Obama

Judging by the Electoral College counts that I'm seeing on TV, McCain pretty much got his ass handed to him tonight. We've just witnessed a very powerful demand for a change in direction for this country, and to be honest, much more of a majority than I expected to see. The Democrats are poised, with the presidency and strong majorities in both houses, to pretty much do as they see fit with impunity for at least the next two years. Interesting times indeed.
I have to give it to the man - he is an incredible speaker. I can only hope that his talk of uniting the country and working together is not so much hot air, but I fear that there is really no incentive or need for him to do so with the mandate he's been handed.
The Democrats have the reins of power now. Whatever happens in the next couple of years will be entirely their responsibility - they will have to own it. I will pray that they use that power wisely.

Pimp my Ruger

Since that rifle match I took part in a few weeks back, I've been filled with a desire to "hop up" my plain-jane Ruger 10/22 in an attempt to coax possibly more accuracy out of it. So, patiently biding my time on several gun boards out there, I managed to pick up a clean laminated Fajen stock for $40 plus 100rds of 7.62X39 and a Green Mountain sporter barrel for $65 shipped.
Well.... the barrel came in Friday afternoon and I finally got an opportunity to make the switch today...
Before:

My bone-stock Ruger 10/22. Not much more to say, really...

15 minutes and one bottle of Hornsby's Crisp Apple Cider later:


I know the pictures suck - the lighting was suboptimal - but that stock is frikken beautiful.
Here's a close-up:


I am an absolute sucker for pretty furniture...
Here's a closer shot of the new barrel:

Now just to add a decent scope, take this bad boy down to the range and see if the setup will shoot as advertised...

I'm not down with that

As you all know, the election is coming up on Tuesday. Here in California, voters will also be asked to vote on several propositions on the ballot - an attempt at government by direct democracy rather than having the legislature do its job.
One such proposition is Proposition 8, which would change the state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
Since the courts here pretty much gave a green light to gay marriage, this is probably the last weapon in the arsenal of those who oppose gay marriage.
I have a huge problem with this.
My understanding is that a constitution is written up to limit the power of government.
What we have here is an attempt to amend a constitution to restrict the liberties of the people.
See the difference?
Whether you care for gays getting married or not, using a constitutional amendment as a bludgeon to smack down folks you do not agree with can NEVER be excused.
That way lies peril.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness does not come with an "only if you're straight" qualifier.
I am a married Christian man who finds the concept of attraction to a member of my own sex incomprehensible, but that gives me no right to use government to discriminate against homosexuals. They do me or mine no harm by existing, and they certainly do not violate the sanctity of my marriage. Given current divorce rates (especially amongst Christians!) us straights are doing that just fine all by ourselves.
As for it being taught in public schools, well there are choices - this is America, after all. We can send our kids to private school, or even home school them ourselves if we dislike the curriculum enough. Better yet, as parents, since we are the primary influence in our kids' lives,we can teach our children and show by example ourselves the life lessons we want them to learn.
You may not agree with the homosexual lifestyle. You may not like it. You may even hate it. What you must do though, is think very carefully about using the power of the government to restrict the liberties of a particular group in our society, if only because the next one up on the block might be yours.