Vice President Joe Biden is in Finland today with his family for meetings with the Finnish government and apparently to do a little shopping.

While you’re there Joe, I’ll take any of these things you can find for me:

• Case of Lapin Kulta
• Case of Koffs
• Some nice Aarikka jewelry
• An M-28, M-28/57, or a TKIV 85

I’m good for it.  Come on, hook a brother up!  Don’t get me any Finlandia vodka.  I have plenty, and I can already get that pretty easily in Kentucky. Kthxbai!

I’ve seen this on several other sites, but thought I’d make sure to pass it along.  We need every shooter we can get, and we need them safe.

PRODUCT WARNING AND RECALL NOTICE
WINCHESTER® RANGER® LAW ENFORCEMENT 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point®
3/1/2011
Olin Corporation, through its Winchester Division, is recalling six (6) lots of its RANGER® 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point® (PP) centerfire rifle ammunition (Symbol Number RA223R2).
Lot Numbers (last four characters): DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41, and DK51
Through extensive evaluation Winchester has determined the above lots of RANGER® Law Enforcement ammunition may contain incorrect propellant. Incorrect propellant in this ammunition may cause firearm damage, rendering the firearm inoperable, and subject the shooter or bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury when fired.
DO NOT USE WINCHESTER® RANGER® 223 REMINGTON 64 GRAIN POWER-POINT® AMMUNITION THAT HAS A LOT NUMBER ENDING IN DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41 or DK51. The ammunition Lot Number is ink stamped inside the right tuck flap of the 20-round carton, as indicated here:
To determine if your ammunition is subject to this notice, review the Lot Number. If the last four characters of the Lot Number are DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41 or DK51 immediately discontinue use and contact Winchester toll-free at 866-423-5224 to arrange for replacement ammunition and free UPS pick-up of the recalled ammunition.
This notice applies only to RANGER® 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point® centerfire rifle ammunition with lot numbers ending in DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41, and DK51. Other Symbol Numbers or Lot Numbers are not subject to this recall.
If you have any questions concerning this RANGER® Law Enforcement ammunition recall please call toll-free 866-423-5224, write to Winchester (600 Powder Mill Road, East Alton, IL 62024 Attn: RA223R2 Recall), or visit our website at http://www.winchester.com.
We apologize for this inconvenience.

From the Soft Underbelly Department – South Korea is accusing their communist cousins to the north of intermittently jamming GPS signals during recent military exercises.  This apparently caused some cell phones and other equipment to lose their ability to find their position on the earth.  No word on how many young lieutenants are still unaccounted for after having to fall back on their map and compass skills.

From the Cetacean Rescue Department – 22 melonhead whales were recently saved after beaching themselves in eastern Japan.  Unfortunately, a further 30 whales perished after becoming stranded in shallow water.  Having been called a melonhead a few times in my life, I can understand the need to just beach yourself sometimes.  In unrelated news, McDonalds restaurants in eastern Japan have announced a trial offering of their new McMoby sandwich.

From the Fly the Friendly Skies Department – An Australian flight attendent is under investigation after allegedly locking a toddler in the overhead bin during a recent flight.   In related news, an Australian flight attendent has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for finding a way to cut down on the noise level on flights.

From the No Need for a Cup Department – Mattel’s Ken doll, long a fashion accessory for their wildly successful Barbie collection, has turned 50.  Ken will apparently be investing some of his hard earned cash from the past 5 decades in hair plugs, laser hair removal, a new tattoo of a snake being eaten by an eagle, and a blue sports car that is distinctly different from the Dream Corvette.

From the Muddy Waters Department – A spear fishing crew in Florida reports that their catch was attacked by a large shark, possibly a great white, while they were hauling it on board their boat.   After seeing the shark, they retrieved their diver, who was unable to see the shark.  When asked why he did not see the shark when all three of his companions did, he remarked that for some reason the normally crystal clear waters of the Florida coast became quite cloudy when he heard there was a large shark in the same water as him.

From the New Fish Department – A group of scientists in Brazil have identified a new species of catfish, the jaguar catfish.  They picked this name due to the similarity between the markings of the fish and the famous cat species.  The fish was found at the bottom of a tributary of the Amazon, and is believed to have been preparing strings of beads to take with it during its yearly pilgrimage to Rio for Carnival.

Today’s quote is from JayG, who is Stuck in Massachusetts in case you hadn’t heard:

We don’t like the laws, no; but we certainly have to abide by them.

Jay highlights something that I think distinguishes responsible gun owners from the criminals we get lumped in with by the anti-gun crowd.  We may disagree with a law, believe that that it is unconstitutional, and scream to heaven while we fight it in the courts and legislature, but we will follow it. We didn’t wholesale disregard the AWB.  We don’t subvert NFA ’34 or GCA ’68.  We follow them.

What the anti-rights movement doesn’t understand is that the people who will do evil with their firearms don’t follow the existing laws, and won’t follow any new gun laws.  The only people who will be inconvenienced and stripped of their rights by any new gun restrictions are the law abiding citizens who are already following the existing laws.

A Kosovar Muslim man shot and killed two American airmen as they were preparing to fly from the Frankfurt, Germany, airport.  Witnesses state that he screamed “Allahu Akbar!” as he stormed onto their bus.  It is only by pure luck that his gun jammed and the body count isn’t higher than two dead, two wounded.

Sources in Germany say that Arid Uka saw videos of U.S. soldiers conducting missions in Afghanistan and decided he wanted revenge.  German officials are investigating whether or not he had contact with Islamic extremists in his country.

My thoughts:

The people of the United States, and especially our armed forces, have spent the better part of the last 20 years providing support and protection to Balkan Muslims, including those in Kosovo.  We have spent billions of dollars to airdrop food to Muslim civilians who were cut off by Serbian forces in both Bosnia and Kosovo.  Several American soldiers have died as a result of our efforts to help predominantly Muslim governments in these two countries grow strong enough to stand on their own two feet.  We did this while the oil rich Muslim countries either sat on the sidelines and clucked their tongues at the situation, or just sent cash to the governments to buy more weapons.  No effort was made by the Islamic world to put boots on the ground in Bosnia or Kosovo in order to prop up the governments of Bosnia and Kosovo during the war.  There was no Saudi battalion at Mostar.  There were no Pakistani planes flying food and medicine into Sarajevo.  Yemeni engineers did nothing to rebuild bridges in Kosovo.

Apparently our sacrifices are not enough.  Uka watched a few videos on YouTube, read some Islamic rhetoric on the Internet, and possibly listened to some inflammatory sermons at Friday prayers, and decided that American service members deserved to be murdered.

I have a prejudice here, in that I was involved with the Balkan War from the night it began in 1991 until the day I left government service in 2001.  I have an emotional connection to the sacrifices our country has made to help the people of that area.  I knew two of the men who were wounded in Bosnia, and thank the Lord that none of my soldiers died there.  I have seen with my own eyes the results of the inhumane way the Serbs conducted that war.  At the time, and for a long time afterward, I hoped that our actions in that region would be an example of how we used our might to help the weak, and that we could point to Bosnia and Kosovo when we were confronted by Muslims who accuse us of atrocities against the Islamic world.

But as I’ve watched the anti-West and anti-American rhetoric that flows like a river of poison out of the Islamic world, those hopes have withered.  I have come to the conclusion that no matter how much time, blood, treasure, and sweat we pour into making these people safe and prosperous, a large number of them will continue to spew hate and treachery at us.  We have, through our dependence on the natural resources in the Islamic areas of the world, chained ourselves to madmen.  Even though I know there are Muslims who look at these actions and the actions of other terrorists with horror, the strong vein of hate that runs through that otherwise decent portion of the world population causes me to question our willingness to share our bounty in treasure, food, and military strength with the parts of the world that genuinely need it, but are dominated by Islam.

If we are to be continually attacked as conquerors and infidels no matter now much we give, why do we continue to give?  If a Kosovar Muslim feels so bad about the situation in Afghanistan, why doesn’t he volunteer with the Red Crescent to go there and help to improve the lives of his fellow Muslims?  How many times must we absorb casualties before we finally give up and allow those who wish to revert to the squalor of the 12th century to do so?  Where is the tipping point of ingratitude that causes us to realize that these nations are only our allies so long as it is a cash and carry transaction, and even then we will be stung by the actions of those who don’t care how much we do for their people?

Tam, mistress of kewlness on the InterWebs, has a good post up about how the Roman military was eventually made into a hereditary service.  The soldier watching the Rhein border region was sitting in forts built and maintained by his father and grandfather, and would train his son to take his place.  Eventually these armies lost their connection to the empire they were sworn to defend.  This was brought on by this article, which is by the way the best written thing I’ve seen written about soldiers and their families in a long time.

There are still a lot of people joining up whose family hasn’t produced a soldier or sailor in generations, but there is a significant minority of people whose “daddy, granddaddy, and his daddy before him” joined up.  My family has been in the military since my mother’s Irish ancestor* got off the boat in New York and joined up, at least twice, for the bounty.  I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of my kids ended up in the military, and I’m trying to raise them to go in with their eyes open and with at least a few skills to ease their transition to life in the barracks.

The civilian population is, for the most part, disconnected from the military in general, and those who are or have been deployed to combat in particular.  To them, the military is either something they see in a movie or a video game, or a half-remembered uncle who went to Vietnam or a grandfather who fought in France.  A couple of times a year, they donate a quarter to the VFW guys in front of Kroger, maybe fly the flag on the 4th of July, and have a barbecue on Memorial Day.  If they have time, they’ll watch “Saving Private Ryan” on cable and cry at the end. 

When the vast majority of the country has absolutely no connection to the military, and the military becomes an almost hereditary silo apart from the people they defend, bad things start to happen.  Military leaders start to look at the politicians who give them their marching orders as unworthy to lead, and the rank and file stop identifying with the country and start identifying with their commanders.  Remember, the best sheep dogs are raised with the sheep, and identify with them.

On the flip side, the civilians start to look at the military as either a money pit to be starved, as happened to the U.S. military in the 1920’s and 1930’s, or to be used as an international “feel good” force used to react to the crisis of the moment, as happened in the 1990’s.  In this case, the sheep stop feeding the dog, or get him barking at all the little noises in the pasture until he is too exhausted to fight the wolves when they invariably come over for dinner.

Again, I see this as a big city/little town issue.  Louisville may have ceremonies at Cave Hill and Zachary Taylor Cemeteries for Memorial Day, but Bardstown had a chunk taken out of it a generation ago, and still remembers her sons every day.  Kids may go to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox every so often on a field trip, but a school that has 20 or 30 fathers, mothers, and teachers deployed with the National Guard is reminded of the war every morning.  I’ll bet that the recruiters in the small towns and cities around the United States have an easier time getting recruits than those in San Jose or Chicago. 

One good off shoot of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is that there is now a good leavening of veterans entering the work force and politics.  Even if they are still a small minority of society, they can influence the rest of us to remember those who protect us.  The large use of National Guard and Reserve forces, while disruptive, will force communities to recognize that their peace and stability is bought at the cost of the lives and sweat of their fellow citizens.  Even though there will always be the “my daddy, and his daddy, and his daddy before him” soldiers, hopefully there will always be a majority of young people who join just because they think it’s a good idea.

* Yes, I have a drop or two of Irish in me.  I’m a proud product of the American melting pot, but self identify as Norwegian since that’s how I was raised.  If the president can identify as African, I can identify as Scandinavian.

Coworker, who has been working for several hours on a small problem:  “DB, I need a clue.  Can you help?”

DaddyBear:  “Certainly.  You see a line of bloody footprints leading away from the body.  They were made by a pair of size 9 Italian calf-skin loafers, made by a blind Turkish man in Naples 4 years ago.  Does that help?”

Coworker:  “That’s got it, thanks!”

One of the reasons I have stayed at my job so long is that I work with some of the best people I’ve ever met.

• If a policeman tells you that you’re going to be arrested because you have several warrants out on you, don’t try to drive away.  
• If you do attempt to drive away, stop when you realize you’re dragging the officer for several blocks.

Failure to follow these hints may tend to get your butt shot.  In this case, it got the driver shot in front of his kids. 

No more blogging tonight.  I’m off to defend the small country of Kentuckistan, which conveniently is encompassed by nearby Fort Knox.  I’ve signed up to fight the good fight tonight and Thursday night.

My bruised and happy self will be back tomorrow.

The last American World War I veteran died Sunday at the age of 110.  Frank Buckles lived a long, full life, and was touched by both World Wars.

When the United States entered the First World War, Mr. Buckles tried several times to join the military, and eventually found an Army recruiter who believed he was 18, even though he was only 16.  How many 16 year olds tried to fake their way into the Marine Corps after September 11th?   He served in France until after the war ended, then returned to civilian life.  He was in the Phillipines when the Japanese attacked during World War II, and spent several years in an internment camp.  He dedicated his later years towards re-dedication of the World War I monument in Washington D.C. as a national memorial.

It boggles my mind the things that Mr. Buckles and his generation lived through:

• World War I
• The Roaring 20’s
• World War II
• The Post War Peace and Prosperity
• Korea
• Vietnam
• The Cold War
• The IT Revolution

I remember several grandfathers when I was growing up who wore World War I medals with their buddy poppies on Memorial and Veteran’s Day.  Mr. Torkelson, who shared a pew with us in church every Sunday, had left an arm in France in 1918.  Now they are all gone.  These men, and their sons and daughters who fought World War II, built the world we live in.  Without their hard work, even if the World Wars had not occurred, our world would be much smaller and poorer.  We owe Mr. Buckles and all who served with him a great debt.