But That's Not What You're Buying

$1,300 for the, nicest, M1911A1 from CMP seems steep when compared to Tisas or Rock Island Armory.

It even makes a brand new Colt seem quite affordable.

But what so many people are missing:

You're not buying the gun, you're buying the history.

An extreme example is a beat up old Remington revolver with provenance that it was actually owned someone famous.

Are you buying a beat up old revolver or are you paying for that provenance?

If the provenance means nothing to you, it's just a beat up old gun.

But you gain no moral superiority over the person who wants that provenance and is willing to pay for it.

Though, I suspect that much of the heat from people declaring that they'd never get one is sour grapes.

Get Smoot-Hawley Out Of Your Whore Mouth

The circumstances behind the Smoot-Hawley act and the reciprocal retributive tariffs are not even similar.

Yes, they are both tariffs, but that's about where the similarity ends.

Nothing in SH reduced the tariff if the foreign nation reduced theirs.

The reason it was an economic problem was other nations retaliated against our tariffs.

If you're going to cite SH, then you need to get the roles straight.

We are retaliating against the rest of the world's version of SH, NOT passing one of our own.

Did you see the chart that Trump had up with the various tariffs?  Where we're going to put about half what they put on us?

Have you seen a refutation of that chart?  One that says, "China isn't really charging a 67% tariff on US goods, it's really x%."  That 67% is the Chinese Smoot-Hawley act.

Most of the nations on that chart are in serious discussions about getting off that chart.

That, you economic and historically illiterate morons is the fucking goal.

Opening up THEIR markets to OUR goods so WE can make some money for US for a change.

Or did you think the trade imbalances were entirely because our goods were no good?

The EU is getting off fucking light with just a 20% tariff, by the way.  The maze of entry barriers to their market is dizzying and mercurial.  The Ur-example is Boeing v Airbus.  If the federal government subsidized Boeing the way Airbus is, Boeing would be barred from European skies.  But when we threatened to bar Airbus planes because of their subsidization, again Boeing would be barred from EU skies.  They've been having their cake and eating too while we stood watch against the Soviet Union and Russians for them.

But go ahead, tell me you don't know fuck all about this topic without saying you don't know fuck all about this topic.

What Do I Know I'm Brainwashed

I am sure he's a nice guy, but I'm fucking over him.

When he accused all us American veterans of being brainwashed all y'all said, "well, he's Russian..." as if that actually explained something.

Well, I've been reading his thoughts on Facebook about economics and I can definitively say that he's an excellent photographer.

But, hey!  He's Russian!  I guess it's fine they're not only economically illiterate, but repeating stuff that's just not true because it makes a good TDS soundbite. 

PS: He's been here long enough that he'd better stop being Russian and start being American.  Just sayin'.

PPS: If you say that he IS an American, then you cannot use the "but he's Russian" as a defense of his slandering anyone.  A uneducated foreigner gets some slack, but he should know better by now.  It's not that hard to say, "I'm sorry," but all y'all defended him so he didn't have to either apologize or learn.

Because I Seen It

Something I watched more than once in Germany was someone bringing their American car over and overheating it on the autobahn.

American cars aren't made to run at 100 mph for hours.

I also heard of tires coming apart at those sustained speeds because cheap tires aren't speed rated for that.

The reason this bubbled back up for me was Texas saying they were going to remove speed limits in some parts of the state.

I think a lot of people are going to learn the same lessons my fellow soldiers did in Germany in the 1980's.

An Idiot's Guide to GURPS Basic: Characters

If you're trying to get someone to play GURPS, get them to watch this.  I think it will help.

Life Support

The AC on The Beast decided to start fading on the way back from Ocala today.

Typical symptoms of low freon in a WM car is the AC runs colder at the vent than it should and the compressor shuts off momentarily, but with increasing frequency, until it stops working altogether.

Since I've been smelling the PAG, that means the leak is prolly at the evaporator.

If a $30 can of sealant will cure it for a year, I can face pulling the entire dash and replacing the evaporator!

It's not an expensive part, it's just hard to access thanks to making cars Union Assembly Easy.

The AC on Harvey's Equinox has been spotty for a while and it's been strange.

When it finally decides to work, it works great, but we can't count on it working.

Tonight I finally remembered to check the relay.  If you jumper it, the compressor kicks on and works.

Tapping the relay a few times got it working again!

New relays are on order.

Popular In Singapore

Got 15k views from Singapore the last couple days.

Somehow, I doubt it's actual viewers.

A Win11 Feature I Can Embrace

As a blogger who writes total B.S. on occasion, an app that automatically goes to all-caps without spellcheck would be handy.

Sucks When Your Paradigm Breaks

I'm still on Steve Jackson Games mailing list and I got this today:

An Important Message From Our CEO Meredith Placko

On April 5th, a 54% tariff goes into effect on a wide range of goods imported from China. For those of us who create boardgames, this is not just a policy change. It's a seismic shift.

At Steve Jackson Games, we are actively assessing what this means for our products, our pricing, and our future plans. We do know that we can't absorb this kind of cost increase without raising prices. We've done our best over the past few years to shield players and retailers from the full brunt of rising freight costs and other increases, but this new tax changes the equation entirely.

Here are the numbers: A product we might have manufactured in China for $3.00 last year could now cost $4.62 before we even ship it across the ocean. Add freight, warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution margins, and that once-$25 game quickly becomes a $40 product. That's not a luxury upcharge; it's survival math.

Some people ask, "Why not manufacture in the U.S.?" I wish we could. But the infrastructure to support full-scale boardgame production – specialty dice making, die-cutting, custom plastic and wood components – doesn't meaningfully exist here yet. I've gotten quotes. I've talked to factories. Even when the willingness is there, the equipment, labor, and timelines simply aren't.

We aren't the only company facing this challenge. The entire board game industry is having very difficult conversations right now. For some, this might mean simplifying products or delaying launches. For others, it might mean walking away from titles that are no longer economically viable. And, for what I fear will be too many, it means closing down entirely.

Tariffs, when part of a long-term strategy to bolster domestic manufacturing, can be an effective tool. But that only works when there's a plan to build up the industries needed to take over production. There is no national plan in place to support manufacturing for the types of products we make. This isn't about steel and semiconductors. This is about paper goods, chipboard, wood tokens, plastic trays, and color-matched ink. These new tariffs are imposing huge costs without providing alternatives, and it's going to cost American consumers more at every level of the supply chain.

We want to be transparent with our community. This is real: Prices are going up. We're still determining how much and where.

If you're frustrated, you're not alone. We are too. And if you want to help, write to your elected officials. You can find your representative and senators' contact information at house.gov and senate.gov. Ask them how these new policies help American creators and small businesses. Because right now, it feels like they don't.

We'll keep making games. But we'll be honest when the road gets harder, because we know you care about where your games come from – and about the people who make them.

 

I'm not finding a lot of sympathy in my heart for them. 

I don't think they realize that what they are really saying is, "our business model of having someone else be the manufacturer of our products has just failed."

They are just a design studio because they have no production of their own.

I remember full page ads from the companies that did the printing and die cutting in America when everyone was, "it's so much cheaper in China!"  Those ads were practically begging for business and support.  But companies like SJG went to China instead of supporting the domestic company and the domestic companies went under.

But I have an observation:  This looks like an opportunity!  Buy a building.  Buy some machines.  Invest in those domestic companies who are willing but lack the ability to do the volume required.

Sell at a price point that is lower than the 54% tariff!  Which, by the way is actually 34%, don't lie.

This, by the way, is the real intention of those tariffs.  To get production back on shore.

Rather than complain that mean old orange man fucked me, be the savior of the industry and start being the domestic company that actually makes the games!

Or are you spending too much on DEI to afford it?

Mist The FEMA Kitty Update

She's up to 5 lb. 7 oz.  Up from the emaciated 1 lb. 6 oz. when we took her in and expected her to up and die on us.

Going to be getting spayed in a couple weeks.

 

This Is Awesome

 Best April 1st video ever.

Refreshingly Honest

Spoke to the person at the local VSO that the American Legion hooked me up with.

For the first time, ever, the person who is supposed to help me wasn't even implying that I would be getting a substantial increase in my compensation.

There was a bit of a hang up trying to explain that I'm wanting an increase because the underlying problem got worse since I got out, not that I want something from before I left the service added on.

We're going to reconvene after my neuropathy assessment.

Appreciation

 My blade of Slavic might has gone up in value a bit since 2017.

$39 then, $100 now.  Even the ones with mismatched serials are $80.

Instantly out of stock, as is typical of emailings from Atlantic.

I Like Him As An Actor

Val Kilmer has succumbed.

Wikipedia says pneumonia.

I watch one of his earliest movies, "Real Genius" fairly regularly.

Quote Of The Day

"Uh oh!"

-G. A. Custer