Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Financial windfal: You too can cash in on faux science!

January 9, 2010

Ah yes, in these hard times any of us can make a bundle, a really big bundle. How so you ask? Well, it’s simple really, listen closely now. ( Step away from me boy, ya bother me…) In this bottle we have the answer to all man’s ills, and woman’s as well. Our “scientific” formula will surely line your pockets…

Snake Oil is snake oil no matter the day or age.

After a year of hype, the “Copenhagen Accord” didn’t live up to its billing. December’s UN summit on climate change quickly disintegrated into a battle of competing national interests, culminating with the 200 participating nations leaving without a binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, there is no current plan to reach such an agreement, just a vague reference to the next major UN climate change conference, scheduled to take place late this year in Mexico, where it should be warmer than Copenhagen in December turned out to be.

The Accord was hurriedly hammered out in the eleventh hour after infighting had threatened to scuttle negotiations and thereby rain on the parade of the late-arriving Barack Obama. In the end, the main players were Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, leaving many other nations feeling as though they had been shut out of the process altogether. While that may be the case, it is all but irrelevant, given that the final document does not obligate anyone to do anything. In essence, the agreement calls for both wealthy and developing nations to make a list of common goals (which is unlikely, given the fact that they could not agree at the conference), with some means for an international bureaucracy to oversee “progress.” Wealthy nations also pledged to give $30 billion to help developing nations deal with climate change, with an eye to giving $100 billion annually by 2020. Leaders, however, were vague (not surprising in this economic climate) about the sources for this money.

Finally, the pièce de résistance: a “vow” to keep the global average temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit over estimated pre-industrial levels. Of course, if we could control that, the summit would have been completely unnecessary.

This is a big blow to those hoping for a financial windfall. Climate change has become big business (as Al Gore’s growing bank account will attest), and those with money to invest in lower-carbon technologies are not going to be so quick to put their hands in their pockets for a pact that isn’t legally binding.

About That Carbon Dioxide…

The e-mail scandal at the University of East Anglia; Al Gore’s misstatements of fact in Copenhagen; the coldest winter since little Algore pulled on his first pair of ‘jammies — the myth of man-made climate change is falling apart piece by piece, and the latest blow is a new study out of England, where scientists are relying not on computer-generated models of the Earth, but the real thing.

Wolfgang Knorr of the University of Bristol’s Department of Earth Sciences has found that in the past 160 years the Earth’s absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) has remained unchanged. In fact, Knorr’s study found that only 45 percent of carbon emissions caused by man’s progression (including industrialization) remains in the atmosphere as opposed to the 100 percent that the warmers are claiming.

Warming “science” is based largely on the supposition that the Earth can take only so much CO2, and that once its limit has been reached, we’re cooked. But more and more dissenters, who had been silenced for several years by the media and ostracized by colleagues, are now stepping forward. Their position is that the Earth’s ecosystems are much more complex and robust than we understand, and that computer systems used by scientists crying climate change are limited in their comprehension — better known by people with common sense as garbage in, garbage out.

Meanwhile, with winter hardly a month old, just as in March 2009, when a snowstorm buried the “civil disobedience” climate change protest in Washington, DC, Mother Nature is weighing in now with record cold temperatures and snowfall around the nation. In fact, Joe Bastardi of Accuweather.com is predicting that the winter of 2010 will be the most severe in 25 years. Gore had better schedule the next protest during the summer.

Source

Obama, wearing his utopian epic fail…

January 9, 2010

As Barack Obama continues to pretend that the U.S. is not at war with Jihadistan, our Dear Leader also continues to pretend that sacrificing our nuclear arsenal will make our adversaries and enemies play nice with us. As we detailed previously, Obama appears ready to slash U.S. nuclear capability with minimal, if any, Russian concessions, as a follow-up to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991.

It now seems that Obama is willing to let whatever remains of the U.S. nuclear stockpile rot in place after the new treaty, in spite of a little known 2009 report from a formal U.S. bipartisan commission that examined the safety and capabilities of the existing U.S. nuclear arsenal. The report noted that the U.S. needs new nuclear warheads and research facilities in order to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent. Unfortunately, Obama, wearing his utopian, antinuclear and rose-colored glasses, continues to oppose a new warhead program despite widespread support at the Pentagon, including the backing of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Fortunately, the U.S. Senate, which would have to consent to any new arms treaty with at least 67 votes, has warned Obama that any new START treaty is NO GO unless the administration also agrees to a warhead modernization program. In a recent letter to the White House, 40 Republican Senators and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman reminded the president that, under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, any new START treaty legally requires the commander in chief to present a budget for modernizing U.S. nuclear forces. It’s nice to see that the Senate takes seriously its obligation to advise and consent on treaties, and that it’s also willing to warn Obama that, unless the administration ensures that any remaining nuclear weapons will work if needed, START II is DOA.

SOURCE

Another day, another episode of epic fail

January 9, 2010

The Democrat / Socialist / Communist triumvirate that is running the country faces ever more evidence of their utter failure. Fellow WordPress blogger Romantic Poet wrote an excellent piece the other day dealing with this very subject, and I would recommend reading it to all of my regular readers.

Using new speak the powers that be try to convince us all that things are improving, and that anything that is not, is racism, or do to the Bush Administration, or to man made global climate change… We the people however, know better than that.

Saying that the economy is better because unemployment isn’t still rising is stupid when the numbers are stagnant because people no longer qualify for benefits and therefore are not counted, or have just given up looking for work is dishonest beyond the pale.

On top of all that we have yet again another example of proprietorial mis-conduct with an officer of the Border Patrol coming under fire for doing his job. Nice shooting Sir!

As various experiments in socialism crash and burn many that supported such nonsense are abandoning ship like rats at sea on a sinking vessel.

The claptrap of Nancy Pelosi about obamacare being discussed in the open aside there is, I believe, a reason that these thugs are shoving all this down our throats. Yes, it is cunning, not at all stupid, and will be close to impossible to reverse. Short of a revolution on a scale that is seldom seen.

The Triumvirate, is getting anything and everything on their agenda completed because come election day they will be destroyed as a functional unit. It is much harder to get any law reversed than it is to get one passed. The other strategic angle that they are playing is to install as many activist Federal Judges as possible because it is all but impossible to get them removed once they are seated. This, after blocking Bush appointments for years, and causing such a tremendous backlog in Federal cases.

How much damage can they do before they are sent packing?

Blooberg Follies: Another one bites the dust!

January 8, 2010

Birds of a feather flock together a the saying goes. The Felon Mayor of New York City. Yes, that’s right, he is a felon irrespective of the shill judge that said otherwise. Think about it, if you or I set out to have a load of straw purchases of firearms we would be cellmates in some prison. So, the felon sets up a very dishonest organization, and goes to work with the goal of taking away your civil rights, and a whole slew of people jump on board his coat tails. Quite a a few figured out what he was up to, and quit. Others heard their constituents and left because they wanted to keep their jobs. Yet others, stayed in the flock. Yes indeed, these birds are all of a feather. Read on…

“Mayors Against Illegal Guns” Loses Yet Another Member!


Thursday, January 07, 2010
Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) has accepted a plea deal for perjury charges stemming from accusations that she did not report gifts she received from a local developer.  In a teary announcement yesterday, she resigned her post as the Mayor of Baltimore as part of the plea.

As you will recall, Dixon, a vocal member of “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” was convicted last month of pocketing gift cards intended for Baltimore’s needy families.

Dixon now joins the ranks of disgraced anti-gun politicians like former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) and Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) of Detroit.  Perhaps these folks should focus on abiding by the law themselves instead of persecuting law-abiding citizens.

“Mayors Against Illegal Guns” (MAIG) was founded and is funded by activist anti-gun billionaire and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a front group to lobby Congress to oppose important pro-gun reforms and support new federal gun control restrictions.  Despite its very misleading name, this national group of anti-gun mayors has lobbied Congress against national reciprocity of state Right-to-Carry permits, against much-needed reform of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), for regulating gun shows out of existence, and for repealing the Tiahrt Amendment that protects the privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners and limits disclosure of sensitive firearm trace data to protect law enforcement personnel and protect lawful gun manufacturers from bogus lawsuits.

SOURCE

ObamaCare Has Revealed The Moral Bankruptcy Of The Senate

January 7, 2010
ObamaCare Has Revealed The Moral Bankruptcy Of The Senate
— It’s time for us for to repeat this loudly and often

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://gunowners.org

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Here’s where we’re at on socialized health care.  The House and Senate have passed ObamaCare bills, but the two versions are very different.  So, the bill can’t go to the President until they iron out the differences.

Make no mistake about it.  This legislation moves us down the road towards socialism, and it will result in even more gun owners being disqualified from owning firearms.

We need to regroup and renew our efforts to kill ObamaCare — an outcome which is still very doable.

Now, repeat this phrase over and over:  A MORAL CESSPOOL.

If we are going to defeat the anti-gun ObamaCare legislation, these words are going to have to be repeated millions of times over the next month.

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.

Why is this refrain so important?  There are several reasons why, but consider this:  Throughout this fight over ObamaCare, Senators have lied about guns… they’ve lied about the deficit… they’ve lied about the costs of health insurance premiums and how the bill will affect senior citizens.  They have lied over and over to their constituents about all these issues.

That’s why it’s time that we tell Democrat Senators how corrupt their vote for ObamaCare really was.  Obviously, they won’t agree.  So let each Senator make the argument that, “I am not a crook.”

That argument never wins elections.

Already, Democrat Representatives and Senators are either switching parties or announcing their retirements.  They know the American people are disgusted with the moral bankruptcy of the U.S. Congress — a situation that has become obvious to anyone who watches the nightly news.

Consider the following despicable practices which were perpetrated in order to push ObamaCare through the Senate last month:

1. Lies

* For months, Senators claimed there were no anti-gun provisions in the ObamaCare legislation.  But everyone knew they were lying.  So last month, a provision was inserted into the Senate bill which claims to allay the concerns of gun owners — but leaves the most important problem unremedied.  If they weren’t lying to begin with, then why try to fix what they claimed wasn’t there?

* Senators are now insisting that the current Senate health bill protects the rights of gun owners, even though this version would still allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information.  This could result in millions of Americans — who are suffering from PTSD and other similar conditions — being put into the NICS system and denied the right to buy firearms.

2. Bribes

* A $100 million bribe to treat Sen. Ben Nelson’s state different from all others, in exchange for Ben Nelson’s vote.

* A $100-300 million bribe to treat Sen. Mary Landrieu’s state different from all others, in exchange for Mary Landrieu’s vote.

* $10 billion for community health centers operated by groups similar to ACORN, in exchange for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ vote.

* A bribe to Sen. Max Baucus in order to treat Libby, Montana, different from any other town.

* A bribe to Sen. Chris Dodd consisting of a $100 million medical center in Connecticut.

* Bribes to Sens. Kent Conrad, Brian Dorgan, Bill Nelson, etc., etc., etc.

* In fact, there are so many bribes in the Senate version of the ObamaCare bill that the bribe-meister himself, Majority Leader Harry Reid, publicly bragged that if your senator doesn’t have a bribe in this bill, it “speaks poorly” of him.

3. Extortion

* Threats to take away Sen. Joe Lieberman’s chairmanship because of his opposition to the government run “public option.”

4. Fraud

* Senators are claiming that the Senate-passed version reduces the deficit, even though:

a. $247 billion of the bill’s costs are being snuck through in separate legislation;

b. The “savings” rely on $465 billion of Medicare “cuts,” which no one believed were achievable; and

c. The “savings” rely on making new taxes take effect 3-5 years before any of those tax monies are spent.

* Senators are claiming that the bill would make Medicare solvent — but this claim can only be made by fraudulently double-counting the effects of the phony Medicare cuts.

* Senators are claiming that health care costs would be brought under control, when the government’s own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that costs would go up $245 billion.

* Senators are claiming that premiums would be brought under control, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that policies under the “exchange” (i.e., those policies which you would have to buy, under penalty of law) would be 10-13% more expensive than if Congress did nothing.

5. Secrecy

* The final version of the 2407-page bill wasn’t revealed until less than 48 hours before Congress began voting on it.

Now that the Christmas holidays are behind us, we need to get back to work.  Please take the time to contact your Senator, so that we can protect the rights of gun owners by defeating socialized medicine.

ACTION: Over the next month, the term “moral cesspool” needs to become part of the political lexicon.  Below, you will find that two sample communications are attached — one for Democrat Senators, the other for Republicans.

So please send your letter, and then get your relatives, your friends, your neighbors, your gun clubs, churches, etc., to do the same.

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send a pre-written message to your Senators — the appropriate e-mail will automatically be sent to your Senator, based on whether he or she is a Republican or Democrat.

—– Pre-written letter for Democrat Senators —–

Dear Senator:

The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool, and you need to begin doing something about it before this whole country is sacrificed on the altar of the Senate’s moral decay.

I am disgusted with the lies, bribes, and fraud which you have advocated by voting for the Senate ObamaCare legislation:

* Millions of American taxpayer dollars were spent in the states of Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Chris Dodd to obtain their votes.  In fact, so many bribes were shelled out that the chief bribe-meister, Harry Reid, publicly bragged that if a senator doesn’t have a bribe in this bill, it “speaks poorly” of him.

* The Senate bill was passed on the claim that the Reid bill reduces the deficit, even though:

a. $247 billion of the bill’s costs are being snuck through in separate legislation;

b. The “savings” rely on $465 billion of Medicare “cuts,” which no one believed were achievable; and

c. The “savings” rely on making new taxes take effect 3-5 years before any of those tax monies are spent.

* Senators claimed that health care costs would be brought under control, when the government’s own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that costs would go up $245 billion.

* Senators also claimed that premiums would be brought under control, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that policies under the “exchange” (i.e., those policies which you would have to buy, under penalty of law) would be 10-13% more expensive than if Congress did nothing.

There is still time to change course.  I implore you to change your vote on ObamaCare.

Sincerely,

—– Pre-written letter for Republican Senators —–

Dear Senator:

Thank you for voting against the ObamaCare fiasco.

For months, Senators claimed there were no anti-gun provisions in the ObamaCare legislation.  But everyone knew they were lying.  So last month, a provision was inserted into the Senate bill which claims to allay the concerns of gun owners — but leaves the most important problem unremedied.

Some Democrat Senators are now claiming that the current Senate health bill protects the rights of gun owners, even though this version would still allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information.  This could result in millions of Americans — who are suffering from PTSD and other similar conditions — being put into the NICS system and denied the right to buy firearms.

Bottom line:  Please do everything in your power to kill the ObamaCare legislation.  What can you, as a senator, do about this?

Please take away the incentive that the suicidal Democrats have for selling their votes on ObamaCare for posh nominations in the Obama administration after they are defeated at the polls or retire.

You can do this by announcing you will place a “hold” on the nominations of Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh, Chris Dodd, Brian Dorgan, and Michael Bennet — nominations which will inevitably be made next year as a payoff for their votes on behalf of ObamaCare.

It’s time that the bribes stopped, and you can make this happen.

Sincerely,


Second Amendment March

Larry Pratt, GOA’s Executive Director, will be speaking at the Second Amendment March. The March will take place April 19, 2010 in Washington, DC.  All gun rights supporters are urged to attend this massive, free event.  Satellite marches are also being planned for state capitals around the country.

For details, click the banner on the GOA website.

Pending legislation that affects your freedom and liberty

January 7, 2010

The goons in swamp town are always up to something, and it most often means a loss of freedom and liberty for you and I.

Here is an updated list courtesy of N.A.G.R. See the sidebar for a link to the homepage.

Updated 11/06/2009

NAGR Oppose
or
Support
Bill Number Sponsors Subject (check bill for official full title) Location
(where is the bill, as of update)
Status
Support H.R. 17
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD]
Citizens’ Self-Defense Act of 2009 House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 45 Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 House Introduced
Neutral H.R. 197 Rep. Cliff Sterns (R – FL) National Conceal Carry Reciprocity House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 257 Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) National Lock-Up-Your-Safety Storage Law House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 442 Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) Amnesty for veterans to register N.F.A. machine guns House Introduced
Neutral H.R. 495 Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) Cracking down on Mexican Gun Running House Introduced
Strongly
Oppose
H.R. 623 Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) Increase sentencing guidelines for firearms convictions House Introduced
Strongly Support H.R. 642 Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Codify recreational shooting rights on Federal Land House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 675 Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) Grant Department of Defense authority to execute warrants, make arrests, and carry firearms. House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 808 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Establishing a Department of Peace House Introduced
Oppose H.R. 834 Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) Exemption Law enforcement for criminal prosecution for using firearms to commit a crime House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 1074 Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) Reform FFL laws to make it easier to buy and sell firearms legally across state lines. House Referred to Committee
Oppose H.R. 1105 Rep. David Obey Omnibus Funding Bill, including appropriations for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms House PASSED
Support H.R. 1620 Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) Expands certain permit holders’ reciprocity House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 1684 Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) Extends 2nd Amendment Rights to National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges House Referred to Committee
Strongly Support H.R. 1923 Rep. Phil Gingrey (R – GA) Requires BATFE to video tape the examination and testing of firearms and ammunition. House Referred to Committee
Oppose H.R. 2159 Rep. Peter King (R – NY) Allows the Attorney General to place domestic “terror” suspects on a “No Guns” List House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 2324 Rep. Michael Castle (R – DE) Close down Private Sales (Gun Show “Loophole) House Referred to Subcommittee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 2401 Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Put the so-called “no fly list” names in the NICS database and prevents them from buying firearms House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 2547 Rep. Jerry Moran (R – KS) Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act House Referred to Sub-Committee
Neutral H.R. 2780 Rep. Thomas Rooney (R – FL) Definition of restricted Federal buildings House Referred to Commitee
Oppose H.R. 2847 Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV) Appropriations bill for Department of Justice and the BATFE. House Passed House
Oppose H.R. 2924 Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) Establish commission to conduct anti-gun study on popular culture. House Referred to Committee
Strongly Support H.R. 3021 Rep. Ron Paul (R – TX) To Repeal the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1995” and its amendments House Referred to Committee
Strongly Support H.R. 3022 Rep. Ron Paul (R – TX) Repeal the Brady Bill and the 2005 Trigger Lock Law House Referred to Committee
Neutral H.R.3781 Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO) To use certain restricted Federal funds to build Federally owned shooting ranges House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 3789 Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) To allow the checked-baggage transportation of firearms and ammunition on Amtrak Trains House Referred to Committee
Neutral S. 160 Sen. Joe Liberman (D-CT) Grants extremely limited gun rights to D.C. citizens Senate Passed Senate
Neutral S. 205 Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Cracking down on Mexican Gun Running Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 371 Sen. John Thune (R – SD) Expansion of resident permit reciprocity. Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 556 Sen David Vitter (R – LA) Firearms Transfer Improvement Act Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 669 Sen. Richard Burr (D-SC) Protects veterans 2nd Amendment rights from pernicious mental adjudication Senate Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose S. 843 Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Closing the so-called “gun show loop-hole” Senate Introduced
Neutral S. 845 Sen. John Thune (R – SD) Expand Concealed Carry Reciprocity Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 941 Sen. Mike Crapo (R – ID) Reform and modernize the BATFE and their testing procedures Senate Referred to Committee
Oppose S. 1132 Sen. Patrick Leahy (D – VT) Extends concealed weapons privileges to “law enforcement” officers of the Amtrak Police force. Senate Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose S. 1317 Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Allows the Attorney General to place domestic “terror” suspects on a “No Guns” List Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 1638 Sen. Roger Wicker (R – MS) Allows citizens to transport firearms, locked and unloaded on Amtrak trains Senate Referred to Committee
Neutral S. 1789 Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) To use certain restricted Federal funds to build Federally owned shooting ranges Senate Referred to Committee

H.R. 45: Is this monstrocity back?

January 6, 2010
NAGRbanner

NAGR Video Exclusive:  H.R. 45:  A Call to Action
Click on the image below to view NAGR Executive Director Dudley Brown speak out on H.R. 45, Barack Obama’s National Gun Registration and Citizen Disarmament Act.

If you cannot see the image above, please click here.


What can you do to help?
  • Forward this email to your friends and family.  Alert your fellow gun rights activists about this attack on our Constitutional Rights.
  • Complete our Citizen Action Form under the video. Just click the video above to be taken straight to the page.

  • Make a donation to the National Association for Gun Rights to help us continue our fight against H.R. 45 and President Barack Obama’s anti-gun schemes.

To help the National Association for Gun Rights grow, please forward this to a friend.

To view this email as a web page, please click this link: view online.

Help fight gun control. Donate to the National Association for Gun Rights!

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Copyright © 2009 National Association for Gun Rights

Deer tales: Continued

January 5, 2010

Continuing from HERE:

Charlie took the boys to the road nearby and showed them how to pluck the birds without getting down all over the campsite while Jason saw to the trout as I fired up the Coleman stoves, and got the fire going in the ring. The fire ring is a bit of a story in and of itself.

When we discovered this tiny piece of land that pierced the private property into national Forrest the fire ring was there, but nearly buried. As Charlie and I dug it out we noticed that several of the large stones that made it up were carved into. Most simply had name cut into the stone, along with dates. A couple of them were really surprising though; One said Jim Thom (son, I think, it was pretty unreadable), it was dated 1836 and said “I killt a Silver bar here” sic. Meaning, a Silver-tip, or grizzly I surmise. Another said a name that I do not remember, but said “Good beaver area, but the Indians are pretty bad.” Dated 1842, others had names and dates all the way up to 1942. So much for “discovering!”

The stoves heated up, and I was stoking the fire to roast the grouse on when all of a sudden the boys let out a shriek, Charlie screamed for me to get the rifle and I instinctively looked in that direction. At the same time I heard a loud snort, and a large black bear  came tearing through camp and cleared the stream in a single leap… To this day I’m not sure who was more afraid, the boys, or that 300 pound bear!

We got the crew fed and watered, did a last check on the gear,and turned in… I know the boys didn’t sleep a wink, not after the bear and the excitement of their first high country hunt. Four A.M. came early, and both boys were blurry eyed, but fired up and ready to head out. Breakfast was out of a can, corned beef hash, and Texas Toast Colorado camp style. meaning hobo bread cut thick, and more or less burnt on the stove!

Then we headed out. Jerry decided to head up the near side mountain alone. It is almost straight up, but, if you can make it to timberline the chances of getting a shot at a Colorado Classic Timber Buck are pretty good, and if things didn’t work out that way on the hike back down you would be on top of where a herd of does tended to congregate. (He had tags for both sexes.)

Charlie took Michael down the road to the trail that led toward the Great Muddy Slide (Do a web search) intending to get Michael onto a Bull Elk as the big fellas tend to use a saddle near there to cross between the parks in the area.

I tossed our tree branch bridge across the stream, and took Jason with me. I looked at him and told him to unload the rifle. he asked why,and I told him that after crossing our “bridge” that he would understand, I also told him that, with this being his first hunt that he would shoot the first legal animal that he had tags for… That there were plenty of future hunts when he could look for horns that he couldn’t eat. With an OTC Buck tag, and an Elk tag to match he had also drew a doe deer tag. I felt confident that he would at least have a decent chance at bringing home some freezer food.

I wiped down my rifle, and told Jason to go and get a change of clothes on, and we would try again. Yes, he fell into the stream… I told him that he scored a solid five for form and demeanor. That’s right, at one time or another each of us has taken that ride! ( My best score, as assigned by Charlie, was an eight. he refused to allow me any extra for cursing etc. After all, he has the Championship at nine…)

Jason’s second attempted crossing went much better, and we headed across the scrub meadow to the gate that gave access to the forest, the fog was settling now, and I knew that would be good for hunting. It seemed to confuse Deer, Elk,and Bears, and that gave us two legged predators an edge. Jason asked, is this why you call it the enchanted forest? Sure is I responded. ” Jason, this fog gets pretty thick at times. If we get separated for some reason, stay put, don’t go wandering around. It will burn off in an hour or two, and we will hook back up. He acknowledged what I had said, added that he had been told of sudden drop offs, and that we had better start whispering because the fog would carry our voices. I nodded to his wisdom, chambered a round quietly, and motioned for him to do the same, and follow me.

I call it the enchanted forest because in the dense fog anything, and everything can, will, and just might blow your mind as it happens. After about going a hundred feet, I shifted off the trail went to a blow down, and sat, getting acclimated to the surreal environment. Jason whispered to me about the scope covers,and I told him to keep them on for now, that the fog would probably mess with things. Just then the boys eyes got really wide as he looked past my shoulder. Thinking that the bear had decided to exact a little revenge for the earlier fright that had been put into him (or the peanut and honey sandwiches that were in our backpacks!) I slipped the Ruger 41 Mag from the holster at my hip,and slowly turned… Jason, sat there as quiet as a church mouse, and popped the covers from the scope.

I got turned, my eyes focused on the front sight and did a hasty search of the area that had been behind me… No, no bear was in sight. I glanced at my watch; legal hunting time was ten minutes past. I whispered; Jason, he’s really close, and hes facing us almost straight on, I want you to aim at his nose, right between his nostrils… I think I heard an “Uh huh” and the Remington shattered the strange quiet of the Enchanted forest… “Jason follow me!” I yelled we ran a scant ten feet and I told him to “rack a round, get up next to him, and put it right where his front leg joins his chest, point at the same spot on his other side, and pull the trigger!” ‘Okay, he said, then what? Do it again, then get back behind me and reload!” The boy did as I had said… for the first shot. He turned and asked, the fear in him very apparent; “Is he dead?”

I yelled ” I don’t know, now shoot him again like I told you to do!” He did, and got right behind me and loaded three more rounds into the rifle that has earned the nickname “Mister Death.”

The smell of Elk urine was more than apparent, as in death the huge Bull Elk died. I looked at Jason, and told him. “You just did something that few life long Elk hunters accomplish Jason, say a prayer.” Jason’s first big game animal was a Branch Antlered Rocky Mountain Elk Bull. A Basic six point, with a seventh nub point. After the required drying period, it scored 370 even. I told him that Charlie would be one of two things. Pissed, or really proud. Why is that Jason asked as he stared at the noble beast that would be used for food and many other things. ” Because, I think this is the Bull that Charlie fell out of a tree a few years ago trying to arrow it!”

As we went about the real work involved in a successful Elk hunt I noted that my time in Africa had payed off in spades. The very first bullet had hit dead center under the Bulls chin, and broken it’s spine at the second cervical vertebra. Still, I was glad that I had had the young one shoot twice more. “It’s the dead ones that kill you.” I don’t know how many times I have heard that. I don’t know how many times it should be repeated. But? It is a truth of truths, and must be passed on.

By about  ten in the morning we were ready for the first phase of the haul back to camp. The Bull was quartered and tagged as the law required. I had showed Jason how to make a pack frame of his basic backpack. We heard two shots in rapid succession from the west. That would be Charlie and Michael.

“Why are the horns, hide, and other quarters strung up in the trees? And why double looped? He asked” Because you made a “friend” last night son,and, because it’s just good sense to keep your meat cool. We headed back to camp,and no, he didn’t get any style points for crossing…

We hung the meat after putting the pieces into bug bags, and prepared to head back up when we heard a shot. It was close, within two hundred yards. Then we heard Jerry’s voice; “Hail the Camp! Anyone there? I could use some help, I got a Doe!”

On our way Bro! I yelled. I looked at Jason and said. “He don’t know it, but he just became a Mule!”

We hiked the distance…. About fifty feet… Yelled to Jason to get his butt over here, dragged the doe away from the road. Gutted her, and as Jason arrived I told him? “Nice shooting! Now, let’s get her back to camp, and then the real work will start!” We did a quick and dirty field dress of the Doe. Got her back in Camp, and hung her on the Camp Tree. I told him then; “You ready to work now?” he looked at me like I was dumb stupid… Your Son did better than you, me,Charlie,or any of the guys at work have ever friend. Three more loads Bro. You up for it?”

“Lead the way Ranger.” Now,that, is the sort of response that I expect from a Marine. After all, I am a Marine Corps Brat!

I am ending this thing now, but, it didn’t really end there. There was a First Fish caught on a fly. A lesson in making wet wood burn. A bear cub that decided that our camp was home, and many other things.

Oh? Those shots that we heard off to the west? Charlie finaly got his elk, and Michael got his first Deer.

Cross posted to Hunters Central in Yahoo groups


The decade of capitalism?

January 5, 2010

“On the last day of 2009, that awful year, I was listening to a report on National Public Radio (yes, I’m a listener). Reporter Tamara Keith presented a by-now-familiar recap of the worst financial and corporate scandals of the decade, from Enron and Martha Stewart to Tyco and Bernie Madoff. It was a depressing slog of greed, venality and theft. When the report was over, ‘Morning Edition’ host Steve Inskeep summarized the report with a tart: ‘The decade in capitalism.’ I don’t want to single out Inskeep, since he was doing what pretty much the entire media establishment has done, particularly of late: reducing ‘capitalism’ to its alleged sins. And that’s the point. There are few areas of life where a thing responsible for so much good gets so little credit for it. Imagine if I were to collect the most infamous deeds of African-Americans over the last decade — say, Michael Vick’s dog-fighting scandal and O.J. Simpson’s most recent criminal exploit — and then put a bow on it with the phrase ‘the decade in black America.’ What if I did the same thing with Jews? Bernie Madoff, the face of Jewish America! Do the scandals of Rod Blagojevich, Charlie Rangel and John Edwards define the Democratic Party from 2000 to 2010? Do Abu Ghraib and the balloon boy sum up America? … Every good thing capitalism helps produce — from singing careers to cures for diseases to staggering charity — is credited to some other sphere of our lives. Every problem with capitalism, meanwhile, is laid at her feet. Except the problems with capitalism — greed, theft, etc. — aren’t capitalism’s fault, they’re humanity’s. Socialist countries have greedy thieves, too. Free markets are in disrepute these days, particularly by the people running Washington. For them, government is the solution and capitalism is the problem. If they have their way over the next decade, they won’t cure what allegedly ails capitalism — people will still steal and lie — but they will impede everything that makes capitalism great. And that will be bad for everyone, even NPR.” –National Review editor Jonah Goldberg

SOURCE

2010: Second Amendment in the crosshairs

January 4, 2010

Lots of issues will be on the table this coming year, and none will be more important than those that surround The Second Amendment. It is, after all is said and done that which protects the rest of the entire Bill of Rights.

The Epic Fail Administration and cohorts have shown what utter contempt they hold for the American people as well as the rule of law in their handling of the obamacare fiasco. Not to mention that while all that “debate” was unfolding the obamanites sold out America’s Sovereignty. Read about that HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and yes more HERE! Strong work Anthony!

The sheer arrogance of the current administration and Congress would be mind boggling, that is, if the strategy were not so transparent. I submit that they are well aware of what will happen come Judgment Day 2010. Their plan,as it were, is to do as much lasting damage to the United States as they possibly can in a short time, and to stack the Supreme Court and other Federal Courts to achieve what ever lasting effect they can shove down our throats.

Then we have this, from the dog that fetched the bone…

The Second Amendment faces a decisive year in 2010. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has called for new semi automatic gun bans despite their decade long record of fraud and failure, and despite his own Justice Department’s failure to fully or even half heartedly prosecute federal firearm felonies. Mr. Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have demonstrated their willingness to use cooked statistics to blame Mexico’s violent drug war on Americans and their Second Amendment rights. Anti gun leaders in Congress have introduced bills to ban guns, license gun owners, register guns, tax bullets, serialize ammunition, shut down gun shows and a hundred other schemes. They’re still there, proposing every nonsensical gun law they can imagine that only affect law abiding citizens, while criminals go about their evil business unfettered. Meanwhile at the United Nations, global citizen disarmament nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and freedom fearing dictatorships worldwide maneuver to impose their will on you through international treaties. But it is a new year. And, in a very crucial way, 2010 may be a year unlike any other in American history when the Second Amendment could, finally and truly, be recognized as a right for all Americans.

Read About It: The Washington Times
SOURCE