Tank buckshot will ruin your day

Via The Firearm Blog, which continues to provide as it promises; Firearms not politics. It is much appreciated.

1993 and the law of unintended consequences

It seems gun background checks increased 5.3% in January.

What would cause something like that?

Lets look to history; 1993 to be exact...

So why the spike in sales in 1993? What happened in 1993?

The Brady Bill.

So here’s a cold, hard lesson for gun-grabbers. Pass gun control legislation, and we buy more guns. Watch for sales to continue going up.

Seems gunnies feel their guns are at risk...

Can't
Imagine
Why

Hilarious!

Garfield minus Garfield

Picture of the year

HDD + Movement = HIGH SPEED LATHE

GENTLE!

Thought I was the only one

How many of you type "ls" or "w" on your console for no reason when you're bored and don't know what to do?

I type 'll' 'ls' and 'clear' while I'm thinking about the command I need to type..

You're human garbage, but nice job.

Spammers are human trash. Spam accounts for a large percentage of internet traffic, and quite literally clogs the pipes.

But this spam was so creative, I just had to post it.

The spammer has used whitespace to make unspamlike words spell the spam message itself.

Bravo.

I feel like I should buy the trash he's peddling on principal.

bleh...

You might have noticed the utter lack of real content lately, (but if not, stop reading now, and prepare for more solid gold blogging) and I don't really have an excuse.

I'm not sure exactly why I have 5 long posts that remain incomplete. Maybe it has something to do with my disgust with how the political process has devolved into Beatlemania. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we're not winning.

...

I feel a bit better now.

Ignore those extremist "patriot" right wingers

...no matter how many times they're right.

Hey, those tin-foil hatters are still talking! Providing "facts", "videos", and "scans of FOIA released documents", lets ignore and marginalize them again. Those silly nut-jobs. Always with their conspiracies, and such...

$45? ...maybe...

Penny Arcade has an awesome hoodie. So awesome, indeed, that $45 is ALMOST a good price.

The origins are here in the misleadingly named comic, "I hope you like text."

Aaaaaand we're back!

Wow. It's always surprising to me how fast a fresh install of XP is. I mean, I'm a big Linux fan, but it's still nice.

Of course, after the 3 hours of downloading updates, it's not as fast. But it's still impressive.

I give it about a week.

It'll be Fedora 8 for now. I might put Ubuntu on it if Fedora fails to impress. Now to see if dwarf fortress is any faster on a fresh install!

Rebuild time!

I decided I had been without a backup for too long, and fearing loss of my very imPORtaNt data, I bit the bullet and bought a big hard drive and an enclosure. I wound up with a Seagate 750GB. I've been burned by Maxtor before (I used to think you were cool!), and decided Seagate was the only way to go.

Right now it's backing up almost my entire hard drive (80GB), and after it's done, I'll be giving this laptop the rebuild it has been needing. The windows partition succumbed to who the fuck knows what (my guess, DLL conflicts/mismatches), and was so crippled it couldn't even ping itself without dumping trash in the output (which, btw, is pretty fucked up). Since the Linux partition was working so well, I saw no reason to bother rebuilding the windows side. (which would also wipe the hard drive during the system restore "sledge hammer for a tack" process, requiring another repartition, and a fresh Linux install) But my GF has been missing some of her windows apps, and dwarf fortress needs some OpenGL updates to run faster (yes, somehow it's a window only roguelike), so it's time to take care of business.

At least my Linux user files, preferences, and configuration will be 100% restored as soon as I copy my backed up home directory. I need only worry about losing the tweaks I did to get the system running smoothly (video card, ndiswrapper, external video, etc) so I'll try to catch everything before I rebuild.

Maybe I'll even try a new flavor a Linux.

STRIKE THE EARTH!

A Dwarf Fortress post is coming.

You have been warned.

Quote of the McCain

Adult or two-year-old, freedom starts with a single word: "No." Tell "both parties" (of the six or seven or more) No! "Hold you nose and vote" is just a way to asphyxiate.

Well said.

From RobertaX

I just calls 'em like I sees 'em

Susan? It's been so long! What have you been up to?

Oh, hi James. Nothing really; I'm just getting some things for a dinner tonight.

Hot date? Good for you!

Well...

"Well" what?.. Wait-- you're not still with your old boyfriend, GOP?

Well, yes. We got back together.

Susan. You know what he did to you for those years.

No, it's OK now! He promised it'd be different this time. He's more compassionate now. Plus we have a good shot at some supreme court justices!

But McCain is-- is that a black eye?

Oh, well, yes. But it was my fault. We were talking politics, and I brought up spending, and the department of education, and the prescription drug benefit program, and then... Well. I shouldn't have questioned the party like that. I deserved it.

No you didn't! You can't let yourself be victimized like this! You deserve better!

But it's not like there are other winning parties out there! It's OK, he says things will be better once McCain wins.

You know that's not true. Look, I'll drive you back, and you pack your things. You need to get out of this destructive relationship!

I can't! He said if I leave him, the terrorists win!

There will always be terrorists, and there will always be excuses, but it's up to you to decide when enough is enough! The only person who will win if you stay, is him. You may have loved each other once, but HE changed, not you!

Fun fact about ET

I've never had a hangover.

(though not for lack of trying)

I only seem to get dehydrated. Little bit of water, and some food in my stomach, and I'm ready to take on the day. Strangely enough, my girlfriend has never had one either (and she can put a lot away). We thought our dehydration was a hangover until we asked a friend what a hangover was like.
We definitely don't get hangovers.

It shoots through schools.

Ownage courtesy of Tam

Kim du Toit provides a sticker reading;
I love my country
More than I hate
John McCain

Tam counters;
"I love my country so much that I'll screw it by encouraging the GOP to keep nominating tools like John McCain."

Change and Hope

Change is the future, change is the change of changing change. Change changes changing changers change. Change. Future. Hope. Hopeful change changes hope. Hope for change hopefully changes changes.

I can has be lead presidential candidate?

Going to class armed

Utah students hide guns, head to class

NOTE: While "The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of CNN" CNN has been entertaining semi-pro-gun ideas lately. This seems to be a result of recent liberals becoming pro 2nd amendment. As Uncle says, we're winning.


Looks a lot like a Springfield mil-spec. Looks like Nick and I share a preference in carry firearms.

Nick says his gun doesn't make him feel immune from attack. "But I feel that I will be able to protect myself, and I'm confident in my training and my ability," he said.

And that's what it's really about. It's about improving your odds. Nick has the right to defend himself, if he defends himself and saves lives in the process, that's great; but at it's core, it's about Nick and his right to self-defense.

His confidence is not shared by fellow student Griselda Espinoza, who recently transferred to the university. Some 28,000 students attend the school, as of the latest enrollment figures.

"I feel less safe knowing that a stranger sitting beside me in class may have a gun in his or her backpack," she said.

"The only people that should carry guns are trained officials."

If she lives in Utah, it's extremely likely that she encounters people carrying firearms every day, and doesn't know it. While that fact might make her feel unsafe, it has not made her unsafe. She is entitled to fear anyone who carries a gun just, but I'd ask that she do some research on the facts (not the speculation) surrounding the approval of CCW laws.

However, she [Amanda Covington, Utah State Board of Regents spokeswoman] said the regents are opposing a legislative proposal to allow people with concealed weapons permits to have the weapons visible in public.

"We are worried that it may affect their [students' and teachers'] willingness or desire to go to or teach a class on campus," she said.

Open carry is quite different from concealed carry, but the results are the same. If you want to shoot as many people as possible, before turning the gun on yourself, are you more or less likely to choose a place where 1 in 10 people openly carries a firearm? But that's just a pragmatic perspective, from a social perspective, it's a little different. Most people DO feel a little strange about seeing non-threatening people carrying guns. There is only one thing that can be done about this; practice. It will be awkward at first, but when people experience open carry, and their fears go unrealized, they'll wonder why they ever felt the way they did. Many states approve open carry and concealed carry laws to choruses of dire warnings, only to experience either no change in crime, or (more commonly) a decrease in crime.

[Utah State Representative Curtis Oda] stressed that people with permits have gone through rigorous checks.

"When you see someone with a gun, you are looking at some of the most law-abiding people in the state," he said.

This is true with few exceptions. You won't hear opposition argue this point because it's undisputed. Opposition will instead argue that once armed, previously law-abiding citizens will be transformed into dangerous vigilantes, ready to snap at the slightest provocation. Yet once the firearm is removed, these crazy people revert back to regular, law-abiding citizens just like everyone else. This straw man argument is very frequently used, despite the preponderance of evidence that disproves this theory, and in some cases, proves the opposite.

"If acts of terrorism continue on campus, then I will have no choice but to carry a concealed weapon," he said.

"But you see, that is where the problem lies: Everybody will end up carrying concealed weapons, and everyday problems will be solved with guns rather than words or even fists."

39 states in the US concealed carry permits are issued to any law-abiding citizen. The idea that arguments over how much change someone got back from Starbucks will turn into a shootout have been thoroughly disproven.

UPDATE: Looks like Marko's weighing in on the word choice of the title of this article. Concealed vs Hidden. I suppose he has a point.

Oh sweet Jesus

Working for an MSP, we do lots of technical work for a variety of companies. Some of these companies are high ranking members of their industry, and do important jobs for the country.

We are usually surprised by the poor state of some of these leaders of industry's networks. I mean, piss poor. Like, "How the hell are you the third largest distributer of [object] in the world?!"

This last one has taken the cake, baked a new one, and then fed the cakes through a paper shredder. It's unbelievable. Really. It has rendered us speechless on numerous occasions.

What does this customer do?

Well, the first word rhymes with "Bissell", and the second word rhymes with "re-fence."

There are no words to express the mixture of astonishment, fear, and discomfort I feel about this customer and how it performs it's job.

REPOSTERY!

It's more likely than you think.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUHOW NOT TO HOLD A REVOLVERUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUWHAT EVER YOU DO DONT CLICK ON THE PICTUREUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

Hill + PETA = ROFL

Hill does some pro-gun pandering.

David takes note, and fans the flames.

I <3 my laptop

It's been about 5 years since I bought my laptop. I needed one, and best buy had a good deal on a bad brand. Except this brand had been recently acquired by Gateway, who proceeded to build the brand into something serious computer users would actually want. (you know, like FSB cache :p)

I bought an Emachines m5309.

The next model up had built-in wifi, and an extra 20GB. But given the price difference between the two, I went with the lower model, because it didn't think the next one up was as good of a deal.

It worked as my primary PC; and as a Linux user, a coder, a hacker, a gamer, and a tinkerer, trust me when I say that it worked HARD.

It played CPU intensive games for enough time to be measured in months, it stayed up countless nights downloading torrents and seeding, it has had at least 20 complete hard drive wipes and rebuilds, its hard drive endured many sessions of live repartitioning, it withstood different flavors of Linux challenging the video card with potentially dangerous settings, (that was mostly me :) countless bouts of tinkering by someone who loves to tinker, (I should note the difference between a dabbling tinkerer, and a professional tinkerer; the latter's hardware still works) it suffered jabs, rubs, and the occasional scrape on the LCD screen, for days it ran (legal!) scans and brute forces that I wrote myself (which meant multiple threads and maxing out resources), it survived a gauntlet of slides, slips, and downright drops (two really bad ones), and it did most of this while baking away on poorly ventilated, unforgiving surfaces with poor clearance (having given up its "feet" long ago).

It only has one flaw; the manufacturer made the elements on the heatsink too close together, and after prolonged use, they can become clogged with dust causing it to shut off during heavy usage. The manufacturer refused to fix it, so I've been popping it open and cleaning out the excess dust myself. I have to do it less than once a year; and it only takes 15 minutes with two tiny screwdrivers, and a q-tip.

It has cracks in the plastic and (cosmetic) pieces missing, the screen shows wear but still shows everything well, the CD whines a little when you use it;
but it keeps working.

I should note that this is what I expected of it.

Recently I've been feeling other peoples' pain when it comes to laptops. New Dells with honest-to-god bad RAM that they refused to replace or refurb hard drives they refused to acknowledge, Macbooks fresh out of the box with dead pixels or broken keys (!!!), Macs with bad hard drives being sent back again and again and again, and HPs and Sonys with all of the above times two (all of the above, except broken keys. That's pretty messed up of apple).

All these people having all these problems with all these different brands. People talking about extended warrantees on their laptops, and mailing it in twice or thrice for repairs.
Why wasn't I afraid of my laptop suddenly dying one of a million possible deaths?

Silly me, simply expected it to chug along merrily, all the live-long day.
Silly it, was happy to oblige.

Every time I look at its beaten case, or pick it up and listen to it creak, I entertain the idea of retiring it to some light server duty. But once I start using it, I wonder if it (or I?) would resent me for doing such a thing. Like an old mill worker, refusing to retire to a life of leisure. Purpose keeps him alive.

The purpose driven existence, and atrophy related dilapidation of tools. If we use them forever, they work forever. They never stop working, we just stop using them. If we don't use them, do they no longer work? If they are not broken, are we?

Maybe it's time to dig up some relics.

ZERO calls this weekend

For the first time in the history of... well, EVER; my phone made no work-related noises while I was on call. Not a silly customer, not a flapping VPN, not a shitty ISP, not even a false alarm.

Zero. A perfect score.

I was too sick to enjoy it, but wasn't sick enough to not appreciate it.

Sick and stuffed up.

My Chewbacca roar is suffering.

Another Gun Free Zone Shooting. Would you disarm?

POSIT:
You are a trained gun owner who carries a concealed firearm infrequently. You have a great holster, and a sub-compact firearm that makes concealment easy, and almost 100%. You have ZERO fear of being "outed." You got the permit just in case, but you really only carry it when you go into "bad" areas. You have a spouse, and 1.5 kids, live in an average house in a good neighborhood, etc, etc, etc. You get a job, accept a responsibility, or take a class that will require you to be on the grounds of the local University for 5 hours three days a week. You just hear about the 5th recent school shooting, and are understandably startled.

Do you carry your concealed weapon, on campus, in knowing violation of the "no guns" policy?

What if you were a full time student with a spouse and no kids? Would you risk expulsion and a possible local university black-ball?

I'm not talking about going Rambo on a shooter if one starts shooting a few buildings down from you, I'm just talking about you, looking out for you.

What if you were a teacher with one of your kids in your class?

What if the school was evacuated with no incident when someone called in a threat against the school three days ago?

This line of questioning is meant to help you discover your breaking point. At what point do you disregard the punishments of being caught, and break the rules imposed by the owners of the property you must tread upon?

Epic Lulz

We can has Yahoo?

And now, a fairy tale

Obama's Global Poverty Act

That's right folks, if we give people money, they won't be poor! So, if we give the WORLD .7% of our GDP, the whole WORLD won't be poor!

You too can feel self-important like Bono by simply filling a boat with money, and sending it to Africa. Of course, what happens to the money after it gets there is not your concern. Who cares if it funds warlords and the further oppression of the people it's supposed to save, you helped!

As a side note; if we can agree that the innocent are being oppressed in Africa, why don't we send them guns to protect themselves? We've already established that some of these guys are innocent, why not trust them to defend themselves?

Of course, if someone suggested such a thing, they'd counter that the guns could fall into the wrong hands... While they send money to Africa, and don't care if it reaches the right people.

The nanny state. Literally.

I was over at SR SC's place, and he was expressing his displeasure with the incredible passes Obama was getting from the media, the pundits, and any other closet communist with an axe to grind,

...but if I have to read one more article on how Barack Obama affects the people who go to rallies, and have it devoid of any real reference to the content of what Obama says... I’m going to crap my pants. Just crap them... here at my desk, and make gurgling noises.

JC quipped that SC need not worry about his excretorial misadventure.

I already crapped my pants. I think it was an accident though. I just “hope” Barack can wipe my ass for me and get my clothes clean. He says he can take care of all our problems.

It's sad, because it's true.

Don't ignore Kommiefornia. It won't just go away.

Gunnies have disdain for California (or Kommiefornia), and unfortunately, disdain for gunnies who live IN California. Many gunnies evacuate California for greener pastures, and join the non-Californian gunnies who wish aloud that California simply break off and sink into the ocean. In fact, the NRA has expressed disinterest in fighting some gun laws in California, simply because they don't think they'll win. This is hazardous.

As I've stated previously California is more than a place where crazy laws are passed, it's also a test bed for laws. Recently, microstamping passed Arnold "What's my party again?" Schwarzenegger's desk with his seal of approval. I warned that failure to fight these laws will result in them spreading to other states, and then being optioned as federal law. That is happening now.

So, gunnies; do as you please, but know that you ignore "Kommiefornia" at your own peril.

Bang bang! You're dead!

Rule 1: Treat all guns as if they are loaded
Rule 2: Do not point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy
Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target
Rule 4: Be sure of your target and what's beyond it

But hey, I guess rules are made to be broken.

Except YOUR rules, right?

No one is allowed to be armed. We're going to take all the guns...

For those who weren't quite sure, that's mayor Ray "New Orleans will be a chocolate city" Nagin

Via David

Please enter banking info to continue

There seems to be a lot of interest in checking your bank balance from your phone. Enough that I considered turning it into a service, but I keep wondering if people would be willing to provide their banking info to a unknown service just for the convenience. Though, being in the computer security field, I fear more that people WOULD be willing. That was why I supplied the code, so people could run it on their own boxes without having to trust someone else with their info. Also, I just remembered the legal requirements for storing that data. Bugger.

Maybe I'll just try to make the programs easier to run, and more accessible to regular users.

Scientist Valentine Cards

From MAKE

Inseparable Phone Book Myth

Are two phone books folded together inseparable?

Dear Fred,

Dear Fred,

How are you? I am good. But enough with the pleasantries; I have a question for you.

Seriously?

No, really.

Seriously???

Cuz, WTF, but also; SERIOUSLY?!

Hugs and refusals of party pandering,
-ET

Non Sequiturs in the News

Greg has a post up wherein he was inspired by a non sequitur he found in the news,

"Gun Buy-Back Doesn't Slow Wave of Violence in Oakland"

and decides to give it a shot,

# Kite flying children fail to have an effect on the number of tiger attacks
# Noise pollution doesn't make snails move any faster
# Copper content in pennies is still not an indicator of global warming

I'd like to play too!

"Mating cycles of Chilean dust mites don't make hippies get jobs"
"Lasagna consumption still has no effect on vehicle MPG"

Haha! This is fun! I'll do one more.

"Tax rebate fails to curb government spending and borrowing"

Aww... It stopped being fun.

Regulation meets Common sense

Liberty fisks a article about myspace with something that majority of the population seems to be lacking lately; common sense.

Ever feel like everyone around you thinks 2+2=5, and refuse to listen to any argument about it? It's particularly sad because all they have to do is count on their fingers to realize their mistake, but no one can stop their knee from jerking long enough to do so.

High school politics meets Presidential politics

Che Guevara Flags in Obama's Houston Office

OMG Che is SOOOOOO cool! He's leik teh most awesum dood ever! He freed the slaves from china!

A viable presidential candidate's office is not to be compared with the t-shirt of some round-eyeglassed, short bearded, 12th grade Leninite. This is sad.

Reality is scarier than nightmares

I had a strange dream wherein I had bugs living inside my foot. (???) I went to the doctor, and they pulled out a bug that looked like short, fat centipede. It grossed me out to the point that I wondered if such a bug existed. After a bit of searching, I found something that made me forget about my nasty bug, because this one was real.


Deep sea giant isopod will eat your face

Drop the (water) gun! NOW!

Armed police called to teen water fight


Oh England. You so craaazy!

Quote of the fighting spirit

There is an old saw, often quoted by the left, "speak truth to power." The heck with that. Spit in their eye. They blink just like everybody else.

From Mike

Interesting Post by Mike Vanderboegh

Mike Vanderboegh is known for his inflammatory style and choice of topics.

This essay is about the awkward stage. If you don't already know what I'm talking about, move along. Nothing to see here.

they went straight from the "awkward stage" to the concentration camps without ever firing a shot.

To its victims, the Tories, the [American] Revolution was truly incomprehensible. Never in history, said Daniel Leonard, had there been so much rebellion with so 'little real cause.'...

Quote of the I'll turn them in at 2000 FPS

Well, it's The Progressive, so I'm going to take that last line with a grain of salt. But I'll also hold onto some other grains in various measures...

Via David.

"This is an exercise in [citizen] obedience training."

UPDATED THE THIRD

"Leave our checkpoint IMMEDIATELY."
UPDATE: Click here for why this guy had such a short fuse.

You like the border patrol agent who took a picture of him taking pictures?
It reminded me of something from Rob's excellent post;

Take for instance the case of Ezra Levant, a Canadian publisher brought up before the laughable "Human Rights Commission" for the unspeakable act of publishing the Mohammad cartoons. Watch the videos he has of his ordeal. Watch how detached the "human rights officer" is from the whole affair. For her, it's just a job. She gets a sheet of paper that says do X, she does X. The fact that she is is a tine in the pitchfork of fascism is lost on her. The fact that she is instrumental in crushing free speech bothers her about as much as deciding what she will be having for lunch.

"Hey look, this dude's recording us! What a douche. I'll go record him! Heh. What's his problem?"

He has recorded this check point before, this is why he asked if she already knew who he was. He made this one about a month before the above one. It's worth watching.

"You can ask me what ever you want."
Note there are no orders issued, only forceful requests. Notice also that there was very little actual answering of questions. Questions were met with questions.

Check out this video at the same checkpoint. Note how the officer doesn't ask him to stop recording, but contends that by recording the exchange, he is creating a traffic hazard. Unbelievable.

I've also decided to add a tag that I didn't really want to add. This clenches it. The tag is Double-Plus Ungood

UPDATE: Hazel Stone, of The Line Is Here, is taking me to task in the comment section. The best way to change hearts and minds is with open debate! If you disagree, please attempt to change my mind, and allow me the same courtesy.
UPDATE: Blogi has joined the fray, with his keen ability to spot BS from a mile away!
also, that rhymes

This Weighted Companion Cube will accompany you through the test chamber.

The symptoms most commonly produced by Enrichment Center testing are superstition, perceiving inanimate objects as alive, and hallucinations. The Enrichment Center reminds you that the weighted companion cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak.

The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice.

Huffing and Puffing

While searching for a particular bit of writing at Marko's place, I found an old post on getting back into running. It seemed like a sound plan, so I've started the Couch-to-5K plan.

It sucks to realize you have the lung capacity of a chain smoking 3 year old. Especially when you used to run a lot.

I was dying the first two sessions, but finished per the instructions. This morning was the third session, and I noticed a slight improvement in my running. More notable was my elevated energy level afterwards. It's a good feeling I used to enjoy when I would work out 3 times a week with my sister before her work hours changed. Definitely worth the investment of a mere 20 minutes three times a week.

If you can't find 20 minutes to improve yourself three times a week; you're lying.

Begin slack-jawed gawk

Fred Thompson endorses John McCain

10 reasons why NOT to vote McCain

John McCain: The List of Infamy

Doesn't get much clearer than that.

Well, there you go.

If Obama wins the Democratic nomination, I think he'll be the next President of the United States. Put him next to McCain on a stage and a public obsessed with American Idol ain't going to pick the cadaver.

From Kevin

Roll-your-own Knife workshop!!!!!OMGOMGOMG

A coworker of mine e-mailed me last night while I was... waxing philosophical.

He told me he just got back from a $10 knife workshop, and included some pictures...



I then proceeded to wet myself in anticipation of next week's workshop.

I have been in need of a simple high carbon steel utility knife.

Being able to make it myself is beyond awesome.

Lemon + Vodka = WTFAWESOME?!

1. Fill a small glass with ice

2. Fill 1/3 with Lemon Juice (or use 3-5 lemon wedges and less ice)

3. Fill 2/3 with vodka

4. ???

5. FUCKING WIN!

Doesn't matter if you don't drink alcohol straight, somehow the simple addition of lemon allows you to drink copious amounts of vodka.
Getting you interesting in record time, and at minimal expense.

UPDATE: My sitemeter just exploded. Welcome visitors from Vodkapundit. See the sights, and enjoy your stay!

UPDATE THE SECOND: I had an opportunity to really get wasted explore this drink last Saturday, and found it to be sooper drunkifying wanting in no way. SR SC can attest to this.

Say it with S30v steel

Not THAT! Say, "Happy Valentines Day!"

Doug Ritter Pink Mini-RSK Mk-1s

Via TEOTWAWKI Blog.

Police: Don't fight violent robber/rapists

Victims Fight Back in Home Invasion

A family of four were barbecuing outside their garage when two armed robbers force their way in and ransack the place.

"The look in their eyes, especially when they started beating us in the back of the heads with the guns. It was kind of like someone would torture a little animal and then joking about how they were going to love killing us," said one victim.

These don't sound like the kind of guys you should trust to just rob and rape, and leave promptly with a tip of the hat.

Gun grabbers and professional victims insist that when threatened with violence, you should acquiesce to your attacker's demands, because if you fight back, they might get angry. (anything but that!) Most of these folks don't say what to do if what they want is to kill.

The men were pinned to the floor with shotguns. "It got ugly when they went back downstairs and decided to tell the women to undress their clothes," the victim added, "The girls were really crying and you could just tell that they were incredibly upset."

This is a terrible situation. This is the kind of thing that ruins your life. Even if you survive the attack, you will forever know that because you failed to prepare; terrible things happened to your daughter, damaging her for life. Even if you surrender, thinking they just want to rob you, you just missed your opportunity to stop them if they change their mind.

Fortunately, while these two pieces of trash were preparing to force themselves on the victims, they saw an opportunity to fight back, and most importantly; they did.

"I grabbed him, threw him down on the ground, grabbed a weight from the weight set and smashed him in the head."

The women also joined in the fight, hitting the suspects with a frying pan.

"One of the girls completely nude managed to grab a gun and shoot the guy in the chest area and in the leg."

Suddenly these unarmed, submissive victims burst forth with anger and fury, and strike these confidently armed goblins.

This is what I mean when I talk about the victim mentality. Resigning yourself to defeat at the first sign of force can only end badly. Fighting back with anything you can, in any way you can is the only option that offers chance of success.

These people should be put on pedestals as symbols of the fighting spirit all of us have. Symbols that proclaim;
"We will fight back when our lives are threatened. We will not bend for those who would threaten it. We will meet force with force. We will protect each other."

But the police don't see it that way.

The police are very cautious not to make this seem like a heroic act. They say fighting back can sometimes end with the victims being more seriously hurt.

There you have it folks. A cut-and-dry case, and the answer is the same.

Situation:
Armed robber/murderer/rapists force their way into your home, ransack it, beat you and talk about how they will enjoy killing you. They then prepare to rape your daughter in front of your eyes.

Official police recommended course of action:
Do nothing.

Wait a minute... I missed the part where the 911 call was made, and the police were screaming to their rescue. Oh wait; the armed rapists, didn't allow them to call 911. Well, how are the police supposed to help if no one calls them?

It doesn't get any more clear folks. Not only can the police NOT protect you, they don't like it when you protect yourself.

Get firearm training, and arm yourself. NOW.

Via SurvivalBlog

Rrrrrrr-ghghghghgh!

It's kinda funny when someone attempts a Chewbacca roar, and I counter with (what many have described as) an exceptional Chewbacca roar.

Well, that's not funny by itself; the funny thing is when I tell them I get a lot of practice at work.

Bill Ruger's rolling around in his grave

...and that warms my heart.

Ruger selling Mini-14 with 20 round magazine

Ok. I'll end my boycott on Ruger.

Mark III, GP100, and SP101, are go.

“no honest man needs more than 10 rounds in any gun…” and “I never meant for simple civilians to have my 20 and 30 round magazines…”. It has long been Ruger’s policy to limit sales of those items to Law Enforcement or Military purchasers”

Fuck Bill Ruger. I hesitated at my use of harsh language, but anyone who calls a citizen with more than 10 rounds in a magazine dishonest (and likely means much worse) deserves scorn. Call me a criminal because I have magazines that holds more than 10 rounds? Fuck you, and fuck anyone who insists an American must argue a need for anything they might want.

I might have to buy a Mini-14 just so I can have a high regular capacity magazine with the Ruger name on it.

Err-- shit. Forgot I still live in Ca which restricts purchase of regular capacity magazines... No thanks to Bill Ruger. I don't care, I'll just offer to buy one for someone out of state.

UPON FURTHER REFLECTION: Is the above paragraph healthy? I'm willing to give money away simply to spite a dead man. That's gotta be a mania of some sort...

Averting Trouble

James has a post up where he recounts a recent exercise in situational awareness.

It really doesn't take much effort to take a quick glance around you, and it can make a serious difference.

Hold your nose and vote McCain?

I spent most of my lunch hour trying to get through to Larry Elder's radio show. Larry is a self-described "Republitarian" and wanted to know how many people are going to hold their nose, and vote for McCain. Plenty of people called in and said they would rather stay home, or vote RP.

Larry argued that the stakes were simply too high in Iraq and the War on Terror to allow a Democrat into the White House.

If we HAVE to vote for the candidate who is strongest on the War on Terror, where does that leave us?

It's pretty fair to assume Republicans will always be tougher on the War on Terror, which means we MUST always vote for the republican who has the greatest chance of winning. Even if we don't agree.

The War on Terror has no terms of victory. We will never see a president stand behind the podium on a prime-time press conference, and announce victory in, and the conclusion of, the war on terror. If we caught OBL tomorrow, the war on terror would go on. If all current terrorist chatter stopped, they'd just start looking harder. We will likely never see the end of the war on terror, which means we will likely never see the end of Republicans arguing that the war on terror is the most important issue facing America, and that we MUST vote for them or else the terrorists win. Arguing we must hold our noses because of the war on terror is completely moot considering it allows no chance for change.

Might as well argue we must only vote for winnable Republicans because it is dire that Republicans win. Most Republicans aren't "My party, right or wrong!" but they seem to be becoming "My party, or else the Democrats win." I can only hope the Republican leadership wore out that card last election.

I thought Larry was beyond this kind of cheap trick, especially when he is hard on callers who compromised on the immigration issue to vote for Bush. I still think that deviation from the constitution and conservatism will do more damage to this country than Al "Suicide bombers wanted; inquire within" Qaeda could ever do.

A T-shirt I can agree with

Vote NOTA t-shirt


Who's the best candidate to lead America? None of the above.

I'll take 12.