Over the river and through the loophole to...

I await arrival of the house-sitter and her irritable German shepherd.

The pile of shootie stuff is stowed in the camper. It will be my first gun show presence as a "vendor" in quite a while.

The quotation marks around "vendor" are used advisedly. More  accurately  stated it is an enthusiast who let things get out of hand  and desires to clear out a few more-or-less "parts" rifles,  trade one dandy Winchester 88 in .284 for more militant types of iron, and, most importantly, shed about three cubic feet of goodies. Things like vintage taxidermy supplies, a Flaubert lock, A Winchester '06 bolt, dies for calibers I've permanently abandoned, an old Herter's press.  

If you're a pack-rat gunny, you'll understand.  You acquire and acquire when prices are right.  Or when you've taken temporary leave of your senses. Every few years you reach a decision point. You either put up a Morton building or peddle stuff.

Of course, there's always the danger of  further acquisition at any loophole, regardless of what side of the table you're on. A man of strong resolve and sterling character can resist. I'll let you know how I do.

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Note to self: Don't forget the black Sharpie.

Fate of the Nation

Or, "Back to work after a day of monumental bad judgement at the groaning board." (Thank you Enid et al. Food and company outstanding, as usual.)

Politics, bucolic style: By this time a citizen who pays attention should have a very plausible list of top Iowa Caucus finishers. Not this year. The state polls are like congressman's morals -- loose, confused, and certainly not to be relied on.

In order, the averages make it;

Gingrich
Cain
Romney
Paul

My take puts Paul no worse than third -- or second if the Gingrich immigration stand really riles the right.

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More than usual, the outcome may depend on weather the night of January 3. A good libertarian thinker  hopes for the mother of all blizzards. If the north wind shuts down the state, the "values voters" will  cocoon and pray for a miracle.

The Ron Paul forces will mobilize everything from snowmobiles to one-horse open sleighs. Victory will be ours, a landslide.

Thanksgiving

May you enjoy the day.

Here at Camp J, the commandant's contribution to a traditional dinner bubbles gently in the dutch oven. Bush's, laced with extra high-test molassas, bacon, onion, a pinch of organic St. Cloud oregano. I'd tell you the other ingredients, but then I'd have to kill you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Land of the Hoosier Hip --Occupy It

In Indianapolis exists a neighborhood called Broad Ripple. It is a Hoosier iteration of classic hip scenes of other cities (Old Town Chicago in the 60s; Greenwich Village in the 50s, etc.). People, mostly young, go there for eating, drinking, meeting, and a sense of  the pleasant side of urban living.

This creates an attraction for the other side of city life, the rapist, the mugger, the robber. No surprise. The underbelly parasites are always attracted to money and other-sex comeliness.  They have made looking for love, or arugula, or whatever, a somewhat hazardous thing to do in Broad Ripple after sundown.

In reaction, a movement has sprung up to "Occupy Broad Ripple with Guns." It's more benign than it sounds. Adult people are to quietly stroll the nightlife area this Saturday night, carrying openly and legally.

There seems to be a dual intent. (1) Remind the thugs that they do not own the streets, even when Officer Friendly is absent and (2) spread the word to revelers how they, too, may bear arms for effective self-defense by jumping through a few regulatory hoops.

I am decidedly wishy-washy about public demonstrations of any kind, and even more firmly ambivalent about open-carry events. But at the very worst, OBR seems like something that should do no harm and may do some good.  The mugging class  tends to prefer swimming in a pool of docile, surprised, and unarmed victims, and it's always good to dissuade them about your neighborhood. So have at it, Hoosiers. If I were there I'd probably join you.

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Roberta has a good little essay on the matter, including a riff on the predicable outcry of the ubermeek that Broad Ripple is about to be taken over by gun-slinging skinhead racists. She's taken care of that nonsense. There's no need for repetition here, but it  did give me an idea.

I've always appreciated a retort to the soaked-Pamper Left whose idea of rational discussion is to shout "Nazi!" at libertarian thinkers, particularly armed ones. "We're not the Nazis, Binky. We're the guys hiding the Jews."

That thought occurs just as much of America prepares to storm the big boxes in search of cheap but neat Christmas gifts.

An alternative worth thought?

There is an organization known as Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.  You need not be Jewish to belong. So if you're stumped for something for Mr./Ms. Hard-to-Buy-For, how about a gift JFPO membership?  At $25 it's cheap enough, and it lasts a whole year which the gizmo from WalMart probably won't.