Free Republic

I stumbled on a neat little trick which has had me mesmerized for the past few days.Is anyone else doing this?

I'm coming to Tennessee for a week's vacation. I still don't know what I will be doing when I'm down there. What is there to do that is of interest to a visitor? Anything I shouldn't do that might get me killed by the locals? Any little places that are pleasant that most people don't know about? I'd appreciate any assistance for this.

Gun people love training.  They revel in expertise.  They gush over the incredible feats that expert gun users, from Annie Oakley to Jerry Miculek, can accomplish.  Do not mistake me.  I approve of training.  Training is good.  I have trained a lot of hours... and days... and years... and decades.  I have trained military, police, and civilians.  But large numbers of people use handguns very successfully with little or no training. A case in point occurred recently in Ohio.  From 10tv.com: “She was armed and apparently fired multiple shots at him,” said Sgt. Dave Sicilia. The woman’s son says...

A Korean research team has successfully developed a technology to make a sponge-like electrode material using graphene and a polymer, leading to a graphene battery. The newly-developed battery is ten times as small as existing ones, but can show the same product performance. A research team headed by Park Ho-seok, professor of the School of Chemical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, announced on Feb. 1 that it has succeeded in developing a very porous graphene aerogel electrode material by combining polyvinyl alcohol and graphene. Studies on developing high-capacity and rapidly-chargeable batteries are underway worldwide. It is necessary to compress devices in...

BENSON — When the show American Pickers comes through Arizona in March, Cochise County’s communities could have a lot to offer the documentary series. The county, with its colorful 1800s history of mining, ranching, military and Native Americans, is bound to be an ideal stopping place for this History Channel hit documentary series. American Pickers showcases the exploits of expert pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they search for America’s most valuable antiques. The two are interested in everything from old motorcycles, classic cars and bicycles to one-of-a-kind vintage memorabilia. They urge folks to tell them about unique collections...

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '80S. The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '80s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is not based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture reactivity. The rules in general will be to vote for everything shown. No equivocating, ties, or omissions. Votes will only be counted if the "ballot" is complete. ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year and paring them from 10 songs to 4 (to set up brackets for the rest of the...

The new Glock 40 10mm with factory optical site mount.  A long slide version with a 6 inch barrel is available.  This could be important in some states, such as Wisconsin, which requires a minimum 5 inch barrel for hunting big game with a handgun.  I saw the pistol at the industry day at the range for the Shot Show in Las Vegas on Monday. I asked if Glock had entered this pistol in the Army competition for a new, more powerful handgun.  The representative did not know. The line to try out the new Glock was fairly long;...

What does everyone think of a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '80s?

New england is in the lead, will they prevail to the end of the game. This is for the football fans to vent how the game is going. It is in fun, rout for your team of choice and if they win or lose have some fun with it. On Tuesday we have to suffer through yet another State of the Union. Okay I do not have to suffer through because I will be on the road traveling to Lower Michigan for a medical appointment! Let's have some fun with the football game.

This is part II of a multipart series about our adventures aboard S.V. Namaste, our 46 foot (length on deck) cutter rigged sloop. Couples aboard a boat are often referred to by their boat's name. Hence, we became "the Namastes." Soon after our arrival in Norfolk, Virginia, Jeanie and I, plus Fiester and Fritz who joined us there, departed soon after a large collection of other cruisers for Road Town on the island of Tortola in the British Virgins. This is an account of our trip. Caribbean 1500 members inspected their own and each others' boats to find any probable glitches. The principal Namaste glitch was that our single side...

This is part I of a multipart series about our adventures aboard S.V. Namaste, our 46 foot (length on deck) cutter rigged sloop. My wife Jeanie, her brother Fiester, our friend Fitz and I left Annapolis, Maryland in October of 1996 aboard Namaste bound for the Caribbean. The others returned home soon after we arrived. Jeanie's and my adventures in the Caribbean continued until mid 2001, when we arrived in the Republic of Panamá. We now live there in a very rural area up in the mountains.PreparationsIn 1995, Jeanie and I agreed that in June of 1996 I would retire from the practice of law on my fifty-fifth birthday....

Patrick McIntosh's wife, children and grandchildren think he's gone mad. His business clients think he's joking. And his doctors think he's lucky to be alive. Yet on Monday, despite the concerns of his family and bemusement of his colleagues, the businessman left home to trek to the South Pole – despite having been diagnosed with three unconnected cancers in less than a year. "It is perhaps a bit unusual," said Mr McIntosh, 58. "I've never done anything quite as mad as this. But I just want to get going." For the past few months, Mr McIntosh has been training hard...

Our annual Christmas Day radio listening merely begins with two jewels from a master satirist: The Linit Bath Club Revue: The Mammoth Department Store (CBS, 1932) Here’s a treat for any old-time radio fan—the oldest known surviving program hosted by the singular Fred Allen, in whose spotlight sketch he plays a man with a sometimes unenviable profession: managing a department store . . . on the day after Christmas. Hopefully, without driving himself crazy. Cast: Portland Hoffa, Sheila Barrett, Roy Atwell, Charles Carlile. Announcer: Ken Roberts. Music: Lou Katzman Orchestra, Mary Leaf at the organ. Writer: Fred Allen. Texaco Star...

I’m not convinced that I can possibly improve upon this particular entry from Christmas Eves past, so I’ll continue this journal’s little tradition. For all who celebrate, and for anyone sorely in need of extra cheer this and any such season, today’s offerings are dedicated, as always. Columbia Workshop: The Plot to Overthrow Christmas (CBS, 24 December 1942) Set in hell, delivered in verse (some of it, admittedly, is a little on the awkward side but the archness of the delivery and the quality of the bulk makes up for it), some of history’s most notorious villains to that point...

President Barack Obama was briefed on the ambush killing of two NYPD cops while on the golf course in Hawaii this afternoon, according to the White House press pool report. “The President has been briefed on the Brooklyn police shooting. White House officials continue to monitor the situation,” reported Wall Street Journal’s Carol Lee. Obama endured harsh criticism for golfing minutes after issuing a statement on the beheading of James Foley at the hands of Muslim militants in September. “You know, it is always a challenge when you’re supposed to be on vacation because you’re followed everywhere. There’s always going...

Pictures and vid from last weekend’s resistance event:

Photographs supplied by Valerie Caldwell. Alyssa Caldwell and her father had been hunting all day.   The weather had been nasty; cloudy skies with snow and rain alternating.   They had seen a few elk, much too far away to take a shot.   They left their makeshift blind to see if they could spot another elk before the end of the day.   It was the middle of the afternoon. At 12, Alyssa was already an experienced huntress.   She had started shooting at 5, and had a new rifle, a stainless Howa 1500, as her elk gun.  They...

I do not write reviews, generally.  It has to be a product that I am going to use.  I needed a good set of sunglasses for shooting and motorcycle riding. I came across the ESS display at the 2014 Shot Show.  They had several of their products that had withstood being hit with number 6 shot at 10 yards.  This is a standard test required for them to be issued as military gear.   These dimples on the glasses are from number six shot.  It did not penetrate.  ESS calls their products eyeshields, and that is a better description...

Earlier this week, I climbed a mountain.  It is a locally popular way for people  to get some exercise and a nice view.  As usual, I was openly carrying a Glock 17.  I carry primarily for political purposes, so I wore a "Gun Guy" hat given to me by Dan Baum at the Shot Show a couple of years ago.  Another reason is that it can get windy on the mountain, and I have had broader brimmed hats blown off. As I arrived at the top, a pair of young ladies asked me to take their picture, to commemorate...

These pictures of a unique bedroom set came to me via the Internet.  I do not know the location of the set or the source of the revolvers. Counting the revolvers that make up the bed frame, the vanity, the lamps, table, chair, chandelier, and window decoration, and assuming that there is symmetry on the sides of the objects that are not visible, I believe there are at least 100 revolvers used in the construction of the set. The revolvers are an eclectic mix of Smith & Wesson (or clones) and Colt (or clones) revolvers.  They appear to mostly...