Okay. I’m not sure if this is good or not, but I’ve totally let feedback from readers and friends turn me 180 degrees from where I was just 24 hours ago.

I’ve gone with a Ruger MkII Target .22 pistol with a 6 3/4″ bull barrel:

The fact that I had heard so many good things about this combined with a pretty decent deal on a used one at the local gun shop made me go with it.

Took me a few tries to get the thing reassembled even after the seller went through it with me at the shop. The Ruger reassembly is a total pain if you don’t know how.

They had a 22/45 and a tapered barrel MkII available as well, but the heft of this one seemed good (and made the Walther P22 feel like a toy, even with a laser attached) and, surprisingly, I decided that I liked the over-angled Luger-like grip on this better than the straighter 22/45.

It came with both the basic black plastic and these smooth wood grips. Not sure if I like these, as I fear that my sweaty hands might not get a good hold. We’ll see.

Due to popular demand, I’ve removed the requirement for TypeKey registration to comment here on MO.

This is a temporary trial run which may be canceled at any time with no warning if problems resurface.

There is a simple captcha entry required below the comment form to publish.

I decided to try this again because the new host has been performing very well and I sure miss getting as much feedback as MO got before TypeKey registration became mandatory.

This has been live for about twenty minutes and already the spammers are hitting me, so we’ll see. I believe that the anti-spam plugin I’m using is up to the task of keeping them out, but we’ll see if I run into any issues with CPU usage at my host.

I know a number of readers were having constant problems with the TypeKey system, and Murdoc will admit that he’s not inclined to register at too many sites himself. So give this a try, let me know if you have any problems, and comment away.

FWIW, many of you are registered with TypeKey and I’d recommend staying signed in.

Iraqi government endorses decision to relocate thousands of Arabs from Kirkuk

Iraq Updates:

The Iraqi government has endorsed a decision to relocate and compensate thousands of Arabs who moved to Kirkuk as part of Saddam Hussein’s campaign to push out the Kurds, an official said Saturday. The decision was a major step toward implementing a constitutional requirement to determine the status of the disputed oil-rich city by the end of the year.

To be honest, I had no idea that this idea had progressed so far. I actually mentioned the ‘Arabs in Kirkuk’ issue in conversation a couple of weeks ago, but I said that it was a knot that was going to have to be untangled in ten or fifteen years.

This is a huge boost for Kurds, particularly those who continue to hope for a semi-independent (or, for many, a totally independent) Kurdistan. Turkey, in particular, is concerned. If Turkish Kurds see Iraqi Kurds progressing toward even more autonomy and living well while doing it, they’re bound to want some of that freedom and wealth for themselves.

It’s also bound to rub a lot of folks the wrong way, especially those who might want a piece of the oil action in northern Iraq.

Kurds are seeking to incorporate the city, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, into their autonomous region, but the move is opposed by Arabs and Turkmen, backed by Turkey.

Iraq’s constitution calls for a separate referendum on Kirkuk’s future by the end of this year, but the opponents want to put off the vote _ worried about Kurdish dominance and more violence if the referendum were held and Kurds win. The relocation of Arab residents from Kirkuk would help the Kurds ensure a majority in favor of incorporating the city.

The justice minister, who heads the committee overseeing talks on Kirkuk’s status, said the relocations would be voluntary and those who move will be paid 20 million Iraqi dinars (about US$15,000) and given land in their hometowns.

The fact that this is (for now, at least) totally voluntary is very important. If we see Kurdish police evicting Arabs from their homes and kicking them out of the region, the Sunni insurgency will redouble its efforts and the civil war in Iraq, currently a low-level sectarian/guerrilla conflict, could finally explode into the full-on warfare we’ve all feared. The Sunnis could find themselves some new arms suppliers, for instance, if Turkey decides that the Iraqi Kurds cannot be allowed to rise.

Gotta say that Murdoc’s still a bit miffed about Turkey’s refusal to allow the 4th Infantry Division through into northern Iraq during the initial invasion, and that though Turkey is more or less a good friend, I’m not terribly sympathetic to their issues with the Kurds.

At the time, I was afraid that Turkey may actually be maneuvering to occupy Iraqi territory in what promised to be a very chaotic aftermath of our invasion from the south. Iraqi units would shift south toward Baghdad as we neared the capital, leaving things open for the Turks, who would be unopposed by a pesky US division. Turkey had announced that it may be “forced” to deploy troops into Iraq in order to keep their border secure, which many feared may be the precursor to an invasion.

Thankfully, things didn’t go down that road. I noted on March 26, 2003:

In a sudden reversal, Turkey announced it was not going to deploy troops into northern Iraq without “coordinating” with us. This WaPo article [link dead - here's a new one] is mostly about the 173rd’s airdrop, but notice this near the middle:

After several days of mixed signals from Turkey’s political leaders, the chief of the Turkish armed forces said today that Turkey would coordinate any additional deployment of troops to northern Iraq with the United States, backing down from previous threats to send forces across the border over U.S. and Kurdish objections.

Thus endeth the possibility of the Great Turkish Landgrab. Or the Turk-Kurd War of ‘03.

It’s interesting to look back at things written at the time of the invasion and to try to get into that frame of mind. That latter bit is the piece too many folks miss. They look back at news reports and punditry from four years ago and just say “how stupid…anyone could see how things were going to go” as if things are that simple. To honestly review what’s gone on before, it’s vital to take the thoughts and feelings of the period into strong consideration and base your conclusions upon them.

The 173rd’s airdrop wasn’t enough to “take over” much of northern Iraq like the 4th Division might have been able to, but it might have been enough to deter Turkey from doing anything really stupid at exactly the wrong time for us. Things are obviously a bit of a mess in Iraq and will continue to be for quite some time, but things could have been worse.

Thoughts on this (both the historical points and the current political situation)?

Dont forget that, if interested, you can subscribe to Murdoc Online’s RSS Feed via email.

This is a very basic daily message (as long as there are new items) powered by the feed. Of course, I’d just as soon everyone visit MO every day, but I know that there are a lot of good sites out there and only so much time. So if something in your inbox would help you keep up with all the fun here, go ahead and sign up. It’s free and all the cool kids are doing it.

Midnight Company

I often find myself in arguments with people about the behavior of American soldiers when they search homes and many of the people I talk to base their argument and negative impression on the footage of some raids we see on TV or on experiences of presumed relatives or friends.

When I try to counter the idea of ‘they knock down doors unnecessarily, steal jewelry and treat people bad’ by saying that there must be a good reason the troops sometimes act rough and that ‘for every reaxction there must have been an action’ I often get the response of “what do you know about that? The Americans never searched your home”

Well, last night they did…

Famous Iraqi blogger gets searched because of all the cars parked at his house for a barbecue.

Has anyone tried this?

We have the DirecTV TiVo, which cannot utilize the service. Bummer.

I’m looking to pick up a 22LR semi-auto pistol for backyard plinking. I like the look and feel of the Walther P22 but I’ve been told that it doesn’t like regular 22LR ammo and that you need high-power stuff to make it cycle reliably.

TonyRogers.com says the problems were because of the original magazines but that it’s since been straightened out.

Any opinions on the P22?

UPDATE: Okay, okay! The Ruger is back in the mix already!

I’m not a huge fan of the appearance (though the less-angled grip on the Mk III 22/45 isn’t so bad), but since I don’t really know squat about handguns I am willing to overlook that at this point if it’s the best .22 plinker for Murdoc.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to feedback from readers and friends, I’ve decided to go with a Ruger MkII.

Michigan flirts with late January primary

Give Murdoc a freaking break.

I met Homer Hickam last night. Hickam is the author of October Sky, originally titled Rocket Boys. He spoke at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center in Grand Rapids. October Sky was the One Book, One County title for Kent County.

My wife also read The Coalwood Way by Hickam (he calls it “an equal, not a sequel”) and, of course, October Sky was made into an excellent film.

Hickam was great. One thing I didn’t know: He helped train the astronauts for the Hubble repair mission. When going through the autograph line, I told him he must have done a good job, because those folks did great work up there and that it was one of the high points of the Shuttle program.

Dean’s World:

It is a fact that Iraq is a much better place than it was under Saddam, unless you were an Iraqi Baathist.

For a large number of Iraqis, facing violence and terror isn’t anything new. They dealt with it for decades. It’s only those who didn’t have to face it that are terribly shocked by developments over the past few years, and they just can’t figure out why the previously-subjugated would be upset about anything.

One Sunni told a US reporter

“Before the United States came here, no one cared who was Sunni or Shia. Everyone was Iraqi.”

And the US reporter not only believed him about that, but he bought a bridge from him.

And Dean has some follow-up Final Thoughts, including

The fact is that the naysayers claimed we weren’t really striving for liberation. We were. They claimed we’d install a new puppet dictator. We did not. They claimed that we wouldn’t really try to set up a democracy. We did. They claimed there would be no legitimate elections. The Iraqis had three national elections in a row, all certified as legitimate by international observers, not even counting the local elections that were held before that.

Reminds me a bit of something I noted a while back: Remember, this was virtually impossible