Feminist pioneer Betty Friedan dies

The people at Fark say.......

Feminist author Betty Friedan dies at 85. World loses not just a decent broad, but a fine piece of ass.

Peace on You

Those wacky Sudanese sign makers.

This gives me an idea - I'm going to open up a travel service for next year's Hajj, and charter some ferry boats, and pack those suckers full. Of course, I better get them to pay in full up front.

Dear fundie Islamists: Peace on you. Peace on all of you. Hypocrites.

Big role seen for Canada oil sands

Have I mentioned lately how much I love our Canadian neighbors to the North? They're good people.

More on those outraged Muslims

This is a great post on Neil Boortz's Blog about what it takes to outrage Muslims. Here is a snippet, but go read the entire thing.

Muslim outrage huh. OK ... let's do a little historical review. Just some lowlights:
Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York City. No Muslim outrage. Muslim officials block the exit where school girls are trying to escape a burning building because their faces were exposed. No Muslim outrage. Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to school in Indonesia. A Christian school. No Muslim outrage. Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq. No Muslim outrage. Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and hotels in Egypt. No Muslim outrage. A Muslim attacks a missionary children's school in India. Kills six. No Muslim outrage. Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia. Muslims shoot children in the back. No Muslim outrage. Let's go way back. Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich Summer Olympics. No Muslim outrage. Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children in Israel. No Muslim outrage. Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways and busses. Over 700 are injured. No Muslim outrage. Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder. No Muslim outrage. Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali. No Muslim outrage. Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons. No Muslim outrage. Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one of the 125+ shooting wars around the world. No Muslim outrage. Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their shoes, then hang them from a bridge. No Muslim outrage. Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Muslims are outraged.

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses. Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims .. no Muslim outrage ... but publish a cartoon depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and all hell breaks loose.

Woman smuggles gun into county jail

After being transferred to the Ross County Jail, officers found Lundy still had a gun on her after it went off in the holding cell. Another woman in the cell said Lundy used the bathroom several times, and when Lundy sat on the bench, the gun went off.

While checking the gun, Officer Jonathan Robinson observed "it had off white-colored liquid substance on the gun with red specks. It appeared to be consistent with vaginal fluid."

That is no place to holster a gun.

Rumsfeld Likens Chavez's Rise to Hitler's

Rumsfeld to Chavez: Suck it!

Blogstorm

There's a Blogstorm starting. Give a visit to Michelle Malkin's blog - she does a better job of summing up what's going on much better than I could.

Cliff's notes version - the entire Muslim world is in an uproar over cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper depicting Mohammed. Riots across the globe are protesting the "insensitivity". And funny, the religion of peace's protests involves flag burnings, kidnappings, and threats of violence.

The part that'll make you sick, or at least it made me want to vomit, is that our very own policy wonks at the State Department have come down on the side of the rioters, calling the cartoons "offensive" and claiming the press needs to have some responsibility about what it's publishing.

And while it's apparently offensive to Muslims to have cartoons made of Mohammed, there is no uproar by the State Department over a piece of art depicting Osama bin Laden as Christ at the National Black Fine Art Show in New York City...

Craziness, sheer craziness. Read it all at her blog.

You know what, if you take a position on something, you're going to likely offend someone. By not taking a position on anything, you wind up as part of the new American Castrato we discussed last month.

update as of 20:38 on 2/3/6: check out the pictures of the so-called religion of peace in action. And oh yeah, the first several pictures I linked to are from Europe, not the Gaza strip.

These people are getting more worked up over a series of cartoons, which they say violates their religion. I don't seem to recall seeing riots of this nature after Zarqawi blew up the hotel in Jordan not too long ago - killing innocents - which is also supposedly against the tenets of their regligion. Interesting what people get worked up over, ain't it?

NYC girl scores 113 in HS game

Eat your heart out Kobe.

Britney Spears is pregnant with baby number two

Any hope of her regaining her hotness is now completely gone.

Tornadoes Blow Through New Orleans

Tornadoes early Thursday tore through New Orleans neighborhoods that were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina just five months earlier, collapsing at least one previously damaged house and battering the airport, authorities said.

It's all George Bush's fault!

In Turkish Movie, Americans Kill Innocents

You'd read this title and think that this was some low budget B movie. Looks like you'd be right based on the American "stars" in the show: Gary Busey and Billy Zane.

Looks like Turkey will make the movie with American actors (I know that's being generous) that Hollywood's too chicken shit to make.

Police shooting ruling challenged

News from England.
A High Court challenge has been launched to a verdict of lawful killing in the case of a man shot dead while holding a gun-shaped lighter.

I really hadn't thought about this until now, but the old bumper sticker that reads, "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns" is not nearly as scary as this article. The real story in England is, "If guns are outlawed, only the police and military will have guns."

That's a very bad thing.

On (shooting) competition, Part I

Earlier on these pages, I have discussed shooting styles and gun choices. Tonight I am going to discuss competition.

As should be obvious to regular readers of this page, we here at the Tattler shoot. A LOT. Yes, like many of you, we spend some time at the range working on the basics - which I will call target shooting - grip, stance, group shooting, etc. We also spend an inordinate amount of time at home dry firing, perfecting and refining our skills. Target shooting and dry firing are done to make us better competitors, and the stronger competitors we are, the better shooters we become.

I have stressed before, and I’ll stress again, if you carry a gun whether you’re a cop on the street, a CHL holder, or in the military, then you should participate in whatever kind of competition that you can get to.

Sadly, it has been my experience that the vast bulk of people who carry guns as part of their daily routine could be much better shooters than they think they are. Now, as a side note: this is not a blanket statement. I know that there are MANY shooters out there that DO compete, and if they aren’t regular competitors I know there are MANY guys and gals out there that do have a regular routine and take their training seriously. I applaud you folks and wish that there were more.

Now, if you’re not competing, why should you start?

- Competition brings out the best in you. If you don’t compete, and you learned to shoot from the gun rags or from your uncle who served back in the big war, then chances are that you are a shooter, but that you don’t know how to shoot. Using myself as an example - I learned to shoot as a kid from my Dad, who served as a SEAL in Vietnam. And pretty much everything that he taught me, with the exception of how to line up the sights, was wrong. Competition has brought out the best in everything where it has been allowed to thrive. Things that work are used, and things that don’t are discarded. By regularly competing alongside capable shooters, you will learn the way that the best shooters in the world shoot. For a more detailed description of that style, see my earlier post on shooting.

- Does your gear work? Frankly, outside of actually learning to shoot, I think the single greatest benefit of shooting in competitions is learning if your gear works or not. By competing, you’ll quickly learn if your gun works, your holster works, your mags work, your bullets work, etc etc etc. I have personally seen many new shooters step to the line and draw their holster with their gun, their mags with their mag pouches or have their latest and greatest gun break. The sad fact is that there’s a lot of junk out there that’s being sold to you - and that includes everything from guns and equipment to the oil you use.

Think about it. Where would you rather find out your equipment isn’t up to the task of defending you? On the street, in your house, or on the range where you might be embarrassed a little, but no one gets hurt. There are things that have proven to work and things that have not. Chances are, if you are not putting the stress of competition on your equipment, you’re not going to find out if your gear works while you are standing stationary at the line firing no more than 1 round per 2 seconds.

- Have you ever run with a loaded gun in your hand? Again, it would be a fair guess that if you aren’t competing, the answer is no. It’s very likely, if you have to use your weapon to defend yourself, that there will be some degree of movement involved. And standing there target shooting will not prepare you for that challenge at all. Learning how to move with a gun in your hand in a fluid environment is a vital skill that should not be overlooked. Participating in action shooting will allow you to do this and learn to do it safely.

- Speaking of safety…. As I’m sure you know, people do all kinds of stupid stuff. Largely, when it comes to shooting, it’s more a result of ignorance than willful idiocy. Partially to blame is equipment that, at best sucks and at worst is downright dangerous. Specifically, holsters that are not rigid or that require two hands to put the gun in the holster cause more problems than I’d care to recognize. Here’s a tip - if you have to point the gun at any part of your body to holster the weapon then you need to find another holster.
When you participate in a match, you will either learn good muzzle discipline and trigger control or you will not be hanging out at the match for very long. Period, end of story. If you can’t control the muzzle, and can’t control your trigger finger, you have no business carrying a firearm. Shooting competitions will help you to learn both - I can think of two occasions where I have busted my ass coming into the next shooting position and slipped on loose brass or gravel and wound up feet in the air, ass on ground and muzzle kept downrange and no AD because my finger wasn’t wrapped around the trigger. If you think something like that is not possible in the “real world”, then you’re only kidding yourself.

- Learning. If you compete, you’re going to run into shooters better than you; regardless of what level of shooter you are - members of this blog included. You’ll quickly learn who the local stud is at the matches you go to and you’ll likely be able to learn more from him than all the gun rag articles in the past 10 years. Shooting is one of the few sports where you can rub elbows and bullshit with the best people in the sport. And almost to a man (and woman), they are easy to talk to and willing to share. How many other professional atheletes are available via cell phone to discuss a technique question? How often can you participate next to the greatest in the sport and then sit down and eat lunch or drink beer after the game is done? I’ve watched Robby Leatham - The Great One - who is arguably the greatest shooter in the world, take questions for about 30 minutes after the end of a loooong day’s shooting at Nationals. The questions ranged from everything from what kind of sights he liked to what kind of springs to put in your mags to how to look at attacking a particular course of fire. He answered them all with grace and panache and it was something he clearly didn’t have to do. If you don’t learn anything from your fellow shooters you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. However, as a note of warning - be careful who you seek advice from! Pick the shooter that is doing well, not the shooter who just looks good.

- Stress. Shooting at a competition will place signifigantly more stress on you than target shooting. Between the timer and the peanut gallery, you'll face a fair amount of stress, especially your first few times. If you can't handle the stress of shooting a match, can you handle the stress of having to defend your life?

- And let’s face it. Shooting is FUN! If you’re not having a good time shooting at a match, there’s something wrong with you. Go home and drink beer.

So, to summarize - by shooting at matches you’ll learn speed, accuracy, safety, what’s reliable and what’s not, how to handle stress and get good quality advice. And the topper is, you’ll have fun and hang out with like minded individuals. If you want to take the plunge and start shooting, you can find a local club at either idpa or uspsa.

If you were paying attention, you'll see this is Part I. Part II will discuss who competes, why some won't, and what's "tactical".... stay tuned.

And, as usual, if you have questions, ask. We’re here to help, folks.

Authorities seize "bathtub cheese"

What? That's illegal? Let's see: bathtub girl okay. Bathtub cheese illegal. Nope. Nothing wrong with this world.

The rat pokes his head out

Today while I was riding the elliptical at the gym I caught the breathless CNN talking heads prattling on like the idiots that they are. Al-Zawahri speaks!! They can't believe the bravery, the strong words, the rhetoric from the man so recently targeted by the CIA. They fear what this man and his brethren are capable of! What a display of power - only 2 weeks after narrowly escaping death he sends out a video!! Yes, our pals on CNN - gotta love em.

I almost threw up. And not from exertion.

Let's be realistic here.

Two weeks after the CIA told us they didn't get this pig eater, he speaks via a video tape smuggled to the mouthpiece of the terrorists, al-jazeera. Now for some reason, CNN reports the news from al-jazeera as if it's more accurate than the news from our government....

You'll note that it is being reported as a video tape, not a DVD, not a digital recording. A tape. If alqaida was so powerful, you'd think they have the ability to digitally record something and then instantly publish it on the internets. You know, like I'm doing right now.

Now, I'm not a CIA/NSA analyst. But the way I see it, to actually publish something to the internets yourself you need 3 things. Power, a computer, and a connection. By smuggling a video tape to al-jazeera this tells me that the cowards are missing either power, a computer, or more likely, a connection. Last time I checked, caves don't come standard with dial-up or DSL.

Or, could it be that the cowards know the instant they hook up to the internets they're signing their own death warrant? Nah, couldn't be that, they're so brave.

Now, as to the bulk of the message, how comical. Al-Zawahari calls Bush the "butcher of Washington" for killing 18 terrorist sympathizers. What's that make his fearless leader (you know, the guy who's too chicken shit to poke his head out of the cave he's hiding in), Osama? As in, the coward who killed 3,000 people on 9/11? Does that make him a butcher too, or is that different?

Another item of amusement is that Al-Zawahari (as do other of his cowardly brethren) calls us "crusaders". Here's a news flash, dickhead: the Crusades took place more or less from 1096 to 1270. That's almost 750 years ago. And I thought my ex-wife held a grudge.

And, in spite of your repeated demands of a truce, I'm sorry to say that you're still a hunted rat. And you're going to continue to be a hunted rat until you are dead. How ya sleepin' in that cave, pal?

Now, in the past, alqaida was well known for their simultaneous attacks on innocent people. Now it would appear that they're well known for their nearly (only 2 weeks apart!!) simultaneous communiques. CNN was sure impressed!

I'm also well aware that in the past, such communications from the rats would often lead to an attack on the West - usually on innocent people on their way to work or on vacation. Will that happen now? Only time will tell.

However, I can't help but be reminded of the oldish arcade game where you stood over the tabletop where the beaver/rat/squirrel/whatever it was poked it's head out into varying holes and it was your job to pound the snot out of the rat with the mallet. For some strange reason, it strikes me that Al-Zawahari and his cowardly friends are the rats, and we're holding the mallet. But that's just me.

As a final note, is it just me, or does Al-Zawahari look a lot like Mikhail Gorbachov with a turban and beard?

Senate Clears Way for Alito's U.S. Supreme Court Confirmation

Oh, by the way: I told you so.

Hopefully, Ted Kennedy will have an aneurysm over this. I'm sure he'll drown his, um, sorrows.

The Three Stooges live!

Nyuk, nyuk!

A hapless visitor tripped on his shoelace, tumbled down a flight of stairs and crashed into the vases, smashing them into smithereens.

Aw, how bad could it be?

The priceless vases, dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, were donated to the museum in 1948 and have become one of its most recognizable exhibits.

So, priceless is expensive, huh?

Why you, I oughtta...

Guns Win

Democrats and gun control are like puppies and chewing. You can beat them time and again, but they won't stop. They will always return to gun control, like moths to a flame.

Okay, so my similes (or is it metaphors or analogies? Should've paid attention in English) suck. You get the picture.

Had John Kerry not been stupid enough to go back to Washington to help defeat the firearms industry liability protection bill and get his picture taken with Ted Kennedy, Dianne Feinstein, and Chuck Schumer in the process, many more pro-gun voters might have stayed on his side or stayed away from the polls.

Luckily, Kerry just couldn’t help showing his true colors and much of the gun lobby noticed.

I've said it before: Democrats lack simple self-protection mechanisms. They continually are shooting themselves in the foot (sorry, I can't stop now...) with respect to the gun lobby, and gun owners in general. They honestly believe that guns are the root of all evil, and in spite of their collective constituency's mandate, continue to try to ban them. What's worse is that they try to put on airs as "sportsmen" and "hunters," posing for cheesy pictures while weilding grampa's shotgun during photo-ops that only a moron would believe was genuine. I think this sums it up nicely:

Of course Kerry’s gun posturing was a prime example of what former Democrat Senator John Patrick Moynihan referred to as, "…just boob bait for the bubbas."

THAT's what politicians think of you, kids.