I’ve always wanted to find a way to mount my Contour HD camera onto a rifle and after searching online for one, someone on youtube (can’t remember the name) suggested that I use the QD mount. so here’s how I made mine :

First I used the Helmet Strap mount from Vholdr.com, four hex screws & nuts and a Fakesoft LaRue QD mount.

Drilled four holes :

Make sure the holes are aligned with the QD mount :

Screw them onto the QD :

And secure the nuts. Best to use some Loctite here too :

All done!

here’s how it looks like mounted on an AR :

Roy, Sydney and I drove almost 2 hours to Custer, WA today for a safety briefing. Typically in any IPSC/USPSA or IDPA styles matches, you’d have to go for a safety briefing by the Range Officer before you can participate or shoot the matches that are run by that range.

Here’s a video of me navigating through the stage that they’ve setup for us :

I’ll be uploading videos of the other folks who were there shortly, after I get off this plane

Doan is at the match in Phoenix this weekend, so I’m just finishing up some final pics.

~Sue

Below is the text of indictment in Dr. Aafia case.

The judgment below has many flaws but just to give you some idea:

- It doesn’t prove anything regarding her affiliation with Al-Qaida which was the primary reason for her abduction.

- It doesn’t discuss her abduction from Karachi in 2003 with here children and the feared death of her youngest daughter by the hands of kidnappers. There is still no clue for the other daughter.

- The decision talks of her having some attack plans. No evidence quality was checked and if we look at this point in line with the point of her abduction from Karachi in 2003 , this turns out to be as true as “Iraq having WMDs”.

All this is given in case background to create a fear among the reader about the accused without any solid proofs.

-The jury has given decision against her for attacking US citizens and soldiers even though no fingerprints were found on the M-4 rifle and no proof of firing with  M-4 riffle were found and presented by FBI.

On principles the burden of proof lies with the prosecution or accusing party but here accused was found guilty because she could not prove herself innocent to the satisfaction of the jury.

Scotts turn on the rifle

It was so windy, the boys decided to stay in the trooper and watch the shooting.  It reminded me of the Meerkats on Animal Planet.

Ethan with rifle. WATCH OUT!

Occaisonally on facebook, my nephew Ethan will instant message me “Hi”.  I always ask him the same thing, “Don’t you have any chores to do?”  He always says “No”.  He’s probably lying.

Watching Ethan standing on my center console, shooting out of the sunroof on my Trooper made me think, “Finally someone is using that.”  He’s going to love this photograph.  

Trooper wheel

I had a photo professor at Utah State the year I went there (1994) named Craig Law.  He owned an older Trooper.  He took us on lots of trips, gnarly off-road trips. If you’ve never been on an off-road trip you are missing out. It is so satisfying to sit in your vehicle and roll over difficult terrain.

That old Trooper could go anywhere.  Through that experience I fell in love with both outdoor photography and Isuzu Troopers at the same time.

I’ve had this Trooper since 2000. It’s 15 years old this year and I love it just the same as when I bought it.

Living in Southern California was hard on the Trooper, all that freeway travel, and no dirt to drive on. I celebrated this trip because the Trooper finally got to fulfill it’s purpose.

The Trooper looked shabby in SoCal.  Every other car is a BMW or Mercedes, no kidding.  There were a few guys with ferrari’s in our neighborhood.  As a kid in Idaho my friends and I had posters of ferrari’s on our walls. I actually never thought someone could own one and actually drive it around.

I felt a little self-conscious driving the old Trooper around SoCal, so when I moved back to Idaho and was surrounded by f-150’s and Novas, the Trooper looked pretty good again.  It feels great.

Well, this editing and drafting series I have to go through is crazy. I just wrote a lovely paragraph with great photos, hit save draft and ‘poof’ dissapeared….now I have to start all over again…..rrrgh! 

So, I must admit that during my stay in Saigon I had not really put serious thought to visiting Cu Chi Tunnels.  First, I thought it might be overly touristy to do, like everyone has done it.  Second, claustrophobia plagued me and I was frankly a bit frightened to try it out.  But with some encouragement from my hostess I decided to visit, it was my last day in Saigon.  She graciously offered her driver to take me out there the next morning (She had to work that day).  Let me just say that Hau the driver is fantastic.  So off we went at 7:30 am on a Monday morning.  I picked up some lovely croissants and (sorry couldn’t help it!) some Americana coffee.  Hau (pronounced- how) guided the car through the chaotic traffic through the streets of Saigon; watching the daily life coming alive in the morning.  Children off to school and the adults off to work.  

Wonder how many bottles survived the trip?

Now I must admit, our trip over the weekend that I was a bit  disappointed at not really seeing the landscape as I had hoped.  But the trip to Cu Chi proved fabulous.  I finally saw some rice fields and some open spaces letting my imagination wonder what was over the horizon.  It was also much cleaner than our previous road trip.  Watching the locals lives in motion was interesting.  We saw lots of huge items being transported on the tiniest of motorbikes.  

Upon arriving to Cu Chi I will admit my knowledge of the Viet Nam war that we Americans engaged in is very limited.  I don’t agree with choices one makes during war.  Frankly, I don’t understand killing another human being unless you are needing to protect yourself and your family.  I am going to state that I find it completely audacious of another country or persons coming into another’s home or country and deciding what is best for them.  So with these thoughts in mind I was inspired by the ingenuity the locals came up with to survive  and exist.  When you break it down and look at another human being and see they cherish and love the way we possibly do it makes it even more real.  How can I hurt on purpose my mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousins just because they do not believe in the same things I do?  Oh, I digress a bit too much.  Let’s get on with the story, shall we? 

Upon arriving to the Cu Chi Tunnels I was told to expect some propaganda, but being the cynic I can be with what Media and Governments spin out there, I can look past it and make my own decisions.  After purchasing your ticket and walking through the large cement tunnel taking you across the highway underground you are directed to a bungalow with a viewing of what happened at Cu Chi.  I did not find it overly fascinating, but I tend to learn by touching, talking and experiencing a vague idea of what took place.  And boy did I ever get to experience a part of this. 

Just to show you how small these entrances can be, I gladly painted my toenails for this picture: 

Can you imagine trying to shimmy down this?

I mean if my foot fills the picture, can you imagine just how tiny a person has to be to shimmy their way down there in event of being pursued or found? 

Here I am going into a tunnel, out of a tunnel and crawling through a tunnel: 

Going down....wish me luck!

Coming out of the tunnel (Whew!)

The earth is very hard.  I can imagine when it rains you will still be in a standing room.  Now my guide told me that these tunnels he was taking me through had been enlarged for the average size tourist.  It is unimaginable that they could be smaller and of course he had to prove this to me and then when we were walking through the tunnel he told me there was several levels below.  

Making my way through in the tunnel!

How did they breathe I wondered out loud he also showed me that too: 

So after I got over the walking tour of the tunnels and learning the history and experiencing what it must have been like, we were off to the next section.  Get ready.  As I heard gunshots I was intrigued; first I tried to imagine myself in the middle of the war, with the sounds of planes overhead dropping bombs and tanks trampling the ground and men afoot with rifles in hands.  First I thought the adrenaline which must have been something fierce.  The survival mode ramped up.  The thoughts of why each were doing what needed to be done, defending their ways of life, family and loved ones.  It was pretty heady stuff to digest. 

Bombs dropped by American planes. 

American bombs American bombs...used of course.Next is an American Tank damaged by the guerillas: American Tank

 

I did wonder what happened to our men who were captured.  Did they survive, escape, what?  I will never know, but taking a moment to experience that, well how many adjectives can I use? It was pretty damn heady to digest again.  The mother and father who lost someone one each side, what heartache each had to endure.  The locals in this area, and this is what impressed me, was they took what was used against them, restructured, re-tooled and re-worked these items to use as weapons for them.  From what I got out of the tour, these people were not financed like the other countries fighting this war; they had to find ways to use what was being used to hurt them and boy did they……used tires to make shoes, bombs to produce some amazing booby-traps: 

Be careful where you step

 

I think they might have been expecting big-foot to join them! 

Special order for Big Foot!

 

So I told you about the shooting I could overhear….well I decided I would try it out.  It cost $100,000 Dongs for 10 shells but I decided to try out the M16.  It took a while to begin hearing correctly again….felt like I was at a concert at the front row of some rock band…even Hau who took the pictures for me could not hear for a bit….: 

Watch it! I am a good shot!

 

I forgot what mammoth machine gun this was…. 

Oops left a bit of a mess.   So after the adrenaline kick, yep, made target 8 out of 10 times…I have a good aim….beware! 

Now onto to other areas of the camp: 

Making Rice Paper 

Making Rice Paper

 

Sewing Uniforms 

Making uniforms

 

Rice Wine Distillery 

Rice Wine Distillery

 

Rice Wine Distillery

 

Spying on conversation and giving advice

 

The thought of spying came across my mind on this picture, but for those who know me, I love to listen in on interesting conversations.  I am not too shy to say the least. 

My very funny and snarky tour guide. 

My entertaining tour guide

 

 Towards the end of the tour, which you have to pass by the shops first….I did not relent!  Besides I brought back all my shells from the rifle rounds.  He took us for some tea and tapioca.  First of all I only know about tapioca as being a kinda pudding like and have not even sampled the American version, so needless to say when I saw the pieces and he explained to me that these come from the root of the trees nearby and that this is what the locals subsisted on….oh my! But pair it with brown sugar and nuts, it adds a bit of flavor. 

Tea and Tapoica (nuts and brown sugar mix is very good with it)

 

   and below is one of my favorite people, Hau:  

Enjoying the Tea and Tapioca with me!

 

He was enjoying the tour with me, bless his heart, carrying my purse, water and laughing at all the comments I was making….we laughed a bunch on this tour.  A very favorite memory to be sure. 

114 different pictures I have taken the last years. Can you find all the tags in the pictures?

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Thanks to Steve’s coverage of SHOT Show, we know the TDI Kriss will be available in a pistol configuration and also will be released in .40 S&W. The pistol configuration is for people who want a short barrel without going through the NFA hoops. The only trade-off is you can’t put a stock on it. I’d love a short barrel Kriss in .45 but I would have to have the stock and that would make it NFA. If I was going to go through the NFA hoops for an SBR it would probably be an UZI or an AR-15 so I could use multiple calibers.

Steve is the man behind The Firearm Blog.

If you are interested in any of the shafts I can get pictures and more detailed information.  Please respond w/ the ID when asking about prices or more details. Sorry for the formatting, I can send an xls or text file that is easier to read if needed.

AR15.com has some answers to user questions from Bushmaster about the ACR. It doesn’t use AR barrels or triggers. It will be offered in 5.56, 6.8, 6.5, and 7.62X39.

Hat Tip – The Firearm Blog

Harvests
for Randolph Parrott (1863-1943)
and Amos Parrott (1895-1990)

Great grandpa remembered
when the woods edged the back of the barn
and raccoons raided the corn crib
every night.

That was the old barn, burned
over eighty summers past.
It sat on the same spot
as this, though the woods have crept
a field away.

Great grandpa dreamt
his missing rifle rested
against a familiar tree
deep in the woods.
He awoke, then walked
to where it leaned, ruined by rust,
and carried it home.

Great grandpa’s son told me these stories
long years later,
then spoke his own dream:
He and his father met, wordless,
in front of the high-steepled church,
climbed its stairs, entered
into its solemn depths,
sat side by side in silence.

The son awoke and understood,
never saying
what we now both knew.
Within six months he was gone.

Typically, the Barnard action is bedded with either a round screw in the center of the action, or a square bedding block in the middle screw on the action.  Since this is an F-Class rifle with a heavy barrel, I made a recoil lug to fit the slot in the bottom of the action so that I could use the middle screw as another action screw.  I also enlarged the length of the bedding block.

” I had one more dream about bears. I was at our camp with my grandfather and his brother. We heard noises, so I went outside. A gigantic grizzly bear came out of nowhere and attacked me. I was very scared once again. I was quick enough to move away from it and I went back inside the camp. I closed and locked both doors. The bear charged the doors and I thought it would be able to enter the camp. My grandfather and uncle came running towards the door and we all scared the bear away. It ran back but remained in front of us, looking at us. My uncle went for his rifle. I wasn’t scared anymore at that point, but I didn’t feel at ease with this situation. Killing the bear was out of the question for me for I knew at this point that it was yet another bear in my dreams. It seemed very important that this bear should remain alive and well. I told my uncle not to aim his rifle towards the bear. He shot next to it and it ran away as the bullets hit the ground. “

Allan Dickson leaving court in March 2009

By Cara Sulieman

A GUN-WIELDING teacher has been struck off after firing an air rifle at a teenager to frighten off a gang he claimed had attacked him.

Allan Dickson was fined £1,000 after he admitted two firearms offences at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March last year.

Dickson, 33, was suspended by Midlothian Council following the incident which he said was “totally out of character”.

And today (Tuesday) the Disciplinary Sub-Committee of the General Teaching Council (GTC) struck him off for at least a year after deciding he was not fit to teach.

“Highly irresponsible”

Dickson – who also confessed to having a drink problem – had pleaded with the panel to let him continue with what he called his “passion” but admitted the charges were serious enough to remove him from the teaching register.

But Convener Carole Ford described Dickson’s actions as “highly irresponsible and reckless” and banned him for re-applying to be admitted to the register for 12 months.

Adam Scarcliffe, representing the shamed teacher, said: “Allan would like to apologise for bringing any disrepute to the GTC or the education profession in general.

“He would like to respectfully ask the members of the sub-committee to refrain from permanently removing him from the register.

“This was the first offence he has ever committed and one that was totally out of character.”

And Dickson also submitted two character references in his defence.

“Passion”

One was from Reverend Andy Scarcliffe, the other from Colin Taylor, head teacher at Newbattle Community High School.

Mr Scarcliffe said: “In respect of Allan’s character, Reverend Andy Scarcliffe has submitted a character reference. He considers the incident completely out of character and I ask the committee to consider this statement in full.

“There is also a letter from Colin Taylor describing the passion and strength Allan has to offer the profession.

“Teaching is more than just a job for Allan. If you do consider professional punishment is appropriate, I ask that you allow him to return to the profession he loves at some point in the future.”

But Paul Marshall, the lawyer for the GTC, said that the gravity of the conviction meant the panel had no choice but to strike Dickson off.

“No room for doubt”

And that he had previously admitted to the GTC that he had an alcohol problem that he was receiving counselling for.

Mr Marshall said: “The respondent’s actions in discharging a fire arm is one of the utmost gravity and, in my submission, there can be no room for doubt on how the committee should respond to this matter.

“The only responsible course in this case is to remove him from the register.

“In a letter written to Mr Paxman, an investigating officer with the GTC, the respondent said that through discussion with the GP and social worker who prepared his background reports for court, he found he had an alcohol dependency problem.

“It’s to be hoped that with time he is able to overcome this problem.

“However against all of this, the offence is of such a gravity that the only course of actions is to remove the respondent from the register.”

“Deep regret”

Delivering the panel’s verdict, Convener Carole Ford said that they had considered Dickson’s personal circumstances, but still felt it was necessary to remove him from the register.

Ms Ford said: “The respondent submitted two character references, one from a minister of religion and the other from a head teacher.

“Both referees had personal knowledge of the respondent’s personal circumstances.

“In addition the respondent submitted a lengthy letter expressing his deep regret for his conduct and setting out his personal circumstances.

“The sub-committee had regard to the fact that this was a first offence, considered to be out of character, and he was undergoing counselling for an existing alcohol dependency problem.

“However, in all the sub-committee was unanimous in concluding that the respondent’s name should be removed from the register.

“In this case it was a matter of fact that the respondent had unlawful possession of a firearm and it was highly irresponsible and reckless of him to engage in criminal behaviour of any kind especially involving the misuse of a firearm.”

Dickson fired shots from a gas powered air pistol in Granton Mill Drive, Edinburgh in July 2008.

Scott Melvin – then 18 years old – had to run to safety before he reported the incident to police.

Dickson told police who interviewed him that he had tried to scare Mr Melvin off after being beaten up by a gang.