The Hold Up. Riding The Storm Out.

After getting off to a running start on the Harley rebuild, I have come to an abrupt stop. It seems the machinist used high quality S&S shafts when he built the crank assembly. S&S uses the older style of the stronger Shovelhead shaft design. Needless to say, I didn't have any Shovelhead parts laying around. And neither do any of the several Harley shops in the KC region. I finally contacted my machinist, lo and behold, he has the part I need. A hundred miles later the missing link was laying next to the motor. I managed to get the rest of the parts from a catalog company called J&P Cycles. So after being shot down for the last several days I will resume the build on Monday. More to come on this subject.

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Riding The Storm Out.....

My son and daughter- in- law live in the coastal Virginia area. They are looking at their yard filling with water at this time. Most all of their neighbors elected to ride out the storm. Thankfully the storm has been downgraded to a catagory 1 with winds of 85 mph. That's quite a bit better than the one hundred mph winds they were expecting as late as yesterday. I spoke with my son a couple days ago about steps they needed to take. They have done very well. In a short time their storm supplies grew to include spare water, 3 types of light, propane, a generator hooked to the existing transfer switch, many more canned goods , tarps for the roof and many other things. They have put all important papers in a .30 caliber ammo can and filled all the cars and gas cans. They also have cash on hand. All good and wise steps to take. Now as long as his wife doesn't go into labor during the storm all will be well.

Freeze Dried Food

Last night my wife and I went to meeting that was hosted by a friend of ours. The meeting was led by a couple of very nice ladies who represent Shelf Reliance. The focus of this get together was to introduce folks to freeze dried food as a viable everyday alternative to the usual crap you get from the grocery store. Shelf Reliance has a huge assortment of freeze dried foods and if you look through all the papers that were given you also see they sell a wide array of ......preparedness items! Any way, we had the opportunity to try several items such as tacos made from FD(freeze dried) peppers, onions and taco flavor TVP (textured vegetable protein). Very good but even better were the chicken quesadillas. These were made using FD shredded chicken breast, onions, peppers and....mozzarella cheese all layered in organic tortillas. Very tasty! Hosts had prepared a couple different salsa's using reconstituted corn, onions, peppers and organic tomatoes. This was an interesting dish. Not that it wasn't good but I have very definite ideas of what salsa is. We got to try FD fruits and veggies straight from the can. The fruits were fantastic. And the sweet corn? I could eat it like candy.
My wife and I listened to the presentation and looked at the amount of food we waste every week and have decided we will start ordering this outstanding, high quality food. Now if you are wondering where to put all the cans of freeze dried food, Shelf Reliance has a very intelligent set of rotational storage shelf units. The units allow you to use the concept of first in, first out with out even trying. If those are out of your budget try this DIY set that I have been using for years. Look for a distributor in your area or even become a distributor that way not only do you have access to all the products you can even make a little money.

New Shooter Day 3 and a Field Trip

Yesterday, Saturday that is, I picked up my nephew for another round of shooting class. Once again the young fella is doing OK. He cleared the swinging target 5 for 5. Round II he went 6 for 5. When he started falling off on the swingers we took a little break and tried a some paper targets at a little longer range of 25 yards. He did OK but does need to work on this some more. We discussed holding the rifle steady and using his elbows on his knees to create a solid platform, we covered breathing, you know, take a breath and let it half out and fire. For the next session we might start with 1 round of swingers and then transition to the paper and back to swingers of even some stationary clay targets with give a nice visual confirmation of a hit. we cut this session short so we could take a trip to a gun store. When we arrived I was flabbergasted. The gun shop, Great Guns, is next to a large outdoor retailer call Rogers Lures. It seems Rogers was sponsoring the Grand National Waterfowl Calling Competition. The parking was spilling over into the grass lots next door. The sounds of the competitors and shoppers trying out the bevy of calls for sale filled the air. Flocks of the latest decoys were placed all around us. Vendors lined the edges of the parking lot. Needless to say the gun shop was filled. The gunslingers behind the counter however, did treat my nephew with courtesy and listened to him. We then made our way to Rogers to check out the sale there. Decoys of geese and ducks abounded. I guess the price was right as I saw many dozens carried out the front door. The cases of shotgun shells could have filled a couple of semi trailers. Camouflage clothing abounded, all on sale course. We looked and walked and talked and gawked. We had a good time especially since we just started out to see the gun store.

The Rumble, The Roar, The Tick Tock?

I ride a motorcycle. Some would say I'm a biker. Some have felt my generosity and other have felt my wraith. All I know is when I get on the bike everything is better. No more worries, no headaches, nothin' but the wind in my face. I use a bike for enjoyment, vacations and commuting. I know if I leave at a certain time I will arrive someplace at the same time I would if I had been in a 4 wheel vehicle. If I leave for a run or a trip I don't give a rat's ass what time it is or when I have to be back.
So, I'm perusing the latest J&P catalog today and what do I see but two whole pages of clocks to put on your motorcycle. Fifteen different manufacturers, each with 2-10 specific models. Now what the fuck is up with that? Is there that many people that while riding down the road have a sudden urge to know what time it is? Pretty much everyone I know is connected these days. Connected as in has a cell phone or smart phone. Both of those have a time telling function if you really need to know the time. I ride a really nice Harley. It's got some age on it now and quite few mile too. It's got lotsa chrome on it. I know, chrome don't get ya home. But it sure looks good. I can't for the life of me though, understand why anyone would want a clock on a symbol of a life free of life's usual encumbrances.

Disgusted Again

Well the American people are well and truly fucked again. The budget bill has been passed and signed by the Chosen One. Supposedly there are 2 trillion in cuts to be made over 10 years. A freakin' decade! The ass hat in charge said there will be two trillion in cuts immediately. Immediately is certainly not a decade.
As an added benefit to the passage of this heinous act, we now have a "super congress" a bi-partisan panel of thirteen of our duly elected liars that have fast tracked this bill through congress. The big question is, will they limit themselves to this one piece of legislation or will they take on any major bill presented to congress? I'm betting they don't disassemble now that the budget "crisis" has been avoided. And speaking of a crisis. Was there ever any real budget crisis? Sooooo, I don't know if we are any better than defaulting would have been. We are just putting off the inevitable. No country that has invested it's future in fiat paper currency has ever withstood the test of time. Economists say when the debt ratio gets to 250% collapse is inevitable well, we are at 300 percent.
I do believe it's time for the American voters to give up on the Big Two political parties. Neither one has done anything worth a rat's ass for the country as a whole. Or start thinking about which box they prefer. The ballot box or the cartridge box. The soap box has failed. The ballot box is suspect so................................

Summer time in the city

I'm a winter sort of guy. I like cold weather, no, I love cold weather. Give me a drizzly, cold fall day over a sunny spring day anytime. I like to hunt, shoot, ride in the cold. I just like it cold.
But after coming home from the grocery store, I realized that I did like summer for a few reasons.
Things I like about summer. Come on guys, you know what I'm talking about.

• women in shorts


• women in short shorts


• women in t-shirts


• women in halter tops


• women in swim suits

Ya' know what I don't like about summer?

• the oppressive heat


• the oppressive humidity


• the glaring sun

So , with all the positives I guess I can't bitch to much, I mean the scenery is better in the summer time.

Broadcasting Your Preps or How to Blow Your OPSEC

Have you seen the Nation Geographic Channel show called "Doomsday Preppers"? I caught an episode today. Let me start by saying everyone has their own idea of preparedness. OK? So, this show profiled 3 different preppers. All of them started out on the prepper road pretty much the same way. What I saw, what I see, what I read about event X got me (them) started. Whether event X is a solar ejection, a "nukular" crisis, a financial collapse or a 2012 end of the world situation they all let that thought drive their determined logistical acquisition of food, supplies, meds, arms, techniques and tactics. The only one I had a real problem with is the 2 family group in South Carolina. First off the one non land owner family says if it gets too bad to stay where they are they plan to retreat to the farm of their landowner buddy. 20 minutes away. Once they are ensconced in the safety of the remote farm 20 minutes away, the two families intend to hold on to their 50+ acre farm/retreat with 4 adults and about 4 kids under the age of 16 or so. A couple of the kids are under 12 I would guess. The owner has the ability to plant fields in crops and has cattle and chickens for the protein factor. If things get real bad they intend to cut their protected acreage to 5 acres, using small perimeter trip wire alarms that emit a local buzzing sound that could barely be heard on the TV. They have 1 or two LP/OP (listening post/observation posts). So with 4 adults and 2 teenage kids they are going to plant and harvest crops, preserve foods, tend to and butcher livestock, provide security for the retreat and man up to two LP/OP's 24 hours a day with this small group. ??? The "expert panel" recommended that they get more families to join them. The group poo pooed this idea. They have a tractor to farm with but no mention was made of stored fuel. Now maybe this was OPSEC "that's a military term" but I doubt it. I really believe a well set up retreat group or single family would poo poo the idea of broadcasting their names, general locations and level of preparations. Now that's real OPSEC.

New Shooter range day II

Back from the second range day with my nephew. Things went very well with the little guy hitting his first 5 targets with 6 shots. On the second round he cleared the swingers with the required 5 shots. After that little start up, I broke out the .410 shotgun. This is a big jump in felt recoil but he did great with it. I set out some stationary clay targets at 25 feet and he dusted all but 2 on the first shot. He was a little shaken by that round and didn't connect at all with the next set of swinging targets using the Chipmunk .22. So, we took a break and found out he really likes orange cream soda. After sitting in the shade a while we went back to the .22 rifle and he cleared the set with no problems. Of course he the asked if I had brought any pistols. Did I bring pistols? What do you think? I loaded up 3 mags for the Ruger MKII, 2 mags for the S&W 422, a cylinders worth in the Ruger Single Six. Threw out some plastic bottles and few tin items and he went to town. Later we were looking at the damage done and I commented that I had a pocket pistol( Taurus PT22 ) I wanted to shoot. Of course had to try this one out, about 3 mags worth. The temperature was about a hundred by then so we cleaned up the mess, packed the small guns and I broke out the SIG 1911. This is the first time I have shot this brand new gun. I shot 3 mags at semi rapid fire at 7 yards. The group would easily pass the Missouri concealed carry test. I can't wait to put some good lube in this and give it a real test later. I dug some of the slugs out to show him and he had to take them home as well as a spent .410 hull. And a bottleof A&W orange cream soda to show his folks.

The shootin, The heat, The Harley

We finally got some rain. After a couple of weeks in the high nineties and low 100's it's a nice break.

I plan on taking my nephew out shooting this afternoon. Hopefully we won't sweat like we did last week. I think I lost 5 ponds that morning. The wife may also come along. She wants to get her CCW. She's working on .22's for now. I have suggested that she get someone else to coach her. 'Nuff said about that.

I have begun rebuilding my Harley. Last summer the rear cylinder base gasket gave out and I didn't have the funds to make the repairs. Thinking about it I recalled I had a big bore kit left over from my shop that I closed. I started tearing the motor down and that's as far as it got. No money will do that for ya. So it sat. And sat. And sat. My wife came to me a couple months ago and said she wanted to go riding. Riding? The f'n bike is tore down. She handed me a credit card and said "get it fixed". Now, I loathe credit cards but in this situation, Hell Yeah! Off to the machine shop I went. The cases got opened up to accept the larger cylinders that will increase displacement to 88 inches. I also wanted the crank rebuilt, balanced and trued. This is when the problem was revealed. The crank had one bad shaft and with this style of factory crank the machine shop couldn't repair and it would have to be sent out, more time, money, yada, yada, yada. Any way, I now have Truett and Osbourne Tourqemonster fly wheels with S&S pins in the case. I had the heads worked on too. They opened up the intake valve to 1.60 inches, milled .045 inches off the heads and intalled heavy duty springs with titanium retainers. I am installing a very nice cam from Andrews with a 550 lift. With the Thunder header I run, I should get 100-115 horse power out of this motor. It'll be very smooth with the heavy flywheels in it. A polished aluminum six speed transmission will put the power to the ground. I am adding a 31 tooth transmission pulley to bring the final ratio closer to 1:1. I need to get it all wrapped up soon so I can break in the motor and take a 3 day trip over Memorial Day weekend.

The carcass

The project The transmission
My wife is ready to ride and I can hardly wait to twist the wick on this thang.

New shooter. A kid at that.

Earlier this year my nephew asked me to teach him to hunt. I suggested that I teach him to shoot before the hunting began. As you can tell by my lack of postings I have been very busy. I finally got the opportunity last weekend to to take the little guy to one of my shooting places.
I took an Oregon Arms "Chipmunk" .22 for him and a few .22 pistols for me later.
The Chipmunk was a Christmas present to my son when he was five. He took very good care of this little rifle. 19 years later it looks brand new.


This little gun is 31.5 inches long and is a single shot bolt action with peep sights. It only weighs something like 3 pounds.

I took a resettable swinging target for him to shoot at. First things first, we went over the safety rules of handling firearms. He like the part about keeping your booger hook off the trigger.Then came a lesson on how to use the sights. He must have been listening as his first three shots were on the money. The fourth grazed the plate and the fifth connected solidly. To hit the reset plate took two shots. This first grade kid has never had any experience with guns and took to it like a duck to water. After a few round with the iron plates , we set up a target board at double the distance(25 feet) I asked him to shoot one time at each of the five orange spots. Five shots later he had 3 targets with a hole in them and the others had very close holes. We kept up with the plates and orange spots for a while then took a break for some root beer. His grandmother called and wanted to take some pictures of him shooting so we extended the break and I took the opportunity to shoot a couple of the pistols, a Ruger MK II with a 5.5 inch bull barrel and 4inch Smith and Wesson 422. All I can say is once the pistols came out my nephew forgot all about the rifle. When Granny showed up he was making plastic root beer bottles dance all around using the Ruger. Granny was very excited about that. Later she put a few round down range and did pretty good herself. We all had a great time and will soon do it again. I'll have to bring some different targets to keep things interesting for him.

Back from the hinterlands with gun pics!

Sorry for the lack of postings. We have gotten moved into the new digs (mostly) and settled in somewhat. We moved a whole two miles from our old house and found in this remote, desolate area (across from the library and and a multitude of stores and shops) we could not use our email service (ATT) as they don't have the "infrastructure in place". So after trying all our limited options and most of them were crap service or extremely expensive, we settled on using a Verizon 5spot device . Then the fun began. Issue after issue with the laptop as well as the desktop. Finally most of the problems have been resolved.

As promised here are some pics of the Sig Sauer 1911 my son gifted me. All I can say is THANKS!

Nitron finish with Siglite sights, external extractor, rail and nice factory grips.

Motto of his squadron

Logo of his squadron.

As you can see it's a very nice gift. I have yet to shoot it but I have high expectations for this fine firearm.
This a great overall package. It came in a plastic case with 3(!) magazines and the government aproved cable lock. He also got a great price as the Navy did the actual ordering. It retails for a little less than 1300 buck but I won't say what his price was on it.

Have a great day and remember, shooting is the only sport endorsed by the Constitution.

Moving....uggh!

Even though we aren't done with the other house yet we have commenced moving so that we may at least shut off ONE set of utilities and save some bucks. I moved the contents of my armory and decided to make an updated inventory list including make, model, serial number and a general description as well as info on any original parts or accessories. I will later take a picture of all of them and print out a page for each firearm, put that info into a binder and place that in the safe. An electronic version will be loaded onto a thumb drive and stored elsewhere. Turns out this was a good move as I have added, traded or sold several guns since the last list was made. I really need to get the gun room done so I can have a proper place for all my little jewels. Speaking of jewels, I got a new 1911 and it is SMOKIN'! My son got the firearm from SIG through the Navy. The last few cruises he and his wife have made, their squadron commanders cut a deal with SIG to get a pistol and other goodies at a discounted rate. They also laser engrave the squadron logo on the slide. So........ as my boy is a Glock man and I'm a 1911 guy, guess who has the new gun? I'll get a picture of it later and post it so every one can drool over it. Now it just needs a really nice holster maybe with some snake skin or maybe even ray skin. We'll see.

Now she's proud?

While going to college, while getting her legal career going, while backing her man for President she was not nor had ever been proud of this country. Now after living the really high life, a beautiful private mansion, multiple taxpayer funded vacations, a private jet, private helicopter, a wardrobe by up and coming designers, private chefs, a world at her beck and call and now she's ready to embrace the country she loves? What f'n country would that be? I guess it's the one that has enough suckers to pay for the life that gives her love for this country.How two faced can a shallow indidual be?

Oldies but Goodies

Some time a go I returned the Ranger 103-2 that I had refinished for a neighbor. A couple days ago I was visiting with him and he commented that the gun still didn't work. I had originally gotten it because the magazine would not release unless you removed the action from the stock. I had checked the magazine function very well before returning the rifle to him. Now he said it wouldn't work, so I took it home pondered on it over night and the next morning delved in to the guts so this trim little .22. Mag function? OK. Bolt operation? OK. Feeding operation? Not OK. Examination of the bolt showed both extractors missing, one extractor plunger missing and both plunger springs gone. So much for working. I took it back to him and explained the problem and he's not sure if the value of the gun is worth the value of the parts it needs. It sure looks good though. Maybe when things are better I'll get the chance to make this little jewel actually shoot. This episode made me think of the twenty-two's of mine that I have refinished. So, naturally I had to go look at 'em. I took one out of the safe just 'cause it's so nice and does shoot. I have claimed several tree rats with this oldie. It's a Savage 53d single shot bolt action in a large, full size walnut stock. These guns were made from 1937 to 1945. This particular one has a cast aluminium trigger guard so I'm thinking it may be pre-war as aluminum was very scarce during and immediately after WWII. On this one I had re-blued the barrel and action and gave the walnut stock a stain job and multiple coats of linseed oil topped with paste wax. Somebody in the past had installed a plate aluminum butt plate. They did a nice job of it so I saved the 15 bucks and left it on. Eventually I want to remove the trigger and strip the peeling corroded chrome and either blue it or Dura Coat it. The trigger guard will get black Dura Coat to match the original black paint. I'll try to get a picture of it to post later.

The Fun Show!

Well I scraped up the 9 bucks for the entry fee(I had a dollar off coupon) and made my way to the Fun Show. The place was f'n packed! The lots were full, the sides of the streets were full, the adjacent fields were full, the median strip was full. I lucked out and found a spot in the median strip straight across from the front door. Once inside, I was confronted with a crowd I haven't seen in years. Making my way up and down the crowded aisles I found gun prices to be higher than I think they should be. I mean a Chinese copy of the M1A for well over a grand? WTF? A Jen-u-wine M1A was selling new for just a tad over 1300, which is still high but in the grand scheme alright, I guess. I have been wanting to start collecting break top revolvers for some time and it seems like those little jewels are coming down a bit. I saw several by different makers ranging from 135 to 265 dollars. Not in the best condition but OK for a start. I just don't have the bucks now as I STILL don't have a job. Even though things are getting better, right? anyway, all I came out the door with was a bag of the obligitory beef jerky. And I think it was spoiled. So much for the Fun Show.

Bloomberg Redux

In the recent undercover firearms purchases made by Bloomberg operatives at an Arizona gun show, a lot has been said by the left and unfortunately some actual firearms owners. But what is not being said by many is, were the operatives citizens of Arizona. According to federal gun laws you must be a citizen of the state the purchase is made in to legally buy a handgun. So if indeed the Bloomberg operatives actually bought a handgun at this gun show then they are guilty of violating federal gun laws. When is a prosecutor going to grab this and run with it? Most likely never and few politicians have the balls to take on gun laws in general and when a tiny bigshot as Bloomberg is involved the odds go even further down. If you or I crossed a state line and bought a handgun and it was in the news as this has been, you or I would very quickly have a visit from those fine boys and girls from the ATF. So, does this lack of response by the USG mean that our government is too timid to take on the City of New York? This whole thing reeks. Were the filmed transactions made by an individual or a Federally regulated dealer? Were the "buyers" citizens of Arizona? Will any one call out Bloomberg over his illegal, out of jurisdiction, violation of federal laws, show boat act? Will Arizona? Maybe. Will the USG? What do you think? If the USG does get involved it will result in another violation of the Second Amendment and another nail in the coffin of freedom.

A Shoveling We Will Go...Again

I am now in the midst of another snow storm. This one is set to pound central Missouri. Currently we are near white out conditions and the temperature is in the 10 degree range and the wind is blowing 25 mph and up. The area I live in is on the border between those that are going to get 12-18 inches and those that are going to get 6-8 inches of powdery, wind driven snow. I can't imagine what the drifts are going to look like in the country. I have just completed round one of shoveling. I haven't even considered doing the shoveling at the other house yet. The city says with the expected snowfall they will be plowing a 4 freakin' feet high berm along the roads.....and the end of my driveways. Bastards! I applaud their snow removal efforts but since they claim to have the authority to fine me for pushing the snow back into the street, can't they at least clean out the ends of the thousands of driveways they fill with compacted snow? I mean I'm johnny on the spot when it comes to shoveling my drives and walks and I throw the snow back on my own property so can't they at least clear out the snow they place in my drive way? I usually end up clearing the end of my drive 3-4 times for one storm. I'm talkin' tons of compacted snow. The bastards.

Bloombergs Rats

As if Michael Bloomberg didn't have enough to do, he has now sent undercover detectives to a gun show in......Arizona! Where does he get off thinking he has any jurisdiction in Arizona? That's well out of his bailiwick. These rats are armed with concealed cameras and are baiting people into selling them guns after telling them they may not be able to pass a background check. The boys and girls at the ATF have asked Bloomie not to do this as it may interfere with ongoing investigations as well as reminding him of that whole jurisdiction thing. As a result of this and previous quasi illegal investigations by the Bloomies, many gun shows have a permit required stance. This pretty well cuts out the face to face citizen to citizen sales. Well let's see, what can we do about this? Here's an idea, keep your eyes peeled when at a gun show. If you see anyone that appears to be surreptitiously filming transactions call them out loudly, bust them on the spot. If they turn out to be reporters or even those wonderful folks at ATF, so what. Take what comes and get on with life. Just be sure to ruin their day and bring the rat bastards into the light. Oh, and this comes to mind now. Some folks think Bloomberg needs to be the freakin' President! What kind of juju are they smokin'?

Whew! For the last month and a half I have had an actual JOB! I was working as the bell ringer coordinator for the Salvation Army office in the town I live in. It was a short term gig that ended the week after Christmas. As I have been saying, it was the easiest job I have ever had thankfully it didn't pay much! I found out I have a contact in the Salvation Army and he is working to get me an actual full time position if possible. This little job kept me jumping from 9 in the morning until 9 in the evening 6 days a week. Thankfully they claim they are going to pay me mileage. I was putting on 350-500 miles a week in the two little towns I was servicing. I say claim to pay as I have not seen a dime of that money yet. I do have my fingers crossed though.





No Fourth Amendment in Kalifornia

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I recent court ruling now allows Kalifornia Kops to seize and search the cellphone or PDA you are carrying at the time of a search. If I recall correctly the Fourth amendment to the US Constitution says we all have the right to be free in our person and papers. Modern times have shown the computers and such are the 20th century version of papers. Of course Kalifornia is claiming all is good. I can't wait for the lawsuits to climb their way up to the US Supreme Court. I say it all the time, GET OUT OF KALIFORNIA! RUN! FLEE! Leave that broken state to the illegal that are flooding in and the Liberals that support them.



A New Bargain
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A while back I posted about a knife I got at an estate sale, a Cold Steel Voyager XL. An 80 plus dollar knife, I got it for a whopping 4 bucks. Well, yesterday I was perusing the local flee market and spotted what appeared to be an SOG knife in a dimly lit case. I got the attendant to open the case and lo and behold it was an SOG Pentagon Elite folder. New. Never used, factory edge still sharp and no trace of pocket lint. The retail on this gem is, from online sources, 69 to 95 dollars. If you go direct to SOG they want a whopping 155 dollars! My price from the flee market? Another 4 dollars! What a sweet deal! This knife is solid and sharp. It has a very unique arc lock that locks the blade open. It is very secure and easy to use. All in all I'd say it was a great find.

Rejected! Who woulda thought?

Well, I guess the Asian trip didn't work out so well for The Chosen One. The assemblage rejected his speeches, his theories and ideology. Back at home, it seems that his democratic foundation is crumbling. And many Dems are calling for him to not run in 2012. Was this not expected? This guy has been like a falling star, coming from nowhere, shining brightly and dimming quickly. I can only sit back and enjoy the warm after glow, the glow given off by the thousands of bloggers and right wing commentators that struck it right from the first hour of his electoral run. All saying this person had no experience, talent or even the right to be President of the United States. We just saw a tidal wave of anger wash over the latest election. Sweeping out many Democratic incumbents and challengers and delivering a bunch of Conservative and Republican new comers. Now the trick will be to get those newly elected persons to hold true to the Constitution and start getting this country back were it came from, a land of limited government with defined limits to the governments powers. We just have to keep reminding them.