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Click picture – LARGE (50MB) FILE – for WMV video.

New video release shows the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

From NYCAviation.com:

Video cameras were not the ubiquitous devices in 1986 that they are today, so the only video footage of the Space Shuttle Challenger most of us have seen are the live network broadcasts captured by the lenses of CBS and CNN.

Optometrist Dr. Jack Moss, however, was playing with his new Betamax camcorder that chilly January morning, and recorded the sad event from his front yard in Winter Haven, Florida, about 70 miles southwest of Cape Canaveral.

Moss had never shared the tape with the media or NASA, but a week before he died this past December, he fished it out of his attic and handed it over to the Space Exploration Archive, a non-profit organization in Louisville, Kentucky. The Archive transferred the video to digital formats and released it to the public domain in time for the 24th anniversary of the disaster this past week.

“That looks like trouble,” says Moss, as the shuttle’s single smoke plume suddenly expands and then splits into a Y-shape. As Moss and other onlookers spend several moments contemplating if something had gone wrong, a neighbor checks the news inside his house, only to return and confirm “It exploded!”

h/t to The Unwanted Blog

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As the first snowflakes appeared outside my window, I was happy that the window was attached to a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (twin-jet) operated by American Airlines.

The Track Log from Flight Aware indicates that my exit reached a top speed of 516 mph today.

Sweet.

UPDATE:

Issued by The National Weather Service
Philadelphia, PA
9:07 am EST, Sat., Feb. 6, 2010

… BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING…

A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST THIS EVENING.

HEAVY SNOW WAS OCCURRING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF TODAY. THE SNOW WILL FALL HEAVILY AT TIMES… WITH RATES UP TO 1 TO 3 INCHES AN HOUR. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR THROUGH ABOUT MIDDAY TODAY. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH SLEET AT TIMES EARLY THIS MORNING MAINLY ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN DELAWARE… AND MAY BE INTERMITTENT THERE AS WELL.

STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 17 TO 27 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE BULK OF THE AREA. AN INCREASING NORTHEAST TO NORTH WIND WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WILL CREATE EXTENSIVE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW… ALONG WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. THE WIND COMBINED WITH THE FALLING SNOW WILL CREATE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS INCLUDING GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE AT TIMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS… MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO PERHAPS IMPOSSIBLE.

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A half-inch two inch long Lego gun piece seen at school brought the Nanny State gears into full lock-down mode.

4th grader in trouble for bringing Lego policeman to school

The young boy was playing with Lego.

We can’t have that, can we?

Yes, we can!

h/t to John Lott

Just What Is The Matter With People That Reality Has No Place In the Adult World?!

Jeez.

h/t to Maddened Fowl for the picture

UPDATE:

Apology issued (after threat of lawsuit filed). h/t Conservative Scalawag

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h/t to Flopping Aces.

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I bring welcome news that today PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL SAW HIS SHADOW!

This event virtually ensures us with the statistical accuracy of PROVEN SCIENCE that, despite recent mutterings, our climate remains unaltered.

Weather will indeed continue as normal. Seasons will change, seasonally.

April through September look like good months to dust off the Harley’s and storm the Capitol.

It took the World’s most famous groundhog to come forward to lay our fears of global warming to rest.

Thanks, Phil!

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As I stepped out the greet the day this morning, I noticed three news helicopters hanging motionless in the sky to the East.

When I went back inside, the local channels were reporting that a small plane had made an emergency landing on the New Jersey Turnpike near Exit 4.

No injuries reported.

Happy Monday!

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No spoilers, here.

I, Sniper – (and everything else) by Stephen Hunter are recommended reads!

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Two sides can never – nor should they ever, agree when their “first principles” differ. Where one side is “intent largely on limiting the power of government”; and the other is intent on expanding that power, there can be no compromise and “the time for passivity is over”. [My emphasis - Ed.]

In his excellent post of 10,523 words on the topic, Kevin explains.

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An upgrade that – amazingly – worked!

The road-machine is a Dell XPS M1710 originally purchased with XP, re-configured with Vista and now upgraded with Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.

The upgrade process went smoothly.

Everything seems to be working fine.

I’m impressed.

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OMG! We’ve Elected an Imbecile as POTUS.

May God help us all.

Update:  And just who are those clapping and cheering after every phrase?  Methinks they need to be fired by the electorate, too.

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Dell Computer, the company that boasts “Computers in 48 Hours” ruined Christmas (my order placed on 12/18 was not going to be available until 1/5/2010.)

Next,  Dell ruined MLK’s birthday (two delays later) no Dell stuff received.

A third delay notice was received last week, but no National Holidays were noted in this period.

Tonight, the fourth delay notice was received via email and by phone to inform me that February 5 would be the expected delivery date.

I have asked Dell via email to respond with a personal explanation of my order status – but so far: the sound of crickets is all I have heard.

The computers I ordered for my boys’ Christmas presents are not here.

I’m not hopeful that this will be resolved by Easter, or by the 4th of July, either.

Dang.

The picture is of our skinny tree.

Dell’s automated voice-mail system calls twice on the first order – never for the second order – even after “Permission” to continue processing the orders has benn sent online.

Dell’s systems are obviously not speaking to each other – and customer support is not speaking to me.

How hard could it be to talk to the customers who have had orders pending for over a month?

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… is none other than the Lexmark Model X5650.

The suckitude of this printer cannot be over emphasized.

Co-workers offered many unpublishable views as well.

This printer consumes 33 Mb of disk space for drivers and another 2Mb for a toolbar that pops-up if you insert a USB drive to tell you that there IS NOTHING on the USB drive that the printer can print!

Not helpful.

If you DO attempt to print with this printer, the first three pages will be printed IN RANDOM ORDER – then the Spooler subsystem will be disabled and ALL OTHER printers you have installed on your computer will be absent. Gone.

Not Nice.

Re-boot your computer and the print jobs in the queue resumes in reverse order.

What?

The best feature of this printer is that it has not burst into flames and showered the office area with a burning deluge of flaming shrapnel, killing us all … yet.

The Lexmark X5650 wins Traction Control’s Printer from Hell Award for 2010.

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Evidently aimed for a different market …

Meanwhile I note the Banner on Fox News reads:

AWAITING PRESIDENT OBAMA’S DEPARTURE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

(just like that – all in caps)

Yep.  As  do we all.  As do we all.

Update:
Fox News caption now reads: AWAITING OBAMA’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.

(just like that – all in caps)

Dang. It looks like he left the building, but did not resign.

Chemical Ali Hanged

Category: GWOT | Comments Off

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Majid was “executed by hanging until death,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

After four convictions, this mass murderer has now met his maker.

My guess is that his maker will not be pleased.

Burn in Hell, you murdering slime-ball.

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A Lot. Out Loud.

Dirty Harry meets Rain Man:

H/T to Bore Patch

Original credit to xkcd.com – Brilliant!

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Details and video from Wild Thing at Theodore’s World.


Neanderpundit meets R. Lee Ermey
Cool!

That just about sums it up for me.

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Threeper Flag at Victory Speech?

Flag sighting at Scott Brown’s Victory Speech.  Front row, center.

Click pic to order yours!

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As I watch Scott Brown’s Victory Speech, I see that the first shots in the American Revolution have hit their targets.

Meanwhile, Bill Quick posts much more at A Call to Arms!

Bravo. Let’s do it again in every precinct, in every district, in every city, county, State and region until all representatives represent us, the Citizens of The United States of America!

America will not abide the tyranny that the Democrat Party has now revealed itself to be.

Congratulations to Scott, with a heartfelt thank you from the entire Nation to the Voters of Massachusetts!

P.S. From the Tea Party movement: “Can you hear us now?”

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An executive for Smith & Wesson Holding Corp and 21 others have been charged with violating federal bribery laws involving the sale of weapons and protective gear.

Story here.

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On the eve of The Scott Heard around the World and the Miracle in Massachusetts – the PEOPLE speak tomorrow to reclaim their voice (and their seat) in the U.S Senate.

Republican candidate Scott Brown stands to take over Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts in a historic election – spelling the end to 50 years of Democrat control and the possible end to the unpopular Obama-supported healthcare bills in the Legislature.

The future of the Nation’s prosperity is in the hands of the voters of Massachusetts.  I pray they choose wisely.

Message to any future candidates for public office:  the term is “Tea Party”, not “Tea Bag”.

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Martin Luther King.

As this holiday comes to a close, Traction Control hopes that all of those who struggle against intolerance and infringements upon their natural rights can gather strength in the memory of the late Dr. Martin Luther King: a Republican who stood for liberty.

Martin Luther King:  A Great American.

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Another gun found in an airport.

Instapundit has this:

Kimmy Janke had gone through security. In fact, she was in a secure part of the terminal when she stopped to go to the bathroom before making her connecting flight.

That’s when she found a loaded handgun. . . . A Cleveland police report confirms a fully-loaded .40-caliber pistol was left on top of a toilet paper dispenser.

“A little kid could have grabbed that. The wrong person could have grabbed that. You never know,” Janke said.

We’ve since learned the gun was traced to a federal customs agent.

Once inside the airport’s security area, there are no more checks.  What would you do if you found a pistol in an airport?

I would probably just say, “Hey!  Free gun,” jam it in my carry-on bag and continue on with my way – all the while, wondering if I had broken up some kind of nefarious plot in which the gun was intentionally planted for someone else to retrieve.

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The quote at 1:49 in the embedded clip:

“The Supreme Court never suggested that the Second Amendment protects the individual’s right to have guns, not once … “

Does this sound like someone who has sworn to uphold the Constitution?

Filed under: Enemy, Domestic

h/t Lew Rockwell Blog

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The End?

Xavier’s Thoughts is a daily read here.

I left a comment of disapproval.

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An idea popped into my head to see about licensing the name “Yenko” to build a limited run of ultra-bad ass Camaros.

Looks like someone else came up with that idea, first.

Check it out.

pssst … want to buy an AR?

Category: Guns | Comments Off

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Pre-auction pricing for Caleb’s AR-15 is available now at Call me Ahab’s place.

Now, with pix!

Worthy Blog Needs Your Visits

Category: Rule 5 | Comments Off

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“It’s 3:15 PM and even though my hits suck, I usually have about five times that by now.”

….

A Trainwreck in Maxwell is dangerously low on page views.

Send visits – Stat!

Thanks

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from Way Up North

Gunblogger Rendezvous V is On!

Category: Gun Stuff | Comments Off

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GBR-V is a GO!

Mr. C. has the announced the dates!

h/t Say Uncle

Gun-Bloggers, Gun-Blog readers, Gun-Owners, Gun-Industry sponsors, Gun-Collectors, and the Gun-Curious are encouraged to sign up and join in.

There will be fun.

See this site for GBR V news and sign-up details.

With all due respect …

Category: Homefront, Politics | Comments Off

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With all due respect, it’s not the Kennedy seat and it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat.

Scott Brown

NICS Stats for December

Category: Gun Stuff | Comments Off

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GunPundit has ‘em.

Quote:

“Amazing that it’s still nearly 15% above 2007 levels considering the economy and the fact that everyone has been buying guns practically non-stop for a year now.”

Caleb has Sig Sauer Pistol News

Category: Gun Stuff | Comments Off

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Sig Sauer announces new ergonomic pistols.

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End of first quarter: Texas 6 – Alabama 0.

Alabama scores at the start of the 2nd quarter (14:18 remaining) it’s now Texas 6 – Alabama 7.

With 7:59 remaining in the 2nd quarter Alabama scores a touchdown on a 40 yd run. The extra point is good.  Score Texas 6 – Alabama 14.

An interception stops Texas with 7:12 remaining in the 1st half.

Alabama moves the ball into Texas territory with a 1st half clock down with 5:09 remaining.

Punt by Alabama starts Texas at their own 2 yard line.

Punting from the end zone, Texas turns over possession with 2:19 remaining in the 1st half.

With 0:29 remaining in the half, Alabama kicks a field goal to make it Texas 6 – Alabama 17.

With :01 second remaining in the first half, Alabama intercepts and scores a touchdown (and the extra point). It’s 24 to 6 – Alabama on top over Texas.

Dang.

Final Score: Alabama 37, Texas 21.

Friday Update:  Lots of happy people traveling from DFW to Huntsville, AL in the airport tonight.  Congratulations to the ‘Tide’.

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SayUncle writes:

Noted that Cheaper Than Dirt joined the ranks of STI and Barrett Rifles by pulling out of California. They won’t sell ammo there anymore since Cali passed their ridiculous ammo ban. Now, I agree with the sentiment of not selling to Cali .gov agencies. However, is it really helping the cause to not sell your gunny wares to civilians? Discuss.

I tend to think we want to grow the gun culture there. I met a bunch of the Cali gun nuts at GBR4. And they are some of the most passionate people when it comes to their rights as I have ever met. David, Derek, Molly, and DirtCrashr and others do a lot for the pro-gun side.

Traction Control stands with CTD’s message – joining with Barrett and STI – to not ship to California Government Customers.

But, as long as it is legal to do so, I will still ship ammunition orders to individuals and firearms to individuals in California via California FFLs.

Note to California Citizens: This should be a wake-up call to Take.Back.Your.State! – before your government makes it even more illegal-er for the rest of us to help you.

Traction Control’s FFL (in a different name) is registered with the California Attorney General’s office  to ship firearms to California FFLS.  I’ll have to look at the new laws to see if my ammunition policy has to be changed.

Meanwhile, you need to vote to stop your own repression.

h/t to Say Uncle

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Recession? What recession?

I have been watching the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car auctions.

Lemme tell you, there has been some sweet chromed, polished and pampered iron moving at the WestWorld auction in Phoenix this week.

Among the items auctioned were two 1969 Camaros – one a “ZL-1″ the second a Yenko that went for $290K and $270K, respectively.

A 1969 Boss 429 Mustang came in at about $170K.

Worst recession ever?  Only if you listen to the Main Stream Media.

Either that or the value of the U.S. Dollar is suddenly 1/10 of what it used to be.

I suspect the latter is true.

Welcome to 2010

Category: Homefront | Comments Off

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Happy New Year and Best Wishes for a Prosperous 2010.

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Let me add my prayers for Rush who was taken to a hospital in Honolulu this afternoon with chest pains.

Queen’s Medical Center listed his condition as “serious”.

h/t to Michelle Malkin

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Note from the Road:

In the last eight minutes, the door across the hall at my hotel has opened and closed no less than 12 times.  There were four loud conversations in the hall.  The occupants – for the time being, have seemed to move their disturbance to another location.

Eleven minutes later, there have been two three four five six more door slams; one more loud conversation; and a squeal! in the hallway.

What is it with some people?

As for me, I try to behave in public areas as though the unseen occupant across the hall were aiming a Kimber .45 through the door, exactly 9 inches below the peep hole.

So, I tend to be more quiet than these travelers.

An armed society is a polite society; but alas, this is New Jersey.


FFL

Updated Daily

Inventory as of 2/7/2010.

I currently list 28,683 hand guns with a retail value of $17,329,716 and 19,514 long guns with a retail value of $17,945,449.

Orders are usually available for next day pickup or direct shipment to your local FFL.






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