JAB

  Ha - you're welcome.   Bologna?  Now there is an idea - maybe one of those small, whole chubs of bologna or just a good sized (unsliced) chunk of it from the deli.  Pull the wrapper off of it, smoke the heck out of it then cut off a slice or two, here and there, and fry it up for a sandwich with mustard.  Mmmmm.  Come to think of it, I've made a mustard based barbecue sauce that should be great on something like that.

A few of the things that come to my mind:   1.  If this is such a great thing, why do they have to look for volunteers?  Why aren't some of the people who are planning the project lining up to go?  After all, it is their project.  Surely there are four of them who can be spared to be the first to go and they would probably be much more qualified to do the initial setup and deal with any problems.  If they aren't gullible excited enough to do it then why should I?  "We fully believe in the value of this mission - as long as someone else is doing it.  We'll be sure to take full credit, though."  Heck, sounds like Obama and the mission to take out bin Laden.   2.  They mention in several places that all this will be broadcast back to Earth 24/7/365.  Why would anyone want to sign up to have their actions broadcast via a video feed 24/7/365?  It kind of smacks of "Big Brother, Mars Edition"  or, maybe, "Survivor: Mars".  It sounds like a reality show scheme, to me.  Or Hell.    3.  If I were among the four, once selected, would they immediately transfer something like a bazillion dollars into my bank account and let me live like a king (no - a sheik, complete with my very own harem of ladies who would make Hugh Hefner say, "Dang that guy is lucky") in the years leading up to lift off?  I mean, it isn't like I'll be able to bask in the glory at the end of the mission - I'd be too busy helping build living quarters, trying to keep life support systems going and just generally dying some horrible death in a barren, inhospitable environment.   4.  I just can't help but hear, in my head, Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, "Now get your ass to Mars!"     Yeah, I think I will just stay here, thanks.  Good thing.  I probably wouldn't make it through the selection process, anyhow.

  Not sure but that doesn't mean it isn't technically illegal.  I do know that when I was in high school (back in the 1980s) one of our Algebra teachers (guy was married with two kids) was busted at a rest area with another guy and they charged him with 'crimes against nature'.  Not sure exactly what act they were engaged in at the time, though.  I do know that he was no longer one of our teachers after that.

I decided to go with a 'pork plate' today. Had some of the pork roast left over so I sliced it and also heated up a few of the ribs. I love having a toaster oven at work. Heck, if we didn't have one I'd probably have to bring one in. I threw a little of the slaw on the plate and was good to go.

  Yum!  If you marinade that pork loin over night in a double-strength tea brine (yep, brew tea to double strength by using twice the normal amount of tea bags then use that as the base for a brine) and smoke it over some kind of fruit wood it will be extra special good.  I got the idea from an article in the newspaper several years ago where the then chef at Blackberry Farms in Walland talked about doing that.  As the old saying goes, just don't put any on top of your head because your tongue will slap your brains out trying to get to it.   I really like smoking beef brisket.  Once I finally built up to doing one of them correctly I felt like I had gotten pretty good on the whole smoking thing.  It kind of ticks me off that the price of them has gone up so much in recent years (much beyond what could be explained by inflation.)  I used to buy a good sized brisket for twelve or fifteen bucks because they weren't considered good cuts of meat and no one wanted them.  Now, they have apparently gained some popularity and the same size brisket I could get for $15 just six or seven years ago will run $30 or more, now.  Kind of like chicken wings - they used to be cheap but could be really good if you cooked them right.  The other day at the store I saw some chicken wings that had a higher 'per pound' price than some bone-in, skin on chicken breasts in the same counter!

For full-size multi-tools, I really like the Gerber I have.  Not sure of the model (and not sure they even still make that model.)  What I like about it is that the pliers can be deployed one-handed.  You squeeze buttons on either side and the pliers slide out/in rather than having to fold it open like many other multi-tools.   Honestly, though, I have gone back to a good, old Victorinox Swiss Army knife (the Tinker) for every day use.  So far, I have even managed not to lose the toothpick or the tweezers (and I use them both fairly often.)  I found that I wasn't really using the multi-tool enough on a daily basis to make it worth carrying it on my belt.

I didn't answer the poll because there wasn't an option that matched my response.  That is, I currently carry only factory loads in any of my carry guns but would be willing to carry/defend myself with my reloads, if the need arose, once I had tested said reload enough to feel confident in it.  In fact, I plan to load up some rounds to hopefully closely mimic the old FBI load (already have some Hornady LSWCHP bullets) that I will consider to be 'backup' defense loads for my .38/.357 revolvers.       FWIW, Silver Bear also makes a JHP load.  Perhaps even better, Hornady has added 9mm Makarov ammo to their Critical Defense line.  I also have a CZ82 that gets carried, sometimes.  I carried the Silver Bear until I could get ahold of some of the Critical Defense.  The CD ran well in mine so that is what I have in the carry and backup mags, now.  I hear you on Mak ammo being hard to find, though.

  Aren't there certain 'acts' that are illegal under TN state law - Sunday or not?  I think that is the case unless the law has changed.  Of course, I think those 'crimes against nature' (including the act to which you referred) are/have mostly been used to charge homosexuals with a crime but still...

A Titan .25 was my first pistol.  It was a pretty reliable little fellah and surprisingly accurate but got 'disappeared' from my mom's house.  A year or so back I bought another at a gun show.  As long as it goes 'bang' and puts holes where you point it, for $40 I think you did just fine.   I actually think it is a nice looking little piece.  For some reason, I am fond of little guns like that - the more inexpensive, the better (as long as they work and operate safely.)  I guess it is because, growing up, many of the older fellahs I knew carried a little .25 or .32 pistol of one make or another in the bib pocket of their overalls.  Those men and their little, small caliber pistols greatly influenced my early (childhood) ideas about handgun carry by a private citizen.  Of course, back then they were as much for protecting oneself from snakes and other varmints while working in the woods or fishing as anything else.  The shotgun and/or rifle in the rack in the back window of their pickup trucks were for larger threats.

Okay, since some of you Nashville sonsaguns saw fit to throw my tastebuds into a fit of jealous rage with the hot chicken thread (never heard of hot chicken before that thread - now want to try it) I decided I might just try and fling a cravin' of a different epicurean nature on some of my fellow TGOers. This past weekend, I fired up my smoker for the first time of the season. I always mix up my own dry rub(s) and make my own sauce(s). This time, I did one rack of ribs, a small pork roast and a boatload of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. The ribs will be lunch later in the week. The chicken got pulled and might end up as barbecue sandwiches or maybe as chicken salad. Today, though, the star of the lunchtime show was the pork roast. I actually prefer sliced pork to pulled so that is the direction I went. My mom had made some coleslaw (there are advantages to mom being my next door neighbor) so I went 'full on Southern' with one of the sandwiches. At the risk of patting myself on the back, I have to say that it was a heck of a lot better than any of the fast food junk I could have had. Heck, for that matter (and this is just my opinion, of course) it was at least as good as - and, honestly, better than - the majority of barbecue joints at which I have eaten. I guess that is the advantage to being able to make it to suit my tastes. [url=http://s126.photobucket.com/user/JBFordowner/media/photobucket-4188-1366659365107.jpg.html][/URL]

Dangit!  I am an avowed chile head and had never even heard of hot chicken until this thread.  I had to use my web-fu just to figure out what it is.  Wikipedia (for what it is worth) says that it is a local, Nashville thing.  Not sure when I will next be in the Nashville area so I just might have to try and find a recipe and make it at home.   Does anyone who has had 'the real thing' have a recipe they have tried and would recommend as being a pretty close facsimile?

Such laws and local ordinances get really strange, sometimes.  For instance, you can't walk into a liquor store and buy wine on a Sunday.  However, you can go to a winery and buy all the wine you want - even on Sunday.  I know because I have done it.   In Loudon, beer sales used to be illegal on Sundays but the law was changed a couple of years back.  At the time, liquor stores weren't even legal in Loudon (that has also changed in the last, few years - but of course they still can't operate on Sundays.)  Back then, there were two wineries in Loudon; the Tennessee Valley Winery and another which has since closed (I think it was called Loudon Valley Vineyards) - both in the area of the Sugar Limb Road exit.  I bought wine at both of those on Sundays on more than one occasion.   I think Tennessee's alcohol related laws might be even more patchwork, confusing (and stupid) than firearm and knife laws.   Even more odd, in some ways, than the nonsensical prohibition on Sunday beer sales is the rule that says liquor stores can't be open on holidays.   Blue laws often make no sense, whatsoever, IMO.  Heck, keep in mind that one explanation of the origin of ice cream sundaes has to do with blue laws prohibiting the sale (or, maybe, consumption) of ice cream on Sunday.  WTF?  What could be more innocent and wholesome than eating a bowl of ice cream?

  Really?  Looks like the officers in this case decided that Grisham's son didn't have that right, either.    

Watching coverage of the crowd gathered, cheering law enforcement, I can't help thinking what an attractive target that crowd would make if these guys do, indeed, have accomplices.

I was one of the ones saying that Romney was not our friend on gun issues. Guess what? I will say it, again. Romney was not our friend on gun issues. I have little doubt he would have responded to Sandy Hook by calling for more regulation. The enemy of our enemy isn't necessarily our friend. As for the current Whiner in Chief, it did my heart good to see his little hissy fit- although I admit I didn't watch the entire speech.

Terrible news. Perfect example of the fact that nut jobs who intend to harm large numbers of random, innocent people do not need firearms to do so and that anti-gun legislation will not curb such violence.  As some said, though, I wouldn't be surprised to see Obama try to turn this into a 'yet another reason we need gun control' issue.

I can't carry at work.  However, as soon as I get home I will have 'something' in my pocket, on my belt and/or - if I am just going to be hanging around my yard or at my 'neighbors' (my mom is my neighbor on one side and my sister, BIL and their kids are my neighbors on the other) I might even have something slung over my shoulder.   As far as 'going to a dangerous area', I must admit that I am sometimes guilty of a version of that kind of thought.  But with me, the 'only carry when...' statement is a little different.  In my case I find that, now that I have been carrying for a few years, I often tend to carry my larger/higher capacity handguns and maybe a BUG when I am going to a more 'dangerous' area.  Most of the time, however, when I am going to perceived low-risk areas, I feel that my more easily carried j-frame with a speed strip reload or my Kel Tec P3AT is 'enough'.   Regarding those who don't carry much but usually have something in their car, I'd say that has something to do with TN's restrictive state law as much as anything.  If TN, like many other states, allowed loaded carry in one's private vehicle without requiring a permit I wouldn't be surprised if many such individuals never bothered getting a permit.  IOW, they only got their permit so they could legally keep one in their vehicle, never really intending to truly carry very often, if ever.

Honestly, I have tried pellet guns as a substitute for 'real' shooting and, for me, they fall kind of flat.  It seems I like the bang/flash/recoil aspects of shooting as much as anything else.  Even a small bang/flash/recoil as with a .22LR is much more exciting, to me, than the rather lackluster 'pffft' of an airgun.  In fact, I often find airguns boring and even annoying for that reason.   Now, I know it is possible to purchase a really high end airgun that has enough power to actually make a nice 'crack' when fired.  By the time I spent the $$$ on one of those, the equipment to charge it and ammo (which, for those, isn't exactly available on the shelf at Walmart) I could buy a whole lot of .22LR ammo - even if the post scare prices are much higher than before.   I think I'd rather go with a nice, in-line muzzle loader, myself.  I have a couple of muzzle loaders that I don't shoot much but that is largely because they are the 'musket' (or, I guess, side lock) style and don't always work very well.   I also keep thinking that a crossbow would be a lot of fun.  Sure, it isn't going to go 'bang' any more than an air rifle but something about them has always intrigued me, ever since I was a little kid - long before I had ever heard of Daryl Dixon.  I like the idea of a crossbow because I could have a handful of practice bolts and use them over and over.  Hmmm...

  The 'nice' term for such a**hats is 'profiteer'.  In its strictest sense, profiteering is simply 'capitalism at work', I suppose, but even within the framework of capitalism it is a pejorative term.  In other words, it isn't simply 'capitalism as usual'.   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/profiteer     Notice the definition says nothing about 'essential' goods, simply 'scarce'.  I think ammo certainly qualifies as 'scarce', right now.

So what if it did sound a lot like a pump shotgun?  Would he also lobby to make recordings of pump shotguns being 'racked' illegal because they are just so, darned scary?  There are toy guns which electronically re-produce the sound of a shotgun being racked - will the Sheriff's Association lobby against those next?  That has to be one of the stupidest arguments I have ever heard in my life.

The first firearm I ever owned was a single shot .410 (I think it is a Savage/Stevens.)  I still have it.   Personally, if I were going to buy another .410 single shot, in addition to the one I have, there is a good chance it would be one of the Rossi matched pairs.  Wally sells those in the 'youth' configuration - meaning they are quite short and light - for somewhere in the neighborhood of $169 and I have seen them in stock, recently.  They are break action and come with two barrels - one in .410 and one in .22LR.  I haven't really fondled one much but just looking at them I would have to guess that, broken down, the whole shebang would easily fit in a backpack with plenty of room for other gear.  They are supposed to easily break down and reassemble without the use of any tools.  The reviews I have read about them, from folks on other forums who have them, have been pretty positive.   In fact, hopefully not getting too far off topic, the other day I was ruminating on the practicality of a .410 as a possible truck gun (thinking toward a pump, largely, but also considering one of the aforementioned Rossi matched paris.)  While certainly not a 12 gauge or even 20 gauge in 'power', I worked out that a .410 firing a slug is certainly no slouch.  The plain old, silver box, 2.5 inch Winchester Super X slugs I have claim a muzzle velocity of 1830fps.  If I have it figured right, at 1/5 of an ounce, these slugs would weigh 87.5 grains.  Feeding that information into an online calculator to find muzzle energy   http://www.georgia-arms.com/mecalc.html   I get just over 650 ft lbs of muzzle energy.  Now, unless I am mistaken, that is .357 Magnum handgun muzzle energy territory.  Hardly what I would call 'shabby', even given that Winchester may be overestimating the velocity and that shotgun barrel length may impact velocity.  The .410 slug will probably shed velocity/energy pretty quickly but for relatively close range use, when one considers that most .410 shotguns are going to be smaller and lighter than their 12 or 20 gauge brethren - while still having less recoil - the idea of a .410 for a truck gun begins sounding not too silly.  Now, throw in the fact that the ammo is also smaller and lighter - meaning it would be easy to carry more of it - the idea of using one as a trail gun or 'get home' gun doesn't seem all that far fetched, to me.  I'm not talking about replacing my HD shotgun with a .410 and I don't know that I'd choose one if black bears were going to be a possible threat but for anything else in TN, I'd say that a combo of .410 game loads, buckshot and slugs would do the trick.  Others are certainly correct in that .410 shells are more expensive but as it wouldn't be my only shotgun, I wouldn't be blasting through thousands of .410 shells and as I already keep some .410 shells on hand because of my old single shot, that isn't really so much a factor, for me.

  Maybe it would be useful in a specific, niche situation - say, laying down cover fire while retreating in an open/exposed environment?  Being that I am not military, ex-military or even all that 'tactical' (I'll take a lever action over an AR15 any day - they just suit my tastes better), I have to wonder if they might not work for such a use in such instances when you are 'exposed', anyway.     Speaking of that movie, maybe it would work better if put to a use more aligned with an actual chainsaw.  Remember the scene where, well, this scene:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR37Z5DzsTg   That minigun sure did a heck of a job clearing away foliage.

  And more cowbell.

  Why?  It's his head.  If the parents don't object then why shouldn't he get something so simple as a haircut he wants?  Maybe it wasn't a matter of not being able to say, "No" but more a matter of the parents not seeing anything objectionable about what is, after all, a well groomed and tended haircut and having no reason to say, "No."   After all, ultimately why does a kid get a new toy?  A particular video game?  Because he or she wants it, of course, and because the parents decide to indulge that desire.  Nothing wrong with that when the things they want are not harmful - and a haircut could hardly be called harmful.   Let me try to explain where I am coming from in another way.   Thomas Jefferson is quoted as having said, talking specifically about different viewpoints on religion but also speaking more broadly to the powers of the government to 'make rules' :       This kid's haircut neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.  Neither does it pick the pocket of his teacher nor break the leg of his school administrators.  His haircut is not injurious to others nor was the decision by his parents to allow him to get a mohawk injurious to others.  Therefore, a public school and its officials (which are extensions of 'government') have no legitimate power to regulate his haircut.  Any attempt to do so is an illegitimate use of powers and, honestly, should be broadly ignored.   Sure, this is just a silly thing - a 5 year old kid's haircut.  However, it is symptomatic of the fact that we, as a society, have come to the point that if we don't ask, "How high?" simply because someone in a position of authority says, "Jump" then we are declared to be irresponsible, our characters flawed and seen as simply trying to be trouble makers.  To me, that whole point of view is the thing that is flawed.

There was a somewhat (to gun guys) amusing typo in the article linked in the OP.  It read:     Really?  I didn't realize that .22 Long ammo was all that popular.  In fact, I think it has been three or four years since I saw a box of it on a shelf anywhere, although I think CCI still makes it (at least as a CB Long round.)  I mean, I knew that .22 Long Rifle was popular, especially right now, but .22 Long?  I had no idea.