Dinner tonight....

Will be venison stew and dumplings, care of friends. Followed by a trip out for ice cream... good ice cream.

As wonderful as that sounds, and it will be, I have a taste for STEAK right now.
Good, juicy, marbled beef from a cow who died happy and young.

First massaged with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, fingers digging in deep.
Then, a coating of canola oil, just enough so it won't stick.

Next, into a rocket hot cast iron pan on the stove, two minutes per side. No more, no less. Pan so hot, the angels weep to hear the meat searing. Smoke rolling so thick the windows are flung open and neighbors cry in envy at the smell.

Then to finish, the steak, pan and all, is thrust into a five hundred degree oven for just two more minutes, as the heat soaks into it's core, leaving it just the other side of rare. Almost black, crisped on the outside, seared to perfection, and still pink on the inside, juicy and ripe with flavor. The salt has done it's magic, bringing juices to the surface for the heat to sear, sweeten, melt in flavor.
The fresh ground pepper, now almost burnt, gives up it's richness into the meat with an air of exotic passion.

Pulled from the oven, slid quickly onto a plate, and covered with another plate. Given five minutes to rest, as it relaxes into a piece of heaven normally kept for the Gods.

While the steak rests, the pan with it's juices is used to saute sliced sweet Texas onion. Butter added, boiling off, the heat caramelizing the sweetness of the onion, crisping the outside while the rest turns translucent, giving up all it's flavor.

The steak uncovered, the onions and browned butter sauce are spilled on top, and the first bite is eaten right there, almost too hot, at the counter. Washed down with a sip of sweet red wine... then another bite, and another with onions this time....

Hmm....

Anyway, thats what I was kinda hankering for.
That, and the right person to be gnawing away at the other side of the steak.

(update: The stew was bloody fantastic! Venison roasted in a pressure cooker, stewed with tomato juice and beef stock. Lima beans, mushrooms, herbs...
Dumplings simmered in stock, bobbing in the bowl of stew. I ate two bowls... with fresh spinach anti-pasta salad before and spinach dip on toasted french bread after..... Piggy! Piggy I am! Oh... plain vanilla ice cream later... not needed, but not bad either.)

To the ladies, on behalf of men everywhere...

I would like to take this opportunity to point out, on behalf of men everywhere, a few simple points.

As 'guys' we need to be handled carefully. Especially by the other side of the aisle.
Ladies.... a few things to consider... that might help at the oddest times.

You must understand... Guys have limitations, and strong points. Good and bad, special and common, it's the mix of these points that make each guy what he is.

Guys are thick about certain issues. No matter how 'sensitive' we seem to be, it's to be expected we will miss some things. On occasion.... the loving touch of a two by four might be required to redirect us towards what you want noticed. Even then, some wind up, maybe a few spot lights, highlights, and bold type will help the cause.

Guys can be a bit childlike at times, no matter their age. Once involved in play, we don't want to come home. Even the 'home' of the serious side of the conversation. Play is important to us, for all sorts of reasons. Mostly because it's fun, and we are partly just big kids. Did I mention that already? Once we are involved in play.... an amount of coaxing is required, once again, to redirect us towards the goal. The better the play, the stronger the redirection will have to be.
If the play is going too well... best to just play along and tackle the 'issue' a little later.

Guys usually need a moment to deal with.... ah.... singular events needing nearly perfect responses. If the guys response is highly valued, time must be given for it to formulate. If not.... said guy might respond poorly, ruining said moment.
Surely, guy will be sorry later, but that won't return the moment. Give him time...
but not enough to start playing again.

Guys have a very deep capacity for love. It's just buried under a lot of other crap.
It's a sad situation, but sometimes you have to dig through the crap to get to the treasure. Once found, it's usually worth it.

Guys can't help being... guys. It might be fun to punish us for it, but it really is pointless. Might as well kick a dog for being furry... and you would never do that, would you? Better to try and train us. More fun, and sometimes it actually works.

Contrary to popular notion, when some guys say they love you, they mean it more than you could possibly know.

Morning is welcome

These gray winter mornings.... daylight is more than welcome.

Lately, too many times, I've been up to greet the morning light. Sleep is a rare friend some days. Lately more than before.

Midlife crisis? Not sure what that is. Retrospect? Sounds more like it. Looking back, around, forward, Seeing what was, what is, what might be.

We are all about our choices in life. I tell that to my students all the time. I try to help them look at their own choices in life, and think about what they mean.

This morning.... I am telling myself the same thing. We are the choices we make.
For better, for worse, mostly plunging ahead without knowing the results of what we do.

Gray mornings.... leave little outside the window to distract. The occasional ray of sunshine, so rare. The horses, living in wonderful caged freedom, carefree.
Gray mornings force thoughts within, to their core.

This morning I consider the present, and the future. Where do I want to be, who do I want to be?

We shall see.....

Snicker...

Two guys walk into a bar.....

A third guy says... "Wow, that musta hurt!"

Range time today

Before the freezing rain arrived, some range time. Wrote it on Carteach0, with a video no less. This stuff is fun!

Enticing aroma

This what my home smells like.

Garlic cloves roasted slowly in butter.

If a woman wore this as perfume, I would be her willing slave.

Christmas evening...

Christmas evening...

And the house is quiet
Candles flickered, guttering low
Dinner put away, cookies all gone
Children dozing, worn out from play

Friends have been called
Good wishes heartily extended
Family visited, gifts of love in hand
All are happy, this Christmas evening

Yet, not every ghost is at rest
Some, this evening still walk
loneliness rears, even here inside
Bringing to life spirits thought lost

A careless word, unmeant
A thoughtless phrase, well meaning
A story told, with good intent
All may open wounds, once hoped healed

Christmas evening, a time for peace
Except when ghosts are prodded awake
Returned from their hiding, in the dark
Seeking fresh pain on which to feed

A thought misplaced, even a word
Opens the door just enough
Only a crack is needed, only a sliver
Ghosts thought gone, returned now

Sadness, regret, will not make a cure
Once called in, the ghosts will stay
Till driven away, once more
By the light of day

Sleep, an open door itself
Not to be trusted on such a night
When ghosts walk free, and hunt
When peace is only a dream

Christmas morning in one image

Nothing needs to be said......

Suddenly very sober

Here's an article that might best be saved till after the holiday....

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Steady hands of a lifelong shooter....

ISO 100, F8, 1 second exposure

HANDHELD!

Happy dance....

(can you tell it's a boring rainy evening?)

Meeeerrry Christmas!

My choice for tonights music: Alan Parsons. Fits the mood and weather

And this...



And most surely this....



(on sound system as I write this....)

New Mauser post up on Carteach0

Ok, I got off my duff and wrote up another old Mauser on Carteach0.

I really love these old rifles... The history is tangible, and the quality is unmatched.
To make it really juicy, they are a ball to shoot as well!

The wind...

The wind howls like a lover denied.

First, whispering a plea
Then, a harsher demand
Finally, a howl of rage
Gusts of tears, slashing


It's a cold, gray, rainy day with a screaming wind. Fine day to go do some hand loading, or anything else not outside.

Update: Our roof shingles are humming!


Update to the update: I think one of our dogs just blew away.

The ways of the blogosphere are mysterius and wonderful.

I was just reading a post on Snarky Bytes, about pre/post internet life. The writing was spurred by this post from RobertaX, on roughly the same subject.
Roberta picked it mostly from Tamara, But also noticed Dr. Helen blogging on the same topic. In addition, Squeaky had her own comments to make on the subject as well.

It all started with my own post, written when my DSL went away on a dark and stormy night (very literally).

Thus, the magic of the internet and the blogosphere is revealed. My little depressed fit of angst, has been used to generate some remarkably well written and well thought out posts, then coming full circle back to me as a soothing balm to a needy (nerdy?) soul.

(BTW.... my spell check now recognizes 'Blogosphere', and 'Snark' without comment.)

If you are reading through all those posts I linked above, be sure to read the comments. There is more than one kind of family....

On the internet, you get to choose your family............

Oh great, another middle age worry stick....

I was snogging around Dr. Helens blog, and read a post she made about
'Sudden divorce syndrome'.

Oh, goody. Something else a middle age male has to sweat about.
She notes that about 25% of the men 'never saw it coming'.

Whats next? Genetically targeted asteroid strikes maybe?

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The Queen on her throne

Queen Daisy (I usually put in one more very descriptive, and technically accurate, word).

This morning I was called to view her latest transgression. A bone on our bed.
Strictly verboten, but she considers rules something other people have to follow.
It occurs to me I have a liberal Democrat dog.......

This morning, she did her damnedest to not look at me. If she doesn't look, she doesn't have to acknowledge breaking the rules.

She won.

Mediaeval baebes... fascinating voices.....

Ok, they really are not hard to look at either.
But... that's not why three of their CD's ride around in my truck.
Their voices fascinate me, as do their harmonies.....
This is what I listen to when I must relax.... except for
when I listen to Vivaldi.

So, what is Christmas?

Christmas time is.... different.

Maybe, probably, it's the way we all saw a change at Christmas when we were kids. People behaved different, usually. On TV, movie after movie tells us about how its the time to be open, and sharing. To care more for others and be.... nice.

On the other hand.... Christmas can be a time for other feelings too. As much as some folks feel the positive, others feel the reverse. People think about what they've lost, about who they've lost. They think about who's not there, and who they can't give a gift to.

To those folks... It can be a dark time of year. When all around them people seem lost in a happy daze, while they are more often lost in thought, and sometimes in loneliness.

I lift my glass to all those who need a special toast of their own about now. Speaking from the fold:

"Here's to those who have passed on..... Here's to those who have moved on....
and last, here's to the loved ones we can't be with, except in our dreams".

Mit Liebe
Sie sind nicht allein

A good read on the republican candidates...

Krumm has an interesting piece of work up.

Kind of echos my thoughts on Fred Thompson, aside from electability.
The major media is specifically ignoring Thompson campaign. To me, that
is a signpost pointing towards his value. In the real world (in other words, outside mine) the media does carry weight. Far too many voters choose their candidate based on nothing more than the last mention of a name in the paper, or TV, or.... alien whispers perhaps.

No post tonight

At the moment I am feeling used, abused, and unloved.
Also..... just plain mean.
No point dumping all that here........

Ya'll have a good evening.



Update... a good nights sleep is a wonderful thing.

Ya'll have an even better day.
And... Merry Christmas my friends, Merry Christmas......

How do you make a little dog happy?

I can tell you how to make a little dog happy....
Give it a bone. A big, juicy ham bone.

We just bought three of these things at the grocery store.... They looked so good I had to think twice before giving them to the dogs.

But... I like making dogs happy.
So... one to Tigger, the 110 pound lab.... and we can now power the house by attaching a generator to his tail. Another to Cinder, who's photo I managed to take for the first time, the other day, by baiting her with a plate of gravy.
The bone is about half Cinders size, and she manged maybe three steps backwards with it before crashing to her side. From there, she chomped into her prize and proceeded to pull it behind her all the way to her boys room, where she ended up under his desk.

The last one went to queen Daisy. She dragged hers backwards to the stairs, headed for sanctuary (our bedroom). She made it half way up the stairs...
Bump..... Bump..... Bump.....Bump.... before I caught up and carried the bone the rest of the way for her. Getting to our bedroom, she is no where to be found.

So..... I set the bone on the floor and watched. Within seconds, she darted/crawled from under our ratty old recliner and dragged the bone back with her, looking for all the world like one of those old coin banks whose hand reached up and grabbed a coin placed in the slot.

I haven't seen any of the dogs for an hour.

He he..... cheap fun.

And tonight, in the center ring! A bear on a bicycle!

Oh boy, Oh Boy... It's open house night!

Strike up the band. Release the dogs and the ponies!

I'll be here at school, wearing a TIE, till at least nine tonight.

You will, perhaps, hear a note of sarcasm in these words.

I don't hear a note... I hear the whole bloody symphony!

Oh, and check the Carteach0 blog for a review on the Eotech 512 holographic weapon sight. Nice!

What to watch when you have five minutes before you head out for coffee

A sleepless night

Fair warning: Yup, this is one of those 'Its all about me' posts.

Yesterday we lost Internet for most of the afternoon and all of the evening.
This put me out of touch with the world..... my world..... and everyone else's.

It happens I was reading a new novel, 'The Ghost Brigades' by John Scalzi.
As an aside, I recommend his books to Heinlein fans.

As one of the plot points, his characters undergo a problem in battle. Each of the genetically enhanced soldiers is connected to the other through a brain implant.
Computer, communications, enhancement, and with these warriers it's from birth, as a unit. They speak to each other, they are in each others heads, from birth...

In the story this ability is taken from them during a combat insertion. It renders them all but ineffective for a time, resulting in capture and death.

I had that in mind as the internet went down, and stayed down.

How much of my present life is defined by my friends (and more) on the internet?
It was a very long, and mostly sleepless night. Rest would not come, nor peace.
There are folks I speak to that have become very dear to me, and I was cut off.
No, I'll not phone anyone at midnight, just to reassure my immature soul that they are still there, still ok, still...... there. I am not a child, in need of that reassurance. At least, thats what I tell myself.

Honestly, its a bit scary. Building a chunk of your life around something, and losing it suddenly. It's 'loss', in its classic terms. I think it's like a deep wound. Once you have lived through 'loss', the wound remains even if healed over. The scar is there and sensitive to pressure, even the smallest prod.
Losing the internet and easy access to most of my friends was a strong prod to think about these issues.

Loss has been to visit before, and left scars. Last night was lonely, and difficult.

It may be time for me to back up and spend some time getting comfortable with 'me' again. Last night showed me that... at any time.... it may be all I have.

Black panthers -10, rest of public +100

This didn't make the news anyplace I have seen, and I'm a news junky.

About a dozen black panthers 'march' to protest a Texas man who killed
two illegal alien criminals as they robbed his neighbors house.

A handful of imported suit wearing 'panthers' supporting the criminals, and what
looks like several hundred local people there to answer them.

I doubt the 'panthers' understood. After all, it wasn't the kind of
protest they are used to. No random violence, no innocent people
being attacked, no shops being looted...... just people saying what they think.

How the heck can I maintain a morning 'grump' when faced with this?

Looking for recipe ideas.... leg of lamb

No slap to the rabbit people, this post is directed at meat eaters who cook...

Tomorrow I will be cooking a leg of lamb, and I'm looking for ideas.
I was thinking...

Of stabbing it with a small knife and inserting half cloves of garlic, about
twenty of them. I know from experience they'll all but dissolve in the meat
as it roasts. Then rub with oil and kosher salt. Put it under the broiler after
placing it in a rocket hot iron fry pan, to sear it all the way around.

Once it's turning crispy and dark on the outside, into a hot dutch oven
and baste with a quarter cup of home made sweet cherry wine. Roast at 375
till internal temp is just under done, then pull and cover to rest for twenty
minutes while I make a reduction gravy from the juice.
I'll add a few more table spoons of sweet cherry wine to the gravy
as it reduces, and scrape the dutch oven to get the goodness.

Served on a bed of baby spinach, with carrots cooked in
chicken broth and covered in the reduction gravy.

Thoughts?

Choices.... choices....

This morning, sleep has fled. As quiet as I can, making coffee in the kitchen. I hear a small noise behind me. "'morning Opa" in a small voice from a small body.
Awe crap.... the three year old minion from hell has escaped her cage and sought me out.

Quickly thinking, or perhaps just reacting in terror at the thought of spending my next two hours entertaining a carpet shark, I whispered "Little girl, you need to go back to bed right now! Its not time to get up. I'm just making coffee for Santa. He's upstairs right now, and we are going over his list to decide who's nice. He better not hear you out of bed!"

Scamper scamper scamper thunk.....

Damn, that worked good!

Now, about choices...... I was attending a trade show yesterday, which should have kept me happily occupied till late hours. Turns out I was able to tour it in twenty minutes, said Hi to about a dozen people I know... and thats it.
The choice was this.... hit the highway for home early and avoid several hours of asinine rush hour traffic, or slide my butt over to the gun show I discovered was also being held at the convention center!

I made the only logical choice..... I am going back today to spend all day at the gun show! (and some industry update seminars....)

Speaking of lunch....

Click on this photo to enlarge..

Warning..... this might prove distressing to some.

Especially those who are not lucky to have had this for lunch, like I did today.

No, she is NOT a cute little angel child....

" I see your evil authoritarian gaze, and I counter it
with my talisman of mandatory joy! You can not punish
me for any transgression, for I am a cute little blond child
and it is the Christmas season! Behold my power, and
tremble with fear, for I know where the big dog secretly
poops in the yard, and I also know where you put your shoes!"

"OH What a beautiful Weekend...?"

Looks like it might be a good chance to stay home and work on the new
gun cabinet I am building from an old school filing thingie.

Maybe cook some stuff and post images of food porn.
I have a leg of lamb, and some garlic cloves, and some cherry wine....

Also... I need to load up 8x57mm for my Mausers.... almost
dry of the good stuff I use in matches.

From NOAA:


Saturday...Cloudy. A chance of morning rain and snow...then snow and rain likely in the afternoon. Light accumulation possible. Cooler with highs in the lower 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

Saturday Night...Freezing rain...sleet and snow. Additional moderate accumulation. Lows in the upper 20s. East winds 10 to 15 mph...becoming southeast. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.

Sunday...Freezing rain...sleet and snow likely in the morning... Then snow showers likely in the afternoon. Additional light accumulation possible. Blustery with highs in the mid 30s. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

Anothe day in Paradise

Why I get to come home early.....


What I find when I get there....

The school parking lot on an icy day....

Terry Pratchett is not dead.

On the other hand..... the news could be better.
Surprising how this hits home. I LIKE his books.

On the same literary bent... If you like reading Heinlein
then take a look at John Scalzi. Old Man's war followed me
home this evening, and is giving me reason to hope for
an ice out tomorrow.

Venting

Tell me........ if all the medical insurance companies called all their lawyers together
into one big meeting, and a terrorist managed to obliterate it, would he have a
shot at the US presidency?

Awe Cwap! (As in: Report/weather/day next/crud)

...SIGNIFICANT SNOW AND ICE EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...
.A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM THE TENNESSEE
VALLEY AND INTO THE SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC STATES ON THURSDAY.
HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE OVER NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...WITH A
MIXTURE OF SLEET AND SNOW BETWEEN INTERSTATE 80 AND THE TURNPIKE...
TRANSITIONING TO A SLOPPY COMBINATION OF SNOW AND SLEET CHANGING
TO FREEZING RAIN SOUTH OF THE TURNPIKE. TRAVEL WILL BE
SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BEGINNING EARLY THURSDAY MORNING AND
CONTINUING THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON.

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM EST
THURSDAY...
...WINTER STORM WATCH NO LONGER IN EFFECT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM EST
THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
A WINTRY MIXTURE OF SNOW AND SLEET WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION
AROUND OR SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE THURSDAY...AND INCREASE IN
INTENSITY THROUGH THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON HOURS BEFORE
GRADUALLY TAPERING OFF THURSDAY NIGHT. ROADWAYS WILL BE QUICKLY
IMPACTED...AS AIR AND SURFACE TEMPERATURES QUICKLY FALL INTO THE
UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S AT THE ONSET OF THE PRECIPITATION AND REMAIN
THERE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

THE MIXTURE OF SNOW AND SLEET WILL ACCUMULATE UP TO 2 INCHES IN THE
MORNING BEFORE MIXING WITH AND POSSIBLY CHANGE TO FREEZING RAIN
BY AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH EXCESSIVE ICING IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS
TIME...GREATER THAN ONE TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICE ACCRETION IS
POSSIBLE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...MAINLY SOUTH OF THE TURNPIKE.
PRECIPITATION WILL QUICKLY WIND DOWN AFTER 3PM THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

Translate: (Plan A) Probably sleep late, cook a big family breakfast, then
go hibernate in front of the confuser as long as we have power.
(Plan B) Go in to work late, and leave early after mediating chaos.
(Plan C) The weather guessers get it wrong again because they miscounted the coin tosses, and it's just another day of cold and wet yuck, so I spend the day as usual.

Da Newt writes on Iran and the latest NIE

Newt Gringich writes an interesting piece on Iran and the

latest NIE. It opened up several thought lines I hadn't

considered. Exactly what we shoudl expect from a history

teacher.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23914&s=rcmc

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BWAHAHahahahah.... Oh dang.... this made coffee squirt out of my nose.... AGAIN

Iran snookered US intel?

The list is growing of foreign governments questioning the NIE recently released.

Now both Israel and Great Britain join (probably without speaking to each other....) in calling US intelligence faulty.

Sunday food porn

To honor a friend, some Sunday food porn.....

I just bought a new camera. While I'm learning it's ways, what better to practice on than this mornings breakfast?

Complicated food, but worth it.

Roast potatoes and onions for an hour in the oven. In this case, Yukon gold tubers and sweet Texas onions.

While they are roasting, fry up some bacon till just crispy.

Let the potatoes and onions cool enough to handle, then slice and dice. Saute the onions a bit more in some bacon grease till the reach GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious).

Stir in the potatoes, some chopped bacon, several cloves of crushed garlic, a big pat of real butter, some kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and parsley.

Continue sauteing a few more minutes, then pour in eight
eggs blended with a few tablespoons of whole milk.

Grind on some more pepper, then cover with a layer of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Bake the whole cast iron pan full of this goodness till GBD is found again. A few moments with the broiler on really caps the crusty cheese taste.

I served the family slices of this with bacon and biscuits on the side.
Those of us with any taste at all also had salsa dolloped on the eggs, and I had sour cream as well.

There are no left overs.

Bolton on the Iraq NIE

I don't always agree with John Bolton's
assessments, but in this case I do.
At least, with this public one released in an odd manner.

Maybe the German paper was the only one that would give him air time.

The Wall Street Journal chimes in with their own comments.

Proof... malls are evil

Ok, so this opinion piece by John Lott regarding the dangers
of 'gun free zones' does not exactly say malls are evil.

But.... I'm looking for anything that backs up that belief of mine.
Since I won't go to a mall unarmed, this must be why.

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Rut Ro Rorg

Bird Flu in China. Ever the bastion of open reporting, the fact
this case even got reported to a media source is astonishing.
With the upcoming Olympic events China is taking herculean steps
to appear ready. A dangerous and highly transferable new disease
is not exactly the story they want out right now.

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New camera!

Christmas came early!

My other decent digital camera is wearing out. After thousands of photos and thousands of miles and hundreds of projects.... the lens motor is starting to get rough.
Especially at very close macro settings, it's gets jumpy.

Clearly a new camera was in order! (Oh Boy, Oh Boy, A new toy!)

I'm a fan of proven technology. Bells and whistles are fun, but tried and true works for me. While my older boys are pushing processor limits and resorting to water based computer cooling, I muddle along with the same box I built a few years ago. Maybe mine is slower, but it bloody well starts up and works every day!
(Unlike theirs, which smoke out on a consistent basis).

This Canon S3-IS followed me home last night. We have another like it in the family and it's been bullet proof so far. While not the latest and greatest, it's way more than I technically need and it was on sale since the newer models are out.
Full featured a year ago, it's still regarded as pretty great camera.

One thing I really like... a lot..... are the manual controls.
Not since my old Ricoh 35mm's have I been able to manually set
ISO, shutter speed, and aperture so readily.

I see a few days learning curve ahead, then glory once again!

Stay tuned!

To be a fly on the wall.....

I'm of two minds about this (as opposed to mindless, a common mistake).

I'd dearly love to listen in on this meeting, or at least hear the results.
That said, intelligence does not work if they tell it to every schmuck out there.
Then again, some of us schmucks get pretty curious.

It appears the latest NIE report was based in large part on notes from Iranian
military meetings. Now.... I'm certainly not some intelligence weenie. I'm sure
that somewheres along the line they verified and corroborated enough to be reasonably
sure of their estimate.

But...... if *I* wanted to throw a big wrench in the works, sending false but
believable intell would be the cheapest and easiest way to do it.

We shall see I guess....

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Thought evoking images

You choose which thoughts.....

Heckuva aircraft

Ok, so it's just a dusting....

This is what we call a 'dusting' of snow around here. Well, maybe they call it 'an inch or so'.

I can tell you one thing... Little Daisy dog would rather crap on my pillow than go out in the snow. The only way to get her out the front door is to play 'Doggy bowling'. She'll usually do her business in midair, then turn and hit the ground running back for the door.

Smells like........

Snow......

Maybe.

Watch Romney leap into action!

Good 'Ol Mitt has discovered criminal action!

Right in his own backyard (literally) The governor found people actively violating federal law. Now we'll see how he leaps into control, taking decisive action as only a future president can!

What will he do? Will he call in the guard? Will he send in the state police?
Will he (heavens!) get his sons .22 and arrest those dastardly criminals himself??

Will he..... lean out the window and sternly order the law breakers to put down his rake and get out of his rose bushes before he has a sissy fit!?!?

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Background buzz on Iranian nukes...

The latest 'news' is a NIE that Iran doesn't really have an 'operational' nuke weapon program right now.

Think about motivations here.

No, not that one..... and not that one.... think deeper.

Also bear in mind the various uses of fissile material.

If you follow such matters....

Middle east, nuke stuff, Bio-warfare, threats on the horizon....
If these topics interests you... you might want to read this article.

If you followed the North Korean shipping adventures... it gets even more interesting.

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UN climate conference.......

This photo speaks a thousand words, and later tonight I am going to try and write them.

A heavily armed terminator dude with the latest Com-block Kalishnikov stands guard by the UN conference banner.....

Now that IS a sign.....

Probably not the one they intended, but I get the message.

The Russian connection with Iran

This article in the Daily Star (Lebanon) is interesting in terms of the Russian/Iranian connection.

Thought.... How much and what does Russia and Putin have to gain by the US being kept rather busy in the middle east? Further..... what could and would they do about it?

My guess is they stand quite a lot to gain, and can have a very large effect on the middle east situation with a very small outlay. Even the introduction of one outdated weapon system reaching the end of it's useful life would completely change the situation.


The author of the Star article seems to have some standing.
Robert Freedman info:

Dr. Robert Freedman is Professor of Political Science at Baltimore
Hebrew University, visiting Professor of Political Science at Johns
Hopkins University and the author of numerous books on Russian policy
towards the Middle East, including "Soviet Policy Toward the Middle
East Since 1970" and "Moscow and the Middle East: Soviet Policy Since
the Invasion of Afghanistan."

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John Boltons take on Iran....... very hawkish

This article from the Sunday Times (ever the bastion of unquestionable reporting..) regards an interview with John Bolton.

The viewpoint is interesting, one among many. Two things to consider: Bolton is in a position to know a fair amount the public doesn't know, but certainly not everything. Also understand, this viewpoint was aired for a newspaper interview for public consumption, not an intel review. Motivation is everything.

That last point is what sticks in my mind. What is Boltons motivation, and more importantly what motivates those in power 'over there'? The answer to one would be interesting, the other key to the situation.

Western Digital MyBook drive... That was easy!

I just installed this into the Mal-Fits department of redundancy. I was a little worried about the growing accumulation of images, articles, music, and other goodies that would really trouble me to lose. The Photoshop backup alone is now at 14 CD's and getting bigger every time.

The answer was this easy. We bought a MyBook external USB hard drive.

This thing has no instructions with it, in the usual sense. It has a page with three diagrams on it. They show plugging in the power line, plugging in the USB cord, and the optional 'load the trial software' step. The reality is this thing is truly plug and play. Plug it in and an extra 500 gig hard drive shows up on your computer.

I backed up everything in about twenty minutes, and thats with cherry picking folders too.

Nice...... I'll push the Easy Button on this one!

Testing a scope mount

This week I set up a scope mount for a rifle. Today I hope to test it.

Here's the subject:





The questions in my mind: Will it hold zero with handling, and will it return to zero with removal and installation?

My plan is to zero the rifle on the bench with the scope in place, then fire several
ten round groups leaving the scope in place. I'll break hold and actually get up from the bench and handle the rifle between rounds.

Then, I'll fire several ten round groups while removing the scope and reinstalling it between rounds.

That should give several sets of groups, each representative of my questions.

Well? Thoughts, suggestions, obvious issues I have missed?

I'll be writing up the results and posting them on Carteach0.

Weather shall be interesting this weekend

Today should be nice, and thats good since we are volunteering this morning and the range is calling me for the afternoon.

Tomorrow.... looks like a good day to make chili and watch movies.

I have a directors cut of Blade Runner racked and ready....

The whole republican debate... in case you missed it

Just in case you missed it... somebody has put the entire debate together, and my hats off
to him for doing it.

Why can't Gouliani talk about anything but New York city? I don't live in New York city and I don't want to live in New York city. I don't want my home turned into New York City.

I laughed so hard I cried....

Just read what the Cranky Prof relates....

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Why I'll probably vote for Fred Thompson

In passing I heard a bit of the u-tube 'debate' idiocy.

(As expected, the 'hosts' had managed to slip in some partisan
unbiased questions from Mrs. Clinton's campaign workers.
They even flew one in to be there in person, then claimed they never checked
to see who he was in advance. Will they never learn? Panel members were getting E-mail on stage about this clown. Todays world will not allow crap like that to be passed off anymore.)

Anyway... Fred Thompson said something that really struck a chord with me.
When asked by a Texanite on Utube about the candidates personal gun ownership, Thompson was asked directly.

He replied: "I own some guns. I'm not going to tell you what
kind or where they are".

Fred gets it.

Gooliani ducked the question because he made sure New Yawk citizens had a hard time owning guns, and he only talks about New Yawk. McCain said he knows all about guns from 'Da 'Nam and he doesn't own any now. Mitt 'Squirrel brain' Romney made sure to mention his son keeps two guns in his house.

Fred..... owns guns, and made it clear it's his business and nobody else's.

That's a good reason to consider voting for him. Let me tell you some others that are on my mind.

What is the Presidents job? I see the position as leadership. Not 'run the country', but 'lead the country'. I can see Fred Thompson as a leader.

Not because he has 'fire in his guts' as I've heard, whatever that means, but because he's thoughtful. He thinks about what he says, and says what he thinks, in that order. I like that.

While other candidates are getting angry or trying to find their new position of the week, Thompson is steady and forthright. He is solid in his history and dependable in his convictions. I like that.

Fred Thompson comes across to me as a person I could ask advice of, and who I would listen to because he's experienced and honest. I like that too.

If Fred Thompson was on TV in two years talking about a concern over national security I would probably begin with the thought that he was telling me the truth, rather than first trying to figure out how he's scheming. I like that.

And..... he owns guns and doesn't think it's anyone else's business what kind and where they are. Fred understands where government should end and my life and freedom begins. I really like that.

Just thinking of places I'd like to visit again

HMMMmmmmmm YummmMMM!

Iranian missiles, Oh my!

Iranian anti-peace talks, Oh boy!

Symptoms....





And more joy:

Citigroup pays scalper interest to an Arab investment group rather than bail on dividend. Pay 11%, charge 6%.... Ohhhh, now that sounds like good business.
All over mortgage defaults and losses.

Wells Fargo hands off a 1.4 Billion dollar saddle bag full of fail. Mortgage losses again.

Freddie Mac sells off the farm, because of ....... mortgage pains.



Ya'll can just call me Captain Happy tonight.......

I ain't dead yet!

Still alive and kicking....
Just buried in paper and such.
Today and tomorrow I am finishing the training to
be an evaluation team leader for NATEF.
They are the certifying body for technical education programs.

A few years ago my own program went through a re-evaluation and I came
to understand the ETL's were in short supply.

I did something blindingly stupid.... I volunteered to be one.
It takes some training and shadow sessions, but after this on-site I'll be
an ETL for NATEF. That means I will occasionally be called upon
to run certification evaluations for other schools.

This is not as fun as it sounds. An example: Today I pushed four tables
together to hold the mound of paperwork, and tomorrow it gets bigger
before we are done.

Ug.

Picked up Dark Side of the Moon tonight

And the years peeled away as we drove home, Pink Floyd
playing on the vehicle surround sound.

Naturally we were following somebody in the hot rod El Camino
half the way home while listening..... naturally.
I could have been a teenager again, wasting my life away
in my own hot rod Nova with the small block singing
along with the Floyd on cassette.

It was so easy to drift back, under the musics influence....
That is, until my own teenager in the back seat asked if we could
listen to something else. This music was all 'just too weird'
for him.

I wanted 'Echoes' on the Meddle album, but I'm not in love with
the other songs on the disc and I rebel at paying that much
just for one tune even if it is twenty two minutes long.

DSotM will do for now. Our older kids stole our last PF CD's.
I'm kinda glad this one thinks they are too weird.....

File this in the 'Why it will be hard to sleep tonight' file

Instapundit.com noted this, and with good reason I think.

A nuclear and unstable middle east is a fairly decent reason to lose sleep.

There are more ways to game this than hours in the days. Suppose just one or two crude nuclear devices get on the loose... what could happen? As important, what if they already have?

I think most governments, even most whacko governments, would try very hard not to see them used. Threats, you bet. Probably very quiet ones though....
Actually a big bangadaboom? That would make even the craziest dictator types hide underground and pray to whatever God of the week they have (or don't).

But.... these folks have multiple generations who have been immersed in nothing but 'Israel is evil and must die' sung to a chorus of 'America is even worse'. Just a few short decades ago Herr Hitler and his minions created a hell on earth with only a few years of preparation. In the middle east, they have had generations, if not centuries.

How possible is it that one determined, intelligent, and resourceful whack job has the
means and money to snag a dirty nuke and use it where the voices tell him to?
How possible is that one such whack job could orchestrate the destruction of the world trade center with only a few years and a few hundred thousand dollars?

Change is inevitable. Rapid change is troubling. Drastic rapid change is deadly, when societies are concerned. An overnight restructuring, or de-structuring, of the worlds fossil fuel supply would be drastic indeed.

Imagine your world tomorrow, should gas go to $20 a gallon tonight, if you are allowed any at all.....

Maybe I'll go dig out some of those old FEMA books I have stashed away....

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Paths worn with ageless time
Leading away to castles dreamed of,
The journey is the prize

Turning in twisted life's path
Growing in sway with each pressure born,
Still beauty in every line

New Carteach0 post up on the other site....

There is a new post up on Carteach0.
This time on the joys of pulling surplus
ammunition down for it's components.

I think I'm going out to buy this CD...

Because my children stole my last one...

This is what a socialist government does.... it steals whatever it wants........

Mildly interesting story, with a moral for those who would look.

A group of people had an idea to build something really neat.
They didn't hurt anybody, didn't risk any harm, all they
might have done was fail to 'ask permission' from the bosses
that run the society.

Upon discover of this really neat thing they built, the agents of the socialist
government did what comes naturally to them....

They stole it in the name of the government.

Then, just to really twist the knife of power, they told the
folks who built the neat thing to keep right on with the work.

There is a lesson here in the story. Give its some thought....

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Thoughts

These are photos taken this past
summer, while exploring.

I have been looking at them
today, and thinking.

Each image prompts it's
own story...

I'll share the views.... but I
think everyone deserves to
build their own stories
around these.

Mostly, I see people I know,