Source

I am not sure I can say too much meaningful on this subject but I find it encouraging (in a very very small way) that people are starting to see and realize that government running our health care system is likely to be worst not better than the crappy system we already have. Even if your of the opinion that it is the governments responsibility; the above graph and associated article seems to point at the fact that the government has done such a crappy job in general, and specifically in selling the idea of government run health care, that the people are coming to the conclusion that its not a good idea.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire!

http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/

This is awesome. Zoom-in and watch your wallet get lighter as the image sharpens.

Josey: You be Ten Bears?

Ten Bears: I am Ten Bears.

Josey: (spits tobacco) I'm Josey Wales.

Ten Bears: I have heard. You're the Gray Rider. You would not make peace with the Blue Coats. You may go in peace.

Josey: I reckon not. Got nowhere to go.

Ten Bears: Then you will die.

Josey: I came here to die with you. Or live with you. Dying ain't so hard for men like you and me, it's living that's hard; when all you ever cared about has been butchered or raped. Governments don't live together, people live together. With governments you don't always get a fair word or a fair fight. Well I've come here to give you either one, or get either one from you. I came here like this so you'll know my word of death is true. And that my word of life is then true. The bear lives here, the wolf, the antelope, the Comanche. And so will we. Now, we'll only hunt what we need to live on, same as the Comanche does. And every spring when the grass turns green and the Comanche moves north, he can rest here in peace, butcher some of our cattle and jerk beef for the journey. The sign of the Comanche, that will be on our lodge. That's my word of life.

Ten Bears: And your word of death?

Josey: It's here in my pistols, there in your rifles. I'm here for either one.

Ten Bears: These things you say we will have, we already have.

Josey: That's true. I ain't promising you nothing extra. I'm just giving you life and you're giving me life. And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another.

Ten Bears: It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double-tongues. There is iron in your word of death for all Comanche to see. And so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron, it must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death... It shall be life. (he takes his knife and cuts his hand. Josey does the same and they grasp each others hand.) So shall it be.

Josey: I reckon so.

From: The Outlaw Josey Wales (IMDB) (YouTube link if your interested)
written by Philip Kaufman and Sonia Chernus, from the novel by Forrest Carter
emphasis mine

Watch this movie again last night while I was cleaning guns and reloading some 45ACP. I have always enjoyed this movie it has some great lines in it. The above dialog has to be one of my favorite. It seems especial poignant to me last night.

Shot my first USPSA match since the first week of last November. It's amazing how quickly the fine edge on those skills goes away. It's not like I forgot what direction the bullet go in the magazine but I certainly lost some of my efficiency of motion for sure. I had two misses on for first run (three stages, 72rds) but that was with my carry gun XD-40 Sub Compact. It was good to get back to shooting. Good to see the gang again and fun shooting.

With the upcoming inauguration of President Obama I can help but believe that we are seeing the beginning of a new era. The United States of America was the land of opportunity. The United States of America is becoming the land of expectation.

So I did make a panic buy in the wake of the Obama election. I purchase half a dozen 30rd AR-15 magazines. I am also going to buy at least one more AR-15 lower receiver between now and the inauguration. My brother plans to do the same. Figure if I have the lowers in hand we can build them up later at our leisure and as funds and time allow.






The Magazine Collection
(A) 3x Magpul PMAG, 30rd, with include dust covers.
(B) 6x C-Product, 30rd, black teflon coated, orange Magpul followers <- the panic buy
(C) 2x C-Prodcut, 30rd, dry-film coating, mil-spec green follower, Magpul magpul
(D) 3x D&H, 30rd, gray teflon coating, orange Magpul follower, Magpul ranger baseplate
(E) 4x NHMTG, 20rd, straight body, dryfilm coating, black follower
(F) 1x John Masen, 9rd, dryfilm coating, black follower, Obama approved!*

*The only reason I have it, is because it was the magazine that shipped with my AR-15 when I bought it.



The box next to the ammo can was bought a few weeks before the election in anticipation of an Obama victory. 1000rds of 2008 Prvi Partizan 55gr FMJ. The 20mm ammo can has the rest of my cache of 5.56x45mm ammunition. Probably not enough to get me through the next four years but it's a good start.

The good: I am please my county is not as racist as I feared and that a man with African-American roots can and has been elected to the presidency.

The bad: I expect, under Obama's presidency to loose liberties I value and that are were guaranteed by the constitution.

The ugly: I expect, under Obama's presidency to gain entitlements from my government that I neither need nor want and we can ill afford to provide.

With a little help from the NRA, Ohioans for Concealed Carry, League of Women Voters of Lake County and some internet searches I have filled out my ballot for next Tuesday's election. Lake County board of elections does a nice job of posting a sample of the ballot on their website ahead of time for download. I just printed it out and went through it checking off my votes. This gives me the time to look for more information to help my choices.

Now if Tuesday will just get here so I can vote and then they can quite airing political ads and quite leaving cheesy messages on my answering machine. Hillary Clinton called me tonight, yeah it was just a recording, but it was while I was feeding Abby. I didn't care much for her before that call but interrupting my daughter's dinner really has earned Ms. Clinton a spot on my shit list now. :D

In Fluggart's latest blog entry he makes two points that together combine to create a possible situation I personally find fairly unsettling.

His first point states "One of the things that is so irritating about polls is that not only are they ubiquitous, but they are also meaningless. They're meaningless because they're wrong... He goes on to show a nice example from the primaries how the polls completely missed.

The second point is "America is in for a giant racist wakeup call." I would really really like to think he is wrong here but at the same time in the back of my head I know he is very likely more right than wrong with that statement.

With the polls overwhelmingly predicting a win, and sometimes a landslide win, for Obama I think we are setting ourselves up for some really nasty race focused social unrest if Obama does not win. Imagine the racial tension created if Obama looses the presidency in the face of these polls being shared by the news media. It won't matter if there is voter fraud or not if Obama looses at this point I believe we will be in for some rough race relations in this country. With the expectation built up by the media and polling organization, I find the prospect of Obama loosing the election almost as unsettling as him winning.

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

I would vote for Palin over Biden, that choice is actually easier than McCain over Obama given my primary voting issue, but this is too funny not to share. -enjoy!