Lagniappe enjoying Memorial Day, K9 style

Lagniappe spent a fair bit of his holiday week-end swimming.



Happy dog.
Happy, happy dog.

Arlington National Cemetery notables

Over 300,000 veterans are resting in Arlington National Cemetery. Each one has a name. Most you won't recognize, but some you almost certainly will.

Boyington, Gregory



Donovan, William J.



Doubleday, Abner



Evers, Medgar W.



Hayes, Ira H.



Louis, Joseph B.



Marvin, Lee



Miller, A. Glenn



Murphy, Audie L.



O'Neill, William O.



Powers, Francis G.



Puller, Lewis Jr.




Known only to God. There are a lot of these in Arlington and other national cemeteries.


Enjoy your barbecues this week-end, but be sure to take some time to reflect on the Americans who sacrificed so much for this country and the freedom of the world.

A stalker whines...

By now, most of you have probably heard of Joe McGinniss. For those of you who have not, he's a left-wing "author" of crappy unauthorized biographies from Massachusetts. He's also known for his obsession with Sarah Palin. He's written yellow hit-screeds about her and harassed her at a charity dinner and is currently writing another book about her personal life. And typical of many of the left-wing moonbats out there, he apparently has absolutely no boundaries or professional integrity. I say this because he's taken his stalking to a new level--renting the house next door to the Palin family so that he can spy on them every moment of every day.

Obviously, Governor Palin was not pleased. "Knowing of his many other scathing pieces of 'journalism'... we're sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he's penning,” Palin wrote on Monday. "Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom, my little garden, and the family's swimming hole?"

And who can blame her? This guy takes "creepy" to a whole new level, and even his son says that he's romantically obsessed with her.

Now the public backlash against him and his sleazy publisher, Random House, is intensifying. Ironically, he's getting the negative attention that he's been trying to build and focus on the Palins, and shockingly, he's unhappy about it. So he's taken to crying to the Washington Post to deny claims that he's a stalker.

After radio host Mark Levin gave out the author's e-mail address, McGinniss got 5000 messages in four hours, eventually shutting down the account. Wasilla police and state troopers are keeping a watchful eye on the place, although McGinniss said no one had come to the house to threaten him on Friday. He simply didn't anticipate the scale of Palin's response.

McGinniss said he was offended by the way Palin described his presence next door. He was deeply offended by the implication, not thinly veiled in Palin's note and subsequent interview with Glenn Beck, that he would be peering in on the children.

"These little kids, I couldn't care less about them," said McGinniss. "I have my own kids and grandkids to care about. I'm just very offended by this."

Yeah, good luck with that one, stalker-boy.

McGinniss should consider himself lucky that he's only stalking a family that has the grace and the restraint of the Palins. Coming from Massachusetts, he undoubtedly relishes his role as a journalistic bully, secure in the knowledge that his fellow liberals are cowed by the fact that he has a lawyer or two on speed-dial ready to sue anyone who gives him what he's got coming. But that really only works in places like Massachusetts or California. In much of the rest of America--particularly the parts where real red-blooded Americans live and constitute the majority--people like McGinniss frequently become known by another term: Missing persons.

Creeps like Joe McGinniss risk winding up with their pictures on milk cartons when they stalk women and kids around real Americans; that's just Justice and Darwinism in action. And any time Todd Palin wants to borrow a shovel, I've got one that he can use.

In Memory...

On this Memorial Day week-end, 2010, I wanted to share some of pictures that I've taken at Arlington National Cemetery. May we never forget.

My thoughts on Gary Coleman

His was a short life...

Saturday morning, and time for a timely tune

I remember, when you were down,
and you needed a helping hand.
I came to feed you,
But now that I need you you won’t give me a second glance.
Now I’m calling all citizens from all over the world, this is Captain America calling.
I bailed you out when you were down on your knees,
so will you catch me now I’m falling.


Actually you other countries don't even need to catch us...but a little gratitude would be nice.

Uh-oh...

I am blogging from an undisclosed secure location today.

Word is, a fatwa has been issued against me by Natasha, wife of Aaron, owner of The Shekel.

Apparently this has something to do with my teaching Abby and Leah, their two young girls, how to make blowguns from soda straws and spitballs from pieces of napkins when we were at a McDonald's the other day. (NOT one of the ones on the Ohio Turnpike.)

I thought that it was cute, and a good way to bond with the girls. They definitely thought it was great fun and the older one became quite proficient at shooting spitballs before we left.

For some reason, however, Natasha is not amused.

I even tried to point out that Aaron sat right there without objecting, a tacit co-conspirator, but no joy--she's still blaming me.

I had even hoped that I might count on my valiant ex-police dog for protection from her wrath, but as soon as I told Lagniappe that Tash was reported to be on her way down and in an angry state, he skootched under the bed and now he won't come out.

So was it really so wrong to teach these kids something that they almost certainly would have learned eventually anyway? I'm thinking not, and if you agree with me, can I stay with you for a few weeks?

I mean, come on--it's not like I told them more stories about monsters under the bed that chew little kids' legs off at night. (And for the record, I honestly had no idea that little kids actually believe that sort of stuff--and I said I was sorry...)

Barack Obama punks our war dead in favor of another vacation

Once again, Obama shows his true feelings--contempt and disdain--for the real Americans who have made this country (and the world) a better place. He's skipping the Memorial Day wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery this year because--gosh darn it--he and his wife haven't been to Chicago for a while.

They're taking another vacation--his second one since the BP oil crisis broke in the gulf--and he's delegated the honoring of our nation's war dead to Joe Biden, right along with walking Bo the Dog and bringing in the White House mail and newspapers every morning.

Sources say that he will be rearranging his schedule to make it back to Washington DC in time for a meeting with Paul McCartney the next day, however. Priorities...

Granted, Barack Obama is about as welcome at Arlington as those inbred banjo-pickers from the Westboro baptist "church", but it's unheard of for a sitting president to fluff off our nation's heroes and their survivors just for a vacation, especially in a time of war.

Obama really needs to change his name to "Recess", because he's got no class.

Also culpable, of course, are his loyal followers, most of whom excoriated President Bush every time he dared take a vacation or even tried to play golf. Bush gave up on golf because he felt that it didn't look right to be playing while our troops were at war, but Obama...he's played more games in his first year than Bush did in all eight of his. And he's taken more vacation time, too, all without any negative feedback from the same people who criticized Bush for much less. They even overlook the fact that he's only been to view the oil spill disaster in the Gulf once. But hey--those golf balls aren't going to hit themselves...
I'm disgusted, but I should not be surprised by this. The sort of person who could vote for Obama has never been the sort of person known to demonstrate much logic, consistency or intellectual honesty.

Hope and change, folks. The only things changing though appear to be some peoples' expectations of how a president should act.

Shooting with Aaron and Spud

As always happens when I go back to visit family in Michigan, I get together with Aaron of The Shekel blog and we go out to a gravel pit near Lapeer and shoot guns. This time was no exception, and we brought the Spud for the first time, because he never gets to do "guy stuff" normally and I don't want him growing up to be a hair stylist or an interior decorator...not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

On the way, we stopped at a yard sale and bought a small mini-fridge for $5.00. The sellers swore that it worked, but were reluctant to let me plug it in and see. That didn't really matter though as we bought it to use as a target. Once at the pit, we set it out at approximately 200M and commenced to shooting it to pieces. Don't ask why--it's just what guys do.


Here's Aaron, demonstrating his new Saiga 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun. Basically, it's what you get when you re-engineer an AK-47 to fire 12 gauge shells. And with that Eotech sight on top, it's a wicked piece of work. Aaron put the first hole in our mini-fridge as the first slug he fired from the Siaga went clean through it. It was also devastating against cardboard boxes with shot, and we even shot a bit of skeet with it as another shooter tossed some clays for us. The Eotech works surprisingly good for that, too.










And the Spud got to shoot. Here he is with his own BB gun, a Crossman 760 that I got him for Christmas a year and a half ago. This was his first time out with it since no one that he lives with will take him shooting. Once he learned how to pump it up and aim it, he was gleefully killing plastic bottles regularly.


Then we put the Spud on a few grown-up weapons. Here's Aaron, coaching him on the AR-15 (top) and the Spud, still under close supervision, firing an AK-47 (bottom).










Then it was time to bring out the Browning.After anchoring the tripod's feet into to earth and watering the ground forward of the gun to prevent the muzzle blast from kicking up a massive dust cloud, we were ready to try out some of the new cloth-belted 1950's-vintage ammunition that the CMP so graciously made available. It was the first time that I got to test this ammo, and I have to say that I was pleased. Every round fired without a hitch, and aside from a heavy lacquer build-up inside the barrel's chamber from the glue used to put the rounds in the belt (not something I'd ever want in one of my rifles...), it was clean and shot well. Here's Aaron firing, with the Spud spotting for him.
And here's the Spud, getting some machine gun trigger time. He's not aiming and not on target, but he's having fun burning up ammo (and a good barrel). And yes, that's me in the background yelling "Stop!" over and over.


He'll get better.

And here's Aaron, demonstrating the concept of aimed MG fire. He's slower, but right on target. That poor mini-fridge never stood a chance.


We shot some pistols, too, and even gave Spud a whack at Aaron's Glock 22, which Spud did not care much for. He says that it hurts his hand. I just think that he's developing good taste and knows instinctively that Glocks are...well...let's just say that they're like the mopeds of the gun world. They do the job, but without any coolness or style.


A good time was had by all. When asked if he had fun, Spud grinned from ear to ear and yelled "YEAH!"

Happy gun.

A Guy Day in Detroit.

Going back to visit, I saw quite a bit of my eleven year old nephew, The Spud.
Saturday was "Guy Day", and my father and I took the Spud out to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle. Here he is, showing us how pilots of old steered Great Lakes freighters.
And here he is, looking through the periscope of the old USS Tambor (SS198), a submarine that served with distinction in World War Two and which subsequently wound up in Detroit as a Naval Reserve Training Vessel until it was taken out of service in 1958 and scrapped.

Here he is, looking chipper with my father as both sit in one of the old swan boats that used to be part of one of the attractions on the old Boblo Island amusement park, now long gone.

And finally, here's the boy in his element...with FOOD! We decided that he was finally old enough to appreciate a true culinary institution and we took him to Lafayette Coney Island. My old man was taking me there thirty years ago, and there's truly no restaurant that says "Detroit" like Lafayette Coney Island...unless of course it's American Coney Island, right next door and owned by the same family.

It was a good morning--three generations out on the town. We don't do it nearly often enough.

Back in town

Posting has been sparse lately because I've been out of town. Family business took me away for a bit, but Lagniappe and I are back now. Lagniappe will now be going on a diet, since his spending several days with my mother always results in his eating far too much ice cream.

We got back in last night and unpacked, and today it's back to business as usual. I would, however, like to give a perfect example of why capitalism and competition in the marketplace will always beat the alternative such as we're seeing with Obama's mandated health care scam. Forf this example, I have to point you all to the Ohio Turnpike.

At each rest stop along the turnpike, east or west, there is a restaurant. Typically the Turnpike Authority grants the concession to one food-serving restaurant only. Sometimes there may be a Starbucks or some other lite venue there, but only one "sit-down" concessionaire per stop. In most of these rest stops, it's a McDonalds.

Now this would not be bad in itself. I can eat at McDonalds occasionally. However these McDonalds restaurants typically suck in both pricing and the customer service department. Prices are much higher in these stores than in any other McDonalds, and in every one that I saw in both directions, there were long, slow lines for service because they were only manning one or two registers while three to five other registers just had "Next Register Please" signs on them. Lots of people wanted food, but they all had to wait ridiculously long times to get it--and pay more for it.

Why does it work like that? because there is no alternative. It's McDonalds or nothing. They are the only food choice on the turnpike, and you can't just hop on and off easily anywhere you like because the exits are few and far between and you have to screw with the tolls both exiting and re-entering if you do. So it makes sense to just stay on and deal with it, but that also means that you have to accept whatever shitty service that McDonalds feels like giving you, and they know that most of you will because there's just no other choice. You can't just shrug at their lines and prices and go over to the Burger King next door; McDonalds has a monopoly and they exploit that fact to the detriment of their customers.

After seeing this played out in multiple rest stops both going and returning, I finally confronted a manager named Samantha at the Glacier Hills store, 12500 Beard Road, in Springfield, Ohio. I pointed out that she had four cash registers but only one was being used. There was a long line of customers--it would have been longer but people kept walking away in disgust--but she was still only running at 25% capacity. Meanwhile, it took me ten minutes to get to the counter just to order a damned Big Mac. Samantha was quick to start tossing out excuses. One worker has a seizure and broke her nose. Another one was pregnant. Two others had just left--during the lunch rush--because it was the end of their shifts. She was short-handed and there was nothing she could do about it.

"You could hold people over or call them back in for overtime," I suggested.

"Oh, I can't do that," she replied.

"No, you can do it," I corrected. "You just won't. There's a difference. Don't tell me that none of these people working here would take the opportunity to make some time and a half if you offered it to them." I made sure to say that loudly enough for several people behind the counter to hear.
"You've got the people. You're just not willing to cut into the owner's profits because you don't worry that any of these people in line here are going to go buy food somewhere else. You've got a lock on the market here so you're not worried about treating the customers like crap."

Samantha again began to reel off a litany of excuses as to why she was short-handed and unable to remedy the situation, but she was talking to other people in line now--I was walking out. I was, however, pleased to see that others in the line had taken up where I left off and were giving her hell about it. I had given voice to the frustrated people and spurred them to protest. My job was done.

I am, however, still writing letters to both McDonalds and the Turnpike Authority. McDonalds needs to kick their franchisees in the ass and the TA needs to allow some competition in these rest areas and put two or more full-service restaurants in them. That way, customers would have a choice and if one didn't want to treat them right or offer decent prices, they could walk over to the other one, just like we used to be able to do with our health care providers before St. Barack rode in on his magic unicorn and pushed a law through saying that from now on, we can only eat at McDonalds, and that henceforth, no one can refuse to eat at McDonalds, even if they aren't hungry.

I can hardly wait for the new health care scam to take effect, because then every visit to the doctor's office or hospital will be just like driving on the Ohio Turnpike! Yay.

Learn CPR--it's worth it.

It could save someone's life or something.

But even if it doesn't, the class is definitely worth taking a few times...or a few dozen.

This has been a public service announcement from me and Lagniappe.

Obama the insult comic and his America-bashing pal Flippy.

First of all, it's bad enough that Barack Obama has been, since his coronation, the least patriotic president that America has ever seen. I mean, all he does is go around the world apologizing for our country's greatness, our culture that influences the world, and our history, which includes freeing more people from the yoke of oppressive governments than any other nation on the planet has ever even tried to free. The arrogant jerk has never, as far as I know, stood up and told the world what a fantastic country that America is or spoken of our liberties and freedoms and the opportunities that all are afforded here. Rather than defend our record on human rights and liberty--a record which is second to no other--he constantly beats his chest and apologizes to anyone who will listen, including third-world tyrants and the Communist Chinese. And sitting here listening to his hand-picked emissaries telling the Red Chinese that our record on human rights is shameful--and directly citing the people of Arizona and their new immigration law (a law which I believe that Obama still has not read) is nothing less than a malfeasance worthy of impeachment, IMHO. The guy was given the job of President of the United States, and that includes Arizona, last I looked. His job, quite frankly, is to stand up for the people of Arizona, not to castigate them on the world stage and insult them, and when they're disparaged, he should be the first one to defend them.

But alas, Barky doesn't have that sort of worldview. He's shown us over and over again that his preferred role is one of a critic, or an insult comic, and if America-bashing gets him in better with the other world leaders--especially the ones that are only respected by leftist college kids--well then he's on that like Rosie O'Donnell on a taco. Hell, he can't even dignify the office of the President by wearing a tie while conducting official business. I saw him on the news last night getting off of Marine One, and I noticed two things. First, he didn't even bother to acknowledge the Marine guards. Unlike Presidents Bush and Reagan, who almost always returned their salutes with at least a wave or a nod, B.O. just brushed right past these men--men who are undoubtedly a hundred times the men that he could even hope to be. And second--his collar was unbuttoned and he wasn't wearing a tie as he waved to the media cameras. Wow, but we've come a long ways since the days when President Reagan refused to even take his jacket off in the Oval Office.

Of course President Reagan would never have derided and mocked the citizens of a U.S. state like Obama has done to the people of Arizona. (Or Pennsylvania...remember his crack about bitter people clinging to their guns and religion?) And President Reagan would never have let a tinpot ruler like Felipe (henceforth pronounced "Flippy") Calderon come into our country and stand up not only at our White House but before a joint session of our Congress and rip into us for Arizona's laws which are intended to remove those illegally in that state--criminals who enter almost entirely from Mexico. And then as the Democrats give him standing ovation after standing ovation--and as Republicans refuse to stand up and walk out on him--he goes further and blames us for his country's crime, saying that our drug users and our gun laws are the big problem.

Well screw you, Flippy--while it's true that we do have a fair number of losers in our country who care more about getting high than they do about all of the people murdered or maimed by the drug dealers, the last I checked, we have TWO borders that drugs come over and CANADA has yet to produce these massive, violent drug cartels...no, Flippy--it's just your nation that's chosen that path. And our guns? Well if you really don't want our guns in yours country, then you should support a serious border fence just like most real Americans do. With a serious border betwen our countries, your drugs and citizens stay in your country, and our guns stay in our country. Sounds like a win/win, eh? I mean, the only way that you could oppose that idea would be if you received a greater benefit from the drugs and illegal aliens coming into our country than you do from our guns entering yours.

What's that?

cue crickets chirping.

Anyway, back on topic--only in an Obama-led America do we get people like Flippy Calderon coming here and telling us how badly we as a nation and a people suck while our President stands next to him, grinning like a fool. I wish Andrew Jackson was still president...Old Hickory would have likely busted Flippy in the mouth on the spot and then declared war on his sorry excuse for a country and taken it over. But Obama...no worries there. When he hears an America-basher winding up, he'd rather shuck and jive and scream "Right on!"

Two and a half more years of this moron... Sheesh. I can only hope that the fools who voted for him--or didn't show up to vote against him--have wised up by them. I also hope that we still have a country by then.

Feeling guilt over getting fat, or just immature and ungrateful?

Whatever Cassandra Smith's problem is, it's clear that she's one of those people who thinks that our court system is just a lottery game.

Roseville -- A 20-year-old server at Hooters is contemplating legal action after she was put on probation for supposedly gaining weight.

Cassandra Smith of Roseville said she received her yearly evaluation last week at the Hooters at 14 Mile and Gratiot. Her assistant manager and general manager were present, and two women were on a conference call from Hooters of America Inc. headquarters in Atlanta, she said.

After the women informed her she had excellent marks for customer satisfaction and cooperation with co-workers, Smith said she was told she received the lowest marks for her "uniform fitting."

"I was confused because I don't wear the biggest uniform size," Smith said in a phone interview. Smith is 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighs 132 pounds.

She was then offered a free gym membership and given 30 days to improve. If by 60 days she did not comply, she could lose her employment, she said. "I was very upset," Smith said.

The Macomb Community College student said she worked for Hooters for two years and until last week enjoyed working there. Since the start of her employment, she has worn the company-issued shirt and shorts in extra small, she said.

"I'm not overweight by any means," she added. "If anything ... I've been losing weight."

Smith said Tuesday she did not plan on returning to work.

In a statement, Hooters of America clarified the company upholds image standards for its "Hooters Girls," but does not impose weight requirements.

"No employee in Michigan has been counseled about their weight," stated Mike McNeil, the vice president of marketing for Hooters of America.

"However, we will say that our practice of upholding an image standard based on appearance, attitude and fitness for Hooters Girls is both legal and fair. It is not unlike the standard used by the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders or the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.

"However, as popular as the job might be, being a Hooters Girl is not for everyone."

So to sum this up--she had a great job where she basically got paid good money just to stand around in tight clothes, deliver food and drinks, and act like a ditz. (Hey, I know that I always tip well at Hooters...) But now she's walking away from it just because they might have suggested that she's chubbing out and not maintaining the look that they hired her for.

Cassandra, that's called "quitting", honey...

And here the chain even reportedly offered her a free gym membership. Hell, that's not a punishment to me--that's a perk!

But little miss priss, instead of hitting the gym, laying off the Hostess products and thanking Hooters for her great job, sought out a lawyer and called a press conference. She apparently thinks that she's owed a comfortable work-free living just because she draws breath, and she obviously thinks that Hooters should now subsidize it because they hurt her feelings by pointing out the obvious--that she's getting fat.

Cassandra, did you really think that they were paying you all that cash for your brains or your personality?

Honestly, hon...not to be mean, but your face really isn't all that hot, and with that rather lackluster chest, I'd have probably sat in one of your former co-workers' sections anyway. Good luck with your next gig at IHOP or Denny's.

EDITED TO ADD: I just found this pic of Cassandra on another news site.
Yeah, it looks like she's definitely got a bit of a muffintop getting started there. I'm siding with Hooters on this one.

Back running again

So early this morning, I found myself downtown Washington DC a bit before dawn and decided to get out and get a run in, the first since I damaged my leg a week and some change back.

I do love DC in the early hours. The bums and panhandlers are off sleeping on steam grates somewhere and even the Capitol is silent; the legislators and their staff are mostly still home sleeping and the disturbances in the Force that they normally cause are at a minimum. The city is silent--it's mine for an hour or two. So on rare occasions likethis morning, I like to get out and enjoy it.

I ran a nice circuit of the National Monuments--the Jefferson, the Lincoln and the Washington--and I also took in the World War Two and Vietnam Memorials. I ran the length of the Reflecting Pool with just the ducks for company, and then rounded the Tidal Basin and ran along the Potomac for a spell. Traffic was light on the roads, and all I encountered was just a few other hard-core early morning runners. I say "hard core" because it was lightly raining, and while I had to watch my step because my running foot doesn't get the best traction on wet surfaces (like the Lincoln Memorial steps), it also kept me cool and let me run longer. It was a great run, and I was sorry to reach the end-point in a little under an hour, just as the sun was coming up behind the Capitol dome to the east. If you absolutely have to be in Washington DC, this is the time to do it, IMHO.

Obama's illegal alien aunt allowed to stay in America

All are equal under American laws, but some are apparently more equal than others.

First she came into our country pretending to be a short-term visitor. Once here, she applied for asylum, a request which was rejected by a judge exercising his lawful authority. She was ordered to leave our country but instead, she went to Boston. There, she applied for--and received--welfare that she, as a non-citizen illegally in our country, was not entitled to get. She also got a publicly-subsidized apartment at a time when actual Americans in need were on waiting lists for such apartments, moving in and making herself comfortable while an American family waited for the next one to come available.

Now as much as I oppose the idea of publicly-subsidized apartments for anyone other than actual disabled individuals or the elderly, I really have a problem with someone who is not only a non-citizen but has been ordered to leave our country just getting one handed to her. However, for every one of us opposed to public housing, there is a liberal bureaucrat on the other side of the equation who gets paid to fill and manage public housing, and the more units they can acquire and fill at taxpayer expense, the larger their budget and staff becomes and the more power they have. Those people support other liberals in office and in today's culture, that means that we, the People, come in a distant second to the will of the machine.

But I digress. Returning to the illegal alien, she lived there for years, living a pretty good life. (Remember, she's from Kenya...even our public housing is the equivalent of upper-class wealth in mush of the third world.) She got food stamps--intended for poor Americans--to buy her groceries, and she got great medical care courtesy of our Medicaid program, which is also intended solely for Americans and other who are lawfully here. And she lived happily, at least until her rich nephew Barack ran for President and her presence and status here came to light.

At first there wasn't much trouble. The Democrat Party was aware of her situation but hushed it up because they wanted to win, and that's apparently worth turning a blind eye to countless wrongs. The American media sat on the story for months too, even after the London Times broadcast it to the world, refusing to talk about it because they had a dog in the fight--a dog named Barack--and they didn't want to see him lose. Obama clearly knew, but again, winning is worth more than honesty, integrity or the law, at least if you're a Democrat.

Of course once her presence was discovered, she was summarily driven to the airport and deported back to Kenya. Oh wait--no she wasn't. In fact, just before the election, then-President Bush issued a directive to ICE mandating that no fugitive aliens could be arrested and deported without approval from high-level officials, essentially ensuring that Obama's illegal-alien aunt was safe from deportation. So safe, in fact that she showed up at and was admitted to the White House for her nephew's swearing-in.

Once her nephew was in charge, she was granted another bite at the apple and allowed to apply--again--for asylum, this despite already being ordered to leave and her history of breaking our laws regularly since the last court-ordered deportation date. And this time, it seems to have worked out in her favor. She now gets to stay here and continue living off of our largess indefinitely.

CLEVELAND -- A U.S. immigration court granted asylum to President Barack Obama's African aunt, allowing her to stay in the country, her attorneys said Monday.

The decision was mailed Friday and comes three months after Kenya native Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father, testified at a closed hearing in Boston, where she arrived in a wheelchair and two doctors testified in support of her case.

The basis for her asylum request hadn't been made public.

And, like almost every other piece of information about Barack Obama and his family, it's been sealed from public review.

Now my next question is this: Now that she's here, savoring her victory over the taxpayers and our legal system, when is her millionaire nephew--the one who keeps telling us that we have to be compassionate and care for countless others--going to start paying her bills and getting her out of public housing and off of the backs of Mr. and Mrs. America?

Just another Thursday

It's Thursday. Didn't do too much today. Dropped Lagniappe off at the vet for a check-up (told them to check the oil and rotate the paws) and then I went to the gym.

Still can't run. Tried a light run on the treadmill, but had to quit after two minutes when the pain started to ramp up. I learned my lesson a week ago--if it doesn't feel right, stop.
But it shouldn't be much longer--a few days at the most. I have a goal, and I'm so close!

So I lifted weights for a bit and swam a mile, then I went out to do some shooting. It's important these days to be doing some kind of training, both fitness and tactical...Obama's grand plans are liable to crash our economy and bring on all sorts of troubles and that damned Browning's not going move itself into position.

Then I picked Lagniappe up, bought a bottle of wine and some ice cream (I got this idea for some wicked Riesling floats...) and came back to the Lair.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and I finished reading a great book, Fighter Pilot, the story of the life of Air Force legend Robin Olds, as put together by his daughter Christine Olds and author and fighter pilot Ed Rasimus. If you like history or aviation, you'll have a hard time putting this book down. I know that I did. Seriously, get on Amazon.com today and get yourself a copy.



On the animal front, I saw what I believe to be my new snake again today, looking none the worse for wear at it peered out from between a couple of rocks and watched me trim a tree.

The other day, someone asked me what the difference is between a snake and a Democrat. Hell, that's easy. I'd never cut a Democrat out of a net.

And I'm guessing that there's going to be baby deer around here soon too, as I just saw a doe that's either pregnant as hell or else Rosie O'Donnell's been reincarnated as an Odocoileus virginianus. And since the deer didn't really look all that stupid, I'm guessing that fawns are on the way.

So now I'm thinking that this evening, before we try my new adult dessert experiment, Lagniappe and I will take a walk around the neighborhood for a bit, and I'll at least pretend to intend to clean a few guns and tidy up the Lair.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Thursday. Hope yours is going well.

Every man a Rifleman II

This simple but eloquent post by Ed Rasimus got me to thinking.

Every real, patriotic American should have a rifle and ammunition, and be proficient in their use. Our government once agreed, hence the creation of the Department of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM), now privatized and known today at the Civilian Marksmanship Program, or(CMP).

Yes, there was a time when the government wanted us all armed and able to shoot in defense of our nation and our freedom and liberty. Ironically, many in that government would love to take every one of those guns back away from us as liberty and freedom just aren't in in vogue these days. See what happens when liberals get control?

Anyway...I'm also a fan of preparedness and self-reliance when it comes to personal defense, which is why, like many of my readers and blog authors that I link to, I maintain the requisite tools.I've owned this M1A and 1911A1 pistol since the mid 1980's. Both are Springfield Armory products and two of the very few guns that I've ever purchased new. I've competed with them, traveled and camped with them, and fired countless thousands of rounds through them to get to the point where I seldom fail to hit what I aim either of them at. I will defend my country and my personal liberty at all costs and these are my liberty teeth.

But sometimes, you need a bit more. You can't really expect to play golf with just two clubs, can you? I mean, you can if that's all you have, but as different shots call for different clubs, you do better with a full set.

Sometimes, you need to go for distance.

Sometimes, you need to work in close.

And sometimes, when you really need to cover an area or defend a point, you need to work with a partner.
Will bear ammo and spot for Milk Bones.