So now that our Dear Leader has decided to follow the lead of the us, and France (France!) and the UK in arming up to remove Qaddafi enforce the no-fly zone above Libya, I have to ask a few questions:

One: Isn’t this really a war for oil? Should we expect all the liberal anti-war groups to get themselves sober enough to protest organized and begin chanting “no blood for oil!” like they did when Bush was working towards regime change in Iraq?  Of course, that argument falls flat when it is a war for Europe’s oil, not oil for the US……Doesn’t it? Will Code Pink and their ilk soon be staging sit-ins and such everywhere the president goes….or they can get someone to point a camera at them?

2. Why are we the point country this time? We really get very little oil from Libya. Last time I checked it was something like 1.6%. Shouldn’t the Europeans be taking the point on this? Oh, yeah, none of them have any military to speak of anymore. They hid behind NATO so they could spend their military money on socialist programs. So now they only have a token military force, therefore need the US to do their dirty work.

III. Who is paying for all of the hardware, like missiles and Tomahawks and the F-15 that just got shot down? Should we bill France? Or Spain? Perhaps take the cost out of the dues mandated by paid to the UN?

IV. Once the UN acted (took them long enough!) why was there no mandated waiting period for Qaddafi to implement the restrictions which he had promised to abide by? When the situation in Iraq was happening, everyone pushed for patience. Why not the same now?

Five. Any argument used against the war in Iraq, or Afghanistan (or Vietnam, for that matter) could be used in today’s actions against Libya. So why is it now a good idea, and not when a Republican is pushing for “regime change”?

6. Do our actions today, at the bequest of the UN, make our country (and therefore it’s military) an extension of the UN? Are we now the enforcement arm of the United Nations? Since we are the only country with a military able to do this (besides Russia) are we, therefore, lapdogs of the UN? Will this be precedent setting…..Will we invade (or at least bomb) any country which has sufficiently offended the folks at the UN at the request of the UN? Or will there continue to be a double standard after 2012 when our next president is a Republican (or at least a conservative), with continued protests next time the US decides to unilaterally remove a threat or to prevent a leader from massacring his own citizens?

VII. Will the Nobel Committee revoke Mr. Obama’s Peace Prize? (Not that he had actually earned one or anything, but that is another discussion for anther time) I mean, now HE is the warmonger, on a par with the EEEVIL BUSH.

So the new extractor arrived today via Fed-Ex.

No springs though.

So I am both happy with their service, and kinda disappointed that they only did half of what they promised.

I’ll install it in the next few days and test it out at the range shortly after that.

more as available.

As the tragedy in Japan plays out, I grow more and more disgusted with people, and especially the MSM.

Total people likely to die from direct or indirect issues with the nuclear power plants will be .01% of the already dead and missing that we know about from the earthquake and tsunami which precipitated the incident. Yet they harp on the “pending meltdown” with a gleam in their eyes, as if such a disaster would be a good thing for anyone, were it to happen,

And it appears that if you say “nuclear” or “radioactive” to most people, and especially a reporter, they immediately go into this wild eyed pants-shitting hysteria. If you say the word “contamination” then they immediately add a puddle of urine to their already messy pants.

And it isn’t like there is no information available about radiation. For gods sake, folks, use those wonderful tools we have available on the Internet: Google, Yahoo, etc. For quick information, and at least a place to start, you can use Wikipedia. It’s not like there is any cost for their use (assuming your Internet access already exists….if not, go to your local library or Starbucks).

‘Take an hour to learn to understand what the numbers mean. The background radiation in most European cities is higher right now that it is in most paces in Japan, even close to the plant.

I realize that most reporters are not chosen for their high level of intelligence, but rather for their ability to look handsome in a suit (or to fill out a blouse) in order to be more attractive to their viewers, and to be able to read a teleprompter without squinting, but for chrissake, take a little time to learn enough about your subject to be able to speak intelligently.

I understand that if you have no training in anything besides speaking and your main goal in life is to look good, not actually be more intelligent than the average dachshund, that the science parts can be hard, what with all those confusing numbers and units like microsieverts (which sound an awful lot like, you know, millisieverts) rads, millirads, microrads, grays,  becquerel, curies, etc.

Perhaps you should have someone just convert the units and measurements to the Banana Equivalent * so you can more easily understand.

Unless, of course, you really just want to either look stupid, or just breathlessly sensationalize what is really not that big of a deal.

If instead, you spent some time generating real sincere sympathy for those funny looking yellow-skinned slant-eyed people, you’d actually do some good instead of wasting airspace and oxygen.

BTW, where are the fund raisers and demands for the US to send billions of dollars of foreign aid to the Japanese people…..you know, like there were for Haiti…..

*thanks to Og for reminding me

So how many billions of aid are we going to provide to the Japanese to rebuild their country (or at least the part that was washed away by the tsunami after the earthquake loosened everything up)?

If we improve things there as much percentage wise as we did Haiti, then exactly how good will it be….A paradise?

I don’t see any telethons or other fundraisers for the stricken Japanese prefectures….Why not?

No blogging lately

Been busy.

Remington .223

info HERE

Yes, they do that. Debunking a debunker.

Worth the read. Interesting how some folks twist things to make themselves look good, innit?

I called Para again at 11:45 am Central time, since they did not call me back.

This time, I spoke to an actual person. This time my experience was actually good.

He offered to send me a new extractor. I accepted, as this is the easiest and fastest way for me to return the pistol to operation. He apologized for the failure, and also offered to send me new springs for my other LDA carry. 

This is the sort of service one would expect. No issues, no problems, and no hassles. Helpful and friendly. Beyond the minimum.

Sadly though, it took 3 phone calls to get it. He did apologize for the failure to return my call, and said that they (Para) were training new customer service reps. IMO, I SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO CLL THEN MORE THAN ONCE. But I did. Hopefully, this is the end of things.

Hopefully, having given him model and serial number, they will send me the correct part.

Updates as appropriate. But you can bet that this WILL have an influence on my next purchase. (and I buy 2+ pistols and rifles a year, on average….)

Now if only they would give precise instructions as to the takedown of the LDA system, life would be perfect.

Now that things are “settling” in Japan…That is to say that the situation is stabilising….Those who are homeless have been brought to/found shelter and those who still have a home or shelter are learning to deal with no or intermittent electrical power and other utilities… All while the nights are below freezing.

Anyway, one thing I am reading reports of is that stores, even stores in the areas which are not housing refugees from the tsunami affected areas, are beginning to run low on food. Gasoline is, by all accounts hard to come by.Emergency rations are being…rationed. Only children and elderly are getting food right now in some shelters.

This is the reason that preps such as a weeks worth of food. and perhaps a few days worth of water are important. The Japanese society and government are well organized and will soon, no doubt, have the distribution of food and water and fuel quickly reorganized. Major roads will soon be passable. People in shelters will no doubt be clothed and fed very soon. Stores will soon be stocked. Gasoline will soon be available, even if it is rationed. But this sort of disaster recovery takes time: days, even weeks.

But in the meantime, those “lucky” folks not in shelters without food in the house or water stored, or a supplemental means of heating their house will be having issues. What do you do when your food runs out and the stores are empty? Or when the water distribution system is damaged by the earthquake and you are thirsty? I guess you just wait in misery until the system is fixed.

Or, you open your previously stocked emergency supplies and are comfortable until the system returns. If nothing else, you can help others until the authorities get organized and up to speed.

Or you can wait and be miserable until the stores are restocked. If they are.

You are stocked for a week or so, aren’t you?

If not, why not?

Why the rest of us think badly of them sometimes.

Soldiers I can understand…but children?

Sick.