Nom de guerre: Rivrdog

Blue Moon

Update: The Acidman asked nicely, so here are the best toenails on western waters: Click on the image to enlarge it.

Yes, there is such a thing as a "Blue Moon". The second full moon in a calendar month.

I'm experiencing the last one before May 2007 right here on the Gilbert River, Columbia County, OR. A little dock up a tidal river that empties Sturgeon Lake on Sauvie Island. The current flows both ways here, the only navigable river in OR whose full length is both navigable and tidal.

Just a few boats from my yacht club, many more are cruising Puget Sound and the Canadian islands now. But other boats, waterskiers and jetskiers all seem to co-exist peacefully on this little stream. Sort of like the proverbial water hole where the lion can drink beside the gazelle.

Drink, did I say drink? Freudian slip, that.

The moonrise was spectacular, but I don't have a camera that will capture that scene as I saw it with my own eyes. Acidman will eat his heart out with envy, though, because I found the best example of toenail art I have ever seen. Maybe if he asks nicely in the comments, I might update with a picture later.

After the moonrise appreciation, I watched "South Pacific" on my laptop. Now they KNEW how to make musicals in those days. I remember this film from my youth mostly because my ex had memorized most of the songs from it. One of the few things about her that I appreciate to this day.

And no, Acidman, she didn't paint her toenails.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Drum Roll, please....

200th post, here we goooooooooooo.

Denita TwoDragons at Who Tends the Fires blog brings us a reference to Kerry's Swift Boat buddies.

Without further ado, point your browser to the SBVT site and the scales will fall from your eyes.

Note that I raised these issues back in April, but it IS good that the site calling on Kerry to be open about his short tour of duty in Swift Boats has finally arrived to educate us.

Clinton pirated

Former POTUS Bill Clinton (good thing I haven't had breakfast yet) wrote a book. Ho Hum. Called "My Life". Ditto Ho Hum. Released recently in an attempt to affect the national elections. Ho Hum. Full of horsepuckey. Ho Hum.

But wait, this is exciting. I promise.

Kerry: Q.E.D.

Quod Erat Demonstratum (Q.E.D.) is Latin for "That which was to be demonstrated, was" It is an academic finishing flourish in a debate or presentation of a proven theory.

John Kerry has just proven he is an idiot, or takes all of us for idiots.

Q.E.D.

An unlikely winner

I try not to watch too much Celebrity Court TV, as I'm usually uninterested in how celebrities screw up their lives. The Kobe Bryant case has been different, because all along, there were indications that Mr. Bryant's greatest sin, besides violating his marriage contract, was a poor sense of timing.

The young lass who engaged with Mr. Bryant in sexual relations had a history, shall we say, of what used to be called round heels. After she accused Mr. Bryant of rape, it began to "leak out" that perhaps she had not been so critical of her other sex partners of the recent past.

Alas! Poor Mr. Bryant would not be able to bring to his defense this obvious round-heeled lifestyle that the lass had chosen well before meeting the Lakers' star, because there was a little matter called the Colorado Rape Shield Law that was going to prevent his defense lawyer from using any information derogatory to her at all.

I opined at the time that the wimmen's libbers who had trumped up this law which violates the spirit and intent of our Constitution so badly would come to regret the fact that it was to be used in the Kobe Bryant case.

And I was right. With unlimited money to hire the very best criminal defense talent, Mr. Bryant has beaten the rape shield law down to the courtroom floor, where it belongs. Now the courtroom janitor can sweep it into the dustbin of failed liberal experiments.

The right to confront one's criminal accuser is so vital to our constitutional process that one may legitimately say that our justice system cannot do without this right. Period.

Political correctness had it's greatest, latest victory with the rape shield law, but the rule of Constitutional law has prevailed, at least in the case of Kobe Bryant. The betting is that his "rape" case will now be dismissed, since this is obviously a case of "she couldn't stand the truth", in several connotations.

Will this horrible law, one that makes most rape cases nationally into Star Chamber proceedings, now be frog-marched out of the statute books? One may hope so, and if so, Kobe Bryant becomes the hands-down recipient of the Unlikely Hero Of the Year award from this blogger.

Gun Rights Idea

Gun ownership/carry rights should be in the forefront of this National Election, but unfortunately, this theme has been relegated to a minor role.

I have an idea that might bring it back to the forefront of the election.

Prior military service members may remember hearing an old military parable that went like this: A base commander of an Army post somewhere here in the US got tired of his troops being considered second-class citizens in the local area, so he devised an idea of how to raise the consciousness of the local citizens to the fact that the troops had a real and positive impact in their lives. In those days, the Army paid most troopers in cash. The Base Commander ordered them paid in two-dollar ("Racetrack") bills, which were never seen otherwise in the local merchant economy. As the two-buck notes circulated, the townspeople began to realize just which side their bread was buttered on, and respect for the troops went up.

Here's how we apply that principle to gun rights in this election.

(D)eletegate

So, Clinton's former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger goes to the National Archives and tries to remove the evidence that his former boss Bill Clinton screwed up and ignored warnings of terrorist activity in the USA. He got caught.

There are many other repercussions of this fiasco, however.

First, in the tradition of Washington DC scandals, it needs a name.

I propose "(D)eletegate", a word that everyone in DC can pronounce.

Update: see below

Boy Scouts take another hit

After the Boy Scouts of America did so much to bring this Nation to the pre-eminence it enjoys today, do they deserve the campaign of attack the organization is going through now?

Lawsuits everywhere, mostly brought by the hated ACLU, try to force this private organization to kowtow to politically correct goals of gender-bending and anti-religious zealotry.

Then the Scouts lose a major facility in San Diego, one that they paid for and maintained, when that liberal city's Council refuses their "lease".

Now, in Portland, Oregon, the Scouts lose the Chief Obie Lodge, a magnificent wooden lodge built after WW2. The lodge, meticuously maintained, has no fire sprinklers. The Scouts voluntarily gave up housing anyone in the lodge, but they continued to derive income from private events (weddings, mostly) and civic affairs that they rented the main hall out for. Now, 36 years after they were initially asked to rebuild to current fire codes, but given repeated exemptions (as were city-sponsored historic buildings) from having to rebuild to the new codes, the State Fire Marshal shuts down the entire operation.

Where was the State the last 36 years? Why did the lodge get exemtions year after year, but now, when the Scouts are under liberal attack everywhere in the country, did the exemption get pulled and the lodge get closed?

I lay this one directly at the feet of (D) Governor Ted Kulongowski, whose office controls the Fire Marshal.

How about it Ted, are you willing to state affirmatively for the record that no one in your office or the Fire Marshal's office put the hit on the Chief Obie Lodge because such action is consistent with a (D)emocratic meme to put the organization out of business?

The Constitution Party

I have nothing against the Federal Constitution, having fought to protect it in both military and law enforcement service, and I believe that the Amendments that have been ratified answer any liberal critic's whine about the Constitution needing to be a "living document". It doesn't need to be. It already is.

That said, I have been stewing over one of my Guru's claims that he finds the Constitution Party's election platform unobjectionable.

I object. I have met that enemy and I know them.

One gun

Most gun people will indulge their "one gun" fantasy occasionally. While none of us would ever limit ourselves to one gun, the mental exercise involved in considering the best weapon is extremely valuable.

I look at guns as layered weapons systems. That's how the military looks at them. You have an inner layer, a medium-outer layer and an outer layer. The inner layer is a pistol or revolver for most of us, but it could be a machine pistol also.

The outer layer is usually a high-caliber bolt rifle or battle rifle like the G-3 or M-14, M-1.

It's the medium-range weapon that confuses many. A shotgun can work in this role, and the scatterguns have many advocates, but the ammo is heavy, the weapons are frequently cumbersome, and may not be suited to heavy field use.

Enter the lever rifle in a pistol caliber. These rifles hold from 10 to 14 rounds, and in the hands of a trained shooter are almost as fast as a semi-auto rifle, are deadly on thin-skinned medium game (and people) out to 200 yards or more, and are cheap to shoot, leading to more proficiency. Anyone can be taught to load and fire a lever rifle in a matter of minutes, making them the perfect weapon to have more than one of. Inexperienced rifle shooters of any age will take to the lever rifle quickly.

Mine is a Marlin 1894C, but a decent copy is the Rossi Puma92. Winchester makes one, the Model 94, and there are several other more expensive rifles, but I see no need to own one, when the same money will buy two standard-grade weapons, or one rifle and about 3000 rounds of ammo.