The way things are going…

This is going to be reality…

The Department of Defense (DoD) is proud to announce a new fleet of Class 1069 destroyers. Having initially named the first two ships USS Daring and USS Dauntless, the naming committee has, after intensive pressure from Congress, renamed them USS Cautious and USS Prudent.

The next five ships are to be USS Empathy, USS Circumspect, USS Nervous, USS Timorous and USS Apologist. Costing $850 million each they comply with the very latest employment, equality, health and safety and human rights laws.

The U.S. Navy fully expects any future enemy to be decent and to comply with the same high standards of our behavior.

The viewer friendly stacks will be painted in the “gay pride” colors.

Live ammunition has been replaced with paintballs to reduce the risk of anyone getting hurt and to cut down on the number of compensation claims.

Stress counselors and lawyers will be on board, as will a union representative for each of the trades on board.

The crew will be 50%/50% men and women and will contain the correct balance of race, gender, sexuality and disability.

Sailors will only work a maximum of 40 hours per week as per union rules on working hours, time and a half for overtime and double time on Sundays and holidays, even in wartime.

All the vessels are equipped with a maternity ward and a disco.

Tobacco will be banned throughout the ship, but recreational cannabis will be allowed in the messes.

Saluting of officers is now considered elitist and has been replaced by “Hi Sailor”.

All information on notice boards will be in 37 different languages.

Crew members will now have permission to grow beards and/or mustaches. This applies equally to female crew.

A majority of Senators have suggested a “non-specific” flag because the current “Stars and Stripes” may offend some Nations during port calls.

The newly re-named USS Cautious will be commissioned shortly by muslim cleric from the Washington DC Mosque who will detonate a small explosive device near the hull.

As she will gently slides into the sea the Marines Corp Band will play “In the Navy” by the Village People. Her first deployment will be to escort boatloads of illegal immigrants to ports on the East coast.

The President said, “Our ships reflect the very latest in modern thinking and they will always be able to comply with any new legislation from the U.N.” His final words were, “I told you there would be “CHANGE!”

But, I’m old school… 🙂

Navy t-shirt

WWII Recruiting Poster…

Back to the WWII recruiting posters.  An Army one from 1940…

WWII Army recruiting

This one was done prior to the war, and was actually done by Major Tom Woodburn who was the editor and art director for Recruiting News (an Army publication I believe).

According to what I could find out, this one was also made into a billboard and distributed pretty widely…

And in a twofer, here is another Woodburn poster…

WWII Army Recruit

And a link HERE to ‘part’ of a story in New Yorker Magazine in 1940…

Customer Service…

I actually debated posting this one, as it will seem like fawning, but what the hell…

Among other conversations at the NRA this past weekend, customer service was mentioned at least a couple of times a day.  Now we all ‘know’ who the lousy ones are at customer service, either through personal experience or reputation…

But having said that, the one commonly mentioned name without fail for GOOD customer service was Brownells…

I’m sure as soon as I say that, there will be the 1% that will crap all over me, but everybody there had nothing but good stories…

Mine in particular, was over a Trijicon RMR. I’d ordered one with a specific mount, and they inadvertently sent the wrong one.  So I called when I got it, got an RMA number and shipped it back.  Three days later, I again got the wrong mount.  I called in again, got a very nice lady who confirmed the part number was in fact incorrect, had them pull a correct one, bring it to her, and she read off the part number.  It was correct, and I got it two days later, express shipped, before I’d even had a chance to get an RMA and return the second one. AND there was a hand written note apologizing for the mistakes…

Others had nothing but good to say for them, for any number of reasons, including asking if folks were sure they needed the more expensive part, or recommending substitute parts that would get the job done when the desired part was out of stock or backordered.  And everyone was united in how personable and friendly the phone order folks at Brownells are.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both Mr. Frank Brownell, and Larry Weeks and some of the other folks that work there, and they have been without fail polite, interested in making sure you’re happy with the product received, and willing to take extra steps as required to fulfill folks orders.  A couple of years ago I watched Mr. Brownell interacting with his ‘customers’ at the NRA AM, and it was obvious some of them were LONG time customers, as he actually knew them by name.  And in some cases he actually remembered what guns they had bought stuff for!!!

Lastly, Brownells has supported us with help with food/drinks at some of our functions, not because we’re a big important group, but because we’re trying to do the right things.  This past weekend being a good example-  Ambulance Driver taught a class on blow out kits to 32 of us.  Brownells covered the drinks and munchies for the class.  They didn’t have to, they won’t get any advertising out of it, other than on the blogs but they did it anyway…

THAT is the definition of a class act, and customer service…

And why I’ve been a customer for over 20 years…

A ‘new’ channel…

And it sounds like one worth watching…

Daniel Defense Announces presenting Sponsorship of NRA Freestyle Channel

Fairfax, Va. – Daniel Defense has teamed up with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to introduce NRA Freestyle, the newest addition to the NRA Digital Network.

The newly launched NRA Freestyle channel was designed to speak to a new type of gun owner, one who chooses to incorporate firearms into an independent, athletic, adventurous lifestyle. This online video channel features original programming, a premium publication and a daily blog along with a unique ensemble that includes urban gun enthusiast Colion Noir, veteran U.S. Navy SEAL Dom Raso, high school athlete Reagan Tyler and pop culture ambassador Amy Robbins.

NRA Freestyle Programming includes:

NOIR

Colion Noir has emerged as one of the leading voices for the newest generation of firearm enthusiasts. So we gave him his own show. Join Colion and co-host Amy Robbins as they talk fashion, pop culture, firearms and more. NOIR episodes will debut on Sunday evenings and will be available thereafter on demand.

Media Lab

We see fight scenes with guns and improvised weapons all the time, but could that actually happen in reality? Dom Raso breaks down Hollywood’s most infamous fight scenes and gives his “true to life” or “farfetched folly” verdict in movie reviews like you’ve never seen before. Media Lab will air on Wednesdays.

I Am Forever

Like most high school seniors, Reagan Tyler feels unprepared when it comes to her personal safety. U.S. Veteran Navy SEAL Dom Raso is going to change that. He’ll teach Reagan priceless lessons in situational awareness, confidence, gun handling and more. Premiering fall 2014.

The new ‘channel’ link is HERE.

I’m looking forward to Raso’s fisking of the movie fights, especially after our conversation last Saturday night… 🙂

Actually I think this is an extremely good idea, as this should draw younger ‘viewers’ to get a more realistic picture of not only guns, but a safe and sane lifestyle…

Posted in NRA

They want MORE of ‘our’ money…

This administration is hell bent on running us into the ground… It’s not enough that they are continuing to raise taxes (either direct or indirect), health care cost is going through the roof (IF you can get it), and they are doing nothing to slow down the rampant entitlement programs…

And now this…

In a major shift for how governments fund transportation projects, the administration wants to let states charge tolls on interstate highways. A federal ban currently bars states from doing so in most places, but the latest White House push could change that.

Read the whole article HERE at Foxnews.

And in a more ‘personal’ note, the company that I work for (small business, less than 50 employees), are having to re-look at our insurance package.  Because of my travel, and the need for ‘international’ availability of medical care, my monthly insurance is about $725/mo.  The ‘rumor mill’ has it that may double depending on what the company has to do, and if it does we, the employees, must make up the difference.  Now my ‘raise’ this year was 1.2%, so that means I could pay for about TWO months of insurance…

And we’re also hearing they are going to make another run on TRICARE this year, to either bump the rates to over $1000 a year, and/or make it so that we are kicked to Medicare at 65…

Sigh… Am I retired YET???

Squirrel Report…

If you need a laugh, I’m going on the Squirrel Report tonight at 9PM EST…

Knowing that crowd, this should be interesting… 🙂  Call-in is 214 530-0036 if you want to harass me…

Errr, did I miss something this weekend???

It appears I missed the NRA declaring war on the USA… Sigh…

I miss ALL the good stuff!  But we can count on Ana Marie Cox from the Guardian to keep us up to date (I guess)…

I was somewhat undercover at the convention this weekend. And being among people who believe they are surrounded by other members of their tribe does mean that they say things they might not otherwise say – but to be unguarded, to be vulnerable, doesn’t always reveal the worst in people. It can reveal the best.

Full ranting, er, article HERE.

And here’s a rebuttal from Matt over at the Bang Switch…

Wow, as a longtime NRA member, I did not realize we were declaring war on our own country?  Perhaps I missed something in the membership paperwork?  I must read on and see what I am missing.

Read his whole rebuttal HERE at the Daily Caller…

Sigh… Guess I need to pay more attention…

And I don’t remember seeing said woman in the Press Room at all, did anybody else see her???

Stuff…

John Lott does a great job of fisking the VPC (again) HERE, over their bogus gun-control numbers…

And there is info from the NSSF that basically says the administration is complying (at least in the outbound direction) with the Small Arms Treaty-

ADMINISTRATION LIMITS EXPORTED MAGAZINE CAPACITY OF 30 ROUNDS AND HIGHER . . . NSSF has learned today that the U.S. State Department has made a “policy decision” to limit the export of 30 round and higher capacity magazines solely to government, law enforcement and military end users. The policy is expected to be posted to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) website this week. NSSF will provide updates on this policy development as more information becomes available.

Full link HERE.

Today in History- In 1992, rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers on 29 April of almost all charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. the 30th was the second day of rioting, leading to fifty-four people being killed.

South Central was a ‘war zone’ on this day with LAPD effectively ceding control of SC to the rioters, and the only ones that came out okay were the Koreans who defended their homes and businesses with firearms… And to my knowledge, not a single one was ever charged… 🙂

Link HERE.

And there is ‘THIS‘… Tongue in cheek?  Yeah, but pretty damn close to home too!

As a side note, it appears the PC police are alive and well, and we’re losing (as usual)…

Mas Ayoob and EP did manage to find the protesters at NRA (they were apparently some distance away)… His AAR is HERE.

One of these years I’m going to actually find them… Sigh…

Freebie…

The second (1999) edition of Dr. Vincent DiMaio’s classic text, Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques is available for you to read and download. At this price, it’s hard to ignore.

Available HERE.

h/t DUF

Shooter self care class review…

I was going to get this up this morning, but computer was NOT playing nice…  And I note Daddy Bear got one up HERE, so go read his, and I will concur with all he said! 🙂

Remember, if you’re not breaking ribs, you’re probably NOT getting enough compression…

And a tip of the hat to  Bound Tree MedicalBrownell’s, and Franciscan St. Francis Healthcare for the equipment, refreshments and meeting space, in that order…

Good folks all!