New churches springing up all over.

While I was traveling over the weekend, I caught a little gem, twenty new denominations spring up every week among evangelical Christians. Its useless data, just something that stuck from an hour long show. In fact, I think it came from a comercial.
Today, via Don Surber, we learn that Amish are exempted from the hell scare take over abomination. There are over thirty branches of the Anabaptists and Mennonites of which the Amish are only a small part. The Amish have split several times, and their commitment to simple living and avoidance of many earthly pleasures is well known.
Its time for a Reformed Amish Church. One that embraces the best parts of Amish Society, shunning of government practices like Social Security, with a realization that GOD's gifts of advancement are truly gifts which he intended for our betterment.
Heck, what is there to lose? We agree to not accept social suckery and in exchange are exempted from Obambi care.
As transitional Sr. deacon of this new order, I welcome one and all. Church elections will be scheduled once we have three members, and a permanent Deacon selected.

Lets stick to the issues

A lot of the blogosphere is in a whirl about Dingy Harry. So the guy made some comments about Barry that might be construed as racism. Let it go. Stuff like that rallies the dems. learn the rules, If a dem makes a facist comment, no matter how bad, its OK! The black dems sold out long ago. republican harping on this is only circling the wagons.
Better to stick with what offends most people, the blatant attack on personal freedom and our wallets known as hell scare reform.
people have taken note and ae angry. lets keep them angry. many moderate and even a few left leaning folks don't like health cae in government hands. Those folks will desert back to hte party if we keep on about dingy Harrys potty mouth.

Snow on the level

Snow on the level three foot deep
Oh Lord how the wind is blowin
Weve eaten our packs and suspender straps
And darn if it still aint snowin'.

We made a mulligan stew today
Of old tobacco and bits of hay
Some dried up leaves and small pine blocks
A wood rats nest and a couple of rocks.

Tomorrow morn at the break of dawn
We're gonna leave this shack
A trail to seek o'er the mountain peak
Adios if we don't come back.

And if in the spring when all nature sings
You chance on our trail to track
And find a couple of skeleton things
Don't fret, its just me and Jack.

That poem was found scrawled on the wall of a hunting cabin in Canada many years ago. Given the weather, Thank you Al Gore for glowbull warming, I thought it appropriate.

Whats wrong with America?

Now, I'm a big sports fan. I can waste an entire weekend watching college football on Saturday, and the pros on Sunday, so this is hard to say. We have become a society dependent on entertainment.


Whether its sports, movies, NASCAR, music or what ever, we demand that we be entertained. Presently, over twenty million people are without jobs. Factory workers, construction workers, truck drivers, the people who make America great, and they are benched. As our nation struggles to right our economic woes, and congress is on the wrong side, WE still want to be entertained. How many football players were laid off by the NFL this season? Any? Didn't think so.

Athletes, coaches and actors are among the highest paid professions in our country, and they contribute not one iota to our greatness. They add nothing to the GNP, nada, yet they demand outrageous salaries.

Mike Leach, late of Texas Tech, was to receive an $800,000 bonus. That's wages for twenty blue collar Texans, yet hardly any one complains. His annual compensation? Roughly 2.7 million. Coaches like Urban Meyer command 4 million or more, yet they will never make a scientific contribution, medical breakthrough, or life changing invention. All they will do is entertain us.

We buy movies and music every day to do what? entertain us. Pornography is the biggest business on the internet, and all it is is entertainment. Entertainment is a huge business in America. I don't really mind that. Seriously, I don't.

What I do mind is when it is done on the public dime. The NEA, National Endowment for the Arts gives away our money by the bucket to entertainers and artists who suck. That money was taken from the hip pocket of a hard working American, and handed to an entertainer who apparently, no one in the private sector felt needed a dime.

I'm also irritated that millions every year is spent giving scholarships to athletes who will eventually be making millions entertaining us. Sure a lot of these guys will wash out and not make it in the draft, but why do we need to pay for that?

It peeves me even more when its guys like Michael Vick. After that fiasco, he should never be allowed on the field again. Instead, he is back up for the Eagles. Two teams to cheer for these days, the Minnesota Vikings, and whom ever is playing against Philly.

Times are tough in America. Ford, GM, and a host of other companies who have laid off scores of workers are still funneling funds to sports for what? Entertainment.

Half times over, back to the game. Sigh.

Update: Zach, I consider creating art a profession whether it is painting, singing, acting, sculpture, or any other form. Furthermore, I understand fully what types of artists are funded by the NEA from chamber music to dance. What I don't like is funding them with my money. I don't support any type of public charity whether the government is propping up GM, a hobo, or a foreign regime, its not right to take our hard earned dollars and give them to any one. research Davy Crocket and his commentary on government largess. Tax money should only be spent on things that are necessary, and Chamber Music really isn't. Those who want chamber music can fund it from their own pockets, not mine. In fact, a certain document outlines as follows, "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;" Which to me limits congress' actions regarding the arts to copyrights and patents as they apply, nothing more.

That very same document provides as follows;

"To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;"

Six paragraphs for the military which you so despise. All of that by the way comes from article 1 section 8 of the constitution.

By the way, our national defense budget is in excess of $515 billion, and like you I do not like waste in it. What you and I consider waste would likely differ, although most of what I consider waste you probably would as well.

To refresh your memory, on 9-11-01, we, the United States, were attacked by rogue thug jihadists. We are not perfect, that is for sure. Many mistakes, serious ones have occurred over the decades of my life. Our government has propped up corrupt regimes everywhere from Panama to Iran. We have turned a blind eye to atrocities by shallow allies in pursuit of global ambitions that benefited no one. At least no common American. In WW2 we took sides with Russia against Germany. Both were purist evil, Stalin killed millions more then Hitler. George S. Patton, when he Met the Russians in Germany famously asked for permission to continue the attack. He recognized evil. Douglas McArthur wanted to press the attack against China during the Korean war. Truman chose to bench him instead. Mao's purges killed an estimated 38 million, some estimates are as high as 100 million. Truman, the man with the courage to nuke Japan, failed in the face of a powerful enemy.

What in all that though justifies the slaughter of nearly 3,000 people by these Islamic thugs?

At least our military attempts to protect us, chamber music and offensive art don't, even when it is offensive to Jews or Christians and therefore allowable to these jihadists.

As for giving back to the tax payers, I call bullshit on you. The vast majority of the defense budget goes to purchase and maintain equipment. Those F-16 fighters, KC-135 tankers, Arleigh Burke Destroyers, Abrams tanks and such are all built by tax paying American workers. Guys who contribute roughly 35% of their gross wage to Federal, State, local and school taxes. Grant money given to artists isn't taxable, or is it? Even if it is, they are in the lower tax catergories. I did my research Zach, why didn't you do yours?

Three Rednecks

Seems a regional builder hired three rednecks to bolt together beams on a high rise building. One was from kansas, one from Nebraska, and one from Oklahoma.
At lunch time they would hoist thier lunch boxes up and eat on the beam since gettign down required unharnessing and a lot of effort.
The first day, the Kansan open his lunch box, looked in and groaned, "Spaghetti. There is nothing in the world worse then cold spaghetti."
The Nebraskan opened his lunch and groaned, "Cold stew, I'd rather eat dirt."
The Okie opened his lunch and also groaned, " Tuna fish sandwiches. If I have to eat another tuna fish sandwich, I'm jumping off this building."
The following day found the three again high over the surrounding town, and at lunch time again hoisted their meals up.
The Kansas open his and exclaimed, " pork chop sandwiches! there is nothing better cold then a pork chop sandwich."
The Nebraskan opened his lunch and exclaimed, "Chicken! I could eat cold chicken all week long."
The Okie opened his and groaned, "Tuna fish sandwiches. Thats it." he then unhooked his safety harness, threw his lunch box down, and jumped.
As the Nebraskan stared down, he exclaimed, "The poor guy."
"Yeah," said the Kansan, and he packs his own meals.

Do not adjust your monitor

The gun really is green.
This is a Springfield Armory 1911A1 in 45 ACP. Springfield released a version in olive green and to original military specs about five years ago.
The 45 has been a durable weapon for the US military, carried as the standard side arm for over 70 years. It was replaced by the 9mm Baretta, but still remains in service with some units, and for good reason.

The U.S. Military used a wide variety of side arms in the late 1800's. Most were 38 caliber Colts and Smith & Wessons. While fighting the Moro's in the Philippines, The 38 was found to be unsuitable, and the Army briefly sent 45 caliber single action revolvers to the troops. Hiriam Maxim had designed a self loading pistol in the 1880's, and this sparked interest in semi auto side arms by many nations. The US military initially tested guns from several foreign manufacturers, and evaluated a Lugar in 7.65 which was found to lack stopping power. An improved version of that was tested, the 9mm Lugar aka 9x19mm NATO.
After tests conducted in 1904, it was determined that any cartridge would need to be at least 45 caliber, and design tests continued with designs from several manufacturers. The tests eventually narrowed the field to two, Colt and Savage, and in 1911 the Colt model was selected. The deciding factor was a grueling 6000 round test in which the Colt performed flawlessly while the savage design had 37 malfunctions.
Following WW1, the pistol was modified to become the 1911A1. Changes were minor, and included a shorter trigger, cut back frame behind the trigger, and an arched main spring housing.

With those changes, the mighty 1911A1 soldiered on. Its accuracy became the thing of legends. many soldiers claimed that after firing the seven rounds in hte magazine, you then beat the enemy soldiers to death with the thing. That was not the case though. With little practice, most people can group effectively at ranges beyond fifty meters thanks to the well thought out design of John Browning.
WW2 saw the production of nearly 2 million 1911 from a variety of companies. The 1911 was even made in Norway by the Germans, and a Kongsberg Colt with Waffenamt stampings will fetch a small fortune.

Preasure from NATO for conformance was to spell the end of the 1911 though. As the pistols began to wear and break, the Army Arsenals repaired them by taking parts from other guns. By the late 1970's, the end was fast approaching, and field tests confirmed its successor, the M-9. Many units retained the 45 though. USSOCOM, and delta Force in particular were not satisfied with the 9, and in 2004 a new generation of 1911's known as the 1911A2 began testing. the 1911A2 design incorporates a variety of sights, finishes and features that are a full family of weapons adaptable to a wide variety of missions.
With that change, the 1911 will continue to soldier on well past the century mark, an impressive feat for a military arm, especially when you consider that prior to its adoption, the military was testing and adolting several new side arms a decade.
How long will the 1911 series remain in service? your guess is as good as mine. Its hard to beat perfection.

No, I'm not dead

I just needed some time off for other things. I'm more or less back.
Hope every one had a merry Christmas, and wish you all a happy new year.