Sunday, May 25, 2008

Vacation...Oconoluftee River

In the middle of freakin' nowhere (near Bryson City, NC) I turn on my laptop to offload a camerafull of images, and...there's a stray wireless signal. Imagine my surprise. Two years ago I doubt anyone in this county had wireless internet; now, you can't escape it.

Anyway, I'm stealing bandwidth long enough to post a couple pics from the area.





From the Oconoluftee River, pre-dam. Off my front porch; next pic from the upper steps of the Jackson County Courthouse in Sylva.

Now turn this damn thing off and get on the river!
;D

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Friday, May 23, 2008

Friday Photos: NRA Convention Gun PRON~!

From the NRA Convention last weekend. I've posted three earlier posts on the convention; be sure to see those.

Click on these pictures to get some massive enlargement.

Firstly, we have three Bushmaster offerings. From top to bottom...

  • Precision Marksman Rifle (PRM) in .223/5.56mm
  • Bushmaster Custom Sniper Rifle in .308 Winchester
  • Urban Interdiction Rifle (UIR) in .223/5.56mm

Now, three Colts.
  • Colt Carbine A3 16 M4 MT6400C
  • Colt Rifle A2 MT6601C
  • Colt Flattop Accurized Rifle CR6724

Heh. Evil black rifles. Didn't mean to scare you.

How about some nice Roy Rogers commemorative pistols, gold plated?

This is a 'stiched' photo; there's obvious seams visible. Sorry, but the guy was nice enough to open the glass display case for me; I couldn't really ask him to do any more. I'll have to practice with these close-up stitch shots.

Click for a big image.



More next week.

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Imagine....



Seen at Kate's place.

(I'm still on vacation; this post is a test of Blogger's newest 'scheduled post' optionality)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Blame Bush? Naaah...Really, we should Thank Bush

You can find them for a dime a dozen...Bush Bashers, that is. The term 'Mob' is an apt descriptor of the hordes of these Democratic (and some wayward Republican) Bush Bashers today; led by a few loudmouthed partisans and whipped along by the Main Stream Liberal Media, these 'mob' members, when under the influence of groupspeak, come across as the most mindless, cowardly, and ignorant bunch of idiots we've ever seen; truly the effect of the MSM's relentless BDS on most simple twodigit television watchers can be construed as 'mob rule'. The laziness and the 'ease of use' of BDS to blame every sort of problem on President Bush attracts every slackwitted lunatic capable of putting two words together (as evidenced by the success of KOS and most of the other fringe Marxist-school blogs...Democratic Underground, Sadly, No!, Firedoglake and the Huffington Post, just to name a few).

Do these silly-putty groups have any real, solid gripes? Other than just falling in line and playing follow their noxious leaders? Not really. President Bush will be judged fairly by historians, long after these basement boyz are back at their bongs.

I ran across this article written by Eric Dondero, who also publishes The Libertarian Republican...
George W. Bush has won not one, but two Wars under his administration: Afghanistan and Iraq. We caught Saddam Hussein, and then hanged him a year later. We killed his two ugly bloodthirsty murderous sons Uday and Qusay. After a year of the media crying "We may have got Saddam, but Zarcawi is still loose," we got him too. The War in Iraq was simply one of the most glorious victories for the United States Military in the history of our Nation. Afghanistan was won with lightening speed; less than 6 weeks. Both countries today are living under relative peace and calm with struggling but steady near democratic governments. They are beacons of light for the entire Middle East and South Asia.

Then there was Katrina: A stunning success by the Federal Government response, mainly the brave Coast Guard. Bush himself deserved a great deal of credit for the Feds' very rapid response. But it was a complete and utter disaster for the Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the New Orleans Mayor Nagen. (Remember the infamous school bus incident where Nagen's fleet sat in the parking lot instead of being used for evacuation?) How did the media spin it? Can't blame the woman Governor nor the whiny ever-complaining puppy-eyed Mayor. Blame it on Bush and the Republicans, of course.

Economy? Going on 7 years of solid growth thanks to the Bush tax cuts early on in his administration and the general Pro-Business deregulation climate promoted by administration officials. Media spin? Once again, Housing Crisis, not the fault of creditors who engaged in highly speculative lending to people who had no earthly means of buying and sustaining payments on a home. Nope. Blame it on Bush.

Energy? Media spin, blame it on Bush, not the Environmentalists who won't allow us to drill at the ANWR and off our Coasts. Story after story about Bush's failures on bringing down gas prices on average Americans. Meanwhile the media covers up the fact that nearly 30% of each dollar put into one's gas tank goes to the government at all levels by way of a myriad of taxes to state, federal and local governments.

Republicans share some of the blame, but not for issue stances, rather for being so naiive in face of such a massive liberal media onslaught. Sure, some fight back. Fox News is an outlet for regular GOP talking heads. But mostly Republicans cower in face of the liberal media Titans. They refuse to go for the jugular, cuss, scream and shout at the liberal media thugs, for fear of being perceived as "too unfriendly."

The fact that Republicans have sunk so low, simply shows that it's very difficult to defeat the liberal media. They are all-powerful. It's not the GOP's fault. Conservatives and libertarians need to take every opportunity to point out the massive bias in the liberal media against limited government principles. Or else, we'll continue to see the GOP brand sink in the polls amongst gullible Americans.
On my side, we, the 'good guys', who do not follow the mindlessness of the BDS mob, have our work cut out for us. I've always thought of politics as a pendulum, swinging from side to side; never really 'sticking' for long on either side, and probably best when crossing center. We are swinging wide left now, it seems. But as long as we can keep the marxist, fascist Leftists who now run the Democratic party from totally taking over, eventually things will return more to center.

And these 'mob' BDS Bush haters we are seeing so much of in today's pestiferous political punditry pools? Bush is leaving January 19. No more BDS, boys, you'll have to find somewhere else to wank. Eventually these anti-Bush mobs will turn on each other. The KOSKook sorts will find that no matter how hard they want to attain Marxist purity that just won't happen; the Al Gore global warmalists will go on a 'break' after finding that Earth's climate is not theirs to use as political tools; the anti-war fringe is already running out of complaints as both Iraq's and Afghanistan's fledging governments allow for people to choose and live their lives without cruel dictators; and I suppose the rest of the majority of these slack-jawed yokels will tune in Survivor or some other thirty-minute sitcom and wait for the next Olberdouche or Michael Moore or MSM talking vomitus head to siren-call them to arms. Or five fingers, as the case may be.



Now, I'm going on vacation. See you sometime next week.

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Rob Briley whines, bashes the evil Media and...blogs?



This guy is a piece of work. A Tennessee State Representative, DEMOCRAT, gets caught driving drunk (makes a complete fool of himself during the arrest), and again with his pants down, having an affair with a lobbyist. So what does he do? Cry and complain on the floor of the House, threatens the press (and 'those things called "blogs"'), with sanctions if we can't behave. From Kleinheider's new digs...
“The right to a free and open press though comes with a responsibility, and from my experience over the past year, that responsibility is not being lived up to,” Briley (D-Nashville) said from the main House podium.

“We used to talk about the politics of personal destruction. Well that’s no longer what’s going on. It’s the publishing of personal destruction, and we owe it to ourselves to do better than that. We owe it to the rest of our society to do better than that.”

….Briley said that government needs to be “as open as possible.”

“But the press needs to understand that if they’re not responsible with that information, that they’re not going to have access to it anymore,” Briley said.
What a flaming anal pore!

This guy should never have been elected in the first place. A scion of Beverly Briley (Metro Nashville's first mayor), Rob must have thought that last name would shield him from scrutiny and give him more free rein than an 'ordinary' Rep should have.

He's gone, now, resigned.

Let's hope his political future stays as dim as his reasoning.


h/t Insty

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Tennessee GOP incurs Obamessiah's wrath! (We wonder who really runs team Obaaama? Is there a Queen in the House?)



Team PW's Dan Collins links this article where The Chosen One hath spoken thusly...
"But I also think these folks should lay off my wife," he told "GMA" as his wife chuckled beside him.

...

"But I do want to say this to the GOP. If they think that they're going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful. Because that I find unacceptable,"
Well, Mr. Obama, then you should corral M'chelle and keep her off the campaign trail. If you feel she can't handle criticism, tell her to STFU, stay at home, and bake cookies for the kids.

I want to say this to the Tennessee GOP: Good Job! Finally, you are getting off your creaky old bones and hitting some sensitive nerves. It's about time.

If the Tennessee GOP wants to take the lead as 'bad boys' in this campaign, then so be it. I'll support Bill Hobbs on this one.

Let's keep some bright lights and high pressures on the Democrats. After all, we've seven years of BDS to remember.

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Monday, May 19, 2008

NRA Convention, Part III (where I consume Adult Beverages, Kentucky Limestone Bibb Lettuce with Spiced Walnuts, and hobnob with the Glitterati)

Well, in defense of the Bibb Lettuce, there were several thousand souls on hand for this banquet. Quite a task to feed and satisfy all of these bitter Americans, clinging to our guns and our conservative politics (and there was a prayer as well, can you believe that?) But I'll tell you this... we were the NRA. There's some good people who came together in Louisville for this Celebration of American Values Banquet. Good people with the core values that are needed more than ever today, at this strange time in our country's history, where so many phenomena seem to be directing us towards a perfect storm, one that will surely try this nation as it's never been tried before.

Well, on to the photo recap.

Dick Cheney wasn't there in person, but was there in the spirit of a video, toasting the NRA's successes. Always good to hear from Vice President Dick Cheney. A good man.


The presentation of the Colors. Everyone stood, and placed hands over hearts. Presented by the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Bobby Jindal, Conservative Governor of Louisiana, received the Harlon B. Carter Award for his post-Katrina pro-gun legislation, the "Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act" (H.R. 5013) introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last year. This legislation later passed the Senate, and was signed into law by President George Bush. No need to fear the U.S. Government or it's agents seizing guns from law-abiding citizens after a natural disaster.

Rising star, indeed.



Glenn Beck gave the primary speech (sorry, the address). This guy has it going on, folks. Polished, intelligent, independent, not afraid to challenge anyone in our government, in either party. He laid the wood to all of our elected (elitists) politicians, for turning their backs on America as we knew it. Fear for our republic, for our Constitution; that's a slim document and a thin veneer that keeps us from becoming just another sorry socialist state. There's signs everywhere, if we would pay attention.

Look closely at this picture...post-address, note the unusual finger placement (middle and index fingers) and that...cumberbund. The gentleman on the left is David A. Keene, 2nd Vice President.


I'm not sure who the lady to the right of Glenn is, but the fellow to his left is Wilson H. Phillips Jr., Treasurer of the NRA.


Glenn, you sly dog.


Oh, Glenn was presented an official NRA Flintlock rifle; I didn't catch that in action but I did note the fellow carrying it off for safekeeping. Nice hat, Fess.


Here again is the mystery lady with M. Phillips.


Well, Executive Vice President of the NRA Wayne R. LaPierre (the most visible of the NRA Officers and the Master of Ceremonies) poses for a picture with Blake Myers. Great shot, here, Blake; how did your toy camera's picture turn out? Click this one for a bigger version.


OK, this one needs a caption. An outthrust hand elicits a...look from Wayne. What do you suppose that look signifies?

A great evening, enjoyed by all.

I'll try to put up some more gunny pics tomorrow.



Part I, the NRA Exhibition Hall (Saturday)
Part II, the Bling

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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Beretta Bling. NRA Convention, Louisville, Part II



Here's the story on this...
1,000 Diamonds
For a Beretta 92FS

Gardone Val Trompia - December 2007

1193 Mounted Stones
90 Carats
Estimated Value: $360,950


A unique piece designed and created by Beretta in cooperation
with Barozi, jeweller in Brescia. It is a 92FS, famous all over the
world being the official side gun of police corps and armies in many
countries. A pure tribute to luxury concept enriched by grips made
of white gold totally covered by diamonds.

The work is absolutely extraordinary. Grips have been made with
specific mouldings and can replace genuine grips of a standard 92FS.
The smoothest diamond surface is enriched by a black enamelled
Beretta logo. On the frame and slide two further diamond lines
complete the masterpiece.
Bling's about the only thing that can get me interested in a 9mm. Not my favorite cartridge. But this makes a nice desktop; a PNG file that'll fit right in with any color background. If you want a huge version, click here.

I'll put more NRA Convention stuff up later. A great show, but I'm tired.


NRA Convention Part I

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

From the NRA Convention in Louisville: The Floor Show part 1, featuring Gun Pr0n, Bling, and the EAA (un)exhibitited t-shirt toss

I spent this morning it the Expo hall, at Louisville's excellent State Fair/Convention Center, located just north of the airport. Louisville is such a compact city...everything is just where you think is should be. I've always liked this town.

These pictures taken on the floor. Tonight, Glen Beck at the Celebration of Values Banquet. In 2 hours.

Did I mention I hate laptops??? Ornery things...





This is a 1000-Diamond Beretta. For what purpose I don't know, but I did get this nice shot.


OK, this EAA lady demonstrates how not to handle fake firearms (no, not the 50 BMG pictured in this shot, but the holstered semiauto that later hit the floor...nice trigger finger, ma'am. I did get a tossed shirt, as well as these pics.


Then she was forced to pick up the dropped pistol. Hmmm...we may have witnessed a stage performance there. Lots of whoops I'm afraid. Can't say the crowd was disappointed.

How do I always manage to get these great shots? ;D


The tramp stamp is a disappointment. That's two for me.


I should have had time to give more descriptive accounts of these pics, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. Later, maybe.




Oh, I'm not all goofing off. Here's the video of John McCain spanking Baracky's "foreign policy" and his abysmal gun control record...



And, the story of Huckabee's nonsensical joke that (fortunately!) will keep him out of McCain's VP consideration.

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Friday, May 16, 2008

Phil Bredesen: What happened, Bunker Boy?



Yes, our esteemed Governor Bunker is forced to cut State jobs to save save teh budget. NTTAWWT, but I think he should have kept a lid on all State...expenditures, for both of his elected terms. It seems that the lid came off after that re-election; legacy-building was in the plans.

Now, the layoffs are scaring rank-and-file Democrats who want to slather more largess on the unfortunates who will soon be out of work.

So much for Phil Bredesen's (the uber-savvy BUSINESSMAN candidate!) legacy.

Let's hope this financial disaster keeps M. Bredesen from seeking future political office. Unless he's also lost the wisdom that this certain shame will bring, as he's lost all his judgment in matters of fiscal responsibility.

There's plenty of Democrats who can mismanage ever-bloating local, state and federal government budgets, but this Democrat came in credentialed and supposedly vetted, a 'fiscal conservative'. What happened, Gov?

Bunker envy?

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Tennessee GOP slaps visiting Mrs. Baracky (PROUD for the First Time!) Obama

Mrs. PROUD Obama was in town last night for a fundraiser; the welcome mat was offered by the Tennessee GOP...



Of course, the crybaby Baracky fires back: 'Racists! HUSSEINISTS!!'

From a post at American Thinker titled "Broaching That Other Off-Limits Obama Topic"...
You may recall the furor in January over a pre-Nevada primary "robocall" [MP3] that dropped the full name of Barack Hussein Obama four times. Or the outcries the following month when Cincinnati radio personality Bill Cunningham spoke those same three words repeatedly at a local McCain town-hall meeting. And who can possibly forget the widespread media rush to assure the public of their hero's baptism when a photo of him clad in traditional Muslim garb surfaced on the web that same month?

Not surprisingly then, shortly following the media and blogosphere-pressured condemnations by both Hillary and McCain, mention of Obama's middle name or Muslim heritage became de facto taboo amongst politically correct company.
Well, that's fine for that sort of company, I suppose. But I'm PROUD of my non-compliance with Political Correctness, and I imagine there's a couple more who can get around without wearing Political Correctness blinders.

Oh, and thanks to the Tennessee...did you say, GOP?

Who are these guys again? Tennessee has a GOP??

Who knew?

h/t Six Meat Buffet.


Oh. I just noticed this comment at American Thinker....

"Yes, but it's not the only question that needs to be addressed. Another is 'what would his foreign policy towards the Muslim world be'? You see, Islam is not the only part of his heritage, another is his Arabic composition. Obama is not a Negro. Obama is an Arab. His father's side of the family tree is exclusively Arabic, and that fact is signified by their names and the name of Senator Obama himself: Barack Hussein Obama. His first name is Muslim also. Not just the middle name. Real Kenyan Negros have Christian names. By giving his son a Muslim name, Obama's father has sent a signal: he may live among Kenyan Christians, but he is not one of them."

"Moreover, he is only 6.25% Negro. He's 50% Eurocaucasian (after his mother) and 43.75% Arabic. The federal law of the US says that to claim minority status, you must be at least 12.5% (1/8) of the race you claim to represent. Senator Obama is half the legal treshold. He could honestly say, 'My father was a Negro.' His father was a member of the last generation able to claim to represent the Negro race."Obama is guilty of lying to the Harvard Admissions Committee to get in; lying to Chicagoians to get elected to IL state senate; lying to IL citizens to get elected to the Senate; and lying to all Americans to get elected President (but luckily, he hasn't won yet).

"He is also guilty of lying in his book 'The Audacity Of Hope'."

...[emboldenings mine]

Nice.

RACIST LIAR!!!111!!!!

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

John McCain's VP CHOICE!



...now, there's nothing he can do to surprise me.

I don't think there is, anyway...




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FREE

Little Suzy had a box of very small kittens that she was trying to give away, so she had them out on the street corner with a sign "FREE KITTENS" next to them. Suddenly a long line of big black cars came up with a policeman on a motorcycle in front. The cars all stopped and a tall man stepped out from the biggest car. "Hi, little girl, what do you have there in the box?" he asked.

"Kittens" Little Suzy says. "They're so small; their eyes are not even open yet."

"What kind of kittens are they?" he asked. "Democrats" says Little Suzy. The tall man smiled, returned to his car and they drove away. Sensing a good photo opportunity, Senator Obama called his campaign manager and told him about the little girl with the kittens.

It was planned that they would return the next day, have all the media there and tell everyone about these "Democrat" kittens.

The next day, Little Suzy is standing out on the corner with her box of kittens with the "FREE KITTENS" sign and the big motorcade of black cars pulled up with all the vans and trucks from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.

Everyone had their cameras ready and then Senator Obama got out of his limo and walked up to Little Suzy. "Now don't be frightened," he said, I just want you to tell all these nice news people just what kind of kittens you're giving away today."

"Yes sir," Suzy said, "they are all Republican kittens."

Taken by surprise, Senator Obama said, "But yesterday you told me they were Democrats."

Little Suzy says, "Yes, I know. But today, they have their eyes open."




;D

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Internet's strangest video

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John McCain outlines his First Term goals

Real Change, defined by John McCain, unlike the floating oratories rife with simple transcendental platitudes as spouted by the Obamessiah. John McCain knows why we are in Iraq, he understands that we can't simply pull out quickly and leave that country a breeding ground for al Qaeda. From his extraordinary April 2007 VMI graduation speech...
"The war on terror, the war for the future of the Middle East, and the struggle for the soul of Islam - of which the war in Iraq constitutes a key element - are bound together. Progress in one requires progress in all. The many complex challenges we face require more than a military response. This is a contest of ideas and values as much as it is one of bullets and bombs. We must gain the active support of modernizers across the Muslim world, who want to share in the benefits of the global system and its economic success, and who aspire to the political freedom that is, I truly believe, the natural desire of the human heart. No matter how much attention their ruthless tactics receive, terrorists are not the true face of Islam. Devout Muslims in Lebanon, Indonesia, Pakistan and Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, and in Iraq, aspire to progress for their societies in which basic human needs are met for more than the privileged few and basic human rights are respected.

"The United States needs stronger alliances, coalitions, and partnerships worldwide to engage this long and multidimensional struggle. We need to pay careful attention to America's image and moral credibility. And in this broad effort, the outcome of the war in Iraq will play a pivotal role.
We've made great progress in Iraq since April 2007, despite the negative and biased media's coverage (those network and print medias that always seem sympathetic to the worst of the Leftist Proggs that have overwhelmed the Democratic party) and the continuous, nonstop whiny BDS from those same idealistic pipe-dreamers. Step aside, childe Obama, and see what future a real, grown man sees after four years of his Presidency. Mr. McCain...
"The Iraq war has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced."
Exactly in line with his reasoned speech last year at VMI. We see here the wisdom of a true patriotic American who served his country and has no qualms about defending our armed forces and their mission. None of the left's "cut and run" policies here.

Mr. McCain's vision for his first term includes...
- The Taliban threat in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced.

- "The increase in actionable intelligence that the counterinsurgency produced led to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, and his chief lieutenants," McCain said. "There still has not been a major terrorist attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001."

- A "League of Democracies" has supplanted a failed United Nations to apply sanctions to the Sudanese government and halt genocide in Darfur.

- The United States has had "several years of robust growth," appropriations bills free of lawmakers' pet projects known as "earmarks," public education improved by charter schools, health care improved by expansion of the private market and an energy crisis stemmed through the start of construction on 20 new nuclear reactors.

- Democrats are asked to serve in his administration, he holds weekly news conferences and, like the British prime minister, answers questions publicly from lawmakers.
Indeed, a major theme of Mr. McCain's speech includes suggestions for bringing the country together, and eliminating the mindless partisanship that's clouded our discourse for the past 7 years...
"I'm not interested in partisanship that serves no other purpose than to gain a temporary advantage over our opponents. This mindless, paralyzing rancor must come to an end. We belong to different parties, not different countries,"
...

"There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I'm elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end; the era of problem solving will begin."
A great goal, but Good Luck with that. The Leftist wing of the Democratic party, led by "The Scream" Dean won't be satisfied until they've taken complete control of every facet of governance, bringing on the complete Ruination of the Country. We've seen John McCain's outreaching to the Democrats, much of that to the chagrin of conservatives. We can expect him to continue to embrace the Democrats. What we won't tolerate is embrace of the worst of the leftists. There is a difference, still, in degree of Democrat: Travis Childer, recently elected in Mississippi’s 1st District, is a Conservative Democrat who is pro-life and pro-gun. More of those, and the Democrats might become a worthy party, again.

But, yeah, sure, Conservatives will give Mr. McCain a chance to bring us back to the fold, and sit with Democrats at the same table.

These next few months before November are going to be interesting. I can't wait for Obama to finally stop mouthing platitudes (hopeyness, changyness) and put something more substantial on the table, as Mr. McCain is doing today. If Obama has anything except platitudes and insipidity.

Partisanship as expressed in a strong debate is still the root of our democracy. What's stifling to debate is the sheer volume and tone of the past seven years, the mindless BDS that's served no purpose except to alienate fellow Americans and divide the country. If we can pull back from that, then I think everyone would be better off.

But if not, then so be it.

We have seven years of BDS as example of how to treat a leftist Democratic President. Fun times, indeed.



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