All I did was sound out the words — she'll be four in November!

I just received this:

Friends,

At the request of the family it is my sad duty to report the passing of our
founder, Jeff Cooper. Jeff died peacefully at home this afternoon while
being cared for by his wife Janelle and daughter Lindy.

There will be a private internment at Gunsite by invitation, with a public
memorial service at the Whittington Center at a date to be announced.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

DVC,

Ed

Ed Head
Operations Manager
Gunsite Academy, Inc.
2900 W. Gunsite Rd.
Paulden, AZ 86334 

Personally, I am deeply saddened by this news. His writings have influenced my life  — and not just in matters related to firearms. I will always regret that I did not take the time to attend one of his classes at Gunsite.

"Jeff Cooper's Commentaries" is a collection of Col. Cooper's columns over the years, and I'm privileged to host one of the mirror sites at www.TheSconce.com.

Katie is determined to catch that little flying bug.

 

(click to enlarge)

… and my post on our vacation is featured.

Check it out at The Owner's Manual!

(from www.TheSconce.com) 

Several months ago Jeff suffered three new fractures of his vertebrae. This has caused him severe and constant pain and he has been unable to do anything but concentrate on pain relief — this is why there have been no Commentaries since Vol. 14, No. 4, April/May, 2006.

The doctors suggested kyphoplasty, a procedure to separate the spine at the fracture sites and relieve the pain — unfortunately, this does not normally work on old fractures, or it would have been done a long time ago. Jeff went into the hospital with the goal of getting prepped for having this procedure done, but the doctors pronounced that he is not strong enough to have it done. As it stands now, Jeff has a partially collapsed lung and has been on oxygen for several months, and additionally his heart is now showing signs of distress.

On Wednesday 13 Sept, Jeff came home from the hospital and hospice care has been arranged to assist Janelle and the family with Jeff's care. While Jeff is alert and in good spirits it is likely he will will not be out of bed much in the future. Right now everyones' focus is on keeping him as comfortable as possible. While phone calls are not a good idea, cards and short letters for both Jeff and Janelle would be greatly appreciated. The family has asked that flowers not be sent.

You can send cards and letters to them at:
    Jeff Cooper
    2950 W Gunsite Rd
    Paulden AZ 86334-4301
    USA

***New Update - Col. Cooper has passed away. Details are here.

Reports are conflicting, but the rumor is that Osama bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan about a month ago.

I'd prefer to hear that he died at the hands of Navy SEALs, but it's interesting to note that despite his family's fantastic wealth, he died a fugitive, hiding in caves. Good life choices there, Sparky.

Headline: Astronauts Put Final Touches on Solar System

In an earlier post, I explained the psychosis of Bush-hatred using the psychological term reaction formation — "behavior or emotion that is the polar opposite of the way someone is or should be feeling, because the authentic emotion is too frightening to deal with." I think it's also a good explanation of why some people hate guns, or are irrationally scared of them.

Many people believe the liberal notion that criminals become such for reasons almost completely outside their control. They believe that otherwise law-abiding people turn to crime because of poverty, lack of education, lack of opportunity, discrimination or other factors. And it's society's fault that this happened, because we didn't adequately address these wrongs.

Sometimes it's almost as if liberals wish to convey some sort of dignity to criminals. I remember talking to my cousin and his wife almost twenty years ago; my cousin was a parole officer in Dallas, and his job required face-to-face contact with dozens of parolees each week. I asked him if he carried a gun, and he seemed shocked at the idea. His wife said, "But it might make them mad if they knew he had a gun." It took me a while to decipher her response; she was essentially saying that the parolees had a right to be indignant if they found that that they weren't explicitly trusted. It wasn't their fault they were convicted criminals, and they were fine now, unless society failed them again. And if my cousin carried a gun because some of them had been violent in the past, well, he was failing them.

It's true that many people make a series of bad choices due to bad experiences, and if helped, they turn their lives around. Christian prison ministries prove that daily. But these changes take time – they don't happen instantly. Despite that, many of the anti-gun crowd also insist that we not resist when attacked, I suppose in hope that it will make the attacker rethink his whole life on the spot, and go home and pick daisies.

An even more radical offshoot of this philosophy is that many people commit crimes that wouldn't otherwise, just because they had access to a gun. 

So liberals have the idea that no one is inherently bad, and it's our fault when they are, either by failing them as a society or by leaving guns laying around. It's a warm, fuzzy little idea, and gives the impression that if we just do the right things, no one will do bad things. 

The reality is the opposite: some people are just bad. Just because we can trace the circumstances and decisions that lead them to become bad doesn't mean that if we are nice to them that they will become nice.

Apparently that reality is so frightening or abhorrent that many people subconsciously decide to fear and/or hate the concept of self-defense and the most effective means to that defense, a personal firearm.

The good news is that this psychosis can be "unlearned." Sometimes it happens just by an honest evaluation of facts. Other times it's because someone introduces them to the sport of shooting, and they find out that guns are actually enjoyable. Sadly, sometimes it's because of personal experience with violent crime.

If gunowners will introduce as many people as possible to lawful enjoyment of firearms, we can reduce violent crime. That's a fact.

Liberals "fear" Bush because they can't face the reality that bin Laden and other terrorists are truly evil.

It's called "reaction formation," and Answer Girl has a definition: 

Behavior or emotion that is the polar opposite of the way someone is or should be feeling, because the authentic emotion is too frightening to deal with. 

Despite ample evidence to the contrary, liberals still believe that poverty and ignorance are the root causes of terrorism, and that if we could just educate the poor savages and lift them from poverty, they would turn away from jihad and sip lattes and discuss Chomsky. 

Bin Laden is educated and born to wealth, and the idea that, rather than misguided, he is actually evil, is too scary to consider. So to prove to themselves that they are brave after all, they oppose Bush at every turn, "speak truth to power," and pretend to be persecuted while their subconscious hides under the bed.

They cling desperately to their "reality," which explains their vitriol against any who disagree with them, especially those who are supposed to agree, like Senator Lieberman.

This psychosis also explains why it's pretty much impossible for conservatives to find middle ground, and it's the reason liberals must be defeated in the upcoming election and as long as the Islamo-Fascists exist.

ABC News: Mysterious Object Keeps Shuttle Crew in Orbit

Find out — read Tora Bora- Did we miss bin Laden? at Blackfive.

That's right, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so whenever you can, talk like a pirate! Here's a few words you can use:

• Arrr!
• Matey
• Wench
• Ahoy! 
• Grog 
• Avast
• Scurvy liberal
• Lubber
• Shiver me timbers 

It's not hard — you too can talk like a pirate!

Arrr! 

Swiped from StrangePersons.com.

This isn't new; actually it's over a year old, but it's still funny.

Wuzzadem presents Oprah: The Humiliation and Degradation of the Drive-Thru.

We finally settled on a name — Isabella Serafina Speedbump.

 

(click to enlarge)

A good credo for anyone, man or woman, prompted by the Montreal college shooting.

I believe Tamara when she says "I ain't goin' out like that…" 

If Republicans nominate a "moderate," we run a huge risk of losing to Hillary.

The US tends toward conservative; that's why Democrats, who win the nomination by being more liberal than the rest of the pack, campaign more towards the center in the general election.

However, a Republican who tries to campaign as a moderate isn't very distinguishable from a Democrat, and will always be out-Democrated by the real McCoy, who will agree with the "Republican" on most points, yet promise much more in handouts and entitlements and warm fuzzy feelings.

Unlike Democrats, what's best for the country is what's best for the Republicans.

"For too long, the world was paralyzed by the argument that terrorism could not be stopped until the grievances of terrorists were addressed. The complicated and heartrending issues that perplex mankind are no excuse for violent, inhumane attacks, nor do they excuse not taking aggressive action against those who deliberately slaughter innocent people… Effective antiterrorist action has also been thwarted by the claim that… ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ That’s a catchy phrase, but also misleading. Freedom fighters do not need to terrorize a population into submission. Freedom fighters target the military forces and the organized instruments of repression keeping dictatorial regimes in power. Freedom fighters struggle to liberate their citizens from oppression and to establish a form of government that reflects the will of the people… [O]ne has to be blind, ignorant, or simply unwilling to see the truth if he or she is unable to distinguish between those I just described and terrorists. Terrorists intentionally kill or maim unarmed civilians, often women and children, often third parties who are not in any way part of a dictatorial regime. Terrorists are always the enemies of democracy."

– Ronald Reagan 

You may have seen this email floating around: 

Many will recall that on July 8, 1947, witnesses claim that an unidentified object with five aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico. This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and the federal government. However, you may NOT know that in the month of March 1948, exactly nine months after that historic day, Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., Hillary Rodham, John F. Kerry, William Jefferson Clinton, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Charles E. Schumer, and Barbara Boxer were born. That piece of information has now cleared up a lot of things.

But according to the urban legend experts at Snopes.com, it's not true. Most of these people were born long before the incident, with Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham born just three months later, in October. 

Interestingly, if the alien/human hybrid had the same gestation period as a rhinocerous, Howierd Dean could be an alien, but neither John McCain nor Arlen Specter — two of the more famous RINOs — were born during this period.

Anyway, as it turns out, Al Gore, who was born on 31 March 1948, is the only true alien in the bunch. Now, 58 years later, he has almost learned to mimic human behavior.

From Saudi Arabia's English-language Arab News:

With the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah expressing regret Sunday on Lebanese TV for the month-long war in Lebanon in which more than a thousand people died, many people in the Kingdom accused the Hezbollah militia of "adventurism" and being "irresponsible." . . .

Abu Muhammad, a Saudi private sector worker, said, "What I don't understand is that if he knew that Israel was going to react like this then why did he do it? In my opinion he is no different to (Osama) Bin Laden who brought destruction to the Arab and Islamic world because of his adventurism." . . .

Hasan Minawi is a Lebanese national in his early 30s living in Jeddah. He said, "Nasrallah's regret was expected — he wasn't even ready for this war. He did not build any shelters or at least set up an siren system to warn people about pending attacks. He was ready with arms but not with backup. He should have apologized long ago."

Minawi added, "Nasrallah knows how the Israeli enemy behaves, he should have known it was going to go this far and even beyond."

James Taranto notes:

Minawi's comment is quite revealing. He's not saying it was morally wrong to attack Israel but that it was strategically stupid to provoke "the Israeli enemy" with the knowledge that it would strike back. By this reasoning, there would be no reason not to attack Israel if it refrained from defending itself. It's a nice example of the folly of appeasement.

Michelle Malkin has the full definitions here; my summary follows:

• Jihadis — our enemies. I can hear the whines — "but SteveO, Jihad really means the lifelong conflict between one's soul and one's flesh. Islam is a religion of peace."
  Bull dooky.
  "…the late Ayatollah Khomeini rebuked Religion of Peace propagandists back in 1942: 'Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those (who say this) are witless.'"
• Infidels/Kafirs — non-Muslims. I'm one, by the grace of God.
• Sharia — the system of law that the Islamo-Fascists want to impose upon us. This is the means by which they justify killing their daughters and sisters for immodesty, among other things. Although you don't hear of feminist groups protesting against Sharia killings, for some reason.
• Caliphate — a nation ruled by Sharia law.
• Taqiyya — WWMD (What Would Mohammed Do)? Lie like a rug, apparently, so it's okay if Muslims lie. That's why we have fabricated stories of Korans being flushed at Gitmo. Idiot tribesmen thought it made a good lie; idiot liberals and main-stream media types (but I repeat myself) apparently think the military has super-toilets that will flush a whole book.
• Dhimmitude — inferiority of infidels. Not based upon fact or observation, obviously.

Over the next few days, my family will be praying for the family and friends of Ruth Sheila Lapin.

Ruth was a resident of East Windsor, NJ, and was 53 years old when she was killed by terrorists at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. She was a senior business analyst at Baseline Financial Services.

From one of her friends: "Ruth knew how to have a good time. She appreciated the power of a witty remark and a good laugh. She had a unique spirit that doesn't come along frequently and a deep love for her children. Ruth was a person who left a lasting impression on you. She enjoyed her life."

Rest in peace, Ruth - we will never forget. 

The 2996 Project

Found this CNN satellite truck in west Texas, and my wife couldn't resist a little editing.

You can click to enlarge the pic, but she stuck her finger in a mud puddle and crossed out CNN and wrote "Fox News" under it.

As she was walking away, I saw that the driver was back in the work area of the truck the whole time!