JAB

  Not just a $5 or $6 increase but a $5 or $6 increase on an item that was previously $10 or so.  That means the item now costs 150% what it cost last year (a 50% price increase.)  A $5 or $6 increase in a year's time on an item that previously cost around $75 or so would be understandable but that same amount of increase on something that previously cost $10?  Not so much.

Geez, do these so-called judges not even read history?  The whole, entire purpose for the 2A is so that the People can resist a tyrannical government.  It wasn't about, "the right to possess and carry weapons typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes such as hunting or self-defense . . ."  Not at all.  Those things were considered 'givens' at a time when most folks in our country had some common sense.  In fact, I once read that there was a ruling in Tennessee in the early 1800s that denied one guy's 'right' to carry a bowie knife and the reasoning was that such a knife is not a military weapon and that it is only military type weapons that might, conceivably, be used to resist government forces that are really protected by the Federal and Tennessee state Constitutions.  In other words, not only does the 2A apply to "military type" weapons, it was mostly intended to protect the right to keep and bear such weapons.   To me, such rulings and courts as this are irrefutable evidence that the system is so flawed, bastardized and corrupted that it will never be fixed by working within that same, flawed system.  Attempting to do so is the metaphorical equivalent of jousting at windmills.

I like that first one the best.  The blade shape looks good and the color/pattern of the wood is interesting.

Good luck - looking forward to seeing your results.  The right kind/pattern of that stuff would probably look really good on a 'tanto' or other, Asian style blade.

  When I attended U.T., I worked at East Towne Mall (even in the mid-90s there were some gang related problems around the mall and the Walmart across the road from the mall.)  I also lived in the 'hood at the time (2314 East Fifth Avenue, which runs parallel to Magnolia and was about two blocks from Cherry Street.)  There was a house on the corner that I am convinced was a crack house.  Hookers would often stand at the end of the alley where I parked and you would have to nearly run over them before they would move.  There were drive by shootings on the house across the street and one house down from us (a gang member's mom owned the house - the drive-bys took place when he was visiting her.)  If there were no legal barrier to having a firearm in my car (so that it would be available if needed off campus and I could have it on me when arriving home at 10 or 11 at night after work) then concern over getting dead would have easily trumped concern over getting expelled.

I don't have one as nice as the Bauers sound.  Instead, my little .25 is a Titan.  I haven't shot it a whole, whole lot but when I have it has gone 'bang' every time with a good magazine (there were a couple of bad magazine related issues.)  It is also surprisingly accurate.  I don't really carry it, at all, preferring my NAA mini in .22 WMR on the rare occasions when I carry a BUG anymore.  That said, I do have it 'stashed' near my front door in a 'deep conceal but ready access' hiding place.  If someone tried illegally entering my front door with me close by on a rare occasion when I wasn't otherwise armed they would be getting a mag full of .25acp rounds to the face/neck area as I went for something a little bigger.   Tests posted on the Brass Fetcher site indicate that even the cheapo Remington UMC .25 FMJ ammo I usually shoot penetrated 14 inches in ballistic gel.  That is two inches beyond the F.B.I.'s 'magical' 12 inch requirement.  It looks like CCI Blazer FMJ made it 15.1 inches.  I wonder if European ammo (like Fiocchi) that is supposed to be hotter might not do even better.  Either way, the .25acp is hardly a pellet pistol.

  I actually have to agree with you about them being kinda 'cute' - but that won't stop me trying to eradicate them if I see them around my neck of the woods.

  If they come around where I live, I'm going to find out what a .22WMR will do to them.  Probably 'test out' 40 grain JSPs.  I've also got a box of 50 grain Federal Gameshocks in WMR that might yield some interesting results.

  They lost a little cred with me when they started extolling the virtues of a .22 Short out of a tiny, pocket pistol but still wanted to bad mouth the .25acp.  Instead of testing a .25 pistol alongside comparable .22 pistols, they simply stated that the energy of a .25 would be 'barely adequate' to penetrate their board even  at the muzzle.  My response would have to be, "Prove it."  After all, that would be valuable information if I am ever attacked by lumber!   (That last statement was a little tongue in cheek - I recognize that the board is simply a 'test medium' just like water jugs, etc.  By not seeing them test a .25acp against .22 firearms on those, specific boards, however, I find their claims that a .25 would be 'barely adequate' to be unproven and, likely, unfounded.)

I haven't been a student at the University of Tennessee since graduating from there (UTK) way back in 1996.  That said, during the time I spent there, no one ever searched my vehicle.  Not once.  Ever.  I did not live on campus and parked in various commuter student lots all over the campus, including the student parking garages and so on.  I did not have my HCP at the time and so I didn't have a firearm in my vehicle.  Also, that was obviously long before the current, neutered, sorry excuse for a parking lot law went into effect.  Were that law in effect at the time, however, and if I had my HCP back then, I would have not given a tinker's damn what the University's 'opinion' of me keeping private property in my private property (a firearm in my vehicle) was.  But that is just me and no one should take that as advice as to what they should do.

Last weekend, my mom and I took the trip down to my late, maternal grandfather's place on Lookout Mountain in Georgia to check on the place and do a little cleaning up and maintenance, etc.  On the way there I saw - right on the yellow line in the middle of the road between Summerville, GA and Menlo, GA, -  a dead armadillo.  Near the top of the mountain, in Cloudland, GA, I saw what remained of another dead armadillo at the side of the road (mostly just it's shell.)   Now, I am 42 years old and was actually born in LaFayette, GA (we lived in Menlo at the time.)  My paternal grandparents as well as my maternal grandfather and step-grandmother have all lived on Lookout Mountain (within about a mile or two of each other) for my entire life (until their respective deaths, that is.)  I have been on that road and others in the area countless times, hunted the area with my father and uncles when I was younger and even lived there for the first three years or so of my life.  I have never, not once, seen an armadillo in that area before, living or dead.  In fact, I've never seen one really anywhere near the area of north Georgia, north Alabama, etc. before.  I have been hearing and reading that armadillos are moving further north and east but those 'sightings' caught me completely off guard.   I have actually already read of sightings in East Tennessee but if things keep going as they are then I imagine it will only be a few years before they will be commonplace, here.  I mean, i didn't see any other roadkill along that stretch of road - no 'coons and not even a single 'possum.  When you see more dead armadillos on a road (even if the actual number is only two) than dead 'possums, I would have to imagine that means there is a significant population of the critters in that area.   I remember back in college at UT in the early-mid 90s my zooarcheology professor telling us that the reason armadillos didn't come any further east was because, as a general rule, we had colder winters than those in west Tennessee, etc.  He said that armadillos 'armor' made them more susceptible to cold than other, similar animals.  By that reasoning, I guess if we were to have a 'real' winter this year then maybe it would stave off their encroachment for a little longer.  If not then I guess we will see them in this area sooner rather than later.   From everything I have heard or read, it sounds like armadillos are mostly a nuisance and potential disease carriers with little if any positive aspects.  That being the case, although I have never gotten big into 'varmint' hunting, if they show up here then I will likely shoot every one I safely and legally can.

Personally, I like the blade style of the knife in the first pic in the first post (looks like the blade style of the last pic in the first post is the same or similar.)  I like the proportions, grip style, 'upper' handle and (apparent) overall size of the one in the third pic down.  To round it out, I like the wood scales on the lower handle of the fourth pic down.  If I were ordering (which isn't likely as I don't see me ever having the spare funds to order a custom knife) I'd want to combine those elements of those three knives to make one truly beautiful folder.

Those are some nice rifles!  I missed out on seeing the price but I wouldn't condemn you even if you only paid fifty bucks for the lot.  To me, it isn't my responsibility to make up for someone else's ignorance nor do I feel that paying someone what they are asking for an item is 'cheating' them, no matter how much of a bargain I am getting.   I admit that my attitude on the subject might be a bit 'situational' in that if the seller were some little, old lady reluctantly parting with some of her late husband's firearms because she needed the money for bills, etc. then I'd be more likely to try and inform her that the items were worth more.  If the seller had no clue and asked me my honest opinion of what the items were worth, I'd tell them.  If, however, the seller were someone who was simply not interested enough to find out the 'real' value and as a result was low-balling themself, then good for me for stumbling across a great deal (which never happens to me, btw.)

  That helped a whole lot.  Thanks!  Looks like I need to get a few of those.

The article stated that the would-be assailant made a verbal threat as he approached the vehicle of the would-be victim.  My imagination did a little 'filling in' of the rest.  I'm thinking:   Would-be assailant, "If you cut me off, again, I'm going to beat your a**."   Would-be assault victim, "If you come at me with that fancy billy club, I'm going to shoot your a**."       I love that the police were on scene to witness that the HCP holder did nothing wrong, that they recognized his right to self defense and recognized that he was reasonably in fear of death or serious, bodily harm.

  When mom first got hers and I was looking for more info on them, I came across a thread on some forum or another where a guy talked about removing the rear sights and grinding down the front sight into something more like a traditional shotgun 'bead'.  He said that he never fired .45 rounds from it, anyhow, and that it worked better with .410 that way. Don't know where it was that he lived - obviously somewhere that there are grouse - but he said that he carried it when he was hunting other game with a rifle in case he came across a grouse.  He claimed to have taken a couple of grouse with it at short range as they were taking flight from the ground.

Well, I am in the Lenoir City Walmart and on the display of Winchester 100 round boxes of 12 gauge they are now priced at $29.77. Even ammo that isn't scarce seems to be going up in price significantly.

Some peppers will not dry as well using the 'string and hang' method as others.  They begin molding/mildewing/rotting before they can get dry.  Some peppers do work out very well dried this way, however.  Cayennes - which I believe are the peppers that most of the old folks dried using the string method - work very well using that method.  Habaneros are hit and miss using that method.  I tried it one year when I had a huge crop of habaneros.  Some dried okay but many of them molded, turned black and so on well before they dried so I ended up with a lot of waste.  Those were hanging right next to a string of cayennes that did very well so it wasn't the conditions in which they were drying it was just that habaneros don't work well drying them that way.  I wouldn't recommend that method for habaneros.  I also wouldn't recommend it for jalapenos.  Cayennes dry so easily that, like a poster mentioned above, one year I just pulled up the plants and stashed them in a dry place (didn't even hang them up) and the cayennes on them dried quite well.   I actually like to start at least some of my peppers drying on my smoker and then transfer to the dehydrator to finish.  Many dried peppers you might see in a Mexican grocery, etc. are dried to kind of a leathery stage - sort of like a fruit roll-up or something.  I prefer to go to a brittle stage so I can crush/grind them into powder to use as an ingredient for cooking or for adding to spice blends and dry rubs - and the dehydrator works great for that.  My dehydrator is just a cheapo Oster from Walmart, btw.   I think Sour Kraut is on the right track about them having a protective covering.  Just feel of the outer skin of a chile pepper - it is generally slick, thick and kind of waxy.  It is my theory that there is a good reason for this.  Think about it - such peppers generally come from hot, dry regions - it would make sense that their skins would help them retain moisture (thereby defeating or at least slowing the dehydrating process.)  There is an easy way to overcome that, however, and speed up the dehydrating process.  Simply split them from top to bottom.  I often leave my connected at the very top and sometimes only split one side.  This allows the moisture to escape more easily and will speed the drying process.  I have noticed that, with some pepper types, it can still take a good amount of time for them to dry but they will dry much faster this way.

I have had only basic first aid and CPR training (and that has been a few years back) so I am not trained in the use of the more advanced stuff and don't know of anywhere to get the training without paying an arm and a leg for classes, etc.  For that reason, I have the basics - bandages, quik-clot, antibiotic ointments, a couple tubes of burn ointments (including some stuff that is supposed to prevent MRSA infections), a few of those instant hot packs, instant cold packs and the like.  I do have some skin adhesive that will supposedly do the same work as sutures for a small wound, in a pinch.  If I could get more advanced training at a reasonable price (something like free would be nice) and in a format that would fit in my schedule then I would keep more stuff on-hand.   My impression is that Israeli bandages don't take much in the way of special training to use.  Is that true - and is there a website, etc. that explains how to use them?  Where would one get Israeli bandages (and are they the same thing as compression bandages?)

Isn't Mountain House the brand that some Walmart locations sell in individual servings in their camping section?  Well, used to, anyway - come to think of it, I don't recall noticing any of it, lately, and could only find the 'emergency food' bulk setups on their website but some of them may still stock it.  I think that I have seen it in individual serving pouches in the camping sections of other stores, too - like maybe Bass Pro/Outdoor World or Gouger Mountain, maybe Sportsman's Warehouse, for instance.  Just thinking that if the OP could find a couple of the individual servings to try that might help make the decision on whether or not to order some of it.

  I put the oversized, rubber grips on my NAA magnum, too.  The 'jump around' factory is the reason I think the version of the Leinad with the 11 inch barrels might be the most fun one to have - I'd hang on to the foregrip with my left hand more like a true pistol grip shotgun.  I would think of it as kind of like getting an extremely short sawed-off, double barreled shotgun with a pistol grip without having to do the paperwork/pay the taxes since it has always been a 'handgun'.

The first thing I noticed is that the line I have circled in the following pic doesn't seem to be explainable by the visible foliage, etc. I am referring to the thin, grey line that runs on sort of a diagonal roughly through the center of the circle I put there. Following that line, I can kind of pick up on a humanoid figure that seems to be crouching or maybe down on one knee. Looks like the figure is wearing a helmet and some kind of mask - maybe a sniper? I used a red line to mark the partial outline of the figure that I can see: Of course, the truth may be that there is nothing there besides a bunch of plants and those of us who 'see' something might just be falling for the power of suggestion plus a supposed tendency on the part of the human mind to want to 'see' something - especially a human face or shape - in random images.

  You and I are somewhere in the same age range, I think (I'm not always good at judging ages - I was born in 1971) and I remember shooting paper shotgun shells through my dad's shotgun as a kid.  Not as in a few strays found here and there but as in he had a box or two of them.  I am thinking I might have even put a few paper shells through my first 12 gauge, a single shot I got for Christmas when I was about 16 or so (I had a .410 before that but don't remember putting any paper shells through it.)  Now, I don't know how new those were or if they had been in someone's drawer for a few years but no one thought of them as anything special at the time.   I do remember, for certain, that one of the first boxes of new 12 gauge shells I got were the all-plastic hull type - as in the only brass on them was the primer and, maybe a primer pocket insert (haven't seen any of those in a while so I can't remember, for sure.)  I don't think that type of shell was made for very long.   Isn't there still a company or two that makes paper-hulled shotgun shells for cowboy action shooting and for people who want to shoot their old shotguns with twisted or damascus barrels?

  Well, I don't know how 'fun' the Leinad would be.  It is basically a Derringer size pistol but it looks like a mini, side by side, double-barrel shotgun.  The barrels on most of them are pretty short.  I have seen single barrel models, too.  The most fun looking ones I have seen had extended barrels - I'm guessing eight to ten inches or so - but they still had the same tiny, birds head style grip as the shorter barreled models.  They used to be made in Ducktown, TN by an independent manufacturer but that company went out of business and I think Cobray picked up the rights to make them.  They aren't exactly known as a 'high quality' gun but I have read that they can actually be kind of fun with .410 shells.   This is a link to a couple of pics on BING of the double-barrel version:   http://www.pooshka.com/image.php?p=0001756765_A_1313193019_595754   http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=leinad+45%2f410+derringer&FORM=HDRSC2&id=08CB4FAB22688CEA3AF775877D7E948AF4E325B6&selectedIndex=5#view=detail&id=62C4F0A91180AD8A08C24C6FF0FA1E8BAC0E0377&selectedIndex=16   A pic of the single barrel version:   http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=leinad+45%2f410+derringer&FORM=HDRSC2&id=08CB4FAB22688CEA3AF775877D7E948AF4E325B6&selectedIndex=5#view=detail&id=37E14A1B528D15D63051D0FA1A6004835A8665A9&selectedIndex=5   And a pic of the extended barrel version that I think might be the most fun - although pretty much impossible to conceal (the barrels are, apparently, eleven inches.)   http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=leinad+45%2f410+derringer&FORM=HDRSC2&id=08CB4FAB22688CEA3AF775877D7E948AF4E325B6&selectedIndex=5#view=detail&id=897281E6B0246DFEDA7A4782785AD6604457A899&selectedIndex=2   Apparently there is also an O/U version of the double barrel.  I haven't seen one of those in person and personally I like the 'mini coach gun' look of the side by side better:   http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=leinad+45%2f410+derringer&FORM=HDRSC2&id=08CB4FAB22688CEA3AF775877D7E948AF4E325B6&selectedIndex=5#view=detail&id=7325E84D9E20E0C105D2578BD2FDF74B7C422AF7&selectedIndex=30

  Yep.  Personally, I think that when the government is shut down for several days we, the taxpayers, should be able to take a hiatus from paying taxes on those days.  It should be sort of like how cable or telephone companies will pro-rate a customer's bill for time when service is out.  I think if that were the case, most working people would be like, "Hell, I hope they don't ever re-open!"