NASCAR Loses Control

Today is one of the only times that I've been able to sit and watch an entire race.  I'm not sure if I picked a good one or a bad one to watch.  The end of the race was just ... ugly.

Before today's race, Jimmie Johnson was the championship points leader by a scant seven points over Brad Keselowski.  The two stayed very close to each other for the majority of the race, setting up what looked to be a great race for the championship during the last race of the season next weekend.

But then, a flat right-front tire put a damper on Jimmie's season.  With just over 70 laps left in the race, Jimmie hit the wall hard and sent him behind the wall for almost 40 laps.  What could have been a great finale to the season next weekend has turned into a task of Herculean proportions for Jimmie Johnson.  Brad needs to finish 15th or better in Miami to take the crown regardless of what Jimmie does.  It almost seems anti-climatic.

Jeff Gordon

But Jimmie's teammate, Jeff Gordon, decided to keep things interesting.  After Clint Bowyer slid up the track and into Jeff - something that happens often in NASCAR racing with no malice - Jeff decided to exact revenge on Clint.  He waited on the track, driving a damaged car, until Clint caught back up to him - and then spun him around, after talking about doing exactly that on his team's radio.

Had this been an issue of two drivers feuding between themselves, that would be one thing.  But Gordon's decision to take out his frustration on Clint ended up wrecking three other drivers who were doing nothing but minding their own business, and in the process, nearly caught Keselowski in the on-track melee as well.

If that wasn't bad enough, tempers continued to flare off-track, as the pit crews of both teams fought with each other in what could only be likened to a bench-clearing baseball brawl.  NASCAR stopped the race with a red flag to sort everything out.  After nearly 20 minutes, enough order was restored to allow the race to begin again, and fans had to wonder if the excitement was finally over.  There would be only three laps left in the race, so this had to be the end, right?

It wasn't.

Once the drivers got underway again, Jeff Burton managed to get a bit loose inside of Danica Patrick and spun her into the wall.  With her car damaged and smoking, incredulously, NASCAR failed to throw a caution flag and allowed the drivers to continue at full speed.  As the drivers raced full throttle to the checkered flag, Patrick's car continued to limp around the track, damaged and smoking, dropping liquid on the asphalt.  As the leaders approached the checkered flag, the inevitable happened, and a huge wreck took place right at the start-finish line.

Danica's car was lifted in the air by Kurt Busch's car.  Points leader Keselowski was hit, but managed to make it across the line.  Ryan Newman's car was hit multiple times at full speed.  Cars, and parts that belonged on cars, were strewn across the track.  Some drivers made it across the line, and others didn't.

NASCAR totally  lost control of the race.  Perhaps in their zeal to make sure the race ended with a green flag, they totally neglected to take into account the safety of the drivers.  Nobody wants to see an exciting, green flag finish more than I do, but not at the risk of a driver's injury.  Not throwing the yellow flag when Danica wrecked was a mistake of huge proportions, and one that could have had serious consequences.  NASCAR should be ashamed of themselves for putting ratings over safety.

Mike Helton

Jeff Gordon should be equally as ashamed of his actions as NASCAR should be of theirs.  To exact revenge on a driver is one thing, but to do so and ruin the day for three others is inexcusable.  Any respect I had for him has all but dried up after his actions today.  He may have been a champion in years past, but  what he did today was far from the actions of a champion.  He acted more like a vigilante who acts before knowing all of the circumstances of a supposed crime, and that cannot be tolerated when the players are driving 3500 pound vehicles at 180 mph.

There is one race left in the season, and NASCAR needs to get their poop in a group quickly.  Gordon needs to be disqualified for that race, at a minimum, if there is to be any semblance of credibility to their discipline.  Furthermore, NASCAR owes several teams - and their fans - a valid explanation as to why the caution flag was not thrown when Danica Patrick's car was clearly a hazard on the track.

The fans are the lifeblood of NASCAR.  Mike Helton says he knows and appreciates that fact.  Let's see what happens this week as fallout from what was truly an ugly and dangerous finish to the race in Phoenix.

The Day After

It is not quite 12 hours after what has arguably been the most important election in America, at least during my generation.  The Comrade-in-Chief managed to keep his position for another four years, and already the financial market is reacting.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down over 200 points, which equates to a loss of just under 2%.  All of the other indices show similar drops.   Commodities are down too, although not nearly as bad.

But supposedly Obama is the savior of the free world, and will turn things around, right?  It appears that Wall Street disagrees with him.

I've pretty much said everything that can or could be said during the months that led up to last night's results.  The only thing left to remind all of the liberals who believe that the government is here to "help" them is this very wise saying:

"A government big enough to give you everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything you have."  --Gerald Ford

Would things have been drastically different under President Romney?  Probably not.  The new boss would have been a lot like the old boss.  But it would have been a step in the right direction.

So now, we go "forward."  My only hope is that "forward" doesn't take us over the edge, past the point of no return, to a place that looks nothing like the America that our founding fathers spilled their blood to create and defend.

How Obamacare Affects Me Now

I'm sitting on a conference call today, listening to my HR group explain the new benefits for 2013.  According to the presentation, our family's Flexible Spending Account (FSA) is going to change.  Due to the "new healthcare mandates," the maximum amount that we can use for our FSA account is going to be slashed in half.  The Curmudgeon family depends on this account primarily for pharmaceuticals and co-payments for health care providers.

It's nice to see that the "new healthcare mandate" is making it so much easier for us to pay for our healthcare.

Thanks, Comrade Obama.

Note to Comrade Pelosi - I guess that's an example of the details we didn't know about until after the legislation was signed into law, right?

Weekend Ruminations

Lots of little things over the weekend in my black and white world.  Nothing super huge.

I noticed on Saturday that the local mall is all decked out in their finest Christmas splendor.  I'm surprised they haven't convinced Saint Nick to leave the North Pole early to listen to the kids in the center court.  It's not even Halloween yet, but the Christmas spirit is alive and well.  I guess before long, we'll see Christmas lights up right after Labor Day.  Bah Humbug.  Let me overdose on Halloween candy, and then turkey and stuffing, before you start force feeding me Christmas cheer.  Seriously.

While at the mall, I visited my favorite tattoo artist.  He gave my recent (and first) tattoo a looking over, a thumbs up, and said all was healing nicely.  I think I know what will go on the right shoulder now.  I was told once you get one, you seldom stop there.  I suppose that's right.

My adventure on two wheels continues.  I've enjoyed my little 150cc scooter all year, and it's a great way to get around town for errands.  However, I've decided that cold weather riding gloves were invented for a reason.  Obviously.  Need to pick up a pair.  Driving with warm weather gloves when it's 40 degrees outside makes for some cold fingers.

I had to do a Google search to see if there was any news about hell freezing over on Saturday night.  The Des Moines Register decided to endorse Mitt Romney for President on Saturday.  Coming from one of the most liberal leaning papers in the central part of the country, I was sure that the river Styx had formed an ice crust and the devil was wearing a parka.  I suppose once in a while, sanity does take hold, even for those who favor big brother governments.

Mrs. B&W Curmudgeon found evidence of wild rodents in her kitchen on Sunday, and I knew I had to figure something out.  Last year, as the rodents made their way into the house in the fall & winter, they figured out how to steal the peanut butter from my standard $1 mouse traps.  I'd find traps with no peanut butter on them, or worse, traps that were stripped and tripped, but no rodents captured.  Not this year.  Banana flavored "Laffy Taffy" to the rescue.  Four traps set after dinner, and by bed time, the score was Curmudgeon 3, Rodents 0.  Not one piece of Laffy Taffy was missing, either.  Bring it on, punks.

Sunday was a good day at the range.  Mrs. Curmudgeon went to the range with me and we had a good session breaking in her pink .38 snubbie, which will be her primary defensive carry sidearm.  I found a nice load that reduces recoil, and she was pretty darn proficient with it.  Ladies with guns, protecting themselves and not waiting for someone else to do it.  Makes me feel good.

Watching Hurricane Sandy from 1200 miles away, knowing that we have family directly in her path is not easy.  I almost got in the Jeepster and made the drive, but was turned off by the threat of heavy snows or even blizzard conditions in the WV mountains.  Seeing that threat fizzle out, while Sandy continues to strengthen somewhat unexpectedly doesn't make the decision to say put any better.  Here's to hoping that all of our family and friends on the east coast make it through the next few days safely.

Old Enough To Die

According to the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, Dave Workman, the US Fifth Circuit Court Court of Appeals in Houston, TX today ruled that US citizens aged 18-20 can indeed be barred from purchasing handguns, regardless of what the Second Amendment of the Constitution reads.  According to Judge Edward Prado, "Congress was focused on a particular problem: young persons under 21, who are immature and prone to violence, easily accessing handguns.”

Old enough to die to protect you, but not
old enough to purchase a handgun.

In other words, if you are 18, 19, or 20 years old, you can enlist in the military branch of your choice and die for your country, but you cannot legally purchase a handgun because you might be too immature and prone to violence.  In fact, on any given day, Comp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune are full of men and women of those ages who are actively engaged in pursuing their decision to serve their country.  So are schools in Annapolis, West Point, Colorado Springs, and New London.

Young adults age 18-20 are also old enough to die for their community, serving as deputy sheriffs and police officers.  Any given day finds communities throughout the country protected by young adults in this age group, starting on careers that will hopefully not kill them before they are retirement age.

Some might argue that these young adults are only allowed to use firearms after they have undergone intense training.  While this is true, it does not guarantee that these same people will act appropriately with firearms.

Immaturity and prone to violence doesn't start at 18 and end at 21.  There are older adults who never get out of being immature and prone to violence, yet because they pass that magic number of 21, they suddenly become able to purchase a handgun (provided they pass a background check - a whole 'nother topic for a whole 'nother day).

So essentially, you have a panel of judges who just said that the bill of rights pertains to adults, with the exception of the Second Amendment.  What's strange to me is that I don't see anywhere in that amendment that an age limit is used.  It simply references a "well regulated militia" which we have already seen discussed in many other places starts at 18, not 21!

This is yet another wrongful interpretation by a group of black robed individuals who are evidently ignorant or apathetic to the meaning of the Second Amendment.  The NRA says they are considering all appeal options, as well they should.  Allowing our 18-20 year-olds to die for our country and communities while preventing them from purchasing a handgun is a double standard that flies directly in the face of liberty.

You cannot balance public safety on liberty's back.  While this ruling might make the anti-gun hand-wringers feel better, it is yet another example of a law that does nothing but erode the rights that our men and women in uniform have died to protect.

Armed Merchants

I had some money to invest today, so as I usually do when that happens, I decided to invest it in precious metals.  For the past three years, I've used the same place to buy and sell gold and silver.  They have excellent customer service, fair prices, and it's worth it to me to pass one or two other places to shop there.

The coins and fine metals are sold in the back portion of the shop, while the front portion deals with jewelry. I've only been in the front portion once or twice, but the folks up there always seemed to be just as friendly and customer oriented as the folks in the back that I've seen on a regular basis.

When I made my visit today, the folks in the back were still friendly, knowledgeable, and happy to help everyone.  And business was quite brisk today.  But all of them were sporting a new accessory to their business-casual outfits: an openly carried firearm.

It made me feel good that the proprietors were caring enough to arm themselves.  There have never been the "No Guns Allowed" signs seen at other businesses.  In fact, I've had firearms conversations in the past with a couple of the guys who work there.  Do they know I carry when I visit?  I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. My choice to carry (or not) is only a concern to me - not of anyone else.  So now, in addition to not posting a useless sign, they're taking it upon themselves to be active in the defense of their business.

(c) Oleg Volk - Used With Permission

I suppose it's in response to an attempted robbery that happened a little over a month ago.  But does that matter?  It shouldn't.  Even if the store had never been subjected to a robbery attempt, the decision to openly arm the employees is a good one.  It sends a message to customers (and hopefully criminals) that they are serious about defending what is theirs to defend.  I suppose some customers might feel ill at ease about shopping where firearms are carried out in the open, but so what?  Those who don't like it are free to shop elsewhere.  Any jewelry store in the local malls still have their employees working unarmed.  But this small shop is doing what they need to do to keep themselves (and presumably their customers) safe, and they should be congratulated for doing so.

Think it doesn't matter?  Ask the folks in Brookfield, Wisconsin.  Three workers at a spa were killed, and four others injured, when the husband of one of the victims came in shooting.  If the workers there had been armed, could the body count have been lower?

As usual, that is a question that we will never be able to answer.

All we know for sure is that seven innocent people were injured or killed, and they had no means to defend themselves.  The body count certainly couldn't have been higher had they been able to defend their lives, that much is beyond question.

From My Cold Dead Hands

So on national TV last night, the Comrade-in-Chief lets it slip out that he's in favor of bringing back an "Assault Weapons Ban" if he gets to keep his seat for another four years.  That should be a huge wake-up call for those of us who understand that our "assault weapons" are protected by the Second Amendment not for the purpose of hunting and sport shooting, but for protection from tyrants like Obama.

When the military - and increasingly, law enforcement - have weapons that far exceed what the general public is allowed to own, liberty is more easily trampled.  As a free citizenry, we should never fear our government; rather, it is our government that should fear us!  When our government stops fearing us, we have lost our ability to defend our freedoms.

I got a tattoo last weekend, and I believe it fairly well sums up my feelings on this issue.

If you want to grab my AR-15s and my AK-47, by all means, bring it on.  There are hundreds of thousands of other owners of these weapons who will not go quietly into the night either.  If Obama is looking for a reason to trigger martial law so his DHS minions can play with their shiny new toys, this might just be it.

It would be interesting to see just how many of our armed forces members would comply with such an order.  According to what I've been able to read, a large number of our military members understand that their job is to defend our Constitution, as opposed to following illegal orders from a wanna-be tyrant.  Local law enforcement might be a bit more lenient on following orders like that, but that would not last long.

As a population, we cannot allow today's version of the musket to be banned from ownership.  Doing so would bring us one step further away from liberty, and one step closer to socialized servitude.