Nom de plume: Rivrdog

It's B.A.G. Day/Tax day

...but you have two more days to pay your taxes, since today is Sunday, and tomorrow is "Lincoln freed the slaves Day" or some such, celebrated only in DeeCee, apparently (Jan 1 and June 19th are more widely celebrated nationally), but that was good enough for the PeeCee Feds, who then gave us an extra day to get their blood money tax payments in.

I've done both duties. BAG (Buy A Gun) Day as reported here, and taxes, paid my first installment of the quarterlies for next year. I got my State tax refund back in time to use it to pay the quarterly payment, first time that's ever happened. Seeing as how my electronic filing went in on 4/2, that's pretty fast. Kudos to the State Treasurer.

Normally, I would go to some sort of Tax Day Protest, perhaps even taking the M35A2 to be a setpiece of said protest, as I did last year.

Didn't go to this year's local event though, since the Oregon Tea Party, which is putting it on, got a bad case of greedy, and decided to charge $20/head for admission to it. Note to self: try to find out just how many separate Tea Party orgs there are flying under the original, non-organized, TEA party banner now. Most of them are umbrella orgs for other conservative PACs which have stalled out in their fund-raising and want to try to tap into the former TEA Party fervor. It's all about Das Gelt, nothing more.

Note to the Oregon Tea Party: Read the VERY recent political history. There was NO PAC money involved in the original Taxed Enough Already Party (TEA Party), and that was a secret of it's success. If YOU want success, don't charge admission for your "headliners", who, if they were real conservatives and not political greedos themselves, wouldn't charge any more than basic expenses to do a gig on Tax Day, anyway.

Do you pay quarterly taxes?

We do, here at Schloss Rivrdog. Last year, my quarterlies jumped from just over $1,000 per quarter to well over $1,400. That wasn't something I selected, when my CPA ran the worksheet, that's what came out for me to pay. I had no forecast increase in income, either. We live on a fixed income here.

I paid those increased taxes, and this year, I overpaid my Federal tax by over $1,100. Strange. Never did that before, I have always had to pay a small amount on Tax Day.

So, is anyone going to look into this and see if it was universal? If so, it amounts to a fraud scheme by the IRS, and one which pumped up the expected revenue, so more could be spent on vote-buying. Now that I have a significant refund coming, if most other quarterly payers are in the same boat, then the Federal government will run a large shortfall in revenue this year. There might also be issues of deficit reduction not meeting guidelines, or issues of having to print more money than expected.

Dono, but if  I'm not the only one who got rooked like this (to the tune of about 15% of my tax load), then there WILL be some revenue issues that will be hard to hide.

Requiscat in Pacem, Andrew

A great voice was stilled today, that of Andrew Breitbart. Breitbart was the fearless, cutlass-armed balloonist who, somehow, always avoided holing out his own airship whilst deflating many gasbags of the Left. He will be sorely missed.

And yes, it IS a Cold Day, not just in Hell, but right here at Schloss Rivrdog:

It's your turn to rest, my friend. See you on the Other Side.

Pay-per-view Representatives?

According to Politico, there are, and the ones they list all have (R) after their names.

My first thought on hearing this had something to do with rope, oak tree, congressmen, and how I might write that short assembly manual, but first, I want Politico to directly answer a question:

Are there any Representatives with (D) after their names following this practice?

While I'm wating for my answer (no, I'm NOT holding my breath that Politico will do the fair and balanced thing), let me just say that the RNC needs to be making some phone calls to these jerk-offs, calls containing DIRECT ORDERS to cease the practice on pain of their primary opponents getting the RNC's support, and it needs to be dialing those calls NOW!

Way to go, douchenozzles! You just set back the election hopes of your party by a LONG chalk, unless the answer to my above question turns up some (D)s doing this, in which case, it will simply lower the confidence number of Congress down into new, abysmal, uncharted territory.

BTW, RNC, the other point raised by the Politico article, that there seems to be a strange lack of recess-held public town halls by the GOP congresscritters, needs to be addressed.

Put it this way, if the GOP can't take whatever heat comes from standing in their hustings and having a face-to-face exchange with their constituients, of ALL political persuasions, well, I guess maybe those constituents should find someone else to represent them.

The shoe is definitely on the other foot. I seem to recall that the TEA Party types leveled this charge at the (D)s during the last election campaign, and it was quite effective at turning the Congress over.

Hypocrisy is NEVER in political style, boneheads.

Bachmann or Perry?

Side-by-side comparison. One from a lefty view here.

Bachmann has been in the race longer, but Perry isn't starting from zero. He has been running the most successfully-recovering state economy for several years.

Faith: both have demonstrated that they are deeply committed Christians, if that floats your boat. Importantly, if it DOESN'T float your boat, Perry is more executive-appearing than Bachmann, will likely get results despite being Christian. Bachmann has a strike against her in that her family business is a Christian queer-deprogramming counseling service, and THAT'S one for the books!

Perry demonstrates his support of the Second Amendment far better than Bachmann. Both support it, but you actually SEE Perry out on a shooting range, and someone who lives their creed, believes in it and will protect it more strongly.

Perry is more of a fiscal realist. He knows what the government needs to survive and do it's job in a proper minimalist way. Bachmann has told us she's an idealist when it comes to cutting government, and would like to zero out certain things that she doesn't like. That may not fly with Middle America. I feel that Perry will be more successful in reducing government and selling the reductions so that they stick.

Perry is committed to "un-do". Bachmann is committed to her version of a government budget, but hasn't talked about un-do as a concept. Both are committed to repealing ObamaCare.

They will both speak at a county GOP dinner in IA tonight. We shall see who comes off as the most "Presidential".

Comparisons are odious, as my late father used to say, but we've got to do them, and the sooner we get this comparison out of the way, the sooner we can re-unite the GOP and get down to the business of electing Rick Perry the next President of the United States.

BTW, more on the lefty strategy here: It's obviously going to be to grind up Perry, who the Left sees as the genuine threat to Obama, then chew up Bachmann at their leisure, because she's less of a threat, all the while "supporting" Romney The RINO. You can see that strategy in this lefty pundit's (he's straight out of the Clinton War Room) op-ed piece, here.

Terrorists?

So, it's come down to this: Vice President of the US, Mr. Joe Biden, calls the TEA Party branch of the GOP "terrorists", and quite a few (D)emocrats jump on his bandwagon.

OK, let's see here: does that make me the moral equivalent of the Late, not great, Osama Bin Laden and his gang of bad boyz, just because I advocate the position our Founders took that this Nation should have the smallest possible Government, doing only the job the Constitution assigned it?

OK, if it does, maybe we in the TEA Party Movement should start by giving thems something other than just our names, which, thanks to the Internet and thousands of faceless agents culling it, I'm sure they already have.

Maybe we should give them our "terrorist" qualifications, and yes, I actually DO hope this strikes a little terror in the hearts and minds of the traitors who are our enemies, the Vice President included.

I am a retired US Air Force officer, with a career specialty of navigator Bombardier in B-52 D & H aircraft (3500 hrs total time). I was part of the Nuclear Triad in the Cold War, and was familiar and qualified with the design and delivery operation of various nuclear weapons, both gravity bombs and air-launched missiles. I also have served Enlisted, and attained the rank of Staff Sergeant, with specialties in Logistics Planning and operations, plus maintenance and repair on heavy High Mobility and Special Purpose vehicles.

So, on my "Salad Bar", you'll see an Air Medal with six Oak Leaf clusters, you'll see the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon with four Battle Stars, and you'll see Expert in Small Arms near the Presidential Unit Citation with "V" for Valor and two Oak Leaf clusters.

On the other side of my chest from the "Salad Bar" and my Master Navigator wings, you'll see the USAF's Combat Air Crew Badge, permanently awarded.

Oh, and there was another "combat" career, as a Patrol Deputy Sheriff here in Multnomah County, Oregon. If I were wearing my Duty (Court) Uniform, you would have seen three master firearms qualification badges there, for Pistol, Revolver and Shotgun. My file had several Citations in it for valor when they handed it to me as I retired from that second "combat" career.

Terrorists, eh?

We could be.

Don't make us be.

Downtown...conservative invasion of Stumptown! UPDATED! BUMPED! The BLAZE VIDEOS!

Just got here, the genset is humming and I'M WARM ENOUGH, BUT SOAKED! 1615...

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Vets coming out of the woodwork...M35A2 draws 'em in!

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The M35 is covered with Signs of the Resistance, "We the Band" is playing Southern rock, all is well @ 1748...

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Now we're into the Great American Oratory...the Soap Box, as it were, a phalanx of Portland's Finest is on hand to keep the two detachments of the Black Shirts at bay, but the cold rain is doing a better job on the Alpha Hotels. 1844/ temp 46

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That was an interesting hour...the antis got right in my face here, so I and several others just snapped away, and PJTV will do the photo interpretation. The cops just busted the loudest of them, and she's cuffed and stuffed...just had family drop by...oratory over, now second band, more metal....2015

The above subject in the red shirt - I made him to be a union organizer. Said little, didn't chant, everyone was defferential to him, mostly he just shot video and was in the middle of the anti-crowd.

Typical of the anti-demonstrators. The usual "Little Beirut" crowd. Note that the bike cops seem fairly relaxed at this point. I have reports now that the crowd, which (as depicted in the vids) was above on the high ground, suddenly discovered the M35A2, and tried to charge it. That provoked the bike cops to do an intercept maneuver, and this is where they wound up, right outside my cab door, with only that wrought-iron railing between them and your blogger. They were content to scream and curse, though, so MY arms remained concealed. All Soap Box action, no Cartridge Box required. BTW, that "Koch sucker" sign is a HUGE insult to Hizzoner the Queer Mayor. Frankly, I hope he's seen the vids and photos...

Here are some Blaze vids of the anti-action which Glen Beck linked. Made me wish that I'd bought that Gun Ring for the M35A2...

(I've seen what waving a quad-fifty tail barbette on a B-52D at Zengunro demonstrators on Okinawa in 1970 could do to scatter THAT mob)

Captain sez 15 min to go, got to get in the tear-down mode...10-8

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Wrap-up: tear-down went well, drive home at the edge of a warm front was interesting, but safe, but I FUBAR'd upon arriving home. In the dark, tried to back Adam into his slot on the RV pad, and even with guide-lights set, missed being square with the pad and knocked down half my gate, which now has to be repaired on a priority basis (means getting wet AGAIN)! (Repaired 4/16, thanx to the USMC Dau & engineer hubb).

I put out a family all-hands call at 2230 last night, we'll see how many respond today. Prolly have to reset the gate post, maybe replace it (it's not broken, but it's been in the ground 4 or 5 years, so it's half-gone). Then reassembly of the last fence section and then hang the gate, which is intact and undamaged. It's winter-soaked Cedar, and weighs about 180#, by my feeble attempts in trying to hoist it last night..

Then, there the not-inconsiderable job of stowing all the gear I'm drying out in the shed. Most of it goes right there, but has to be stowed for the shed to be useful again. Another big day breaks....0801 4-16-11

BTW, there are lots of photos of yesterday's action. I have to send them from my cell phone, one at a time, to my main puter, via email. It's very labor-intensive, so I will do that later. Got to fuel the body now and put the Carhartts on, it's gonna be a busy day...

B.A.G. - Day

FYI, I'm not buying a gun today, in fact, am about to stop blogging before 8am, a rarity. Time to complete the prep for the Tax Day M35 mission. It seems, via my TEA Party organizer friend, that the City of Portland has levied a requirement on me to provide a DRIP PAN to display the M35 "on the bricks" at Pioneer Square.

I cannot believe that anyone thinks a proper military vehicle LEAKS Fluids! They don't, because a LEAK is defined as 60 drips per minute, which would DEADLINE the vehicle for repairs. A DRIP is loss of fluid UP TO a "Leak", but not including it, and if it DOESN'T DRIP but still gets by the gasketing designed to keep it in, it's a SEEP. My M35A2 has one front axle which SEEPS (weeps) a little 90-weight, but it takes a month, in hot weather, for it to even show up on the tire sidewall. The nerve of them, thinking that I run my trucks like a logging camp...

I wish I were buying a gun, though. One of these, that Russian Cosmonauts carried on their space missions (H/T to Uncle). Actually, I've pretty much narrowed down my next gun purchase. It will be a Bug Out shotgun, a Coach Gun, or "Lupara" in 12-ga. I'm thinking of one of two Stoeger models, either the standard coach gun or this Tactical model. I'd like to get one with barrels threaded for chokes, so it could also be used for upland hunting, since ALL my shotguns are Cylinder bore, except the antique LC Smith. I guess I could fill that bill by getting a hunting barrel for my Mossberg Defender, though.

On the more sober side of things gunny, here's an article, leading to a brief, by noted Constitutional barrister Eugene Volokh, who tells us non-lawyers why Heller doesn't mean as much as it should in some tyrannical states that ban civil rights have strong gun control laws. It is VERY sobering to think that a liberal Supreme Court of the US could apply these Soviets' States' view of limitations on the Second Amendment TO EVERY STATE! (H/T again to Uncle).

The Mission proceeds...

M35A2 Mission for Tax Day

For the past two days, I've been conferring with the local TEA Party folks (the real TEA folks, not the poseurs), and they are putting on a huge local Tax Day bash right in "Portland's Living Room", Pioneer Courthouse Square. They have invited your humble blogger to bring himself and his M35A2 High Mobility vehicle to sit on the bricks and look pretty (or mean, that will depend on whether .mil heavy hardware floats your boat or not).

Rumor has it (not comfirmed on their site, though) that Pajamas TeeVee will be there, doing a live-stream broadcast of the party, perhaps even from the high bed of the M-35.

Not a rumor: KGW-TV8, Portland's NBC afiliate, maintains a studio at the Square, so all they will have to do is point a camera out their front window to get a shot of the M35A2. They might be doing some streaming. Also, there's a Live Cam at the Square. I've been told that my truck will be parked at the top-center of the field of view of that cam.

Gun-blogger Straight-Case will be there, of course, and he will be Tweeting some of the going's on, @straightcase.

I might even do some live-blogging! This is reputed to be the largest Tax-Day TEA event in the country. We'll see about that.

I'm working hard to get a young Army troop,  a Stryker driver for the 25 ID Stryker Brigade up at J-B Lewis-McChord, down to be my Second Soldier on the truck crew. He's been to Iraq twice, is prepping for a different war scenario now...Three years ago, he was cutting my lawn! I can't even buy him a beer in this God-forsaken state. (Wrong, he just turned 21)

Glenn Beck votes with his feet, or...

...gets the boot from Fox netweork, it's hard to say which, but it doesn't matter.

To this pundit, Beck's demise does not have a thing to do with what he has to say, it's all about how he says it. His "chalk-board" lectures went out of fashion as a teaching tool 50 years ago, and his presentation is B.O.R.I.N.G., and I'm not referring to the Oregon village just south of Schloss Rivrdog.

Beck is smarmy, and appears to have as his prime reason-for-being the belief that HE is the only one we can learn political facts from.

Is there anything about Beck that I like? Well, yes, he occasionally uses history well.

BTW, Beck DID NOT invent the TEA Party. Some give him credit for this, but it is Rick Santelli, the floor trader/CNBC commentator who should be given that credit.