According to the El Paso County sample ballot, there are four contested races in the 2010 Republican Primary on August 10th. They are:
US Senator
- Ken Buck vs Jane Norton
Colorado Governor
- Dan Maes vs Scott McGinnis
Colorado Treasurer
- JJ Ament vs Walker Stapleton
El Paso County Sheriff
- Terry Maketa vs Jake Shirk
In my short series, I'll work the list from bottom to top, which will leave the most hotly contested races until last. To be honest, I didn't even know the Colorado Treasurer was a contested race until I looked, so we'll look at that race next time. In the meantime, the Gazette has published a voter guide.
Terry Maketa and Jake Shirk have much in common, and much to commend them. To be honest, I think either one would be a good sheriff. First, they both support Vermont/Alaska/Arizona-type firearm laws for Colorado, namely that no license or permit of any kind should be required to carry a concealed firearm, but Shirk has made it part of his platform, while Maketa only brought it up when questioned in an interview. Both support a Colorado version of the excellent Arizona Immigration Bill. Both believe that Medical Marijuana is here to stay, but agree that abuse should be prosecuted. Shirk goes a bit further, stating that he voted against the dispensaries, but will uphold the Colorado law. Maketa did not specify his personal feelings on the law. I think he's just playing it safe politically. Of course, with no Democratic challenger, why would he feel the need to do that?
I think Maketa has a stronger position concerning not removing sworn deputies from the El Paso County Jail, as Shirk stated he intends to pursue, but I really like Jake Shirk's promise to publish the Sheriff's Department budget on the web. It is a big step toward a more open government. In addition, Maketa's April accusation that Shirk, a 35 year law enforcement veteran (vs. Maketa's 23 years), lacked experience left a bad taste in my mouth. As you will see in upcoming posts, I really don't like politicians who play dirty, and even though the sheriff's race has been pretty tame compared to others, when two candidates are this closely matched, the one who plays it clean will earn my vote. Add a very strong 2nd Amendment stance and a commitment to open government, and I'm sold.
I'm supporting Jake Shirk for El Paso County Sheriff.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
2010 Colorado GOP Primaries
The Colorado GOP primaries will be held August 10th, and I have decided to post my political decision making and generate some discussion. My goal is to post every few days with my thoughts on the individual races, then on or about August 8th, post my list for the election.
Some of the primary races are really turning nasty. The attack ads, political missteps, and tongue slips are getting pretty tiresome, and the GOP is fighting amongst themselves while squandering the best chance we have at stopping an out of control Federal Government. Some races are easy to decide, but others have been really hard, with me having to reconsider my early leanings due to the political nastiness and the diarrhea-of-the-mouth from some candidates.
My preference is for candidates who are small-government, tax cutting, fiscally conservative, morally conservative, liberty-minded people. I, like so many others, am tired of being hoodwinked by big-government Republicans (RINOs*) or candidates whose first priorities are lining their own pockets and doing whatever it takes to get re-elected. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. I'm an old school conservative who leans Libertarian (but not all the way)**, and a Constitutionalist that believes in a limited Federal government, limited to providing a strong national defense, maintaining some semblance of order between the states and generally leaving me and my local government alone. I love the Lord Jesus, I love my family and I love my country, in that order. Government exists to serve the people and protect their lives, liberty and prosperity, not the other way around. I will not give up essential liberty to gain temporary security.
My main issues this year are:
Reversing Reckless Government Spending: The Federal Government is spending out of control, and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, on the verge of bankrupting the country. Colorado is doing a little better, but is addicted to handouts from the federal government. Locally, the Colorado Springs government still thinks it's their money, not that of the taxpayers.
Reversing Government Corporate Takeovers and Bailouts: They bought Fannie, Freddie, AIG, and Government Motors, and now passed a bill allowing the Fed to takeover any business they deem "too big to fail." We need free markets and competition, not government control of industry. That is Socialism. Capitalism works, Socialism fails. Read your history books (the unrevised ones...).
Government Accountability to the Voters: I don't want to silence special interest groups (I support some of them!), but I want my elected officials to answer primarily to the voters. I don't know how to do this, but I'm very tired of patronizing form letters from my Senators when I have serious, well-reasoned arguments against their positions. Term limits across the board!
Securing Our Borders: How many years has it been since 9/11/2001 and we still haven't built a fence on our southern border? Democrats think illegal immigration is a massive voter registration drive, while drug smugglers, human traffickers and terrorists come and go at will, and all the Federal Government can do is sue Arizona for taking steps to help enforce FEDERAL Law?
The Protection of Essential Liberties: Read the Bill of Rights. Freedom of religion, the right to keep and BEAR arms, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, government only has the powers given to it by the Constitution. Understand that those Amendments place limits on the Federal, local and state governments, and protect us from tyranny.
Repealing Obamacare: It is unconstitutional to force me to buy a product. I don't want the government or insurance companies in the room when I talk to my doctor. It's none of their freakin' business, and the health care free market will work much better without government interference.
There are no perfect candidates, but some are clearly better than others. I don't want to vote for one just because it's perceived that the other doesn't have a chance against the Democrats. It's time for conservatives to stand on principle and let the GOP know that we've had it with moderate, wishy-washy, politically correct candidates. I never want to have to hold my nose and vote for a John McCain again!
Stay tuned!
* RINOs - Republicans in Name Only, or Democrats in elephant's clothing. (So what do you call all the all-out Socialists running as Democrats?)
**Two issues keep me from becoming a full-fledged Libertarian. First, their isolationist foreign policies are horribly misguided in our global economy and dangerously naive about threats like Islamic extremism, drug cartels and organized crime, and old-style communist states. Second, as a Christian, I cannot adopt their Utopian "live and let live" philosophy on moral issues like abortion and legalizing dangerous drugs.
Some of the primary races are really turning nasty. The attack ads, political missteps, and tongue slips are getting pretty tiresome, and the GOP is fighting amongst themselves while squandering the best chance we have at stopping an out of control Federal Government. Some races are easy to decide, but others have been really hard, with me having to reconsider my early leanings due to the political nastiness and the diarrhea-of-the-mouth from some candidates.
My preference is for candidates who are small-government, tax cutting, fiscally conservative, morally conservative, liberty-minded people. I, like so many others, am tired of being hoodwinked by big-government Republicans (RINOs*) or candidates whose first priorities are lining their own pockets and doing whatever it takes to get re-elected. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. I'm an old school conservative who leans Libertarian (but not all the way)**, and a Constitutionalist that believes in a limited Federal government, limited to providing a strong national defense, maintaining some semblance of order between the states and generally leaving me and my local government alone. I love the Lord Jesus, I love my family and I love my country, in that order. Government exists to serve the people and protect their lives, liberty and prosperity, not the other way around. I will not give up essential liberty to gain temporary security.
My main issues this year are:
Reversing Reckless Government Spending: The Federal Government is spending out of control, and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, on the verge of bankrupting the country. Colorado is doing a little better, but is addicted to handouts from the federal government. Locally, the Colorado Springs government still thinks it's their money, not that of the taxpayers.
Reversing Government Corporate Takeovers and Bailouts: They bought Fannie, Freddie, AIG, and Government Motors, and now passed a bill allowing the Fed to takeover any business they deem "too big to fail." We need free markets and competition, not government control of industry. That is Socialism. Capitalism works, Socialism fails. Read your history books (the unrevised ones...).
Government Accountability to the Voters: I don't want to silence special interest groups (I support some of them!), but I want my elected officials to answer primarily to the voters. I don't know how to do this, but I'm very tired of patronizing form letters from my Senators when I have serious, well-reasoned arguments against their positions. Term limits across the board!
Securing Our Borders: How many years has it been since 9/11/2001 and we still haven't built a fence on our southern border? Democrats think illegal immigration is a massive voter registration drive, while drug smugglers, human traffickers and terrorists come and go at will, and all the Federal Government can do is sue Arizona for taking steps to help enforce FEDERAL Law?
The Protection of Essential Liberties: Read the Bill of Rights. Freedom of religion, the right to keep and BEAR arms, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, government only has the powers given to it by the Constitution. Understand that those Amendments place limits on the Federal, local and state governments, and protect us from tyranny.
Repealing Obamacare: It is unconstitutional to force me to buy a product. I don't want the government or insurance companies in the room when I talk to my doctor. It's none of their freakin' business, and the health care free market will work much better without government interference.
There are no perfect candidates, but some are clearly better than others. I don't want to vote for one just because it's perceived that the other doesn't have a chance against the Democrats. It's time for conservatives to stand on principle and let the GOP know that we've had it with moderate, wishy-washy, politically correct candidates. I never want to have to hold my nose and vote for a John McCain again!
Stay tuned!
* RINOs - Republicans in Name Only, or Democrats in elephant's clothing. (So what do you call all the all-out Socialists running as Democrats?)
**Two issues keep me from becoming a full-fledged Libertarian. First, their isolationist foreign policies are horribly misguided in our global economy and dangerously naive about threats like Islamic extremism, drug cartels and organized crime, and old-style communist states. Second, as a Christian, I cannot adopt their Utopian "live and let live" philosophy on moral issues like abortion and legalizing dangerous drugs.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
I Write Like...
This evening I saw a blurb about a fun little website called "I Write Like." I've cut and pasted blog posts, paragraphs from old papers, etc, and so far, it has been pretty inconsistent. I've gotten hits for H.P. Lovelace, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Foster Wallace. If I ever get the same author two or three times in a row, I'll keep it.
One interesting question: what happens if I take quotes from various famous published authors and put them into the page?
One interesting question: what happens if I take quotes from various famous published authors and put them into the page?
- Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" - Isaac Asimov
- Isaac Asimov quote on publishing - Charles Dickens
- Robert Heinlein's Armed Society Quote - Oscar Wilde
- Robert Heinlein on rules and morality - Charles Dickens
- Robert Heinlein on love and jealousy - H.P. Lovecraft
- Charles Dickens, third paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
- Charles Dickens, American Notes for General Circulation - H.G. Wells
- Charles Dickens, American Notes a few paragraphs later - Daniel Defoe
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Hiatus
I can't believe I haven't posted since April! Real life is more important than blogging. Back soon!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Range Report
I got a chance to go to the range this morning and had a ball trying out some of my new gizmos.
First, after I got set up and was waiting for the range to go cold so I could put up my targets, I looked at some of the other targets through my new spotting scope, an Alpen 15-45x60. One guy had a black silhouette target up at 200 yards. After squinting a little, I could make out the little black holes on the black target. I was thinking, "great, I got this thing so I could see 30 caliber holes at 200 yards, and these are hard to see!" After setting up targets, I complimented him on his shooting, and he said, "yeah, that's my 22-250." I was looking at 22 caliber holes at 200 yards - black on black! Needless to say, my 30 caliber holes, black on white, were easy to see, even when the mirage started kicking up. I am very happy with the scope! I even showed my daughter Saturn the other night - you can see that it has rings!
Second, my new Ruger Bisley Super Blackhawk in .44 mag was a ball to shoot. Even with 240 grain full magnum loads, it handled beautifully. Almost anyone could handle 44 special loads in that gun. After getting the sights adjusted, it was shooting pretty well at 25 yards. Now I just need to get my skill level up to the capability of the gun... :o} I can't wait to try 310 grain elk loads. Black powder would be fun, too.
Third, the Limbsaver pad I put on the rifle was incredible. I shot 26 rounds from the bench today and felt like I could have shot 50 more. My shoulder wasn't sore at all, and it was like shooting a much milder caliber. It's the best after market shooting accessory I've ever put on my rifle.
Finally, I was very happy with the results of my load testing. I'm working on a 180 grain Nosler Accutip load for elk hunting with my 308 Winchester. For the first time today, I tried using the "ladder method" (a simplified version) for load development. I loaded two sets of rounds from 40.5 to 42.6 grains of IMR 4895 in 0.3 grain increments. One set used Winchester brass, the other Remington. For foulers and sighters, I loaded two extra each at the 40.5 grain level. I fired the strings at two different targets at 200 yards, and noted each hit on the target shown here. I started with Remington, and noticed I was 5" right, so I adjusted the scope, then kept shooting. I wasn't shooting very well at first, but then settled in and got some very good results. The Winchester string came out very good. To be honest, I've never shot this well at 200 yards. Going slow and focusing on the fundamentals really helps!
Bottom line, the most consistent load is between 42.0 and 42.6 grains. I'll use 42.4, cheating it a little high. This should give me good temperature and load insensitivity. The best part is that the data matches both Lyman and Nosler data with 42.5 grains (the max) as the most accurate load for this combination of powder and bullet. It runs right about 2500 fps, which means they should be effective on elk out to 400 yards. Now I just need to find the optimum seating depth to narrow the groups a bit more and I'll be set. (Well, that and work on my riflery skills so I can shoot as well as my rifle!)
I had a good conversation with a fellow 308 Winchester fan. He was breaking in the barrel on a brand new FN-FAL. We talked about everyone thinking they need a 300 Win Mag or stronger to hunt elk. "If it's not a 338 Shoulder-Buster Magnum you can't kill 'em!" Nonsense! Old-timers were killing elk with 30-30's after WWII, and thought the 30-06 the GI's brought home from the war was overkill. All I know is the last elk I shot didn't complain about me not using a big enough gun!
First, after I got set up and was waiting for the range to go cold so I could put up my targets, I looked at some of the other targets through my new spotting scope, an Alpen 15-45x60. One guy had a black silhouette target up at 200 yards. After squinting a little, I could make out the little black holes on the black target. I was thinking, "great, I got this thing so I could see 30 caliber holes at 200 yards, and these are hard to see!" After setting up targets, I complimented him on his shooting, and he said, "yeah, that's my 22-250." I was looking at 22 caliber holes at 200 yards - black on black! Needless to say, my 30 caliber holes, black on white, were easy to see, even when the mirage started kicking up. I am very happy with the scope! I even showed my daughter Saturn the other night - you can see that it has rings!
Second, my new Ruger Bisley Super Blackhawk in .44 mag was a ball to shoot. Even with 240 grain full magnum loads, it handled beautifully. Almost anyone could handle 44 special loads in that gun. After getting the sights adjusted, it was shooting pretty well at 25 yards. Now I just need to get my skill level up to the capability of the gun... :o} I can't wait to try 310 grain elk loads. Black powder would be fun, too.Third, the Limbsaver pad I put on the rifle was incredible. I shot 26 rounds from the bench today and felt like I could have shot 50 more. My shoulder wasn't sore at all, and it was like shooting a much milder caliber. It's the best after market shooting accessory I've ever put on my rifle.
Finally, I was very happy with the results of my load testing. I'm working on a 180 grain Nosler Accutip load for elk hunting with my 308 Winchester. For the first time today, I tried using the "ladder method" (a simplified version) for load development. I loaded two sets of rounds from 40.5 to 42.6 grains of IMR 4895 in 0.3 grain increments. One set used Winchester brass, the other Remington. For foulers and sighters, I loaded two extra each at the 40.5 grain level. I fired the strings at two different targets at 200 yards, and noted each hit on the target shown here. I started with Remington, and noticed I was 5" right, so I adjusted the scope, then kept shooting. I wasn't shooting very well at first, but then settled in and got some very good results. The Winchester string came out very good. To be honest, I've never shot this well at 200 yards. Going slow and focusing on the fundamentals really helps!Bottom line, the most consistent load is between 42.0 and 42.6 grains. I'll use 42.4, cheating it a little high. This should give me good temperature and load insensitivity. The best part is that the data matches both Lyman and Nosler data with 42.5 grains (the max) as the most accurate load for this combination of powder and bullet. It runs right about 2500 fps, which means they should be effective on elk out to 400 yards. Now I just need to find the optimum seating depth to narrow the groups a bit more and I'll be set. (Well, that and work on my riflery skills so I can shoot as well as my rifle!)
I had a good conversation with a fellow 308 Winchester fan. He was breaking in the barrel on a brand new FN-FAL. We talked about everyone thinking they need a 300 Win Mag or stronger to hunt elk. "If it's not a 338 Shoulder-Buster Magnum you can't kill 'em!" Nonsense! Old-timers were killing elk with 30-30's after WWII, and thought the 30-06 the GI's brought home from the war was overkill. All I know is the last elk I shot didn't complain about me not using a big enough gun!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Pro Football
"22 men in desperate need of rest watched by 22 million in desperate need of exercise."
I'm taking the Spurs over the Yankees by 3 points, with a goal in the last minute of the third period.
Oh, and I'm excited about the Tim Tebow commercial. Everyone was upset about this?
Funny how incensed "progressives" get when others want to express their first amendment rights - especially about a story who made a politically incorrect "choice." By the way, the abortion issue is simple: every abortion ends a human life. It's a baby.
I'm taking the Spurs over the Yankees by 3 points, with a goal in the last minute of the third period.
Oh, and I'm excited about the Tim Tebow commercial. Everyone was upset about this?
Funny how incensed "progressives" get when others want to express their first amendment rights - especially about a story who made a politically incorrect "choice." By the way, the abortion issue is simple: every abortion ends a human life. It's a baby.
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