Cowboy Blob's Saloon and Shootin Gallery

I'm not a real Cowboy, but I play one in the movies.

Monday, March 31, 2008

DPMS SMM 3-Gun Stages 3, 5, and 7











I don't think I'll post all the videos, since some aren't very spectator-friendly, but you'll get some representative stages.

Stage 3 "Basic" was a true 3-Gun venue with slug targets engaged from the helicopter, rifle targets before and after the mock Humvee, and pistol targets from the doorway. Jon did a great job following through the obstacles and caught the RO pointing out the rifle target I completely ignored (ouch!).

VIDEO

Stage 5 "Bourne to Run" featured Jon's brain-fart. After tagging the first 270-yard LaRue resetting silhouette right away, he fixated on the other one for much too long, striking the base once or twice, but not dropping it. I redacted all that for brevity. You might hear me mutter "Give it up, Jon" before Jon decided to get the show on the road. Unfortunately, he did so without engaging the three MGM steel flashers off to the left (triple ouch!). His assault through the wash was impressive, though.

VIDEO

As last year, we finished up the match at Smokin' Joe's Wash, Stage 7 "Live Free or Die." All the high-speed shooters decided to leap out of the truck bed; there was a ramp at the tailgate for us fat, old shooters with sore feet and weak ankles.

VIDEO

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Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll Down for New Stuff

Not the winning caption:

Diyala patrol : A US soldier from Ghostrider Company 3rd Squadron 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, steps out of a bathroom newly renovated by coalition forces and painted with cartoons of Mickey Mouse in the restive Diyala province, located northeast of Baghdad. (AFP/ David Furst)

Got a caption or photoshop for this AFP photo? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. If you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even your collection of Annette Funicello pics!

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday PM.

WINNER!

BobG of Near the Salty City scores with:
"Damn, that has got to be the weirdest whorehouse I've ever been in..."
Other Contests:

Gone Rick Motel
Outside the Beltway
WILLisms

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DPMS SMM 3-Gun

DPMS Inc. repeated at this year's match sponsor, and I take my hat off to them for a great match. They offered up one of their LR-204s (a varminting AR in .204 Ruger) as the master door prize at the Brownells Shooter's Banquet Saturday night. I didn't win that or the Springfield XD 9-mm :(

I think a scoring glitch separated the Tac-Scope and Tac-Iron prize tables (click for bigger) this year.













There was no shortage of space-gunners competing in the Open division or thunderstick enthusiasts in Heavy Metal.





Here's my haul (Yes, I knew Babes with Bullets doesn't feature bikini-clad bimbos shooting sub-machine guns):

The Warne scope rings will go on BoG v2.51 and the rubber Hogue grips (my raffle prize from the Shooters' Banquet) will find a new home on my S&W Model 625.

The "Air Force Tactical" knife from Frost Cutlery will join my folding knife collection. I'll find a use for the other stuff somewhere, except the Grams follower (no link for them!). My $50 prize certificate from last year expires tomorrow... they've been out of stock of Glock and Para base pads all year and they haven't returned my Emails. They suck.

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2008 Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun Match

Great match, folks! This year's match winner was... [drum roll here] Jerry Miculek! Mr. Miculek is famous for being one of the fastest pistol shooter's in the world; he must also be pretty decent with a rifle and shotgun to best some of the high-speed gunners I saw this weekend!

On the other end of the spectrum, I was tickled to place better than 10th from the bottom of Tactical-Scope Division, especially since my "scope" is little more than a piece of glass with an amber triangle superimposed on it. My next optics will have magnification! The old peepers aren't getting any younger.

My friend Jon was disappointed with a major brain fart Saturday, but he still finished in the top third of our division and came home with a Cavalry Arms stripped lower from the prize table! I got some knick-knacks (one of which may be incorporated into BoG v2.5's future re-design). I've got ideas for BoG3 already. No, this isn't it.

Monday update:

Wow! It's almost like journalism!
(No, that wasn't my search.)

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Friday, March 28, 2008

A Taste of the Superstition 3-Gun

Sorry, my feet are sore, my limbs are sunburnt (wore shorts today!), and a couple glasses of Theta's most awesome peach schnapps might guarantee I get some much needed sleep before our oh-dark thirty wake-up tomorrow. Got the match video off the camera, but I'm too tuckered for editting.

In the meantime, here's a shot of Jon checking out the Bushmaster Carbon-15 up for raffle (complete with EOTech and BUIS). I could never get a shot like that on purpose!

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

A Public Service

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Aim High


...for Point-Blank targets.

Update: New video found!

h/t Cannon Fodder

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tough Enough

What do you do when you hear your 70-year-old mother copied your not-so-graceful face-plant move on the way to the mailbox at her rural home? And couldn't rise up out of the freezing slush and mud until she could drag herself to the front door over the course of an hour? This happened to the Binker Grandma this week and after a spike of severe concern at the news, my next thoughts were "I'm glad she had it in her." Fortunately, she didn't break anything... she has a hard enough time getting around on bad knees. Most of the pain came from pulled muscles and (avoiding getting on her bad knees) an hour of slithering through the mostly frozen yard. "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up" jokes aside, the cellphone Lil Bro gave her was left in the house and she saw no other neighbors outside to hear her cries for help. But she didn't yell for help. She just crawled home, shucked off her muddy coat, then sat on a heating pad to bring up her core body temperature. When I think about the worst case scenario, I'm proud that she had the drive to seek safety and warmth despite the pain instead of waiting for help that didn't seem to be forthcoming.

Sure, she's getting a little ribbing now for leaving the cellphone behind. And not yelling just in case her distant neighbors might be outside, but out of sight. But when I think about where I got the stubbornness to play football with a broken hand, ride halfway around a national park with a broken arm, and finish a 3-Gun match with a severely jammed hand, I think I might know where I got those genes. There might be a worse word than "stubbornness," but, hey, this is my Mom we're talking about.

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My New Favorite South Park Episode

Go Brown?





















I packed 50 SPF sunscreen in my range bag for this long weekend at the range...

and some winter stuff just in case things go the other way. Also cleaned the Benelli for the first time. Loaded a buncha rifle mags, filled the shotshell bandoleer, and stowed extra ammo in case I need a re-shoot or two. Got extra camera batteries, gloves, knee and elbow pads. I know I'm gonna forget something.

UPS Grrl pic posted to apologize in advance for the other one.

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Medal of Honor Day

Today's MoH Day!

h/t Castle Argghhhh!

I've met only one wearer of the Congressional Medal in my lifetime, MSG Roy Benavidez (left). His speaking tour swung through Goodfellow Air Force Base TX and he inspired our multi-service audience of intelligence trainees and instructional staff with tales of heroism and rising in the Army as a minority (he sold some books too). MoH winners are cut from no common mold, but Benavidez looked like he was born to wear a decoration for gallantry. He was a hulking Green Beret, ferheavensakes! There weren't many infantry types in the audience, but as past and future highly-cleared linguists, analysts, and watch officers, we were double-plus impressed that the Master Sergeant's superhuman gallantry included gathering classified documents under fire that might be captured by the enemy. If only some people in our government were so concerned with our national security.

More here.

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First thing I noticed

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Congrats, Frank Cho!

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Hillary's Fuzzy Memory


She's thankful she didn't tell the whole story.

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No, thanks, I'll have a sandwich

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Scrubs

I think I've seen every previous episode of Scrubs at Lil Bro's house, but a recent dearth of good THC/ Discovery Channel fodder (you can watch the same episodes of Walking with Dinosaurs only so many times) forced me to check out the series again.

Besides the 10.0 on the laughter scale I registered from South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, and the 9.5 from Team America: World Police, I've never laughed so much from a show.

And Elliot is hawt!

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll Down for New Stuff

Not the winning caption:

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) shakes hands with Eli Manning, quarterback for the New York Giants football team, (2nd R), after speaking about The National President's Challenge in the East Garden of the White House in Washington, March 20, 2008. From L-R are: Bush, Executive Director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness Melissa Johnson, Manning, and fitness celebrity Denise Austin. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES)

Got a caption or photoshop for this Reuters photo? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. If you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even your that case of ping-pong balls you're trying to sell!

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday PM.

Winner!

Doh! Lil Bro wins again with:

Listen up sonny boy, I can make an entire population shit Susie B. Anthony's when I pickup "my FOOTBALL".

Thanks for playing, y'all!

Other Contests:

Gone Rick Motel (1st Place last week!)
Support You Local Gunfighter (2nd Place last week)












Outside the Beltway
WILLisms
Right Pundits
Blonde Sagacity
Villainous Company
Dazed and Confuzed
Public Pondering

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Super Delegates


Meet the rest at The Right Place.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Now that Easter's Over


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Bad-Ass

If When elected, can John McCain break into the Top 5 Most Badass Presidents? Maybe.

I'm pretty sure John will have the highest personal body count of all presidents; JSM3 flew 22 attack missions over North Vietnam before he was shot down on his 23rd. Although he'd complain about the value of those targets, he must have fried a lot more NVAs than Andrew Jackson scored dueling victories. I say "personal body count" because officers usually don't do the dirty work of killing in war; they usually just wave the sword and give the orders. Attack pilots actually push the button that releases the bombs or fires the missiles.

John McCain will succeed Bush41 and Bush43 as POTUS former pilots of combat aircraft, a bad-ass occupation in itself. Let's tally the bad-assitude:

GHWB: Naval aviator (operating from a carrier automatically doubles bad-ass points), flew 55 combat missions (Avenger torpedo/ bomber), survived one water landing, was shot down and rescued by submarine (becoming a de facto submariner for a month).

GWB: Air National Guard pilot, flew the Convair F-102 (an interceptor not in great demand for use in Vietnam)

JSM3: Naval aviator, flew the A-1 Skyraider and A-4 Skyhawk, before Vietnam survived two crashes and a collision with power lines, survived a horrific accident/fire on the deck of USS Forestal, flew 22 combat missions over North Vietnam, was shot down by an SA-2 missile, suffered crippling injuries, endured torture, mistreatment, and isolation in five years of captivity.
You don't get to be bad-ass by being lucky, GWB (but we still luv ya), you get it by being unlucky and then triumphing over circumstances. Teddy Roosevelt's story wouldn't have been so astounding if he was born a strapping vision of the man he would become; he was born a sickly asthmatic who "beat asthma to death, he ate asthma's raw flesh and ran 100 straight miles off the energy it gave him."

I have no idea what Bush41's personal body count was, but the Avenger's payload was up to 2000 lbs against the Skyhawk's 9900 lbs maximum, so the A-4 could drop almost twice the ordnance in 22 missions than a TBF could in 55 sorties. So he must have killed a lot more people than Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile did. And he spent more time in a Vietnamese POW camp than Barack Hussein Obama Jr. has served in the US Senate.

Sure, Johnny Mac didn't kill all those Vietnamese with his bare hands, but rumor has it that the real reason Chuck Norris supported Governor Huck is that Norris is personally afraid of John S. McCain III.

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Easter Feaster


Me? I had a turkey-burger and tater tots.

Yes, Mom, I had a vegetable! Ketchup.

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Realpolitick

Superstition 3-Gun is Still Open!

To: All Staff, Competitors, and Sponsors - 2008 SMM3G 3/17/2008

Note: There have been several drops in registration for this event. If you have someone interested in attending, there is no one on the waiting list at this time. Please contact me via email if you know someone who would be interested in attending this event.

Mandatory registration will be open all day Thursday, March 27th 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.

Staff, ONLY, will be competing on this day (a few vendors may also be
shooting on this day).

All other competitors will be participating in the event Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday (March 27 - 30). Food for breakfast and lunch will be available on the range throughout the course of the event from "The Barbeque Crew".

Schedule:
Thursday - Mandatory Registration for all competitors - from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Friday - Full Day - beginning at either 6:50 or 10:30 AM; ending at either 1:20 or 5:00 PM

Saturday - Full Day - beginning at either 10:30 or 6:50 AM; ending at either 5:00 or 1:20 PM;

Brownells Competitors' Banquet 7:00 PM at Terrace Green at View Point featuring dinner, cash bar, door prizes including guns. Come relax and have some fun!

Sunday - Half Day - beginning at either 6:50 or 7:45 AM; ending at either 9:35 or 10:30 AM; stats posted by 12:00 noon; 1 hr. protest period; awards & prize table to end approx 4 - 5 PM

There is no match hotel for this event.

Rules and additional information are posted on our web site: www.smm3gun.com.

If you have any event related questions, please call Bob LaMarca at (480) 251-9034 or Paul Caudill at (602) 989-1389. For registration questions or squadding requests, contact Barbara (480) 234-2672.

E-mail inquiries can be sent to:
Bob LaMarca - Match Director: rlamarca@cox.net
Paul Caudill - Match Director: pcaudill@cox.net
Barbara LaMarca - Registration: rlamarca@cox.net

Barbara LaMarca
Rio Salado Sportsman's Club
Match Registration & Statistics
www.smm3gun.com
rlamarca@cox.net
(480) 234-2672

Match Mailing Address:
SMM3G
Ste 107 PMB 59
Mesa, AZ 85207-5144

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I See Dead Peeps

I'm a bad Catholic.

I don't celebrate Lent because giving up anything meaningful would make my life unbearably miserable, and giving up something trivial would make Lent meaningless. I did "fast" on Good Friday, though -- no meat or alcohol.

For breakfast today, I had three slices of bacon and a six-pack of beer. (I kid! I kid!)

For dinner, I plan meat, meat, and a handful of jelly beans.

Update: In case God's keeping track, I gave up cigars and driving the Stang for Lent... I've got a drained battery to prove the latter. Ya think God hates a gamer?

Update Update: Mang, I'd hate to make it all the way to Holy Saturday, then run out for a cigar right after a Ron White comedy show. Good thing I didn't give up liquor!

Update Update Update: Ay Carumba! I'm three hours away from a Muriel Coronella and the Pope and all his Cardinals, Bishops, Monsignors, and Pederast Priests are laughing at me. Hey... it's Greenwich Meantime somewhere, isn't it?

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Overheard at the Obama Household

Gosh darn it, Shelly, that Fox News guy gets me so steamed!

What is it this time, Barry? Did he mention your lack of experience and Senatorial accomplishments?

No, sweetheart --

Barry, did he dare question your judgment in associating with Reverend Jeremiah Wright?

No, honeybun --

Did he bring up our lack of pride in the achievements of a bunch of old white guys in suits?

Uh, no, Sugar Bear... he called me a "Rock Star!"

A "Rock Star!" That cracker sonuvabitch! How we gonna court the College White Chick Vote with them labellin' you like that. Now go out there and put a cap in someone!

What kind of cap? A baseball cap?

(Shiiiiit... who do I gotta bang to live in the White House? Where's Davey Paterson's number?)

[Disclosure: Subject's ears were enlarged for caricature effect. Skin tone used as found, and some spotlit highlights were darkened to match mated photograph lighting. Script was fictionalized dramatization.]

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Half the German I Know

I learned on Hogan's Heroes.

Sure, Arthur C. Clarke's death yesterday, especially on the anniversary of Dad's passing, made a mark on me. He was a great sci-fi writer and even an impressive scientist in his own right.

Ivan Dixon, who passed away today, probably had a larger social impact on me as a young man. Before I became a serious student of WWII, SSG Kinchloe was an integral part of a behind-the-lines cadre who fooled the Germans, helped POWs escape, and sabotaged the Nazi war machine. It wasn't until much later that I discovered that blacks weren't integrated into the combat units, and were only relegated to support roles like the Red Ball Express -- hey, I watched every episode! Okay, these were all comedy venues, but they succeeded in accustoming me to a world a tad different to the racial strife I'd experienced in Bossier City, Louisiana. So, Hollywood didn't totally suck, at least in the late 70s, right?

"Suck" being a relative term, of course.

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Happy Hump Day!


h/t Lil Bro

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

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Oh No!

Wacky Arizonans

PHOENIX - Officers seized 900 pounds of marijuana, thousands of dollars in cash and three firearms at a Phoenix home after responding to what turned out to be a false alarm.

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll Down for New Stuff

Got a caption or photoshop for this unsourced picture (I hope it's not AP)? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. If you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even your that case of ping-pong balls you're trying to sell!

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday PM.

Winner!

Good entries this week, but Lil Bro takes it with: "L-R: The number 1 and 2 reasons why NY hookers stay gainfully employed."

Other Contests

Gone Rick Motel
Outside the Beltway
WILLisms
Public Pondering
Right Pundits
First In!
Wizbang
Support Your Local Gunfighter: (First Place last week!)

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Long Guns Too!

By the time we trotted out the long guns, the wind had picked up such that I didn't feel safe wearing my hat. The wind knocked down a lot of steel before I could start the shotgun stage; it knocked down a popper while I was shooting, so Jon had me fire a round to account for it. The steel that remained after Jon's run wouldn't fall from a dead-center 9-mm hit, so he got credit for it.

Video





Why didn't I top off my damned C-Mag? Arrggggh!! "Cactus never has higher than a 40-round rifle count!" Well, if I'd not re-engaged two targets and not hit the 100-yard steel at the base, instead of the top, I would have finished without reloading. Even iron-sighted Bob beat me!

Video

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March Cactus League USPSA Match

Haven't shot one of these in ages! Well, the pistol match I mean, but the no-shoot kinda applies, as well. Jon, Bob, and I battled the wintry desert (read: windy) at Ben Avery to do some serious pistol shootin'.

Our first stage was a short two-string classifier. I seriously handicapped my match by scoring a miss and a no-shoot on this "Virginia-count" stage.

Second came a mostly steel stage with real hard hardcover! That steel cactus was a bitch!

Then, let the hosing begin! Our third stage doubled as the rifle side-match and I made the same mistake of double-engaging the same targets on each try.

Stage 4 was a long run, with many no-shoots and a plate rack at the end. I actually shot this with no penalties! The thrice-wacked good-guy pictured was Jon's. :) I took my time to get head-shots on this array; three of my hits were on the far-left B-zone perforation and probably would have penalized me if I'd aimed for the lower A-zone.

Here's some video for ya.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Tactical Shootin at the Pima PC

Kelly and Jake put on a fine four-stage gauntlet of gunly goodness for us at the remote Catalina range. Fifteen carbine combat connoisseurs (16 if you count match director Kelly, who was too wired into his duties to shoot) dug into the courses of fire. Kelly RO'd my squad... I was much relieved to just be a shooter/helper for once.

Our first stage was a "blind" stage and most shooters eschewed the offered "cover" for the opportunity to shoot on the move, a very challenging skill set.

Our second stage brought us to the long lane stage, which sadist Jake turned *gasp* into *wheeze* an assault *cough* stage *puff*. As the first shooter, I right away dropped the leftmost of the steel silhouettes (that's not supposed to happen)... I didn't even know it was gone, since it was almost invisible in the shadow. Thankfully, Kelly told me to keep going. Rather than kill all my bandwidth, instead of posting my long-ass performance, here's young Kalani burning up the stage.

Our third stage was a very challenging half-moon stage which was a fun variation (and improvement!) on a stage I did for January. I decided to take advantage of my Reflex optics and try to shoot on the move. Unfortunately, all my rules lawyering couldn't make up for my missing the two bonus steel pistol shots at the end (not filmed, two long-range steel hits could recoup 20 seconds from stage time).

Our fourth stage was the only one that required us to unlimber the pistol for sure. Rifle magazines were limited to 15 rounds, so those of us math-challenged folks felt the pain of not planning ahead. I was a bit *ooh surprised!* that the Glock 23 recoiled a tad more than the Glock 19. What a sad state of affairs -- I started playing IPSC with my G23! For some reason, my tactically addled brain decided I must defend myself one-handed against the first two targets. (I think my other hand was worried about the slung Bushy shifting around.) Yes, I did shade myself in cover... just not up-close.

I finished right in the middle of the pack (penalties killed me, not my stage times); not bad for a fat old guy!

Here's a Match Video for ya.

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Yuck

Just a few days ago, I was wearing shorts and driving with the windows down; just yesterday, I was shooting in the foothills, wondering whether the black T-shirt I had on was a little too much solar absorption. Just an hour ago, I passed freshly fallen snow in Tucson and watched the accumulation of sleet on the corners of my windshield. Ma Nature, get it out of your system now, please.

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Survivorman's a Pussy!

Really, daring the Sonoran Desert in December? Oooh! Running water! So lucky! Try it in June, Hombre!

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Today's Racist Post

Well, not really racist! No more than the Rev. Dr. Wright, I mean. Jeez, can't ya sit back and just enjoy the freakin' metaphor?

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Big Ethanol Makes a Move?

Found this morning.

Hey, let's turn off America to eating corn -- so we'll have more for making inefficient ethanol! We're sure you'd rather be gouged by an Iowan than a Saudi or Venezuelan, right?

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