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12 February 2013
Oh Lord
Orson Scott Card is a Mormon.
He doesn't like gay marriage.
Those two items are consistent with each other and one sort of falls from the other.
He's writing for a Superman comic and because he's anti-gay-marriage he MUST BE FIRED!
Um... no.
It's especially ironic in he's called the press for gay marriage as the "death of democracy" and gay rights advocates (militant types, one each) are demanding he be fired, summarily. Don't like the author, don't buy the book and if there's enough of that the situation clears itself.
OK, ACLU, where are you defending Mr Card's right to freedom of religion? He didn't turn the job into a soapbox for his views, he expressed them personally not professionally.
Oh right, I forgot, you don't do religious freedom for those WITH religion...
PS: I've actually read what Mr Card has to say about gay marriage and it's not as bad as has been made out. He's got an opinion about the source of homosexuality and describes it in a manner that's clinically abrasive. The science about it is not decisive, so he may yet be proven right about it. The rest of his rant is about the systematic destruction of family by government and how gay marriage advocates seem to be on the vanguard of that movement. The things he cites as being corrosive to families are certainly being pushed by the persons he identifies.
That's his opinion and he's welcome to it.
Marriage is broken in America already and whether we let gay people marry is not going to make it worse, or better.
He doesn't like gay marriage.
Those two items are consistent with each other and one sort of falls from the other.
He's writing for a Superman comic and because he's anti-gay-marriage he MUST BE FIRED!
Um... no.
It's especially ironic in he's called the press for gay marriage as the "death of democracy" and gay rights advocates (militant types, one each) are demanding he be fired, summarily. Don't like the author, don't buy the book and if there's enough of that the situation clears itself.
OK, ACLU, where are you defending Mr Card's right to freedom of religion? He didn't turn the job into a soapbox for his views, he expressed them personally not professionally.
Oh right, I forgot, you don't do religious freedom for those WITH religion...
PS: I've actually read what Mr Card has to say about gay marriage and it's not as bad as has been made out. He's got an opinion about the source of homosexuality and describes it in a manner that's clinically abrasive. The science about it is not decisive, so he may yet be proven right about it. The rest of his rant is about the systematic destruction of family by government and how gay marriage advocates seem to be on the vanguard of that movement. The things he cites as being corrosive to families are certainly being pushed by the persons he identifies.
That's his opinion and he's welcome to it.
Marriage is broken in America already and whether we let gay people marry is not going to make it worse, or better.
Influence
I posted two days ago...
Now that line of thought is in the comments all over the place.
I'm taking credit.
[grin]
Now that line of thought is in the comments all over the place.
I'm taking credit.
[grin]
Fixing Links
Ugh.
With the death of Webshots, I've lost a lot of the linked photos here.
Fixing that now and putting links to Flickr. What a pain.
With the death of Webshots, I've lost a lot of the linked photos here.
Fixing that now and putting links to Flickr. What a pain.
Sympathy
Rewatching Babylon 5.
I have new sympathy for Londo Mollari.
Must be from being twenty years older than the first time I'd seen the episodes.
I have new sympathy for Londo Mollari.
Must be from being twenty years older than the first time I'd seen the episodes.
Obvious
Another DUH moment in language.
Why is a penknife called a PENknife?
Because you used it to sharpen your quill pen.
Staring me in the face for decades.
Why is a penknife called a PENknife?
Because you used it to sharpen your quill pen.
Staring me in the face for decades.
Gritty Trigger
You read about trigger pull being "gritty".
I'd just never expected it to be literally true.
There's a plunger on the back of the trigger on a Ruger Mk I, it pushes up on the disconnector.
The oil that I'd put on that plunger had turned very gray since the cleaning I gave it a few weeks ago with lots of dry firing but no rounds down range.
So I applied a lot of LSA to the spot and starting working the plunger up and down wiping out BLACK lubricant now and adding fresh until the LSA stayed its normal semen color. (You just knew there'd be a sex reference with talk of plungers and lube, right?)
So, after a bunch more cleaning, I put it back together and pull the trigger. CLICK.
Where did the little gritty feeling go?
I have so many old, cheap guns with gravel-like triggers that I didn't really notice the grit until it was gone.
All in all, it's nice when you fix something and it didn't cost anything and you were already happy with it being "broken".
I'd just never expected it to be literally true.
There's a plunger on the back of the trigger on a Ruger Mk I, it pushes up on the disconnector.
The oil that I'd put on that plunger had turned very gray since the cleaning I gave it a few weeks ago with lots of dry firing but no rounds down range.
So I applied a lot of LSA to the spot and starting working the plunger up and down wiping out BLACK lubricant now and adding fresh until the LSA stayed its normal semen color. (You just knew there'd be a sex reference with talk of plungers and lube, right?)
So, after a bunch more cleaning, I put it back together and pull the trigger. CLICK.
Where did the little gritty feeling go?
I have so many old, cheap guns with gravel-like triggers that I didn't really notice the grit until it was gone.
All in all, it's nice when you fix something and it didn't cost anything and you were already happy with it being "broken".
11 February 2013
Vigilantism
"Taking the law into our own hands."
The western genre has giving this something of a bad name.
There's little difference in my delivering a suspect to the jailhouse where they will then stand trial and a cop doing it.
My arresting and bringing to jail, or holding a suspect until the police finally arrive, is not even the same league as executing said suspect on the spot.
That's called lynching.
If the people are to once again assume their role as unpaid keepers of the peace we must not be forbidden to detain those we catch in the act.
In a tangentially related topic. Look around you and note all the things that are illegal that you'd never call the police about. We should strive to eliminate those laws from the books because they simply don't matter. If they did, you'd call the cops.
The western genre has giving this something of a bad name.
There's little difference in my delivering a suspect to the jailhouse where they will then stand trial and a cop doing it.
My arresting and bringing to jail, or holding a suspect until the police finally arrive, is not even the same league as executing said suspect on the spot.
That's called lynching.
If the people are to once again assume their role as unpaid keepers of the peace we must not be forbidden to detain those we catch in the act.
In a tangentially related topic. Look around you and note all the things that are illegal that you'd never call the police about. We should strive to eliminate those laws from the books because they simply don't matter. If they did, you'd call the cops.
10 February 2013
Rules Frustration
TL1 is bronze age.
I want to buy some light scale armor for my character and because he's TL1 that means there's no iron armor.
That means using bronze.
There's a rule about bronze armor being more expensive than iron. What they don't tell me is if that rule applies to pre-iron armors.
It probably does.
That changes the price of the armor considerably. From $528 to $2,112.
Leather, you say?
I want to buy some light scale armor for my character and because he's TL1 that means there's no iron armor.
That means using bronze.
There's a rule about bronze armor being more expensive than iron. What they don't tell me is if that rule applies to pre-iron armors.
It probably does.
That changes the price of the armor considerably. From $528 to $2,112.
Leather, you say?
TL 1
He's a dispossessed farmer!
Because crop failure and debt were so damn common in bronze age (archaic) Greece he's become a mercenary/thug for the Aristoi.
Gotta pick a good year for it, but this should serve.
Still owns his land and has a family back home to support.
Gotta concept, now off to character generation!
I've placed him right at the beginning of the Greek Dark Ages. He's from Mycenae or thereabouts. He was wealthy as things began to fall apart, but he's still managing to hold things together.
Because there's been some war going on he's become rather skilled at fighting, but longs for his fields and family.
TL 0 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
Gotta pick a good year for it, but this should serve.
Still owns his land and has a family back home to support.
Gotta concept, now off to character generation!
I've placed him right at the beginning of the Greek Dark Ages. He's from Mycenae or thereabouts. He was wealthy as things began to fall apart, but he's still managing to hold things together.
Because there's been some war going on he's become rather skilled at fighting, but longs for his fields and family.
TL 0 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
Police Exemption
Robert Peel's famous Principles of Policing.
Number seven in particular.
Number seven in particular.
"Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence."
It occurs to me that thanks to police exemptions and 922(o) (aka the Hughes Amendment) that I am no longer the police and the police are no longer the public.
Not to mention how the various police organizations have been monopolizing all manner of powers and rights that properly belong to us all, such as arrest.
It has been asked, since AR-15's are "weapons of war", who are the police at war with?
They may reply that they are at war with the criminals.
OK, I'll grant that; if only for discussion.
Mr Policeman, you work here. I FUCKING LIVE HERE!
If you need a machine gun to drive past, what do you think it's going to take to stay put 2/3 of the day?
No more exemptions for law enforcement! They are us, time to remind them.
I can't have it, cop can't have it.
PS: Officer, your safety is SECONDARY to the public's. You job is to protect society at large and preserve the peace. That could mean you stand between the criminal and an innocent and take the barrage for them. That's being a hero.
Lighting up two old ladies because they are driving the same type of vehicle as a suspect is cowardice.
And I can't do that, so you shouldn't be able to either.
Rediscover honor; and suddenly my higher standard won't seem so onerous or difficult.
TL 0 Complete!
What a slog!
Even though I bought a copy of GURPS: Ice Age when it first came out, I don't think I'd ever completed a character.
There are some oddities in how the equipment is priced. It's a percentage of your cost of living. That makes sense.
What doesn't is the cost of living is the same for all tech levels.
$600 a month for a caveman with a starting wealth of $250.
$600 a month for a Greek hoplite with a starting wealth of $500.
$600 a month for a cop in Atlanta in 2013 with a starting wealth of $20,000.
Rent sure has gotten cheaper since 10000 BC, ain't it?
Even though I bought a copy of GURPS: Ice Age when it first came out, I don't think I'd ever completed a character.
There are some oddities in how the equipment is priced. It's a percentage of your cost of living. That makes sense.
What doesn't is the cost of living is the same for all tech levels.
$600 a month for a caveman with a starting wealth of $250.
$600 a month for a Greek hoplite with a starting wealth of $500.
$600 a month for a cop in Atlanta in 2013 with a starting wealth of $20,000.
Rent sure has gotten cheaper since 10000 BC, ain't it?
09 February 2013
Ever Notice
I have noticed that some of the nastiest comments come from people who have no space of their own to express their opinion.
They've made Blogger accounts, but no posts.
They've made Blogger accounts, but no posts.
Funny Thing...
A few short years ago I would never have put wooden stocks on a pistol of mine.
Pachmayr made more than a couple of bucks off my and my preference for non-natural materials.
I am not sure what changed in me.
The Springfield 1911 might have been the turning point. It came with what I think are the vilest set of wooden stocks I have ever felt in my palms. Just, yuck.
So I went to my parts box dug out my USGI plastic ones that came off my Dad's old Rem-Rand. They never looked right on the pistol because they were well worn and the gun was new.
Then The Lovely Harvey while accompanying me at a gun show saw "The Grip Guy's" display and wonder what I thought of those pretty rosewood stocks and didn't I have a gun they fit on?
I admitted they were pretty and all but... Too late, she was negotiating with the seller.
Five minutes later and after answering questions from the vendor through Harvey, I had a set.
They ARE pretty and feel great in the hand. And they've been on my .45 except for a photo here and there ever since.
Now I find I actually like wood. It's warm, it's attractive... and now I prefer it.
Pachmayr made more than a couple of bucks off my and my preference for non-natural materials.
I am not sure what changed in me.
The Springfield 1911 might have been the turning point. It came with what I think are the vilest set of wooden stocks I have ever felt in my palms. Just, yuck.
So I went to my parts box dug out my USGI plastic ones that came off my Dad's old Rem-Rand. They never looked right on the pistol because they were well worn and the gun was new.
Then The Lovely Harvey while accompanying me at a gun show saw "The Grip Guy's" display and wonder what I thought of those pretty rosewood stocks and didn't I have a gun they fit on?
I admitted they were pretty and all but... Too late, she was negotiating with the seller.
Five minutes later and after answering questions from the vendor through Harvey, I had a set.
They ARE pretty and feel great in the hand. And they've been on my .45 except for a photo here and there ever since.
Now I find I actually like wood. It's warm, it's attractive... and now I prefer it.
08 February 2013
Gotta Agree QOTD
I want to carry a gun to protect myself from criminals, they want to ban guns to protect themselves from friends and neighbors. But I'm the one that's paranoid.
From Commenter Larry at Smallest Minority
Only One
Via Weapons Man
Guess how many pickups with innocent people inside MY AR shot up today.
Zero.
Same as yesterday, and the day before and the day before and the day before...
McThag, safer with "weapons of war" [sic] than the LAPD.
Guess how many pickups with innocent people inside MY AR shot up today.
Zero.
Same as yesterday, and the day before and the day before and the day before...
McThag, safer with "weapons of war" [sic] than the LAPD.
Phaux Ivory Delete
Let's hear it for Numrich and their seemingly inexhaustible supply of the bits I need. At quite reasonable prices too!
Quite the change from when I brought it home.
Named Storm
Gentle Breeze Stephanie hit the west coast of Florida today causing untold destruction.
Why untold?
Because there wasn't any to speak of!
It's a gentle breeze! What did you expect? SNOW?
Naming winter storms up in Yankeefrozenhell is like naming the pleasant weather here, it's too routine and you run out of names and cheapen the branding for when it's important.
Why untold?
Because there wasn't any to speak of!
It's a gentle breeze! What did you expect? SNOW?
Naming winter storms up in Yankeefrozenhell is like naming the pleasant weather here, it's too routine and you run out of names and cheapen the branding for when it's important.
07 February 2013
Well Hey There
Some miscreant was loose in my neighborhood this evening.
Lots of deputies cruising around and helo circling.
The house behind me is vacant and I let the deputies idling at the corner know.
They thanked me and I went out back to watch the helicopter circle.
A bit later two deputies and a dog came into the vacant house's back yard.
With the excitement, I'd grabbed Dottie and had her slung while I was back there.
All the deputies said when the shined their lights on me was, "nice AR! Have a good night."
And off they went!
I love Florida sometimes.
Lots of deputies cruising around and helo circling.
The house behind me is vacant and I let the deputies idling at the corner know.
They thanked me and I went out back to watch the helicopter circle.
A bit later two deputies and a dog came into the vacant house's back yard.
With the excitement, I'd grabbed Dottie and had her slung while I was back there.
All the deputies said when the shined their lights on me was, "nice AR! Have a good night."
And off they went!
I love Florida sometimes.
TL 0
My TL 0 character is beginning to take form.
He's not an outcast, rather he's solitary.
He's a valuable member of the tribe, but not of any particular clan.
He's an expert tool-maker and knows what medicine there is to know at his tech level.
I'm picturing someone who travels between the clans of a tribe and keeps them informed of the goings on outside their immediate area.
Kinda like a wandering minstrel or postman with a traveling doctor component thrown in.
He tells tales, tends wounds, delivers messages and such.
There is absolutely no historical or anthropological basis for this character at all.
TL 1 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
He's not an outcast, rather he's solitary.
He's a valuable member of the tribe, but not of any particular clan.
He's an expert tool-maker and knows what medicine there is to know at his tech level.
I'm picturing someone who travels between the clans of a tribe and keeps them informed of the goings on outside their immediate area.
Kinda like a wandering minstrel or postman with a traveling doctor component thrown in.
He tells tales, tends wounds, delivers messages and such.
There is absolutely no historical or anthropological basis for this character at all.
TL 1 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
06 February 2013
Not Settled
I've mentioned before that the Civil War was not about slavery, it was about states rights.
If it had been about slavery, that issue was certainly settled, and honestly that's mostly why The North fought.
The 13th Amendment clearly shows that's the war they were fighting.
But the issue was the federal government telling the states what they could and could not do, in this case about slaves.
Notice there's no amendment changing the roles and status of the relationship between the federal government and the states?
While The North may have won on the battlefield they did not fix the problem in the victory conditions.
This may be why The South has kept on about rising again this last century and a half.
"OK, Yankee, you won, do what you will!"
"Free the slaves, Johnny Reb."
"And?"
"Give the blacks rights and the vote?"
"And"
"That's it."
"Uh, ok?"
And it's getting ready to come to a head again.
And it's not just a single issue any more.
If it had been about slavery, that issue was certainly settled, and honestly that's mostly why The North fought.
The 13th Amendment clearly shows that's the war they were fighting.
But the issue was the federal government telling the states what they could and could not do, in this case about slaves.
Notice there's no amendment changing the roles and status of the relationship between the federal government and the states?
While The North may have won on the battlefield they did not fix the problem in the victory conditions.
This may be why The South has kept on about rising again this last century and a half.
"OK, Yankee, you won, do what you will!"
"Free the slaves, Johnny Reb."
"And?"
"Give the blacks rights and the vote?"
"And"
"That's it."
"Uh, ok?"
And it's getting ready to come to a head again.
And it's not just a single issue any more.
05 February 2013
Ten Pound Mini
I know someone will wonder, "how did you make a ten pound Mini-14?"
How does one get from 6.4 lb. to 10 lb.?
First thing you do is swap out the 0.25 lb. 5-round magazine for a 1.1 lb. 30-rounder.
Up to 7.2 lb.
Then you swap out the wooden stock for a plastic one with a pistol grip and metal folding stock and rip off the front sight and replace it with a combination front sight, flash-hider and bayonet lug.
We're now at 8.4 lb.
Then add an Aimpoint 1000 in a B-Square see-through mount.
9.2 lb.
Now add a Harris bipod.
Ten pounds!
Add another 0.4 lb if you count the sling.
It looked vicious! And it had a wandering zero, was balanced poorly and the scope was mounted too high for a good cheek-weld. A learning experience to be sure.
There were aspects of this gun that I assumed were just part of this type of gun until I got better guns. The Daewoo was far better in almost all respects, not to mention 0.6 lb. lighter, but I didn't notice any accuracy improvement because the front sight on the Daewoo is almost 3/8" wide. The Daewoo brought three huge improvements for me. Lighter, took the far more common AR magazine and it stayed zeroed!
PS: I bought the DR-200 in 1995 and it was a post-ban gun. I had absolutely no problem obtaining 30-round USGI magazines for it.
How does one get from 6.4 lb. to 10 lb.?
First thing you do is swap out the 0.25 lb. 5-round magazine for a 1.1 lb. 30-rounder.
Up to 7.2 lb.
Then you swap out the wooden stock for a plastic one with a pistol grip and metal folding stock and rip off the front sight and replace it with a combination front sight, flash-hider and bayonet lug.
We're now at 8.4 lb.
Then add an Aimpoint 1000 in a B-Square see-through mount.
9.2 lb.
Now add a Harris bipod.
Ten pounds!
Add another 0.4 lb if you count the sling.
It looked vicious! And it had a wandering zero, was balanced poorly and the scope was mounted too high for a good cheek-weld. A learning experience to be sure.
There were aspects of this gun that I assumed were just part of this type of gun until I got better guns. The Daewoo was far better in almost all respects, not to mention 0.6 lb. lighter, but I didn't notice any accuracy improvement because the front sight on the Daewoo is almost 3/8" wide. The Daewoo brought three huge improvements for me. Lighter, took the far more common AR magazine and it stayed zeroed!
PS: I bought the DR-200 in 1995 and it was a post-ban gun. I had absolutely no problem obtaining 30-round USGI magazines for it.
Ammo
I dimly recall being called an idiot for buying an AR in 6.8 because the ammunition was so expensive compared to the more normal 5.56.
Well, boot's on the other foot!
When you can find it, bog standard 55gr FMJ 5.56x45mm is now more expensive than 6.8.
Allow me to say ha HA!
I don't expect this situation to last.
Well, boot's on the other foot!
When you can find it, bog standard 55gr FMJ 5.56x45mm is now more expensive than 6.8.
Allow me to say ha HA!
I don't expect this situation to last.
Safety
My gun collection moved past my self defense needs years ago.
My initial interest in guns wasn't even about defense and I couldn't tell you the difference between the 2nd and 3rd amendments back then.
Guns are machines and machines have always fascinated me.
I am not absolutely certain when guns became the machine that fascinated me more than other started. At one time it was airplanes and I think that Dad buying me books on military stuff because they included airplanes is what started it.
I'm a hands-on learner and physically handling the guns really helps me understand how they work.
I'd read book after book and looked at diagram after diagram and didn't grok "gas operated" until I was cleaning an M240 in the Army and seeing how the parts interacted.
I was astonished when I got out of the Army that I could just go to a gun shop and buy an example to play with until I understood it. There was a lot of rotation in my collection then as I sampled.
Guns were for punching holes in paper to me at that point. I didn't hunt and I lived in an odd sense of security.
What knocked me out of it?
Rodney King. More to the point, the riots.
Suddenly my Mini-14 and the 30-round mags I'd bought had an application beyond wasting money. I also realized how poor my ten pound Mini-14 was for the task.
That led to it being replaced by a post-ban Daewoo DR-200 and the Daewoo being replaced with AR's.
Still, there are guns in the cabinet with little practical use.
Like all the .25 ACP guns. Like my grampa's .32 revolvers. Like all the milsurp bolt guns.
No gun is completely useless for defense, but some are better than others.
Defense just doesn't drive my purchases.
The XM177E2 clone and the tax stamp that goes with it were driven by a game. I had a character who had that carbine, so I wanted to make one to play with.
The 870 and the Garand are on my list of guns that a person should have, not because I really lusted for them. In fact that 870 hasn't been to the range in nearly twenty years.
Occasionally my collecting leads me to a gun that's got some use. The 1908 Pocket Hammerless in .380 is one such. It rode in my pocket for about a year before being replaced by a smaller .380. But I didn't buy it for defense, I bought it because it appeared to be an upscaled version of the .25 ACP 1908 Vest Pocket I had. That and Tam talking about them.
I had that relationship wrong, it turns out. Browning (PBUH) scaled down the 1903 Pocket Hammerless to .25 then later came back and noticed that the original design would take .380 handily.
All of that is a wordy way to say, I don't buy guns because I am afraid.
I don't buy guns to compensate for my small penis.
I buy guns because they are interesting. I have guns that are FOR protecting me and mine but that's a very small portion of the collection.
My initial interest in guns wasn't even about defense and I couldn't tell you the difference between the 2nd and 3rd amendments back then.
Guns are machines and machines have always fascinated me.
I am not absolutely certain when guns became the machine that fascinated me more than other started. At one time it was airplanes and I think that Dad buying me books on military stuff because they included airplanes is what started it.
I'm a hands-on learner and physically handling the guns really helps me understand how they work.
I'd read book after book and looked at diagram after diagram and didn't grok "gas operated" until I was cleaning an M240 in the Army and seeing how the parts interacted.
I was astonished when I got out of the Army that I could just go to a gun shop and buy an example to play with until I understood it. There was a lot of rotation in my collection then as I sampled.
Guns were for punching holes in paper to me at that point. I didn't hunt and I lived in an odd sense of security.
What knocked me out of it?
Rodney King. More to the point, the riots.
Suddenly my Mini-14 and the 30-round mags I'd bought had an application beyond wasting money. I also realized how poor my ten pound Mini-14 was for the task.
That led to it being replaced by a post-ban Daewoo DR-200 and the Daewoo being replaced with AR's.
Still, there are guns in the cabinet with little practical use.
Like all the .25 ACP guns. Like my grampa's .32 revolvers. Like all the milsurp bolt guns.
No gun is completely useless for defense, but some are better than others.
Defense just doesn't drive my purchases.
The XM177E2 clone and the tax stamp that goes with it were driven by a game. I had a character who had that carbine, so I wanted to make one to play with.
The 870 and the Garand are on my list of guns that a person should have, not because I really lusted for them. In fact that 870 hasn't been to the range in nearly twenty years.
Occasionally my collecting leads me to a gun that's got some use. The 1908 Pocket Hammerless in .380 is one such. It rode in my pocket for about a year before being replaced by a smaller .380. But I didn't buy it for defense, I bought it because it appeared to be an upscaled version of the .25 ACP 1908 Vest Pocket I had. That and Tam talking about them.
I had that relationship wrong, it turns out. Browning (PBUH) scaled down the 1903 Pocket Hammerless to .25 then later came back and noticed that the original design would take .380 handily.
All of that is a wordy way to say, I don't buy guns because I am afraid.
I don't buy guns to compensate for my small penis.
I buy guns because they are interesting. I have guns that are FOR protecting me and mine but that's a very small portion of the collection.
04 February 2013
Slur
You may notice in the header when you leave a comment:
Try to remember you are a guest here when you comment.
Inappropriate comments will be deleted without mention.
You shit on the rug and I will kick your ass to the curb.
This is not your soapbox to vent anti-semitism racism, sexism, homophobia, pederasty or marxism.
Likewise, I don't seek the approval of such narrow minded haters even if I have an unrelated overlapping interest.
In fact, your disapproval is a badge of honor!
Gaming Project
Since I don't have anything constructive to do of late, I've decided that I am going to make a 150 point GURPS 4e character for each TL from 0-8.
Should be interesting.
I also need to hit the copy place for more character sheets.
The TL break-down for the curious:
TL 0 Stone Age
TL 1 Bronze Age (3500 BC+)
TL 2 Iron Age (1200 BC+)
TL 3 Medieval (600 AD+)
TL 4 Age of Sail (1450 AD+)
TL 5 Industrial Revolution (1730 AD+)
TL 6 Mechanized Age (1880 AD+)
TL 7 Nuclear Age (1940 AD+)
TL 8 Digital Age (1980 AD+)
Some of these span a rather large historical timeframe. TL5 in particular sits astride some gigantic changes in technology.
I am thinking of:
TL 0an outcast shaman. A traveling shaman
TL 1 something Greek. Mycenaean in fact!
TL 2Roman. Parthian horse archer cum tin merchant.
TL 3 A Viking slaver.
TL 4Romantic highwayman. Italian duelist and master swordsman.
TL 5 American colonial.
TL 6 Jade prospector.
TL 7 Drug smuggling pilot.
TL 8 Police detective.
Got some thinking to do. Coming up with something adventury is a challenge. I also need to decide if magic or psi is appropriate and fun.
Should be interesting.
I also need to hit the copy place for more character sheets.
The TL break-down for the curious:
TL 0 Stone Age
TL 1 Bronze Age (3500 BC+)
TL 2 Iron Age (1200 BC+)
TL 3 Medieval (600 AD+)
TL 4 Age of Sail (1450 AD+)
TL 5 Industrial Revolution (1730 AD+)
TL 6 Mechanized Age (1880 AD+)
TL 7 Nuclear Age (1940 AD+)
TL 8 Digital Age (1980 AD+)
Some of these span a rather large historical timeframe. TL5 in particular sits astride some gigantic changes in technology.
I am thinking of:
TL 0
TL 1 something Greek. Mycenaean in fact!
TL 2
TL 3 A Viking slaver.
TL 4
TL 5 American colonial.
TL 6 Jade prospector.
TL 7 Drug smuggling pilot.
TL 8 Police detective.
Got some thinking to do. Coming up with something adventury is a challenge. I also need to decide if magic or psi is appropriate and fun.
Letters To My Senators
Please oppose this foolish attempt to throttle the capacity of magazines at some arbitrarily determined size.
A quick glance at historical trends in the murder rate says a great deal about how well it would work.
In 1926 magazines that held more than seven rounds in a handgun were a rarity. The murder rate in Chicago is barely different now despite a defacto ban on the entire handgun, let alone the magazine. You could mail order machine guns back then too, yet the rate is slightly higher today than it was then.
In contrast the Tampa area's murder rate has dropped from 67.6 murders per 100,000 people to just 8! EIGHT! And that's with shall issue conceal carry and virtually no state level restrictions on the type of firearms that the common citizen may own.
It seems to me that the winning solution for crime reduction is obvious.
Thanks for you and your staffers time!
We'll see what we get by way of reply.
Safer!
In 1926 you could mail-order a Thompson SMG or a Colt Monitor with the only delay being the post office for your check and shipping time to your door. Full auto, no background check, no registration.
In 1926 Al Capone was in charge of much of the crime in Chicago.
26 murders in 1926. That's 16.7 per 100k.
In 2012 you cannot mail order any kind of firearm and owning a machinegun requires both registration and a background check. None of that matters because you can't own one in Chicago and most regular firearms are very tightly regulated.
Al Capone is long dead.
532 murders in 2012. That's 19.7 per 100k.
Yup, gun control is working alright.
By way of comparison.
In 1926 Jacksonville the murder rate was 76.9 per 100,000 people!
In 2012 Jacksonville, FL had 108 murders, a rate of 13.1 per 100k.
In 1926 Tampa, FL had a murder rate of 67.6 per 100,000 people and last year it was 8.1!
Since the mid eighties Florida has made it much easier to buy and carry a firearm and to use one at need.
When you start talking about making the streets safer, make sure you check to see what actually works.
These statistics were far too easy to find online, so the gun control people are either willfully ignorant or lying about the purposes of their laws.
After watching them closely for the past 20 years, I think they are not ignorant.
In 1926 Al Capone was in charge of much of the crime in Chicago.
26 murders in 1926. That's 16.7 per 100k.
In 2012 you cannot mail order any kind of firearm and owning a machinegun requires both registration and a background check. None of that matters because you can't own one in Chicago and most regular firearms are very tightly regulated.
Al Capone is long dead.
532 murders in 2012. That's 19.7 per 100k.
Yup, gun control is working alright.
By way of comparison.
In 1926 Jacksonville the murder rate was 76.9 per 100,000 people!
In 2012 Jacksonville, FL had 108 murders, a rate of 13.1 per 100k.
In 1926 Tampa, FL had a murder rate of 67.6 per 100,000 people and last year it was 8.1!
Since the mid eighties Florida has made it much easier to buy and carry a firearm and to use one at need.
When you start talking about making the streets safer, make sure you check to see what actually works.
These statistics were far too easy to find online, so the gun control people are either willfully ignorant or lying about the purposes of their laws.
After watching them closely for the past 20 years, I think they are not ignorant.
Essential Truth
If you cannot say what you mean; you can never mean what you say.
The details are everything.
The details are everything.
03 February 2013
Perspective
I just realized...
Atlas Shrugged is a Diesel-Punk novel.
I should take longer to say it, in honor of the source, but...
Atlas Shrugged is a Diesel-Punk novel.
I should take longer to say it, in honor of the source, but...
02 February 2013
Good Job!
Mr Bloomberg, you should follow Mr Koch's fine example.
Borrow a gun from your security detail if you can't find yours.
You're doing a great job now Ed, if only every mayor of NYFC could be like you are now.
Borrow a gun from your security detail if you can't find yours.
You're doing a great job now Ed, if only every mayor of NYFC could be like you are now.
01 February 2013
Sense Of Scale
The figure is armed with the same carbine he's standing on.
I got interested in the XM177E2 during the playtest for GURPS: SEAL's in Vietnam. The figure is of the character I generated for the playtest. The actual gun was inspired by character.
PS:
That there is a fully registered short barrel rifle. Sabrina is a 95% clone of an XM177E2. The 11.5" barrel and mock-moderator is just barely shorter than a 14.5" barrel and normal flash-hider. Lots of retro-heads use a 12.7" barrel and pin and weld the moderator on to make a Title 1 version; it's actually a very subtle difference.
I got interested in the XM177E2 during the playtest for GURPS: SEAL's in Vietnam. The figure is of the character I generated for the playtest. The actual gun was inspired by character.
PS:
That there is a fully registered short barrel rifle. Sabrina is a 95% clone of an XM177E2. The 11.5" barrel and mock-moderator is just barely shorter than a 14.5" barrel and normal flash-hider. Lots of retro-heads use a 12.7" barrel and pin and weld the moderator on to make a Title 1 version; it's actually a very subtle difference.
Home Repair
In the recent spate of home repair stories...
Am I the only one who's fixed something and stood back and wondered, "that was too simple"?
Then fretted for weeks while it remained fixed?
Am I the only one who's fixed something and stood back and wondered, "that was too simple"?
Then fretted for weeks while it remained fixed?
I'm The Problem?
I beg to differ!
Yes, there's a massive ammo shortage going on because of demand.
Yes, I'd like to buy a couple of boxes of 5.56.
What I did not do is hover over ten ammo sites and buy 500 rounds and then when a buddy called about availability, buy 500 more.
That's 1,000 rounds that someone who has none can't order and you ordered just to show you could for a magazine article.
And you blame me and others like me for cranking up the demand and prices?
Really?
REALLY?
I just want 40 rounds to go shooting for fun.
I'll admit, I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to ammo. I tend to buy one more box than I need every time I go to the range and that extra box accumulates. I HAVE ammo, so I'm not adding to the panic; but I'll be wanting some before too terribly long.
Yes, there's a massive ammo shortage going on because of demand.
Yes, I'd like to buy a couple of boxes of 5.56.
What I did not do is hover over ten ammo sites and buy 500 rounds and then when a buddy called about availability, buy 500 more.
That's 1,000 rounds that someone who has none can't order and you ordered just to show you could for a magazine article.
And you blame me and others like me for cranking up the demand and prices?
Really?
REALLY?
I just want 40 rounds to go shooting for fun.
I'll admit, I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to ammo. I tend to buy one more box than I need every time I go to the range and that extra box accumulates. I HAVE ammo, so I'm not adding to the panic; but I'll be wanting some before too terribly long.
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