AP spreads its legs for yet another customer

The Associated Press has long ago become the whore for the Muslim market. This little-reported story isn't news to the rest of the MSM. Roughly 50% of the AP's budget is bought and paid for by Muslim interests to produce news content in Arabic for consumption in the Muslim world.

With that sort of incentive it's quite plain why the AP hires "journalists" who print false stories, publishes doctored photos and is loathe to call Muslims terrorists.

It is the journalistic equivalant of whoring.

Now it looks like they have a new customer. Either that or they are giving it away free, now.

Environmentalists have spent decades acquiring and preserving 90,000 riverfront acres of Texas scrub and forest and protecting their wildlife. Now they fear the hundreds of miles of border fences will undo their work and kill some land animals by cutting them off from the Rio Grande, the only source of fresh water.

A fence could also prevent the ocelots and other animals from swimming across the water to mate with partners on the other side.

"If you have a fence that runs several miles long, if you are a tortoise or any animal that can't fly over or go through it, then you have a pretty long distance that you have to go to get water," said Brown, an outreach manager at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, 225 miles south of San Antonio. Also, "any destruction of any brush is very damaging."

This AP story is wearing too much red lipstick and dressed for "work".

While it makes the case for how bad the proposed border fence will be for the wildlife in the area it clearly avoids talking about how the swarm of humans moving across the border already impacts the delicate ecosystems.

There is almost no mention of the tons of trash left in the wake of the illegal aliens as they move north. Not one word about what the armed drug traffic does to the wildlife. No, they'll give you a picture of a cute ocelot and not tell you about them being shot at with full auto AKs which are a favorite of the drug runners south of the border.

The story is full of how much fence has been requested and how much has been spent on the area's preservation while not telling you that there's been almost no fence construction.

The article claims that there is a booming tourism to the area without telling you what happens to U.S. tourists who might stray into the path of drug runners or human smugglers.

Once again the story the AP wishes to present is this liberal fantasy of a dreaded, oppressive U.S. impact on something while ignoring anyone else's responsibility for damage. The feeling presented is that the fence is evil and those putting up the fence are evil. Not one ounce of blame for those who make the fence a necessity.

Wars and rumors of wars

I don't like to spread gossip. I don't spread rumors. I prefer to keep my mouth shut because from my childhood to today I've seen an awful lot of bull flying. I'm usually suprised if something actually comes of 90% of what I hear.

That's why I only put a half-cent's worth of credit into an item forwarded to me in e-mail. I wouldn't give that much but it partially coordinates with actual news.

The story is that Al Qaeda is reaching out to Blacks and other minorities.

Al-Zawahri encouraged minorities around the world to join the holy war, or jihad.

"Al-Qaeda is not merely for the benefit of Muslims," he said. "That's why I want blacks in America, people of color, American Indians, Hispanics, and all the weak and oppressed in North and South America, in Africa and Asia, and all over the world."

I have to wonder how much of this is true, but considering the guy arrested in Chicago who was sort of a "lone wolf" jihadist I have to at least lend it some credit.

Yes. I believe there are stupid people so foolish as to believe that Al Qaeda would give them something if they worked with them to bring about the fall of the United States. The Russians found them and they weren't offering ANY virgins.

Do I expect another group like the Fort Dix Six to actually make an attack? Possibly, though lone wolf operations are much, much more likely.

The unanswered questions (because the local press shied from asking) about the Safeway employee who went on a shooting rampage remains. The suppressed story of the Utah mall shooter being Muslim remains. I don't know what Cho the Coward meant by calling himself Ishmael but that's another set of unanswered questions.

Both the liberals and the Whitehouse don't want to call these acts of terrorism. To do so would be to admit that the Department of Homeland Security is a failure. It would also draw attention the liberals don't want to the fact that we have viper's nests in most parts of our country.

Al Quaeda can sow terror without having direct links to lone wolf operations. They don't have to support them financially. They can spread their filth by way of YouTube and other Internet offerings to get some cowardly punk to get his jihad on.

Our schools, all the way up to many if not most college campuses remain Victim Disarmament Zones. They will continue to be the targets of choice because the press loves to glorify the perpetrators. If a shooter IS a lone wolf jihadi the facts will be suppressed. While Al Quaeda likes to take credit they realize that they accomplish more by not linking to these directly.

They don't stand a chance at an Islamic takeover against an armed citizenry. They are strong in their own lands but can't manage the manpower to take over a nation as big as the U.S. unless they are assured of being the only ones armed. By letting their lone wolves be denied they strengthen the idiots, fools and evil-doers in our own country who want to make the United States into another European Castratiunion. The U.N. pushes this policy as does George Soros. Outside of John Stossel there aren't any MSM voices unmasking the false promise of gun control. They only let him get in one good lick in several years of bashing firearms owners as dangerous nutcases.

Our own government has an entire beauracracy dedicated to eradicating private firearms ownership. In most states, counties and cities there are strong movements to unconstitutionally disarm We The People. Bloomberg is only one disaster away from pulling a Katrina gun-confiscation and because the people of NYC have to register firearms the going will be easy.

The push to eradicating private firearms ownership isn't a rumor. The success of lone wolf jihadis isn't a rumor. Al Qaeda has the ability to enlist aid from people who don't look or sound Muslim. If we don't get serious about our nation's border security and ultra-serious about staying armed and vigilant we will have our nation taken away from us.

And that's no rumor.

And you don't mess around with Slim

Slim Frame or Short Frame?

I know most of the official press declares ithe G 21 SF to mean "Short Frame". It seems that everyone else has decided it stands for Slim Frame.

Either way it's the first revision of the 3rd Generation Glock in years. I know, guns aren't like cars or other consumer goods. The 1971 Cold Government Model is identical to the 1975 Colt Government Model.

I tend to look at the SF, though, as a Generation 3.5. It's not as radical as adding finger grooves (grrrrr!) or even forward and back stippling to the grip. The grip angle remains the same. There is still a big hollow space behind the magazine well. The biggest functional difference is a stock ambidextruous magazine release. This was something clearly done right and is one of the few things that Glock needed to learn from the XD.

Some things I wish they would unlearn from XD is lawyer triggers. I've become a spoiled puppy. I have had my triggers worked on so they are lighter, crisper. Around 3 lb but with less take up than I had on my 17L.

After going for a torture test this morning I am willing to confess to anything my 21 SF wants to hear me say. I think I hit 200 rounds and my trigger finger tip is still tender. I know, 200 rounds isn't even a break-in on a Glock. I don't think anything short of making it lay naked next to Rosie O'Donnell will make it so much as wince.

Of course it fed hardball. It fed hard-cast SWC and it fed "slow-ass Gold Dot". I'm tempted to try plugging spent cases back into the magazine to see if it will feed those.

None Dare Call It Ishmael

One drove a cab, three were roofers. Another worked at a 7-Eleven and a sixth at a supermarket. Their alleged plot to attack Fort Dix was foiled by another blue-collar worker: a video store clerk.

Great detective work there, FBI. Let's see, you got McVeigh because he was stupid enough to drive without a real license plate, the UNABOMBER because his family recognized his published manifesto and just how is that anthrax investigation going, guys? With a track record like yours it's a surprise that we haven't already turned into West Saudi Arabia.

But the real question on my mind isn't how the FBI couldn't manage to find J. Edgar Hoover's dresses inside his closet. No, I'm wanting to know where these guys got their money. None of the jobs mentioned give someone large amounts of disposable income yet these guys had money to burn, taking junkets to the Poconos to shoot, had a video camera and apparently enough cash to look into buying AKs, M-16s and RPGs. If 7-11 is paying that kind of dough I'm in the wrong racket.

I'm also peeved because at least two of these guys shouldn't have been in this country. Like several of the 19 hijackers on 9/11/01 you have alien living here after their papers expire living in the open and causing trouble.

Is this or is this not living proof that the outrage over illegal aliens invading our shores isn't "racial". Just because the majority are Mexicans doesn't mean all of them are. If our government were enforcing the existing laws then these guys and several of the 9/11/01 hijackers would have been in jail or another country.

We don't need immigration reform. We need border enforcement.

The men trained by playing paintball in the woods in New Jersey and taking target practice at a firing range in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, where they had rented a house, authorities said.

Again, where did they get the money? Cab drivers? 7-11 Clerks? Roofers? WHERE DID THEY GET SO MUCH MONEY? They had a little place rented in the Poconos, money for toys, guns, ammo, video cameras. Where are these supposedly independent operators getting money for all this?

"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented scores of detainees after the Sept. 11 attacks. "But when the government says `Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous."

"Don't equate actions with religion," he said.

Oh, right. Let's not jump to any conclusions about who should be up for extra scrutiny. Plenty of terror attacks by Methodists last year, right? Presbyterians on a rampage over cartoons, right?

Let's drop this "homegrown" bullsh*t right now, people. These guys weren't born or raised here. They came here and were intent on killing. They didn't come here to be citizens, they came to war against our government and our way of life.

I don't know what percentage of Muslims are guilty of the same sin and I don't need to know. I know what percentage of terrorists are Muslims.

Don't equate actions with religion? When the overwhelming majority of one's enemy are of the same religion then it is clear that we ARE at war with Muslims.

Someone needs to get records for that lawyer and find out where HIS money is coming from, too.

If you think IPSC belongs on a North Carolina pickup truck bumper...

You might be a redneck. Or you might have a redneck if you were taking an IPSC safety course today. I know I do.

If you just peeled off one of the blood blisters from slapping mags into your Glock and now you have a new one you might have a redneck.

Fun and educational. The fun was moving and shooting, knocking down poppers and steel plates. The education was finding out how horribly slow I draw and re-load and how utterly poorly I re-load my magazines when under the clock.

Two areas to work on that don't require actually being on a range since one can dry-practice both of them.

A VERY simplified El Presidente taught me about the slow draw and slow reload. Later on when running our little 32 round IPSC field course for the second time I found that I hadn't seated my magazine on my re-load. I found this out when the full magazine hit the ground while I was firing the round still in the chamber. Then the second full magazine also slid free of the chute as I was cycling the slide. Another was finally slapped home, slide racked and I finished the course of fire. The instructor did the course in 15 seconds. My second run was over 40. The instructor cut it to under 11 on his second run but missed one target.

Yes, my first run was under the 40 that I ran up due to re-loading errors. And it's a LOT better to find my errors in this atmosphere than if I ever need to do it in real crisis.

My shooting had acceptable accuracy, better than most of the other 5 students. I had a few misses on the steel and I had some early in the day when trying to fire 6 rounds at .25 seconds each. Distance to steel was 10 yards. I didn't hit the no-shoots.

I'm not clear to actually participate in IPSC matches and hope to be in one soon.

'Bout time I find out I'm the 142nd fastest gun in the west.

The Idiocy Meter Climbs

In Boston, once upon a time the cradle of free thought, a professor was fired for pointing a marker at some students and saying "pow, pow".

An adjunct professor was fired after leading a classroom discussion about the Virginia Tech shootings in which he pointed a marker at some students and said "pow."

The five-minute demonstration at Emmanuel College on Wednesday, two days after a student killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus, included a discussion of gun control, whether to respond to violence with violence, and the public's "celebration of victimhood," said the professor, Nicholas Winset.

During the demonstration, Winset pretended to shoot some students. Then one student pretended to shoot Winset to illustrate his point that the gunman might have been stopped had another student or faculty member been armed.

"A classroom is supposed to be a place for academic exploration," Winset, who taught financial accounting, told the Boston Herald.

This professor wasn't threatening anyone. It was clear that his marker wasn't a real gun. He didn't even use the phrase "nappy headed".

I don't think that it was the pointing and saying "pow, pow" that the college objected to. Not so long as the professor was pointing at students, playing the part of Cho the Coward.

No, I think what got the professor fired was continuing the discussion to the point where a student pointed and "pow"ed right back. The professor allowed the students to think about what might have happened if some of the deliberately disarmed victims of Cho the Coward had been armed.

Allowing students to think isn't what liberal arts colleges are for. They exist to TELL students what to think.

The college issued a statement saying: "Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language."

Do you see any discrimatory or obscene language mentioned in the news article?

No, there is none mentioned. Unless you consider the concept of fighting back as obscene.

I think that's exactly what the college meant with their statement.

Navy Blue Angel Pilot killed

A Navy Blue Angel jet crashed during an air show Saturday, plunging into a neighborhood of small homes and trailers and killing the pilot, the county coroner said.

Nancy Pelosi has called an emergency session in the House to lead the Democrat party in setting a deadline for withdrawing all U.S. forces from airshows.

In a related story the Democrats offered the troops they bring home from Iraq money for college. A spokesperson for military personnel reportedly told Speaker Pelosi that the troops would rather use the money to stay in Iraq. "At least in Iraq we get to shoot back!"

Nancy Pelosi vowed to make sure that this situation is corrected by disarming our troops in Iraq.

To Nifong or not to Nifong, that is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the press to suffer the slings and errors of having to post facts or to take up arms and weild a sea of lies.

On 4/17/07 in the Denver airwaves Craig Silverman, a former prosecutor made an assertion without evidence. You'd think a lawyer would know better but since he was a prosecutor I guess that is part of the job description.

Silverman asserted, on the air, that the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban saved lives.

He the further compounded his assertion by stating that criminal gangs are arming with "assault weapons" in "burgeoning numbers."

Since I'm not a lawyer I have to actually work for a living. I listen to this radio show sometimes when the two co-hosts aren't being totally lame. I do have to deal with real life and can't hang around hoping these two self-inflating egos would deign to take my call.

I went home and when I could I used the contact button on the KHOW website to issue a challenge to Craig Silverman. I challenged him to back up his assertion that the AWB saved lives by posting actual crime statistics from the Justice Department or FBI. I also challenged him to post from the same sources evidence that criminal gangs are using assault weapons in large numbers.

I'm just a hard working person with a small blog. Craig Silverman is a lawyer who doubtless already pays for access to Lexis and has law enforcement contacts. He has a radio show and a website for that radio show. He has a staff to put things on that website.

I don't consider such a challenge to be onerous to someone who draws money from being a talking head. If he makes an assertion on the air then he should be able to back it up.

If, as I suspect, that he can't back up his claims then I demanded a full apology be posted on the same venue.

The ball is in Craig Silverman's court. Is he a man of honor or a Nifong?

BAG Day Doin's

I decided against buying a gun for BAG day this year. I'm focusing on specific shooting activities and attempting to avoid distractions that would lessen the impact of specific training I'm working on.

Well, that and I couldn't decide what I really wanted.

I did not spend BAG day without putting something into action, however. I gave myself training.

I took a course from a local instructor in defensive shooting with a handgun. The instructor isn't a gun-store commando or a mall ninja. He is a retired police trainer. Since he is not instructing civillians I'd have to say he doesn't fit the "Only Ones" mold. In point of fact he showed my fellow students Lee Paige's performance on the "Glock Foty".

Yesterday was all class room with almost no hands-on. We watched some videos and listened to the instructor. There were 8 people in attendance (2 more had registered but did not show up). Seven men and one woman (the wife of one of the men). We had some friendly times and a lot of fun on both days but nothing compares to trigger time and we got a lot of that in today.

This morning started with a drive down back country roads to a private shooting range. The owner and his son were very friendly to us and we had no problems from neighbors even when making lots of loud noise on a bright, sunny, very windy Sunday.

Safety was of primary importance. While some in the class were seasoned shooters there were some who were relatively new to the task. It was very wise of the instructor to start off with slow warm ups and to emphasize safety over realism at this phase with such a group.

Thankfully incredibly bad habits I had in my early years are not part of my current life. I did not get a "talkin' to" about my trigger finger or muzzle control. Some did, both early on and much later in the day when we were all rather tired.

Part of the warm up was to shoot a somewhat reduced PPC qualification round. The course of fire was 18 rounds from 20 yards, 18 rounds from 15 yards, 12 rounds from 10 yards and 6 rounds from each hand at 3 yards.

I've thought about posting about something I'd noticed over the past year and a half for some time. Each time I deleted such posts.

Not everyone shoots very well.

I probably got a complex about it because I made it a point to shoot with a group of people who really do shoot very well. I would occaisionally happen to see other people, though, who had the "spray and pray" philosophy down. Sometimes I would try to give some help if they seemed receptive.

The 8 people I was with today don't fall into that category. Everyone shot a very respectable score. After the warm up we shot the reduced PPC qualification course again for final score. No one turned in less than 80%. I've seen much worse at the gun clubs.

My target from the second qualification round is posted above. After shooting a 298 in practice I was able to turn it around and pull 300 or 100%. The lone woman in the class was second with 295 final score. Her good-natured husband had to put up with a lot of ribbing as she continued to surpass him. He was not bad, she was just better.

The really impressive score, to me, was turned in by another experienced shooter who was using his real carry gun, a S&W PD DAO with 1 7/8" barrel. Since several shooters had full-sized 1911 clones he turned in a very, very respectable performance. I don't think I could do as well with my 3" J-frame.

We did some reloading drills, first with one round in each magazine, then with three. My reloading speed sucks at 5.3 for the time between shot 1 and shot 2. I need to work on that. Six second to fire 3 and reload, then fire another three. It's clearly not the shooting that's taking up my time.

We took a break for lunch and after the break we went into some MILD simulations of the two-way range (as Fits calls it). We had plastic barrels we had to use for cover while firing at "threat" targets.

This was all done in a mild way. This portion was not done for score and we were not graded on our accuracy during this phase. We were being graded on tactical skills and handling our weapons.

The instructor did not allow drawing "hot" from the holster for the students at this level of training. That's another step up. Again, I consider this wise as he could not expect everyone to have good trigger and muzzle discipline, yet.

The first challenge involved moving at a run up to the first pair of targets and taking concealment (plastic barrels may be called 'cover' but are not by definition). We then drew, loaded and engaged, three rounds in each. Speed reload, move to the next concealment, engage with three rounds to each target, speed reload and then engage a single paper target consisting of three figures, two hostile and one don't-shoot.

My first runthrough I committed the same sin as everyone, I got too close to the concealment. Score B+. The plus was because I knocked over the middle barrel but continued to act, not siezing up.

We were treated to some "why you don't get up close on your cover" lessons and then it was time for another run-through. Some lost a + over forgetting to stay off the concealment but everyone did better the second time around. My grade was A++. I was granted this because after my initial loading I realized that I had not seated my magazine and did an immediate action drill and continued the exercise.

The final activity was more simple and rightly so as many errors that people hadn't been guilty of for most of the day started to come out. From a hot ready engage one target with six rounds, reload, move to the next station, engage with six, reload and then move to the final station and engage with your remaining six. This one didn't have as much realism but it was less a tactical exercise as a weapons-handling one. The instructor wanted to see people reloading without taking their eyes off the targets. I met that goal.

Today wasn't a typical BAG Day celebration but I'm happy with what I spent my money on. I may only have some paper to hang up to show for it but training is harder to come by than firearms. I've been shown areas that I need to improve upon and will be working on. Better to learn those lessons now than if I ever need them later. I have a chance to practice the rougher areas in the meanwhile.

Glocking report. My G 23 aquitted itself very well. There was one failure to load and I blame that on the ammo. I had taken my big can of Miwall factory reloads, not the new stuff I'd been saving. I burned up a lot of it and the only somewhat mechanical issue was that failure to go fully into battery with one round. When we got that round to seat it fired and extracted without any difficulty.

My problem with not fully seating magazines was evident and is another rough spot to work on. That happened twice.

Carrying signs saying "Amnesty Now," about 15,000 people danced to Mexican ranchera music and passed large American flags over their heads.

The photograph shows a U.S. flag, but it also shows a Mexican flag.

The issue I have here is that this isn't about immigration. It's about invasion. Now the invaders don't think that the too-generous plan to reward them for breaking the law is generous enough.

Organizers said many illegal immigrants [ALIENS! NOT IMMIGRANTS!] were angry about a White House plan that would grant them work visas but require them to return home and pay thousands of dollars to become legal U.S. residents.

"Charging that much, Bush is going to be even more expensive than the coyotes," said protester Armando Garcia, 50, referring to smugglers who transport people across the Mexican border.

First up, boo-f*ckin'-hoo. They are angry that they are being offered too much and want more? Then show us how angry you are. Go home. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya! What, are you still here?

More whining. Is that a job American's won't do? I thought liberals pretty much gave that away. I don't know why we needed to let an illegal alien come here to do it.

Alfredo Gonzalez, 33, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, marched with his wife and daughters, ages 6 and 8. He said he fears the stepped-up immigration raids occurring across the country.

"If they kick me out, who is going to take care of my daughters? The government? I don't think so," he said. "We need full legalization and need it now."

Um. Alfredo, is it? Or is that what is printed on the phony papers you are carrying this week? Maybe YOU should take care of your daughters. In Mexico. They are you children, right? If we send you back then why shouldn't your illegal brats go?

Ah, yes. That misinterpretation of the 14th Ammendment. Funny how people who can't read the clear words in the 2nd somehow read in entire paragraphs that don't exist in the 14th. Because you managed to enter this country illegally you now claim your kids are citizens by dint of geography.

You know what? I have no problem with that. We'll just toss them into a state run orphanage until they are 18. They won't have any contact with you or your illegal alien wife. Okay? Sound fair? We'll keep the citizen and throw back the illegal. Okay, Alfredo? Your daughters will grow up just fine without anyone teaching them to speak Mexican Spanish. When they ask we'll tell them that mommy and daddy didn't want to take them with them when they went back home. That's the truth, isn't it, Alfredo?

If I take my wife down to Mexico and she has a baby while we are LEGALLY visiting what citizenship is that baby? Just one. U.S. citizen. We take the baby home with us because the baby isn't Mexican. You don't want to see it that way, Alfredo so we'll continue to be generous and accomodate you. Your daughters will be great in that orphanage with all the other babies their parent's didn't want.

Immigrant rights advocates say many of the area's illegal immigrants feel betrayed by President Bush, who they had long considered an ally.

Betrayed, Alfredo? You aren't a citizen, according to the article. How could a man you can't vote for betray you? I can consider him as having betrayed ME because I can vote and he is MY president. YOUR president is down in Mexico City. If you did cast a vote in a U. S. election then you have committed yet another crime. Is that what you are saying, Alfredo? Did you commit additional crimes since you invaded my country?

Bush can't betray people he doesn't work for. You can't (legally) vote. He doesn't work for you. The ONLY way in which you can claim that he betrayed you is if you provided him a vote which you can not legally cast.

Yet more whining. I swear by all that is holy that we have enough Americans willing to whine. We do NOT need to import aliens to do that job!

"Last year, we were fighting for legalization, and this year we are fighting for legalization and against all these raids," said Maria Lopez, 50, an illegal immigrant who works as a seamstress and sends $200 a month home to family members in Mexico.

"We have no way to come up with that much money, and Bush knows that," she said. "He is doing this on purpose so we don't ever become legal residents."

Hey, Maria, have you met Alfredo? You two have so much in common.

Listen, both of you. Everyone else waving Mexican flags, too. You don't like this deal. I don't like this deal. We have found common ground. So let's come up with a common solution to a common problem.

You go home. You build a wall to keep us from "luring" (per Geraldo The Short) you up here. Just put up a great big wall on YOUR side of the border. We want one but we can't get our politicians to put first things first. You can build it cheaper, right? Lower cost labor and all that? Isn't that what you are offering to this nation that you are invading? Lower cost labor? Now we are just wanting you to put that labor to use on your own soil to solve a problem both nations have.

You go home, build the wall and wait for me to call upon you to tear it down. You won't have to worry about a man you can't legally vote for betraying you. You don't have to worry about how much we might fine you for breaking the laws while giving you something you couldn't buy in the first place.

More hyporcrisy in the press

Three Yale students arrested for burning U.S. flag

No, John Kerry wasn't one of them. This time.

Three Yale University students, including a Briton and a Greek national, have been charged in a case involving the burning of a U.S. flag outside a Connecticut house, a court official said on Wednesday.

These three miscreants didn't have the descency to buy their own flag to burn. They decided to torch one someone else was flying from their own place.

I'm reminded of how American citizens, righteously perturbed at illegal aliens, vented their anger on a Mexican flag they were called racists. Was there any charge of racism against the Briton or Greek? Nope. Not being called a hate crime.

Don't you know that only white people can commit hate crimes? And if the person is a liberal or from another culture the perpetrator is magically not able to be committing a hate crime even if the only conceivable motive is hatred?

What is the motive for someone to set fire to another person's property when the only thing they know about that person is that they are flying a U.S. flag? Is that not hatred?

Were I to travel to Boston and set fire to a common gay symbol, the rainbow flag hanging from a stranger's house would I be charged with a hate crime? I'd bet money that I would.

Oh, and the U.S. citizen?

Akbar, a senior, was born in Pakistan but is a U.S. citizen,...

The Briton? One "Farhad Anklesaria". I'm sorry, but I don't recall many Anklesarias among the guys William the Bastard brought over from Normandy. Just how British is he?

What I see is two Muslim-appearing names and one Greek who are all enjoying the priveledges of going to a U.S. university that I couldn't afford to go to who decided that they wanted to show how much they hate the U.S.

I'm sure that some people would call me "racist" for thinking ill of these asswipes. How dare I think that jerks who are buying an education in my country should have some respect for it.

Let me ask one more intemperate question. What would happen to me if I were to go to Pakistan and burn their flag? What about in Greece? I'm not talking about arson, as these jerks did. I mean one I bought with my own money and then burned? Chances are lynching would be one of the lighter likely outcomes.

Would the people of Greece or Pakistan be accused of racism for doing it to me?

Threats and Intimidation

The Thinking Blogger Award

I've been tagged by Fits at Shooting The Messenger for the Thinking Blogger Award. This award seems to have begun at Bennings Writing Pad when he got tagged.

I'm flattered that Fits would find my contributions to his and other blogs and my occaisional postings here to be worthy of this honor.

By the rules of this award I need to tag five other blogs that I feel worthy of the award. Since Fits tagged me I think tag-backs are out. Patrick Joubert had tagged Fits and also tagged Mr. Calhoon.

Though I don't patrol his blog as often as I do others the blogger who I can blame for starting me down this path was Xavier, so he's going to top my list.

Xavier Thoughts is the work of a fellow RN. His blog will entertain, amuse and make you think.

Victor Davis Hanson has a site that is more commercial than blog but his frequent postings are always thought provoking.

El Presidente gives me a more local flavor. Though I will be leaving the Peoples Republic of Kalifornirado in the near future I hope that it will one day be Colorado again.

Oscar Poppa is the home of Civis Proliator. A staunch constitutionalist he carries on the good fight from my future home of Texas.

My final nominee is News From the Border. This blog has the joyless task of reporting on the invasion we face.

I hope that by tagging to some of the places that get my neurons firing, or at least my dander up I'll have lead folks to discover some new frequent haunts for themselves.

Here's Bob!

From the Desk of Bob Beauprez 

Dear Hyunch,
Because we believe that the next presidential election will be a defining moment
in shaping the future of this nation, we have taken the unusual step of making an
early commitment to the person we are convinced should be elected President in 2008.
His name is Mitt Romney.

We have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about Mitt and we are impressed
by what he has achieved - as a husband and father, as a successful businessman, and
as the Governor of Massachusetts who brought conservative governing principles to
a state famous for its liberal tendencies. He and his wife Ann have raised five wonderful
boys, always putting family first. All five sons are married and have given the Romneys
ten grandchildren - so far. Theirs is a family that embodies the values that we,
as Americans, treasure.

As you may know, the invisible primary - the fundraising deadline of March 31st -
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We would be pleased if you would join us in supporting
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Mitt Romney believes strongly in the core principles of free enterprise, fair and
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and cutting the size and cost of government.

Specifically, without raising taxes or increasing debt, Governor Romney closed a
$3 billion deficit in his first year in office. Each year, Governor Romney filed
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he got the economy moving again and transformed deficits into surpluses.

At the peak of his business career, he was asked to take over the 2002 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City. You may remember that the Olympics were beset by scandal and had
fallen deeply into debt. Romney took over and, as he had done with so many companies,
he went to work turning things around. The
result was the most successful and profitable Olympics in history [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=kkvva5bab.0.rodid5bab.xptll9bab.688&ts=S0235&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mittromney.com%2Fcontribution%2Fform] - even in
the face of security concerns following 9/11.

We share these stories about Mitt Romney because we believe that he possesses not
only the right political philosophy, but also the experience and leadership skills
necessary to guide this great nation. We encourage you to learn more about Mitt Romney
by visiting his website at www.mittromney.com [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=kkvva5bab.0.podid5bab.xptll9bab.688&ts=S0235&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mittromney.com%2F].
We are confident that once you do, you will understand why we are actively supporting
Mitt Romney for President.

Should you like to make a contribution, we ask that you contribute
online [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=kkvva5bab.0.rodid5bab.xptll9bab.688&ts=S0235&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mittromney.com%2Fcontribution%2Fform] by credit card to ensure that your contribution is counted before March
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Please show your early support by making
a contribution today [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=kkvva5bab.0.rodid5bab.xptll9bab.688&ts=S0235&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mittromney.com%2Fcontribution%2Fform]. In addition, we also encourage you to join Team
Mitt [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=kkvva5bab.0.todid5bab.xptll9bab.688&ts=S0235&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mittromney.com%2Fvolunteer%2Fform], the Romney campaign's national grassroots support network. By doing
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We thank you for your consideration. Should you have any questions, please don't
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Warm regards,

Bob & Claudia Beauprez

Dear Bob,

Thank you for taking the time to write to me regarding your feelings about Mitt Romney. Mind if I ask a few questions?

First, what actions did Mitt Romney take to keep illegal aliens from residing in Massachusetts or taking jobs from real citizens and legal immigrants?

Second, what did Mitt Romney do to restore the rights of gun owners in Massachusetts?

Third, why would I throw good money after bad in giving to Romney after I lost money backing you to run for Governor last year? You do remember last year, don't you, Bob? You lost the race to a guy who was all but kissing illegal alien keester on public television. Why was that? Because you were caught being a hypocrite. Your bank was giving accounts to illegal aliens, Bob.

Now, you WERE better than the former Denver DA who let illegal alien drug pushers go on misdemeanor pleas that let them stay in the United States so they could molest little girls.

If I have to back a lost cause for 2008 then why wouldn't I give my money to someone else from Colorado who has a real agenda and a better track record than Romney? Someone like Tom Tancredo?

Oh, yeah. I fogot. I already did give to him. That means there is nothing left for your friend Mitt.

Sorry,
Hyunch.

Ain't Dat Pitiful?

I'll admit it. I read gun pron.

Guns, American Handgunner, Guns & Ammo. If I can find a stack of them being given away I'm in hog heaven, no matter how out of date they are.

This morning I picked up the latest copy of American Handgunner and noticed that they had a feature story on the Wilson ADP. This is Wilson Combat's rendition of a polymer pistol.

Today while gobbling my lunch in my car before returning to work I read through the story. The pictures of the pistol were, as usual, wonderful. The story the magazine told of the pistol made me hope that everyone who considers this pistol reads the review.

Let me say that I don't know anything about Wilson Combat. I have no axe to grind. I don't own any of their products nor have I ever even held on that I can recall.

That said I think this pistol was a major mistake for them. I'd read somewhere previously that this ADP had originally appeared before under another gun makers' label and it hadn't been reliable or well made. The review of the Wilson ADP seems to back up that impression.

Reliability. The review goes to great lengths to talk about how this pistol is for "carry alot, shoot little". The test shooting was usually halted around the 100'th round because the pistol stopped functioning with anything like reliability.

Ergonomics. The reviewer talks about the fingers bumping the safety button during firing. Then mentions how when shooting it left handed he was hitting the magazine release while firing. Not good. Very not good.

What I don't understand is why a company that others seem to favor with high honors and higher prices felt the need to market a pistol that will do nothing positive for their reputation. The images in the magazine were glowing. The story under the pictures was anything but.

The writer tried in vain to put some positive spin on this one but I feel the magazine is likely to see advertising money from Wilson go bye-bye after this issue hits wide circulation.

I can see why a major maker would need a polymer pistol to compete against Glock. I don't see why a smaller maker would invest in such a project unless they really had a design that would one-up the best-in-class product.

They will no doubt sell many to people who know the Wilson name. I also have no doubt that in about two years these pistols will be on the remainder rack at CDNN for dirt cheap prices.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it would take some powerful convincing before I'd plunk down half the MSRP for this pistol, let along anything near it.

Winkin', Plinkin' and Nod

Tonight I went to the range and just had some fun. Educational fun, for my part, but fun.

Having picked up a stack of as-yet unbroken clay birds from the trap field I scattered them on the 30 Meter berm on the silhouette range and began busting clays. These birds are bigger than even the ram used in smallbore silhouette and this was the closest berm. Not a lot of challenge. Just fun.

Having something break when you hit it is fun!

I see a little silhouetto of a ram...

Ten of them, actually and I actually managed to hit on them. For me, my experience, my equipment and my talent that's flat out amazing.

I went to the smallbore silhouette shoot at the gun club today. The predominant rifle was an Anschutz sporter. High power scopes were in better vogue than shooting vests.

How did I do? I came in dead last over all. Two matches. 6 out of 40 the first one, 7 out of 40 the second.

You know I can only improve from here.

Bones About It

The best line yet heard by me regarding Rudolph Giuliani's candidacy for POTUS?

Plenty of people — politicians included — have skeletons in their closets. In the case of presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, that closet is a walk-in.

Skeletons indeed, like the one standing at the right hand of St. Rudi. For those with short memories that's Bernie Kerik. Bernie was passed along by St. Rudi to George the Migration Player to head up the (then) newly formed Dept. of Homeland Security. It took about three minutes for someone to figure out that Kerik had skeletons. Tastefully remodeled, to be sure, but skeletons.

Then there is the former Mrs. Giuliani. Or rather former Mrs. Giulianis, plural. Merry Olde England may remember their kings with fondness but I'm not sure that someone who hasn't Ronald Reagan's charisma, let alone good positions, would have the makings of winning the Oval Office. We don't need "The Six Wives of Rudolph I" as part of our heritage.

Then there is the question of law and order. Before Kerik the Greedy became St. Rudi's right-hand man that job was held by William Bratton. It could be said that he deserves the credit for the modest decreases in crime in NYC. Law and order is about the only issue that Giuliani really has any conservative credit. If he really doesn't own even that what gives him reason to believe he deserves to be President as a Republican. Shouldn't he run in the party he really belongs to?

Five years

I did not support entering into Iraq. I did not believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. I did not believe that he was partying with Osama.

Now that you are through cussin' me out read on.

Today I am of the opinion that the only course for the U.S. is to win in Iraq. To win that means that all forms of terrorism there must be crushed. If that means turning Tehran into a glass crater, well, better there than Jerusalem.

This war is not Vietnam. The Vietnamese were and have not followed us back to attack us. The powers that keep up the fighting in Iraq have already visited destruction on our own shores and will do so again if they win in Iraq.

I support using any and all means necessary to win this war. If that means a draft then Uncle Sam knows where to find an RN who can also shoot and salute. I'm many years older than when I had U.S. Army stamped on my chest but I'm also trained to give medications, change bandages and other valuable skills. I don't have to be able to run fast to patrol a ward full of wounded.

I say this because we face an enemy more lethal than any we have ever faced before. Time was distance was our ally. We found out that distance has shrank a great deal back in 2001.

We must become the sort of nation we never were. Hardened to war. We face an enemy with no head so we must kill all the tentacles. We must burn them out when and where we find them. We must not let sentiment or sympathy stay our hand. Our enemy uses that to weaken us so he may strike when our backs are turned.

We must win in Iraq to give our nation time to wake up. To throw off the lazy dream of "liberalism" like a too heavy comforter and face the cold dawn.

If we do not win in Iraq and we do not throw off that too heavy comforter it will become our burial shroud.

Grip A Glock

It was well over a year ago that I first fired a Glock. It was a 2nd gen with a home-stippled grip frame lent by a guy I got a short course from. I had other guns but wanted to see what all the Glockenfuss was about.

I wasn't too impressed by the feel of the gun but when the instructor popped the slide off of his G 35 and I saw how sweet and simple the engineering was I got hooked. I'm a sucker for good engineering.

It wasn't until later that I heard from another guy about how bad his hand got bitten by Glocks when he was doing IPSC competition. Silly me. I'd drawn that G 19 many times, blew 250 rounds of ammo and failed to get slide bite.

Well, hearing about it sort of cursed me. I did get slide bite from Glocks mostly because I was fearing it. I wasn't even drawing the gun from holster so why I should get bitten must have been out of fear of it.

I let my slide bite heal and then went back to the Glocks. Between last weekend and this one I've fired 200+ rounds out of my G 23 doing grabs from the holster, both from a Blackhawk CQC and a Galco Combat Master.

No slide bite.

Draw, fire, holster. Draw, fire, holster. Draw, fire, fire, fire, holster. Over and over and not once did I get bitten. Well, a light nibble when I shifted to my left hand. More because I haven't been working on training that hand to grip as much as I should.

I haven't stippled this G 23's grip. It's 3rd gen and I haven't even ground off the silly finger spacers.

No Glock Finger. No slide bite.

So much for the fears. Now to work on the real issues.

Glock Like a Man

This morning I got to the range early. This let me get a pistol berm and also allowed me to go pick up a box full of clay "birds" from the trap shoot range. Once sent down range the range personnel don't care enough to pick them up again.

At the berm there were some partial birds already laying on the backstop so I used those for hip shooting.

The G 23 can put a round into the general vicinity of where you are looking when drawn from the holster. I'm talking within 4". I'm still hitting "high" on hip shooting but I expect practice to bring that down. The draw-to-hip-shoot exercises were never left or right of what I was focused upon.

Movement is still a bugaboo. When I switched to firing at an ICE-QT my misses were present, failing to even nick the cartoon thug 8-10 of the rounds I fired. I even managed to miss the cardboard sheet the target was stapled to once. It pegged into my wooden target stand.

If anyone wants to know why you don't want to use FMJ for wet work shoot the bullet into a 2x2. The hole shows almost no deformity except for the splinters on the rear as the bullet flies out. The hole stays a uniform shape.

If it will go through 2" of pine it won't have any problems passing through muscle fat and most organs and exiting the other side ready to penetrate someone else.

FAL ammo testing

Out to the range today.

First came re-sighting in one of my 10/22 rifles. A fall had knocked the scope loose.

I did a lot of off-hand shooting but didn't photograph the targets. I'm shooting off-hand from the Marlin 39AS and two modified 10/22s. I don't feel guilty about off-hand shooting at 25 yards so long as I stick to small targets.

I didn't get a chance to shoot my pistol today as the handgun berms were occupied with a 3-gun shoot.

I did get a chance to test out the ammo I recently picked up for the FAL. This is Lake City 7.62x51. I fired the target on the left with that ammo from a bench using front rest and rear. Distance was 100 yards. The target on the right was an equal number of shots from some Australian ammo that the guy next to me had brought. It wasn't serving him well. He had a Sako tactical rifle. The Lake City shot better for him.

The weather was good today, not too windy. Hope to have more fun tomorrow.

Gone Glockin'

After firing off the 7.62 I'd brought to the range I moved over to a pistol berm and used the same target to take rounds from my G 23.

Yes. I've turned into a Glockhead.

Today's practice was useful because I didn't have to stand still. I could even draw from the holster with live ammo in the pistol. Those were both forbidden at the indoor range.

I practiced drawing to fire one handed, transition to two handed and moving backwards/to the side of the target.

Light flannel shirts are not the easiest to get out of your way when you are drawing from concealement.

Lessons better learned in practice than in crisis.

FAL O' Mine

I had the FAL out to the range again today. I'd had it there at least once since my first post about this rifle.

Most of the snow has melted so bullet impacts are mostly just splats into mud.

There was not much wind today. I keep forgetting to bring the wind meter that I picked up with me. I just know it wasn't as hard or as steady as it was the last time I was firing.

The ammo today was some FMJ milsurp I picked up at a gun shop.

I had purchased 6 used mags from someone months ago and they had sat here not being used. Last Sunday I sat and took them apart, cleaning them while watching that silly Lost Tomb thing.

All 6 functioned for me just fine today. I had stuck up an 8" Orange Peel on cardboard 100 yards downrange. It really wasn't too difficult to keep all the rounds in that 8" off the bench with the 3-9x scope cranked up.

I've used up everthing but 100 rounds of Match .308 so I have picked up 1,000 of what was sold to me as Lake City. We'll see how that does next time I'm at the range.

I will want to test the iron sights for shorter ranges, too. See if I can get it set for 50 yards. I can't trust my eyes without magnification past that range.

Lever Action

I finally gave in to the urge to try lever action. Failing to find a good deal so far for a centerfire I took a chance on a used Marlin 39.

Yes, just .22 rimfire. It will get me trained in working the lever, though, for when I do obtain a centerfire lever action rifle.

I got to the range today after work and set about testing ammo. The good news is that this rifle doesn't seem to care for high-end Federal, although it was best with Wolf Match Target. I've yet to see anything that doesn't like Wolf MT. Too bad it costs so much.

The runners up were CCI Blazer solids and Aguila subsonic. I didn't have any standard velocity to test. The CCI Blazers are at 13 a brick and one can usually get Aguila for not much more than that.

The Marlin will be a fun rifle to plink with.

FALlible

A new gun club and new ways to send lead flying. I finally got a chance with my FAL. It's been many a year since I fired a centerfire rifle.

The kick is there but so what? It's not hard.

It's kind of fun to be peering through the lens and seeing a mini-geyser of mud and snow erupt behind the target.

Accuracy so far has been mediocore at best. That could be the ammo and the shooter. I'll enjoy finding out more about what this rifle can do at 100 and 200 yards. More later, when I can find a range that has more.

I'd post the targets but after I got done with poking 7.62 holes in them I carried them over to the pistol berm and put some .40 through them. Waste not, want not.

Further down the spiral

Zimbabwe threatens white farmers

'OHANNESBURG, South Africa - Zimbabwe's national security minister has told the country's last remaining white farmers that they will be jailed if they refuse to abide by a deadline that passed over the weekend for them to leave their farms, according to a newspaper report on Monday.

The official Chronicle newspaper quoted the minister Didymus Mutasa as saying police would be "unleashed" to deal with white farmers who ignored the eviction notice.

"Those farmers who do not comply with the orders to vacate the land will be dealt with severely," said the minister, known to be close to President Robert Mugabe. The deadline was on Saturday'

No compensation is mentioned in this story. People just told to get out so black "farmers" can move in.

Why do I put the quotes on black "farmers"?

'Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence, with acute shortages of hard currency, food, gasoline, medicines and essential imports. The meltdown is blamed largely on disruptions to the agriculture-based economy after the often violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000.'

Doesn't sound to me like the black "farmers" moving onto the farms taken from whites know how to make food grow.

'There were around 4,500 white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe in 2000, when Mugabe launched the program of land seizures that has seen agricultural production plummet. Now only around 400 white farmers remain — and at least 150 of them were handed eviction letters in December giving them just 45 days to leave their land to make way for new black farmers.'

The obvious cure to a bad policy? More of the same bad policy, apparently. Note that the agricultural production has plummeted. How in the name of whatever they hold holy do they expect to feed people?

'Mugabe says land reform was necessary to correct colonial-era imbalances in ownership. The longtime Zimbabwean leader blames the more-than-40-percent drop in production on repeated drought and Western sanctions.'

Okay, so to correct the land grab by Euorpeans a hundred or more years ago the CITIZENS of Zimbabwe who happen to be WHITE are being evicted. They, just like the black citizens were born there. They didn't do the land grabbing, they just happened to be born white in a majority black country.

Are those "Western santions" because Mugabe is mean to whites? More like he's mean to anyone who isn't Mugabe, like all dictators.

'The U.S. State Department last year put Zimbabwe on a list of six countries where restrictions on rights were particularly severe, along with China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.'

So, what sort of production did Zimbabwe have before Mugabe?

'Once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe has seen its status reduced to an importer of its staple maize crop since land reforms were launched.'

'U.N. agencies estimate that about 4 million people are in need of food aid in Zimbabwe.'

From breadbasket to beggar bowl in less than a decade. That's possibly a record for bad leadership.

This post isn't about being black or white. It's about policies based solely upon whether someone is black or white. Taking people who were born in your own country and dispossessing them of their way of life based upon the color of their skin is wrong. Replacing them with people who don't know how to be as productive is stupid.

Mugabe could have used the tax revenues from being an exporter of food to educate his black citizens. Train them to be doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, accountants, engineers and everything else. Just throwing them onto land they can't work effectively is a stupid, useless and deadly mistake. Soon those who wanted to be farmers would buy the farms from the white citizens. The rising tide would float all boats.

Instead Mugabe has sunk their ship.

Too Important To Ignore

Up until now I've kept CZ the day on the topic of firearms.

I'm not going to be breaking any news but rather than consign my thoughts on this story to comments on other blogs I wanted to post them here.

This original story begins at Talisman Gate. It is further explored at Hot Air, complete with video so simple even a liberal can understand it.

This is the story of a CBS reporter using footage that Al Qaeda claims as it's own. There is no mistake. Watch the video and you will see that the footage was shot by the same camera.

The footage did not air on network television. Instead it was orignally relegated to extra content on CBS News' web site. The reporter, Lara Logan, began a campaign to get the footage aired. She was the one who called this story "too important to ignore." She has spoken the truth, but not for the reasons she meant.

It is too important to ignore that a member of the U.S. press would accept any video shot by Al Qaeda as being from a reliable source. It is too important to ignore that she would try to conceal the source for the video. It is too important to ignore that she would include with this footage a masked person claiming that the battle was the fault of the United States.

The United States did not attack New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. That was Al Qaeda. I don't care whether Al Qaeda was in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion. The fact is that they are there now and we can not afford to give up that fight on that battlefield.

CBS needs to decide which side they are going to be on in this fight. Either they are with the United States or they are with Al Qaeda. Having the enemy supply your reportage isn't truth. It isn't fairness. It isn't the way one wins a war.

You won't see 60 Minutes shoving microphones into Lara Logan's face asking her where this footage came from. You won't see Katie Couric doing an expose on how their reporter was acting with deliberate treason. The disgusting thing is you won't see the other networks tearing down CBS for this, either

Fist-Fire 4

My last Sunday morning at the gun club for a bit. My new job has me working Sunday mornings.

After my success with the Fist-Fire grip I found myself falling out of form. The support shoulder HAS to be hunched or the wrist lock will not work. It was easy to tell that something was amiss. My sights didn't snap back onto target.

Time to study the rest of the information as I work to get muscle memory of the proper form so I don't drop out of it in the future.

Fist-Fire Attempt 3

I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. Trying too hard.

I don't think I need to go into what I was doing wrong more than that. It occured to me in studying the illustrations that I had read too much into the roll over wrist lock. It was much more simple.

My firing today was, I think, a lot closer to Fist-Fire. Every shot with this technique brought the sights back into alignment. At one point I noticed that my sights were back on target before I heard the spent casing hit the floor.

I ran through several different 9mm for a box of 50 then switched to .40 S&W for another box of various makes and models. Even my XDSC .40 behaved. I did torque one of the 5 rounds off to the left but that's a big improvement for that pistol. 1 round out of 5 an inch to the left at 25 feet. Used to be 5 rounds 5 inches to the left of point of aim at that range.

This was still sighted fire. I haven't begun to experiment with the more advanced concepts. The basic building block of this system is in the grip and support hand.

Tomorrow I'm taking a basic NRA class. The instructor is a former SWAT instructor. I would prefer to take his intermediate course but that's not available until March and I want to get my CCW paperwork in. Better a very basic class I probably don't need and a CCW in my hands in April than paperwork for the CCW turned in by April.

Fist-Fire attempt 2

I got some range time in today.

I think I was close to getting the rollover wristlock right once, but I can't claim more than that. This is a crucial element for aimed fire and I haven't gotten it, yet.

Fist Fire attempt 1 - Impressions

I took my faithful and trusted CZ 75 with the Kadet Kit to my range this morning. We had our 5 th straight weekend of snow falling but I slip and slid and skidded my way to the range anyway.

For much of the past month and a half I've been working on my one-handed bullseye form. I haven't given up on bullseye but I've signed up for a CCW class on the same day as the next 2700 match so I will not be competing for another month.

I've also returned to going to the gym lately and just started a new phase to my program. Friday's workout was upper body and I was working it. It's not unusual for me to have day-after muscle soreness but I really blasted my upper body and have a second day's worth of chest, shoulder, arm and back soreness. I really felt it when trying the support hand wrist lock.

I now know why the "reverse Weaver" is the term for this. You can not get your wrist lock in position with the gun-hand elbow locked. You can have both bent, for "guard" or both partially extended for "partial" but full extension is support arm locked out and gun-arm bent.

I'm sure I still have a lot more to learn about this position before I can even think I'm close to doing it right but, yes, it DOES help reduce muzzle flip and gets your gun indexed for another well placed shot faster than what I had been doing. You don't need to try and squeeze the gun between the hands, either. The wrist lock acts to reduce muzzle flip by working at the other end of the 'lever'. The soft webbing of your hand absorbs more energy, too, than trying to line up the hand/wrist/arm bones when you properly index the gun in the firing hand.

Prior to this I would consider what I did a "shallow" grip. The backstrap was normally on or close to the bones of my thumb. Only recently in bullseye shooting with my S&W 41 had I worked into a deeper grip. Middlebrooks' use of indexing with the second finger is a key component to achieving a proper grip.

A side benefit of using this "deeper" grip is that my long fingers don't try to wrap through and around the trigger. The finger is better positioned to use the tip to activate the trigger which will help with trigger torque.

One aspect occured to me. It seemed to me that the steeper grip angle of a Glock would work better for someone learning Fist Fire. It's not required as Middlebrooks is shooting a Witness in DVD 1. There was another club member with a G17 and I held that with Fist Fire indexing and it felt better to me than the CZ 75 or the other two guns I fired, an XD Service 40 and a 1911 clone in .45 ACP.

I plan to get my G 17L and 23 out for the next test fire.

Free Wayne Fincher!

I am taking a break from my ongoing Fist Fire posts to announce that CZ the Day is joining the Free Wayne Webring.

The following is the Inclusion statement of the Free Wayne Webring.

Free Wayne Webring Inclusion Statement:

We support the right of all peaceable people to keep and bear arms. Your age, race, sex, religion, political party, sexual orientation, or national origin are of no concern to us. Anyone who requires you to disarm is not your friend, and not our friend. Only when all peaceable citizens can freely exercise their inalienable right to self defense, and their right to keep and bear arms, will we attain the ultimate safeguard for our mutual protection, as individuals, as members of a community, and as citizens of the Republic. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness extends to all human beings, and all who support the right to keep and bear arms are welcome here, period.

Update:
1/22/07 0014 hours
I went to the Webring website just now and found that I'm one of twenty. I look forward to that list growing in the days to come.

Fist Fire DVD 2 "How We Do What We Do"

This is the meat of 'how-to' as far as available DVDs from Tactical Shooting Academy.

Middlebrooks is back with a lesson in the history of handgun holds from someone who was there to see it. Why is this important? It's important to disucss the evolution of Fist Fire. Fits has mentioned on his blog about the "reverse Weaver" and this introduction teaches where this is coming from.

Instruction begins with lessons in physics, the strong hand grip, and intruction of the offhand wrist lock. From what I've seen here Middlebrooks has put a LOT more thought into this than other instructors I've read/seen/been taught in person.

The second DVD in this series is much more a "how-to" than the first and as such contains elements that the viewer can practice. Rather than continue this review I think I need to pause and attempt to internalize some of the lessons learned so far on grip and wrist lock as these are a departure from what I do right now.

Good thing I'm going shooting tomorrow.

Tactical Shooting Academy's Fist Fire DVD 1

Recently Fits over at Shooting the Messenger had posted a link to a video trailer for Tactical Shooting Academy's Fist Fire DVDs.

The system looked very interesting. Using a pistol with the sights taken off D. R. Middlebrooks
showed how he was able to engage multiple reactive targets accurately at speed.

After watching that trailer and some others on Google Video from Tactical Shooting Academy I wanted to see what all the hub-bub was. I placed my order for both DVDs and the book.

Let me say first and foremost, the shipping was rapid. Let me say secondly that at no point in this blog will I try to teach what Fist Fire is. If you want to learn how to shoot yourself this guy is your role model and the only instructor I recommend for that training.

The first video “What we do and why we do it" is an introduction to what Fist Fire has to offer. Shooting from "Guard", "Partial Extension", and "Full Extension" are demonstrated to show that combat accuracy can be attained without resorting to the use of sights. Using the same gun with repeated zoom-ins to show that sights have not been introduced to the gun the demonstration continues engaging at ranges of 25, 50, 75 and 100 yards with combat accuracy.

You get to watch Middlebrooks and his wife execute very impressive shooting on multiple targets, moving targets and even while walking backwards on moving targets. They repeatedly demonstrate that the gun they are using has no sights.

The actual grip used is discussed, a little in the early part of the first DVD but without going into great detail.

Next Middlebrooks demonstrates his "Moon Walk", his method of moving backwards. This is a bit different from other methods I've read or seen demonstrated. What is somewhat impressive is seeing him engaging targets while moving backwards over obstacles that happen to be on his range (2x4 shooting box frames, for instance).

I am left with no doubt that this method of shooting is effective.

From movement to reloading. Middlebrooks has again re-thought Old School with an eye toward what happens on the street. He has some very good points and talks about how his developments in this respect have assisted him in winning in competition. His slide release is part of a combination move that re-indexes the pistol in the hand as opposed to a sling-shot move.

Using the Fist Fire technique with Carbine and with a flashlight are discussed. The Sentry position is demonstrated and the Tactical Shooting Association is discussed.

Will you learn how to do Fist Fire with this DVD? No, not with this DVD alone. This DVD will show what Fist Fire is and why you would want to learn it, just as the title promises.

An Example

Okay, so now I have an example of what I'm shooting like at 50' with the 41.

This was shot using some of the last 2 bricks I have of Winchester T22. As you probably know you can't get this round any more. It was good and it was cheap so naturally it had to be eliminated from production!

I'm sure no one is threatened by this sort of shooting except people who don't like private citizens owning weapons at all.

Bullseye!

After many months of concentrating on firing from a two handed stance I've taken an interest in bullseye shooting.

Yes, I know. It's about as far from defensive shooting as you are going to get and still have a gun in your hand. It's slow. Methodical. It uses loads that are likely to stop before penetrating all the pages of a copy of The American Rifleman.

And it's FUN!

Or at least it is when you have an accurate gun that works for you. I'd picked up several pistols that didn't suit me for shooting this way. The Ruger Mk III Hunter, the Beretta U22 NEOS were two such. Long barrels, yes, but I couldn't hold them well enough to group very well.

A friend from my gun club had always remarked "you know you are going to do it so you should just go and get a Smith & Wesson 41 and be done with it!"

Last month one got posted to one of the local classifieds I check regularly and it was priced very reasonably. I e-mailed for contact and before I knew it I was drawing cash from the bank and driving to meet the seller.

I have had NO reason to regret it. My regret is not doing this in the first place. Even one of the newer ones would have been better than my attempts to make the other pistols work for me.

As it turns out I have a low-round count 70's vintage 41 with a wonderful trigger that functions very, very well. Today I sold the Ruger and the Beretta to the guy who sold me the 41. I'm firing the 41 at 41 feet and keeping almost all the rounds in the 5.5" Orange Peel circle. That's WAY better than I was doing with the Ruger or Beretta.

Hope to have some images of my pistol and its work later on this week.