Late June is vacation season and this year, like last year and hopefully next year too, Massad Ayoob came to the Harrisburg Hunters and Anglers Assoc. to conduct his entry level class: Judicious Use of Deadly Force. Jack Brady was the local coordinator and host. He did a great job with logistics and support. Mas has a loyal following, some may say a cult, (I wouldn’t try to kidnap and deprogram any of us!) who come out to help with the classes. This year Ken Kelly came up from Virginia to share his experience and help out. He’s a true Modern Warrior. (www.mwarrior.com) Dr. Tony Semone is a Neuro-Forensic-Psychologist who’s lectures are enlightening and inspiring. He went from a Marine to a Ph.d, so you know he must be special. Speaking of special, Gail Pepin came with Mas and helped out. Without her you wouldn’t be reading this. Gail really encouraged me to start a blog and get a podcast going. She can shoot too, as I’ll explain later. Myself I have 22+ years of military and corrections experience. I took my first LFI class in 1997 and thought it was, and is, essential training for any responsible citizen who chooses to exercise his/her Right to go about armed.
Almost 30 individuals recognized their responsibility to themselves, their loved ones, and society in general to learn about managing the use of force and the necessary skills to make them safe, competent shooters. Maybe even more important, they were shown the legalities involved and the aftermath of deadly force encounters. This, I think, is the real eye opener for folks. LFI-I is mostly lecture and video presentation. You will shoot some everyday , but most folks will not expend all of the 500 rounds they bring with them. This particular group was older on average than previous classes I’ve helped with. Only one woman too. The mix of weapons was interesting. Many baby Glocks and a mix of XD’s, Sigs, 1911’s of various makes and sizes and a couple of revolvers. One problem with older folks is a lifetime of sometimes bad habits that can unconsciously develop. We noticed a lot of fingers getting on triggers before they should be. There is no compromising on safety and all the range officers cajoled, whispered, yelled and may have even threatened removal of offending digits as necessary. By day two everyone was self-conscious of there fingers and muzzles and bad habits were replaced with safe conscious competence when handling the weapons.
The staff shot the qualification course first to demonstrate the course of fire. Mas used a Colt Detective Special 2″ fixed sighted revolver. I used my S&W 686+ 3″ with adjustable sights. Gail shot a Glock Practical/tactical and Jack and Ken had a Glock and HK respectively. We were using IPSC targets. It was my lucky day because Mas threw a round about an eighth of an inch out of the “A” zone and scored a mere 299 out 300 on the 60 round qual. I managed a 300 and earned an autographed $5. Gail managed a 300 too and her group was 2 centimeters smaller than mine, so she gets top honors and bragging rights (til next year!) To be fair to Mas he was using a 2″ revolver with fixed sights. Had we used B-27 targets, we’d all have cleaned the course and Mas’s group would have easily have been the smallest. Out of the class the high score was 299 shot with a Springfield Armory LDA commander length .45 auto. Everyone qualified and passed the dreaded written exam. Four 10 hour days plus homework readings and dryfire practice. Folks were worn out. One reason I help with these classes is to meet so many fine people. They come from all over. They have a desire to learn. They have made a decision to take an active interest and control over their personal security. Anyone who chooses to use a firearm for protection has a responsibility to learn safe gun handling and shooting techniques. Maybe even more important is the legal and moral issues of when you may or may not use that weapon. You owe it yourself and your family to get this type of training. It may empower you. It may dissuade you from carrying a gun. It will educate you and then you can decide for yourself what is best. Hope to see some returns next year. Mas says there may be enough interest to do LFI-II.
Overall a decent action movie. The twists were somewhat predictable, but not ridiculously obvious. The gun play was cartoonish, but they went to some trouble to showcase some custom weapons like what appeared to be a Safari Arms Match Master heavily engraved and lots of wilson ten round magazines. The acting was good, as were the effects. I hope all the young thugs try to curve their bullets like in the movie. Easily worth a matinee.
The Waiting Room
Colorful wallpaper borders cannot brighten the waiting room.
Sterile and impersonal, hospitals are inhospitable…inhuman.
Volunteers dictate directions over and over
About cell phones, smoking areas, and free coffee.
Sitting stoically alone, or in familial enclaves
Tired faces gaze blindly at a television,
Newspapers, or each other…all waiting…waiting.
The atmosphere is wearying.
They wait. Wondering when word will come.
When a Doctor, spoken to maybe once or twice,
Will be ushered before them, surgical mask pulled below the chin,
Stethoscope around the neck, obligatory white coat…
Waiting for the pronouncement, a benediction, relief.
Waiting to hear that “everything went very well.”
—
METAPHYSICS
What is it to be Rational?
To be Logical? To be Reasonable?
To be Human?
Rationality is an illusion, a sophist straitjacket
Logic is a myth, a fable, a fairy tale.
And Reason, Pure Reason!
Critique until convinced we can know anything.
Maybe Socrates knew. That is why he drank Hemlock.
The Truth?
We are Desire.
Pure Appetite.
Let us critique that!
Know it. Accept it.
All else is metaphysical masturbation.
1/4/2007
—-
Way of the Rodent?
Driving I see two muskrats in the road
One sniffing and nudging the other.
One will obviously never move again.
Mother, Father, Lover, Daughter?
It doesn’t much matter I suppose.
Driving by he or she scurries away.
In the mirror I see the muskrat return,
Once again nudging, staring, puzzled.
I briefly think about Muskrat Theology.
It’s not so funny I realize.
Concerning death do I know any
more than a muskrat?
—
I have a Martin DC-16RGTE sitting next to me. I have a Carvin jumbo acoustic and an Alvarez Fusion FD60csb for back-up. They are all acoustic/electric. I have a Mexican Telecaster made when mexican was still pretty bad about 20 years ago and a Schecter diamond series electric that hasn’t been out of the case in years. I’ve been known to show up at open mics just to make the other folks sound better. Making music, even mediocre music, is a stress reducer for me. It certainly hath charms to soothe my savage breast.
I believe the Right of self-defense is as unalienable a Right as Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Indeed, without it Life and Liberty become arbitrary at best. Rights may be unalienable, but they do not necessarily come free. Responsibility is the cost. Individuals must accept the responsibility of their actions and the consequences. My personal safety is my responsibility. To expect others to take on that responsibility is fool hardy. We must make certain concessions as social creatures for the good of the order, so to speak, but we should never concede the basic Right and individual responsibility we have to preserve ourselves. To that end, I believe the 2nd amendment of the constitution of the United States of America is a fundamental Civil Right. Any authority that deprives normal law abiding individuals of the means to protect themselves from the predators that exist in all human societies, must be questioned. Society has nothing to fear from the responsible, armed citizen.
I currently run a HP m8120n. (Refurbished from Newegg for $600 delivered. I couldn’t build a new box for anywhere near that.) It has an Intel quadcore Q6600 at 2.4ghz, 3gb RAM, 2x320gb HD’s, Hauppauge digital tuner card, and I threw in a Radeon 3650 video card because I didn’t want to bother with a new PSU. I have an HP Media Vault for media storage/back-up and it has 800gb of storage. I have several Seagate external USB drives ranging from 250-500gb. I’m trying to get started ripping hundreds of CD’s. I use a 24″ BenQ Super PVA LCD monitor because I hate the color shift and viewing angles on most consumer panels. I run Vista because that’s what it came with and I haven’t had a problem with it. I actually like it.
I use the media center a lot now. I still have a 32″ CRT for my livingroom home theatre. I run a composite out from the PC to it and use the HP remote to stream content. Works fine for standard def and video podcasts. Hope to upgrade to a HDTV soon.
Guntalk
Is that a gun in your pocket,
Or are you just glad to see me?
Actually, it’s a Smith & Wesson
Model 36 Chief’s Special in an
Uncle Mike’s pocket holster worn
In the weak side front pocket.
It’s a backup to the .357 or .45
I normally carry in a strong side
Concealment holster behind the hip.
Two guns? You feel the need to carry
Two guns? What are you afraid of?
Nothing really, I’ve got the guns!
I also have smoke alarms, a fire extinguisher,
Extra keys for my car and front door too.
Don’t you bring a first aid kit when camping?
Don’t you have a spare tire in the trunk? Why?
On vacation, do you have more than one
Credit card in case one is lost or stolen?
Sensible precautions certainly make sense,
But why the guns? Is it trouble you expect?
I don’t expect a flat tire. Still, I have the tools
To deal with it should it ever happen.
I don’t expect trouble, and don’t look for it.
The tool on my hip is for the unexpected, immediate
And otherwise unavoidable threat of death
Or grave bodily harm to the innocent.
Any means are justified to end such a threat.
I know that no one really wins a gunfight.
If ever forced to defend self or loved ones,
Life will never be the same. If fortunate,
You’ll not be charged, the civil suit won’t bankrupt you
and the nightmares will come less and less frequently.
You’ll be marked like Cain, and people will whisper.
You’re not the winner, you just lost less.
Viacom is evil! They just don’t get it. Everyone should be outraged at the invasion of their privacy. The ‘old’ media companies are so ignorant. Youtube is the best advertisement and product placement tool they could want and they just can’t see beyond the rabbit ear antennas of a few people. They think they can squeeze some money out of Google and scare the net into ‘protecting’ their content for them.
I predict the backlash against Viacom will cost them more than anything they get from Google. The genie will not be placed back in its bottle. The people watching Youtube are not watching content on their TVs. Viacom is arguing they are being harmed by people seeing content they wouldn’t watch on conventional OTA, cable or satellite. Youtube is not taking away from their market, IT’S a NEW MARKET YOU IDIOTS!! And instead of exploiting it, Viacom wants to crush it. So long Viacom, I hope my pension fund isn’t investing in you.
Carpool
It wasn’t raining very hard at the time, but it had been.
I must have run into a deep pool of standing water in the road.
Instantly the car veers right and starts spinning.
Once or twice I can’t recall. Time slows, and still it happens so fast.
Nothing is heard. The vehicle is circling me as I don’t seem to be moving.
The steering wheel isn’t doing its job. Why doesn’t it work?
A distant crunch is felt more than heard. Immediate deceleration.
Was that me crashing into something?
Locked into the seat by ingenious restraints I’m moving backwards,
Rebounding like a pool ball off the rail,
And without warning here comes another car.
Acura corner pocket!
The Business of Corrections
The road that wraps around the prison is Progress Drive.
A Security Patrol vehicle keeps lookout above the parking lot.
You need a magnetic key card to get through the employee’s entrance door.
It also tells a computer what time you arrive.
Swiping your card past the sensor opens another door.
To the right is the path that takes you inside.
Pressing the button alerts “control” while a camera confirms identity.
Past this heavy metal door is a straight corridor that connects to Central Control.
Electronic eyes watch the approach.
You wait for one gate to slide shut that its opposite may open.
An officer exchanges keytags for office keys. No tag, no keys.
Folders, files, envelopes, even pockets are randomly inspected.
A sliding door with polycarbonate window, guaranteed to withstand
Assault for one hour with simple tools, opens onto a long well lit hallway.
This leads to the Restricted Housing Unit, or RHU, commonly called the hole.
Separate from the rest of the institution it is a Prison within the prison.
Two more sliding steel and polymer barriers are negotiated before reaching the unit.
One last button is pushed, requesting access to the cell block,
The lock releases remotely allowing entrance, a solid slam signals all secure once more.
Unlocking the office you are now ready to begin the business of Corrections.
