Gun News

You can see here a report from the Boston Globe. . .
Apparently criminal who aren't allowed to have have guns still get them illegally and then grind off serial numbers so you can't track them.
I was also unaware that it only takes three guns and a few bullets to have an arsenal. . . I bet most lawful gun owners have arsenals according to the Globe. . . .
Man I love the way they spin things to make it sound good. . . if three guns is an arsenal are the three cars my family owns a fleet?

Dixie Stampede update

Found this on the web. . . . Looks like a mall expansion killed it. They say they will reopen nearby but no word on where yet. . . .

Meanwhile the latest update about the sale of the Dixie Stampede confirms the sale of the attraction site to a division of the Simon Property Group who owns the Orlando Premium Outlet mall across the street. Dixie Stampede officials claim that the purchase offer was just too good to refuse and that they are looking for a new location in Orlando where they could build an all new Dixie Stampede.
(1/9/08) According to Screamscape sources, Dixie Stampede was bought out by the Prime Outlet Mall right across the street for a rumored price of approximately $23 million. Apparently they were quite eager to obtain the Dixie Stampede location to allow for some future expansion room for the mall which is always quite busy.

another good one

Funny Stuff

LOST

OK, Lost is back. I watched about half of last nights show and taped the rest to watch tonight before the update and new shows start at 8:00PM. I liked the idea of the review of last season but the pop up video idea got old quick. I have to say I didn’t like having to read while watching for anything I missed too. . . I did pick up a few things I missed or forgot but it helped that the wife and I were both looking for stuff and commenting on what we thought was new. Usually one was reading while the other watched so we got along ok.

I can’t wait for tonight although I am more than a bit scared at how the writers strike will affect the show. They had planned on 16 shows for this season and it was cut to eight. I hope they will push the other shows to next year as they have so much going on I want answer to but my fear is stuff will get dropped.

Well, time will tell. . . . here’s hoping for a great season!

Fight Quest Update

OK, I have been watching this show for a few weeks now and I have to say it is not too bad. Human Weapon it is not, and I do wish that they had picked hosts that had a bit more experience in martial arts but overall it is interesting.

Although it lacks the explanation of technique that you get in Human Weapon it does go into the training the two hosts get rather well. I find that is the best part of the show to see how they get trained for the four days before the fight. I have to admit I enjoy watching the teachers beat on these two.

Jimmy has proven to still be a bit of a wise ass who I don’t see as having a true martial artists view of things. He likes to fight. . . he is a bit of a thug so it I admit I take a bit of shameful pleasure watching the teachers push him and him whining about it.

Doug is cool. He is ex-US Army I believe and he has a great attitude towards this. He still gets beat on by the teachers but he takes it well and seems to have a great martial artists outlook on it all. He has a lot of potential to be a great martial artist.

So, the show gets a thumbs up. . . it is good, though I have seen better. We will see where they go with it. It has the potential to get better but I don’t see it getting as good as Human Weapon. Unless it takes a turn for the worse, I will be watching it . . . . Just not saving the tapes like I do for HW. . . .

Schools and weapons

Got this from Tam at View from the Porch. . . . here it is in black and white why we should allow anyone with a permit to have a weapon on school grounds. . . . Bet this won't get any airplay by the main stream media because the bad guys lost this one. . . .


Terrorists killed after infiltrating school

Two Palestinian terrorists were killed after infiltrating a school in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.

The terrorists disabled an alert system built into the perimeter fence of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion on Thursday and then sneaked into the Mekor Hayim high school yeshiva building, according to media reports. They then entered a classroom where they stabbed two counselors. The wounds were not considered life-threatening.

Two armed counselors then overpowered and killed the terrorists, who were unable to fire their weapons. Mekor Hayim high school is run by famed Talmudist Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

Jerusalem Post:

Earlier, Hamas's military wing, Izzadin al-Kassam, claimed responsibility for Thursday evening's terror attack at the Gush Etzion high-school, Army Radio reported Friday.

According to Palestinian sources, the two terrorists, Muhammad and Mahmoud Samarna, were cousins and both Hamas affiliates from the Beit Ummar village north of Hebron.

A senior government official said that the two terrorists were released last week from an Israeli prison after they had completed their prison terms for attempting to steal weapons.

The two terrorists were killed after infiltrating the Mekor Hayim High School Yeshiva.

The terrorists, armed with knives and a pistol, infiltrated the kibbutz and sneaked into a building used by the high school, run by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

They entered a classroom where counselors were holding a meeting, and stabbed two of them. Two of the counselors were armed and managed to overpower and kill the terrorists, without giving them a chance to fire their pistol, a Hatzallah spokesman said.

McCain takes the lead

McCain is in the lead, and the main stream media wants you to think he is unstoppable. But look at the facts – McCain has 95 delegates, Romney has 67. To win the nomination they need to get more than 1191 delegates. Nothing is decided yet folks.

So please think before you vote. Romney is no more a friend of the Second Amendment than McCain, but Romney has not worked to destroy the First Amendment (McCain Finegold) at the critical last moments of an election cycle, and McCain wants to open our borders to the illegal’s. . . . not good for homeland security in the lease. He has been part of the DC establishment for 26 years. And lets not forget that this nation is in bad trouble on the home front. . . . our businesses and industry are in shambles and McCain is a career politician not a businessmen. We need someone in there that knows what it takes to run a business and therefore has a clue as to what the government needs to do to help them recover.

He may have been a war hero at one time, but his Senate record is not that of a patriotic hero. He has sold us and the Constitution out over and over. We need Mitt in the White house, not the McCain liberal Democrat no matter what party he claims to be from

FloriDUH

Well they did it again. . . . it has been almost eight years and they still can’t figure out how to vote down there. At least I hope that is the excuse. Otherwise that means that they are dumb enough to see a RINO who is a liberal and call him conservative.

What scared me looking at the exit polls was that over 40% of the folks voted for McCain because they didn’t like the Bush policies. . . .. WHAT? You folks need to look at your candidate better. McCain is right there with Bush on OPEN BORDERS and IRAQ. . . how is voting for him voting for change?

And how did he ever get them to see him as a conservative? I can understand the independents throwing the elections in other states his was but FLA is a Republican vote only primary. How can you call yourself conservative when you are against the First Amendment (McCain – Feingold Incumbent protection act), against the Second Amendment (Assault Weapons Ban of not assault weapons), and you are for Amnesty for Illegal Aliens (don’t care what he call it, that is what it is). This guy is also looking to raise taxes. . . . and I don’t think he has the slightest clue how to fix the economy.

I think it is time to check the ground water in FLA, they obviously are deluded about things.

I expect the media (who love him since he is a liberal) will spin this as the end of Mitt and all the others. Folks, he is not that far ahead now and until Super Tuesday is over there ain’t anything decided yet.

If he wins this nomination I guess I will have to vote for him in the general election. Not because I like him, not because he stands for anything I believe, but because I hope he will do less damage to our country than an Official Democrat would in the next four years. Either way we get a Democrat in office and we are all in for a rough ride

On the brighter side at least we got Giuliani (another Democrat in Republican clothing) to drop out. Too bad he is throwing what support he has to McCain. It appears as others have said – the Republican Party is broken, they are no longer conservative or anything else that they stood for when I was a kid. That is why I guess I will be staying Independent, it just too bad we can’t get a third party to have a real shot at it thanks to all the incumbent protection that is already in place.

Political Joke

Got this in an email from a friend and had to pass it on. . .

A picture I'd love to have on a T-shirt!!!

Let me make this perfectly clear!

THIS IS MY COUNTRY!

And, because I make this statement
DOES NOT mean I'm against immigration!!!

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE IN MY COUNTRY.
Welcome to come through like everyone else has.
Get a sponsor!
Get a place to lay your head!
Get a job!
Live by OUR rules!
Pay YOUR taxes!
And
LEARN THE LANGUAGE LIKE ALL OTHER
IMMIGRANTS HAVE IN THE PAST!!!
AND PLEASE DON'T DEMAND THAT WE HAND OVER OUR
LIFETIME SAVINGS OF SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS TO YOU
TO MAKE UP FOR ''YOUR'' LOSSES.

If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone,
Then YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

When will AMERICAN'S STOP giving away THEIR RIGHTS???
We've gone so far the other way .. Bent over backwards not to
Offend anyone. But it seems no one cares about the
AMERICAN
that's being offended!

From CNN

Got this from a story they are doing on peoples reaction to Teddy backing Obama -

"The Kennedy endorsement means we can look forward to the best of all possible worlds in January of 2009 -- President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Hillary Clinton to put some backbone in this vacillating body."

All I can say is OH MY GOD! If that thought don't scare the sh&t out of you I don't know what would (other than Pres Hillary and Chief Justice/Justice Bill. . .)

FLA Primary

Can someone tell me why if McCain wins the primary in FLA he cements his postion as front runner? As I see it he is currently behind Mitt by one win and 29 delegates. . . He can pull into first, but he how can he cement it when he was not there to start with?
I love the way CNN spins things. . . so once again main stream media shows their bias. . .

Good News from the hill

Just got an email on the latest batch of gun laws for MA. . . Senate 1354 and 1383 and House 2293, 2340, 2342, and 2343.

I had sent my comments against these bills to the members of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. Rep. Brad Hill was kind enough to take the time to answer my letter and I must say it was good news for us I think :

Dear John,

Thank you for your very thoughtful e-mail regarding the committee hearing that took place last week regarding bills that would effect our current gun laws. I want you to know that there were many citizens like yourself that were against the proposal put forth. In fact, I would say that the testimony ran about 2/3 against the bills and 1/3 for. I have always been a firm believer that the laws we have on the books now are strict enough and that we do not need to take away anymore of a law abiding citizen's rights! You can be assured that I will not be supporting the initiatives that were forwarded to our committee last week and from what I heard from other members there is not an appetite to pass these bills to the full House of Representatives for a vote.

Sincerely,

Rep. Hill

I have to say a BIG thank you to Rep. Hill for taking the time to answer my email, and to the other members of the committee that have backed up the lawful gun owners in our state. I think the word is finally getting out. We need to keep writing our reps and make sure they know that the lawful gun owner and the average citizen are the same person. They are getting the message on Beacon Hill, so let them know your thoughts, and PLEASE don’t forget to thank them for backing us! We do have some good folks on the hill, I know I rant about a lot of what goes on in this state, but we need to let them know what we are thinking, and thank the ones that support us in our efforts to change this state for the better. Don’t let the few bad eggs up there stop us from fixing what needs fixing and doing what we need to so we can get this state going in the right direction again.

Pork Spending

The president wants to eliminate port in the budget. . . I would like to know how he is going to do this when this is the best way for the incumbent politician to buy votes for the next election. He says he wants to end earmarks. . . I don’t see how he can do this without getting congress to go along, and they are the ones that benefit the most from it? Why are they going to stop.

If you really want to end the pork spending are you willing to give up the pet projects in your state too? We all have to do this together. We need to watch what our government is doing and contact them whenever we see pork in the bills that can be removed. Call or write to your reps and ask them to vote against it. The hard part is we have to be consistent and not only cut out the pork in the other guys back yard but our own too. This will hurt at first, but in the end we will all have more money in our pocket to do what we want with, and less wasted on things like the BIG DIG and the Greenbush Line in Massachusetts. These are both great examples of spending money at the state and federal level in huge amounts that only benefit a few people.

For a look at the local level look at the Mass Turnpike. . . . still collecting tolls after all these years of being paid off. They were supposed to stop collecting years ago but now all you hear is how much money it would cost us to stop, and all the jobs lost. . . Sorry folks, the tolls were to pay off building the road, not as a revenue generator for the state. Now that is just what it is, a way to pay for the Big Dig and a place that our politicians can give jobs to their friends. It has become a huge piece of pork that does all it can to protect itself from any cuts, and the Mass driver keeps paying and paying for a road that is already paid off.

Maybe we could get a law or rule passed so that our Congressmen have to show the benefit to the voters of the spending. Maybe there is some other way to force visibility on this. We could make it mandatory that all money expenditures must be voted on by the full house, no more sneaking thing in during the committee. Maybe we could make it so bills can only address one thing? No more burying pork in bills it has nothing to do with so no one knows it is even there when they vote on that 1000 page bill. OK, your pork may be a great idea but if it cost millions and only benefits a few what is the point? If the few want it that bad they can pay for it and keep their hands out of my wallet.

To me visibility is the key, how can we keep stuff out where the voters can see it? How do we prevent the back room deals? Is there some way to make it so you can not propose or maybe vote on money for your own district? Heck it is conflict of interest to have the same guy asking for the money and voting to give it to himself. . . In this day of the World Wide Web there must be some way to get this info out and make our government give us back control. It starts with voting in some new blood on the state and federal level and we can build from there.

Yes, it will hurt at first as we all have to re-adjust to living without all the Federal hand outs, but in these hard times we have to do it. Jobs may be lost at first, but new ones will be generated as more money is available at the local level for spending. Without the Feds taking money from us to spend all over the country we will be able to use the money we save on our own community. We can’t keep propping up failing sectors of the economy, they need to learn to cut back and stand on their own. It is far past the time we need to start running this country as a business. Our future and our children’s future depend on it.

Greenbush Rail Line

News of the day in Massachusetts. . . the new rail line they forced on the south shore, the Greenbush Line is not being used much. At a cost of $513 million to connect towns that voted against it to Boston it has lots of space left over every day. According to the Boston Globe about one third of the riders were using the commuter boat and switched to the train. It averages only 1400 people daily so it is failing to remove all those cars from the road like they promised it would. As usual, the MBTA/Government answer is to give it time to catch on. . . translation, keep paying us to run it and we will be happy. The best part is noting that the train is also stealing riders from the Kinston line too. So we are not fixing the traffic problem, just rearranging the folks already using public transport.

Once again the state has successfully ignored the voters and forced something on us and it is not paying off the way they said it would.

To top it off, our great Governor is looking to add more rail lines as a priority for him. It will fix our congestion problems on the roads. . . . sure it will. I wonder how much under the table payments went into this mess. Add to it that businesses are moving out of Boston to the 128 belt and further away and you will find that most folks can not use the rail to get to work. Or, if they can it takes so much extra time that is it not worth giving up the car. I work out on 128, it would at least double or more my hour plus commute to try to take rail. I would have to go into Boston, then back out again to my job.

It all boils down to typical Mass politics, spend money on our pet projects, take care of the folks that paid for our campaigns, and ignore the will of the voters. If we need more money we can just raise taxes again right?

We need new people that will take charge of our state and start to run it like a business. Folks who would recognize the fact that all that tax money is not free, it comes from the hard working families in this state and the more of it you waste the more it hurts. It is going to be a long wait for the next election for Governor. I hope the state can hold out that long. Personally I expect that we will be hemorrhaging jobs and people leaving to other states by then. . .

NRA Alert for MA!!!

On Tuesday, January 29, Senate Bill 2406, introduced by State Senator Steven Tolman (D-2nd Suffolk & Middlesex), will be heard on the Senate Floor. SB2406 would create a more restrictive policy regarding the use of "toxic chemicals" in the Commonwealth.

Unless amended, this legislation could virtually shut down all shooting ranges as well as ban the sale and use of lead ammunition for self-defense, hunting, and target practice in the Commonwealth. Non-lead alternatives exist for ammunition but are significantly more expensive and, in many instances, have sub-standard performance characteristics. Shooting ranges already fall under federal EPA regulations concerning environmental impact and recent science and EPA guidelines show that lead ammunition on shooting ranges can be managed without detrimentally affecting the environment. Predictably, this legislation does not account for the serious impacts on shooting ranges and the sportsmen and gun owners who use them.

State Senator Bruce Tarr (R-1st Essex and Middlesex) will be offering an Amendment to address the concerns of gun owners and shooting enthusiasts. Please call your Senator prior to 1:00 P.M. and respectfully urge him or her to vote “yes” on the Bruce Tarr Amendment. Contact information for your State Legislator can be found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm.

Political Joke

OK, I admit I stole this from the Blog the Smallest Minority. . . had to pass it on:

Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore were in an airplane crash.

They're up in heaven, and God's sitting on the great white throne.

God addresses Al first.

"Al, what do you believe in?"

Al replies, "Well, I believe I won that election, but that it was your will that I did not serve. And I've come to understand that now."

God thinks for a second and says "Okay, very good. Come and sit at my left."

God then addresses Bill. "Bill, what do you believe in?"

Bill replies, "I believe in forgiveness. I've sinned, but I've never held a grudge against my fellow man, and I hope no grudges are held against me."

God thinks for a second and says "You are forgiven, my son. Come and sit at my right."

God then addresses Hillary. "Hillary, what do you believe in?"

"I believe you're in my chair," she says.

Politics testing

Found this on a bolg (thanks Madoger.com). It is a quick test to see what candidate you are closest to. No surprise there for me that I match up with Ron Paul. Too bad he don't have a chance in hell of getting the nomination never mind winning which is too bad. He probably would be the best of the bunch but people are still too divided between right and left to look rationally at all of this I think.

The one that surprised me is that I match up with McCain more than I thought I could. I don't think we are on the same page at all on the key issues to me, economy, immigration, free speech and gun control. Problem is he will probably win the nomination and I will vote against the Democrat pick (should be called the Peoples Democratic Party) so he will probably get my vote. Surprise I don't line up with any Democrats. . . . probably has to do with my supporting the Constitution. . .

Anyway, take a look at it, kinda fun and interesting at the same time. . ..

A lighter note

On a lighter note I have some new pictures of Jack in the snow (I love snow. . . NOT) and of Nana's apartment that I will be posting on the web page in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Hillary will win anyway. . . .

Why Hillary will win – Superdelegates:

The Democratic party does not trust there own people to vote for the best candidate for office. Look at Massachusetts – we have 121 delegates up for grabs in our primary. This hitch is that whoever wins the popular vote only gets 93 of them, the other 28 are “Superdelegates” that will vote the way the national party tell them to, not how MA said to vote. And we are not the only state with Superdelegates - they are all over. This goes to show you that the ruling elite of the Democratic party don’t believe in the people of this country to make the right choice, they know better than us.

So when all is said and done, they (the Democratic leadership) can give all of the super delegates to the person they want to win and give them the nomination. How anyone can back this way of thinking is beyond me. As a Democrat you are supporting the party that openly says they don’t trust you to be smart enough to pick your own candidate, they will do it for you. And people put them in office?

Take a good look at this state (MA) and what a mess it is. Our roads are failing, we now have universal health care that is costing the state $400 million a year more than it should and it just got running over the last year. They have taken away our gun rights and crime is growing. Top it off with our Governor counting on tax income from Casinos that don’t exist yet (I see more taxes in our future to make up for it and more crime) . . . Do you really want this on a national level? If you do vote for a Democrat. . . .

Politics - Hillalry takes a Hit

OK, the news today says that good old Comrade Senator Teddy Kennedy will be backing Obama instead of Clinton for the election. All I can say is WOW, I would have put down money that he was going to back Clinton since I don’t think there is any way she will loose the nomination no matter what the voters say. I look forward to seeing what kind of effect this has on her campaign. I hope she looses for too many reasons to list here but the biggest is that she is a socialist and would burry us in new taxes and handout for the “poor”.

On another front it looks like the media like McCain. He is still getting all the press even though Romney is leading in the delegate hunt. I would like to say something to all you folks that don’t like Romney for his actions in Massachusetts. I don’t know what it is like in other states having only lived here but in MA the Governor has very little say in things because we have let the legislature get too powerful. Our leaders in the legislature can and do get away with doing pretty much what they want and to hell with the rest of us. The head of the House and Senate are the real power in this state. The Governor is very restricted on doing anything they don’t like, Republican or Democrat as our latest Gov. Deval is learning the hard way. So please keep this in mind, Mitt could not do all he wanted to here because they would not let him make them look bad. He was also forced to play by the corrupt rules of this state.

As an independent who votes for Constitutionalists I don’t see any good candidates this time around I admit, but Romney seems to be the best of our bad choices for running things here. We need new blood in DC, and all the other front runners are going to be more of the same. They all came from DC, want to go back to DC, and are not going to change things in DC if they win – well, at least not for the better that is. . . .

Stolen Quote

Had to pass this one on from The Smallest Minority blog:

In my lifetime we've gone from JFK to Gore. In my lifetime we've gone from Ike to GW Bush.

If this is evolution, in few years we're going to be voting for PLANTS!
- Comedian Lewis Black just prior to the 2000 election.

Blog Added

I added a new blog to the list on the side there. . . The Brenda Fallacy. A great blog on guns and much more, give it a visit.

More Useless Gun Laws

More Bull SH*T gun laws for MA

Senate Bill 1354: An Act Regarding the Prevention of Illegal Gun Trafficking and Gun Violence Among Youth in the Commonwealth

[...]

SECTION 13. Said chapter 140 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 128B the following section:-

Section 128C. Whoever not being licensed under section 122 and who purchases or otherwise accepts and keeps within the commonwealth for any period of time more than 15 firearms during any 1 year period shall be punished by not more than 5 years in state prison and the licensing authority shall suspend any license or identification card issued under this chapter to such person for a period not to exceed 3 years*. This section shall not apply to firearms bequeathed through trust or devise.

Take a look at this. . . what is says is that in order to stop gun trafficking they will make it illegal for a law abiding citizen to have a gun collection. It does not matter if you have the cleanest record on the plant, you can’t have a gun collection of more than 15 guns or we will throw you in jail and take away your permit.

By exercising your GOD GIVE RIGHT and the Second Amendment Right you will be a criminal! We have to stop this BS and start getting the fools in the state house to deal with the real problems in this state, and it ain’t my gun collection I can tell you that! Not one of my guns has been trafficked, but somehow screwing me makes us safer? Can someone explain this one to me?

I can tell you what this foolish law would mean to me. It would mean that the nice collection I have started of military rifles would never get finished. I am a law abiding tax paying citizen of this state with a clean recored and I would be stopped from building up my collection of rifles. I have a few modern ones, I want to get some old black power, and some WWI and WWII rifles to add to my collection but if this passes I won't be able to.

Where is the outrage at this? How would folks react if someone said it was not illegal to own more than 6 knives in the house, that is all you need to put on your dinner table. Or how about you can only have one TV in the house, any more is a waste of electricity so you can't have them. Or maybe each family can only have one car so that we can cut down on all the problems with crowded streets and wear and tear on the roads? You can only have 10 books in the house, the rest are a danger that you may start thinking on your own. . . . .

Write your rep on Beacon Hill and tell him to kill this thing and get back to work on the serious stuff like fixing our roads and economy. . . It is getting closer and closer to the time where I think I will have to admit this is no longer a livable state and move. The discrimination in this state will run me out of here someday.

Free Money (Rebate Time)

Snark Warning. . . .

IT”S REBATE TIME

Ya Hoo, we are getting cash back from the government, I am thrilled. . . . OK, so what if it was my money in the first place that they should not have taken so much of. So what if they didn’t take so much of it we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with. And so what if most of us will spend it on paying bills instead of more ‘junk” to spur on the economy. . . he most of what we buy comes from overseas anyway so buying more junk will just spur on their economy not ours. . . .

We need to get someone in DC that can see the real world for a change and get things fixed. . . . it is time we put the good old USA first for a while and let the rest of them fend for themselves. Ah well, many be next time cause I don’t see any clowns in this years race that can fix things with the possible (and I mean POSSIBLE) exception of Mitt. At least he has worked in the real world running a business. We need to run this government like a business, and remember folks we are the customers of the government business. . .

Politics

OK, here is my morning rant after listening to the news on the way into work. . . .

OK, for all of you who want to know what will happen when (thanks to Bush I think it is a when, not if) the Democrats take control of the White House – Take a look at what Deval Patrick is doing to Massachusetts. This guy is a carbon copy of what you will get in Hillary or Obama.

Today he announced his budget for the year. In this bad economy, with taxes taking a big chunk of what we earn now, he has added almost $500 million in NEW spending. We can’t balance the budget now and he wants more? How is he going to pay for this you ask? Easy, he is counting on income from a number of sources including our “Rainy Day” fund – tap for $370 million, and $124 million from the casinos that we have not even OK’d the building of yet. He is also looking to raise taxes and somehow get $166 million in back taxes that he can get paid when no one else could. . . . When asked Patrick was quoted as saying it was his job to find new sources of revenue for the state? What the hell is he talking about?

As far as I can tell it is his job to run the state the way the voters want it run. It is not his job to ruin us all. Instead of raising imaginary money to run the state that we may never see he should be doing the hard job of cutting the budget to fit what we have for money. . . I’ll give you three guesses where all this extra money will come from when his imaginary sources don’t work out. . . . . Yep, more taxes on you and me, got it on the first guess.

The Democrat party is no longer democratic at all but Socialist. They can’t seem to get in their head the idea of a balanced budget any more than George Bush can. We are going to end up trading one messed up party for another and we will still be on the loosing end.

Governor Patrick, if you really want to be the leader you claim you will get the reduction in income tax the voters passed put through. You would cut state spending across the board to get it to the level we can afford now. You would tell the people of this state that we all have to deal with the pain in this economy and services have to be cut to the level we can afford to pay for with our taxes and still afford to live in this state.

We need a Governor and a President that realizes all this money they are spending is not free, it comes out of my pocket and yours. We need to stop putting politicians into office and start to put in some business men who know what it means to run in the black – an how to make the hard choices that will get us there.

If we don’t do this, if we put in Hillary, Obama or McCain, just look at the mess Massachusetts has become and you will see our future on a national level because that is what is coming. You can’t run a country on dreams, you need a solid plan and the guts to make the hard calls to turn things around – something sorely lacking in most of our choices this time around.

Self Defense Thoughts

Before karate class last night I watched a bit of a self defense tape that the teacher and one of the black belts had on. We all found it a bit amusing to tell the truth. I find it interesting that in all these “How to Defend Yourself” tapes things are shown as so easy and so simple. I wonder if anyone has sued them when it didn’t work in the real world.

The other interesting thing was the attacker always did one thing then stops so the girl can get the best of him. . . . talk about stacking the deck. I have yet to hear of any mugger taking one punch then waiting to get hit. . . . What is probably my biggest complaint on these things is the idea that you can watch the tape or take a course for a weekend and that is it. People think they can defend themselves after watching the tape or doing the one weekend. . . . Sorry folks, if you don’t practice the moves over and over you won’t be able to do Sh$T when things go bad. A best you will freeze, at wost you will get hurt or killed.

While I am talking about self defense I have found it rather interesting that the martial artist I have delt with probably are less aware of what it takes to defend themselves than the gun owners I have met and read books by. For some reason I have found I learned more about being aware and avoiding problem situations from how to carry your gun books than I ever did in a martial arts class. It seems to me that this would be good information to bring into the martial arts classroom to help people avoid problems. With that in mind here is a listing of probably the best self defense information you will ever get. . . . The color codes for mental awareness:

Developed by Col. Jeff Cooper (I believe, please correct me if I am wrong)

You can find this list a number of places on the net. . . .

Condition White
Complete mental unawareness

Total mental blackout. Unless one is asleep, there is no
reason to be in condition white. You are totally unprepared
for any circumstance, and even the smallest thing will shock
you out of your trance, and be a complete surprise. If an
attack comes while in this state, you will be easily defeated
and if it involves deadly force, you will most likely not
survive.

In a perfect world, we could all live in this state, but it is
not a perfect world.

Condition Yellow
Relaxed alertness

This is the condition that we should be in all of the time
we are awake. You are aware of immediate surroundings.
This is however NOT a state of paranoia. You are
simply aware of your surroundings, but have not identified
any specific threats. You are unlikely to be attacked when
in condition yellow, as predators look for easy prey. You
are ready to elevate to a higher level to defend yourself if
nessessary if a threat is detected.

Condition Orange
Potential Threat Situation

You are alerted to a specific potential threat.
You continue to observe the situation and evaluate to see
if the potential threat turns into a real threat. You may
also take action to give you a tactical advantage if the
situation level escalates to a higher level. You have not
produced a weapon, as the potential threat is not a distinct
personal threat yet. It could be concindental circumstances,
or simply a predator who upon seeing your actions, decides
to find easier prey elsewhere.

Condition Red
Specific Real Threat

In Red, your observations are such that there is no doubt
that the threat is real and your life, or lives of loved ones,
is in real and immedate danger. You have taken action to
avoid the threat, when it first appeared, and formulated a
plan of action, and are now carrying it out. You have also
drawn a "line in the sand" or a "mental trigger" that will
determine when you will deliver your defensive response.

When the line is crossed, you WILL deliver your
defensive response, as by now your response has been
determined, and the plan has been made. There is no
hesitation, as you response is instantaneous.

Condition Black
Line in the Sand Has Been Crossed.

Simply put, this is where you deal with the threat.
At this point you survival depends on the level of training
that you have, and your ability to control your mind.

This is where the Combat Mindset comes into play.

Combat Mindset

This quite simply, is the state of mind that replaces fear,
in a life or death situation, with the knowledge that you have
trained for this, expected it to happen at some time, and
are ready, able, and willing to handle it.

You are at a level that you are not allowing fear, doubt,
astonishment, or surprise to enter your mind. You have the
confidence, through training, to handle the situation.

You do not think of fear or being killed, you think of what you
know will get you through, and that is the front sight, and
your training.

Super Bowl

WOW, we are playing the Giants for the Super Bowl. This should be a great game. My only fear is that they are on the upswing since the start of the play offs. . .. They are going to give the Pats a run for the money. The Pats are going to have to play better than they did yesterday to win this. I think they can do it, the big question is do they want it bad enough? The last meeting with the Giants was one hell of a game, so I am looking forward to this game for a change. It will be nice to have a Super Bowl that is not a blow out for a change. . . .

Pats do it!!

Well I missed the first half of the game and then some but I got home in time to see the end of the third quarter and the fourth. . . .what a game! It was a bit of a close thing but the Pats are not to be denied!

Now it is off to the big game, against Green Bay I would guess but we will see what the night brings. . . . . . I would love to see a perfect season, 19 and 0. Miami can take that and stuff it!

Proof I am a IDIOT

Here is a nice photo of the widow I broke last weekend. . . we are still talking to the contractor on the best (and cheapest) way out of this. . .

So, just because it is convenient to stack wood near the back door to the house does not mean it is a good idea . . . . We now keep the wood a bit further from the house and I deal with it. . . .

Photos

OK, I got some new Jack photos up on the web page. . I will try to get some new addition photos done tomorrow in the daylight. They got a lot done on it in the last few days. The septic is done and the tile on the floor is done. Need to tile the kitchen then most of Nana's place is done!!

Politics

Found this on another blog and had to share it. . . .

Karate - study in psychology

Ran into an interesting issue at Karate last night.

I was asked by my teacher to go over a sword drill I showed them. We had two “new” students to our class, they both normally take a different class. I started off showing the drill with the teacher then with another student who knows it and all seemed to go well. We then started to break it down into parts to teach the new folks. This is where it got interesting for me.

Background - The school I learned the drill in was a Shotokan school and the teacher was not a bit concerned explaining what each move with the sword was, and what you were trying to do. . . such as cut the other person’s head off to be blunt about it.

Now as we went over the first part of the drill I was trying to explain how to hold the sword, what the moves were, how to block, and how to cut. This included where you were trying to cut as we went through the drill.

The two students I was teaching this to for the first time are both were women for whatever that is worth in this discussion. One of them took to it rather well the other got a little squeamish as we went through the drills. Now the one that took it well is a higher rank, and the other one has been doing this a year or so I would guess. The student that had a problem was trying to put together the move, the effect it would have on your target, and was seeing thing a bit to graphically in her head I think. She did get through it, but I am guessing that the weapon side of Karate is not going to hold much interest for her. Now this is fine, just the first time I have run into this. I am interest in where it will go with her training – Not that I hold it against her, but because the part of me that finds Psychology fascinating finds this all very interesting.

I have always been around people that studied martial arts for self defense and understood what was involved, and the damage you can do to a person with this knowledge (until now I guess). I have not done martial arts as a sport or to stay fit. Both are nice side effects of my study, but my main goal is to know the art and be able to take care of myself and family when/if thing go wrong. I am going to have to re-evaluate how I deal with other students now so I can take into account that they may be only doing this for fun/exercise and don’t want to know what the move does or how to actually use it on the street. This obviously extends to even swords which I doubt any of us would/will ever use outside the dojo. My fascination with the arts, the weapons and history drives me to wanting to know how the weapon was used, did it work well and how did this effect the way people fought. I could (and may if I get off my ass) write a bunch about how weapons evolution leads to changes in how we fight wars and that changes everything about us and history. . . From the martial arts point of view I want to know why you do the move, where are you trying to hit and why? I want to understand the full 360 degree view of the move if I can.

I have learned something new, seen a new way that other look at martial arts and hopefully (I doubt) not scared off a student of my teachers. Now I need to figure out a way to teach her the form so she can enjoy it without going into what she sees as unnecessary details to learning the moves. I hope I can do this as it will make me a better teacher in this politically correct world. It will also help me to deal with and understand the view of so many in this state that can’t get their mind around the fact that physical violence exists and as a martial artist you may need to use it someday.

I guess the question I need to ponder for a while is do you need to accept the facts of physical violence and its place in the martial arts to study the martial arts. Can you be a martial artists and just see it as a sport without any of the history or understanding of what you are really doing as you do a kata? Or maybe I just need to accept that not everyone in the Dojo is a Martial Artist, some are just folks at a different kind of gym doing their part to stay in shape – nothing wrong with that, but they are not Martial Artist.

Overdue Updates

OK, sorry I haven’t posted in a while but things have been a bit nuts. Looks like we are on track to be done with the house mid February. They have the tile done in Nanas and have started it in our part of the house. They have also finished the septic system and that is all tied in.

On the down side I broke one of the HUGE windows in our living room while stacking wood near it for the fireplace (Yes it has gotten cold here). We are talking to the insurance folks now to see if they cover any of the repair and I have the builder looking at a quote to fix it as I don’t want to leave it boarded up for months, too dark in there. We will see what all this costs but it is easy to say there goes any loose spending money for the foreseeable future. I am trying to come up with a way to start bringing in a few extra bucks a week, but I doubt the book store is going to hire me on the weekends . . . who knows, maybe I should write a book on Karate or something. I just need to figure out where to start it. . . ..

Jack is doing great. He has two teeth in now and he is happy as ever. I don’t know how he does it but he can move around rather well for an eight month old now. He is not crawling yet but kinda rolling around for a lack of a better term. Either way he is proud of himself to say the least (and it keeps us on our toes)

I need to get some new photos of Jack and the house posted on line, things are changing fast for both of them ; - )

Another Attack on our Rights

Got this from the NRA. . .

In a nutshell the good folks on Beacon Hill are trying to disarm us again. They have two new bills (details below) that are aimed at reducing hazardous substances. buried in them is no lead use in bullet. You think ammo is expensive now, wait till this goes through. that and the fact that is has been shown bullets are not a problem when it comes to lead in the environment. The Feds have also said the lead found at shooting ranges is not an issue either and is easily controlled. Having bullets on this list is not to help the environment, it is to disarm us if they can.

They did this in Calf, don't let them do it t0 us here!

House Bill 783 and Senate Bill 558 introduced by State Representative Jay Kaufman (D-15th Middlesex) and State Senator Steven Tolman (D-2nd Suffolk & Middlesex) would create a more restrictive policy regarding the use of "toxic chemicals" in the Commonwealth. Hidden within the proposal from environmental and anti-gun extremists is what amounts to a ban on all common rifle and handgun ammunition.

"The Safer Alternatives Proposals" will create a program to replace ten "chemicals" with what proponents claim are safer alternatives. On the top of the list of targeted substances is lead, the common element used to make virtually all bullets. As proposed, this legislation could virtually shut down all shooting ranges as well as ban the sale and use of lead ammunition for self-defense, hunting and target practice in Massachusetts. Non-lead alternatives exist for ammunition but are significantly more expensive and, in many instances, have sub-standard performance characteristics. Shooting ranges already fall under federal EPA regulations concerning environmental impact and recent science and EPA guidelines show that lead ammunition on shooting ranges can be managed without detrimentally affecting the environment. Predictably, this legislation does not account for the serious impacts on shooting ranges and the sportsmen and gun owners who use them.

Please call or write your State Legislator and respectfully request that the lead ammunition be completely excluded from the scope of the legislation. This step is essential in order to protect the future availability of ammunition commonly used for self-defense, hunting and the shooting sports in the Commonwealth! Contact information for your State Legislator can be found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/.

Proposed Bill Could Ban Lead Ammunition in Massachusetts! Please Contact Your State Legislator Today!

Promotion Pictures

HI

Here is a picture from promotions last week at Karate. . .


That is me with my younger daughter. She is so psyched to get that first stripe I can't begin to tell you.

Karate Update

News from the home front. . .

Been meaning to post this for a few days now but been busy. . . My younger daughter got her first stripe in Karate on Monday night. She is now a white belt with a yellow stripe!! She has only been going about six weeks and is so excited about the new rank! Been bouncing for a while now hoping to get it at the demo we did Monday. She goes to the same Uechi school as Dad (I got my next rank too, up to green with a brown stripe now) and we both had a great time at the demo.

That’s all for now.

NH Votes

Hillary and McCain win in NH. . . . Only a few thoughts on this. In the interest of full disclosure I will say up front I am an Independent who votes for the guy that most strongly supports our Constitution. I feel the founding fathers knew what they were doing and the current bunch of fools in office can’t hold a candle to those who built this great country.

Now we don’t have a lot of (or any really) good choices this time around for the elections, but these two are probably some of the worst of the bunch looking at only those with a real chance of winning.

Hillary – she should have lost, but I guess crying on TV works with the voters. I hope you all realize that that won’t work in the real world. . . . Also on the Hillary front if you think Hillary is Change you need to wake up. Look at the last 20 or so years at the Presidents – Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush. . . Do you really want Clinton again or do you want real change. IF you want change remember she has lived a life of politics, she is part of the problem, not the solution. Hillary in office would also most likely mean four more years of a divided country as the parties fight over her every action.

As for McCain – it is simple, he is a Democrat in all but name, so you will not get a true conservative or a Republican in John McCain. Also remember that he voted/wrote McCain/Finegold reform which squashes free speech three MONTHS before an election (should have been call the repeal of the First Amendment or the Incumbent Protection Act). He is for Open Borders and worked with Ted Kennedy for the AMNISTY bill. He is also for the useless Assault Weapons ban that does nothing but fool the sheep into thinking we are doing something. Again we have a career guy here that is going to be more of the same for Washington, not the change we really need.

It is still early so there is a chance to turn things around. All I can say is THINK. These folks are part of the problem we need to fix, not the solution to the problem. I think we are in real trouble this time around. . . . . We need someone to come in and turn this country around – we are NOT going to get that with most of the folks running. The only one I see with a shot of doing good is Mitt and I am not really thrilled with him either. I guess I will be back to voting for the guy I think will do the least damage to our rights in four years. This has got to change if this country is going to survive in the long run. We need some good people in office, too bad no one smart enough to do the job right wants to deal with the grief they get or put their family in the wringer for the job. . . God help the USA.

The Dixie Stampede is Closed. . . .

This is quite the shock to me. One of the things I love about Country Music was the way they (the stars) seem to treat each other and the fans. Now I have only been listing to Country Music for a few years now but that was one of the biggest things that impressed me. Much like when I saw Meatloaf live and he came out at intermission to say to the crowd “Thank You for this job. I love it and could not do it without you” or something to that effect. It stuck with me as this guy is cool and know what is going on. Country music seems to be about the people, and about that old fashion Gentlemens Honor kind of stuff and the way we acted back in the old days when people took responsibility for themselves and there actions and this was a great place to live.

Well now it looks like Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede in Orlando FLA closed with no notice putting over a hundred folks out of work. There is only ones side of the story out so far but it seems that the workers were told in the morning things were fine, just rumors and by that afternoon it was closed, sold, and they were out of work. Go read the story yourself and please let me know if I missed something.

That bugs me. Ms. Parton I hope you will be doing something to help these folks that worked for you. I had something similar happen to me where my employer told us they were working to prevent lay offs then two weeks later fired hundreds of us and kept doing it every quarter for almost four years, going from 11,000 people world wide to about 3,500. They did what they had to but the way they lied to the workers really pissed me off. They showed time and time again how little they cared for us yet expected us to not quit or leave them. A VERY ones sided arrangement.

Well I can say that I did go to this show for Christmas a few years back and it was great! The kids, my wife and I all had a wonderful time and had planned on doing it again when in the area. Now I will have to rethink that. The show did well and they admit that in the story, this is all a money grab at the expense of the workers. They even talk of opening again in the area (how could they not with the tourist $$$$ there). If things really were done as badly as it looks then it will be a cold day in you know where before I spend money at a new Dixie Stampede. Business is Business and I am a capitalist at heart, but I believe as a business person you must have honor too. . . .You have to take care of your workers as they take care of your business. I will watch how this plays out as much as I can from up north, but if it looks like they really screwed over the folks working there as bad as it seems they did today then all I can say is shame on you Ms. Parton for being a part of this in any way. . . .

Vote New Hampshire

Maybe there is justice in the world. We will see after they finish counting the votes in NH today. I found it quite satisfying to see Hillary crying on TV because the news media as she says “is not asking Obama the hard questions”. Heck, she got to the top because the news media would not ask her hard questions so it somehow seems fitting that her fall may be caused by the same thin used against her.

Just some random thoughts on things. It should be interesting to see how NH turns out. Will all the independents voting things may go McCains way too. That would be sad since he is a Democrat at heart, and has a proven voting record against gun rights, free speech and wants open boarders. . . all things that will be very bad for the good old USA if he gets his way. . . I am sorry, he may be a war hero and I voted for him years ago when he last ran, but now he has turned his back on the Constitution.

I fear when all is said and done we will be back to voting for the fool that we think will do the least damage until the next election. I dream that some day we will have a president that will bring this country back to the greatness it was, and stop our slide towards socialism and destruction of our rights.

Martial Arts and TV Shows

Martial Arts and TV seem popular again. For a number of months now I have been watching a show called Human Weapon on the History Channel with the hosts Jason and Bill.

Now for me, this has been a very interesting show. I grew up reading anything I could get on the martial arts, and have been formally studying them for about sixteen years now. I hold a second degree black belt in Shotokan, have studied Tai Chi and am currently studying Uechi Ryu with a green belt. Why do I tell you this? Not to brag but so you can see where I cam coming from in my comments on this show. . . . I like it

The point of this show is that the two hosts (Jason and Bill) travel the world spending a week at a time studying a martial art somewhere then have to fight someone the teacher picks to show what they have learned. These guys are great at it! They don’t always win but they do always teach you about the art they are studying, show respect for the style and go into detail on a few of its key moves so you can see what is going on and get a feel for the art. It is on every week with new shows most weeks. . . I highly recommend it as a way to get an overview of many styles of martial arts and where they come from.

Now there have been posts around the net making fun of the show. One of the things mentioned was the formulas they throw up on how hard a kick or punch is landing when they do the in depth graphics of how to do the move. I am an engineer but I have to admit I don’t look at the formulas and could care less if they are right. What I am looking at is the graphics showing how the move is done in detail so I can decided as a martial artist if I buy what they are saying about it. Most time I have to say I do. Sure they formulas are a bit flashy but it is a TV show and you have to keep the masses impressed.

Along with the close up of some key moves the other thing I enjoy about this show is the hosts. They both obviously know what they are doing. You can see this in how they move, how they fight, and the respect, comments, and questions they ask when training in a new style for the show. You never hear any disrespect of the form, teacher, or teaching style, they know they are guests in the dojo and act accordingly. That aside they do joke with each other and comment and it is funny and does not come across as forces or fake. They both seem like guys I would love to train with at the dojo.

Now Discover Channel has started a show to compete with them – Fight Quest. So far I have one show and have one more on tape to watch. My first impression is it is a poorly done knock off of Human Weapon. The hosts don’t seem to have the background in the martial arts to do this.

Jimmy is a real ass and his comments a few times on the first show make me think he is a brawler, not a real martial artist. He is just looking to fight. He seems to miss the fact that he is a guest at the dojo and the master teaching him may actually know something he may want to learn. . . we can’t always be pounding each other to learn to fight. He comes across as the wise ass in class that hurts people because he wants to show off or puff up his ego. . . . not someone I would want to train with.

The other host Doug seems much better and at least acts like he is really trying to learn something from these teachers being good enough to teach him for a week. I like Doug and he does seem like the kind of guy you would want to train with.

Much like Human Weapon at the end of the week they spar with someone the teacher picks to show what they have learned. The difference is both of them will fight, not just one of them. The other big difference is this show lacks the educational value if you will. They don’t get enough into the history of the art they are studying, and they don’t break down any of the moves to help you really get a feel for what is going on. I like the idea I can pick up a few things from Human Weapon and must say I have. We will see if I can say the same about Fight Quest after a few weeks pass.

I will be watching a few more episodes of this in hopes that it improves but if doesn’t I think it will be over quick. I could be wrong, the wrestling (WWE) crowd may save it since they like the acting and watching folks get pounded for fun but unless it changes I don’t see much interest here as a martial artist.

Thoughts on the Martial Arts

I had an interesting Karate class last night with my old instructor. I have been going back to my old teacher one night a week for a month or so now to try to get back into my Shotokan Karate before I forget too much of it. Well, to make a long story short I was asked to leave a bit early so the teacher and the rest of the Black Belts in the class could discuss something. Now I don’t know what they talked about, it could have been me, or something about the class, or moving the class who knows. Please understand that I have a lot of respect for my first teacher, he is very good at what he does and also good at teaching it to others. Anyway I got to thinking I may be asked not to come back since I go only one night a week instead of the two everyone else does. I will be disappointed if this happens but life will go on.

The interesting thing that hit me is the way my first teacher seems to have changed his attitude towards me as soon as I started to study with other teachers. This started years ago just after I got my first degree Black Belt from him when I started to do Tai Chi one night a week also. I don’t know but he seemed to take offense at my move and I don’t know why. I was still doing karate with him two classes a week but somehow the idea I was training with someone else seemed to offend him. I know that later on it delayed my next rank, he commented to me about my time off to do Tai Chi. . . .

The most startling thing to me was how different my new teacher is. She not only supports my training in my old style, but actively takes her students to other teachers in her style of Karate to get her students a broader view of the style and to get input from many teachers. Since joining the new school, I have been introduced to at least four other teachers by my new teacher and been to their classes. Each has given me different things to work on and seen different things in my karate – both good and bad.

This has shown me that to be what I consider a true Martial Artist you can not have only one teacher. To me one teacher gives you too much tunnel vision. By working with all these different people I have been exposed to many different ways of teaching, seen the different things teachers focus on, and been given constructive criticism of my karate from many different viewpoints. All of which has done me a lot of good. My karate is better, and every time I feel my ego starting to get in the way someone points out something I need to work on and deflates my head back to its proper size for training.

I have also been given the opportunity to show some of what I have learned in other styles to these folks too. This has proven to me more than anything that to truly practice martial arts and be a Martial Artist you can not be so focused on one style to the exclusion of others. A Martial Artist should be willing to share what he knows, and learn from other Martial Artists no matter what style they study. The martial arts are not about learning one style, but continuous learning. You are never done, there is always someone new to teach or learn from and in truth you tend to do both at the same time. . . Teaching brings up questions and can show you new ways to look at things you have done since day one. It is amazing how much you can learn from trying to answer a good question. . . .

All of this brings me to another point. . . Martial Arts is not just the oriental stuff you think of. To me the Martial Arts is exactly that, the art of fighting. By this I mean that I find the study of Karate and its self defense aspects is only improved by also studying weapons, from standard martial arts weapons like sword and bo all the way to modern firearms. It all ties together. A good example of this is the show Human Weapon which could probably be its own post when all is said and done. In a nutshell the hosts of Human Weapon spend each week studying a new martial art, from traditional ones to modern Krav Maga. Throughout the show you can see a common thread in the martial arts in how people move, many of the blocks and strikes, and how they use weapons from ancient to modern. All I can say is personally I recommend the show as a good over view of the arts they study.

Well, I am rambling and this post is long enough. . . more later

National Treasure II

National Treasure II – Went to see it last night. Overall I must say it was a fun movie to watch and if you liked the first one you will like this one. It was not quite as good as the first one, maybe it’s just me but they seemed to solve things a bit too easily this time around. . .

OK, it won’t be up for an Oscar for being deep and moving but I thought it was a good flick. It had a few good funny moments, the usual puzzles for them to solve, and some neat effects to see. The wife and I give it two thumbs up.

I also enjoyed trying to remember where I had previously seen all the supporting actors. . . there was one from Jericho, a Technomage from B5, a former Queen of England along with the head of Mission Control from Apollo 13 to name a few.

All in all a fun movie that you can bring the kids to if you want to. It also left things wide open for number three and I for one am up for another trip through history. . .

A late First Birthday

Hey Y'all. . . Just noticed that this blog became One last Friday. . . Happy Birthday Blog!

OK, so I am a bit slow on the uptake, most that know me won't be surprised. . . .

Photos

New photos on the web page for Christmas and the house

Latest Acquisition

Since I didn't get to take it to the range to sight it in. . . .Here is a pic of the latest acquisition to the collection. . . . I got it from Santa. . . . I hope to get to the range this weekend to try it out = )


This is the Bushmaster AR-15 -A2 with standard stock and a 20" barrel. It came with a 9 round mag but I have managed to get my hands on two 20 round pre ban mags to go with it. The 20 round mag was what was originally use with the M-16 by the military until they saw the 30 round on the AK-47 and so as not to be out done they went to a 30 also. Is it about the same weight as my WASR10 (AK-47 for civilians) but the bullets/cartridges are much smaller as it is a 5.56mm instead of 7.62 (.223 cal instead of .300). I am told the accuracy is better but we will see.

This is one of the rifles I have always wanted to get my hands on so I am rather psyched to get it!!