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Journal: Anti Incumbent Results 102

Journal by FroMan

We've been told by the majority of the of the media that there was an anti-incumbent feeling nationwide. Lets look at some numbers.

In the house 43 incumbents lost their seats, 2 of them being Republican and 41 being Democrat. In the senate we also have none of the Republicans in the general election losing their seat compared to 6 of the Democrat seats lost (as of this writing, 2 yet to be determined).

The numbers don't look like an anti-incumbent feeling to me. They look like anti-Democrat.

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Journal: UN 10

Journal by FroMan

What is wrong with the UN? Israeli soldiers are attacked and they defend themselves and within 24 hours UN is condemning Israel. A month after North Korea attacks a South Korean ship with a torpedo and the UN is discussing condemning the attack, but in all probability won't since they cannot get China to agree.

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 17:15

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Journal: TEA Party Event 17

Journal by FroMan

I took the family to the TEA Party event in Grand Rapids this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. I'd guess about 1500 folks showed up for the event, but I'm by no means trained in counting crowds. I did take a video of the crowd and will actually try to count the crowd if the news reports or the TEA Party website says a number too different from my estimate. Things were already underway when I arrived.

The first speaker we heard was certainly not someone I would want representing myself. She was a bit on the angry side, which one might think is preaching to the choir, but the crowd didn't respond well to her.

The second speaker was more describing an organization, and how they screen candidates that they wind up supporting. It sounds like a great organization, promoting some very sounds politicians. I'll probably keep looking into it.

Before we took off we listened to another presentation by a 17 year old. He was an interesting fellow, had his own radio show at one point. It is encouraging to see younger kids believing in conservative values.

One thing I did notice was there were not many black folks in the crowd. It is something I've heard a lot, that the TEA Party folks are all white and it sort of looked like that in this crowd. Then I looked closer, there were a reasonable number of Hispanic and Oriental folks in the crowd beyond the mostly white folks.

Over all the folks there were happy. My little boy ran around among the crowd with me chasing. There were lots of smiles and giggles. Basically there are a lot of good natured folks who have concern about where this country is going and wish to turn back the tide.

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Journal: Reloading 15

Journal by FroMan

I ordered a reloading kit, 9mm dies, and a brass tumbler this afternoon from my local gun shop. I might have been able to get a better deal online by a couple dollars, but this guy has been helping me out a lot recently with shooting questions and research into reloading.

I also picked up a couple hundred primers and bullets. I saved all the brass I shot last year, so I'm in good shape that way. The last component is powder, which I know very little about. With the help from a manual I've started learning about it. And I figure I'll start out with a more or less all purpose powder. When I've tallied up the cost it looks like it should be about ~$.15/round to reload (.04/primer, .09/bullet, .02/powder, reuse brass) compared to the ~$.25/round I usually have been paying.

I'm looking forward to shooting about 50% more this year with reloading. Here is a video of shooting from a couple weeks ago.


Journal: Not what is meant... 18

Journal by FroMan

I cannot imagine this is what is meant to pray for your leaders.

It is a shame that someone would take upon themselves a congregation and lead them so poorly. This man is not following the scripture. David prayed for his enemies, even the king. We are commanded repeatedly to pray for our leaders in the new testament.

Lord God in heaven, may your will be done in all things. Give us all grace and cover our sins. Lead us according to your will, teach us what is right, that we may be used for your glory. Help us to humbly submit to those you have put over us, acknowledging that your hand is over all creation. Give our leaders wisdom to set a righteous example before us and all the Earth. Bend their will to your own to that righteousness may abound in our land that we might be a light and example as a nation in this world for your glory and praise.

Even that prayer, as feeble as it might be, is how we should pray for our leaders. To pray for their suffering or death is not how Christians are called to pray.

I have no love for Obama's policies. He cares not for the most innocent lives, and is pushed and pulled by many who desire to continue or expand abortion in this country. His policies have rewarded some of the most corrupt constituencies in our country. He is trying to force great changes on our nation which would our founder would abhor. For all that he earns my prayer, not my hate. I will fight his policies where I am able and pray that he sees what is right.


Journal: Seraphina Faith Day 10

Journal by FroMan

God has blessed us with our new born daughter Seraphina Faith Day born Tuesday July 14 3:59 AM, 7 pounds 3 ounces, and 19 inches long. Mother and daughter are both doing wonderful. The labor was very easy and quick for my wife and she is recovering excellent. Seraphina arrived with a voracious appetite, but has been satiated and is now sleeping comfortably.

Pictures are on our website: in the photo ablum section.

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Journal: Twitter 1

Journal by FroMan

I finally signed up for twitter, crazydaysorg is my id. Surprisingly there isn't an option to add a twitter id on slashdot, but there is for every other IM type tool, and even WoW (which I don't play anymore).

On Saturday there I attended a conference with ever other fellow with a laptop twittering or tweeting or whatever it is called. It was so pervasive that there was even a 1/2 hour session on twitter and other social networking sites.

I've heard about it for a while, but never really seen a use for twitter. Well, being all sheep like I decided to sign up cause all the cool kids are doing it.

I'm hoping to make it sort of a "cool links" type tool for myself. To that end, I've followed a couple folks who I think might generate links that I would be interested in such as: nranews, newtgingrich, and timoreilly. Hopefully these folks post links to interesting articles.

I don't forsee me posting much since I really don't have a lot to say. I'll probably mention releases of any of the software projects I am working on. I might post a few other things like links to articles or columns I really like too.

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Journal: [friend] dfenstrate

Journal by FroMan

+ Friend dfenstrate

Over all he seems to be a reasonable fellow from the dozen or so posts of his I have read from his user page. What first caught my attention was the pro-gun and pro-castle doctrine stance he took in a thread from today.

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Journal: [NTP] Can you guess? 7

Journal by FroMan

Iowa Senator Says AIG Executives Should 'Resign or Commit Suicide'

From the title and what was said, I was pretty sure it was going to be a Democrat. Hating business and saying outlandish things go hand in hand. Well, I was wrong. But, AP made it too easy, as by the second paragraph the party was mentioned immediately.

White House Ridicules Cheney After Criticism

Not really "Name That Party" since we all know who is in the whitehouse. But I am personally upset that we are now a Republican cabal. I much prefered VRWC, even the name sounds mysterious.

However, I do think Cheney should quit playing the Carter role and retire quietly. Unless Cheney is going to be running again, presidents and vice presidents have traditionally stayed out of the political fray after leaving office. Carter and Gore being two modern exceptions to that rule.

Justice Thomas Says Americans Self-Indulgent, Don't Sacrifice

What is wrong with this article? No, it isn't that it is AP posted on Fox News. Fox posts a lot of AP articles.

I like to play a game when reading Fox, which is to skip the source right under the title and read the article and then guess the source. The fourth paragraph told me it was AP. I could tell because the paragraph had nothing to do with the article and implied there was a conservative majority on the court. Conitnuing on in the next paragraph it mentions the confirmation process with Anita Hill's sexual harassment allegations, which again have nothing to do with the title of the article.

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Journal: Cool beans. 3

Journal by FroMan

Well, as I mentioned previously, I purchased a gun this week.

I've been watching on for a Glock 17L or Glock 34 for the past month or so. I finally found a reasonable deal on a Glock 17L and put in a bid (look for the chart about 3/5ths down the page).

As I mentioned before the 9mm and long barrel were the two features I was putting highest on my list. The 9mm for common and less expensive ammo for training, less recoil than a .40 or .45, and also a reasonably effective defense caliber. The barrel is 6.02" long, over 2" longer than many semi-auto pistols. The longer sight distance makes aiming more accurate as the "cone" is smaller.

From the boards I've read, a lot of folks dislike the Glock look. Personally I think they look fine, simple and utilitarian. They are not shiny or gaudy, but rather simple and unimaginative. Folks especially dislike the competition guns, like the 17L and 34 in 9mm, and 24 and 35 in .40. But for whatever reason it doesn't bother me. I guess I find function more attractive than glitter.

So, after winning my auction, I need to do a handful of things. First, I need to go back to the gun shop who will be doing the transfer for me to figure out all of the steps I need to take to take posession of the gun.,1607,7-123-1591_3503_4654-16241--,00.html

According to this, I will need to get a License to Purchase a Pistol. This will cause a NICS check to be run by the FFL (gun shop/transfer agent). The police will do a background check on me and I'll need to answer a Basic Pistol Safety Questionnaire with at least 70% correct. I'll also need to swear before a notary that I am legally allowed to own a pistol. I'm not sure how all of this works with the timing, but hopefully it all works pretty quickly and smoothly.

I've already read over the Basic Pistol Safety Questionnaire, which has a couple of what I would consider "trick" questions. One of them being along the lines of, "The owner must report a stolen pistol within 1 year (t|f)." Well, technically true, since it is actually 5 days, and 5 days being less than a year the discreet set of days by which the owner must report the gun stolen is within the set of 1 year. But I am pretty sure the answer they are looking for is false.

Anyways, while looking around the last couple months, reading about hand guns, safety, and anything else remotely pertaining to handguns I found a number of sites that I really enjoyed.

Most recently is Cornered Cat, a site by a mother of 5 who writes or has written for a couple gun publications. It is very much oriented towards women and self defense, but she also encourages safe gun handling and usage more than any other site I've read. This is a really good site for those with a family and how to be considerate with your spouse.

Christian Gun Owner was on of the early sites I found, mostly because it had a page or two dedicated to Glocks (reloading specifically if I recall). This site really struck a cord with me, as it was shooting with other men from church that really started me on looking into purchasing a handgun. I have wanted to pick up something for a long time, but it was shooting with the guys from church that put me over the edge (that and the timely election of Obama).

The Civilian Gun Defense Blog is pretty interesting. For all of those folks who think guns are bad and only exist to harm folks, this is a pretty interesting list of real situations where a gun owner either protected their life or property against someone. These are folks who did not wait for a policeman to stop a Bad Guy(tm), but stepped up for themselves or others.

I am really looking forward to getting my gun. Once the ground thaws I will start digging out a berm for a homemade range. The layout of our property will work really well for a pistol/rifle range, as we have a gentle slope to shoot at, and after I dig out the berm it will be a pretty level area to shoot into. It will probably take me a few weekends to finish digging, but it will be pretty cool to have a range right behind the house.

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Journal: YRO: Look, I'm Michael 3

Journal by FroMan

Please click to get the correct color scheme.

Sure, it has nothing to do with rights online, but I figured if it was good enough of a category for Michael to post his anti-Bush conspiracy theories, it is good enough for me.

Evidently pro-Obama folks think abortion is murder. Who would have thunk it.,2933,488644,00.html

So, for those who are pro-abortion, does this bother you at all? The abortion failed, since the child survived crossing the into the world from the womb.

Was this murder or an abortion?

It is possible for a child to survive when being born after 20+ weeks, though the chances are very low. And since the child had air in the lungs, it obviously breathed by itself.

I think what this story highlights is that life begins at birth is a really lousy definition of life. There is a point at which a child can survive outside the mother on its own, or at least through help from modern medicine. But that point is getting closer and closer to conception. Assuming techonolgy continues to advance, we might even see the a __Brave New World__ decanting children.

The only clear point that we have at which point life begins is conception. The unique and individual (don't be stupid and argue genetic twins) and completely separate DNA begins an individual. At least to modern science we know of no other clearly defining time that occurs in all pregancies.


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Journal: Pistols 16

Journal by FroMan

I have been looking into pistols for the last couple months. Since shooting with some men from church last November I have been researching and reading up on different pistols.

I've narrowed my search down to just a few guns:

- Glock 17L
- Glock 34
- Taurus 24/7 Pro Long Slide

They are all longer barreled pistols which in theory are more accurate, and all in the 9mm family for less recoil. I would mainly consider them to be for using for home defense and target practice. If I choose to carry at some point in the future I will look for something smaller and more concealable, and likely not consider a glock since because of the trigger safety.

From my research I have found that glocks are riskier to reload since the stock barrels are slightly oversized adding to the stress on the brass. But as I am just a noob and without any reloading equipment it isn't much of an issue. Additionally, shooting unjacketed lead bullets will foul the barrel of glocks because of the way the barrel is threaded. This shouldn't be much of an issue either as I'll likely be shooting jacketed rounds anyways.

I've read mixed reviews of the Taurus. It is hard to separate fact from general dislike. Taurus as a Brazillian company had lots of quality issues, but Taurus USA is supposed to have a much higher quality guns. It is hard to figure out if folks are just being "bigots" or if there is still valid concerns with the Taurus.
