Why?

Why do the crisis' in my life seem to occur when my social support network is unavailable to support?

Republican Presidential Primary Today

Don't blame ME.  I voted for Kodos!

Aborted Post

I had a post where I was going to talk about religion.

I am glad I read it before I posted it.

You would have been offended.  All of you would have been.

Bill Jenkins?

Bill Jenkins is the name of a character I played in one of Geff's worlds!

Bill was an orc from an alternate Earth where the Confederate States of America had prevailed against the United State's cowardly war of aggression.

Here's a pic I drew of the character in 1995.

In the alternate history, the slaves (orcs) were freed during the War of Mexican Annexation of 1892.  Bill is a corporal in the Georgian Marines (each state having their own military).  He carries a Tredregar made clone of an SMLE Mk III rifle and a Broomhandle Mauser in .455 Browning.

Bill, in Geff's world (a TL3 fantasy setting), was on a campaign to rid it of slavery altogether.  His methods were a "kill them all, God will know his own" sort.

I am very amused that some anti-gunner some place carries the same name as a cold-blooded fanatical killer.

UPDATE:

The character was originally made with GURPS 3rd Edition (Revised); anything with stats can be made into a character.

The Rifle is a Tredregar M-1907 in .303 British.

The Pistol is an H&R M-1896A2 in .455 Browning.  .455 Browning is identical to .45 ACP in our world.  It's a legacy of the political alliance with Deseret just after WW1 where some attempt was made at commonality.

I am kinda stunned at how much background I put together for this character.  The setting allowed us to have a character who was not from the world.  The character background didn't matter so much; but I detailed it anyways.

Utah (and some surrounds) is Deseret.  The CSA includes New Mexico and Mexico and a bit of Colorado.  The US became aligned with French interests after the civil war and the CSA with British.  A bit of reconciliation happened between them during WW1 because they both fought against the Germans.

The handgun Bill carries is not the standard issue pistol for CSA troops.  Each state issues it's own sidearms in .455 Browning (mostly designs from the SLC Arsenal of Deseret).  The Mauser was adopted nearly universally for issue to Orc troops as an NCO test.  The prospective NCO is issued their Broomhandle when promoted to corporal.  If it's still in working order at the end of a year they keep their rank and are eligible for further promotion.  A complicated design was a feature.

The world Bill is from contains the standard D&D races, human, elf, dwarf, orc...  With orcs taking on the oppressed minority role wherever it shows and elves assuming the elite job.  So blacks, chinese and irish in North America are played by Orcs.  People like the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts (and royal families) are played by elves.  Important inventors and scientists are almost all dwarves.

It's overly simplistic, but it's a character background not a developed world setting.

Remember when?

Fisking was new and inventive?

I used to enjoy them.

Now I would prefer a nice concise refutation or rebuttal after giving a complete quote than the jarring, context destroying point by point dissection.

ADD powers DEactivate!

Sight Unit Infantry Trilux L2A2 Cleaning Completed

Sanded, primed and painted the dust cover.

Took some of my automotive cleaning products and detailing stuff after the optic.

All in all I am satisfied with how it all turned out.

Thanks Mr Forknobulaxx for finding it and sending it down.  Dinner's on me next time we're in the same space.

PICS!

It is really hard to get a good pic of the illuminator working on the sight post.

Those Five Dream Guns...

At about #2.5 should be a Thompson of some sort.

Definitely an NFA gun no matter what.

Does one go for the SBR or the MG when price is no object?  I think that answers itself.

If one is paying for it realistically, the SBR option is best.

This is one of the "why, oh why?" guns in semi.

Heavier than a Garand, pistol caliber, and crappy ergonomics.

Goyle Gat

Looks like the lovely Harvey will be getting a 1911 before too long.

SIG finally makes one that makes her antennae twitch.

She was an early adopter of .357 SIG.

She kind of got forced into it, in the beginning.

When we started looking around for her first gun I had her handle every single gun at the gun show.  What fit her hand best was a Smith and Wesson Sigma.  Unfortunately, when we had the money together a couple of weeks later, we couldn't find one anywhere in 9mm or .40.  Except at one vendor who only had them in .357 SIG; a round I had never heard of.

We rolled the dice and bought it figuring that we could drop in a  .40 barrel later if the round died in the crib.

We never bought that .40 barrel and the round has hung around.

What I noticed about it compared to a 9x19mm is it shoots VERY flat and the report is much sharper.

She has discovered that she just plain likes the round.

I'm thrilled at her interest in the new gun because I want to get myself a .38 Super 1911.  We can do a side by side comparison some day!

Five Guns

From Robb: What five guns would you get if cost and practicality were no obstacle?

#5: Colt 1911 in .38 Super.

#4: S&W Model 500ES with survival kit.  The .460 model is also acceptable.

#3: Mint condition Deutsche Waffen und Munition Fabrik am Neckar Brazilian M-1908 in 7x57mm Mauser.

#2:  Holland and Holland double rifle.  .600 Nitro Express is traditional, but it's just as sexy in other calibers.

#1: M2HB, the real holy grail of price is no object firearms.  Insanely rare and expensive, check.  Expensive ammo, check.  Impractically large and heavy, check.  JMB (PBUH), check.  Probulation, check.  Does Mother Deuce love you?  Yes.  Yes she does.

This list changes as I get older.

I restricted myself to real guns.  If I were to delve into the theoretical...

A modernized Le Mat revolver.  Break open and cartridge fed.

1908 Pocket Hammerless with a locking barrel in 9x19mm.

Stainless steel Luger in .45 ACP.

Ayup...

My buddy, Marv, is notorious for being cheap about gun stuff, especially optics and their mounts.

I tend to spend the big bucks on the name brands.

He was giving me shit about it so I replied;

"When the Zombie Apocalypse©®™ comes, and your stuff breaks, don't come crawling to me asking for 'BRAAAAAAAAAAINS!'"

Conversion

I've been a GURPS player since Man-To-Man.

I've owned all four editions of the game, but the most volume is by far is the third edition stuff.  Lots of goodness there.

Fourth edition changed a lot of things and is, overall, a better designed system.

Since 3rd edition was the standard for 16 years ('88-'04) there's a lot of habit to unlearn when using the new rules.

One way I have been learning the 4th edition is to convert racial templates from 3e to 4e.

Last night I started on Technomancer.

I have the Chimera and Halflings done.  The Atomic Lich is next.  The changes in edition gives some interesting changes to the point values.  The 4e version are MUCH cheaper.

I may even get inspired to pick my work on converting the old 3e Fantasy Bestiary.

If that proceeds well, I might even convert my old AD&D Monster Manual!

I've had Twilight 2000 converted for a while now.

Glad I Skipped It...

Apparently, I watched it last year...

h/t Ace

Better Yet...

I was going to live blog the state of the union address while drinking.

I decided to just drink without watching.

Only Ones and "Gun Violence"

Read up!

Turns out former detectives from New York are just people like the rest of us.

Except for the threating our spouses with a knife, attempted rape, beating them with a hammer then dousing in gasoline and lighting them on fire.

Just like us, only better.

English needs a sarcasm font.

Those Tactical Lever Guns

I was looking at the pictures again.

Notice one place where there isn't a rail?

The top.  You know, where you want one for a scope?

Perhaps we're supposed to mount the scope on one of the side rails for gangsta levah gat action!

Nuclear Energy

Build nuke plants, build them now.

Bypass the environmentalists by declaring the plants "vital national defense" items.

Notice that environmental bullshit doesn't stop the Navy from getting new subs and carriers?  Notice that the greenies don't even slow down the manufacture of nuclear warheads?

They're barred from suing by the national defense exceptions.

Heck, I'll even propose we make all these new plants property of the US Navy, they've got an excellent safety record.

Put the Marines on the fence line and hang, "Use of Deadly Force Has Been Authorized" signs on it.

Edjamakashun

I have a modest proposal to, if not fix, alter education so that we the people have a fighting chance at fixing it.

To receive federal funds, you must be a federal school.  All employees become federal employees.  That means no unions, just like air traffic controllers.

If you want to retain all the "local", like the union, you have to go without federal education dollars.

Ain't that a pickle?

Dropping to local control means the local voters will damn sure take it.  It will be ironic to watch the teachers decide between their union or the federal teat.  Bet they fight to remain union and then get clotheslined by the local school board.

The federal school is not really too different from what we've got today, but deunionizing it can't have too negative an effect on the students.

Intolerance

Today I was accused of being a fascist because I intensely dislike the constant, idiotic prattle about professional sports.

Let me illuminate why this accusation causes my blood to boil and the red curtain descend.

My great grandfather fled Italy to America, literally steps ahead of the Fascisti police.  He left behind his parents, five brothers, six sisters and three children.  He never saw any of them again.

Granpa was a labor organizer.  The best he was able to find out was they were all murdered for his escape.

I learned a lot from Granpa that didn't gel until long after he'd died.  I remember him talking to my father and uncle about it and how to spot it.

To be called a fascist when my Great Grandfather had lost so much saving his wife and four other children?  It's a good thing I am a non-violent person by nature.

Goodbye Facebook

I deleted my Facebook account today.  I feel sad and liberated.

Gunwalker T-Shirt Outside The Local Branch...

Doing the weekly cruise around Tampa and we decided to see if the downtown location of Taco Bus was open.

It's not.

Lo and behold what's just a block away?

The building where the local BATFE branch sits!

So I had Marv take a picture.  We took a nice wide shot so you could see the address; assuming that everyone knows what the shirt looks like by now.  You should buy one while they're still available.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Tampa Field Division
400 North Tampa Street, Suite 2100

Tampa, Florida 33602 USA

Special thanks to Sean D Sorrentino for selling the shirts!

PS: It's 0130 EST so we weren't going inside.  The signs on the doors indicate that the Tampa St. entrance is closed and to please use the Madison St. entrance.  Bet that's where the metal detectors are.

My God; It's Full Of Stars!

I took the L2A2 outside to show off the illuminator to Harvey.

On a whim I looked at Betelgeuse.  Because it's merely a four power optic, I didn't expect a lot.

Holy snot!

Whoever ground the glass for the Brits didn't rip them off!  This little thing can sure pull in light.

I'd read that it was developed to help Brit soldiers in low light, low contrast conditions that were all to common in Northern Ireland.  Light gathering was a requirement.

They succeeded.

I could even make out a couple of moons near Jupiter.

Initial Cleaning

The Brits used paint on the dust cover instead of blue or parkerization to protect the metal.  Brake cleaner takes that paint right off.

TJIC Related Gun Activity

I'm going to be buying materials to return this L2A2 Sight Unit Infantry Trilux to service.

Here are the "before" pictures.

I was worried that it was going to be a lot worse than it is.  I'll be posting pics as I work on cleaning up the rust.

SOPA/PIPA

Trying to read my web comics this morning.

Lots of protest posted.  Lots of urgings to write my congress critters.

Lots of unawareness that SOPA got shelved.

I realize that for lots of people those notices are their first notice that there's anything afoot.

I wrote my "representation" a while ago, weeks ago, and discovered that both of my senators were sponsors.  Dunno where my representative stood, he didn't send a specific reply.

However, I am not going to gag myself to make a point.

Today I urge you to declare war on the bastards who wrote this bill.  Hollywood, RIAA and MPAA.

Hoist the jolly-roger and get to downloading!  Remember, if you're paying for content, you're funding the lobbyists who are petitioning to have you censored!

Stop renting, buying and attending!  Don't give them one more dime at the very least, stealing from them has attained the moral high-ground in the same way that killing does when someone's broken into your house.

Projects

My friend Forknobulaxx (two 'x's because that's cooler) once bought an L1A1 from me.

Included was an L2A2 Sight Unit Infantry Trilux.

He sold the FAL but didn't sell the scope.

I asked him to keep an eye out for it and he did eventually find it.

It had been in the box, in the basement, when said basement flooded.

Through much whining and cajoling, he agreed to send it down to me, and it's presently somewhere between Des Moines and Jacksonville.

I am looking forward to this challenge!

There's an LED illuminator for the sight post, dunno if it survived being submerged.  However its eminent arrival has me firing up the CAD program and drawing up a replacement unit with a receptacle for a tritium vial.  I am excited!

Silly Guns

I find the allure of the S&W Governor nearly irresistible.

It's bloody useless, like The Judge that inspired it; but I can't help wanting one.

It will be the perfect companion piece to one of these:

EDIT:
As suggested, I think I am ready for WTF Three Gun Action!

Then I will have to get a cowboy action ensemble together.

Think along the lines of a time traveller thinking that Buffalo Bob was historically accurate in how cowboys dressed...  And then rolled an 18 on his Research/TL 11 roll anyways...

I am off to make a character, I think.

UPDATE:

I was just gripped with terror about my idea.  What if it catches on?  A Howdy Doody Class in SASS?

Cop Or Soldier?

Cop or Soldier? » Create A Quiz @ProProfs

I did pretty good. Found in Jennifer's head.

Violence And Responses To It

Joan, Jami...

Following your fine example I assume the mantle of victim.

I mentioned it here.

I was the victim of physical abuse at the hands of my fellow students in 5th through 11th grade.  In Nevada, Iowa; Ames, Iowa; and Blaine, Minnesota.

That's more than five years of being verbally and physically assaulted, nearly always by someone who was bigger and stronger than me.  The school administration(s) did nothing to prevent the attacks or punish my tormentors until I fought back, then we were punished together.

As I mentioned the abuse stopped once I made it painful for the bully.

I didn't discover some odd event that only worked in one place.  I found the cure in Nevada, just as I moved to Ames.  I found the cure again in Blaine, just as I moved back to Ames.  The cure worked again in Ames.

Not just once.  Every time.  I only won one of those fights.  My last one in Blaine.  But it moved me from the prey category the bullies prefer.  I may have only been promoted from rabbit to porcupine, but I was no longer victimized.

I've been assaulted by jocks from Iowa State University for wearing the wrong kind of shirt in "their" bar.  I've watched the campus and city police do everything in their power to avoid actually punishing the athlete and thus destroying their hopes at a professional career.  I was threatened with prosecution if I made an issue of it and pressed charges (particularly since I gave better than I got in that fight).

Every experience with being the victim of violence has convinced me that I am on my own.  That the only way to stop the attack is to make the attacker unable to continue.

I have also noticed that once is seldom enough, you have to prove you will fight back every time.

What really changed for me since high school is I am perfectly willing to teach the lesson once, and finally now.  Attacking me and my loved ones carries a death sentence now.

My wife is also a victim.  Her story is not mine to tell.  I do know that the nightmares stopped shortly after she bought her first firearm.

New background.  The view from under my desk.

Branches of the Military

I'm mocking someone on Facebook about whether service in the Air Force is military service.  Their panties are in a bunch because they are taking offense for someone whom they like who was in the USAF.

Funny thing is, I tend to get Air Force vets on my side of this argument.  It's one of the classic jokes we veterans tell ourselves.  Right up there with Marines being stupid and sailors being a bit light in the step.

That got me to looking up what the branches of the military really were.

Originally there were five in the US.

Army
Navy
Coast Guard
Coastal Artillery
Lighthouse Service

Two of those no longer exist.

By World War Two the Lighthouse Service had become part of the Coast Guard and Coastal Artillery had been absorbed by the Army (with some installations becoming Navy).

World War Two era had

Army
Navy
Coast Guard

Today we have

Army
Navy
Air Force
Coast Guard (Maybe since they aren't DoD but fall under Navy command in time of war)

Notice the Marines don't get mentioned?  They're part of the Navy the same way that the US Army Air Corps was.  That Corps designation is no accident.

All the jokes aside, I know of damn few veterans who don't mock the other services.  I know even fewer veterans who have no respect for the other services when they indulge in the mockery.  Most of us will also treat the Marines as if they are their own branch because culturally they sure as hell aren't Navy.

The View From...

Two bloggers I read have "The View From..." as part of their title.

Tam's is The View From The Porch.

Joe Huffman is The View From North Central Idaho.

My blog title is not very catchy.

Should I change it to honor Joe and Tam while also mocking Colin Goddard?

The View From Under The Desk?

Anyone?

Honestly I thought of it while I was rerouting the rat's nest of cables for my desktop then realized there was some mockery in it.

WW2 Films...

I do not wish to belittle the accomplishments of 332nd Fighter Group during World War Two.  The Tuskegee Airmen and Red Tails are certainly good films to tell their tales.  I am not certain it needed to be told twice (with some of the same actors no less).

I've only seen one mention of the 442nd Infantry Regiment in film.  I think it deserves better than a mention-in-passing in a pop-culture popcorn film.

The 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions deserve better mention than Spike Lee's abominable Miracle at St Anna.  If you're going to tell their story, try to tell it in a locale where they were actually at!  The 92nd was in Italy during WW2 and the nazis massacred a bunch of people at St Anna are just about the only facts to survive filming, the book was only slightly better.

There are stories of valor untold with all of these units.  Stories that could be told better than Lucas, Spielberg or Lee can.

Impossibility

This thought burbles up every time I think about things like the Holocaust.

I want it to be impossible for the government to violate my rights, not merely forbid it or make it irritating to them.

For example: gun registration.  If there is no list of guns, the government cannot print it and go seize the guns from the registered owners.  That makes confiscation an iffy exercise.

I want it to be impossible.

Citizens being killed for defending themselves from the police breaking down the door?  That becomes impossible if we eliminate the no knock search warrant.

Prohibition II is why we have those searches.

The crime associated with drugs is real.  It was bad enough that people wanted something done about it.  We've crossed the line to where enforcing the laws concerning drugs has become worse for us than the drugs and crimes associated with them combined.

Do you worry more about the cops getting the wrong address in a drug raid or a junky mugging you?

I have laws that protect me if I do something about a mugger, I have nothing to protect me from police incompetence.  Except the police themselves.  Unfortunately they've shown they are unreliable about punishing their "bad apples".  Officer Roid Rage from Canton, Ohio will likely face no sanction to further employment as a police officer, let alone face charges of assault.  It appears likely that he would still be employed as a cop in Canton except the city council fears personal liability for lawsuits that are sure to come.

My attitude is not helped even the slightest by the most common interaction a citizen has with the police. Traffic stops.  Odds are you have been pulled over for doing something everyone else was doing at the same time and had done every day for years.  Except now it's a crime, here's your fine.  The cops enforcing traffic laws and serving fines have become tax collectors.

Red light cameras are often presented as being "for safety" but every mention of them after installation is about revenue.  Speaking of those abominations.  Farmer's Insurance is out $3,000 because the brakes on a 2008 Corvette will stop a car for a yellow light in a light rain whereas the brakes on a 1991 Tercel will not.  But I didn't have to pay a fine.  It would have been safer for me to continue on through the yellow, even it was tinged a bit red.  Instead I got a new rear fascia and some poor guy will get his rates increased.

I hesitate to hand the government at any level any power.  Once they have power, power will be abused.  Perhaps not right away, but eventually.  Power, once attained, is extremely difficult to remove.

Meme Clarification and Going Godwin

Weer'd is continuing the "debate" with Joan Peterson about how callous we were about our candles and guns.  I'd like to explain why I included the above photo with my series.

It's grainy but something stands out very quickly.  Who has guns?  There are none evident in this picture.  The two nazi officers are probably carrying sidearms.  When the populace is disarmed it only takes two handguns to make many more do what they're told.

When I read about the Holocaust I was shocked.  Literally amazed.

I took the time while I was a solider to go to the memorials made from the death camps.  Dachau in Germany and Auschwitz in Poland.  The two locations are significant.  If the Holocaust had not occurred, one side or the other in the Cold War had a vested interest in revealing the sham of the other side.  Both Poland and West Germany had memorials.  Large memorials.

My candle and "assault rifle" are symbolic of my intent to violently resist government violence and murder not the more mundane criminal violence my carry guns are for.

I say mundane, but it's actually far less common than government murder.

Hobbies...

One of my hobbies is flight sims.

My favorite is Thirdwire's Strike Fighter 2 series.

A neat thing about the series is there's no DRM and you can make mods to do things like add planes and play "what-if" scenarios.

F-104A of 9 Squadron; Royal Jordanian Air Force during the Six Day War.

F-104A of 9 Squadron; Royal Jordanian Air Force during the Yom Kippur War.

This is actually an F-104G that's standing in for the F-104A because I don't have a model for the A.  Close enough for "what if" work!  The Jordanians did not use their F-104s during either the Six Day War or Yom Kippur War historically.  In 1967 they hadn't taken full delivery and the US told them to move what they had to Turkey or no more support.  In 1973 Jordan actually warned Israel of the impending war.

What if #2 for this plane and squadron is going to HAVE to be playing the Six Day War campaign AGAINST Israel and then Yom Kippur on Israel's side.

The F-104 is kind of a Holy Grail plane with this series.  It was originally part of the first release of Strike Fighters way back when (2000) and has been sorely missed since it was removed from the game in later releases.

I have four versions of the Starfighter available to me that are acceptable.  F-104G and three variations of the CF-104.  I have files to add cruder versions of the F-104A (early variation without the gun) and F-104C.  They are direct ports from SF1 and are very clunky.

Quiz Time!

Click Me

How'd you do?  I missed two.

Hat-Tip: Smallest Minority

Thank You!

Read this (if you haven't already seen it).

I read it a few days ago.  I didn't know what to say.

I've found something to say now.

Thank you for welcoming US into YOUR life!

Zits

I have been studying my 640-3 pictures and I think I've spotted the mechanism for the failure when it occurs.

The lug on the flag that I ground off lays in a track in the hammer.  That groove has a detent in it.  When the locking cam pushes the flag to the locked position, the lug engages in that detent.

When you rotate the cam to unlocked a small spring pulls the flag back down and returns the lug to the track.  This small spring is the only thing keeping the flag in the unlocked position.

I think what may be the mode of failure is that teeny little spring coming unseated and letting the lug pop up where it's not intended to go.  The angles are such that the flag has to be moving around a bit every shot and heavy hitting rounds will make it move more.  Because its intended to have enough mechanical advantage to keep the hammer from moving while locked, if it gets to where its not supposed to be, it will lock it up.

I would be curious to see how many revisions of this feature there are and the drawing histories at S&W to see if they've been quietly addressing it or ignoring it.

Uneducated?

Jami Regs, what have you done?

I hold an associates degrees in Mechanical Drafting (with certificate) and Machine Design.  I have a bachelors degree in Business Administration.

What have you done?

I've laid out and drawn up water purification systems that allow tens of thousands of people in the US, Canada and Mexico to have clean, safe tap water.

I've participated in the design of waste water treatment plants that save the lives of, literally, millions of people by preventing disease and pollution of the water supply.

I've designed bulk materials handling systems that move flour from silos and into mixers so that people may eat.  Systems that have to operate continuously and safely.

I've helped design dispensing machines that provide milk to poverty stricken mothers in Mexico.

I helped with a manifold that allows pilots to breathe at 15,000 plus feet.

I've helped with manifold designs that are in several life-saving medical devices in use around the world.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, JAMI?

My beer guzzling, uneducated hillbilly ass has a lot of accomplishments that I am damned proud of and that not just anyone can do.

Before you decide to play the misogynist card here.  I am presently a stay-at-home dad of a mentally challenged boy.  My wife is the sole bread winner here and her degrees, education and accomplishments far exceed my own.

That's just my professional life, Jami.

My hobbies are all pretty involved as well.  Autodidactic Polymath is a phrase you should learn, Miss.  It applies to a lot of gun-owning, RPG playing, hot-rodding, science fiction writing geeks.  "Specialization is for insects," R. Heinlein.

Benchmarks

I think you can tell where someone is on the gun ownership curve by how they feel about the statement, "the sound of a racking 12 gauge will make them run."

Deflagging A S&W 640-3

I have bowed to public pressure and deleted the locking flag on my 640-3, theoretically opening myself up to all manner of lawsuits should I have to shoot someone with my J-Frame.

I used this instruction video.

UPDATE!

The flag delete leaves this teeny hole open in the frame.  It's weird, I don't mind the zit, but an open hole drives me batty.

So I ground off the engagement lug on the flag.  Now the revolver works regardless of the position of the locking cam and flag; plus no unsightly hole!