Compare & Contrast

AK series rifle vs pressure reduced shotgun





Any questions?

A Busy Day

After getting some comics into a new box, I decided to tackle the gun safe.  It's been some time since it was done last and it needed some re-arranging.  Some things have been sold, new ones bought, ammo boxes needing sorting and refilling, etc.  It was a full pull out, clean off, sort, and replace.  After several hours it came out nice and organized:

There are still open spaces so obviously I need to pick up a few more. 

A detail on my 'Wall 'o Advocacy'

Overall a productive day.  Tomorrow I'll be getting some gaming in as a nice finish off of the vacation before heading back to school on Monday.

Illinois By The Numbers

Chicago spends $95 million in police overtime to artificially reduce homicides by 12, the 'lowest number on record' for 2014

327 MORE people were shot in the city during the same period.

New Years Day saw 9 people shot in the city, most of which have some variation or association w/ this phrase "A source said the man is a documented gang member."

I can't do a review on the Illinois Uniform Crime Report because the ISP has spent years trying to 'upgrade' it to FBI standards and haven't released one even for 2013 yet. 

The Illinois pension system is $80 BILLION in the hole while the total state debt is over $320b and rising while the legislature is doing everything they can to make the state a hostile environment to businesses large and small.

What a wonderful place we live in.

Days of Our Trailers: 2014 Year in Review

Blog Stats for the year 2014

A drop of about 30% compared to last year due to lack of posting and burnout. 

None of the analytics are working for me w/o me downloading GoogleChrome so that's just a top off for the year.  This year between New Years Eve of last year and a few weeks ago, we've lost 6 cats between us, my mom, and my in-laws including my beloved Eris kitty, our kids' favorite Loki and the wife's favorite Crazy to coyotes and three others from old age.   

Most of the summer and all of our savings was spent fixing the roof which went from a re=shingling to a complete tear off and re-decking. Our wonderful economy has people holding on to their cash so the flea markets and gun shows have been dismal. 

Some of the good things this year. Several KS's have come to fruition including Robotech Tactics and the dice chest along w/ attending GenCon for the first time and the finally released OGRE expansions.

For the most part though I'll be well rid of 2014 and will knock the dust off of my shoes as I exit. 

2013 YIR
2012 YIR
2011 YIR
2010 YIR
2009 YIR
2008 YIR

Brady Campaign; Setting Their Standards Low

From their latest Email:

Thanks to your continued support and generosity, 2014 concludes as the busiest and most successful year in the 25-year history of the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project.

I think their biggest 'success' this year was managing to keep the lights on for another year. 

#ImBlockedByShannonWatts Is .@shannonrwatts Afraid Of This Midwestern Dad?

Just like many others.  #ImBlockedByShannonWatts

So what is @shannonrwatts afraid of?  Did I threaten her?  Did I insult her directly?  Nope.  I told the truth and asked non-approved questions.  That's resulted in me being blocked by the majority of anti-gun groups.

They can't survive outside of an echo chamber.

Chicago Culture In The Spotlight....

Friday Night....

A group of thugs starts a fight and gets Navy Pier shut down during peak tourist hours. 

Shortly after, a big fight breaks out at the 'Rock 'n Roll' McDonalds downtown. 

Saturday Night....

A group of thugs start a fight and get Chicago Ridge Mall shut down during peak shopping hours. 

I grew up near there.  Years ago, Evergreen Plaza was one of the nicest and largest malls in the US.  Then the gangs moved in and huge fights started breaking out, especially at the movie theatre.  People stopped going and it eventually closed down.  Ford City was a huge mall/shopping plaza.  Multiple movie theaters, the works.  They spent millions on a renovation back in the late 80's/90's bringing in top of the line stores, new age art, etc.  Then the gangs moved in and people stopped going. It's still there and they're planning another huge 'modernization' but I'll bet you it fails.

Now Chicago Ridge Mall is going in the same direction.  I used to hang out there when I was a teen and even worked there for awhile after I got out of the Navy.  Nice, safe, family oriented place.  Now the gangs are moving in and trouble is becoming a lot more frequent. The nicer stores will move out and the place will start falling apart. 

This is Chicago culture. 

A Doe, A Deer, A Female Deer (Weekend Wildlife Reborn)

So.... Last weekend 4thPower Bravo discovered a dead doe in the creek.  A buddy of mine came over and helped me haul it out. When we did, we discovered it had a hole all the way through it.  Now I'm no expert but it certainly didn't look like it came from a blackpowder firearm (rifle hunting not legal in IL) nor was the body decomposed enough for the blackpowder season which was two and a half weeks before. CYOA time, I called DNR.  After some phone tag, the conservation officer told me from my description it sounded like a rifle shot and that they'ld include our area in their patrols.  Other than that I was free to dispose of the carcass as I saw fit.

Got the 4-wheeler prepped and took it out to the woods w/ the wildlife camera and went to check on it this evening when I got back from the show.  It had been mostly untouched which is odd.  Guess the coyote pack has moved on.

The batteries were still good so I swapped the cards and left it out there.  We'll see what happens over the next week.