Product Review: Ryka MC-2 Walking Shoes

First things first, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to tell all of you that I didn't wear these shoes. No, not because I didn't have time or because I was slacking in my product review work-rate. No, I didn't wear these shoes because I am a man.

These shoes are for the ladies. Especially for the ladies.

I suppose I could try to BS about them, but, really, what would be the point? That's not how I roll.

Having said all of that, I will say that my lovely wife, known in the blogosphere as Mrs Gunfighter (or as she SHOULD be known, Dr. Mrs. Gunfighter) DID wear them. Not only did she wear them during a period of day to day activities, she wore them while were were on vacation... at Disney World. Uh huh!

According to Mrs GF, the most immediately remarkable thing about these shoes is that they were comfortable instantly, they needed no real break-in period.

The shoes never gave her a blister nor did they cause any pain, even after two weeks of walking through the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, Disney's MGM Studio, and all of the other places, including SeaWorld, that we went during the trial period.

Another notable thing about these shoes is that they aren't ugly. These shoes look like any other high-end athletic shoe that is made for serious athletes (and walkers ARE serious athletes, OK?). I am sure you all have gone to sporting goods stores and seen what are passed off as "walking" shoes, when in reality the shoes look more like they were made for the nice old folks at the Shady Tree rest home.

All in all, these shoes performed flawlessly over the two-week test period.

Mrs Gunfighter gives full marks!

Ryka products and their descriptions can be found at their website: www.ryka.com

This product Review is brought to you by the Parent Blogging Network.

Please note that my next product review will be located at: The Review From Here, my newly minted blog where I keep all of my product and book reviews together.

High School Musical

There have been so many great things to write about over the past few days that I can barely crank them out.

I have been resorting to late-night blogging for the past few days because we aren't putting any of our fun plans on hold while I sit at the computer attempting to be interesting or pithy.

I started this post last week, but was overcome by events, what with the Attorney General finally being sent away in disgrace, the guilty plea and subsequent "apology" of Michael Vick, and the reports of the extracurricular activities of a certain perverted U.S. Senator.

Guess what? I don't want to talk about any of those freaks today. No, today, I want to talk about something more important: The incredible star-power of Disney's recently released "High School Musical 2"

Sure, some of you will tell me that you haven't seen it. Some of you will tell me you don't understand why it is so popular, but unless you live in a very far corner of the world, it isn't likely that you haven't heard of this second of two films that have turned the entertainment world on it's ear.

I didn't pay any attention to the first movie... not until I began hearing the music all of the time. You see, Soccer girl is right there in the middle of the target demographic. She loved the movie and the music. Mrs GF was already familiar with the whole swirling mass of movie, books, concert DVD, singalong CD, and soundtrack, but I was a latecomer.

I finally got to see the movie in one of the two trillion and twelve repeats on the Disney Channel, and to tell you the truth, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a great deal. I could see why it was so popular with so many people. The producers/directors were VERY smart about this film... They used the tried-and-true musical movie formula of a light plot, good visuals, hyper enthusiasm and catchy tunes that, while not being world-changing, were happy, upbeat, and eminently singable. Couple these things with an attractive cast, and you have a winner.

This past April, clan Gunfighter went to our local high-school to see a stage production of the first movie, while the buzz was building for the second movie. We loved it and I was gratified to see that I wasn't the only dad who knew the words to some of the songs.

Fast forward to last week, when we took a pause in our vacation to ensure that we would be settled in and fed and comfortable when it was time to watch "High School Musical 2" I suppose it won't surprise you to hear me say that the Gunfighter household is full of fans of this teen movie sensation! It was really great. It was nicely filmed, not too heavy on teen angst, well directed, scored, and choreographed. It's a winner.

Disney has had such a success a with these movies that there is now a "High School Musical Pep Rally" held several times a day at MGM studios.



The really cool thing about the "Pep Rally" is watching the other parents while the kids are watching it. While I took these pictures...




...you could see a lot of the parents singing along with their tweens!


The second time we saw the rally, I stood well back of the crowd to get some crowd photos and saw this grandmother/granddaughter duo dancing along. It was really great.

So, to summarize, see this movie... if you miss it's run on the Disney Channel, go to your local DVD source and get the first one on DVD, and wait for the second movie to arrive on DVD in November.

Remember, Wildcats, we're all in this together!

Gunfighter Needs Your Advice

How do I go about copyrighting the materials on my blog?

Regards,

GF

Dear Senator Graig

Dear Senator Craig,

I am not a constituent of yours, but I am a patriotic American who cares deeply about our nation, it's institutions, and our form of government.

Let me get right to the core of the apple, Senator. I don't really care about your sexual orientation. Your homosexuality is wht it is, and that is completely your own
affair.

My problems, sir, stem from the fact that according to the police report, you attempted to engage in a lewd act in a public restroom, and that you attempted to use your position as a United States Senator to influence or interfere with a police investigation. I can tell you sir, that as a law enforcement officer, I am saddened, offended, and disgusted.

As a Senator who claims to care about Conservative values, and claims to care about supporting the law, your activities to the contrary are considerably demoralizing to me, and to many of my colleagues.

What is it with you people, anyway? Do you live in some sort of bizzaro world where it only counts if you get CAUGHT doing something wrong?

Gay or not, Senator, trying to score a piece of ass in an airport public restroom, is disgusting. What the fuck is wrong with you? How is anyone supposed to trust you now?

You are a criminal. A convicted criminal. Worse, you are a pervert. You are unfit to serve this country, and your state in the Senate.

Do the right thing, Senator Craig: Resign.

Resign. Save your dignity, repair whatever relationships that were damaged by this shabby and unsavory incident, and get on with your life. Leave your office to someone who can actually earn the respect of people of Idaho and the united States.

Resign, before your activities and subsequent lies cause further damage to the public trust.

Britney Spears Barbarians At The Gate (2)

Last January, I mentioned my love affair with tabloid magazines. I admitted to loving them because the lives of celebrities are so far removed from my own that reading about their antics is sort of like watching animals in a zoo.

Well, yesterday, the Gunfighter family got just a little too close to the reality of certain celebrity-style bad behavior.

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Orlando. The sky was clear and the weather was warm... ok, it was hot, work with me here, people! We had made plans to go to SeaWorld for the day, and see the attractions there. We were all looking forward to it... Mrs Gunfighter hadn't been to SeaWorld since she was a child, and SoccerGirl and I, despite our many, many trips to Orlando had never been there at all.

We arrived early and got a really great parking place. Our entry into the park could have been a bit faster, but we had no real worries, as we had gotten our tickets ahead of time.

SeaWorld was fun. We saw Seals, Penguins, Puffins, Dolphins, Killer Whales (the Shamu show was very cool)... we even got to see Polar Bears.

We spent a fine time at the park, and were about to leave when Mrs GF had to go to the ladies room. SG was playing with some other kids on a Polar Bear-styled playground apparatus, while I stood there watching pretty girls walk by vigilantly standing by in case of emergency, when I saw something that I had heretofore only seen in a tabloid magazine.

I witnessed a woman walking towards the ladies room scant seconds after Mrs GF went in. The fact that another woman was entering the ladies room meant nothing, but that's when the celebrity behavior began.

This lady wasn't just going into the ladies room, she was going into the public restroom WITH. BARE. FEET.

You heard me. Barefoot.

I hope that what I just heard was a collective gasp of disgust.

I thought this kind of activity that Britney Spears and her sort engaged in. Well, I was wrong. Deciding on the spot that this is something that I should blog about (I'm so sad, aren't I?), I grabbed my camera and laid in wait for her retrun.

So, here she is, in all of her trashy glory, an unidentified Englishwoman who used a public restroom while barefoot.

If you ever meet this woman, be very skeptical of eating in her home, or letting your children play in her house!

GF

I'll be back this evening to talk about Senator Craig... you KNOW I'm not letting that one go by!

The Department of Revisionist History (2)

A bad day for the administration and it's few Stepford-like adherents, but a good day for the citizens of the United States of America... and believe me when I say that those two entities aren't the same.

Alberto Gonzalez, President Bush's poster boy for truth, justice, and the American way, has resigned.

Well... at least they say "resigned", but you now what? This is Washington, DC that we are talking about here... and how it is reported isn't always the way it is. I'll ask you to trust me on this, friends, I could tell you shit that would keep you from sleeping. "Gonzo" (as the President calls him) resigned, alright. Resigned because he was told that it was time to go. Not even this whack-job President could keep this guy.

Anyway, The Attorney General has "resigned".

Good.

I know that some of the purple kool-aid crowd will try to defend him, but really, don't bother. Defending a liar just because you'd rather believe the lies because the truth is uncomfortable, is the height of foolishness.

During his tenure in this administration, Mr Gonzalez was directly involved in the most egregious abuses of the U.S. Constitution in modern history (see the Patriot Act). Additionally, he was responsible for drafting the Presidential finding that said that torturing prisoners of war is OK, as long as you call them "detainees instead of "prisoner of war". Hello? "Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war" anyone?

Mr Gonzalez was a tumor... no, a chancre on the body of American jurisprudence. He was no respecter of the law that simple members of the thin blue line or the Bar were required to follow.

Alberto Gonzalez was the blacksmith who shod the philosophical horse upon which the Bush administration has trampled our Constitution into the mud.

You are a liar sir.

You are beneath contempt, and I can speak for quite a few rank and file law enforcement officers and members of the bar that think that you are scum, too.

You cannot be trusted. You have no integrity. You are not worthy of being a traffic officer, let alone the Chief Law Enforcement officer in the land.

Anyway... if you have been reading my blog for more than just a few weeks, you probably know what I am not a big fan of this administration or it's crimes against the American people, out Constitution, and humanity. I said that this post was about revisionist history, so let's do that, shall we?

Let's talk for a minute about President Bush's reaction to all of this.

President Bush said that this was a sad day, because AG Gonzalez' "Good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons"

Er... Come again, Mr President? Did you say "Good Name"?

BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH! (sorry, I've been drinking).

Alberto Gonzalez is a liar, and a cheat. An incompetent bungler who never saw a Constitutional protection for the American people that he couldn't or wouldn't dissemble his way around. The only thing he was ever good at was blowing sunshine up the President's backside.

Good riddance, Alberto.

Don't let the doorknob hit you in the ass!

Sincerely,

Your pal,

Gunfighter, who actually believes that what a lawman says should be taken for truth, because the people have a RIGHT to expect truth to come from the people that they have entrusted and empowered to serve and protect them.

The Department of Revisionist history (I)

So... eminent historian George W. Bush now believes that the United States should never have left Vietnam?

Am I the only person left open-mouthed at the brass of that historically ignorant, dumb sonofabitch?

Recently, the current occupant of the White House had this to say about the American withdrawal from Vietnam:

"then, as now, people argued that the real problem was America's presence and that if we would just withdraw, the killing would end..."

"Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left,"

"Whatever your position in that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens, whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps' and 'killing fields,"

So... is there really a legitimate debate on how the United States became embroiled in Vietnam?

Was there really a wide-spread belief that if U.S. forces left Vietnam, that there would be no more killing? Or was the prevailing belief that if our forces remained in Vietnam, more Americans would die for nothing, militarily propping up a corrupt government, with a corrupt, weak, dispirited, ineffectual military?

Am I alone in thinking that it is rather crappy of the President to make these remarks considering his questionable military service and his refusal to serve in Vietnam?

President dumb ass is the same guy that actually had the nerve to compare the successful occupation of Japan to the failing occupation of Iraq. This guy must be getting his advice from a psychic that he found on the back of a matchbook cover.

Idiot.

GF

Entertainment

There have been so many great things to write about over the past few days that I can barely crank them out.

I have been resorting to late-night blogging for the past few days because we aren't putting any of our fun plans on hold while I sit at the computer attempting to be interesting or pithy.

I started this post last week, but was overcome by events, what with the Attorney General finally being sent away in disgrace, the guilty plea and subsequent "apology" of Michael Vick, and the reports of the extracurricular activities of a certain perverted U.S. Senator.

Guess what? I don't want to talk about any of those freaks today. No, today, I want to talk about something more important: The incredible star-power of Disney's recently released "High School Musical 2"

Sure, some of you will tell me that you haven't seen it. Some of you will tell me you don't understand why it is so popular, but unless you live in a very far corner of the world, it isn't likely that you haven't heard of this second of two films that have turned the entertainment world on it's ear.

I didn't pay any attention to the first movie... not until I bagan hearing the music all of the time. You see, Soccer girl is right there in the middle of the target demographic. She loved the movie and the music. Mrs GF was already familiar with the whole swirlinig mass of movie, books, concert DVD, singalong CD, and soundtrack, but I was a latecomer.

I finally got to see the movie in one of the two trillion and twelve repeats on the Disney Channel, and to tell you the truth, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a great deal. I could see why it was so popular with so many people. The producers/directors were VERY smart about this film... They used the tried-and-true musical movie formula of a light plot, good visuals, hyper enthusiasm and catchy tunes that, while not being world-changing, were happy, upbeat, and eminently singable. Couple these things with an attractive cast, and you have a winner.

This past April, clan Gunfighter went to our local high-school to see a stage production of the first movie, while the uzz was building for the second movie. We loved it and I was gratified to see that I wasn't the only dad who knew the words to some of the songs.

Fast forward to last week, when we took a pause in our vacation to ensure that we would be settled in and fed and comfortable when it was time to watch "High School Musical 2" I suppose it won't surprise you te hear me say that the Gunfighter household is full of fans of this teen movie sensation! It was really great. It was nicely filmed, not too heavy on teen angst, well directed, scored, and choreographed. It's a winner.

Disney has had such a success a with these movies that there is now a "High School Musical Pep Rally" held several times a day at MGM studios

A Vacation Thought

Let's get something out in the open, friends, Gunfighter is all man, and as such, feels no problem with stating the obvious. Like the sign says: I heart (and I really mean heart) the boobies.

OK, now that I have said this, I have some words of wisdom, or maybe just an overstated observation, to share with you.

Yesterday, we spent the day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. While we were there, we went on the Winnie The Pooh Ride, The Magic Teacups, the irritating but addictive (and blessedly cool) Small World ride and many others. The park wasn't crowded and the lines weren't long... we had a great time. Something came to my notice, while we were there. Something that I have noticed before, but really hadn't spent too much time thinking about.

You guessed it: Boobies.

Now, these weren't carnal thoughts about boobs. As many as were on display, I happen to be rather fond of Mrs GF's plentitude. No, these thoughts were on how they were displayed.

It seems to me, in the days of female empowerment, that it is counterintuitive to be a rather splendidly bosomed woman and go about in public wearing a too-tight T-Shrt that says "JUICY!", stretched out across her chest,

Now, I don't really have a problem, here. On one level I thought to myself when I saw this woman "Yeah, they look great, alright", but I also thought, "I hope she doesn't catch me (or the other ten guys that were getting an eyeful) looking".

I guess what I am getting at is: Make up your minds! I try to be a progressive man, and not stare at the boobage, after all, staring is rude. However, if you don't want the notice, don't put it out there like that.

Did I just make a sexist statement? Have I betrayed my finely tuned inner Alan Alda & Phil Donahue? I hope not.

I understand that it is OK to want to be attractive. I understand that wanting to be attractive, even sexy. I understand that being attractive or sexy isn't an invitation to be leered at, or an invitation to rude suggestions or worse. Having said all of that, dear ladies, when the boobies get put out like that, don't expect me, the soul of restraint (uh huh), or most men, not to take note.

Serious note.

The Family That Plays Together...

...stays together.

You hear this alot in my circles, and I happen to believe that it is true. I believe that spending recreation time together creates families that are tighter units. The only problem is that in our busy, over-scheduled lives, between work; school; scouting; swimming; soccer; church activities; civic responsibilities; household duties; yardwork; blogging, and everything else that comes with life in North America, we seem to have less and less time to spend together, just having fun.

We have so little time to just sit around and have fun, we are really protective of our time toether, especially when it comes to vacations. During Soccergirl's Spring Break, we go to Colonial Williamsburg (Va.), and haunt all of the historical sites in that area. We also go to the coastal Georgia beach/Disney World (where we are now) for two weeks each summer, because if we don't leave home, we stay right in our busy rut.

Since we live so close to Washington, DC, we love to schedule day trips to local historical sites, like the Smithsonian museums, the National Cathedral, and other places like that.

The most important part of our family fun is simply this: We spend a lot of time laughing together. We try to make things fun while we are together. No matter the activity, is is an opportunity to laugh, sing, and dance together... in public or at home.

Straight From Cheney's Mouth

Sure, you've probably already seen this or head about it, but see it again.



Bush-the-elder did it right, Dick... what excuse do you have for his underachieving son?

Surgery

So... my surgery has been scheduled. I go under the knife (is that term still relevant in the days of Orthoscopy?) on September eleventh. I suppose it's a good thing I don't believe in omens, or that date might scare me.

One good thing about that particular date is that it won't have a negative impact on Happy Hour, which is scheduled for September 7th.

Enjoy your day!

GF

The Thing About Vacations

You know what is so great about vacations? It's this: When you are on vacation, every night is Friday night, and every day is Saturday.

I'm on my way to EPCOT, kids.... see you later!

GF

The Middle Meme

Some of you hate memes... some of you don't. Generally they don't bother me, and they are usually fun, especially because I usually get to talk about one of my favorite subjects: Me.

So... this meme is about middle names. Please see the rules below.

Here are the meme rules. I didn't write the rules, someone else did... so don't shoot the messenger, OK? (besides, he might shoot back)

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.

2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Are you ready?

My middle name is Vincent, which is from the Latin (or something like that), for Conqueror. You know... my name is so me, it isn't even close to being funny.

Here we go:

V - Vacation. Which is where I am now. We have had some lovely days on the Georgia beach. Swimming, seeing some old friends, eating good coastal Georgia cuisine. Ahhh!

I - Interesting. At least, I think I am interesting. Hey! Wake up!

N - Nice. Sure, it might be trite, but it's true.

C - Cook. I can really bang them pots and pans. It's why Mrs. GF married me.

E - Evangelical. I proclaim the saving gospel of Christ.

N - Non-Judgemental. Hey, do your own thing, and don't hurt anyone else while you do it.

T - Tactical. Adjective: Of or relating to combat tactics.

Now, I get to tag seven people. I choose:

The First Seven People That Read This. Honor system, people!

GF, now with deeper tan lines

Shoot 'em Up Friday

You didn't really think that I would let you all down just because I spent most of this afternoon on the flat, nice, warm, cozy beach?

It's is still Shoot 'em Up Friday, kids, and I filmed this last week, just for you return readers.

In 10 minutes, we are going out to dinner, but I want you to enjoy this.



Love, and seawater flavored kisses!

GF

Race In The Blogosphere

Traitor!

We'll be watching you... and others just like you.

Your Uncle,

Sam

G*n C*ntrol: Addendum

Some readers brought up some excellent points in my recent post about g*n contr*l. I'd like to discuss some of them for a moment, if I may.

Lawyer Mama raises some excellent points about firearms security and what kind of training I would require if it were up to me.

Well, LM, left up to me, as I said before, in a world where everything was that way I wanted it, people could carry weapons, concealed or openly but would have to be licensed. I know that many people foam at the mouth over the word license, but in Gunfighter-world, I would issue a blanket "tough shit" and tell such people to quit their crying, get a license or not carry a gun. That should cut out quite a few people right there.

A) Take an IQ test, and score at least 110. NO GUNS FOR DUMMIES!

B) Complete a preliminary firearms safety course. Such a course would cover the laws, safe handling, and security of firearms.

C) Complete a demonstration of proficiency with they same type of firearm s/he would want to carry. Proficiency means demonstrating the ability to safely load and unload the weapon; laws regarding the use of deadly force - particularly "Graham v. Connor". The owner would also have to complete a course on civilian applications of force, and what s/he can legally do with said firearm. Most importantly, the owner would have to successfully complete an approved qualification course of fire, that would demonstrate the fact that said owner could be reasonably expected to operate the weapon. Said qualification would have to be conducted quarterly.

D) It would be a class 1 felony to carry, operate, or manipulate a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or any narcotic. It would also be a felony if poor security of a firearm led to the accidental or intentional death or injury of someone else.

E) Pay a substantial annual fee. This is going to cost a lot of money to administer. the people who really feel the need to do this are going to have to foot the bill.

Regarding the stupid people that do stupid things with guns... (must resist snarky comment about thinning the herd) See section A.

As for vigilantism, see section C. DO it wrong and go to prison... forever.

I agree with Fourier Analyst when she says that the genie gun is out of the bottle... it isn't going back in, so since guns are here to stay, I would do my best to make sure that they were carried legally, by people who could show that they had the smarts and responsibility to do it right.

There are no guarantees on responsibility, but then again, we kill more people every year with out cars than we do with guns, eh?

Traitor!

We'll be watching you... and others just like you.

Your Uncle,

Sam

Shoot 'Em Up Fluffy Friday!

Today's installment of Shoot 'Em Up Fluffy Friday is dedicated to WhiskeyMarie. Marie was kind enough to send me some really neat recipe ideas, which really went over like gangbusters!

Thanks, Marie!

I hope you enjoyed.

Disclaimer: Please note that no actual canine companions were killed, injured, threatened with violence, or forced to play a lame-ass game like soccer, in the production of this blog post. Nor did I have any real conversations with the EffBeeEye, becuase, really, who wants to talk to THEM?

GF

Kidnapping Update!

The EffBeeEye thought that I should make an appeal to Fluffy's kidnappers. So here goes:

Dear Evildoers,

Please don't kill my dog. She's a good girl, with an infectious, cheerful little bark!

See how happy she is at home?



She loves to play in the flowers...



It probably wasn't necessary to threaten her with violence!



So... please don't kill her... even if I can't come up with that kind of cash.

Gunfighter

Terrorism Hits Home

I need your help, friends!

When I returned home from work, yesterday, I found the front door to my home standing wide open. Of course, I drew my pistol and made entry, fully prepared to kick ass and take names. What I found was shocking!

I found this picture...



...and a note demanding a ransom for the release of my dog, Fluffy.

I've contacted the FBI, and they I am supposed to be hearing from them later on today... I'll keep you posted.

GF

You Pick The Topic: Gun Control

Fourier Analyst chose the issue of gun control for a topic, and since I already had material prepared, you can have this right now. This was the first post for my blog. I posted it on April 18th, 2006. It has been slightly amended. How is this for instant gratification???

"Gun Control" is one of the most loaded (pardon the pun) terms in American English. Say “gun control” to some people, and you’ll start hearing that they aren't worried so much about control, as they are worried about gun confiscation.

When we talk about gun control in America, it conjures up all sorts of strange images. Depending on where you stand on the issue, the images could be something like this:

Black-clad federal agents (guys like me) kicking in the doors of the homes of law-abiding, peaceful citizens in order to confiscate their guns at the behest of the United Nations and, destroying American sovereignty, which, as we all know, is guaranteed by suburbanite soccer dads/moms with huntin’ rifles.

If you are on the other side of the fence, politically, the image that may be conjured up is of the government banning all firearms including hunting and target weapons, thereby ending violent crime, after which, all of us will be happy, and safe while we sing Kumbayah, and burn patchouli incense.

Take either one of those scenarios and it will probably have you running for the hills… or to the nearest telephone to call your member of Congress to tell him/her how you think s/he should vote.

The thing is, friends, is that “gun control” isn’t all that scary… at least it shouldn’t be, and I’ll tell you why.

I’m a professional firearms instructor, you know that. I teach other officers and agents how to fight with pistols, rifles, shotguns and submachine guns for a federal law enforcement agency headquartered in Washington, DC. I love my job (most days). I really do. I get to shoot a lot, I get to teach on a subject that I am very passionate about, and I think I make a real and lasting impact on people’s lives.

One of the best things about what I do is the interaction that I get with a group of people that much of the public finds scary or intimidating: The Federal Law Enforcement Officer. Yeah, that’s right, The Feds! The scary people you see in movies that spend all of their time violating your civil rights and making a mockery of The Constitution. Those people that are alternatively imprisoning people for no reason, searching for extraterrestrials, framing O.J. Simpson, planning to take away your guns, and wearing windbreakers and Oakley sunglasses while they do it.

I have news for you, friends: Most of those people spend most of their time, trying to make cases and arrest bad guys. Bad guys like bank robbers; people that would sell our national security to the highest bidder; drug traffickers that poison our youth; inside traders; child molesters; environmental polluters and spies. These things, among others, are what your federal law enforcement people spend their time doing… and believe me, it takes a lot of time, which is both the blessing and curse of our legal system.

Now, I don’t want to make this a diatribe about how great cops are. I am trying to make a point about how silly it is to get ratcheted up about gun confiscation. Whether you are a liberal that longs for the day “when the guns go away”, or a conservative that will give up his gun “when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers”, is really moot, because gun confiscation will never happen here.

Let me repeat that for the slow folks: Gun confiscation will never happen in America.

Here is the thing… most of the people on my side of the badge feel like you do. They have opinions on “gun control” and confiscations, and those opinions come down on both sides of the issue (not everybody with a badge is a gun queer) At the end of the day they realize, and so should you, that there isn’t any agency or group of people that would actually try and make it happen. Oh sure, an assault weapons ban here, a ban on fully automatic weapons there… but at the end of the day, no one is going to do it. Many of my brethren would actually refuse to participate if so ordered. Who does that leave? The Army? Fat chance! Our soldiers (and more importantly, their officers) come from too wide a cross section of society to participate in that kind of activity.

You want my personal view of "gun control"? Here it is: There is absolutely no valid reason for the public at large to own automatic weapons. Left up to me, any adult citizen would be allowed to own and carry concealed handguns... but you'd have to have a license, and you would have to demonstrate proficiency on an annual basis... some bullshit, NRA safety course isn't sufficient.

So, in the end, what does that leave us with? A tempest in a teapot, much ado about nothing, all smoke no fire, etc…

The arguments about gun control mean nothing. The Gun control issue is nothing more than noise... a wedge issue to distract voters from important things and mobilize hard-core political activists on either side during an election cycle.

GF

Swirling Thoughts

There is a lot of stuff swirling around in my head this morning... pardon me while I spew for a moment.

* Michael Buble` is coming to the DC area, and I tried to win tickets from a radio station (97.1, Wash FM) while driving up I-95, in my squad car. I didn't win. The bastards.

* My car...



...is in the shop it's getting nearly a thousand dollars worth of repairs. Just before vacation. F***!

* We have a PT Cruiser as a rental while my car is being repaired. I have to say that I like it much more than I thought I would... It has lots of leg room, which makes it for me, right there.

* I heard a cover of Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman" just as I was crossing the Beltway this morning (DC readers know what I mean). The singer was pretty good, but in several parts of the song, I thought she sounded like Dolly Parton (Now one of you will tell me that it WAS Dolly Parton, right?)

* I am reading a book about the history of the Knights Templar right now, and I am digging it.

* I am getting an MRI in about an hour.

* I filmed NEXT week's "Shoot 'em up Friday", yesterday. I'll do this week's tomorrow.

* I just finished reading a really crappy book by a guy named Douglas McKinnon, called The Last Days of America. This guy should sell insurance, instead. Thriller my ass!

* The Rugby World Cup starts in just under a month. I am so geeked up for it, it isn't funny... not that the United States has a snowball's chance in hell of getting out of it's first pool match against England.

* Tomorrow, I will post the Old Church Lady rant.

* An incompetent medical office staff member recently made me want to commit an act of extreme violence... and y'all know that Gunfighter is a professional practitioner of the art, right?

* I went to get a bottle of water on my way to work, a few hours ago... and realized that I had no cash in my pocket!

* It is hot in the DC area. No, I mean REALLY hot.... and exceptionally muggy.
I'm hot AND bothered!

* I'm announcing another round of "You Pick The Topic"so if any of you want to hear me spew on anything in particular, let me hear from you. Email is fine if you don't want to ask publicly.

Alberto Gonzales

I posted this on April 23rd of this year, but I would like to post it again, slightly amended for any who may have missed it. There is an addendum at the end... this is for you SMID


By now, most of you will have heard about the recent terminations of many (8) U.S. Attorney's by the Attorney General of The United States, Alberto Gonzales. No doubt you have heard about all of the controversy that has been generated.

As a result of the irregularities surrounding the dismissals, the Senate Judiciary Committee wanted the persons involved, including Karl Rove...



Harriet Miers...



and Attorney General Gonzales...



to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The White House fought tooth and nail, citing executive privilege, to keep White House staff members from having to testify under oath. Hmm. Am I the only person that has a problem with this?

Let's look at it this way: How well do you think it would go over when I make an arrest and then tell the judge, "Your honor, I'm happy to testify in this case, but I won't do it under oath, and I won't do it with a court reporter present, and only if you agree not to tell the public"? How do you think it would go from there? Not well, I can assure you... but this is what the White House wants. The President doesn't want his staff compelled to tell the truth.

Something is wrong with that, my friends.

We shouldn't be surprised, though. The President is a bloody liar, himself, and has surrounded himself with like-minded people.

Eventually the testimony conditions (after some compromising) were agreed to by all parties, and AG Gonzales was compelled to testify, under oath, with a court reporter, and on television. Before his testimony, however, Mr. Gonzales had several weeks of rehearsal and preparation time for his hearing, even cancelling his scheduled vacation around Easter, in order to have more time to prepare.

**News Flash** YOU DON'T NEED TWO WEEKS OF PREPARATION TO TELL THE BLOODY TRUTH!

On the day of his testimony AG Gonzales used the term "I don't recall" or words to that effect at least 45 times.

45 times.

This man is the Attorney General of the United States, as such he is the chief law enforcement officer in the United States. He is supposed to be the guy in charge of enforcing our laws. This is a man who was once the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court... he should know a bit about the law, and about testimony. Saying "I don't recall" so many times while on the witness stand must make anyone hearing this question this man's integrity or fitness to testify.

According to documents that surfaced through this investigation, AG Gonzales has attended meetings (which he earlier claimed he didn't attend), and detailed briefings (which he claims not to remember) on terminating the employment of 8 U.S. Attorneys. He doesn't remember any of it? He doesn't remember signing documents? His staff is making these decisions for him and he isn't even consulted? Is the Attorney General suffering from Alzheimer's?

I'm sorry, Mr. Gonzales, or "Gonzo" as President Bush calls you, but this isn't good enough.

Either you fired those people for political reasons in some sort of partisan shaking of the law enforcement tree, in which case you should resign, or the Department of Justice is completely out of control because of your incompetence, in which case you should be fired. In either case, you should leave office.

Regular rank and file cops can lose their jobs even at the hint of impropriety. This is because you can't hold a position of public trust if you are a liar, a thief, or someone who when under oath, is prone to dissemble.

You, sir, are a sleazeball. I wouldn't trust you, or any of your lickspittle coterie of thugs, liars, wingnuts, and Regent University graduates, to guard the most rancid whorehouse in Olongapo (in the Philippines).

You disgust me.... but this is what we get from people that think torture is alright, as long as you don't call it torture, and the Geneva convention on the treatment of Prisoners of War is irrelevant as long as you call them "detainees", not prisoners of war.

Addendum:

When I was sworn in as a law enforcement officer, I took an oath. The most important part of that oath is that I swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the United Sates, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same..." I took that oath very solemnly. I wasn't just mouthing the words. I meant it then, and I still mean it.

When Mr. Gonzales was sworn in as AG, he took this oath:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Seems to me he got lost somewhere in all of this.

Part of what is required of me, in order to remain a credentialed officer is that I am truthful. That when I am asked a question, whether it is under oath giving testimony in a case, or during an investigation, I can be trusted to tell the truth.

If, at any time, it can be shown that I am untrustworthy, even in an internal, administrative matter, my ability to to give testimony is damaged or destroyed. When it can be shown that I am untruthful, my testimony can be impeached. After all, do you REALLY want someone who is empowered to impartially enforce the law, when it can be shown that said person is a liar? Do we really want a person with the power of life and death over the citizenry to be untrustworthy?

Of Course not.

We require honesty and truthfulness from our rank and file cops. We require truthfulness from our criminal investigatotrs, lawyers and judges. We require truthfulness from all who serve in positions of public trust.

My friends, I have a badge in my pocket. With it, I carry credentials that discuss my permission to conduct searches, make arrests, give testimony, and use deadly force in the name of the United States government. I take these responsibilities very seriously. I wish that our President and Attorney General did the same.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has, in the intervening months since the original post, shown us time and time again that he cannot be trusted to give truthful, unvarnished testimony. The President has shown us that he cares more about protecting his loyalists than he cares about criminal acts carried out by members of his cabinet.

Attorney General Gonzales has spent an incredible amount of time, lately, testifying before Congress regarding his activities, and the activities of his senior staff concerning the firing of the aforementioned U.S. Attorney's. During his testimony, Mr. Gonzales has shown that whatever legal acumen that he might possess, his real talent lies in distortion and obfuscation. Coupled with his flat out refusal to answer questions that might paint himself or The President in a bad light, this talent for distortion can only assure us of one thing.

The Attorney General of The United States can't be trusted to tell the truth.

Now some of you are probably snorting to yourselves, thinking, "well, what's new about a liar in the Bush administration?" I might tend to agree with that, but I find it chilling when the Attorney General gets in on the act. No... I'm not talking about being political... and I'm not talking about being partisan. I'm talking about lying.

The Chief law enforcement officer of the United States is a liar.

His only boss, the President, thinks that the lying Attorney General "can still be effective" and has retained him in office.

What does that tell you about the President?

This administration spent a lot of time, in it's early days, talking about morality,and truth. Not so much anymore.

Take a Moment For Something Beautiful

You'll be glad you did.



Look at something beautiful... clear your head. Be stimulated without interaction. Find a a quiet place.



Breathe. Sometimes nature will surprise you with the gift of tranquility.



Look at what we have been given stewardship over, and know that we have the responsibility to preserve it. To do otherwise is irresponsible.



If I could give you a gift today, it would be the gift of peace.



If I can't give you that, at least I can give you a flower. We ought to start somewhere, eh?

Peace Be With You, always.

MySpace

My oldest daughter, fastpitch, has a MySpace account. She uses it, like so many other teenagers do, to communicate with her friends from school, church, and the local 4H, to which she belongs.

When I found out that she had a MySpace page, we talked about it and she was very excited about the fact that I was so "cool" about it, and electronic social activity in general. I didn't bother to tell her about my blog, but I assured her that I was just fine with things like MySpace and Facebook, when used responsibly.

The funny thing is that she and I now communicate via MySpace nearly every day. It is usually only a note to say hello or something... but she thinks that it is pretty cool that her dad visits her page and has one of his own (as lame as my page is!).

She is a good kid.... and today is her eighteenth birthday! I can't believe it. More on that at my Real Dads blog, later.

I'm glad that she is glad that I visit her MySpace area... and that she didn't feel the need to keep it secret from me.

GF

Shoot 'Em Up Friday, The Video Event!

Without preamble, I give you "Shoot 'Em Up Friday", The video event!











Well, that was fun!

My first time at bat doing any sort of online video... I am moderately satisfied with the results. Clearly, I have a lot to learn about editing and about how to edit, upload, and post what is, essentially, five minutes of video without having to use four or five different YouTube uploads... If any of you techno-types have any insight to share, I'm all ears.

I hope you liked it.

The Secret

My friends, you all know what I do for a living, right? OK, for those of you joining the program late, here it is: I am a tactical firearms instructor for a government agency in Washington, DC (but I work in the Virginia suburbs). I teach people how to fight with guns. More on that, here.

Today, I am going to tell you one of the fundamental secrets of the dark art of marksmanship. I will entrust to you what so many people should know, but can't figure out for themselves.

You see, shooting is, at it's core, a very simple thing to do. You needn't hold an advanced degree to be a proficient marksman; you don't need to be a techie; and you don't need to be a jock. Good marksmanship is irrespective of race, sexual orientation, gender, politics, religious creed or lack thereof.

Shooting is simple. Sure, all you have to do is make sure the particular weapon is properly loaded, and then point and shoot. Simple, right? You bet it's simple. As a matter of fact, there are only two physical acts involved in basic shooting, and they are: pressing the trigger, and seeing your sights properly.

That's it.

That's the secret.

Some of you are probably thinking: "There has to be more to it than that!" Some of you might think that I am intentionally oversimplifying. I assure you, I am not.

The thing about marksmanship, and I tell all of my students this, is that as an act, it is ninety percent mental. Properly manipulating the trigger and sights of a weapon in concert with one another, arriving at the zen-like nanosecond where all is perfectly aligned to produce the desired effect, which, in this case, is a bullet being fired from a gun, and hitting exactly what you were shooting at.

Like I said: Simple.

Where it becomes problematic is that many people cannot grasp that simplicity and cloud their minds with so much crap, it becomes nearly impossible for them to shoot well. When this happens, the poor shooter often has to come to see me. Often, the problem shooter thinks that if he or she could just throw some more bullets down range, they will eventually improve. The truth is that the only thing that this method will improve, is the financial bottom line of the ammunition manufacturer.

The key to being able to properly use the sights on a rifle or pistol is, to align your sights on the target, then throughout the manipulation of your trigger, you watch your sights, exclusively, so that they remain aligned until your shot is fired. If you disturb you sights by jerking the trigger, that bullet will not go where you wanted it to go... and folks, you can't afford that in a gunfight.

There is another key to successful marksmanship... one that might seem counter intuitive (how's that for a five dollar word?), and here it is: DON'T LOOK AT YOUR TARGET! You see, if you are looking at your target, you aren't watching your sights (see above)... you can't focus on two separate things at the same time.

So, you've learned the secret: Watch your sights, press the trigger smoothly so that your sights are not disturbed, and DON'T LOOK AT YOUR TARGET!

You'll hit what you are shooting at. Trust me, it's what I do.

Feel better?

GF

Not-So-Happy-Hour

Hey kids, it looks like this Friday is bad for a lot of you, so we are going to postpone our little Happy Hour gathering for a few Weeks while everyone gets vacations and so forth out of the way.

From what I am hearing from many of you, sometime soon after Labor Day might work best. I'll be in touch.

In the meantime, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you that barring any unforeseen technical issues, this week's edition of "Shoot 'Em Up Friday" will be done in video!

Watch this space!

GF