I really want to write about how close we are to war.. a global one...

but I won't.  Since you don't have the required foresight.

  What I will discuss is the term Washington Redskins, a football team that some strange fools have decided is an offense against a group of folks that can't protect themselves. For my paragraph today, I offer an example of the baseball friendly New York Yankees as George Carlin once noticed baseball was a much nicer game than football. You will have to understand that to those that use yankee as a denegration and those that have no love lost with the term Yankee (ie, the South) that the same people that want to fool with the team name and logo should be working just as hard on Yankees, because with Yankee 

 you can go to the song Yankee Doodle Dandy which made fun of the colonials that the enlightened British could look down upon. How did the poor helpless because we didn't support royalty and foolishness fix it? Well, we adopted it as a title to be worn with pride, until it was smeared over everyone in the War Between the States. But y'all knew that.

I do think most of America, the people - all of the people do not understand...

  What made these United States of America great - was the people and the Liberty to grow fat and happy. What has been the problem is the idea that the people can't take care of themselves and their future. I do understand God being more intelligent than I, but I have trouble finding many in elected offices and government agencies that are smarter than I.  Not many of them are as nice as I am either.

  From the very beginnings there has always been a struggle to keep from making kings, nobility and grabbing power. Arron Burr and Alexander Hamilton come immediately to my mind, lucky that George Washington was a contented planter.  Over the last hundred and ten years or so, many fools have worked hard to ruin a simple idea - the people could be in charge of their own. There are lovely things like gun control in Mexico, and no one wants to proclaim that nation a paradise, although vacationing there still happens. Canada works pretty well, except you have to look under the hood sometimes. I liked them for storing gold when FDR went crazy, and storing anti-war folks when Johnson went crazy.


  I don't think there are enough all Americans that understand Liberty, the Constitution and such. If the USA is a republic, then a militia of concerned citizens is part of that mix. Armed and aware and not willing to be bought off to surrender their Liberty. Two things for the Federal Government, the militia was the States' and not the 'national' government's. Yes, fifty of them.

  I am almost certain, with education being what it is today, the people aren't prepared to take care of themselves. They have to have a court decide what a law means, because no one knows how to read nor write in English?   What I think and say isn't important enough to share, you would have figured it out yourselves if you are smarter than I, but don't expect the government - at any level - to think for you, to protect you, to understand you, to assist you, or make you fat and happy. But you have my blessings as you find your way in the world, just don't think to control anyone or anything - or you become part of the problem not part of the solution. If you have to send armed men to make it your way, you haven't got a good idea. Think it over again.

I give up, I will not participate in stupid....

   If I say something is not true, that means it is false. What seems to happen is that the person that has said something false will bring other false to the discussion and not prove anything except how stupid they are, how involved they are in proving they know what they believe has to be true, and how stupid they think you are for pointing out they just aren't telling the truth.  Are you worn out yet?

   Mathematics are so clean, if they didn't use all those Greek symbols I might have stay longer in class.

   I agree violence against people and property is illegal and should be illegal and we should try the people in the court of law, by a jury of their peers.

   I also know that gun control is holding your firearm on target, and putting it away when you aren't going to be in control on target.

   I will continue to be amazed at the number of politicians that think (or just say they do think) that they can protect the people by more laws.  They can't. 

   I guess for my life, what little I have remaining, I will have a prayer prepared for when I am startled by the stupid. They certainly need the LORD's help, and I do need to remain calm and in control -- not wanting my guns to go off and kill thousands when I am not watching.

Who you gonna call???

  I was doing shooting drills with another man, his drills, his range and targets. And I learned a lot, mainly about how much I don't know... so I have stuff to work on. Dry practice is your foundation, but do make sure you only practice the correct way.  I am positive, you being an intelligent human being, that you will invent a way to get it done or else die when overcome by events. Flooding like crazy in the Carolinas, crazy drivers, and unexpected rock slides and train wrecks. The younger folks may just pull out their phones and photograph and share, the more responsible may try to contact professional help, and then do their best.

  A very serious gun writer posted videos of shooting drills, and in less than ten seconds putting nine bullets into three targets, two to the chest, one to the head. Of all three, without a double tap. Faster than I ever draw my pistol, the conflict was settled before I could get into the fray.  Analyzing after, the shooter said she needed more drills to improve draw, reload and malfunction, clear, reload and engage..... practicing for Murphy's worst day, all good stuff.

   One of my first lessons in the gun drills, that the bullet in this man, will go on to the man behind, which is only great if they are both bad guys -- what if one had been just walking behind the threat?

  My wife attended the funeral of the lady she couldn't save with her CPR last weekend. And this morning she went back over how it all happened, what everyone did, and all the things she knows now about the woman and her health issues which may have had a large portion of her death than my wife knew at the time...

  That is always going to be the point. You can only work on what you see and know at the time of crisis. So before anything happens: plan for failure, plan to act, and pray it goes the way it should. Then PRACTICE the stuff correctly.  When playing the piano, bad practice only hurts tranquility and someone's ears, when skate boarding, bad practice may mean scrapes and bruises and busted bones, but you are always learning if you survive. You may figure out your own skill set, when and where you want to learn and master -- but that professional help you need, costs money to maintain, isn't in your back pocket with your credit card and is only minutes - very long minutes - away.

  'Be prepared' should be a watchword not just a Boy Scout goal. In crisis you will tire yourself more from the fear/fight/flee chemical wash than the real actions of blood and muscles, so get control, cool and calm and TAKE ACTIONS!  My favorite war story (remember nothing ever happened to me) was being awakened from a fine nap because of a rocket attack - and I was not affected by it, so I could grab the mike, ask calm questions and answer higher headquarters with real information since they wanted to share and help... the only totally sane thinker in the room, at that moment.

  They give Dr Ben Carson noise over his idea of rushing the threat... not I, I know he is right, get in the fight! Even if you want to hug the poor misunderstood terrorist/murderer, give him a good hug, lock it down and whisper sweet thoughts in his ear -- until those professionals arrive. My wife listened quietly to the critical comments about what she had done, by another woman that hadn't been there, and started to get riled (she is a master at being riled), I told her that she should 'thank the woman for her information, ask if she wants to schedule a practice where she can demonstrate and all may practice, and that she hopes that next time she would jump in and do it right.  But then 'she' wasn't there... which leads to my question about any situation... who are you going to call? How long can you wait, and shouldn't you already be preparing beyond watching Ninja movies and slick gun flicks? They have dialing 911 to a one touch push ---- answer the operator, and then give the phone to someone else and help out. Thank you for your attention, but keep participating in life, it is moving on.

   Instead of worrying and wondering about gun violence and gun safety - are you stepping up to inform, train and practice with your children about their lives and firearms, first aid, and good manners? We aren't talking sex, just living in Liberty so everyone can participate.

Good Morning, America...

  Big day today, hundreds of thousands of Americans are getting out their guns, checking them, checking the ammunition and leaving their homes and expect to shoot today.  Many are looking forward to it.  Some are going to be reluctant and cautious.  Depends on why and where they are carrying.  I expect most all of them will return home to put the guns up, cleaned, oiled and resting until the morrow. Yes, many rounds will have been fired on target, most - over 95 percent will be on target, all most all will never have harmed anyone. I pray it will be so, for sure it is my expectation.

  I enjoy watching dramas and such, but I can tell my life is not one of those fantasies. My life is mine and much better than Hollywood writes.  Oh, today I am one of those Americans that will be carrying guns and ammunition around, with the intention of shooting, if needed, on target cause only hits count.  All the proposals about training, identification, registration and what they call common sense gun control --- I will be right there, meeting all the artificial requirements, gosh if I could be trusted and expected to compute tactical nukes, and not betray my country... how do you think you would ever regulate me out of my very real gun control? My guns, I control them. Not the government, not the local drug lords, certainly not the Pastor, the policemen, the auto mechanic, the bikini barista, the little boy down the lane.... just me.

  I offered my brother a pistol and fifty rounds when he was complaining on Facebook about who was going to get these guns and ammunition for everyone being part of the militia of American citizens... but he didn't answer. Which is fine, no one should be required to own a weapon they don't want, just like no one should be required to drive a Prius. And being an American, I do understand resisting stupid ideas from people in government and power. Part of our nation's foundation, resisting bad ideas and behavior.  If registration were a fine idea, you could register people, DNA and fingerprints, photo id with bar codes to be read by machines, to allow citizens to carry a firearm anywhere they wanted to, and to vote.

   Not that the anti-gun goofs will read this far, but if you tie carrying arms to voting, as far as registration and photo ID, the Left will fold.  I watched one do that yesterday, I don't care but they seem to not understand that militia and citizen are the same human being. I have been carrying ID for a long time.

   I got a form letter from my credit card company, one that I owe money to, and since they have decided that I was late with my payment they would have to penalize me.  Ah, punish me! Beat me!  I sent a couple pieces of the offended card back to the fine folks, thanked them for all the years of working together and helping me break that habit of reaching for plastic to cure my temporary ills.  I have noticed that everyone wants you to have their card, giving you all kinds of perks, but just so they can drain your blood, you are a golden egg laying goose and they want you.  I am sure they talk to each other out there in the money lending world.  Didn't they notice the number of credit cards I have but don't use? The number of cards I once used but decided I didn't like their rates and closed? Hmm, not in their program, just like everyone expects I can't get along without a cellphone, iphone, smarter than I phone, but I do, thank you.

   Oh, yes, I could get by without any guns, or knives, or some little knowledge of martial arts and war.... but they aren't hurting me, my family, nor anyone else.  The problem is the people that don't love life, be they in Planned Parenthood or all the crazy murderers feeding the nightly news and the let's keep the people in fear so we can stay on top and in charge folks in government.

It was a great weekend, but I was praised for my wife...

    Seriously, I married my wife long before the government even knew she existed, and she and I have a very committed relationship.  Now from outside of us, we have heard it all and much that was unsaid was deafening.  Words like she is only a "        " put any offensive word from either language in there if you like.  Or, just a GI, can't get a job, can't get an American girl to love him -- what a loser.  The biggest reason the words were unsaid was she would fight, once when I couldn't get a pass off post, my friends came back to tell me how she had beaten up, in a fair fight, another woman for her disrespect or something.  She did have a bit of pride in those days, she was her father's daughter.  And I had a similar attitude, and would fight for honor or love or just to be bad, so I didn't hear much directly. I was denied much by the command that was protecting me from making a big mistake - my first but not last confrontation with the government deciding what was good for me, and us.

   Not going to bore anyone with the years between that and yesterday, Sunday at church, and as I left the church shaking hands and going to do Sunday School with the fifth graders -- I got these 'you have a wonderful wife'.  Okay, I would say, thank you, I really do know that. Thank you...

   Now the children had some concerns about the shooting in Oregon, just down the I-5 highway, and I had a great day on the range the day before with Jack and four older shooters, so I made sure we covered firearm safety, two main points: Don't touch the firearm, and get an adult. The other was if you have a firearm to keep the muzzle in a safe direction.  I was there for Bible study and kept the safety simple and repeatable and made them discuss it so they were sure.

   I have about half of their names memorized, they all know me, cause I am one and they have been around forever. But we are getting better...  After that I was invited strongly to attend the Sunday School teachers lunch with the Pastor in charge of their education, and as we sat around the table I noticed that all the teachers were old men, for first through six grade. Hmmm, so the lunch was good, the introduction to the Pastor and his wife and the other teachers. Then back to pick up my car at the service shop, which is open all weekend, and of course didn't have the sensor it needed until Tuesday morning so we will repeat that again. And I drove home, met my wife and decided to give her a little time off the computer on her problem.

   Now on Saturday evening when I returned the hundred and thirty miles diven twice to instruct and tell about the heritage at the Appleseed in Custer, Washington, ten points if you know whom the town was named in honor of.. anyway our son called from Hawaii, where he is now working and living. He wanted to connect on Skype and hadn't been able to since I changed to Windows 8.? and I opened the laptop with Windows Solid Seven and got a great video feed going and son and two fast moving lovely grandchildren had a great visit, but determined that Windows 8.? was going to go away and I was going to get control of my new computer. So I went to sleep happy, dropped the Caravan off at the dealer Sunday morning, and went to church where I got the opinion of our working computer expert on upgrading to Windows 10 and would I be happy.  Good talk and he convinced me to spend some time doing it.  So I did on Sunday afternoon. And as I worked on that my wife asked me, again, to get her new smarter than husband phone on my WiFi (another resident monster I hadn't conquered). Okay, there is a lot of checking and loading time for me to do other stuff.

   I got Windows 10 on my computer, about the same time that she with help from her coach in her native language that I got her connected to my WiFi, then I went totally crazy and started linking everything that would take the WiFi connection. Only the printer remains that I know about.  What a wonderful, successful weekend.  So, as we are chilling out, she tells me about her trip to the hot bath spa with the other ladies.  Seems that they were having a wonderful time and noticed one was missing, she was under water and they pulled her out, asked for CPR help, called 911, and my wife trained long ago for CPR started clearing airway, positioning and mouth to mouth, which brought up the body's reflect choking/puking clearing shoving stuff in my wife's mouth, which she spit out and began again.. All the time thinking this was harder and how long would it take professionals to get there and why doesn't everyone know how to do this... and would she be able to keep it up -- my wife is a worrier, but determined. She kept it up until the professionals arrived and relieved her. The woman didn't make it, she died on Saturday.  My wife tells me about it on Sunday night. Koreans don't like to share bad news, but I was proud that she had tried, and so were the people at the church that knew... the ones that kept telling me how wonderful my wife was. Same woman, but very different perceptions of her value, worth and I get the best of it all.  No matter what all those other fools thought when we were young and so powerless but so promised.




  

I have been given permission... so...

Tamara Keel Oh, feel free.

Unlike · Reply · 1 · 2 mins

 So I think everyone that really wants to know about "guns" please Google 'Tamara Keel' and find out what she is writing and speaking about which is usually about guns, although you may find cameras and Indianapolis and Tennessee among her notice.  She knows, she cares, and you may feel so much more  expert if quoting what she has shared, what she doesn't share may be totally scary.

Time for the meek to inherit the Earth...

  Meek = showing patience and humility; gentle   and that describes a paratrooper from Charlie Cobras long ago and far away...  Cause when it was time to fight, they would do so...  all boys should be brought up better, with the certain knowledge and playground experiences that say they are to fight and protect the weak and innocent. To include shooting Afghan child rapists, but it isn't about a failed nation state as much as a failed cultural norm - 'violence never solves anything'.  That wasn't true when my mother said it, and she knew it but had to give me better examples of a better way.

   I don't have guns because I have a desire to shoot anyone, that is irrational and stupid and I don't have to be either.  I don't want, desire nor expect to ever shoot anyone, I work hard to avoid it. Firearms are dangerous, but so much of the world is dangerous so I have to learn how to control - ME.  When I pick up a firearm, I must make sure it doesn't overcome my reluctance to point it in a dangerous direction and pull the trigger. If I am really picking it up, I first make sure which way it is dangerous, make sure it is on safe and unloaded.... then I can decide what to do next with it. It takes a real man to resist that urge that Hollywood gives every red blooded boy to shoot their eyes out, to take up the blade and slash and stab until blood is covering everything... right? Oh, I am supposed to know the difference between myth, fantasy and foolish idiots?  I mean, really all my girl friends and romantic lady friends have all looked just like... themselves and are cherished because they don't live like Pretty Woman characters with golden hearts and sloppy morals?

   Let me be perfectly clear, I blame the Western Culture and Civilized world for the foolish politically correct and almost Christian view of living in love and harmony. Jesus wants us to be our best in this life for the next.  You should want everyone to be their best in this life, not because of fear, not because of weakness, not because they must or the government or mob will kill them or condemn them to being outcasts. You should want them to be wonderful people so we will all live a great rewarding life here on Earth.  And sometime, in dangerous times when people are getting killed, the men need to know they are to stand up and attack and slay with effect.  They need to stop when the danger is done - then God and the government can come along and investigate, repair, restore and award points for form or take them away for folly and foolishness.

Meek = showing patience and humility; gentle   It is time for boys to be boys, and the meek to inherit the Earth.  Ladies, teach your children well, you do need to produce gentlemen and warriors and heroes.  And those that say that I mean to decrease the importance of women and their role, haven't a clue and should visit the library much more. Ladies can and may fight just as hard or harder, but I hold them responsible for the most important part of the killing time, turning it off when the danger has passed.

 

So what would a disarmed American population look like?

  There are lots of wonderful gun free citizens in the world, and they have tanks next door going through walls, machine guns firing tracers in the night, artillery and mortar rounds landing on school yards, and the constant fears that not only can't you trust your government's goodness, but how deep must that hole be to protect your family and how far can you run with food and water to make it to the refugee camp... think about it.  Countries that fall apart, normally have very sane and safe firearms laws to protect the citizens - and the heavy handed politicians making power a principle.

   So today, another shooting in a community college in Oregon. Too many dead, and of course the murderer. A twenty year old unidentified (conspiracy nuts say that means the shooter was a TERRORIST OF SOME FOREIGN ethnic persuasion) male. The police responders did a fine job of neutralizing the murderer.  The murderer didn't want to obey the anti-murder laws, which are not a right of a person to attack other people.  Maybe the Bill of Rights should have said that the right of one man to kill another couldn't be infringed upon.  Then we could be having a discussion about changing that right.

  But most people don't believe in a right to attack other people, although it is in the Koran or is that Quran? Not an English word and I don't read Persian nor Arabic.  And I want to follow the Holy Bible, so none of that should matter.  And I expect to again, this coming weekend be at a place where a large amount of rounds will be fired safely and on target and no one will be hurt, unless they were too proud and too unpracticed and unskilled, that should only be feelings.  So all of Mayor Bloomberg's money and good intentions done wrong upon the unknowing public and President Obama's skillful deciding that good gun laws mean less violence (completely ignoring the Cook County body counts for wrongful gun deaths) will not be as effective as people establishing safety rules, a Course of Instruction, safe places to shoot. Or maybe it is just Earl, and if they fly me everywhere real quick I can prevent any more gun deaths... but that isn't really what I think.

   I think to be fair and balanced the news has to start reporting all the rounds fired, the targets hit and the enjoyment or troubling of the shooters.  No pictures, no breaking news, no media feeding frenzy - if it bleeds it leads.  President Obama says he is upset about how often in a country of over 310 million people that has a recorded fifty-nine million abortions performed for the business success of a non profit but highly profitable enterprise.  All lives matter, really and the police won't be there when a woman is getting pregnant, and won't be there soon enough when a crazy person is shooting other people.  That is a truth.  I don't have guns and a desire to shoot a human being, a rational person doesn't desire the death of others for gratification.  But, I may one day see a need to shoot someone.  Have before and could see it happening again, not likely because I don't go into gun free zones wearing Zombie t-shirts.

Almost the end of September and there is still rum and whiskey in the cabinet...

  You had no idea that two of the cabinet were code named Rum and Whiskey, did you?  Nah, speaking to my inability to finish what I started... haven't missed too much alcohol in my life, all those dry years I remember so very well.  The session at the YMCA took me to new levels of performance for 'that older gent' (my official new title replacing 'hey, old timer')

   Millions upon  millions, when we look back in History, slavery is completely not understood. Although there is real slavery still in backward countries, in the modern civilized nations there no longer is the same creature. There are legal entanglements and contracts and such, but there is much more freedom for those that don't count and they don't have to make bricks without straw because of the change.  I watched the movie Philomena last night, good movie and not my normal fare.  Still gives me thoughts to mull over.  Today, the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, is still taking an immoral stand, a legal but immoral stand on Planned Parenthood and abortion.  I am, still, a fellow very against others deciding my life, my culture, my contribution to the sins of humanity and the world.  Figuring my own stupidity, and Satan will likely do plenty without the cohorts of evil doers in positions of pretense of importance... The control freaks remain the weakness in most government systems, one very competent person can't do it all, and as soon as you add normal humans, you have lost the power of being really competent.

So Blood Moon, full moon and cleaar skies and I still like the North Star...

  Easier to find right in front of my front porch on a clear night.  Still have to admit, no matter how many cable feeds were covering the Pope's visit to America, gushing with their love of celebrities and dislike of religion and gods that frown upon their lusts and lavishness... I hope more people went out to view the moon. My wife talking to her sister in Korea on the mobile phone, took it and the conversation outside to view, then tried walking up the street to get closer to the Moon????? yeah, like that will work.  Tim Durkan took the picture for those not able to get away from the football game, most of Seattle had watched the Seahawks wake up for the second half. I wonder how many other photographers were working on Mount Rainier and other special locations to get the best shot of the event?  My wife was talking to her sister, because she can, and because it is Chuseok, the three day harvest festival thanksgiving in Korea.  Do wish they would decide which letters to use for which Korean symbols, and have some special sweet rice cakes, and get out the new traditional garb on television.

  I am wearing two daggers today and carrying concealed and realize only the medal detectors will get me, since it is a non-traditional carry position, but I have walked, sat, jumped in and moved Cadillac and my wife's car has so many less miles than my Caravan... so many less, anyway they are secure until they are needed.  So happy.  My wife is off to climb the hills with her hiking team and I am visiting the Service department and going to the YMCA.  Spend money like it isn't real, preparing for my selection as the write in candidate for 2016 Presidential Campaign.

Well, the Sun has finally crested the mountains and the big trees to the Southeast, time to get a move on.  Oh, stop, President Obama is addressing the United Nations and the new folks are already telling us what is important in his speech. He does wear that suit well, tie is tied so neatly, and he has grayed well as President. Should have sold tickets.

  

Beautiful Day in the neighborhood, but I was feeling worse as the morning moved along...

    So I crashed with a couple of wife recommended pills and slept the problem away... or so I tell myself. The house looks wonderful, but remember one of the nice things about getting older eyes is missing the dust layering the stuff that just doesn't move much anymore.

   I got my rifles cleaned and oiled by a one time professional, as a soldier and a Drill Sergeant I invented tools to clean carbon from M16, by flattening wire coat hanger lengths, now I see the Chinese are making them to sell to the Americans. Amazing how fast good ideas spread.  Took some Facebook pictures to make folks wonder what I am up to... nothing, just taking Facebook pictures to make folks wonder...

  I even during the clean up and storage and reorganization (like it was ever organized?) I put a bed spread on my day bed for my watching movies to sleep through..

  Did get my Caravan checked for emissions, failed three things, but the government would grant me a waiver for a hundred and fifty dollars, haven't they heard about global warming, carbon monoxide poisoning and other things?

  Big doings here, the Men's Bible study is at our home, days worth of cooking plus some of the ladies will bring more to share. This conflicts with the Church's Mission show tonight, but then we are having a consolidated service tomorrow, so I think we will get all caught up.

  The government has decided I don't know when I am well off and won't give me the winning numbers for tonight's drawing - a repeat of last nights results.  It never matters, they haven't figured out how to use all the money they have been winning for years now. But they get a bit nervous when not enough people play... like the professional politicians get nervous with the people thinking that amateurs could become President.  Just remember William Earl Dungey next November - write it in.

  

How to do the final Appleseed of my 21st Century... as Shoot Boss....

  So easy, sign up and go. 

  Just up 405 to Mukilteo and catch the ferry in the darkness and then drive to the range and await Tracey to open the gate.  Had twenty, three canceled and two were No Shows, so we had fifteen shooters, only one left hander, many ARs and center fired noise.  Looked like eight had been on an Appleseed with me before.

  And it went well, right on schedule, good pace, and the weather was better than it could have been. Lots better. My only rain problem was during the final Red Coat target and clean up time, since I couldn't find an underwater writing pen to record the results. And my clip board with notes was packed away with the range host family and they were going to Canada to hunt moose and wolves. The Canadians are promoting hunter safari adventures. If they just bring back the wooly Mammoth and Rhino...

  About 240 rounds on first day, and three hundred rounds on second day. So many opportunities to put a Rifleman score (210) together, one repeat 217, and one new Rifleman 211 on the first AQT of the second day.  The shooters often try to fix more than one problem at a time, which seems like it should work, but doesn't. Too many things to think about and most of the shooting becomes irregular from target to target, from AQT to AQT.  Need lots of dry practice to get repeatable results.

  Tried something new for the peppermint drill.  A sighting Square target was posted with one peppermint one the center square, then the target was engaged, upper left two rounds, upper right two rounds, then lower left two rounds and then lower right two rounds, then the final two rounds on the peppermint square. If you burst your peppermint with the first round you could wait until everyone was finished and then shoot a remaining peppermint on another target. That was a fun one, and everyone could see the importance of Natural Point of Aim, and repeatable shots.  The first day Red Coat target had seven of fifteen shooters getting the head shot, and the second day we started my doing the 'cold bore' one shot on the shingle to see how many were still on target after a night's sleep.

   I gave out most of the remaining tee-shirts, about three per shooter, I got William to come out from his chair and help pass out targets and take a Blue Cap as a volunteer admin for the RWVA... his father was one of the Instructors in Training (IIT) and passed his progress check for IIT2.  All the paperwork has been submitted, and the electronic reports posted and working as seamlessly as we were once told they would.

   Several of the shooters had built their ARs from parts? One was having extraction problems and a feed problem, and his firing pin was piercing the rounds. The feed problem was a lateral split case leaving about an inch in the chamber, which accepted a second round to the point of jamming it all up and open bolt - the Leatherman came out and was used. One extraction didn't work, with the rim broken off by the first attempt. Wolf ammunition from Taiwan, who knew? But then I still don't know.

   After driving off the ferry and going home to unpack on day two, I find an email telling me I had posted my After Action Report in the AAR area of the general forum, and that my Course of Instruction hadn't been limited to viewing only by instructors. Which I knew when I did both, and I had been advised by one of my instructors at the Appleseed.  I also had an email from the accounting department telling me for the second time that I hadn't submitted my form for the Custer, Washington shoot in June? So I made my third form out for that shoot, and my first form from the Reimbursement for this Appleseed. I never ask for money back for fuel, food or lodging (I sleep in my Caravan often - should I bill myself?) but I always report zero dollars expended to be recovered, for the IRS folks as they watch over 501 C3 groups.

   I have three of the shooters responding to the AAR and posting their comments, my and one instructor posting, and I did the Internal AAR without all the Red Coat numbers, but the one instructor took the split round picture and posted it on that IAAR, which is what the forum is designed to do, to share the experiences.  So this is my blog, this is Thursday morning early, and only a little repacking of Appleseed materials and equipment cleaning remains and that will be the last time. I am back to visiting the YMCA and talking with old men about the good old days. When I could do it all.  I forgot to give the 'load' command and was about to call the line 'All ready on the firing line...' that just wouldn't work.  Time for youngsters to step up.

oh, CNN had a Republican Candidate Debate? I thought CNN was democrat...

  I don't really want to discuss the debate, since it was intended to draw audience for commercial promotion of products that I probably won't buy, and since it is to present the prettiest possible fantasy Super President of the last Superpower...  come on, don't you see the Trump versus the field drama and excitement? What that has to do with being Presidential?

  If I think Americans would have difficulty deciding what America stands for... I also believe they would have trouble deciding what a President is supposed to be and do  Article II, sections 1-4, it is all there. You may wonder why President's get a 'by' on their poorer performance, it is because their oath of office is to 'to the best of my ability' while many of the other oaths are 'to defend and obey' without a cautionary clause to protect the life of the oath giver.

  Which gets me to my evaluation of the candidates: If I wouldn't follow that person into combat, then I am not selecting - nor electing - nor willfully supporting that person as President. I have to trust that person to defend the nation, to do good things in my name for the world, the nation and the LORD.

Lovely being me, just me, Earl the guy at the back of the room...

  The guy that walked on stage carrying a trunk and walked back off not saying a word. Ligonier Valley Players production... I was there.  I have to admit I cannot claim the main character status in any story not my own, and no one would pay to read nor view it.  Lucky am I that nothing dramatic surrounded my choices and chances in my life.  No public acclaim nor acknowledgement needed, thank you very much.  Have to thank God for placing me where I might help, or at least not get in the way of progress.

  Was a bit frustrated yesterday at the YMCA, not about how much exercise I did, for a fat old fool I did a fine twenty-five point seventy-nine miles in hours of sweaty good intentions.  And the ladies were lovely and there were many of the regulars and they said hi or acknowledged my existence with the head nod or wave. No, the two regulars I was looking forward to seeing and exchanging views with weren't there. At our age, there are too many reasons not to show up for the exercise, and two of the reasons, death and hospitalization, are just hovering in our future cause we have seen others on that road before. I am sure that everything is fine - just they have their own lives and don't always get a page in mine, but I should be able to write them into the adventures of the old guy whenever I want. Thinking I am in control of anything.  Maybe I anticipated too much.

  My mother's anticipation of her Fiftieth Anniversary celebration was ruined by my father's early departure, but then old folks do things like that. My wife came home with groceries yesterday, for the Men's Bible Study at our home in two weekends from now.  She has done major cleaning on the windows and the house twice for the same reason and the guest bathroom is off limits to me because she is hosting the hiking group this morning before they drive off. Anticipation makes preparations much better, but you can drive yourself and others crazy with obsessive behavior, can't you? With forty years of bumping into each others plans - my partnership (marriage in our minds) has well build fences to keep our minds from running loose and wild.  Yep, little drama here. We are settled down, we are stable, we could be in a rut and wheels spinning - but then maybe we don't want to go anywhere.  I looked into the passport renewal, and am sticker shocked by costs, didn't we pay our taxes?  Makes me think that we should just plan on walking around the border check points.

  You see, all my guns and all my ammunition and I am not in the nightly news with my arsenal, and for some strange reason the visit to the YMCA is going to work better for me than sticking up a convenience store or shooting it out on I5 in road rage.  Which is exactly why they won't write a book about me, they often aren't sure I was there once upon a time - so I am falling out of myths and fairy tales, too.  Still have that wonderful poem. "I met a man upon the stair, a little man that wasn't there, he wasn't there again today, gee, I wish he'd go away!"

I am obsesive and compulsive and silly...

   Oh how the time has fled... I once counted pushups and situps in the hundreds, once.  Now I have new goals for my fitness: leave the YMCA on my own two feet, don't let them wheel me out.  I keep working that one. A silly one was when tearing the paper towel from the machine after washing my hands, I was upset that the tear was always crooked... that last pull got weak or the technique was wrong, or I wasn't fast enough... But my last visit, I snatched it cleanly and now have a perfectly straight line cut.  Now on to doing that with weights! Or maybe not.

September 11, 1683 Vienna (Wien) that day the Europeans forgot and the Moslems never did...

  I won't even link to it, you should know that day was the first day of the Siege of the Austrian Empire by the Ottoman Grand Vizier, who had promised Rome and Paris right after taking down Austria.  Good movie with bad combat effects and some silly liberties with the truth to promote the story, that link is here.  I say the Europeans forgot it, but it is probably taught in Poland, Austria, Germany and countries of the former Yugoslavia... just a guess.

  So now, those crafty Moslem extremists are sending waves of military age refugees, with cell phones to Europe and other countries with Christian virtues and Western Civilization guilt complexes promoted by Marxist leaning professors - there are some real families that should be saved, but just ship the military age boys back unless the Foreign Legion needs new recruits.  I expect that since our governments have been promoting all kinds of foolishness, they will succeed in continuing their reign of terror and since they won't become part of the successful nations with good intentions that those nations will turn terrible in reaction or suffer destruction for lack of Godliness.  But then I study History and learn from it.

  Today isn't a holiday in America, it is a day of remembrance.  I remembered and went shooting my battle rifle, always a good thing to do.  With a new acquaintance at his very nice range.  He had some homemade reactive targets - like the shoot and see ones but full body size, and he had some interesting shooting drills - one round standing, drop to kneeling and fire two more same target, do again at the next distance, and then drop to kneeling and fall into prone at the longer distance.  Interesting.  Not a particularly timed event but it could be worked in... but why? two positions per target, just three rounds expended and total of nine for the course and then look and determine what would make it all better.

   A good challenge and I can always learn something, which I did.  Next month we meet to do some pistol work. That should be even better and more fun.  He gave me the big tour, talked much and introduced a few folks. Some serious older shooters there (the remainder of the world is busy paying taxes) and some nice special and specialized rifles on the benches.  A very fine day, and I don't even feel the least bit guilty for missing my YMCA period today.  Telling myself improvement in all directions begins tomorrow.

  My wife left me for church, revival this evening and a children's dance and choir performance from far away (the kids stay in different homes to sleep and snack).  She had a fine time relieving stress with friends, singing traditional songs loudly and performing... I wondered what stress she had in her really retired life. Then I remembered who her husband is and totally understood.

Reading the fears, so many fears fed...

    I don't fear firearms, I don't fear people with firearms, I am sure the Wild West was never as wild as the folks in Hollywood would want you to believe. I also don't fear the police nor the government agencies in their foolishness - which normally strikes when a bigger fool gets put in charge of something they have little idea about.  I want professionals to have the best training they can get, 83 shots that didn't hit the target makes me think the police need better training and they shouldn't be allowed to think more bullets in some direction are going to be effective.

   I don't fear refugees from terror, as long as they come as families and not from California.  For sure the people that come, have families and raise children and find work or start a business have done wonderful things for themselves and their families and our, "OUR" country.  Where are all our fears coming from? the media needing your attention, the half truths and sad truths thrown around to make you think it will happen to you if you don't do something, vote a certain party and want to be liked, loved and respected?

   I am still not running, one of those fears I haven't conquered yet... I wasn't like this once, what happened? It is too nice a world, a day, and a life not to participate fully to the limits the LORD has put within me.  May all your fears flee before the light of reality, not this shadow world of entertainment and rumor...

We're all American and proud to be... don't we wish the media would pick that up?

   I love being a 'real American'. but that is my definition and how I think of myself.  Everyone else, including my brother would try to box me up in his definitions of 'my problems', everyone should have a label - but it is foolish. We almost all were given a name, and answer to many that our parents wouldn't have used for us - but we know whom they were talking about... don't we?  Then I realized as the frenzy over Black Lives Matter - but truer still, all lives matter.  Then I thought about the fact that I am All American.  I like that description...  we are all American...  how we got here, when we came or even why we came... once we are here we become American... in the school of hard knocks and not in the politically correct sense.  You have been watching the refugee invasion that ISIS or just expanding Moslem solidarity is pushing on the 'guilty Europeans' who didn't start it and aren't responsible. There a some very rich countries that aren't taking refugees, with the same governments, religion and language. Anyway, we can take refugees, immigrants and terrorists - have in the past can do it again. Just get the government out of the business of government and watch us adjust and accept the strays from the world.

   Well, my wife got me a date today, so I went to lunch and met a nice man. We share an interest in shooting, we are both veterans, and we have time on our hands since the economy is so wonderful... or how to entertain oneself until reality smacks one's face into the dirt.  So after a nice lunch we are going to meet at his range and shoot rifles on Friday at nine, I also have to pick up my refill so I am still in touch with my frailty.

   I have classes to prepare for, one for Sunday school and about the Samaritan women at the well and how some people oppress those that are different... fifth graders, they should be able to handle it. And the Appleseed is coming up.  Hmm, best contact two people that haven't signed up to instruct yet. All the shooters have filled the slots.

I have it on good authority that men and women aren't the same...

   Actually, no matter how the popular culture tries to level the field, men and women aren't the same. And the PC policers will be crying that we have to include all those refinement in categories or acknowledges enhancements.  I being a simple man, know that men and women aren't the same.

   Pear sharing season, and my wife has skinned, cut, sliced and blended the pulp and made stuff which she shared well.  Which leaves a lot of excess vegetable matter which is fine for making into garden soil compost... except she won't wait upon Earl to get up and do it right. So she goes and tries (badly) to do it without me.  And then goes back to doing what she does best, making more vegetable matter mess... and I have to do that lot, and go find the mess she left me... she really hates me.  Being Sunday I have little choice except to forgive her and think again about locking that back gate to keep the bears out of the back yard - or my wife away from the composting which she doesn't do 'my' way.

   I studied John the Baptist this morning, preparing for Sunday School, fifth graders and they all are faster than I and I have to be prepared.. or was that in the Boy Scouts?

It is not just in what you call it, but how you intend to use it...

  So watching one of the most savage movies I have ever seen on the screen this afternoon, and the doorbell rings. I go answer it to find a large truck on the street with a large guy wanting me to accept his delivery, he says he will get it to my garage door.  Okay, I was expecting a serving tray and a drop leaf table from my aunt in Minnesota. She has been down sizing and sharing her treasures for years and these are the two she hadn't sent me before.

  Now I should have taken a before picture of the half pallet with two large plastic cardboard boxes on it. But I was remiss. If the Armed Forces had had packers and movers like my aunt's money hired, I wouldn't have lost so much broken and bruised or visibly antiqued furniture over my many moves.  Or I could have bought higher quality furniture? Well, it arrived well packed and I easily cut through the plastic wrap, then found the steel bands interesting (forgot what we used in Nam to get through them when unpacking ammunition) all I had on me was my trusty Leatherman Wave, so I opened the pliers and cut through half, then repositioned and cut the other half. Take it off. Back to cutting tape and plastic. Then inside the big box more cardboard triangle supports, and through them to get the drop leaf table out. There was almost three yards of bubble wrap around the serving tray.  After I swam through the plastic foam peanuts to find it.

   They sit in a place of honor in our dining room now. Pictures.

 Which brings me to my point about what you intend to do with it as opposed to what you call it.  As I found the interesting notice on the door of the YMCA telling everyone that it was a safe place - no drugs, alcohol or weapons allowed - I have been carrying the entire time, the police never take their equipment off either.  Why? Because we are carrying tools, tools that could become weapons upon need, but only tools.

   That terrible violent movie I was watching had the main character killing several men with a claw hammer, a most certain result of where he placed it violently.  But that was his intent, he would still call it a claw hammer and a tool.

  I am certain that I will be finding many more dangerous tools in the Home Depot, but it is the intent not the name one must worry about being on the receiving end of.