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Sight Alignment

Proper sight alignment is one of the fundamentals of marksmanship, and it is an absolute essential for delivering an accurate shot. Sight picture is another fundamental that includes sight alignment along with the target. Forcing yourself to focus on the front sight will help you achieve good sight alignment, and that works fine when shooting paper targets. But what do you do when the target is threatening your life? Like most people, you'll probably focus on the target—which will affect your sight alignment. Lasers are an option, but there are also some open sight options that deal with this fact of human nature. Sights that allow you to maintain a modicum of sight alignment while focusing on the target. The following video from Richard Mann illustrates some options.

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Boundary Violations

The anti-gun movement has historically tried to support their cause with wild claims using questionable data. Recently, I have seen reports being recycled on the internet indicating that some medical practitioners are still requesting information about firearm ownership from prospective patients. The request was supposably based on the assumption that firearms are somehow a health issue. The following comment, made back in 1999, by Timothy Wheeler MD speaks to this issue:

"If doctors were truly motivated by concern for gun safety, this would not be such a contentious issue. I find that many doctors know nothing of the history of the AAP, the AMA, and numerous other medical organizations in advancing an aggressive gun control agenda. These organizations have long tried to get doctors to invade their patients’ privacy not to prevent injury, but to promote a political agenda against gun owners. That is wrong. In the 1990s, for example, the AAP teamed up with Handgun Control, Inc. (now known as the Brady Campaign) to craft their firearm policy. That policy, essentially unchanged for nearly 20 years, urges doctors to probe parents about guns in their homes and even to get rid of them. This goes far beyond any legitimate doctor’s role. [I]t is an ethical boundary violation to use your position as a doctor to advance a political agenda. Doctors who do so should be punished." —Timothy Wheeler, MD

The New England Journal of Medicine has published a report on the leading causes of death in the U.S. from 1900 to 2010. While firearms are no doubt being used as a means of murder and suicide in the United States, they are not being used in an number that warrants specific mention in the NEJM article. This would lead me to reason that guns are not the public health issue that some people would like for us to believe.

Could the insignificant number of accidents involving firearms have anything to do with the firearms safety programs that are available through the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and others? There is a healthy relationship for you.

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Waiting Room Enlightenment

The air conditioner in my car recently decided that it didn't want to work in 90 degree heat, so I had the pleasure of hanging around another waiting room.

Waiting rooms can be interesting places. Some good, some bad. Furnishings are important, but their 'grade' hinges on their library—a.k.a. selection of magazines. Best  go lightly on the cosmopolitan Madison Avenue crap, and keep the dates within the last three months.

Being a dog guy, the subtitle "50 Things Your Veterinarian Won’t Tell You" on the cover of the May issue of Readers Digest caught my eye. 

The issue of health care has been a hot topic recently and the philosophical and economic comparison between MD and DVM has led to some interesting discussion. 

Writer, Michelle Crouch, had "asked veterinarians and vet technicians to reveal pet vet tips and cautionary tales, which can save time, trouble, and trauma for everyone in the family." 

The commentary reflected the bright and the dim of human nature. For example:

“A client came in with her poodle and warned us that the dog would bite. She said that it would often corner her in a room at home, too, and snarl and sometimes bite. I asked how she handled it, and she said, ‘Well, I started throwing food to get him away from me, and it worked. So now I keep snacks in every room just in case.’ ‘So ... ,’ I asked incredulously, ‘whenever he tries to attack you, you give him a treat?’ ‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘and it works every time!’”—Dennis Leon, DVM.

It would be easy to find a political corollary to that story! Patients and patience both are required for success.

There were many anecdotal clues indicating the philosophical and psychological benefit of dealing with patients who know nothing but honesty and loyalty:

“Giving food is not giving love. Obesity will hurt their health and decrease their life span. Instead, give affection. Pet them, brush them, love them, and walk them.”—Bernadine Cruz, DVM.

Good advice for humans.

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Grab your helmet and PFD and let's go...

OceanGrafix Releases White Paper

"The Creation of Accurate, Precise Charts: Understanding U.S. Nautical Chart Updates and Their Distribution" is the title of a newly released white paper that highlights the importance of nautical charts. The paper explains how nautical charts are made, why recreational boaters should carry charts and how easy it can be to access chart updates.

Captain John Lowell, director of NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, supports the white paper's educational theme and echoes the need for up-to-date nautical charts. "Recreational boaters, unlike commercial mariners, are not required to carry nautical charts. But as more demands are put on our waterways, busy coasts mean more risk for accidents." Lowell adds, "By using charts that are current, people have a better chance of avoiding potential groundings and other accidents."

The white paper also provides useful knowledge on a variety of topics including:

• How natural and manmade actions change waterways
• How cartographic changes are discovered
• When and how chart updates are incorporated and distributed
• Accident statistics and what they mean
• What you can do to remain safe on the water

Perpetual Surprise

"Go wake up the captain Henry, I think he'll want to see this...."

Independence and Responsibility

John Hayward writes about freedom:

Responding to criticism of his notorious push to outlaw the sale of large sodas in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg penned a defensive op-ed for USA Today, in which he completely fails to appreciate why he’s become a national laughing stock, as well as the living symbol of the creepy nanny state...   

Bloomberg’s soda ban [or his ban on firearms] is just one sobering reminder that independence and responsibility are inextricably linked.  If people don’t want to accept responsibility for their actions, they must sacrifice their liberty as well.

States explore new ways to tax motorists for road repair

States are looking for new ways of taxing motorists as they seek to pay for highway and bridge repair and improvements without relying on the per-gallon gasoline tax….. The efforts are being prompted by the fact that gasoline taxes no longer provide enough money to pay for roads and bridges…

According to the data found on Wikipedia, "the federal tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon. In 2006, the federal tax on motor fuels yielded $28.2 billion dollars.  On August 15, 2007, then-Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters stated that about 60% of federal gas taxes are used for highway and bridge construction. The remaining 40% goes to earmarked programs. The federal tax on motor fuels yielded $28.2 billion in 2006. In 2008 the fund required an additional $8 billion from general taxation in order to meet its obligations. Further transfers of $7 billion and $19.5 billion were made in 2009 and 2010 respectively."

So, 40 cents of every dollar collected at the pump for road construction was being spent on other things (earmarks) in 2007, and we wound up with an $8 billion shortage in the fund in 2008. 

According to my calculation, without the pilfering of the highway trust fund for earmarks, there would have been (using the 2006 income figures) $11.2 billion more in the trust fund in 2008, and minus the $8 billion needed, there should have been a $3.2 billion surplus. 

With this kind of bureaucratic shuffling going on, there will constantly be shortfalls. We'll never get the budget in order until we start using funds strictly for the purpose for which they are collected.

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