Last week, I was teaching in the Omaha area, and some of the good people there presented me with a certificate declaring me an Admiral in the Navy of the State of Nebraska.
It was kinda cool, a “Kentucky Colonel” sorta thing, only with a little more whimsy to it.
It has turned out to be fun. I put my hand on the thigh of the Evil Princess and asked, “Now that I’m an admiral, does that make me a ‘squid’?” She slapped my hand away and sighed, “Seems more like an octopus to me.”
But that will not deter me from fulfilling my new leadership responsibilities. A navy in a Free World state should be committed to liberation and freedom. Therefore, I should attempt to recruit some Sailors and Marines, all voluntary of course. I’m told that the current Navy of Nebraska may consist of a wooden boat up on blocks in a cornfield, but that should not deter us freedom-lovers from assembling a fleet of privately-owned bass boats, manned by volunteers armed with good ol’ Nebraska pheasant guns (and perhaps a few Barrett Light .50s on tripods).
We’ll tow the bass boats to Interstate 80, sail up the Chicago River, effect an amphibious landing, and liberate the city of Chicago. Given the fact that Mayor Daley’s regime has effectively disarmed everyone but the cops and the criminals, we should have clear, uh, sailing. Most of the several thousand remaining Chicago cops should be on our side (see HERE if you don’t believe me) as a most effective fifth column to help us restore order to the city they love, serve, and protect. The criminals? A few hundred honest Midwesterners with Flite-Control buckshot and rifled slugs in their 12-gauges should sort that out quickly.
We exile Mayor Daley to the Island of Elba, or perhaps more appropriately, to Northerly Island (formerly Meigs Field, the airport Daley imperiously bulldozed), and restore freedom to about three million people.
“First,” I told the Evil Princess as I tickled her tummy, “We’ll have to practice navel maneuvers.”
“Don’t be naughty-cal,” she said as she slapped my hand away again.
This admiral thing is cooler than I thought it would be, but they never warned me that it would make my hand hurt…
You’ve read here, and in the pages of Backwoods Home Magazine, about the Appleseed Project, a great combination of American Revolution history lecture and strong, basic rifle marksmanship and safety training. Phil Wylie alerted me to a way cool event coming up soon in his home state, Illinois.
The organization is hoping to get its biggest turnout ever, three hundred participants on the firing line simultaneously, at an Appleseed scheduled for September 11-12 at the Aurora Sportsman’s Club in Waterman, Illinois. What better date to make a personal commitment to patriotism and the heritage of the American spirit?
The Appleseed folks expect to have sixty firearms instructors on the line, the best and the brightest of their nationwide cadre of skilled shooting coaches and history lecturers. Maximum cost will be $70, and the event will be FREE for kids, women, military personnel, and graduates of previous Appleseed programs. You can be part of the history of a worthy organization at its largest event to date, and meet a great many like-minded people.
Information is available at www.appleseedinfo.org/300html, and you can make reservations through Illinois state coordinator Dan Hendrickson at IL@appleseedinfo.org. I’d be there if a long-standing training schedule didn’t preclude it, and I think everyone who does manage to get there will have a great experience they’ll remember for a lifetime.
The Backwoods Home cover for the “Appleseed issue”…
…and, thanks to Annie and the headquarters crew in Gold Beach, the poster for the upcoming Appleseed mega-shoot.
After the jury deadlocked this week on everything but the charge of lying to the FBI, Rod Blagojevich seemed uncharacteristically short of confidence in his impromptu press conference outside the courthouse. He and his lawyer hit on the theme that twelve people had determined the Government had not shown proof that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Au Contraire. Three of the jurors have now come forward to say that only ONE of their number refused to find him guilty of the core charge, attempting to sell President Obama’s vacated Senate seat.
Blago’s reaction echoes his behavior as a powerful activist against the rights of Illinois gun owners…back when he had power, that is. Lots of rhetoric, unsupported by the facts and indeed contradicted by the facts, and a stubborn refusal to face reality.
There were apparently other charges among the two dozen that were deadlocked by that same lady on the jury, alone. The foreman of the jury said that on some other charges, multiple jurors – up to seven – did not believe the Government had proven its case. Fair enough.
The fact remains that on the most egregious element of Blagojevich’s alleged betrayal of the public trust, the brokering of the Senate seat, eleven of twelve on the jury of his peers were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty.
And on the charge of lying to the investigators, the whole dozen were convinced, and FOUND him guilty. Yet the defense maintains that the outcome was a victory for them.
The only people who believe that being convicted of a serious Federal felony is a victory are criminals who are guilty of much more, and guilty men’s lawyers. It’s the sort of delusional thinking we’ve come to associate with those who want to deprive law-abiding American gun owners of their civil rights.
Readers, jury duty veterans…what’s YOUR take on it?
History Channel’s gamble on a shooting show paid off, and high ratings seemed to get higher as the show progressed. The first season finished last night, with Iain the Top Shot with $100,000 as his reward for staying the course. We gun folks bemoaned the “reality show” drama at first, but it got us (and more important, non-shooters in the audience) interested. By mid-season we were referring to the contestants by first names, like old friends.
Congratulations to Iain, stolid Englishman Iain who reminded me of many Brits I trained when I used to teach over there every year, before the handgun ban. Never complaining, with a dry sense of humor you almost had to look for, he was straight up honest and never dissed anyone, but simply took each shooting event as a mission to accomplish with total focus. It was a winning strategy and a life lesson.
If you think about it, there were other life lessons that ran through the show. 22-year-old Kelly turned us older folks off with his ego when he described himself as a “rising star” at the beginning, and committed a major social gaffe…but we saw him grow up years in the space of the days of filming, and with his maturity came our ability to admire his skill and determination in more elimination tests than any other contestant. By the time he was eliminated, most of us were rooting for him, and sad to see him go. There was the one contestant who made himself the one we loved to hate. There was Caleb, who put honesty before winning strategy and became a role model for more than marksmanship. There was Tara, who left the contest to go to the side of her dying father, a reminder to all that family values trump glory. If there was any one contestant we’d all like to see return next season, it would have to be Tara. Personally, I’d consider it an honor to shoot against any of them.
I don’t know how many people applied for that first season, but I am certain that number will be dwarfed by the tsunami of applicants for the next one. Applications have already closed, but here’s one of my buddies who threw his hat in the ring, Jon Strayer, whom I think would be an excellent candidate for Top Shots, Season Two.
We don’t know yet what the Blagojevich jury has and hasn’t decided on his case, and I’m just glad I didn’t hold my breath waiting. (What did that guy Dirty Harry just shot say as he was looking up the barrel of the .44 Magnum in the seminal movie? Oh, yeah…”I got to KNOW!”)
Meanwhile, we gun owners discover (I was first flagged to it by a retired NYPD officer) that it’s becoming common in doctors’ offices to screen you for suicide potential by asking certain questions that may just include questions about gun ownership.
It turns out one of my good friends, a gun-savvy attorney in one of America’s most crime-ridden cities who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun in public – and does so just about every day of his life – went through this not too long ago.
The result was absolutely hilarious, and I share it with you now…
“I was in a new urologist’s office for kidney stone. Young guy from Columbia Univ Hosp in NY now down in (a southern city that will remain nameless). He had an assistant looked like from India. She had been around world in remote places doctoring for couple of years and was doing residency in urology. She was doing interview of patients and asked questions — about suicide. (This was an office in the cancer center of the hospital). She asked me: (1) Are you completely happy with your life? My answer, “Whoever says yes to that question should try harder.” (2) Are you generally in good spirits every day? My answer – “Did I go shooting that day?” She was taken aback but pressed on after stepping away from me (I think she realized I had a holstered gun under my shirt) (3) Have you ever had thoughts of harming yourself purposely? My answer, “If you mean like suicide, hell no, I do not have time, I am way too busy playing with my guns.” Just then the door opened and the doctor, who had heard the last word of my answer said, “What kind is your favorite gun? I have a Glock, but someone told me to get a shotgun for home defense because the racking will scare away everyone.” I set him straight on the myths of that.”
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