Today is National Drink Wine Day so do your part!
I have a friend who tries to celebrate this every day so at least today she will be supporting a cause when she fills her glass. 😉
18 Wednesday Feb 2015
Posted Wine
inToday is National Drink Wine Day so do your part!
I have a friend who tries to celebrate this every day so at least today she will be supporting a cause when she fills her glass. 😉
17 Tuesday Feb 2015
Posted Concealed, Instructor, Pistol
inRecently a bill was introduced in the Senate to allow concealed carry in all 50 states provided the holder has a valid permit in their home state. Currently the bill text seems to be unavailable, but Guns.com does an excellent job of covering the topic. Personally I think this is an excellent idea. It would avoid confusion when traveling out-of-state and the laws of the state you are in would prevail so you would still have the burden of knowing the law, but in general all states which allow concealed carry allow it in the vehicle and on the person. Often schools and restaurants with bars are no carry zones and some states have particular laws regarding printing with the firearm, but those types of rules are fairly easy to navigate and understand.
I’m sure the good folks in DC who have only issued eight concealed permits will scream and holler as would NY, NJ, CT, and MA. I’m not sure what Vermont would do since they don’t issue permits. I suppose if you are a resident of Vermont you would be allowed to carry everywhere. When your state has the lowest violent crime rate in the nation you are allowed a bit of latitude when you travel. Personally I’d like to see a training requirement in each state for a permit and an end to out-of-state permits provided all states become shall-issue. I think some states are far too restrictive and others a bit too lax, but every state is different. NC does not make marksmen out of the students, but it does ensure they have been taught our laws and they can qualify at the range. At the very least the permit application should have a gun safety class requirement. A single training class does not fully ingrain safe handling skills, but it is a step in the right direction.
16 Monday Feb 2015
Looks like I may have inadvertently missed posting the January Foothills IPA of the Month. The beer was 6.4% abv, 71 IBU and brewed with Citra and Chinook hops. Since this year is dog themed the beer was named for the brewery dog, Barley. It was a very nice IPA and I’m surprised I missed posting after I had it on January 20.
For the February IPA of the Month the brewery utilized some kind of experimental hops in the 6.5% abv, 72 IBU beer named Charlie the Corgi. For me it just didn’t work well. The beer had hints of coming oxidation and seemed more like a British IPA where the hops were not showcased as brilliantly and the malt is mostly crystal. It’s a rare miss from Foothills, but for me this one did not hit the mark. Sorry Charlie!
15 Sunday Feb 2015
Not long after the ammo shortage began I happened to be in WalMart and spotted two ammo cans of Federal Lake City M855 5.56 ammo and snagged it as soon as I could get an employee to open the case and ring up my purchase. This ammo is Green Tip and has recently come under fire by the ATF for some unknown reason. The ATF has just released ATF FRAMEWORK FOR DETERMINING WHETHER
CERTAIN PROJECTILES ARE “PRIMARILY INTENDED FOR SPORTING PURPOSES” WITHIN THE MEANING OF 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(C), and after reading the document it seems to be the move is a means to ban ammo destined for the AR platform. Since our current administration has been unable to ban certain rifles they have devised a backdoor means to ban ammo instead under the guise of keeping ammo piercing bullets out of handguns. First and foremost, the Green Tip ammo is not armor-piercing. Another point is there are very, very few handguns chambered for .223/5.56. A few people have made AR pistols, I know of a few single shot handguns with that caliber, but I actually don’t know anyone who owns or shoots one. Lastly I have to question is law enforcement has ever been engaged by anyone with a handgun loaded with Green Tip rounds since that is the verbiage contained in the first lines of the ATF proposal. I’m willing to wager if we researched the number of incidents in the US of handguns used in crimes and recovered the number which chamber and contained Green Tip ammo would be zero. If it is not a current problem and has never been a problem in the past then we could conclude it will not be a problem in the future. If we connect those dots then our only conclusion is the effort by the ATF to remove the ammo is an effort to begin to restrict and remove .223/5.56 ammo.
You have until March 16, 2015 to comment on the coming restrictions. Pick your favorite method and send them your comments.
ATF website: APAComments@atf.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: (202) 648-9741.
Mail: Denise Brown, Mailstop 6N-602, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20226: ATTN: AP Ammo Comments.
14 Saturday Feb 2015
Posted Beer
inLast night I cracked open Stone Enjoy By 02.14.15 IPA and as always it was quite enjoyable and didn’t seem at all as if it was about to go out of date. It came in at 9.4% ABV as all the others who came before it and was grassy and citrusy with a very strong bitterness from the zesty hops. It was a fresh and captivating and really began to shine as it reached room temperature. I savored it for more than an hour and while the first sip was an assault to the taste buds, but the end it was smooth and wonderful. If you happen to spot a bottle I’m pretty sure it won’t be bad despite being beyond the Enjoy By Date. 😉
13 Friday Feb 2015
Earlier this week a hateful Atheist ended the lives of three young people in an attack reported to be over a parking space. I’m left wondering if it really matters if this is a hate crime or not because I want to see this murderer put to death immediately if not sooner. IMO for this not to be a hate crime the murderer would have to demonstrate erratic and unacceptable behavior to others. Supposedly this was over a parking space, so wouldn’t you expect the crime to occur in the vicinity of the vehicle? Instead he entered their apartment and shot all three students in the head ending their lives. When you add everything up, the crime happened inside a home which was not his, three people were executed, all three were Muslim, and the murderer was a white atheist I smell hate crime. Since one person was a friend visiting the couple who were neighbors of the murderer here is my take on the situation. The friend visits and parks in the parking space which has been the point of contention. The neighbor comes over and decides to end the lives of three promising individuals because he despises their religion, he despises their ethnicity, and he is irritated over someone parking in his space. Whether or not this is or is not a hate crime the outcome should be the same, the murderer should be executed and hopefully using the drugs which allow him to suffer for a prolonged period of time before finally dying.
12 Thursday Feb 2015
Today’s post is number 1,095 for Bangers and Mash and is the third anniversary for the blog.
The blog began February 12, 2012 and last year it averaged 50 views a day and we have 105 subscribers. As regular readers will attest you never know what topic I might choose on a particular day and I strive to always keep it interesting. I appreciate those who take the time to read my posts and especially those who comment adding useful information.
The plan is to continue daily posts as long as possible. So far we’ve not missed a day. If you are on Facebook, please take a minute and like the blog there. That will give you each daily post in your feed.
Thanks for the support and help us celebrate by lifting a glass of something interesting to toast our milestone.
11 Wednesday Feb 2015
Posted Bourbon
inWhile I don’t exactly agree with their observations, I did get a chuckle out of this video of people trying Bourbon. One girl seems to think you should slam it like a cowboy in a Western movie, someone should have told her to try sipping it instead. Enjoy!
10 Tuesday Feb 2015
Posted Beer
inLast night I found myself with a fridge full of mostly older beers and while trying to decide what to consume found a North Coast Old Stock 2005 staring me in the face. Since an old ale sounded delicious I decided the 10 year mark was where this bottle was going to be opened and poured in a glass. I must say it was an outstanding beer. 10 years had not diminished the complexity of the malt and hops, if anything it had enhanced them. Oxidation seemed minimal at best and the flavors were sublime. Many beers don’t stand the test of time, but one thing is for sure, North Coast Old Stock certainly does.
09 Monday Feb 2015
I noticed recently some traffic coming from another blog which linked to my post suggesting Colt should bring back the Python. The author takes the time to run through why that is a lousy suggestion from a financial standpoint. I guess I should have done my homework and realized Colt used Lilliputian Pygmies to mine the ore from the volcanic fields of middle earth for forging the steel and their machinists were German transplants who’s perfection level is only surpassed by NASA and Tesla engineers and the retail cost would have to be 2-3X what I proposed. I think those who regularly frequent the blog will know I try to use at least part of my brain when making a post and had I used even a small part of the financial portion I would have seen my pricing ideas were out of whack. Still doesn’t make me want a new production Python any less. Colt should bring back the Python for people like me since it alone apparently cannot fix their money issues. At the very least my somewhat tongue-in-cheek 225 word post in December caused someone to respond with numbered points and boldface. 😉