Long time, no see.

Since the snows came, my regular deer visitors have been conspicuously absent. But today, for the first time in a couple of weeks, I've been graced with yard guests.

They apparently just stopped by to say hi and remind me that firearms deer season is only a little more than eight months away.

One lost screw = new revolver

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

I was reminded of this old proverb yesterday when I went to shoot a pistol match today only to find that my trusted Smith and Wesson Model 66 Combat Magnum that I have written about previously had suddenly developed a problem in the form of a missing thumbpiece--that little control on the left side that you push forward to unlock the cylinder for loading and unloading.

<--This is a thumbpiece.

I took the pistol out of it's case on the ready bench, went to open it up, and jammed my thumb on the sharp threaded screw post the protruded from the frame where the thumbpiece used to be. The thumbpiece was gone and I saw my chance to shoot today going right along with it, all because a $15.00 part and a $3.00 screw had dropped off. Gee, I was sure glad that I drove all the way over there just to look like a fool. And I'd just opened that pistol's action as I was casing it up the night before so I know the piece was on there then. But it wasn't on there during my prep period, nor was it in the case.

For want of a screw, the thumbpiece was lost.
For want of a thumbpiece, the pistol was lost.
For want of a pistol, the match was lost.
But wait--there might still be a chance to save the day...

I quickly located another shooter I knew, a friend of mine who was also a deputy with my county's Sheriff's Department. We'd talked guns quite a bit whenever we shot or chanced to meet at the local 7-11, and I knew that he had a somewhat shopworn but serviceable Smith and Wesson Model 19 that he'd been looking to sell. The Model 19 is a blued-steel version of the stainless steel Model 66 and otherwise identical in every way. I asked him if he'd brought that Model 19 to the range today, and he said that he had; he was hoping to find a buyer for it. I asked if I could please borrow it for a bit, and being a pal, he handed it over. I got back just in time to finish getting prepped, and managed to shoot what wound up being possibly the best match that I've ever shot with a revolver. When the scoring was done, I was not among the prize winners but I was definitely much closer to the top of the ranking than the bottom. I was quite pleased, both with my shooting and with this pistol.

A tentative deal was made--he'd come to my house afterward and take a look at British Enfield #4 rifle that I'd been planning on selling, and if he liked it, we'd trade. Well he liked the Enfield so now I have two Combat Magnums. Here's the newest addition to the armory:So...

For want of a screw, the thumbpiece was lost.
For want of a thumbpiece, the pistol was lost.
For want of a pistol, a trade was made.
And because of the trade, I'll never want for a .357 Magnum revolver when I need one again.

Oh--and when I got back home, I found that missing thumbpiece and it's screw on the floor beneath the workbench where I'd cased the Model 66. It's in place again--secured with loctite--and the Model 66 is back in the safe, making friends with it's new blued-steel sibling.And a quick note about why I like these pistols so much. The Combat Magnum was probably one of the best pistols that Smith and Wesson ever came out with. It was basically the brainchild of Bill Jordan, a larger-than-life man of action who spent thirty years on the Border Patrol and served as a Marine in two wars. Jordan knew shooting and he knew what our cops needed, and he was instrumental in getting Smith and Wesson to create this new gun for the then-new .357 Magnum cartridge. It was strong, it was light, it was balanced, and it looked good. It was a no-nonsense working tool for a generation of American law enforcement, giving the cop on the beat more power than the old .38 Special could deliver. Smith and Wesson made the Combat Magnums in blued or nickle-plated steel (Model 19) and stainless steel (Model 66) for years. The Model 19 was made from 1957 until 1999, and the Model 66 was made from 1970 until 2005. Both are now out of production, having been replaced by newer models, the Model 586 and 686 respectively. However it's my opinion that these newer guns lack the elegance and high standards that went into the Combat Magnums. Granted, many shooters today are enamored with autoloading semi-automatic handguns that give them more shots and offer countless over "advantages" over the venerable old wheelguns, but I'm old-school and I like the simplicity, reliability, ruggedness and aesthetic qualities of these revolvers, and that, couple with the fact that they offer a greater range of ammunition options than any semi-auto out there--everything from light cast loads for practice to full-power rounds that will punch clean through things that will stop most auto-pistol rounds--is why I will continue to love these classics and rely on them for my own self-defense needs.

Additionally, generally speaking, redundancy in firearms is a good thing. If you're serious about shooting, you don't just have a firearm, you have a full system built around it, including but not limited to a holster or holsters, speedloaders or magazines, unique tools, ammunition and everything else needed to make that firearm do what it's supposed to do. Now if you have all of that for one firearm and that one firearm breaks or is lost, now you have a lot of useless stuff that will do you no good whatsoever. However, if you have back-up firearms that can utilize that stuff, you're back in business. And personally, I'd rather not have to buy all of that stuff several times over for each different handgun that I own. I'd much rather standardize around a few types and just own and shoot multiple firearms of that type. For me, that means that I own and shoot 1911 .45s, H&K P7s, and Smith and Wesson K-frame revolvers. Now I've got all of the handguns I could ever need for sport shooting and self-defense and I only need a small number of holsters and other accessories because what fits one will fit the other members of that type.

BTW, excellent article on the Combat Magnums here:
Xavier Thoughts: The Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat Magnum

What is wrong with this picture?

Back to New Orleans we go for another cup of outrage.

Today's outrage stems from a glowing news story about a woman who is overjoyed because she gets to move back into public housing four years after being forced out by Hurricane Katrina.

For nearly four years, Josephine Butler has been commuting from Baton Rouge to her job at the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board.

But soon, her commute will drop to 10 minutes, as Butler, 37, and her two daughters move into a new apartment in Central City at the site of the former C.J. Peete public housing development, now renamed Harmony Oaks.

Within a few weeks, workers will put the final touches on her apartment and 20 others that will open within the next few months.

Two years after local officials and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development demolished four of the city's biggest public housing complexes, Butler will become one of the first residents to return to a rebuilt apartment.

She said she likes the new, modern look of the rebuilt apartments. She's also "happy, overjoyed and ecstatic" once again to be near her mother, her aunts and her 80-year-old grandmother, who has been sick.

"No more long commute rides," she said. "And I'll be able to see my (extended) family on a daily basis." Essentially, after nearly five years, she is getting her life back, she said.

How many things can you see wrong here? Let's make a list.

1. The woman is 37 years old and has always lived in public housing.

2. She has a job--a city job that presumably pays well--but rather than pay her own rent, we, the taxpayers, have to subsidize her...and the picture of her new apartment shows a flat-screen tv on the wall and some pretty trendy artworks. Yet we have to pay her rent?

3. She has two kids, but there's no mention of the fathers or any indication that they're paying child support.

4. Her mother, her aunts, her grandmother--basically her whole extended family--also live in public housing, again with no reference to any men paying the bills or supporting any kids. And rather than expressing shame, this woman is gleeful that now they can all be together again...in public housing.

Where is the desire to succeed without someone else having to carry you and pay your "essential" bills (while you buy nice things with "your own" money)? And why are the politicians so quick to demand my money to pay for nice new things for the people who don't want to live efficiently enough to afford their own nice things?

I have no problem helping people out who need help, but I'm talking short-term, bare-essential help. If someone needs a place to stay for a month or two while they get back on their feet and start working, I have no problem with that. But why do I and the other people with jobs--the ones who didn't drop out of school or go out and have multiple kids with deadbeat dads--have to buy the ones who made those poor choices brand new aprtments that are nicer than many of the places that we taxpayers live?

I will never forget when I lived in New Orleans. My apartment--that I paid for myself--did not have air conditioning. It was awful in the summer. But what was worse was walking past the nearby public housing projects every day on my way to school and seeing air conditioners humming in every unit's windows, usually while able-bodied young men sat on the stoops during normal working hours and watched all of the suckers--I mean workers--going by all day. And I didn't have air conditioning but I was being taxed to pay for theirs. And now those same crummy projects are gone, but they've been replaced by brand new units and the same people that lived in them before have just stooged around for four years waiting to get back in, because only suckers pay for their own stuff.

And perhaps the worst part is that this public housing rip-off even comes with taxpayer-funded caseworkers like Debbie Holmes, who has kept in touch with the former residents of the projects, even those who were relocated to other states years ago, so that she can try to bring them back to take up occupancy of these nice new apartments.

The biggest need is jobs, said Holmes, who estimates that roughly 60 percent of the residents she talks with are living and working in the New Orleans area but the rest are still displaced, from California to Texas and Georgia, she said. Many are certified nursing assistants, but she also has been scrambling to find positions for residents with experience in child care, social services, schools and hotels, she said.

So let me see if I get this straight...

New Orleans needs taxpayer-funded public housing because there is a shortage of affordable housing in the area. But when the housing gets built, rather than use it to alleviate the so-called shortage, they reach out and spend more taxpayer money to bring in other welfare recipients--uh, I mean "job seekers" from out of state? WTF?!

Meanwhile, the party goes on, and the freeloaders move into the nice new places that they aren't paying much if anything for, and they're moving their nice furniture, their expensive TV's and entertainment systems, and usually their boyfriends right in, too, all while laughing at the other people out there who go to work every day in order to be taxed to pay for these nice new digs.Central air, and as nice as anyplace that people with actual jobs live in...because we should all have the same nice stuff even if we don't work and can't afford it ourselves, right?

Remember the old saying: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul will always have the support of Paul." This is exactly why I say that people like Josephine Butler who choose to live in public housing shouldn't be allowed to vote. If she and all of her freeloading relatives and neighbors could not elect politicians, then I suspect that the politicians would be a lot more responsive to the will of and the tax burdens imposed on the voters who actually earn their own money and want to keep it.

The difference between a nice dog and a damn dog.

So it's a relaxing afternoon and I'm lying on the couch in front of the wood stove, reading a book and drinking a cup of coffee. (I'm actually into Jack Higgins' Sean Dillon series currently.)
Lagniappe walks up and looks at me, and when I say "hi" to him, he reaches over and gives me a lick on the cheek.

Awww... such a nice dog.

Then he bends down, sticks his snout into my coffee mug, and takes a lick of that.

DAMN DOG!!!

Obama catching heat from both West Virginia Senators

Poor Obama--you know that he can't be happy when he takes hits from both of West Virginia's Senators, each of whom is a long-time Democrat to the core.

It started last week, when Senator Jay Rockefeller said that Obama was "beginning to be not believable". This came after the Obama Administration announced that it was going to end a number of tax breaks for coal producers. Sen. Rockefeller no doubt remembers Obama's promises during the election campaign where he swore that he was all for clean coal. And the Senator, a men who was first elected to political office when Barack Obama was five years old, isn't afraid to call the political novice in the White House out as a man who says one thing than does another.

Then this week, Senator Robert Byrd jumps on Obama over his practice of appointing "czars" to take over so many sectors of the public policy. Unelected and insulated from the oversight of Congress, many of these people have been far-left wingnuts with a track record of advocating dangerous or outright loony proposals.

The longest serving Democrat in the U.S. Senate is blasting the president for appointing several White House czars to oversee federal policy, claiming they can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances.

West Virginia’s Robert Byrd, the Senate pro tempore, believes President Obama’s newly created positions risk expanding executive privilege and weakening the authority of Congress. In a two-page letter to the president Byrd supports his assessment with examples of past administrations—Nixon and Bush II—that allowed White House staff to assume too much power.

Byrd criticizes Obama for the creation of White House czars to oversee Health Reform, Urban Affairs Policy and Energy and Climate Change Policy, stating that these types of positions can blur the lines of authority and responsibility to shield information and obscure the decision-making process.

He asserts that the rapid and easy accumulation of power by White House staff can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances, pointing out that these presidential assistants are not accountable for their actions to Congress, rarely testify before congressional committees and often shield the information and decision-making process behind the assertion of executive privilege.

Obama has hired so many influential advisors and so-called czars to shift power from traditional cabinet posts that one news report referred to his White House as the West Wing on Steroids. Another said Obama’s staff is so loaded with big names and overlapping duties that it could collapse into chaos unless managed with a juggler’s skill.

Just looking at a few of the list of czars, we have Carol Browner, appointed as Energy and Environment Czar, who is an open and proud Socialist. Now she'll be a rich one at $172,000 per year. Cass Sunstein, Regulatory Czar, wanted to ban hunting and advocated allowing animals to bring suit against people in a book he authored. There are over thirty others, not including Marxist radical Van Jones, who was appointed by Obama as a "Green Jobs Czar" but forced to resign due to public outrage over his politics and his criminal history. With nearly three dozen of these unelected, unaccountable people in office, Obama has created more czars than Russia's Romanov family.

It's telling that this guy who just a bit over a year ago rode into office with what the media was calling a mandate like no other now finds himself under withering and accurate fire not just from Republicans but from the standard-bearers of his own party.

Yeah, elections this year ought to be interesting, and I can hardly wait for 2012. The way things are going, I won't be surprised to see the Democrats lining up several possible challengers to the Obama throne as a last-ditch attempt to at least keep the White House in blue hands.

A tale of two potheads

I suppose I should say "two foreign-born, resident alien potheads, one of whom has political clout..."

The story begins for all intents and purposes, when Charlie Castillo, a Canadian-born man of Maltese descent who had lived here virtually his whole life--long enough to raise a family, work for and retire from General Motors--got arrested ten years ago for possession of marijuana.

(Full and rather long story here.)

Charlie Castillo was ordered deported, arrested by ICE this past December (just before Christmas), and tossed out of the country--probably forever--despite having a wife, kids, home and pension here.

Wow. Tough break. But if that's the way it's supposed to work, one would expect it to work that way in every similar case, right? Apparently not, though, at least not if you are a foreign-born British citizen who is also an HIV-positive homosexual and a staunch public critic of the American Conservative movement, particularly Governor Sarah Palin. Andrew Sullivan, political commentator and blogger who has faithfully carried the Democrats' water for years despite not even being eligible to vote in our country's elections, has managed to get a marijuana case against himself dismissed on the grounds that the conviction would harm his efforts to become a US citizen.

(That story here.)

As you can see, even the judge was irked by the blatant special treatment that Sullivan got, apparently due to some back-room deal between the US Attorney's office and Sullivan’s attorney, Robert Delahunt Jr. Notably, this Delahunt is the cousin of U. S. Rep. William D. Delahunt, who as a District Attorney in Massachussetts dismissed Amy Bishop's murder case without explanation after she shot her brother to death in 1986. Clearly the special favors don't fall far from the tree where Delahunts are concerned.

Welcome to America, post-Obama, where the politically-connected are protected and allowed to break our laws with impunity while mere proletarians are subject to the full weight of those same laws. As it stands today, two potheads were arrested. One who has been here since he was a small child has now been separated from his family and booted out of America forever. The other, a man who came here as an adult and has no wife or kids to provide for, gets to stay and continue his petition for permanent residency and eventual citizenship despite having a contagious terminal disease that should have been grounds for barring him from our shores or forcing him out once it was discovered. But this guy has friends in the form of grateful Democrats, so he gets a pass from the Justice Department which is currently run by Obama Appointee Eric Holder, a man with a long history of questionable political pardons and dismissals.

I wonder what Charlie Castillo and his family think about that? I know what US Magnistrate Judge Robert Collings thinks, because he wrote it in his 12-page opinion.

In the Court’s view, in seeking leave to dismiss the charge against Mr. Sullivan, the United States Attorney is not being faithful to a cardinal principle of our legal system, i.e., that all persons stand equal before the law and are to be treated equally in a court of justice once judicial processes are invoked. It is
quite apparent that Mr. Sullivan is being treated differently from others who have been charged with the same crime in similar circumstances.

If there were a legitimate reason for the disparate treatment, the Court would view the matter differently. But the United States Attorney refused to allow the Court to inquire into why, in the circumstances of this case where Mr. Sullivan had already been charged with the crime, either a forfeiture of collateral or an adjudication would make a difference in the immigration
application.

But there is more. If, in fact, a determination that Mr. Sullivan had possessed marijuana is a factor which, under immigration law, the immigration authorities are legally charged with taking into account when deciding Mr. Sullivan’s application, why should the United States Attorney make a judgment that, despite the immigration law, the charge should be dismissed because it would “adversely affect” his application?9 If other applicants for a certain
immigration status have had their applications “adversely affected” by a conviction or a forfeiture of collateral for possession of marijuana, then why should Mr. Sullivan, who is in the same position, not have to deal with the same consequences?

In short, the Court sees no legitimate reason why Mr. Sullivan should be treated differently, or why the Violation Notice issued to him should be dismissed. The only reasons given for the dismissal flout the bedrock principle of our legal system that all persons stand equal before the law.

Welcome to Obama's America, where all are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Because Ernest Stamm just had to feed the animals...

and because he wouldn't keep his distance, Mama Bear had to smack him on the face. Now she's dead. And Stamm is unapologetic.

SANFORD – A Longwood-area man who opened his door one day and was slapped by a bear pleaded no contest Tuesday to feeding wildlife and was fined $200 and placed on six months probation.

Ernest Stamm, 49, had been ticketed for feeding bears.

He lives in The Springs, a heavily-wooded community near Wekiva Springs State Park.

He called for help Dec. 10 and told authorities he opened his door and something swiped him across the face.

When emergency crews arrived, they found a black bear in his yard. Once the animal left, Stamm was taken to an Altamonte Springs hospital, where he was treated for cuts to his face and released.

Defense attorney David Oliver on Tuesday said Stamm required several stitches to his eye and cheek. He has recovered fully, Oliver said.

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captured the bear the next day and euthanized it. That angered Stamm's neighbors.

The animal was a female who left behind two cubs who were old enough to survive on their own, the commission reported.

Stamm said little at Tuesday's hearing, except to answer questions from Seminole County Judge Ralph Eriksson.

"Ernest Stamm, is this what you want to do?" the judge asked.

"Yes," said Stamm, who operates an auto detailing business.

He pleaded no contest, agreed to pay a $200 fine, make a $250 contribution to a wildlife fund and serve six months of probation.

Stamm did not admit to breaking the law. His attorney said Stamm did not intend to feed bears. He and a neighbor were feeding feral cats that had been spayed and neutered, and it's that food that attracted the bear, Oliver said.

But Joy Hill, a commission spokeswoman, said neighbors told authorities they saw Stamm interact with bears.

The commission wrote Stamm a ticket a week after he was injured. Investigators had found the food that was intended for cats, as well as rotisserie chicken containers, Hill said.

It's a misdemeanor to intentionally or unintentionally feed wildlife, Hill said. That's because once a wild animal comes to expect food from humans, it loses its fear of them and can become a nuisance or threat.

"Nobody wins," she said. "If it causes problems like this, the bear dies."

First of all, even feeding stray cats is wrong. It encourages them to multiply and then they bother all of the neighbors. Trust me--I've got a neighbor who does that and Lagniappe and I are both sick of seeing those cats in OUR yard. But this jackass clearly knew the bears were about--his neighbors said they saw him messing with them before--and he still kept putting food out. Now the bear's dead and this jerkwater won't man up and admit to doing what everyone knows he was doing. And can someone explain why emergency crews had to transport him to the hospital for a scratched face? This loser actually insisted on going in an ambulance for that instead of just getting in his car or riding in someone else's? He's got to be a liberal, because he's showing absolutely no sense of personal responsibility. He's probably still got Obama stickers in his car.

He should have been fined more or given a few weeks of community service, because from this story, he clearly doesn't get it and I doubt that he's going to change his ways and stop feeding the bears or even the feral cats that no one else wants in the neighborhood. But hey--it's all about him, don't you just know?

The Italian guy's got the right idea...

OK, it's not often that I agree with representatives of the Italian government--in fact, this might be the first time ever--but I can't find a bit of fault with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's suggestion about how immigration into his country ought to be handled.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi landed in hot water again after joking that Italy's doors were only open to attractive immigrants, The Sun reported Saturday.

The gaffe-prone politician, 73, held immigration talks Friday with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

Berisha looked uncomfortable as Berlusconi joked at a press conference, "We will only accept pretty girls from Albania."

Naturally, this didn't go over too well. Opposition lawmaker Paola Pellegrini slammed the quip, calling Berlusconi "an indecorous old man." But then I'm thinking that she's probably either a feminist or else she's ugly. Personally, I like the idea, and when I get to be President, that will by MY immigration policy--just highly educated immigrants with needed skills and hot chicks--only I will allow pretty girls from every country, not just Albania. A country can never have too many attractive women.

First of all, let me be perfectly clear: America already has some of the finest-looking women in the world, and a lot of them. However we also have a fair number of women who aren't even trying to stay fit and look good, and maybe--just maybe--if these less-than-fit women already here start seeing all of these hot new arrivals walking around, they'll be motivated to put the Hostess products down, get up off their couches, and hit the gym. In that regard, my policy would benefit everyone by increasing the health of America's women, giving American men more and better dating options and beautifying the country in general. Talk about a win/win plan.

So vote for me in 2012. I'll give you more change than you can handle.

PS--to all the beautiful women who visit and regularly post to this blog...you are, of course, already perfect. America just needs more women like you.

A note to stupid criminals--it's usually smart to keep your mouth shut.

Rule #1 when you're running a clandestine dope-growing operation: Don't give interviews to the media bragging about it.

Dope grower Chris Bartkowicz, of Highland Ranch Colorado, apparently never heard this. He actually gave an interview to the local news outlets bragging about how he turned his house into a dope factory with the hope of cashing in on the "medical marijuana" craze.

"I'm definitely hidden in suburbia," he said.

A jungle of electrical wires and water hoses snakes from room to room in the home's basement, all supporting Bartkowicz's nearly $500,000 medical-marijuana operation.

This year, he is hoping for a record profit.

"I'd like to see somewhere in the vicinity of $400,000 " he said, though he admits he could make as little as $100,000 depending on what happens with proposed laws regarding medical marijuana.

Bartkowicz said he has grown for more than a year without his neighbors finding out and without any criminal complications.

"If my neighbors don't know and no one else knows, how would I be a target?" he said. "I want to be invisible."

Bartkowicz must route air from the home through a carbon filter to remove the marijuana odor before pumping it outside. Lights and pumps get expensive too. He showed 9Wants to Know his electric bill for two months. He owed $3,694.92, a small price to pay for what he earns, he said.

"I'm definitely living the dream now," he said.

A drug dealer bragging openly about his defiance of the law. Only in a Blue State...

However Bartkowicz' boasting didn't go unnoticed for long. Today's 9News had a related story, but from a different angle.

HIGHLANDS RANCH - Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a Highlands Ranch home on Friday and arrested a medical marijuana grower who was part of a 9Wants to Know story about suburban medical marijuana growing operations.

After 9NEWS showed a tease for a story about Bartkowicz and his operation Thursday night, DEA agents decided he needed a visit. By Friday afternoon DEA agents were at the house carrying away moving boxes and leaf-size trash bags from his home, all filled with marijuana plants.

They also carried away lights, filters and other equipment that were part of Bartkowicz's growing operation.

In the earlier interview, Bartkowicz claimed his operation was completely legal under a state law that allows the growing and sale of medical marijuana.

The special agent in charge of the DEA in Denver says federal law still makes growing and selling marijuana illegal.

"According to him and according to what he's seen on the news he probably believes he is legal," Jeff Sweetin said late Friday afternoon. "We will continue to enforce federal law that's what we are paid to do until the federal law changes."

Bartkowicz is in custody and will not learn what charges he might face until Tuesday, after the President's Day holiday. The U.S. Attorney's office told 9NEWS Friday if he is charged, he could face a charge of possession with intent to distribute. The U.S. Attorney will review the evidence and the decide on the charges.

Hey, moron...you still living the dream?

They call it "dope" for a reason. And I note for the record that this guy himself claimed to be a "medical marijuana" patient. But then all the dopers and drug addicts in Colorado are making that claim these days, almost all for aches and pains that no doctor can actually see or disprove. The voters passed a law allowing the drug for actual sufferers of chronic pain and the addicts jumped right on it and began gaming it by claiming to all have some sort of pain that can't be treated any other way. Hopefully the Colorado voters are waking up to the fact that they were gulled by a pro-legalization lobby that trotted a few cancer-stricken elderly people out in front of them, claiming that they were the people that needed medical marijuana. Now it's every twenty year old skateboarder and x-box player who is going around with a medical marijuana card, each pretending to be disabled in some way.

It's time to change the law back, Colorado. And people in other states that are considering legalizing marijuana for so-called medical use, please take note of the massive fraud going on in Colorado today and just say no.

A short essay on the 1911 .45

Ah, the M1911 .45 Automatic pistol. Proof that God loves us and wants us to be safe.

Designed by American firearms genius John Moses Browning and adopted by the US Army as it's primary sidearm in 1911 (hence the original formal designation: US Pistol, .45, Model of 1911.), this pistol fired the then-new .45 ACP cartridge which, in it's final form, sent a 230 grain bullet downrange at around 850 feet per second and gave our soldiers reliable stopping power in a handgun for the first time in American military history. The US Navy and Marine Corps. followed suit and adopted it in 1913, and from those dates onward, these simple, powerful and very effective pistols served American forces worldwide until they were finally withdrawn in 1985 due to the age of these pistols (production stopped at the end of World War Two and existing pistols were just rebuild as needed) and in response to pressure from our NATO allies to adopt a 9mm pistol in order to standardize with everyone else. It was replaced by the rather bulky, heavy and lackluster Beretta M9.

Over 2.7 million of these guns were produced, originally by Colt Firearms, for whom John Browning was working at the time. When World War One came along, production also took place at the government's arsenal at Springfield Armory. Come World War Two, still more were needed so production was spread out to the other government arsenal at Rock Island and also contracted out to private companies Remington Rand, Ithaca Gun Company, Union Switch and Signal Co., and even the Singer Sewing Machine Company. 1926 saw a few cosmetic changes made to the pistol, resulting in it's re-designation as the 1911A1, but the changes were trifling and 1911's and 1911A1's soldiered on together right up through Korea and Vietnam and every other US military deployment around the world. And even though the military has officially phased them out, some still solider on with our Special Operations troops, notably the Marine Corps' Force Recon and the US Army's Delta Force. It's also a favorite of several police SWAT units around the country, including that of the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. Serious operators appreciate it's reliability and accuracy and prefer the no-nonsense knockdown power of the 230-grain .45 cartridge.

Now as for me, I've owned one since the day I turned 21. I bought the gun from a then little-known gunsmith by the name of Patrick Sweeney when he was still working behind the counter of my local gun shop. He's since gone on to become a notable author and instructor on all things 1911 and AR-15 but I'll always be grateful to him for talking me out of what I went in there to buy and convincing me to leave with a brand new Springfield Armory, Inc. 1911A1.

I have fired thousands of rounds through it, and I still have it today, only with new sights, ambidextrous controls, and a trigger job that was done by Pat when I complained about it's out-of-the-box trigger pull that was roughly fifteen pounds when measured. It's accompanied me on numerous travels and camping trips and it was the first gun that I ever fired in anger when I used it to return fire against some knucklehead who took a few shots at me back when I worked as an armed response officer for a burglar alarm company. I don't think I hit him but it was enough to make him stop shooting at me, so that counts as a “save” in my book.

Some time later, a second 1911 caught my eye, again in the shop where Pat worked. This one was an old Colt military model, US Property marked, with a serial number that indicated it was made in 1917. I admit that I thought I was getting ripped off a bit by the $300.00 price, but every time I see what genuine World War One 1911's today are selling for, I have to smile.

I've owned a couple of other 1911's over time, but those two have remained with me and probably always will. And as of yesterday, the Argentine Model 1927 joined them as my latest project gun, and if it turns out well, it may well stick around, too. Here are the three of them together:Note that the "pimp grips" on the Argentine pistol (center) have been replaced with proper military checkered grips.

Over the years, I have helped many other people buy guns. Sometimes it's been their first gun, and sometimes it's just been a better gun. I do this because I like these people and want them to be safe. But those that I really care about, I set them up with 1911's.

Gun Control sissies pressuring Starbucks to ban gun owners.

I guess the Brady Bunch, aka the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly Handgun Control, Inc., has given up on trying to get any gun control laws passed and have settled for harassing local businesses instead.

A national gun control organization wants Starbucks to take a stance on its gun policy.

Paul Helmke, president of Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross on Wednesday there has been a recent surge in customers carrying unconcealed weapons into California stores.

Helmke explained that people in large groups are banning together and carrying their guns unconcealed into businesses to flaunt their Second Amendment rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in June 2008 that bans on handguns is unconstitutional and the Second Amendment guarantees the right to own a gun for self-defense.

"Really, what's happened since that Supreme Court decision is the gun lobby is pushing more of this 'let's take more guns more places with more people,' instead of trying to figure out how do we make sure there's background checks on all sales," said Helmke.

Helmke said they asked area businesses to decide whether to allow gun carrying customers into their stores or refuse them business. The policies are similar to those not allowing topless or shoeless customers through the door.

"When Starbucks was asked about it, they said they don't have a policy on it and they follow state law," said Helmke. He added, "That bothers people that go to these restaurants and it concerns us because we believe that it actually raises the chances there's going to be some gun violence, or a mistake or a confrontation."

California Pizza Kitchen and Peet's Coffee have both decided they won't allow people to openly carry guns in their businesses.

"We're concerned that Starbucks isn't listening to its customers who would like to get a coffee without somebody carrying a gun," said Helmke.

He admitted they haven't been able to measure an increase in gun violence since a recent push to 'pack heat' in public, but cited past studies that show the more guns in a home, community, etc. increases the chances for gun violence.

"More guns usually leads to more gun violence," said Helmke.

So here we go again. Ignoring years of actual data, Helmke the talking head just makes crap up in an effort to gull people into doing what he and his ever-shrinking band of elitists want them to do. "More guns usually leads to more gun violence," he says. Really? I keep waiting for someone in the media to ask him to prove that, because gun ownership is at an all-time high right now (Thanks, Obama!) and more states allow concealed carry of firearms than at any time in the past 50 years, and the nation's violent crime rate is dropping and has been for years. Clearly there are more guns out there, but violent crime is down, not up as Helmke and other prevaricators (that means "liars" for those Helmke supporters who might read this) suggest.

Right now, I applaud Starbucks for not caving into Helmke, unlike California Pizza Kitchen and Peet's Coffee. It's great that Starbucks recognizes state law and doesn't have a problem with it, and it's telling that Helmke and his group express disdain for this and other businesses who merely follow the law. In Helmke's worldview, it appears that the only good laws are those which totally step on honest people and deprive them of the right to make their own choices about self-defense. And that's all that gun control laws do; criminals couldn't care less about laws--or store policies--when it comes to their weapons.

It's a fact of life that bad people will always have weapons regardless of laws or store policies to the contrary. It follows that they will always have an advantage in areas that mandate that the good people cannot be armed. Places that demand that their customers render themselves defenseless will always be looked upon favorably by those with evil intent, and that's why we see so many mass shootings in places like schools and damned few in gun shops or police stations. If there's any such thing as karma in the world, one of these days Paul Helmke will find himself cowering before an armed bad guy with the police nowhere in sight. And if he's really lucky, there might be a law-abiding armed citizen nearby who saves his worthless fat ass and teaches him the wisdom of taking responsibility for his own safety and not working full-time to deny others that option.

As for me, I value my life so I shall go armed.

For more on this story, click here.

Ugly Duckling follows me home

So there I was just minding my own business--not bothering anybody--when I happened upon this poor, neglected and quite shopworn .45 automatic pistol sitting in a pawn shop.
It looked like hell. The finish was almost entirely worn off, the metal had some nicks taken out of it, the slide stop was broken in half (how did THAT even happen?) and the barrel was worn pretty smooth inside. The low price on the gun reflected the obvious view of the shop owner that this gun was a piece of old junk well past redemption, but I saw past the gun's outward appearance right off the bat when I recognized it as an Argentine-made Model 1927.
These guns had been made for the Argentine military under license from Colt Mfg., and built on machines purchased from Colt under the supervision of Colt engineers. Basically, these are Colt Model 1911s that were built in a different country, and the quality and workmanship was just as good as anything coming out of the actual Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut. I picked it up and wiggled the slide--it was still tight. No rattling when shaken. The hammer still moved back and clicked solidly into the cock and half-cock positions with no play or slop, and the trigger pull, while muddy, was typical of a mil-spec 1911. It has a strong import mark on the left front of the slide, but behind that, the lettering was still clear: D.G.F.M.-(F.M.A.P.), short for "Direccion General de Fabricaciones Militares, Fabrica Militar de Armas Portatiles" (General Directorate of Military Factories, Argentine Government Arsenal.)As I turned it over in my hands, I could hear the line from The Six Million Dollar Man TV show in my mind. "We can rebuild it...We can make it better than it was before..." And I envisioned this pistol with a pristine new finish over a fresh polishing job, low-profile Wilson Combat sights, a tuned trigger that breaks crisply at about 4lbs, ambidextrous safety, Pachmayr grips...Yeah.

"This thing's beat," I said, beginning the negotiation process. "What kind of abuse did this thing see to break that slide stop? Damn...someone bent the front sight, too. Not much of a barrel left, either. What'd they clean it with--emory cloth?"

The gun was already priced quite fairly for what it was, but half the fun of these pawn shops is in trying to get an even better deal. I was banking on the fact that the guy behind the counter didn't really know what he had here, and over the next ten minutes or so, I played with it, feigned a lot of skepticism, pointed out every flaw that I could see or imagine, and finally I handed it back and told him I'd think about it, then pretended to walk out the door.
But as I got to the door, I stopped, turned, paused for a few seconds, and made him an offer that was about 40% less than the already reasonable asking price. He countered with 25% off and I jumped on it. MINE! He even threw in a really nice pistol case with it.

So now I'm home with my newest ugly gun. It already has a new slide stop installed and it passes all of the function tests. A bit of quick research based on serial number indiczates that it was manufactured in 1960. It's going to be my project gun and I'll restore and upgrade it as time and funds permit. When I'm done, I expect that I'll have a match or carry gun that'll serve me quite well indeed, and at a fraction of the price of a new gun.First order of business: Those pimp grips have got to go.

Snowbound

So after getting whammed with a blizzard followed by another winter storm a couple days later, Lagniappe and I are enjoying the 3-4 feet of snow which has us practically stuck here in the lair. Not much can move on the roads, and a state of emergency was declared over much of the area, meaning people who even try to go out without a good reason will be fined heavily.

But today, the snow has stopped, the sun is out in a blue, blue sky, and it's playtime in the snow for Lagniappe and a neighboring Chocolate Lab we met on walkabout.

The playground:

The game's afoot!



Damn, that was great! Too bad my pal cried to go inside after I got a bit rough with him. Labs can be such wusses.

But now a dog deserves his rest by the fire, don't you think?
Wake me when dinner's ready.

A fundamental difference between Conservatives and Liberals

In Colorado (where else?), the Democrats are expressing outrage over comments made by a conservative Republican on the floor of the state house on Monday.

State Representative Spencer Swalm stated the plain truth that people who don’t want to live in poverty, should stop having children out of wedlock. Common sense, right? Well maybe to you and to me, but the state's Democratic party went ape over the mere suggestion that single moms having kids that they cannot afford is a bad thing and leads to a life of poverty. It doesn't matter that the statistics on that issue are clear and uncontestable--Even the US Census Bureau reports that 43 percent of Colorado families living below the poverty level were headed by a married couple vs. Fifty-seven percent of families below that line that were single-parent families. And of all children living in single-parent homes, nearly a third lived in poverty. Only 8.6 percent of children in married couple families lived in poverty.

I mean, come on--it's not even something you can argue. Single-parent families may do quite well, but more of them do poorly than do families with two parents. That's just a fact.

“Don’t have kids out of wedlock,” said Swalm, R-Centennial from the House floor. “If you’re married, if at all possible, try to stay married. Those are ways to lift families out of poverty.”

In an interview afterward, Swalm pointed out that “intact families do better than dysfunctional or broken families”, but said he was not advocating that women stay in abusive marriages.

“Those children are almost guaranteed to be in poverty. You don’t want kids in poverty? Don’t have kids out of wedlock,” Swalm said. “Better yet, get a high school degree. That doesn’t cost a dime.”

Wow. Get and stay married, get a basic diploma, work. Such oppressive concepts. No wonder the Dems are outraged. It goes without saying that messages like this rock their party because impoverished people are a major bloc of their constituency. People who do well and earn money or own property naturally want to keep it so they tend to vote for the Republicans, who at least give lip-service to conservative principles like self-reliance and small government. Conversely, poor people, including people who don't work and who have lots of kids that they cannot afford, expect the government to take care of them, usually by taking the money and/or property from those who have it--typically the ones who stayed in school and worked hard and who didn't start popping out kids in their teen years.

This is why I think that people on welfare should not be allowed to vote. They have elected to become children of the state and children aren't supposed to have a say in how a household is run. If welfare recipients could not vote, many legislators who owe their seats to large numbers of non-working child-breeders in their districts might not be in office today and perhaps the government would more accurately reflect and work on behalf of the average American--the man or woman who gets up every day and puts in 40 hours or more each week to earn their own way.

Mind you, it's not cut-and-dried between the parties. There are a few conservative Democrats out there, and there are some scum-sucking liberal Republicans who like to ride on the Conservative Values float come election time but who still vote to give the store away to people who aren't putting anything in. I really don't care which party takes the lead so long as it's the most conservative one. And that's why come November, I'll be voting for and donating money to candidates who pledge or have demonstrated support for small government, pro-citizen-empowerment conservatism, regardless of their political affiliation. And if the GOP thinks that I'll support another John McCain, they're in for a rude awakening. I want a government that governs me the least and lets me keep what I earn. And I want more people like Spencer Swalm in office, because he seems to get that.

Go, Spencer, go!

From the "Irony's a bitch" department...

With three feet of snow already on the ground in the Washington DC area and up to two more coming, the weather closed the federal government offices today and put the kibosh on the Obama Administration's latest effort to make us all modify our behavior (and pay more taxes) in the name of Global Warming.

As D.C. continued to dig out from Snowmageddon and is keeping an eye on another storm system, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was busy making a climate change announcement.

NOAA, part of the Department of Commerce, is going to be providing information to individuals and decision-makers through a new NOAA Climate Service office. “More and more, Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards, including sea-level rise, longer growing seasons, changes in river flows, increases in heavy downpours, earlier snowmelt and extended ice-free seasons in our waters. People are searching for relevant and timely information about these changes to inform decision-making about virtually all aspects of their lives,” the release says.

Earlier snowmelt? That would be nice.

Turns out the release was planned prepared ahead of the snowstorm, which shut federal agencies today and forced its senders to hold a press conference by telephone instead of at the National Press Club.

It’s not the first time inclement weather has put a chill on official efforts to tackle climate change. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to leave the Copenhagen summit early in December to get back to D.C. before the blizzard known as Snowpocalypse grounded all flights.

Ain't that great? A new federal government office designed, staffed and funded just to spew propaganda about our impact on the planet. I'm sure this is exactly what our founding fathers had in mind when they wrote that Tenth Amendment to our Constitution...

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Nope...not seeing anything in the rest of that document about taxing us all to pay for another office that just uses junk science to justify taxing and restricting the people even more.

If Washington, Jefferson, Madison and the rest of our nation's architects ever come back, they are so going to kick Obama's ass.

Congressman Murtha dead

Rep. John Murtha,(D)--PA, one of the most "ethically strained" members of Congress just passed away today.

It's not for me to judge, but this, following so closely on the heels of the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, makes me wonder if we're not seeing some sort of divine housecleaning where our government is concerned.

I'm just saying... but if I were a politician who wasn't doing right by the people, I might consider changing my ways. These things always seem to come in threes, ya know. Meantime, I wouldn't be getting onto airplanes with the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Alan Mollohan, Charlie Rangel, or numerous other members of Congress.

On a serious note, my sincere sympathies go out to the Murtha family.

And as if my earlier stupid criminal with a gun story wasn't funny enough...

In Wisconsin, a woman is attacked by a robber so she draws a gun and shoots the robber...who turns out to be her own son!

MILWAUKEE -- A 21-year-old man was shot by his mother around 9:00 p.m. Thursday on West Nash Street and North 13th Street.

Milwaukee Police said the victim told investigators he thought it would be amusing to frighten his mother as she returned from shopping.

He put on a ski mask and confronted her behind their residence, pretending to rob her.

The 37-year-old female responded by drawing a .357 revolver from her waistband and firing several shots at the victim, striking him at least twice.

He was conveyed to a local hospital by the Milawukee Fire Department and his condition is unknown.

The suspect surrendered to the first responding squad and was in custody according to Milwaukee police.

Officers also recovered a blue steel revolver with an obliterated serial number from the suspect.

Of course now they claim that it was a prank, or a joke gone wrong, but somehow I'm not buying that.

I also can't help but notice that this woman--the one carrying the gun with the serial numbers ground off--is 37 and has a 21 year old son. That means she was 16 when she had him and probably 15 when she got knocked up. Not surprisingly, there's no mention of a husband or father in this story. I'm willing to bet that us taxpayers are going to be paying for his medical care and her court-appointed lawyer.

Anyone remember this?

The date was August 1st, 2003. A little Oompa Loompa named Nancy Pelosi was castigating our President over the unemployment figures.

August 1, 2003

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' announcement that 470,000 people abandoned their job searches in July and that 3.2 million private sector jobs have been lost since President Bush took office:

“The fact is that President Bush’s misguided economic policies have failed to create jobs. Since President Bush took office, the country has lost 3.2 million jobs, the worst record since President Hoover. And today we learned that in July nearly half a million people gave up looking for a job.

“Job losses are taking a real toll on the financial security of American families. While Democrats are fighting for opportunity, jobs, and economic security for working families, Republicans continue to focus on helping those who need help the least.

“According to today’s survey, while the national unemployment rate dropped slightly, it still stands at a near record high. In addition, the unemployment rate for African Americans was still over 11 percent in July, and the unemployment rate for Hispanics was 8.2 percent in July.

“It is time for President Bush and the Republicans to get to work for all Americans, not just the elite few.”

The unemployment rate in August, 2003 was 6.1 percent.

Today, it's still hovering around 10 percent, and it's only gone down slightly because hundreds of thousands of Americans have been out of work for so long that they're no longer being counted.

And today Nancy Pelosi has nothing to say today. Not to this President, anyway. Can anyone explain her silence?

Anyone?
Bueller?
Anyone?

Anger counselor points gun at police officers in parking dispute

Seriously, you just can't make stuff like this up.

A respected domestic violence and anger management counselor in Fairfax County was arraigned in federal court Thursday after he allegedly pulled a gun on two men who he believed were blocking his car on an Annandale street last week.

The two men were federal marshals.

Jose L. Avila, 57, was ordered held without bond pending a detention hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He has been held in the Fairfax jail since Jan. 25, when he apparently picked the wrong place and time to complain about thoughtless parking.

Avila allegedly encountered two deputy U.S. marshals outside an apartment complex on Americana Drive, near Little River Turnpike and the Capital Beltway, at 9 a.m. Jan. 25. In a court affidavit, Deputy Marshal Floriano Whitwell said he and another marshal, Matthew M. Dumas, had been conducting a fugitive investigation and parked their sport-utility vehicles in designated parking places on Americana Drive.

Dumas got out of his vehicle and was standing at the window of Whitwell's vehicle when a white Jeep Cherokee drove up and the driver honked his horn, Whitwell wrote. Dumas, with a marshals service "badge clearly visible hanging from his neck," motioned for the Cherokee to continue past. But then the Cherokee turned around and came back, Whitwell wrote.

The driver appeared to be motioning to Dumas, so the marshal moved closer. Then, Whitwell wrote, Dumas "noticed that Avila was aiming a gun at him. Avila was holding the gun and resting his hand on the top of the door with the driver's window completely open," the affidavit states.

"Gun, gun, gun!" Dumas reportedly yelled to his partner, and Whitwell said he looked up and saw "Avila pointing the dark colored firearm in our direction." Avila drove off, and the marshals pursued him and pulled him over.

The marshals identified themselves and tried to arrest Avila, but he was "uncooperative" and "continued to resist arrest and refused to give me his hand which was under his body," Whitwell wrote. The marshals feared that a gun was beneath Avila, and they used "U.S. Marshals Service defensive tactics to eventually apprehend Avila," Whitwell said.

Found on Avila's seat, Whitwell alleges, was a 9mm Astra A-90 pistol loaded with 14 hollow-point bullets. Once out of his vehicle, Avila reportedly apologized profusely and said he had "never done anything like this before," the affidavit said. When he appeared with the marshals before a Fairfax magistrate, he claimed that he had pointed a cellphone, not a gun, at the marshals, Whitwell wrote.

The magistrate charged Avila with attempted malicious assault, brandishing a firearm, using a firearm in a felony and resisting arrest. Fairfax prosecutors dismissed those charges Wednesday after U.S. Magistrate Ivan D. Davis issued a warrant for assault on a federal officer, and Avila was transferred to federal custody Thursday.

Court records show that Avila has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, issued in 2005. Fairfax prosecutors moved Wednesday to suspend that. State records show that Avila has been a licensed professional counselor since 1994 and a licensed marriage and family therapist since 1998.

Funny story, but my gripe now is how this touchy-feely "anger counselor" manages to give the rest of us law-abiding gun owners a ton of bad press. Way to go, Jackass.

A night when flying was more interesting than it should have been.

So I'm sitting here, flipping through my flight log, when I spot a night flight entry with the notation "Electrical failure!" And I remember a flight some years back when I was still a new pilot with well less than a hundred hours under my belt and I'd talked a friend who'd never flown before into coming out and going up for a night flight.

I love night flying. The air is calm and smooth, other traffic is scarce, the lights below are neat to watch; I really enjoy it. This flight however...

Back in those days, if I wanted to fly, I just went over to the FBO at the airport, walked into the rental office, signed the plane of my choice out in the log book, and took the keys from their hook behind the desk. It didn't matter if it was midnight and no one was around--the place was never locked and those of us who flew out of there were trusted.

After checking the plane out, we'd taken off in full darkness and buzzed around a bit, and then I pointed us over towards the big commercial airport nearby to show my passenger how I could land on the big runway with all of the jets. This airport was a hub for several airlines, including a few cargo haulers, and while it was fairly slow during the day, it really rocked at night with both UPS and Fed-Ex flying in and out. Naturally the control tower was just overjoyed to have a Cessna 172 come up on their approach channel and ask pretty please to come in and squeeze in between the big fast-movers to shoot a few touch-and-go landings. But on this night they indulged me, although with the caveat that I could make ONE full-stop landing and get off of their runway and onto the taxiway ASAP so as not to interfere with the real traffic any more than I had to. I agreed and set up for my first landing, greasing it in oh-so-perfectly even as the tower was warning me of a 727 on final and telling me to turn off the runway and take my place in the departure queue if I wanted to take back off any time soon. It was also suggested that if I had no actual business at this airport that I go find someplace else to play.

I thanked them for the indulgence, and as I'd shown my pal that I could fly in there just like a real plane could, I was ready to go back to the home field and let him buy me a few drinks. And as I sat at the hold short line waiting for a DC-9 to take off with another big jet behind me and a couple more on approach, I was thinking that I was seriously cool. Of course if you'd polled the tower or the pilots of those other planes, they might have voted a bit differently. But this was my moment to shine.

I did a quick scan of the gauges, and I noticed that the ammeter needle was flickering pretty wildly. Hmmm... It hadn't been doing that earlier. In fact I'd never seen that gauge do that before or even heard of that. But before I could ponder it's meaning, the radio crackled. "Cessna 172, you are number one for takeoff on runway 27, cleared for departure from the pattern to the north, have a nice night."
Translation: Get off our runway, get away from our airport, and don't come back.

So I shrugged off the little ammeter gauge as I pushed the throttle forward and let off on the brakes. I made a mental note to tell someone about it in the morning as I kicked in some left rudder to line up on the centerline and firewalled the throttle, watching the airspeed indicator climb. "Come on, 55 knots!" And just as the needle hit 55, I pulled back on the yoke and the little plane left the runway. I was grinning like a fool.

Then it suddenly got very dark in that plane, and very quiet save for the engine roar. I stopped grinning as I realized that the lights had just gone out. In fact everything electrical in the aircraft was dead, and that included my exterior navigation and collision-avoidance beacons as well. I realized that I was now flying around in airspace chock full of big, fast jets and I was invisible to them all. Instinctively I hit the transmit button and tried to alert the tower of my emergency but the radios were dead, too. This was seriously not good.

By feel, I brushed the circuit breakers, but none of them reset. I knew that I needed to get well clear of the airport so that I could try to figure something out without getting whacked by a jetliner. Going around the pattern and trying to muscle my way back in for an approach without lights or communication didn't seem like a very good idea so I just followed the departure instruction and then went down low to get below any other traffic that might be in the area. At this point I was making it up as I went along because this situation was not covered during my flight instruction. All I knew was that I had to put this plane where no one else would hit it while I tried to figure out what to do next. Digging into my flight bag, I found my mini-mag flashlight with the red lens on it that I used for map reading. I handed it to my friend and told him to use it to light up the six-pack of essential instruments on the console, and I quickly taught him to focus it on the artificial horizon, altimeter and airspeed indicators when I called for them. I then began to fiddle with things, trying to get something to reset and restore power, but nothing was working. I headed back towards my home field, but I quickly realized that it was unattended and the lighting controlled by radio signals from pilots, and without a radio...no field lights. This just kept getting worse.

I got out my cell phone next, and I called one of my flight instructors at home. Unfortunately I couldn't hear over the engine noise so I had no idea if anyone was picking up the phone--all I could do was shout: "Hey, it's me! I got an electrical failure and need you to go to the airport and turn the lights on!" I yelled this half a dozen times, then hung up, dialed the other instructor, and repeated it. I had no way of knowing if either of them had heard this (It turned out that they hadn't--both pleas for help just hit their answering machines) but it gave me a bit of hope right then and there to know that someone somewhere--other than us--knew that we were in trouble.

Then I caught a break--as I approached the field, I saw that the lights were on--they were actually on! YES!!!

Of course now the question was, why are they on? Is there another aircraft in the pattern that I can't see? Or did one land or take off a while ago? If it was the latter, those lights are on a timer and could go out at any time. I needed to get down and down quick while they were still on, but what if there was another plane in the pattern or on final? I banged the Cessna into a 360-degree clearing turn, looking for any other traffic. If anyone was up here, I had to spot them because they'd never see me. Finding none, I dove for the runway, dispensing with the pattern approach in an effort to get down before those lights switched back off. Without a landing light, there was no way I'd be able to touch down absent those runway lights. Angling in on a short final and watching my airspeed and altimeter, I reached out and hit the flap switch, only to realize that these, like everything else, were inoperative. So not only was I landing a blacked-out plane on a runway whose lights might flick off at any second, I was also going to be coming in hot with no flaps. No pressure here...

"Come on, God...just get us down safe and I swear I'll be in church Sunday...I promise!"

The lights stayed on as we coasted in over the threshold, but my hand was on the throttle waiting to jam it forward and abort the landing if they went out. I focused on the flare and put some back pressure in and the aircraft settled ever-so-gently onto the runway, smoother than many of the landings I'd made where I could actually see the ground. I gave a victory yell--we were down safe; we'd made it.

And as I turned off the end of the runway and onto the taxiway to the FBO, the lights all went out. We'd been down less than a minute. Talk about a close one.

If there's a moral to this story, I'm sure that it has something to do with poorly-maintained rental aircraft and keeping your head when things start coming untwisted. Or maybe it has something to do with paying attention when little gauges that never act up start acting up. All I know is that I had a flight that I'll never forget and I'm still here to write about it. Life's good.

And yeah, I was in church that next Sunday morning. You don't even want to welch on a deal with God.