Conservative, but no Nazi

Now, I am reputed by many on my farm to be a right-winger. In jest, some of my more left-leaning friends call me by the usual leftist epithet for anyone standing right of Mao: a Nazi or a fascist.

Kind of interesting, since the "S" in NSDAP stood for "Sozialistische," and they followed many socialist agendas: Winterhilfe (winter welfare for the impoverished), encouraging young women to have as many babies out of wedlock as possible for the Vaterland (with government financial assistance, natürlich), extensive gun control measures, and others.

And the Nazis, much like their modern socialist counterparts, hated Christianity. Or, at least, they tried to alter its face to make it more compatible with their agendas (not unlike you see the Dems trying to do with their latest attempts to appeal to evangelicals).

But my mindset is much different from any Nazi you'll come across. I'll explain by way of a communication given to me over Myspace (yeah, groan all you want. It has benefited me by getting me back in touch with several High School classmates, as well as a couple of serious and responsible Desert Eagle owners).

Now, I'm starting to get used to the porn-scammers over there. You know, some pretty 20-something purporting to want to get to know me...but by way of some link that leads to someone else's "adult" web enterprise.

But then I got a friend request from someone who calls himself "Full War." No picture of a person was featured, but rather, an emblem:
Makes you suspicious right of the bat, eh? I clicked on the profile, and found it to be of a band kind of like Skrewdriver or Prussian Blue--lots of White Power rhetoric in its music, weblog entries, and comments.

Sheesh. How did these people get hold of me? True, I am conservative. I am white. I like Germanic languages, cultures, and history. I like large-caliber firepower. I don't like large, intrusive, government. I don't like fringe groups whining about their "rights" and demanding all of us to bow down to their demands. I think "Affirmative Action" should be done away with, as well as most of the handouts deadbeats exploit at the expense of those of us who actually work.

But, I am not so fearful of a whiny few that I feel I need to believe my race to be superior to them. Or rather, that theirs is inferior to mine. White Pride is as legitimate as Black Pride, or Native Pride, but any racial pride loses its nobility when you feel you have to denigrate others to keep yourself elevated.

What's more, I don't really think these bozos genuinely believe in race issues. Something else is really the matter here. The clearest evidence is my response to him:

Weiße Kraft?

Interessiere mich nicht dafür, aber trotzdem Danke

(White Power?
I'm not interested in it, but thanks anyway)

I did this deliberately to test what sort of dude this was. I wasn't disappointed. He responded:

spekenze English?

You see, these guys love all the German (well, Nazi) regalia--the uniforms, the swastikas, the slogans, the antisemitism--but I have yet to come across one who has bothered to dive deeper into the culture itself, like learn the language (much less the literature of pre-20th-century Germany). And so, they come across as a bunch of ignorant, shallow, culturally illiterate wannabes (matter of fact, a few Germans who posted comments on their profile called them such) more in love with their own fears than the culture they purport to promote.

And if they did, they'd see the Oberflächlichkeit of what they call White Power.

Ahnuld says "no" to the gay-history textbook...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto legislation that would require California textbooks to contain information about the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in American history, according to a spokesman.

The bill, which has already been passed by the Senate and awaits a vote in the Assembly, seeks to recognize "the contributions of the LGBT community in the social science curriculum in the same way the state has come to recognize the achievements of women and minorities,” the Sacramento Bee reports.

You know, whenever "Gay Pride Week" hit UT, the campus got plastered with flyers like, "Did you know Tchaikovsky was gay?" or "Did you know Susan B. Anthony was gay?" They'd have a picture of the person in question, and a little pro-sodomite blurb underneath.

I remember looking at the Tchaikovsky flyer and thinking to myself, "Did you know that Tchaikovsky led a miserable life and committed suicide? Yeah, there's something to be proud about."

Now, I wonder if these textbooks would have included such noteworthy sodomites as, say, Ernst Röhm--after all, he helped transform a nation from crushing humiliation to a force to be reckoned with (all because he had a, *ahem*, "way with men," perhaps?).

Yep, there's something to be proud about.

Now, before someone says, "Jeremy, you're being insensitive to gays." Nothing's keeping them from petitioning the local library or university for some special display to educate us all about the joys of the ranks of child molesters and HIV-carriers. That's their right, protected by the First Amendment. But when they make it law to teach the alleged "social contributions" of rump-rangers, carpet munchers and people who think the best solution to identity crises is self-butchery, they've crossed the line from mere awareness-raising to thought control.

And that is where First Amendment arguments fail. Freedom of Speech includes leaving the hearer the right either to listen, or ignore. When you force them to swallow your message, you're no longer playing the role of the "enlightened," but the thought policeman.

Heh.

Thought the regular male readers (I don't know of any regular females just yet) might enjoy this one. It's the May 15th edition of Chris Muir's Day by Day.

Do guns make me more masculine? Well, I know I do handle firearms because I am a man (read the editorial. I found it excellent).

But as pertains to the cartoon, I wouldn't mind handling a high-quality "loaded weapon" around now.

Various Ramblings

Four CDs I ordered from Grrrrrrr records came in today--all of them Blues work by a Christian artist I had been introduced to in the early '90s. A friend of mine and I blasted to "Trimmed 'n' Burnin'" by Glenn Kaiser and Darrell Mansfield on a road trip after I graduated from WCU. I had bought a copy of the tape myself, and held onto it until I gave it away to a music enthusiast in south FL in the late '90s who I thought would enjoy the sound and maybe get something out of the message.

Uploaded them (the other three are Slow Burn, Spontaneous Combustion, and Ripley County Blues) to the iPod last night, and was listening to them off and on all day today. Good stuff. I really enjoy Blues--for the most part, it's the most sincere genre out there.

***

Took a few friends shooting this afternoon. I wasn't quite as on today as I would have liked. Some days, it seems I'm more prone to flinching than others.

Anyway, one of the guys, a Glockhead, made a comment that I found very distasteful. It had nothing to do with comparing brands (he complimented the feel of the H&K), but his reactions to slaughtering cows. Again, urbanized folk just don't realize what goes in to processing the food they so readily eat. So, when they're face to face with it, it repulses them. I know, I was there, too, when I first moved up here from around Ft. Lauderdale.

He said he couldn't bring himself to kill an innocent cow. He'd have no problems shooting a person in self-defense, but not something like a cow.

I bit my tongue. I'd be more ready to shoot any beast than a person, myself. I concluded that this really isn't the kind of guy I would trust to handle a firearm responsibly. Not with that mindset. I see guns as a means of preserving human life.

Update on that Bear Attack

The problem with hearing matters word of mouth is that you don't hear all the facts. Here are a few things to clear up about that bear incident out at Ft. Greely a few days ago:

The guy was carrying a .30-06. He stumbled upon a moose carcass, and his dog shortly thereafter ran off. Just then, he heard crashing through the woods nearby, and saw the bear charging at him. He managed to get five shots off. The fifth shot, which finally killed the bear, was at point blank. The bear still had enough strength left in it to give the guy's arm a swipe.

Whatever the case, it proves again the prudence of going armed when in the lesser-civilized parts of AK. And there's a lot of it.

Someone, I think Ranger Nick, asked me if a .44 was a good tool against bear. One of my neighbors, who does firefighting this time of year, can personally attest to the potency of the .44 against bears. One season, fire had driven several bears to his camp. He shot seven, killed six. He tells me that two shots from a .44 will usually take down your average bear.

But, some believe the bigger, the better. Another neighbor of mine, who does a lot of guide work, recently bought a S&W .500. He invited me to come over and shoot with him some time.

Will I turn that offer down? Heh, you can answer that one yourself.

OpenCarry.org has moved

I just got an email from the folk there that the've updated their forums:

As you may have noticed, the previous software we were using for the
forum had several deficiencies; most noticably, it would not allow
self-signup.

Even worse, several weeks ago, a simple upgrade resulted in the
unrecoverable corruption of the "Stories From The States" forum section.

Consequently, we have moved our forum to opencarry.mywowbb.com
<http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/> which is a hosted solution that does
have self-signup, as well as a number of features that the old board did
not. While this will cost us more, we hope that it will allow us to
continue to grow the community of those who wish to support open carry.

I haven't checked in with them for a while; the lack of self sign-up limited the membership to those who bothered to check in with John, and so the numbers were low.

Hopefully, these new measures will bolster discussion among the ranks of us open-carry advocates (and if you happen to be one of them, sign up!).

More whacky academicians

Ahhh, academia. Where else could you make a profession out of telling the world how much you are in love with your opinion?

OK, there's the mainstream media. And politics.

And blogging. But I don't get paid for this.

At any rate, when your opinion becomes all-encompassing, sooner or later you are going to have to fudge the facts to make it look like you're onto something real.

You saw it happen to Dan Rather and the folk over at CBS. Apparently, Ward Churchill forgot that lesson. So his academic dishonesty has finally bit him in the ass.

These guys will get caught in snare of their own making sooner or later.

Bear Attack at Ft. Greely

Heard this one yesterday from one of our guys who works on one of our construction contracts there. Someone from the base garrison was out walking his dog on the base premises when he was jumped by a bear.

Fortunately, he was carrying a pistol. We don't know if it was his service pistol or not, but in the end, he shot off the bear's jaw and inflicted other injuries on it. The bear died near the spot.

The man, however, suffered some serious slashing injuries to his chest. He had to be medevacked to Fairbanks.

We've had a lot of brave beasts roaming around these parts lately. There's a bear sow and two cubs that have been boldly wandering around our property, moose have been a more common sight than normal, so it's a good idea to have something to protect yourself with while hiking.

That's why I carried my .44 while exploring an island on the Tanana today. Didn't really expect to encounter bear or moose, but you never know. Saw several moose tracks, though, and plenty of evidence that the beavers have been busy.

All Right, You Gun Owners, Get In On This Project!

ArmedAmerica.org! It's a work in progress, but seeks to do the opposite of the Million Moonbat March over at controlarms.org in putting faces (and very normal ones at that) on responsible gun ownership.

The guy ultimately wants to collect his photos and put them in a sort of book, but for the time being, is posting them on his website. I personally wouldn't mind having my picture among them, like something below (although the guy doing the project takes much nicer photos).




















Jeremy Hatfield
Foreign Languages Instructor
Delta Junction, AK

With his .44 Desert Eagle.

Jeremy: Not all academicians lean left. Part of understanding an issue with an "open mind" involves personal, first-hand investigation and hands-on experience. Then you see if your opinions and prejudices held any weight. Unfortunately, most of our academic elite never gets past forming their own opinions.

Get in touch with the guy, and help his project along!

The Dems Oppose WHAT?

This is propaganda if ever I heard any. Trying to garner more of the Christian vote. But can they pull it off without alienating their constituency, or setting off alarms to a certain bloc within conservatism that is already very wary of them?

In an effort to drum up support in the Christian community before the 2006 midterm elections, Dean also stated on the show: "One of the misconceptions about the Democratic Party is that we're godless and that we don't have any values.

Evaluate the reasons why, Howie. As of the past 20 years, Dems have strongly supported matters antithetical to much of Christianity, the strongest being its tendency to side with socialism--and all its anti-Christian bias dating back to Lenin and Marx.

"The truth is, we have an enormous amount in common with the Christian community, and particularly with the evangelical Christian community.

I've heard some of these "commonalities" before, care for the poor being one of them. But there's a big difference between giving out of your own philanthropy and being forced to support addicts to the nanny state.

"One of the biggest things that Democrats worry about is the materialism of our country, what's on television that our kids are seeing, and the lack of spirituality. And that's something we have in common."

Dude, the socialism that Demorrhoid-voting lefties idolize (but will not live out) is materialistic in its focus. Go read your Marx.

And is it the vast pro-Republican factions in Hollywood that write the screenplays of the trash we see on TV?

Is it the pro-Republican groups that make constant attempts to de-emphasize Christianity in our society, both in its present application, and acknowledging its role in history?

Deanie, you are confused. But that's the hallmark of a true Demorrhoid.

Venezolana Bastard

Ahhh, Marxists...so much done in the name of the "people," but in the end, the only "people" these bastards are really interested in are "me," "myself," and "I."

And to think Cindy Sheehan (haven't heard much about her in the media nowadays...I guess her 15 minutes expired, and not a moment too soon) likes to cavort with these idiots, and her ilk burn incense to their images.

But who are the greater idiots? The guys on top, or the people who allow themselves to continue to be politically and economically sodomized on the bottom?

I guess these lefties must suffer from a sort of battered wife syndrome. "I know he really loves me..."

Uh-huh, the same way a pimp "loves" his ho. Gold-plated Deagle upside the head if you don't have his money kind of lovin'

Demo Barrel Came in from MRI

Well, paying $250 for something that's no longer in production, I should have little to complain about. The Demo barrel looks like it's been shot many a time, without much regard for cleaning, and has collected a few scratches, not unlike mine (maybe I should take that as encouragement).

I'll have to clean it this weekend, and take a better look at it then. But it looks like this will be my plinking and handload barrel.

But they did give me a window decal. "Proud Owner of a Magnum Research Firearm." Nice touch. Nice folk.

Time to save up for that Mk. XIX conversion...

More on ADs, New Use for Magazine Pouch

One more thought on "Accidental Discharges:" I generally tend to view them the same way I view automobile "accidents." The term "accident" tends to be a dodge, a way of admitting that something happened, but it wasn't entirely your fault. It's rather symptomatic of the victim mentality our society has been nurturing for a few decades now.

But if you honestly analyzed these kind of situations, such "accidents," whether it be an unwanted pregnancy, a fender-bender, or an "unintended discharge," can be traced back to some act of negligence--just not paying attention or skipping over some preventative measure, hoping probability will turn a blind eye to your circumstances.

Unfortunately, physical laws are hard to bypass once they're set in motion, and then you experience what some call an "onosecond."

You know what a nanosecond is. An onosecond is the period of time that passes between your doing something dumb and realizing that some sort of consequence is going to follow.

So, in the realm of firearms, most ADs tend to be NDs. You may not have intended for the pistol to go off, but who kept you from putting your finger on the trigger before you were ready to shoot?

Or, who kept you from ordering a handgun from a manufacturer who skimped on a manual safety in order to help bring down costs?

***

I ordered an iPod Nano last week. It came in yesterday. Since I do intend on carrying it with me when working at the greenhouse or the woodshop or sitting out in the parking lot at Rika's as Park Host, I would naturally need some sort of carrying case.

My particular solution: my magazine pouch. The iPod slips in one space, and you can wind up the headphones and cord and store them in the other.

I carried it around in Fairbanks today while taking my client to his doctors' appointments. Afterwards, we went to Fred Meyers for some groceries. I was looking for a USB recharger for it, and found it in the electronics department.

The clerk thought it was a cool idea, cooler than the pouches normally made for iPods.

Negligent Discharge!

It happened to me. I read once on the forums at the now-defunct thefiringline.com that if you've never had an AD or a ND, it's because you really haven't owned a gun that long.

I was over at the compost heap, hoping to score a shot on a pest or two. Had a chance to shoot an arctic hare (their hair is starting to turn brown for the season), but since I don't believe in the wanton destruction of animal life (apart from food or pest control), I passed it up.

Since no pests were hanging around the heap, nor the pig yard, I decided it was at least time to get my monthly shooting in, at least to keep my accuracy up. My last shooting session was just to test out handloads, so I wasn't all that interested in really shooting for accuracy.

This time, it was focused tin torture. A medium sized soup can at 15 paces. I was hitting it every time (God, I love my H&K).

I emptied one magazine, then loaded another. Hit the slide release, and like a dummy, got into fondling the trigger (with a loaded chamber, with the safety off, and the hammer cocked). I was turning my head to see where the boys were behind me, and "blam!"--the earth eats 230gr FMJ about a yard in front of me.

I secure the weapon, and sheepishly tell the boys that this is the reason why you keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you're ready to fire.

Happily, no one, including me, was hurt, but it was a sobering reminder regardless of your experience level, you always need to keep your safety awareness up.

Then I got back to perforating tin. Again, hit it every time. One of the kids challenged me with a smaller target--shoot the top of the can instead of the sides.

I obliged him. Blam! The can jerks upright from its side, and stands there. After securing the weapon (decock, safety on, pointed at the ground), we inspect the shot.

Dead center.

God, I love my H&K...

More evidence of a Leftist Hollywood

Should come as no surprise, but in an email I got from Newsmax this week, Andy Garcia's stance on his former country contrasts sharply with the attitudes of his fellow film comrades (and yes, the choice of words is deliberate).

Read about it here. I wouldn't consider Garcia a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, but it does show the moonbattiness of Hollywood.

Which is one reason I don't see movies all that much.

*Sigh* First Mosquito of the Season...

Sighted this afternoon in our greenhouse:










This time of year has every Alaskan wondering which is worse: the monotony of cold weather, or the incessant harassment of Alaska's state bird.

I don't want either! But unfortunately, the course of nature pays little heed to my desires.











So, here's to the first of hundreds of swatted and smashed blood-sucking pests to meet their maker this summer season.

Waxing homiletic...

I've pimped for H&K...lots (can't say enough good stuff about 'em), MRI, Georgia Arms...

...and there's always Evan and his filmwork on "Indoctrinate U."

Now allow me to pimp another project...one that I haven't read yet, but is very pertinent to the sort of work I tend to find myself in every now and then.

It's a book by a woman who has suffered abuse, and has lived to tell the tale, and extend some hope to others, if only by her example of still standing and still going.

What caught my attention about her project was some of the research she had done. The book is supposed to incorporate some stories about others who, as children, suffered abuse, and survived.

Having worked with those types of kids before, I told her if she ever needed input from a former counselor, there's myself and the people I used to work with for her to get in touch with.

But, it got me thinking about one particular story of a group of kids I worked with in a high management group home out in Western North Carolina, and some of what it takes to overcome, namely, the spiritual dimension.

Most have never heard me preach, and it's been a while since I've published anything online pertaining to my faith and outlook on humanity because of it (part of which justifies my beliefs on carrying hardware for self-defense). So, here goes.

As a Christian, I believe humanity is corrupt. And you don't need a Th.D or a D. Min to see it. In fact, you don't have to be well-read in the Bible at all to find evidence. You can see it in your own kids. Did you ever have to teach them to lie, or be selfish? Nope, it comes quite naturally.

The training we're supposed to give them as parents and teachers, at best, holds this nature back from fully expressing itself (murder, robbery, rape, etc.). But it only reins it in, it doesn't do a whole lot to change it. Because we, for all the psychological research we have done, cannot really change a soul.

Like the guys over at AA and NA and all the other Anonymous groups say, you need help from above yourself. And I saw this very principle in action among the eight or ten kids I worked with.

All these kids had pretty significant emotional problems, taking them all the way toward violent and aggressive behavior (which tends to be the case with kids who have been sexually abused by some bastard--like a parent or relative--who was supposed to take care of them). Because of their special needs among people with special needs, the high management group home I worked in was set up.

To make what could be a long story short, I saw a pattern happen with kids who came in and out of the system. At first, when they were brought in, they were fairly well-behaved--it's a new environment, unfamiliar people and social conventions, and so they are guarded. Then, after a while, they start pushing limits. But after a time, once they see that a system is in place for structure and order in the home, and that the staff will enforce that order, they start getting compliant.

At this point, it can seem that they are making progress towards their treatment plans, but once they get word that they are out of there, usually the old behaviors come back that got them to the group home in the first place. And so, other measures get implemented.

Not always successfully. I left for grad school in the early '90s. When I came back to the area after getting my MA, I visited my former supervisors at the home. Of course, all but one of the kids had passed through and gone to other things (not necessarily better things).

This guy? He's in jail. That guy? Haven't heard anything about him. This other guy? Institutionalized. That girl? After the system dropped her, she got pregnant and is living off welfare.

What about yet this other guy? Him? He's doing marvelously. God got a hold of his life.

Knowing nod right there. Uh-huh. I wonder how many of the psychologists over at the Smoky Mountain Center took note of that. Most being ex-hippies, they probably gave it little more than a nod--"oh, he found something that worked for him" and continue to encourage the kids to "listen to their energies" (well, what if those energies are totally screwed up? And how would those screwed-up energies ever be able to distinguish between what is screwed up and what is not?).

Bottom line: God made you, He knows how to fix you. However screwed up you were.

Handloading Concerns

Well, I got around to checking the barrel of my Desert Eagle, after having fired those 12 handloads. I discovered something rather alarming.

Scratches. Several of them, mostly close to the chamber with a few running a couple of inches down the bore. They weren't there before I had shot the loads.

I asked one other Deagle owner if he had had those kinds of problems. He reported none. He's shot 800 rounds through his without so much as a mar inside.

Huh. I wonder if it was the bullets I had loaded, or the cartridge overall length. Whatever the case, this particular barrel is going to be used only for handloads from now on, and I'm going to watch it closely.

Unfortunately, MRI doesn't manufacture any more Mk. VII barrels, but they did have several 10-inch barrels in stock. I was looking for the standard 6 inch. The guy I talked to in sales said they had a few demo barrels, with a couple hundred rounds through them, but scratched some on the outside, so I bought one of those for $250.

I will eventually have to get a conversion to the Mk. XIX, which entails a new barrel and slide, for about $750. Once I get the cash to spend for that, I'll do it.

.222 reloads, animal harvesting, and costumes

Did about 60 yesterday afternoon with the guy who led me through the 20 rounds of .44 magnum I handloaded a few weeks ago.

40 of them used old brass (Ron tells me he's been reloading much of that same brass for 25 years. That surprised me, but he said that when you get into magnums, the very high pressures dramatically shorten your brass life), 50gr Speer soft points, and 19.5gr of IMR 4198 powder. We keep those on hand on the farm for harvesting pork & beef through the old over-and-under .223/.410 we have on hand for just that purpose.

So, I'm happy to be part of the process for feeding the farm. Of course, I generally tend to be on hand for butchering. I've slaughtered a couple of cows. Nasty but necessary if you like meat on your table.

Which brings up another story...I had my first hunting experience with my .45 at the onset of winter (this past September). At -25 I and a friend of mine (Rich, the neighbor of mine I go shooting with every so often) spotted a grouse in some brush by the side of the road, and I took it at 40 ft through brush (gotta love the accuracy of a H&K).

Yes, there was meat left on the bird. It was a back-through-the-gut shot. The breast meat was pretty much intact.

Then Rich showed me how to dress it out: Simply put your feet on the bird's wings, and pull the legs. It comes apart, leaving you the wings and breast. Toss the rest, pull the feathers off, clip the wings, and voila, a little meat for the fridge.

I was jazzed about it, and called my folks and wrote my brother about the experience. Dad, who used to hunt a lot out in West Virginia, appreciated the news (even if it were only a grouse).

My brother, a 32-year-old aspiring actor out in eastern NC (to give you an idea of the ideologies in my family), on the other hand, thought it was gross. So, I wrote back to him, asking him how he thought the packaged meat he buys out at Food Lion got to be that way from a live animal.

"Civilized" folk don't seem to take that into account much. Especially the self-righteous (more self-clueless) animal rights crowd.

But, getting back to yesterday's reloading...Ron also had me help make 20 rounds of .222 for varminting. There, he pulled out his bottle of Vihta Vuori N133 and some 50gr Speer TNT hollow points. Loaded those with 23gr of the powder. I noticed how the TNT bullets were scored, designed to rapidly expand upon impact.

Then, that night, the farm held a costume party to welcome our speech kids back home from their latest competition out near Anchorage (debate, drama, expository, etc.). A few placed 1st through 3rd, but overall, the team scored the highest points our school had ever earned.

We had pirates, gangsters, Johnny Cash (who sung "Ring of Fire"), even a headless motorcyclist. I went as a Secret Service Agent, complete with nice suit, earpiece, and (unloaded) .45 with two (again, empty) spare magazines on the opposite hip.

Someone suggested I go as Agent Smith from the Matrix. I could have pulled that off, with the right sunglasses and my Desert Eagle. But I had no real way to carry the Deagle comfortably in a holster and suit (tactical and chest holsters seem just a bit out of place with a suit).