Rest in Peace Frank Vandenbroucke

I raced against Frank in Belgium in the summer of 1993.



The man could go uphill superhumanly fast.

A close call...

Riding home from church on Sunday, I noticed that my bike was a bit wobbly in the corners. Then as I rode over RR tracks, I felt the brakes rubbing the rim. I stopped on the greenway and looked for problems with the bike, and found that the right side of the fork crown had snapped off:

I was only a mile from the office, where I had a spare aluminium fork, so I gingerly rode over and then swapped it out.

The moral of the story: When riding old composite bikes, check the frame and fork thoroughly and often.

Mad As Hell! Kinetic Typography from Aaron Leming on Vimeo.

Your tax dollars at work:

Levitating Mice. I ask how you are supposed to run on the wheel when you are floating?

Evolved political philosophy = evolved blog name.

LiberalCCW blog is dead. Long live LibertarianCCW.

I have discovered that I am too much of an iconoclast to associate with a ruling party, and therefor am re-launching the LiberalCCW blog as LibertarianCCW. My Wookie Suit is on backorder.

Vuelta Stage 4 Crash....Ouch!

Why I love the USA:

Try that In the Formerly Great Britain.

New Old Car

A fine automobile engages all of the senses and inflames the emotions of the driver. A simple drive home from work unfolds as a challenge. The machine exudes an aura of mystery and provides a four wheeled ticket to adventure.

By the above definition, I recently purchased a fine automobile. It engages all of my senses as I drive. The flickering warning lights on the dash dazzle my eyes, the odor of leaking oil and rotted heater core tickle my nose. The sound buzzing from the perforated muffler buffets my ears as the cracked leather seats scratch at my thighs. I feel the heat from the sun focused through the windshield onto my sweaty skin, competing with the cool breeze pouring in the window to cool me off. My fingers ache from the cuts inflicted by sharp parts during urgent forays under the hood.

My emotions were enflamed on Sunday as, sweaty and exhausted; I wrestled with the timing belt. Again, on Monday more emotions as I mashed my fingers in the unsupported trunk lid.

A seemingly common drive home from a business dinner began with me sitting alone in the parking lot with more inflamed emotions, wondering why the engine would not turn over. Five minutes of tinkering and we were back on the road, and I felt fully liberated from the American curse of convenience. At the gas station the scene was repeated. However, I had learned the trick! A mere 10 second fix! Halfway home, blue lights approach from behind. What a night! A real adventure! The officer stepped out of his car and took several cop authority steps towards my car when it stalled. Remembering the trick required me to get out and open the hood, which I did not want to do on the interstate, I decided to restart the car. This made the cop very nervous, and he put his hand on his gun! Man oh Man, you have to try hard to subject yourself to this much adventure on a drive home in a new car! Tail light out. Electrical short. Bulb is good. Just Bought Car. The Truth. Cop gone. The car was teasing me. The next night, another dinner, scene repeated, sans stalling motor. Apparently the car likes cops, but does not want to get shot.

I purchased a mysterious machine. Why is the spare tire well full of water this morning? I swear it didn’t rain last night. Where is the third brake light? Did the previous owner leave drugs in the car? Do I really need the plastic spacer on top of the timing belt tensioner, and where did it go? It was here a minute ago.

I figured out that a one of the primary reasons for the traffic stops is that the car looks a bit ratty. The main problem in appearance was the headliner, which hung down around my neck. The moth bitten thing flapped in the breeze from the open windows, and it has become apparent to me that a flapping headliner is to a cop what a red blanket is to an angry bull.

My Morning Commute.

Image of my morning bicycle route and the traffic that I fight for 20 minutes to get to work. Note fingers in photo to block sun in order to reveal picturesque sunbeams. Add to this the sound of crickets, birds and a babbling brook (i'm serious). Also the smell of forest and fresh baked bread wafting from the bakery next to the greenway. No Really.

LiberalCCW Presents: Faces of US Presidential Politics: 1993-2009

January 20, 1993

January 21, 1993: Paw on the button.

January 17, 1998

July 25, 2000

January 20, 2001

May 1, 2003

April 28, 2004

November 7, 2006 - November 4, 2008

June 7, 2008

 November 4, 2008 11:00 PM

November 4, 2008

March - April 2009

April 2009

LiberalCCW Prediction - Sometime in 2010

It needs polymer furniture....

The Tactical Camera.

Home invasion ended by armed resident.

Via Tam. This story.

The money quote:

"A group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and they’re thanking the quick-thinking of one of their own. Police said a fellow student shot and killed one of two masked me who burst into an apartment".

LiberalCCW Report Card for Obama's First 100 Days

A+

Right is the New Left.

It has taken approximately 100 days of President Obama’s administration to bring about a fundamental change in the dynamics of American society. I saw with my own eyes how yesterday, April 15 2009, White Americans, some over the age of 50 protested the actions of their government. When I saw older white folks shouting and waving signs in public, I was shocked.

Let me explain my feelings by saying that I am the descendant of a long line of German immigrants, most of whom lived to be over 50.
These are people who don’t get off of the couch for much besides work, church, dinner, bedtime, or the immanent arrival of a tornado.

Mainstream media trivialized these “tea party” gatherings, and I believe that in doing so, they missed a subtle but vital shift in our society. There is a faint energy in the air, like the tang of ozone before a strong thunderstorm. It’s current runs through gun blogs and forums, conservative web sites, talk radio and personal conversations. Even the Department of Homeland Security has sensed the current and warned of a threat to the nation from armed white conservatives. I don’t know if conservatives realize it yet, but yesterday, the gun owning, Holy Bible reading, plaid flannel wearing folks officially became a counterculture.

The faint current, the buzz of dissent is rising in amplitude as folks begin to voice their unrest, but they have yet to realize that their Government is scared of them. In the 1960s, the Feds labeled MLK a communist in an attempt to demonize him. Now in 2009, you: The Holy Bible reading, gun owning, white person are now are being viewed as a right wing extremist by the U.S. Government. A threat to the Nation dressed in plaid flannel.

Who is leading this movement? At this moment the group is headless. Ronald Reagan is dead, Rush Limbaugh is too blindly partisan and Arnie has a thick foreign accent. Now is the time for a Henry Bowmanesque leader (minus the assassinations, one would hope) to rise up and grab the reigns of the conservative movement. They are dragging in the grass, slack, yours for the taking.

Use your power wisely.

Scheldeprijs 2009 Field Sprint: Ouch!

One Reason I love Living in Tennessee

The Tennessee State Government Trusts Me.

As a result, I try my best to return the favor.

AWB called for by Dade Co. Commissioners

Mentions the AK-47 as being a weapon o' war. Like the Enfield shown in the pic I snitched above.

Article here.

Dad, I want this for Christmas:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4640262/James-Bond-style-jetpack-powered-by-high-pressure-water-invented.html

Tennessee CCW permit holders online at Commercial Appeal.

I'm not linking to them because, I don't want to send them my four hits a week. (I'm jealous that way, but am going through counseling for it).

I suggest calling them at: 901-529-2345

I did and was shuffled through the operator to a voice mail box. I let their machine know that I am unhappy with their decision to publish a link to the database and left my callback number. I suggest that you do the same. Both of you.

Story of student suspended for drill team replica rifles.

Should have put them in the trunk.

Zero tolerance at work. I feel safer now, and the birds have resumed their chirping.

National Park CCW after 25 days: No Bloodbath at The Liberty Bell

It has now been 25 days since Concealed Carry permit holders can legally carry in the National Parks. A google news search reveals that there have been no news items related to shootings of people or animals in the national parks reported in the last 25 days. No reported arrests for folks target shooting, no firearms accidents, no trees shot up. Not a single article on poaching in the US National Parks. Hmmmm.

Cut to Brady Campaign Office:

Suit 1:"Poaching will increase, you know it will".

Suit 2:"Poor animals".

Suit 2: Ponders image of concealed carry permit holder stalking black bear with drawn "High Capacity" Bersa "Thunder" .380. Peaceful foraging fat bear eating berries, Loud Report, bear falls dead in an instant. More shots, 2 cubs fall dead. More wild shots echoing off of hills, as at least 8 or 9 hikers are hit and killed instantly. Only one survives to tell of horror.

Suit 2: (Tearing up) "Just think of the mayhem, and oh deary dear, this means that they could carry guns to the Liberty Bell".

Suit 1: (Tearing up as well) "Guns at the Liberty Bell, what has this great Nation decended to"?

According to my informal survey of 25 days worth of domestic news items, when law abiding citizens carry handguns in national parks, they tend to behave the same way they behave everywhere else. THEY ABIDE BY THE LAW.

The Brady Campaign states that "Numerous studies have confirmed that concealed carrying of firearms does not reduce crime and, if anything, leads to increased violent crime".

25 days worth of data on the now concealed carry friendly National Parks have not borne this out. Big surprise there.

For my next birthday I want....

The Chainsaw Bayonet!

Obey the four rules:

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY

RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

ND at the Manatee Theater in Bradenton FL.