It is incumbent upon every man and every woman to take up the responsibility for their own self-preservation. Relying on police protection and reasoning that "it can't happen to me" is rather feckless even though that is your prerogative.



I currently carry a Glock 19, usually holstered inside the waistband. My preferred method is open carry and fully exposed on my belt as that is the most comfortable. It's a great weapon and one I'm proficient with. It's a good size for me, but these days I just get tired of lugging it around.

Carrying has become habitual and I feel naked and irresponsibly uncivilized when I don't. So what I am considering is getting a smaller carry gun for the days when I don't want to carry the Glock. I am considering two weapons:



This is an Hungarian PA63 Makarov. It's a Soviet era weapon that is a popular self-defense gun. It will hold 8 rounds and is much smaller and lighter than my Glock. If you need a reliable gun, you can pick one of these up for $100 easy. Very affordable.



This is the Kel-Tec P32. As you can see this gun is very small. This type of weapon, commonly referred to as a "mouse gun," is also very popular among people who carry. This gun is typically carried in a small holster in the pocket. I would upgrade to the P3AT, which fires .380, and has 6 round capacity. I've actually shot one of these and I can say a couple things about it: It is painful to shoot because of its size and it is hard to form a sight picture and shoot accurately. As for accuracy, I am sure the old maxim that practice makes perfect holds true. This would be my preferred buy and they usually go for $250-270 new. If you shop you can find a great deal on them. I've seen them sell for $190+ many times.

Honestly, I'll prolly buy the Makarov. Everyone needs one anyway.

So my good friend Bob sent me a link to an article this fine morning. After 18 years of marriage ends in divorce for a Cambodian couple, the settlement included the sawing of their wooden house in half. Seems fair to me. While divorce is not to be taken lightly, it is extremely hilarious!

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A couple in rural Cambodia has terminated their 18-year marriage with a divorce settlement that entailed sawing in two the wooden house they once shared, villagers said Friday. The husband, 42-year-old Moeun Sarim, has taken away with him all the bits and pieces of his half a house, said his 35-year-old wife, Vat Navy.

"Very strange, but this is what my husband wanted," she said by phone from a village about 62 miles east of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. She said they ended their marriage last month.

"He brought his relatives and used saws to cut the house in half," she said, adding that she now owns the other half that is still standing. The house is made from wood with a tile roof and propped up on wooden pillars, a typical style for a Cambodian country home.

Read the rest here....

I've been watching the market the last couple weeks and oh boy! I do feel for those people who are heavily invested. While history shows that those who held on to their stocks during the '29 crash ended up in the green when it was over, for those close to retirement it might be wise to pull out now even at a loss. This looks to be a bear market with no bottom in sight. The good thing about liquidating the assets now is that you can probably buy them waaaay cheaper (providing their fundamentals don't change for the worse in which case why would you buy?).

I am thinking about making a couple speculative plays on some stocks who've fallen below a dollar (one I'm already invested in and want it to drop another $0.20 or so). I'd like to buy 500 shares of Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) and another 500 shares of SOYO.ob. UEC will start Uranium production later next year providing they can find money, which, according to their latest e-mail, seems to be going well.

Times like this can be a traders nightmare, but an investors wet dream. Take UPS for example. The company has a clear niche whose rivals need to catch up. Typically a $70 stock, it is trading around $53 and today was down $4. Why wouldn't you buy for the long term once the market stabilizes a bit? Of course the government could jack things up even more (good bet) making any investments other than precious metals (like gold & silver) pretty foolish. Rumor has it that hyperinflation is on its way.

My roommate sent this to me via e-mail and I thought it was funny.

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons