Tuesday, December 26, 2006

It's your civic duty...

... to read Principles of Personal Defense by the late Col. Jeff Cooper. I'm not kidding. Not only is there an absolute wealth of knowledge in the book, it's short - my copy is all of 79 pages of big print, some pictures and blank page faces - so it takes about 20 minutes to read. You have no excuse for not doing so. Few people can teach you so much about proper mindset in so little time. My only regret is that I didn't read this book many, many years ago.

Since I've read it just once (I should commit the entire thing to memory) I'll share my initial favorite quote from the book, from the "Aggressiveness" chapter:

Now how do we cultivate an aggressive response? I think the answer is indignation. Read the papers. Watch the news. These people have no right to prey upon innocent citizens. They have no right to offer you violence. They are bad people and you are quite justified in resenting their behavior to the point of rage. Your response, if attacked, must not be fear, it must be anger. The two emotions are very close and you can quite easily turn one into the other. At this point your life hangs upon your ability to block out all thoughts of your own peril, and to concentrate utterly upon the destruction of you enemy. Anger lets you do this. The little old lady who drives off an armed robber by beating on him with her purse is angry, and good for her!

The foregoing is quite obviously not an approved outlook in current sociological curcles. That is of no consequence. We are concerned here simply with survival. After we have arranged for our survival we can discuss sociology.

I feel like Luke Skywalker when Ben Kenobi said something to him to the effect of "you've taken your first step into a larger world..."

The haul...

I finally asked for some things this Christmas that I had been thinking about for some time. Col. Jeff Cooper's "Principles of Personal Defense" is something I should have read a long time ago. I also got Tactical Response's "Fighting Pistol" DVD set. I've watched 2 of the 3 DVDs so far, and it's pretty good. Most of it is mindset-oriented, which is important to be sure, but I'm hoping I'll see more demonstrations of practice drills to improve my shooting on DVD #3.


I also got a 3-map and guidebook set of the Appalachian Trail in Southwestern VA. I've kind of fallen away from backpacking since I got into rock-climbing and mountaineering, but now that I'm a po' college student again, backpacking has rolled around again as a low-cost activity. I'll be doing more of it in the coming year.



And, of course ... Spongebob Squarepants playing cards.


What are you laughing at?

My "big" gift is bolted to a table in the basement. Pictures will be posted soon.

Greediness aside, it was a pretty good Christmas. I wish the weather would've been nicer, but if that's all I've got to complain about, then I should keep my trap shut.

Here's hoping your Christmas was Merry!

Monday, December 25, 2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Friday, December 22, 2006

Trapped

Gawd ... cabin fever. It's raining just enough to make doing anything outside suck. I'm at the in-laws' for Christmas. Nothing in particular is scheduled for today, so I'd brought the AR to shoot ... but that's not gonna happen. I'd also brought hiking boots. I suppose I could do that, actually, since I brought rain gear, but who really enjoys hiking in the rain?

At least I brought books. I'm nearly through "The Coldman Cometh" by Bob Durr, which is a fun read. I also recently bought yet another book I didn't read in high school -- a paperback combo of "Walden" and "Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau. I couldn't help but start on "Civil Disobedience" when I bought the book, and it's so inflammatory that it would've set my hair on fire .... if I had any hair, that is....

So, I guess today's agenda will consist of reading and push-ups and sit-ups in the floor. Woo hoo. Really.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Pain & Irony

Took a backpacking trip this weekend with the mighty HODAR. We did a section of the Appalachian Trail from Sam's Gap at the TN/NC line and went north to Spivey Gap in TN. The description of the route labeled it "very difficult."

No joke.

That section of the trail goes over 3 peaks - Bald Mtn., Big Bald & Little Bald. The views were spectacular from the top of Big Bald, but we had to earn it. We had over 3,000 ft. of elevation gain and loss over 13 miles in 2 days. I swear, it felt like it was uphill both ways. It was a good trip, but I'm beat. I slept over 9 hours last night. My butt is so chafed it hurt to walk last night.

I broke in my new Mountain Hardwear Annapurna tent, which worked well. It's almost exactly like my old Sierra Designs Tiros Expedition tent, but with more storage and some better features. The rain fly is a weird, thin, crinkly material. It worked very well in that we were warm, but I'll be skeptical of the fly until I get rained on (which isn't to suggest I'm looking forward to that.)

Part of the trail skirted a development of new homes -- what looked to me like mountain "trophy" homes -- on the ridge tops around the balds. Tacky. On a sign designating a spring, some hippy had scrawled:

The rich destroy the most beautiful things

Yeah, and dirty, self-righteous hiker-hippies can't help but deface trail signs with graffiti.

Which is tackier?

Am I the only one choking on the irony?

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

OK, OK...

.... so I've got my head jammed in Tam's butt. So sue me.

This post on preparedness is a good one.

I've said over and over again that I'm sick of the common attitude that preparedness (in any way, shape or form) = paranoia. How on earth can people still not get it after Hurricane Katrina?!?!?

At least I'm not the only one.

Balance point

Tam has an excellent post up regarding the role of LEOs in our society.

I know where she's coming from. Personally, on the surface, I think the kevlar-clad-SWAT-ninja-LEO is the coolest thing on earth. I've seen practically every episode of "Dallas SWAT" (though the plot got old after episode 2.) I want to see the local meth-cooker's doors ripped off the hinges by the SWAT team's armored vehicle. I want to see him barf after getting tear-gassed. I have very, very little tolerance for criminals. I applaud law enforcement for bringing the pain.

But...

We live in an increasingly legalistic society. We've got a bad habit of trying to legislate our way to Utopia. It's inevitable that - eventually - whether we intended to or not, we'll become the criminal because of our unbridled zeal.

Don't believe me?

My favorite example to back that up is speed limits. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard people claim that cops give speeding tickets solely to raise revenue and/or to make someone's life miserable and/or I-was-in-a-hurry, I'd be a wealthy alpineman.

Speed limits are the law. You don't want a ticket? THEN DON'T SPEED.

But that's where the problem comes in. Drive through any city. Drive on any backroad. Just look how society as a whole acts with utter disdain when it comes to speed limits.

It's not like speed limits are imposed upon society. You can't possibly argue that speed doesn't kill. It does. If people would just slow down, we'd see far fewer traffic fatalities on the roads every year. After a while, we get tired of the interstate bloodbath, and we engage in a self-righteous crusade to save us from our demon-driving selves, and we have our local representatives "crack down" on speeding. We want more aggressive traffic enforcement. We call for lower speed limits. We demand that the cops be given the tools and the power to enforce the laws. But - for whatever reason - we won't abide by the very laws we demanded. We still drive like demons, and then we bitch and moan about the speed limits that our duly elected representatives have put in place to ... wait for it...

... keep us safe.

See how this works? That's how easy it is for LEOs to end up tasked with enforcing laws which are, for one thing, unpopular, and which - by extension - turn a significant percentage of the population into lawbreakers every single day.

Yet somehow, we keep legislating ourselves into criminal behavior. Then we bitch at the cops for enforcing those laws. We blame LEOs for our own hypocrisy.

Anyway, that's kind of a digression away from Tam's point (she's more interested in the power given to enforce the law.)

We'd all do well to think more seriously about the role we want law enforcement to play, and what kinds of laws we have enacted which they end up having to enforce.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

What "interpretation" ?!?!!?

Kim has some thoughts on a Constitutional challenge to Washington DC's gun ban.

For one thing, Kim says he's "not worried". I doubt I could go toe-to-toe with Kim in a debate, but I think he's naive. Let's not ignore the fact that 1. The U.S. is the last "civilized" nation in the Western Hemisphere which recognizes an individual's right to own - and bear - arms, and 2. We just elected a Democrat congress and 3. Just wait 'till '08. Britain and Oz aren't nations of fools (though they act like it sometimes.) Their gun rights were taken away from their citizens quietly, and by legislative increments, with cries of "stop the gun crime" and "think of the children." To think it can't happen here is folly.

But I digress...

Here are some key points from the article:

“We interpret the Second Amendment in military terms,” said Todd Kim, the District’s solicitor general, who told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the city would also have had the authority to ban all weapons.

“Show me anybody in the 19th century who interprets the Second Amendment the way you do,” Judge Laurence Silberman said. “It doesn’t appear until much later, the middle of the 20th century.”
These quotes are good examples of how the 2nd Amendment debate has long been missing the point.

First off, Todd Kim doesn't seem to understand what the Bill of Rights exists for in the first place. His statement suggests that arms in "military terms" = the military of the government.

Wrong, Mr. Kim, but thanks for playing.

The Constitution as a whole lays out the format for the American government. In essence, it says what the government can do. The Bill of Rights was added to delineate specific rights to THE PEOPLE - e.g. NOT THE GOVERNMENT. The Bill of Rights says what the government can't do.

It's the whole "balance of power" thing ... get it? The founding fathers wanted to make sure that the people had the guns -- not the government. That way the government couldn't make war on the people, and couldn't make war without the de-facto consent and particiaption of the people.

Anyone want to debate the Iraq war with that in mind? See what happens when the government - rather than the people - is the entity keeping and bearing the arms? Did the Left not get the memo?

That's where Judge Silberman also misses the point. What difference does it make how the 2nd Amendment was "interpreted" in the 19th century? Should we also look to the 19th century for interpretations of the roles of women and blacks in society? You idiot.

The Constitution - and the Bill of Rights - aren't up for "interpretation". The "people" mentioned then are the same "people" who exist now. The importance of the rights of those people haven't changed, either. The Second Amendment still means what it has always meant. There's no timeline that applies.

I'm tired of feeling weird about my last point, so I'll throw it in the mix. The time of the militia may very well have passed when the Revolutionary War ended.... but I'd say it has rolled around again. No doubt that a modern militia can't win America's modern wars, but that doesn't mean there's no role for it anymore. Quite to the contrary.

Look at the state we're in right now: our military is overextended. The concept of "homeland security" is a dubious one as it exists now. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is the most recent example of the relevance of militias in modern-day America. Whether it's the "unorganized militia" (yes, it's in the Constitution -- look it up) of individuals who drove to New Orleans with their fishing boats and plucked people off their roofs on their own, or the more organized militia (i.e. Blackwater) who kept order while the N.O.P.D. either ran away or joined in the looting (what?!? the mercenaries are the good guys?!?!?), the role of the militia in America still stands. And it's more important now than ever before.

Need I remind you of how it's phrased in the 2nd Amendment:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..."

People like Judge Silberman would like to think that modern-day gun owners are trying to ignore that part of the Amendment. We aren't, and we should be more loud about it. The concept of the security of the state isn't relegated solely to well-coordinated wars, outside our country's border and waged by our professional military. Our state's security in the 21st Century hinges on fighting looters after a hurricane. It hinges on protecting stores during riots in L.A. when the cops are nowhere to be found. It's about checking up on your neighbors in Kansas City when the power has been out for a week in the dead of winter. THAT's the militia.

And who makes up the militia, Judge? THE PEOPLE, you moron. The ones who SHOULD have the guns.

I've had enough of this myopic view of what constitutes the "necessity" of arms in the context of "security". Fools. The security of our free state is at stake every day, on every street in America. You rob America's citizens of an active role in keeping their State secure at your own peril. To do so will make us the same castrated, whining, limp-wristed, snivelling, powerless vassals which inhabit Europe today. God forbid.

There is no "interpretation" of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. The need for our state's security hasn't changed, "the people" mentioned therein haven't changed, and they still make up the militia, which is still needed to keep America free.

End of discussion.

We now return to your regularly scheduled blogging...

My first semester is now complete. Finals are done.

I ended the semester with all "A"s.

This is the first time - ever - that I've had a 4.0 GPA.

I think Miss Fluffy should reward me with something like this:





















Yeah. That'd do nicely.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Effort

OK, HODAR looks like he's going to change careers, and may be going into law enforcement. He's getting into shape for the physical qualification, and by extension, he's pushing me to get off my butt. (Not that it's been expressed outright ... that's just what happens when your friend stays in shape and you don't.) I don't know what his total workout looks like, but I'm interested to hear about it.

We can call it the "Hodar Kicks Alpineman's Ass" workout.

As for me ... I've put on 4 pounds in a month.

Dang.

I've only got one more final exam tomorrow, then I'm free until January 7. I'm sure all the sitting & studying has had something to do with the weight gain. Not that it makes me feel any better about it.

Anyway, I did a chest/arm workout last night and 50 teetering-on-the-workout-ball sit-ups.

Here was today's "I hate my fat ass" workout. The landmarks mentioned won't mean anything to anyone who hasn't been to the farm before:

50 sit-ups
10 push-ups
Run down to the gate at the gully
10 push-ups
Run/hike to Albany Rock in the 16-degree wind chill (that's not a joke)
10 push-ups on top of Albany Rock
Run back down to the gate
10 push-ups
Run/jog/huff back to the house
10 push-ups
50 sit-ups

Total time: 1 hr. 15 min. (approx)

Now, if I can do that a couple of times a week through Christmas break in addition to the weights, maybe I'll keep the ho-ho-holiday pounds at bay.

Then again, Miss Fluffy has started making Chex Mix.

Dang.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Thought for the day...

... courtesy of Jeff Cooper:

One cannot legislate the maniacs off the street... these maniacs can only be shut down by an armed citizenry. Indeed bad things can happen in nations where the citizenry is armed, but not as bad as those which seem to be threatening our disarmed citizenry in this country at this time.