Semantics

When you begin to use your opponents terms, you've lost the debate.

This is why not a single one of my AR's is an "assault weapon" or "assault rifle".

They're not assault rifles because they aren't select-fire.  They are not assault weapons because that is my opponent's term.

That is why I become pedantic about terminology.

It's why I decided my time was better spent not reading some gun blogs.

Tugging on a penis and calling it a teat will not get you milk.

Injun

The Lovely Harvey is 1/2 Indian.  Her bio-father was Blackfoot.  She could get papers to prove it and everything.

She's made her career without resorting to any special preferences or racism.

She's far more proud of that than she is of her genes.

I've got Italian on mom's side, English, Japanese, Scottish and German on dad's.  Should I claim my 1/4 Japanese status for some sort of minority deal or just go with what I've earned on my own merits?

Oh, wait, Asians are successful without hand-outs so they don't get any, even though there are far fewer Asians than blacks or hispanics.

Forum Suggestion

You've decided to pony up the money to sponsor a forum that caters to your target market.

It is not a good long term idea to have the moderators delete any post that's even remotely critical of the service they have received from your company.

The customer is likely to note the deletion and now will begin telling others in your target market, personally, they should not do business with your thin skinned ass.

While it is possible that the forum itself has a policy of deleting such posts criticizing the paying vendors; they would not have deleted the post if you hadn't become a sponsor, so it's on you.

Dog Blogging

There's an indoor/outdoor cat that sometimes transits our back yard.

This cat has learned to gauge the pup's speed and manages to make a casual just-in-time escape.

The pup has apparently learned to not run full tilt at the cat now.  He runs at about 3/4 speed then sprints to the last.

The last couple escapes have not been near so casual.  He almost nipped a tail last time.

I would ask if the cat would learn not to transit the pup's yard, but I think they're both in on the game.

An ENORMOUS steam engine

Just in case you were ever curious why cars like the Stanley Steamer fell by the wayside.

This is a 400 bhp triple expansion engine.  I note that they do not show the boiler.

Compare that to the 436 bhp engine in my Corvette that's just barely a cubic meter in volume.

Again, You

I am constantly amazed that the excuses emitted about why someone cannot do something they desperately claim to want to do.

It's especially amazing to me when it's something I have already done under less ideal conditions.

Simply put, you don't really want to do the thing you are talking about.

And again, I am probably not talking about you.

Behind The Scenes At 5.11...

Bob: Dave, come here and see how many people thought we were serious about making a kilt!

Dave: HA!  Look at all those suckers.  April Fools, suckers!

Bob: Hey!  That's a lot of people, isn't it?

Dave: Wait a second, looking at this response I think we'd be the suckers if we don't make these.

Bob: Yeah, we'd be idiots to walk away from customers demanding to give us money.

Taking A Stand

When you take a stand you may have to do things that are uncomfortable.

You may have to be inconvenienced.

It may cost you time, money and/or liberty.

Sometimes that is the only way to get to the goal.

Saving $3 per trip to the ATM sure seems petty when compared to a bank or group of banks deciding to shut an entire industry down doesn't it?  Think about it this way, tomorrow they could decide that your industry is immoral and stop extending lines of credit to your boss.

Which costs you more?  $3 ATM fee or $0 paycheck?

Yes, I know, don't blame you.  You voted for Kodos.

This Is My Dream And Anyone Who Doesn't Like It Can Kiss My Ass!

There is a trend among some gun folk to demand functionality from any firearm in question.

They look at guns like the Taurus Judge with open disgust.  The Mossberg 464 SPX tactical lever action gives them the screaming meemies.

To an extent, I agree.  Your FIRST guns should be brutally and uncompromisingly functional.  When it's your only gun, it had better work and work well.

This extends to the first gun for every role you need.  In my case I need a functional handgun for summer and winter when how I can dress to hide it changes.  That's two handguns.  What about my third?

This extends to SHTF rifles and shotguns.

Once you have the needs taken care of, now you can indulge the wants.

You can get a .410/.45 Colt revolver with a 2" barrel.  You can get fifteen .25ACP pocket pistols.  You can get a Buntline clone.

You can talk about guns based on film and cartoon characters.

Not every single gun you own has to have a function or even work well.  They can be dreck if they amuse you.  Just don't depend on your dreck if your life is at stake!

Rule one should be, buy the best gun you can afford.  Rule two would be upgrade that gun as your income increases.  Rule three is buy as many guns as you can afford.

This is why I have an AR with an 11.5" barrel with a 4.5" long flash-hider on it.  It's not any shorter than a 16" gun, it's not any lighter, it loses velocity and accuracy because of the shorter barrel.  It.  Is.  A.  Toy.

This is why I have a Garand.  While eminently functional in its own way, the magazine capacity and mass are impediments.  Still.  A.  Toy.

The 6.8 with Magpul furniture, Aimpoint, light and rails?  Tool.

My 1911 I carry while it's cool enough?  Tool.

The 642 for too hot?  Tool.

The Colt 1908 Hammerless?  Toy that could fill the tool role if not supplanted.

That's not comprehensive.

So when I talk about wanting a Vash the Stampede break-open I am not speaking as someone who thinks such a gun is a good idea.  I am indulging my whimsical nature and expressing that something like that would delight and amuse me.  It should amuse you too!

It's not like we're humorless teutonic gnomes here.

PS:  I want a S&W Governor.  I want a Mossberg 464 SPX (assuming it's comfortable).  I want a .38 Super 1911.  I love toys!

PPS: Yes, the title of the post is a lot more confrontational than the content.  That's deliberate.

5.11 Tactical Duty Kilt

They are accepting orders!

I've put in my order for an OD model.

Maybe you should too.

Maybe It's You

If you find yourself in the same situation over the same things over and over; it's probably you.

Even if it seems like it's beyond your control, it's still probably you.  You likely set yourself up for it.

If you think I am talking about you, you are probably wrong.

Thank God You Were Here!

Yes, top break guns are an inherently weaker design than swing out revolvers.

Yes, they no longer make new break open designs.

The first place I'd ever seen a below cylinder axis bore revolver was the anime Trigun.

The point you've had made to you twice now is that it would be cool to have a firing replica of a gun from a cartoon.  Making such a gun is by its very nature impractical.  However, such a gun would not be impossible.  Several companies have made moving parts plastic replicas, one person even made a wooden one, there are even air-soft versions.  The gun in the anime is clearly marked as .45 Colt which is well within a top-break's ability to handle.  The only serious complications are the low bore itself, how do we transfer the blow from the hammer to the firing pin in an elegant and simple manner and how do we run the cam for the ejector?  Engineering details not scientific questions.

Every once and a while you have to do something out of whimsy and not for cold functionality.  A centerfire LeMat would be in this category as well.

I read what you were saying and understood it, you were explaining why top break revolvers were supplanted and replaced by swing-out designs.  Do keep lecturing me on why top break designs went away while not reading what I am talking about.  You may also consider teaching your grandmother to suck eggs since you are out to teach the taught.

Explain It To Me

Secret Service agents get fired for hiring hookers.

ATF agents get promoted for getting people killed.

How does that make any damn sense?

Until Today I Did Not Cry

Lex's blog is gone.

I could face his death knowing that some part of him remained with me.  That would be the blog he wrote and led me to contact him.

Now both are gone.

Now I cry.

Cops

I made the mistake of reading some of the commentary about the Zimmerman case and the associated panel to review our gun laws on arfcom.

Several cops have their panties in a bunch about an accurate history of why "Stand Your Ground" was passed.  Officer, it is not anti-cop to note that the situation really was, "arrest and let the courts sort it out," for self-defence cases.  It's not anti-cop even if someone who's noted for being anti-police says it.

Officer, did you ever consider the process that someone might become anti-police?  Did you consider that virtually nobody wakes up one morning and says, "from this day hence I shall despise the constabulary!"

Most anyone who has a problem with the police where it isn't just a general distrust of authority in general, has an incident that triggered a perspective change in how they viewed the police.  Did you ever consider, Officer, that the experience of this person was real and valid?

Nope.  You dismiss their position because YOU don't behave that way.  YOUR department doesn't do that.

In the case of the situation that lead to SYG, so what?  OK, your department didn't make murder arrests for self defense.  That makes you a minority here in Florida.  The problem was most jurisdictions were making such arrests.  It means that such a law was needed and means your anecdotal experience with your own department meaningless in the larger scheme of things.

I will admit I trend to an anti-police position.  Unlike a lot of people I cannot shake the awareness that Officer Friendly is also Officer Member-Of-The-Human-Race.  They get a lot of power and get a lot of exemptions from the laws they enforce, humans do not in general respond to such in a noble way.  Yes there are exceptions, but the safe way to bet is to look for abuse not restraint.

My anti-cop position is aided by the erosion of respect by bad law and bad lawmakers.  It's eroded by watching cops become armed revenue agents rather than genuine law enforcement.  It's eroded by calling the police about someone clearly breaking the law and being told that since they didn't witness it happening, there was nothing they can do about it.

Officer, if you serve no useful purpose to me, why should I support paying for your "services"?

In my experience there are damned few cops that live up to the noble standards we'd like to see in all.  Perhaps the job grinds them down.  Perhaps I no longer care how bad cops get the way they are when I can watch the "good" cops cover for them.

Cruisin' For St Jude's

Spent the morning driving the St Jude's Children's Research Hospital Road Rally.

Great fun for a great cause.

Last year Marv and I won it.

This year we came in dead last.  But we got the boobie prize for being creative with our answers to the visual scavenger hunt.  We just write in whatever comes to mind and then cross it out and jot down the correct answer.

Questions like, "Tiger Woods could be found here."  The correct answer is, The Tournament Player's Club golf course.  Our original answer, "A whorehouse?"

M1A

I love my Garand.

It stands to reason I should also love the M14 and its neutered cousin, the M1A.

I don't.

It just doesn't suit me at all.  It's nothing I can put into words either.  It really is a product improved Garand.

I have owned two now and kinda did the, "oh yeah, that's why I sold the first one" thing with the second one.

The first was a Polytech M14S.  I blamed its Chinese origin for why I disliked it.

The second was a Springfield.  Being from Illinois didn't make it better.

None of this is keeping me from thinking that, maybe, I should get another one.  Maybe from Fulton this time.  Who else makes one?

For the record, I would want it old school.  Walnut stocked not SAGE.  Iron sights not DMR.

McThag Mitigation

Problem solutions that are as direct and effective as they are illegal and immoral.

Welfare

It occurs to me that I know two deadbeat families that are on the dole and keep pumping out kids.

They don't use birth control and reference God as to why.

Since we have separation of church and state, shouldn't people who are breeding for religious reasons be denied state funding?

Watching the Zimmerman hearing.

Makes me wanna turn on CSPAN for the exciting debates.

Gerrymandering

Florida got a constitutional amendment to make the recent redistricting fair.

It was to be an end to gerrymandering.

I think we're on our second pass through the courts.

What's the problem?

We're forbidden by federal laws to follow our constitutionally required redistricting plan because you can't divide a group of minorities into two or more districts.  See what happens when you let people live where ever they want?  "Yes, I understand the housing situation is bad and that you could afford to live elsewhere.  Don't think of it as living in a crime ridden slum; think of it as living in a segreGATED community."  The federal law is racist.

It's getting on to election time and lots of voters don't know who their candidates are going to be.

DAMMIT!!

Dick Clark is dead and the Trayvon Martin shooting is still a headline!

Interesting

Nobody wants to sit next to the guy wearing the shirt with an obvious political statement and a picture of an AK.

To Weep Or Laugh?

Now that the last Shuttle has departed Kennedy Space Center for a museum...

Good fucking riddens!

Know when we should have started looking for a replacement for the flying brick-yard?  1980.

Challenger should have been hint one for a total redesign, and likely wouldn't have happened if we'd followed my schedule for replacement.  Shuttle II would have been flying in 1986.

Six years from concept to flight?

Yes.

How?

Remove how the government does things from it.

State what the vehicle will do.  Accept bids.  Test prototypes.  Buy the winner.

That first step is where we fuck it up completely.  That's known as specifying.  To get something out the door in a timely manner you have to lock the specs and leave them locked.

Did you know Ronald Reagan was president when the F-22, F-35 and V-22 were started?  We're still waiting on F-35 to enter service.

In the same time frame Boeing has introduced three new airliners.  How many planes has Airbus introduced since then?  A few.  Both companies sold more than the originally projected numbers too.  The aforementioned fighters are going to be well under projected numbers.

Do you honestly believe that an airliner is more complex than a spacecraft?  Didn't we go from paper to landing on the moon in less than ten years?

Epiphany

I wonder if my utter failure to retain calculus has more to do with learning it incompletely due to the TA only speaking broken english than anything about me.

I know I actively avoided complex maths after passing the damn thing, even going so far as to change majors.

Was the experience of learning it so unpleasant that I came to think of using it in the same light?

I do know that I retain none of it today.

For BAG Day...

I bought some Mexicans a gun by sending in my $500 to the IRS.

SIGH

Maybe next year.

Let's Keep Israel Around, Shall We?

What's Israel gotta do, cure cancer?

Um, looks like someone in Tel Aviv might have.

I am noticing that it didn't come out if Iran or Saudi.  Just sayin'.

Well, Are They?

Tam and Roberta have asked this recently.

I had the same response to the whole McCarthy hearings.

You hear, time and again, about how relentless Joe was about hunting down communists, but Hollywood never seems to answer, "Was he right?  Were they communists?"

Um.  Yes.  Yes they were and he was right.

The House Un-Umerican Activities Committee hearings were the first place I noticed Hollywood lying to serve it's own agenda.  Sadly it was not the last.

Then, as now, I ask; Well, are they?  I stood watch and fought against communism, I would like to know if we've been infiltrated and the moles exposed and drummed out.

.38 Super

I have suddenly decided that I must have a 1911 in .38 Super.

I notice that Armscor is selling a well regarded Philippeno Slag Gun for a not unreasonable price through their American arm, Rock Island Armory.  $460 or so.

Jen-Yew-Whine Colt can be had for about $400 more.  Not sure I need the cachet of the prancing pony.

I am fascinated with the round.

It doesn't seem to really do anything I need done that I can't already to with a gun I already own.

But...

Falling back to GURPS terms.  It does 3d-1 pi damage and gets 9+1 shots against a .45 ACP gun with 2d pi+ and 7+1 shots.  3d-1 pi gives an average of 9.5 points of damage.  2d pi+ gives an average of 10.5 points of damage on something unarmored, but only gets 7 for penetration (because you multiply what damage that penetrates the armor by 1.5 for pi+ drop fractions).  Hey, wasn't .38 Super developed to penetrate car doors?  GURPS seems to have gotten this part right!  The average 1930's car has a DR of 4.  That means that 3 points of .45 makes it through the door and hits the bootlegger inside for 4 points of damage.  .38 Super hits that same door and also gets 5 points into the bad guy!  Both do a minimum of 2 points, so both could be defeated by the door on a bad roll.  At maximum damage, the .38 will get 13 points into the bad guy and .45 will get 12.  A very slight edge to .38 Super.

For additional comparison a 9x19mm will do 2d+2 pi, min 4, avg 9, max 14.  Average hit gets 5 to the target and max hit gets 10.  .38 Special (4" bbl Model 10) will do 2d pi, min 2, avg 7, max 12 giving 3 on average and a max of 8 to the bad guy.

You know it's going to be a toy when I am using GURPS stats for comparison.

Wow, What Happened?

I'm a big fan of 6.8, I think that it is clear from some of my prior postings.

I was an early adopter of the SPC II chamber and 1:11 rifling.

I am saddened to see a "you must do it like we did it" mentality setting in at the 6.8 forums.

I was thinking that a 14.5" barrel carbine gas system gun would be kinda neat.  My original plan was a what-if the Army had adopted the 6.8.  Maybe even a 10.5" gun in a retro configuration.

I asked about where I could find such a thing.

I was told that I didn't want what I was asking for and that the "6.8 crowd" preferred a mid-length gas system.  Yeah, I know that we do.  I thought I was part of the "6.8 crowd".  I also apparently want a 12.5" barrel, 4-rail handguards, expensive optics and a shopping list of stylish things.

I am frustrated that I didn't ask, "what would you build?"  I asked about at 14.5"barrel in maybe an M4 profile.

I already have two middy guns in 6.8.  What I want is something different from those two guns.

Since they were of no help I went looking for barrels on my own.  Several makers do make a 10.5" tube.  What nobody seems to consider worth doing is putting enough seat area for a normal front sight base.  Barrel maker after barrel maker and it's the same story: a short seat area of less than an inch for a low profile gas block.

SIGH.

I don't like front sights mounted to the rails which is what I have to have if I go with such a barrel.

I know what I want to do.  I will accept advice as to why that's a really bad plan so that I can decide if that piece of data matters to me.  I will not accept a blanket statement, "you don't want to do that."  I don't?  WHY?  It's entirely possible that your objection will not matter to my project.  The SBR shorty is intended as a toy, not a tool.  I have a damn nice tool of a 6.8 AR; that would be Dottie.

What I want is a short AR in 6.8.  Conventional front sight base.  Carbine gas system.

On Second Thought

I have examined the situation carefully and I have decided to disarm.

Simply put after the Zimmerman case is tried it will be defacto illegal to defend myself.

Better to die.

If I successfully defend myself I'll have tens of thousands of dollars of debt to lawyers.

If I die, my family gets paid insurance.

With that metric, how can I in good conscience save my own miserable life?  I would be ruining my family's life with the crushing burden of debt.

I will also be avoiding the racism tag.  Notice that white victims of minorities are never called racists?  The only good white man...

Interesting

With George Zimmerman in jail, I noticed that the police presence was a lot thicker than normal on my drive home from the car-club meeting.

Not a twitch from the radar detector from any of their cars.  Most cars running in pairs.

Very interesting.

I think it might be time to keep a go-bag in the car in case I am caught away from hearth and home.

A New Threat!

Forget your fears of dihydrogen monoxide.

There's another chemical that's just as insidious and deadly.

Hydrogen hydroxide.

It is lethal to inhale.

It can cause roadways to become dangerously slippery with only a very fine layer.

It is dangerously addictive, withdrawal invariably leads to death.  Even worse, this addiction can be passed from the mother to the child in the womb.  You or someone you love may be addicted right now and not even know it!

Government agencies are piping into your home!

While one should be wary of dihydrogen monoxide, you should inform yourself of the dangers of hydrogen hydroxide as well since this compound is at least as common and perhaps even more so.

EDIT:

I have been recently informed that certain agencies have been touting Hydrogen Hydroxide as a safer alternative to Dihydrogen Monoxide.  Do not be lulled into complacency!

Moron Top Gun

Goose states airspeed 300. Next scene (7:12) shows front seat panel. Airspeed is 0. Altimeter is set 20.32 showing 31480 ft, with red flag. Radar altimeter showing 0. Climb/Descent indicator showing beyond 6k ft/min down. Engine instruments showing "not running" barber pole tapes. Bingo fuel is 300, total fuel is 2800. DIANE display shows slight left bank, back-up artificial horizon is spinning wildly.  Maverick is playing with the left engine compression bypass controls for "lock on baby, lock on."

Cougar's fuel state (9:50) Aft&L 1200, Fwd&R 1500, L external 1200, R external 1600. 5500 total. Lots of gas!

Cougar's instruments showing same readings as Mavericks at 10:04.

Maverick's fuel state (10:46) Aft&L 900, Fwd&R 1500, L external 1200, R external 1600. 5200 total. Still lots of gas, and he's managed to gain 2400 pounds since the encounter with the MiG-28's!

Not sure why the externals are showing nearly full when the internals are quite depleted.

Racism

Since racism is a hot topic of late with Trayvon Martin getting killed and Derbyshire getting fired.

Let us suppose.

I can see the calls for violence leading to a race war in the US.

I can see an end result of that war being the return of Jim Crow or something like it (perhaps even worse).

I can see a world about thirty to fifty years after that where people start to wonder that perhaps we should treat blacks like people again.

I can see people saying, "we tried that, look what happened when we took our boot off their necks."

I can see people saying, "oops, my bad," and letting the Jim Crow II continue.

I will weep if this comes to pass.

I do weep because I have no control over it starting.  Racists are in the driver's seat.  Racists who are not white but we can't call them that and as long as we can't they get to drive the damn bus straight to Hell.

Wow! Where Have I Been?

Doing nothing, but it took all day.

Going nowhere, but I couldn't reach it.

Wrenching on the Lovely Harvey's car mostly.  Doing the maintenance that needed done.

Tools are investments, not expenses.  They make a tire rotation free.  They make an oil change with synthetic $45 instead of $100.  They make a timing belt and water pump change $150 instead of $600.

Some may quibble about comparative advantages and the value of my time.

I don't put a dollar value to my time unless I am doing something for someone else.  Then they are paying me that dollar amount, be assured.

What I do know about wrenching on my own cars is that the job is done correctly.  This is because I don't do most of these jobs very often, that means the reference materials are out and handy.  I don't get complacent about them from endless repetition.

I also get to chose the parts I am going to use and can see that I am getting what I paid for.  I learned this the hard way with the Biscayne.

Moog makes front end parts for the B-Body called "Problem Solvers" they are beefier than the standard components and thus last longer.  I paid for the problem solvers several times, marveling that they sure didn't last but rationalizing that they'd lasted longer than the standard parts.  Wrong.  I was getting standard parts!  Last time around I bought the whole tie-rod center link assy, installed it myself and paid for an alignment.  Still good three years later.

And It's Captured On Film Forever.

Top Gun has not aged well for me.

I learned too much about film and fighters since I saw it in the theaters.

The opening sequence is still pretty good, but they show several shots of the hook catching the wire.

The first is a one wire, the second is a four wire.

There are four wires.

You are aiming for the spot between #2 and #3, then you catch the third.

If you catch 1 or 2, you were too low.

If you catch 4 you were too high.

Poor F-14 pilots, two embarrassing traps and it's on film.  Good thing they don't show the plane, the shame is somewhat hidden.

It's kinda amusing just a bit later when a lowly A-7 makes a nice 3 wire trap.

But wait, there's more!

Cougar loses his shit 190 miles from the boat?  Can't come back until Maverick fetches him?  Fuel is critically low.  Yet he's got enough gas to cruise aimlessly while Maverick flies all the way back to the ship, bolters, flies back out to him and then back to the ship?  Never mind that the fuel display shows nearly full drop tanks...

Oh, and Cougar turning in his wings?  Yeah, prolly saved some time after landing after an unsafe approach and wave-off.

By the way, did you know Tom Cruise is too short to be F-14 crew?  Tim Robbins is too tall.

I dunno.

I mean today seems OK.

Maybe not the best, but perhaps good.

Must be good, I didn't have to use my AK.

All Strike Fighters All The Time

Pulled the trigger on the latest expansion, North Atlantic.

This pic is also an homage to the movie Top Gun.  The planes for the movie were borrowed from VF-114 for at least the scenes shot on Enterprise.

Check it out!  Iceland!

Pukin' Dog on the break over Constellation.

The Real Reason

The real reason the Pluto is no longer a planet is because the International Astronomical Union lost against Disney over rights to the name.

If Pluto had remained a planet they would not have been able to afford the royalties.

To Think, I Hesitated

I yanked the 1tb drive I had XP Pro partitioned on my Mac Pro.  It was a 250gb partition, so it made sense that I should use the 250gb drive I had laying around to install Win7.

Via Bootcamp I put Windows 7 Ultimate 64 there.

This is all to play a game.

I think the results are pretty evident.

Under XP I could only set the graphics a little past half-way.  Under Win7 I can set them all the way to the top.

Pictures from XP

Kfir C2 in Flight.

The Cockpit.

Pictures from Win 7.

Kfir C2

Kfir C2 Cockpit.

Be sure to click on the pics to see them larger and to see the differences more clearly.  1920x1200 is the native resolution I am running.

Gunnie Drinking Game

Whenever someone utters the stock phrase, you drink.  Or post "drink" in reply.

Shotgun pumping sound is scary: drink.

Revolvers never jam: drink.

Glocks suck: drink.

1911s suck: drink.

You get the idea.

Add yours to comments.

We're The Infantry, We're Here To Help

It was a night combined arms shoot at Grafenwöhr.

The grunts from 1-16 infantry were having a ball shooting up targets.

My platoon had been assigned to a company of them as a support element.

We'd been told there'd be some tank targets, but nothing so far.

We were joining in on the fun with the co-ax though.

As always, we were a man short so I was in the loader's hole with the gunner's seat empty and the TC running the guns.  Rank hath its privileges.

Suddenly!  The TC yells, "Gunner, HEAT, APC!"

I sprang into action, stuffing a 120mm round into the breech, arming the gun and screaming, "UP!"

The TC replies with, "identified, on the way."

BOOM!

The TC then says, "target!  Going back to the infantry targets with the coax."

What happens next is a bit strange.

Hands grab me from the open hatch and haul me bodily out of the turret.  I am passed from three guys on the turret to several people on the ground.  The force me to lay down against my protests and keep saying, "you're OK, you're going to be OK, we're here to help..."

Huh?  They're trying to start first aid?

The TC's hatch was in overhead protection position so he was not as accessible to our helpful foot soldiers.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?" he yelled.

"Your tank exploded, we're trying to save you from the... uh... fire?"

TC, "Sgt Thag, get back up here."

They let me go and I returned to my station, the grunts to theirs.

I guess nobody had ever let them observe the muzzle blast of a tank before.  In the dark it seemed to them like the tank had exploded.  Add this to a fatal accident another division had had with a 120mm stub (spent case end) where EVERYONE got trained about what to do in the event of an ammo explosion in an M1A1...

Fun times!

Isn't THAT Interesting?

Savage is abandoning their project to offer a .300 AAC Blackout rifle.

They said it was because the subsonic loads just could not be made to fire accurately enough for their standards.

They flat out said other manufacturers had compromised their accuracy standards just to offer this chambering.

You can see their announcement on their Facebook page.

Oh, Wow!

The Lovely Harvey pointed out something about a former friend I'd not noticed.

When she pointed to all the signs things went click.

He's a sexual predator.

Holy fuck!

It's amazing the thing you don't see because you don't want them to be true that a blatantly obvious once someone has pointed them out.

Just wow.

Harvey has ID'd the next victim.  If she's right, that means it's likely to be obvious to the police when the time comes too.  Unlike the previous time, who ended up being both his fourth wife and fourth ex-wife, he has an arrest history for this underage stalking shit.

I am very glad I ended the friendship over an unrelated matter a couple of months ago.

PS: If anyone reading this has figured out whom it may be, do not name names in the comments!

Earth Hour

Yesterday from 2030-2130 local I did not shut off the lights and cower in the dark like a medieval peasant.

I drove up and down A1A in my 436 horsepower two-seat car.  Back and forth, doing nothing but chatting with my passenger and converting 93 octane gasoline into heat and noise.  Fuck you greenies!

Damn thing still got 24 miles per gallon doing that.

Oh, obligatory picture from the track:

PS: The promised lap was a sunday only thing.  I didn't want to make the drive from Tampa twice (and pay for the gas) and didn't bring any clothes for an overnight stay in Daytona (and pay for a hotel).  Marv stayed over so I'll post his lap video when he gets it uploaded.

Ceremonial Delinking.

Listen To Uncle Jay has gone to invite only.

No need for me to link to him if the link doesn't go to something you can read; and if you were invited you don't need my link.

Bummer, he had some entertaining stuff.

If the invite only thing changes, I'll put him back up in the met bloggers list.

An Evening With Erin

After the car show, had dinner and cruised A1A with Erin Palette.

She's been deceiving us about her look all along.

She is not pink.

She is not an equine.

She is not a cartoon animation.

She's a human being.

I, for one, am shocked!