Front Sight Training

Front Sight combat ranch is offering a free training class - ANY training class, at any time in the future - for any blogger who puts Front Sight links up for 3 years. I'm not sure if the ones below count, but I also wore out my fingers putting a whole new Front Sight Links widget over on the right. Go visit 'em. Here they are again, covering my bases.

• Front Sight Firearms Training
• Ignatius Piazza - founder of Front Sight
• Ignatius Piazza Blog
• Ignatius Piazza - in Las Vegas Mercury
• Front Sight - in The Mail on Sunday Review
• Ignatius Piazza - in Times Democrat
• Front Sight - on CNN
• Ignatius Piazza - in National Enquirer
• Front Sight - in Icon Magazine
• Ignatius Piazza - in Chicago Tribune
• Ignatius Piazza - in Gun World
• Ignatius Piazza - in San Francisco Chronicle
• Ignatius Piazza - in Fort Worth Star Telegram
• Front Sight - in Financial Times
• Front Sight - on BBC News
• Front Sight - in Gun Web
• Front Sight - in New York Times
• Ignatius Piazza - in Small Arms Review
• Front Sight - in Sierra Times
• Ignatius Piazza - in Forbes Magazine
• Ignatius Piazza - on World Net Daily
• Front Sight - in Guns & Ammo
• Front Sight - on USA Today
• Front Sight - in Santa Cruz Sentinel
• Ignatius Piazza - in Handvapen Guiden
• Ignatius Piazza - in Las Vegas Sun
• Ignatius Piazza - in Las Vegas Life
• Front Sight - in US News & World Report
• Front Sight - in London Times
• Ignatius Piazza - in Washington Post
• Front Sight - in El Pais Seminal
• Front Sight - in Pajaronian Register
• Front Sight - in Black Belt Magazine
• Front Sight - in Cybercast News Service
• Ignatius Piazza - in El Mercurio
• Front Sight - in Los Angeles Times
• Ignatius Piazza - in Playboy
• My Experience at Front Sight
• Ignatius Piazza - on Reform America

French Government Choosing Baby Names

What's In a Name: Judge Blocks Parents' Choice
Search For 'Different' Names Result In Interesting Choices

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow named her baby after a fruit, Apple. Comedian Penn Jillette chose Moxie Crimefighter for his spunky daughter.

And while unusual names may be a Hollywood staple, some believe it may cross the line in the real world.

One New Zealand judge even blocked one family from using the name it chose. The judge said the name was unfair to the child.

"Initially, the reaction is, 'Are you for real?'" said Pat Wheaton, the New Zealand father who was blocked from naming his son 4Real.

Wheaton said the idea for the name came when the couple saw the first scan of the child."We started thinking 'Jeez, he is for real?'" Wheaton said.

The couple's idea came naturally, but many parents are feeling the pressure to be different.

Baby naming is big business today. Some parents are turning to professional consultants, computer programs, polls and even numerologists to achieve the perfect moniker for their bundle of joy.

"Parents think that if they give their child a unique and special name, the child will become unique and special," said Bruce Lansky, author of "100,000 Baby Names.

"Nevaeh, which heaven spelled backwards, has become one of the world's most popular names. But others don't always pass the societal test.

Two boys, one in Michigan and the other in Texas, bear the name ESPN. They were named after the sports network.

In some countries, names are illegal -- like Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden in Germany.

And French parents must choose from an approved list. The laws are designed to prevent teasing.

In America, almost anything goes."You can't use a four letter word that I wouldn't use in this interview anyway, and other than that you're free to do what you want," said New York University Sociology Department Chairman Dalton Conley. "That's part of the first amendment right to free speech here in America."Only as the children grow up will people learn if these interesting names will be the source of ridicule.
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Emphasis added, feel free to make fun of the French.

Bon Jovi - Lost Highway Review

Here it is, track by track. Might as well get it in before the deluge of reviews comes in the next few weeks.

1.Lost Highway
Never liked starting a CD with a title track. Don't know why. Not sure why I don't like this song very much. It's very cheesy country, and the "plastic dashboard jesus" line irritates me as much as everyone else. Seems Jon and Co. gathered up all the country cliches they could find and crammed them all into this song. Kinda catchy though. Good solo. 5/10

2.Summertime
I don't understand why people hate this song. Yeah yeah, cliched, uninspired lyrics...but it's fun. Not everything has to be Hey God or TAALS. There's nothing TRULY cringe-worthy in the words, and it has a fun, warm-weather vibe to it. 7/10

3.(You Want To)Make A Memory
A very emotion-filled song. It really feels like he's singing from the heart. It seems to be a love song, and not a song between friends, which makes me wonder if there's a little Bryan Adams-adultery theme in here with the "Your phone is ringing I don't wanna ask" line. Was there a solo...I must've missed it. I'd say one of the more powerful songs on the album. Maybe not a good choice for a first single (BJ is already known as a ballad band, I think), but a good song nonetheless. 8/10

4.Whole Lot Of Leavin'
Reminds me of a song from the box set. Last Chance Train maybe? Fun sound to it, and a mature discussion of a mature topic. Seems like there's a story in here somewhere, and I wish they had've done without the happy ending to it. I like the guitar (especially the solo), but they should've left it as a pop rock song instead of trying to work in the country feel. 7/10

5.We Got It Going On
Hate to say it, but I like this song. A lot. It's stupid. It's got lyrics that I'd cut myself before writing. But it's fun. Like One Wild Night, except not as intelligently written. It's a big dumb rocker, and unapologetic about that fact. It does not try to redeem itself at all, and I like that. 7/10

6.Any Other Day
Might just be the best song on the CD. Powerful, everyman style lyrics that manage to be positive and negative at the same time. I can't decide whether I like the verses or choruses more. Good solos, that really contribute to the feel of the song. Finally, a pop rock tune that doesn't try to fake the country edge. But yet, it's so much more. This one really resonates with me right now. I'll update this review when I figure out what this song reminds me of. 10/10

7.Seat Next To You
Sounds like it should've been on Destination Anywhere, but DA songs were actually good. I'll give the verses props though. Worthy of skipping, and that's the last I'll say. 3/10

8.Everybody's Broken
I had such high hopes for this song, and it didn't live up to them. Yeah, the verses are strong, but we've got that country affectation to deal with, and the chorus isn't nearly as good as it should've been. It's really quite bad, actually. I kept waiting for some rock, with those almost Bad-Horsie guitar sounds at the beginning and end of the chorus, but no dice. A nice, strong solo raises its score. 5/10

9.Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore
I hate to use the word adult, because that brings to mind teens standing in the magazine aisle snickering, but this is a very adult song. It's a conversation between two people falling in love, for either the first or second time. Usually BJ duets don't work out well, but Leann Rimes does a passable job here. And I like that they broke away from the conventional song structure. 7/10

10.The Last Night
If I'm still alone tomorrow night, can I sue for false advertising? In all seriousness, this is tied with Any Other Day for best song of the album. Sure there's no solo, but it doesn't need one. It's just a short, sweet, powerful and inspiring song. I love it. 10/10

11.One Step Closer
Wasn't this supposed to rock Dry County's socks off? It tries, but not very well. Stands ok on its own though. Good song about someone deciding to try living again. I will say this, BJ should try out some depression rock like on These Days, I think this more adult style of writing could work well with that. 6/10

12.I Love This Town
Some fun guitar, but corny lyrics. I can't decide if he's talking about the small-hometown type city, or like, a ghetto area. Worth skipping. 4/10

13.Walk Like A Man
Love this song. Reminds me, thematically, of Cat Stevens's Cats In The Cradle. One man's understanding of what it's like to be both father and son. Not the be all and end all that people are making it out to be, but a solid, touching country rock song. One of the few country rockers they pulled off right. 7/10

Overall:Decent album. Doesn't compare to the brilliance of KTF or TD, but then, what does? For a spur of the moment "Hey this worked once, let's try it again" type album inspired by WSYCGH, it's pretty good. Would've been better without the faux-country affectation. Then it probably would've been the next Destination Anywhere...which it is already, but it would've been even closer. It's a very grown-up album that solidly cements Bon Jovi's reputation as a grown-up band. And, the writing's a step in the right direction. Compared to Crush or even Bounce (which I do so dearly love), this shows downright brilliant songwriting in places. I'll be listening to this CD for a while.

Fun Times Pt. 5.5

So the night that this whackjob tells me to watch my back, the management cuts me loose early because otherwise I'll go overtime.

The night crew gets ready to leave at 12am, and they find he's been waiting outside for them, for an hour. Does the pounding on the door, demanding to be let in routine. Cops are called, they detain him while the employees leave, then the cops cut him loose after about 20 minutes.

Given that he threatened me, and then was waiting outside when I would've been exiting the building, I am taking his threats very seriously. I filed a police report, and the police will be talking to him presently. I'm in the process of trying to decide whether or not to buy a restraining order. He's already been banned, by management, from my place of employment.

The nut's name is Jonathan Miles Hensel. He lives at 820 Reed, Manitowoc, WI, 54220. He has 13 priors. Twice picked up for driving w/ suspended license. Multiple speeding/bad driving tickets. Two divorces, a restraining order, one Misdemeanor A for obstructing an officer, and a felony charge of torturing an animal to death. A regular freakin' choirboy. I'm also willing to bet he's spent more than his fair share of time as an inmate of The Enchanted Kingdom, aka The Hoo-Hoo Hotel, aka The Rubber Room, aka the looneybin.

Updates to follow. Fortunately or unfortunately, life is not like The Black Donnellys. You cannot drag a guy into the road and kick him into a coma, whether you have a good reason or not.

Fun Times Pt.5

Long story short, a certifiable loonytoon got fed up with my customer service today and told me that I need to watch my back really, really closely. Ordinarily, I'd laugh off the threats of some punk. This guy's as old as my father, and he hung around the store and b*tch*d at employees for 6 hours. The manager on duty at the time downplayed the incident and told me to make sure I didn't upset any future customers by letting my disdain for them creep into my body language. Letters of complaint will be requested from both the store and assistant manager, and a police report will be filed. If the guy whacks me, at least there's be a papertrail.

The lights in my house have been going on and off (and staying off permanently) without reason or warning.

The gent who was checking out our house at 2pm a week ago returned last night. Parked a car in front of the neighbor's, didn't get out, didn't do anything but just sit and look at my house and the house across the street. Then he drove down the street, turned around, and parked & watched again.

For the first time in my life, I'm going to bed with Paul Nelson within reach - with a round in the chamber. I feel like I've been awake for days. Doesn't help it's boiling hot here too.

Good night.

Bought A Safe

Finally.

Got it home this afternoon. Just a locking-tin-can type. Nothing too fancy. Sort of a stopgap measure until we can pick up a decent firesafe.

Two stacks of rifle mags on the top shelf, all the way to the ceiling. A few more hooked between the wall and the shelf. A couple piles of Beretta magazines, and then the Walther .22 and my Beretta 92 on the top shelf. I look in and see all the rifles leaning against the walls, see the mags on the shelf and I can't help but think: "I need more."

Picking it up at Dunhams, I asked if they had any WASR3s in. The idea of an AK in 5.56x45 interests/amuses me. The gun guy brings out their two newest AKs, WASRs 2 and 3. I look down the sights of both.

MONKEYS! DRUNK!

Front sight on the 3 goes left, back sight on the 2 goes right. I don't know how you let such a product our of your factory. It's almost criminal.

I'll look again when they have a hi-cap version of the WASR3. Interesting concept there. I love the AR platform, but I don't like the thought of having to don a surgical gown to clean the dang thing.

You Know You've Run Far...

...when you stop every few yards to look at your shoes, convinced you've stepped in something. Then you get home, pull your shirt off before stepping into the shower, and think "Hey wait...that was me!"

Stick A Fork In It, It's Done

Unsafe at Any Swing

By Hal G.P. Colebatch

Published 6/11/2007 12:06:48 AM

Just as you think Britain's local authorities have reached the edge of the envelope in vacuous, bullying stupidity, that they can go no further in their efforts to create a society of politically correct sheep, they excel themselves once again.

It's old news now that at Seagry in Wiltshire, children were banned from playing on a veteran steamroller which had stood in the school's playground without accident since 1964. It was deemed "not proper playground equipment" and "failed to meet any required standards whatsoever."

Something -- actually a quasi-official national body -- called "Sports England" proposed eliminating games like sack races, three-legged races and egg-and-spoon races from kindergartens and nursery schools in order to prevent children learning a competitive ethos, proposing problem-solving exercises instead. The government also supports banning games of musical chairs at nursery schools because they may lead to aggression.

At the village of Great Somerford, Wiltshire, playground swings were ordered demolished for being too tall. A charity kite-flying contest for children was banned by a Lancashire council on the grounds that they did not have health and safety insurance.

At Torbay, palm trees were condemned by the council because "they have very sharp leaves." Liberal Democrat councillor Colin Charlwood is reported to have said, in what sounds like dialogue from The Day of the Triffids: "what if one of those leaves caught a child in the eye for example. It's a little bit like keeping tigers - they are beautiful to look at, but you wouldn't want them wandering the streets." These are trees they are talking about!

Children at one primary school were prohibited from making daisy-chains in case they picked up germs from the flowers. Another school stopped children making hanging flower-baskets for the same reason. Playground pursuits like handstands, tag, yo-yos, tree-climbing and skipping have also been banned in various places.

Children at Cummersdale Primary School, Carlisle, were allowed to play conkers (an immemorially old English game involving breaking chestnuts) as long as they wore safety-goggles. Children's ball games and bicycle-riding (!) were also banned by some authorities. Outdoor activities with a bit of adventure and initiative attached to them, such as canoeing, rock-climbing, archery and sailing are all in decline, according to David Bell, the Chief Inspector of Schools. At Fairway Middle School in Norwich it was announced that children who wished to throw snowballs at other children would have to obtain their targets' permission first, making the whole exercise rather pointless (What would Calvin and Hobbes say?). Tim Gill, a director of the Children's Play Council, said: "There is no one person or body to blame. What is at fault is our culture of caution." (Huh? There is a Children's Play Council?)

NOT ONLY ARE CHILDREN'S LIVES and growth being stunted by authorities apparently hell-bent on depriving them of the slightest experience of adventure and achievement: adults too are being protected beyond the bounds of sanity.

A garden gnome wearing a policeman's helmet was banned because neighbors were offended or possibly intimidated, and a lady's display of china pigs in a window was also banned, lest any passing Muslims were offended.

As the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar approached, an actor playing Lord Nelson, Britain's greatest Naval hero, who scorned danger in storms and battle, was forced to wear a lifejacket over his Naval uniform while transferring from one boat to another in the calm waters of the Thames at Tower Bridge.

But, as I say, all this is old hat. The latest is that a skull-and-crossbones flag has been banned from a 6-year-old boy's pirate party as being "unneighborly."

Town hall planners told the parents of Morgan Smith that they must apply for planning permission to fly the flag, at a cost to them of $150. It was reported that an assessment of the 5ft by 4ft flag's "impact" on the surrounding area will be undertaken before a decision is made as to whether the flag would be permitted for the party or not. The family have flown a Union Jack or a St. George's flag without a problem, but a neighbor complained to the council about the Jolly Roger and they were ordered to remove it.

Mr. Smith said: "When the lady from the council came to see me she said that it was no problem flying any of the other flags, it was the Jolly Roger that was of concern."She took some pictures and said that we would have to take it down from now on. I've put in a planning application but I shouldn't have to go to all this trouble."

This is not the first time officialdom has intervened to protect people large and small from the sight of the Jolly Roger. When, in commemoration of Princess Diana, a "replica" of a pirate ship was built in Kensington Gardens in March 2000, for children to play on, hearkening back to Peter Pan's adventures with Captain Hook (Peter Pan's earliest adventures were in Kensington Gardens), it was decreed it would be without violent imagery such as cannon, walking the plank or the Jolly Roger.

Still, if children are deprived of adventure and excitement in one way, they will often find it in another: All this care lest children be exposed to the tiniest conflict coexists with some of the highest rates for juvenile crime, drug abuse, underage sex, sexually transmitted disease, and underage drunkenness in Europe. (Russia, a byword for dangerous, drunken chaos, has a rate of juvenile and teenage alcohol abuse a fraction of Britain's, according to a recent survey.)

Beverly Hughes, the new Children's Minister, said in May 2005 that the government could do no more to tackle the problem of teenage pregnancy, which was out of control. Britain's teenage pregnancy rate was five times that of the Netherlands, three times that of France, and double that of Germany. In 2004, the Department of Education and Skills released figures showing that more than 10 children were expelled every day from English state schools for assaulting either staff of fellow pupils, and another 280 a day were suspended for similar attacks. Millions of people now claim to be in fear of gangs of marauding teenagers.

H. G. Wells's story The Time Machine depicted a distant future in which the human race had divided into the helpless, sheeplike Eloi and the brutal Morlocks. Present British policies appear aimed at creating future citizens who are Eloi and Morlock in one.

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This "Point And Laugh At The Benighted Kingdom Post" has been brought to you by the Department For The Humiliation Of Commies. Laugh amongst yourselves.

Freefall Or Something Like It

^^^To riff on Dave Barry, that'd make a good name for a rockband. Or a song title.

It is now time for this blog to take a disturbingly emo-ish detour into the Vincent confessional. My mind requires that I write these things down, and dropping them into an anonymous .txt somewhere won't work.

I drove home from my job tonight. Not too unique, but the last time I was behind the wheel was more than a year and a half ago, and on that unfortunate occasion, I looked left when I should've looked left and right, and nearly killed myself and my father turning into traffic. I stepped away from driving for a long time because of that.

On another topic, circumstances are pushing me inexorably towards a collision of another kind. This afternoon I looked into an abyss and saw something I desperately want. I also saw that what I want can devestate me like I've not been hurt before. Like, stake through the heart kinda hurt. I don't know if I'm in the middle of the running start, or if I've actually taken the swandive.

We'll see where I land.

So I Don't Go Forgetting What I Want To Remember

Vincent: Look in the mirror. Paper towels, clean cab. Limo company some day. How much you got saved?
Max: That ain't any of your business.
Vincent: Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you will wake up and discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you. It never will. Suddenly you are old. Didn't happen, and it never will, because you were never going to do it anyway. You'll push it into memory and then zone out in your barcalounger, being hypnotized by daytime TV for the rest of your life. Don't you talk to me about murder. All it ever took was a down payment on a Lincoln town car. That girl,you can't even call that girl. What the **** are you still doing driving a cab?

Halfway there.

Fun Times Pt. 4.5

We're having a bonfire in the driveway last night, when around 8:30, a yellow cab pulls up between our house and the duplex next door. A hispanic man gets out and walks down the block, disappearing around the corner.

Half an hour later, he comes back the same way he left, approaches the cab in a wide angle, and says "Are you waiting for someone?" After some trifling conversation, he gets in the cab, and the cab speeds away. There's another hispanic man in the back seat who didn't get out, and who was sitting there with the driver for the full half hour.

At two this morning, a car pulled up far down the block, and a man got out and walked down to our house. He stood in the street in front of our house, and moved back and forth, examining our house, and the house across from us.

He did this again, twenty minutes later, parking much closer.

In the last two months, someone's shot something through our window capable of hurting us (and with the intent, no doubt), someone's prankcalled our house for 2 weeks, and has also lobbed a mudball at our front window.

With all that having happened recently, and with unidentified men scoping our house at zero dark hundred, I feel slightly less paranoid about having a Sig 220 within arms reach all night, and an assault rifle close at hand.

I will say this: If trouble comes, let it come here. I know my neighbors are unarmed. I would hate myself if someone attacked the elderly immigrant couple, or the single mom and her daughter, when two doors down there's a family who's prepared for an attack. Like the saying goes: If war comes, let it come in my lifetime, so my children will know peace.

I don't relish the thought of home invasions, or shooting at someone, but better our family than someone who can't fight back.

Not A Lot Going On

I've been fairly busy recently, and that's why there's a lack of blogging. We've got 4 people in the department, me included, who are working 40 hours a week. 3 of us aren't supposed to be getting more than 32 hours. I'm usually working the closing shift, which is about 3-11:30. Kinda puts a damper on the writing I wish I was doing. Oh well. The checks are good.

Rudy Hates Ferrets

Rudy doesn't want us to have ferrets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqrEw901KXE&mode=related&search=

My dad's right. Sometimes, the only appropriate response is "F*** you."

F*** you, Rudy.

Hannibal Rising

Over my two day holiday from work, I've watched two good movies and one decent one. Decent movie being Shaun Of The Dead, and the good ones being The Proposition and Hannibal Rising.

SOTD wasn't funny enough to sustain its length, but a few good moments redeemed it from being just plain bad.

The Proposition was a long, bloody, depressing slog through the twilight shades of human nature. There was nothing good or enjoyable about it. It was worth watching only for the tortured performances of its actors and the fantastic scenery.

Hannibal Rising was enjoyable. It's still too new in my mind to comment much on it, but I will say this:I liked that when given a chance to walk away, to redeem himself, Hannibal chose to continue on his path of vengence. No happy Hollywood "Throw down your gun in disgust" ending here. Hannibal looked into the abyss, saw the monster, and did a swandive. I liked that.

Shooty goodness

A friend I see maybe twice a year is in town this past week, and this afternoon we went shooting. Initially I was a little skeptical, even though it was my idea. How would a Navy man (from Cali, San Fransisco no less) feel about shooting a civilian owned battlerifle with an admittedly evil pedigree?

We took John Kerry, my 9mm Storm, and Beretta 9mm. After brief operating instructions on range etiquette and weapons functions, we proceeded to ventilate some targets.

I shouldn't have worried. My friend loved the battlerifle, called the Storm "slick" and we ran probably 150-200 rounds through the Beretta 92. The Storm shot right of center, John Kerry shot low, and the Beretta shot where we wanted it.

My friend thanked me multiple times on the way home and at one point said how proud he was of me for doing this and taking it so seriously.

As a side note, I should point out that he and I shot with roughly the same accuracy. We weren't punching them all through the same hole, but a soldier and a civilian ran pretty much neck and neck in the accuracy department. That's reassuring to me. I'm as good as a soldier. And I'll just keep getting better.

I couldn't have asked for a better day. Well, yes, a few things could've made it better, but I won't complain.