Good news, bad news and worse news from today's MSM

I've got some good news, so I'll share that first. From The Washington Post today:

BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- The American soldier stepped out of the Baghdad nightclub. In one hand, he clutched his weapon. In the other, a green can of Tuborg beer. He took a sip and walked over to two comrades, dressed as he was in camouflage and combat gear.

Inside the club Thursday night, U.S. soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division ogled young Iraqi women who appeared to be prostitutes gyrating to Arabic pop music. A singer crooned soulfully through scratchy speakers to the raucous, pulsating beat -- an action that Islamic extremists have deemed punishable by beheading.

Twenty minutes later, several drunk men coaxed an American soldier to dance. He awkwardly shuffled his feet, wearing night-vision equipment and a radio, joining the women and boisterous young men in an Arabic chain dance around tables covered with empty beer bottles.

Guess what? When American G.I.'s, Marines and sailors aren't fighting wars, they love to party. No big surprise. Been there, done that during the Vietnam War in Uncle Sam's Navy. But when G.I.'s in Baghdad can visit a local club and dance with the Iraqi women, something big has happened. No headlines have yet proclaimed it from the Obama News Media, but victory has broken out in Iraq. President Bush's "surge" worked and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after six long years of blood, sweat and tears by our glorious fighting men and women.

Now the bad news. President Obama came down to my state to the biggest Marine base, Camp LeJeune, NC, yesterday and gave a big speech on the Iraq war. He declared it over and announced combat will officially end by his royal decree on a date he has set in stone.

"Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said.

Of course, like everything Obama says, it depends on what the meaning of "is" is. And his "officials" explained the fine print of Obama's set-in-stone deadline for the Post reporter.

Obama pledged to "proceed cautiously" and to closely consult military commanders, but under his plan, roughly 100,000 troops would exit Iraq by mid-2010. Another 35,000 to 50,000 would remain to help provide security and training -- and, most importantly, counterterrorism operations and advisory missions, which military officials note may include combat.

So 100,000 will leave, but 50,000 will remain for duties that "may include combat." Got it?

Obama's "official end of combat in Iraq" date-setting reminds me a diary entry by a World War II veteran I interviewed in 2005 on the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific.

G.W. "Bill" Godwin, then 84, was a young Marine medic who went ashore with the Marine assault forces on Feb. 25, 1945, at the beginning of one of the worst battles of WWII. Some general announced three weeks later that the Battle of Iwo Jima was officially over. Never mind that Marines and soldiers continued to fight and die and kill Japanese defenders for weeks more. Godwin wrote in his diary about the day "victory" was officially declared on Iwo Jima:

March 17, 1945: "Today the island was secured (officially)."
March 20, 1945: "I wish to hell someone would tell the Nips that this island is secured. They don't seem to know it. Out of 13 of us who came ashore, only 5 are left."
(Two more of the original 13 were casualities before Goodwin's unit pulled out from Iwo Jima on March 27, leaving him one of only three escaping unhurt.)

But the saddest thing about Obama's speech to the Marines at LeJeune is the word he didn't use. He declared an official victory date in the future, but never used the word "victory." He also never mentioned the word "surge" which would have required him to also mention the name of President Bush, who approved the risky plan of General Petraeus, the military architect of the surge and the Iraq victory, when all the "experts" agreed it was time to cut and run from Iraq. And of course, Obama was the chief cheerleader of all the cut-and-run "experts" way back then.

The New York Times coverage of Obama's speech at LeJeune noted his choice of words.

Mr. Obama presented his plan at the same base where, in April 2003, with American forces nearing Baghdad, Mr. Bush declared that “we will accept nothing less than complete and final victory.”

Victory is now officially out of fashion. Welcome to Obama's world.

And now on to the worse news, the economy. The Washington Post reports today:

The prospects for an economic recovery by year's end dimmed yesterday, as government data showed that the economy contracted at the end of 2008 by the fastest pace in a quarter-century. The worse-than-expected data fueled doubts about whether the Obama administration had adequately sized up the challenges it faces in trying to pull the country out of recession.

Gross domestic product, a measure of the goods and services produced across the nation, shrank at an annualized rate of 6.2 percent in the last quarter of 2008, according to the Commerce Department, far worse than the initial estimate of 3.8 percent and the 5 percent most analysts were expecting. The downward revision means the economy began the year from an even weaker position than previously thought.

...The revised GDP figure helped stoke skepticism among economists who say the White House's projections for the nation's recovery are too rosy. Based on those projections, Obama said he would slash the deficit in half by the end of his term. In its budget outline, the administration predicted that the economy would shrink 1.2 percent this year and grow 3.2 percent next year. By contrast, the consensus among private forecasters is that the economy will shrink 1.9 percent this year and grow 2.1 percent next year.

There's an old saw that says if all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion. So when The Post says the economists are in agreement that Obama's rosy projections about his so-called stimulus plan are too rosy, that means they stink.

Hunker down folks. It's gonna get worse before it gets better. Maybe a whole lot worse.

Are you sane? A short self-evaluation test for sanity

Stolen whole hog from the Brownell's February newsletter:

A Little Self-Evaluation Test
Meg Ruzek, our Head of HR Department
It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time. This little test should get you started.

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria is that defines whether a patient should be institutionalized or not. "Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub with water, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the water out of the tub."

"Okay, here's your test: 1. Would you use the spoon? 2. Would you use the teacup? 3. Would you use the bucket?"

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would choose the bucket since it is larger than the teacup or spoon."

"No," answered the Director. "A normal person would pull out the stopper."

So how did you do?

Depressing thoughts about the future of our free Republic

Haven't blogged much on politics lately as all the news is bad and getting worse. Depressing for a founding member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, as Obama/Pelosi/Reid consolidate power.

Besides, I've been busy as a one-handed paper hanger working at my new job at a gun store, where Obama's stimulus plan for gun shops shows no signs of slacking off since the election. That's so far as I know the only sector of the economy that's booming and the Good Lord opened a job for me there just in time before I got laid off as a technical writer/photography for a local industry. Proves once again how the Lord takes care of fools and drunks. I've been both and still a bit of the former.

Anyway, I had another depressing thought last night sitting in Bible study at church. We've been studying the "minor prophets," the small in quantity but not quality authors of the concluding books of the Old Testament, such unrecognizable names as Hosea, Amos, Habakkuk, Joel, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Haggai, Zephaniah, Zechariah and Malachi. I've read them all before several times in my trips through the Bible, but this is the first time I've participated in a study of these men who wrote during the closing years of the Northern and Southern Jewish kingdoms.

Their messages could be aptly summed up in four words: "The end is near." Their words were indeed prophetic as they warned of the defeat of the Northern Kingdom of Isarel first, when the Assyrians conquered and carried away the "Lost 10 Tribes" of the Jewish nation into exile.

They're called the lost 10 tribes because they never returned to Northern Israel. Gone forever.

And these minor prophets also warned of the coming collapse of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which happened when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians conquered Judah and carried those two Jewish tribes into captivity. They were released by the Persian ruler who conquered Babylon and allowed to return to Israel, but the Southern Kingdom was never restored.

There were no further true kings in Israel following the period written about by the minor prophets. During the 400 "silent years" between Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, there was no true king in Israel, nor were there any prophets in Israel.

By the time of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, first the Greeks and then the Romans had conquered Israel and King Herod was nothing but a non-Jewish puppet/pretender placed on the throne of Israel by the Romans.

And here's the depressing thought that hit me last night during Bible study of Habakkuk. Are we in the times of the minor prophets here in America? Are the lights about to go out on our freedom as a nation as socialism is being proclaimed on the front cover of a leading magazine?

Prophets of our time have warned for the past few decades "The end is near!" but few have believed them. Seems to me the power grab under way by Obama/Pelosi/Reid could bring about the total collapse of our free-market economy and plunge America into third-world status.

That may be why you cannot find any mention of a nation that sounds even remotely like America in any of the prophetic writings about the last days before Jesus returns to earth.

The Book of Revelation and other end-time prophecies clearly describe the revived Roman empire in Europe, but have no hint of a free nation that is currently the world's sole superpower.

I fear our superpower status is soon to fall into the dustbin of history. Truly the end is near.

President Obama's World Diplomacy Amateur Hour Show

In case you haven't been paying attention, and the mainstream media certainly hasn't, President Obama's amateur hour on world diplomacy is making V.P. Joe Biden look like a genuine prophet.

Sir Charles Krauthammer has been paying attention to world affairs and gives the rundown:

WASHINGTON -- The Biden prophecy has come to pass. Our wacky veep, momentarily inspired, had predicted last October that "it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama." Biden probably had in mind an eve-of-the-apocalypse drama like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Instead, Obama's challenges have come in smaller bites. Some are deliberate threats to U.S. interests, others mere probes to ascertain whether the new president has any spine.

From Russian to Iran to Pakistan to Venezuela, America's enemies have been firing shots across Obama's bow and so far his response has been his trademark "cool" which means either he's not paying attention, is so inexperienced and amateurish he doesn't know how to respond or is so full of overblown ego and bravado he thinks the famous Obama smile and diplomacy will make it all go away before one of these tryants kicks off a full-blown international incident with the U.S.

I suspect it's all of the above. And to add to Krauthammer's list of pending international crises, Obama's "seasoned" Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces that North Korea is in the midst of a succession crisis. This may be true, but talking about it publicly is almost guaranteed to set off a row with the notoriously paranoid North Korean commies. Nicely played Hillary.

She's bringing her diplomatic skills to bear like she did as First Lady in bringing peace in the midst of Kosovo sniper fire and between the Northern Ireland Catholics and Protestants. And as suspect as those credentials she boasted of during the campaign are, Obama's credentials on foreign policy are even worse. They're nonexsistent. This President needs some training wheels.

And Ollie North reports in today that the war in Afghanistan ain't looking too rosy either as President Obama gives the general in charge there only half the troops he asked for in a "Stealth Surge" that seems to be at best a half-measure for a worsening situation.

And guess what Glenn Beck was predicting on Fox News this morning? A full-blown depression worldwide touching off riots and civil unrest not seen since the Great Depression -- or worse.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking about digging a hole and pulling it in after me.

The New York Reload/Southern Redneck Style

I've reinvented an old carry strategy. I call it the New York Reload/Southern Redneck Style.

I've been trying out different carry combos since I started working in a gun shop and since I'm ambiguous, amphibious or ambidextrous I've been alternating between left and right-hand carry. I'm strong-hand right, dominant-eye left, so I shoot equally well (or badly) from either hand, trying to keep both eyes open.

My main carry choices are three in .357 Sig (S&W M&P full-size and Compact and Steyr M357-A1), Glock G29 10mm and Steyr M9A1 9mm. For backup I have been using a Kel Tec PF-9 9mm in a pocket holster and extra magazines for it and the main carry also stuffed in pockets.

But the only nonfamily gun salesman at the store, other than me, is a young guy who gave me an idea. He carries a subcompact Glock .40 on his right hip and another one behind it above his hip pocket covered by his t-shirt tail hanging out. The rest of the crew, two guys and one woman, all carry hip holsters but so far as I know, don't carry any backups, but I ain't searchin' em.

So I was reading a gun mag and this guy mentions the "New York Reload" which NYC detectives used on stake-outs back in the '50s when snubby revolvers were all they were allowed to carry. So they carried at least two, sometimes three or four. Shoot one empty, grab another and so on. A heck of a lot faster than trying to reload. It would also be faster than reloading a pistol, so if carrying two snubbies make sense, two pistols is even better.

So I decided it was time to get the PF-9 out of my pocket and onto the belt. Since I'm about equally comfortable shooting right or left, I put the main carry on the left, where I shoot a bit better, and the backup on the right. That's the M&P .357 Sig Compact on the left and PF-9 on the right.

I usually work in a t-shirt as the shop is kept quite warm but when I walk across the street for lunch, I can put on a shirt with the tail out and it covers both well enough not to alarm the waitresses or other customers.

I've started wearing this set-up at work at the gun shop and it's very comfortable. Certainly better than a backup pistol and spare mags stuffed in my pockets. I figure with 11 rds. of .357 Sig and 8 rds. of 9mm, one of the other guys or the armed gal oughta be able to provide all the back-up I'll need after that.

Since I ain't from Noo Yawk and am not going there even to visit if I can help it, I call it the Southern Redneck Reload. As the eternal optimist was heard to say as he passed the 40th floor while falling off the Empire State Building, "So far so good."

In search of a left-hand friendly single-stack carry .45 ACP

Got a letter from a reader who shares my left-handedness and is in search of a lefty-friendly slim, short-barrel single-stack .45 ACP for carry. He wrote in response to my writing about the S&W M&P .357 Sig, which is very lefty friendly with dual slide releases and reversible mag release. Since the article he read, I just added last week my second M&P .357 Sig in Compact to go with the full-size M&P.

I am in search of a left-handed pistol but have had problems finding anything that has a LH slide release. I came across your article, Baddest Tactical Pistol No. 5: S&W M&P 357 and it certainly caught my intreset.

In particular, I am intrigued by the following comment, "I'm not gonna know to act being able to reload without changing hands from left to right, not to mention being able to reach the slide-lock release button with my left hand, too." The M&P 357 truely sounds like a dream come true. Do you have any other recommendations in regards to a LH (personal protection) pistol? I would have purchased the Para-Ord Warthawg slimline (for carry), but the safety was all wrong. Do you have any recommendations in a slim-line (5-6 rd. cap.) model preferably in a .45acp?

Since he rejected a slim Para Warthog, he's apparently looking at 3" barrels, which is about the smallest functional .45 ACPs on the market. Unfortunately, I know of no slim, single-stack .45s with dual slide releases on the market. M&P's full-size .45 has dual slide releases and also dual ambi safeties and the FNP-45 has both, but neither is slim, single-stack or small. I think he's looking for that proverbial black cat in a coal mine that ain't there. So I offered a selection of the only slim, short .45s I know of that have ambi safeties. Here's what I responded with.

I just bought a subcompact M&P in .357 Sig which to date is my smallest carry pistol (with the exception of my backup Kel Tec PF-9 with 3" barrel). M&P calls is their compact model but it's 3.5" barrel is called subcompact by all other makers. And like the full-size M&P .357 Sig I already had (which has a 4.25" barrel and is called compact by all other makers) both sizes of the M&P have dual slide stops and reversible magazine release buttons. But M&P does not offer the compact in .45 ACP yet, plus it is not the single-stack .45 that you are seeking.

I do not know of any makers with a single-stack .45 ACP with dual slide locks or mag releases.

Kimber offers a 3" barrel single-stack .45 ACP in their SIS line they call the Ultra size which has ambi safeties but not dual slide locks or mag releases. They also have ambi safeties on their Ultra CDP II, but again not dual slide locks or mag releases.

Para has a 3" with ambi safeties and single stack called the PXT LDA in .45 ACP.

Springfield Armory has the Loaded Micro Compact with 3" barrel and ambi safeties in .45 ACP.

And if you will consider a non-1911, there's the Glock 36 single-stack .45 ACP with no safeties.

I'm sure there are other compact 1911s with ambi safeties, but those are the leaders I know.

If you want .40S&W or .357 Sig, there are other subcompacts like the S&W M&P.

If any of my fellow gun nuts/sharpshooters/marksmen/riflemen can help this gentleman out, I'll pass along your suggestions to him. He didn't tell me to share his email adress, so I won't.

A quiet miracle occurs unreported in the Arab Middle East

If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Now we know definitively the answer to that old puzzler. Yes, it makes a sound, but if it's good news from Iraq, no one will hear it because the mainstream media will suddenly be stricken by nationwide blindness and deafness. Sir Charles Krauthammer has been paying attention as usual, and reports on the good news from Iraq despite the media blackout. They held an election and a peaceful one at that. And we won. Or more accurately, our troops won because it's been their blood, sweat and tears that brought this astonishing miracle to pass, the first peaceful democracy forming in the Arab Middle East.

Preoccupied as it was poring over Tom Daschle's tax returns, Washington hardly noticed a near-miracle abroad. Iraq held provincial elections. There was no Election Day violence. Security was handled by Iraqi forces with little U.S. involvement. A fabulous bazaar of 14,400 candidates representing 400 parties participated, yielding results highly favorable to both Iraq and the United States.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki went from leader of a small Islamic party to leader of the "State of Law Party," campaigning on security and secular nationalism. He won a smashing victory. His chief rival, a more sectarian and pro-Iranian Shiite religious party, was devastated. Another major Islamic party, the pro-Iranian Sadr faction, went from 11 percent of the vote to 3 percent, losing badly in its stronghold of Baghdad. The Islamic Fadhila party that had dominated Basra was almost wiped out.

When Mookie and his Al Sadr thugs lose, we win, the Iraqi people win and Iran loses. Of course, it's still possible to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and Obama can still pull it off.

This is not to say that these astonishing gains are irreversible. There loom three possible threats: (a) a coup from a rising and relatively clean military disgusted with the corruption of civilian politicians -- the familiar post-colonial pattern of the past half-century; (b) a strongman emerging from a democratic system (Maliki?) and then subverting it, following the Russian and Venezuelan models; or (c) the collapse of the current system because of a premature U.S. withdrawal that leads to a collapse of security.

Averting the first two is the job of Iraqis. Averting the third is the job of the U.S. Which is why President Obama's reaction to these remarkable elections, a perfunctory statement noting that they "should continue the process of Iraqis taking responsibility for their future," was shockingly detached and ungenerous.

When you become president of the United States you inherit its history, even the parts you would have done differently. Obama might argue that American sacrifices in Iraq were not worth what we achieved. But for the purposes of current and future policy, that is entirely moot. Despite Obama's opposition, America went on to create a small miracle in the heart of the Arab Middle East. President Obama is now the custodian of that miracle. It is his duty as leader of the nation that gave birth to this fledgling democracy to ensure that he does nothing to undermine it.

Read the whole thing and get the news you missed from the MSM (AKA Obama News Network).

Ruger Mini-14 Tactical Rifles are back again -- to stay?

The on-again, off-again Ruger Mini-14 Tactical Rifle is back, plus a second compact tactical model. At bottom is the ATI 6-position collapsible and folding stock version and at top is the compact tactical flash suppressor version with synthetic stock. Both have the compact 16.125" barrels and come with 20-rd. magazines. I would say they're about the best buy out there for .223 assault rifles since ARs and AK variant prices have skyrocketed.

The gun shop where I'm working now has on Gunbroker what I suppose is an early release model of the flash suppressor version of the compact tactical, since it comes with only a 5-rd. magazine and no free scope rings. The two tactical models on Ruger's website say they come with scope rings and 1 20-rd. magazine. Of course, you can buy 20-rd. magazines from Ruger but they've finally seen the common sense to provide 20-rd. magazines in the box with some of their Mini-14 models. They should do it with all their models. I've always had a hard time with math ever since the 3rd grade, but I do know that 20 rounds is four times better than five.

Who has the right to kill an innocent baby?

I'm flip-flopping from guns to God today, so back on the topic of who's got a right to decide whether an innocent baby has got a right to live, I'll let this 12-year-old girl explain the facts of life to you.

Any questions?

Willl you be ready when the armed thugs come calling?

What would you do if four armed men attacked your home? Would you be ready? This man was.

Sorta makes you rethink your home defense plan. This fella had all his stuff in one sack.

Imagine if a single mother had not chosen life for her son

Here's the ad you didn't see during the Super Bowl broadcast. Imagine...

At first NBC's advertising sales department accepted this ad.

But then NBC rejected our ad once the liberal news people at NBC had a chance to watch it.

This is the ad liberals don't want America to see . . . because liberals have no answer for this ad.

Even though we created this ad just a few weeks ago, millions of Americans have seen this ad already . . . despite NBC's efforts to blackout Imagine.

Liberals are screaming about this ad.

Liberals hate this ad . . . because liberals have no answer for this ad.

But I have a feeling you will love this ad:
HelpAirTheAd.org


Brian Burch
President
Fidelis

P.S. You can also send a Message of Protest to NBC President and CEO Jeff Zucker -- a message that asks: "Why did you refuse to run this powerful and factual ad during the Super Bowl, an ad which has now been seen by millions of Americans?"

Again, here's the link:
HelpAirTheAd.org

Guess who invented 2+2? Hint. It wasn't a mathematician

Here's a book I'll try to find time to read, Is God a Mathemetician?

Did you know that 365 -- the number of days in a year -- is equal to 10 times 10, plus 11 times 11, plus 12 times 12?

Or that the sum of any successive odd numbers always equals a square number -- as in 1 + 3 = 4 (2 squared), while 1 + 3 + 5 = 9 (3 squared), and 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16 (4 squared)?

Those are just the start of a remarkable number of magical patterns, coincidences and constants in mathematics. No wonder philosophers and mathematicians have been arguing for centuries over whether math is a system that humans invented or a cosmic -- possibly divine -- order that we simply discovered. That's the fundamental question Mario Livio probes in his engrossing book Is God a Mathematician?

Haven't read it, but I already know the answer. Yes. God invented math. Man discovered it.

Three Lessons Learned About .22 Semi-Auto Pistols

I bought a pair of .22 semi-auto pistols a while back and I'm just now realizing how good that decision was. The one at bottom was my first choice, a Smith & Wesson 22A-1, and while I was in the gun shop I spotted the one at top, a
Colt Huntsman.

I thought about that little Colt for a day or two and decided I had to have it too. I had a Navy buddy, lo many years ago, who had a Colt Woodsman which has got to the greatest shooting .22 I ever laid hands on. Buying a Colt Woodsman today is generally reserved for Colt collectors who have a heck of a lot more money than I do. But the Huntsman is the budget version of the Woodsman and this one was only $300, which is a real bargain. So I went back to the shop and bought it, too.

Turned out they were both great shooting pistols, but the S&W has the edge over the 30+year-old Colt. The proof, as with almost all guns, is in the trigger. Both had great triggers, but the Smith was the best. It measures with my Lyman Digital Trigger Gauge, at 1 lb. 12.4 oz., while the Colt measured at 2 lbs. 3.9 oz. And I speak about the Colt in the past tense because I bought it for $300 and then sold it two weeks later for $375 after deciding I didn't need two .22 pistols.

I used the cash and a little extra to buy a brand new in box S&W 21-4 .44 Special, the Clint Smith Thunder Ranch version revived by S&W as the start of their current Classic series. I bought it the highway robbery price of $425. I shoulda been arrested for taking advantage of a gun dealer.

S&W Model 21-4, 4" barrel, blue steel with factory Rosewood grips.

Anyway, back to the .22 topic. I chose the S&W 22-A1 over two other leading candidates, the Ruger Mk. III series and the Browning Buck Mark Camper series. I knew the Browning .22 pistols would have great triggers, Browning pistols all share that great trait, but didn't know from experience about the Ruger .22s. But I did learn one common fault of both the Ruger and Browning .22s during research. They are neither for the mechanically inept when it comes to field stripping for cleaning. If a klutz like me gets one apart, it will probably end up going to a gunsmith in a box of parts to put it back together. And I am a klutz for sure, so they're out.

And though I may still get a Buck Mark one of these days, I have learned something about the Ruger Mk. IIIs that makes me mark them off my list permanently. They have terrible triggers.

The recent newsletter from Brownell's (the greatest source of gun parts and accessories in the free world) had a gunsmith's article about how to install a decent trigger in a Ruger Mk. III.

The trigger was probably the only real shortfall. It had a good deal of take up or pretravel, there was a considerable amount of creep before it broke heavily, then there was significant overtravel. Additionally, the Ruger's trigger pivot is located far forward of the trigger's vertical centerline, causing the trigger to move upward in a tight arc as it was pulled. I like the parallel pull of a 1911 trigger or other designs that place the pivot over the trigger centerline. Pull was a heavy 4¼ - 4 ¾ lbs.

Between the upward arc of the trigger, its long pull and overtravel, I found myself pulling shots to the right. Groups spread horizontally as the pressure exerted on the trigger was directed above the plane formed at the web of my hand. I liked the gun, but the trigger had to go.

If you're mechanically inclined, or have a good gunsmith to go to, go get yourself a Ruger Mk. III. The Brownell's article tells you how to fix that bad trigger. As for me, I'll just hang with Smiths.

The Age of Obama begins with lipstick on a pig

As usual, Sir Charles cuts through the smog with a few, succinct words of wisdom. Today, Charles Krauthammer analyzes the so-called economic stimulus bill in Crisis, Catastrophe...

The Age of Obama begins with perhaps the greatest frenzy of old-politics influence peddling ever seen in Washington...

After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell -- and that this president told better than anyone.

I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks.

How the 'Greatest Generation' supported their troops

The Greatest Generation is almost completely gone as the World War II veterans pass on and I wonder what history will say about this generation. I strongly doubt there will be any stories like this one to tell about us. Maybe so, but it doesn't have to be that way. Go to militaryministry.org.

When the "Greatest Generation" passed through North Platte, Nebraska during WWII, they got a hug and a handshake, homemade cakes and cookies, and a moment of respite and prayer provided by thousands of volunteers from the surrounding communities. This spirit of service is vital to America today. You can give something back to our military members and their families. Visit militaryministry.org to see how!