to live in. It is, apparently, close to a third of the America that Elizabeth Warren would like us to live in, though.

Warren is trying to play it both ways - she wants all the credit for the OWS movement, but none of the downside, like the riots, arrests, rapes, and bickering over funds. It's a classic politician move, mind you, and certainly nothing out of the ordinary for any politician to pick-and-choose the elements that they want associated with their image. It's just a little humorous to see Warren - the classic "look at me, I'm an outsider" - playing traditional politician games like a pro.

Time will tell if Massachusetts is ready for someone who makes Ted Kennedy look downright conservative...

That is all.

Coach G.

I am a glutton for punishment. There's no other explanation. Monday night I brought TheBoy to his school at 7:00 PM so that we could sign him up for intramural basketball. This is the third phase of his basketball career, the fifth and sixth grade level. They have a purely instructional league for first and second grade; an intermediate league for third and fourth grade, and now, for TheBoy, the big league.

He's tall for his age - 95% as of his yearly checkup earlier this year - and at the bus stop there are two sixth grade boys, both of which are shorter than TheBoy. He's been working diligently on his dribbling and shooting, spending his "chillaxing" time after school out in the driveway shooting baskets. Kinda like I did when I was a kid. He likes basketball best of all because he's pretty good at it - being tall allows him to grab the ball first; practicing a lot gets the ball through the net.

And now I'll be coaching him.

Yep. I checked off the box that said "Would you be interested in coaching?" I made it very clear that I was only interested in being an assistant coach - it has been nearly 30 years since I played in any organized form, and the rules and drills are a hazy memory. I might offer to coach next year, but for this season I want to help out only, not be the guy in charge. I haven't offered to coach any of his sports until now mainly because of Cub Scouts, but where this is my last year as Cubmaster, I'm in a position to take on new roles.

I'm both excited and scared as hell.

My dad coached my last year in intramural basketball. We had the worst record in the whole league - I think we won one game because the other team had the wrong time and didn't show up - but every kid played his allotted time. Dad rotated everyone fairly and didn't give in to the temptation to play his best players heavily or put his own kid in more - he made sure everyone got the same amount of game time.

(There's a funny story about Dad talking to an overzealous father who was angry that his "superstar" kid wasn't playing more, and was overly vocal about his displeasure. At one point Dad went over to "talk" to "superdad", and, while smiling the entire time, told him in no uncertain terms that: a) This was his team, and no one was going to tell him how to run it; b) the "superstar" was playing just as much as everyone else on the team; and c) if superdad didn't shut his mouth, Dad was going to ram his whistle so far down the guy's throat he'd have to take his pants off to announce the halftime).


I'd like to think I'm a little more diplomatic, but there are times that my father's influence shines through brightly.

I'll do my best to foster and nurture not only TheBoy's love of basketball, but for all the boys on the team. One of the great things about basketball at this level is that it's one of the easiest sports to practice - even soccer requires cleats and an open expanse of field. All you need is a pair of sneakers and a basketball - if you don't have a hoop handy, you can practice dribbling and passing. Basketball is one of the few sports that you can practice alone for most of the game - passing being the notable exception - and develop excellent skills.

The town complex has a six hoop enclosed court; the elementary school has an outdoor court as well as an indoor court. The high school and junior high both have outdoor nets near the sporting fields. The city next to us has a park just over the city line with a number of courts. The local community college - as well as the YMCA - have spots on the weekends that are free for anyone to come in and shoot hoops in the indoor courts. The excuse of  "I couldn't find a place to practice" rings especially hollow here.

I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, one of the greatest times to be a basketball fan in New England. It was the heyday of the Boston Celtics - truly the Dream Team - with Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, M.L. Carr, and Red Auerbach as coach. In 1981, when I was the same age as TheBoy, the Celtics won the NBA championship, a feat they would repeat in 1984 and 1986. I spent many afternoons out in the driveway replaying the highlights of the last Celts game against my steel backboard.


And now I'm going to try to pass along my knowledge of the only sports game I've ever truly loved to my son - I hope I don't screw this up...

That is all.

Yep, My Readers Know Me...

Stretch sent in this story via e-mail with the header "You wouldn't have chased him". Heh.

Father Chases Man Who Allegedly Groped His Daughter in Massachusetts Mall

SALEM, Mass. –  A man whose teenage daughter was allegedly groped during a trip to a Massachusetts mall chased the suspect down and, with the help of passers-by, held him until police arrived, MyFoxBoston.com reports.

My favorite part of the story is this:

Bouncers at a nearby bar reportedly had to restrain the girl's father from attacking Hashem.

Heh. You go dad! The saddest part is the poor guy will most likely face charges from Martha "We discourage self-help" Coakley)... Now, I don't know if I would have chased the guy, for one simple reason: I don't think the bouncers would be able to stop me from turning the guy into a brownish red smear.

There was an incident, many years ago, involving a soccer player who smashed my friend's head through a window at a college frat party. He didn't like that my friend was sitting on a table (never mind that there were no chairs around), so he went over, grabbed him by the hair (he had long hair that hung down over his face) and pushed him back, hard, so that the back of his head went through the window behind him. I didn't see the incident (I was too busy trying to charm a member of the opposite sex, or perhaps a lally column), but some mutual friends came over to me and told me what happened.

"Who was it?" I bellowed (and bear in mind, at the time, I was about 220 pounds and lifted weights daily).

They pointed out the offender, who was about halfway across the room from me. To this day I have no idea how or why I arrived at this conclusion, but I broke into a full run at the dude. As I reached him, I grabbed him in a bear hug, picked him up and carried him the full length of the room at full speed, then crushed him against the back wall for good measure. As I dropped him to the floor, he started puking - and the entire soccer team turned to see what was happening... As my friends literally dragged me out of the building, I'm screaming "I'll take all of you on!" and generally trying my damnedest to find something to throw at them.

And this was over a friend, someone in the dorms I was buddies with - imagine if it had been my daughter getting groped by some scumbag in a mall...

That is all.

Totally Impractical - So Why Do I Want One So Bad It Hurts?

Got a presser about the new Heizer DoubleTap yesterday. It had some general information, as well as some new photos that I hadn't seen before:

Standard press release shot

Profile

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Now, I notice something interesting here. There's what appears to be the Derringer equivalent of a "witness hole" - a "loaded chamber indicator", if you will. I wonder if this is going to be submitted as a MA-compliant gun? I don't know if I'd pay actual money for one - actually, that's a lie. For the right price point, I'd buy one of these so fast my wallet would get whiplash - I am an absolute sucker for an oddball gun. While Tam pooh-poohs the "look at me" factor of a firearm at the range, I relish it - because nothing brings folks together like shooting a unique pistol. 

At the very least I'd love to run a box or two of ammo through it just to say I'd done it...

That is all.

Basketweaving 102...

Skidmark sends in this story about real, honest-to-goodness college courses. Folks, I couldn't make this up if I tried...

I got an A in Phallus 101

THE "DIRTY DOZEN" list of "America's Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses" is out — and Los Angeles-area institutions of higher learning have walked away with one-fourth of the ranked honors (or dishonors). Occidental College, an 1,800-student liberal arts school in Eagle Rock, is the only college on the list to collect not one but two citations for excellence at offering trendy theories of gender, skin color and white-male oppression at the expense of actual academic content.
...
The list comes from the Young America's Foundation, a 40-year-old nonprofit funded by conservative individuals and foundations. Its No. 1 slot this year for bizarre class offerings went to Occidental, for a course called "The Phallus."

This is a for-credit college course where they discuss "the meaning of the phallus". You know, even Freud admitted that, sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar... Sometimes it's just too damn hard to mock stuff like this, because the truth really is stranger than fiction. Go read the article and see what passes for classes in college these days...

I mean, I felt kinda bad when I was in college and I took a class called "History of Film". It was a full three credit course that met once a week for a three hour stretch - we would have ~ 45 minutes of classroom teaching, watch a 2 hour movie, then discuss for the remainder of the time. We had four papers over the course of the semester, no tests. It was, hands-down, the easiest course I took in college with the possible exceptions of Basic Programming (yes, I went to school some time in the Dark Ages) or Intro to French (I was fluent at the time).

But I never took a class on "The Art of the Guido" or whatever feelgood BS passes for higher "learning" today...

That is all.

Sign "O" The Times...

Brad_in_MA sends in the following story. It's interesting, being a child of the 70s and 80s, having grown up with the Cold War. Red Dawn, Checkpoint Charlie, MAD, SDI, "The Day After", East Berlin; all of these things are part of the pop culture and societal norms that I grew up with. This story brings a good deal of that to a close...

US's most powerful nuclear bomb being dismantled

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — The last of the nation's most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War.


The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.

As Brad points out from the article, one of the interesting thing about this news item is that the engineers associated with the project have retired or passed on. They've had to essentially re-invent the wheel to dismantle the bomb as so few of the original designers and engineers were still available. The bomb was introduced nearly 50 years ago; this represents the first time in my 40 years that we haven't had a "mega-nuke" in the arsenal.

The gut reaction is to say that this is a good thing; that it's heartening to see that we're pulling back from the brinkmanship of the Cold War that says we need to stockpile enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 10 times over. However, it's tempered by the knowledge that we face a much different enemy today than we did 50 years ago, or even 70 years ago; an enemy that is not stopped by country borders nor kept in check by mega weapons.

On the one hand, my kids might not grow up knowing "duck and cover"; on the other hand, they've always flown with the "free prostate exam with every flight" TSA... Hard to say which is worse, really. While duck-and-cover represented the very worst thing that could ever happen, it was a remote possibility at best, whereas the TSA gropefest has become so commonplace that it's accepted as the cost of doing business.

Well, at least we'll have to work a lot harder to blow up the earth...

That is all.

Notes from the Road...

• To the hipster in the Honda Element with the Obama 2012 sticker: Cutting off a 3 ton pickup, no matter how much its carbon footprint offends you, is not a viable long-term strategy. Eventually someone is going to introduce you and your micro-ute to the cold, harsh laws of physics, whereby a 1 ton object gets demolished by a 3 ton object. Pulling out in front of me (when there's no one behind me, mind you) so quickly that I feel the antilock brakes engage is not the way to convert people to your cause. Just in your honor, I'm going to run the truck out in the driveway for a half-hour tonight. Up yours, Gaia!
• To the Lance Armstrong wanna-be who insisted that "bikes are traffic": No, you're not, especially when you ignore stop signs, painted lines, and pedestrians. Had you actually passed the school bus with its lights on, I would have bounced my towing mirror off your multi-colored helmet. You looked like you had every intention of doing so, which would have put you right through a crowd of elementary school children, until the nice person in the Camry drove her car just about onto the sidewalk to block you. You can't have it both ways: you can't ride your $2K bike down the center of the road because you are traffic and then scoot over the double yellow line to go around the line of cars waiting at the stop sign only to ride right through the four way without even breaking stride. See above note about learning physics, only you won't even scratch someone's paint.
• To the imbeciles that will stop and let someone into traffic even though there's nothing behind them: Seriously, grow a brain. If there's nothing but air behind your car, it takes longer for you to come to a stop and wave the person out than it does to just keep going and let them turn in your wake. I know you think you're being a good person and all, but you're just contributing to the general gridlock with your idiocy. If there's a line of cars behind you, sure thing. If not, just go.
• To folks that don't stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk: Bad, bad juju headed your way. I know sometimes it's tough - I've stopped plenty of times for someone carrying on a cell phone conversation on the edge of the sidewalk - but make the effort. Reward the folks that take the time to walk the extra ten feet down the sidewalk and use the crosswalk - especially if they have kids with them, because they're teaching the kids the right thing to do. The converse is also true: If you are a pedestrian and you can't be bothered to walk the extra 10-15 feet to the crosswalk, don't expect me to stop for you.
• Lastly, to the jackass who gave me the finger for honking at him: If you hadn't sat at the green light for five whole seconds without giving any indication you were going to tear yourself away from texting, I wouldn't have honked. Pay attention to your surroundings and there won't be any need for people to honk because you're sitting at a green light breathing through your mouth. Maybe it made you feel extra special about yourself to drive really slowly to "teach that guy a lesson", but you wouldn't have to be in the position of handing out "lessons" if you paid f**king attention. Moron.

And just think! In another month or so we'll be adding snow to this mix! Yay!

That is all.

Tuesday Campaign Pic, Part 18

If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another campaign poster for our very own Dear Leader!

Because November 2012 will be here before you know it!

That is all.

Muddying The Waters...

So I'm going through my e-mail, and what should I see but yet another message from my friendly local gun shop. Apparently more and more guns are making it to the MA Approved Firearms Roster {spit}, including this interesting little number:

(from SIG SAUER P250 website)

It's rather intriguing; given that neither the Glock 30 nor the Smith & Wesson M&P45 compact are currently MA-legal, it holds the distinction of being the only new compact polymer .45 ACP available in MA. The P250 compact is only slightly larger than the G30 in length and height, and extremely close in weight and width. It's shorter but taller than the S&W, lighter and greater capacity, too.

SIG SAUER's always had a reputation for making dependable, if somewhat conservatively-styled firearms. I've had my P226 for a few years now, and it has been a stalwart range companion and a test-bed for laser sights and conversion kits. It's been torture tested with dirty ammo and not cleaned (I broke down before the Sig did!); quick-changed back and forth between rimfire and centerfire; hauled around in the range bag for months at a time, and just been an all around champ. I'd like to see if their P250 is as durable - rumblings are that the new Sigs aren't as robust as the old school; it'd be interesting to put that to the test.

At least the G30 has competition I can pick up off the shelf now...

That is all...

From the "No S**t Sherlock" Files...

Yankeefried sends in this bit of impressive buffoonery:

England rioters 'poorer, younger, less educated'

The most comprehensive statistics published so far on people charged over the August riots in England reveal they were poorer, younger and of lower educational achievement than average.



The government figures show 13% of those arrested were gang members.

That's the only shocking number - I would have bet that more were gang members. Then again, maybe the gang members, with repeated exposure to the British "justice" system, may have only gotten tickets... Is this really news? Did we really need a study to find out that rioters were, by and large, uneducated, unemployed, and repeat offenders (80% for adults!!!).
How about some other revelations for the BBC to investigate?

• Marijuana use rampant at Cyprus Hill concerts!
• Speed limit exceeded by Corvette and Porsche owners!
• Condom sales spike at prom time!
• UFO sightings seldom occur in cities!
• BBC increasingly trying to prove itself relevant!

Okay, that last one might be a little too far-fetched...

That is all.

Human Nature Yet Again Rears Its Head...

Heh. I'm sorry. The schadenfreude is far too strong on this one to leave this alone...

They want $lice of the occu-pie

Even in Zuccotti Park, greed is good.


Occupy Wall Street’s Finance Committee has nearly $500,000 in the bank, and donations continue to pour in -- but its reluctance to share the wealth with other protesters is fraying tempers.

Some drummers -- incensed they got no money to replace or safeguard their drums after a midnight vandal destroyed their instruments Wednesday -- are threatening to splinter off.

If you're having trouble hearing, that's because I'm having trouble keeping my maniacal laughter down to a dull roar... Imagine that. A movement dedicated to pointing out the horrors of corporate greed is succumbing to greed's allure... All that cash coming in, and little going out; why, it's almost like they're trying to make a [GASP] profit! The most hysterical part comes later in the article, where someone wants something replaced and is incensed to find out that there's paperwork involved.

“The other day, I took in $2,000. I kept $650 for my group, and gave the rest to Finance. Then I went to them with a request -- so many people need things, and they should not be going without basic comfort items -- and I was told to fill out paperwork. Paperwork! Are they the government now?”

OMG! They don't just hand out money to hippies - just like Wall Street! They want to know where the money is going - just like Wall Street! YOU HAVE BECOME THAT WHICH YOU DESPISE, OH NOES!


My biggest problem with the movement is not that they're protesting Wall Street. There have been significant, serious cases of corporate fraud and malfeasance, and it is absolutely necessary to shine light on these instances. Any company found to engage in unlawful practice should be prosecuted; any company using deceptive practices should be exposed so that people can be fully informed. I have no problem with this. It's that their "answer" to the excesses of Wall Street have been mainly to sic the FedGov on them, which merely replaces one bloated corrupt bureaucracy with another...

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.


That is all.

Almost Certainly The Coolest Thing You Will See Today...

Mopar sent this in. It is extremely cool and well worth the time to watch the whole thing:



Here's the description from YouTube:

http://www.hopeforgabe.org/ Watch it in 720p/HD and in full screen mode. This is a 3 minute long video of a 2,000 feet long powered Hot Wheels track that goes up and down the stairs, through 14 rooms of a house, around the outside of the house, and a jump over a hot tub. Email us at motherofalltracks@yahoo.com . Be sure to subscribe to my channel so that you will be notified when we complete the next video.

2,000 feet - that's nearly half a mile of track! They've done this to raise money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - the Hope for Gabe. If you're so inclined, drop a couple shekels in the bucket - heck, it's worth it just to get them to do a "Mother of all Tracks 2"!

And say a prayer for Gabe while you're at it...

That is all.

Crankin' Along!

Several alert readers sent in this awesome addition to the DGC:

‘Very Afraid’: 66-Year-Old Woman Shoots and Kills Home Intruder

An elderly Northern California-woman woke early Friday morning to hear an intruder attempting to break into her home. CBS 12 reports that the 66-year-old Donna Hopper is still shaken after shooting the 37-year-old intruder dead.

Here's a mugshot of the deceased:

 (pic from The Blaze article)

What a charmer, eh? Just the sort of fine, upstanding citizen you want to see coming through your window at o-dark-thirty, right? Well, maybe if you've got a good twelve gauge and a room with a center drain, that is... Here's the kicker: That dude is (was) three years YOUNGER than your humble host. He looks like he's got a good ten years on me - guess Rick James wasn't kidding about cocaine being a helluva drug...

You want to hear the kicker? He'd been released from jail the day before this incident... Our hero in this story fired not one but two warning shorts; not a course of action I would employ but for some folks they feel it necessary - mostly, I'd guess, because they really don't want to shoot another human being. Of course, she didn't shoot a human being; she put down a rabid animal - I hope she sleeps like Officer Roid Rage's theoretical baby...


And once more: Gun control means a 66 year old woman having to take on a 37 year old drug addict in hand-to-hand combat rather than using the best tools for self defense...


Dead Goblin Count: 207

That is all.

KTKC Auction: The Winnahs!

The auction is over. The winners have been contacted. In total, over $1,000 was raised for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Winners were as follows:

1. Free registration to one of Todd Louis Green's handgun classes - Eric.
2. $250 gift certificate from Hornady Ammunition - North.
3. $150 voucher off of a new kilt ($300) from Kilt This - Will Brown.
4. Custom Dragon Leatherworks Talon holster - ZerCool.

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who participated in this auction. It was pretty hard to part with these sweet prizes - especially the handgun class (which, yes, I need) and the holster - but I'm very pleased with how everything turned out. The money raised with this auction brings the total amount raised to very close to $10,000 - the latest tally from Ambulance Driver was $8,806.50!


Again, mad props to AD for pulling this all together. He's the glue that kept our kilts... No, wait, better to not go there... I have ordered my T-shirt from our side-wager, and will have a new profile picture for the remainder of the year hopefully by the end of the week, minute-of-berm and everything. I don't mind taking some good-natured ribbing when it means raising this kind of money for a good cause.



And AD better watch out, because I aim to redeem myself next year...

That is all.

Almost Forgot...

To wish everyone a Happy 10/22!

Ruger 10/22

Hope everyone got a chance to get to the range today!

That is all.

DGC... Or Not?

A couple folks sent me this story. It's a little less cut-and-dry than a typical DGC addition.

Mugging Suspect Chased, Shot by Witness Outside Minnneapolis Chinese Buffet

MINNEAPOLIS - A Good Samaritan shot and killed a mugging suspect in the parking lot of a south Minneapolis Chinese buffet after the man robbed and pistol-whipped an elderly woman on the same block.

According to Minneapolis police, two 911 calls came in around 9:45 p.m. Thursday. The first call indicated that an elderly woman had been robbed of her purse and attacked in the parking lot of a Cub Foods on the 2800 block of 26th Avenue S. The second 911 indicated that a man had been shot behind the Super Grand Buffet on the same block. Police and paramedics found the body of a man in his 20s who had suffered an apparent gunshot wound.

There's not enough evidence to say definitively if this was a "good" shoot or not - as much as this goblin needed killin', running after him and gunning him down isn't the way to do it. HOWEVER... There's nothing in the article that contradicts the idea that the MN CCW holder didn't run after the guy hoping to get a better description or get the purse back (often they'll discard the purse quickly after taking whatever money they can grab - a male running down the street with a purse in his hand attracts unwanted attention...). If he ran after the goblin and the goblin pointed his gun at the CCW holder, then this is absolutely a good shoot.


Since it's my count, and I like hearing about folks getting shot dead while committing crimes, I'll allow it.


Dead Goblin Count: 206

That is all.

Dear Blogger, Part 2.

Since the "below the jump" feature is what prompted me to "upgrade" (and I use the term VERY loosely here), I'm going to make use of it now. I will be going back to the old format from here on in, because the new format simply has too many problems with it to continue use. Caution: adult language below the fold...

Shorter: New blogger interface sucks and it hates you.

That is all.

KTKC Auction: Bid Status Update #6

Okay, so the auction ends at 11:59 PM tonight. I will post updates if necessary in this post. Here are the standings on the afternoon of the final day of the auction (one update in bold):

1. Free registration to one of Todd Louis Green's handgun classes.

High bid: $500 from Eric. Reserve met.

2. $250 gift certificate from Hornady Ammunition.

High bid: $225 from North. Reserve met.

3. $150 voucher off of a new kilt ($300) from Kilt This, choice of one of their standard designs in your color choice, and one kilt chain.

High bid: $151 from Will Brown. Reserve met.

4. Custom Dragon Leatherworks Talon holster for your semiauto handgun, inlaid with your family tartan or one of Dennis' standard hide inlays.

High bid: $130 from ZerCool. Reserve met.

---

General points of clarification/information, and the standard disclaimer:

1. If, for any reason, a bidder cannot follow through, the item will go to the next bidder in line provided the reserve is still met.

2. In the event of a tie (which happened to one of the items yesterday), the first person to e-mail me gets the bid. If uncertain, bid higher! :)

3. All items are transferrable and have had their reserve met.

4. Winners will be contacted over the weekend to discuss payment terms and delivery of items.

The auction ends at midnight, 10/22/11, so there's still time to bid higher! Here's a chance to score some Kilted to Kick Cancer schwag *and* help out the Prostate Cancer Foundation - talk about a win-win situation! Thanks again to all who bid!
 
Bid now, bid high, bid often!
 
That is all.

Taking FAIL to New Heights...

I'm just... I don't know, stunned by this story...

Man Pulls Gun On Off-Duty Police Officer Over Parking Spot

NASHUA, N.H. (CBS) – A stranger, upset over where an off-duty police officer parked his car, ended up pulling a gun on him.


The officer, Sgt. Scott Childs, used his years of training to calm the man down.

Read the whole article. The incident - and the reporting thereof - is just so blindingly stupid that there's fail enough to go around.

1. So cops - even former ones who are now working security - get a pass on parking wherever they want? This is particular galling to me, because many lifetimes ago I worked in a supermarket and watched one night as a cop from literally three towns over parked HIS CITY POLICE CAR in THE FIRE LANE while his wife did their weekly shopping.

2. Why was a U. Mass Lowell campus cop going for his *badge* in a NH parking lot?

3. No, it is not acceptable to try to physically prevent someone from leaving, even when they're parked illegally. You're not a cop, either. Get the plate, make a complaint, that's the extent of your involvement.

4. Pulling a gun over a parking spot? Hardly. It sounds like he pulled his gun because the other guy - who we've already established thinks that the rules don't apply to him - reached for something in his clothing. Cops have shot people reaching for wallets in the past...

5. Was the guy charged? What did the local police have to say about an out-of-state cop trying to use his campus security badge to intimidate a resident over his illegal parking spot?

No one is right in this case - but only one person will face penalties...

That is all.

Pro-Tip for the New Female Shooter

Skidmark sends in a story that's especially applicable:

Bristol police officer shot by girlfriend at Piney Flats shooting range

A Bristol police officer was shot by his girlfriend at an indoor shooting range in Piney Flats on Monday, and the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether the shooting was caused by “hot brass” falling down the woman’s shirt.


According to an SCSO news release, the incident occurred at 4:26 p.m. Monday at Shooter’s Edge, an indoor shooting range and training center located at 413 Century Court, Piney Flats.

The officer was fortunate in that the girlfriend had a .22LR pistol in her hand rather than a .45 ACP. He was shot through the wrist into the chest, wondering if he was in the process of telling her to point the gun away or somesuch. It appears he'll be okay, and will no doubt spend the rest of his law enforcement career having his bulletproof vest appearing in the oddest places...

I wrote about an event similar to this happening at my own range last summer. In this case, the boyfriend instructing the young woman took some shrapnel to the leg with no entry, so no one was actually shot, but it was still a pretty terrifying few moments. Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing quite so much as hearing someone exclaim "you shot me" at the range...

I expect to be bringing a new (female) shooter to the range sometime in the next few weeks, so this is a timely refresher on something else to keep in mind as something to check before we even get on the range. She has a good coach before she even gets to me, so I doubt it'll be a problem, but it's always a good idea to take a few extra moments and game *anything* that could happen with a new shooter *before* you set foot on the range.

Safety is forever - just like a scar from a gunshot...

That is all.