You knew this would happen...

When I armed myself with a public forum you had to know is was just a matter of time until something irritated me while I was near a keyboard and the famous Dan'l rant lit off. SO if your easily offended better sign off right NOW!!

Personal responsibility in America is near death if not already rotting in the ditch. Run down by lazy, dishonest people who lack the moral and intestinal fortitude to face the consequences of their own actions. Oh I know your going to call me out for that but pack your lunch buddy 'cuz I'm well able to put up. For instance our current housing crisis. According to major news outlets and the talking head democrats it is due entirely to the "predatory" lending practices of the mortgage companies. They apparently went out and tracked down destitute folks and forced them to sign loans they couldn't afford probably at gun point. Do you really believe this garbage? There are two kinds of people and yes I am over simplifying, who are in trouble through this. One is the speculator who grabbed every cent he could sign for and tried to double his borrowed money. The other is the dreamer who talked himself into believing that despite what the calculator says he can afford a payment that in a year or two will be three quarters of the highest monthly income in his entire earning history. No no you say it was that evil mortgage broker who talked him into it told him he could refi in a year and use the equity for his down and get a fixed rate. That of course is because his house will be worth half again what it is now so the rest of that lovely equity will be a perfect place to borrow some money for a cruise, a new ski boat and a $60,000 truck to pull it with. Did the mortgage broker do the right thing? No of course he didn't but since when do we get our education from people who are trying to sell us stuff! When was the last time you strolled into one of those used car tent sales and sidled up to a car only to have the salesman come up and say... Hey there BUB you really shouldn't buy any of these wholesale wrecks of questionable background rather you should bump off down the road to those other fellows where you'll get a ride what has not been soaked in a hurricane but actually is offered with fair profit and in good order. Mortgage broker is just trying to sell you money and most likely not at a wholesale rate no different than a car salesman. So YOU must be the educated wary consumer who knows what he can afford and is basically out to find out who can take care of him the best and at a profit he finds acceptable.

What about the speculator? Simple if he got his rear handed to him over a craps table we say he had a gambling problem and send him to a state run program funded by tax dollars to help him recover from his addiction. The correct answer of course is for him to stand in front of the mirror every morning and say "Today I will not play craps, craps is bad!" and then stay out of the casino! OR stand in front of the mirror and say "I will not take out a second mortgage on my primary residence and buy another because that would be dumb." That way our tax dollars get spent fixing the road, paying for schools and all the other things we for some reason think we need government to do for us. That's another subject by the way and one we simply do not have time for this evening.

So I have exhausted this example now for a couple of shorties...

How about those nice folks near who after moving next to an airport find the airplane noise unacceptable, or their buddies who can't handle the smell of the dairy next door? It was built in the early 1900's but now that they've moved there those awful dairymen need to fix the smell!

Spill hot coffee on yourself pulling away from the MCD's because you where on the phone eating breakfast while navigating a left turn over a double yellow into heavy traffic? Clearly those vicious restaurateurs owe you millions of dollars!

Now at this point your probably asking WOW what this brought this one on?!

Well I'll tell you. Instead of being off work burning a tire track in a back road, getting my work out with my .45 at the range or simply enjoying dinner with my wife at home, I'm parked on a job babysitting wet concrete so the kid that damaged half the stuff our sub poured yesterday doesn't get the stuff they poured today. WHEW! (Few people can match me in a run on sentence contest!) Later.

Dyna Bagger

Ronald this ones for you...
Just a few quick pics for those who care about the truly important things in life like motorcycle upgrades. The Dyna got bags last week and while it looks a little more mundane I think the detraction from appearance is more than offset by the utility of the situation. Must justify... must justify... must justify...

P.S. They come off in two seconds flat and give it back that sleek hot rod appearance. Yummm cake.. OH and I get to eat it too!

HA HA HA HA HA HAHHHHHH

Training Review

Back in May my "twin brother" Lyle and I attended a carbine class in Pueblo West, CO. The course was a three day clinic on gunfighting with the automatic carbine, put on by EAG Tactical with the legendary Patrick A. Rodgers instructing. Covered in the curriculum where the subjects of gear selection, weapon maintenance, reloads both tactical and speed, and of course shooting the carbine. Shooting the carbine standing, shooting the carbine kneeling, shooting the carbine prone, shooting the carbine while moving, shooting the carbine fast, shooting the carbine accurately shooting the carbine at one target, shooting the carbine at multiple targets. Did I mention we did some shooting?! Pat has a whole library of drills he likes to use and we got to practice a few for instance turning to engage;

Turning:Engaging:

Also a multiple position drill which consisted of five rounds standing, reload, five rounds kneeling, reload, five rounds prone. Take all the time you need but get it done in under 25 seconds and DO NOT MISS!

We practiced The Hammer; one sight picture two trigger presses, Roadhouse Rules; everybody gets one before anybody gets seconds, Failure Drill; two center of mass followed by one to the cranial ocular cavity, NSR (non standard response); multiple rounds delivered as fast as the trigger can be controlled to the rear (an NSR for our class was a minimum of 7rds), and the Box Drill which combines Roadhouse rules and Failure drill on multiple targets.

We also learned to deal with primary weapon failures by either fixing the primary or at close range transitioning to our sidearms which looked like this:

Training with Pat is a thoroughly enjoyable experience that I intend to repeat. For anybody who has an interest in learning to run an AR carbine like the pros Pat's class is a great choice.

PS For a look at the static turn in action check out the video at the bottom of my blog