Quote of the Random Interval

"Drifting is the motorsport equivalent of figure skating: I know it takes a lot of talent, but I can’t actually bring myself to care about it." From HERE.

h/t Bayou Renaissance Man

How Do I Know?

How do I know that public sector employees are receiving more compensation than their private sector counterparts?

Because the unions for the public sector workers aren't comparing the compensation rates and demanding raises.

A recent arfcom thread had several public employees complaining that they were taking a 3% pay cut because they'd have to contribute to their pension plan instead of me doing all the contributing.

You know what?  You guys serve at the public's pleasure.  Honestly, the vast majority of the public sector workers I've had to deal with would have been fired from just about any minimum wage job out there.

But, Mr Public Servant, you think you have it rough?  Got to contribute 3% to your pension plan?

WAAAAAAAAH!

I have to come up with every penny of my retirement.  That's 97% more than you.

I have to come up with every penny of my health insurance.

I never got more than three weeks of paid time off a year from any job I've ever had and never had a job where that PTO could accumulate more than four weeks.  Nor was I ever able to get more than two continuous weeks off in a row.  Nowadays your PTO includes your sick days.

My pay was always tied to my performance.  If I didn't perform I didn't get raises or I got fired.

What I do know is I am sick of the people to whom we've delegated our powers to get some jobs done deciding that they are our masters.  You know what, Mr Servant, I don't work for you.  You work for me.  I will tell you how I want that job done and how much it's worth to me.  You're free to pursue a career in the private sector, you know?

I fucking dare you.

Kipling Corner

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
 
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
 
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
 
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
 
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Romney ≠ Obama

In one huge, important respect.

When Mittens does something we don't like we can attack without being accused of being racists.

That distinction alone my be worth risking it.

Someone Had To Say It

Timothy Geitner $20 bills.

With appropriate stamps.

This Sucks

I'm going to go a bit personal here.

There's something growing in my right nostril.

It looks like a boil.

It hurts.

Yeah, yeah, I know... whine whine whine.

This morning I look like someone punched me.  There's swelling on my nose and puffiness around my right eye.  The whole right side of my face hurts.

I am one of the many lucky folks who has no insurance.

Simply put, I don't have the $500 a month it takes to be added to my wife's insurance at work.

A near constant string of emergencies depleted the money we had set aside for such disasters.

By the way, the insurance premium I can afford has a deductible so high that it wouldn't be of any service for a routine office visit and prescription.

So, this is me; hoping it gets better on its own.

It's Been Said Before

Both parties oppose freedom.

The both oppose it for the same reason.

Free people will be free to make the wrong decisions.

They must prevent us from making those decisions.

They only differ in which decisions they wish to forbid.

Being Pedantic Eases The Pain

Newsies, Lex's plane was not an F-21.

That designation was assigned to the Kfir C1's we leased from Israel.

The planes ATAC flies are Kfir C2's which was never assigned a US designation because the US Mil doesn't operate them.

If there was a designation assigned the C1 would be an F-21A and the C2 would be an F-21B.  But it wasn't and it isn't.

GOD FUCKING DAMN IT

Confirmed.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!

Isn't It Odd?

There is firmer constitutional protection for abortions, which are not mentioned in the Constitution, than guns; which are.

Evil Rifles

I simply don't own a new rifle that isn't something banned by the AWB.

The rifles I have that would be perfectly legal under the ban are all at least 70 years old.

The "you can't have this" for ten years sure changed my urges and desires.

I am sure I will eventually get a Fudd gun, like a Rem 700, Savage 114 or Win 70.

Fingers Crossed

An ATAC Kfir has crashed at NAS Fallon, killing the pilot.

Let us pray that it was not our friend Neptunus Lex.

EDIT:

Early rumors say that it was, indeed, Lex who was killed.  Nothing confirmed, of course.

Dammit!

Just DAMMIT!

Whores

I saw a clip where Harry Reid says we should ban prostitution in the United States.

If we do so, will it still be legal to be a Congressman?

Presto Change-O!

Dottie can magically be transformed from an Evil Baby Killing Assault Weapon Home Defense Rifle into a hunting rifle.

Before

After

Did everyone catch that?

H/T Weer'd  Yes, the duck is in frame just for you!

Consequences

I mentioned to the lovely Harvey that I don't think I could root for Danica Patrick since she came out as a statist.

She chided me about my attitude that once someone famous goes political in a way that I disagree with I "hate them".

It's not hate so much as a refuse to financially support them.

When celebrities go political they do with ready access to the media and gobs of money.  Most often they are espousing something I oppose and I get enough of being screwed with my own money from the government.

As Jennifer says, "dance monkey!"

Actors are good at pretending they are someone else.  The part that makes a great actor is repeating that over and over, take after take.  We don't hire them based on their political acumen or fine education; they get paid the big bucks because they entertain by mouthing someone else's words and emoting.

Same applies to race car drivers.  Drive the car, monkey.  Thank the sponsors.  Shut up.  The sad thing about Ms Patrick is she's good at the non-driving part of the driver job.  Friendly to the fans, mentions the sponsors, takes the advertising portion in stride.  Then she ruins it by yapping about something that has nothing to do with racing or her sponsors.

Damn.

It's exacerbated by the press glossing over it.  Ms Patrick goes, "Rah, Rah!  Go STATE!" and I have a fight with my wife.  A football player decides he'd rather not have dinner with Mr Obama and it's national news.

Personally I think that player should have gone to the Whitehouse for dinner.  I think there's some obligation to do so.  What he should do is exactly the minimum required of the event.  Standing there stone faced while everyone else is mugging for the camera sends a much stronger message.

The Difference

Several people have been saying it without explicitly stating it.

In the matter of gun deaths; the anti-rights people only care about what kind of weapon was used.  We gunnies care far more about who was killed.

If someone is murdered, we don't care if a toothpick was the weapon, we mourn for the deceased.

If a rapist is planted, again we don't care what was used to dispatch him; we're only glad he's gone.

We don't want anyone to be murdered.  Heck, we don't want anyone to be killed at all.  Another key difference here is that if someone must die, we'd much rather it be the shit-heel criminal than us.

They don't care who dies, or why.  Their own writings admit it when they count self defense shootings with murders and suicides.

They only care how someone dies.  Their own writings admit it when they ignore murders and suicides that don't involve a firearm.

Sadly the everyday law abiding person does not get to make the decision about whether someone is going to be killed.  The criminal makes that decision.  What we can decide is who is killed when the criminal begins their assault.

Until the blame is assigned to the criminal by the anti-rights people they will never understand.

How Your Gun Works - FAL

Weer'd is not the first person to mention it.  But he's who got me thinking about it.

Let's talk about the FAL trigger!  Specifically the hammer, trigger and sear.

The trigger and the sear are on the same axle.  The sear has an oblong hole though.

With the rifle cocked, the nose of the sear is engaged in a notch on the back of the hammer.  The trigger return spring and the hammer trying to rotate cause the tail of the sear to sit just above a shelf on the top of the trigger.

When you pull the trigger, it pushes up on the tail of the sear and that causes the nose to pivot down and disengage from the notch in the hammer.

BANG as the hammer drops and hits the firing pin.

Without the pressure from the hammer shoving it back, the sear is pushed forward by its own spring and the tail drops into a step below the shelf on the trigger.

When the bolt carrier comes to the rear and cocks the hammer, it is caught by the nose of the sear.

The trigger is still pulled at this point.

When you release the trigger it lets the tail of the sear come out of the step and rest just above the shelf.

That's how semi-auto works.

All military FALs had what is called a safety sear.  It sits forward of the hammer and is spring loaded.  When the bolt carrier is not fully forward the rear of this sear will lay in a notch on the front of the hammer and prevent the gun from firing.

The shaft that's rotated by the selector has a groove in it.  On SAFE the rear of the trigger is blocked by the shaft.  On SEMI the tail can move up into the groove and move the sear off the hammer.  On AUTO the groove is a little deeper and lets the trigger pivot far enough that the sear doesn't catch the hammer.

Without the safety sear the hammer would just follow the bolt carrier and in most cases the gun would stop firing.

What the safety sear does is hold the hammer until the bolt carrier is all the way forward and hits an arm that will pivot it out of the notch on the front side of the hammer.  In auto it holds the hammer until the bolt is closed and releases it allowing the gun to fire again until the trigger is released and the normal sear can engage the rear notch on the hammer.

It was quickly discovered that a full-auto FAL is not very controllable, so most nations disabled the auto position.  Most replaced the selector with one that lacks the deeper groove for the trigger.  Many metric pattern guns also got a small pin sticking out of the side of the trigger housing and a hook that limits the travel to between semi and safe.

On inch pattern guns the selector has the deeper groove, but a "wing" or tab was added to the selector that would contact the upper receiver and thus prevent the auto position from being engaged.  I think that this was done so the troops could bend the wing out of the way and use full auto in an emergency, but that's pure speculation.

On almost all commercial guns there is no safety sear.  A very few semi-auto FALs were imported by Browning and have an ATF waiver and are called "sear cut" guns.  Rare and expensive.

What selector you have on a commercial gun depends a lot on where the parts came from.  Many parts kits have the auto capable selector and trigger housing.  In this case you should use a pistol grip that blocks the selector from going past the auto position.

OK.  That covers the trigger.  What about forward?

Let's start with a chambered round.

When the hammer falls it hits the rear of the firing pin.  That sends the pin forward into the primer and sets off the cartridge.  The resultant gas pushes the bullet down the barrel and past the gas port, letting gas into the gas block and to the gas plug.

The plug has two settings.  Open and Grenade.  When open it lets gas into the gas tube and when on grenade it blocks the flow of gas completely.  I have variously heard that this is either to prevent damage to the rifle since the gas is higher pressure for grenade blanks or that a rifle grenade needs all the gas it can get to launch properly.

If the plug was in the open position the gas can begin to push the gas piston to the rear.  Right around this point the vent in the gas regulator is exposed and some gas is allowed to escape. A threaded collar allows the user to adjust how much gas is vented.  This allows you to "tune" the gun to function very smoothly and to add more gas to keep things running once they get gunked up.

Gas Plug in Open Position

Gas Plug in "Grenade" or Closed Position

Gas Regulator and Vent

The piston pushes back against the face of the bolt carrier, moving it to the rear.  A spring inside the gas tube returns the piston to its rest position.  This compresses the recoil spring and lifts the rear of the bolt out of the locking shoulder, extracting the empty casing, knocking it out of the gun and then when the recoil spring pushes the carrier back forward; strips a fresh round out of the magazine and pushing the rear of the bolt back down against the locking shoulder allowing the cycle to continue.

Rear of the Piston

The worn circle on the bolt carrier is where the piston strikes to move it to the rear.

The normal FAL has the recoil spring in the buttstock and the bolt carrier has a "rat tail" or rod that engages a follower on the end of that spring.  The rod is pushed into the stock behind the spring when the bolt carrier comes back.

"Rat Tail" with the Bolt Carrier Forward

 "Rat Tail" with the Bolt Carrier Locked to the rear.

 "Rat Tail" engaged with the Return Spring's Follower or Plunger

On a PARA FAL the spring is inside the top of the bolt carrier and compresses against the rear face of the trigger housing.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

Hail To The Future!

Turns out you can order a pizza for someone from 1,600 miles away.

Key Words

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is making a list, checking it twice.  Going to misdirect them with a list of all the things they're looking for thrice.

Religion and Politics

It's sticky.

There are some fundamental positions dictated by ones religion that are emphatically not fundamental to someone who doesn't share that faith.

Like wearing a rubber.

Like teaching the person who is most likely to need that rubber both that rubbers exist and when to use them.

Making law requiring that education is a fundamental violation of some people's faith.

A core part of the first amendment is the government cannot impose such violations on us because of freedom of religion.  There is no difference between adopting all of the rules of a religion and just making that religion the state one.

Pay attention here Muslims.

Mohamed is a particularly common ethnic name to someone who isn't a Muslim.  Jesus is a common Hispanic name to a Jew.

Making law that requires adherence to the fundamental principles of one religion is very little different from mandating a state religion.  Legislating morality is an example here.

However, there is nothing in the first amendment that requires that the government not interfere with religion when it is interfering with the rights of others.  The go-to example is you cannot perform human sacrifice.

I always notice that religious freedom and freedom of speech are in the same amendment.

I have a right to worship whom I will.  I have a right to say what I will.  Even if my worship and speech offend you because of your religion (or lack).

You have to leave me alone to my heathen ways!  I must leave you to your piety.  And/or vice-versa.

To impose your values on me you must prove harm.  Real harm.  Physical or financial harm.  The standard is not on merely being offended.  This is the essence of why we have both civil and criminal courts.

Strip clubs are a common example of religious imposition on others.  You betcha there are prohibitions about nudity and lust in many religions.  Without God saying "don't look at the titties" why shouldn't I?  If the "performance artist" is not being forced to dance, why can't she?  Without a religious objection, who is harmed by giving the dancer some money for letting me see her breasts?

This is also capitalism 101.  Goods for services.

Yes, without God there is also no reason for prostitution to be illegal.  Especially since we've pretty much banned the churches from keeping us from having sex without their approval.  As George Carlin said, "Selling is legal.  Fucking is legal.  Why is selling fucking illegal?"

Who is harmed by prostitution where the courtesan is uncoerced and willing?  If she is being forced, that's a whole other kettle of fish I call slavery, at best.

What the United States are is a secular nation.  The Constitution is the supreme law, even God's laws are subservient.  Why is this so?  Because your religion may demand you kill me for my transgressions!  That is forbidden because I have a right to find God (or not) without you forcing me to.  This is also why the government is forbidden to establish a state church.  It prevents them from setting up guillotines to execute the apostates.

Speaking of apostasy; freedom of religion also means that we're free to change our minds and leave.  No matter what God said about it, you have to let us go unharmed.

The Constitution is a framework that allows diverse and opposed people to live among each other in peace.

It's come off its rails from time to time.  If my religion requires my children be unaware of birth control until they are married; it is not the job of The State to step in and teach them.  In fact, it's not really an enumerated power to be educating them at all.

Interestingly for a nation that was founded on some blatantly Christian values and foundations the core idea is espoused most clearly in Wicca.

Do as you will, harm none.

EDIT:  Totally forgot the hat-tip to Joe's post for the inspiration.

I've Been Frocked!

Larry has given me this award.  Scoundrel!

As with every award, there are terms and conditions.

1. Copy and paste award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received an award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.

Who to name in return?

Here's the problem: I'm pretty sure everyone on my list who has fewer than 200 followers has also been named.

1.  Have to mention Jennifer.  She sticks in my head (pun!) because she emailed me to thank me for a positive comment on her blog.

2.  Erin because she rekindled my interest in my dusty GURPS books enough to actually do some work with them.  Sadly, the Tampa area seems devoid of GURPS players.  Yet I shall endeavor to persevere!

3.  Jeff who doesn't seem to have any followers at all.  I don't know why, but he reminds me a bit of Acidman and I hope that he has a happier future than Rob.  I also hope his rough times end soon.

4.  Blue.  A fellow Iowan and veteran (even though he walked instead of rode).

And 5?  I give this to ALL the little bloggers out there!  We're not the cool kids and we're not the big names.  Occasionally we have something wry or snarky to add that gets some thoughts flowing.  I especially want to point out those who are using Livejournal as their blog because that's where a few of us started and your journal is every bit a blog.

Compensating

Compensating for my little wieners.  Get it?

Dont Talk to Police

Atheism

I don't find evidence of a divine being.

I remain open that there may be such evidence and that there may be such a being.

I don't find this openness in many self-styled atheists.

That could be embarrassing someday.  Or not.

EDIT:

I did some research.  Atheism is the correct term.  A case could be made for my belief being a pragmatic (or apathetic) agnostic:  "The view that there is no proof of either the existence or nonexistence of any deity, but since any deity that may exist appears unconcerned for the universe or the welfare of its inhabitants, the question is largely academic."

Asking For It

Jaguar is going to make an electric car?

Isn't that like dividing by zero?

Watch Out Fred!

http://news.yahoo.com/penn-judge-muslims-allowed-attack-people-insulting-mohammad-210000330.html

We may now attack people for insulting our beliefs!  Fred Phelps had better start watching his back!

Your faith has rendered you incapable of being impartial and unbiased.  You should be removed from office.

By the way, Atheists, IT WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN WHO ATTACKED HERE; AGAIN.


Cue the "What About Islam?" dancers in 3...2...1...

Drill

We keep saying drill.

They keep saying that there will not be results for 5-10 years.

There's no drilling.

5-10 years later, we say drill.

They say there won't be any new oil for 5-10 years.

How about we drill this time?  It has the novelty of having not being tried before.

Help, Hinder or Harm?

There's four things to ask about anything having to do with the military.

Does this help?

Does this hinder?

Does this harm?

Does this matter?

If it helps, do it!

It it hinders or harms, don't do it!

If it doesn't matter, don't spend any money to provide or prevent it.

There will be a lot of politically incorrect things happening if these four questions get asked about any and every policy.

It might mean no women on submarines.  It might mean banning homosexuals from the military.  It might mean female fighter pilots.  It might mean segregated units.

Remember, the military is there to kill people and break shit.  Does the politically correct goal serve those needs?  Anything that impedes the primary tasks of killing people and breaking shit is a hinderance or harm.  I don't care whose feelings get hurt either.

Kipling Corner

The Grave of the Hundred Head; Rudyard Kipling

There's a widow in sleepy Chester
Who weeps for her only son;
There's a grave on the Pabeng River,
A grave that the Burmans shun,
And there's Subadar Prag Tewarri
Who tells how the work was done.

A Snider squibbed in the jungle,
Somebody laughed and fled,
And the men of the First Shikaris
Picked up their Subaltern dead,
With a big blue mark in his forehead
And the back blown out of his head.

Subadar Prag Tewarri,
Jemadar Hira Lal,
Took command of the party,
Twenty rifles in all,
Marched them down to the river
As the day was beginning to fall.

They buried the boy by the river,
A blanket over his face--
They wept for their dead Lieutenant,
The men of an alien race--
They made a samadh in his honor,
A mark for his resting-place.

For they swore by the Holy Water,
They swore by the salt they ate,
That the soul of Lieutenant Eshmitt Sahib
Should go to his God in state;
With fifty file of Burman
To open him Heaven's gate.

The men of the First Shikaris
Marched till the break of day,
Till they came to the rebel village,
The village of Pabengmay--
A jingal covered the clearing,
Calthrops hampered the way.

Subadar Prag Tewarri,
Bidding them load with ball,
Halted a dozen rifles
Under the village wall;
Sent out a flanking-party
With Jemadar Hira Lal.

The men of the First Shikaris
Shouted and smote and slew,
Turning the grinning jingal
On to the howling crew.
The Jemadar's flanking-party
Butchered the folk who flew.

Long was the morn of slaughter,
Long was the list of slain,
Five score heads were taken,
Five score heads and twain;
And the men of the First Shikaris
Went back to their grave again,

Each man bearing a basket
Red as his palms that day,
Red as the blazing village--
The village of Pabengmay,
And the "drip-drip-drip" from the baskets
Reddened the grass by the way.

They made a pile of their trophies
High as a tall man's chin,
Head upon head distorted,
Set in a sightless grin,
Anger and pain and terror
Stamped on the smoke-scorched skin.

Subadar Prag Tewarri
Put the head of the Boh
On the top of the mound of triumph,
The head of his son below,
With the sword and the peacock-banner
That the world might behold and know.

Thus the samadh was perfect,
Thus was the lesson plain
Of the wrath of the First Shikaris--
The price of a white man slain;
And the men of the First Shikaris
Went back into camp again.

Then a silence came to the river,
A hush fell over the shore,
And Bohs that were brave departed,
And Sniders squibbed no more;
For the Burmans said
That a kullah's head
Must be paid for with heads five score.

There's a widow in sleepy Chester
Who weeps for her only son;
There's a grave on the Pabeng River,
A grave that the Burmans shun,
And there's Subadar Prag Tewarri
Who tells how the work was done.

I Admit, I Don't Get It

Why is Steve McQueen regarded as a great actor?

Why are his movies likewise considered great?

Can someone share some insight?

The World Has Changed

I figure the Republican candidate for president is a shoe in.

Wendy's has a burger called the "W" and there aren't protests.

Driving in Texas...

Just a brief anecdote.

Last time I was out in Texas I spotted no less than three DPS cars who punched it hard to get on the road and come after me.

When they got close enough to see the plate, they all gave up.

I think they were doing front license plate enforcement, which Florida doesn't have.


Same trip I got a couple people pulled over when I was going the limit.  You see, in the eyes of the police doing traffic enforcement, THE VETTE IS FELONY SPEEDING.  If you're going faster than the Vette, you are a dangerous madman.  I suspect what happened was the Vette caught the cop's eye and the SUV blasting past at about five over sealed their fate.

The RIght Tool For The Job

If a Dodge Caravan is the correct tool for the job, perhaps the job isn't worth doing.

Choke and Smother

Seems they are a false flag for the anti-gunners.

Spread the word.

h/t Weer'd.  Who led me to SnarkyBytes, who links to Uncle.

Getting Involved

Two threads about the relationship of the police to the community.

In the original thread's comments, someone mentioned Sir Robert Peel.  There's a follow up on a commenter's own blog.

Robert Peel's Principles are what's lacking in today's law enforcement.  The police are merely people paid to do this job, not the only people who can.

It's simple delegation of power.  We people have delegated some powers to the government in certain, restricted, circumstances.  The catch is we cannot delegate a power which is not ours by right.  What that boils down to is the police, literally, cannot do anything a citizen may not.

Note my use of the word "powers" and not the word "rights".  Governments do not have rights, they have powers.  Citizens have rights.  The People have rights.

I find that government at all levels, but especially police, do not like to be reminded that they are the creation of the people rather than their masters.

I differ with the attitude that an officers life is worth more than a common citizen's and deserves special protections.  When you put on a uniform, any uniform, you become an extension of The State.  A very small extension.  So small that your spontaneous combustion into base elements will not harm the health of the state even one iota.  Sacrificial and interchangeable; to the state.  You are The State, you are the instrument of The State's powers.  Remember, The State has no rights!  That means you, as an agent of The State also have no rights while you wield its powers.

The scratchy part is cops are people as well as citizens.  This is where the theory and the practice diverge.  To me it is simple, the individual officers get the same rights as I have.  No more, no less.  If I shoot a bad guy in self defense, I am on my own hook for all the legal repercussions, aren't I?  I have to hire my own lawyer, take time off work and my life and liberty hang in the balance.

Can many police say the same thing when they've shot someone?

I've long been an advocate of when a cop shoots someone, they are unemployed by any government agency for at least 6 months.  That proves to me it was serious enough for The State to take a citizen's life.  Remember, officer, when you shoot someone wearing that uniform, YOU ARE THE STATE.  The State can spare you.  Because I am compassionate, I will let you defend your life in my service, but you must show that it was the only thing you could have done.

In cases like Canton, Ohio the punishments for police should be more severe than an individual performing the same act.  Remember, it's not officer Harless violating the motorist's rights, but The State.  The government of Canton, Ohio; through officer Harless committed assault.  The State of Ohio though incorporation of The City of Canton committed assault.  Harless should be punished severely and criminally for what he did in that video, because most assuredly I would be in jail for identical activities.  If the department covers for such officers, we have such laws as RICO.  Punish up the stream until you meet someone pushing back down with charges!  By the way, the citizenry clamoring for justice here, is a top down demand not a bottom up request.  That's another topic entirely about the servants forgetting their place and who is really in charge here.

As I hear over and over from law enforcement, if you don't want to get into trouble, obey the law.  You first; you too: Officer.

This is harsh because The State or Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Didja Ever Wonder?

Did you ever wonder if there are some gun shops that remain open simply because it's illegal to get a gun mail-order?

Wisdom

I don't remember where I first heard this, or if I've already posted it here:  But it bears repeating, often.

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

Poor Damn Customer Service.

I got a $20 credit for my inconvenience when DSA recalled the trigger housing on my FAL.

I've been desperately trying to find something, anything, to buy from them to use that up.

First I tried to get a Harris bipod adaptor.  Back ordered for four months.  Cancelled the order.

Next I tried to get a double hump buttstock, I prefer the looks over the Austrian pattern that's standard.

I called ahead to make sure it's in stock.  First time it was, "call back in a couple of weeks, we're expecting an order."

So I waited a couple of weeks and called again.  The guy on the phone said they had them.  So I ordered one.

Confirmation email says it's backordered!

So I called back, and complained that I had called to make sure it was in stock.  He said he'd expedite the order because he knew they had them.  My order status on their web page has not changed.  It's still showing backordered.

I'll give them a week for it to show up or to tell me it's on the way.

Then I cancel the order and never do business with DSA again.

Chink in the Armor

David Brock used the term "Chink in the Armor" and there's a Chinese player on the team described.

People are all up in arms about how racist it was.

Idiots.

Welcome to English.

Here's an example of one word having different meanings.

Not Safe For Work.  I mean it.  Don't say you weren't warned.  Not Kidding.

To Hell With SPORTS

This is a good write up about what's wrong with the Slap Pull Observe Release Tap Squeeze drill.

Related to my ramblings in the comments to this post.