• Both SANS and CERT have advice on the latest Java vulnerabilities.  It’s kind of tech-geeky, but you ought to disable Java on your browser.  If you don’t know how to do that, there are plenty of how-to’s out there.  You know how to do immediate corrective actions, field strip,  and clean your guns, so why not learn to do the same thing to your computer?
• Tooldtowork has noticed something that I’ve been seeing:  A lot of people who were uninterested in firearms and self-defense are beginning to think that maybe that Louisville Slugger under the bed might not be the best tool they could use to protect hearth and home.
• We have a twofer from Donald Sensing.  First, he points out that few people care when 25 poor or non-alabaster people lose their lives over a weekend, but the whole world seems to fall in when it happens in their back yard to suburban kids.  He also points out how a large proportion of our violent crime is done by criminals against criminals.  He has a brilliant idea for a bit of civil disobedience.  I’d suggest removing the spring and follower from the magazine before going to Washington and leaving them in Virginia.  No need to give anti-rights authorities an excuse.
• Michael Z. Williamson rebuts some anti-gun platitudes in his unique style.
• I will point at Peter’s experience at a gun show recently as a reason I won’t be attending one until all this blows over.
• Kathy points out something important – A good instructor teaches a student what they already know but don’t know they know, and an excellent instructor learns as much from the student as they learn from the instructor.

• OldNFO tells the story of what goes through a pilots mind when his plane turns itself inside out.  My question is this:  How do they get those flight suits on over their balls?
• BRM has some excellent thoughts on the current gun-control climate.
• Michael Z. Williamson has an excellent idea.
• Donald Sensing sums up my feelings on the perpetually poor.
• Andrew over at LuckyGunner does an excellent write-up on brass versus steel cased ammunition.
• New Jovian Thunderbolt does an excellent write-up on guns in homes with less than stable members.  Not to get too personal, but at one point since I got back into shooting, I was in that position.  A member of our home was unstable enough that not only the guns, but also the knives, both kitchen and otherwise, tools, and prescription medications were put under lock and key.  The deciding factor for me to buy an actual gun safe rather than a less expensive gun cabinet was that I wanted to do as much as I could to make sure this person had a hard time getting to my firearms.  I also made it a habit of checking the safe at least once a day to make sure it wasn’t being tampered with or heaven forbid, opened.  It’s a decision everyone has to make in those situations, and I believe that vigilance and prudence helped me make the right one.  That being said, I never want to be in that situation again, especially now that my gun collection is much larger.  Given the same set of circumstances, I would either thin out the guns to the point where it was easy to count them and make sure they were secure, or I would give all of them to someone to hold until the situation changed for the better.

• Evyl Robot does an excellent job discussing the gun control programs that we’ve gone through in the last 80+ years.  It is an excellent companion to LawDog’s Parable of the Cake.
• Wing gives advice on how to answer life’s most dangerous question.
• Hal Pomeranz gives an excellent write-up on one of my favorite *Nix commands.
• Carteach0 discusses .357 and .38 revolvers for self-defense.
• I’ve never agreed with Michael Z. Williamson more. 
• Flopping Aces recounts a truly inspiring story.
• Drang is making my jealousy muscle cramp up.  I really need to take a real vacation.

• Brigid tells of how simple things can remind you of wonderful times and loving people.  
• Peter brings us a beautiful song that brings back the memory of an old friend.  I can understand how he feels. There’s a reason I get all misty when I listen to “The Closing of the Year”.
• Yankee Born talks about her first experience in canning and why she kept at it.  My first attempt at strawberry jam produced 8 quarts of chunky strawberry syrup instead of jam.
• AGirl does an excellent job discussing some of the myths of self defense.  My personal favorite is “I’m a big guy.  Why should I carry a gun when no-one will want to mess with me?”
• JayG points out that “Thriller” is 30 years old.  I won’t spend too much time hoping that the pedophile who created that dreck is enjoying being slow-roasted in Hades, but Jay has a point.  “Born in the U.S.A” is as distant to Boo the Andrews Sisters and Glenn Miller were to me when I was 4.
• When I read this article by Lotta Joy, the thing that keeps going through my mind is “FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR!”.

• Robb has some excellent thoughts on the coming election.   I agree with him that no matter what, this is going to be close, and close might not be good enough to get Obama out of office.  Romney needs to win by a big enough margin that cheating below the level that causes revolution can’t take it away from him.
• Tam’s having  a rough day.  Do me a favor and go on over and show some love.
• Christina is kicking ass and chewing gum.
• Spook86 has an excellent rundown of the political implications of Benghazi.
• Auntie J does someone a good turn, and is shocked that there are people who don’t know that some do good for the sake of doing good.
• Stingray had an interesting night trying to herd cats while on roller skates.  Oh, and he apparently has a new accoutrement for his rifle.
• I would give a year’s worth of beer to have been a fly on the wall when AD and OldNFO shared a living space during a hurricane.  The stories alone would fill volumes.
• Ammo.net has an excellent graphic that explains just how much we are going to have to fight for our rights no matter who wins the election.
• The Silicon Graybeard points us to a story of tolerance and open discussion of issues.  If you call trying to strangle someone while you beat the hell out of them because they happen to be a gay Republican tolerance and open discussion of issues.

• Carteach has an excellent write-up on flashlight choice and a couple of ways to utilize them when armed.  I keep a Streamlight Stylus Pro in my pocket and a headband LED flashlight next to the pistol safe in the bedroom.  Both run on AAA batteries, and are at least bright enough to see both my target and my sights.  I need to talk to my range and see if they have any time for low light shooting practice.
• Uncle gets his tactical on, sort of.  Having met Uncle, I can say that he probably did it better and looked cooler than I would have.  Having the holster come out with the gun is one of the reasons I switched to holsters with belt loops.  After the holster comes off the belt with the gun during draw practicea few times, I decided that maybe I needed to change something.
• Thanks to The Armoror at Argghhh!!!, we have the story of an old British soldier who walked around for almost 7 decades with half a landmine in his leg.  The story talks about the shrapnel setting off alarms at airports.  I’m guessing it was more likely that it was the gentleman’s big brass ones setting off the metal detectors than it was a few ounces of German steel.  Just goes to show that one should never mess with older English gentlemen.  They have more steel in their spines than a battleship does in its guns.
• Borepatch does an excellent job reminding us that, even if Romney is elected, things aren’t exactly going to be sunshine and rainbows.  My guess is that we are going to have to be as tough on Romney as we have been on Obama if we want to see any real progress.
• Blackfive has a great set of ideas for the Rules of Engagement our soldiers fight under.  In the DaddyBear administration, he may well be the Secretary of War.
• Six has some of the same troubles with his BMW that I have had with our Chryslers.  Honestly, I’m beginning to think that the pinnacle of automotive technology, at least for the semi-trained shade tree mechanic, may have been the 1959 Chevy pickup.  Simple, easy to work on, and if you can’t find a part, all you really need is some metal stock, a drill press,a ball-peen hammer, and some time for fabrication.
• Stephen has an outstanding post up that brings back some of my favorite memories.  When we first moved to California, we had a lemon tree in our yard, and the smell of the tree and its fruit were wonderful.  Also, nothing beats the way the house smells after a crockpot of chili has been simmering all day.

• Robb has a rather unique request for his 40th birthday:  Do something nice for someone else and let him know about it.  Challenge accepted!
• Lyle says what I’ve been saying about my Mosin for a long time:  It doesn’t matter how much you paid for a rifle when it comes to what you want to add to it to make it do what you want.  That’s why I put $200 worth of sites and trigger on an $89 rifle.  Yeah, it’s a lot of money to sink into an antique rifle, but I shoot it better with it than I do without it, so I see it as money well spent.
• Stormdrane keeps coming up with some wonderful projects.  I need to try my hand at a few of them.
• Julie takes another new shooter to the range, and fun ensues.  She may be one of the best recruiters to the hobby in Australia.  I just want to know where she got that target.
• Roberta X. gives a quick rundown of the universe of her Hidden Frontier.  She’s right, a well laid out setting is at least as important as good dialogue and character development, at least to me.
• Defense Tech lists out some very cool new inventions that the Army is fielding.

• OldNFO has an excellent rundown on how he takes care of his EDC equipment.  That reminds me, I need to give the pistols a good wipe down.
• Something tells me that a businessman in Texas is about to have a very bad day.
• Borepatch discusses the latest wave of Internet banditry.  The discussion of how hard it is to get this particular piece of malware off an infected computer reminds me of something an old SysAd told me once:  Take off and nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.  If you get infected, zorch your partitions, re-install your system, and restore your files from the most recent uninfected backup.  You are backing up your system, aren’t you?
• Via BlackFive, we hear the story of how soldiers at Fort Bliss were forced to sit and provide a backdrop for Fearless Leader when they should have been either finishing up business early or already off for their long weekend.  Reminds me of when some guys I knew from Wiesbaden had to give up their last bit of family time before deploying to Bosnia so that they could be there to smile and clap for President Clinton doing a victory lap.
• The Big Guy has one of the creepiest photos I’ve ever seen.  I sincerely hope that’s PhotoShop.
• I’m not sure what breed of dog Wirecutter posted a picture of, but I know I want one!  Nothing says  “Get off my lawn!” like a dog that requires a ground guide to back into his bed at night.

Sean shared some worship and a meal with his local Sikh congregation, and had some thoughts about it.  His conclusion:  We’re all Americans, no matter where we or our ancestors came from.  I heartily agree.

Now to the good stuff. I am a patriot. The sight of the flag makes me happy. I believe in America and in Americans. I take second place to no one in love for my country. The Sikh speakers, especially the President of the temple, exceeded me in patriotism by a long shot. America is not blood, and it’s not soil. America is ideas, and the people who believe them. These were Americans. They might have been born here or far away. But once they started talking about America, the “best” and “safest country in the world”, you could tell that they were Americans. These are not scare quotes, these are direct quotes from the speakers. Thomas Jefferson might have had a problem understanding the accents, but not the sentiments.

Go on over and read the whole thing.