From zen to guns 2020 March 09

I have not written anything in years. That is king of a good thing as most of my writing was a kind of catharsis trying to get over survivors guilt and damage inflicted from a life of abuse both self-inflicted and otherwise. Also I just felt like I had something to share in my journey of sitting with my legs twisted up into a pretzel. Nowadays I still sit, but it is more like brushing my teeth than anything special. What is “special” to me now is the AR-15 and AR-15 accessories. Which is kind of funny because when I was on active duty I was not particularly fond of the m-4 Carbine or the M-16A2 I learned on. The were mostly just extra weight I had to carry along on hikes until War kicked off. And when it did I realized how poorly trained with the thing I was despite being an “Expert Rifleman.” That badge don’t mean shit. After I retired, it felt weird for a while, not having to go to the armory once month to do preventive maintenance on my rifle. I wonder how many other vets get that? But I rectified the situation as soon as I could, about a year after I retired. I ended up taking out a loan to get what my research at the time told me was the best evolution of the AR-15 platform of the time. The DDM4V11. I still have it. I’m kicking myself over the purchase to this day. As they come, the DDM4V11 is a pretty rifle. I got mine in their Milspec+ color because they did not have them in FDE… I live in the desert so FDE makes sense here. If I were in Washington or Oregon, my rifles would be green. Why I fell out of love with the DDM4V11: 1. The hand guard, while more ergonomic than my old quad railed military M-4, is still not very comfortable. 2. The trigger. On a rifle that has an MSRP of $1,729.00 I would expect to see it come with a better trigger from the factory. That was the first thing I replaced. 3. Oversized gas port. In order to make their rifles more reliable when running out of spec ammunition (read: tula) the geniuses at DD were oversizing their gas ports. This ended up bringing the barrel on my rifle to what I can only call a premature death. I have had an extreme shift of POI to the point where my rear sight is now nearly flush with the right side of the housing. It cannot be adjusted any further to the right so it is time for a new barrel. Would I buy it again? In hindsight, no. But all things considered I could have done a lot worse as there are a lot of trash rifle manufacturers out there. However, a Sionics Patrol rifle or even a Colt 6940, or FN 15 would more than likely still be running at this time, while my DD is kind of out to pasture until I replace the upper.

President Trump 09 November 2016

I did not expect that.

The anger of the silent majority finally lashed out.

Anger at rising health care costs.

Anger at being talked down to.

Anger at the flat economy.

Anger at a different set of standards for the elites in power.

Anger about feeling anger all of the time.

Hillary declaring war on the NRA and 110 million gun owners put the nail in her coffin.

I see the progressive talking heads all saying it was a victory for racism and sexism.    That is a perfect example of the elitist looking down their nose at Joe Sixpack and exactly why Trump won.  America is sick of eating your elitist shit. 

And so the American people have elected a strong man to be their champion.

It is not really a time to celebrate, even for those of us who despised Hillary.  We have exchanged one existential threat to liberty for another.   

He is still a threat to the first amendment that protects free speech and religious liberty.

He also believes that you can have your gun rights taken away by virtue of a bureaucrat putting your name on a secret list without due process of law.

I have not seen anything that indicates he will undo the damage done to the 4^th amendment  by Bush and continued by Obama.

And I don’t see him being a champion of the 9^th 10^th amendments either.

So those of us who swore an oath to defend and protect the constitution still have our work cut out for us.   The good news is his picks for the supreme court may be sympathetic to the cause.

Final Thoughts on Election 2016 Before the Votes are Tallied.

“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

― George Carlin

And they vote.

The worst part of this election cycle has got to be the fact that it has robed the legitimacy of our election system as two of the most hated people in America ended up being the leading candidates (Yes, there was a bit of fraud involved, but it turns out that not many voters cared about that) .  It doesn’t matter if more than half the country despises a person, they can still get elected to hold the highest office in the land.  This in itself is horrendous.  Because once elected, this person isn't president of the democrats or republicans, but the president of whole nation.  But due to the polarizing nature of these candidates, they will be president of a divided country. 

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

- Abraham Lincoln

Of course Lincoln was talking about slavery, but when half the country is forced to live under the dictates of government they did not approve of, that seems to be a bit of slavery in and of it self. 

The premise of our republic system was to protect the rights of the minority believe it or not.  As we move down the road of collectivism, the individual (the smallest minority) is going to matter less and less. as the old logical Spock would say "The needs of the many out way the needs of the few."   Of course, Like Captain Kirk, I reject that notion. but maybe not for the same reasons. The needs of the one are just as import as every other individuals.  We are already seeing this get pushed into obscurity with the infringements on freedom of speech, the right to keep and bare arms, the right to be secure in ones home and their papers and so on. 

To those who voted for Johnson and Stein, I salute you.  You had the moral courage to vote for candidates who would likely govern for the people, instead of an oligarch who is controlled by foreign powers and has a trail of scandals going back to Watergate or the embodiment of vanity who campaigned on fear, exclusion, doom, and hate. 

In my imagined reality, people would never vote for their own destruction.  Tonight we will find out if America will choose doom by  pantsuit or spray tan.

That was zen, this is not.

Anyone who followed my old blog knows that it was primarily about my journey sitting crossed legged on a little round cushion,  This Blog will not be about that. 


When I was a young Marine I enjoyed reading things like the Guidebook for Marines, The Small Wars Manual, and the handbook for Marine NCO's.  So I think I may just rehash my thoughts on some of those and a few others I have come across over the years.  With maybe an occasional outburst regarding current events.


Yes, I still sit.  Yes I still do Yoga.  But there are more important things to talk about right now.