30 September 2012
28 September 2012
Unforgiven
The movie Unforgiven is often touted as an "anti-violence" film.
I'm just not seeing that.
What I see is the injustice and totalitarianism that comes from a government disarming its citizens.
Why don't I think that it's an anti-violence film?
English Bob, Munny and Ned were all brutally beaten because they were disarmed.
The prostitute Delilah was disfigured by a knife wielding customer who was later protected from real punishment by the government that was supposed to be protecting her. Let alone that Skinny, the bar's owner, failed to provide her with a safe workplace.
It shows that vigilantism is a natural result of justice-denied.
It shows that violence most certainly does end some problems. Will Munny's killing of the entire Big Whiskey police force obtained justice for Ned being whipped to death, revenge on Curly Bill for beating Munny and dispersed the posse that would have been chasing him come dawn.
It's anti-state monopoly on violence.
27 September 2012
Useless Information
If you look close at Dottie, Kaylee and Olga you'll see, "Laconic Arms" laser etched on the lower.
This is from a game world I created.
We played a lot of what we called "Nexus Worlds". These are places where dimensions all meet and all manner of things are possible. Our model basically had the nexus as a sort of grand central station with gates out to the interesting places the players would adventure in.
Kiosks and shops sprouted in such a place to supply the steady stream of adventurers and outsiders.
Laconic Arms was a business in one such nexus, though the players never learned the name. They were basically a used gun shop having only what was brought in from other worlds. The only thing they actually made was ammo.
Across the aisle was Waffen Zauberkunst und Munitionwerk am Nexus. They actually made guns. Clones of the German K.98, G.43 and FG.42 and modified clones that took different cartridges and magazines. What WZM doesn't carry is anything Soviet, the founder was a refugee from the Eastern Front and didn't care for the Russians for some obscure reason...
A spiffy feature of the detachable magazine WZM guns was a swappable mag-well. Because supplies of things like magazines were reliant on finding them through the gateways, being able to use any .308 magazine in your FG.42/70F was handy. The F model, for example had a specific mag made by WZM and you could swap out the magwell for one that took one of FAL, G3 or M14.
Another interesting product I introduced in another world was the M1 Dean assault rifle. It was chambered in .280 British and was generally like an FG.42 in layout. Of note was the 25 round magazine. In real life I gravitated to a ballistically similar round (6.8 SPC) that commonly uses a 25 round magazine. The Dean is from a world where a gateway to an alternate world is discovered in Zaire in the early '70's. In this alternate earth, dinosaurs didn't die off like in our world. They didn't persist any better than mammalian mega-fauna; but the human analog is dino-based. The Dean is from a group of settlers who are fed up with the whole New World Order thing and starting over someplace virgin.
This is from a game world I created.
We played a lot of what we called "Nexus Worlds". These are places where dimensions all meet and all manner of things are possible. Our model basically had the nexus as a sort of grand central station with gates out to the interesting places the players would adventure in.
Kiosks and shops sprouted in such a place to supply the steady stream of adventurers and outsiders.
Laconic Arms was a business in one such nexus, though the players never learned the name. They were basically a used gun shop having only what was brought in from other worlds. The only thing they actually made was ammo.
Across the aisle was Waffen Zauberkunst und Munitionwerk am Nexus. They actually made guns. Clones of the German K.98, G.43 and FG.42 and modified clones that took different cartridges and magazines. What WZM doesn't carry is anything Soviet, the founder was a refugee from the Eastern Front and didn't care for the Russians for some obscure reason...
A spiffy feature of the detachable magazine WZM guns was a swappable mag-well. Because supplies of things like magazines were reliant on finding them through the gateways, being able to use any .308 magazine in your FG.42/70F was handy. The F model, for example had a specific mag made by WZM and you could swap out the magwell for one that took one of FAL, G3 or M14.
Another interesting product I introduced in another world was the M1 Dean assault rifle. It was chambered in .280 British and was generally like an FG.42 in layout. Of note was the 25 round magazine. In real life I gravitated to a ballistically similar round (6.8 SPC) that commonly uses a 25 round magazine. The Dean is from a world where a gateway to an alternate world is discovered in Zaire in the early '70's. In this alternate earth, dinosaurs didn't die off like in our world. They didn't persist any better than mammalian mega-fauna; but the human analog is dino-based. The Dean is from a group of settlers who are fed up with the whole New World Order thing and starting over someplace virgin.
26 September 2012
Next To Nothing
There are days where it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
Autumn is miserable time of year for me, the change of the seasons brings pain.
Every single place there was a break on my legs aches. Today Advil is not cutting it. I am grumpy and short tempered of late. I apologize to anyone who's had their head bitten off.
What this reminds me of is there's some issues associated with my disability and shooting.
I did not break any records when I gave three-gun a try a couple years ago. Hard to make a timely move from one station to the next when you're going thump-drag, thump-drag with your gimpy right peg.
It's the core of my weight problem too. I just can't get aerobic without it turning into white-hot lances of pain.
SIGH.
Messed up enough to be disabled, but not enough to even get special parking.
This problem will also rear its ugly head with some gun-games where I'd have to carry a bunch of stuff along. It was really an issue at the second carbine class where we had to bring "tactical kit". It was kinda worth the pain at the fuss they made over my c1988 ALICE web gear.
Autumn is miserable time of year for me, the change of the seasons brings pain.
Every single place there was a break on my legs aches. Today Advil is not cutting it. I am grumpy and short tempered of late. I apologize to anyone who's had their head bitten off.
What this reminds me of is there's some issues associated with my disability and shooting.
I did not break any records when I gave three-gun a try a couple years ago. Hard to make a timely move from one station to the next when you're going thump-drag, thump-drag with your gimpy right peg.
It's the core of my weight problem too. I just can't get aerobic without it turning into white-hot lances of pain.
SIGH.
Messed up enough to be disabled, but not enough to even get special parking.
This problem will also rear its ugly head with some gun-games where I'd have to carry a bunch of stuff along. It was really an issue at the second carbine class where we had to bring "tactical kit". It was kinda worth the pain at the fuss they made over my c1988 ALICE web gear.
25 September 2012
Ah HA!
I see where the wheels came off.
The rules only apply to ME!
EDIT:
Meaning that _I_ am the only only who must follow them.
The rules only apply to ME!
EDIT:
Meaning that _I_ am the only only who must follow them.
Indecision
The AFG is off again.
Where I think it's most comfortable is in the way of mounting the bipod. I want the option of installing the bipod to be easy.
SIGH.
BC: The most comfortable place was four notches further forward from where I had it pictured. Your comment at least got me to check. Thanks!
Even more indecision! I think if it was an AFG2 I could find a place up front for it because without the wings it would clear the light nicely. Then when I wanted the bipod for target shooting I could pull the AFG and install the bipod.
Much to ponder. I wonder if anyone has an OD AFG2 in stock...
Where I think it's most comfortable is in the way of mounting the bipod. I want the option of installing the bipod to be easy.
SIGH.
BC: The most comfortable place was four notches further forward from where I had it pictured. Your comment at least got me to check. Thanks!
Even more indecision! I think if it was an AFG2 I could find a place up front for it because without the wings it would clear the light nicely. Then when I wanted the bipod for target shooting I could pull the AFG and install the bipod.
Much to ponder. I wonder if anyone has an OD AFG2 in stock...
GRPC
I will not be attending the Gun Rights Policy Conference even though it really is just a hop and a skip from here.
I just plain don't have the money for the hotel room if I stay in Orlando or for gas to drive there and back three times if I stay at home.
Being responsible sucks! It's got zero fun value in it.
Now I know why my mom looked so grim so often.
I just plain don't have the money for the hotel room if I stay in Orlando or for gas to drive there and back three times if I stay at home.
Being responsible sucks! It's got zero fun value in it.
Now I know why my mom looked so grim so often.
24 September 2012
Me And The AFG
I am an early adopter of Magpul's AFG. Mine's a first generation model in olive drab.
It was priced below my "what the hell?" threshold, so I got one.
I installed it and instantly loved it. Because it's a first gen unit I had to relieve my XTM grip panels slightly to clear it; this is not a problem with the AFG2.
Then I decided that it was adding too much weight to the front of the gun and removed it.
Then I put it back on.
Took it back off.
I really can't make up my damn mind about it. You can read about the initial installation here.
For the most part I like how it changes my grip on the fore-end. It hampers operation of my light when I am firing off-handed though. All in all I think I am happier with it on than off. I've never liked fully vertical grips and I tend to just cradle a standard horizontal fore-end (see pic).
You may also notice that I've put the finger swell front strap back on the MIAD. I've been adjusting how I hold onto the rifle to control recoil better, and the swell does help with that. I don't like the optional swell for the AFG, so It's still not installed.
It was priced below my "what the hell?" threshold, so I got one.
I installed it and instantly loved it. Because it's a first gen unit I had to relieve my XTM grip panels slightly to clear it; this is not a problem with the AFG2.
Then I decided that it was adding too much weight to the front of the gun and removed it.
Then I put it back on.
Took it back off.
I really can't make up my damn mind about it. You can read about the initial installation here.
For the most part I like how it changes my grip on the fore-end. It hampers operation of my light when I am firing off-handed though. All in all I think I am happier with it on than off. I've never liked fully vertical grips and I tend to just cradle a standard horizontal fore-end (see pic).
 |
| My poor form. |
23 September 2012
Dynamics
One of the most frustrating things about reading about guns on the internet is an utter and total lack of understanding of the principles in action.
Forums are by far the worst, but comments are a close second.
Yes, I know:
I get sick of being called pedantic when I attempt to explain why two terms are not always synonymous. It's like people are proud of their ignorance and bask in the glow.
I, for one, love to learn new things and I've amended my understanding of things more than a couple times. Closing your mind to knowledge is a waste.
Aside: The post/comment that caused me to write this isn't even an example of the closed minded double-down on the ignorance stupidity that my week has been especially full of.
Forums are by far the worst, but comments are a close second.
Yes, I know:
I get sick of being called pedantic when I attempt to explain why two terms are not always synonymous. It's like people are proud of their ignorance and bask in the glow.
I, for one, love to learn new things and I've amended my understanding of things more than a couple times. Closing your mind to knowledge is a waste.
Aside: The post/comment that caused me to write this isn't even an example of the closed minded double-down on the ignorance stupidity that my week has been especially full of.
Blame The Victim
There's how things should be and how things are.
If I left a bundle of $100 bills sitting on a table in my front yard and left for an hour, I don't expect that bundle to be there when I get back. The person who took the bundle is a thief. It was not their money and they had to trespass to reach it.
In should be world, my property is sacrosanct and people leave it alone even if it's easy to steal.
In real world... my money is gone. If I dared report the theft the police would admonish me for leaving the money out where it could just grow legs.
Sadly, this scenario does apply to some rapes.
In should be world, a woman is safe regardless of how she dresses.
In real world that slinky red dress is an invitation to the rapist, where baggy sweat pants and a loose t-shirt aren't.
And that's blaming the victim. I hate that. The victim didn't do anything wrong. The problem is that doesn't matter to the criminal. How many discrete crimes are there in forcible rape? Each and every one is wrong. All the victim did was dress in a way that caught his eye and become the selected target.
She SHOULD be safe to transit the area. But she isn't. I wish she was and I want her to be.
Criminals are opportunists. They take advantage of the situations that their victims allow to manifest around them.
Leaving the front door unlocked, for example, gives a burglar an opportunity to enter a house quickly and quietly.
Leaving the keys in a running, unattended car gives a thief an opportunity to just drive away.
Walking alone in the wrong neighborhood gives a rapist the opportunity to grab their victim. Wearing the slinky outfit caught their attention, but didn't create the opportunity.
While the blame should be fully on the criminal, it is incumbent on us to limit their opportunities to prey upon us.
PS:
I would like to add that at no point after the crime would I attempt to deflect the criminal's responsibility for their actions.
If I left a bundle of $100 bills sitting on a table in my front yard and left for an hour, I don't expect that bundle to be there when I get back. The person who took the bundle is a thief. It was not their money and they had to trespass to reach it.
In should be world, my property is sacrosanct and people leave it alone even if it's easy to steal.
In real world... my money is gone. If I dared report the theft the police would admonish me for leaving the money out where it could just grow legs.
Sadly, this scenario does apply to some rapes.
In should be world, a woman is safe regardless of how she dresses.
In real world that slinky red dress is an invitation to the rapist, where baggy sweat pants and a loose t-shirt aren't.
And that's blaming the victim. I hate that. The victim didn't do anything wrong. The problem is that doesn't matter to the criminal. How many discrete crimes are there in forcible rape? Each and every one is wrong. All the victim did was dress in a way that caught his eye and become the selected target.
She SHOULD be safe to transit the area. But she isn't. I wish she was and I want her to be.
Criminals are opportunists. They take advantage of the situations that their victims allow to manifest around them.
Leaving the front door unlocked, for example, gives a burglar an opportunity to enter a house quickly and quietly.
Leaving the keys in a running, unattended car gives a thief an opportunity to just drive away.
Walking alone in the wrong neighborhood gives a rapist the opportunity to grab their victim. Wearing the slinky outfit caught their attention, but didn't create the opportunity.
While the blame should be fully on the criminal, it is incumbent on us to limit their opportunities to prey upon us.
PS:
I would like to add that at no point after the crime would I attempt to deflect the criminal's responsibility for their actions.
22 September 2012
GG&G Bipod Adaptor
It's
It's well designed.
It's well made.
It does what it says it will do.
I got mine through Midway USA.
The Harris HBL bipod came from Jacobson's Gun Center in Story City, Iowa back before the Clinton administration.
6.8 SPC vs .300 AAC Blackout
A guy and his dad were sighting in their rifles...
100 yards, 3/8" mild steel.
100 yards, 3/8" mild steel.
Same bullet weight, 115gr. The penetrations are from 6.8, the dents are .300BLK.
What's On My Desktop
Sebastian wants to know. Which one?
The laptop has this:
The desktop has these:
On the right monitor...
On the left monitor...
The airplane pic is a rotating random on taken from the screenshot directory from Strike Fighters 2.
And there's the phone...
Am I over computerized?
The laptop has this:
The desktop has these:
The airplane pic is a rotating random on taken from the screenshot directory from Strike Fighters 2.
And there's the phone...
Am I over computerized?
21 September 2012
And I Thought Being A Brony Was Bad
Admit you own and wear a kilt on Arfcom...
Wow, the insecurity level is insane. Literally insane.
This is the exact sort of intolerance that really makes we wish we had another political paradigm.
Their argument is best summed up as:
Should I go off on things I don't understand and attack you for them? Do you like professional ball sports? I don't. I never have. I don't understand how you, a spectator, can talk about the game as if it had a material effect on your life and as if you are a participant in some way. You. Watched. Millionaires. Play. A. Game.
I don't get it, but I don't think you should be barred from it either. While some who watch sports may have some genuine transference issues and perhaps an inability to give up a portion of their high-school persona that likely isn't the majority of the fans.
In the immortal words of Mike Muir:
PS:
I seem to collect interests that cause shit to be thrown at me. I played role playing games in high school. I like punk, heavy-metal and brit-nouveau and started liking them in a decidedly country-western part of the country. I have friends who are gay. I like anime and enjoy most animation. I read comic books. I read science fiction. I have friends who are cross-dressers. I am a gun owner. I am a car-guy. I wear a kilt from time to time.
What I am not: I am not gay. I am not a cross-dresser or transvestite or confused about my sex or gender. I am not a pedophile or pederast. I am not a follower of any organized religion. I am not a Republican, Democrat or Libertarian.
Wow, the insecurity level is insane. Literally insane.
This is the exact sort of intolerance that really makes we wish we had another political paradigm.
Their argument is best summed up as:
Should I go off on things I don't understand and attack you for them? Do you like professional ball sports? I don't. I never have. I don't understand how you, a spectator, can talk about the game as if it had a material effect on your life and as if you are a participant in some way. You. Watched. Millionaires. Play. A. Game.
I don't get it, but I don't think you should be barred from it either. While some who watch sports may have some genuine transference issues and perhaps an inability to give up a portion of their high-school persona that likely isn't the majority of the fans.
In the immortal words of Mike Muir:
Just cause you don't understand what's going on
...don't mean it don't make no sense
And just cause you don't like it,
...don't mean it ain't no good
And let me tell you something
Before you go taking a walk in my world,
...you better take a look at the real world
Cause this ain't no Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
Can you say "feel like shit?"
Yea maybe sometimes I do feel like shit
I ain't happy about it, but I'd rather feel like shit
...than be full of shit!
And if I offended you, Oh I'm sorry
But, maybe you needed to be offended
But here's my apology and one more thing... fuck you!
Cause you can't bring me down
PS:
I seem to collect interests that cause shit to be thrown at me. I played role playing games in high school. I like punk, heavy-metal and brit-nouveau and started liking them in a decidedly country-western part of the country. I have friends who are gay. I like anime and enjoy most animation. I read comic books. I read science fiction. I have friends who are cross-dressers. I am a gun owner. I am a car-guy. I wear a kilt from time to time.
What I am not: I am not gay. I am not a cross-dresser or transvestite or confused about my sex or gender. I am not a pedophile or pederast. I am not a follower of any organized religion. I am not a Republican, Democrat or Libertarian.
20 September 2012
Environmentalism
I am amused when I hear that environmentalists are upset about plastic bags.
I remember we gave up paper sacks because of environmentalism.
I fully expect there to be some sort of greenie outcry against cloth shopping bags soon.
I remember we gave up paper sacks because of environmentalism.
I fully expect there to be some sort of greenie outcry against cloth shopping bags soon.
Top Twenty
#1 All These Things That I've Done -- The Killers
#2 Bombshell -- Powerman 5000
#3 Give It Revolution -- Suicidal Tendencies
#4 Bring Me To Life -- Evanescence
#5 Girl U Want -- Devo
#6 Teen Angst -- Cracker
#7 Plowed -- Sponge
#8 Use Me ('Til You Use Me Up) -- Al Jarreau
#9 Heaven and Hell -- Black Sabbath
#10 Pictures of You -- The Cure
#11 Whenever Wherever -- Shakira
#12 Institutionalized -- Suicidal Tendencies
#13 Thunderhorse -- Dethklok
#14 Head Like A Hole -- Nine Inch Nails
#15 Girls With Guns -- Tommy Shaw
#16 Good Stuff -- The B-52's
#17 Hollywood Nights -- Bob Seeger and The Silver Bullet Band
#18 Personal Jesus -- Depeche Mode
#19 Heaven's On Fire -- KISS
#20 Disposable Heroes -- Metallica
#2 Bombshell -- Powerman 5000
#3 Give It Revolution -- Suicidal Tendencies
#4 Bring Me To Life -- Evanescence
#5 Girl U Want -- Devo
#6 Teen Angst -- Cracker
#7 Plowed -- Sponge
#8 Use Me ('Til You Use Me Up) -- Al Jarreau
#9 Heaven and Hell -- Black Sabbath
#10 Pictures of You -- The Cure
#11 Whenever Wherever -- Shakira
#12 Institutionalized -- Suicidal Tendencies
#13 Thunderhorse -- Dethklok
#14 Head Like A Hole -- Nine Inch Nails
#15 Girls With Guns -- Tommy Shaw
#16 Good Stuff -- The B-52's
#17 Hollywood Nights -- Bob Seeger and The Silver Bullet Band
#18 Personal Jesus -- Depeche Mode
#19 Heaven's On Fire -- KISS
#20 Disposable Heroes -- Metallica
A Teensy Suggestion
Should we be forced into a war in the Persian Gulf because of Iran and the Arab Spring.
I have a small suggestion.
Conquer.
Do not liberate.
Conquer.
I know that the American psyche can do it. Just wander over to the local Indian casino.
The problem ends when we stop letting them dictate how things will be.
It's really not going to be over until we have tourists in Mecca with pictures of them eating at Billy Bob's Black Mosque Open Pit BBQ (try the pulled pork).
I believe in self defense at the personal level and that DOES extrapolate to the civilizational level. If another "civilization" is trying to wipe yours out, it's OK to wipe them out in reply. Just like it's OK to kill someone who's trying to murder you.
I want Arabic and Farsi added to "dead languages" on Jeopardy.
We won't need death camps, but we will have to eradicate the entire "culture". If we don't we are committing suicide.
UPDATE:
It seems I am not alone in these feelings...
Cold Fury
My Pet Jawa
And Quote of the Day:
I have a small suggestion.
Conquer.
Do not liberate.
Conquer.
I know that the American psyche can do it. Just wander over to the local Indian casino.
The problem ends when we stop letting them dictate how things will be.
It's really not going to be over until we have tourists in Mecca with pictures of them eating at Billy Bob's Black Mosque Open Pit BBQ (try the pulled pork).
I believe in self defense at the personal level and that DOES extrapolate to the civilizational level. If another "civilization" is trying to wipe yours out, it's OK to wipe them out in reply. Just like it's OK to kill someone who's trying to murder you.
I want Arabic and Farsi added to "dead languages" on Jeopardy.
We won't need death camps, but we will have to eradicate the entire "culture". If we don't we are committing suicide.
UPDATE:
It seems I am not alone in these feelings...
Cold Fury
My Pet Jawa
And Quote of the Day:
[G]o in, pound them flat, make the rubble bounce; then, as the last American soldier leaves, hang a sign saying “don’t make us come back here.”
19 September 2012
HA!
A man who watches My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic is somehow a pedophile...
Yet spending hours watching men in tight capri pants rubbing each others asses is not gay?
Yeah...
It's dangerous going there, isn't it?
PS: you mean pederast, by the way.
Avast!
Ta day be talk like a pirate day, savvy?
Arrrrr!
Fifteen Men on a dead man's chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
the mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingrs ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of the whole ship's list, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a oawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Looking up at paradise
All souls bound just contrawise, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of 'em good and true, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there that took the plum
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
More was seen through a sternlight screen...
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Yo Ho, Yo Ho, get in tha car...
Arrrrr!
Fifteen Men on a dead man's chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
the mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingrs ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of the whole ship's list, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a oawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers' glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Looking up at paradise
All souls bound just contrawise, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of 'em good and true, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev'ry man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there that took the plum
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
More was seen through a sternlight screen...
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Chartings undoubt where a woman had been
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
'Twas a flimsy shift on a bunker cot
With a dirk slit sheer through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot
Oh was she wench or some shudderin' maid
That dared the knife and took the blade
By God! she had stuff for a plucky jade, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Fifteen men on a dead man's chest, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight
With a Yo-Heave-Ho! and a fare-you-well
And a sudden plunge in the sullen swell
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Yo Ho, Yo Ho, get in tha car...
18 September 2012
KTKC
OK.
I asked before I posted this if it would be OK.
One of my friends from the old Impala SS club has been fighting prostate cancer for a long time now.
The shit's metastasized into other places now.
It's not a fun thing like a bribe to bring up. It's a sob story because we kinda know it's not going to end well.
I set my goal this year at a meager $500. Not enough to win anything, of course.
I want to help because Garry DID get extra time from the research we donated to pay for last year and he's getting the benefit of research that's ongoing that we're paying for now.
When I mentioned the whole KTKC cancer thing and what I hoped to collect and that some other bloggers were offering prizes for donations, Garry said, "shouldn't have to do that to get people to donate."
He's right. We shouldn't have to.
It works and it gets people to donate, but c'mon people. The point isn't the fabulous prizes; the point is that the money will help save lives. I think we're forgetting that in our KTKC posts.
Click that picture in the upper right and donate! There's no rule that says you can only donate the one time. There's no rule that says you can only donate through one blogger. The site stats say over 100 people visit here every day and just $10 from each of you will go a long ways towards fighting some pretty nasty cancers. Just four of you have donated a total of $140 here and $100 of it was one person.
I don't offer prizes, just guilt.
I asked before I posted this if it would be OK.
One of my friends from the old Impala SS club has been fighting prostate cancer for a long time now.
The shit's metastasized into other places now.
It's not a fun thing like a bribe to bring up. It's a sob story because we kinda know it's not going to end well.
I set my goal this year at a meager $500. Not enough to win anything, of course.
I want to help because Garry DID get extra time from the research we donated to pay for last year and he's getting the benefit of research that's ongoing that we're paying for now.
When I mentioned the whole KTKC cancer thing and what I hoped to collect and that some other bloggers were offering prizes for donations, Garry said, "shouldn't have to do that to get people to donate."
He's right. We shouldn't have to.
It works and it gets people to donate, but c'mon people. The point isn't the fabulous prizes; the point is that the money will help save lives. I think we're forgetting that in our KTKC posts.
Click that picture in the upper right and donate! There's no rule that says you can only donate the one time. There's no rule that says you can only donate through one blogger. The site stats say over 100 people visit here every day and just $10 from each of you will go a long ways towards fighting some pretty nasty cancers. Just four of you have donated a total of $140 here and $100 of it was one person.
I don't offer prizes, just guilt.
What Can You Do?
It seems to me that if attacking about twelve embassies and murdering an ambassador and some of the staff can't get people to stop mocking you openly on Twitter, you should pack it in.
LINK
We're not afraid of you. We're pissed and we're using black humor, but we're not afraid.
LINK
We're not afraid of you. We're pissed and we're using black humor, but we're not afraid.
Honest Thag's Firearms Cleaning
The Lovely Harvey has a co-worker who owns a Benelli Nova.
Being able to buy a gun does not impart common sense.
He's apparently never cleaned it and just tossed it in a cloth case after the last time he shot it. Perhaps even the first time he shot it since there's not a whit of wear.
In and of itself, not bothering to clean immediately is no problem. The problem was it was stored in his garage for a couple years with not a drop of oil on it. In the arid conditions of Florida. The parkerized barrel was red with rust.
I attacked the rust with some solvent and LSA, it's mostly black now. There's still some places soaking oil now that look like rust, but I am reluctant to get more aggressive than a nylon brush.
This is the first time I've ever touched a Nova. I know that I am my friend's "gun guy" so they naturally think I know everything. Well, guns are guns really so I know a lot just by knowing a bit.
This web page is WONDERFUL! It's got gobs and gobs of manuals for lots of guns.
The Nova is kinda a Glock-870. Dual action bars, controls in the same place andplastic er polymer everywhere! It balances well and seems to be well constructed otherwise.
No shooting test, not my gun.
Don't forget to donate to KTKC!
Being able to buy a gun does not impart common sense.
He's apparently never cleaned it and just tossed it in a cloth case after the last time he shot it. Perhaps even the first time he shot it since there's not a whit of wear.
In and of itself, not bothering to clean immediately is no problem. The problem was it was stored in his garage for a couple years with not a drop of oil on it. In the arid conditions of Florida. The parkerized barrel was red with rust.
I attacked the rust with some solvent and LSA, it's mostly black now. There's still some places soaking oil now that look like rust, but I am reluctant to get more aggressive than a nylon brush.
This is the first time I've ever touched a Nova. I know that I am my friend's "gun guy" so they naturally think I know everything. Well, guns are guns really so I know a lot just by knowing a bit.
This web page is WONDERFUL! It's got gobs and gobs of manuals for lots of guns.
The Nova is kinda a Glock-870. Dual action bars, controls in the same place and
No shooting test, not my gun.
Don't forget to donate to KTKC!
17 September 2012
Morning Conversation
I have In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders on the TV while The Lovely Harvey is getting ready for work.
The two bad buys are robbing a bank when she looks at the screen.
The Lovely Harvey: "Oh sure, you can just walk into a bank like that and the security guard won't do anything."
Me: "They're wearing camouflage, the guard can't see them. DUH!"
TLH - walks off shaking her head wondering why she married me.
The two bad buys are robbing a bank when she looks at the screen.
The Lovely Harvey: "Oh sure, you can just walk into a bank like that and the security guard won't do anything."
Me: "They're wearing camouflage, the guard can't see them. DUH!"
TLH - walks off shaking her head wondering why she married me.
Kilted At A Wedding
I wore my kilt at my buddy Skeezer's weddin'.
He picked an appropriate day for it.
I'm best man and the woman is the maid-o-honor.
Unlike Jay, there doesn't seem to be a camera handy to capture me in my kilt when I am not cleaned up.
He picked an appropriate day for it.
I'm best man and the woman is the maid-o-honor.
Unlike Jay, there doesn't seem to be a camera handy to capture me in my kilt when I am not cleaned up.
16 September 2012
Maschinenpistole Fünf
Ah, yes, the glorious MP.5
Tam and Sebastian have recently mentioned the most popular submachinegun ever made.
I have an MP.5 story too!
I used to live in Ames, Iowa.
Ames is the home of Iowa State University. It's not the happiest of marriages at times.
Ames has a police force.
They gained a less than stellar reputation for accuracy after an ISU basketball player held up and took over the local Burger King. No hostages by the time the police arrived, but he'd barricaded himself in the restaurant. The cops fired over two hundred rounds at the restaurant and the perp surrendered during the lull where the cops were presumably waiting for someone to get back from buying more ammo. He was uninjured.
Iowa State University has an annual celebration of education known as VEISHA.
VEISHA has more than once descended into riotous behavior. Mostly of the property-damage variety from underage drinking and youthful exuberance. But a rioting mob nonetheless.
Shortly after the 1992 riots the Gendarmes de Ames decided the needed more firepower to quell such uprisings. Especially after they found themselves in the embarrassing position of having fired tear-gas PAST the riot which caused the rioters to flee the gas STRAIGHT AT THEM.
They decided on Heckler And Koch's MP.5.
It probably would have been done swiftly and quietly but... You see the City of Ames has rules for buying police equipment. Rules like a quorum of the city council, vote must happen during a regular council meeting, must be on the published agenda... Complicated stuff.
A local person was perusing the City Council minutes and noticed the authorization of several MP.5 SMG's. "Odd," he thought, "I don't recall seeing that come to a vote at the last meeting." He did some more research and discovered the vote was made during a special session created just to vote on the acquisition. "Foul!" he cried!
At the very next meeting he demanded to know why the Ames Police, with their aforementioned problem with accuracy, needed machine guns. Further he discovered that there had not been an Ames police officer killed in the line of duty by any means, let alone shot since prohibition. He made quite a stink about it and I even joined in with making the stink at the council meetings until they finally decided that they would also get semi-auto trigger packs for them and place the select-fire packs into the armory where they could only be removed in the event of a declared emergency (which required the Governor).
It should have ended there. I mentioned my involvement? Yeah, suddenly everyone who spoke up at those meetings suddenly had a great deal of difficulty keeping below the speed limit, finding a parking place, keeping their grass cut to code... All manner of petty harassment. It was enough that I gave up on Ames and decided to off myself. The Lovely Harvey changed my mind and convinced me to merely move to Florida.
Tam and Sebastian have recently mentioned the most popular submachinegun ever made.
I have an MP.5 story too!
I used to live in Ames, Iowa.
Ames is the home of Iowa State University. It's not the happiest of marriages at times.
Ames has a police force.
They gained a less than stellar reputation for accuracy after an ISU basketball player held up and took over the local Burger King. No hostages by the time the police arrived, but he'd barricaded himself in the restaurant. The cops fired over two hundred rounds at the restaurant and the perp surrendered during the lull where the cops were presumably waiting for someone to get back from buying more ammo. He was uninjured.
Iowa State University has an annual celebration of education known as VEISHA.
VEISHA has more than once descended into riotous behavior. Mostly of the property-damage variety from underage drinking and youthful exuberance. But a rioting mob nonetheless.
Shortly after the 1992 riots the Gendarmes de Ames decided the needed more firepower to quell such uprisings. Especially after they found themselves in the embarrassing position of having fired tear-gas PAST the riot which caused the rioters to flee the gas STRAIGHT AT THEM.
They decided on Heckler And Koch's MP.5.
It probably would have been done swiftly and quietly but... You see the City of Ames has rules for buying police equipment. Rules like a quorum of the city council, vote must happen during a regular council meeting, must be on the published agenda... Complicated stuff.
A local person was perusing the City Council minutes and noticed the authorization of several MP.5 SMG's. "Odd," he thought, "I don't recall seeing that come to a vote at the last meeting." He did some more research and discovered the vote was made during a special session created just to vote on the acquisition. "Foul!" he cried!
At the very next meeting he demanded to know why the Ames Police, with their aforementioned problem with accuracy, needed machine guns. Further he discovered that there had not been an Ames police officer killed in the line of duty by any means, let alone shot since prohibition. He made quite a stink about it and I even joined in with making the stink at the council meetings until they finally decided that they would also get semi-auto trigger packs for them and place the select-fire packs into the armory where they could only be removed in the event of a declared emergency (which required the Governor).
It should have ended there. I mentioned my involvement? Yeah, suddenly everyone who spoke up at those meetings suddenly had a great deal of difficulty keeping below the speed limit, finding a parking place, keeping their grass cut to code... All manner of petty harassment. It was enough that I gave up on Ames and decided to off myself. The Lovely Harvey changed my mind and convinced me to merely move to Florida.
Wherein Thag Remembers How To Work Teh Intertubes
Over there, to your right and slightly up: there's a picture of me in my kilt at The Lovely Harvey's company Christmas party.
Click on that pic and you're magically transported to the Kilted To Kick Cancer donation page.
Click on that pic and you're magically transported to the Kilted To Kick Cancer donation page.
 |
| My View From Under the Desk |
They Hate Us They Really Hate Us
It is time to accept, just like we've accepted it from the media, that there is nothing we can do get Islam to like us.
They hate us for who and what we are and will forever.
Even complete capitulation will not make them like us because they will hate us for what we once were.
Since the hate is everlasting and everything we do offends them, I say we stop trying to avoid offending them.
Bacon and alcohol consumption is now REQUIRED at all diplomatic functions with Islamic nations.
Don't like it? Tough shit.
Every suicide bomb and IED gets a JDAM into the Black Mosque.
Don't like it? Hey, I didn't start this fucking war.
We tried to be nice, we really did, and if it weren't two things your stupid medieval ways would not matter even one whit.
First is oil.
Second is our own damn honor system where we don't just steal the oil from you. Gods if we'd just let the Brits alone to run the place like they'd been doing...
They hate us for who and what we are and will forever.
Even complete capitulation will not make them like us because they will hate us for what we once were.
Since the hate is everlasting and everything we do offends them, I say we stop trying to avoid offending them.
Bacon and alcohol consumption is now REQUIRED at all diplomatic functions with Islamic nations.
Don't like it? Tough shit.
Every suicide bomb and IED gets a JDAM into the Black Mosque.
Don't like it? Hey, I didn't start this fucking war.
We tried to be nice, we really did, and if it weren't two things your stupid medieval ways would not matter even one whit.
First is oil.
Second is our own damn honor system where we don't just steal the oil from you. Gods if we'd just let the Brits alone to run the place like they'd been doing...
14 September 2012
13 September 2012
Hey La Hey Lah
My Glock's back!
We were in a bit of a tight spot last year. The IRS decided that we owed $4,500 more than we calculated we did and we had to finish paying off the hospital for my $6,000 case of heart-burn.
Marv graciously ponied up a loan and required some collateral.
My Glock 21 (2nd Gen) was part of it. It is also the first thing I have had returned to me since we ARE paying him back via monthly payments.
It's a double happy moment. I'm getting my stuff out of pawn and we're getting out of debt.
Huzzah!
There's bonus happy in that I am the original owner of this particular gun. I bought it new from Jacobson's Gun Center in Story City, Iowa in 1991. I have owned this pistol longer than any other firearm in my modest collection. Hey, it's also old enough to drink!
I need to get new night sights for it, though. The 18 year old Meprolights are barely glowing.
We were in a bit of a tight spot last year. The IRS decided that we owed $4,500 more than we calculated we did and we had to finish paying off the hospital for my $6,000 case of heart-burn.
Marv graciously ponied up a loan and required some collateral.
My Glock 21 (2nd Gen) was part of it. It is also the first thing I have had returned to me since we ARE paying him back via monthly payments.
It's a double happy moment. I'm getting my stuff out of pawn and we're getting out of debt.
Huzzah!
There's bonus happy in that I am the original owner of this particular gun. I bought it new from Jacobson's Gun Center in Story City, Iowa in 1991. I have owned this pistol longer than any other firearm in my modest collection. Hey, it's also old enough to drink!
I need to get new night sights for it, though. The 18 year old Meprolights are barely glowing.
Oh Joy
Here's a happy story to start your day.
This civil forfeiture crap is exactly that. Crap.
And it's wholly bipartisan, a wonderful spin-off of the War on Drugs.
Yet another thing that's clearly unconstitutional to anyone who can read and who has not attended law school or put on a judicial frock.
This civil forfeiture crap is exactly that. Crap.
And it's wholly bipartisan, a wonderful spin-off of the War on Drugs.
Yet another thing that's clearly unconstitutional to anyone who can read and who has not attended law school or put on a judicial frock.
Mid Course Update
Kilted to Kick Cancer 2012 is almost half done and three of you have generously contributed a total of $40 through my link.
I cannot offer you bribes like Jay G; but can we at least get to $100 for me?
Prostate cancer is a little personal for me, it was what got my Grampa Howard. Well started it. The prostate cancer spread to his pelvis and when that got weak, it broke and then it just took off and got everywhere.
Marv's step-father died from it. Holly was a solid, fine man and should not have had to suffer such an indignity.
And don't forget the dear departed Acidman. While he was a survivor of this cancer, I can't help but think it had a lasting effect on his health and mental well being.
There's nothing that says you have to donate only the one time. Donate early, donate often.
I cannot offer you bribes like Jay G; but can we at least get to $100 for me?
Prostate cancer is a little personal for me, it was what got my Grampa Howard. Well started it. The prostate cancer spread to his pelvis and when that got weak, it broke and then it just took off and got everywhere.
Marv's step-father died from it. Holly was a solid, fine man and should not have had to suffer such an indignity.
And don't forget the dear departed Acidman. While he was a survivor of this cancer, I can't help but think it had a lasting effect on his health and mental well being.
There's nothing that says you have to donate only the one time. Donate early, donate often.
11 September 2012
Learning About You
Referencing this.
I am done learning about you until you start learning about ME.
I am done avoiding offending you until you start worrying about offending me.
You don't even know what I find offensive, do you?
Because you don't know what I find offensive, you don't understand the real reasons I am upset and your lack of understanding leads you to falsely attribute other motives and reasons.
It's appropriate that it comes up today of all days.
I am upset because you're murderous and intolerant not because I am prejudiced against your religious beliefs.
I am upset because you're parasites and not because of your skin tone. This is of note because the parasites I rail on the most, The Bartmids, are caucasian.
I am upset because you're not coming here to become Americans, you're coming here to remain whatever nationality you were and I object to enclaves and colonization. The upset is enhanced with the insult that you are also here illegally.
I am upset because when you express what "justice" is it is always punitive and often rises to the level of reversing the situation that created the injustice in the first place. If it was wrong for "me" to do it to you, it's also wrong for you to do it to me; for the same reasons! I am not upset that you want to be my equal as a fellow human being.
I am done learning about you until you start learning about ME.
I am done avoiding offending you until you start worrying about offending me.
You don't even know what I find offensive, do you?
Because you don't know what I find offensive, you don't understand the real reasons I am upset and your lack of understanding leads you to falsely attribute other motives and reasons.
It's appropriate that it comes up today of all days.
I am upset because you're murderous and intolerant not because I am prejudiced against your religious beliefs.
I am upset because you're parasites and not because of your skin tone. This is of note because the parasites I rail on the most, The Bartmids, are caucasian.
I am upset because you're not coming here to become Americans, you're coming here to remain whatever nationality you were and I object to enclaves and colonization. The upset is enhanced with the insult that you are also here illegally.
I am upset because when you express what "justice" is it is always punitive and often rises to the level of reversing the situation that created the injustice in the first place. If it was wrong for "me" to do it to you, it's also wrong for you to do it to me; for the same reasons! I am not upset that you want to be my equal as a fellow human being.
10 September 2012
Tea
I enjoy a nice cup of hot tea from time to time.
The problem is my tea has tasted wrong. I thought I liked english breakfast, but every attempt to make a cup was "off".
Turns out I was getting two simple things wrong.
First, the microwave just doesn't get the water hot enough. It needs to be at a rolling boil.
Second, I was not steeping near long enough. Five minutes is right.
Now my tea is how I like it!
PS: Milk, no sugar.
The problem is my tea has tasted wrong. I thought I liked english breakfast, but every attempt to make a cup was "off".
Turns out I was getting two simple things wrong.
First, the microwave just doesn't get the water hot enough. It needs to be at a rolling boil.
Second, I was not steeping near long enough. Five minutes is right.
Now my tea is how I like it!
PS: Milk, no sugar.
Wall Hangings
This is Vanessa and Svetlana, a Short Magazine, Lee-Enfield Mk III* and Mosin-Nagant M-1891/30 respectively with the remnants of my mother's wooden mask collection.
Space is at a premium in the gun safe and these two have a enough history to be hung up on the wall.
I may yet add Catherine to the collection.
Space is at a premium in the gun safe and these two have a enough history to be hung up on the wall.
I may yet add Catherine to the collection.
Purity
I am a bit of a purist about leaving mil-surp the way it was issued.
Mostly because Bubba has gotten to so many of them already and sporterized most.
Nowadays making a sporter out of an old mil-surp hurts the value of the gun.
Sometimes significantly.
The reality show American Guns recently took an M-1898 Krag-Jorgenson rifle, cut down the barrel, drilled and tapped it for a scope and put a black polymer stock on it. They only charged the customer $2,500 to make his $1,500 heirloom into a $400 hunting rifle. To be fair the proprietor warned the customer, but for $2,500 he could have had a pre-bubba'd gun modified and preserved some history.
When I started looking around to see how the customer had affected the value of his grandfather's gun I looked hard at a few of the bubba guns. There's some incredible craftsmanship on display. Many of these guns were converted with skill and care and are actually very nicely done.
The problem is when the government unloaded them to the surplus market, they sold at less than scrap value so there was no reason to preserve them. I am willing to bet that nearly all of them died of neglect forgotten in the back of the closet slowly rusting solid.
The same thing is kind of going on with Mosin-Nagants. Some pretty nice ones are out there for less than $200. Lots of them are being bubba'd. Some are even being converted to sporting configurations with a great deal of skill. And in fifty years, those guns are going still be worth $200 and unmodified guns might be worth a lot more.
My SMLE is such a case. I paid $70 for Vanessa. She's worth $300-800 now and it's only been 15 years.
With all that said, it's YOUR gun, do what you want. It's prudent, though, to find out what it's worth unchanged, selling it intact could pay for a new gun that's already how you want it.
Mostly because Bubba has gotten to so many of them already and sporterized most.
Nowadays making a sporter out of an old mil-surp hurts the value of the gun.
Sometimes significantly.
The reality show American Guns recently took an M-1898 Krag-Jorgenson rifle, cut down the barrel, drilled and tapped it for a scope and put a black polymer stock on it. They only charged the customer $2,500 to make his $1,500 heirloom into a $400 hunting rifle. To be fair the proprietor warned the customer, but for $2,500 he could have had a pre-bubba'd gun modified and preserved some history.
When I started looking around to see how the customer had affected the value of his grandfather's gun I looked hard at a few of the bubba guns. There's some incredible craftsmanship on display. Many of these guns were converted with skill and care and are actually very nicely done.
The problem is when the government unloaded them to the surplus market, they sold at less than scrap value so there was no reason to preserve them. I am willing to bet that nearly all of them died of neglect forgotten in the back of the closet slowly rusting solid.
The same thing is kind of going on with Mosin-Nagants. Some pretty nice ones are out there for less than $200. Lots of them are being bubba'd. Some are even being converted to sporting configurations with a great deal of skill. And in fifty years, those guns are going still be worth $200 and unmodified guns might be worth a lot more.
My SMLE is such a case. I paid $70 for Vanessa. She's worth $300-800 now and it's only been 15 years.
With all that said, it's YOUR gun, do what you want. It's prudent, though, to find out what it's worth unchanged, selling it intact could pay for a new gun that's already how you want it.
08 September 2012
Shooty Saturday!
Took Dottie to the range.
I mentioned back here that I had removed the Troy Medieval muzzle brake and replaced it with a Wilson Combat Accu-Tac.
How they compare:
Dottie has been frustrating. She was accurate enough, but would spread something aweful at longer ranges. I think I figured out the issue. The brake was having an adverse effect on the bullet as it left the muzzle.
I have cut my group sizes in half at 25 yards. We didn't have time to move out to a longer range, but we will soon.
I recycled this target from her previous outing. The group above the Shoot-N-See decal is from when she sported the muzzle brake, the other two are from the three-prong.
EDIT:
Marv's recording from his GoPro on a stick!
I mentioned back here that I had removed the Troy Medieval muzzle brake and replaced it with a Wilson Combat Accu-Tac.
How they compare:
Dottie has been frustrating. She was accurate enough, but would spread something aweful at longer ranges. I think I figured out the issue. The brake was having an adverse effect on the bullet as it left the muzzle.
I have cut my group sizes in half at 25 yards. We didn't have time to move out to a longer range, but we will soon.
I recycled this target from her previous outing. The group above the Shoot-N-See decal is from when she sported the muzzle brake, the other two are from the three-prong.
 |
| Ten round group for photo purposes. Marv filmed me shooting it with his Go-Pro on a stick. |
Marv's recording from his GoPro on a stick!
07 September 2012
Yup, You're A Hypocrite
I know someone who's aspiring to be an author.
They blog and have a Facebook account.
They download anything they desire, for free, from bit-torrent sites. Books, movies, games; you name it.
They recently discovered a passage they'd written on someone else's site. Without attribution.
They are going apeshit about it now.
They are not happy with my reply to the outrage, "Now you know how the people who made those movies feel about you stealing their work."
Here's your sign.
PS: They know who they are, and I know who they are and that's where it will sit. I don't wanna get the MPAA or RIAA on their asses.
They blog and have a Facebook account.
They download anything they desire, for free, from bit-torrent sites. Books, movies, games; you name it.
They recently discovered a passage they'd written on someone else's site. Without attribution.
They are going apeshit about it now.
They are not happy with my reply to the outrage, "Now you know how the people who made those movies feel about you stealing their work."
Here's your sign.
PS: They know who they are, and I know who they are and that's where it will sit. I don't wanna get the MPAA or RIAA on their asses.
05 September 2012
Orbital Mechanics
Hillary Clinton is on the other side of the planet, it seems that she's attempting to get as far, physically, from the DNC as is possible.
She was negotiating with the Russians to get farther away in a Soyuz, but they told her that the orbit would put her within 100 miles of the convention every 90 minutes...
She was negotiating with the Russians to get farther away in a Soyuz, but they told her that the orbit would put her within 100 miles of the convention every 90 minutes...
Jaded
Kilted To Kick Cancer
I love how fast sci-fi fans and gamers become jaded about technology.
I have a term that's new to me from Roberta X, "Teakettle Drive".
(I will now butcher the explanation)
A fusion thermal drive is basically a fusion source making heat and spraying it down with reaction mass, the reaction mass expands and that makes thrusties.
Roberta calls it a teakettle drive, like they are merely heating the water to boiling and spraying live steam out the nozzles.
Like I said, jaded.
That water will be heated to plasma temperatures and will likely not remain water but broken fragments of water molecules. It will probably be a little radioactive as well.
Milk with your tea? Sugar?
The scope of technology gets strange in space when you demand things happen faster than in a Hohmann transfer orbit. Heating water, with fusion, hot enough to make plasma for thrust = teakettle.
This is not the first time this has hit me.
I had absorbed the tech from Traveller pretty well. I was accustomed to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 g drives. I had a tentative grasp of orbital mechanics and gravity wells.
Then I saw Star Trek VI. There's a scene where the Enterprise-A is ripping towards a planet for the final showdown. Tearing STRAIGHT DOWN THE WELL! Apparently in Star Trek, hundreds or thousands of g's are everyday.
I got over it and had to deal with its opposite recently. The space setting I've created from scratch has a "fast" ship that can pull 0.13g fully fueled with a peak acceleration of about 0.45g as the fuel is running out. Delta-V matters more in a harder science world than in Traveller or Star Trek. I am still struck by things taking days instead of minutes because of the differences in the real-space drives. Traveller caused me to expect much shorter normal space travel times.
I love how fast sci-fi fans and gamers become jaded about technology.
I have a term that's new to me from Roberta X, "Teakettle Drive".
(I will now butcher the explanation)
A fusion thermal drive is basically a fusion source making heat and spraying it down with reaction mass, the reaction mass expands and that makes thrusties.
Roberta calls it a teakettle drive, like they are merely heating the water to boiling and spraying live steam out the nozzles.
Like I said, jaded.
That water will be heated to plasma temperatures and will likely not remain water but broken fragments of water molecules. It will probably be a little radioactive as well.
Milk with your tea? Sugar?
The scope of technology gets strange in space when you demand things happen faster than in a Hohmann transfer orbit. Heating water, with fusion, hot enough to make plasma for thrust = teakettle.
This is not the first time this has hit me.
I had absorbed the tech from Traveller pretty well. I was accustomed to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 g drives. I had a tentative grasp of orbital mechanics and gravity wells.
Then I saw Star Trek VI. There's a scene where the Enterprise-A is ripping towards a planet for the final showdown. Tearing STRAIGHT DOWN THE WELL! Apparently in Star Trek, hundreds or thousands of g's are everyday.
I got over it and had to deal with its opposite recently. The space setting I've created from scratch has a "fast" ship that can pull 0.13g fully fueled with a peak acceleration of about 0.45g as the fuel is running out. Delta-V matters more in a harder science world than in Traveller or Star Trek. I am still struck by things taking days instead of minutes because of the differences in the real-space drives. Traveller caused me to expect much shorter normal space travel times.
04 September 2012
I Simply Must Agree
Kilted to Kick Cancer
Tam posted about this.
I want one too. Seems like a decent idea for keeping some things running in the event of a hurricane or tropical storm. Could make the difference between surviving or living.
Tam posted about this.
I want one too. Seems like a decent idea for keeping some things running in the event of a hurricane or tropical storm. Could make the difference between surviving or living.
Not Excited About Republicans In Charge
Kilted to Kick Cancer!
Why am I not excited about the chance the Republicans getting a clean sweep?
Because I am a gun owner and the most lasting effects on my ownership have been from Republican presidents.
In 1986 Ronald Reagan signed the "Firearms Owners Protection Act". That capped the supply of machineguns that could be owned by us everyday citizens to what was already built on the day the law took affect, May 19, 1986. He should have both said, this is not what was promised and vetoed it.
That means an M16 I could own is at least 26 years old and is in the neighborhood of $17,000. Plus $200 for the tax stamp.
A new M16 certainly doesn't cost that much. If it was allowed I could build one for about $1,500 plus the stamp. I can make a semi-automatic AR for about $1,500 plus the stamp.
The lower is the same except for two places. On an M16 lower the milling operation that opens up the cavity for the hammer and trigger is continued all the way to the rear instead of the narrower channel for the disconnect and selector. An M16 lower also has a hole drilled for the auto-sear. A few minutes difference in machine time at most starting with a raw forging.
It is even sillier when you consider the Drop In Auto Sear or DIAS. A REGISTERED DIAS is a $9,000 to $10,000 item. It can be made without complex milling from stock you can buy at Home Depot in a couple of hours. The thing is $25 of material, tops. What it does is replace milling out the cavity and drilling the hole for the auto-sear. All of the other trigger parts need to be proper M16.
But we can't make new ones because of an amendment to a bill that was added under questionable circumstances.
One would think that this would be easily remedied, wouldn't you?
Repeal of Hughes amendment portion of the FOPA has not been submitted even once since it became law.
Saint Reagan also supported the Brady Bill and endorsed its passage.
George HW Bush, by executive fiat, banned the importation of complete "assault rifles" under the sporting purposes clause of the gun control act. He also signed the bill containing Joe Biden's 922(r) making it far more difficult to assemble a clone of a military style gun from parts kits. This law was passed in 1990! Most people paid no attention to it until after the 1994 Assault Weapon [sic] Ban (AWB). Makes you wonder how many contraband FALs are out there, doesn't it? In fact, until 1994 assault weapon style guns were a very small portion of the market. Since the expiration of the AWB in 2004 they've become the principle portion of the rifle market.
The Republican take over of Congress in 1994 was bought primarily on the promise of repealing both the Brady Act and AWB. No attempt at repeal was made in the following six years of Republican congressional majority. That broken promise contributed to that majority steadily declining to a Democratic majority in the Senate in 2002 and full control of Congress in 2008.
George W Bush, by executive fiat, banned the importation of parts kits that had barrels. He also said, more than once, that if the AWB renewal had hit his desk he would sign it.
I notice that the same Democrat names come up over and over when we're talking about gun control. I notice that there are damn few stand out names on the other side of the aisle who oppose them.
The Republicans are not friends of gun owners, they are merely not our enemies most of the time. Because they are not our friends we must pay close attention to them to make sure they don't opportunistically screw us over.
Why am I not excited about the chance the Republicans getting a clean sweep?
Because I am a gun owner and the most lasting effects on my ownership have been from Republican presidents.
In 1986 Ronald Reagan signed the "Firearms Owners Protection Act". That capped the supply of machineguns that could be owned by us everyday citizens to what was already built on the day the law took affect, May 19, 1986. He should have both said, this is not what was promised and vetoed it.
That means an M16 I could own is at least 26 years old and is in the neighborhood of $17,000. Plus $200 for the tax stamp.
A new M16 certainly doesn't cost that much. If it was allowed I could build one for about $1,500 plus the stamp. I can make a semi-automatic AR for about $1,500 plus the stamp.
The lower is the same except for two places. On an M16 lower the milling operation that opens up the cavity for the hammer and trigger is continued all the way to the rear instead of the narrower channel for the disconnect and selector. An M16 lower also has a hole drilled for the auto-sear. A few minutes difference in machine time at most starting with a raw forging.
It is even sillier when you consider the Drop In Auto Sear or DIAS. A REGISTERED DIAS is a $9,000 to $10,000 item. It can be made without complex milling from stock you can buy at Home Depot in a couple of hours. The thing is $25 of material, tops. What it does is replace milling out the cavity and drilling the hole for the auto-sear. All of the other trigger parts need to be proper M16.
But we can't make new ones because of an amendment to a bill that was added under questionable circumstances.
One would think that this would be easily remedied, wouldn't you?
Repeal of Hughes amendment portion of the FOPA has not been submitted even once since it became law.
Saint Reagan also supported the Brady Bill and endorsed its passage.
George HW Bush, by executive fiat, banned the importation of complete "assault rifles" under the sporting purposes clause of the gun control act. He also signed the bill containing Joe Biden's 922(r) making it far more difficult to assemble a clone of a military style gun from parts kits. This law was passed in 1990! Most people paid no attention to it until after the 1994 Assault Weapon [sic] Ban (AWB). Makes you wonder how many contraband FALs are out there, doesn't it? In fact, until 1994 assault weapon style guns were a very small portion of the market. Since the expiration of the AWB in 2004 they've become the principle portion of the rifle market.
The Republican take over of Congress in 1994 was bought primarily on the promise of repealing both the Brady Act and AWB. No attempt at repeal was made in the following six years of Republican congressional majority. That broken promise contributed to that majority steadily declining to a Democratic majority in the Senate in 2002 and full control of Congress in 2008.
George W Bush, by executive fiat, banned the importation of parts kits that had barrels. He also said, more than once, that if the AWB renewal had hit his desk he would sign it.
I notice that the same Democrat names come up over and over when we're talking about gun control. I notice that there are damn few stand out names on the other side of the aisle who oppose them.
The Republicans are not friends of gun owners, they are merely not our enemies most of the time. Because they are not our friends we must pay close attention to them to make sure they don't opportunistically screw us over.
That's Racist!
The notion that black people need special programs to help them get ahead is demonstrably wrong.
Professional sports is almost entirely a meritocracy for the players, and black people seem to do quite well for themselves there. In fact with a level playing field [pun] they also tend to dominate some sports.
I'll betcha that if we removed the skew from other places they would not only survive, but thrive.
Warning, it's a sucker bet because they were starting to thrive as the implications of the Eisenhower efforts towards civil rights were being felt and it all came crashing down as the Great Society of LBJ began to assert itself.
Professional sports is almost entirely a meritocracy for the players, and black people seem to do quite well for themselves there. In fact with a level playing field [pun] they also tend to dominate some sports.
I'll betcha that if we removed the skew from other places they would not only survive, but thrive.
Warning, it's a sucker bet because they were starting to thrive as the implications of the Eisenhower efforts towards civil rights were being felt and it all came crashing down as the Great Society of LBJ began to assert itself.
Every Time I Feel A Little Down About Being Fat...
I now have this commercial for cough syrup to make me feel better.
03 September 2012
Kilted!
I am officially Kilted To Kick Cancer now!
Jay G is going to get more hits and more donations, but I am half Scot and didn't need to buy a kilt FOR KTKC! I already owned one. He's also more photogenic. Bastard.
Whether you donate here or at Jay's, DONATE! It's a damn good cause.
Should be a 5.11 Tactical Kilt here before too long too.
Jay G is going to get more hits and more donations, but I am half Scot and didn't need to buy a kilt FOR KTKC! I already owned one. He's also more photogenic. Bastard.
Whether you donate here or at Jay's, DONATE! It's a damn good cause.
Should be a 5.11 Tactical Kilt here before too long too.
Seven Years
I have been putting my thoughts and exposing my soul on the internet for seven years now.
Even if the first five were in the ghetto of LiveJournal.
Thanks to Weer'd for pulling me out of the slime so that my voice would reach a larger audience.
Special thanks as well to Tam, Rob, Robb and Lex for writing better than I do and forcing me to challenge myself. I wish that Rob and Lex had lived to see how I have improved.
Even if the first five were in the ghetto of LiveJournal.
Thanks to Weer'd for pulling me out of the slime so that my voice would reach a larger audience.
Special thanks as well to Tam, Rob, Robb and Lex for writing better than I do and forcing me to challenge myself. I wish that Rob and Lex had lived to see how I have improved.
02 September 2012
Thompson In Slow-Mo
Kilted to Kick Cancer
Marv brought out his GoPro on a stick and took some interesting shots from a unique angle.
I took the same footage from a different angle.
Marv brought out his GoPro on a stick and took some interesting shots from a unique angle.
I took the same footage from a different angle.
01 September 2012
New Skins
Third Wire released a new skin pack for USAF F-4D and F-4E.
Euro I "Lizard" camo.
Hall Gray.
Southeast Asia black-belly.
Southeast Aisa wrap-around.
At first I thought they'd made a mistake with #5 because the number was rightside-up. Turns out that's just on the F-16's and not the Phantoms.
Thunderbirds!
Just so the Navy and Marines don't feel left out:
Black Bunny from VX-4
Marine Air Superiority Gray
Keith Ferris Aimval/Aceval Gray. This was supposed to make the plane harder to spot visually, in practice it made it easier to see. It's interesting also that VF-194 actually deployed with this scheme.
CJ "Heater" Heatly and Keith Ferris collaborated on a scheme for Aimval/Aceval as well. Notice the false canopy painted on under the real cockpit.
Same Heater/Ferris scheme, but mirrored in case it mattered. It didn't.
Blue Angels
Navy Air Superiority Gray
VF-111 Sundowners Sharkmouth