OK

I have used a firearm defensively.  I am sure I mentioned it before.

Twice.  But since we don't seem to talk about it...

The first time was a guy breaking into my house.  I just happened to be sitting there playing with my rifle, so it was pretty easy to hold him until the cops got there.  He was armed and expressed to the cops that if I hadn't had the drop on him he'd have shot me.

The second time was a traffic altercation.  The other driver was offended that I only let the person in front of him merge and didn't let him out too.  He followed me for several miles to a Best Buy parking lot.  He jumped out of the Beemer and came towards me in that half trot big guys do when they are approaching a fist fight.  I opened my jacket and put my hand on my pistol and asked him if we were fighting.  He yelled an expletive and left.

I've never shot or shot at anyone outside military service.

Technically there was a third time, but I don't count that because it was clear instantly that he was not in his house once he'd walked in and saw the gun.  We called him a cab.

Only the first time were the cops involved.

There have been other minor confrontations where I was armed that didn't go any differently from when I used to be unarmed.  Why should they have gone differently?

Novel Argument

Keeping abortion legal may be good because there are people we don't want breeding and this is the only chance to keep them from it.

They sure as hell aren't going to stop having unprotected sex.

Of course, I am unconventional about this issue on many fronts.

Yes, you have every right to have a child, but if you expect me to pay for it, I get to set some terms and conditions.  If you don't like the terms you can go without the money, as is your right.  This applies to both welfare and child support.

It took two to tango.  That means both parents are responsible.  Equally responsible.

I dislike the current paradigm where the woman is the sole arbiter of whether a child is born or not.  This gives her the power to force a man to become a father, and financially ruin him for it.  Ladies, if you want us to be responsible we have to have rights too.  No rights, no responsibilities.  No responsibility, no rights.

Again, if I am paying for it, I get a say, I can set terms.  If you don't like those terms, then by all means go it by yourself.

An Open Letter

Del Ton has, again, resorted to telling customers that they, "are a rifle company not a parts company."

This seems to happen every time the market for rifles heats up a bit.

They even put customers who'd ordered parts on back-order to divert parts to making said rifles.  Sometimes after the customer had called ahead to ensure the parts were in stock.

I've long been a fan of Del Ton, I have used several of their kits.

What I have noticed is that they are only a rifle company when the market is hot.  It's parts and parts kits that keep their doors open when the rifle market cools.

You know what that makes me feel like?  It makes me feel like being disloyal.  Not that I owe them anything or they owe me; but they should think about how their decisions are being seen by the people who literally allowed them to become as large as they are.

I'm of the opinion that you are in the business of selling your full range of products, not just one particular product when the margins are higher than normal.

You want to be a rifle company, fine by me.  Sell rifles.  Colt does this, and if you go to their web page you see what they offer in rifles right out front.  What you don't see is an easy to navigate menu steering the prospective customer to parts, parts kits and assemblies that are not complete firearms.  Your web page is the page of a rifle parts company.

Fix that and we'll see how well you do as a rifle company.

By way of comparison is the M&A Parts web page.  They are unabashedly a parts company, and their web page is organized very similarly.  DSG, Bushmaster and DPMS are "full line" AR companies and sell complete rifles as well as parts, and their web pages reflect that.

Decide on an identity and fix your web page!

All Hail The Kat!

Lex's daughter, Kat, has figured out the issue and turned her departed father's blog back on.

We may once again endure the unbearable lightness of Lex.

Her timing is actually outstanding, this being the day after Memorial Day.

It's About Damn Time Google

Bing still wins though.  You still get credit for finally showing something on Memorial day.

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day in the USA.

Today I remember Robert Smith, my uncle, served at the same time Korea was winding up.

Today I remember William "Standing Bear" Dawkins.  He served during WW2 in the Pacific and during the Korean War.

Today I remember Frederick Gabow.  We served together.

Today I remember Carroll "Neptunis Lex" LeFon.  He served during Desert Storm and beyond and his writing inspired me to improve mine.

Today I remember Davy McGuire.  He served through Vietnam in submarines.

Gentlemen, I miss you all.

Order, Arms.

However, enjoy the extra day off, baseball and the Indy 500.  It is for those simple pleasures we served that you could.

Cold Hearted Racing Rant

I am viscerally opposed to hobbling race cars to make them run slower for safety reasons.

Did you know that the throttle pedal in a race car is not a binary control?  It is not off and on, it is infinitely variable.

Even if it was binary, the driver is still controlling it.  They can slow themselves down to the safe cornering speed and thus save their own life.  If they do not, they can be seriously injured or killed.  Their actions could seriously injure of kill their fellow contestants as well.

Give it a couple of seasons and we'd have all the people who won't lift weeded out of the gene pool and racing may resume.

Traffic

Ma'am, I stayed back from the car in front of me so that I would not block the entrance to the gas station.

The light was red and I was only two car lengths back from the car ahead of me.  Moving the extra 40' gets you to your destination faster in what way?

I can see that if you were trying to get to the gas station that I would be blocking you and I would have felt bad about it.  I tried to catch your attention and attempted to inquire with hand gestures if the gas station was where you were heading.  Your gesture in reply insured that I wasn't getting out of your way until I was damned good and ready.

After the light turned green I proceeded at the speed limit and you disappeared behind me going much slower than I was.

Explain to me what the hurry was back at the light?

Beard

I would say that his beard makes him look foolish.

But that's just jealousy kicking in.  My facial hair simply doesn't grow where it would be needed for that beard.

Commercial?

Expanding on something Roberta X posted about.

Our manned vehicles were all made by the same companies that made commonplace airplanes.

Sometimes more than one company built the stack.

The Mercury capsule was made by McDonnell Douglas.  The Redstone booster was made by Chrysler, the Atlas-D by Convair.

The Gemini capsule was also manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.  The Titan II GLV booster was made by Martin.

Apollo was made by North American.  The LEM was made by Grumman.  The Saturn IB stack was made by Chrysler.  The Saturn IVB (third stage of the Saturn V) was made by Douglas.  The Saturn IC first stage was made by Boeing, the second stage Saturn II by North American.

The Shuttle was made by Rockwell International.  The external tank by Lockeed-Martin.  The Solid boosters, and the first non-airplane company on the list were made by Thiokol.

So, yes, I'd feel safe in a commercially built rocket.

I Am Not SMARTER At Any Rate

Ever read a comment thread and realize that it's killed enough brain cells you've lost memories?

Where's WALL-E?

Click to embiggen.
Also, how many do you recognize?

Answers!

Sample Art From Ident: Updated

Looks like Tabitha is going to get a "Colt" logo.

The general consensus at Arfcom is:

Making It Worse

I don't think there's a president who's been elected who wouldn't have used the magic economy wand to make the economy better.

But that wand doesn't exist.

There's precious little that the federal government can actively do to make the economy better.

But it's very easy for them to make it worse!

If congress could easily make the economy better it would have rocked from 2000-2006 and 2008-2010 when a single party was in charge of both houses and the oval office.  Not to mention 1976-1980 and 1932-1944.  If FDR couldn't manage it with TWELVE YEARS to work.  THERE.  IS.  NO.  MAGIC.  WAND.

The economy does so much better when the government boot is suddenly removed.

There's the real secret to the post-WW2 recovery.

This is something that's within Congress' power to do.

Colt Bronie

Send this off to Ident Marking.

Updated with fixed eyes and cutie mark.

I am a dangerous person with AutoCAD, let me tell you what.

Just in case anyone doesn't know what I did here, this is the actual Colt's Manufacturing logo.

Kenjutsu!

Dusted off my shinai and went a couple of rounds with a friend who is just getting into it.

I was rather good at Japanese swords thirty years ago.  I knocked some rust off today and actually did OK against an enthusiastic and ten years younger beginner.

OK, I am VERY rusty, but some of it was coming back as we were sparring.

I am reminded that there's also foam-fighting groups too.

I can see either weight loss or a heart attack in my future.

GURPS 4e New Characters!

All are 150 points.  Most are intended to be used in a "nexus" world where the character is transported from their native world and end up on another.

Sergent Chef Karl Herrmann.  Anthropomorphic wolf.  Former SS Totenkopfverbände Oberscharführer who's escaped to the French Foreign Legion and ended up in Vietnam.  MAS-49 rifle.

Command Sergeant Major Giuseppe Macinino.  Human.  An Italian immigrant to America who joined the Army for World War 2 and stayed in for the Korean War.  M2 Carbine, .38 Super 1911.

Robert Jenkins.  Rattlesnake chimera.  Born in the US under the mana-fall in the Technomancer universe.  Drafted into the Army, but subsequently volunteered for combat with the 101st Spellborne Division since they were taking relatively unskilled troops.  Two tours with 2/506 Infantry.  After getting out of the Army he decided the racism against chimera was not worth returning to, so he became a mercenary in Rhodesia.  It's 1974 and because of combat experienced, magic using ex-pat American mercs, history is not going the same way as in our world.  FN FAL-Para 50.61, Browning HP.35.

Oberleutnant Ritter Bruno Von Tiegenhegen.  Human.  An Uhlan cavalryman on the eastern front of the Great War.  That silly all steel lance, Kar.98AZ, Luger P.08.

Gregory Randall Hurst (no relation).  Human.  A jade prospector in 1921 South America.  Because of his name and profession people often assume his name is spelled Hearst, but he's not related and is too honest to take advantage of the mistake.  Winchester 92 (.44-40), Remington 1875 (.44-40).

Awwww, Dammit (and Nevermind)

I just noticed that Tam no longer follows my blog.


That's a bummer.  It was neat that she'd followed it and now it's sad she stopped.


Clearly it was something I said.

Woo hoo!  The following is restored!  That makes me happy!

Poor Design

I hate to break it to an extremely large segment of the gun owning world; when a design is made for 101 years, it's not a poor design at all.  This should be especially obvious when you look at all the other designs that are no longer made that surfaced and disappeared in the same time frame.

Then why does this good design routinely fail?  The best design can be made poorly.  Cheaper materials and manufacturing short cuts are the bane of any design.

Blaming the design for poor workmanship shows you're less knowledgeable than you are claiming.

This is what got a burr under my saddle.

Very big of you to offer to buy my ammo if the gun runs flawlessly.  But petty to retract the offer if I, a student, make a mistake operating the gun at any time during the class.  Hey, isn't it your job as a TEACHER to FUCKING TEACH ME TO NOT DO THAT?  Or is making your point that 1911's aren't as good as your pet gun more important than doing the job you are being paid to do?

Tell you what, sir, have you ever read the reports on testing the M1911 and M1911A1?  I have.  The genuine military guns with ball ammo will give an AK a run for its money for reliable.  The companies that bid to make them to make up for the manufacturing shortage at Colt had to prove they could make guns that worked.  They did.

The question that you need to ask yourself and start stating more often is, "why can't modern manufacturers attain the standards that typewriter companies held during WW2."  Ask what is wrong with Kimber, not the design.  When you complain about 3" compact 1911's failing and lump in the original 5" gun you are comparing apples and oranges.  I know, we weren't supposed to notice the switch.  I know we untactical non-trainer types are not supposed to point it out or challenge your vast knowledge.

Because if we start asking questions, we'd ask why a self-defense handgun has to be able to take the beating of a thousand rounds in a weekend.  You know how many rounds my 1911 is going to fire in a worst case scenario?  22.  What's in the gun and the two spare mags.  Even a cheap High-Point can cross that bar.

What you're forgetting is the reason you're firing a thousand rounds during the class is to teach the shooter, not test the gun.  Putting on airs about gun quality and then make such a chintzy offer of a refund on ammo shows your confidence.  Refund the entire costs of the class, transportation, ammo, lodging and I'll know you're serious.  I know why you don't.  Because deep in your heart you know it's not the design, it's the maker, and you know there are people out there still making them right and you're terrified that one of those people will show up, pass the course and take your money; and then brag about it.

Just for the record, I own a Glock and I love the thing.  I'm going to be getting me an M&P as soon as I have the cash.  I am just sick of hearing about the 1911 being maligned because places like Kimber make bad examples.

Additionally!  If someone will pony up the test gun I will be happy to drop 1000 rounds through it and see if I can break a cheap 1911.  Rock River Island has Filipino Slag Guns for under $500.  My Springfield has close to a thousand without a failure, but it took years to reach that number.

Why Don't WE Riot?

A soldier whose car had broken down was walking back to post through a relatively affluent neighborhood of Tampa.

He was attacked by four men, two wearing hoodies.

Two people have been arrested for the crime, both are black.

Using Trayvon logic, the only motivation for this attack was racism and thus we should demand the immediate executions of the two people arrested.

Except they could have arrested the wrong people...

While this whole mess with Zimmerman has played out I've talked to my friends and many other people about how the white people don't riot and threaten and posture when something like the soldier being attacked happens.

The most brazen, shocking, line uttered so far, "white people are expected to be civilized."

I immediately said, "But... uh."

Is it really as simple as all that?  Is the behavior of the race baiting instigators of violence because we don't demand they behave in a civilized manner?  Is it that we believe deep down that they can't?

Wow, that's a depressing thought, isn't it?  It's even sadder if it's true.

If it's true then blacks really will never be better than second class citizens.  Special laws will have to be made to account for it.  If it's true then they really aren't equal and they aren't really people or true citizens.

It means the Klan got something right.

But I think the truth lies in expectations.  We never expected them to be equal to us so we've never demanded it from them.  They don't compete on merit for many jobs.  We excuse the most barbaric behavior on the basis of what may have happened to their ancestors.  It's a subtle form of racism and I think we'd be well advised to discard it.

Nothing much to say: Check.
Declining readership: Check.

Stick a fork in it, this blog might be done.

Not an official giving up than a defacto.

The muse may yet strike and I'll fire off ten posts tomorrow.

Forgetting Who You Are

I maintain that when you are performing your duties in the employ of the government you are not an individual anymore.  You are The State.

If it is wrong for the The State to do what you are doing it is wrong for you to do it.  There are a couple of things where it's wrong for you, personally, to do something but it's OK for the state to do it, therefore it's OK for you do it as an agent of the state.

I can't personally get a warrant to break into a house and look around; for example.  I've delegated that power to the cops.

There's a recent kerfluffle about The State having the authority to detain someone who's expressed a desire to check themselves out of life.

While I don't think the state should have the power to do this, if someone is TALKING about killing themselves, they are looking for a reason to NOT kill themselves.  The detention and evaluation is actually giving them what they are after, an out.

How do you tell when someone is really serious?  You find them dead.

I've lost two people in my life to suicide.  My uncle had cancer and just couldn't face another round of treatments.  Nobody knew he was going to kill himself until he'd done it.

My friend WAS evaluated about it when her parents became worried about her.  She did the evaluation, answered the questions in a way that the psychiatrist would identify as not-a-risk and they let her go.  She put an 8mm round through her skull not five minutes after getting home from the hospital!

I am not sure of the rightness of forcing someone to do something because YOU feel it will be in THEIR best interest.

BUT THEY WERE GOING TO KILL THEMSELVES!

Yep.  Sure might have.

Where is the line?

Eating fatty foods will kill me as surely as a vintage Mauser, it just takes longer.

Smoking sure won't do me any good.

Being sedentary is not a life extending plan.

If the state has the moral authority to keep me from hurting myself there's literally nothing they cannot govern about my life to save me from harm.

This is why people are bashing on Ambulance Driver for doing his job.  But I'll bet they are having heat-stroke in their wookie suits and can't express it so.

UPDATE:

In response to Robb.  I used injustice in his comments, that was perhaps too strong.  I don't feel it's my job to keep people from hurting themselves as long as they aren't hurting anyone else.  By extension, it's not my job to HIRE someone to do that which I don't think is my responsibility.  Not injustice, but not all the way great either.

Bad Review

I read Penny Arcade.

Recently one of the authors posted what he thought of China Miéville's work.

I had never heard of him so I checked out the Wiki.

When the wiki page talks more about your politics than your work as an author; I think we know what's important to you.

That's why I will not be paying for Mr Miéville's works.  If you choose to be a fucking socialist, you choose to receive not one guilder of my precious lucre.  So, Mr Marxist Intellectual, you should be pleased that I will be looking for your works online for free.  From ability to need don'tcha know.

No money to socialism!

Their hands are too damn bloody to trust with it.

Especially never trust an avowed socialist who is SELLING something.

The Value Of The Police

What good are the cops for the common citizen?

How many times have you called the cops when a neighbor is breaking the law and gotten no response?

Every sought a solution to that neighbor and found out you weren't allowed to seek solutions without the police?

Have you ever had anything stolen to discover that it wasn't valuable enough to warrant an investigation?

Ever been passed by several people and been pulled over for speeding?  Especially when the cop was right behind you while the faster traffic passed you both?

What's that line?  "If your response to seeing a cop near you in traffic is 'shit' and not 'hurray' you live in a police state."

The incestuous covering of the bad apples doesn't do thing to endear the po-po to us unwashed commoners either.  Nor does the pandering behavior of the unions.  Nor does the lobbying against our wishes at the state capitol.

Pray, explain what you are doing that's valuable to me and I might be less obstinate.  Be sure that this value cancels the negatives I've expressed above.

Anecdotes.

I once wondered why the police force in my town was obtaining full-auto MP5 submachineguns.  I discovered that the city council had broken their own rules for allocating the funds.  I mentioned it to a friend who mentioned it to a friend and pretty soon we were a citizen's committee demanding an explanation from the city council.  We got a lame one and soon we were being active in the elections.  That got the make-up of the council changed and the machineguns were changed into semi-auto carbines.

Suddenly I was a reckless danger to the innocent on the road.  Ten speeding tickets in a month.  None for more than 3 over the limit.  All dismissed when I bothered to show up in court.  I was not alone in being harassed.  Getting some officers fired didn't stop it, it accelerated it.  I moved to another state.  I gave up on my home town.

So next time you want to justify the gang in blue, remember that this is not an atypical situation.  This is the norm.

Genetic Heritage

I have the Scottish resistance to getting into fights, the Italian reluctance to take the fight to blood and the Japanese delicacy about how to treat an opponent once the fight is on.

The Problem

I think we've already lost.  Our great grandparents didn't shoot the bastards and now it's too late.

Just look at guns.

Although we've made great progress in getting the worm turned, look how long it took.

From 1934 to 1994 it was all one direction.  In the next 18 years we've managed to repeal what?  Will it take until 2054 to get it rolled back?  Very likely, and if we stop putting pressure on for even a second we will lose all that we've gained.

Just look at the circus surrounding stand your ground.

As long as the gun issue is an issue where one party is for gun control and the other is sometimes for it; we're boned.  We cannot give corrective nudges to the sometimes party by voting for the other guy without screwing ourselves.

Which sorta happened in 2006 and 2008; didn't it?

I can see it happening again this year.

Freedom

The thing about freedom and liberty that's a sticking point for nearly everyone.

With freedom there will be people who will do things you do not like and you will have to let them.

How many gigantic problems with government stem from that?

Guns?
Abortion?
Sex?
Drugs?
How fast my car is?
How will I pay my doctor?

How much of this is someone's religion imposed on others?
How much of this is someone's belief in a flawed economic theory?

People will not stop doing things you don't like when you make it illegal.

The Right Gun

A Kel-Tec P3AT is not an ideal gun for home defense.  They sacrifice a great deal to be as small and light as they are.

If it's your only gun, then it will have to do.

But if you can afford a better gun, why don't you get one more suited to the task?

Quote Of The Random Interval

You bitch about America at the protests, where our police handle you with kid gloves. You pose like little anarchist douchebags in your Guy Fawkes masks (my GOD! These people are ignorant of history!) throw bricks at the cops and destroy other people’s property, and then scream and cry about your civil rights being violated, all while demanding to be more like other countries that would just machinegun you in the streets and be done with it.

Or What?

At present a good many of us pay our taxes and obey senseless laws because we're afraid of being punished.

Revolutions happen once a critical mass of the populace stops worrying about the legal ramifications and goes ahead and breaks the law.

What CAN the IRS do if the people paying taxes don't file?  Especially if those taxpayers are already looking at losing everything to foreclosure?

We may be closer to that moment than many think.

The Post Below This One

It might read like my inner bigot got into the driver's seat there.

Not really.

The thing about our bent buddies comes from being straight, having several gay friends and really not being involved in the identity politics surrounding homosexuality.

Basically, I am outside the conflict and can see the patterns from a distance that those actively involved cannot.  I really don't have a dog in the fight except for either side forcing me to do things.

I simple want to be left alone and to be allowed to judge my fellow man by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin, sexual practices or wardrobe choices.

For example, on gay marriage: show me where in the federal constitution that the power to govern and regulate marriage comes from.  I cannot find it without extending into some penumbras that essentially make having a written constitution meaningless.

My racial issues stem far more from very visible, very vocal enclaves who demand all of the rights of being Americans without any of the responsibilities.  This ties in with my demand that everyone who lives here joins the culture.  These enclaves of "subculture" offend me and they are actively and deliberately being offensive.  Assimilate or have your little enclave be made into a reservation is my position.

I don't like parasites.  Vast sums of money and effort are expended on people who will never show a return on the investment.  While there seems to be a correlation with the enclaves mentioned above, there's also plenty who share my skin tone suckling on the teat.

I don't care what color my fellow Americans are.  I don't care what my fellow Americans do in their bedrooms.  Rather, I don't want to care.  STOP FORCING ME TO!

Western Civilization

I believe that Western Civilization is not dead, it's dormant.

I think that's what happens when you fight two devastating shooting wars in a generation and a half (WW1 and WW2) then without a pause for rest, leap right into a three generation Mexican stand-off with one of your former allies (Cold War).

It took a lot out of us, it did.

I think that the nap will be over soon.

People are starting to notice things.  They are presently frustrated by being told that what are seeing with their own eyes is not what is happening.  How many lies before you stop believing anything someone says without evidence to back their claim?

I believe that Western Civ will reassert itself.  Notice that I don't say western government.  I am talking about a people here, not a form of governance.

Some things that I've been harping on will start to happen.  We will demand that visitors make their visit and then leave.  We will demand that those who stay adopt our ways and not adapt to theirs.

Sadly, it will likely come to blood.  Perhaps the blood will remind one of our neighbors that they too are part of Western Civ.  It will be the luckiest moment of their miserable history.

We will begin to demand that the nations we support in some way resemble us (assuming we support foreign entanglements) and like us in return.  We should abandon the devils bargains we made in the midst of the Cold War.

There are going to be some awkward moments.

Like explaining to homosexuals that there really aren't all that many of them and it would be far better for them to be hated and ignored than to keep forcing the majority to kow-tow.  The vanishingly small minority of people that actively hate gays still outnumbers them like 4-1.  I support protecting the homosexuals from the heathens.  I don't dislike gay people at all.  What I cannot support is forcing society at large to PRETEND they like homosexuals.  That's actually making the situation worse, not better.

That sort of metric is going to apply to a lot of minority groups.  Western Civ is very accommodating to all manner of variations.  What majorities get sick of is having their lives run by the increasingly sensitive sensibilities of ever smaller fractions of people.  They are asking themselves now, "when do we get to care that what YOU'RE doing is offending the shit out of ME?"

People are starting to ask an important question, "why is this the government's business at all?"  Some have found that it isn't according to the various constitutions.

This is a civilization with several punctuated equilibrium moments where the weight of government was lessened dramatically.  Each correction has resulted in less government than the previous low water moment too.  It's very much like a seismic fault line; pressure builds for a long time then suddenly, without warning, it is released.  I believe we are nearly there.

One of the first signs it's starting will be people no longer looking around to see if their words are offending.  I've noticed that, have you?

Oooooh! Oooooh! I Know This One!

Cheryl Borman wants to make it mandatory that women wear an abaya in the courtroom so that her clients don't see them otherwise and therefore sin.

I have a suggestion.

If you'd kept to yourselves in your backwater medieval theocracy instead of taking out your angst about the rich guys getting all the good looking goats on the World Trade Center and or shooting at Marines when they come by for a visit you would not be in a position to sin by seeing our immodestly clad women.

If I were a woman and involved with the prosecution side I think I would be calling up a vendor of push-up bras and "forgetting" to button a few buttons.  And buying a couple of size too small outfits.  You might get a contempt charge or get sent home to change, but next to sending the defendants to Hell whether they win their case or not?  Priceless.

Rally?

This entire "rally around Mitt" thing assumes that I am a republican and am open to accepting whomever they nominate.  Problem is that I am not a republican.  I was energized by the chance that someone who was like me politically could be nominated instead of the normal country club RINO.

The only reason I am registered as a republican is their candidates are CLOSER to my views on a great many things.

Sadly, that's not all that close at all any more.

In addition to not being a republican I am not a socialist.  Until the democrat party stops being in lockstep with Marx and the murderers he spawned I cannot consider them for even a moment because socialism is too dangerous to trust for even a second.

Anti-Union

I reminded myself of a conversation I'd had with some of the union people at a job I once had.

Their contract was coming due and they were making noises about strikes and demanding a lot more money for less work.

So I asked, "How many years do you think the owner of this place can live if he locks the doors and cuts the utilities?"

"How many weeks can you go once he's done that?"

Who needs whom here?

The owner only needs workers if he wants to stay in business.  If he's wealthy enough, he doesn't need to.

Jobs are a side effect of a successful business.  Business is not a side effect of hiring.

Applaud!

You ARE reading XKCD everyday, aren't you?

McThag's Hair Loss Secret!

Gillette Fusion.

Dial soap.

Shower.

Drain.

Hair is now lost.

Wrong Hands

The US State Department has stated that the reason it refuses to allow the reimportation of M1 rifles and M1 carbines from the Republic of Korea is they are worried that they will subsequently fall into the wrong hands.

What if I pinky promise to not let anyone from ATF handle it once I've bought it?

Theaters

Interesting article here.

I have issues with some sounds and movement.  Lack of sense memory will do that.

All it would take to get me into the theaters again would be:

SIT STILL AND CHEW WITH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH CLOSED!

Yes, my issues in a movie theater are entirely my fellow patrons.

For Heaven's sake if your crunching on that super-large popcorn is drowning out the explosions on the Dolby-Surround THX ear bleedex speakers your mother didn't teach you any damn manners.

Times like that make me yearn for a return to a dueling society.  If you had to back up your behavior with your life you might take a moment to change how you do things.

Characters

Which is the more interesting character?

A Mexican Revolution US Cavalryman, a WW1 German Uhlan or a WW2 Don Cossack?

Or another choice?

I want to make the character a late period cavalry trooper where the bolt action gun was issue and mounted troops had really been made obsolete; but before everyone acknowledged it.

Zoom!

I Don't Think This Was In My Traveller Notes

This Is Why I stopped Making Space Worlds

Blaming The Wrong People

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/5/3/family_of_couple_kil.html

I have been cut off many times.  I have never had an accident from it.

Could it be the deceased was simply a shitty driver?  I'd believe it.

I'd also believe their driving is why they were cut off.  I am willing to bet that the deceased matched speeds with someone in the lane to their right leaving just barely a car-length gap.  I am willing to bet that the car in the right lane was going under the speed limit.  I am willing to bet that the person who "cut them off" was attempting to use that gap to pass them.  I am also willing to bet that when they noticed they were being passed they accelerated to close that gap to prevent it.

Why am I willing to bet that way?  Because I've watched it happen several times each trip I take on I4.  The thing we should be harping on; is that if you're going the same speed as the person in the other lane, get in that lane with them.

There's a common fallacy that knowing how to make the vehicle move and having a license means you know how to drive.

Preferential Hiring

Are white men superior to people who are not?

They must be.

Because if you are not a white man you receive preferential treatment in hiring.  To make you more competitive I assume.  So that you can get a job at all in the face of the obvious superiority of the virile master race.

Or are people just people and individual merit what matters?

What message are we sending with racial and gender based hiring practices?

We do not ask people in wheel chairs to negotiate stairs.  In fact we require that elevators be installed to aid them.

What we don't do is demand that everyone else take the stairs!

What racial and gender preferences do is create an elevator for the minorities and woman and demand everyone else take the stairs.

If you are black, hispanic, female, or any other minority getting the special lift you should be offended as all hell here.

It's literally saying you cannot compete without handicapping the white men.

It's not an equal opportunity, it's discriminating against the white men.

Do you NEED it?  Because if you do need it, then you are not equal.  If you don't need it, why are you accepting the condescension?  It's literally, "There there, Sambo, you don't be worrying about those stairs, we've installed a nice elevator for you.  I'll take the stairs because I know you can't.  Not your fault, of course, it's just your kind never was any good with stairs."

WHY THE FUCK DO YOU TOLERATE THAT?

I Wanna Drink The Kool-Aid!

But...  I am thoroughly vested in .45 ACP.  I don't own any 9mm or .40 S&W guns so getting an M&P would mean an M&P45 if I don't want to add a caliber.

Here's the rub.

Glock Model 21, which I already own, 13+1 rounds.
Springfield XD45, 13+1 rounds.
S&W M&P45, 10+1 rounds.

Hey, Smith and Wesson, that there federal assault weapon ban done sunsetted like eight years ago, it's OK to make pistols that take more shots now.  Which they most certainly do in other calibers.

One option would be .357 SIG which I already stock because that's The Lovely Harvey's chosen self defense round.  The problem with this one is the very real chance of losing the gun to her!

Glock Imperfection

I own a Glock 21 2nd gen and I've owned three different Glock 17's (two 1st gen and one 2nd) over the years.  The first two left to generate cash to pay the bills, the last when I decided that I had too many calibers in the safe.

I rather like Glocks except for one teensy little thing.  I don't like having to pull the trigger in order to take them apart.  Remove source of ammo, check chamber, pull trigger, take apart.  It seems that taking a Glock apart is a walking talking four-rules violation.  Rule #3 to be precise.  It led to my negligent discharge.  My fault.  What I did was "remove source of ammo, oh shiny! BANG, whut?"  Good thing I pointed it at the nice wall and the drywall-block construction can stop .45 Gold-Dot.

I simply don't like the idea.

Still, it was my fault for not checking the chamber.

I also dislike magazine safeties.  My collection of .25's has brought me several examples of this bad plan.

The Vest Pocket's not only have the requirement that I drop the striker to disassemble but also add the requirement to have a magazine in the well to do so.  Remove source of ammo, check chamber, REINTRODUCE SOURCE OF AMMO, pull trigger, take apart.  What could go wrong?

Control

One thing I have not seen put forth about electric cars and why certain government persons like them so much.

Control.

If the farthest from the charger I can be is 50 miles, it sure limits the radius needed to find me.

Simply put I will never be too far from where I started.  If I cannot just hop in the car and be 1,600 miles away in about a day they have a much smaller circle to search should they decide to round me up.

It suits them that I be confined to a smaller radius without checking in with some sort of tracking agency.  I'm willing to bet that an intermediate step will be requiring some sort of ID or check in to purchase gas.  And it will be our own rhetoric that hangs us with that because we're the ones who've talking about how dangerous gasoline can be in the wrong hands and how felons can buy as much as they'd like.

Americans

I love me some BBC Top Gear.

It's interesting watching Jeremy Clarkson slam Americans.

He's written extensively about the evils of socialism and government.  He despises the nanny state.

I've read a lot of what he's written.

He'd be horrified to hear it, but he's an American.  He'd point out that most of the people who live here don't fit the mold.  I'd point out that far too many people who live in the United States are not Americans.

I think he'd agree that far too many people in England aren't English, but they have divisions based on where you were born that we don't.