summer patriot, winter soldier

who won the presidential debate? .... i will let you know 11.04.2020 ....

i am a committed trump voter.  i voted for him in 2016, mainly as an antidote to a clinton presidency: this based upon my conviction that hilary clinton is corrupt and criminal, and cynical as hell.  i really didn't know much about donald trump.

four years later, i am proud to promote his continued presidency, as i think he has done a first rate job.  in spite of a coup attempt to dislodge him from office, (backed by the clintons, obama, soros and criminals in the intelligence community) he has maintained a steady course, and accomplished much.

he has been, in the face of everything, calm and unflappable. 

then, there is the little matter that he has been nominated 3 times in the norwegian parliament for the nobel peace prize, which he so richly deserves, for brokering agreements between israel and its arab neighbors which hold out the promise for peace in the middle east.   such talks are ongoing, very quietly, and trump has avoided the limelight while pushing these agreements.   he just gets the job done.

the art of the deal, indeed.

he has won major concessions benefiting american workers, and keeping jobs in this country, by renegotiating the various nafta treaties regulating trade between the u.s., mexico and canada.   the fact that the leaders of these countries took considerable pleasure insulting him in the early part of his administration didn't seem to bother him at all.

the art of negotiation, indeed.

he is drawing down american troop deployment in the middle east.  let me repeat that.  he is drawing down american troop deployment in the middle east, and holding isis at bay.

he looked the euro's eyeball to eyeball, and insisted that they pay more of their share for running n.a.t.o., and the freeloaders are doing so, though the principal offenders, germany and france, continue their cynical pattern of lambasting america at every turn, and trump, even while we keep the rooskies at bay with our troops.  (quite frankly, i think we ought to cut the smart-assed bastards loose, and let them fend off the russians all by their little lonesomes, as we say out these parts.  germany particularly rankles me, having started two world wars, and acting like they never happened.)

and, finally.  need i remind you.   it appears quite likely that by the end of the year, three very fine jurists will sit on the supreme court of the united states, courtesy of donald john trump's nominations.  this is a monumental achievement.***  if he had done nothing else during his presidency, he would deserve re-election.

in sum, i really don't care who "won" the "debate," which seems to have devolved into a contest of raised voices and insults.  joe "hiding" biden started it off by calling the president a clown and a liar.  i think trump did a remarkable job not decking the little pecker head.  it must have been very tempting.

donald john trump has proved to me to be a very fine president.   the dimmo's never will figure out how he works, which amuses me greatly.  he just goes his merry way pissing them off, letting them rant and fulminate, while he gets his work done, ... , while they vent, ineffectually.  all with a smile on his face, just like he knows something they don't.

john jay @ 09.30.2020

 

p.s.   if you share my views, contribute to his war chest, as well as supporting the republican national committee's effort to raise money.   as they say, "money counts, bullshit walks."  ***  after all, don't forget mitch mcconnell and the repub senate.   keep them in office.   send money.

 

the ar-10 battle rifle .... maybe yes, maybe no ....

i have stoutly maintained over the years that there really is no such thing as an ar-10 rifle.   there are commercial products that are marketed as ar-10's, and there are firms that have sold orders of ar-10 types to the government of the u.s. for various uses.

but, to the best of my knowledge, the u.s. has never adopted a set of specifications, drawings and the like, that have established and identified a rifle designated the ar-10, and established what is for procurement and use purposes just exactly what an ar-10 is.

but, i am backing off the dime a bit on this.

the whole thing is clouded by the history of the ar rifles.  an ar-10 was built first and submitted to procurement review but was not accepted and built for the u.s., and was not sold to the u.s.   what was sold was a smaller scaled down version of the ar-10, which became the m-16, or the ar-15 to us civilians.  that rifle is most assuredly defined down to the last screw when procurement contracts are sought and let.

to the best of my knowledge, the ar-10 type has never been through this process in the united states.   that is not to say, however, that the ar-10 was not produced anywhere else.   or, that it has not been used in battle by this or that antagonist in open warfare.

it has.   and, it has been manufactured for this purpose.  and, such rifles have been imported into the united states as parts kits, minus the lower receivers which were banned for importation.  the sellers of these parts kits sold them with commercial receivers manufactured in the united states by private concerns, but such manufacture was done by various entities acquiring the original receivers, measuring them, and making somewhat divergent versions that were lacking the parts giving the rifles full auto capability.

this is all set out in some detail in "the original ar-10 semi-auto rifles," by joseph putnam evans in the december 2017, issue 30 of firearms news, beginning at page 28.  ar-10's were made in portugal, used by them in africa in colonial conflicts, and apparently exported to cuba, sudan and gautemala, these countries being set forth in the article.

as i understand the article, these rifles were made pursuant to sales of the rifles by armalite.   but, my further understanding is that the specs, manufacturing drawings and blue prints, and shop drawings used by the portuguese manufacturers have not been made available to anyone else  ....   not even the united states.

if my understanding of the article is correct, the ar-10 remains something of a betwixt and between item, recognized as a type, but not standardized by contract procurement requirements to the extent and in the manner of the ar-15.

so, it seems to me that i am sorta right, and, sorta wrong.   through all of this, however, several u.s. manufacturers have emerged to more or less define the standards of the rifle in the market place, as to dimension and the like, among these companies being dpms and knight's armament and several others.

please read the evan's article carefully, and find your own beliefs/opinions in the matter.   so, in conclusion, we seem to have an ar-10 rifle, but, not in the same sense as an m-1 garand, or a 1903 springfield, or even an ar-15.   it is a rather curious situation.

john jay @ 09.29.2020

p.s.   and, if i am wrong, i most assuredly would like to be set straight, especially by anyone who has had procurement experience in acquiring ar-10's, and can describe how the type was established and defined via such procurement.  i would be very happy to have my ignorance in the matter demonstrated.

field expedient repairs, ar-15 .... no. 2 ....

goodness me, i forgot something in the previous report on field expedient repairs.--

i forgot that i had no proper tapered pins to hold the front sight/gas gizzie in place on the barrel.   and, i didn't feel very danged much like ordering a box car load and paying ups to haul them here from back east.

if you've read any of my pieces on how to build an ar-15 lower receiver out of wood, you'll know that i just adore tension/roll pins.   they look a little suspect (until you use them a bit), but they are hell for stout, and very useful, and bear a lot of weight/load in sheer.   so, i just went down to the hardware store, and bought a couple of tensioning pins, and used them in place instead of the "proper" tapered pins.

well, i went out to the range, and shot my recently put together ar-15 to get it "sighted" in.   i haven't shot anything for 3 years or so, because of my further adventures with the ticker.   i was enjoying getting it "sighted in" so much that it took me 61 rounds downrange to get it shooting more or less where i want it to.

and, as expected, the wire and tape held the hand guard securely in place, and the tensioning pins kept the front sight from moving, and delivered gas to the operating system as designed.

the trigger is pretty rough.  i may have to tear into the lower and extract the fire control system, hone the trigger and sear to slick them up a bit, and see if i can get the trigger pull a little smoother and lighter.  for you alarmists out there who are convinced i am a bit daft, i am not removing any materials, or altering the engagement surfaces,  from said parts, only polishing the surfaces of the same.   as it stands right now, i am getting to a place in the trigger pull where everything comes to a halt ....  i don't want to pull any harder, and the trigger doesn't want to move any more, so it and i are in stasis, seeing which one will give in to the other.   this has to stop.   oddly enough, all of that will make sense to a shooter of rifles.

it may take another 60 rounds to get it all worked out.   just work, work, work. horrible work.  oh, yeah.  laughing.

john jay @ 09.28.2020

p.s.

the donald hits a tater into the center field bleachers w/ his nomination to the supreme court .....

goodness gracious, well done, well done, president trump with your nomination of amy coney barret to replace the recently passed ruth bader ginsburg as a justice to the supreme court.   very well done.

and, joe lieberman (observant jew & independent, former dimmo) has already warned the rest of the dimmo senate that an attack on barret's catholic religion is an attack on all who steadfastly hold to their faith, christian, jewish or otherwise.   it will be interesting to see what muslim members of congress have to say about barret's religious holdings:  no way to do so, without it turning on them, i am thinking.

same w/ the atheists ....  to attack barret, is to support another's attack on a theist or atheist nominee.

so, i say, well done president trump, well done.   another very very very solid nomination to the court.

in my estimation, this leaves the dimmo's with one angle of attack, and that is a christine blasey what'sherface (ford)-type insanity offensive.   didn't work then, ain't gonna work now.

they may as well just take the vote right now, and let pence cast the tie-breaker.

john jay @ 09.26.2020

p.s. if the assholes do not condemn it, then they condone it. period.

you know what i am talking about, and you know of whom i speak.

john jay @ 09.25.2020

mail-in ballot election fraud in pennsylvania and wisconsin ...... ballots in the ditches .....

update, backdate, whatever you call it.   09.25.2010.  grog reminds me that there was an incident of a massive mail dump in cali, mostly ballots if i recall.  "something wicked this way comes," my friends.  john   end update. 

update.  09.25.2020.  ballots discovered in luzerne county, penn. were from military voters, and all ballots were voted for trump.   envelopes were not discovered with the ballots, meaning that a biden vote could be substituted for a trump vote, and no one would ever be the wiser.  end update.

 

civil war.  plain and simple, being waged by the fucking democrats in two states, even as democracy struggles to survive.

postal workers, u.s. mail employees, or both of them working in league are doing their fucking dimmo best to scuttle donald trump.   ballots discovered on the road side, discarded by one or both of these groups working in league.

where else do they come from, who else handles them once in the mail?

if this continues, and it will, it will be absolute cause to take arms to protect our liberties, and to protect the system created by our constitution, the noblest document in political history.   both are worth protecting with bloodshed.

unless this is absolutely condemned by the fucking democrats, top to bottom, state and local, with instruction that this bullshit ends right now. and such will not be forthcoming, there is no doubt as to the source of this skullduggery, and no doubt as to whom is directing it.  and, no doubt that the fucking democrats are trying to steal this election, and trying to steal our way of governance.   our liberties, our rights, our way of life.

the gauntlet has been slapped across our faces.--

this, and the b.l.m. & antifa, .... , what in the god damned hell do you think it means?   use your heads for something besides hat racks.  for christ's sake.  (and, if you think christianity is not being attacked as well, you've got shit for brains.  plain and simple.)

buy guns.   buy ammo.   put your game face on, it is nigh unto the time to make war.   as for myself, i do not intend to be hung by the epitaph that i watched this happen, without doing anything.

there is no doubt who the enemy is.   period.   end of discussion.

john jay @ 09.25.2020

p.s.   see the geller report, this day, for fuller articles.

debate agenda rigged in favor of biden .....

to my way of thinking, the debate agenda looks rigged in order to toss joe biden "softballs," so that he can attack trump's record.   what's different?  this year's moderator will probably get hired afterwards by the democratic national committee, just like donna brazile did after leaking questions to the clinton campaign in 2016.

so what's new?   trump will be prepared for this.

my curiosity tends more towards wondering how trump will sneak in his wonderful achievements while in office, contrasted to joe biden's rather lackluster career as a legislator, with no major legislative accomplishments (at least not any with which i am familiar.)

trump has re-negoiated trade agreements.   he has forced nato members to pay more in support of nato's budget.   he has brokered, quite silently and without much fanfare, major peace deals in the middle east, and even as this is typed, more arab countries are getting in line to normalize relations with israel.  and, as he promised, he is pulling u.s. troops very quietly out of the middle east, while making sure such groups as isis do not enjoy a resurgence in their efforts.

all in all, he's done very well.   and, oh, yeah, he too, has been nominated for a nobel peace prize ....  we'll see how that goes.

"well, those are interesting points, joe,  ....  , but, hey, how about that trade agreement.   and, how about the saudi's and the israeli's making nice nice."

i am thinking the whole thing goes about like that, from president trump's view.

as for biden, what has he ever done to crow about?   i mean, seriously, what has biden ever done besides get elected to office, and to make sure that hunter biden gets rich because he's the old man's kid?   couldn't be that any of that got back to the old man as, well, you know, "vigorish" for lining the kid's pocket?

maybe donald will ask?

john jay @ 09.24.2020

the only trick the dimmo's seem to have up their sleeve is christine blasey ford ....

joy behar, she of "the view" fame, seems to think that the donald has the election in the bag, which is as naked a confession of joe biden's inadequacy as a candidate that any self respecting leftist could ever bring herself to utter.   things must look pretty bleak  ....   and, the "insider" information just confirms what most of us have known for some time.   and, that is, that joe biden has bats in the belfry.  he's several bricks shy of a full load.

you know, as in the crazy old soldier who goes charging up the stair (with his bugle ....  my memory is a little dodgy on this one) in the movie "arsenic and old lace."   like the old ladies, of the same movie.   and, most definitely not like jimmie stewart in "harvey the white rabbit," who is probably more evenly balanced than everyone else.   no, joe biden is not more attuned to the realities of the world than the rest of us ....  he is still spinning the dial, trying to tune in.   he just cannot find the right station.

he is wearing the same little paper hat pogo always wore when he mounted an expedition across the okefenokee swamp, except pogo wasn't crazy either.   sane, like jimmy stewart, a little odd, but not bonkers.  

this makes me nervous.

at times like this the dimmo's come up with the most scurrilous, underhanded, outlandish dirty tricks imaginable.  what in god's name can they have left after the russian dossier fiasco, and lowering themselves to attack his little boy, impugning his intelligence.  (conveniently ignoring the clinton's forays into the caribbean  ...  speaking of which, how can they get any lower?)

the only thing that i can think of that the dimmo's might try, is to claim that christine blasey ford went to summer school with president trump's nominee, and that she appears at the senate hearings to testify that she had sex w the nominee 40 years ago.   (well, why not, she's got the whole thing pretty well rehearsed at this point.)

no one, but no one, can say that this generation hasn't lived through some interesting times.  not desperate times, like wwii, not soul numbing poverty, like the depression, but very interesting as in quite beyond a little quirky, just way out in the far reaches of left field, you should pardon the expression, just out where the goats graze. as  depicted in "arsenic and old lace," without the wit.   the schumer and pelosi era has just  been clinically insane, but somehow lacking in the charm and warmth of two potty little old chubby ladies trying to poison everyone.  

what, the objects of their machinations didn't vote their way?  now, who does that remind you of?   go ahead, just say it.   cleanse your soul.  fly, and be free.  ("mork and mindy."  a long time ago, in many ways.)

john jay @ 09.22.2020

field expedient fixes for the ar-15 .... magpul handguards ....

just finished putting an ar-15 together out of this and that, and, as it turns out, not all of the "required" pieces.--

there is this little cup shaped stamped metal part that helps hold the hand guards together, which are clam-shelled stamped pieces that fit between the gas port/front sight assembly and a step in the barrel.  the front of the hand guards fit into them, and the rear end fits into the delta ring.  all in all, it's a happy arrangement, it works, even if a pain in the butt to put together.  (not so bad, if you have the right tool  ...  who's got the right tool?)

well, it got to the point to put the hand guards on.   and, guess who forgot the little thingie to hold the front of the guards on?  well, yeah, that would be me.   so, i had the choice of scaring one of the damn things up, and taking the rifle pretty much apart, or  ....  figuring out a field expedient fix, or repair, or whatever.

well, i come from the country, where we make do.   and, my whole life, i have survived on baling wire (holds bales of hay together, doncha know), and black electrician's tape (holds electrical wire together, doncha know.)

why change now?

i got the hand guards, messed around with them a bit, and decided that a wire fix would work just fine.  i got some relatively heavy gauge wire (heavy in the sense of guitar repair, when i didn't know any better), and wired the guards together after getting them held in place by the delta ring.  quite frankly, i don't know how that works, i just know you mess around with the damn things until they are together, and don't move.

so, the delta ring was doing its job.

the fix required replacing the little cup thingie that holds the front part of the clam shell together, so i wrapped it in wire, twisted it as much as i dared until i was satisfied with a tight fit, and then wrapped it in electricians tape to keep the wires from unraveling.   just for symmetry, i did the same with the rear of the hand guards, in front of the delta ring.

result?  well, it works, and for the foreseeable future.  i don't know how it would work in hand to hand combat, but i am an old poop w/ a bad heart, so that wouldn't work out too well for me, anyhows.  (as we say out here.)   jesus hisself could not delivered me from that.

so much for my day.   done with that, and pleased with myself.   time to regain some humility, and practice the guitar.

john jay @ 09.22.2020

p.s.   and, to see how the donald is doing, and if new york is still standing, or is a smoldering ruin.

the donald and the fight over the supreme court ....

a couple of women members of the u.s. senate seem determined to make donald trump's life miserable.  they have announced that the nomination & hearings on rbg's replacement on the court should wait until after the election.   the repub leadership, on the other hand, is pretty sure that it can get the nomination to a vote on the floor of the senate, that will be decided by vice-president's pence's vote.

it will be interesting, to be sure.

(this seems to indicate to me that the repub women senators wish president trump to be defeated at the polls, or the mail-ins, or by voter fraud, or any other dimmo contrivance.  to my mind there is no difference between now & latter if the donald is re-elected.   the only reason to wait is to wish that biden somehow manages to win.)

that's obvious enough, and even duly noted by the various talking heads.

but, there is something else going on here, not quite as obvious.   i believe that when donald trump goes to the mat for someone, they are grateful, and they stay grateful, and they seem to stay loyal.  (we'll all understand john bolton some day, i suppose, but, for right now, he remains something of a mystery to me.  and, self destructive  ....   you only get so many chances to have the ear of the president of the united states, and that privilege should not be taken lightly.  and tossed away over personality issues. *sigh*)  the last two appointments to the supreme court shall never forget what the dimmo's put them through.   never.   ever.

and, it makes a difference.

now, one of the trickiest things going is to predict how a judge/jurist/politician/academic will react once on the court.--   dwight eisenhower often said that earl warren was his biggest disappointment as president, a seeming conservative to moderate who became a "legislative liberal" on the bench.  hugo black had been an alabama member of the klu klux klan before getting religion on the court.   justice sutter was thought to be moderate to conservative, but ended up an activist loose cannon.   and, justice douglas's background was in regulating financial markets.  the list just goes on and on.

so, donald trump will make his selection, the senate will pass on it one way or another, but if the person gets on the supreme court bench, there is no sure fire prediction what kind of jurist that person will be.

you pays your money, you takes their chances.--

all of that being said, this is what i hope the donald does.--

i hope that he picks a woman.  and, though i hope she is not a fire breathing conservative, but a procedural and textual moderate, who will indicate her respect for precedent, and will indicate that roe v. wade is to be respected as law.   and, i hope that the donald will talk w/ his nominee, and indicate that in his opinion her chances of being passed onto the court by the senate in an orderly fashion may very well depend upon her being perceived, just as i have set out, as a nominee.

no better way to undercut the dimmo opposition than to proceed as set forth.   by so saying, the president's candidate foreclose substantial shenanigans from the dimmo's, negates substantial apprehension that a trump nominee is set on destroying roe v. wade, and in no way forecloses such a jurist from acting on a roe v. wade case in the future, should she hear it.   after all, who knows what posture the factual record in such a court comes before the court, who knows what society shall be thinking at such a point, and who knows the legal issues to be decided.

by so saying, the candidate is not tied to any one position, and can fully and duly exercise his duty as a jurist on our highest court.   they are neither handcuffed nor compromised by such an intellectual posture.

god's speed to her.   and, god's grant of wisdom and grace.

and, go donald.

john jay @ 09.21.2020