Snowflakes in Hell

I am now happy to finally own my very own M1 Garand. I’ve wanted one of these for a while, but since I joined a CMP affiliated club, I decided it was time.

This one was likely produced in 1955. Not a WW II model, but I wanted a good shooter. The history isn’t quite as important to me. The receiver looks to be in good shape. The blueing parkerizing is still very much in tact.

The manual can be rather amusing. Here’s a caution about “M1 Thumb”:

A SYMPATHETIC WARNING ABOUT “M1 THUMB”

The bolt of the M1 rifle can slam shut unexpectedly if the shooter has not strictly followed these instructions. If your thumb or finger is in its path, a painful condition called “M1 Thumb” is a strong possibility. In a half-century of military service with the United States and its foreign allies, the M1 has bitten thousands of recruits in this manner. No one ever died from it, but it did lead to a deplorable expansion of vocabulary in many languages…

… If one day you get careless and acquire an M1 Thumb, think of it not as a digit but a diploma. It shows that you’ve learned not to do it again.

Heh. Now I just need to get some .30-06 and get to the range.

All the major networks seem to have conceded that Mike Huckabee has won the Republican caucus in Iowa.  All I have to say is this:

What the hell are they putting into the corn in Iowa?  Are you people nuts?  This guy is a big government nanny stater!

Hopefully other states have better sense.  I really fear for the future of our country if Mike Huckabee is the best the Republicans can do.

Standard weekly is running an article on the light bulb ban passed out of Congress and signed into law by President Bush recently, that I talked bout here and here.

Fred is apparently surging in Iowa.

Predicting the top three in Iowa.  Anyone falling under this is out of the race:

Democrats:

1. Hillary
2. Obama
3. Edwards

Reason for Hilly is that she does well among older demographics, who are going to be the ones showing up to the caucuses.  Young people have jobs, families, and don’t have time for that crap.  Hilly walks away with it.

Republicans:

1. Huckabee
2. Romney
3. John McCain

Expect old people to screw us here too.  They’ll like the big government preacher in Iowa.   Romney will be a close second.  I think McCain will do better than predicted.

Looks like Robb is restating his case against Alexander Tristan Riley.

Glad to hear planning on GBR III is underway.   I plan on going this year, assuming no major scheduling disasters between now and the time I have to buy my tickets and commit.  I’m not going to pass up on more 900 yard shooty goodness.

Pro-gun Progressive takes on the “easy access to guns” canard showing up in the Baltimore media.  Funny, just a few days ago the BBC was touting this crap too.

What is “easy access”?  Basically, any access is “easy access” to these people.

These would be pretty cool if you could legally sell the machine pistol configuration.   I’ve never been really hot on semi-auto versions of submachine guns and machine pistols.  Don’t know why, but I just kind of think you should get something for all that girth.

Via Unforgiving Minute, who also links to the included nifty foam lined carrying case.

According to Jacob, they’re increasing their efforts on behalf of Richardson in Iowa.  Good.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court got around having to rule whether or not the Auditor General has the power to audit how the Pennsylvania legislature spends the $300 million dollars it drains from the public treasury every year in order to operate.  It did this by ruling the plaintiff didn’t have standing to sue the Auditor General.

Personally, I think the Auditor General should have the power to audit legislators.  Whether or not the law allows this is not a matter I’ve investigated, but it ought to.   Good luck getting legislators to hold themselves accountable though.

It’s good to see stories like this getting traction in the mainstream press.  It’s especially important in the Philadelphia suburbs.

This was a pretty interesting read from a guy who interviewed 200 survivors of gunfights and compiled what actually happens.

Via Second City Cop