In any case, I’ve enviously eyed ads for the M1 Garand and the British Enfield.  Each of those rifles has a history that I find both interesting and compelling.  Each has provided firepower that has enabled the freedom of many across several continents.  One might argue that in the case of the Enfield there was a degree of subjugation involved, too, and I couldn’t argue against that, but its history nevertheless intrigues me.

Well, I don’t yet own an Enfield — probably never will because I don’t want one made in the US and decent ones are rather pricey — but I do now own an M1 Garand.  I haven’t had one in my hands since 1963.  Actually, it was the carbine I trained with, designed primarily for tankers and paratroopers, but what the heck.
 
I’ll shoot it only a little — it will be mainly one of those “I have one” things, I guess.  Just rounding out the “Bob’s Toys Collection” before I croak.  I don’t expect the boys will have any interest when the time comes.  Too bad the young folks can’t/don’t appreciate some of the old stuff that allowed us to be what we are today as a country.  Other than the 1911 pistol, I can’t think of an individual shooter’s US firearm with more modern military history than the M1.  

The one I selected is a Service Grade rifle made by Harrington & Richardson.  That choice limited me to those manufactured during the Korean War, so there is no historical relationship to World War II, but that’s OK with me.  It’s still a Garand and it has definitely been used in conflict.  

I’m impressed with the rifle and with the selection made by the folks at CMP.  In my opinion it is at the high end of “Service Grade” and I appreciate the condition.  The mechanics of it are in excellent shape, much better than I expected for a service grade rifle of its age.  The wood looks very good but has quite a few unobtrusive dings and dents, exactly what I expect and WANT to see in a rifle of its age.  I wouldn’t want one that had flawless wood.  I want one with character and this one has it.
 
Apart from the anticipated enjoyment of shooting a Garand again, it’s nice to have one that is in really nice condition yet maintains it’s historic “been there — done that” look.  I’m a happy camper. 

CMP’s sales page is here, and it looks like they are rolling through their workload.  The delivery times are less now than I’d seen before and my M1 arrived in less than half the time they were quoting then.

Need a teaser?  Try this:

“What’s wrong with ‘free-range chicken?’” the waiter asked.

(Now, one must picture this waiter, to appreciate the full effect. He’s dressed in well-worn handmade hemp clothing, has ratty sorta braided, ‘I want dreadlocks’ blond hair, and has a scruffy, unkempt chin-beard of some variety. He’s hygienically clean with no odor, but unkempt in appearance.)

“It doesn’t taste quite as right,” I said

He puffed up to deliver his speech, “It’s 100% certified organic, free-range. It’s free of hormones and chemicals. Not only is the taste more natural, but it’s healthier for you, more humane and environmentally friendly.”

“But there’s no fear.”

“Huh?” 

Have a look.

Of course if you have smoke detectors you also have fire extinguishers of the proper type and in the proper locations, and you actually know how to use them, correct? 

And you actually bought an extra extinguisher so you could use the extinguisher and therefore know the range, spray pattern, duration of discharge, etc., correct?  Sure you did.  After all, you’re prepared.  You pay big money for insurance each year, so of course you did all those simple and low-cost things to tilt the odds in your favor.  

You’re better than those other folks who have a smoke detector but couldn’t tell you if the battery is working or not; and if they have a fire extinguisher they have no idea what type it is, what type of fire to use it on, where it is at the moment, how far or close to stand with it to use it effectively; and… well, you get the idea.  You’re much better prepared than that.

Check out the article here, and maybe the short discussion here.

One part of the article at the first link doesn’t make sense to me:

Both organizations have recommended for several years that homes use a dual alarm containing both ionization and photoelectric technology. They are joined in that recommendation by the National Fire Protection Association, which sets national standards for installing alarms.

McGinn opposes the dual alarms because they still contain ionization.
 

So, what’s wrong with ionization if it provides a secondary sensing element?

I think I’ll take a look at my smoke detectors.  Seems to me if I’m selective about the gas I put in my car and the ammo I put in my guns, I should also be selective about the smoke detectors I use.

The link/lead-in:

Hospital Brawl Leads to Botched Delivery

The article text: 

Operating Room Fistfight Leads to Botched Delivery
Monday, August 30, 2010 

MESSINA, Sicily —  Italy’s health minister traveled to Sicily on Monday to apologize to a new mother for an operating room fistfight between two doctors that led to her botched delivery.

Laura Salpietro, 30, had to have her uterus removed and her son Antonio suffered heart problems and possible brain damage following his birth Thursday in Messina’s public hospital, Italian news reports said.

Health officials and Salpietro’s husband, Matteo Molonia, say the two doctors disagreed about whether to perform a Caesarean section and came to blows while Salpietro was in labor. Molonia says the fight delayed the C-section by over an hour, leading to complications for mother and son.

Prosecutors have placed five doctors under investigation, and Health Minister Ferruccio Fazio visited Salpietro on Monday in the hospital to apologize.

OK, the lead-in says it was a “brawl.”  Make of that what you will regarding how many people it takes to qualify as a “brawl.”

Then, the article says  it was a “fistfight.”  Apparently it’s use-your-thesaurus-day in the newsroom.

The article goes on to say that two doctors were involved in the fistfight and the apology was for their behavior, but five doctors have been placed under investigation.  Two?  Five?  How many doctors were there in that operating room and how many did not take part in the brawl, fistfight, or whatever? 

“I tried to give her words of hope, and above all I tried to tell her that the government was with her and her family at this time,” Fazio was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

The incident was the latest evidence of medical mishaps frequently reported in southern Italian hospitals. It also cast a fresh spotlight on their unusually high C-section rates: Some 38 percent of all births in Italy are done by C-section, more than twice the 15 percent recommended by the World Health Organization.

In Sicily, however, the average is 52 percent while Campania — the southern mainland region that includes Naples — it reaches 60 percent, Fazio noted.

Second paragraph — “mishaps”??????  Pardon me, but I somehow don’t find the word “mishap” quite descriptive, here, but that’s just me.  I mean, it’s not as if someone accidentally dropped a bottle on the floor and spilled its contents.

Fazio said the incident also raised questions about the increasing intermingling of private doctors working in public hospitals; in this case one of the dueling doctors was Salpietro’s private gynecologist who cared for her during her pregnancy while the other was the doctor on duty at the hospital.

Heh.  If I’m the patient and I’m given the choice between my doc, the one I chose and have been seeing repeatedly by my choice, versus the one who has probably never seen me and with whom I have no history or relationship, well, gang, I know which way I’m going.

Another point I’ll keep in mind for the evolution of Obamacare since we seem so eager to copy other countries’ health systems.