Ken Nelson

My son arranged for a tour of our local bullet making company.  His write up of the tour can be found here:

http://briankevinnelson.com/a-tour-to-berrys-mfg-80

Yesterday Dad and I went on a tour of the Berry’s Manufacturing factory. Berry’s, a business local to us in St. George, Utah, makes some of the finest bullets for competition and hunting. But Berry’s offers much more than just bullets, as Dad and I found out…

I suggested one minor edit, but other than that one sentence change, it is all him. As usual, feedback welcome.

My son has a goal of becoming an A class USPSA shooter before he turns 13.   I think he will be able to do it because he shoots fast and straight and the classifiers are usually just shooting, not movement.

But matches have lots of movement, so he is working on that too.

Monday, Wed, Friday, and Sunday he does SPARQ training using a rope ladder and cones. Drills like this:

and

I just got this e-mail from Glockworld.com advising I “think tactical this Valentine’s Day”:

That is REALLY bad advice, at least in my case.

Now for a birthday, that is different….

I wonder how many saw the Audi Green Police advertisement ask “how long til it gets that bad”…

BTW: I looked at the A3 TDI just this week. Too small a back seat. WAY to small.

http://adland.tv/SuperBowlCommercials

Not a heart doctor in sight

A rich dude from Canada, and also the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador Province, needed a heart surgery.  In the entire province, nobody does heart surgeries. Rather than wait it out elsewhere in Canada, he went to the U.S.

On February 1, 2010, Williams’ office confirmed that he would be undergoing heart surgery, and had already left the province for an undisclosed location in the United States for the procedure. According to his Deputy Premier, Kathy Dunderdale, Williams decided to go to the U.S. for surgery after weeks of consultation with his doctors. She said, "Having the surgery done in the province was never an option." She said she couldn’t comment on whether the type of surgery Williams is having was available elsewhere in the country. “Ultimately we have to be the gatekeepers of our own health and he has taken medical advice from a number of different sources,” she said. “He is doing what’s best for him.”

I agree, he should do what’s best for him.  But I betcha he could have his choice of doctors in Newfoundland if they didn’t have socialized medicine in Canada.

All 50 of our states have such capabilities.

So where is Al Gore talking enough to cause this? Or is Gaia going after his TN mansion?

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/stormwatch/

Likely to deal. We DO NOT WANT more like her.

Scott Brown joined the Senate yesterday as busy Republican plotters eagerly sorted out how to repeat his accidental miracle in other Blue states.

But the idea of 4 or 5 Republicans from Blue states joining the Senate scares me because it means 4 or 5 more chances to get an Olympia Snowe.    And it means 4 or 5 more chances to end up with a John McCain.

In other words, we aren’t going to get Tom Coburn from Illinois. Instead we will get somebody willing to make deals either out of lack of passion for conservatism (Snowe) or extreme passion for himself (McCain).

Might we be safer with an uber liberal unwilling to compromise with a progressive Republican?

The Republicans may end up with more seats and the nation will likely regret it.

Over 2500 left-handed people a year are killed from using equipment made for right-handed people.

The right-handed power saw is the most deadly item.

Via http://omg-facts.com/

Help available here

Related: Odd ways to die

Posted for my wife, as thanks for making artisan bread!

More at http://www.screenjunkies.com/tvphotos/18-awesome-david-caruso-memes

Caution: Some are a bit raunchy.

Kudos to Sen Buttars

Chris Buttars, a state Senator from West Jordan, UT has proposed controversial things before, largely related to social issues. But today, he really impressed me with his thoughts on education reform to save money.

He wants to get rid of the 12th grade:

Buttars argued before the Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Monday that 12th grade is essentially a wasted year, with high school seniors either already taking college courses, or just playing around. The students who are ready would move on, while some type of remedial system would be available for those who aren’t.

I don’t know the merits of the proposal. I instinctively like it because graduation would be based on skill, not time in the system.  But I’m happy to have it studied, honestly, before implementation.

But what I really like is his no sacred cows approach.  Naturally the education establishment hates the idea – which is a plus in its favor in my book.

The US government has 2.15 million employees. Walmart has 2 million employees.

Except for the military, the US Government’s work force largely has a reputation for incompetence and bureaucracy. These are the people that bring you the TSA, IRS, and countless other lettered agencies designed to be as unresponsive to the customer (you) as possible.

Compare to Walmart, with 2 million employees, all devoted to bringing me better products for better prices. I’ve met a dud or two working at Walmart, and while many of them may not be rocket scientists, they do know how to get me my stuff cheap.

I’d rather Walmart’s 2 million solve healthcare than D.C.’s 2 million.

I’d rather Walmart’s 2 million get me my mail than D.C.’s 2 million.

I’d rather Walmart’s 2 million feed the hungry than D.C.’s 2 million.

Do you doubt they could do it?  I don’t.

Oh there are some things the Feds need to have workers to do. For instance, the military. And the State Department. And that is about it.

When I lived in D.C. it was clear to me that everything on the west side of Independence Avenue could fall into the Potomac and the nation would be just fine. I’ve modified that notion to believe that the nation would be BETTER off if that happened.

We’d be a lot better off if the Government did a LOT less and places like Walmart picked up the slack.

Ultimately, unproductive debt will kill us says The Business Insider. They then list 20 variants of unproductive debt.

But they are just symptoms. There is but one reason… in 1913 our Constitution was amended to include a fatal seed that would sow corruption and waste across our land. The seed took root and now has blossomed into a mighty oak of corruption with rotten roots.

We could have had growth and prosperity without the corruption and debt, had we just been able to keep our hands out of each others pockets. There was no need for it to come to this.

Via epicwinftw.com