Who cares ?

This case over George Zimmerman shooting some thug (or any similar case for that matter) doesn't bother me too much.
 I was always taught (and taught my kids) if you hang around with thugs and act like a thug sooner or later it would catch up with you. From all we know about Trayvon Martin he was a 'gangsta' or one in the making, so it appears to have caught up with him. His mother had sent him to his fathers because she was having trouble with him so it seems he was not as innocent as they make out now.
I just believe things tend to work some ways for a reason, who knows if he had lived he may have turned into a major drug dealer, killer or thief, if not already. I think of it as a retroactive or preventative justice. Bottom line is I believe you do bad things and sooner or later you pay the price.
 I don't know all facts in this case and it appears there was blame on both sides but one thing I have learned is life is not always fair and certain actions seem to accelerate the 'unfairness'

Those of you who have kids at home should use this as a teaching moment and explain to them the dangers of hanging around and acting like this. It may seem cool to them but leads to a dead end life or death. 
It would be better to explain to your kids the dangers rather than letting them wear hoodies to school to protest like some idiot principal in Delaware did. (and we scratch out heads and wonder why the school system is broke.)

I leave you with a John Wayne quote which sums this up perfectly.

Not Good # 28

Not a good thing to wake up and see in your tent flap.

Dueling, Maybe Time To Reintroduce

I am fascinated by old customs and I think some of them might be good to bring back. Dueling was accepted in  in Europe many years ago and was  practiced in the United States till the 1840's until it became frowned upon.
Usually when one party felt they had exhausted all other means to settle an issue they would challenge the other party in a public place. The other party had the option to drop the issue and apologize or pay restitution or accept the duel.
I think this is a  idea which we seriously need to revisit, think of all the money we could save. It would stop a lot of frivolous law suits, not many people would be willing to risk death or serious injury over a fake claim. It would certainly make most people want to do the right thing instead of trying to wrangle out through legal loopholes. For example, you have a minor auto accident, it is your fault and you or you insurance company pays for the damage however the other party claims they cant work or function due to back pain, nightmares, whiplash etc. You know it is a sham because it was a bump in a parking lot for instance so you challenge them to a duel. They now have a choice either back down and publicly admit they were lying or face a duel, my bet is 99.99 % of the time they would back down. Even if you had professional duelers which you could hire to represent you they would cost a fortune and regardless of which side won the issue would be settled and no further payment would be required so another reason most would back down before it went that far.
Or lets say for example someone owes you money and they fail to pay, if challenged to a public duel almost all offenders would pay up to end the issue, if not you would get the opportunity to extract your pound of flesh, win or loose the issue would be over.
Usually in any argument between two parties one of them knows in their heart they are lying so for this reason I think this would be a wonderful system, it would save a  ton of money in law fees, insurance payments, jail over crowding and would be a excellent way to keep people honest.

Random Thoughts, Update.

Things have been hectic lately, I seriously need to get back in a groove.
 I had another talk with Stephen his frustration level is high at the moment, the doctors are not sure when he can go home and what further treatment he should have. He is ready to check him self out and he kept saying how he hated being there. I made him laugh when I told him it could be worse because Obama could be in charge of his health care, he has too many guns and survival supplies and would be considered a unnecessary member of society to get treatment. We both agreed we needed to have a long vacation. It seems now-days we get so tangled in society and business that at some point you need to say enough.
 
Special welcome to new followers, Falcondawn and  Lamb , thanks. I always try and respond to comments and questions. Please check out their sites and say hello.

Blogger Down Update

I talked briefly with Stephen last night. He sounded good but is still in ICU. He has had 2 stints and hopes that any other issues can be corrected without surgery. He indicated that maybe they would let him go home in a few days. I passed along all the well-wishes from all of you and he said thank you very much, it meant a lot to him.
Thanks again, Duke.

Blogger Down

Just a quick note, I received a text message from Stephen's wife late last night, he was taken to the hospital with a heart attack. From what I could find out he is stable, he has had two stints and is in ICU.
 I will pass along more info when I can please keep him and his family in your prayers.
Thanks, Duke.

Welcome and Such

I would like to welcome three new followers, Comfortably Numb, Severs28 and Abbe.
Abbe has a blog called Chaos and coves a variety different subjects, please stop by and say hi.
I am sorry for no posting as much the last few days, things have been busy and I am trying to sort out a lot of things, I promise to do better.
You are all such a good group of people and I value your friendship, Thanks.

Not Good # 27

Not a good thing to see through your camera.

Welcome in Order

I would like to welcome bulls eye babe to our blog rolls, thanks for taking the time to click the follow button.
Please stop by her site and say hello.

I Was In Denial

I Did not really want spring to be here, not that I don't like spring, it is one of my favorite times of year but it is so short and I know summer is not far behind. I went outside and realized I might as well face it.

My citrus trees are blooming, the bees are hard at work. 

I picked the rest of my pink grapefruit, I guess we will put up a lot of juice in the freezer, they are so sweet this year.













The courtyard is so green, everything is sprouting.














The azaleas are in full bloom.

 Everything is getting so green, even had to mow some grass today.















My tomato plants are looking good.















Flowers are blooming everywhere.

My beans are sprouting in the garden.








My old Jeep looks a little sad. I need to get it back on the road. I had put a Chevrolet V8 engine it a few years ago (quite a job if you want to know) but my youngest son wanted the motor so he took it out, guess I need to find another engine, maybe a smaller one. It does make a good summer buggy and a good emergency bug out vehicle. Oh well one of my many projects. I guess summer will be here next week.

Not Good # 26

Not a good look even on Saint Patrick's Day

Silver And Gold, Worth Repeating

 I wrote this blog a few months ago when gas was cheaper but it is still true, The numbers have been updated, goes to show why gas costs so much. 

A lot has been said about Silver and Gold as an investment, I look at more as a hedge against inflation. I don't think silver and gold have risen in "value" as much as the price has gone up. Let me explain, Lets say you are riding around in your 1950 pickup in the year 1957. You have your girl sitting next to you because there is no seat belt law yet and you are jamming to Buddy Holly on your AM radio. You get low on gas so you pull into the local "filling" station and all you have is a quarter in your pocket.

Gas is normally around 24 cents a gallon but with a gas war going on it is maybe 18 cents, so you give the attendant a quarter and get over a  gallon of gas. (enough to get you to her house)
The reason the gas was this price was because our money was backed by silver. The paper money was backed by silver and coins were made out of silver (90%) so when the oil company sold you gas they only charged this because your money was "worth something"

 In 1964 the government had the bright idea to take out money off the "gold standard" and make our money worth ah..............well it's worth this much because we say so. I'm from the government "trust me" (sound familiar)
So here we are in 2012 and, well you know what gas costs. If you drove into a gas station today and tried to buy any gas with a quarter they would kick you to the curb, call 911 and report you for driving while being an idiot (actually now that I think about it maybe that should be a law) Anyway the reason for this is because your quarter is not worth anything so to speak. It has very little value because it is only worth what the government says it is worth. Now lets suppose you go home and dig one of those old pre-64 (90% silver) quarters out of your sock drawer and trot down to the local coin shop today, they would give you about $5.80 for it and guess what you could still buy a little over a gallon of gas. The reason the quarter would fetch this price is because the dollars you would get are worth a lot less than 1964, not that the silver had gone up in "value" because remember it bought the same thing it did back in 1957.
  My strategy is to buy silver a little at a time so you get dollar cost averaging. I have heard it said that all through history an ounce of gold would buy a man a fine suit of clothes, and today that is still true, not a Wal-Mart suit but a fine Taylor shop outfit.
This is the way I look at it, that gallon of gas in 1957 is not "worth" any more than it is today it's just that the money we use is worth a lot less so it takes more to buy it.

Not Good # 25

Not a good place to loose your brakes.

It Never Ceases To Amaze Me.

I always thought the the press would at least stand up for free speech but now I read Obama has signed HR 347 which makes it a felony to protest around secret service agents (translation, around the president or anyone with SS protection) There is other wordage about trespass and such but bottom line is you can be charged with a felony (not a misdemeanor) for protesting anywhere near the president.
Does this mean  Occupy Wall Street crowd can be arrested for protesting near candidate Romney, Hmmmm is he being set up for bad media stories? I am sure Obama would never abuse this to his benefit, I mean being such a protector on the Constitution and what not, surely this could not be expanded to include TEA party protests could it. At least I'm glad our gun laws are safe. 

I'm Going Out On A Limb

We all are a product of our training, upbringing and experiences. Gun people fall into many different categories as well. Some people were raised around guns and like many different styles, some just like to shoot, some like to collect and don't shoot much, some are newbies and wanting to learn, some don't really like guns much but realize they need one for protection and tolerate them, to some it's a fad and they may be into something else next year.
Myself, well.......I don't really fit a norm. I have always been around guns and enjoy shooting. I am very much a traditionalist though. I think there is NOTHING more American than a Colt Single Action Army. I even feel it's sacrilegious when they make clones without the hammer spur.

I also think any Winchester lever action is beautiful  and a true American masterpiece. I thought it was a horrible era when police departments changed from revolvers to automatics, I thought it was even worse they chose plastic foreign designed guns over 1911's.
I wish AR-15's and M-16's had wood stocks, hand oil rubbed and were chambered in 308. In fact I think all military weapons should be 30 caliber or larger. I think the M14 was the perfect military weapon. I think all guns should be wood and steel or metal alloy. I don't care too much about weight, if you can't handle it take up knitting. The bigger the bore the better I like it. I like double barrel shotguns,  I like 44 mag revolvers. I like 1911's. My 9mm's are Hi-Powers and S&W model 39, all metal guns. The only polymer pistol I own is a Kel-Tec 380.

I know there are a lot of fine, well made polymer guns out there, I know they are more high-tech than mine, I know they might shoot better and are easier to handle, I'm not against them but this is still one of my freedoms, to shoot what I enjoy.
I don't think SKS's and AK-47's are collector guns, I think they are beaters and deserve to be used and abused, if it makes you feel good to chop it up and modify it be my guest, this goes for any communist bloc weapon. I think a gun should be strong enough to be used as a club if you run out of ammo. I think guns are tools, if you are afraid to scratch it then put it away and get one you can 'drive like it's stolen.' I think the only safety a gun needs is your brain and trigger finger. I think every red blooded patriot needs to have guns (whatever kind) and know how to use them well.
Alright, I probably upset some but I feel a little better, I'm not trying to offend anyone. just tell you what I like. Aren't you glad I'm not in charge.  If you feel like it let me know where you fit in.

I Need A Break

I last few days has been taxing my brain, I need a break. I do want to stop and say hi to a few new followers, welcome to have ammo will travel as well as Family Best and K

I would also like to welcome Old NFO,  god gals guns grub , Manfred and Macgyver. Welcome to each of you. I enjoy comments and always strive to answer each one, you are among friends.
I have included links to their blog if they have one, please stop by and say hello.

This weekend looks to be busy, I need to put a radiator in the car and finish planting the garden. I put in some red potatoes yesterday after tilling the soil again.
Sometimes I want to load up a travel bag, strap it to the back of my Motorcycle along with a rifle in a scabbard and a 1911 on my belt and hit the road, Maybe ride out west.
I do wonder sometimes how far I would get riding into NY State with a AR15 tied across the handle bars. Hmmm....... maybe I will do it sometimes, would make an interesting blog post.

Something To Think About (part 3)

These post's the last few days has taken turns I did not anticipate. The statement has been made, we need to learn from history, there are many examples, one of the most recent is Australia where the government banned certain guns and has preceded to make it harder and harder to obtain them or enjoy shooting them.
After yesterday's post I received a comment from Ausprepper He is a prepper from Australia. Unknown to him I am more than a little familiar with the gun laws in Australia and know what it used to be like.
In the late 1970's I walked into second hand (pawn) shop in Rockhampton, Queensland (Australia) and bought a 303 Lee Enfield with 100 rounds of military surplus ammo for $35. I showed no ID, filled out no paperwork and walked out the door with it. I threw it in the back seat of the car and drove out of town and found a secluded spot to test fire it,  I am still in close contact with people in Australia and know how bad it's gotten.
I felt it important for you to read some of Ausprepper's comments and have listed them here along with commentary. He said....................
"THE LIBERTY MOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIA CAN ROUGHLY BE SUMMED UP AS  A BUNCH OF BITTER OLD MEN WAITING FOR A DAY THAT WILL NEVER COME AND SLOWLY DYING OF PARANOIA INDUCED CANCER WHILE THEIR L1A1 RIFLES RUST AND ROT IN THE GROUND!"
"That's a fact! Over here it's taken only one generation for the idea of owning a 'military rifle' to have become psychotically absurd to the common jerk on the street. 95 percent of people my age cannot believe that we were allowed to own them in the first place."
 He went on to say................
"If you let them take those rifles your legacy will die. Bury them and it will rot. A slower death, but death all the same. You have to live it to know it. I pray you never do!
 The prohibition is bad, but the regulation that follow are no joke either. It's so expensive and difficult to get into "sports" shooting here in Australia that most of those initially interested don't bother. Imagine having to be fingerprinted and put permanently on file like a criminal just to own a paintball gun or air rifle. Prohibition is the gut shot, but the regulation that follows is the slow death of starvation that kills the industry. Pay a cool $1000 for a stock Glock limited to 10 shots in a mag that you can only load at a recognized and govt approved range where you can't practice anything even remotely resembling combat techniques and you'll see how appealing shooting "sports" ain't "

 This is a sober reminder of what happens when we let government start eroding our rights and this is the danger we we face when we let the government and media tell us our gun 'rights' are for hunting or sporting purposes because then it makes it easy for them to start regulating them (which they already do) They tell us we don't need an AR15 to hunt with or don't need more than 10 shots in a magazine to kill Bambi. Well maybe we don't need more firepower to hunt but we do need it to fend off evil and remain free. This is the biggest threat today, we are the biggest obstacle to those who want to control everything. 
This brings us to the point, what do we do. Well first of all, fight to keep those in office who support the Second Amendment. Secondly if it ever gets to the point of registering weapons, do not do so. I will leave this to your imagination, private party sales are impossible to track so even if you bought a new gun last year from your local gun shop and lets say you got into a bind with a house payment it is quite legal (at the moment) to to sell it as a private party sale with no paperwork. This means if the government ever went through sales records the trail would stop and they could look no further than you if  for instance you 'sold' it at a gun show. If you have a few guns try and store them in different locations especially if there is a danger search and seizure, in the existing political climate this is not as far fetched as you may think. The more trouble you make for the gun-grabbers now the harder is will be for them pursue total control. I am not telling you to break the law but rather to use the law to benefit you, at least for the moment we have that advantage but things may change......................I don't think this subject is over.

Link, Tips to surviving martial law.

Something To Think About (part 2)

I am a thinker, I like to analyze things. I have thought long and hard about this subject and while opsec is important so is standing up and speaking out, I will try and balance it. Many talk about fighting back but it might be good to read my post's on Martial Law if you have not done so.
There was a lot of good comments yesterday, thanks to all who spoke out, a few points, I realize the the National Firearms Act of 1934 did not technically 'ban' full autos but bottom line is it registered them, which is a first step to banning and to be honest a $200 tax in 1934 (Great Depression) would be like a $20,000 tax today so it may as well be called a ban.  Many tend to think Obama does not have the support of congress for a gun ban, maybe not but what has he done in the past 3 years to make you think he won't trample the constitution or bypass it to further his agenda.
Let me state a premise, I believe the Second Amendment is the only real tool we have to ensure our other freedoms are not trampled, don't believe me...read history. I like the saying, "armed men are citizens, unarmed men are Subjects" What I am trying to say is maybe Obama can't get support to ban 'assault rifles' for example but could he say, it's OK for you to have them we just want to register them so they can be tracked and don't fall into the wrong hands. Now let's say down the road we have a lot of civil unrest and riots, killings, looting etc. because the economy collapsed (which seems almost unavoidable) how hard would it be to declare martial law and 'round up' all the 'assault' weapons to 'protect' the police and general public. At this point it would be too late for the sheeple.

Let me state another belief I have. The Second Amendment is all about government not 'controlling' us, It was not about hunting, that was not an issue of that day, it was not about protecting ourselves from murders and thieves, that was not a big issue of the day either. What was a big issue was the British wanting to control us, and to be clear we were British Subjects prior to the Declaration of Independence so it was OUR government that had been controlling us.
And so it is today, If you don't think the government want's to or is controlling us I need some of the dope you are smoking. They crave power and money and are well on the way to having it all.
Lets say for example Obama had the power to totally rewrite the Constitution and to pass any law his little heart desired, lets say he could confiscate all property and make us all Subjects, lets say he would be supreme ruler for life, he would have one big problem, armed citizens. Now I used Obama as an example but it could be any government and this fact remains, and they know it.
Tomorrow I may delve into some 'hypothetical situations' strictly for 'entertainment purposes only' We need to be thinking now about what we may do in the future so we won't get blindsided down the road.

Something to think about Part 1 
Something to think about Part 3

Something To Think About

Another story about gun sales in the news, do an Internet search and you can find plenty like it.
If you remember the gun ban during the Clinton administration you know for the most part it was worthless because we had a heads up months before it went into effect and more guns were imported and sold in 6 months than would have been in the next 6 years. Same goes for the 'high cap' mags. During the ban they were available everywhere you just paid more. This was because the ban only effected new imports and manufacture of certain items, personal items you owned before the ban were grandfathered in.
Now there is concern Obama will try a gun ban at some point, and we get stories that say gun sales are up.
I am certain 99% of people stocking up believe the guns, ammo, mags etc they buy now will be safe but what if they are not. What if they say for instance that certain guns and mags are banned and they have a grace period to turn them in.

  People talk big now but wait till the Government says you are going to prison for owning a certain gun and see how most cave in. It happened with the National Firearms Act of 1934 where all fully auto and short barreled shotguns were banned, they were not grandfathered in. You had better think about it now. It's easy to say you will hide them but what if your neighbors and family know you have them, what if your wife cries and begs you to obey the law to avoid prison, what if there's a reward paid for turning in violators, who else knows your secrets. What will you do.

Something to think about  Part Two

Act of Valor, Review

I went to see Act of Valor this weekend. Overall good movie, It does have some Hollywood special effects but seems fairly realistic. I paid close attention to the dialog and terminology used and it was authentic. When they used helmet cams  I picked up on their breathing patterns and found it interesting because I knew they were not actors. I have worked around Special Ops and SEAL's and was even assigned to one of their compounds in Iraq for 3 months so I had some basis for my observation. Even the grooming standards were true to form. Most movies like this would tend to show everyone with a 'high and tight' haircut but the 'hair on the collar' and beards is fairly common with them as they like to look non-military in civilian clothes. Overall a 'Must See' movie.

Worth Seven Minutes of Your Time

Judge Andrew Napolitano

How Can This Happen ?

I just heard on the news how yet another individual has shot themselves while "cleaning their gun"  Having many eons experience cleaning weapons I fail to see how this happens. Even if you ignored the basic rule of making sure it was unloaded before starting and were just wiping down the outside what would possess someone to point it at their stomach and pull the trigger. Or how would someone be running a cleaning rod down the barrel, hit an obstruction (live round) and pull the trigger to see what's up? Or why would someone be running a cleaning rod down the barrel without the action at least being open? None of this makes sense to me, usually the very act of cleaning requires it to be unloaded first.

I strongly suspect that these people were goofing around, drunk or on drugs trying to duplicate some impossible stunt they saw on TV or the movies and in the process shot themselves, when this happens I tend to think the standard statement to the police is "Oh poor me I was just cleaning it when it went off" instead of " Ahhh.... officer I was smoking dope while practicing quick draw and shot my foot" or "Officer my buddies and I were drinking and I was brandishing it around and fell down and shot my friend"  but instead they claim to have been cleaning it.  This kind of information gets spread around and makes the dumb public think guns are so unsafe and unpredictable that they will fire for no reason. Who knows maybe it's less paper work for the police to write it up as a cleaning accident. If it wasn't for the Second Amendment I would say some people are too stupid to have guns.

Jungle Carbine

 A while back I did a post on a Scout Rifle I built based on a Ishapore 7.62.
   
 During WWII there were Jungle carbines made using the 303 but a 7.62 version was never produced.
Gibbs decided to produce this one based on the 7.62 Ishapore. I acquired this one a few years ago in a trade. It is like new, I like the fact it is chambered for the 7.62 NATO. I don't think Gibbs produces them any more so you don't see them very much. It has a 10 shot magazine. The bolt is very smooth on this one. At one point the Enfield was noted as having the fastest second shot capability of any bolt action. The best improvement to these rifles would be peep sights.

I think they are kind of unique.