Quick Question

Do you think our grand children will hate us for allowing the .gov to acquire so much power over our every day lives and destroy the American Dream, or, will they even know what they have lost due to our inaction?

Who'd a thunk it?

In an extremely short period of time the .gov has gained control of a majority of the home mortgages in the United States, a large chunk of the financial and insurance industry, two major automobile manufacturers and now our health care industry. Private health insurance will most likely be a thing of the past within 3 to 5 years and the .gov is hiring thousands of "agents" for the IRS to ensure that you participate in the .gov health care plan. Some ex ACORN activist with a gun will be charged with keeping you in line. Gives you the warm fuzzies doesn't it?

So now the .gov owns your mortgage, builds your cars, controls your finances and is in charge of your health. Honestly now, how long do you think it will be before the .gov decides it has the power and authority to tell you where to live, who to work for and how many kids to have. The .gov already controls our schools, at what point will they decide to tell our 5th grader that he has to attend the Government Motors Middle School and become a part of the UAW fast track to assembly line worker at the local plant?

The .gov has decided that you have to pay for health insurance, what else will you have to pay for? If the .gov is in charge of your health, might as well require you to pay for a gym membership so you stay healthy eh? If the .gov is going to take away your choice in health service providers they can take away your choice in lifestyle.

Damn it. The American Dream has suffered another major hit this week. On top of overreaching it's bounds, the .gov has decided to add additional taxes to investment income. Americans do not save enough as it is, to penalize those of us who do look to the future is just one more attempt to make us dependent upon the benevolence of our rulers.

Who would have thunk America would ever have "rulers"?

It has been a good while..

...since I have posted anything here, but I thought you might want to read this:

To all modern Sons of Liberty: THIS is your time...

I guess it beats Tar and Feathers, well..

Buffalo Bore and the .380 Auto

It seems to me that folks who own a .380 caliber pistol do so for pretty much one reason, concealed carry for self defense.

I mean seriously. The little .380's aren't the most fun to shoot out at the range and are not going to impress anyone with their 25 yard accuracy. The only thing they are good for is that last ditch, up close and personal, effort to defend yourself and your family. Some would argue that they are only marginally effective at that even.

With this in mind, it is nice to see an ammunition manufacturer directly address this issue right from the get-g0.

The folks over at Buffalo Bore are never ones to mince words:

The 380 auto inhabits a valuable and useful place in our society, mostly because of the easily concealable, tiny pistols chambered for it. HOWEVER, because of the very limited size of the cartridge, it is plagued with limited power and therefore most of the existing ammo in 380 auto suffers from not being reliable as a man-stopper. We've studied and played with nearly all of the existing available 380 ammo and find it wanting as a reliable means of self defense, especially against a large, insane, drugged up/pain free, determined attacker.

Here's the problem. The current 380 auto frangible ammo delivers a large amount of surface trauma, but lacks serious penetration. For example, if you shot me or another sane man in the face with modern frangible 380 ammo, it would blow off a big portion of my cheek and send a few teeth down my throat, I would undoubtedly fall to the ground in shock and pain, but I would be very much alive and functional if I could get past the shock and pain as that frangible bullet would have stopped some where inside my face, never making it to my brain. However, if you shot a drugged up maniac in the face with that same frangible 380 ammo and blew half his cheek off, he would keep right on coming because he is insane and is not thinking like you or I. Plus, he is likely pain free and fear free and wont know that half his cheek is missing and if he did know, he would not care. So whatever 380 ammo you shoot him in the face with, had better go through his face and blow his brain stem out the back of his head, because only a CNS (central nervous system) hit with a 380 is going to stop him. Likewise, a torso hit to the sternum needs to penetrate deep enough to blow all the way through his spine in order to shut him down spontaneously. If you fail to shut him down instantly, you and your loved ones are going to have to find a way to survive while you wait for him to bleed out and pass out. The best chance of survival for you and your family is to shut down the attacker instantly. So, we've designed a few 380 auto +P loads to keep you and your loved ones alive under the worst of scenarios...

I like the Buffalo Bore .45-70 cartridges and carry the Low Recoil, Low Flash .357 Magnum ammunition in my SP-101. So who knows, if I were to pick up a new Micro Desert Eagle this week, it might be worth my while to grab a few boxes of the Buffalo Bore .380 Auto +P ammunition to shake it out with.

Taking Shape for Life - Goals Met

Wednesday Morning, September 30th, I reached my weight loss goal!

I weighed 190.5 on Monday morning so I weighed myself again on Wednesday and found that I weight 189 pounds. I started the day after Memorial Day and lost a total of 84 pounds in 120 days! I am ecstatic.

I am also 100 pounds lighter than I was when the image in the header with Todd Jarrett was taken.

As a reminder, here is what I looked like on May 26th of this year:

Here is what I look like now:

I am trying to find the words to describe how happy I am to have gotten rid of that fat suit, they just have not come to me yet. I bought size 32/32 pants today. It has literally been decades since I have been able to wear size 32 pants.

From being labled severly obese to having a healthy Body Mass Index in 120 Days. How cool is that? If you want information on how I lost this weight, just head over here.

A New Gun Show This Weekend

Well, new to me anyway.

This Sunday I will be working a table at the Texas Gun and Guitar Show in Hillsboro. From all accounts, this is a pretty nice show. Heck, they even put on a Saturday Night Party and Jam

I will be there on Sunday helping to increase the membership of the Texas State Rifle Association and the NRA. I think I'll bring along the Gun Blog .45 and maybe my AR (A Mixmaster Dissipator) to attract folks to the table and get them interested in joining.

Click here for directions. Hope to see you there.

Taking Shape for Life - an Update

It has been three weeks since I last updated you on my weigh loss progress. At that time I weighed 204.5 pounds. I now weigh 193! An 11 pound loss over three weeks this far into a weight loss program is just plain awesome. That is pretty much the only way I can describe it.

I have lost 80 pounds since Memorial Day, that is Memorial Day of this year. I am very happy with my progress and excited about this weight loss. V's kinda excited about the new me also.

I am just 3 pounds shy of my goal weight of 190 lbs. At my goal weight I will have a healthy Body Mass Index for the first time since my time in the Navy. I will no longer be counted amongst the obese or overweight of America.

If you are interested in losing weight, in achieving the same success as I have achieved, shoot me an email (address is in the profile) or head on over here.

Yes, this is for real. And yes, you can do this.

It Has Been A While...

...since I was over at the Blackhawk! web site. Since I've lost all this weight, I have a few things that I need to replace. One is a duty belt that can now go around me and one of my grand kids. My Instructors Gun Belt is also too large as are my old 5.11 pants, shorts and various concealment shirts. It is time to start on my new wardrobe.

Blackhawk! is doing something super cool now that will save me some big money as I replace my now too small other brand pants. They have a Trade Up Program where you can trade in your non-Blackhawk! pants for a 50% credit on a new pair of Blackhawk! pants and shorts. I may have seen this promotion before, but now it hits home. I can save some money (this makes V extra happy)!

Another cool thing I found on the Blackhawk! site is the Serpa Quick Disconnect System. This video with Chuck Buis demonstrates the system:

I still think Chuck has the best possible name for someone in this industry. Oh by the way, Hey Chuck! If you end up reading this, V wants to know when you guys are going to make a Serpa for her Hi Power?

Blackhawk! has a lot of cool stuff, more than ever. If you haven't been to the web site in a bit, now is as good a time as any to head on over.