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Monday, July 18th, 2005: Some good news today for The Horde: First off, I want to express my deepest congratulations to Shin Tao and his lovely bride for the birth of their son... who looks to be in perfect health. After last week, this is fantastic news. This is their first born, so they are excited, happy, and not getting as much sleep as they are used to. We are most pleased.

Ruger has sent us the P345 and the article writing process will begin shortly. First impressions? The pistol is a little large for a CCW piece, yet it feels like an improvement over past Ruger automatics. But that isn't saying much. Looks like I'm over due posting up some of my gun reviews now that they have been in print... typically I like to post my last reviews after my latest ones hit the news stands.

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James? She'll look awesome on the back of a chopper.

The computer company, HP, known for crappy computers and even more crappy support... They decided to cut 15,000 jobs from it's IT and tech support departments and gives 15 million to the CEO. Because we all know how this is really going to improve HP computers and customer service. Now when you call up you are going to get the phone menu: “Press 1 if you have a problem with an HP personal computer, Press 2 if you are super pissed at HP. Press 3 if you want a squishy. Thank you, call again.” Is there any reason to buy an HP or a Compaq? No, not really. HP is using those pathetic and cheap motherboards that Gateway is putting in their Emachines and we all know how great those things are! You get little support, and getting it is like pulling teeth... Dell isn't much better, but it is a better. But Dell refuses to use AMD processors... which give solid performance for less bucks. Not that you are really concerned with that in the cheap Dell systems. Don't get a cheap Dell... they are nothing but problems. Spend a few extra bucks and get a good mid level machine, and spend a few more to get plenty of RAM in it.

Speaking of mid-level stuff... I pulled the trigger on a graphics card, and got a Sapphire 9600 XT Radeon card with 256megs of onboard DDR RAM. Pretty much I got this specifically for my GTA:SA game.... because it would get choppy at times. Whoa. Big difference. Huge difference. Not only do some things look better, but the game is much much smoother with no choppy moments. It was a drastic improvement. BTW, GTA: SA is just fricken awesome. More so now! I also checked out my Doom 3 game on the absolute highest graphics settings. Ran super sweet... all the details, antialiasing, highest resolution settings, and the game ran just fine and smooth... my old card could do these settings... but it wasn't smooth, and it wasn't at 1600X1200 resolution. He he he.

You know that hurricane going on? Check out this photo closely. Not meaning to make light of those gathered together in the shelters and all that... but look at the guy with the cute chicks on both sides of him. I sure hope he's drunk and sleeping it off... cause that's embarrassing.

Friday, July 15th, 2005: Robert Novak is so fired from the White House now. Karl Rove may not be a cuddly and warm fuzzball, but it's impossible to hold him to the fire for outting a CIA spy when not only does her husband run around saying things like “Hi, this is my wife, she's a CIA spy, what's your name?” But a week before Rove said anything, Robert Novak publishes a column where he says “Yeah, she's a CIA spy.” But since Karl Rove is hated by the Democrats and since he said “Wilson's Wife”, that's just too much? This is all just a BS political cock-fight. Rove didn't blow her identity. Novak didn't even blow her identity. She blew her own identity. She is a very poor CIA operative. Should Rove be fired? No. Should Novak be fired from his paper? No. Should Plame be fired from the CIA? Yeah, I think so.

China is prepared to use nukes against the USA. I guess we've been officially warned now. Of course I don't need to point out that I've been warning you guys about China for years now. China is our greatest threat, not guys that blow themselves up. Well, China and the Democrats. I'm sure Bill Clinton is so bloody proud now. I hold him responsible for this. Bill gave (sold) China everything they wanted to improve their nuke programs... specifically technology that can guide a nuke warhead to its target. I'd like to see a grand jury go over this... Bill Clinton should be hung for treason. In all seriousness we are looking at a major shooting war with China that will make Iraq look like a party.

The other day I watched Batman Begins. Outstanding. Just outstanding. I had doubts about the new batmobile, but after seeing the movie, it works. Christian Bale is The Man. Gary Oldman threw me... playing a good guy... that's not like him.

Thank you all for the show of support and sympathy regarding the passing of my grandfather. I appreciate it. We are all moving forward, moving on, keeping things going... because that's what you do. Some seemed to think that this was my Father who passed... The Jr. in the family was my Grandfather... I'm “The Fourth”. But it's all good. My Dad was having a harder time with this than I was, but he's okay. We know we will see Papa again. Thank you again.

HERRIMAN, UT-George H. Hill, Jr. returned home peacefully to his eternal family at the end of a strong effort battling multiple physical ailments including cancer as the last survivor of his immediate family. A native Floridian with deep family roots in the Jacksonville area, he served his Heavenly Father in many communities from the east to west coasts. George also served his country during WWII in the European Theatre, as a member of the Florida Air National Guard and his final service honorable discharge was with the U.S. Air Force in 1951. He achieved his personal goal of completing his earthly duties with honor and he blazed a path of leadership for his posterity to follow.

George loved news and current events working hard at learning all of his life. His services were valued as a councilor and leader in his community and church throughout his life. He gave of his time willingly from his youth as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His contributions have resulted in numerous and timeless benefits for those who will never know George. Many families were blessed in times of sorrow by his kind words spoken during many funerals.

Along George’s life path he served his fellow man in continuous church callings and community service organizations. George and the love of his life are enthusiastic Red Cross volunteers donating their time and resources for many years to assist improving the lot in life of the less fortunate. They have served communities devastated by natural disasters in South Carolina, Florida to California and the Caribbean. The loving couple has shared their time and talents in this work with over thirty away from home Red Cross assignments. This service includes New York City after the September 11^th attack.

His fruitful marriage with Hattie Francis Tilghman on November 20, 1944 produced five loving children. Granny Hill’s love will continue to lead the family. George H. Hill III., David T. Hill, Janis Hill Basham, Roxanne Hill and Bruce T. Hill along with their spouses survive Daddy. The family is blessed to have added eighteen grandchildren and twenty-six great grandchildren who will be able to look forward to Papa’s loving greeting at the end of their work on Earth.

The family would like to thank Dr. Elsie Horvath MD and nurse Terry Van Duren, RN for their professional and thoughtful care. The staff and facilities of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Veterans Administration-Salt Lake and the University Of Utah Hospitals helped George along his way. Hospice staff employees at Vista Care are greatly appreciated for their experience and for helping to fill George’s and the families’ needs.

Monday, July 11th, 2005: Email from one of the Horde: “I think the point of what people are saying about 'being in Africa' is the following: First, Bush didn't go into Iraq simply to uphold the UN mandate...thats just silly to think we would invade a country to 'uphold' a UN mandate. Especially when everyone thought the UN was a joke then anyhow. (and still do). I think the main Africa point that people make...is after about 10 different attempts for reasons and excuses as to why we invaded Iraq the final and most popular settlement was to 'free the people from a vicious dictator'. Which no doubt was true...and we did. But then people hear of the hundreds of thousands of innocent villagers being slaughtered in Africa...and people question why we aren't doing anything to help them out. If we were a truly moral country...in a moral world...sure...we would help people that were being viciously slaughtered. But no....we chose Iraq to be tough on...a country uninvolved in 9/11....a country with no WMDs....a country that was not a threat to us as a single entity...a country with a lot of oil...a country strategically placed in the middle east...a country that left a slight black eye on Bush's Dad... So...we have NK gaining a nuclear arsenal...but they aren't a threat to us...right? We have Iran...gaining a nuclear arsenal...but they aren't a threat to us...right? We have villagers being slaughtered in Africa...but thats life unfortunately...we can't help nation rebuilding right? There is quite a bit of hypocrisy going on here...nothing is consistent... and I'm actually quite angry at Bush for manipulating and being a bit of a tale teller. You don't invade a country based on assumptions. Its too cloudy....too many things don't add up...and I think its sad that our remarkable servicemen and women are now in this situation.”

Saddam was on the top 10 terror watch lists for the last decade before the war in Iraq started. The jet fuselage that terrorists practiced their hijacking in... was in Iraq. Iraq had WMD's its well documented that he used them on the Kurds in northern Iraq... we found several chemical shells being used as road side IED's. Where did those come from if there was no WMD's? Spain? Right after 911, where did certain high level terrorists run to? Iraq. They didn't go to Syria or Iran or Afghanistan... they went straight to Iraq. Iraq was center stage in more than one way.

You bring up North Korea and that's an interesting topic. NK is indeed a threat, but less of a threat to the USA than to South Korea. NK is a complicated subject. You have a country that divided its self over political ideology much like the US during the War of Northern Aggression. You literally have brother against brother still. Families and friends have been torn apart and remain separated by the DMZ and an insane little wannabe warlord that only knows extortion. The only troops we or anyone sees are the hand selected troops that are picked for physical size, and are the only ones who get regular meals. They say NK has one of the largest militarizes in the world, but I really doubt that even ½ of them are in fighting shape. Intel says that they spend all their money on military weapons, but it seems most of the spending is on missile programs, so I am really wondering about the condition of the weapons in the field. They have 10,000 artillery tubes aimed and ready to go... but how many of them are rusted solid? I don't know, but I do know that they wont be telling anyone. What about jeeps, trucks, and APC's? What kind of condition are they in? NK is only a threat because of their missiles. As a nation they are dying. They wont fire their missiles, because that is the only card they hold... so all they can do is beat their chests and make threats. South Korea is more than ready to counter any NK assault, and in turn over run the North and unit the country. The only real problem isn't even NK at all... the real problem, and the reason we haven't bloodied Kim Jong Ill's nose already is China. If it wasn't for China, things would be very different... and the people of NK would be able to eat. China is the biggest threat to the US the world over. China is a whole other subject, but you can't have a discussion about NK without acknowledging China.

Saturday, July 9th, 2005: I've been giving a lot of attention to the Middle East lately. Because, well, one just can not help it these days. Now lets take a look at Africa. Its been on my mind lately namely because of this U2 singer, Bono, who has been pimping it out as hard as he can. According to Bono, if we would all just help Africa by giving them some money, then Africa would be able to pull its self up and all those poor people over there would get a bowl of soup. Bono is passionate about this, and he really believes it. Unfortunately he is just misguided. Africa doesn't need any more money. Africa has been given billions and billions of dollars in free aid from all over the world... and it has only made matters worse. The problem with Africa isn't from a lack of effort. It's from the corruption in the governments and the military leaders and with the warlords who rule Africa with unquestioned and absolute power. They take all the aid money so none of it gets to the poor. Medicine and food supplies that are delivered their to Africa get hijacked before it gets to the villages that needed it. What we need to send to Africa and distribute to the poor locals there are Glocks. Give the repressed peoples there a chance to stand up for themselves in the face of their corrupt and oppressive governments... so when a “Technical” rolls up full of gunmen to take the medicine and food that the UN just delivered... the people can keep it. That's one thing. The other thing that we need to send are teachers. People in Africa don't even know that they can have it better. When you are totally cut off from the world and all you know is how to sleep on dirt and have sex... you don't have the motivation to look for ways to better your situation. I'm tired of hearing Liberals say, “Why don't we go to Africa to help them out, is it because there is no oil there?” This question is a trick question based on several false assumptions. The fist one is the assumption that we went to Iraq to get oil. This is not true. We went to Iraq because we were enforcing a UN mandate. Second, there is no UN mandate for us to go to Africa. In fact, the UN pretty much wants to keep Africa the way it is. And third... “We” are already in Africa, and have been for some time. Watch the movie “Blackhawk Down”. That movie is based on a true story... it really happened. It happened under Clinton's watch and it happened IN AFRICA. Today we still have soldiers over in Africa. So don't pull that “Why aren't we in Africa” bull on me... I've got good friends that died in Africa. In fact, that Blackhawk Down situation, I've 3 friends that were there. Only 1 came home from it alive. Against my better judgment, I like Bono's sincerity... it must be nice to live in an altruistic world where the sky is always peachy and everyone is shiny. It would be nice to be able to go to Africa and drive around like you can in the USA, driving from State to state. Africa has so much to see. So much potential. And they have so many natural resources... Africa could have developed into a huge economic powerhouse to rival the USA. Unfortunately that's not the case... that never happened. But it could. And like Bono, I'd like to see that happen. I would also like to have an ocean front condo on Mars, a lightsaber, an Imperial Star Destroyer, and multiple bi-sexual clones of Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hyak, and Rebecca Gayheart to act as my personal servants body guards and harem... and I want to direct a true to the book remake of Starship Troopers... because if your going to fantasize, might as well go big.

Friday, July 8th, 2005: The attacks in London yesterday are truly horrible. My heart goes out to the injured, the dead, the families, and those effected by this atrocity. But as horrible as this is, what is worse are the reactions that I am hearing about it. People who are yet again crying out for understanding, asking themselves “why” and wondering what they can do to prevent another such attack. The answer is simple, to prevent another attack, we kill those that would make such attacks. Yet too many people are blaming Bush for this.

A quick browse around the Democratic Underground is like swimming in a cesspool, and having done so I come away feeling just as dirty. The D.U... I'm glad we have the 1^st Amendment so that these people have a place to say these things... I'm glad because it gives us the chance to identify them and to see into the minds of the enemy. Yes, I said enemy. They cheer such attacks and blame America for them? Who's side are they on? I think I know.

Any such attack is an outrage. Just as it is an outrage for those on the “Far Right” or where ever they think they are coming from to say such things as “Nuke all the Muslims”. This is just as asinine as what we can read at the D.U. Maybe more so because we should know better. Islam isn't the problem. Muslims are not the problem. The problem is with the monsters who think that they are right with God by killing innocents. Innocent victims of terrorism, not “Casualties of War” as some are saying... these people are not casualties. Casualties come out of a battle zone. London is not a battle zone... these people are victims of brutal terrorists. The people who bug me the most are those that promote appeasement... those that blame the US for this and say “if we only...” That sort of thinking has got to stop. There is no appeasement with terrorists. This attack in London was only the first successful attack after 20 prior foiled attempts. September 11^th, 2001 was a successful attack after what? 2 other failed attempts.

Our being in Iraq has nothing to do with these attacks... these attacks would have happened anyway. Muslim Extremists have been attacking us with terrorist tactics since 1983, and only until Sept 11^th, all we have done is offer appeasement. Withdrawal. Turning the other cheek. Didn't work. After 911 we stopped turning... stopped backing away. We've heard President Bush use the word “Resolve” more than a few times since then. This is what “Resolve” is all about. It's about the strength of will to carry through with a hard decision... this is the hard part about using words like “resolve”. It means there is a lot of work yet to do. And we are doing it. Slowly and surely, we are getting it done. Iraq is becoming more stable... safer... Big Media likes it or not, that's what is happening.

I heard one reporter say yesterday that the attacks in London are because Iraq has trained the terrorists in the art of Urban Warfare. What a crock. This wasnt urban warfare... Urban Warfare in Iraq always leads to dead terrorists who didn't come away learning anything other than the US Military is not to be messed with. Urban Warfare is what the USA is really good at. Sneaking around the shadows like rats planting bombs that spill innocent blood is what the terrorists are doing, and it takes no great skill in such acts. No, what it takes is hatred and cowardice... something the terrorists have in great abundance. We can not appease them. We can not make them understand we come in peace and mean the no harm... or any of that wishful thinking.

They will only stop when either they have completed all their goals or are dead. Their goals are not just to make the world Islam, but to make the world their brand of Islam... because they attack other Muslims to... and do so without a second thought. How do you negotiate with that? You do it by either submitting to them... or by putting a bullet through their skulls. To our friends in the UK, who are hurting now: Strengthen your resolve. Remember your Winston Churchill. Let's get these bastards so this doesn't happen again... because that's the only way to prevent it.

Wednesday, July 6th, 2005: The move is complete. I'm very sore, very tired, and I've found a whole new spectrum of pain and suffering in the form of a pulled quad muscle in the same leg I have a pulled hamstring. Its very nice. In the other leg, right on the knee cap, I have a nice little hole from where a nail intruded. Very nice indeed. The upside is that we now have 4 times the square footage of house and property... and we also now have a new bed. We tossed our old King Sized bed, and this evening I'm setting up our new “Select Comfort” bed. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to actually get a good night sleep. You hear so much noise about these things from Rush and Hannity, they are always pimping these beds. Now, I have to admit, Rush was pretty spot on about the Snapple thing. Love Snapple. Don't know about General Steel buildings, but I'm going to give this bed a shot. I'll let you know if it's groovy or not. Have to put it together first.

Congratulations to London on winning that bid to host the Olympic games! Wow, London, that's out of the blue.... but cool... very cool... Now London gets to spend millions and millions of Pounds on sprucing up the city and getting ready for a mob of asshats rolling in, trashing the city, and then you get to spend a few million more on cleaning it all up. The hotels and restaurants to well during that time, sure... but everyone else in the city is really just very annoyed. I hope you enjoy it. Salt Lake City sure did. (Insert sounds of projectile vomiting) Let's see, I remember all the hubbub of the games here in Utah in 2002. Impossible traffic, all the hotels and restaurants all filled. I remember one “guest” who drove his rental car through my friends fence, then chewed him out for having a fence... in French of course... then drove off after doing 1500 dollars in property damage. Yeah, that's nice. “Small Blue Marble”, this Earth is after all. Cops were too busy directing traffic to chase down the drunks and respond to community problems... you know... the stuff we have cops for. The whole time we also had armed soldiers hanging out like this was the Gaza Strip. Traffic routes were all redirected and streets closed. A few business did great, but others lost lots of money... Utah is still paying the bill for 2002. What did we get out of it? What kind of return did Utah get out of our investment? Not worth it. But hey... It's all London's bag now.

Have you guys heard the news reports of the two hunters who shot and killed a bear? I don't remember when this happened, but it was like last week I think. Yeah, they shot this bear and killed it... unfortunately between the time the bear was shot, and the time when the bear died... the bear had the time to return the favor and it killed the hunters before it expired. This is a tragic event, and their families have our condolences. I mention this as a segway into a little discussion regarding some questions I've had lately regarding the suitability of the .22 out of a small sized handgun for self defense purposes. The argument is that more people are killed by .22's or that the .22 is so very lethal. Yeah, it might be. I'll not argue that (at least not at this time) but the fact remains that the .22 and it's big brother caliber the .25ACP are just flat out too weak for serious consideration for personal defense. Hey, a .22 is hell on wheels fun for plinking with... but unless your attacker is the same size as a North American Grey Squirrel, then the .22 is just not enough gun. Now this seems to make a lot of sense for most people. Yet some people seem to think that these new .17 calibers might be okay? WTF? You take a .22 rimfire, neck it down to .17 caliber and you think that might be okay for self defense because the bullet is fast? The bullet is the size of a grain of rice for crying out loud! I don't care how fast the bullet is if it's only making a hole that's the size of a grain of rice... cause speed doesn't matter! It's the amount of damage that the bullet does, and where that damage is inflicted. Yes, shot placement matters, but if you are not doing enough damage or are not penetrating deep enough to deliver that damage, then shot placement means very little. I'm interested in the .17HMR and the Mach2 rounds... they seem nifty as all get out. For shooting small critters, cans, bottles, birds, paper... but for Goblins? You have got to be kidding me. You can not seriously consider a .17 caliber pistol for your life preserver. If you must have a small gun, you can get small guns in real working self defense calibers. The P3AT, the R9.... small revolvers and autos are out there... The NAA Mini Revolver? It's a keychain fob. Sure it's a well made little revolver... and it would clear the sinuses of most badguys should you shove it up their snotbox and pulled the trigger. But you should not consider it as your carry gun if you are only packing one gun... it's a BUG... or a “Back Up Gun”... something to have as your very very last ditch option. I'm not kidding. Don't do it.

July 4th was celibrated... and after forgetting about the Supreme Court for awhile, it was all good. Kids had fun, watched the fireworks, made and ate enchiladas, and relaxed... it was good. I love my country... it remains worth fighting for.

Friday, July 1st, 2005: I've got mixed feelings about the 4^th of July this year. With the Supremes saying that it is okay for a local municipal government to take private property from one guy and sell it to another guy... I'm just not feeling it. If a guy breaks into your home, steals something, sells it to a pawn shop – that's illegal. But if the City takes your whole freaking house and pawns it off – well that's just fine. WTF? That is so blatantly unconstitutional that it inst even funny. The open door for gross abuse of this, for revenge, favoritism, for kickbacks... I just can not see how this decision was reached with a straight face. Guys, this 4^th will be a Memorial. Independence day... it used to be. It used to be.

My faith in the system is broken as it stands now. But I do believe in this country, and I do believe in the organization and processes that make the system work. The only problem is that evil people have been for generations eating away at our freedoms and liberty. The system is right – but the people in the system are wrong. Very wrong. The USA was founded on the principles of INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY. Freedom in the purist form. If you think otherwise, screw you... because you are ignorant of the details of history and where the Founding Fathers were coming from. I wont be calibrating the 4^th this year. I'll be mourning it.

I think I'm going to do this to my Bronco. I like the “coupe” top look and the pickup bed portion that Ranger can ride in without jumping into my lap for a mid curve hug. Use Plexiglas for the side and rear windows and build a wall to seal the rear and then waterproof it. Then I can yank the heavy rear tailgate and either replace it with a light regular pickup tail gate (no power rear window) or just use a net tailgate. Hmmm... I'll have to ponder this. What do you guys think. Oh, and no matter what I do, I'll still be able to take the top off for Drive-In movies or regular pickup truck duties. Well, If I can fabricate a good rear wall that is both removable, and seals. Also in the winter, the smaller internal space will make it easier for the heater to keep everyone toasty. I love it. I'm doing this before the summer ends.

Our brother Shin Tao sends us the following After Action Report of an Ultimate Fighting match he was recently in:

Sounds like one hell of a fight. This is pretty much why I carry a gun all the time. I'll be honest, I don't think I would have prevailed in this. I'm too banged up.

One of The Horde out in MO has made an outstanding trade recently. The trade was him offing his AR-15 type rifle for a new M1 Carbine as made by Kahr with the name Auto Ordinance on it and a Taurus snubby. This is in my opinion, an outstanding trade. Not only did he upgrade, but he scored a back up gun as well. Now if we can just get these HEZI bullpup kits for the M1! These Kahr made M1s are the perfect candidate for the conversion!

Tuesday, June 28th, 2005: I'm going to talk about something that eventually every man will at some point in their lives have to deal with. Plumbing. Words can not describe how much I loath plumbing. Something seemingly simple and straight forward turns into a horrible nightmare. An ordeal so insane and mind breaking, that only HP Lovecraft could describe but was too timid to put to paper. I would rather have elective dentistry work done, or have my salad tossed by Mike Tyson or sit through “The Bridges of Madison County” rather than do the plumbing again that I just had to do today. 2 toilets, 2 sinks, and one bathtub. Eighty dollars in parts. Six hours. 3 trips to the hardware store. Next time – I'm just calling someone. Screw this stuff. No, no I am not good at this sort of work, and I don't want to be. Really I don't. In the same period of time, I could have built 6 to 8 AMD 64 systems, installed linux on them, networked them together, and then kicked back to enjoy a coke and Firefly's episode 1 “Serenity”. And I'd be pleased to call that a good and productive day. But this plumbing crap... makes me want to kill something.

This is where GTA:SA comes in. Since I am at heart a pacifist, I take out my aggression and stresses in the form of wildly violent and mature rated video games. The game of choice is a little number I picked up for myself for Father's Day... because face it... a game is much more fun than a tie and no one would ever buy that game for me anyways. Grand Theft Auto is a long and noble tradition of evil games... and San Andreas tops them all together. The “world” of SA is massive. Probably the biggest in any single player game. It is comprised of 3 major cities with all the territory between them. 180 different vehicles, 5 different motorcycles that I've seen so far and several bicycles... all of them easily recognized as having real world counterparts. The Honda Goldwing looks like a Goldwing. The “Majestic” looks just like a Buick Regal. You can even take your ride to a custom shop and get some work done to it. Same for yourself. Clothes make the gangster they say. Haircuts and tatoos and even your physical condition and weight are all itmes you can modify. The game takes place in the 90's in California. Well, a place like california, but they are not calling it that. You play a gangmember that returns home and sets about sorting things out by embarking on a quest of violence and bloodshed. Unlike other GTA titles, this one is the most comprehensive. Very much like a roleplaying game, you can develop your character to suit how you like to play. You can explore the city/cities for endless hours picking up on the subtle humor found throughout. This is a masterpiece of gamemaking. But it is not for the young. This is a game that is best played by adults only and only after the little kiddies go to bed. While they might think the jumps and stunts are cool... the everything else can be rather shocking. From the language to the actual missions. It's pretty much about as Rated R as you can get. If this was a movie, it would be much worse than Sin City. BTW, my graphics card is the FX5200, and again, this is why I need a better one. This card is plenty good enough for Doom3 and other games... but this game brings it to its knees. I don't get that, but it does. If you want to play it... do so with a better card. Getting a better card is very much worth it because the game is very much worth it. Don't tell me about the Xbox verison or the PS2 version not needing anything else to play it... cause I got two words for you: MOUSE. AIMING. Well, I'll have to wait on the card I guess... with Brutus acting up on top of this new life transition, I need to save my pennies.

Back to plumbing again. Just when I thought I had it down. I didn't. And usually with plumbing that means a very sloshy mess. This was not unusual. I had a nice big sloshy mess and soaked carpets. Let me tell ya, I thought I had it... I really did. Turned the water back on and everything was groovy for several hours until I went to turn on the hot water. The whole valve assembly that I spent 12 bucks on shoots up out of the fixture in the midst of steaming geyser. Not only did I have the humiliation of a plumbing job gone wrong, but I was given a good scalding for punishment. I'm done with plumbing. Seriously. For good. I don't care WTF is going on, I'm calling a plumber. Some things, Ogre doesn't even attempt to do. Electrical work with high voltage crap, brake systems, and now plumbing. All of these things I've learned from experience that God Himself doesn't want me to touch. Ever.

The Linspire PC system builder's kits arrived. We have all the goodies to officially build fully licensed and registered computer systems using Linspire as the OS. The more I play with Linspire, seriously, the more I like it. It's just your basic Linux distro running KDE... but it's polished for ease of use and transition away from Windows. It's different, but it has a familiar look that wont make you all freaked out about it being Linux. Linux can be difficult to learn, and problems can be a headache to overcome – like with any OS. Remember when you first learned XP? “Where the hell is...?!?!” was a common expression for a lot of people. You can expect some of that again with Linspire, sure... but unlike XP, things are generally laid out in a logical manner and are where one would think they should be. The biggest and most valid complaint about Linspire, or any version of Linux, is Software. Yes, you can run WINE which emulates a Windows environment and allows for a lot of Win software to run, but not all of it will. Most likely just the program you have to run, wont. The upshot is that there are tons and tons of free or otherwise open source applications that probably do just what you want to get done. So thing outside the box for a minute, think about what you need to have done, and the end result, and you can most likely find a program that you can download that can get it done. This is easier than you might think thanks to Linspire's CNR application. Search the CNR warehouse, find what you want, and “Click and Run”. Windows doesn't have anything like that, and Windows doesn't have anything that easy. For the small office or home office, where you want a machine that you can play around on the internet with... listen to music and all that jazz... but have to use for business too... Linspire is your ticket. If you want a Linspire PC system, send me an email with your system specs and I'll get you a quote. We are going to configure a couple different boxes at different levels and have package deals set up, but that's something I'm going to have to do a bit later.

Now that I've done enough for Linspire today, there is another distro that I've been playing around with. Ubuntu. This is a Linux distro out of Africa, so it has a different feel to it, but it is surprisingly well developed. One doesn't think of Africa as being a fountain of technological development... and it isn't... but the Ubuntu crew did an outstanding job of taking all the best Linux packages from off the shelf and making a very comprehensive distro based not on KDE, but on the GNOME desktop manager. For those who have no idea what KDE and GNOME is, think of it like this... the KDE people have made the Linux desktop look a lot like Windows... while the GNOME people have made the desktop look more like a MAC. Roughly. Well, more like MAC OS-9 I guess. Fewer options up in the upper left, with longer menus dropping down from the top. But the similarity ends there really, because it's still Linux. Has the normal Linux distro package of applications... MP3 and audio players, email and office application clients, a good selection of built in games, and the latest version of GIMP for you photoshop guys. And it's all totally free and you can home office with Ubuntu as it is, and again... it's free. Not only is it free, but they want you to pass it along. You can order a Ubuntu disk for free, and they ship it to you for free... along with a bunch of other Ubuntu disks to give away. Each disk is in a little folder, with not just an install CD, but also a Live version of OS so you can try it out on your box without making any system changes, leaving your current OS and all its settings intact. I've found that Ubuntu works very well on older hardware... machines that were kinda clunky with Windows 2000, ME, or 98SE, are nice and snappy with Ubuntu. (Linspire likes a more modern PC system to run on, just like XP) I've got a Linspire 4.5 box that I am going to reformat and install Ubuntu on, just for giggles.

In the new Horde HQ I have a whole room to set up a computer lab in. I'm going to have several PCs, pretty much each with a different OS on it. Planning on doing one of each: XP, Linspire 5.0, Damn Small Linux, Ubuntu, (Maybe dual boot to 98SE) and MAC OSX. Need one more PC and a MAC for this... and a few more monitors... and maybe a couple KVM switches. Got all the LAN hardware I need too... Just don't have a high speed net connection out there yet. A couple of the machines will be able to go head to head on in a few games, but really it's going to be for learning and study and working. Lots of bookshelves are already in place. This is in the upstairs. Downstairs in the finished basement will be our theater room where we will enjoy movies that are out of the theater and delivered via “Netflix”.

Outside is my Shop. An old garage where I will be able to build some things. First things to build in there will be household fixtures and furniture of course... and after that since I'll have some wood and stuff going on, maybe a small boat. My dream is that eventually this will become a metal shop where I'll build my choppers and hotrods. (to expand on this dream, I would have a couple mechanics to help me build my stuff to sell and they get a percentage of the sale price) I still want to put a Honda VFR/Magna engine into a Chopper frame. Just a dream of mine. If you know more about Choppers than what you just see on the Discovery Channel, you know that Harley engines are not the only option. Triumph engines powered a great many of the original choppers back in the day. Lesser numbers where other engines, many from Germany and Italy, but some from Japan too. My favorite Chopper ever was running a Moto Guzzi engine. Crazy looking bike, but very cool and the thing actually had some lean angle to it. My favorite bike engine bar none is the V-4, multi valved engine that Honda has used in various forms in the Magna and the VFR... bikes with a good solid rep for crazy performance and day to day good manners. Very reliable, yet can do the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs. That engine, in a chopper with a moderate rake, a more comfortable seat, and with a large fuel tank... that's the Chopper for me. I'd also like to see one done with a Yamaha V-Max engine, but that wouldn't be for a daily or long range kinda bike... but it would be just tits for humiliating Harley V-Rod owners... not like that is all that hard to accomplish. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog would just shake his head at a V-Rod and walk away... too easy a mark to bother with.

I have decided that I really have to get a suppressed .22. I know my Dad is now beaming with pride that I've said that... it's his favorite weapon for reasons he can not tell or he will have to use it on you. But really I want it for more mundane tasks... namely pest control. Utah is awash in prairie dogs. There was one in the parking lot of a place I had to go today. A live one. One that had the audacity to chirp at me in defiance. The little bugger. I know a hushpuppy .22 is a spendy toy. 200 for the paperwork, 400 for the can, and 400 for a worthy pistol with a threaded barrel, you are looking at about a grand no matter how you cut it... top it off with a decent optic and you are about twelve hundred. Some things you can't buy, like wiping that smirk off of the prairie dog's face... for everything else there is a home equity loan.

Monday, June 27th, 2005: Hollywood is complaining about people not coming out to see the movies like they used to. Funny how they are whining about poor attendance when the latest movies out are Herbie and Bewitched. Note to Hollywood – Make movies people will want to see, and maybe they will come back. But it best be a dang good flick, because there is a lot to overcome these days, what with cell phones, jerks who talk during the movie, high ticket prices, asinine prices on popcorn and a soda. Last movie I watched in the theater I wanted to treat myself to pop and popcorn too. 15 bucks for 1.5 hours of crappy movie. Not worth it. 15 bucks for a reasonably good long movie you can get into with people who are considerate? Maybe... and that's a very borderline maybe. You can't beat DVD at home on a nice big HDTV... not that I have the big TV, but I do enjoy watching DVDs at home. While I want to see batman and the new zombie flick... I'm really not planning on seeing any movie in the theater until Serenity comes out.

So the supreme court says no to the 10 Commandments. Why? What's wrong with using the 10 commandments as a base guideline for society, and for wall decoration in a court room where it is still tradition to swear on a bible? I don't understand this ruling, as it does allow for the 10 commandments to be displayed elsewhere on public property. The whole thing is just flat out silly. It's not just Christians... the 10 Commandments pretty much work with those of the Jewish faith too... Athiests can pretty much agree that they are good guidelines... what with the whole respect your mom and dad, don't kill anyone, don't be a liar, and keep your hands off my wife. For someone to say that the 10Cs offend them – they are really probably not the type of person who I would want to be standing near, and are probably there in the court for a good reason.

The Scary Blogger question has given us interesting results. Two of the biggest teddybears on the web are highly feared, myself and Kim du Toit. Geek with a .45 has ranked high as well, but the number one most feared blogger on the web at this time is the AnarchAngel, for fear of forced salad tossing.

Lots of guys have been asking about Brutus, my Bronco and how it is doing with the Microlon Engine Treatment. I've change the oil since the treatment, and the Microlon still feels like it is working. Gas mileage has been pretty much the same since the treatment too... making me believe that this engine treatment is effective, even in the long term. Would I buy this and put it in another vehicle? Yes, yes I would. The downside to this story is that Brutus is giving me some problems now. The other day I was driving out to Lapoint where the new Horde HQ is... about half way there, the oil pressure started dropping, and dropped to zero. I stopped, and it came back up a little, but dropped again as I continued. I checked the oil level and it was fine. I think the problem is just electrical and the sending unit or the wire from it is faulty.... well, that was last week. Today, my engine RPM dropped to below 400 at idle. Not sure if this is related, but it's not good. Normally my oil pressure is always at the high mark of the “normal” band. Either this is electrical, or my engine is just dying. This is of course happening at a bad time, what with the move and all. I really need an economical daily driver. Something north of 20 per gallon is necessary, and Brutus will have to become a weekend warrior. If I had my druthers and the funds, I'd put a new turbo-diesel engine in him and soldier on.

TGIF, June 24th, 2005: Later: It's started. In Texas, Freeport is already moving to grab 3 properties. Guys, I'm dead serious... this is what the Second Amendment is for. Stock up on ammo and make sure you really know how to use your rifles. And get all your friends ready too.

I've been "tagged". In some strange blogger game. This I will not play. But someone is going to get a noogie when I tag them back because he didn't say "No Tag Backs." BTW, great logo.

Instead of playing along in the tag, I'm going to put out a question to the other bloggers out there. Which Blogger would you least like to have to fight with? Kneejerk reaction would be Kim du Toit. Cause this A-List blogger packs serious firepower and knows how to use it. He would undoubtedly hit me from long range with a very fine example of a rare and exquisite rifle that I would envy while dying.

One of the things I'm getting tired of hearing about... Tom Cruise's belief in Scientology. The man, as an American, has the right to believe in whatever he wants to believe in. This isn't Mecca over here. I know all the arguments for and against Scientology. He set up an information tent at the set of War of the Worlds. That's just fine. I'm happy that he was able to do that... as long as no one would have a problem with me or another Mormon putting up an information tent for the LDS church – if that's what I or we wanted to do. Equality is only equal when it goes both ways. Should the Methodists or the Lutherans or the Catholics or even the Muslims wanted to put up an information tent – that is just fine by me. As long as I am not required by mandate to visit. Cruise has been brutalized in the media because of Scientology and interviews about the movie – which I am looking forward to seeing – have turned into bashes about Scientology and his believes. Matt Lauer's interview with him was very poor journalism, in my opinion. To tell you the truth, I totally agree with Tom Cruise on this subject. Anti-Depressant drugs are very much over prescribed and I think that there are much better ways in dealing with most issues where they are used... especially in the area of Post Traumatic Stress but that is another subject. After working towards a degree in Psychology – the more I believe that it is all junk. Some of it makes sense, but on the whole, it is garbage. That's my belief. The idea that you can medicate behavior is crazy and Tom is right – it only masks the problems. The reasons for the behavior or feelings or whatever still remain once the drugs are flushed out of the system. Anyways, Scientology is a belief that anyone has a right to in America. This is one of the problems with having a free society... some people are going to sin and believe differently than you and you are going to have to accept that. Be it belief in Aliens, Big Foot, Elvis, Scientology, Jesus, Dale Earnhart, Budda, Allah, Hank Williams, Thor, Underpants Gnomes, Zeus, Jesse James, Red Socks, or the Tooth Fairy... whatever... We Americans have the freedom of thought – which is still something that the Government can not repossess. More power to Tom Cruise.

AM: The secret word of the day is "defenstration". When you hear the secret word today - scream! (Look at definition #5) This comes in from the Horde's man Keighron who is also switching to Linspire.

Rove's Rant. The Democrats around the country are full blown trippin over Carl Rove's rant where he talked about the difference between Conservatives and Liberals reactions to Sept 11th 2001. They are blustering like this is the biggest insult ever and much bigger than Dickhead Durbin's comments. But let me point out the differences here. For one, Durbin's comments were made on the Senate Floor. Rove's were at a private party. Durbin pointedly insulted the military, saying they are worse than Nazi's and others of the like. Rove never insulted anyone. The Democrats can bluster that they are insulted, but if you look at the Democrat Underground and MoveOne.org, you will see that Rove was spot on and practically quote the Liberals... btw Rove said "Liberals" and not "Democrats". There is no correlation between Rove's comments and Durbin's. Durbin LIED, and Rove just stated the obvious. Rove's comments were an observation. Durbin's were treasonous. Durbin is a piece of shit. Durbin has put my brother's lives at risk by aiding and motivating the terrorists, and his smartass backhanded appology has not undone the damage his words on the Senate Floor have caused. That's all I have to say about this.

Home Invation: Gwinn has a solid take: "I'm still a little stunned over Kelo v. City of New London. These people are pushing us toward armed conflict. I'm not saying that's necessarily where we're going to end up, but this has GOT to be a step closer. Once they can take away anyone's home purely to give it to someone who will pay more taxes, the sky's the limit. If the racist state and local governments had been given (because they were "given" this power out of thin air, it's NOT in the Constitution) this power in the middle or early 20th century, integration wouldn't have been a problem. They could have seized every home any black or jew bought on the "wrong" side of the tracks, bulldozed the house and put up a whites-only diner or something. It's disgusting." This is completely outrageous... on a forum I said that these 5 judges that ruled for this, should be dragged out into the streets and beaten with the US Constitution wrapped around a baseball bat. I stand behind this comment. These 5 judges have done more harm to the USA than the Terrorists on Sept 11th. The right to private property is the very core foundation of what America is all about. That is why people came to settle America when it was just 13 colonies. This is why people have migrated to the US since the very start and continue to come to America. I'm conscerned about properties held by churches... they don't pay any taxes. And the Catholics and the Mormons (my church) have a lot of property that they have invested in... prime locations that could be developed into malls and crap. And the Mormons and Catholics... they would have no means of defense being Christian religeons. Muslim locations would of course be totally safe.

For those using Microsoft Anti-Spyware: There is a new version you need to download. If you are running Windows XP, you need to be running this. This is my favorite antispyware software, my second favorite is Webroot's Spysweeper, and that's only because it's not free. Ad-Aware and Spybot are only backups to these.

Thursday, June 23, 2005: This Supreme Court decision over private property has me very concerned. If you don't know what this is, let me sum it up for you. The Supreme Court has pretty much ruled that we don't own anything. Private Property, the basis that this nation was built on, can be taken with little reason other than “we can sell it to someone else that will pay more taxes on it.” I understand the old imminent domain rule, but this is different. This is outright theft without even the requirement for just compensation anymore.

I am shaking with anger over here. Not just because of this, but because the whole constitution has been dismantled and we have politicians sitting on capital hill that wrap themselves in the flag and wave the constitution as if it meant anything anymore. We have these politicians that profess patriotism, and these Supreme Court judges that act like they are protecting the constitution... but every single day they are marching in locked steps against America! They killed the first amendment, hamstrung the 2^nd, and trounced the rest because we can't do anything about it. As much as I love my country, it's not the same country as the country of my birth. I was born into a great country, a free America, and I've seen it slip into something much much less... a foul, dark engine of propaganda and destruction that produces ignorant serfs and then feeds on them.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005: Something to think about: If you consider that there have been an average of 160,000 troops in theater during the last 22 months, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000. The rate in DC is 80.6 per 100,000. That means that you are more likely to be shot and killed in our Nation's Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq. Conclusion: We should immediately pull out of Washington, D.C.

Lots of guys are telling me that the 6800 Pro is a good way to go for bang for the buck value. Sure, there are better cards out there... if I want to drop enough coin for a new Glock on a graphics card. Feh. I'm not that hard core of a gamer to even consider such things. This is a tough choice for me... because I'm an Nvidia guy. I'm not a fan of ATI... never have been. But I have to give them credit... they have been putting out some really good cards lately. And their drivers are better these days too. The only thing that I need to make sure of before I pull the trigger on any card, is that it will be linux compatible. Speaking of Linux again, I got a package from the Ubuntu Linux people... I've not installed it yet, but I have looked at their "Live" version. It's simple, streamlined, works well, and has a good package of software with it. I'm not a big fan of Gnome, but its usable. And it's all FREE! I didn't even have to pay for shipping for the 20 disks I was sent. I'm sure the regular installation is even better. I might through it onto a new build to check it out... but between you and me... Linspire kicks its ass.

Email from The Horde's Momma. I think she captures what I was going to say. Now you know where I get my vitroil from: "Hey son! I read MO today. Loved the rant about Durbin the Dip Stick. I have been so angry about this, I have written letters to our Senator, and to Durbins' office, and just about every one I could think of. His apology is just not enough. It will not undo the harm that it has caused. Al Jazeera has played his speach non stop, and you can bet your last dime, they will not publish his apology. So as usual, too little too late. Did any of these A-holes, who just know there is torture going on, ever step a foot in Guantanamo? No. Not one of them has been there to see this stuff for themselves. They know if they did, there would be nothing to report. The damn terrorists have it better than the men serving there. These terrorists have clean clothes, good food, no lice, no fleas, and better conditions than they have ever had at home. Hell, most of them probably just don't want to go home. You can bet they have never had air conditioning. Or clean beds. Heck, I could go on and on, but the fact is, Durbin put my sons at risk, because he wanted to make a political statement. He is a democrat that wants to make trouble for Republicans. Drrrrrrrrr. Nancy Palosi, is just as bad. She says the Republicans have made a big deal about what he said, because we want to distract the public, from the real issues. Idiot. NO! We are making a big deal out of putting our soldiers at greater risk. These people have absolutely no grip on reality. They are so narrow minded that they can't see the truth when it hits them. I am writing a letter to Nancy Palosi now because I hate this woman about as much as you can hate people. No I don't think they are good people with dumb ideas. I think they are evil. I think they know exactly what they are saying. They don't care. That's why they are evil."

Yeah, that's my Momma. She rocks. Now, if my Dad had opened up on this matter, Durbin would have been smacked down so hard he would have taken physical damage.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2005: Idle Thoughts: I need a new graphics card. My wee little Nvidia FX5200 just isn't cutting it anymore. It's lagging like fat three-toed sloth on a hot day. Well, it is when playing GTA-SA. San Andreas kills my card. I'm thinking an ATI 6800Pro 256. What do you guys think?

Also, the little computer shop where I work... We have just become an official Linspire Builder. This means we can build computers with Linspire installed as the OEM operating system. For anyone wanting a Linspire PC, this means we build you a system, and test the crap out of it to verify and certify full compatibility for everything. It also means I can buy Linspire 5-0 for 10 bucks. I think... So I am going to redo my Dell PC for a dual boot for Windows XP Pro and Linspire 5-0. While I like SUSE, I am loving Linspire a lot more. Yast is cool and all... but CNR just seems so much slicker. I had problems with Yast (SUSE's CNR like system) on some very simple things that shouldn't have been an issue... that and DVD playback and sound drivers were always an issue. These were not a problem with Linspire. I don't know about the latest versions of SUSE, but the 9.2 Pro just didn't have everything that I really needed... Linspire has it. One of The Horde has emailed me the other day saying that he is rolling out his home system with Linspire. Pretty much based on my recomendation. A brave soul... Linspire is a totally new OS... it will change the way you use computers. For one, Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware is no longer a constant concern... There is going to be a learning curve... and some frustrations that will have to be worked through because of it, but when you get past that... it's all good. Oh, and in case you are wondering, Linspire works just fine with TheHighroad.org... I've already tested that. :)

Dick Durbin's appology is not accepted as that was not a real appology. He was not sorry about what he said. He admitted no wrong doing. He only said he was sorry that some people were offended. Doesn't count, Dickhead.

Monday, June 20th, 2005: I want to thank Senator Dick “Head” Durbin personally, so the following is for him: Thank you very much Mr. Senator for putting my brothers in Iraq into even greater jeopardy than they already are. My brothers are both over there working very hard under an already insurmountable public relations stain, and their location is the plumb target that every terrorist wants to nail bad enough as it is. They are so afraid of public image, that during the middle of a very large, coordinated attack against them, a platoon sergeant was ordering them to go back and to get into full and proper uniform... image before self defense. That's how bad it is... Now, Dick, you go off and spew your vile anti-American bile all over every serviceman, in every service. You equate them to the most horrid and inhuman monsters in the history of the world. I really do not appreciate that. Your language not only motivates our nations enemies to fight us, but you give them the moral high ground for doing so. You sir, and a right bastard and an absolute disgrace to the entire nation. I would personally drive all the way there to meet you... for the sole purpose looking you in the eye and seeing what sort of a man you are. However this is unnecessary. Your words speak volumes about your character. You sir, are no man. You don't rate the dignity of that rank. You are a very small person, small, bitter, and unhappy... and unfit for the post in the office you hold. It is my solemn prayer that you are held accountable to your words and actions. That you will reap what you have sewn, and not my brothers paying for your sins with their blood. I remain shocked and appalled that a Senator would put party politics ahead of the lives of Americans. But truthfully this doesn't surprise me. Democrats are not known for their deep knowledge of history... maybe you do not know who it is you have referenced. The meanings behind the names you have invoked. The millions of lives slaughtered at the hands of them.... yet you equate them with our volunteer American soldiers who happen to turn on an air conditioner? I can only draw two conclusions from this. One, you are a spiteful bastard with no reason to remain in office; or two, you are a shockingly ignorant spiteful bastard with no reason to remain in office. (This was read on the Jerry Doyle Show)

First Response: "Durbin is a maggot. They all are. He did no great service to the Lads. The maggots that have done the

stationed in countries around the world 5)do stupid shit like sweep the M113 under the rug so it might look like we need the Stryker, forcing people to pretend a fucking Humvee is an APC!!! How many died in Humvees that would have otherwise lived had they been riding in the tracks they usually would be using? 6)not sending enough troops in the very beginning to secure the territory. Holding territory takes more people than smashing a blinded conventional army. Fucking EVERYBODY knows that! Rumsfeld didn't? St.Bush didn't? I'm a simple street thug and I knew it! These fucktards thought it was going to be the Liberation of France! Lots of people are shitting all over the enlisted men and the worst ones are given a pass. This AM radio mentality of screaming "traitor!" at some people and ignoring the crimes of others is bullshit. This war is being horribly mismanaged and all the eagle-head on the t-shirt types have stuck their heads in the sand while telling everyone how patriotic they are. These same idiots also happen to NOT be enlisting. Hanging the grunts out to dry is not patriotic. Allowing screw-ups to go on is not patriotic. To me, patriotism is sticking up for the enlisted. Fuck the Pentagon, fuck the professional politicians. They are all unforgivable assholes."

"Dick Turban... errr Durbin... made his despicable comments last week. He's since apologized "if his statements were taken out of context". Despite the fact his comments were total bullshit. I stopped watching the news when the Evil Clown did not get convicted, because I didn't want to watch it and its goon squad bragging about how it got away with molesting kids. First story I saw when I started back up watching the news was the Durbin story. I passed it on to my mother, who is one of his constituants (despite voting against him and his ilk). Here's what she wrote to him: (I took out her email address and name, but everything else is "as is") Would you believe that my letter was actually slightly more polite than my mothers (who criticizes my bluntness at times)

Dear Senator Durbin, As the Mother of 6 children, 4 of whom have made the sacrifice of serving our Country proudly in the United States Military, I am very concerned about the comments you made today concerning our military's treatment of the terrorists in Guantanomo. ( I call them like I see them, I do not sugarcoat who they are.) I can only imagine that this morning, you, for the moment, suffered from a lapse in judgement and did not really mean to say those things. The smart thing right now to do, as I am sure you are doing, is to face up to what an enormous mistake you made and apologise to the country, especially to the families of those who have lost loved ones in this war and for those who lost their families in the Concentration Camps of WW2. I am willing to believe that that is what you are planning on doing. That you are working on a statement at the moment and that we will be hearing from you soon. I can only pray that that is the case and that you did not mean to say what you did.. Sometimes our mouths work way ahead of our minds... I will be watching the news to hear your statements, please do not be afraid of letting people know that you spoke in error. I think you owe that to my 4 military children, my 2 children who are civilians and my son in law who is also in the military. Thanks for reading this note from one of your constituants. Please recind your statement."

And now from the "WTF" department... As you all know - Angelina Jolie is teh hotness. Well, all of you save one person. My Dad:

"I wish to give a dissenting opinion to the Jolie craze.I believe for many reasons that she doesn't even rise to a 5.She has an oddly shaped head and an unpleasent profile.Her lips make me want to reach for the slug bait.She should ask for her money back on those sugar sacks implanted on her bony chest.She has no waist and the butt of an underfed 12 year old boy. Skinny,shapeless legs,knobby knees and singularly ugly feet and toes complete a picture that just doesn't do it for me.I get so tired,but I never argue,when I hear males waxing poetic on the glory that is Jolie.I just reach for the barf bag and keep quiet.When my own sons join the darkside and embrace her as something remarkable,I weep.I consider Mrs.Ogre or even the evil ogre sister to be better looking on every point than Ms.Jolie.I dare you to respect free speech and post this as a counter point to the drooling masses. Amanda Peet,for one,makes her look like road kill. - Dad "

Thursday, June 16th, 2005: I think we should close our base in Cuba. There is very little reason in keeping it open, what with all the chatter and heat about closing bases within the USA. The prison we are operating there, I think we should close it too. I think such a facility is ultimately useful and of course we need it, but the one in Cuba is compromised. Close it in Cuba and just open it up in a location that is kept secret. We have facilities that are under the radar even from Congress, and we should move the Cuban operation to one of those places. Groom Lake comes to mind. The dreaded "Area 51", where reporters are no able to go and take photos, where the place doesn't even officially exist. That's just one idea. There are a lot of other places that would work just as well. Then we can show the world that the Gitmo operation is closed, and the enemies of our nation can be delt with in an appropriate manner without US Senators making asses out of themselves. How sinister of us to turn on an airconditioner! Bastards!

One of the reasons that I like Dell computers: is that they come with a disk with the OS on it, and another disk with the drivers on it. Well, a customer came in today wanting us to set up their new Dell computer. Opened up the box... no disks. Instead of the OS disks, there is a little card saying just use System Restore, and if you have to have the disks, you have to order them. Nifty. Dell just erased my support. That really sucks. Now they have dropped to the level of HP and Gateway. And this is supposed to be a decent mid-level machine from Dell too... Sad. I am more and more convinced that Linspire is the OS of choice for the average home user that needs a machine for web, email, and most home-office uses. Linspire comes bundled with everything you need, and it's more stable and less vulnerable to spyware and viruses, which cause 90% of the problems. If you want to check out Linspire, just go to Linspire.com and go for it. Runs well on most machines.

Wacko Jacko goes free. Not guilty on any charges. That is just nuts. I find the whole thing laughable. But hey, that's just me.

Wednesday, June 15th, 2005: Forgive my lack of updates, but I've been and continue to be excessively busy. We are working in our spare time at the new Horde HQ getting ready for the transition. This process involves a great deal of work using skills I've not tapped for a long time, such as drywall and painting skills. But it is all good... I'm enjoying it and there is a great deal of satisfaction in stepping back and looking at a well done wall where before there was nothing but a scary mess. I'll post photos eventually. We make the move at the end of the month, so we don't have a lot of time to get it all done. The area of Utah we are moving to is called "Lapoint" and it's doubtful that is on any printed map. But I have found that I am contented there. When the kids are not rioting, you can really get a sense of how peaceful it is there, and I am surrounded by the sounds of birds and such. Chickens even. Wife wants a goat too. I also want a Goat, but I think we are talking about different things. She's talking about a critter, and I'm talking about a classic muscle car. Anyways, Beats the hell out of the traffic in the cities. The only downside is that its quiet the drive to get a Mt. Dew. I am looking forward to starting the work in "The Shop". The Shop is a garage type construction with a nice loft, a wood burning stove, and the desperate need for a cool car or bike to work on in there. This will be remedied eventually, but that is another issue. So for all those worried, all is well. Busy, but well.

Tuesday, June 7th, 2005: Late Night: An email from my brother that I want to share. He makes some good points: The terms "Left" and "Right", "Liberal" and "Conservative" have been distorted, altered, and purposefully used by the Republicrats and their centralized media to give the illusion of political choice and to hide their unified goals.
I am abandoning these terms and thought boxes. Political ideas, proposals, theories and laws, I will now classify as FREEDOM or ANTI-FREEDOM. If freedom is not a top priority it will not be attained. Other goals and ideals are used by rulers to bribe people to accept the loss of Freedom, and to distract them from what Freedom really is.
To clarify:
Freedom is not fairness.
Freedom is not comfort.
Freedom is not compassion.
Freedom is not safety.
Freedom is not wealth.
Freedom can often lead to these things, but these things do not create Freedom.
The weak remains of the 10th Amendment are one of the last obstacles in the path of growing tyranny. They will bring Grond to it very soon.

Evening: I'm concerned about this federal court decision that effectively bitch-slaps all 50 states regarding allowing the use of "Medical Marijuana". This issue isn't about grass. This isn't about medical benefits of the drug. This is, in my opinion, about States Rights. Now looking at history, I see that this issue has been an issue before.... Please turn your history books to the section about "The Civil War". For those of you who understand it, please turn your books to the section regarding "The War of Northern Aggression".
Hold up, now let me explain this and I'll do it just once. The Civil War was not a Civil War. A Civil War is a war between factions within the same country. The American "Civil War" was no such thing, it was a war between two different countries. For those that don't know, "The Southern States" were actually their own country. It was called "The Confederate States of America" and they had their own government, their own currency, and their own laws.
Now back to "States Rights". The War as I'll call it now is popularly attributed to slavery. Ask any student and they will tell you that it was about slavery. This is not true. It was a part, true, but actually it was a small part. It was about States Rights by and large and mainly. Now this same thing is happening. Unfortunately the states involved are not all bundled together in one geographical region of the continent. Now and several times before, the US Supreme Court has ruled that pretty much there is no such thing as States Rights. This is deeply troubling to me. This means that States are nothing more than conveniently organized divisions to manage the populous. In essence there is no difference between living in Utah and living in Florida. There is something very wrong with that.
I believe that God gave Man dominion over the Earth and put things on the Earth for the benefit of man... such as tasty fur bearing animals that make lovely jackets and delicious steaks. Also fruits, vegetables, and herbs... such as peppermint, oregano, tobacco, and even possibly "grass". The fact that we as a nation have declared grass, something that grows and we pick it, dry it out and smoke it... is evil... while tobacco is something that grows and we pick it and dry it and smoke it. Tobacco as we know, kills like what? 3 Million people each year? How many deaths do we have from Weed? We also turn a blind eye to booze. Booze kills at least that many people every year and destroys many more lives and families... yet booze is still perfectly fine. Booze is mind-altering. Makes people want to get out and do stuff they normally wouldn't do. Weed makes people want to kick back in beanbag chairs and eat Cheetos. Well, maybe that is evil enough. I hate Cheetos. They turn my fingers orange... I hate that. Then there are the legal prescription drugs... made by large companies to cure your ailments but give you all sorts of nice side effects like drowsiness, upset stomach, dry mouth, anal seepage, lowered sexual response, addiction, and tendency to vote Democrat. And all that is just fine. Look, I have migraine headaches... bad ones. 2 or 3 times a week. And I've had this for almost 2 decades now. A couple years ago it got to the point that I was taking a number of pills to deal with the pain. It almost destroyed my liver... it almost killed me. Seriously... I almost died from it. Now, I don't take hardly any pills at all... I deal with the pain in other ways. But sometimes it is pretty damn hard. When it's bad, I'm not even myself. I think I'm still functioning, but the next day when I'm feeling better I'll come back and wonder what the hell I was doing. It's like I'm looking at something someone else did. I am told by those in the medical profession that marijuana would help. I'll NEVER use it in any form. I'd rather just shoot myself in the head than smoke a joint. But that is just me. Other people think differently... Here is my take: I am very much Libertarian, but not quite as much as my wife who is an Anarchist, and I love her for it. If you want to do it, then fine. Do it. In my opinion there are a lot worse drugs that you can get legally. I think the whole issue is absurd, and I think that the Feds have overstepped their bounds and this will come back to haunt them.

So GM is cutting 25,000 jobs. Okay. How much executive salary is getting cut? Seems to me that the problems GM is suffering are due to decision at the top where it is all the people at the bottom that are going to pay for it. This doesn't seem right to me, but hey... as long as the share holders are happy, right?

This is too cool. Now this is what I'm talking about. The guy is my freaking hero. I've been dreaming of doing this. My only question is did he use the Fonefidy's seats too? I'm looking for such seats for my Brutus, who I just gave a fresh wax job to.... so it's all shiny and purdy. At least the hood is... The sides are covered in mud.

Monday, June 6th, 2005: PM: Specter reports from Blade 2005, and sends a photo. Daggum, thats one hellofa bowie knife. It reminds me of the Grosse Messer. A sword from the Germanic Middle Ages. He reports that the balance is good and that it's forged from damascus steel and prices start at $2500. The line forms to the left.

Oh come on, the midget thing is funny. No, it's not real... its a hoax... but funny as hell. Or maybe I just think it's funny because I'm sensitivity impaired.

How to paint your whole room in 30 seconds. Now THIS is funny. I'm thinking a .22 from a safe distance would have worked out better.

1. Beretta needs to fire their entire marketing department, and start over fresh with some real talent. This is a splurge item. You get what you pay for here. Marketing for the Land Rover crowd might not be as effective as it would be for marketing to the Ford/Chevy crowd. Yeah, you have a heritage, so what? And your MSRP's be reasonable. You'll do a lot better sales volume if people's first reaction to seeing the price isn't "Yeah, Right!"
2. Beretta needs to get away from their art designers, and maybe look at one the guys at HK have designed, and get a clue. The Storm carbine has had all the early problems that the UMC/UMP has had... why not do everything that HK did right to fix it? Also, waiting for the 9mm version to sell before bringing out the .45 version is foolish. You have most customers here in the US just waiting for the .45 version. Bring it out first, 9MM second... and then some other calibers. Better yet - just release the dang things in both .45 and 9MM AT THE SAME TIME. l40 as well, what the hell. Live it up and give people the choice.
3. Beretta needs to try to have some customer service... in fact... they need to fire everyone that answers phones over there, (and from what I gather most of the people in the Beretta stores) because all of them have really done their best effort at pissing off, if not flat out insulting damn near everyone that calls them no matter what the call was for. I bet that Beretta has the corner market on Bad Customer Service. They make HK look good.
4. Bring back everything that has been discontinued in the last 3 years. They killed them because they didn't sell well, but if they fixed #1, #2, and #3, I bet they would all sell just fine, and it would give the customers some products that don't look like were made for the Johny Space Boy Movie Prop Department. This includes their little Tomcats and their Cougars... everything with a feline name. Maybe if they have to discontinue something... they should start with their board of directors. Just an idea.

AM: We got the house. We'll move at the end of the month. Its done. Last night we went and talked and fixed the agreement and all that jazz. Offers made and accepted and everything is greenlighted. This is a good thing, I think, for the family. We are concerned however over our young one's allergies. He had a pretty bad night last night, and we are trying to determine if it was something he ate, or if it was the alfalfa field that he went into, or if it was something that had just built up in his system which is usually the case. Generally it all feels pretty good I guess.

You have got to be kidding. WTF? Midgets fighting a lion? Well I guess we can chalk this up to a clear case of over confidence and a dire "miss-estimation". Horrible spectacle. I suspect video will be on the web some place by the end of the day.

Sunday, June 5th, 2005: Brunch: Friday, I had a day off... 3 day weekend. Kinda nice. I had planed on taking my boys and Ranger up into the mountains to go exploring and whatnot. But it's been a cold and drizzly day. Kids are on summer vacation now, and it's feeling like November in Seattle over here. It's insane. We tried going to the park but it was just too damp and chilly... dank even. Here in the middle of a desert, and it's dank. Well, I guess we are hardly in a desert now. The flooding from the run off is no longer a problem... I don't know of anyone's home that has been flooded or anything, but the waters have taken out two bridges now. One I mentioned some time ago, and the other... the other is about 1000 yards from my house and the one I used to cross every day. Seems like some object being swept down the river smashed into my little bridge and damaged it. The county for the sake of liability has simply closed the bridge. There is no plan on repairs or an estimated time they are going to be reopening it. So I get to drive around the long way to get to work and to make a Mt Dew run at night. This is highly annoying. So instead of being 5 minutes from my caffeine fix, I'm now15 minutes. It's just irritating. But what is worse is that this reroutes all the heavy truck traffic from the road 1000 yards away to the road 15 feet away. My quiet little county street where all the kids played and rode their bikes on... it's now a bloody highway. I'm less than pleased. Not only is this irritating, but to top it off, the Sheriff's department is now patrolling this little detour... with the help of the City and the State Patrol. Last night I saw 3 cars pulled over and a total of 6 law enforcement units with nothing better to do. The other day one of them had the gall to come to my house to warn me about my kid cross the street on his bike. WTF? Like where the hell can he make a crossing over here? There is no cross walks around here in the middle of a fricken country road! And it's not like we hadn't noticed all the increased traffic what with our fricken bridge being closed off! What we need is for the local guard unit to get one of their bridge layers over here and put down temporary bridge until the bloody thing gets fixed. I'm really not happy about all this. In Uintah County Utah, it's not the heat... it's the humanity that gets to me.

Like I said, I was a bit bored so I tried a game I've heard a lot about. “EVE Online.” I've you've not heard of it... don't bother looking it up. It's one of these massively multiplayer games and there was over 8,000 players on the server that I was on. It's a space game. You fly around space from place to place doing things like mining rock ore from an asteroid belt... then flying back to sell it some place... back and forth.... for hours. It's very slow. It's the slowest game I've ever played. So much so that it is just pretty damn stupid. You mine so you can make money to buy a bigger ship so you can mine more. Wow. That's amazingly fun and addictive! Once you get rich enough you can buy weapons and cruisers and go try to fight somebody. But there is always a bigger fish, so you go out with your new little cruiser with some nice guns... think you are pretty badass... then you finally get to shoot something and all the sudden “You Committed A Crime!” And “The Police” are all the sudden all around you from out of nowhere – instantly – and blow you up. So all that work getting this badass space ship... you get to start all over again. Yeah, thats one fucking FUN game right there! The only thing worse than this game is that I spent so much time on it figuring out all the ins and outs of it... and I did get it all figured out. Know what I found? IT SUCKS! You can pretty much tell it sucks when you give the game the order, “mine this rock”, and then you minimize the game to check email and defrag your hard drive, and then come back later “oh, not done mining that rock yet.” Once I came back and found that pirates had ransacked my ship and blown me up. What? The only action in the game... and I missed it. Start – Control Panel – Add/Remove Programs – EVE – Uninstall. Watching a spyware scan is more fun. Oh well... just a few more days. Just a few more days until Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is out for the PC. I'd rather be up in the mountains shooting and stuff... but it's too freaking cold and wet... in the summer time... in the desert... Bloody weather.

Well Saturday was a little better. There was some sunshine for a few hours, so we went up to an area called Paradise, north of a little town called “La Point”. The area really is a paradise, it is quite lovely. The cabin is owned by the local football coach who also happens to teach the drama classes and directed the big high school stage productions. A curious combination. The cabin isn't quite finished yet, there is a lot of work still to be done. But most of that is all interior finish work. There was a couple ATVs there so I was able to take my boys on a small “Mr Toad's Wild Ride” and of course they loved it. The last boy insisted that he get his turn even though it was pouring down rain. We had a wonderful time. La Point is a lovely little town even more out in the middle of no where than Vernal. It's in its own little valley, much like Cache Valley, Vernal, and the like, but it actually reminded me more of Roanoke for some reason. It's about 12 minutes out as Brutus flys... call it 15 to get to work.

I mention this because we found something out there in La Point. A house. Five bedrooms, 2 levels, tons of storage, big yard, a fort, a garage, lots of big trees to keep the sun off in the summer. And a chicken coup. With two chickens and a rooster. It's really quite nice for a fixer upper. There will be some work to do but nothing major. Much like the cabin, it's all only cosmetic stuff. We will find out tonight if we get it. There is a downside, and for me I consider it a big one, but one that isn't a deal breaker. There is no high speed internet access. I will still have a connection at work, so I will still be able to post my pre-written updates so MadOgre.com will continue. I will still be able to write for CCM... so its not all bad. But my involvement with a few other websites will drop to zero. I will not be able to moderate or administrate. Pretty much it will be just MadOgre.com. The downside to that is contact and conversation with many friends. The upside is that there will be some other changes as well that will allow me to concentrate on my book. And this is a good thing. If we get it. It's not a done deal yet, but it looks like about a 90% chance that we will get it. If we do, we will be there by the end of the month.

Thursday, June 2nd, 2005: Evening: Hey Hornady, you are welcome! Hornady has improved their line of TAP ammunition with polished blackened nickel coated cases. Why coat the cases? From their ad: “Improved feeding.” Funny how I had the same idea about this time last year, and sent the idea out to Hornady and Federal and a couple others... and then just posted it... pretty much getting rebuffed at every turn. Now the shit is 20 bucks a box. Note the date of the post, and that it was an “open letter” to all the ammo makers. June 21^st, 2004. And now the idea is out on the market. They must have listened. That would be about as long as it would take to fully develop the ammunition and manufacturing process. I am glad Hornady did it... Hornady is my favorite ammo maker. (I used to love Triton, but they died off a painful death.) Now a word to Hornady's marketing guys... not only does this aid in feeding, but it also aides in extraction. A slick casing is going to pull out of the chamber so much easier too. This ammunition is pretty much the realization of what I was talking about.

Rolling Heavy. Do you pack a big gun or a little gun? Don't answer that. Now, if you have a liscence to legally carry a handgun, it doesn't matter what size that handgun is. The “concealed” part of the rule is that you conceal it. Doesn't matter what “it” is in terms of the size of the handgun. Be it a Desert Eagle or an NAA Mini... both are the same in the eyes of the law. And to the eyes of the gun hating wackos too... because they are both guns. They hate the guns and they hate you because you like guns. You are not going to lessen the backlash because you had a smaller pistol if you are “made”. Anyways, as I was saying... If you are wearing clothes that would allow you to conceal a larger handgun, such as a sport coat or a Hawaiian style shirt; then by all means carry a larger handgun. A larger handgun gives you several key advantages over smaller guns. Generally they can have a higher capacity or handle more powerful ammunition... but they are also easier to shoot, and easier to shoot well with. People are generally more accurate with them because of the longer sight radius and the heavier weight tames the recoil allowing for better follow up shots. And best of all, the larger handgun is more intimidating and is more likely to stop the threat with its appearance that a small handgun will. That intimidating edge can make the difference between having to actually pull the trigger or not. I remember my encounter with Mongo The Wonder Tongan. There was a brief moment there where Mongo was deciding what to do about me pointing a gun at him... does he run, does he comply with my demand to surrender my wallet, or does he attack me. Luckily for everyone he decided that he should comply. But what if he hadn't? Had I been armed with a .32 or .22 caliber pistol... maybe his choice would have been different. That's not something I want to think about. But MAN! That PPK/S felt seriously tiny in my hands at that moment. A wise old gunslinger once said to “Carry as much gun as you can handle.” That's good advice right there. But I'd like to add “and that you can conceal.” I know that sometimes we can't carry our bigger hoglegs and have to pack something smaller... and that's alright. We have to do what we have to do. But if we can go large, then we should go large.

Well it looks like the Ruger P345 article is going to be solid. I've got some word back from Ruger and this is going to be rolling forward now. The specific model I'm going to review looks like it will be the KP345DPR. This is the version that has the decock only action. That's just my preferred operation personally... I blame SIG for that. You know, I've not had a SIG in some time... nor have I reviewed one. This is an oversight that shall have to be remedied in the future.