Today, in 1960, a scientist at Hughes Research Laboratory created the first working laser. A lot of our modern world depends on this discovery:
And of course:
Now, if y’all will excuse me, I’m going to go get my laser pointer and see which of the three bozo’s have the greatest vertical leap.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 16, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/16/today-in-history-3/
On Sunday, protests at the Israeli borders with Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza turned violent when Syrian nationals broke down a border fence and took the demonstration into Israel itself. Faced with a mob of Syrian citizens violently entering their country, Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing and wounding several.
The Syrian Assad regime has been beset with demonstrations in its cities over the past few weeks, and has been criticized in the international press for their harsh repression of its citizens who take their grievances to the streets. My gut tells me that it’s no coincidence that the demonstration against Israel that actually turned deadly happened where Israel meets Syria. One of the better ways to distract your population from problems at home is to either create or re-ignite a foreign conflict, especially one with long-standing grievances. The Syrians have been smarting over the loss of the Golan for a generation, and it probably wouldn’t be hard to get a population that’s already in the mood for a fight to take a poke at Israel.
With President Obama pretty much prostrating himself before the Muslim world, Israel knows it stands alone when the countries around it decide to have another go at pushing them into the sea. Even the long peace between it and Egypt has been jeopardized by the removal of the Mubarak regime.
I expect that Syria will play this incident up with its subjects and neighbors, and will be appealing to its masters patrons in Tehran to aid it in attacking Israel soon. Assad knows that if he doesn’t change something soon, he will go the way of Mubarak. Since the Syrian army and security forces have crossed the line of shooting people in the streets, the reaction from said people when they gain power will be to put everyone connected to the government against a blood-stained wall. He will use this incident to incite a conflict against Israel in order to maintain and consolidate his power at home.
Oh, and by the way, May and June are the end of the spring campaigning season in that part of the world. If I was Netanyahu, I’d be quietly getting my reserves ready and finding out just who on the world stage will be in his corner when the Arabs come out swinging.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 16, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/16/spark-meet-powderkeg/
It’s a drippy, rainy, gray kind of day here in IndiUcky, and I found myself craving something sweet, and thought I’d do some baking. This is more of a fall recipe, but today just felt right for this particular piece of comfort food. I hide a teeny bit of nutrition in here with the wheat flour, oats, and fruit, but I’m not going to lie and say that this is a healthy snack.
Oatmeal Fruit Bars
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Cloves to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Ginger to taste
Nutmeg to taste
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped nuts – optional
3/4 to 1 cup of fresh blueberries, washed and drained thoroughly. Frozen can be substituted, but must be completely thawed
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, cut into eighths, and then sliced into 1/4 inch slices.
Cream the butter in a bowl until it becomes light colored and fluffy. Add brown sugar and white sugar/honey, egg, apple juice, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. In another bowl, combine baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and flour. Add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add oats and optional nuts. Mix well. Fold in fruit. Do not mix so much that the blueberries break open and stain the dough purple. Resulting dough should somewhere between cookie dough and cake batter in consistency. If it is too thin, add more oats. If it is too thick, add more apple juice.
Put dough in a greased 6 x 6 inch baking dish. Put into a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a knife put into the center of the dish comes out hot and clean. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 15, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/15/oatmeal-fruit-bars/
I’ve been in a good mood since I started shooting on Saturday. I am beginning to believe that a combination of RemOil and GSR is an anti-depressant.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 15, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/15/thought-for-the-day-99/
A couple of years ago, I was looking for a way to secure my handguns when I wasn’t carrying them, and locking the bedroom door just wasn’t cutting the mustard. I wanted my carry and home protection guns in the bedroom where I could get to them quickly, but I wanted them secured against small hands and curious minds.
I’d looked at several handgun safes, and after discussing it with my concealed carry instructor, who also had several children at home, I checked out the V-Line Top Draw. This 12 by 9 by 2.5 inch steel box includes a top lid that’s as tall as the box itself, making prying it open difficult, a programmable five button mechanical lock, and pre-drilled holes for securing it to a stud, closet shelf, or drawer.
I chose the mechanical lock over an electronic lock because I sincerely believe in Murphy’s Law: When there’s a need for me to get to the gun quickly, the battery will be dead, and I won’t have the backup key handy. The tactile feedback of the raised buttons allows me to open the case in the dark quickly without a flashlight or turning on the room lights.
The case is large enough to hold the following:
Posted by daddybear71 on May 15, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/15/product-review-v-line-top-draw-handgun-case/
To the gentleman who sat at the table next to us at Knob Creek today, wearing bib overalls, smoking a pipe full of wonderful smelling tobacco, and shooting four, count them, four suppressed guns, including a fully automatic suppressed MAC-10: you are the coolest guy I met today.
To the gentleman who was driving the brand spanking new Porsche in front of me this afternoon: Nice car. Maybe someday you’ll learn to drive it.
To the lady in the 1980’s vintage Ford Escort, complete with rusted through body panels and a hood the wrong color: I am awed by your skill in keeping that piece of crap on the road and passing the douchebag in the Porsche.
And Today’s Winner:
To the young lady who was squeezing zits in the make-up mirror at Target: Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Camel! Seriously? You were cratering your face using a public mirror in a crowded department store? Really?
Posted by daddybear71 on May 15, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/15/shoutouts-4/
Irish Woman, talking to me in her most loving tone:
How did you ever manage to procreate?
Posted by daddybear71 on May 14, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/14/quote-of-the-day-62/
A while ago, I contacted Michael over at The Holster Site about getting a custom holster built for my CZ-82. There just aren’t a lot of choices in pre-made holsters for this little automatic, and what I did find I just didn’t like. Since this was my first hand-made holster, I leaned quite a bit on Michael’s advice for what he had that fit my needs. I eventually decided to get his High Rise Pancake Holster.
Guess what was waiting for me when I got back from Pittsburgh?
I’ve been wearing this as a CCW holster for a almost two weeks, and I’m impressed. The holster is made of very stiff cowhide, and retains the gun very well. I chose the natural leather color because it will blend in with brown or khaki pants and shorts, which make up a lot of my wardrobe. I expect that over time, the leather will darken a bit, but that’s the color of leather that I like. The Holster Site offers quite a few different colors other than this natural look.
The high-rise design holds the gun up high enough that it’s easily covered by a regular length tee-shirt, and the tab of leather on the top of the holster keeps the gun from digging into my back or side while I’m sitting in the car. A good note is that I can wear this while driving and don’t need to adjust it for comfort. In addition, the rough finish of the leather”s back helps to keep it from moving around.
The stitching is excellent, and the best way to describe the construction of this holster is SOLID. Even the tab, where I expected some flex in the leather, is stiff and holds its shape extremely well.
The belt loops are very snug on my gun belt, so this holster goes on your belt and stays put. Between the grip on my belt and the tight fit for the gun, I have no worries about retention and control.
One final note on the excellent customer service I got from Michael. The CZ-82, while it is becoming more common on the market, still hasn’t reached saturation to the point that he was able to easily find an example gun. But Michael went the extra mile to find one, and got this holster to me months ahead of when I expected to get it. Add to that his patience in walking a complete newb through the process of picking out a model, material, and finish, and I’m extremely pleased with my purchase.
Please note that I received no consideration from The Holster Site for this review. I’m just a satisfied customer.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 14, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/14/product-review-high-rise-pancake-holster/
For eating a bunch of comments and two posts I was working on, but hadn’t published yet.
Also, I’d like to thank them for making the decision of whether or not I should move to a hosted blog on a dedicated domain a little easier.
I’ll have more stuff to post tomorrow. Gotta get ready to take Girlie Bear to the range. I’d rather do that than mess with Blogger at the moment.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 13, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/13/id-like-to-thank-blogger/
An art teacher in Florida has been arrested and suspended for giving a fat lip to a student who was giving her lip.
I’ve had teachers who squirted me with water for not paying attention, and more than one beaned me with erasers or pieces of chalk for talking in class. Once, in the first grade, I was sent to the principles office for a paddling because I took a swing at one of my cousins during recess. He gave me a stern talking to about fighting and exactly one swat with the Board of Education, and then called my mother. The chain of information in our little prairie town was in high gear, because I caught it on the way home from my grandmother, two adult cousins, and an aunt before I even made it home for a real punishment. Needless to say, I wasn’t a discipline problem, even when I had the normal excuses from home for being a hellion at school.
Irish Woman loves to regale friends about the day five nuns laid a beating on her cousin/brother after he decided he didn’t like the taste of the Eucharist and put it in his pocket after receiving it at morning Communion. There’s a reason they were called Sisters of Mercy, because they let him live.
Fast forward to Junior Bear’s junior year of high school. During the parent’s night, his very small, very energetic Spanish teacher mentioned that his size was a little intimidating when she first met him. I half jokingly told her that if he gave her a hard time, I had no problem with her giving him a dope slap or two to straighten him out. She blanched, and immediately gave me the correct legal language to tell me that she would never consider hitting a student.
Somewhere between the 1970’s and the 2000’s, our teachers lost the right and responsibility to enforce discipline in their classrooms using whatever tactics fit the situation.
Maybe that’s one of the things that is wrong with our schools. The students have no fear of reprisal for acting up. The worst thing that can happen to a student today is to be sent to sit in a room during an in-school suspension. Wow, what a harsh way to treat someone. Make them sit in a comfortable room and read for a day or two. Even that is rare. Most of the time, they send the kid home for a few days of out-of-school suspension. Since most families have two working parents, that means that a kid with a discipline problem gets to spend all day alone, doing whatever he or she feels is necessary to entertain themselves.
If students aren’t going to respect their teachers, they should fear the consequences of disrespect. A dope slap, a piece of chalk thumping you in the chest, or a trip to the principals office for remedial action might go a long way towards changing our schools from warehouses to educational institutions again.
Posted by daddybear71 on May 12, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/05/12/i-dont-see-the-problem-here/
