I feel, very, very sorry for anyone stupid enough to attempt to take this house by force.
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31 December 2008
Hi My Name Is Thag
...and I am a gunaholic.
I feel, very, very sorry for anyone stupid enough to attempt to take this house by force.
I feel, very, very sorry for anyone stupid enough to attempt to take this house by force.
24 December 2008
And Away We Go
My Form 1, $200, and my trust information went in the mail this afternoon for the ATF's consideration.
If they take the average 9 weeks they will be returning my tax stamp at about the same time as Bushmaster will be kicking the barrel I ordered to me.
If they take the average 9 weeks they will be returning my tax stamp at about the same time as Bushmaster will be kicking the barrel I ordered to me.
21 December 2008
17 December 2008
More Stuff None Of My Readers (If I Have Any) Care About
I was reading a massive screed about barrel steels for the AR today. Colt has finally submitted its Chrome Vanadium Molybdenum steel formula to ANSI for standardization. It's going to be called 4150CVM. It can be made a bit harder than 4150 which can be made a bit harder than 4140.
EDIT: 4140 has less tensile strength (655 v 729.5 Mpa) but a higher yeild strength (417.1 v 379.2 Mpa) than 4150. Yield strength is: Prior to the yield point the material will deform elastically and will return to its original shape when the applied stress is removed. Once the yield point is passed some fraction of the deformation will be permanent and non-reversible. Tensile strength is: the stress at which a material breaks or permanently deforms.
My M16A2 clone uses and the XM177E2 will use 4150CVM because that's what Bushmaster ships nowadays. My R604 clone uses 4150, because that's what Colt used in 1969. All of my other guns use 4140 because that's what E.R. Shaw and Wilson Combat (Cardinal and Del-Ton respectively) use because it's much easier to machine correctly and for non-automatic, non-arctic use it's perfectly capable of doing anything the other two steels can do. 4150 is more resistant to heat changing its composition than 4140. 4150CVM has a finer grain structure than 4150 that allows it to better resist cracking and splitting when hot and exposed to extreme cold.
The heat we are talking about is along the lines of firing several hundred rounds without letting things cool off. Extreme cold is North Atlantic salt water in December on a barrel that has fired 500 rounds without stop.
Conditions that the average user will never encounter. 4140 is very similar to the steels that were used with great success in WW1 and WW2, so it's not completely useless for extreme use, just not as good as 4150 or 4150CVM.
If I was equipping the troops, I would spec the CVM steel. Our men are worth the extra money. For myself, I think I will get cheap and not overheat my barrel when it's inhumanly cold out.
EDIT: 4140 has less tensile strength (655 v 729.5 Mpa) but a higher yeild strength (417.1 v 379.2 Mpa) than 4150. Yield strength is: Prior to the yield point the material will deform elastically and will return to its original shape when the applied stress is removed. Once the yield point is passed some fraction of the deformation will be permanent and non-reversible. Tensile strength is: the stress at which a material breaks or permanently deforms.
My M16A2 clone uses and the XM177E2 will use 4150CVM because that's what Bushmaster ships nowadays. My R604 clone uses 4150, because that's what Colt used in 1969. All of my other guns use 4140 because that's what E.R. Shaw and Wilson Combat (Cardinal and Del-Ton respectively) use because it's much easier to machine correctly and for non-automatic, non-arctic use it's perfectly capable of doing anything the other two steels can do. 4150 is more resistant to heat changing its composition than 4140. 4150CVM has a finer grain structure than 4150 that allows it to better resist cracking and splitting when hot and exposed to extreme cold.
The heat we are talking about is along the lines of firing several hundred rounds without letting things cool off. Extreme cold is North Atlantic salt water in December on a barrel that has fired 500 rounds without stop.
Conditions that the average user will never encounter. 4140 is very similar to the steels that were used with great success in WW1 and WW2, so it's not completely useless for extreme use, just not as good as 4150 or 4150CVM.
If I was equipping the troops, I would spec the CVM steel. Our men are worth the extra money. For myself, I think I will get cheap and not overheat my barrel when it's inhumanly cold out.
16 December 2008
My Gohds
I have discovered something else I really, really hate.
When the buyer is not the person making the decision about the purchase.
I am passively trying to sell an M4 clone I have.
One of The Lovely Harvey's co-workers'husband husband's friends expressed some interest.
Wanted details, all kind of details. I provided them. The kind of questions he was asking indicated that he didn't know much about this type of gun.
Asked what I wanted for a price. I told him.
He replies that his co-worker, a licensed manufacturer and THE gun guru says that only a Colt is worth that price and that it was only worth $100 less than I paid for the parts. Oh, then why didn't you buy a gun from him?
I was not selling to him, I was selling to his buddy. His buddy, who was not going to actually purchase anything.
He later replied that he'd bought a CMT A2 clone for $600 before he started talking to me. This great deal will forever cement the value of an AR in his mind. I wonder if his buddy will tell him that CMT doesn't sell to civilians, only military and law-enforcement, and that the guy he bought from likely had a hot gun. CMT's civilian sales are branded "Stag Arms".
The AR world would be greatly enhanced by the demise of either Colt or the people who drink the Colt Kool-Aid, or both.
There are tables where other brands are compared to Colt and the basis of comparison is a list of things that Colt does against whether the other company does that or not. Never is it said if those things are necessary. Some things, yes, some things no. Some things are absolute requirements for a selective fire rifle, and are a useless extra expense for a semi-auto.
Colt-Aid drinkers are fond of quoting that Colt is "Milspec". Would that be MIL-C-70599 (M4), MIL-C-71186 (M4A1), MIL-R-63997B (M16A2) or MIL-R-71135 (M16A2E3)? Those are what the military uses to buy M16s and M4s. They don't really tell you much about how to make a rifle. They merely specify the testing procedures for acceptance of the rifles. When you take that crutch out from under them, they fall back on "Colt uses their Technical Data Package". The TDP is merely the process that Colt uses to meet the spec and it's what the Colt-Aid drinkers are quoting with their comparison lists. FN, who won the contract to make M16A2 and M16A4 don't use Colt's TDP because the TDP is proprietary.
EDIT: I am willing to put the parts I selected against the name brand guys any day of the week for accuracy or endurance. There's not a rifle in my cabinet I don't trust to function when the chips are down.
Update: The likelihood of a CMT branded rifle being stolen from a police department or illegally sold by an LEO is quite high. Another consideration is a pre-ban configuration AR from CMT that isn't hot is also very likely to be no longer in its original condition, meaning that non CMT quality parts may have been used.
When the buyer is not the person making the decision about the purchase.
I am passively trying to sell an M4 clone I have.
One of The Lovely Harvey's co-workers'
Wanted details, all kind of details. I provided them. The kind of questions he was asking indicated that he didn't know much about this type of gun.
Asked what I wanted for a price. I told him.
He replies that his co-worker, a licensed manufacturer and THE gun guru says that only a Colt is worth that price and that it was only worth $100 less than I paid for the parts. Oh, then why didn't you buy a gun from him?
I was not selling to him, I was selling to his buddy. His buddy, who was not going to actually purchase anything.
He later replied that he'd bought a CMT A2 clone for $600 before he started talking to me. This great deal will forever cement the value of an AR in his mind. I wonder if his buddy will tell him that CMT doesn't sell to civilians, only military and law-enforcement, and that the guy he bought from likely had a hot gun. CMT's civilian sales are branded "Stag Arms".
The AR world would be greatly enhanced by the demise of either Colt or the people who drink the Colt Kool-Aid, or both.
There are tables where other brands are compared to Colt and the basis of comparison is a list of things that Colt does against whether the other company does that or not. Never is it said if those things are necessary. Some things, yes, some things no. Some things are absolute requirements for a selective fire rifle, and are a useless extra expense for a semi-auto.
Colt-Aid drinkers are fond of quoting that Colt is "Milspec". Would that be MIL-C-70599 (M4), MIL-C-71186 (M4A1), MIL-R-63997B (M16A2) or MIL-R-71135 (M16A2E3)? Those are what the military uses to buy M16s and M4s. They don't really tell you much about how to make a rifle. They merely specify the testing procedures for acceptance of the rifles. When you take that crutch out from under them, they fall back on "Colt uses their Technical Data Package". The TDP is merely the process that Colt uses to meet the spec and it's what the Colt-Aid drinkers are quoting with their comparison lists. FN, who won the contract to make M16A2 and M16A4 don't use Colt's TDP because the TDP is proprietary.
EDIT: I am willing to put the parts I selected against the name brand guys any day of the week for accuracy or endurance. There's not a rifle in my cabinet I don't trust to function when the chips are down.
Update: The likelihood of a CMT branded rifle being stolen from a police department or illegally sold by an LEO is quite high. Another consideration is a pre-ban configuration AR from CMT that isn't hot is also very likely to be no longer in its original condition, meaning that non CMT quality parts may have been used.
15 December 2008
Bit Of A Scare With My Camera Today
I took some pics of my soon to be SBR lower. To upload the pics to Webshots, I have to remove the SD card from the camera and put into the card reader on my monitor.
All went well until I tried to put the card back into the camera. It would not lock into place!
Hoping that it might have been the card, I tried another, no luck.
Despair started to set in, I really like this camera.
We found that the only local place that even hints that they will work on a Canon Powershot S5IS has a flat rate of $136. Eeep.
Marv suggests that perhaps the door will hold the card in far enough that the latch isn't required. No joy.
I offer to sell the remains to Marv to help mitigate the cost of the new camera I am sure I will have to get now.
He says that he'd prolly do, "cheap like fill in the battery door in an attempt to hold the card in far enough" Hmmmmm, I think, that's not a half bad idea. I stick the card in to see how far it needs to go and "click" it locks.
Odd, I think.
Marv suggests shaking the camera with the door open and see if anything comes out. A small sliver of plastic does. It's the divider from between the contacts on the SD card! Not sure how that got broke, but it did and fell out.
Things seem to be fine now.
Oh, and the pics came out good too:
I added The Lovely Harvey's upper to it so that we could get an idea of how heavy the finished gun will be and to have a time-stamped indicator that the gun was in a pre-ban configuration before any ban is instated.
All went well until I tried to put the card back into the camera. It would not lock into place!
Hoping that it might have been the card, I tried another, no luck.
Despair started to set in, I really like this camera.
We found that the only local place that even hints that they will work on a Canon Powershot S5IS has a flat rate of $136. Eeep.
Marv suggests that perhaps the door will hold the card in far enough that the latch isn't required. No joy.
I offer to sell the remains to Marv to help mitigate the cost of the new camera I am sure I will have to get now.
He says that he'd prolly do, "cheap like fill in the battery door in an attempt to hold the card in far enough" Hmmmmm, I think, that's not a half bad idea. I stick the card in to see how far it needs to go and "click" it locks.
Odd, I think.
Marv suggests shaking the camera with the door open and see if anything comes out. A small sliver of plastic does. It's the divider from between the contacts on the SD card! Not sure how that got broke, but it did and fell out.
Things seem to be fine now.
Oh, and the pics came out good too:
I added The Lovely Harvey's upper to it so that we could get an idea of how heavy the finished gun will be and to have a time-stamped indicator that the gun was in a pre-ban configuration before any ban is instated.
12 December 2008
This Is The Whole Song
This is the whole song. Canon used it in a commercial, and I thought it was part of a longer song, nope.
The tutorial is pretty cool, even if the original has been rendered private...
Some Fun For A Change
Your result for The Steampunk Style Test...
The Gadgeteer
39% Elegant, 79% Technological, 23% Historical, 56% Adventurous and 6% Playful!
You are the Gadgeteer, the embodiment of steampunk technology. Ironically, many of the things that most define your style are probably too large to easily carry about, but given the opportunity you would prefer to be seen surrounded by boiler engines, gear-driven calculators, and incredible automata. Of all the steampunk fashion styles, you place the greatest emphasis on technological accessories, and you are the most likely to create elaborate gadgets that are as much a part of your outfit as your clothes. You probably have goggles, but unlike most people you consider them to be for more than decoration. Whereas most people might look odd carrying a satchel of tools around, for you they may well be essential. Above all, you remind everyone that what sets the genre apart from Victoriana is simply the level of technology.
Try our other Steampunk test here.
Take The Steampunk Style Test at HelloQuizzy
The Explorer
32% Elegant, 31% Technological, 30% Historical, 88% Adventurous and 26% Playful!
You are the Explorer, the embodiment of steampunk’s adventuring spirit. For you, clothing should be rugged and reliable, and just as functional as it is attractive. You probably prefer khaki or leather, and your accessories are as likely to include weapons as technological gizmos. You probably wear boots and gloves, and maybe a pith helmet. Most of what you wear is functional, and if you happen to wear goggles people had better believe that you use them. In addition to Victorian exploration gear, your outfit probably includes little knickknacks from your various travels. Above all, you are a charming blend of rugged Victorian daring and exotic curiosity.
I Thought He Retired
My favorite snob made a big announcement about how he was quitting blogging 30NOV08. Took his ball and went home.
Said he was retiring, he did. I think that if he wants to post his thoughts in such detail, he should get a blog. If he really retired, he should shut up and fade away.
He might have stopped posting to his own blog, but he's sure commenting on other people's.
After reading for a long time and seeing him spout some of the crap he's posted, I am confused as to why our snob commands such respect from the gun/right wing blog community. It gets him passes and by-runs where others get banned. The man and his wife are pompous bores, but they are very polite about how they phrase things. They say offensive things and get away with it because they preface what they say with, "with all due respect" or some such. When someone says, "Would you look at WHAT he just said!" everyone seems to fixate on HOW he said it. Form over content.
I was sick of reading him while he had his own site, but at least I could avoid him by not going to his site. Now that he's got nothing to do, he's posting all over the comments of places I do read. I still don't want to read him, or his wife. I don't think they are as smart as they think they are. It had become tiresome a long time ago, and I had hoped it would have ended, 12 days ago.
Said he was retiring, he did. I think that if he wants to post his thoughts in such detail, he should get a blog. If he really retired, he should shut up and fade away.
He might have stopped posting to his own blog, but he's sure commenting on other people's.
After reading for a long time and seeing him spout some of the crap he's posted, I am confused as to why our snob commands such respect from the gun/right wing blog community. It gets him passes and by-runs where others get banned. The man and his wife are pompous bores, but they are very polite about how they phrase things. They say offensive things and get away with it because they preface what they say with, "with all due respect" or some such. When someone says, "Would you look at WHAT he just said!" everyone seems to fixate on HOW he said it. Form over content.
I was sick of reading him while he had his own site, but at least I could avoid him by not going to his site. Now that he's got nothing to do, he's posting all over the comments of places I do read. I still don't want to read him, or his wife. I don't think they are as smart as they think they are. It had become tiresome a long time ago, and I had hoped it would have ended, 12 days ago.
11 December 2008
The Sad Collection Of Parts Is Growing
I am waiting for the barrel, handguards, gas tube, gas tube roll pin and delta ring from Bushmaster. It's a 16", chrome lined, 1:9, 5.56 chamber that will be cut down to 11.5" once I get my Form 1 approved.
The collection. The pill bottle has the lower parts kit in it.
This is a comparison between the Bushmaster HB 5" slip-over and the 45Bravo 4.5" Moderator.
The collection. The pill bottle has the lower parts kit in it.
This is a comparison between the Bushmaster HB 5" slip-over and the 45Bravo 4.5" Moderator.
This is the two moderators lined up as they would be mounted. The 5" slip-over is on a 16" barrel where the 4.5" will be on an 11.5" barrel. There's a lot of barrel under the slip-over, 3.3". The 4.5" moderator has only 1/2" of barrel inside it, and thats just the threaded portion at the muzzle.
09 December 2008
This Is Why I Say "No Politicians From Illinois"
Memory Hole: Feds Take Gov. Blagojevich Into Custody
Perspective from here: http://www.theneweditor.com/index.php?/archives/8915-Illinois-Gov.-Blagojevich,-Chief-of-Staff,-Arrested.html
"This makes for the fourth out of the last seven elected Illinois governors to be indicted since 1960 (Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, George Ryan, and Rod Blagojevich) ... since 1972, 28 Chicago alderman have been convicted of crimes. If this number was extrapolated to the US House, it would be as if over 240 congressman had been indicted in the same period."
PS: Ever notice that when a Republican gets busted, there is (R) or "Republican" all over the place, but when a Democrat gets nailed, they are just named by title?
Perspective from here: http://www.theneweditor.com/index.php?/archives/8915-Illinois-Gov.-Blagojevich,-Chief-of-Staff,-Arrested.html
"This makes for the fourth out of the last seven elected Illinois governors to be indicted since 1960 (Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, George Ryan, and Rod Blagojevich) ... since 1972, 28 Chicago alderman have been convicted of crimes. If this number was extrapolated to the US House, it would be as if over 240 congressman had been indicted in the same period."
PS: Ever notice that when a Republican gets busted, there is (R) or "Republican" all over the place, but when a Democrat gets nailed, they are just named by title?
08 December 2008
Merry Fucking Christmas You Prick
Some fucking thief stole my debit card information and ran up some fraudulent charges.
The fraud department at my bank caught it right away and it's going to be fixed. 5-7 business days of no card though. Getting gasoline is downright painful with cash. Hates it we does.++
The fraud department at my bank caught it right away and it's going to be fixed. 5-7 business days of no card though. Getting gasoline is downright painful with cash. Hates it we does.++
Never Mind
Getting this trust established has turned into one obstacle after another.
Now that we've got it drafted, we have to arrange to have The Lovely Harvey, Me, two witnesses and a notary all in the same place and time to sign it.
Then we mail it back to the lawyer.
Then he mails back our copies.
Then I have to make a checking account for the trust.
Then I wait for checks.
Then I can send out the application to the ATF.
Itwould will likely be mid-January before all that is done.
This is me, abandoning the project.
A sad accumulation of parts...
Now that we've got it drafted, we have to arrange to have The Lovely Harvey, Me, two witnesses and a notary all in the same place and time to sign it.
Then we mail it back to the lawyer.
Then he mails back our copies.
Then I have to make a checking account for the trust.
Then I wait for checks.
Then I can send out the application to the ATF.
It
A sad accumulation of parts...
07 December 2008
Time Flies
67 years ago, Japan decided that we were going to kick their ass.
Isoroku Yamamoto predicted the outcome, and he planned the attack!
Isoroku Yamamoto predicted the outcome, and he planned the attack!
06 December 2008
Please Go Read This
Fantasy Ideology
Read the comments too.
I remain uncertain if I am in the 3% or not.
I think that I would fight rather than submit when they came to confiscate the guns. I think.
I don't think that a civil war is a good plan.
I imagine that if I were to resist the police, ATF, FBI, whatever, that I would end up dead. I might very well take out more than one of them. I might not.
I seriously doubt that I would attack the police while they raided the house across the street.
In general and in principle, I think that the laws we have now are unconstitutional. I find that I am willing to compromise on principles though. Note that I am going to the effort of seeking permission to build and registering my short barrel rifle. If they deny my application, I will not be making an SBR.
I think that I would mostly be content to have the National Firearms Registry reopened for machineguns and leave the rest of the gun laws alone. I think that is enough.
I would press to have the gun laws rolled back even further, but I could live with that.
Read the comments too.
I remain uncertain if I am in the 3% or not.
I think that I would fight rather than submit when they came to confiscate the guns. I think.
I don't think that a civil war is a good plan.
I imagine that if I were to resist the police, ATF, FBI, whatever, that I would end up dead. I might very well take out more than one of them. I might not.
I seriously doubt that I would attack the police while they raided the house across the street.
In general and in principle, I think that the laws we have now are unconstitutional. I find that I am willing to compromise on principles though. Note that I am going to the effort of seeking permission to build and registering my short barrel rifle. If they deny my application, I will not be making an SBR.
I think that I would mostly be content to have the National Firearms Registry reopened for machineguns and leave the rest of the gun laws alone. I think that is enough.
I would press to have the gun laws rolled back even further, but I could live with that.
05 December 2008
Step By Step...
I am getting ready to enter the heady world of the National Firearms Act with the making of a short barrel rifle (SBR).
When finished it will be a clone of an Air Force GAU-5A/A. This is almost identical to an Army XM177E2, except no forward assist. It is distinct from the XM177 (a.k.a. GAU-5A) in that it has a full fence lower and 11.5" barrel as opposed to a partial fence and 10" barrel.
I am going to be the manufacturer of this firearm. Steps to get this accomplished.
First, obtain a Revocable Living Trust. This is actually not necessary, I could file as an individual. But an individual filing means that The Lovely Harvey could never be allowed access to where it was stored without it becoming an illegal transfer. The Lovely Harvey and I will be the settlors or grantors of the trust, thus anything the trust own, we jointly own. Having the trust listed as the manufacturer also lets us skip a couple of the tedious steps of the application process, we don't have to send in fingerprints, photographs or get a signature from the local Chief Law Enforcement Officer.
Second, obtain a gun to be modified into an SBR.
Third, fill out two copies of ATF Form 1 (5320.1). If you think that tax forms are hard to figure out... wait, this is a tax form!
Forth, send in the Form 1s, copies of the Declaration of Trust, Certification of Trust and the trust's Schedule A, with $200 to the ATF.
Fifth, wait for approval.
Sixth, when approval is obtained, have the firearm engraved with the name, city and state of the manufacturer (the trust).
Seventh, get the shorter than 16" barrel or have the 16" barrel shortened to the desired and declared length.
Eighth, assemble the firearm.
Last, enjoy!
This is Thag's barrier to the National Firearms Registry closing registrations to new SBRs. In 1986 Reagan signed the "Firearms Owner Protection Act" which did a lot of good, but it also made it illegal for a private citizen to make a new machinegun for personal ownership. An M16 was just about double the price of an AR15 back then. Just prior to the panic on black rifles a new AR was about $1,000. A used M16 was $16,500. At the moment, it's not really any more expensive to buy an SBR than a normal gun. But if they close registration, then I can expect the value of my creation to soar! And we all know that kind of thing doesn't happen to me.
When finished it will be a clone of an Air Force GAU-5A/A. This is almost identical to an Army XM177E2, except no forward assist. It is distinct from the XM177 (a.k.a. GAU-5A) in that it has a full fence lower and 11.5" barrel as opposed to a partial fence and 10" barrel.
I am going to be the manufacturer of this firearm. Steps to get this accomplished.
First, obtain a Revocable Living Trust. This is actually not necessary, I could file as an individual. But an individual filing means that The Lovely Harvey could never be allowed access to where it was stored without it becoming an illegal transfer. The Lovely Harvey and I will be the settlors or grantors of the trust, thus anything the trust own, we jointly own. Having the trust listed as the manufacturer also lets us skip a couple of the tedious steps of the application process, we don't have to send in fingerprints, photographs or get a signature from the local Chief Law Enforcement Officer.
Second, obtain a gun to be modified into an SBR.
Third, fill out two copies of ATF Form 1 (5320.1). If you think that tax forms are hard to figure out... wait, this is a tax form!
Forth, send in the Form 1s, copies of the Declaration of Trust, Certification of Trust and the trust's Schedule A, with $200 to the ATF.
Fifth, wait for approval.
Sixth, when approval is obtained, have the firearm engraved with the name, city and state of the manufacturer (the trust).
Seventh, get the shorter than 16" barrel or have the 16" barrel shortened to the desired and declared length.
Eighth, assemble the firearm.
Last, enjoy!
This is Thag's barrier to the National Firearms Registry closing registrations to new SBRs. In 1986 Reagan signed the "Firearms Owner Protection Act" which did a lot of good, but it also made it illegal for a private citizen to make a new machinegun for personal ownership. An M16 was just about double the price of an AR15 back then. Just prior to the panic on black rifles a new AR was about $1,000. A used M16 was $16,500. At the moment, it's not really any more expensive to buy an SBR than a normal gun. But if they close registration, then I can expect the value of my creation to soar! And we all know that kind of thing doesn't happen to me.
03 December 2008
In Memoriam DAMMIT
Today we had to put Licorice down. What was obviously cancer all over his skin started to weep blood that was not clotting. While he was not obviously in pain, he can't have felt well at all.
He was a loving companion to The Lovely Harvey for the last 17 years though I only knew him for 11.
He will be missed, dearly. His absence will be felt deeply.
Goodbye to the Imperious White Cat, Licorice!
01 December 2008
That's It I Am Done With Video Games
I was trying to play Call of Duty 4. I've got to the point where I am following my boss in a ghillie suit through a field where there's a full company of bad-guy infantry.
They spot us, we die.
I stay with the boss. They spot us, we die.
I move to one side. They spot us, we die.
I hang back. They spot us, we die.
I go ahead of him. They spot us, we die.
There's way too many to fight; so, we die.
This is not a test of skill, this is a test of persistence and luck. Will I persist until I get lucky and they don't spot me? Survey says, "XXX"! Sorry Aspyr, but this is not fun, this is irritation.
I looked at the run through at: http://faqs.ign.com/articles/833/833711p1.html and it tells me, "Follow MacMillan out the door and past a gap in a low wall. Jump over the pipe and get ready for a tense situation. Two APCs and accompanying Russian troops approach from the East-Southeast. Try not to get run over by an APC and anticipate the vector the troops are moving at so that you won't get stepped on. The best idea is to go prone and stay right behind MacMillan, and move ONLY when he does. Eventually he'll stand behind a
caterpillar tractor. You have a choice now. You can either kill the troops or sneak around."
Um, nope. That doesn't work.
You know, I stopped playing "The Army Game" over this exact same bullshit. I need to sneak past someone and they have magic "spot me" powers. And there's no way to avoid the obstacle.
They spot us, we die.
I stay with the boss. They spot us, we die.
I move to one side. They spot us, we die.
I hang back. They spot us, we die.
I go ahead of him. They spot us, we die.
There's way too many to fight; so, we die.
This is not a test of skill, this is a test of persistence and luck. Will I persist until I get lucky and they don't spot me? Survey says, "XXX"! Sorry Aspyr, but this is not fun, this is irritation.
I looked at the run through at: http://faqs.ign.com/articles/833/833711p1.html and it tells me, "Follow MacMillan out the door and past a gap in a low wall. Jump over the pipe and get ready for a tense situation. Two APCs and accompanying Russian troops approach from the East-Southeast. Try not to get run over by an APC and anticipate the vector the troops are moving at so that you won't get stepped on. The best idea is to go prone and stay right behind MacMillan, and move ONLY when he does. Eventually he'll stand behind a
caterpillar tractor. You have a choice now. You can either kill the troops or sneak around."
Um, nope. That doesn't work.
You know, I stopped playing "The Army Game" over this exact same bullshit. I need to sneak past someone and they have magic "spot me" powers. And there's no way to avoid the obstacle.
29 November 2008
FuzzyGeff's Gun In Full Non-Compliance
Better iron sights for the purpose at hand and a bayonet lug.
Stock "Folded."
Ready for my drive-by bayonetting! You also need to get your own sticker and stop borrowing mine.
Scoped.
FuzzyGeff had commented: Yes, that will do nicely.
Stock "Folded."
Ready for my drive-by bayonetting! You also need to get your own sticker and stop borrowing mine.
Scoped.
FuzzyGeff had commented: Yes, that will do nicely.
28 November 2008
M16 30-Round Magazine Follower Conversion
Top to bottom, front of follower to the right:
Magpul Anti-Tilt
USGI current issue.
USGI original issue.
Same followers from the bottom.
The legs on the ends prevent the follower from rotating, or tilting, inside the magazine body. The spike in the center of the USGI followers is supposed to prevent overfilling the magazine. Magpul's longer legs serve that function as well as preventing tilt.
Magpul Anti-Tilt
USGI current issue.
USGI original issue.
Same followers from the bottom.
The legs on the ends prevent the follower from rotating, or tilting, inside the magazine body. The spike in the center of the USGI followers is supposed to prevent overfilling the magazine. Magpul's longer legs serve that function as well as preventing tilt.
Welcome Anglave
We extend a hearty welcome to Anglave, now a member of The Hive.
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
Thag's Incoherent Political Wish List
No gun control. Make ATF the tax collectors they are supposed to be. Building an illegal machinegun should be tax evasion not possession of a forbidden device. Letting the tinkering types tinker on the problem with machineguns gave us Browning (pbuh), Gatling, Lewis and Maxim. Since trying out an idea is so tightly regulated, you have to get a prohibitively expensive license before you can even begin to see if your idea works, that many otherwise talented gun designers have focused their energy elsewhere. Our three main machineguns we issue to the troops are the M2HB, M240 and M249. One is over 60 years old, the other two are from Belgium.
End victim classes. Are you people or not? Are you my equal or not? No more affirmative action. No more "hostile work places". You demanded entry into this world, play as an equal or admit you can't compete and go home. If I am expected to have only my merits to work with, so shall you. Give as good as you get. And making the prior victims equal does not mean punitive awards against the former oppressors. Especially since many of us in the "oppressor class" didn't do it. Lots of us came to America after slavery ended. Lots of us do not think of women as objects or baby factories. Reversing the roles is not going to do what you think it will. Run the reversal long enough and we now have a victim claim against you. And if we never can claim it, then you aren't talking about justice at all. Vengeance is not justice.
Once there are no victim classes, there's no more hate crime. And let's face it, someone getting beat up because they are gay is not being beaten by someone who like them. Assault is a hate crime regardless of the identity of the victim. This would not even be on the list except a group of black people can murder a white guy and get manslaughter. A group of white guys beat the stuffing out of a black guy, who makes a full recovery, gets many, many years in jail. The laws must be equal. All people must be treated the same or it's not equal.
I can't ban your church if your religion offends me. You don't get to use your church to ban the things that offend you if you can merely stay home and never see the offensive material. This means places like adult bookstores and titty bars. This means TV shows. If you don't wanna see nekkid people, don't go into the store. If you don't like the show on TV, change the channel! If I hire porn actors to fuck on your alter, you have a case. To get freedom, you must grant freedom.
The market is better at deciding what something should cost than the government; get them out of the economy as much as possible. The recent example of people whose income was smaller than their mortgage payment receiving loans because the were in a victim class illustrates what is wrong with government interfering with business and having victim classes.
Free trade, to a point. Comparative advantage is real, but we do have to think about home. Recall, I said get the government out of the economy as much as possible. There are some legitimate economic functions for the government in the economy. Think along the lines of "governs least, governs best".
Deunionization. Quick news flash about unions, when the company you are striking against can find enough non-union labor to fill all the jobs, you've lost your bargaining position. All of the unions started out from skilled trades, people of extra-ordinary training or skill. People who could not be replaced by just anyone walking in off the street. To put it another way; when the janitor makes $27 an hour the manufacturer deserves to fail.
Excessive executive compensation. Not strictly a political item, but if a CEO screws the pooch, he should not have a reward coming. It's like putting an ejection seat in a 747, "No matter how bad this gets, I'm safe!" I want the pilot to share my fate if he's going to make a lawn dart.
Energy. Since the last 1% of any tech development costs 90% of total development, we should really start thinking about stopping at 99%. The main problem in energy now is we're at 99% on not making pollution. 100% perfect combustion is CO2 and water. If you ban making CO2, you are banning burning.
Military. We need one and it needs to be strong enough to defend our interests where ever they happen to be. That does cost money, but we are spending too much because there's a distinct lack of competition in the defense industry. There were once thirty companies making military aircraft, there are now three (2.5 really). A 90% reduction in competition that came about from the government interfering with the economy. We don't design our own guns because of interference with designers. We're having trouble making enough ships for our Navy because we have killed our shipyards with environmental laws that don't do anything but kill off industry. We are killing our aviation industry because we let Congress Critters leave Congress and begin lobbying for the defense contractors.
End victim classes. Are you people or not? Are you my equal or not? No more affirmative action. No more "hostile work places". You demanded entry into this world, play as an equal or admit you can't compete and go home. If I am expected to have only my merits to work with, so shall you. Give as good as you get. And making the prior victims equal does not mean punitive awards against the former oppressors. Especially since many of us in the "oppressor class" didn't do it. Lots of us came to America after slavery ended. Lots of us do not think of women as objects or baby factories. Reversing the roles is not going to do what you think it will. Run the reversal long enough and we now have a victim claim against you. And if we never can claim it, then you aren't talking about justice at all. Vengeance is not justice.
Once there are no victim classes, there's no more hate crime. And let's face it, someone getting beat up because they are gay is not being beaten by someone who like them. Assault is a hate crime regardless of the identity of the victim. This would not even be on the list except a group of black people can murder a white guy and get manslaughter. A group of white guys beat the stuffing out of a black guy, who makes a full recovery, gets many, many years in jail. The laws must be equal. All people must be treated the same or it's not equal.
I can't ban your church if your religion offends me. You don't get to use your church to ban the things that offend you if you can merely stay home and never see the offensive material. This means places like adult bookstores and titty bars. This means TV shows. If you don't wanna see nekkid people, don't go into the store. If you don't like the show on TV, change the channel! If I hire porn actors to fuck on your alter, you have a case. To get freedom, you must grant freedom.
The market is better at deciding what something should cost than the government; get them out of the economy as much as possible. The recent example of people whose income was smaller than their mortgage payment receiving loans because the were in a victim class illustrates what is wrong with government interfering with business and having victim classes.
Free trade, to a point. Comparative advantage is real, but we do have to think about home. Recall, I said get the government out of the economy as much as possible. There are some legitimate economic functions for the government in the economy. Think along the lines of "governs least, governs best".
Deunionization. Quick news flash about unions, when the company you are striking against can find enough non-union labor to fill all the jobs, you've lost your bargaining position. All of the unions started out from skilled trades, people of extra-ordinary training or skill. People who could not be replaced by just anyone walking in off the street. To put it another way; when the janitor makes $27 an hour the manufacturer deserves to fail.
Excessive executive compensation. Not strictly a political item, but if a CEO screws the pooch, he should not have a reward coming. It's like putting an ejection seat in a 747, "No matter how bad this gets, I'm safe!" I want the pilot to share my fate if he's going to make a lawn dart.
Energy. Since the last 1% of any tech development costs 90% of total development, we should really start thinking about stopping at 99%. The main problem in energy now is we're at 99% on not making pollution. 100% perfect combustion is CO2 and water. If you ban making CO2, you are banning burning.
Military. We need one and it needs to be strong enough to defend our interests where ever they happen to be. That does cost money, but we are spending too much because there's a distinct lack of competition in the defense industry. There were once thirty companies making military aircraft, there are now three (2.5 really). A 90% reduction in competition that came about from the government interfering with the economy. We don't design our own guns because of interference with designers. We're having trouble making enough ships for our Navy because we have killed our shipyards with environmental laws that don't do anything but kill off industry. We are killing our aviation industry because we let Congress Critters leave Congress and begin lobbying for the defense contractors.
26 November 2008
I Am An Enabler
Much to FuzzyGeff's distress, his rifle had only one AWB evil feature, a flash hider.
He wanted to add a collapsible stock, but it was very important to him that the forearm match the grip and stock color. This was a problem since the stock he wanted to use is out of stock in black. Luckily for him, I had the stock and grip he wanted in black and was willing to change to another color to facilitate the change.
He gets my old black stuff, I get his newly bought OD green stuff.
His gun:
He's got a bayonet lug gas block coming so that he can be in full non-compliance.
My gun:
To my shame, Dottie is not in full non compliance. That's a muzzle brake, not a flash hider.
He wanted to add a collapsible stock, but it was very important to him that the forearm match the grip and stock color. This was a problem since the stock he wanted to use is out of stock in black. Luckily for him, I had the stock and grip he wanted in black and was willing to change to another color to facilitate the change.
He gets my old black stuff, I get his newly bought OD green stuff.
His gun:
He's got a bayonet lug gas block coming so that he can be in full non-compliance.
My gun:
To my shame, Dottie is not in full non compliance. That's a muzzle brake, not a flash hider.
Abortion
To my Religious Right buddies,
I will grant, for the sake of argument, that once the sperm enters the egg that is now a human being and that killing it is murder.
Given #1. Abortion is murder.
Happy?
Do you know how many people voted for Obama because of the abortion issue? Do you know how many times I spoke to someone about his positions and they agreed that everything bad I had to say about him was likely true, but they didn't want to see abortions banned.
They are far more afraid of the Republicans owing the religious fundamentalists favors than most anything else.
How many abortions in the USA every year? CDC claims about 1.3 million a year (A lot more than I thought there would be!). OK, religious types, if this is indeed 1.3 million murders a year, that's a holocaust, and why are you sitting there doing, essentially, nothing? Isn't God on your side enough for a bloody revolution?
Well, you did manage to do one thing. You managed to get a Republican who couldn't get elected nominated and once he was in place, you got out the vote for his opponent.
I pray for the day when the Religious Right is recognized as the liability that it most certainly is.
I seek a return to a constitutionally limited democratic republic. I will not get that when I have socialist on the left screwing me on the 2nd amendment and religious fanatics on the right aiming at my 1st amendment rights by going for a theocracy!
The whole "when is it human?" question is a religious one. I'm of the opinion that it's not a human until it can live exposed in the atmosphere. Some say it's not human until it starts paying more than it's using (I know some rather old folks who fail this test of humanity).
If the rate of abortions is what's really the issue, I have a couple of things that would likely help. Some of it would be pleasing to the religious too.
Morality. Bringing a common code that society enforces outside of the law would go a long way towards reducing the number of pregnancies that someone wants to be rid of. The trick with such a moral code is not making a theocracy out of it. This would require some fundamental changes in US law as well because at the moment we cannot refuse to associate with someone we find repugnant because of discrimination laws.
Affluence. I am aware of at least one abortion where the parents simply had too much on their plate to add another child to the mix. If they'd been more wealthy, they would have had a larger plate. Has anyone done a serious study comparing wealth and abortion? I'm going to guess that the really poor and really rich don't have them. I think that the really poor see that child as a means of getting financial aid and the really rich are not substantially burdened with a child. I'm going to guess that the middle is where most of the abortions are happening, and because the addition of a child to their lives is ruinous. Loss of at least one income. Increase in expenses. Extra stress at home. And this assumes a 100% healthy child.
I will grant, for the sake of argument, that once the sperm enters the egg that is now a human being and that killing it is murder.
Given #1. Abortion is murder.
Happy?
Do you know how many people voted for Obama because of the abortion issue? Do you know how many times I spoke to someone about his positions and they agreed that everything bad I had to say about him was likely true, but they didn't want to see abortions banned.
They are far more afraid of the Republicans owing the religious fundamentalists favors than most anything else.
How many abortions in the USA every year? CDC claims about 1.3 million a year (A lot more than I thought there would be!). OK, religious types, if this is indeed 1.3 million murders a year, that's a holocaust, and why are you sitting there doing, essentially, nothing? Isn't God on your side enough for a bloody revolution?
Well, you did manage to do one thing. You managed to get a Republican who couldn't get elected nominated and once he was in place, you got out the vote for his opponent.
I pray for the day when the Religious Right is recognized as the liability that it most certainly is.
I seek a return to a constitutionally limited democratic republic. I will not get that when I have socialist on the left screwing me on the 2nd amendment and religious fanatics on the right aiming at my 1st amendment rights by going for a theocracy!
The whole "when is it human?" question is a religious one. I'm of the opinion that it's not a human until it can live exposed in the atmosphere. Some say it's not human until it starts paying more than it's using (I know some rather old folks who fail this test of humanity).
If the rate of abortions is what's really the issue, I have a couple of things that would likely help. Some of it would be pleasing to the religious too.
Morality. Bringing a common code that society enforces outside of the law would go a long way towards reducing the number of pregnancies that someone wants to be rid of. The trick with such a moral code is not making a theocracy out of it. This would require some fundamental changes in US law as well because at the moment we cannot refuse to associate with someone we find repugnant because of discrimination laws.
Affluence. I am aware of at least one abortion where the parents simply had too much on their plate to add another child to the mix. If they'd been more wealthy, they would have had a larger plate. Has anyone done a serious study comparing wealth and abortion? I'm going to guess that the really poor and really rich don't have them. I think that the really poor see that child as a means of getting financial aid and the really rich are not substantially burdened with a child. I'm going to guess that the middle is where most of the abortions are happening, and because the addition of a child to their lives is ruinous. Loss of at least one income. Increase in expenses. Extra stress at home. And this assumes a 100% healthy child.
Gun Owners Are The Only Ones Doing Their Patriotic Duty
Guns are selling.
Ammo is selling.
Gun accessories are selling.
Us gun folks are single handedly keeping the economy going!
Ammo is selling.
Gun accessories are selling.
Us gun folks are single handedly keeping the economy going!
25 November 2008
Creative Nostalgia
In 1988, Game Designer's Workshop released this book for their Twilight 2000 line:
Today, I recreated the scene.
First Attempt.
Bwah hahahahahahahahaha!
Today, I recreated the scene.
First Attempt.
Bwah hahahahahahahahaha!
22 November 2008
21 November 2008
20 November 2008
AR15 Barrel Profile Comparison
16" Carbine profiles from top to bottom.
Lightweight with Troy Medieval flash-hider.
Heavy with DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
M4 with YHM folding front sight and M16A2 flash-hider.
20" Military Profile from top to bottom.
M16A2 without a flash-hider.
M16/M16A1 with M16A1 flash-hider.
16" Heavy and 20" HBAR.
Top: HBAR with YHM folding sight and DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
Bottom: Heavy with DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
The M16A2 barrel is only heavier than the M16/M16A1 barrel from the front sight to the muzzle threads. This change was made because of soldiers using their rifles as pry-bars.
The M4 has the same basic profile as the M16A2, but 5.5" shorter in the mil-spec version (4" as shown here). The narrow section between the muzzle and the front sight is for mounting an M203 grenade launcher.
The heavy barrels were developed for National Match target shooting. In the 20", the HBAR is 1.5 pounds heavier than the M16A2; in 16" the HB is 1 pound heavier than the lightweight.
Lightweight with Troy Medieval flash-hider.
Heavy with DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
M4 with YHM folding front sight and M16A2 flash-hider.
20" Military Profile from top to bottom.
M16A2 without a flash-hider.
M16/M16A1 with M16A1 flash-hider.
16" Heavy and 20" HBAR.
Top: HBAR with YHM folding sight and DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
Bottom: Heavy with DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
The M16A2 barrel is only heavier than the M16/M16A1 barrel from the front sight to the muzzle threads. This change was made because of soldiers using their rifles as pry-bars.
The M4 has the same basic profile as the M16A2, but 5.5" shorter in the mil-spec version (4" as shown here). The narrow section between the muzzle and the front sight is for mounting an M203 grenade launcher.
The heavy barrels were developed for National Match target shooting. In the 20", the HBAR is 1.5 pounds heavier than the M16A2; in 16" the HB is 1 pound heavier than the lightweight.
18 November 2008
This Is Why I Don't Think The Government Can Handle It
The Boy is home again today.
The school, with a staff, facility, equipment, training and budget cannot accomplish what little old me can.
Gods but I wish I could just call someone when I don't feel like doing my job anymore and have them take over. Someone who I can have arrested for failing to come take over when I no longer feel like working.
For you to convince me that handing the government the power to control all the things it keeps trying to control, you're going to have to show me that you can handle the job. Start in the schools, where you've got the level of autonomy you claim is required to "get things done."
The school, with a staff, facility, equipment, training and budget cannot accomplish what little old me can.
Gods but I wish I could just call someone when I don't feel like doing my job anymore and have them take over. Someone who I can have arrested for failing to come take over when I no longer feel like working.
For you to convince me that handing the government the power to control all the things it keeps trying to control, you're going to have to show me that you can handle the job. Start in the schools, where you've got the level of autonomy you claim is required to "get things done."
15 November 2008
Just Got Back From The ERLHGS* In Lakeland
*Evil Racist Loop-Hole Gun Show
The place was packed! Most people were buying ammo. There was not a single round of M855, XM855 or SS109 to be had. M16 magazines with USGI green followers were still $20 each, and most people were buying them by the six-pack.
A couple of places still had lower receivers. One vendor had assembled CMMG lowers with mil-spec M4 stocks for $260. He had stripped DPMS for $160.
Spike's Tactical and Shoot Straight get the gouger award. Spike's went from $110 to $179 for their stripped lowers. Shoot Straight added $1,000 to the price of 7.62x51mm and $600 to the price of anything that took an M16 magazine. I know, supply and demand and all, but damn.
I feel like I have enough EBRs to make it for a while, so I bought some .50 cal cans to organize the ammo a bit better. I should really get about five more cans to do it right. A while back I got a nifty Dymo label-maker to mark what's in the ammo cans too. Since they are all OD green and the same size...
The place was packed! Most people were buying ammo. There was not a single round of M855, XM855 or SS109 to be had. M16 magazines with USGI green followers were still $20 each, and most people were buying them by the six-pack.
A couple of places still had lower receivers. One vendor had assembled CMMG lowers with mil-spec M4 stocks for $260. He had stripped DPMS for $160.
Spike's Tactical and Shoot Straight get the gouger award. Spike's went from $110 to $179 for their stripped lowers. Shoot Straight added $1,000 to the price of 7.62x51mm and $600 to the price of anything that took an M16 magazine. I know, supply and demand and all, but damn.
I feel like I have enough EBRs to make it for a while, so I bought some .50 cal cans to organize the ammo a bit better. I should really get about five more cans to do it right. A while back I got a nifty Dymo label-maker to mark what's in the ammo cans too. Since they are all OD green and the same size...
14 November 2008
Wildlife In The Back Yard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Opossum
The tires we were saving for landscaping/planter duty have become habitat!
It was doing its best to scare me off while I dismantled the stack of tires.
After most of the cover was gone it calmed down a lot and seemed resigned to me taking away its hiding place.
After we had it in the last tire, I lifted the tire onto its tread and then the possum ran off.
We think that Shi Shu had chased it into the tires. He was certainly right there with us until we locked him inside to take the tires down.
We think that Shi Shu had chased it into the tires. He was certainly right there with us until we locked him inside to take the tires down.
12 November 2008
The Oddities Of ATF Regulation
For fun I have been researching what it would cost to make an accurate look-alike of an XM177E2.
This is a Vietnam era short barrel version of the M16.
Any barrel on a rifle shorter than 16" make it a Class III short barrel rifle and at 11.5" the XM177E2 qualifies.
To go all in, it would cost about $1,300.
There is a way to make this without paying the $200 tax and filling out an ATF Form 1. The flash hider on these things are 4.5" long. There are a couple of vendors that make the 11.5" barrel with the flash hider permanently attached. Some dimensions are stretched a little bit to get to 16" overall, but unless you set it next to an SBR, you can't tell. By not paying the $200 tax and the $70 engraving fee, it comes to $1,200.
Avoid spending $270 to save $100!
Grrrrrrr!
By accepting some further anachronisms, one can get the price down to $900 on the non-SBR. What you really have to hope for is to find a complete M16A1 upper for a song, that can save $200-$300.
This is a Vietnam era short barrel version of the M16.
Any barrel on a rifle shorter than 16" make it a Class III short barrel rifle and at 11.5" the XM177E2 qualifies.
To go all in, it would cost about $1,300.
There is a way to make this without paying the $200 tax and filling out an ATF Form 1. The flash hider on these things are 4.5" long. There are a couple of vendors that make the 11.5" barrel with the flash hider permanently attached. Some dimensions are stretched a little bit to get to 16" overall, but unless you set it next to an SBR, you can't tell. By not paying the $200 tax and the $70 engraving fee, it comes to $1,200.
Avoid spending $270 to save $100!
Grrrrrrr!
By accepting some further anachronisms, one can get the price down to $900 on the non-SBR. What you really have to hope for is to find a complete M16A1 upper for a song, that can save $200-$300.
Kipling Corner
Tommy; Rudyard Kipling:
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
11 November 2008
Quick Breakdown
Memorial Day - Dead Soldiers.
Armed Forces Day - Live, Active Soldiers.
Veteran's Day - Live, Former Soldiers.
Soldier in this case means any member of the military, be it Soldier, Sailor, Coastie or Marine. Hell, I'll even be generous and allow for Airmen! ;)
Armed Forces Day - Live, Active Soldiers.
Veteran's Day - Live, Former Soldiers.
Soldier in this case means any member of the military, be it Soldier, Sailor, Coastie or Marine. Hell, I'll even be generous and allow for Airmen! ;)
Veteran's Day
Take one to dinner.
Get one laid. Lay one!
Say thanks to the people between the horrors of war and home's fires.
Get one laid. Lay one!
Say thanks to the people between the horrors of war and home's fires.
10 November 2008
It's That Time Again
And the hull broke open
And they all drowned like rats
As their lungs filled
With Wat ERRRRRR
And they all drowned like rats
As their lungs filled
With Wat ERRRRRR
07 November 2008
A Selfish Request For The President Elect
Mr Obama, please swear in as Barack Hussein Obama. If only to spare us years of the blogosphere screeching that you are not legally president because you took the oath of office under an assumed name.
Thanks!
Thanks!
06 November 2008
On Lead
There seems to be a lot of confusion from the media, and thus it translates down to the populace, about lead.
One of the noteworthy things about elemental lead is its lack of reactivity. Lead alloys do not change this property at all.
What is dangerous to consume is lead compounds. The lead compounds are reactive and often leave the lead in a reactive form, the new lead compound can be absorbed by the body and cause lead poisoning. Lead-Oxide, is not one of these compounds, and it's the most common form of lead found at a shooting range after the unreacted elemental lead. The digestive tract is not powerful enough to steal lead from oxygen.
Lead pellets that are consumed with meat are harmless and pass through without harming the diner. It's a bit odd to hear them hit the porcelain though.
Lead at a shooting range just sits there, where the bullet landed. The lead-oxide is a crust around the elemental lead and it's not water soluble.
Remember what I said about our digestive system being not strong enough to liberate lead from oxygen? Birds have an even less powerful system than we do.
Basically the lead scares associated with hunting are the environmentalists lying. Again. Remember, you can't spell environmentalist without mental!
One of the noteworthy things about elemental lead is its lack of reactivity. Lead alloys do not change this property at all.
What is dangerous to consume is lead compounds. The lead compounds are reactive and often leave the lead in a reactive form, the new lead compound can be absorbed by the body and cause lead poisoning. Lead-Oxide, is not one of these compounds, and it's the most common form of lead found at a shooting range after the unreacted elemental lead. The digestive tract is not powerful enough to steal lead from oxygen.
Lead pellets that are consumed with meat are harmless and pass through without harming the diner. It's a bit odd to hear them hit the porcelain though.
Lead at a shooting range just sits there, where the bullet landed. The lead-oxide is a crust around the elemental lead and it's not water soluble.
Remember what I said about our digestive system being not strong enough to liberate lead from oxygen? Birds have an even less powerful system than we do.
Basically the lead scares associated with hunting are the environmentalists lying. Again. Remember, you can't spell environmentalist without mental!
Tremble In Awe Puny Mortals
For I have purchased a Barrett!
Barrett magazine for Dottie, that is.
Full 30 round capacity, just a bit longer than the C-Products 25 rounders. Highly recommended by the "serious operators".
And just plain purty!
The blue tape is so we can tell the 5.56 mags apart from the 6.8, even in the dark.
Barrett magazine for Dottie, that is.
Full 30 round capacity, just a bit longer than the C-Products 25 rounders. Highly recommended by the "serious operators".
And just plain purty!
The blue tape is so we can tell the 5.56 mags apart from the 6.8, even in the dark.
05 November 2008
Election Results
I am only finding the election results for fifty states. What about the other seven?
04 November 2008
It's Wrong I'll Tell You What
Got a phone call yesterday from the state LGBT org. Asking me to come to the polls to support Obama because he'll support "our" rights (assuming this means gay rights), fix the economy and reduce crime with reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. Way to torpedo an ally with a phone call.
Those who know me personally know I am a supporter of gay rights. Lots of friends who are gay and so forth. The Pink Pistols have received funds from us.
What I hate are the LGBA groups who seem to think that promoting gay rights means they have to oppose gun-rights. What the hell does one position have to do with the other?
Today I voted for this, (One-Man One-Woman Marriage Amendment) I do not agree with it. But the national orgs support for people who will take my guns away has forced me to oppose this stuff.
I don't get my rights because of you, then you will not get yours because of me.
I believe in liberty for everyone, not your liberty at the expense of mine. So, I have voted against you this time. Perhaps you will reconsider your position next time around. Lots of gay gun-owners out there. http://www.alphecca.com/ Jeff is a gay gun-owning blogger. Not the stereotype at all. Does the stereotype even exist?
Those who know me personally know I am a supporter of gay rights. Lots of friends who are gay and so forth. The Pink Pistols have received funds from us.
What I hate are the LGBA groups who seem to think that promoting gay rights means they have to oppose gun-rights. What the hell does one position have to do with the other?
Today I voted for this, (One-Man One-Woman Marriage Amendment) I do not agree with it. But the national orgs support for people who will take my guns away has forced me to oppose this stuff.
I don't get my rights because of you, then you will not get yours because of me.
I believe in liberty for everyone, not your liberty at the expense of mine. So, I have voted against you this time. Perhaps you will reconsider your position next time around. Lots of gay gun-owners out there. http://www.alphecca.com/ Jeff is a gay gun-owning blogger. Not the stereotype at all. Does the stereotype even exist?
01 November 2008
Linguistic History
Chickenshit is not a synonym for coward. It means worthless.
It was coined by the fine members of the US military before they began their groundbreaking work with the word 'fuck'.
It was coined by the fine members of the US military before they began their groundbreaking work with the word 'fuck'.
31 October 2008
Range Day
Here's me shooting the S&W 640. .357 Magnum, 7 yards. Five shots at a time. Aiming for center, top 7 and top 8. I am not used to DAO revolvers and this much recoil. I have a lot to learn.
I am a great deal more comfortable with the Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless. .32 ACP, 7 yards. 8 shots at a time. Shooting at the numbers.
Not bad for a 96 year old gun. John Moses Browning, (pbuh) accept no substitute!
I am a great deal more comfortable with the Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless. .32 ACP, 7 yards. 8 shots at a time. Shooting at the numbers.
Not bad for a 96 year old gun. John Moses Browning, (pbuh) accept no substitute!
30 October 2008
An Enjoyable Read
From here:
http://taxes-stupidity-and-death.blogspot.com/2008/10/open-letter-to-barack-hussein-obama.html
Excerpt:
"To those of you who are seeking something to believe in, or a government to give you things: Grow up. Really. I mean that. If your life is so empty that you need to have a politician to believe in, then you need to work on yourself, because something is sorely lacking in you. Politicians, and especially Obama are not to be trusted. They will whisper pretty words in your ear, and tell you all the things they will do for you, in order to get your vote. They will make you slaves for that all-important vote. If you think that the government's purpose is to provide you with things, then you too, have a problem, because you get what you pay for."
http://taxes-stupidity-and-death.blogspot.com/2008/10/open-letter-to-barack-hussein-obama.html
Excerpt:
"To those of you who are seeking something to believe in, or a government to give you things: Grow up. Really. I mean that. If your life is so empty that you need to have a politician to believe in, then you need to work on yourself, because something is sorely lacking in you. Politicians, and especially Obama are not to be trusted. They will whisper pretty words in your ear, and tell you all the things they will do for you, in order to get your vote. They will make you slaves for that all-important vote. If you think that the government's purpose is to provide you with things, then you too, have a problem, because you get what you pay for."
28 October 2008
Communication Problem
When I post, I assume that you've read all the preceding material and remember it. Mostly, because I remember it.
When something doesn't make any damn sense, it's likely a continuation of an earlier post. Or it really doesn't make any damn sense and it's just steam escaping.
This blog's primary purpose is to keep me off the local water tower. Demanding I prove my position to your satisfaction will not lead to that end.
If you have enough time to research every little thing I misspoke or got wrong, then you certainly have enough time to post to your very own blog. If you don't have a blog already, you should get one.
I am not good at debate. I never have been. Debate has rules that can be used to bury the truth or facts in a discussion. Debate does not allow for shooting my opponent between the eyes and yelling, "Rebut that motherfucker!" This is why I am not on a debate team.
A link to a web site will never trump my lying eyes. The argument there would have to be insanely good to convince me that I didn't see what I saw. Try to remember I was on the line in West Germany often on the Inter-German and Czechoslovakian borders, in 1987-89. I've seen what Communism looks like and don't want it imported here. Try not to make too much fun of the angry old man.
Much of my anger has to do with being punished for the actions of others.
On the topic of gun control: The core issue is that my guns have killed no one, let alone murdered someone. No gun control law yet passed affects the criminal more than me.
On racism: I've never owned a slave. My family has never owned slaves in recorded history. My family arrived here too late for the Civil war. I and my family have never oppressed. Therefore you are mad at someone else. Using the government to get even with "Whitey" is only tarring me with the same brush.
On Socialism/Communism: The only entity I owe money to is the bank holding my mortgage. I certainly owe my friends things and they owe me. Those associations are entered into freely and openly. I do not owe anyone else anything, nor do I think they owe me. I resent that my taxes are taken to feed and shelter people I don't know. Other than sucking O2, what have they done to earn it? This is punishing me because they are lazy.
On Equality: I have absolutely no objection to equal. But equal is where I draw the line. I will not abide a reversal of positions just because my Dad and Grandfather were racists or sexists (they weren't racists). Go after them, not me. But things must be equal.
Now! If you want to not trip my trigger, when you are part of a group that espouses that I must be punished for the trespasses of others, you must be crystal clear that you are not just rephrasing what the greater organization said in a new and novel way. Without such a clear statement, when a black Democrat talks about the civil rights movement, redistribution of wealth and the Constitution being a barrier, it gets read as reparations to slaves. By the way, the last slave died years ago.
I care far more about what people do than what they say. For example, I have heard from Michele Evermore that Sen Harkin is pro-gun because he's told her that. I know that he votes anti-gun though. There's a dissonance between what he says to her and what he does on the Senate floor.
When something doesn't make any damn sense, it's likely a continuation of an earlier post. Or it really doesn't make any damn sense and it's just steam escaping.
This blog's primary purpose is to keep me off the local water tower. Demanding I prove my position to your satisfaction will not lead to that end.
If you have enough time to research every little thing I misspoke or got wrong, then you certainly have enough time to post to your very own blog. If you don't have a blog already, you should get one.
I am not good at debate. I never have been. Debate has rules that can be used to bury the truth or facts in a discussion. Debate does not allow for shooting my opponent between the eyes and yelling, "Rebut that motherfucker!" This is why I am not on a debate team.
A link to a web site will never trump my lying eyes. The argument there would have to be insanely good to convince me that I didn't see what I saw. Try to remember I was on the line in West Germany often on the Inter-German and Czechoslovakian borders, in 1987-89. I've seen what Communism looks like and don't want it imported here. Try not to make too much fun of the angry old man.
Much of my anger has to do with being punished for the actions of others.
On the topic of gun control: The core issue is that my guns have killed no one, let alone murdered someone. No gun control law yet passed affects the criminal more than me.
On racism: I've never owned a slave. My family has never owned slaves in recorded history. My family arrived here too late for the Civil war. I and my family have never oppressed. Therefore you are mad at someone else. Using the government to get even with "Whitey" is only tarring me with the same brush.
On Socialism/Communism: The only entity I owe money to is the bank holding my mortgage. I certainly owe my friends things and they owe me. Those associations are entered into freely and openly. I do not owe anyone else anything, nor do I think they owe me. I resent that my taxes are taken to feed and shelter people I don't know. Other than sucking O2, what have they done to earn it? This is punishing me because they are lazy.
On Equality: I have absolutely no objection to equal. But equal is where I draw the line. I will not abide a reversal of positions just because my Dad and Grandfather were racists or sexists (they weren't racists). Go after them, not me. But things must be equal.
Now! If you want to not trip my trigger, when you are part of a group that espouses that I must be punished for the trespasses of others, you must be crystal clear that you are not just rephrasing what the greater organization said in a new and novel way. Without such a clear statement, when a black Democrat talks about the civil rights movement, redistribution of wealth and the Constitution being a barrier, it gets read as reparations to slaves. By the way, the last slave died years ago.
I care far more about what people do than what they say. For example, I have heard from Michele Evermore that Sen Harkin is pro-gun because he's told her that. I know that he votes anti-gun though. There's a dissonance between what he says to her and what he does on the Senate floor.
A Rules Change I Just Noticed
When I was in the Army there was a rule about using the heavier guns on people.
The .50 was for equipment. Not personnel. We joked that a belt buckle or uniform was "equipment".
There's a lot of TADS footage from Apaches using their gun on people. That's a 30mm; more than double the bore size of the .50 I was told was too heavy for troops. And the 30mm is HE not just a slug like Mother Duece fires.
Since this TADS footage would have to be cleared for distribution, I assume the rules are changed enough to allow the heavier guns on troops.
Like they weren't going to be used like that back in 1988...
The .50 was for equipment. Not personnel. We joked that a belt buckle or uniform was "equipment".
There's a lot of TADS footage from Apaches using their gun on people. That's a 30mm; more than double the bore size of the .50 I was told was too heavy for troops. And the 30mm is HE not just a slug like Mother Duece fires.
Since this TADS footage would have to be cleared for distribution, I assume the rules are changed enough to allow the heavier guns on troops.
Like they weren't going to be used like that back in 1988...
A Glimmer Of Hope?
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=6099188&page=1
ABC News! That's a mainstream media! They need more guys like this I think.
ABC News! That's a mainstream media! They need more guys like this I think.
Consider The Sacrifice That Made You Free Before You Demand I Pay Your Bills. UPDATED
"If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court. I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I’d be o.k. But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in the society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that."
Barak Hussein Obama, NPR 2001. http://www.vinceautmorire.mu.nu/images/od-010118.ram
Update to bring the newbs up to speed: There has been a movement inside the civil rights movement for quite a long time that believes that because their grandparents were once slaves that society at large, especially white people, owe them financial compensation for "their" suffering.
Something I want to address about his "grievance": Us white folk paid in blood to free y'all black folk. Paid more than can ever be repaid, just so you can be free. We don't owe you anything. If anything, you owe us for fighting and dying for that freedom. We didn't ask to be repaid for the service we rendered unto you, we did it because we thought it was the right thing to do. For you to demand payment now after the sacrifices made for you? How dare you, sir? How dare you?
If you were not slaves, then you would be in Africa. Checked the politics there?
If predominately white men had not fought and died to grant you freedom, you would still be enslaved. Be grateful, take the gift go forth and prosper!
Barry, your father was not the descendant of American Slaves, nor are you. You don't get to put on that mantle. It's not your heritage.
UPDATE
Oh, by the way, the Service Oath I took way back in 1987: I, (McThag), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Support and defend the Constitution of the United States Barry. That document you are finding in your way. Shall I put you in the foreign or domestic category? We had classes on lawful orders and several of us (not me at the time) asked about what would happen if the President issued an unlawful order. "Unlawful is unlawful, and the order does not have to be obeyed," is what the Drill Sergeant told us.
Barak Hussein Obama, NPR 2001. http://www.vinceautmorire.mu.nu/images/od-010118.ram
Update to bring the newbs up to speed: There has been a movement inside the civil rights movement for quite a long time that believes that because their grandparents were once slaves that society at large, especially white people, owe them financial compensation for "their" suffering.
Something I want to address about his "grievance": Us white folk paid in blood to free y'all black folk. Paid more than can ever be repaid, just so you can be free. We don't owe you anything. If anything, you owe us for fighting and dying for that freedom. We didn't ask to be repaid for the service we rendered unto you, we did it because we thought it was the right thing to do. For you to demand payment now after the sacrifices made for you? How dare you, sir? How dare you?
If you were not slaves, then you would be in Africa. Checked the politics there?
If predominately white men had not fought and died to grant you freedom, you would still be enslaved. Be grateful, take the gift go forth and prosper!
Barry, your father was not the descendant of American Slaves, nor are you. You don't get to put on that mantle. It's not your heritage.
UPDATE
Oh, by the way, the Service Oath I took way back in 1987: I, (McThag), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Support and defend the Constitution of the United States Barry. That document you are finding in your way. Shall I put you in the foreign or domestic category? We had classes on lawful orders and several of us (not me at the time) asked about what would happen if the President issued an unlawful order. "Unlawful is unlawful, and the order does not have to be obeyed," is what the Drill Sergeant told us.
It's Alive ALIIIIIVE
Got the Mac Pro hooked up and running!
Yes, those monitors are freakishly huge.
Yes, those monitors are freakishly huge.
27 October 2008
25 October 2008
Home Improvements Continue Apace
Got the new vanity in and started on the walls.
Marv, Pam, and The Lovely Harvey holding the paneling up while the liquid nails set.
The Vanity itself.
The paneling.
Harvey will begin laying tile to cover the terrazzo soon.
Marv, Pam, and The Lovely Harvey holding the paneling up while the liquid nails set.
The Vanity itself.
The paneling.
Harvey will begin laying tile to cover the terrazzo soon.
Attempting To Say What I Mean
Here goes.
I cannot recall all of the experiences that led me to my beliefs. I do know I have not encountered anything that has altered them significantly. I definitely cannot express the point of view I have into words.
I can try with some things. I saw East Germany. Germany invented the car. Democratic West Germany had BMW, Mercedes, Daimler and Volkswagen. Communist East Germany had the Trebant. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebant ) Trebbies made Yugos seem like well designed and built cars. The disparity between East and West was shocking. West Berlin was like any other West German city. East Berlin still showed damage from World War Two. The inhabitants were depressed and downtrodden in a way that I cannot convey.
The Germanys started at the same place at the end of WW2. The three sectors controlled by the democracies (France, Great Britian and the USA) became West Germany. The Soviet controlled sector became East Germany.
Just how bad East Germany was seems to have sucked down the memory hole.
I saw it first hand. This is what Communism does.
Communism is a form of Socialism. Specifically, it's Socialism that comes from the top down instead of the worker up. There are other definitions, of course, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism ) but this one makes a usable distinction from what Marx put down. The Democrats have gone Socialist, and I must fight against it and them.
Until recently, the Republicans were not Socialists. Republicans In Name Only (RINO) are Socialist Lite. McCain is sort of halfway between the old Republicans and the RINOs. Not that he's really taking a middle stance, he just swings across the entire range and it averages to halfway.
My Great Grandfather Natto fled Italy one step ahead of the secret police in the 20's; he left behind at least three children. He pounded into our little heads when he saw us playing 'war' that Communists, Facists and Socialists were all leftists.
I know I have belabored the point before, all the leftists when they take power become totalitarian. The first step down that road is gun control. Notice that every single anti-gun measure introduced in the last 74 years has been started by a Democrat. Would you trust them? The few repeals of the gun crap we've had have been spearheaded by Republicans, including their Supreme Court nominees.
The Constitution is a ridiculously simple document. Read it, it only takes about an hour. Now, consider the humor in the ACLU worrying about the border patrol's "Constitution Free Zone". Dude, it's the entire fucking country and it's been like that since around FDR. Do a bit of searching for what's been justified under the commerce clause. Don't forget to check out (http://www.stoptheaclu.com/ ); especially the ten reasons they founded and the 10 myths about the ACLU. The first thing I want you to notice in those lists is when they make a statement, they give a link right there in the text to their supporting information. This sort of thing is common in the right wing blogs and is almost entirely absent in the left, almost like they don't want you do your own research because if you do you will not find concurring information.
I started noticing this back around 1993. That's my domestic political awakening. 15 years of seeing this country creep ever closer to East Germany. I feel like a trapped, caged wolf and people keep poking me with a stick. I alternate between "oh what NOW?" and "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Lately, I have felt that we could turn it around and reverse the bullshit from FDR to now. We just need time. But more importantly, we need to keep the Democrats from getting both houses and the presidency at the same time. My favorite snob refers to the Dems as "The Evil Party" and the Republicans as "The Stupid Party". They are apt descriptions. Want evil or stupid? Me either, but we have to choose one.
Voting for a third party is a defacto vote for the winner from the major two, as is not voting. Your best hope is to get involved locally and hope you can get people who agree with you in and they keep moving up the hierarchy. The Democrats have a problem from this direction in what is called a "Blue Dog Democrat". It hasn't caught on in the large cities, but it might be getting larger.
That's it for now. This is as rational as I can put it.
I cannot recall all of the experiences that led me to my beliefs. I do know I have not encountered anything that has altered them significantly. I definitely cannot express the point of view I have into words.
I can try with some things. I saw East Germany. Germany invented the car. Democratic West Germany had BMW, Mercedes, Daimler and Volkswagen. Communist East Germany had the Trebant. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebant ) Trebbies made Yugos seem like well designed and built cars. The disparity between East and West was shocking. West Berlin was like any other West German city. East Berlin still showed damage from World War Two. The inhabitants were depressed and downtrodden in a way that I cannot convey.
The Germanys started at the same place at the end of WW2. The three sectors controlled by the democracies (France, Great Britian and the USA) became West Germany. The Soviet controlled sector became East Germany.
Just how bad East Germany was seems to have sucked down the memory hole.
I saw it first hand. This is what Communism does.
Communism is a form of Socialism. Specifically, it's Socialism that comes from the top down instead of the worker up. There are other definitions, of course, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism ) but this one makes a usable distinction from what Marx put down. The Democrats have gone Socialist, and I must fight against it and them.
Until recently, the Republicans were not Socialists. Republicans In Name Only (RINO) are Socialist Lite. McCain is sort of halfway between the old Republicans and the RINOs. Not that he's really taking a middle stance, he just swings across the entire range and it averages to halfway.
My Great Grandfather Natto fled Italy one step ahead of the secret police in the 20's; he left behind at least three children. He pounded into our little heads when he saw us playing 'war' that Communists, Facists and Socialists were all leftists.
I know I have belabored the point before, all the leftists when they take power become totalitarian. The first step down that road is gun control. Notice that every single anti-gun measure introduced in the last 74 years has been started by a Democrat. Would you trust them? The few repeals of the gun crap we've had have been spearheaded by Republicans, including their Supreme Court nominees.
The Constitution is a ridiculously simple document. Read it, it only takes about an hour. Now, consider the humor in the ACLU worrying about the border patrol's "Constitution Free Zone". Dude, it's the entire fucking country and it's been like that since around FDR. Do a bit of searching for what's been justified under the commerce clause. Don't forget to check out (http://www.stoptheaclu.com/ ); especially the ten reasons they founded and the 10 myths about the ACLU. The first thing I want you to notice in those lists is when they make a statement, they give a link right there in the text to their supporting information. This sort of thing is common in the right wing blogs and is almost entirely absent in the left, almost like they don't want you do your own research because if you do you will not find concurring information.
I started noticing this back around 1993. That's my domestic political awakening. 15 years of seeing this country creep ever closer to East Germany. I feel like a trapped, caged wolf and people keep poking me with a stick. I alternate between "oh what NOW?" and "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Lately, I have felt that we could turn it around and reverse the bullshit from FDR to now. We just need time. But more importantly, we need to keep the Democrats from getting both houses and the presidency at the same time. My favorite snob refers to the Dems as "The Evil Party" and the Republicans as "The Stupid Party". They are apt descriptions. Want evil or stupid? Me either, but we have to choose one.
Voting for a third party is a defacto vote for the winner from the major two, as is not voting. Your best hope is to get involved locally and hope you can get people who agree with you in and they keep moving up the hierarchy. The Democrats have a problem from this direction in what is called a "Blue Dog Democrat". It hasn't caught on in the large cities, but it might be getting larger.
That's it for now. This is as rational as I can put it.
24 October 2008
Home Improvements Continue Apace
The tub and its enclosure is DONE!
Here's how that window turned out.
Here's how that window turned out.
Something I Don't See The Mainstream Media Do Much Of
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/23/why-that-mccain-volunteers-mutilation-story-smells-awfully-weird/
This is a story that, if it were true, would be immensely helpful to the McCain campaign; however the blogger based media often reports things that don't help their side.
The MSM would either not report at all, or run with it as if it were true and defend it to the last once evidence began to pile up. Dan Rather anyone?
22 October 2008
From The Comments Of Earlier
"Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (a strange, obsessive focus of hate on the American right) "
We hate them because they hate us. There's nothing strange about it.
The Constitution was written in plain, simple English. There is no nuance or hidden meanings.
The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
That's damn plain in 1789 English. Only confusing today because comma use has changed considerably.
If the authors of the 2nd had intended it to mean just the militia to have arms, then they would not have said "people". Another thing to consider here is the people writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were people who had just succeeded in an armed rebellion and recognized that the common ownership and familiarity with arms was what allowed them to attain that victory. That's not speculation, they were also a verbose group who wrote about their thoughts almost endlessly.
This amendment is there because possession of arms is not A freedom, it is THE freedom. Taking away the arms means that we are completely reliant on whatever freedom is granted us by the people who still have their arms. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the forefront when it comes to taking the arms from the people. If arms = freedom then someone who cares about liberty is going to be a little peeved at people attempting to take said arms away.
And ATF is not as hated as Sarah Brady, Howard Metzenbaum, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Charles Schumer or Joe Biden; the authors of the Brady Act and '94 "Assault" Weapons Ban, signed by William Jefferson Clinton.
We remember in 1986 that Ronald Reagan signed the Gunowner's Protection Act that made it a little harder for ATF to track a specific gun from factory to owner, but it he also removed machineguns from "common use" by banning manufacture of new guns for private ownership.
We remember that Lyndon Baynes Johnson expanded the NFA in 1968 to make sure the government had the ability to track every firearm made and that all sales of new guns must be made through a dealer licensed by the Federal Government. To transfer a firearm legally from an owner in one state to a person in another state, one must go through such a licensed dealer. Like the ability to tax, the power to license can be used to destroy.
The people who hate also have no love for the left's hero, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1934 under his watch we got the National Firearms Act. That made the preeminent weapon that a militia should have, the machinegun, tightly regulated and (at the time) prohibitively taxed.
We notice that Heller did not address the infringements of our rights I mention above. Heller specifically stated "firearms in common use", notice how they eliminated machineguns from common use?
We worry about Barack Hussein Obama. He has only voted in a pro-gun manner ONCE since becoming a US Senator, for SA4615 in 2006. He's said, repeatedly that he's for gun bans, renewal of the AWB and restricting gun sales to one a month. Oh, notice his running mate is also on our minds from 1994? Real confidence builder there.
ravenclaw_eric
It'd be a hoot if we had a Presidential candidate who was campaigning on a platform of repealing everything banning or regulating guns, from Miller vs. US on...but who was also a Muslim. A lot of people's minds would explode.
23rd-Oct-2008 10:31 am (local)
mcthag
Candidate X: "I propose radically chopping government back to it's constitutionally authorized size and making sure each and every law is in accordance with that highest law of the land, praise be unto Allah!"
23rd-Oct-2008 04:41 pm (local) - linguistic change
fuzzy_geff
There is a non-punctuation issue that confuses moderns: most people, in my experience, don't even suspect that "well-regulated" means "properly functioning". They are far more likely to imagine it has something to do with government control.
In case any of our readers are suffering from such confusion, I will quote from The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (1971 edition):
Well-re.gulated, ppl. a
1709 Shaftesb. Moralists ii. iv. 108 If a liberal Education has form'd in us .. well-regulated Appetites, and worthy Inclinations. 1714 R. Fiodes Pract. Disc. ii. 250 The practice of all well regulated courts of justice in the world. 1812 J. Joyce Sci. Dial., Astron. xii II. 126 The equation of time .. is the adjustment of the difference of time, as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun-dial. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lviii. A remissness for which I am sure every well-regulated person will blame the Major. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib i. v. 27 It appeared, to her well-regulated mind, like a clandestine proceeding. 1894 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 165 The newspaper, a never wanting adjunct to every well-regulated American embryo city.
I may have mangled some typography, but I am confident that I rendered the content of the citations correctly. And no, I didn't delete the definition; they really didn't include one.
We hate them because they hate us. There's nothing strange about it.
The Constitution was written in plain, simple English. There is no nuance or hidden meanings.
The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
That's damn plain in 1789 English. Only confusing today because comma use has changed considerably.
If the authors of the 2nd had intended it to mean just the militia to have arms, then they would not have said "people". Another thing to consider here is the people writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were people who had just succeeded in an armed rebellion and recognized that the common ownership and familiarity with arms was what allowed them to attain that victory. That's not speculation, they were also a verbose group who wrote about their thoughts almost endlessly.
This amendment is there because possession of arms is not A freedom, it is THE freedom. Taking away the arms means that we are completely reliant on whatever freedom is granted us by the people who still have their arms. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the forefront when it comes to taking the arms from the people. If arms = freedom then someone who cares about liberty is going to be a little peeved at people attempting to take said arms away.
And ATF is not as hated as Sarah Brady, Howard Metzenbaum, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Charles Schumer or Joe Biden; the authors of the Brady Act and '94 "Assault" Weapons Ban, signed by William Jefferson Clinton.
We remember in 1986 that Ronald Reagan signed the Gunowner's Protection Act that made it a little harder for ATF to track a specific gun from factory to owner, but it he also removed machineguns from "common use" by banning manufacture of new guns for private ownership.
We remember that Lyndon Baynes Johnson expanded the NFA in 1968 to make sure the government had the ability to track every firearm made and that all sales of new guns must be made through a dealer licensed by the Federal Government. To transfer a firearm legally from an owner in one state to a person in another state, one must go through such a licensed dealer. Like the ability to tax, the power to license can be used to destroy.
The people who hate also have no love for the left's hero, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1934 under his watch we got the National Firearms Act. That made the preeminent weapon that a militia should have, the machinegun, tightly regulated and (at the time) prohibitively taxed.
We notice that Heller did not address the infringements of our rights I mention above. Heller specifically stated "firearms in common use", notice how they eliminated machineguns from common use?
We worry about Barack Hussein Obama. He has only voted in a pro-gun manner ONCE since becoming a US Senator, for SA4615 in 2006. He's said, repeatedly that he's for gun bans, renewal of the AWB and restricting gun sales to one a month. Oh, notice his running mate is also on our minds from 1994? Real confidence builder there.
Comments:
23rd-Oct-2008 01:16 am (local)ravenclaw_ericIt'd be a hoot if we had a Presidential candidate who was campaigning on a platform of repealing everything banning or regulating guns, from Miller vs. US on...but who was also a Muslim. A lot of people's minds would explode.
23rd-Oct-2008 10:31 am (local)
mcthagCandidate X: "I propose radically chopping government back to it's constitutionally authorized size and making sure each and every law is in accordance with that highest law of the land, praise be unto Allah!"
23rd-Oct-2008 04:41 pm (local) - linguistic change
fuzzy_geffThere is a non-punctuation issue that confuses moderns: most people, in my experience, don't even suspect that "well-regulated" means "properly functioning". They are far more likely to imagine it has something to do with government control.
In case any of our readers are suffering from such confusion, I will quote from The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (1971 edition):
Well-re.gulated, ppl. a
1709 Shaftesb. Moralists ii. iv. 108 If a liberal Education has form'd in us .. well-regulated Appetites, and worthy Inclinations. 1714 R. Fiodes Pract. Disc. ii. 250 The practice of all well regulated courts of justice in the world. 1812 J. Joyce Sci. Dial., Astron. xii II. 126 The equation of time .. is the adjustment of the difference of time, as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun-dial. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lviii. A remissness for which I am sure every well-regulated person will blame the Major. 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib i. v. 27 It appeared, to her well-regulated mind, like a clandestine proceeding. 1894 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 165 The newspaper, a never wanting adjunct to every well-regulated American embryo city.
I may have mangled some typography, but I am confident that I rendered the content of the citations correctly. And no, I didn't delete the definition; they really didn't include one.
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