Free In Idaho!

Did the weather guy mention it was going to snow today?  Yeah, and he said it was going to be windy too.  He was right.  Couple of inches of snow, 35 degrees, and about a 28 mph wind… that’s what greeted the hardy souls who brought their toys out for the IAWCA St Paddy’s Day Shoot at Blacks Creek Range today.  And quite a crowd it was.  There were 21 shooters and a few guests registered today, which was a little surprising considering the conditions.  It was brisk, to say the least.

Ah. Fresh snow.  Sunshine.  A great range.  Lots of full auto shootie goodness.  What more can you want?  (don’t say “no wind and 59 degrees like last year”)  The vehicle target this year was a cute little import truck, sitting out just past the 100 yard line.  Tannerite embellishments were an added bonus.  The gentleman who donated the truck got the honor of taking the first shot, and he did himself proud with a direct hit on a tannerite target on his first shot.  Excellent way to start!

Subguns, short-barrel shotties, lots of suppressors, a couple pistols, some tripod mounted belt-feds, including a wonderful Ma Duece, a couple of BARs, many M-16s, and a bunch of interesting “foreign made” autos made up the bulk of the armorment.  This is an NFA oriented club, but of course there was plenty of semi-auto and old boltie action as well.  Something to interest everyone.  The M2 was a show stealer.   Not only did it burn up a lot of expensive .50 cal ammo, it started the little truck on fire.  Impressive.

About half the shooters froze out after the first round, so they packed up and left.  But the rest of us reset the water jugs and refrigerant cannisters that were still whole enough to shoot again, some “left-over” tannerite magically appeared, and we all went again.  I was impressed that so many rounds were used today.  And the newbies!  You can always tell someone who just shot an auto for the first time, their grin stretches all the way to their ears.  A great day was had by everyone. 

Many folks can’t believe that all this stuff, the machineguns, the “sawed off shotguns”, and the suppressors are legal.  Oh yes, they are.  The other day Joe Huffman told the story about folks at Boomershoot coming up to him to tell him someone was firing a machinegun at the shoot.  Yeah.  Cool isn’t it!  If you ever get a chance to make it to a full auto shoot, by all means do!  Celebrate the freedoms we have.

So, the coffee is made, my Sweetie and the dog are both asleep here on the couch beside me, so it’s time to do some Saturday morning reading.  Let’s see…

Fiscal baloney.  Yup.  Reason has “Five Lies About The American Economy“.

How can the American economy keep getting worse under the intensive care of an interventionist economic team almost universally praised for its brilliance? The answer may be that the Obama administration is dealing with a fictional economy, one that bears little resemblance to the economy the rest of us inhabit. And when the difference between fact and fiction becomes too apparent, they just make stuff up.

The American people don’t want it. But Obama doesn’t care. IBD has “Why The Health Bill Makes No Sense“.  But really, who needs 15 reasons?  The American people have said NO.  That oughta settle that.

Health Reform: So it’s come down to this — desperate Democratic leaders strong-arming members on the worst bill ever before they go home to explain to constituents why they decided to commit political suicide.

I was at the Sheriff’s yesterday getting my CWL renewed. A lot has changed in the years since I was there last.  Then it was a small desk tucked away in the back of the drivers license office.  Today the weapons permit desk has been moved out to the main lobby, and made much bigger. There are now two ladies working it because, let’s face it, they’re doing a lot of business. At 11am there were five or six folks behind me and two ahead of me. Only a couple of these were renewals, so the ranks of those carrying concealed is growing daily. Here’s a short article with some good tips for those just beginning.

So select the size of your pistol first and foremost, and base it on what you need in order to carry it 24-7, 365 days a year (all the time).

Something to think about, concerning the differences between libertarians and conservatives (esp neo-conservatives). Is Libertarianism Real Conservatism? Give this a read, see what you think.

Considering their new, radical definition, it’s easy to see why Rush and other mainstream conservatives don’t consider libertarians part of their movement — because they’re not. And while it remains to be seen how the irreconcilable differences will play out between limited government libertarians (whose numbers are growing) and big government neoconservatives (whose ideology still dominates), let there be no more ignorance about which philosophy is truly more alien to the historical American conservative movement — and let there be no further delusions about which philosophy was most responsible for creating it.

Did you know that 36% don’t pay any taxes at all now? Actually, when you think about it, it’s worse than that. How many of those 36% actually get cash payments _from_ the government? Spreading the wealth. If you tried to open a restaurant and fed 36% of your “customers” for no charge, how long could YOU stay in business? Here’s a couple of interesting charts on who pays taxes these days.

Well, enough of that.  It’s getting light out.  Time for some fresh eggs and bacon, then load some rifles in the truck and head for the range.  Hope you all have a great day!

Hmmm… so my eyeballs thought they’d get a jump on daylight savings time this morning and popped open at 4am.  Not bad, as far as that goes, since some mornings it’s 3am.  But on walking out to fire up the coffee pot, I noticed the white glow from the backyard.  Snow.  That’s pretty sorry.  Not only does it put the garden to sleep, it means the shoot at the range today wil be, uh, cold and mucky.  And if it starts raining after sunrise, a lot of folks will stay home…

Good for the weatherman though.  He’s been threatening snow all week but coming up empty.  He finally got a point on the board.

From NRO today

Stupak notes that his negotiations with House Democratic leaders in recent days have been revealing. “I really believe that the Democratic leadership is simply unwilling to change its stance,” he says. “Their position says that women, especially those without means available, should have their abortions covered.” The arguments they have made to him in recent deliberations, he adds, “are a pretty sad commentary on the state of the Democratic party.”
What are Democratic leaders saying? “If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more. That’s one of the arguments I’ve been hearing,” Stupak says. “Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue — come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life we’re talking about.”

My emphasis. Democrat death panels for babies… truly evil.

The stupid hippies over at the Boise Weekly paid money for this and put it on their cover this week.  I guess that just goes to show, some folks don’t have the sense God gave a goose…

The Idaho Automatic Weapons Collectors (IAWCA) will be holding their first shoot of the year this Saturday.  The St Paddy’s Day Fun Shoot is, as the name says, a get out and shoot fun time, to blow off the cobwebs, so to speak.   As usual, shooters and spectators are welcome.  Range fee will be $20 for IAWCA club members, $30 for non-members.  Spectators are free.  You don’t need a full auto for this shoot either.  There will be both full and semi weapons, old military bolties, and probably a few high power rifles as well.  Among the usual “interesting targets” this year will be a pick up truck.

The event is this Saturday, March 13th.  Registration and set-up begin at 10AM, a mandatory safety meeting will begin at 11:30, and the first “commence firing” command will be given at noon.  Once again, the Black’s Creek Rifle Range just south of Boise will be the site.  Come on out!  See how long that pickup lasts against a couple belt-feds and a bunch of shoulder fired machine guns.  What else do you have to do Saturday, clean the garage?

I don’t usually listen to Glenn Beck.  Better things to do I guess.  But this morning I was driving and caught a few minutes of the show.  In particular, I caught the advertisement for the “survival seeds”.  Wow.  Guaranteed non-hybrid seeds, enough to grow a full acre, and save your family from starving to death in the coming fill-in-the-blank apocalypse…

Oh my, where to start?  I hope that nobody falls for this BS.  Seriously, 98% of America hasn’t a clue how to grow a seed, much less a full acre’s worth.  Do you even have access to a full acre of good dirt, in a defendable spot?  And assuming you lucked out bigtime, and your acre of survival food -did- grow, then what?  That same 98% of America hasn’t a clue how to preserve an acre’s worth of food, all at once.  Or how to save some of the seeds for next year.

$149 for all kinds of beans and cabbage and corn and tomatoes and lettuce and spinach… seeds.   All with different growing requirements, water and soil needs.  Some are cool varieties, some are hot.  Go ahead, plow up your front lawn (are you serious?) and plant all those seeds.  Do you know when to plant them?  Do you have tomato worm problems in your area?  Or corn fungus?  Slugs? 

Sheesh.

It reminds me of some of the “how many and which guns” conversations, or the arguments over how much ammo to store.  Fine.  But can you shoot and do you practice?  Or is all your experience from your mom’s basement playing shooter games on the computer?  Same thing with gardening.  If your total gardening experience is the bean you sprouted in grade school, forget it.  And if your food storage expertise stops at the pizza under the front seat of your car, an acre of food, even if you could grow it, wouldn’t do you any good.  Take your money over to the freeze dried food site and buy a case instead.  You’ll get a lot more real food that way, and despite what the seed guy says, it’ll last a lot longer than his seeds will.

The commercial was good for a laugh though…

Worldview.  Have you spent much time working on yours?  Do you have a “belief system”, or just a random collection of “that sounds good, I believe that”?  What you believe informs and directs all of your decisions, all of your life.  Take a look at JWR, as he answers critics.  Well done Mr Rawles.  God bless you.

We had to go to that place again today… the place with the big pink ribbon on the side of the building.  It was time for my Sweetie’s latest mammogram and ultrasound appointments.  This marks the next round of her every-few-months checkups, first the imaging, then the bloodwork, then two different oncologists (one for the radiation followup, one for the drug therapy followup).  Tedious, and anxious.

It’s been nearly a full year since she first discovered that lump.  I’m glad that year is over.  Many more to go though.  Right now, there is no cancer.  But we’re learning that you don’t “fight cancer” so much as you make your way through a life that includes a lot of ‘not knowing’, seemingly endless medical stuff, not feeling good… and lots of praying and thinking.

While my wife was “in there”, I looked around the room at the guys waiting for their wives.  Many older than I, one younger.  Not all rich, or poor, or white.  I closed my eyes and thought about what they all must be thinking, and prayed for them and their wives.  No matter where you are on that road, it’s a hard one.  Everyone’s story, everyone’s road is different.  Yet the same in many ways. 

Random thoughts…

If the balloon goes up, what are we all going to do about breast cancer?  Or will it no longer be the most monsterous thing we deal with? 

I pray our girls don’t have to do this.

How much closer this has brought us in many ways.

I hope this summer isn’t as full of doctors and hospitals as last summer was.

This is probably the only place where I will ever sit in a room full of men, each with a purse beside him.

And then the love of my life came out and said that her images were all clear.  Thank you Lord for today’s many blessings.

Spring chicks at the feed store.  Almost irresistable.  “Almost” being the key word.

The transition from winter to spring can be crazy here in SW Idaho.  One day it’s gorgeous and 60 degrees, the next it can be snowing.  Yesterday evening my Sweetie and I sat on the deck with coffee and cookies, admiring how nice the garden looks with all the work we’ve been doing these past few sunny days.  I just watched the local weather guy forecast mid 50s, then rain, then light snow, temps in the mid-20s, then back to the high 50s… all this week.  Hmmm.  I guess I’ll keep some of the early starts under a double crop cover blanket for another day or two, put the tarp back over the run on the chicken coop, and hold off transplanting the extra strawberry plants till the end of the week.

I was noticing the back of the truck shows off the double nature of the season right now too.  Chains, shovel, and sand bag.  Snowshoes and poles.  Hiking boots and staffs.  50 and 100 rolls of drip irrigation line, and a bag of new drip fittings.  Pile of black compost where the bales spilled on Saturday.  Oh, and a couple of loose shotgun shells left over from duck season.

Yeah, I know, I need to clean out the truck.