homeagain

I think Willie and my brother in law were at Harding at the same time.  Didn't really know each other well, though.  Would've been cool.

Y'all may or may not care, but Mountain Man from "Duck Dynasty" will be in Portland for the Strawberry Festival this year:   http://www.portlandtn.com/strawberry_festival.htm   He's a local boy and a pretty big deal here.  Should be interesting to see all the 'interesting' people that turn out for that!

I guess it's a good thing, but my wife's situational awareness borders on the paranoid.  Stuff like always parking next to a buggy return or curb at the grocery so you always have access to one side of the vehicle, never parking next to a van (surprise adoption vehicle as she calls them) or large SUV, not walking directly to the vehicle when leaving, back to wall in elevators...hand(s) on whatever weapon(s) allowed - waiting for more than one to be on the 'vator, always scanning for danger - making eye contact....keys/spike/monkeyfist in hand, always aware of her blind spots.  She even has a little routine upon arriving back at home before entering.  It's almost like I'm married to a female Mel Gibson from Conspiracy Theory.      Oh yeah...her motto is 'If ya gotta die, die at the first crime scene...second one's always worse.'

  Anybody else catch that?  Just thought it was kinda funny.  Anywho....http://www.vanderbilt.edu/info/facts/ Government grants and contracts fund 16.4% of Vandy's operating revenue.  Seems like they are having their cake and eating it too.

  Throw in a pro-shop with selection of unlimited cans (don't want to attract unneeded attention) and a slew of subsonic options; a fortified homebase area with catering, live streaming webcast of the action; and strategically placed Krystals for snackage.

  Amen to that.  Martial arts is great when it comes to teaching you your limitations.  It takes about the length of time before you get to shodan to figure out that you really haven't learned to fight.  Bout that time is when you figure out what not to do....fight fair.  Hit hard and don't stop, go for the eyes and throat, jab holes in 'em with anything you can grab, and use any kind of force multiplier you can access.  I also try to avoid people as much as possible cause most of 'em are a$$hats anyway.  Can't grow a beard.....too much Cherokee.....maybe I should take my fake tooth out and sport the hockey look?

Had a good conversation Tuesday with Robert Cogan (Diane Black's legislative assistant) and he assures that Rep. Black is pushing back against the gun-grabber agenda.  Also had a conversation yesterday with State Rep. William Lamberth about the current legislation.

Welcome!  I lived in the Western NY for a year and the People's Republic of CT for a couple.  Couldn't get out of there fast enough!  CT was only slightly better than NY as far as gun laws.  In NY you had to possess a permit in order to even touch a firearm in a store.  In CT you had to have a permit in order to take your firearm out of the house to the range.  The local gun-owner community in CT is very tight, for sure.  Could be because they are socially the 'exceptions' rather than the 'rule.'

I lived in Niagara County NY (next over from Erie) for a year.  Have friends and family there.  Definitely not typical 'New Yorkers' that we think of down here.....they're really just a bunch of good ole' boys that talk kinda funny.  Misplaced hillbillies, kinda.  They tend to be pretty darned conservative and most of the people I talked to there would secede from the state if given a chance.  If it weren't for the taxes, the gun laws and the even-more-corrupt-than-usual government I'd still be there.  Beautiful country, big farms, HUGE deer, the best fishing I've seen....the gun laws were the deal breaker for me.

Seems to me they have, in essence, created a protected class of sorts.  You can't fire a person because they are 'purple.'  But you can fire a purple person for no cause, good cause, or bad cause.  Seems to me if an employer is truly 'at will' (as TX allows) the employer could still fire an 'at will' handgun posessor for no good reason.  But I'm not intimate with the nuances of TX employment law.    Have no idea what the venue for this claim would be under this statute, or if they've even designed a process.  Did your attorney friend indicate who would handle the claims, how they would be processed, venue, handlijng agency, and so forth?  If nothing else, they may have inadvertently created some more government jobs.  Can't wait to see the test cases from TX.

Hah.  Like saying small government should be illegal because we owe our citizens more than that.  Forced systemic profligation for everyone is the answer. 

Sorry if my earlier post seemed directed at you.  Everybody was using the phrase 'right to work' and I just wanted to get everybody on the same page.  I just re-read my post and I kinda sounded like a know-it-all asshat.....sorry dude.

  Agree with you there, Mac.  The State could legislate gun ownership as a protected class, but then membership would have to be treated the same as discrimination cases are through the THRC/EEOC.  Messy, messy, messy.   Just reading through some of the board comments, it appears there is some confusion as to what constitutes employee 'rights'.  I see many mention 'right to work,' but that phrase only deals with the labor environment of the state.  Being a 'right to work state' only prohibits union security agreements that force membership in a union.....has nothing to do with whether an employer can fire an employee who is 'at will.'   What we are really referring to here is the 'employment at-will' doctrine.  Tennessee is both 'employment at will,' and 'right to work.'  However 'right to work' has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the particular employer/employee relationship at issue.   Employment at will means, in essence, that either party may terminate at any time, any employment relationship that is not in writing and is for an indefinite period of time, for any reason or for no reason at all.  Basically an employee working for an employer under 'at will' can be fired for good cause, no cause, bad cause, as long as it isn't for 'illegal cause' such as membership in a protected class (Title VII, THRA, etc.; being a 'whistleblower'; or for filing a worker's comp claim.  In all states (due to the Civil Rights Act of 1964) it is illegal to terminate employment because of membership in a protected class ; many states have similar state-level legislation expanding protected classes (such as CT, NY, etc. where gender-identification/assignment is included as protected).   In essence in Tennessee, if you're not in a union, or your employee manual grants you no 'due process' expectation and establishment of property interest in continued employment [most don't and do clearly include disclaimers indicating the 'at will' nature] you can be fired for absolutely no stated reason.  Having this bill guarantee employment rights and not simply protect against prosecution would unravel a pretty big ball of established conservative emloyment doctrine and have some dire unintended consequences.    

Update: http://news.yahoo.com/disoriented-python-hunters-rescued-everglades-025716151.html   Wonder if the two young fellers are TGOer's....

Just wanted to share with y'all about some great customer service from ATI.  Bought a Talon stock/forearm kit at a gunshow recently (LNIB) and was missing the 2" rails that were supposed to be in it.  Emailed them via their 'contact us' feature on their website...received a reply within a few hours that they were sorry about the inconvenience and replacements have been shipped out.   Pretty darned quick, especially considering recent current demand.   John

Hi all -   Great to be back in a (mostly) red state and away from the gungrabbers.