Oink Oink

This year’s pork book is out. Read about here. then check out the full thing here.

This year it seems Democrats top the list of porkers, which I am sure we all find so shocking.

Hawaii Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono, both Democrats, topped the list for earmarks in the House of Representatives. Abercrombie’s pet projects received a total of almost $257 million; Hirono’s received almost $153 million.

The annual Pork-a-saurus award goes to Sen. Harry Reid for requesting $143,000 for the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. Dude, there are museums in Vegas? I mean, besides the Elvis one…

Three Great Reasons to Pay Your Taxes

From Reason.tv

Gun Show Saturday and Some Cursory Gun Control Thoughts

I attended a gun show this past weekend. It certainly was not my first and won’t be my last. This was one was very average to say the least. I didn’t really go with anything in particular in mind to buy, but was just looking for bargains. I did manage to pick up a gently used  Beretta 8040F (chambered for the .40 S&W round). I really didn’t want another .40 as I already have one I am quite happy with. They tend to be expensive to shoot, with a box of .40 ammo going for about $5 – $7 more dollars than a box of 9mm Luger for 50. Considering I shoot around 200-300 rounds per gun per trip, that adds up. I’ve read that some folks have had accuracy issues with this model, which I suspect is due to the heavy trigger pull, but I haven’t had it out at the range yet. I’ll give a report as soon as I do. My dad is a former law enforcement officer who carried a Beretta 96 for the last few years of his career, was quite jealous.

One of the things I did notice is that the price of EVERYTHING has gone up. From ammo to common guns, everything is through the roof. This is especially the case with semi-automatic rifles. Last year at this time, it wasn’t uncommon to see AK’s in the $400-$500 range, SKS’s in the $150 range, and AR-15’s for around $1000. This is not the case anymore. The cheapest AK I saw was a Norinco that had been beat all to hell, and it was still $699.  Russian made SKS’s were in the $400-$500 range, and Chinese made a little less. AR’s were through the freakin’ roof. The fear that there will be another gun ban has really driven prices up. In fact, I heard more than one person tell the dealers that they were looking for guns that would be targeted under a ban. Hi-cap magazines were going at a steady pace as well.

Given some of the senseless violence that we have seen over the past few days and weeks, it would surprise me if there wasn’t a renewed push for more stringent gun control laws. There is nothing worse than cowards who go after soft targets or set up ambushes intent on killing innocent people. No, we don’t want people like that to have guns. But people intent on killing others will find a way to do it regardless of what laws are on the books. Guns are readily available on black market. Restricting law abiding citizens from legally purchasing and using firearms is counter-productive and counter-intuitive. With all due respect, I think that Americans should want some people to own guns, especially those of us who grew up handling them from childhood, who have been thoroughly trained in their use, who are licensed by their state to carry them in defense of self and others.

Sick as a Dog

Everyone in the house has had a varying degree of sickness for over a week. The little one had it the worst. I would say the Mrs. was a close second. For me, it was severe chest cold, complete with coughing up bloody chunks of goo, a fever, delerium and nightmares. Good times.

I managed to make it through Ash Wednesday. The early service was tiny (four in attendance), but I almost passed out midway through. The evening service was much larger, and the folks were very understanding and appreciative that I refused to touch the bread, having a lay person distribute it in my place. During the elevation, I just lifted the whole paten. Bad liturgical form? Maybe…but it beats giving my folks the plague. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. My sermon is part Gospel of Mark and part Where the Wild Things Are.

I was supposed to go to a gun show today, but didn’t. Too tired, plus it was raining.

Why go to a gun show, you ask? I am always looking for a bargain. I am not sure I have anything in mind in particular, but would like to pick up an old SKS and modify it for deer season. You just get better deals this way, especially if you aren’t dealing with the overhead of a fancy retail location.

Speaking of which, I have two gun posts brewing. One on the renewal of the assault weapons ban, and one of the “gun show loophole.”

Subdivision Rant

I hate being in a subdivision. HATE IT! I hate asking permission from my overlords at the HOA to do anything. I hate living so close to my neighbors. I hate the fact that I can’t get a few chickens for my backyard. Hell, I hate looking out my window and seeing another house at all. Not to mention the damn idiots who drive through here at night with their bass thumping so loud it shakes my windows. And with the housing market being what it is, I am probably stuck here for YEARS!!!

I have no desire to drop out of civilization, I really don’t. Even in the county where I live, which is just 20 minutes away from a major metro area, there are still expanses of farmland. There is a part of me that wishes we would have waited to buy something so that we could have found something with some property and space to breathe.

Hear endeth my rant.

Learn About and Fight the NAIS

Start here.

Then go here.

Bottom line: this is an agri-business ploy that will lead to the further erosion of small, family farms, and won’t actually do anything to improve food safety.

Mistaken Premise

I keep thinking I am going to have more time to blog. I am not really sure how it is that I managed to write (at times) most every day at Idle Ramblings. But with the demands of family life, parish life, and getting ready for the growing season, time in front of the computer is relegated to work on the very quick interactions allowed by Facebook. I can catch up with folks there quickly, and have even found myself sending links there rather than here. Who is to say that this won’t just eventually die and be replaced entirely by FB until some newer and better format comes along?

Anyway, until that time I guess I could update you on what has been happening.

1. I ordered organic seed potatoes and received more than I can possibly plant. I have enough to plant about 75 linear feet, and b/c of the room they take up, I can’t really put them in my raised beds without wasting a huge amount of space. Any suggestions? Should I just go ahead and till up part of the yard. or is there a better way?
2. I am in the process of building four raised beds (8′x4′x16″). One is complete and the lumber is cut for the other 3. Due to time constraints and iffy weather, they haven’t been completed, though I hope to get them constructed by Friday so I can start prepping the soil. I’ll get some pics up when I can.
3. We keep getting quotes to put up a fence around our back yard, and they keep coming in at over $3000. I think I am just going to do it myself. My concern is if we don’t fence in, someone is gong to complain about the mini-farm in the backyard. I am actually surprised that – between the water barrel, the cord of firewood, the 20 containers, and now the raised beds – that no one has complained yet.  Plus, people let dogs and children run free here, and there is at least one pesky dog that gets into everything, harasses my dog, has knocked over the compost, and eats my garbage. Sometimes I hate living in a subdivision.
4. Derek has my interest all up in the possibility of aquaculture. Apparently there are folks raising tilapia and such in their yards. I really want to introduce livestock of some sort, and this may be the answer. I can’t do bees (deathly allergic), chickens are a no no in this ‘hood, and i am guessing they would frown on goats. Any other ideas?
5. Oh yeah, I am stoked that our all organic, grass fed, no-antiobiotic laden beef is at the butcher’s place and will be ready to pick up next week. We bought half a cow for about $2.49/lb, supported local agriculture, and got some clean beef that is melt in your mouth good! Now if I can just find some hogs…

until next time…

Well, Duh!

My Political Views
I am a right social libertarian
Right: 5.46, Libertarian: 7.18

Political Spectrum Quiz

My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -2.23

Political Spectrum Quiz

My Culture War Stance
Score: -1.29

Political Spectrum Quiz

Quick Update and Future Post Previews

Been a busy couple of weeks here in the burbs…

• work is a handful right now, and Lent is right around the corner.
• We discovered an awesome and simple artisan bread recipe in Mother Earth News. It has endless variations and is very, very tasty! We are making pizza dough out of it tonight. Give it a try.
• The last frost is just around the corner, so garden planning is in full swing. My seed potatoes will be here any day now, and we need to get seedlings started for everything else. And of course, those beds still aren’t built.
• I have all the stuff I need to rework my container soil from last year, and really need that done this weekend.
• I have decided to build a fence around the back yard, but have to file paperwork with our HOA for approval. I figure why pay someone else to do this when I can do it myself.
• I have been thinking a lot lately about the so-called Benedict option. Rod Dreher writes about it in his book Crunchy Conservatives, and several blogs have spoken of variations on the theme. It has me thinking about what intentional community building might look like. What if like minded folks covenanted to all move to a neighborhood together, buying several houses on a block or  large plot of land, and turning into an intentional community? Not sure…but it has my interest…

A Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Living

Tanya Gold offers a sobering yet humorous look at how to survive in post-apocalyptic Britain. The good news is that you can survive off the land, even if you are more accustomed to urban life. Than bad news is that – in a real TEOTWAWKI situation – we are probably all screwed anyway, regardless of how much bushcraft we know! Should you be one of the lucky few who make it, see her “Fun Things You Can Do After the Apocalypse” section!