Larry Correia has sold the rights to Monster Hunter International to a company that may turn it into a TV series!

That sound you just heard was me clicking around looking for a DVR, just in case.

While discussing the news of the death of Osama bin Laden with one of my co-workers today, she made the point that all of the Bush era interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, had not led our forces directly to bin Laden.  Her point seemed to be that all of the “torture” that occurred didn’t stack up to “real” intelligence, that apparently all came after January 2009.

I tried, and failed to convince her that intelligence work, especially against a target as dedicated to security as al Qaeda, takes years, and you have to take information from wherever you can get it.

When I was in intelligence, we were always looking for the Big Break:  the enemy orders wrapped around a couple of cigars, or the break in code that let us decrypt everything. 

But for the most part, we were looking for needles in haystacks.  Find a needle, see if it fits with the needles you already have, and then start looking again.  If it doesn’t fit with any of your needles, start another pile and hope you find more.  Repeat for as long as you have information to sift through.

With the improvement in collection systems, this process has gone from looking for needles in haystacks to looking for diamonds on the beach.  Even with massive use of computers for initial analysis, it still takes a skilled, experienced human to look at something that appears to  be shiny and declare it a diamond. 

Sometimes you get lucky and it takes minutes to put together a picture.  Sometimes it takes years.  Sometimes it never happens, but you do what you can so that the next guy to work on it will have a chance to finish it.  But eventually the picture will take shape.  The trick is getting it into enough focus quickly enough that something can be done with it.

Apparently bin Laden was found because of a little information gained during interrogations of prisoners at Guantanamo.  This information, gathered years ago, was used to find other information, which led to leads, which led to new targets and new information, which ultimately led to two rounds of 5.56 causing massive head trauma to Osama bin Laden and a contribution of much needed protein to the deep sea region of the Indian Ocean.

Congratulations to the collectors, reporters, analysts, leaders and of course, the pilots and trigger pullers who brought this about.  With the exception of President Obama and his direct staff, most of these people will never see the light of day or receive what they deserve for their hard work.  Without their hard work, usually done with no knowledge of when it would bear fruit, we would live in a much more dangerous world.

Why do I have to walk through the pouring rain after parking the car, and then hold everyone elses wet umbrellas while they use the ladies room?

— Father of a small family at the middle school chorus recital, spoken in a keening, nasal whine.

Because you’re the dad, that’s why.  Life’s not fair.  If life was fair, it wouldn’t be as much fun.  Man up, STFU, and stop whining about looking after your wife’s things while she powders her nose.  Don’t look at it as holding your wife’s purse.  Look at it as safeguarding her possessions while she attends to important female business.

Rebels in western Libya are complaining that forces loyal to Qaddafi are shelling their supply lines.

Apparently General Faruk ibn Newbie hasn’t read his Napoleon:

Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.

Qaddafi may not be Montgomery, but he’s no fool.  He knows that if the rebels keep bringing in supplies from outside the country, in addition to what NATO is handing them in both aid and airstrikes, he will eventually lose.  Losing for Qaddafi means he’s a dead man, since there aren’t too many places on the globe he can run to after a lifetime of pissing off the world in general.

So instead of letting himself be whittled away with the ammunition and guns that are coming across the border, he’s shelling the road and border crossing to discourage their use.  Sounds to me like he’s purchased a clue.

If the Libyan rebels want to start acting like soldiers, they might be able to do a little better against Qaddafi’s forces.  If they want to continue to act like a bunch of weenies who raided the National Guard armory, they’ll continue to be surprised when someone with a smidgeon more talent than them eats their lunch.

Lord of heaven and earth,
Thank you for giving me such a daughter
She brings me nothing but joy

She is strong and smart
She is kind and thoughtful
She is happy and full of life

Her smile fills the world with light
Her laughter is hearty and beautiful
Her mind is open to learning the wonders of Your world

But Lord, why did you make her so beautiful so early?
I am a young man yet, and am not ready for my baby girl to grow up
Grant me more time with my child before she becomes a young woman

Her bubble dresses have been traded for skirts and blouses
She has discovered my nightmare, boys
Squeals of laughter at cartoons have become giggles with girlfriends

Lord, for all the sins I committed as a young man
I am truly sorry and I humbly repent
Please do not punish me by giving me a beautiful girl in a world full of men such as I was

I know that I must let go, ever so carefully
She cannot always be my little girl
But keep her safe and make me strong as she grows up

Today my ensemble includes tan Eotech pants, brown NRA tee shirt, black gun belt and holster, and a dark blue Smithsonion Institute souvenir jacket as a cover garment.

It’s a wonder Irish Woman even gave me a second look.

“Calories don’t count when you’re carrying”

— Nancy R, eating brownies with Weer’d Beerd and wearing a sweet shoulder holster

Just got out of the car. Kept the car just under takeoff velocity on the way back. I had a great time at the convention. More on that to follow.

Now if you’ll excuse me, BooBoo and I have a date with Buzz Lightyear.

I spent Day 2 revisiting booths that caught my eye on Day 1.  

Well, I’m starting to wind down after taking a couple of tours around two entire floors of gunny goodness.  I’ve run into some friends from the forums and such, and I’ve seen a while lot of stuff that made me happy in my pants.

Impressions so far:

• This is the best trade show I’ve seen so far.  It even beats out the DotCom Boom computer shows.  Not a lot of schwag, but the people at the booths were uniformly friendly and knowledgeable, and didn’t try to get customer contact data out of you.
• Since this is the year of the 1911, I made a point to check out all of the myriad manufacturers and look at their government model.  My favorite so far was the Remington.  The slide moved like it was on bearings, the trigger was really smooth, and broke very cleanly.  Just for kicks and grins, I went over to the Rock Island Armory booth to check out the example they had that matched my government model, and I could immediately feel the difference.  Now, I love my RIA 1911.  It was inexpensive to buy, and it’s fun to shoot.  But when compared to the models from Colt, Kimber, and Remington, it’s very rough.  I am definitely going to put getting another 1911 at the top of my pistol list, and I may put some work into smoothing out the trigger.  A few drop in parts might also be in order.
• The Mossberg representatives were very happy to talk to me about their youth models for shotguns.  I’m in the market for either a muzzleloader or a slug-capable shotgun for Girlie Bear.  I spent a while looking at the Super Bantam Mossberg 500 for her, but after I described her to the Mossberg rep, he said that she might be big enough to handle a full size 500.  He suggested that I let her shoot my 835 a couple of times with a light load and see how she liked it.  If the 835 is too big, then a Bantam 500 might be right.  If the 835 is comfortable for, then a full size shotgun will be in order.   On that one, it’s going to come down to whichever I find first that’s in my price range, either a rifled slug shotgun or a muzzleloader for Girlie Bear.
• The Rossi rep was pleased with the success we’d had with the .22/20 gauge CombiRifle that I’ve been using to train Girlie Bear.   
• I had a chance to take a look at the new Coonan .357 automatic, and it looks and feels really sweet.  It’s a good, solid hunk of metal, and I have no problem believing that recoil from .357 Magnum would be more than manageable with it.  The MSRP quoted to me is between $1200 and $1800, with more added for additional features.  This one is going on my list of “wants” too, but I’ll definitely wait until they’ve had a chance to wash through the used market.
• While I was at it, I took a look at both the Taurus Judge and Smith & Wesson Governor.  In shape, size, and weight, the Governor appears to be indistinguishable from the Judge at first glance.  According to the marketing posters for the Governor, in addition to the .410 shotgun shells and .45 LC, it can also fire .45 ACP.  Either way, they’re silly.  If you want to shoot a shotgun, get a shotgun.  If you want to fire a pistol round, get a dedicated pistol.

While I was doing my best impression of Brownian Motion through the crowds, I listened to what the crowd was talking about.  In addition to the expected “Gee whiz, that’s neat” and “Those damn gun grabbers!” conversations, I heard a lot about the economy.  The herd consensus seems to be we’re in a hole, someone’s digging the hole deeper, and we’re screwed.  I found it telling that the precious metals vendor was as busy as Ruger or Smith  & Wesson.

Tomorrow will be a few more rounds around the floor to check out the minor vendors and displays, followed by the Gunnie Prom.