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I’ve raised one male Cane Corso, and he was always a joy to have around - well socialized, well trained, and very trustworthy, with other people and with other dogs. He used to run the courses in dog agility fun meets, which was a sight to see. He never won, but he would always draw a crowd.

Then I raised a female Cane Corso. I tried to treat her, and train her, and socialize her in the same way as I did with the male, but the female was always just “off”. She was was never really comfortable with people outside the immediate family. She loved the big male Cane Corso for the few years I had them at the same time, but she barely tolerated other dogs. I was sad when she finally died, but I don’t know that I’ll get another Cane Corso, since I don’t know what I did wrong with her.

I could never keep Pet Shop Boys and Frankie Goes to Hollywood straight in my mind.

I see what you did there. Good one.

I've had a Kimber Pro Carry II for a lot of years, and I love it. I've averaged about a thousand rounds per year through it at the range, and am getting near the 10K mark.

I've also got a Kimber micro 9; the very early Solo CDP model. The Solo is a beautiful little thing, but I rarely shoot it. Even compared to other lightweight micro pistols, the muzzle flip is terrible and hard to control. Plus it stings! Granted, all the tiny 9mm pistols are probably very snappy, but this one seems extra unfriendly.

They don’t ‘somehow’ get off the leash

100% correct! I have a 120 pound rottie who is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever owned, and he loves everyone. Even so, he never has the opportunity to "lunge" at someone. It is my responsibility as the owner of a large dog to make sure he is always under control, never off leash outside the house and back yard, and that the back yard is escape proof. Doesn't matter what kind of easy going temperament he might have. If someone can't manage that, then they shouldn't have a big dog. Actually, they shouldn't have a dog at all. Maybe a turtle.

You used to be able to buy a teeshirt at Urban Outfitters that said “New Mexico - cleaner than Regular Mexico”. Bunch of crybabies made them stop selling them, though.

This Senator from New Mexico is a real a$$hole

Indeed he is! He was that way back when he was on the Albuquerque City Council, and he got drastically worse as a senator.

The Godwhale, by T.J. Bass

I read that one, along with his other related story "Half Past Human". Very odd pair of books.

It’s a good idea (IMO) to wash up before eating/drinking/smoking

That is excellent advice. For a number of years I was putting in 3 hours a week at my local indoor range (2 hour defensive pistol class plus another hour practice). My instructor told us he had tested high for lead, and he suggested we all get tested. I came in high as well, at 19 micrograms per deciliter. The instructor instituted a pretty strict hand-washing regimen - full hand soap scrub during each break and immediately after class or practice was over. We were also advised to change shirts as soon as feasible after class. It worked pretty well. The lead levels slowly dropped, without reducing the amount of range time. My level never got down to the 5 micrograms per deciliter level, but it did get down below 10.

There are a lot of strong feelings here about this topic, and I suspect you are in for some flames. But for what it’s worth, I also have a problem with the Bundy’s stopping payments for their grazing permits, but continuing to run their cattle on public land.

I grew up in southern New Mexico, and at that time there were a lot of ranchers down that way; some large but mostly small outfits. All the ranch kids came into town for school, and many of them were my friends growing up. Almost all of those ranchers paid for permits to graze their cattle on public lands. And it seemed to work out pretty well for all concerned.

Every once in a while, a rancher would break the rules; typically running more cattle on the public lands than they had paid for. When they got caught, sometimes there would be a fine to pay, but for repeat offenders sometimes they would lose the right to their permit. When that happened, there was always another rancher standing in line, willing and quite happy to buy the open permit. Always.

I’ve been away from that area for many years, and maybe things have changed. But with the ranch families I used to know, I think probably most of them would not support the actions of the Bundys.

RPG (Report Program Generator) is still going strong. And it was created in 1959, just like COBOL. At a lot places using the IBM iSeries, it is still used even for new development. At my business software company, we are about half and half; a couple hundred each of RPG and C++ programmers. I do admit though, that the RPG guys are typically either graybeards, or young guys willing to learn anything to get a job. The hotter new stuff for us is mostly C++ on Windows servers.

I know Shohei Otani is a real guy. But having SI report on him this close to April 1st reminds me of Sidd Finch.

I went to hear Milo speak last Friday, at University of New Mexico. It was fairly tame, especially compared to what happened at Berkeley. We had maybe 200 protesters when we walked in, and they were cursing and waving signs. Heavy police presence though, which surprised me. Maybe 6 people were disruptive and got escorted out of the presentation.

The talk was interesting. Milo's language is coarser than my own, and I will say the f-word six times before breakfast on any given day. He makes no apologies for being gay, but he didn't talk about just exactly what he does as a gay guy (thank goodness). He mostly talked about how terrible he thinks open borders, and Muslims, and political correctness are.

After he talked, he had a QA session where he encouraged opposing views. In fact, the 6 or so people who got tossed out of the talk only got tossed because they refused to wait for the QA session to berate Milo. He doesn't care too much what you say to him, as long as you wait for the QA session.

After the talk, the police kept us in the building for about 30 minutes, while they cleared out the protesters. The cop who announced that we had to stay in the building for a while got a laugh when he said "the reason we want you to stay in the building is so you won't be exposed to any chemical agents we might have to deploy". But they didn't use any tear gas, just brought out the mounted patrol.

Milo is speaking Friday night at University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque. I plan on being there. I’ve got the tickets, but that only lets you stand in line. Then the first 600 people in line with a ticket get into the event, which is free. I’m not sure what to expect while standing in line. At the very least I’m expecting thugs to take everyone’s picture, and tell us we’ll be appearing on their website as nazi supporters.

I have always wanted a Star Trek show called "Red Shirts."

I'm guessing you've probably already read it, but if not you should take a look at "Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas", written by John Scalzi. I think he stole your idea.

Run, hide, fight, IS the correct approach. But your chances of survival are significantly increased if you have a gun

I agree with you, although I realize other people might have their own opinions about fleeing if you are armed. My first concealed carry class instructor taught us something very much like this, although he used different words. He said:
"1 - Locate the exits when you first enter a place"
"2 - Always be aware of what's going on around you"
"3 - Leave when trouble starts, or if you believe trouble is going to start"
"4 - Don't make yourself a target"
"5 - When it's time to fight, then fight and fight to win. But not before it's time".

And how do you know when it's time to use your concealed weapon to fight? Well, that's the hard part, I guess. I've never had to make that call, and I'm really hoping never to have to make that call.

this guy has ‘toked’ his brain out

I believe you are correct. And it's a real shame, because he was not always the doofus you see today. He was a successful businessman here in New Mexico. When he was governor we called him "Governor No", because he vetoed so many bills from the democrat-controlled state legislature - hundreds of vetoes in his very first year. But then he left office, dumped his wife, and started smoking a lot of pot. Hasn't ever stopped, looks like.

I don’t get these proposals from a government, tax-generation standpoint

I've been scratching my head over that part about requiring RMDs on Roth IRAs as well (they already require RMDs on the other flavor of Roth - the 401k Roth). Maybe the government knows that whatever you have in your Roth IRA today is a lost cause to them, but they could be looking down the road. If they can force you to move money out of your Roth IRA before you want to, then any future earnings on that money probably will be taxable. Either you put in back in some kind of taxable investment (since you are unlikely to be able to contribute any more to a Roth IRA, once you hit the age that RMDs kick in). Or if you spend that money, then someone else will do something with it, and eventually pay taxes on it. Either way, by requiring those RMDs, the government is forcing you to put that money "back in play" for taxes on future earnings.

My wife despises that movie. One of my favorites, though.

That picture of Virginia Wolf is one of the screen savers on my Kindle reader. You are right - she is a real looker.

This vet was just at the hospital for some routine tests. He was walking around, waiting for his appointment, when he was stricken. The Albuquerque VA hospital told the widow nothing about this 30 minute delay getting her husband to the ER. They just told her he had died at the facility. The first the wife heard about the delay was when a friend of hers called her after seeing this story on the local news last night (I know this because my wife was that friend who called.) The widow was already devastated, and of course it was much much worse when she learned the death might have been avoided.