Marv deserves some.
He also should get a t-shirt.
"I changed the plugs and wires on an LT4 powered C4"
He also wants ten minutes alone with the engineer who placed the heater box in relation to the #8 plug.
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03 July 2014
02 July 2014
To Be A Dick About It
Rather than boycott going to Target...
Go there, load up the cart.
Go to the check out.
When you get to where you're supposed to pay say, "oh wait, you don't want me or my gun here. My bad."
Then walk out without the items you've just wasted their time ringing up.
Now they have to waste even more time putting those items back.
Go there, load up the cart.
Go to the check out.
When you get to where you're supposed to pay say, "oh wait, you don't want me or my gun here. My bad."
Then walk out without the items you've just wasted their time ringing up.
Now they have to waste even more time putting those items back.
Off Target
Initially I was on the side of the open carriers. Embarrassingly so.
I was taken to task and I've come to Jeebus about it.
OCT done fucked up.
Now Target has caved and asked us, nicely, to not bring our guns to their stores.
I looked at the phrasing carefully. They don't ask us to refrain from open carry, they ask us to leave our guns elsewhere.
While OCT might have been who got this snowball rolling, they're not why Target feels safe enough to put out such a proclamation.
Let's recall that I've come to see that OCT was doing it wrong. What could we have done differently that would have changed the outcome?
I don't think the outcome was ever in question. Like I said before, there are almost no large corporations that actually like gun owners. They definitely fear the boycotts. So they pay lip service to us in the hopes we don't really look too hard at their corporate policies and donations. But when something comes along to give them cover to do what they've been pining to do for as long as their dark corporate hearts can remember, they do.
The only difference here is they thought our condemnation of OCT meant we'd agree. Like me, at the start of this, they confused the goal with the tactic. Most places were condemning the tactic, not the goal. There are a few outliers who oppose the goal, of course.
Now we're going to boycott Target. I hope they get the message.
By the way, the only place I still see OCT discussed is on the gun blogs. Maybe if we hushed for a bit it'll blow over?
I was taken to task and I've come to Jeebus about it.
OCT done fucked up.
Now Target has caved and asked us, nicely, to not bring our guns to their stores.
I looked at the phrasing carefully. They don't ask us to refrain from open carry, they ask us to leave our guns elsewhere.
While OCT might have been who got this snowball rolling, they're not why Target feels safe enough to put out such a proclamation.
Let's recall that I've come to see that OCT was doing it wrong. What could we have done differently that would have changed the outcome?
I don't think the outcome was ever in question. Like I said before, there are almost no large corporations that actually like gun owners. They definitely fear the boycotts. So they pay lip service to us in the hopes we don't really look too hard at their corporate policies and donations. But when something comes along to give them cover to do what they've been pining to do for as long as their dark corporate hearts can remember, they do.
The only difference here is they thought our condemnation of OCT meant we'd agree. Like me, at the start of this, they confused the goal with the tactic. Most places were condemning the tactic, not the goal. There are a few outliers who oppose the goal, of course.
Now we're going to boycott Target. I hope they get the message.
By the way, the only place I still see OCT discussed is on the gun blogs. Maybe if we hushed for a bit it'll blow over?
Video Gaming
I did not entirely give up trying to find a way past the blockage on Metro: Last Light.
Anglave's description of it as exciting.
Other gamer's descriptions of it as difficult, but doable...
I'm convinced.
GIT OFF MY LAWN!
Fucking whippersnappers and your new fangled vidyah games.
This skill set is beyond me, I will not get it, I cannot learn it, stop with encouraging me.
01 July 2014
Humanity
If you don't cry at the end of Ol' Yeller or at the beginning of Up, you're not completely human.
This is an Official Purity Test.
This is an Official Purity Test.
30 June 2014
I Wholeheartedly Agree!
RT if you agree: Women—not their bosses—should be able to make their own health care decisions. #HobbyLobby #NotMyBossesBusiness
Now, taking it as you meant it... Explain how forcing women to buy health insurance from the government defined plans gives an actual choice to make a decision about.
"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
Under Obamacare an extremely important choice is removed from the table. Two really. First, she cannot choose to make the "go without" choice even if she's able to afford care. She may also not choose to not subsidize the health care of others.
29 June 2014
So Much For That Plan
I've gone as far as I can go in Metro: Last Light.
I am where I have to wait for the NPC to bring the raft so that there's an exit to the area I am in.
While I wait I am mobbed by these giant dog things.
They overwhelm me while I reload. They run faster than I do so I cannot run away while I reload.
There are too many to lock myself in a corner and blast them as they get close because they mob me while I reload.
Nothing about the game up to this point gave any preparation for this scenario and the sudden spike in difficulty and the change from sneaking to hair-on-fire melee is frustrating.
It's especially irritating to know enough about game design to know that the time it takes for the NPC to arrive is programmed into the game and the endless bad-guys is a decision they made.
The purpose of this section is...?
The main reason that this section is especially jarring is prior to this the number of bad-guys is finite. You can eventually get them all. Which becomes triply irritating when it sinks in that you have infinite time to solve the finite bad guys, but this level is a new bad buy for as many minutes as it takes for the programmed stop to end.
There's no puzzle to solve. It's a dexterity / hand-eye coordination / reflexes / stubbornness test. I'm still sick of the last one from Call of Duty. Levels like this continue until you get lucky and are not dependent on skills. You have to keep plugging at them until the dice roll your way.
I'm done with this game.
I am where I have to wait for the NPC to bring the raft so that there's an exit to the area I am in.
While I wait I am mobbed by these giant dog things.
They overwhelm me while I reload. They run faster than I do so I cannot run away while I reload.
There are too many to lock myself in a corner and blast them as they get close because they mob me while I reload.
Nothing about the game up to this point gave any preparation for this scenario and the sudden spike in difficulty and the change from sneaking to hair-on-fire melee is frustrating.
It's especially irritating to know enough about game design to know that the time it takes for the NPC to arrive is programmed into the game and the endless bad-guys is a decision they made.
The purpose of this section is...?
The main reason that this section is especially jarring is prior to this the number of bad-guys is finite. You can eventually get them all. Which becomes triply irritating when it sinks in that you have infinite time to solve the finite bad guys, but this level is a new bad buy for as many minutes as it takes for the programmed stop to end.
There's no puzzle to solve. It's a dexterity / hand-eye coordination / reflexes / stubbornness test. I'm still sick of the last one from Call of Duty. Levels like this continue until you get lucky and are not dependent on skills. You have to keep plugging at them until the dice roll your way.
I'm done with this game.
What's In A Name
It's resurfaced again...
Ever since the European convention of naming cartridges with bore x case length in millimeters began, there've been revisionists trying to apply this convention to extant rounds.
They've gone so far as to call this naming convention "universal metric".
There's a huge flaw in it.
It's not universal because cartridges are named.
It's not universal because there are many more variables in cartridge dimensions than just the bore and case length.
The burr that keeps getting under my saddle is the retcon of changing .303 British to 7.7x56mmR.
It wasn't called anything metric the entire time it was issued, and that was a damn long time. Historically inaccurate to use the UM designation and this retcon keeps happening in purportedly historical listings of the guns that use the round. This revisionism is entirely one way too, always applying the UM to an inch round and never putting the Americanized common name to a metric one.
Likewise, .30-06 is not 7.62x63mm. We won't even give a response to 7.62x51mmR.
The system really falls apart when you look for 8x50mm. 8x50mmR Lebel. 8x50mmR Mannlicher. 8x50mmR Siamese Mauser.
Cartridges are named!
Check out .308x1.5 sometime.
Cartridges accumulate aliases too. This is what UM was trying to take care of.
.380 ACP is also known as 9mm Browning, 9mm Corto, 9mm Kurz, 9mm Short, 9×17mm and 9mm Browning Court.
Ever since the European convention of naming cartridges with bore x case length in millimeters began, there've been revisionists trying to apply this convention to extant rounds.
They've gone so far as to call this naming convention "universal metric".
There's a huge flaw in it.
It's not universal because cartridges are named.
It's not universal because there are many more variables in cartridge dimensions than just the bore and case length.
The burr that keeps getting under my saddle is the retcon of changing .303 British to 7.7x56mmR.
It wasn't called anything metric the entire time it was issued, and that was a damn long time. Historically inaccurate to use the UM designation and this retcon keeps happening in purportedly historical listings of the guns that use the round. This revisionism is entirely one way too, always applying the UM to an inch round and never putting the Americanized common name to a metric one.
Likewise, .30-06 is not 7.62x63mm. We won't even give a response to 7.62x51mmR.
The system really falls apart when you look for 8x50mm. 8x50mmR Lebel. 8x50mmR Mannlicher. 8x50mmR Siamese Mauser.
Cartridges are named!
Check out .308x1.5 sometime.
Cartridges accumulate aliases too. This is what UM was trying to take care of.
.380 ACP is also known as 9mm Browning, 9mm Corto, 9mm Kurz, 9mm Short, 9×17mm and 9mm Browning Court.
Personality
On occasion, we talk about winning the lottery.
Being a car guy, "what car would you get?" comes up.
I'd prolly get a new Corvette.
Why not a Ferrari? Aston Martin? Lamborghini?
Dunno. I think I just like the 'Vette personality better.
The ultimate lottery car, for me, would be a C5 or C6 suspension and drivetrain concealed under the body of a C3. The reason it's a lottery car is you start with a complete 1997-2004 Corvette, a complete 1968-1982 Corvette and a special order custom frame then hours and hours of labor.
Loving the looks of the third generation Corvette is a symptom of my age.
I've also a hankering for a '40's style body on modern running gear; but it's a nebulous urge. I've no specific car in mind just an ideal that doesn't coalesce into a consistent image.
Being a car guy, "what car would you get?" comes up.
I'd prolly get a new Corvette.
Why not a Ferrari? Aston Martin? Lamborghini?
Dunno. I think I just like the 'Vette personality better.
The ultimate lottery car, for me, would be a C5 or C6 suspension and drivetrain concealed under the body of a C3. The reason it's a lottery car is you start with a complete 1997-2004 Corvette, a complete 1968-1982 Corvette and a special order custom frame then hours and hours of labor.
Loving the looks of the third generation Corvette is a symptom of my age.
I've also a hankering for a '40's style body on modern running gear; but it's a nebulous urge. I've no specific car in mind just an ideal that doesn't coalesce into a consistent image.
What I Did Yesterday
Road trip and visit to Drum Circle Distillery, makers of Siesta Key Rum.
I learned a lot!
I did not know that molasses is a by-product of making sugar and that black-strap molasses is the dregs of the molasses making process.
I tried a small sample of the rum as it came out of the still. Yuck. When its that raw it smells like rubbing alcohol... I don't have a basis of comparison for the flavor; it really just evaporated off the tongue. A neat experience though.
I'm not even a rum drinker...
It was very interesting learning about different ways of making rum he'd tried and discarded and the recipes he's still using.
I am not sure why I was surprise, given the number of craft beers, that there's a craft liquor industry too. Rums like Captain Morgan and Bacardi are the Budwiesers and Millers... With all the same baggage associated with quality underlined by penny pinching and making a consistent product in great volume.
It's much easier to make a mediocre product cheaply, consistently and in great volume than an excellent one profitably in small volumes. That's not really a slam on Bacardi and Budweiser but an observation that the goals are not the same between the giants and the crafters.
Troy's tour of his business is a brilliant piece of marketing, even if he doesn't know he's doing it.
Hand out samples in the tasting room... give the tour while the samples have a chance to take effect... get them back into the tasting room and next to the stuff for sale while they have nothing else to do while they wait to make sure they're completely sober to drive.
Brilliant!
I learned a lot!
I did not know that molasses is a by-product of making sugar and that black-strap molasses is the dregs of the molasses making process.
I tried a small sample of the rum as it came out of the still. Yuck. When its that raw it smells like rubbing alcohol... I don't have a basis of comparison for the flavor; it really just evaporated off the tongue. A neat experience though.
I'm not even a rum drinker...
It was very interesting learning about different ways of making rum he'd tried and discarded and the recipes he's still using.
I am not sure why I was surprise, given the number of craft beers, that there's a craft liquor industry too. Rums like Captain Morgan and Bacardi are the Budwiesers and Millers... With all the same baggage associated with quality underlined by penny pinching and making a consistent product in great volume.
It's much easier to make a mediocre product cheaply, consistently and in great volume than an excellent one profitably in small volumes. That's not really a slam on Bacardi and Budweiser but an observation that the goals are not the same between the giants and the crafters.
Troy's tour of his business is a brilliant piece of marketing, even if he doesn't know he's doing it.
Hand out samples in the tasting room... give the tour while the samples have a chance to take effect... get them back into the tasting room and next to the stuff for sale while they have nothing else to do while they wait to make sure they're completely sober to drive.
Brilliant!
More Reading
Some blogs you stop reading because the author updates so intermittently you assume they've quit.
Sometimes it's a refreshing surprise to stop in and see that they've posted while you've been away forgetting them.
Sometimes it's a refreshing surprise to stop in and see that they've posted while you've been away forgetting them.
27 June 2014
Reading
Some blogs you stop reading because the author is an idiot.
Some blogs you stop reading because the commenters are idiots.
Some blogs you stop reading because you become an idiot in comments regardless of how intelligent the post you're replying to is.
Some blogs you stop reading because the commenters are idiots.
Some blogs you stop reading because you become an idiot in comments regardless of how intelligent the post you're replying to is.
A New Record
Been up for an hour and I'm already pissed at the internet.
That normally takes two hours.
That normally takes two hours.
26 June 2014
Riding On The Metro
Anglave occasionally, generously, buys me a game via the gift mode on Steam.
He enjoys something, he wants to share.
His latest is Metro: Last Light.
It's a first person shooter and I am enjoying it a lot.
Now...
I did not enjoy it much at first because the first section where you're not essentially playing a choose-your-own-adventure-book the game became a slide show.
So I dial all of the graphics settings down to the bare minimums.
Slide show.
I update the drivers for my video card.
Slide show.
I look up the minimum system requirements.
My machine is just below the middle between minimum and recommended.
Hrmmmm.
Anglave has been chatting with me the whole time and offering settings suggestions. Suggestions that aren't in the video settings menu.
That gets me to remember that there was a "choose your gamma" right at the beginning of the game.
In the process of finding where to adjust that again I find graphics related choices in the "game" menu.
"Advance PhysX" is checked.
I uncheck it.
Game runs GREAT.
It doesn't look any different (except for the frame rate).
And that was true of most of the graphics settings changes. Changing the resolution was noticeable. Changing any of the other selections only affects frame rate.
These options consume smoke and return nothing.
He enjoys something, he wants to share.
His latest is Metro: Last Light.
It's a first person shooter and I am enjoying it a lot.
Now...
I did not enjoy it much at first because the first section where you're not essentially playing a choose-your-own-adventure-book the game became a slide show.
So I dial all of the graphics settings down to the bare minimums.
Slide show.
I update the drivers for my video card.
Slide show.
I look up the minimum system requirements.
My machine is just below the middle between minimum and recommended.
Hrmmmm.
Anglave has been chatting with me the whole time and offering settings suggestions. Suggestions that aren't in the video settings menu.
That gets me to remember that there was a "choose your gamma" right at the beginning of the game.
In the process of finding where to adjust that again I find graphics related choices in the "game" menu.
"Advance PhysX" is checked.
I uncheck it.
Game runs GREAT.
It doesn't look any different (except for the frame rate).
And that was true of most of the graphics settings changes. Changing the resolution was noticeable. Changing any of the other selections only affects frame rate.
These options consume smoke and return nothing.
25 June 2014
All The Way
Go to your local Waffle House.
Order "Hashbrowns all the way."
I skip the mushrooms because I am allergic.
You're welcome.
Order "Hashbrowns all the way."
I skip the mushrooms because I am allergic.
You're welcome.
Racist Flags
This is the flag the Klu Klux Klan flies (alongside the Stars-N-Stripes most often).
This is the Confederate Navy Jack. I'd have shown the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, but its square form is less commonly depicted as a "Confederate Flag".
One was created by racists to fly and promote racism.
 |
| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KKK-Flag.svg |
.svg/1000px-Conf_Navy_Jack_(light_blue).svg.png) |
| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Conf_Navy_Jack_%28light_blue%29.svg/1000px-Conf_Navy_Jack_%28light_blue%29.svg.png |
Which one is more recognizable?
The Confederate flag is used more and is seen more because while some will use it for racism and some see it as racist, it was made to symbolize other things besides racism.
The KKK Flag has never represented anything but, and you just never see it openly flown unless there's real strength in numbers protecting the Klansmen from violence.
I consider that the Klan flag is rare a sign that racism really did die in this nation a long time ago.
24 June 2014
I Wanna Do Over
What configuration your personal AR ends up in is, well, personal.
The popularity of them has given rise to congfigurations that didn't exist when I started.
AIM Surplus is selling an upper that I wish had been around when I built my first one.
Here are some pictures from their web site.
That's a dissipator configuration with the gas port in the mid-length position instead of the more "traditional" carbine location.
I've long felt that if you have to have a 16" barrel then a middy is the gas-system to run. What a dissy gets you is a rifle's sight radius and longer handguards. You lose the ability to mount a normal bayonet, but it's the lug that freaks the antis out, and it's still present.
The popularity of them has given rise to congfigurations that didn't exist when I started.
AIM Surplus is selling an upper that I wish had been around when I built my first one.
Here are some pictures from their web site.
That's a dissipator configuration with the gas port in the mid-length position instead of the more "traditional" carbine location.
I've long felt that if you have to have a 16" barrel then a middy is the gas-system to run. What a dissy gets you is a rifle's sight radius and longer handguards. You lose the ability to mount a normal bayonet, but it's the lug that freaks the antis out, and it's still present.
Stats...
When I go off my rocker and spew idiotic things, traffic sure goes up.
When I am rational and even keeled, fewer folks stop by.
I can't sustain crazy well enough to keep the traffic steady!
When I am rational and even keeled, fewer folks stop by.
I can't sustain crazy well enough to keep the traffic steady!
Pure Evil
Willard is gifting a friend of ours an AR kit so he can put one together himself.
The upper came fully assembled from the factory.
It is now taken apart to full field strip standards, including taking the extractor off the bolt.
Where the evil comes in:
I ask, "we going to tell him about the handguard removal tool?"
Willard replies by shaking his head 'no' and smiling smugly.
We're going to show mercy in the form of letting our friend put it together here, where my tools are and where he can ask for assistance.
My portion of the evil is deciding that he's got to ask for the help.
I am going to Hell. But if I was going to Heaven I'd lose my chance to kick Robert Strange MacNamara right in the nuts. I understand there will be a line, but I'll have eternity. Heck my plans for Bob might even land me a job!
The upper came fully assembled from the factory.
It is now taken apart to full field strip standards, including taking the extractor off the bolt.
Where the evil comes in:
I ask, "we going to tell him about the handguard removal tool?"
Willard replies by shaking his head 'no' and smiling smugly.
We're going to show mercy in the form of letting our friend put it together here, where my tools are and where he can ask for assistance.
My portion of the evil is deciding that he's got to ask for the help.
I am going to Hell. But if I was going to Heaven I'd lose my chance to kick Robert Strange MacNamara right in the nuts. I understand there will be a line, but I'll have eternity. Heck my plans for Bob might even land me a job!
Titanic
This is an FIE Titan. A .25 ACP design by Tanfoglio of Italy. After 1968 little pocket guns like this could no longer be imported, so domestic companies began making frames and importing the rest of the parts.
Prices vary wildly. You can see them go for under $100 and I've seen them for selling for more than $300! It all depends on finish, condition and the stock materials. This finish with the wood stocks seems to be the rarest. I am not sure if the finish is hard chrome or electroless nickel.
Contrary to internet rumor the slide is steel; the frame is alloy.
I had a twin to this gun when I lived in Iowa. It's the first gun I (illegally because Story county was a no-issue zone) concealed carried. My dad had (has?) one in blue with fake pearl grips; but I think his is a real Tanfoglio.
Something that stands out to me is the hammer blocks the sights when it's dropped. Since there's no hold-open it might be intended as a visual indication that you're empty.
It's a bog standard, simple blow-back .25. There's a trigger block safety and that's about it. The magazine is a conventional heel release and holds seven shots.
Disassembly is simple. Remove the magazine, check the chamber, put it on safe, pull the slide as far to the rear as it will go while lifting the back end up and out of the slots in the frame. Let the slide go forward with the slide out of the slots and it falls apart like shown above.
Prices vary wildly. You can see them go for under $100 and I've seen them for selling for more than $300! It all depends on finish, condition and the stock materials. This finish with the wood stocks seems to be the rarest. I am not sure if the finish is hard chrome or electroless nickel.
Contrary to internet rumor the slide is steel; the frame is alloy.
I had a twin to this gun when I lived in Iowa. It's the first gun I (illegally because Story county was a no-issue zone) concealed carried. My dad had (has?) one in blue with fake pearl grips; but I think his is a real Tanfoglio.
Something that stands out to me is the hammer blocks the sights when it's dropped. Since there's no hold-open it might be intended as a visual indication that you're empty.
It's a bog standard, simple blow-back .25. There's a trigger block safety and that's about it. The magazine is a conventional heel release and holds seven shots.
Disassembly is simple. Remove the magazine, check the chamber, put it on safe, pull the slide as far to the rear as it will go while lifting the back end up and out of the slots in the frame. Let the slide go forward with the slide out of the slots and it falls apart like shown above.
 |
| Barrel proof marks. |
23 June 2014
Monsieur Pieper
Nicolas Pieper is a Belgian gentleman from Liege.
He did what everyone in Liege does, designs guns.
This is amodel 1907 Pistolet Automatique Démontant "N. Pieper" Modèle 1909 as near as I can tell.
Can it truly be a Forgotten Weapon if nobody's heard of you?
Update: I forgot to mention what a finely made piece this is. Everything runs smoothly against everything else, the trigger is a little stiff, but crisp. And the machining... EVERYTHING is milled. This thing would cost $1,000 to make today.
Bunches more pics below the fold!
He did what everyone in Liege does, designs guns.
This is a
Can it truly be a Forgotten Weapon if nobody's heard of you?
Update: I forgot to mention what a finely made piece this is. Everything runs smoothly against everything else, the trigger is a little stiff, but crisp. And the machining... EVERYTHING is milled. This thing would cost $1,000 to make today.
Bunches more pics below the fold!
Escape From Man Hell
The store was open.
I got out my tools.
I did what needed to be done.
Parts are replaced
Something is repaired.
A friend of ours is moving back to New Jersey. I know! They are driving up to take care of their aging parents so don't need a household's worth of stuff. Literally gave everything away. We got their washing machine.
Unfortunately the mere act of turning the valves off caused the seals around the stems to start leaking. Thag B L33T Plumzors (heh heh, heh heh; he spelled bleat).
Note to helpful Home Depot drone. When I show you what came off the wall, that's what I want. I don't want what I am "supposed" to have. Supposed to have is for new build where they no longer use boiler drains for washer hook-ups. I didn't want to convert from 1/2" female NPT on the pipes to 1/2" compression fittings just to use the spiffy chrome plated shut-off valves. NPT is better.
By the way, that's $11.50 in valves and $21 in new hoses to completely cure the leaks. The appliance place charges $50 just to come out to attach hoses, and they don't fix valves. The plumber charges $150 for the first two hours (or part thereof), $50 for each additional hour plus parts which are triple what Home Depot charges (and they don't attach hoses).
It's nice not to be helpless in the face of home-ownership.
22 June 2014
Man Hell
Something needs repaired.
You know what needs replaced.
You know how to replace it.
You have the tools to replaced it.
The store with the parts is closed.
You know what needs replaced.
You know how to replace it.
You have the tools to replaced it.
The store with the parts is closed.
Rants And Rambles
The tags / labels for posts are more than just an organizational marker for me.
It never occurred to me that y'all can't read my mind and know what I mean when I tag something. Telepathy training is mandatory and forbidden Troubleshooter...
"rant" and "ramble" are used to indicate that no filters were used when writing the post.
Filters that include, but are not limited to, rational thought, fact checking, logic, politeness, spelling, grammar or citations.
What these posts end up being is the placekeepers for further thoughts and a more rational regurgitation later. Stuff that I want to talk about rationally, but am too emotionally chaffed about to actually be rational about; yet cannot sit on until I can think straight.
Sitting on it makes it worse. It makes the posts less rational not more. It makes posts that I am so damned ashamed of that the shame of memory-holing them is much easier to bear.
It never occurred to me that y'all can't read my mind and know what I mean when I tag something. Telepathy training is mandatory and forbidden Troubleshooter...
"rant" and "ramble" are used to indicate that no filters were used when writing the post.
Filters that include, but are not limited to, rational thought, fact checking, logic, politeness, spelling, grammar or citations.
What these posts end up being is the placekeepers for further thoughts and a more rational regurgitation later. Stuff that I want to talk about rationally, but am too emotionally chaffed about to actually be rational about; yet cannot sit on until I can think straight.
Sitting on it makes it worse. It makes the posts less rational not more. It makes posts that I am so damned ashamed of that the shame of memory-holing them is much easier to bear.
Can't Find It
I know I wrote a post about the Miller decision meaning that the 2nd protected military weapons strictly.
What I can't remember is WHERE I posted it.
No on Blogger, that's for sure.
Possibly on Livejournal, but searching that thing is near impossible.
Usenet? Maybe.
A comment to someone else's blog? Possibly, but I really think it was someplace of mine.
I know FuzzyGeff and I discussed it often.
What I can't remember is WHERE I posted it.
No on Blogger, that's for sure.
Possibly on Livejournal, but searching that thing is near impossible.
Usenet? Maybe.
A comment to someone else's blog? Possibly, but I really think it was someplace of mine.
I know FuzzyGeff and I discussed it often.
Ponderous
The NRA is a massive organization.
Such creations do not turn on a dime.
The nature of this inertia means that sometimes an opportunity to do something small is missed but will save time and effort down the road.
I am willing to bet there's a whole department's worth of folks there who look back at those moments saying, "if only..."
I means that they kind of have to already be about something before it becomes an issue.
I freak out from time to time because the NRA is not an NFA organization. They don't oppose NFA items and think they're neat like I do; but it's not what they're mostly about.
I want them to be more of an NFA org. I fervently believe that if the NRA was a lot more active about it, then this whole thing where NFATCA and the rulemaking all went wrong.
NFATCA isn't a big enough gorilla. The NRA is. If they'd take the job.
Even as I type that. Even as I want them to.
I wonder...
Should they?
It's nothing to cancel my membership over.
The only NRA thing we've cancelled here is The Lovely Harvey cancelled her subscription to The American Rifleman because I get it too and she wasn't really reading it. Let them save the printing costs.
Such creations do not turn on a dime.
The nature of this inertia means that sometimes an opportunity to do something small is missed but will save time and effort down the road.
I am willing to bet there's a whole department's worth of folks there who look back at those moments saying, "if only..."
I means that they kind of have to already be about something before it becomes an issue.
I freak out from time to time because the NRA is not an NFA organization. They don't oppose NFA items and think they're neat like I do; but it's not what they're mostly about.
I want them to be more of an NFA org. I fervently believe that if the NRA was a lot more active about it, then this whole thing where NFATCA and the rulemaking all went wrong.
NFATCA isn't a big enough gorilla. The NRA is. If they'd take the job.
Even as I type that. Even as I want them to.
I wonder...
Should they?
It's nothing to cancel my membership over.
The only NRA thing we've cancelled here is The Lovely Harvey cancelled her subscription to The American Rifleman because I get it too and she wasn't really reading it. Let them save the printing costs.
20 June 2014
Organic
When you get right down to it, crude oil is organic.
Kinda takes the wind out of organic food don't it?
Kinda takes the wind out of organic food don't it?
Really
"Ugly as homemade sin."
Rather than picture what that could be, it made me wonder how it compares to the looks of store-bought sin.
Rather than picture what that could be, it made me wonder how it compares to the looks of store-bought sin.
Quoting? Bill Ruger
The more than ten shots thing has been disputed by Tam.
Who has a copy of "The American Handgunner" September 1992, page 18? He's reputed to have said:
That's supposedly from "The Ruger Letter" dated March 30, 1989, sent out to Congress. What I can't find is any reference to it in the congressional record, nor can I find a denial from Ruger.
From that and quotes from an NBC interview by Tom Brokaw;
Quotes found on the internet. But I remember being really pissed at Bill over the AWB back in 1992-94 and it wasn't about the size thing. The quotes are oddly specific so finding a source to verify them is a matter of time and effort.
I lived through this shit. "I heard it on the internet" is the same as saying I made it up. Just because something is on the internet, doesn't make it true. Just because something isn't doesn't make it false!
This should be easy for the bigger bloggers to get references to. I know people hoard gun magazines, someone has that American Handgunner and a scanner. But I don't think it's either of my readers.
Update:
I've found Neal Knox talking about it attributed to December 1, 1989.
Update Again: Link from Tam. I remember reading this before! Better organized and cited than anything I've come up with.
Who has a copy of "The American Handgunner" September 1992, page 18? He's reputed to have said:
"The best way to address the firepower concern is therefore not to try to outlaw or license many millions of older and perfectly legitimate firearms (which would be a licensing effort of staggering proportions) but to prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines. By a simple, complete and unequivocal ban on large capacity magazines, all the difficulty of defining 'assault rifle' and 'semi-automatic rifles' is eliminated. The large capacity magazine itself, separate or attached to the firearm, becomes the prohibited item. A single amendment to Federal firearms laws could effectively implement these objectives."
That's supposedly from "The Ruger Letter" dated March 30, 1989, sent out to Congress. What I can't find is any reference to it in the congressional record, nor can I find a denial from Ruger.
From that and quotes from an NBC interview by Tom Brokaw;
"No honest man needs more "than ten rounds in any gun," and "I never meant for simple civilians to have my twenty- or thirty-round mags or my folding stock," and then said: "I see nothing wrong with waiting periods."
Quotes found on the internet. But I remember being really pissed at Bill over the AWB back in 1992-94 and it wasn't about the size thing. The quotes are oddly specific so finding a source to verify them is a matter of time and effort.
I lived through this shit. "I heard it on the internet" is the same as saying I made it up. Just because something is on the internet, doesn't make it true. Just because something isn't doesn't make it false!
This should be easy for the bigger bloggers to get references to. I know people hoard gun magazines, someone has that American Handgunner and a scanner. But I don't think it's either of my readers.
Update:
I've found Neal Knox talking about it attributed to December 1, 1989.
Update Again: Link from Tam. I remember reading this before! Better organized and cited than anything I've come up with.
19 June 2014
Quibble
Designed to do and intended use aren't the same thing.
Even if a firearm is intended as an offensive arm; it's designed to do the same thing as a defensive arm:
Propel a projectile at high velocity.
It's clip/magazine all over again!
Even if a firearm is intended as an offensive arm; it's designed to do the same thing as a defensive arm:
Propel a projectile at high velocity.
It's clip/magazine all over again!
Backlash
I figured out why my knee jerked about the condemnation of the Open Carry Texas people.
Bill Ruger.
Bill was pro-gun, just ask him! He owned a company that made guns, how much more pro-gun can you be than that?
Except he didn't think that unwashed civilians had any need for a gun they could hide or for more than ten shots. shots than ten. (Better?)
It was "pro-gun" folks like him that made getting concealed carry such a damned slog for so many years. Look at the map and notice how many years pass where nothing changes. Lost years because we kept own-goaling ourselves.
It was when we started speaking with one voice that progress begins to pick up speed and becomes an avalanche.
We're no longer speaking with one voice when it comes to open carry.
There are those who'd use the (proven) LGBT model of "we're here, we're queer"; those who prefer quieter and more subtle open carry demonstrations (like the FL Carry fishing events); those who are happy with the status quo and CCW and those who are actively opposed to open carry.
I checked. Many of the same voices condemning OCT are those same people who disliked open carry all along. To their credit, they're consistent; but this isn't really a reaction to a strategic marketing mistake by OCT but a confirmation of their biases.
Like Bill Ruger they don't see why anyone would need to do what they desire to do and oppose it as a bad idea for everyone.
They feel vindicated because OCT did make a strategic mistake in the way they demonstrated. I personally don't oppose what they are trying to achieve, but I see now that they may have been going about it the wrong way. Pay close attention to those condemning them and see if you don't notice they oppose the goal more than the method. In the long run, those people really aren't on our side; like Mr Ruger.
Bill Ruger.
Bill was pro-gun, just ask him! He owned a company that made guns, how much more pro-gun can you be than that?
Except he didn't think that unwashed civilians had any need for a gun they could hide
It was "pro-gun" folks like him that made getting concealed carry such a damned slog for so many years. Look at the map and notice how many years pass where nothing changes. Lost years because we kept own-goaling ourselves.
It was when we started speaking with one voice that progress begins to pick up speed and becomes an avalanche.
We're no longer speaking with one voice when it comes to open carry.
There are those who'd use the (proven) LGBT model of "we're here, we're queer"; those who prefer quieter and more subtle open carry demonstrations (like the FL Carry fishing events); those who are happy with the status quo and CCW and those who are actively opposed to open carry.
I checked. Many of the same voices condemning OCT are those same people who disliked open carry all along. To their credit, they're consistent; but this isn't really a reaction to a strategic marketing mistake by OCT but a confirmation of their biases.
Like Bill Ruger they don't see why anyone would need to do what they desire to do and oppose it as a bad idea for everyone.
They feel vindicated because OCT did make a strategic mistake in the way they demonstrated. I personally don't oppose what they are trying to achieve, but I see now that they may have been going about it the wrong way. Pay close attention to those condemning them and see if you don't notice they oppose the goal more than the method. In the long run, those people really aren't on our side; like Mr Ruger.
18 June 2014
This Just In
It only takes the press, with hundreds of staff and thousands if not millions of dollars, only six years longer than the average dim-witted conservative to see that a single term 47-year-old senator with zero executive experience might not be up to the task of being president.
I've Got Yer Solution Right Here
Reading this.
The libertarians are correct. As long as you are harming nobody but yourself, you can ingest, inject and inhale anything you want.
Here, I'll repeat the pertinent part, in bold and underlined.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE HARMING NOBODY BUT YOURSELF
Every evil about drugs the author goes on to list is about harming others and the libertarians agree with him.
What's really wrong is looking at legalizing drugs without changing anything else in the laws.
I've mentioned some of what needs to happen.
Anything you do while stoned becomes premeditated. First degree.
Kill someone while high; no longer manslaughter but first degree murder.
Hit someone with your car while drunk who lives (and even recovers from their injuries); no longer negligence or reckless driving, but attempted first degree murder.
Punch your spouse while jacked up on crack; no longer domestic assault, but attempted first degree murder.
Pass out at the wheel and take out a parked car; no longer reckless driving, but malicious destruction of property.
Felonize driving without a license.
See how this works? And since alcohol is just another drug now, same penalties for drunkenness.
I agree you can't just legalize drugs and declare problem solved.
Unlike thelibertarian anarchist ideal society, my idea would require a government; making me a statist bastard.
The libertarians are correct. As long as you are harming nobody but yourself, you can ingest, inject and inhale anything you want.
Here, I'll repeat the pertinent part, in bold and underlined.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE HARMING NOBODY BUT YOURSELF
Every evil about drugs the author goes on to list is about harming others and the libertarians agree with him.
What's really wrong is looking at legalizing drugs without changing anything else in the laws.
I've mentioned some of what needs to happen.
Anything you do while stoned becomes premeditated. First degree.
Kill someone while high; no longer manslaughter but first degree murder.
Hit someone with your car while drunk who lives (and even recovers from their injuries); no longer negligence or reckless driving, but attempted first degree murder.
Punch your spouse while jacked up on crack; no longer domestic assault, but attempted first degree murder.
Pass out at the wheel and take out a parked car; no longer reckless driving, but malicious destruction of property.
Felonize driving without a license.
See how this works? And since alcohol is just another drug now, same penalties for drunkenness.
I agree you can't just legalize drugs and declare problem solved.
Unlike the
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