What's that have to do with a 6-toed cat?

Dang, the gub'mint has to be involved in everything these days, doesn't it?!?!?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/29/hemingway.cats.ap/index.html

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- The caretakers of Ernest Hemingway's Key West home want a federal judge to intervene in their dispute with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the six-toed cats that roam the property.

*snip*

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum disputes the USDA's claim that it is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs to have a USDA Animal Welfare License, according to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Miami.

*snip*

The agency has repeatedly denied a license for the Hemingway home under the Animal Welfare Act, which the home contends governs animals in commerce. The USDA has threatened to charge the home $200 per cat per day for violating the act, according to the complaint.

It's interesting, because this is one of the tactics gun-control advocates use to try and impose on state's rights when it comes to gun policy -- they claim guns and/or ammo fall under "interstate commerce" and are therefore subject to federal regulation.

Whether it's guns or 6-toed cats, this serves as a pretty good example of how frustrating - and downright absurd - government's insistence on regulation can be.

Back in the dirt

I just had my mountain bike overhauled, and had a 2-hr. ride this afternoon for the first time in a looooong time. I had forgotten how much fun it is to go fast.
















And how much it can sting to go fast...




















A dirt tan is the only kind of tan I can get...

The LawDog Files: Meditations on tool use.

I sometimes link to articles I think are worth reading. Here's another one on tools, courtesy of LawDog. In this case, I had written a (pretty sorry, not-very-well-conceived) essay on the same subject quite some time ago, and I never got around to revising it. LawDog addresses the issue with more eloquence than I could hope to match:

The LawDog Files: Meditations on tool use.

Suggestions

Ever watched the show "30 Days" on FX? http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/ I have. What a crock.

This season, 2 of the show's topics caught my attention: "Immigration" and "Incarceration".

I'd quote the Web site's description of the "Immigration" episode (I guess they accidentally left off that "illegal" word...) but I can't seem to copy the text. In short, they send a member of the Minutemen to live with a family of illegal immigrants here in the US.

Oooooh, that's clever, Mr. Spurlock. I like the way you spun that. Allow me to suggest an alternative 30-day experience which will shed a different light on illegal immigration:

Paco is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. He feels he deserves to have a better life in the U.S. For 30 days, Paco will live with a rancher in south Texas whose ranch is on the U.S/Mexico border. Paco will help the rancher tend his livestock. Paco will help the rancher repair fences which have been cut by illegal immigrants crossing his ranch, and he'll help pick up the refuse the illegal immigrants leave behind. Paco will share the rancher's frustration caused by the constant incursions into and damage done to his property. Paco will speak with the rancher's wife, who was beaten and raped by a group of illegals. Paco will visit the local hospital and health clinic to speak with physicians and administrators who have to offer free health care to the illegals who request it, and will witness firsthand the economic impacts this has on the local healthcare system. Paco will also visit the county Sheriff, and will ride along while the Sheriff explains the economic drain the illegals are causing federal, state and local law enforcement. Paco will also attend a Minuteman rally.

There's also an episode this season on "Incarceration". Mr. Spurlock himself graces us with his presence and stars in this one. I'll be less lazy & quote a bit from the description of this episode:

Morgan's 30 day experience will explore prison overcrowding, the business of incarceration and the need for better rehabilitation for those behind bars.

I've got a better idea:

For 30 days, Morgan will witness the effect criminals have on society. He'll first visit the family of a murdered child, who was killed in a robbery which netted the murderer a total of $10 from the father's wallet. Morgan will ask the murdered girl's father how he feels about prison overcrowding. Morgan will also ride along with a city police officer, and will listen to the officer describe how he continually picks up the same repeat offenders who have been let out of prison early, and he'll learn how petty crimes tend to be the first step toward more violent offences. Morgan will visit the local courthouse, and will see the economic impact of constantly re-processing repeat offenders. Morgan will be robbed and beaten repeatedly by felons who were released from prison before serving their full sentences. Morgan will also attend a crime-victim-rights rally. Morgan will interview a rape victim and will get her opinions on "rehabilitation". Morgan will probably not get bored.

Dang, I should be a writer for his show!

"Oh, THAT'S not good..."

There are some things you never want to hear the nurse say. That's one of 'em.

When I took the KY Nurse Aid certification course in May, I had to have a tuberculosis skin test - a requirement for health care workers. My skin reacted somewhat -- not enough for them to keep me from doing my clinicals (my chest x-ray was clear and I presented with no physical symptoms of an active TB infection), but they wanted me to come back in a few weeks for a repeat test.

I'd had my annual oncology checkup on May 1 - just 2 weeks or so before the skin test - and they had given me an MMR vaccine, which (according to some online material) can affect the test. So I figured there was no reason to get my knickers in a knot.

Silly me.

I went back last Friday to repeat the test. I kept an eye on my arm all weekend, watching that sucker get more red & bigger as the weekend went on. Shit.

On Monday, I dragged myself back to the local health dept. for my sentence.

"Oh, that's not good," the nurse blurted out when she looked at my arm.















Don't they teach nurses to watch what they say to their patients?

Anyway, I presented with 13mm induration (a raised, hard, reddened area - kind of like a bug bite, only harder to the touch). They sent me back to my family doctor, who ordered a chest x-ray, which still turned up clear. I still have no physical symptoms of active infection (night sweats, fatigue, anorexia, unexplained weight loss, occasionally coughing up bloody sputum, etc.) Hey, as a leukemia survivor, I'd be FREAKING OUT if I were having night sweats & fatigue.

My family MD sent me back to the health dept. Here in KY, TB is still around (I gather more than one might expect in other parts of the country). In my little county, there were 8 active infections treated last year (a really high number, considering how small my county is). Since TB is definitely a health threat, the state is pretty involved in things, so I had the pleasure of sending 3 days of urine samples to Frankfort (haven't heard anything yet) to check for active infection.

Since I'm a transplant recipient, they're not playing around. (As a bone-marrow recipient, I'm not on immunosuppressives, but they're still not playing around.) For somebody like me, and induration over 5mm is considered a positive result. They've put me on 300mg Isoniazid and a daily B-6 supplement -- for 6 months. And that's the preventive regimen.

I shouldn't complain. My family MD said she reacted 6 years ago and had to take the meds. I guess it goes with the territory. Hey, it beats having an active infection. And considering my health history, it beats some of the other diseases I've had ... and it sure beats being dead. Besides, it won't keep me from attending nursing school (which was one of my biggest concerns.)

What baffles me is how I ended up exposed in the first place. In the 3 years I've lived here, I worked from home. Miss Fluffy & I aren't active in church. Heck, to most people, I'm downright antisocial. If there was one person I thought would NOT end up exposed to something like TB, it would've been me. I can't figure this out. I expressed those thoughts to my doctor. "Welcome to the healthcare profession," she said. Indeed.

Gawd, can't I just get a COLD or break a bone or something less dramatic?!?!? In the last 12 years, I've endured:

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Bone Marrow Transplant

Basal Cell Carcinoma

Osteopenia

Osteonecrosis (Rt. femoral medial condyle) AKA Avascular Necrosis

3 surgeries to correct the above:

(Arthroscopy, Autologous Allograft and Chondrocyte implantation)

and now THIS

I'd like to think I could be known for something OTHER than ticking off another disease which failed to kill me.

I carry guns to protect me from people who would take my life. Disease is something else entirely -- especially since most of my problems haven't been due to factors that I can control.

Oh, well, Enough whining. No class today, and my parents are coming up for the weekend. I've got a bed to make, a yard to mow, guns to shoot and life to live. That which does not kill me makes me stronger. And more surly. And better armed.

LPN classes start August 12.

Creepy-crawly!!

As seen just now in one of the sheds:















Don't that just give 'ya the willies?!?!?!?

Actually, I had never seen a black widow in real life. It's kind of pretty, in that don't-get-too-close kind of way...

Wasted effort

Bush addresses NAACP

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/20/bush.naacp.ap/index.html

So what? There probably wasn't one person in the audience who'll vote Republican in '08, because the Republican party doesn't need to pander to their racist nonsense.

"I understand that racism still lingers in America," Bush said. "It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart."

Exactly. And that's why, as I've said before, the civil rights movement is dead. Dredging up the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will achieve absolutely nothing in terms of promoting equal opportunity in this country. Legislation has done all it can do for black people. Blacks have more opportunity now than they've ever had before. They need to learn to stand on their own two feet, rather than having the NAACP cry racism in order to extort more bleeding-heart handouts from the government.

Enough already.

Too much spare time...

... yeah, this guy has it ... Hilarious, nonetheless. This was probably the dude you knew in middle school who would eat anything if it'd gross out the girls.

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php

Teaser:

Inside is a smooth, oddly pink meat paste. So smooth, in fact, I dare call it "creamy." (I actually got a little gaggy just typing that.)Surprisingly, it was a little spicier than I expected. Although, that sensation may have been a by-product of my tastebuds dying.

Might wanna wait 'till a couple hours after dinner to click that link...

Farm Wars

Farm Wars ... from the weekend pre-July 4...

Furniture

Like the good lad he is, HODAR is tricking out his WASR-10:















Now doesn't that just give you the warm-fuzzies?

All he needs now is a tac-light and a vertical foregrip, and he'll be the envy of the neighborhood.

Heat

It's hot.

Not just high temps, mind you, but Southern hot -- which means hot and humid.

Really humid.

Miss Fluffy & I waited 'till after 8pm last night to go pick some blackberries, and still I sweated my keester off just sitting in the Mule.

We may head back out today, since it's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.

I had planned for us to shoot the IDPA classifier today (http://www.idpa.com/Documents/IDPARuleBook2005.pdf, page 66), but I swear it may be too miserable out there.

Maybe I'll just sit inside and imagine I'm out shooting today...

Quotations

I'm going to post some quotations from Teddy Roosevelt. Then I'm going to study.

Really.

The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.

Check out some other T.R. quotes here: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/theodore_roosevelt.html

Take a hint

The recent UN arms control conference is over. By the International Action Network on Small Arms' (IANSA) own admission, it went over like a pregnant pole-vaulter.

Score:

Gun owners: 1 Gun-banning blissninnies: Zilch.

UN Arms Talks Meltdown: Conference Allows Global Gun Crisis to Continue

Despite the efforts of the majority of governments to secure real change, the long awaited UN Small Arms conference has ended in failure. Hijacked by a small number of states, notably the US, the conference failed to agree on any measures at all to address the global gun crisis.

Read their entire snivelling press release for yourself:

http://www.iansa.org/un/review2006/documents/IANSA%20press%20release%20_7%20July%202006_.pdf

Next time I head out to do some shooting, I'll have a whole new reason to smile...

Insight

Some quotations from William T. Sherman:

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are.

If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.

War is the remedy our enemies have chosen, and I say give them all they want.

If the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war, and not popularity seeking.

Perspective

Check out the July 4, 2006 issue of thenashvillefiles.com video blog, which features an interview with one of the people I've come to admire greatly - Oleg Volk. He's from Russia (a LEGAL immigrant), he's a strong advocate of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and his perspective on government is unique.

http://nashvillefiles.com/blog/archives/001404.html

Not to blow it, but one thing Oleg said really struck me:

"... any government that's strong enough to give you everything you want is also strong enough to take everything that you have ..."

Nancy Pelosi, call your office.

There's more to it, so check out the interview.

If you haven't before, check out Oleg's brainchildren:

http://www.a-human-right.com/

http://olegvolk.livejournal.com/

http://www.thehighroad.org/

Expansion

It's always fun to "test" the expansion of a hollowpoint round. We did our own pseudobarelyoknotsomuchscientific "test" over the weekend, with HODAR's Springfield XD-40.














I put food coloring in the jugs just to ... uh ... help us with the study.

Before:
















During:































After:
















And the results:

































Our (non)scientist experts reviewed the results, and deemed them "pretty friggin' cool".

Who knew science could be such a blast?!?!?

Happy Independence Day!

HODAR, the Greyhound, the Filipino (the FOX's fiance), Miss Fluffy & I celebrated the nation's - and our - independence over the weekend. We had fireworks of our own.

HODAR brought his newest acquisition, his WASR-10 AK-47 variant. I was really curious about the rifle -- I had never had the opportunity to fire one before. Frankly, it lived up to all the hype. It didn't have quite the recoil I had anticipated; rather, it was respectably controllable. All HODAR needs to do is add an AK-74-style muzzle brake to that puppy, and it'll barely have any muzzle climb at all. The rifle handled very well, and was a hoot-to-shoot. I can't wait 'till he brings it back (decked out in the the OD furniture he ordered!!).
















We also shot my AR-15:

















And the Greyhound shot his Glock .40 (the teeny one -- I forget the model):
















And, of course, there was fire:

















It was great to have 'em all here, celebrating friends, family and our independence the way only Americans can.

I hope the UN heard the reports ...