Tuesday, February 04, 2003- - -
Wandering the web last night I found Cold Steel's Special Projects web site. It's worth a look if you are ever in the market for a good knife at a great price. I use their Carbon V Master Hunter and their Bird and Trout Knife, and I have carried their 4" Clip Point and Tanto Point Voyagers daily for at least 10 years. Their Carbon V steel takes an edge easily and holds that edge very well. AUS 8A stainless is also quite good and is certainly a cut above the usual 440C used in most production knives (pun intended). They aren't pretty, but they're tough, hard-working knives that would be hard to match for twice the price. And no, I don't get anything for the endorsement.
@11:28 AM
Monday, February 03, 2003- - -
Okay..
This is bizarre. I've received a notice from my insurance company to let me know that under my Contractor's General Liability policy I am covered for acts of terrorism. But it's a liability policy. Surely they're not trying to tell me that I might be held liable for terrorist acts. Strange.
@12:54 PM
Walter Robinson of the Ottawa Sun has a grim warning:
January 2003 may very well go down in Canadian history as the beginning of the end of our democracy as we know it. Have I got your attention now? This isn't some reactionary rant, yours truly is deadly serious ... Canadians better wake up from their collectivist, groupthink, our government-is-benevolent coddled slumber before it's too late and state-sanctioned thinking takes hold.
James Rummel writes: What does he mean by that? Does he seriously think it hasn't happened yet?
Yes, you could make the argument that he’s a little late in sounding the alarm. What I found most interesting is that he’s writing from Ottawa, where such sentiments are rarely expressed.
It’s also an interesting answer to those folks who think we should be following Canada’s lead toward ever bigger and more comprehensive government.
@8:05 AM
"Hell on women and horses"
Went the old saying about Wyoming. It's easy to find a good vet now, but unfortunately the same can't be said for obstetricians.
@7:37 AM
Road Rage in Denver?
It's been my experience that Denver drivers are about as laid back and courteous as you will ever find in a big city.
@7:19 AM
In your dreams Goatboy
Iraqi parliament speaker Saadoon Hammadi told a group of legislators from the European Parliament that Iraq "will not turn the other cheek" should the United States use force to make Saddam's regime give up banned weapons programs. "American aggression will end up in a catastrophe for them," Hammadi said.
Let's see.. Those would be the banned weapons programs they say they don't have, right?
@7:08 AM
Things that make you go Hmm..
A couple of weeks ago Andrew Hammond of Reuters filed an article from Baghdad on Iraqis 'buying guns to fight a possible U.S. Invasion'. Now, Don Melvin, Cox News' foreign correspondent has this little tidbit from his visit to Baghdad:
A Brazilian television reporter wanted to do a story on how Iraqi civilians are flocking to gun stores to arm themselves to resist the American aggression. But when he arrived at the gun shop, he found no customers and only about four rifles displayed on the walls.
"Oh, no, no, no," he said to his translator, showing no trace of the professionalism to which most journalists adhere. "You must tell the shop owner he must put many, many more guns on the wall so I can film them."
Apparently, showing the facts as they really were just wasn't good enough.
@6:42 AM
Sunday, February 02, 2003- - -
This link from the InstaPundit certainly raises a few questions in my mind. For starters, I'd guess that this guy was one of Saddam's most trusted henchmen, so just how much of what he says can we trust? And, if he was bugging out, why didn't he just shoot ol' Saddam first and collect the big reward?
@4:12 PM
Well that was fairly rude. They opened the NHL All Star game with The Star Spangled Banner and then cut to a commercial while Oh Canada was being sung.
@12:54 PM
Today's CalgarySun poll asks: Do you think mankind will return to space after the latest space shuttle disaster? The results so far are running 96.9% Yes and 3.1% No. It may be unscientific, but it's encouraging none-the-less.
Update: They've got another poll on their editorial page that asks: Is the government collecting too much private information about Canadians? This one is running 91% yes and 9% No. Hmm...
And Hmm.. Again. Take a look at today's CalgarySun editorial. If this is pandering to the readership it would seem that Calgary is a little hotbed of libertarianism. Good for them.
Bwaaahahahaha! One more update: It seems that the CalgarySun's Paul Jackson really liked the SOTU speech. He asks: Can you imagine Prime Minister Jean Chretien commanding such respect? And Why can't we in Canada have a leader like this?
@11:04 AM
Hey! At least Gary Trudeau is cartooning about something he knows about today!
@10:56 AM
Thomas Friedman says he has a hard time taking Europeans seriously - they shun genetically modified foods from the U.S. but smoke like chimneys.
So pardon me if I don't take seriously all the Euro-whining about the Bush policies toward Iraq — for one very simple reason: It strikes me as deeply unserious. It's not that there are no serious arguments to be made against war in Iraq. There are plenty. It's just that so much of what one hears coming from German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French President Jacques Chirac are not serious arguments. They are station identification.
They are not the arguments of people who have really gotten beyond the distorted Arab press and tapped into what young Arabs are saying about their aspirations for democracy and how much they blame Saddam Hussein and his ilk for the poor state of their region. Rather, they are the diplomatic equivalent of smoking cancerous cigarettes while rejecting harmless G.M.O.'s — an assertion of identity by trying to be whatever the Americans are not, regardless of the real interests or stakes.
He describes a sort of boutique anti-Americanism that's more fashionable than rational, that's based more on cynicism, resentment, and insecurity than on legitimate disagreement with our foreign policy.
@10:52 AM
Folks like Bill Bradley are going to look mighty stupid when the citizens of Iraq are throwing flowers at our troops.
I think this is all the case we need for war. Call it neocolonialism if you wish, but anything that brings an end to the daily horrors these savages perpetrate on their own people, even their own families, is acceptable to me.
Update: Arguing that this evil can be 'contained' is particularly repugnant.
Update again: The InstaPundit says: It may be too much to hope for, but I think the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the anti-American left is beginning to sink in. I think this is where I'm supposed to say 'Indeed'.
@8:46 AM
According to this WaPo poll, 66% of Americans favor taking military action against Iraq, and 'about half' say the US should act even without UN sanction. Now this was a relatively scientific poll but still, it equates pretty closely with the January 31st CalgarySun on-line poll that asked: Should Canada wait for UN approval before joining a U.S.-led strike against Iraq? The results snapshot I found gave 53.6% Yes and 46.4% No responses.
It would appear that many among our allies are as hawkish as we are, and don't hew at all to Ottawa's line.
@8:33 AM
Greg Walcher, director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources says: "I used to tell people that the scariest thing I knew of was a Texan with a high-powered rifle. Now I say it's a Californian with a U-Haul."
This debuts a new Denver Post weekly column that ".. will shed light on what public officials say and poke some fun at what they do." Say! You don't suppose they've been reading blogs?
@8:17 AM
Saturday, February 01, 2003- - -
Well, I feel much better. I couldn't bear to sit and read the blow-by-blow of the shuttle disaster, so I loaded up some experimental .308s and went to the range.
I started with new unfired Winchester bulk brass. To prepare the brass I first trued the necks by passing them over a Lyman Type M neck expanding die set to stop short of flaring the case mouth. Then I trimmed each case to 2.005" and chamfered them lightly inside and out. Finally, I neck-sized them with a Redding Type S die and 0.332" bushing. Finally, I primed them with CCI #200 large rifle primers.
Wanting to standardize on a single bullet that gives decent velocity and deep penetration, I selected the 150 grain Barnes XFB. These solid copper bullets cannot be loaded with powder charges suitable for use with lead-core bullets, so I turned to the new Barnes Reloading Manual #3. It recommended a starting load of 43.0 gr and maximum of 47.0 gr of Reloader 15, one of my favorite powders for the .308, so I filled three brass each with 43.0, 44.0, and 45.0 gr, loading an extra case with 43.0 gr as a fouling shot.
The 150 gr Barnes XFB has a very long ogive to keep the bearing surface short and minimize friction in the bore. Thus, I found that by seating the bullets to a maximum overall length of 2.795" - about the longest bullet that will reliably feed from the 2.85" box magazine of my Winchester M70 Featherweight - the bearing surface of the bullet mics -0.037" in my RCBS chamber micrometer. The chamber throat of this rifle mics +0.068", for a whopping freebore of 0.105".
For best accuracy, I prefer to seat lead-core bullets about 0.005" off the lands, minimizing the distance the bullet must travel before engaging the rifling. However, Barnes recommends seating their X bullets 0.050" off, which may not be optimal for accuracy, but will minimize chamber pressure and maximize velocity. Excess pressure is a concern with these bullets, as the solid copper shank will not compress as easily as a normal lead-core bullet, so it's best to heed their recommendation. Seating the bullets a full tenth of an inch off the lands isn't optimal by anyone's standards, but it was the best I could do and create a cartridge that will function through the rifle's action.
I posted several targets after a fifteen-minute drive to the range, and was ready to relieve a little stress. I've been using a set of Caldwell Deadshot shooting bags, which fit right in with my tailgate 'benchrest', and give better stability than my old case media-filled shot bags, or resting the rifle over the top of my Stetson, which works okay in a pinch but has gotten noticeably chilly in the last few years.
As I had hoped, running up the powder charge and velocity gave progressively tighter groups, with 3 shots at 43.0 gr giving a 2.03" group, 3 @ 44.0 gr giving 1.60", and 3 @ 45.0 gr giving a nicely triangular 1.15" group. I deliberately stopped at 45.0 gr rather than proceeding to the maximum 47.0, as I believe it's wise to sneak up on the maximum in 0.5 gr increments. However, I'll not be surprised if the groups start to expand before I get to the maximum, and I'll take the most accurate safe load rather than trying for maximum velocity. I would be quite happy with the 45.0 gr load if I hadn't followed these three groups with a 3 shot group going an even inch, with the old Portuguese surplus ammo I've been shooting. Obviously there's still plenty of room for improvement in my handloads.
A little more tweaking should show me the optimum load with RL 15 and then I'll start over with the same bullet and Winchester 748 which, at least in the book, gives slightly higher velocity. I haven't used Win 748 much, but I do know I'll have to go to a magnum primer for the hard-to-light ball powder, and it's been my experience that magnum primers usually don't do much for accuracy. I wouldn't be at all surprised to settle on a load of about 45.5 gr of RL 15 for the 150 gr Barnes XFB in this .308.
A good big game load that shoots consistently under an inch from this regular production 7¼# rifle will be a delight. I wouldn't try any 300 yard quartering-away shots on 6-point bull elk with it, but I've got to climb the mountain first, and that 10# .338 is getting a little heavier every year.
Update: James Rummel writes to ask 'how far were you shooting'?
Arrgghh! Yes, that is a rather critical detail. It was 100 yards, give or take a step. I usually back off to two hundred if I’m really trying to fine-tune, but that starts taking up a lot of time just tromping back and forth. In the early stages of working up loads changes in powder weight usually produce pretty dramatic changes in group size, at least in sporter weight rifles. Also, this rifle has a 1-4x scope with fairly heavy crosshairs, so even at 4x it’s hard to get a really precise sight picture much beyond 100 yds.
I've loaded another batch of rounds the same as the last, except with 45.0, 45.5, and 46.0 gr of RL 15, and I'll try them next. I fully expect one of these loads to be about as accurate as I can get with the 150 gr Barnes XFB and RL 15. While I was at it I also mic'd the outside neck diameter of this batch after they were loaded, another detail I forgot yesterday. They measure about 0.336", and Redding recommends a neck-sizing bushing .003" under the neck diameter of the loaded rounds, so the .332" bushing I've been using is a bit tight. However, there is no sign that the shoulder is expanding or threatening to collapse as the bullet is seated, so I'll accept the .004" of neck expansion as a bonus. I suppose I could repeat the entire experiment using a .333" bushing, but I doubt I'd see any detectible difference in accuracy.
@5:19 PM
Today's New York Times tells the story of an honor killing - a young woman killed by her own father because she had been seen walking with a man. Thousands of women in Muslim nations are believed to die this way each year. Such is 'the code of honor' of the barbarians we face.
And this is a part of the price that is paid for listening to those who oppose and delay war and reform in the Middle East. This is the answer I give to those who say it's all about oil. This for those who think that inspections and disarmament are sufficient. We must not stop, we must not rest, until such barbarism is ended forever.
@10:29 AM
About half an hour ago NASA declared an emergency when space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated over Texas minutes before it was to land.
Update: At an altitude of 207,000 feet and traveling 12,500 mph, it was much too high to have been hit by a SAM. Unfortunately, at that speed it is highly unlikely that any of the astronauts could have survived.
@8:37 AM
The illegal collection of artifacts, fossils, etc. is a long-time problem that is finally getting some attention. It's also a problem with many ramifications that aren't immediately apparent. On the one hand, some of the better-known sites have been severely impacted by amateur excavation and the artifacts removed to god-knows-where. Of course, some sites have been extensively excavated by professional archaeologists who have removed the artifacts to god-knows-where and have never published the results of their excavations. That, I think, is the worse sin.
Some of the private collectors buy and sell artifacts and their provenience rapidly becomes lost, while others carefully catalog everything they collect and can take you right back to the spot where they found the material. Unfortunately, the law makes no distinction between these two groups of folks, but the later group, those who are truly interested in prehistory, can be a great asset - they know where the good sites are. They are the museum volunteers and the field-trippers, and our greatest source of public support for historic preservation.
@7:51 AM
Friday, January 31, 2003- - -
This is outstanding! Jacob T. Levy, the newest Volokh Conspirator, has also landed a monthly on-line column at The New Republic. His first article? The Cobell v. Norton Individual Indian Monies trust fund case! Says he, ".. Most Americans have never even heard about it."
Heheheh. Well, if you have followed this blog you certainly have, I've been blogging on this issue for exactly one year now, with my first post last Feb. 1st [Hey! When my permalinks still worked!], and I list Indianz in my blogroll for anyone who wishes to follow the case or other doings in Indian Country. Still, Cobell v. Norton has gotten little coverage in the mainstream press and Levy does a good job of outlining the situation. He also delves into territory I haven't discussed in examining the ambiguous feelings of the Tribes, as opposed to the individual Indians, toward this case, explaining this at some length on his own blog. He takes libertarians to task for showing little concern [cough], which engenders a response here.
Unfortunately, he doesn't ask why this mismanagement of Indian trust funds has been going on since 1887 - Where does the money go? Dare I say it? Advantage: Coyote! But hey, I'll take all the help I can get here.
Update: Grr! Apparently now all of my permalinks are hosed.
@7:40 PM
According to Anton Sherwood, the Russians don't like The Two Towers because Gollum looks like President Putin. And all this time I thought he looked like Peter Lorre. Gollum even acted a lot like Ugarte.
@5:09 PM
I just received my new catalog from Gun Parts Corp., one of the more fascinating outfits out there. This is the place to go if you are looking for trounds for your Dardick, or a few parts for your Boys anti-tank rifle [according to this, it was named after a Captain Boys, but is often misspelled 'Boyes']. They've even got parts for your PIAT - that's Projector, Infantry, Anti-tank, surely a weapon for the optimist - take a look at the picture here and you tell me if you'd tackle a tank with one.
These guys have parts for every conceivable firearm, and quite a few inconceivable ones. Like the Kessler Levermatic, a 1950's vintage lever action shotgun, an odd-looking brute that I had never heard of before. According to the Gun Parts catalog this one was never very popular, but the design was adapted by Marlin as their .22 Levermatic rifle. I've got to wonder who some of their customers are, as they can supply parts for most every 20th Century military weapon the US made, including the M2, M1917A1, M1919A4, M60 [my favorite], M73, M219 [a frightful piece of junk], and M85 machineguns. They can even supply parts for the 60mm and 81mm mortars, and for the 106mm recoilless rifle, although oddly enough they don't have parts listed for the 90mm recoilless rifle.
The catalog is fun to peruse, as in among the gun parts they have all manner of oddball stuff, like 'military chock blocks - olive drab laminated wood chocks used to brace vehicle wheels' and sandbags - build your own backyard bunker for $1 each. Best of all, they have exploded diagrams, which can come in handy when your buddy brings you his gun, in parts, in a box.
Update: Holy Moly! Capt. J.M. Heinrichs writes with this link to a story about Ernest Alvia 'Smokey' Smith of the Seaforth Highlanders, who actually took out a tank with a PIAT. He was awarded the Victoria Cross. Probably because he already had giant brass balls.
@2:29 PM
Oh here's a good idea. Ted Halstead says that "..the federal government should require all Americans to purchase basic health insurance. Those who cannot afford the full cost should receive public subsidies." I don't have the background in economics to refute the idea on those grounds, but I'll object on the grounds that this is not a proper function of the government, while I watch for comment on the econoblogs.
@9:41 AM
Ethan Bronner trys to explain Why Today's Europeans Object to America's Worldview.
At a recent conference in Brussels of Americans and Europeans, the new Europe was much in evidence. The participants were not discussing what European governments should do about Iraq. They were debating what the United States should do.
A curiously objective overview from the NY Times.
@9:27 AM
Nick Kristof, spokesman for the Axis of Weasel? He even quotes John le Carré, not one of his brightest moments.
@9:05 AM
Kids are climbing the walls in Virginia. No, it's not a Ritalin shortage.
Given the popularity of the sport, I think this is a darn good idea, as long as they teach proper techniques and stress safety. We have a devil of a lot of rock climbing accidents and in many cases those injured or killed 'learned from their friends' and didn't have a clue what they were doing.
@8:45 AM
Gee Whiz! Meet the folks who will be monitoring your internet activity.
"This boils down to a trust question: How much does the government trust industry to manage these systems effectively, and to what degree does industry trust the government to handle all this data?" said Cristin Flynn, spokeswoman for WorldCom.
No, the real question is whether we trust the government to meddle in something so complex and high tech as the internet. Given the opportunity, I think we can count on them misusing the data.
@8:27 AM
According to this Denver Post article, three of the four biggest challenges facing the Department of the Interior stem from poor management of property, cash, and finances:
The four long-standing challenges are poor Indian trust records, questionable national-park concessionaire contacts, dubious exchanges of federal lands and catastrophic wildfires that threaten federal lands in the West.
@8:08 AM
Thomas R. DeGregori has an interesting article on Pseudo-science and the Media: Problems and Lessons, in which he takes on one of my pet peeves - all the flummery surrounding organic and bio-engineered foods.
@7:49 AM
Joseph Farah has an interesting article on the New Sharecroppers. Says he: It's a crime. It's a scandal. And despite President Bush's modest tax-cut plan, no one is really proposing any significant reform of this grave injustice -- this 21st-century feudalism. [Yep. He's talking about the 50% of gross income that small businesses pay in taxes.]
It's time to reframe the political debate in America. It's time to talk about justice. It's time to talk about the Constitution. It's time to talk about limited government. It's time to talk about liberty. It's time to talk about the kind of revolutionary ideals our founders fought to create for the first time in human history.
We won't get there if the debate is over whether we impose upon ourselves a 35 percent tax rate or a 28 percent tax rate.
Our money doesn't belong to the government. Washington has no right to confiscate our earnings before we ever see them. It doesn't have to be this way -- not in America.
As long as we tolerate the government seizing our property and redistributing it in ways designed to retain and increase political power, we will never be truly free people, again.
@7:40 AM
Thursday, January 30, 2003- - -
It sounds like Virginia Postrel's new book will be coming out with a different title and probably different cover art. In this case, I think the marketers are probably right, as I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed the oddly suggestive cover art that had been selected.
@6:22 PM
Flashbunny has a new flash movie up.
@4:56 PM
It's nice to see some solid science coming from my Alma Mater [via Danny Walker]:
DETECTION OF LARGE WOODY DEBRIS ACCUMULATIONS IN OLD-GROWTH FORESTS USING SONIC WAVE COLLECTION
INDIANA R. JONES AND ETHAN ALLEN ( “ ET AL ” FOR SHORT)
Department of philosophical biology
University of North Dakota at Hoople
Earl ’s Corner Bar, Main Street, Hoople, ND
Abstract – We used directional microphones, professional electronic audio recording equipment and personal observation to monitor the accumulation of large woody debris in old-growth forests of northern Wisconsin from June 1999 through July 2001. We hired a really poor undergraduate student to collect nearly 20,000 hours of audio/video tape in really cool areas in the Chequamegon and Nicolet National Forests. Then we made the poor bastard watch all of the tapes and record the fall of large woody debris. Observation times and decibel values for events were correlated with field reconnaissance of the actual debris. Results show strongly that if a tree does fall in the forest, and no one hears it, it does indeed make a sound. Surveys also showed that out of state recreationalists mispronounced ‘ Chequamegon ’ in 75% of cases. Wisconsin residents mispronounced the word in 62% of cases, mainly due to alcohol induced slurring.
@3:15 PM
Bumper sticker at the grocery store: Eat more lamb! 50,000 coyotes can't all be wrong.
@1:29 PM
It's time to sharpen up the stave axe. I've got three staves of Osage orange that have been curing in the basement since April of '99 and they are more than ready. I've had them since they were cut green down in Oklahoma and I've been monitoring their progress. The smallest of the staves will be the first worked into a bow. Split and with ends sealed, it is 60" long and weighted 25# green. Charting its weight since showed a dramatic loss of water weight in the first months:
Date Weight
4-9-99 25.0#
4-30-99 23.5#
5-24-99 22.5#
6-7-99 21.0#
7-2-99 20.0#
8-9-99 19.0#
9-12-99 19.0#
12-18-99 18.0#
In the process of losing all that water the stave has also taken a very nice backset. It's been stable at 18# since the end of '99, and was probably ready to work then. Because it's quite short, I've been leaning toward a sinew-backing, and I think I'll replicate a sinew-backed, rawhide-covered bow that's on exhibit in the museum at Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs.
@12:57 PM
The NY Times Dining and Wine section features an Ode to the Crockpot. It's not just for food snobs anymore..
@10:42 AM
There's a good article today by Diane Carman of the Denver Post on District Judge John Kane and the drug war.
If the policy of arresting and convicting every illegal drug user in the U.S. actually was fulfilled, the prisons would have to accommodate "the 9 million Americans who smoked marijuana last month, the 1.2 million who ingested cocaine during that same period and the nearly 6 million who ingested it during the past year."
Oh, and half of all graduating high school seniors also would go to prison since they admit to having experimented with drugs.
Of course, that won't happen because we all know the war on drugs is a laughingstock. We mock it with impunity, and that creates another set of problems.
The fact that millions of "otherwise law-abiding citizens" ignore the country's drug laws makes us "cynical about all laws and our legal system and the political process in particular," Kane said.
@10:20 AM
Score one for Joe Six-Pack. A bill to quadruple the tax on beer has been shot down by the Wyoming legislature. Of course the tax is currently 2¢ per gallon and it would have been raised to 8¢. The 2¢ tax rate has been in place since the end of prohibition, and is the lowest in the nation, another good reason to move to Wyoming!
@9:50 AM
Tuesday, January 28, 2003- - -
I'm probably the last person in the blogosphere to link this article, but that makes it no less worthwhile. Chris Weinkopf offers his observations on homeland defense, as a citizen who has realized the need for an armed populace post-9/11 and has armed himself. He concludes: Our world has changed over the last year, and with it our moral responsibility to defend ourselves. Effective homeland security is not a political abstraction, but an individual duty—a duty to be alert, to be prepared to strike back, and to be willing to do so when called. Cowardice can no longer be an option.
I certainly agree that our security is our individual responsibility. However, I would argue that neither the world nor our moral duty have changed significantly since September 11th, although the world has certainly taken a giant step into our faces. Nor would I necessarily equate the failure to accept the responsibility of defending ourselves with cowardice - in our relative security many have simply not seen a need for skill at arms and others feel false moral superiority in their defenselessness. But the immediacy and universality of the current terrorist threat has certainly broken through the complacency of a good many.
@9:22 PM
The InstaPundit points to an article by Christopher Hitchens: "Cowboy" Bush challenged by bovines. It's quite an interesting analysis, but I think Hitchens misunderstands the true cowboy nature. A young cowboy might be impetuous, and thus, easily provoked, but the old cowboy knows the true machismo that, secure in itself, can afford to show patience with women and children of all genders and ages. The volatility becomes tempered with an implacable will that knows no insurmountable obstacle because it has met great challenges and prevailed, in the daily fight for survival. The 'yeehaw! shoot up the town!' youngsters may get the attention, but it's the old cowboys you don't want to mess with.
@7:07 PM
It sounds like the InstaPundit has gone pheasant hunting.
@5:10 PM
I've just finished reading my copy of Successful Hunter (Vol. 1, #1). I actually read every article and I am very impressed. They even have a couple of articles on bow hunting. I think I actually learned something from every article and none of them elicited the groans that some of the articles in their competitor's publications bring.
It was worth the cover price to read Ross Seyfried's article on leopard hunting - it had the hair on the back of my neck standing up at the end, and I've got to wonder if, given the choice, he would ever do that again.
@5:01 PM
These guys give us paranoids a bad name.
@3:29 PM
Okay, let me get this straight. Condoleezza Rice explained a few days ago what genuine cooperation and disarmament would look like, and concludes that Saddam has no intention of cooperating in Iraq's disarmament. Now, Hans Blix himself says that ".. Iraq has not shown "genuine acceptance" of demands that it disarm, and has failed to demonstrate active cooperation with inspection efforts." The WaPo report notes that Blix ".. did not ask for more time although he underscored the value of continuing inspections." A curiously mixed review. But of course, the Gray and very Feeble Lady argues that the UN inspection team's findings ".. strongly argue for giving the inspectors more time.."
One is forced to wonder what possible good could come from continuing the game of hide-and-seek that the UN inspectors describe. Will Saddam suddenly start to cooperate? Somehow I doubt it. Under the circumstances, it would appear that giving the inspections more time is more likely to allow Saddam to produce more terror weapons than it is to solidify international support for the U.S. Our forces are in position, or nearly so. It's time to quit screwing around and do the deed.
@3:21 PM
Monday, January 27, 2003- - -
Kool! The InstaPundit points us to Dave Barry's new blog! How do we know it's really the Dave Barry? Well, his fourth post takes a whack at North Dakota [motto: far enough away to pick on!]. HeHeHeh. The Dave Barry Memorial Sewage Pumping Station in Grand Forks may be the only facility of its kind to be visited and photographed by tourists. You would think Barry would be grateful for this bit of immortality.
@2:39 PM
James Lileks didn't like the new Cadillac ad, or the new Caddie, or both: Led Zep’s “Rock and Roll” introduces us to the next model of Caddy, which looks like an Aztek that had an elephant dropped on it.
I suspect that all those flat, angular body panels are 'stealth styling'. If so, they're an interesting adaptation of the rather bizarre appearance of our stealth warplanes. It's also interesting that this style should hit the market just as we might expect to be seeing more stealth styling in operation on the evening news.
Update: Okay, does this look like a stealth aircraft, or what? Farther along, their website emphasizes 'technological wizardry.' I was half expecting a stealth fighter in the background of the ad.
@10:47 AM
I'm probably the last person on earth to discover Michael Kelly's January 22nd WaPo OpEd, but it's too good to miss. Kelly says that September 11th started a furious debate on our political left:
The debate is over. The left has hardened itself around the core value of a furious, permanent, reactionary opposition to the devil-state America, which stands as the paramount evil of the world and the paramount threat to the world, and whose aims must be thwarted even at the cost of supporting fascists and tyrants. Those who could not stomach this have left the left -- a few publicly, as did Hitchens and Rosenbaum, and many more, I am sure, in the privacy of their consciences.
Yes, more and more the lefties strike me as being akin to the petulant children of rich parents. They are used to the best of everything that a very rich country has to offer. Yet they are perpetually angered by the discovery that even a very rich Uncle has limits to the depth of his pockets. They are even more dismayed to discover that there is a limit to Uncle's patience with their wastrel friends.
@10:25 AM
The CalgarySun's Ezra Levant says that France and Germany are Ungrateful allies.
@8:52 AM
The CalgarySun poll for today asks: Should police enforce Alberta's tough new law making it illegal for teens to smoke in public? So far the results are running 69.1% Yes and 30.9% No.
Interesting that 30% of our supposedly government-worshipping northern neighbors would apparently rather not see their police enforce one of their laws. I don't find it too surprising, however. As with our friends the Europeans, they have a lot of government, but don't seem to take it nearly as seriously as we in the U.S. do. I've never been quite sure what to make of that phenomenon.
Update: The Cranky Professor responds:
My take is that WE have more or less the right size of gov't, so that most of us are willing to generally conform to it. Italy (I'm back in Rome and blogging from there) has WAAAAY too much gov't, and NO ONE feels much need to conform. Indeed, you don't want to know how my rent is being handled. I'm only sure of the first cutout to avoid the tax man (please don't publish those last 2 sentences! Oh, wait - we're talking about Italy. Go ahead).
@8:44 AM
Ed Quillen of the Denver Post says there's a double standard on perjury. It's apparently okay when police do it.
How common is it? In recent years, I've had occasion to visit our municipal court twice, and both times, I saw cops lying under oath.
I asked a judge I know if this was unusual. "No," he said. "It has happened at every criminal trial I've presided over."
So why aren't there prosecutions? "For one thing, it's difficult to prove. For another, prosecutors have to work with the police, and you're not going to have a good working relationship if you're also prosecuting them. And besides, we have juries to sort out who's telling the truth and who isn't."
It's not as if Quillen is above engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but this pretty much squares with my observations over the years.
@8:33 AM
Sally Ann called it: Bucs all the way. Incidentally, her Baked Brie recipe was wonderful. Bake it in a small pie tin though, or the melted brie will escape the crust, and let it cool to room temperature before serving. Delicious!
@8:02 AM
Sunday, January 26, 2003- - -
Says the Dowdy One: At last, Mr. Bush has found a compelling rationale for his Iraq policy: France and Germany are against it. Well, it works for me.
@1:16 PM
In this article linked by the InstaPundit, it appears that airport security screeners in training have been given the answers to their tests. What the article doesn't answer is how many of them failed anyway?
@10:24 AM
Oh Great! A man in Ft. Collins, Colorado is suspected of posing as a cop to stop young women, and of abducting and murdering one of them. The police have him in custody, but copycats are sure to appear.
@10:02 AM
Now here's an advice column that I could read every day. How can you argue with an admonition like this? Dear B.B.: Urge her to run for the Legislature. Until then, try to stay on the good side of the monkey and the aardvark. It gets better..
@9:40 AM
Holy Shit! Imagine my reaction when I saw this Billings Gazette headline: Billings smallpox outbreak traced to costumes shipped in for ball. But it's an historic piece on the 1904 epidemic.
@9:31 AM
Ooohh, bloat..
While I was out at the Wringneck yesterday friends dropped in bearing gifts - smoked pheasant, teal, and goose. Soon the smoked salmon came out as well. We only meant to sample a little to make sure it was acceptable Super Bowl fare, but a little of that rich salty smoked meat goes a very long way. This was particularly delectable, as it has been marinated in something that made the teal and goose almost as tender as pate, and kept the pheasant delightfully moist. Sigh. And I ate far too much of all of it.
As I was leaving to head to town, I heard mamma Great-horned owl calling from the trees across the canal, and a male answering with his higher-pitched hoot. This isn't the mating season and the Great-horned owl is fiercely territorial, so I can only conclude that the male is her young-of-the-year. If so, it would appear that she's had two successful broods in a row.
@8:19 AM
In today's OpEd by Charles Levendosky, the man who puts the 'Red' in the Red Star Tribune [OpEd not yet on-line], he mentions this piece of good news:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying they feared government snooping against ordinary Americans, U.S. senators voted on Thursday to block funding for a Pentagon computer project that would scour databases for terrorist threats.
By a voice vote, the Senate voted to ban funding for the Total Information Awareness program, under former national security adviser John Poindexter, until the Pentagon explains the program and assesses its impact on civil liberties. ...
"This makes it clear that Congress wants to make sure there is no snooping on law-abiding Americans," [Sen. Ron] Wyden told Reuters after the vote.
This move doesn't actually shut down the program however:
The Senate measure requires the Pentagon to report to Congress on the goals of the program within 60 days of the bill's final passage, including recommendations from the Attorney General on minimizing the impact on civil liberties.
It is my understanding that the TIA system won't work if it can't collect information on everyone. That seems the whole point, to find terrorists by looking for suspicious patterns of behavior, not to surveil persons already suspected of being terrorists. Thus, the mandate that TIA not snoop on law-abiding citizens will be tough to meet. Hopefully this will get TIA shut down, because I have a nasty feeling that if the TIA system becomes operational it wouldn't be long before law enforcement will be clamoring to use the system for purposes that go way beyond anti-terrorist investigation.
@7:58 AM
Saturday, January 25, 2003- - -
The InstPundit concludes this post by asking if we can charge the UN weapons inspectors with a material breach. I like Spoons' idea better. Let's make it Murder, and God Damn the UN.
@1:09 PM
Bill Quick says you should avoid the rush and buy your American flag pins today! I like the naval Jack of course, and the one that says 'Say Uncle!'
I do believe that Bill has drunk the Kool-Aid. I hope his new-found optimism is not betrayed.
Aaarrrggghhh! Perhaps I spoke too soon. Being unfathomable to one's enemies has been a tenet of warfare since the days of Sun Tzu, but being unfathomable to one's supporters? This is getting a bit frustrating.
@11:35 AM
While I'm on the topic of economic development, here's a story about coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. This development often pits ranchers who own the surface against developers who have leased the federal mineral rights. I should point out that it is no great feat to determine the ownership and lease status of a tract of land, so the land owner who says he couldn't have foreseen the problem is being a bit disingenuous.
This is a story that definitely has at least two sides. Most of the developers have gone out of their way to work with the landowners and minimize their impacts, and a few have run amok. Most of the land owners have been reasonable, cooperative, and even helpful, while a few have made absurd demands in return for access to their lands, or have tried to deny access, even to the use of force.
@11:24 AM
Carbon County, in south-central Wyoming, is considering a 1¢ optional sales tax, just as is Washakie County, where I live. Both counties propose a special election to decide the issue on May 6. At this point the two county's efforts diverge markedly. In Carbon County the proposal includes a list of specific expenditures that will be funded with the tax, allowing the voters to judge the tax on its merits. They may vote for or against the tax, but at least they know what they are voting on.
In contrast, we in Washakie County have heard little except empty rhetoric. We are told that we must approve this tax if we want to 'move forward' and 'invest in our futures', and worst, we are told that anyone who opposes the tax 'must be against economic development' and 'must want to see our children leave the area in search of jobs'. A Joint Powers Board is to be formed to administer the 1¢ money, but the tax proponents cannot tell us who will be on that board. The tax money will be spent on 'economic development', but no one can say what that might entail. The Joint Powers board will be answerable only to the voters, but the voters will be informed by the Northern Wyoming Daily News, whose publisher is one of the biggest proponents of the tax.
In short, we are asked to buy a pig-in-a-poke and any question or objection is met with near-slanderous venom. Those who object to the tax in public meetings have been shouted down and their objections receive no coverage in the local news, while proponents of the tax appearing at the same meetings are quoted at length. Letters to the editor go unpublished. The whole issue has been long on emotion and very short on facts and figures. In fact, if you Google "Washakie County" + "sales tax" the most in-depth coverage you will find is by yours truly, and I have had very little to say on the issue.
We've already voted on this issue once, in a special election last May [scroll to 'Washakie Shoots Down Boost in Sales Tax'], and the proposal failed, despite having no organized opposition. Shortly after that the Worland City Council [scroll to RESOLUTION No. 2002-8] passed a resolution approving the proposed sales tax, which did include some vague figures, and proposed putting the issue on last fall's general election ballot. However, $3.8 million of the $5 million to be raised was to be spent on a Community Center Complex to be developed at the existing Middle School when it is vacated on completion of a new school complex. The scheme fell through when the school board wisely declined to donate this very valuable property to the county, and the issue was never placed on the general election ballot.
Most ironic, while these folks are striving mightily to raise taxes, the low sales tax is touted as one of the chief advantages of Worland, at least by everyone except the Chamber of Commerce and Washakie Development Association, who you would assume would highlight this as one of the area's greatest advantages. You would be assuming wrong, since these two organizations are proponents of the 1¢ tax.
The proponents of the tax are well aware that the voters want facts and figures. I expect more heated rhetoric in response. It should be a very interesting spring.
Update: After all this doom and gloom, I should point out that even if the tax issue passes, the sales tax will be 5% and there is no state income tax. There are a lot of business opportunities here, in a town with a lot of friendly people and only a few lunatics..
@9:38 AM
Among the many things that the Casper Star seems to be doing right at the moment, they now have Tom Strook's columns on line. Strook is a bit more than the 'Casper businessman and monthly columnist' that his one-line bio admits. He was George H. W. Bush's roommate at Yale, and served the first Bush administration as ambassador to Guatemala. He is one very, very sharp individual. He is also very gracious to a [cough] klutz [cough] who dumps a pitcher of iced tea all over his table.. If you follow politics at all, it is well worth watching the Star for Tom Strook's columns.
@7:40 AM
Friday, January 24, 2003- - -
The InstaPundit has a new piece up on government corruption over at MSReynolds™. It's one of the best posts I've read lately and about all I can add is my 'Amen!'
@4:49 PM
Mindles H. Dreck notes ice on Manhattan's waterways!
This obviously heralds the onset of the ice age. Woe, woe be unto us!
Update: All joking aside, read the comments to Mindles' post, they are very interesting.
@9:03 AM
MommaBear writes:
MommaBear shed a wee tear today...she, too, loves Jeff Soyer [in fact, we'll probably meet him this summer when visiting crazy cousins in VT]...BUT, scanning your "bogroll"*, she couldn't find On The Third Hand. I'm sure this must just be an oversight...right ??!!
MommaBear
* last sentence:
.....everywhere, it's into the bogroll with him!.....
Was that intentional ???
Sigh. I apologize, and once again I'm covered with embarrassment, as I certainly read On the Third Hand. I'm not sure whether it's an oversight, or sheer ineptitude on my part - I approach fiddling with the blog template with considerable apprehension and I've lost folks from the permalinks in the past through ham-handed coding.
Consider it fixed, and my apologies once again!
And sigh again: The 'bogroll' bit wasn't intentional but it is probably Freudian..
Folks, if you consider yourself one of my 'blog friends' [or receive occasional heckling from me] and notice that you aren't in my permalinks, please do complain. I'm not trying to create some exclusive list, but rather a blogroll that reflects my reading. It's also entirely possible that I simply haven't found my way to your blog and only need a little nudge in that direction.
@7:34 AM
David Brooks suggests that the SUV is the muscle car of modern era 'jocks':
".. there's the genteel elite, which lives in a world of literature, ideas, refinement and modesty. On the other, there's the aristocracy of commerce, people who thrive through self-assertion, competitiveness, daring and magnetism. To put it in modern terms, there are geeks and jocks.
This anti-SUV fervor strikes me as a classic geek assault on jock culture. Here are the geeks: thoughtful, socially and environmentally conscious. They understand that only spiritually shallow people could possibly get pleasure from a motor vehicle. Then there are those jocks. They cruise through life infuriatingly unaware of how morally inferior they are to the geeks. They make money, become popular, play golf and have homes that are too large. And they're happy! For all the wrong reasons! And so every few years the geeks pick on some feature of jock life (McMansions, corporations, fraternities, country clubs) and get all worked up about it. And you know what? The jocks don't care! They just keep being happy. The geeks write, protest and fume. The jocks go to St. Croix.
HeHeHeh. I don't belong to the country club - golf would take too much time from hunting and fishing - and I prefer Playa del Carmen to St. Croix. Other than that I'll plead guilty on all counts.. Oh, and I'm well aware of how morally inferior some may think me - I revel in it.
@7:26 AM
Thursday, January 23, 2003- - -
We're off to Cody today to do a little shopping. It will be the first out-of-town trip for the new Jeep, which has been sitting in the driveway since we bought it. We did drive it to the store to pick up a couple of cases of wine, but other than that we haven't had any excuse to drive it anywhere.
I do chuckle at my wife, who has been quick to tell everyone that 'it's not an SUV, it's a Jeep!' She has a point there, it actually was engineered to go off the road, quite unlike most SUVs.
@8:25 AM
Thanks to a link from the InstaPundit, I've found my way to Alphecca, a blog by Jeff Soyer. He says he coined the term "stupid-fucking-computer." I'm glad he doesn't charge royalties, because I've been muttering that under my breath just about every day for 30 years now.
We've got a lot in common: He's got a 20-pound black cat - Fred too is black, but he's on a diet and down to a svelte 19# 12oz. He has an interesting collection of 'antique' computers and electronics for sale on eBay, including a Sama & Etani circular slide rule - the only one I've ever seen other than mine. He's a gun nut - I'm a gun nut. He's gay - I'm a gun nut. Whatever.
He is a bit more honest than I, admitting that he has opinions about all sorts of stuff he knows nothing about. I generally leave it up to the reader to come to that conclusion. A very interesting read. In honor of fat cats everywhere, it's into the bogroll with him!
@8:23 AM
Douglas Chandler writes in response to my rants on prairie dogs:
When I was a boy in northern Oklahoma, we had a rabbit population explosion. Some said it was because we'd been too good at hunting the coyotes. Actually it just turned out that we'd had a couple of mild winters and reasonable wet summers and the food supply for rabbits had been really good. Then the rabbits got some kind of rabbit bug and the population dropped back to normal. This rodent population cycle is well known and in the relevant literature. If the enviro's mess with it they will probably end up exterminating a couple of species.
You are correct that minor changes in weather, like a mild or particularly hard winter can have radical effects on the populations of small critters. Fluctuating populations of predator species, diseases, changes in local vegetation due to fire and drought, and various other factors can also have a radical effect. Minor climatic and vegetational fluctuations have been documented archaeologically in many areas through examination of 'microfaunal remains,' mostly insects and other invertebrates, as they are most sensitive to slight changes.
My family has actively tried to exterminate prairie dogs for 120 years with no noticeable effect on the local population, and I often wonder if it is possible to eradicate them, any more than it has been possible to eradicate their close relative, the Norway rat. It often takes an all-out effort just to keep the population under control. Nor are PDs particularly bothered by development - with the on-going drought they are moving right into town here. Not a good thing, as they do carry a variety of diseases.
My problem with PD protection schemes is that the 'dang environmeddlers' don't know about, or care about the PDs, it's just another roadblock to development and one more cost they can lay on industry.
Because I love such trivia I must point out that rabbits aren't rodents, members of the Order Rodentia, they're Lagomorphs, Order Lagomorpha. Their teeth bear superficial resemblance to rodents' teeth, but they have four incisors, with two small ones behind the two big front teeth. Post-cranially their skeletons are quite different from rodents as well, being more adapted to running and less adapted to burrowing than most rodents. For the sake of this argument it doesn't matter though, it's more a matter of size and position on the food chain than taxonomic classification.
Douglas Chandler replies:
Now if I can just figure out a way to drop lagomorph into a conversation.
Hmmm, I hadn't thought about the urban and suburban adaptability of PDs. Lord knows you can find just about all of the varmints in the Dallas, Fort Worth area: coyotes, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, and even beavers.
Speaking of coyotes, every once in a while some suburbanite will find a surgically gutted cat or small dog and the cry will go up that there is some kind of perverse animal killer out there, possibly a Satanist. Then some old timer will get a look at the remains and tell them "coyote." There won't be enough muscle meat on a cat to make it worth the coyotes time so the coyote will just gut and run and leave the rest.
Heheh. All coyotes probably have a streak of Satanism in them ;)
We're having quite a time with the PDs right now. I've noticed a couple of burrows in the lawn at the Highway Dept's offices right in the middle of town and only a couple of blocks from my house. The police have even gotten involved in trying to keep them out of town, under the heading of 'animal control' I suppose.
Please understand that I'm not advocating the eradication of PDs, or coyotes, or wolves, or lions, tigers, & bears. The populations of all of these critters are self-limiting in the absence of human interference. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible not to interfere in some fashion with the wildlife populations, if only by our presence.
I'm only arguing that wildlife management should be left to the scientific wildlife managers. Too often nowadays the whole issue becomes so politicized that science, and human needs, take a back seat to the soft-headed demands of the urban animal lovers who've never seen a PD, much less a wolf, but think I should be required to tolerate them in my literal backyard. I think they're all fine as long as they stay out in the hills where they belong, and don't become so overpopulated that they begin to destroy their own habitat.
We're having quite a problem with 'wild' horses right now. Although they aren't wildlife - they're escaped or released domestic horses - they have been afforded almost complete protection, to the point where the only way to get them off the range is to adopt them out. Well guess what? There aren't enough people who want to adopt them, and it costs something like $600 per head for the BLM to round them up (much more than those lop-eared, wall-eyed, hammer-headed, sway-backed, paddle-footed, hooved locusts are worth), much less pasture them until they can be adopted. So they are overpopulated and eating the range to the nubs. When they have destroyed the range they will starve to death, thanks to the urban animal lovers.
Update: I forgot 'knock-kneed'.
@8:20 AM
Wednesday, January 22, 2003- - -
When the InstaPundit said 'survey instruments' I thought he meant something like my fine old K&E Paragon [mine is identical to the one on the lower left, except I still have the original sun shade]. As for it being an antique, it was state of the art when I learned to use it..
@2:18 PM
Testing.. What the devil have I done to my template now?
Ok, it's fixed. I swear I'll never mess with it again.
@10:06 AM
Here's a good example of a subtly twisted headline: Larimer rethinks workplace gun plan
But the article says:
After hearing resident complaints about a proposed "Workplace Violence Prevention Policy," most Larimer County [Colorado] commissioners said Tuesday that they are not ready to adopt a policy that would allow county employees to carry guns at work.
Two of three commissioners said they want to resolve unanswered safety questions before approving such a policy for Larimer County's 1,400 employees.
Are they having second thoughts, or only exercising their god-given right as politicians to talk the issue to death? Gee, I bet you can't guess what the editorial view of the Denver Post is on this topic.
@9:59 AM
Blasted environmeddlers!
I've got to wonder if anyone outside of LA or NYC actually believes these guys.
"The white-tailed prairie dog has declined by at least 92 percent and is headed for extinction," said Jacob Smith, executive director of the Center for Native Ecosystems in Paonia, Colo.
I suppose it's possible that the population is down 92 percent, we're in the midst of the worst drought in recorded history, but headed for extinction? Not likely. They are rodents and their populations are thus very susceptible to fluctuation due to a variety of causes. That's why rodents breed like.. rodents. They go on to say:
Once common in the region, white-tailed prairie dogs occupy only 8 percent or less of their historic territory, the groups said. Threats to the species include sylvatic plague, an exotic disease deadly to prairie dogs; oil and gas drilling; suburban sprawl and land converted to agricultural uses.
Now this is blatantly untrue. What are they trying to say here? That 92% of PD habitat has been lost to development and urban sprawl? Anyone who's ever driven through Wyoming should question that. PD populations throughout their territory *may* be down, but their habitat isn't nearly as threatened as this would have you believe.
Note that the '92% population decline' and the '8% of historic territory' figures add neatly to 100%. If the PDs had lost 92% of their territory it would be a strong argument for creating the ACECs these folks ask for. But to these guys everywhere is an area of critical environmental concern for one reason or another. They pay themselves from the funds they 'scare up' after all.
@9:45 AM
Yummy! Sally Ann features Superbowl snacks this week. The baked Brie sounds very interesting, and we are hosting the Superbowl party this year.
Sally Ann also says it's the Bucs all the way. Of course, she adds a couple more recipes.
@9:08 AM
Oh good grief! According to the Casper Star: A tank connected to a portable nuclear reactor once used to power an Air Force radar station near Sundance [Wyo.] during the Cold War apparently leaked radioactive material, and officials now are studying to see if the site must be cleaned up.
…
Under the Army's Nuclear Power Program, portable nuclear reactors were developed and installed in remote locations, including Camp Century, Greenland; McMurdo Station, Antarctica; Fort Greely, Alaska; the Panama Canal Zone and seven miles north by northwest of Sundance.
Remote locations like Sundance, Wyoming? How very bizarre.
[I've decided to refer to the local rag as the Casper Star on those rare occasions when they actually have their web site up-to-date. When they're two days late they'll still be the Pravda on the Platte.]
@8:55 AM
Andy Freeman makes some interesting observations in an update to this post. Or if the permalinks aren't working, here's BlogSpot's internal link.
@8:36 AM
Tuesday, January 21, 2003- - -
Steve Den Beste asks what will happen if we invade Iraq and find incontrovertible evidence that ".. companies in France or Germany (or both) actively and deliberately broke the sanctions and sold equipment and supplies to Iraq which helped to create [WMDs], and that the governments of Germany and France knew and approved of this and actively helped."
Back on December 17th I noted this little gem [which I think I saw at the InstaPundit's. It's origins, like my post are now lost in BlogSpot's memory hole]:
"Just as the heated debates within the German government over the role of German troops and equipment in a possible war against Iraq seem to be cooling down, another potential bombshell threatens to reignite the fires.
"On Tuesday, the Berlin-based left-wing paper, Tageszeitung reported that aspects of the 12,000-page Iraqi report on Iraq's weapons programs, submitted to the U.N last week, could prove highly embarrassing for Germany.
"The newspaper - believed to be the first to have access to the top-secret dossier - has written that the Iraqi declaration contains the names of 80 German firms, research laboratories and people, who are said to have helped Iraq develop its weapons program."
As I noted at the time, we should consider the source of this info, the infamous 12,000 page report released by Iraq. God knows Saddam would never lie to us. The fact that we haven't heard another word about this also questions the veracity of the report, but it is interesting, isn't it?
Update: The Old Timer's disease isn't terminal yet. Here's the InstaPundit's post. And here's my original post on the matter, as if the permalinks worked. [Oddly enough, this internal Blogger link does seem to work, but it retrieves the raw text with all the HTML in its ghastly glory. Nice to know it's still out there. Now if I could only get it back..]
@12:54 PM
Mike Hendrix has posted the "What if Microsoft built a car" e-joke. The 'General Car Fault' warning light is no joke, however.
@9:48 AM
Ah Jeez! Don't make him beg. Don't make him plead. Don't make him eat one of the cats! Go on over and lend your support to the Amish.
@9:08 AM
Gaaadd! It's the middle of January, it's 26°F outside, and it's raining. The ground is frozen and that means it's a skating rink out there. Black ice all over, the sort of thing that so endeared me to Kentucky winters. I about broke my butt carrying out the garbage. Lucky for me that I've got to sit right here and work on the bookkeeping and taxes.
@8:20 AM
Chilean Merlot, eh? I'll have to try a few more, although frankly, I haven't found a merlot of any nationality that wasn't rather short for at least a couple of years. On the other hand, the Chilean cabernets and chardonnays have been excellent, and a great value.
The California offerings have also been quite good. We just laid in a case each of California's Coastal Ridge cabernet and chardonnay, which are very good and quite cheap. At around $4.50/bottle and comparable to the $15/bottle stuff, this is becoming the daily swill.
@7:47 AM
WaPo - Atheists, Muslims and Mormons led the list of groups viewed by Americans as the least like themselves in terms of basic beliefs and values, according to a national survey by the Institute for Jewish & Community Research.
Two out of three adults questioned said people "who do not believe in religion" were unlike them. Nearly six in 10 -- 56 percent -- saw Muslims as different from themselves. Fifty-six percent also viewed Mormons as holding values and beliefs markedly dissimilar to their own.
In contrast only one in three viewed Jews or Christian fundamentalists as being different, and fewer still rated blacks, Latinos or Catholics as embracing values that were dissimilar from their own.
I'm sure the Muslims will be happy to see that they rank right down there with Mormons.
@7:00 AM
Bah! Blasted boneheads!
For several months now I've been getting an "Error 503: Unable to load template file. We're working on this, Please try back later." message every time I post to BlogSpot. And of course, I'm aware that a lot of people have complained about BlogSpot permalinks not working, although most of them do work for me. Or did. This morning I see what the good folks at Blogger have been working on. Rather than fix the linkage problem, they've now got a snazzy new error screen that pops up to announce "Blog*spot: This is your brain on the web. The following Bog*spot page was not found…"
This is your brain on the web? On an error message? Not a very good advertisement, guys.
@6:37 AM
There's nothing on-line as yet, but from the Red Star's dead tree edition, it appears that my fears for the big anti-World Church rally were misplaced. The Comrades of the west were rather outnumbered by an MLK Day march organized by Wyoming Indian High School students.
One Slim Shady look-alike from Denver did show up with a 'Get Out WCOTC!' sign - it must take some cheek to carry a sign telling an organization to get out of a town you've probably never been to before - but other than that our IndyMedia-touted anti-WCOTC marchers aren't noted in today's coverage. No counter-demonstration was apparent either, although it's hard to imagine that the WCOTC promoters would actually show their faces in the daylight.
Update: Here's the article from the Pravda on the Platte.
@6:26 AM
Monday, January 20, 2003- - -
I've heard various squeezings of the grape referred to as 'a silly little wine,' but here are several from a silly little winery, Bonny Doon Vineyard. Among their offerings: Critique of Pure Riesling, Cardinal Zin, The Heart Has Its Rieslings, and my favorite Vin Gris de Cigare. The 'cigare' is a flying saucer, a spoof on the French town of Chateau Neuf de Pape's ordinance against flying saucers landing there. The saucer motif figures throughout Bonny Doon's website.
Hey, anybody that uses Ralph Steadman to illustrate their wine labels is going to be a little different. Follow their 'About Us' link and instead of a blurb about the vineyard you find a series of links that can only be their guiding influences. These include Dr. Albert Hofmann, Monty Python and a Worldwide list of Sushi Restaurants.
@1:06 PM
Glenn Reynolds says ".. perhaps the folks in California should take this opportunity to examine how their arrogance may have engendered resentments elsewhere, and to ask themselves "why do they hate us?"
Ouch, that's got to leave a mark.
@9:31 AM
One wonders whether Glenn Reynolds' dismay was first invoked by the Dateline spotlight on Michael Jackson's face, or by the idea of harmonica lessons in hospitals.
@8:46 AM
It's been over a year now since we last had a confirmed OBL-sighting, but here we have another missive from the monster, presumably written with the help of a good occultist.
Update: Fred Boness writes that perhaps it's a ghostwriter. [Rimshot! Thump! Sound of body being dragged away.]
@8:35 AM
According to Howard Kurtz, an ABC news poll has determined that: '"Two-thirds of the public believes the government should have the right to stop the media from disclosing military secrets..
"Fifty-six percent of those surveyed also say news organizations are more obliged to support the government in wartime than to question the military's handling of the war."
Now I'm sure that when Kurtz thinks of 'military secrets' he has Woodward and Bernstein's Pentagon Papers and such in mind, but I can picture Geraldo broadcasting his GPS position in real time while he follows a combat group around in the field. I would certainly second Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke's hope that the media understands the need for operational secrecy, but I'm not entirely sure that all of them do understand and honor that need.
On the other hand, it does scare me a bit that 56% think the media shouldn't question the military, and it's particularly worrisome that 28% think that even in peacetime the government should have the right to control the information the media report. Kurtz says: "If you put the First Amendment up for a nationwide vote, we're not so sure it would pass." Indeed. And a good argument for safeguarding the entire Bill of Rights against tampering in the heat of the moment.
Update: Andy Freeman writes:
I think that it's blowback from the media's campaign against the 2nd amendment and some of their 1st amendment positions.
The media has told us that the 1st amendment protects pornography (which it arguably does) but the 2nd doesn't protect the right of law-abiding citizens to own and carry. That's a great way to teach people that the words don't matter
Given the media's actual performance, it's tough to argue that the 1st amendment is all that valuable in practice. In fact, I'd argue that the pornographers are of greater public benefit than Geraldo and comrades.
Yes, the media could be of value, but it's going to take bloggers to make that happen.
Yes, I think that Larry Flynt has probably done more for the 1st amendment than Geraldo ever will. It also disgusts me that so many who are so quick to grasp their 1st amendment rights would deny us the 2nd entirely. Me thinks they're not really acting in the spirit of the Bill of Rights.
@8:27 AM
You can sure read a lot into this article in today's WaPo: Officials Support Exile for Hussein - Deal Could Allow Iraqi President to Avoid Charges
Condoleezza Rice supports exile for Saddam, but thinks it unlikely that he'll take us up on the offer.
I can't see why Saddam isn't jumping at the deal. After all, Donald Rumsfeld ".. signaled the United States might allow Hussein to escape war crimes prosecution if he voluntarily steps down." Might allow him to slip the noose, eh? Were I the 'Butcher of Baghdad', I might hold out for something a little more firm.
Notice also that while Colin Powell thinks that Saddam's stepping down would accomplish the regime change desired by the administration, he goes on to stress that disarmament and governmental reform are the ultimate goals. No more Báathist lunatics playing in Saddams nuclear toy shop.
If I really wanted to read between the lines, I might suggest that what's being negotiated here is Saddam's surrender, with a few loose conditions - Saddam goes into exile and we take over, with no shots fired. That would be a slick trick if they could pull it off, but somehow I have to agree with Ms Rice: I doubt Saddam is going to go for this.
@7:52 AM
Ft. Collins, CO -Larimer County commissioners are poised to adopt a policy allowing the county's 1,400 employees to carry guns on the job, a prospect that has gun-control advocates up in arms.
Officials said the policy is likely the first of its kind in Colorado.
If the "Workplace Violence Prevention Policy" is approved as drafted, local residents could encounter armed public employees when they go to county offices to renew vehicle license plates, apply for building permits, get marriage licenses, register to vote or pay property taxes.
"I find it very offensive," said Cherie Trine of Fort Collins, who supports gun control. "Where guns are involved, there is more violence. Guns intimidate people. That's their purpose."
The all-Republican three-member Larimer County Board of Commissioners tentatively plans to adopt the policy at its regular meeting in Fort Collins on Jan. 28.
The policy, which proclaims "zero tolerance for workplace violence," aims to thwart trouble by allowing county employees with concealed-weapons permits to carry guns on the job unless their bosses have reason to think the firearms would be misused. It would apply to all county departments.
This is sure to cause an uproar, but when you think about it, this is a pretty effective way to put a lot more security forces on the street, without greatly increasing the cost to the county.
@7:22 AM
An ye harm none, do what ye will.
--Wiccan Rede
@7:22 AM
Sunday, January 19, 2003- - -
Tomorrow is the big Not In My Backyard demonstration down in Riverton. I suppose this could be my big chance to play reporter-on-the-scene. Not that we don't agree with the sentiment of the demonstrators, but common sense suggests that we stay as far away from this as possible.
@9:44 PM
mtpolitics responds to my recent puzzlement over the coverage of the drive-by shooting in Billings. Apparently the Billings Gazette has more in common with the Pravda on the Platte than corporate ownership - like a finely-honed ability to overlook the really obvious questions.
@9:27 PM
Hard reality sets in! Today's CalgarySun poll asks: Do you think worldwide protests against war in Iraq will have any impact on George W. Bush? The results so far are running 12.6% Yes and 87.4% No.
@8:38 PM
Hey! I was so busy fixing the plumbing (it's just fine now) that I forgot.. Today is my 1st blogaversary!
@7:00 PM
Gak! We decided to have a bunch over for dinner yesterday, so we baked up a teriyaki turkey and all the fixings. Wine, beer, and bucket of Boodles were all laid in just in case anyone got thirsty. Then the flexible water hose on the back of the main floor toilet decided to rupture. Water everywhere until I could get it shut off. New party rule: "Nobody flush the toilet!" Sigh. Today I get to play plumber.
My wife wants to know why it had to happen right in the middle of the party. In this, as with all things, Murphy's Law applies.
@9:03 AM
Oh, lighten up!
It seems that the Park Service has their panties in a knot over the new Metamucil ad that shows a ranger pouring a glass of the stuff down Old Faithful 'to keep it regular'. They're afraid that this will give people the impression that the geyser isn't 'natural' and that it might encourage people to put other foreign objects in the thermal features. I'm afraid that they've all lost their minds.
@8:57 AM
Saturday, January 18, 2003- - -
Port Royal, Va. - "61-year-old Edward Butler Blaine probably would have been better off had he stayed in bed Wednesday."
Blaine has already done 20 years for bank robbery, but apparently he didn't learn his lesson. He tried to rob another bank. But he locked his keys in the get-away car. Confronted by local citizens while trying to escape on foot, he shot himself in the leg. To add insult to injury, one of the men confronting him shot him, also in the leg.
@10:25 AM
Friday, January 17, 2003- - -
Oh good grief! Thank god I'm not a slave to fashion.
@2:35 PM
Kool! I just received my copy of the new Successful Hunter magazine, Volume 1, Number 1! It has several articles by Ross Seyfried and a couple by John Barsness, who I think are two of the most knowledgeable of today's gun writers. Many of today's gun scribblers are truly awful and I can barely make it through their articles without groaning and rolling my eyes once or twice, but very, very rarely do I find anything other than a minor quibble with Seyfried or Barsness.
Successful Hunter is the new companion to the Rifle and Handloader magazines which are also very worthwhile. They're also the most expensive of the gun rags and I hope the expense translates to good pay for their writers, as they are the best in the business.
@2:22 PM
MSReynolds™ has an interesting piece on the Racine Rave. Says he:
"This strategy of targeting raves has come about because the DEA and other law enforcement authorities have been miserably unsuccessful in blocking the spread of Ecstasy and other club drugs. The result has been a series of highly publicized assaults on public events (since they’re public, even the most inept investigators can find them) that are designed more to make the law enforcement agencies look like they’re doing something than to actually accomplish anything. Call it appearance-oriented law enforcement.
"The Racine authorities backed down on this one rather than risk ruinous lawsuits for false arrest. That’s a good thing, I guess, but I almost wish that the lawsuits had gone ahead, since that would have produced a more thoroughly cautionary example. Law enforcement officials should focus on keeping the streets safe from real criminals of the rapist/robber/terrorist variety - something that they don’t appear to have fully mastered yet — rather than mounting showy operations designed to intimidate honest citizens and to give the illusion of progress in the war on drugs. Especially as we have a real war to fight now. "
Yes, it would be nice if our law enforcers would focus on real criminals. But this is more than just putting on a show to justify an agency's existence, it's really human nature at work. Murderers, rapists, thieves, and terrorists are, by definition, dangerous. I certainly don't want to have anything to do with such yahoos and can't really blame police for feeling the same way. Messing with violent criminals is risky business.
On the other hand, those who commit non-violent and victimless crimes are less dangerous on average, at least at the lowest levels. Thus, they become low-hanging fruit for law enforcement. Left to their own devices, it's only natural for law enforcement to focus on them first. Not only does it give the illusion of doing something, it's also a low-risk endeavor for those who would really rather be munching donuts anyway.
I think this is one of the chief reasons why the legislation of morality is such a very bad idea. Not only does the enforcement of laws against victimless crimes distract law enforcement from focusing on violent criminals and take resources away from that effort, it's an excuse for not focusing on the mother-stabbers and father-rapers in our midst.
@1:58 PM
This is getting a little too close to home. Feuding teenagers is nothing new, but shooting up someone's house is way over the top. Note too the weirdness with the police saying they don't have any suspects. Considering the history here, how could they possibly not have suspects? They may not be ready to make any arrests, but they've got to have a few suspicions.
Perhaps I read too much into this, but there certainly have been incidents in the past in this neck of the woods where the police have studiously ignored a situation rather than cross the powers that be.
Update: As my wife points out, this is a seriously bad piece of reportage. Why didn't the reporter question the 'we have no suspects' bit? Why didn't the paper's editor question the reporter?
@9:27 AM
While I have mixed feelings about tinkering with my blog template - yes, fear and loathing - my blogroll had finally become completely unwieldy. I could no longer scan the list and see who was there and who had been forgotten. I don't actually use the blogroll to access these blogs, as I have a pull-down Favorites in IE, so some who really are favorites have been inadvertently overlooked. Thus, with great trepidation I've finally alphabetized the blogroll. Better yet, I seem to have accomplished the mission without entirely scrooging the job.
I haven't made any attempt to purge any of the good old blogs now gone inactive - one can always hope they'll come back, or to delete any of those who have moved on or moved over, as I still check them from time to time, just to see if anyone's home.
At least now I can scan the list to make sure no one is forgotten.
@9:13 AM
mtpolitics says this could happen only in Montana. True, we in Wyo don't usually allow horses in the hospital. The bar is another matter..
Hmm.. I've just discovered mtpolitics who operates out of Billings, and unbeknownst to me has me in his blogroll. This makes mtpolitics easily the closest blogger, a mere three hours north of Worlando. Not only that, but he [she? They?] certainly have my sense of humor. See the Montana Palm Pilot! That's what a really good NyQuil buzz will do for you.
Into the blogroll with you!
@8:21 AM
Some things never seem to change. Our illustrious new Democratic Governor was in office for five days before he started proposing new taxes.
The headline of the article really begs the question: When is enough, enough? After all, Wyoming is one of the few states that actually has a budget surplus, and almost Six Billion [report in pdf] in the bank. This really is no plaudit of past government's fiscal restraint. Fact is, they simply can't squander the money as fast as it flows into the coffers. But this doesn't stop some from wanting ever more.
@7:58 AM
I'm becoming more impressed with the ol' Red Star Tribune's internet offering. They're at least attempting to put more of the news on-line before it becomes history, although they've still got a way to go.
Here's an article from the front page of today's dead tree edition, on a topic that's near and dear to many of us: The Brown and Gold.
As UW Trustee Greg Schaefer points out, there are a lot of more important issues. However, this isn't really an argument about the color of the sports team's uniforms, but a symptom of the tone deafness exhibited by President Phil Dubois, who has made changing the school's logo and colors a priority in an effort 'to maintain the school's academic preeminence.' As If.
This isn't really about colors, it's about priorities, and a university president who appears determined to fiddle while Rome burns.
@7:40 AM
Thursday, January 16, 2003- - -
There's been a fire at David Brinkley's townhouse in Wilson, a suburb of Jackson Hole.
@6:51 PM
Sheridan, Wyo's high school production of Grease has been sanitized. Says director/choreographer Marva Craft: "Grease was, after all, written for an edgier Broadway stage production - meant to be seen by sophisticated, urban audiences - not for teens and their families."
Ah yes, it's always best to simply accept the fact that you're a bunch of unsophisticated hicks.
@6:46 PM
Today's CalgarySun poll asks: Should Canada join a U.S.-led attack on Iraq even without a United Nations mandate? The response is currently running 47.1% Yes and 52.9% No.
@6:32 PM
Celebrate Diversity, indeed! [Link via Kim du Toit]
@5:16 PM
Warning, geek out
Andy Freeman emails to ask about my comments on the relative range and power of the longbow vs. the crossbow.
Rate of fire I can understand, but why should a longbow necessarily have greater range and power than a crossbow?
The energy storage in a crossbow is limited by the "pulling the string back" mechanism, which can use mechanical advantage to exceed that of a longbow. And, since the crossbow has a mechanical "hold", there's no "but what if the shooter has to hold" reason to derate. (I'm assuming that the materials cooperate, but even if they don't, one can make crossbow limbs out of whatever one uses for a long bow. I'd be surprised if crossbows didn't allow greater choice of limb material.)
Is there something other than arrow construction which would cause range and power to be uncorrelated?
It would stand to reason that, all else being equal, a crossbow with a 150# draw would have greater range and power than a longbow with a 75# draw. However, there are several other factors at work here. First, the greater the draw weight, the greater force is imparted to the arrow or bolt, but the length of the draw and thus the length of the power stroke is also a factor. The longbow, or any hand-held bow usually has a considerably greater draw length than the crossbow and correspondingly longer power stroke.
However, the greatest difference between the longbow and crossbow is the arrow/dart construction, as Andy surmises. The weights of arrows and bolts in medieval times probably varied considerably, as they do today, but it's tough to say what they did weigh, as very few of either have been preserved, and the details of their manufacture are sketchy. However, the bows haven't changed much, so it's probably safe to surmise that their projectiles were at least roughly comparable to those in use today.
A modern-day crossbow bolt generally weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 grains, including the point. The white ash shafts that I use for my longbows weigh more like 750 gr with point. With better than twice the weight in roughly the same cross-section, the sectional density of the arrow is over twice that of the crossbow bolt. Sectional density is probably the best predictor of the penetration ability of a projectile, which is really all I mean when I say that the longbow has greater 'power'.
Also, the greater weight of the arrow has greater inertia, offering greater resistance to the power stroke of the bow, staying on the string longer, and absorbing relatively more force from the bow in the process.
So why not just use a heavier bolt in the crossbow? Would that not increase the power of the weapon? Well yes, but. On top of having a shorter power stroke, which necessitates at least somewhat lighter bolts, another part of the reason for using a light bolt is to flatten the trajectory of the weapon, making it easier to hit a target at unknown range. This works up to a point, but not only does the light bolt have less sectional density, it has a much lower ballistic coefficient, which is essentially a function of sectional density, with the addition of a shape constant, a function of the aerodynamic quality of the arrow or bolt. A projectile's ballistic coefficient determines its trajectory. As most any arrow or bolt is essentially the same shape, the shape constant can be discounted for our purposes. Thus again, the arrow will have over twice the ballistic coefficient of the bolt, and wind resistance will slow the arrow correspondingly less. The arrow will fly farther and retain greater velocity at longer ranges. It is this combination of velocity and sectional density that predicts penetration ability of the projectile.
By making the crossbow with longer limbs and longer powerstroke, it would be possible to meet or exceed the performance of the longbow, but in so doing you also make a much more unwieldy and possibly even crew-served weapon, such as the arbalests depicted in the orc siege of Helms Deep, in the Two Towers.
In short, the crossbow is generally easier for the novice to employ due to its sights, but has shorter range and less power due to the lower sectional density and ballistic coefficient of the bolt. The crossbow could be very effective in direct fire at short range. However, when employed to fire flights of arrows at long range, which was the common tactic back in the day, the longbow had a decided advantage.
Modern-day bow hunters who use bows with sights can perform phenomenal feats of accuracy at known ranges. However, even the hardest-shooting bow has a rather arching trajectory and hitting targets at unknown ranges becomes a challenge. Thus, some hunters fall into the 'light arrow' trap, using ultra lightweight arrows to increase velocity and improve the trajectory of the bow, making it easier to hit targets at unknown ranges, just as the crossbowman does. Then they wonder why their arrows don't penetrate properly.
@4:33 PM
Wednesday, January 15, 2003- - -
It's the Big Leagues!
And the moment we've all been waiting for. The Sith Princess is revealed (with apologies to the TLB). Reminds me of the "No, you can't have a new snowmobile" look. Ah well, the next thing you know, PBS will be dunning us all for some studio lights. [Congrats, Megan!]
@10:31 PM
Resistance is futile. MSReynolds™ ought to know. [Congrats Prof!]
@9:18 PM
Ooohh Jeez! Wyo just lost by 28 points.
@9:01 PM
You must be the change you wish to see in the world
Sandhi
@8:55 PM
"Self-indulgent spoiled wastrel .."
@8:45 PM
Now here's a term I had to think about for a minute: Watermelon Environmentalist. All too accurate, I'm afraid.
@8:09 PM
$%^#$^ IRS! #$%#$% Soulless @#$%@#$ Greedy @#$%@$ Politicians! I’m sure my folks raised a family on less than I just sent to the bastards. I suppose I should be glad to be in such an exalted tax bracket, but still, I'm not amused.
Ah well, to console myself I've found a fine old Marlin M39 'Mountie' .22, a dandy little lever gun. The best part? While it's a wonderful antique and in fine shape, several minor parts are broken or missing. Thus, it will keep me entertained for months finding or making the parts I need to put it back in action (the milling machine, what would I do without it? heheheh).
@7:43 PM
While we in Wyoming are usually happy to welcome anyone who wishes to move here, we are less than thrilled with our newest arrivals, the headquarters of the World Church of the Creator. It appears that they are under court order to cease using the 'Church of the Creator' name, which has been trademarked by the TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation.
Apparently, their move to Wyoming is an attempt to avoid compliance with the injunction, under the mistaken assumption that federal court orders don't apply in Riverton, which is surrounded by the Wind River Indian Reservation.
The motto of the WCOTC is 'RaHoWa' - Racial Holy War - Jews and non-whites are considered to be sub-human, and the natural enemies of the group. This suggests that they may not fit in so well on the Rez. Given their apparent proclivity toward violence, I certainly hope they aren't under the mistaken assumption that the Shoshone and Arapaho are pacifists, or they may wind up with more violence than they can handle.
This is a strange and nasty business all around. The locals have already approached the police, whose hands are tied unless the WCOTC breaks some law. Now we've got a bunch of bozos down in Denver who are offended that this is going on 'in their backyard' and are planning a demonstration in Riverton on January 20th. That's really nice. They'll see how much trouble they can stir up, and then go home to Denver. Whatever the aftermath, it won't be in their backyard.
@12:50 PM
Yeah! It's snowing. It doesn't look like we'll get much, but at this point we'll take whatever we can get.
@8:41 AM
Tuesday, January 14, 2003- - -
In the process of searching for links to the 10th Cavalry earlier today, I rediscovered this long series of brief essays on the right to keep and bear arms that have a somewhat different perspective. They've been collected by Ken Blanchard, Black Man With a Gun. I don't often think of encouraging firearms ownership among minorities, but as Blanchard points out in quoting an Asante proverb, "None of us is as stong as all of us." A very good point. Give these essays a read, you might learn something. I certainly did.
The 10th Cavalry connection? Ken Blanchard is the founder of the Tenth Cavalry Gun Club, created to "support, educate and encourage safe/responsible firearm ownership to people that have traditionally not participated in the shooting sports. The club is open to all law abiding adults but intended to increase the numbers of people of color into the firearm world."
@9:00 PM
Jim Henley is a font of interesting stuff, including this bit from Reuters:
Bedouin gunshop owner Yassin al-Jabbouri says Iraqi civilians are arming themselves to challenge the American invader.
Iraqi clan groups, a key force in the country, are stocking up on rifles and pistols from the Iraqi capital's 45 retail gun outlets, taking heed of government calls for the populace to ready itself for a U.S. invasion, Jabbouri says.
Hmm.. okay, they're buying guns. But given the supposed state of government oppression in Iraq, I wonder what I would say if I were Iraqi and someone asked why I was buying a gun?
@5:02 PM
Jim Henley has revised the Pledge of Allegiance and pretty well too, I think.
A little ways farther along, Henley Fisks Glenn Reynolds' comments on the Japanese internment. I'm afraid Henley has a point. How many American citizens must behave badly before we are justified in interning everyone who looks like them?
@4:27 PM
This Slate piece says "Nobody's going to out-Christian Joe Lieberman."
Say what?
@12:36 PM
I should put in a plug for Williams-Sonoma's hand lotions. The Rosemary and Basil are fine, but I prefer their sage-scented lotion - call and bounce them up and down, they've got it if you ask. And you won't have to worry about your buddies looking at you out of the corner of their eye and raising a brow as if you'd used that foofy flowery, baby-smelling stuff of your wife's.
Sigh. But imagine how popular the Hoppe's #9 scent would be..
@12:24 PM
Guns, Guns, Guns!
Don't worry, I always get this way around quarterly tax time. It makes me want to pick up a gun, or the more traditional pitchfork. If everyone had to pay their taxes quarterly as we self-employed do, with no withholding and no employer match to SocSec (which comes out of your pocket before your wage is even figured) I'd guess there would be a hell of a lot less waste and pork in government. I'm continually blown away by just how little of my money the government will let me keep.
@12:18 PM
Kim du Toit's mail bag has a lot of interesting stuff. Well worth the visit.
@12:06 PM
Here's an interesting piece by Brent deMoville, Ph.D. on Martial Arts and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
A very eloquent examination of the topic, although I see every reason to consider the use of firearms as a martial art, and certainly the most effective of the lot.
Update: Some trivia is a little off-kilter in deMoville's article. The first Colt revolver was the Patterson, a 5-shooter, introduced in 1836, and the first six-shooter was Colt's Walker, first manufactured ca. 1847. The "Peacemaker" is Colt's Single Action Army model introduced in 1873. Thus, the Peacemaker is not the first six-shooter. I would also argue that it takes a great deal more than 'a few days practice at the firing line' to master firearms. A few days practice gets you the equivalent of a white belt - hopefully enough not to shoot yourself in the foot, but not nearly enough to go tackling any big hairy thugs.
@10:50 AM
Flashbunny exposes some infamous gun nuts.
@10:37 AM
Courtesy of Capt. J.M. Heinrichs, here's a link to his unit's web site: Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), who've been deployed to Afghanistan (The Coyotes That Went Over The Mountain! I love it) and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Don't miss the historic Strathcona Mounted Troop, and of course they have Pipes and Drums. A more colorful unit would be hard to find* and they're a bit more engaged in world events than one may have been led to believe.
Incidentally, this is a Coyote (no relation, I'm sorry to say). Sort of a wheeled version of our Bradley fighting vehicle.
*Update: I suppose that my old outfit could be considered more *cough* colorful. The 10th Cavalry Regiment began as a segregated unit. Although this web site identifies the years of service as 1866-1944, the 10th is still in operation today. It's no longer segregated of course.
@9:24 AM
Are unions killing our golden goose? Stephen Moore has an interesting discussion in Cato. Greed isn't the exclusive province of corporate CEOs.
@7:32 AM
Reunite Gondwanaland!
In today's L.M. Boyd Revisited column in the Pravda on the Platte [article not on-line]:
Q. Didn't dinosaurs stick to mild climates? A. Evidently not. Their bones have been found on Alaska's North Slope.
This is a common misconception. In this very simplified simulation of the breakup of Pangaea, note that the North American plate was positioned just north of the equator ca. 220 Ma. Not only was the world climate most likely much warmer then, Alaska's latitude was lower.
@7:21 AM
Monday, January 13, 2003- - -
There's a very interesting OpEd in the CalgarySun by Paul Jackson [there is no archives that I can find, so the article will go away in a few days]:
One more week and another seven days of seeing the appeasers and the sycophants toadying up to Iraqi dictator and mass murderer Saddam Hussein.
Winnipeg MP Bill Blaikie -- who hopes to become the next leader of the federal New Democrats, and must even daydream about perhaps becoming prime minister of our nation, talks as to how President George W. Bush spends "every minute of his life thinking" of ways to kill Iraqi children.
Yes, that appears to be about the level of political debate in some spheres of our country.
But it does show the mindset of the anti-American cliques who blemish our nation, our province, and perhaps even our own city.
Very encouraging.
@10:04 PM
James Rummel has several additional very interesting observations on bowyery.
@9:40 PM
Bumper sticker at the local Arby's: WWBD? (What Would Bubba Do?)
@8:54 PM
Kim du Toit provides a link to an article that expands considerably on the reasoning behind the abandonment of the battle rifle in favor of the M16. It pretty much parallels my thoughts, but adds several additional considerations.
@6:53 PM
Whoa Nellie! A friend of my wife's gave us the A La Zing Beef Kabob Combo for Christmas. We cooked them up this evening and it was delightful.
@5:54 PM
Suman Palit has linked to my observations on the weapons in LOTR, and he emails to note that the elvish recurves looked like asiatic models.
I've rooted through my rather limited library on the topic and agree. Back in the pre-fiberglass days American bowyers experimented with a static recurve, and diehards do continue to make them. However, most of the historic static recurves are Magyar, Hun, Chinese, Turkish, and Korean designs. Here's a dandy from India, as well.
I can't mention the M16 or 5.56x45 round without re-opening the controversy, and the Comments in Suman's post are no exception. Some folks think the M16 and/or 5.56 round are just dandy and others would scrap them both tomorrow. Others point out that small arms of any kind are rather peripheral to our modern tactics, and this last is, I think, the telling point.
It takes time and effort to master the large, heavy, and heavy-recoiling battle rifle and this equates to added expense in time and cost of ammunition. The vast majority of our military personnel are not in line Infantry or special operations forces and it is unlikely that most of them will ever fire a shot on the battlefield with small arms of any sort. While everyone in the military is required to be familiar with small arms, most receive very little training. Under the circumstances, something like the M16 and 5.56 round are probably the best choice. The low recoil and light weight makes the M16 an easy weapon to use, and the low cost of the ammunition allows at least some minimal training on a frequent basis. Standardization of weapons and ammo virtually requires selection of a single rifle and ammunition.
@4:11 PM
Sunday, January 12, 2003- - -
I've received occasional missives from sheeple demanding to know how I could possibly advocate the possession of guns, since they cause so much death and destruction. The message is often a wistful 'why can't we all just get along', or a more accusatory 'if it weren't for people like you, we could all live in peace'.
Please understand that I too wish we could all just get along. Violence is abhorrent to me, no matter what its purpose, and in an ideal world it would never be necessary. But we do not live in an ideal world, and acquiescing to those who routinely use violence and threat of violence is not the answer. Acquiescing to thugs only invites more thuggery. Thus, I agree very strongly with Steve Den Beste's comments here and here, about the recent shooting incident involving 74-year-old J.C. Adams.
I absolutely love the cartoon as well. I've often wondered how many of the folks who've excoriated me for my pro-gun position would be willing to wear one of the lapel buttons that says 'I'm unarmed and defenseless. Please don't hurt me.' Or post a sign on their door that says 'This is a gun-free residence. We will offer no resistance to robbery.'
Note also Mr. Adams evaluation of the relative merits of handgun and shotgun in self defense. The old bird makes a lot of sense. The shotgun rules.
@2:41 PM
Gosh, this couldn't have anything to do with their lousy customer relations.
@10:07 AM
Saturday, January 11, 2003- - -
Denver Post - The Bush administration has proposed changes to the Clean Water Act that would remove federal protection from up to 20 million acres of isolated water bodies and prairie potholes that have been historically protected by U.S. law.
The changes, proposed Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army, would shift responsibility for managing up to 20 percent of the nation's wetlands to the states, according to an EPA spokesman. Currently, activities that would damage these waters require federal permits.
There are a lot of pros and cons to the proposed change. At present, the Koi pond you've just installed could be considered a protected wetland. As the DP notes: The move reflects the administration's interpretation of a 2001 Supreme Court decision which found that the mere presence of migratory birds in a flooded gravel pit that was not connected to a navigable river was not enough to qualify the pond for protection under the Clean Water Act. Ah yes, how do you define 'wetland?'
To define your wetlands at present, the most effective way is to bundle your lawyer in the truck and take him out to the spread. Start walking him downhill, and when he stops to shake the mud off his wingtips you've defined the margin of the wetland. I'm joking of course, but in the case above it did take the Supremes to define a wetland. Just what you need if you're the gravel pit operator.
On the other hand, I'm sure the state regulators will range from complete patsies to martinets far more draconian than the feds ever thought of being. At least in theory, one of the advantages of federal regulation is the consistency and level playing field from state to state and region to region. Of course in practice, every regulator tends to interpret and apply the regs differently. The real question here might be whether we are seeing a net gain or loss in the total number of agencies and personalities that will be defining and regulating wetlands. That defines how many sets of muddy wingtips we'll be dealing with.
@9:23 AM
Spoiler
The Two Towers finally made it to Worland and we went to the first showing last night. Again, I was very, very impressed by the detail of the arms and armor used in the show. Of course, I don't take all this nearly as seriously as some. There is a bit of an eclectic mix of Celtic, medieval, oriental, and fantasy weapons, armor, and tactics, but so what? It is a fantasy, not a documentary, and it seems the whole point is to depict the variety and clash of cultures and values of the elves, men, dwarves, hobbits, and orcs. Yes, the screenwriters took a few liberties with the plot, but how else to squeeze these books into even a 3-hour film?
I particularly liked the detail put into the archery equipment (men used longbows, elves liked static recurves, and orcs used crossbows!), and I loved Eomer's helmet and Theoden's armor. Supposedly, every stick of this stuff was created from scratch for the movie. Nick Weir (Props Master), Nick Riera (Props Buyer [created from scratch, eh?]) and Tanea Chapman (Set Dresser) have done a most impressive job. To get some idea of the degree of detail, take a look at the open-frame telescope depicted on this page [click 'Props] of their web site. I don't even remember seeing it in the movie. Thus, I suspect that I would enjoy watching LOTR many, many times, just for the detail of the sets and props.
I read in one of the blogs in the past few days the observation that the battle at Helms Deep was a battle between valor and technology. I think this is true to an extent. It also shows differing philosophies on military hardware that have parallels in real history.
The orcs were into mass production of everything, including themselves. In this, they are a parallel to conscript troops in real history and the Props department did an excellent job in selecting the crossbow as their projectile weapon. While a crossbow isn't particularly easy to make, it takes little skill or strength to employ. The downside is its slowness to reload, and its relatively short range and lack of power. The men employed the longbow, which is relatively easy to mass-produce, but takes considerable strength and skill to employ. The longbow has considerably greater range and power than a crossbow, and has a much higher rate of fire. Finally, the elves employed the static recurve, which takes great skill to make, and great strength and skill to employ. The payback is even greater range and power than the longbow, although the longbow holds a debatable accuracy edge. Given the relative longevity of orcs (days?), men (years), and elves (centuries), the weapons the Props dept. selected to arm each group fit very nicely.
The longbow met the crossbow in real history, in the Hundred Years War, when British yeomen - who were required to keep longbows at home and practice with them frequently - met Frenchmen and their allies armed with the crossbow. Early in the war, Edward III's expedition took Caen in Normandy, ".. where 105 Normans were painfully killed when they unwisely exposed their backsides insultingly toward the English archers." [1; does this sound familiar, or what?]
Shortly thereafter, Edward's expedition was met by a strong force at Crécy, where the British archers rained flights of arrows 'like snow' on a force of Genoese crossbowmen, whose return fire had no visible effect on the Brits. It is perhaps telling that the battle was engaged in the rain. The British, who were experienced bowmen, hid their bowstrings under their helmets until the last minute to keep them dry, while the Genoese crossbowmen's weapons were exposed to the elements and rendered largely useless. [2; to be fair, it takes special equipment to unstring a crossbow.]
To finish the parallel to the modern day, one might consider the orcs analogous to masses of conscripts armed with the AKM, or some similar weapon stamped out by the billion, short on range and power but also requiring little skill to employ, and effective if you don't mind taking huge casualties. The longbow is more analogous to the great battle rifles of the World Wars, the British Enfield, American Springfield and Garand, and German Mauser, that were also stamped out by the million, but required considerably greater skill to master and employ. Finally, the elvish static recurve makes an excellent analogy to the sniper's weapon, with great range and power, but relatively delicate, and requiring great skill and devoted practice for effective use.
Sadly, since WWII we have largely lost the skill at arms required to employ a battle rifle, and with the exception of our elite troops' special weapons, we have gone the mass production, no-skill-required route of the sorry 5.56x45, as chambered in the M16 and its NATO equivalents. The orcs should rejoice.
1 - The Medieval Archer by Jim Bradbury, page 105.
2 - ibid, pages 106-107.
@8:15 AM
Friday, January 10, 2003- - -
I hope this doesn't mean that they're about to give him the Brogan.
@10:05 AM
I try. I really try to give the appearance of a civilized little citizen, but my interests give me away as somewhat less than [cough] housebroke. My lifelong passion is for anything well-made and deadly. Battleship or bolo, I find them fascinating. No one has let me handle their battleship [yet. I have a certain relative..], but I've studied and used small arms of all sorts, and a wide variety of crew-served weapons up to and including the Abrams tank. I received by first bow, and made my first bolo and my first atlatl as a small child, and proceeded to terrify the neighborhood with each. I'm a reasonably competent archer and fencer, and I've competed on nationally ranked small bore and high power rifle teams, even holding a few national records [for a few minutes! Damn, those Vols were good.].
All of this ties into my professional interest in the history of industrial and military technology - for a long, long while weapons and military implements have led technological changes in metallurgy, design, and manufacturing. Weapons are, I think, as natural a part of us as a cat's claws are to the cat. Throughout history a man's small arms have generally been his proudest possessions and those most likely to be found in his grave goods. It isn't natural to wander about armed only with our teeth. If our ancestors had done so we probably wouldn't be here.
Discounting the cudgel and the sharpened stick [and never discount a club or stick if it's all you can lay hands on], edged weapons probably have the longest history and that most illustrative of historic technology. Early on, blades were short of necessity. Copper, bronze, and iron are too malleable, they bend too easily and then retain the bend rather than springing back into shape. Steel is a different story. For at least the last 2000 years a country's steel metallurgy pretty well defined their position vs. their neighbors.
In their time, the Celts, Vikings, and Moors dominated their neighbors through superior technology, just as we in the US now dominate. The secret of Damascus steel was long sought in Europe and, in fact, what we now call Damascus - hammered layers of steel, or of alternating layers of iron and steel - derives from European attempts to copy the genuine Damascus. To this day, no one really knows how Damascus was made - it was a military secret! - but it seems likely that it was manufactured from Indian wootz. Note that while Damascus can be replicated in the laboratory, no one knows how it was made originally.
Given the appropriate technology, form follows function and accepted doctrine in the blades of the day. It is easy to pick out those weapons made for mounted combat from those designed for foot soldiers in this collection. The cavalryman's weapon was commonly quite heavy and sometimes almost absurdly curved. The great 'belly' this gives a blade adds to its cutting ability. The weight allowed the horseman to simply hold out the blade while weight and speed did the work, and the exaggerated curve precluded use of the point, which might easily jam the blade and unhorse the wielder, who would have secured his blade to his wrist with the 'saber knot.' Run someone through while passing at 30 mph and you risked being stretched on the ground with a dead body firmly affixed to your point. This is why I question Patton's quoted reasoning in this post.
Early on, the exaggerated weight and size of the sword probably also compensated for less than perfect metallurgy, with the officer's weapon often being of higher quality and hence lighter than that of the trooper. This may also explain some of the immense double-handed broadswords seen in medieval times, anything lighter would have folded up on the first stroke. Some of these things were virtually edged iron clubs.
Sigh. Those were the days. But I'm damned glad I live in 2003 and not 1003.
@10:01 AM
Thursday, January 09, 2003- - -
Today's CalgarySun poll asks: Do you think Canada should be involved in a US-led war on Iraq? Results are currently running 56.7% Yes and 43.3% No.
@9:45 PM
Andrea Harris wants a sword!
Of course, I have to recommend getting a real one. My favorite is the Wilkinson M1913 British cavalry officer's sword. Not cheap by any means, but it's a fine weapon. It is interesting to see how the heavy curved choppers of the horse cavalry morphed into light dueling swords in the early 20th Century. Another nice one that is unfortunately not currently produced in a functional model is the US M1913 Patton Saber, so called because it was designed by Patton early in his career. Note the very similar light, straight blades of these British and US weapons. And also note that Patton was a 'point man.'
In the article on the Patton Saber, Patton is said to have championed use of the point:
"The point is vastly more deadly than the edge. While it might be possible to inflict a crippling blow with the edge (were the swing unrestricted by the pressing ranks of the charge or by the guard of attack) the size and power of the blow is so reduced there is grave doubt it would have sufficient power to do any damage to an opponent's body, protected by clothing and equipment. And even should the blade reach the opponent, it's power to unhorse is dubious.
"The cavalryman rides at a man to kill him. If he misses, he goes on to another, moving in straight lines with the intent of running his opponent through. As to the question of recovering his sword thrust into an opponent, when a man has been run through he is going to be pretty limp and will probably fall from his horse, clearing the weapon for you. It would seem, then, that the straight sword possesses all of the advantages of the curved sword for cutting, besides the proper use of the point, which the other does not, and that in using the point in the charge not a single advantage of the edge is lost, while many disadvantages are overcome. In addition, the highest possible incentive to close with the enemy is given."
I'm more than a little dubious. Patton was one of the first to urge the mechanization of the Army, and himself made good use of motor vehicles in his Mexican campaign in 1916. I suspect that he realized that horse-mounted combat was a thing of the past, at the time he designed the sword. If the above is an accurate quote of Patton, I suspect that it was concocted to please the fogies and justify his having designed a sword more suited to dueling on foot than fighting on horseback. Patton was a fencing master and designed a fencer's sword.
I might also point out that the "blood-letting groove" mentioned in the Patton Saber article has nothing to do with blood-letting. It is called a fuller and functions to strengthen and stiffen the blade by giving it an I-beam-like cross-section. This was a common principle in blacksmithing and the smith's tool used to apply such grooves was also called a fuller.
Update: The Wilkinson I refer to above is actually the Pattern 1912 Cavalry Officer's Sword. Too many brain cells sacrificed over the years I fear.
@7:40 PM
Cookin' with Sally Ann has bread recipes! Just reading the ingredients of some of these is courting a cardiac infarction, but what a way to go.
@4:34 PM
I note that the InstaPundit has permalinks to 'Jeff Cooper' and 'Prof. Jeff Cooper.' Hmm.. I think I would have distinguished them as Col. Jeff Cooper and Jeff Cooper, Marine Colonels outranking Professors by quite a bit.
@1:34 PM
More of Patty's Deep Thoughts:
13. There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
@1:13 PM
Ayee! This is a good argument for pun control..
@1:10 PM
Patty sends some Deep Thoughts, including:
4. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday....lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
and my favorite:
7. According to a recent survey, men say the first thing they notice about a woman is their eyes, and women say the first thing they notice about men is they're a bunch of liars.
@12:22 PM
Good gracious! MommaBear drives a Dodge Diesel! [scroll down to MOMMABEAR'S LOVE]
@12:08 PM
Wednesday, January 08, 2003- - -
I absolutely love the new CHA 'Relax, it's just a game' public service announcements website for hockey parents.
I don't know how many times I've seen parents berating some 8-year-old for his fumble, or stumble, or missed pass in The Big Game. These ads are designed 'to raise awareness of the inappropriate pressures some parents may put on their children.' The ads portray a kid yelling at his father and a police officer, after his dad is pulled over for a traffic violation. The child eggs on his father telling him 'not to hold back' and 'let him have it.' In another ad a boy is seen pressuring his father to make a perfect putt on the golf course. Reminding him "not to screw up, it's the big leagues" In my favorite a young girl urges her mom to "punch her lights out" after their shopping cart is bumped by another shopper. The ads conclude by asking what it would be like if kids pressured us like we pressure them.
@9:09 PM
It's 5:30 pm, it's been dark for about 45 minutes, and my wife has been in the kitchen to turn on the outside light and make sure her new Jeep is still in the drive at least three times. I think I done good.
Update: It's 6:45 and she's in the kitchen looking out the window again..
@5:39 PM
From today's Northern Wyoming Daily News (Motto: Internet? What internet?) the travails of the new governor begin:
"I just showed up this morning in my own truck. They went to a lot of trouble to get the S-1 out to the house, the governor's vehicle. I didn't know how to get into the parking garage, there's a separate parking garage for elected officials, so I just left S-1 parked at my house and drove my truck down," [Governor Freudenthal] said.
What? No chauffer? [chortle]
@8:30 AM
Good Grief! It is taking Blogger 45 minutes to post to BlogSpot this morning. I wonder if they realize that the clunkyness of their freeware is making me at least a little wary of spending any money to upgrade to their more sophisticated systems.
@8:22 AM
I should say something nice for once about our beloved Pravda on the Platte. They are revamping their web site and they've added a lot of content that was previously unavailable. They've now got the Opinions section on-line, so you can all read some of our local wits and pundits.
Here's an OpEd on ballistic fingerprinting by Hubert Townsend, whose articles are always well worth the read, and have previously been available only in the Trib's dead tree editions. By the way, Mr. Townsend is a long-time reservist who is presently writing the US Army's new manual for operation of the M240 machinegun. The guy knows what he's talking about.
Mr. Townsend and I have debated the relative merits of the M240 and the older M60 machineguns via email. I like the M60 and find the M240 too light to be controllable from the shoulder. However, I don't have much experience with the M240, while he and his cohorts use it to shoot the 'rattle battle' (the combat shooting competition referred to in his one line bio). I'm sure that has gone a long way toward finding the proper technique.
If you are interested in such things, keep an eye out for future OpEds by Hubert Townsend. They are all very interesting.
They've also got Cookin' with Sally Ann on-line. You could get fat just reading her recipes - there's no shortage of butter and cream, but it's mighty good food for the soul, if not the heart. On-line is her recipe for Perfect Prime Rib Roast - similar to my recipe except I add ½-cup of soy sauce rather than the salt. Soy helps tenderize the meat and it already has more than enough salt in it. Marinade in soy overnight and prime rib will melt in your mouth.
Cookin' with Sally Ann is a regular Wednesday feature, so check for new recipes to be on-line Friday or Saturday. Incidentally, in today's dead tree edition Sally Ann has several recipes for breads: Cheddar Batter Bread, Double Orange Scones, and Onion Rye with Beer and Cheese sound mighty good to me. While the rest of the news may age a bit before they get it on-line, the recipes are still up-to-date.
@8:13 AM
From L.M. Boyd Revisited in today's Red Star Tribune [no link to article, of course]:
Though your hat size is pretty well fixed by the time you're 10, your jawbone keeps growing for a few more years.
Hmm.. That explains a lot.
@7:32 AM
Tuesday, January 07, 2003- - -
I know a lot of people would just die to get into show business, but this is ridiculous.
[Link courtesy of Danny Walker]
@9:17 PM
Anton Sherwood touches on one of my pet peeves: Life expectancy statistics. His idea is a good one and quite intriguing.
My complaint with life expectancy statistics is not so much that they don't convey as much useful information as they might, but rather with the constant misinterpretation of the 'life expectancy at birth' statistic. Consider this: If a population experiences 50% infant mortality, what must the mean life expectancy of the other half of the population be, in order for the life expectancy at birth of the entire population to be 40 years? Yes indeed, the other half of the population would have to live to an average age of 80.
Unfortunately, a life expectancy at birth of 40 years seems to be far more often interpreted to mean that people in that population die of old age at 40, completely overlooking infant mortality as a factor in the statistic. To the best of my knowledge, Homo sapiens do not die of old age at 40. This is simply not true of any population anywhere on earth, either now or at any time in the past since the origin of our species. Rather, there have been, and continue to be many populations that have dismal infant mortality rates. The majority of the greatly lengthened US life expectancy is due to reduction in infant mortality rather than any great strides in geriatric treatment.
@8:15 PM
Great minds must think alike! I spent most of yesterday test-driving SUVs and now Bill Quick is looking at a Hummer.
Now before anyone goes searching through my archives to find those several derogatory posts I've made about Silly Urban Vehicles, allow me to explain. I still think it's absolutely silly to buy a 4WD if you never leave the pavement. They get lousy mileage compared to a car, they aren't nearly as comfortable to drive as a car, they are often too big to fit in the teeny parking places you'll find in most areas, they are more susceptible to roll-overs than most cars, and etc. You've heard all that before. I have only added that most of them aren't very competent as off-road vehicles either, so they are really the worst of both worlds. For normal people.
But I never claimed to be normal, did I? My current ride is a Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 with a Cummins Diesel engine: The eminently off-roadable Mad Max Machine, so called for the enormous cow catcher I've installed up front (there are one devil of a lot of deer on the roads with the drought pushing them down closer to humans). M³ pulls the Luxury Yacht when we work out of town, and that saves us thousands of dollars in motel bills every year. It's also a dandy off-roadster. With enormous weight and power it will boldly, and noisily go where no man has gone before, and sometimes I do need to go to those places. Just trying to keep the lights on in California, don't you know.
However, it is noisy and stinky and uncomfortable. An oil change costs $50 and you can make that $75 if you want a new air filter. The tires cost $175 each. And it won't even fit in the door at most parking garages. It's sometimes a necessity in my line of work, but it's also an expensive monstrosity. Thus, I've been giving thought to picking up another vehicle for all those smaller jobs where we drive all the way across this very large state to spend 15 minutes looking at someone's proposed gas well location. Something comfortable for long drives, that gets good gas mileage, and is capable of at least some light off-road use. In short, the dread SUV.
For the last few months we've been shopping around and reading up on the various SUVs. From the start it appeared that the Jeep is favored for it's off-road ability, and I can concur from personal experience. I've seen Jeep Cherokees and Wranglers in some pretty amazing places. However, the Wrangler has a rather short wheelbase and can be downright scary at high speeds, ruling it out for my heavy-footed use. The Cherokee has been replaced in the Jeep lineup by the Grand Cherokee, a much larger, fluffier, and hence much more expensive vehicle, and by the new Liberty, which again has a very short wheelbase. The last of the Jeep Cherokees were manufactured in 2001 and low mileage used models are readily available, so they have been at the top of my list. But it didn't seem right to fixate on one single vehicle without even giving any of the others a try. So yesterday, in a fit of boredom, we went berserk and tried one of every sort of SUV we could find in town.
We tried a Geo Tracker. It was too small. We tried a Chevy Suburban. It was too big. We tried a GMC Yukon, which was big and under-powered. We tried a Ford Explorer, ditto. We tried a GMC Jimmy, it was nice, but sprung a bit light for off-road use. We didn't try any Toyotas or Nissans or Hondas or Suzukis because there is no dealership for any of them and there were none for sale anywhere in town. Likewise, there were no Mercedes or BMWs or Lexis or Saturns for sale. And we tried a Lincoln Navigator, but the gravel parking lot was almost too much for it.
Finally, we tried a Jeep Cherokee, which proved to be a sturdy little brute, with considerably more power for its size than any of the other vehicles we'd driven. It is a bit on the small side, I don't so much get in as put it on, but it zipped right up my test hill and cruised down the road nicely. We agonized overnight, consulted our bank this morning, and then went a second round with the salesmen this afternoon.
Tomorrow morning my wife will pick up the check at the bank and take possession of her new, only slightly used bright red Jeep Cherokee. How it morphed from being my new work vehicle to hers I'm still not quite sure, but it's better not to ponder these things. I'm sure she'll let me borrow it.
@4:43 PM
Even yesterday's Democratic love fest at Governor Freudenthal's inauguration couldn't convince the good ol' Red Star to run today's dead tree edition inaugural follow-up on their web site. The top story on-line is still "Freudenthal to take oath today." But hey, yesterday's news is still better than usual for these guys.
@8:16 AM
Alright already! Let's go see what's in Kim du Toit's mail bag today. Hmm.. Lots of good stuff, as usual.
Update: du Toit also features a dandy little whacker in his most recent Gratuitous Gun Pic.
It wouldn't hurt to point out that, depending on the powder loaded in the cartridge, that 18 inch barrel may significantly increase the velocity of the bullet over its design parameters. A .45 slug designed to expand at 850 fps may well vaporize at 1000+ fps. Thus, it behooves the proud owner of one of these beautiful little beasts to use only premium, controlled expansion bullets such as the FBI-approved Federal HydraShok for serious work.
This same consideration applies to any of the carbines chambered for pistol cartridges. I've experienced this sort of over-driven bullet failure, where a factory 240 gr sp .44 magnum round fired from an 18 inch carbine turned to bits and shreds on the ribs of a fork-horn whitetail. A second quick 'horn loosener' put the animal down, but not one single shred of the first bullet penetrated the ribcage. Rather, it blew a hand-sized patch of hide off the deer's side and riddled the rib meat with bits of lead and jacket material. On dressing the animal it was found that the inside of the rib cage immediately over the heart was bulged in a good inch, breaking four or five ribs, and the impact of the slug rolled the running whitetail like a big jackrabbit. But it did not keep it from jumping back to its feet. That's not good in hunting and it could be a disaster when the shit hits the fan.
@7:34 AM
Grrr! Our blasted Northern Wyoming Daily News (Motto: Internet? We don't need no stinking internet!) has a short piece today about another incident with a mountain lion in Jackson Hole, Wyo. They say it's from the Associated Press and it dates back to the 23rd of December, but I can not find the article on line anywhere. Tsk.
It appears that some doofus let the dog out the night of Dec. 23rd, only to have a lion chase it back into the house. Yikes! Says game warden Bill Long: "The days you could just let your dogs run outside with no care are gone."
I wonder when those days were. It's not as if the lions just moved into the area. On the contrary, it's all the people moving into an area that was historically big game winter range that are causing the problems. The big game and the big predators have nowhere else to go.
@7:25 AM
In today's Denver Post we have an account of dueling estimates in the Individual Indian Trust situation:
The gulf between American Indians and the U.S. government over disputed Indian trust accounts widened Monday, with the Indians saying they may be owed as much as $137 billion and the government cutting its estimate of the balances to $335 million.
Lawyers for Indians who are challenging the government's handling of the estimated 300,000 accounts, cited private accounting records in saying they could be owed as much as $137 billion - up from previous estimates of $10 billion.
The accounts, some dating from 1887, hold proceeds from oil, gas, grazing and mineral leases of Indian lands.
It might help to remember that for six years now the Indianz have been asking for an accounting and the Department of the Interior has been ducking and dodging. Now Interior appears to be saying that in another five years or so they might be able to come up with a better guess of the value of the accounts.
One wonders where the Interior's managers would be today if they were accountants and bankers rather than government officials.
While the amount is in dispute, we are still talking about one hell of a lot of money here. Where has all that money gone?
@6:57 AM
Monday, January 06, 2003- - -
I'm sure none of his students think of him like this.
@9:02 PM
Now why haven't we heard any discussion of the Total Information Awareness Office's relationship to the FBI's Carnivore system? The more I consider the potential capabilities of the feds self-appointed snoops the more nervous I become.
Update: Note the new logo of the Total Information Awareness Office. They've done away with the old eye-on-the-pyramid thing for a more stylized pyramid motif. What is with the pyramid? Is there some symbolism here they are attached to? It would appear so, but I'm not sure what it might be. The replacement logo shown by the Memory Hole did away with the pyramid but now it's back. Surely the government isn't about to be taken over by grandfathers in fezes riding miniature motorcycles.
@8:36 PM
Here's a case that will be fun to watch. The guy had a history of heart problems. He had 'heart complications' and died. Now his son is being accused of causing the heart complications and is being charged with manslaughter and assault.
No more arguing with the obese, those over 40, or anyone with heart and circulatory problems. If some such starts clutching at his chest, he wins the argument, eh?
@8:21 AM
Big Brother is at it again
Here's an interesting story for everyone concerned about Total Information Awareness and such: The Denver Police 'spy files.' Much ado about nothing, as the police maintain? Or creating a culture of fear and intimidation?
It's hard to see how covert police activities that were unknown to the public could cause anyone to be fearful or intimidated. The police have tried to keep this secret and can hardly be accused of intentionally creating a culture of fear and intimidation. Whether their actions have that effect now, is more debatable.
On the other hand, it is encouraging to see so many people expressing such outrage over files that are mild in comparison to those the Total Information Awareness office proposes to create.
Update: Here's a Denver Post editorial on the 'spy files.' The writer makes a distinction between 'spy files' and 'intelligence files,' although I'm not sure I'd grant that the distinction is valid. Frankly, I don't think I'd care much whether someone was spying on me or collecting intelligence on me. Either way, I'd be wondering what use they might make of that information in the future.
@7:56 AM
Will wonders never cease? The Pravda on the Platte has broken their rule of sitting on the news until it becomes history before they put it on the internet. Why? To celebrate today's inauguration of our new Democratic governor. To read this article you'd think this was the only good thing to happen in this state in the last 12 years. Perhaps to them it is the only good thing:
The new governor's inauguration gives Wyoming Democrats something to celebrate for the first time in 12 years.
The party has won exactly zero of the five statewide elected offices and three seats in Congress since former Gov. Mike Sullivan and former Secretary of State Kathy Karpan were reelected in autumn 1990.
"The Democratic Party is very excited to have a governor again, and they should be," said state party Chairwoman Linda Stoval. "Not just because it's good for the Democratic Party, but it's going to be good for this state."
The reason for that is the balance it will bring to Wyoming government, she said. Republicans hold the other four elected state offices, a 2-1 advantage in the state Senate and a 3-1 margin in the state House.
"Gov. Freudenthal is going to be a wonderful governor. He's going to add balance and do his best outside of what party politics say -- either party's politics," Stoval said.
There're two reasons I'm not particularly concerned to have a Democrat as governor: To win an election here in Wyoming, any Democrat must be politically somewhere to the right of Rush Limbaugh. Second, there's that 'balance' referred to above. That's just a nice way of saying 'gridlock.' The best part? Ms. Stoval says this as if it were a good thing. Given the sort of crony capitalism so favored by our Republican legislature, I think she's right. Governor Freudenthal may not be able to accomplish much, but at the least he can rein in the looting of the state treasury that's been going on for the last 8 years.
@7:21 AM
Sunday, January 05, 2003- - -
The CalgarySun is running a poll today that asks: Do you think the Calgary Police Service should enforce the new federal gun law? They don't say how many respondents they've received, but right now it's running 20.9% Yes to 79.1% No.
Apparently the Calgary Police Service agrees.
Update: Gad! Apparently gun control isn't the only problem the Albertans have with their federal government. Licia Corbella, editor of the CalgarySun, says they have a bit of a problem with the Robbing Hoods in Ottawa.
Update again: Judging from the Letters to the Editor, it would appear that the sentiments expressed by the gun law poll reflect the feelings of the CalgarySun's readership and that of the paper's editor and columnists.
@5:21 PM
Sigh. I'm covered with embarrassment once again. I went into my template to change Andrea Harris' address on my blogroll (she's moved) and... she wasn't there. I'd blame the blogger gremlins, but searching my last three template backups I notice she wasn't there in those either. I don't know how the devil it happened, but it's probably due to my thumb-fingered coding. At any rate, she's back on the roll now, as I read her frequently.
@2:13 PM
After two days of intensive searching, I'm ready now to admit that there are no geese in the Bighorn Basin. The river is frozen over in most places, but even those areas that have open water don't have any geese, or very many ducks for that matter. Ah well, better luck next year.
@9:54 AM
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