National Review: Why We Lined Up at Chick-fil-A
Lee Habeeb, VP of content at Salem Radio Network, has an excellent article which says all the things I've been trying to turn into ones and zeroes.
I went to Chick-fil-a on appreciation day even though I support gay marriage, because my gut said it was the right thing to do. Afterwards, I read many articles on the topic to see why people went or stayed home, trying to find hints to how and why I felt the need to go, because I wasn't completely sure of my motivations.
I was very happy to find this article which Lee apparently wrote for me :). It says all the things I wanted to say perfectly, and thinking about it helped me solidify other thoughts.
I don't like it when people tell me to boycott something, and I like it even less when I'm attacked for refusing to participate. I don't like tearing down, I like building up. Show me a buy-cott I can support, and I'll show you my wallet. But when self-righteous groups and politicians try to stop me from doing something, I feel a sudden drive to do the opposite. I'm just an onery libertarian like that.
It is a shame that the LGBT community's boycott was overshadowed by politicians trying to score points through constitutionally repugnant threats, but that's the way it turned out. If it's any consolation, they felt the burn, and will think twice in the future.
I am a big believer in voting with your dollars. I think it's every citizen's right to support or not support companies with their hard-earned cash. But there are many corporations, non-profits, comedians, actors, production companies, video game publishers, religions, orangutangs, and breakfast cereals that I patronize who don't match my beliefs.
It would be impossible to only give money to people who match your beliefs 100%, so we all have our personal thresholds.
Chick-fil-a, and countless other Christian groups, do great work for the poor. They donate their time and money to great causes that I agree with. To me, their positive impact on America and the world is not negated by the fact that they don't agree with me on gay marriage.
Churchill said, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." I know there are homosexuals out there to whom gay marriage isn't the sole deciding issue in their politics. If Osama Bin Laden wanted to destroy America, subjugate women, and rule in an oppressive theocracy, but was totally on board with the whole gay marriage thing, I wouldn't expect the LGBT organizations to support him. (Though I can't help but wonder in the world of politics.) There are degrees of value that must be measured to maintain some level of intellectual honesty.
The day may come when Chick-fil-a's values do more harm than good in my estimation, but that day was not August 1st.
Evaluate the breadth of contributions and damages before you decide your personal threshold of support. We're not simpletons who can only formulate blanket yea or nay positions based on one minor subject.
Yes, "minor subject."
Whether or not a bureaucrat in your state capital stamps a form with a certain word on it that confirms your deep love and personal commitment to your soul mate IS a minor subject in the grand scheme of things. Deep love and personal commitment don't come from a form.
Friday, August 03, 2012
Somebody buy that man a rifle
Guns.com: Gun Owner Saves Cop's Life by Shooting Deranged Gunman! (VIDEO)
Citizen helps cop pinned in gunfight by making 165 yard shot on the gunman with his pistol.
H/T Uncle
Citizen helps cop pinned in gunfight by making 165 yard shot on the gunman with his pistol.
H/T Uncle
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Encounter Defusal
At the last Collexion I started talking firearms with a visitor from another Hackerspace. This particular gathering had a Ruby meeting in it that was showing a loud presentation, and it was still pretty hot in the building, so we stepped outside to continue talking without disturbing anyone.
This hackerspace (like most), is run on a shoestring budget, which means low rent in not-so-great neighborhoods, so I was happy to be open carrying while we talked.
While we chatted there were many people walking to and fro on the sidewalk, but two saw us and approached. I was leaning against the corner of the building with my fellow hacker standing opposite me, they approached on my 9 o'clock, and I didn't turn my body toward them, not feeling the need to reveal I was carrying.
One white female, blonde and short, holding wires and a cell phone, who appeared to be in the early stages of tweaker-dom. One black male, tall with a Gilligan hat, who seemed to exude "dazed and confused." He wasn't particularly threatening in any way.
She got within 15 feet and both pleadingly and disjointedly explained that she was stuck across town, and her cell phone was dead, and she needed to charge it, but she only had a car charger, so if we have cars, could she charge her battery in one of them?
While the story had WTF written all over it, her body language and the situation reeked of JDFR long before the story began.
She looked pleadingly at my friend, who parried. "Sorry, I took the bus." He didn't. Then she looked at me, and seemed to notice her story had not penetrated, but still waited for an answer. "We're not interested."
This was the important part, I showed her that I did not trust her, and it was up to her to decide how this was going to end. She could either shrug her shoulders and walk away sullenly, which would probably precipitate me second guessing myself and feeling bad for a bit, or she could get indignant and get aggressive. She chose to get aggressive, but fortunately, did so while retreating.
At first she seemed confused, then as she started walking away, she started to yell at me for being so rude and refusing to help her poor stranded self. Her friend ambled along as she got further away and louder and angrier, yelling how God was going to strike my ugly ass down, and she wasn't going to be sad when I was struck down. Just before she disappeared behind another building she seemed to run out of things to say, but kept glaring at me. I took advantage of the lull to tell her to have a nice day.
After thinking about this, I realized that if she had chosen to advance toward me, I would have had to face her, back up, yell at her to back off, and put my hand on my gun. This was a sobering thought after the situation had already defused in an amusing way. It's a pretty crappy option to consider, but the only one crappier is doing the same with the only place to put your hand being your swinging cod.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
This hackerspace (like most), is run on a shoestring budget, which means low rent in not-so-great neighborhoods, so I was happy to be open carrying while we talked.
While we chatted there were many people walking to and fro on the sidewalk, but two saw us and approached. I was leaning against the corner of the building with my fellow hacker standing opposite me, they approached on my 9 o'clock, and I didn't turn my body toward them, not feeling the need to reveal I was carrying.
One white female, blonde and short, holding wires and a cell phone, who appeared to be in the early stages of tweaker-dom. One black male, tall with a Gilligan hat, who seemed to exude "dazed and confused." He wasn't particularly threatening in any way.
She got within 15 feet and both pleadingly and disjointedly explained that she was stuck across town, and her cell phone was dead, and she needed to charge it, but she only had a car charger, so if we have cars, could she charge her battery in one of them?
While the story had WTF written all over it, her body language and the situation reeked of JDFR long before the story began.
She looked pleadingly at my friend, who parried. "Sorry, I took the bus." He didn't. Then she looked at me, and seemed to notice her story had not penetrated, but still waited for an answer. "We're not interested."
This was the important part, I showed her that I did not trust her, and it was up to her to decide how this was going to end. She could either shrug her shoulders and walk away sullenly, which would probably precipitate me second guessing myself and feeling bad for a bit, or she could get indignant and get aggressive. She chose to get aggressive, but fortunately, did so while retreating.
At first she seemed confused, then as she started walking away, she started to yell at me for being so rude and refusing to help her poor stranded self. Her friend ambled along as she got further away and louder and angrier, yelling how God was going to strike my ugly ass down, and she wasn't going to be sad when I was struck down. Just before she disappeared behind another building she seemed to run out of things to say, but kept glaring at me. I took advantage of the lull to tell her to have a nice day.
After thinking about this, I realized that if she had chosen to advance toward me, I would have had to face her, back up, yell at her to back off, and put my hand on my gun. This was a sobering thought after the situation had already defused in an amusing way. It's a pretty crappy option to consider, but the only one crappier is doing the same with the only place to put your hand being your swinging cod.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
Open carry roundup
The bank (drive through atm :p), gun shop (it had a sign asking for unloaded carry), a business meeting, Michaels crafts store, Chick-fil-a, Colexion, Harbor Freight, Womens' health clinic, Subway, Cici's Pizza, and Rite-aid.
The gun shop was a fine place with an older proprietor to match the older guns they stocked. I unloaded and dropped the full mag in my other pocket in the foyer (though I didn't like touching my gun), and had a fine time talking old guns with them without any mention of my unloaded handgun. I think I might forget next time and see if they really mind.
The business meeting was with an owner of a gun shop, so I didn't think he would mind, and he didn't.
The Chick-fil-a was an exercise in attention, because it was shoulder to shoulder in the line, and I kept turning to see the people behind me. Had a short chat with the manager about how busy they were for the appreciation day.
Colexion was just fine, though I was a little worried that I didn't know them all very well yet, and hackers are notoriously socialist. One in particular was visiting from Louisville (I mean, "luhvull"), and he was a recently converted gunnie, so he was pretty interested to talk guns (Say hey, if you're reading this!). When he mentioned his quick conversion I was worried, because quick conversions usually involve a blindside with the reality bat, but he was starting to question the premises of his casual anti-gun-ness, and realized he didn't know enough about the topic to form an honest opinion. Of course, after he informed himself, he saw the pro-gun side made more sense. An interesting thing happened while we were talking, but that'll be another post.
Harbor Freight was great because I got a compliment on my firearm, and another when I whipped out my pen to sign before he could hand me one. "I like my customers prepared." Obviously, I like being prepared.
I was a little worried about the appointment my wife had at the Womans' Health Clinic, because it would have been extremely easy for them to argue "some might be put off by a firearm" but the only person who said something was the technician who asked me what kind of gun I had. "What have you got there?" "It's a Springfield XD in 9mm." "Oh. Is that like government issue?" "No, I'm just a private citizen choosing to carry." "That's great. I need to get one soon. I'm worried they'll take 'em away." Nice.
When we went to Rite-aid, I was with my friend who was also open carrying, following my wife who was looking for some gum. We both came in following her, talking about guns or video games or some other topic, but I half-noticed someone eyeing us. I paid him no mind (act like it's normal, and other people will too), and didn't see him again until we checked out, and I realized he was a security guard who didn't seem to mind us very much at all. Getting caught up in the conversation we were having, we wound up loitering outside the Rite-aid at around 10pm talking about guns. From the time we walked in the door, we had probably been there for 15 minutes, when a cop pulled up on the opposite side of the parking lot to my 3 o'clock. My friend broke the conversation to say, "He's probably here for us." I shrugged, and stumbled a couple times trying to resume conversation while preparing myself mentally for the encounter. I kept my right arm clear of my firearm so he could easily see it, and feel compelled to note that I was wearing light colors with a big black Galco leather holster. Unfortunately, by the time I hit my conversation stride I was continuing the conversation about the choice between a shotgun or a sub-machine gun as the cop strode, head down, around the other side of the pillar I was leaning against, and entered the Rite-aid. I smiled at my friend, "Have faith." My wife added, "It may not help that we're basically loitering here." We wondered if he might have entered because he thought we were still in there, but he would have done so differently if he was there for us. Regardless, I didn't want to make the Rite-aid guys feel uncomfortable, and we walked back to our cars to talk more.
I don't know if I'm paying more attention or if I'm just noticing it more, but I can see people glancing at my gun. My earlier question of "Did anyone even notice?" seems to have an answer. They can see it, they just don't seem to mind. That's just fine with me.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
The gun shop was a fine place with an older proprietor to match the older guns they stocked. I unloaded and dropped the full mag in my other pocket in the foyer (though I didn't like touching my gun), and had a fine time talking old guns with them without any mention of my unloaded handgun. I think I might forget next time and see if they really mind.
The business meeting was with an owner of a gun shop, so I didn't think he would mind, and he didn't.
The Chick-fil-a was an exercise in attention, because it was shoulder to shoulder in the line, and I kept turning to see the people behind me. Had a short chat with the manager about how busy they were for the appreciation day.
Colexion was just fine, though I was a little worried that I didn't know them all very well yet, and hackers are notoriously socialist. One in particular was visiting from Louisville (I mean, "luhvull"), and he was a recently converted gunnie, so he was pretty interested to talk guns (Say hey, if you're reading this!). When he mentioned his quick conversion I was worried, because quick conversions usually involve a blindside with the reality bat, but he was starting to question the premises of his casual anti-gun-ness, and realized he didn't know enough about the topic to form an honest opinion. Of course, after he informed himself, he saw the pro-gun side made more sense. An interesting thing happened while we were talking, but that'll be another post.
Harbor Freight was great because I got a compliment on my firearm, and another when I whipped out my pen to sign before he could hand me one. "I like my customers prepared." Obviously, I like being prepared.
I was a little worried about the appointment my wife had at the Womans' Health Clinic, because it would have been extremely easy for them to argue "some might be put off by a firearm" but the only person who said something was the technician who asked me what kind of gun I had. "What have you got there?" "It's a Springfield XD in 9mm." "Oh. Is that like government issue?" "No, I'm just a private citizen choosing to carry." "That's great. I need to get one soon. I'm worried they'll take 'em away." Nice.
When we went to Rite-aid, I was with my friend who was also open carrying, following my wife who was looking for some gum. We both came in following her, talking about guns or video games or some other topic, but I half-noticed someone eyeing us. I paid him no mind (act like it's normal, and other people will too), and didn't see him again until we checked out, and I realized he was a security guard who didn't seem to mind us very much at all. Getting caught up in the conversation we were having, we wound up loitering outside the Rite-aid at around 10pm talking about guns. From the time we walked in the door, we had probably been there for 15 minutes, when a cop pulled up on the opposite side of the parking lot to my 3 o'clock. My friend broke the conversation to say, "He's probably here for us." I shrugged, and stumbled a couple times trying to resume conversation while preparing myself mentally for the encounter. I kept my right arm clear of my firearm so he could easily see it, and feel compelled to note that I was wearing light colors with a big black Galco leather holster. Unfortunately, by the time I hit my conversation stride I was continuing the conversation about the choice between a shotgun or a sub-machine gun as the cop strode, head down, around the other side of the pillar I was leaning against, and entered the Rite-aid. I smiled at my friend, "Have faith." My wife added, "It may not help that we're basically loitering here." We wondered if he might have entered because he thought we were still in there, but he would have done so differently if he was there for us. Regardless, I didn't want to make the Rite-aid guys feel uncomfortable, and we walked back to our cars to talk more.
I don't know if I'm paying more attention or if I'm just noticing it more, but I can see people glancing at my gun. My earlier question of "Did anyone even notice?" seems to have an answer. They can see it, they just don't seem to mind. That's just fine with me.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
Quote of the dangly bits
Attempts to gather some soup-to-nuts beginner grilling information fell flat, since I was apparently supposed to be born with the natural ability to grill meat on fire as soon as my androgynous zygote checked the box for dangly bits.I love going through the archives.
~Me
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
They'll steal the fillings from your teeth...
...And the grates from your streets.
The Blaze: Thieves Steal 15 Metal Storm Grates in Calif. City
Looters don't care what it is. If it isn't bolted down, they'll take it and try to sell it, because they think they deserve it.
This kind of thing will only get worse in California.
The Blaze: Thieves Steal 15 Metal Storm Grates in Calif. City
Looters don't care what it is. If it isn't bolted down, they'll take it and try to sell it, because they think they deserve it.
This kind of thing will only get worse in California.
How do you stop flashmob theft?
The Blaze: Mob of Teens Reportedly Steals $3,000 Worth of ‘Nudie’ Jeans From Chicago Store
What I found interesting about this story was that the store owner knew something was happening when he saw the flashmob enter.
He locked the doors to stop the flow of thieves, but this is obviously not the right course of action, as locking someone in a place and preventing them from leaving is a form of kidnapping.
Only thing I can think is you hop on a counter and yell, "This store is now closed! You are all trespassing, leave now, or [insert appropriate threat for your locale here]."
Sadly, being in Chicago, the appropriate threat for that locale is, "I'll stamp my feet and gnash my teeth." Perhaps he could have yelled "Fire!" or something equally distressing, but there's probably a law against distressing thieves in Chicago.
Were this free America, he could hop on the counter with an empty shotgun, announce the store closure, and start corralling them out the door by walking through the aisles from back to front racking the empty shotgun (pointed at the ceiling, of course).
Seeing as the mob is borne of groupthink, maybe there's a trick to dispelling them. Perhaps whispering, "The guy's got a gun! Get out! Pass it on!" would cause the little lemmings to do as you say. Or the opposite route, walk around with handcuffs and single out each one, saying, "I don't care if I can't catch you all, I'm going to arrest YOU!"
If he knew they were going for those jeans in particular, he could have ran to the display, grabbed them all in bundles, and started tossing them behind the counter. Don't let the mob hide behind, "I was just wandering around looking at clothes, I wasn't providing cover for anyone stealing."
Either way, you need to do something that upsets their plan. You need to stop reacting, and do something to cause them to reevaluate their plan. Get inside their OODA loop. He did do something to disrupt their plan, but he didn't announce it to them to make them know their previous plan wasn't going to work. Because they're all groupthinkers, they wouldn't have the ability to adjust their plan without consulting twitter or whatever planning group they used, and would likely abort immediately.
Thinking about police crowd control, there should be a way to scare them with the threat of pain without actually delivering it. Maybe shouting that they're all trespassing, and saying you'll pepper spray anyone who is in the store in 5 seconds, then running around with a can of Fabreze painted black, spraying near people. I don't suppose you need a cloud of spray, maybe just the spraying sound will work. Just something to break the mob mentality. Paintball guns are a little much, and would leave evidence to clean up, but sweeping their feet with a scary looking airsoft gun would give them a visual indicator, an audible indicator (they probably don't know what a gun really sounds like, or have a fake suppressor on it), and give them impact on their legs (or would whizzing over their head be better?). If we want to get more overt, but definitely more effective, load some homemade blanks into a Big Scary Revolver™, don your hearing protection, and start shooting it into the air. Bet they scatter like cockroaches, and you have no BBs to sweep up, leaving no evidence of your method of crowd dispersal aside from the smell of cordite (Fabreze saves the day again!), though you might have to clean up some urine.
PS: You might have to lose the surveillance tape after some of these ideas.
What I found interesting about this story was that the store owner knew something was happening when he saw the flashmob enter.
He locked the doors to stop the flow of thieves, but this is obviously not the right course of action, as locking someone in a place and preventing them from leaving is a form of kidnapping.
Only thing I can think is you hop on a counter and yell, "This store is now closed! You are all trespassing, leave now, or [insert appropriate threat for your locale here]."
Sadly, being in Chicago, the appropriate threat for that locale is, "I'll stamp my feet and gnash my teeth." Perhaps he could have yelled "Fire!" or something equally distressing, but there's probably a law against distressing thieves in Chicago.
Were this free America, he could hop on the counter with an empty shotgun, announce the store closure, and start corralling them out the door by walking through the aisles from back to front racking the empty shotgun (pointed at the ceiling, of course).
Seeing as the mob is borne of groupthink, maybe there's a trick to dispelling them. Perhaps whispering, "The guy's got a gun! Get out! Pass it on!" would cause the little lemmings to do as you say. Or the opposite route, walk around with handcuffs and single out each one, saying, "I don't care if I can't catch you all, I'm going to arrest YOU!"
If he knew they were going for those jeans in particular, he could have ran to the display, grabbed them all in bundles, and started tossing them behind the counter. Don't let the mob hide behind, "I was just wandering around looking at clothes, I wasn't providing cover for anyone stealing."
Either way, you need to do something that upsets their plan. You need to stop reacting, and do something to cause them to reevaluate their plan. Get inside their OODA loop. He did do something to disrupt their plan, but he didn't announce it to them to make them know their previous plan wasn't going to work. Because they're all groupthinkers, they wouldn't have the ability to adjust their plan without consulting twitter or whatever planning group they used, and would likely abort immediately.
Thinking about police crowd control, there should be a way to scare them with the threat of pain without actually delivering it. Maybe shouting that they're all trespassing, and saying you'll pepper spray anyone who is in the store in 5 seconds, then running around with a can of Fabreze painted black, spraying near people. I don't suppose you need a cloud of spray, maybe just the spraying sound will work. Just something to break the mob mentality. Paintball guns are a little much, and would leave evidence to clean up, but sweeping their feet with a scary looking airsoft gun would give them a visual indicator, an audible indicator (they probably don't know what a gun really sounds like, or have a fake suppressor on it), and give them impact on their legs (or would whizzing over their head be better?). If we want to get more overt, but definitely more effective, load some homemade blanks into a Big Scary Revolver™, don your hearing protection, and start shooting it into the air. Bet they scatter like cockroaches, and you have no BBs to sweep up, leaving no evidence of your method of crowd dispersal aside from the smell of cordite (Fabreze saves the day again!), though you might have to clean up some urine.
PS: You might have to lose the surveillance tape after some of these ideas.
Aurora shooting taxpayer funded?
It sure wouldn't be the first mass shooting funded by the feds, but it might be the first executed by a private citizen!
CBS News: James Holmes received thousands from grad-school grants ahead of deadly Aurora shooting
I can't help but wonder at the fact that this money is simply given to him with no or few strings attached. I kept reading the article expecting to find that the money couldn't have been spent in gun shops because there would have been a claims process that required approval or something, but it appears they just handed him cash money to spend on whatever he chose.
Foodstamps may only be spent on approved items, yet we see them being misused constantly. Are there checks in place that were circumvented, or were there no checks at all?
Adding auditors to federal programs is like shining sunlight on a vampire.
Luckily, simple, common sense, "wtf we're not doing this already?!" ideas like auditing grants rings very true with we the people. People on both sides of the aisle want to make sure their tax dollars aren't being spent on either guns, knives, and tactical carbine classes or past life regressions, yoga classes, and free trade gluten free cruelty free soy free ipad cases.
This is a prime opportunity to call for some sunlight to be shined on these grants.
CBS News: James Holmes received thousands from grad-school grants ahead of deadly Aurora shooting
James Holmes was the recipient of a $21,600 grant from the National Institutes of Health, a research agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to agency records. The grant lasted from July 2011 through June. Holmes also received a $5,000 stipend from the University of Colorado-Denver, where he was a first-year Ph.D. student in its neuroscience program.Again, everything points to him being a model student with a bright future, which makes this even more disturbing.
Previously, CBS News reported that Holmes spent $15,000 to stockpile a massive arsenal, which included bullets and ballistic gear bought online and four guns from brick-and-mortar stores...I was honestly curious how he afforded all the kit he had. All that stuff is far from impossible to buy, but it would certainly be quite difficult to buy on a student's finances. Having a glut of money offered him the opportunity to do something he might have otherwise dismissed as monetarily impossible, though there are still many gaps in his reasoning.
I can't help but wonder at the fact that this money is simply given to him with no or few strings attached. I kept reading the article expecting to find that the money couldn't have been spent in gun shops because there would have been a claims process that required approval or something, but it appears they just handed him cash money to spend on whatever he chose.
Foodstamps may only be spent on approved items, yet we see them being misused constantly. Are there checks in place that were circumvented, or were there no checks at all?
"This was his only known income, so this brings up -- you know, in the most unintended consequence possible -- what you have here is the specter of a federally funded shooting because this appears to be the money he had access to during the time he was planning this," senior correspondent John Miller, a former FBI assistant director, said.Because I'm not a liberal, I'm not calling for a new Bureau of How People Spend Federal Grant Money, but because I'm not full retard I will ask why the hell this isn't something that we already do. The idea of simply handing students tens of thousands of dollars to spend however they wish seems about as smart giving congress tens of billions of dollars to spend however they wish.
Adding auditors to federal programs is like shining sunlight on a vampire.
Luckily, simple, common sense, "wtf we're not doing this already?!" ideas like auditing grants rings very true with we the people. People on both sides of the aisle want to make sure their tax dollars aren't being spent on either guns, knives, and tactical carbine classes or past life regressions, yoga classes, and free trade gluten free cruelty free soy free ipad cases.
This is a prime opportunity to call for some sunlight to be shined on these grants.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Open carried to walmart
On a busy Saturday afternoon to the super walmart inside Lexington, not a small nearby town.
I got one second glance from a nice old lady who smiled at me. That is all.
This was pretty much the final test of public reaction. It's pretty obvious that almost no one cares, which means I'll open carry without apprehension wherever legal for two reasons: firstly, because I can't legally apply for a concealed carry permit until I've lived here for 6 months; and secondly, because I'd love to make it socially normal.
Because of the second reason, I imagine I will still open carry at times after I get my permit. I haven't seen anyone else open carrying who wasn't working at a gun shop, and I think that's a shame.
If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
I got one second glance from a nice old lady who smiled at me. That is all.
This was pretty much the final test of public reaction. It's pretty obvious that almost no one cares, which means I'll open carry without apprehension wherever legal for two reasons: firstly, because I can't legally apply for a concealed carry permit until I've lived here for 6 months; and secondly, because I'd love to make it socially normal.
Because of the second reason, I imagine I will still open carry at times after I get my permit. I haven't seen anyone else open carrying who wasn't working at a gun shop, and I think that's a shame.
If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Books, Games, and Knives
I've been re-reading Atlas Shrugged, and have been enjoying it much more this time. Now that I know what's going to happen, I can actually enjoy the first third of the book, instead of spend years trudging through part one 20 pages at a time whenever I feel masochistic. I'm enjoying myself so much that I regularly check the Kindle's percentage complete bar and think, "Oh boy! I'm only 21% of the way through!"
Psychonauts is a wonderful game released for PC and original xbox (original xbox games are now playable on the 360 thanks to system updates) that breaks a lot of style, artistic, and gameplay molds for video games. It's a beautifully unique game, that is a joy to play (instead of a race to the finish line), and I've yet to see anything remotely close to it. I played it a few years back, and it had been hanging on my mind for a while, so I popped it back in and tried to keep my smile from hurting my cheeks. I should note that it's exactly the same game every time, there's no open-world aspect or random events, but the characters, the story, and the locales are genuinely engaging and interesting, which is near impossible to say about any other game. If you play one game in your entire life, make it Portal. But if you play two, play Psychonauts.
If you're too lazy to play, or not much of a gamer, or more of a voyeur gamer, there's a guy on youtube who has a 41 video series of him playing the entire freakin' game.
I really want an OTF blade. There's something about it that just screams Free America. Of course, being a knife-o-phile trapped in California for 28 years helps too. I want a butterfly knife too, but that doesn't have as much allure as the OTF. I'll get one as soon as we have, you know, income. The wait will have the added bonus of my wife not stabbing me with it for opening and closing it incessantly. Maybe I should start with the balisong so the accidental strikes on my knuckles will discourage excessive flailing about. Yeah right.
Psychonauts is a wonderful game released for PC and original xbox (original xbox games are now playable on the 360 thanks to system updates) that breaks a lot of style, artistic, and gameplay molds for video games. It's a beautifully unique game, that is a joy to play (instead of a race to the finish line), and I've yet to see anything remotely close to it. I played it a few years back, and it had been hanging on my mind for a while, so I popped it back in and tried to keep my smile from hurting my cheeks. I should note that it's exactly the same game every time, there's no open-world aspect or random events, but the characters, the story, and the locales are genuinely engaging and interesting, which is near impossible to say about any other game. If you play one game in your entire life, make it Portal. But if you play two, play Psychonauts.
If you're too lazy to play, or not much of a gamer, or more of a voyeur gamer, there's a guy on youtube who has a 41 video series of him playing the entire freakin' game.
I really want an OTF blade. There's something about it that just screams Free America. Of course, being a knife-o-phile trapped in California for 28 years helps too. I want a butterfly knife too, but that doesn't have as much allure as the OTF. I'll get one as soon as we have, you know, income. The wait will have the added bonus of my wife not stabbing me with it for opening and closing it incessantly. Maybe I should start with the balisong so the accidental strikes on my knuckles will discourage excessive flailing about. Yeah right.
Obama FINALLY talks gun control
... and it feels sooo gooood.
Mediaite Video: Obama Talks Gun Control: ‘AK-47s Belong In The Hands Of Soldiers, Not In The Hands Of Criminals’
ZOMG OBAMA WILL BAN TEH AK-47S!!!111ONE
Not so much.
Here's the gun-related quote at the end of the video (starting at 4:07). Everything before that is mealymouthed political ass covering.
"What does this inkblot look like to you?"
"Uhh... A butterfly?"
"Did you say 'a butterfly' or 'bloodied children fleeing the scene of the mass shooting I am planning on executing with the gun I'm buying'?"
"Uh... The first one."
I love it.
I hope gun owners only read the headlines on this one, and then run out and by more AK-47 clones. I want Obama screaming, "I can even name guns without them buying more!" I want a reporter hold up a picture of an AK, and ask Obama what it is, and then read the frenzied headlines where Obama said, "...AK-47..." (full context on page ZZ99), and then read about the increased sales. We're not quite there yet, but we sure seem close to it.
In other news Obama is really feeling the pinch. It comes through in everything he does lately. Don't worry Barry, we don't have that shoot-you-in-the-head policy on buying a pack of smokes just yet. Just make sure you don't exhale. I hear that gives off carbon emissions.
Mediaite Video: Obama Talks Gun Control: ‘AK-47s Belong In The Hands Of Soldiers, Not In The Hands Of Criminals’
ZOMG OBAMA WILL BAN TEH AK-47S!!!111ONE
Not so much.
Here's the gun-related quote at the end of the video (starting at 4:07). Everything before that is mealymouthed political ass covering.
I, like most Americans, believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. 'K? We recognize the traditions of gun ownership passed on from generation to generation. That hunting and shooting are part of a- a-a-a-cherished national heritage, but I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers not in the hands of criminals, that they belong on the battlefield of war not on the streets of our cities.Looks pretty meaty right? Not as meaty as you'd think. Lets give this a good hard fisking.
I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons. That we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller. That a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on guns so easily. These steps shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense. So I'm going to continue to work with members of both parties, and with religious groups, and with civic organizations to arrive at a consensus around violence reduction. Not just-- uh-- of-- gun violence but violence at every level at every step looking at everything we can do to reduce violence and keep our children safe, from improving mental health services for troubled youth, to instituting more effective community policing strategies, we should leave no stone unturned and recognize that we have no greater mission, as a country, than keeping our young people safe.
I, like most Americans, believe that the second amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms.Woo! Finally! Something we can agree on! Hold on to that feeling, because it's the only one you're going to get.
'K?Boy, he his REALLY obvious with his verbal tics. It's like clockwork. Make him say something he doesn't believe, and he starts stuttering like a liberal trying to explain where the power for his electric car comes from.
We recognize the traditions of gun ownership passed on from generation to generation."See? I totally understand why you want guns! It's because you cousin humpin' rednecks had a 'pappy' who shot a 'varmit' on his farm!"
That hunting and shooting are part of a- a-a-a-cherished national heritage,Wow. Can't even get believe that hunting and shooting are part of our heritage? Or was it the "cherished" part that threw you?
but I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agreeOff to a bad start.
that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers not in the hands of criminals,Good qualifier! "Should guns be in the hands of A:Soldiers or B:Criminals? Please select one." Why are you trying so hard not to make a simple declarative statement? Why are you still pulling your punches? Don't tell me-- No-- It can't be-- You can't even attack guns directly RIGHT AFTER a national tragedy including guns? Boy that must eat y-y-y-you up inside. I recognize the tradition of dancing in the blood of innocents that liberals have passed on from generation to generation. Is nothing sacred anymore?
I think most of us can agree that they belong on the battlefield of war not on the streets of our cities.WOW! Can't even say "AK-47s belong on a battlefield." At least the qualifier got a little weaker. What legal use of AK-47s would put them "on the streets of our cities?" Well, I can think of at least one. I sure would have preferred to see those Koreans protecting their stores with big, scary AK-47s with giant banana split clips (the split ones are even more deadly) instead of grandpa's duck gun.
I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons.BZZZZZ! WRONG! I don't think you can get anyone to agree to do "everything possible" to do ANYTHING. I think we can all agree that we should to everything possible to prevent cancer. Including sealing every American in a bubble, and feeding them intravenously so never have to encounter any dangerous carcinogens. I think we can all agree that we should do everything possible to stop smoking. Including shooting everyone in the head who buys a pack of smokes. I think we can all agree that we should do everything possible to save the planet. Including forced living in a pre-agriculture society in caves.
That we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller.So it would be illegal to look at guns if you have a criminal record? Is that like pre-crime? What about drawing guns, or imagining guns? Is that illegal too? Where does the bureau of thought police fit into all this?
That a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on guns so easily.Well you're obviously not referring to the process in place that already checks for mental health issues, so perhaps you're thinking more of a psychological evaluation when purchasing a gun?
"What does this inkblot look like to you?"
"Uhh... A butterfly?"
"Did you say 'a butterfly' or 'bloodied children fleeing the scene of the mass shooting I am planning on executing with the gun I'm buying'?"
"Uh... The first one."
These steps shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense.No, what should be common sense is that gun control doesn't work. It doesn't even work a little bit. In fact, where stronger gun control is instigated, the murder rates increase. Gun control murders people. Argue for common sense murders instead.
So I'm going to continue to work withOh boy, here comes the meat an potatoes, here's his action plan, he's going to detail exactly what he'll do to resolve this horrible problem of AK-47s being on the streets instead of on the battlefield, except when in the hands of other people who are regular citizens, who can also have them, but not that they should, but they can now, not that I'm implying they can't later- but just that it's happening now as the current state of our politics. Not that I'm going to change that-- er-- but I might-- if I get consensus, which I won't. Please stop asking me about this. No further question. I am Iron Man.
members of both parties, and with religious groups, and with civic organizationsOooo! I'll bet gun advocates are shaking in their boots now! He's going to work with members! And not just regular members, members of both parties! And then, he's gonna work with religious groups! And then after that, civic organization! Look out, guns! There's a new sheriff in town! And he's gonna do exactly what the old sheriff did. Nothing.
to arrive at a consensus around violence reduction.WHOA! He's nailing the NRA to the wall! He won't stop short of a consensus around violence reduction! It's so great he's fighting for that consensus, because I know tons of people who are always talking about how we need more violence, and we need to reconcile those views with those who want less violence. Maybe we can meet half way at a little violence. Not a lot, just enough to, y'know, spice things up.
Not just-- uh-- of-- gun violenceNo clue why you stumbled over "gun violence." Maybe you were thinking about ladder violence or mailbox voilence.
but violence at every level at every step looking at everything we can do to reduce violence and keep our children safe, from improving mental health services for troubled youth, to instituting more effective community policing strategies, we should leave no stone unturned and recognize that we have no greater mission, as a country, than keeping our young people safe."Blah blah blah, I can't do a damn thing to stop Americans from buying guns, because when I do, the poll numbers I obsessively check go down, and you cousin humpin' rednecks just buy more of the damn things."
abadee-abadee-abadee-that's all folks!Absolutely toothless.
I love it.
I hope gun owners only read the headlines on this one, and then run out and by more AK-47 clones. I want Obama screaming, "I can even name guns without them buying more!" I want a reporter hold up a picture of an AK, and ask Obama what it is, and then read the frenzied headlines where Obama said, "...AK-47..." (full context on page ZZ99), and then read about the increased sales. We're not quite there yet, but we sure seem close to it.
In other news Obama is really feeling the pinch. It comes through in everything he does lately. Don't worry Barry, we don't have that shoot-you-in-the-head policy on buying a pack of smokes just yet. Just make sure you don't exhale. I hear that gives off carbon emissions.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Eye opening results from eye protection tests
Paul and Andrew at Lucky Gunner labs did some serious testing on various forms of eye protection. Nothing more complicated than a price range of eye pro (or improvised eye pro), styrofoam heads, and two guns.
If you value your vision, these tests are worth your time.
It really has me rethinking my eye protection.
Paul emailed me with the link to their testing, and I found it of significant value, which is why I posted it.
If you value your vision, these tests are worth your time.
It really has me rethinking my eye protection.
Paul emailed me with the link to their testing, and I found it of significant value, which is why I posted it.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
See ya, Kenny.
Kenny "Wirecutter" over at Knuckledraggin' my life away has hung up his spurs.
I have it on good authority (Sal) that blogging just was becoming a chore for him and he was busy with stuff in Meatspace.
It's a shame to see him go, though I suspect he'll be back. That kind of talent never really disappears. He was an "angry" blogger, but there was always something undefinable in his posts that kept you coming back after you left all the other "Fuck Obama" bloggers.
Hell, I had about a year of hiatus before coming back.
I have it on good authority (Sal) that blogging just was becoming a chore for him and he was busy with stuff in Meatspace.
It's a shame to see him go, though I suspect he'll be back. That kind of talent never really disappears. He was an "angry" blogger, but there was always something undefinable in his posts that kept you coming back after you left all the other "Fuck Obama" bloggers.
Hell, I had about a year of hiatus before coming back.
Benchmade fixed Griptilian sheath problem
The fixed Griptilian, being my favorite carry fixed blade, went on a few hikes and scouting trips in California. Southern California "wilderness" is pretty much 8 foot tall scrub with small game trails throughout, so hikes off trail aren't so much hikes as they are you swimming through bushes.
It seems that this was what damaged the sheath strap.
The edge of the nylon strappings has pulled out as the edge of the strap clearly ends at the edge of the sheath, instead of wrapping around to be sewn twice or being a continuous band.
I don't know of a simple way of repairing this to previous functionality, so I'll be looking for something more radical. I'd prefer not to get a new sheath made, but will certainly consider it.
This is not the quality I've expected from Benchmade.
It seems that this was what damaged the sheath strap.
The edge of the nylon strappings has pulled out as the edge of the strap clearly ends at the edge of the sheath, instead of wrapping around to be sewn twice or being a continuous band.
I don't know of a simple way of repairing this to previous functionality, so I'll be looking for something more radical. I'd prefer not to get a new sheath made, but will certainly consider it.
This is not the quality I've expected from Benchmade.
Hooray for Google searches!
Looks like a possible armed robbery averted! With a bonus on the outclick!
Yes, my downtrodden and disaffected victim of society, robbing someone with a gun loaded or unloaded, seen or unseen, will get you an armed robbery charge. In fact, you don't even need a gun to get an armed robbery charge! You just have to say or imply you have a gun! Never thought a pointing finger in your coat pocket would get you an additional charge did you?
Now that you know that laws are, in fact, meant to put you in jail for a long time, how about not breaking them?
PS: I hope you finished that article from the Daily Kos, it has been a bewilderment to us on the right why liberals aren't interested in arming themselves. Well, not technically, I mean, we know WHY you don't arm yourselves, because that would require you to take responsibility for something other than the topping on your bagel. Feel free to continue. We're not complaining.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Who's a sad panda who got shot during armed robbery?
Elderly internet surfer shoots armed robbers.
I love these stories. Good guys, bad guys, no moral ambiguity, or perpetrator apology. It's the kind of story you can't get from Hollywood.
Two guys wearing masks busted into an internet cafe in Florida, and demanded money from the registers and patrons. "But who would rob an internet cafe?" The imaginary liberal immediately responds. The threat of someone doing something is not lessened by your confusion at their actions.
The article, which is... strange... goes into some detail and actually has some quotes from the robbers-turned-victims.
Congratulations, you picked all of the risk and NONE of the benefit!
I guess it should have been ok because "Nobody was going to get hurt."
Lets hear from a pair of would-be-victims.
There we go!
It's the world's smallest violin, playing the world's saddest tune, just for you.
THIS STORY PLEASES THE SNUBSTER
I love these stories. Good guys, bad guys, no moral ambiguity, or perpetrator apology. It's the kind of story you can't get from Hollywood.
Two guys wearing masks busted into an internet cafe in Florida, and demanded money from the registers and patrons. "But who would rob an internet cafe?" The imaginary liberal immediately responds. The threat of someone doing something is not lessened by your confusion at their actions.
The article, which is... strange... goes into some detail and actually has some quotes from the robbers-turned-victims.
Dawkins had a superficial wound in his left arm, but Henderson was shot in two places: his left buttock and his right hip.They're lucky they didn't get hit anywhere vital or with anything bigger or faster than a 380 mousegun.
"I feel horrible. It doesn't feel good. It makes you think about life's decisions, and how you should live your life," Henderson said in an interview with the Star-Banner at the jail on Saturday afternoon.Wow. That's really great to hear, I'm glad he survived to have that thought, but this revelation would have better served them both BEFORE they robbed a place at gunpoint.
Hours after his release from the hospital, Henderson, who talked about the pain he feels in his buttock and hip, said the plan was to "barge in, get the money and leave." He said "he [sic] never expected anyone to be armed."
"The gun was broken and rusty and wasn't loaded. Nobody was going to get hurt," he said, standing with crutches.Well that makes you a pretty shitty robber. First, you bring a gun, which adds years to your charges, then you pick a gun that is dangerous to use, THEN you leave it unloaded!
Congratulations, you picked all of the risk and NONE of the benefit!
I guess it should have been ok because "Nobody was going to get hurt."
Retrieving the customers' phones was what he said was their "main priority." That way, he said, the customers could not call law enforcement officials.Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can't have the people in the cafe calling the cops! That'd ruin the whole ruse, you know, the one where you show up with an unloaded gun, and you're all like, "Alright guys, so you're getting 'robbed' *wink wink* with this 'loaded gun' *nudge nudge* anyway, y'all be chill and I'll be out of your hair ASAP."
Henderson theorizes the reason why he was caught off guard is because, when Dawkins entered the business, he busted a computer monitor with the baseball bat and "glass got into his face."Are...? Are you going for the sympathy? I mean, I know you're not, but pointing out how circumstances didn't go in your favor during your ARMED ROBBERY is an interesting tactic. Please, do continue...
"He couldn't warn me," Henderson said.
Henderson noticed two women were behind the counter and he thought that was "fishy." Turning around to see what the women were doing, Henderson said he was shot.Yup, there he was, minding his own business, just doing a routine armed robbery when these counter ladies started acting suspicious, and then someone shot me in the back!
"I turned around to run and my leg gave out. That was when I got shot. I hit the ground, and he was still shooting. I thought I was going to die," Henderson said.Holy crap! You thought you were going to die? That's horrible! How would you rank the fear as compared to you sitting in an internet cafe, when two guys with masks come in and point a gun in your face? More or less? Better or worse? One or two? A or B? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Henderson said he and Dawkins drove to a house to see a woman he said "is like a second mother" to him.Well that's great, I sounds like she's had a very positive impact on your life. I mean, some people wouldn't want to let down their mother, but you let down BOTH your mothers! Malt liquor all around!
"I couldn't breathe. I had lost so much blood. I don't know what she did, but she revived me," he said, likening the experience to coming back from the dead.Whew! Your thrilling tale of ARMED ROBBERY had me on the edge of my seat! I sure am glad you pulled through! What an amazing experience it must have been.
Officials said Dawkins previously had worked for the cafe but had been fired.Oh, so THAT'S why you rob an internet cafe!
Because Dawkins used to work at the cafe, Henderson said Dawkins told him there was "a lot of money there." Both of them, he said, gathered the gun and bat for the robbery attempt.A lot of money? Honestly, how much? Enough to get dead over? Enough to risk an armed robbery charge? How much is that?
Their actions frightened the customers at the Internet cafe.Wow. Artfully noted, Austin Miller, Staff Writer for Ocala.com. I'm glad you took time out of your busy schedule playing with blocks and coloring inside the lines to write this article. Now all the other weirdness in this article makes sense.
Lets hear from a pair of would-be-victims.
The robber with the bat smashed one of the computers, the couple said. Then the robbers ordered everybody to get down on the ground and take out their wallets and whatever valuables they had.Whoa, I think they skipped the part where the Dawkins said, "Hey guys, this is a robbery, but don't worry, this gun isn't loaded, and we're not going to hurt anyone." Telling it like that just makes it sound like a boring regular old armed robbery.
Though Henderson said he doesn't blame Williams for shooting, he takes exception with Williams shooting at him while he was down.Oh! Did the bad man shoot you wrong during your attempted armed robbery? Lets see what I can do about that...
"I was down, and I'm not going to continue to shoot you," he said.
There we go!
It's the world's smallest violin, playing the world's saddest tune, just for you.
THIS STORY PLEASES THE SNUBSTER
ROMNEY HITS THE TEE-BALL OUT OF THE PARK!
Romney team counters felon charge with reminder that Obama has publicly admitted to doing drugs.
That's right folks, stuffed cat just leaped onto the mouse! Or maybe the wind blew it over and it fell onto the mouse. Whatever.
That's right folks, stuffed cat just leaped onto the mouse! Or maybe the wind blew it over and it fell onto the mouse. Whatever.
The .380 gets snubbed
When I first saw the S&W Bodyguard 380, I liked it. I liked the lines, the idea of an integrated laser, the second strike ability, and I just plain liked it. At the time I resigned myself to not having one because there was little chance of S&W making a California compliant model.
Now that I'm in Kentucky though, and have access to an expanded market for firearms, I've been keeping an eye out.
I recently found someone looking to trade his Bodyguard 380 for a pocket revolver, and I had been neglecting the S&W 442, so I made the offer.
He was fielding some other offers so it took him some time to respond.
Don't look at me like that...
Did I do something wrong?
No...
Then why?
It's just that...
Am I not sexy enough? We can't all look like those polymer guns in the gun rags with doublestacked magazines!
I'm not comparing you to--
Those doublestacks aren't even real! Those fat grips are all plastic!
I know, I know, I just... It's not you, it's me.
Oh sure!
No, really, I just... My tastes have changed.
Your tastes? Like your taste for perfect reliability, 200 ft/lbs of energy, all steel construction, a firing grip inside the pocket, those are all gone?
Well, no, it's just that autos have more capacity and more firepower. They're much more reliable now.
HA! You can only call them reliable because you have a standard to compare them against. I AM that standard!
*sigh*
It wouldn't be half as bad if it wasn't for a first generation release of a 380 auto! AND with a laser that doesn't even turn on from the grip? I'm embarrassed for you. At least have some taste and leave me for a P238.
What? 380s have been out for a long time and are pretty darn reliable!
Well I'm glad "pretty darn reliable" is good enough for the gun you carry to protect your life and the lives of your loved ones.
I can have 7 rounds in the gun and two more mags for 19 rounds available AND have a quick reload!
Oh! I thought you were looking for a pocket gun, not a G26 with a 33 round magazine in it! How many shots are usually fired to end a potentially violent confrontation again? I really can't remember, how much was it?
... Zero.
OH YEAH! ZERO! Well it's ok, you can still enjoy your 19 round tacticool go-to-war mall ninja mousegun. And with all the extra rounds, you don't have to worry as much about missing! Just think suppressive fire.
That's not fair. I already carry because I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Exactly, and when you absolutely need it, you absolutely need it to put hits on a target's vitals and precipitate loss of consciousness to stop further aggression.
Exactly.
So what good is it if it doesn't shoot?
How many times do I have to say it? They are very reliable.
I'm the standard.
*sigh*
Well, I suppose it's good you'll have extra rounds then, because you'll have to make up those extra foot pounds somehow.
Look, I get it, you're powerful, you're reliable, you're small, but the 380 is smaller.
I didn't realize I was too fat for your pocket. I guess with that 380 you can drop your keys in there, and your change, and your--
Ok, I know, I'm not going to put lots of stuff in that pocket.
But what will you do with all that extra pocket space? Maybe you can cram another 380 in there for a New York reload in case of a jam! Or shoot 'em both at once John Woo style! Or maybe... Just maybe... you can carry a gun that's a little bigger, more powerful, and much more reliable.
*sigh*
Let me know when you get a .25. I'll bet you can carry hundreds of rounds of ammo with that thing!
I'm not getting a .25, the .380 is a reliable, powerful pocket auto cartridge.
Right. Of all the pocket auto cartridges, it's the best. Is that like being the tallest midget?
Are you done yet?
Nope. I have three more words.
Fine. What are they?
Five.
For.
Sure.
Man. These guns are vicious.
He dropped the offer. He decided that he wanted to stick with a semi. Which is fine, because I decided I wanted to keep this old wheelgun around.
Now that I'm in Kentucky though, and have access to an expanded market for firearms, I've been keeping an eye out.
I recently found someone looking to trade his Bodyguard 380 for a pocket revolver, and I had been neglecting the S&W 442, so I made the offer.
He was fielding some other offers so it took him some time to respond.
Don't look at me like that...
Did I do something wrong?
No...
Then why?
It's just that...
Am I not sexy enough? We can't all look like those polymer guns in the gun rags with doublestacked magazines!
I'm not comparing you to--
Those doublestacks aren't even real! Those fat grips are all plastic!
I know, I know, I just... It's not you, it's me.
Oh sure!
No, really, I just... My tastes have changed.
Your tastes? Like your taste for perfect reliability, 200 ft/lbs of energy, all steel construction, a firing grip inside the pocket, those are all gone?
Well, no, it's just that autos have more capacity and more firepower. They're much more reliable now.
HA! You can only call them reliable because you have a standard to compare them against. I AM that standard!
*sigh*
It wouldn't be half as bad if it wasn't for a first generation release of a 380 auto! AND with a laser that doesn't even turn on from the grip? I'm embarrassed for you. At least have some taste and leave me for a P238.
What? 380s have been out for a long time and are pretty darn reliable!
Well I'm glad "pretty darn reliable" is good enough for the gun you carry to protect your life and the lives of your loved ones.
I can have 7 rounds in the gun and two more mags for 19 rounds available AND have a quick reload!
Oh! I thought you were looking for a pocket gun, not a G26 with a 33 round magazine in it! How many shots are usually fired to end a potentially violent confrontation again? I really can't remember, how much was it?
... Zero.
OH YEAH! ZERO! Well it's ok, you can still enjoy your 19 round tacticool go-to-war mall ninja mousegun. And with all the extra rounds, you don't have to worry as much about missing! Just think suppressive fire.
That's not fair. I already carry because I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Exactly, and when you absolutely need it, you absolutely need it to put hits on a target's vitals and precipitate loss of consciousness to stop further aggression.
Exactly.
So what good is it if it doesn't shoot?
How many times do I have to say it? They are very reliable.
I'm the standard.
*sigh*
Well, I suppose it's good you'll have extra rounds then, because you'll have to make up those extra foot pounds somehow.
Look, I get it, you're powerful, you're reliable, you're small, but the 380 is smaller.
I didn't realize I was too fat for your pocket. I guess with that 380 you can drop your keys in there, and your change, and your--
Ok, I know, I'm not going to put lots of stuff in that pocket.
But what will you do with all that extra pocket space? Maybe you can cram another 380 in there for a New York reload in case of a jam! Or shoot 'em both at once John Woo style! Or maybe... Just maybe... you can carry a gun that's a little bigger, more powerful, and much more reliable.
*sigh*
Let me know when you get a .25. I'll bet you can carry hundreds of rounds of ammo with that thing!
I'm not getting a .25, the .380 is a reliable, powerful pocket auto cartridge.
Right. Of all the pocket auto cartridges, it's the best. Is that like being the tallest midget?
Are you done yet?
Nope. I have three more words.
Fine. What are they?
Five.
For.
Sure.
Man. These guns are vicious.
He dropped the offer. He decided that he wanted to stick with a semi. Which is fine, because I decided I wanted to keep this old wheelgun around.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
A benefit of Free America
Apparently, in Free America, citizens may barter, buy, or trade lawfully purchased property without the Federal Government's express approval on the transaction!
INCONCEIVABLE! Everyone knows you can't let the proles exchange goods freely just as everyone knows to never get involved in a land war in Asia! It's a wonder this backward state isn't in a state of anarchy with all this free trade going on! Won't someone think of the regulators?!
Not having to pay DROS and wait 10 days for a private party transfer really opens up the options to firearm owners. After a bit of time on Armslist, which is like a Craigslist for guns, I found there are plenty of folks who have grown tired of their personal flavor of shootie goodness and are looking for something your taste buds might be growing bored with.
I enjoy the notion of bartering because the value of the item does not have to be transfered into dollars, and both parties can essentially trade at cost.
Of course, it should be noted that in any bartering where a profit (as described by the Internal Revenue Service) is gained must be reported on your income ta--BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh wow, I really thought I was going to get through that whole thing without laughing. Of course no one would dare make a profit without reporting it to their local arm of the Federal Government! That'd be mala prohibita, and no one wants that.
To prove my point, here's a hypothetical: Lets say I found a nice gentleman interested in the AK parts kit I bought in '06 for $99. But the price for Romy G kits has increased as the supply has reduced in the past 6 years, so he was willing to trade something worth $300 for it, like, oh I don't know, a Benchmade Infidel. What is a good little citizen to do?
Well, I would take the trade and request his Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to put on the form 1099-B I file with the IRS and possibly send an inquiry to the International Reciprocal Trade Association to see if my trade incurs any other taxes or trade tariffs.
It's not like I could just hand him a few pieces of metal and receive some other pieces of metal! That would just be... uncivilized...
INCONCEIVABLE! Everyone knows you can't let the proles exchange goods freely just as everyone knows to never get involved in a land war in Asia! It's a wonder this backward state isn't in a state of anarchy with all this free trade going on! Won't someone think of the regulators?!
Not having to pay DROS and wait 10 days for a private party transfer really opens up the options to firearm owners. After a bit of time on Armslist, which is like a Craigslist for guns, I found there are plenty of folks who have grown tired of their personal flavor of shootie goodness and are looking for something your taste buds might be growing bored with.
I enjoy the notion of bartering because the value of the item does not have to be transfered into dollars, and both parties can essentially trade at cost.
Of course, it should be noted that in any bartering where a profit (as described by the Internal Revenue Service) is gained must be reported on your income ta--BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh wow, I really thought I was going to get through that whole thing without laughing. Of course no one would dare make a profit without reporting it to their local arm of the Federal Government! That'd be mala prohibita, and no one wants that.
To prove my point, here's a hypothetical: Lets say I found a nice gentleman interested in the AK parts kit I bought in '06 for $99. But the price for Romy G kits has increased as the supply has reduced in the past 6 years, so he was willing to trade something worth $300 for it, like, oh I don't know, a Benchmade Infidel. What is a good little citizen to do?
Well, I would take the trade and request his Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to put on the form 1099-B I file with the IRS and possibly send an inquiry to the International Reciprocal Trade Association to see if my trade incurs any other taxes or trade tariffs.
It's not like I could just hand him a few pieces of metal and receive some other pieces of metal! That would just be... uncivilized...
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Open carried to Staples and Kroger
At first everything was going fine until an employee came up behind me and said, "Sir? Excuse me, sir...." My pulse quickened, my chest tightened, and I knew what was about the happen... After a tense moment, he continued, "Here are the rest of your business cards." DUN DUN DUUUNNNNN!
There were a lot of people at Staples and I had expected at least one would react in some way, but not even a second glance. Checking out at the register, the manager happened to be the one helping me. No issue, not a word about it.
I did find myself being mindful of my right side, and was more apt to look behind me, or turn in such a way that my right side was blocked by a display or my cart, but it wasn't like I was backing along walls or anything.
Kroger was just as uneventful as before.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
There were a lot of people at Staples and I had expected at least one would react in some way, but not even a second glance. Checking out at the register, the manager happened to be the one helping me. No issue, not a word about it.
I did find myself being mindful of my right side, and was more apt to look behind me, or turn in such a way that my right side was blocked by a display or my cart, but it wasn't like I was backing along walls or anything.
Kroger was just as uneventful as before.
Read more about my experiences open carrying here!
Monday, July 09, 2012
Open carried to Kroger
Didn't hear the sound of anyone fainting, speaking in hushed tones to 911, or pearls being clutched.
No one even seemed to acknowledge it. Honestly wonder if anyone even saw it...
No one even seemed to acknowledge it. Honestly wonder if anyone even saw it...
Saturday, July 07, 2012
Wherein I should have just let it be...
This morning, while I was half reading, half looking out the window to catch the squirrel on its morning laps across the backyard, I looked down at the painted black G22 I was going to use to dispatch aforementioned rodent, and began the thought that I wished it was camouflaged.
Which made me laugh out loud because I realized that I had come full circle.
What I've referred to as the git-r-done paint job on the G22 was actually what made me buy it. Technically. The Git-r-done model was discontinued, which caused my local dealer to knock $100 off of it. Without that redneck reduction, I wouldn't have bought it, and I wouldn't have had the chance to grow to love my stupid space gun so much that I want another. But that came later. At first, I was a little embarrassed of my woodland wabbit whacker.
I tolerated it for a long time, but eventually the siren's song of the rattle can won out. Having started my Gunnyship a bit more tacticool than I might care to admit, it got a flat black spray job. Except I was too cool to wait, so one half is done properly to a matte finish, and the other half was done too fast and is glossy. It was fine like this, because it only saw the range, but in Kentucky, it can, and has been, pushed into the more official duty of critter cranium cavitator, and in that task, a broken pattern is easier to hide than a big black block.
I'll look for a way to remove the paint and see if I can return it to its former underappreciated skin (maybe profuse apology will work), but if I can't make that happen, I just may get more serious about that ol' razzle dazzle...
Which made me laugh out loud because I realized that I had come full circle.
What I've referred to as the git-r-done paint job on the G22 was actually what made me buy it. Technically. The Git-r-done model was discontinued, which caused my local dealer to knock $100 off of it. Without that redneck reduction, I wouldn't have bought it, and I wouldn't have had the chance to grow to love my stupid space gun so much that I want another. But that came later. At first, I was a little embarrassed of my woodland wabbit whacker.
I tolerated it for a long time, but eventually the siren's song of the rattle can won out. Having started my Gunnyship a bit more tacticool than I might care to admit, it got a flat black spray job. Except I was too cool to wait, so one half is done properly to a matte finish, and the other half was done too fast and is glossy. It was fine like this, because it only saw the range, but in Kentucky, it can, and has been, pushed into the more official duty of critter cranium cavitator, and in that task, a broken pattern is easier to hide than a big black block.
I'll look for a way to remove the paint and see if I can return it to its former underappreciated skin (maybe profuse apology will work), but if I can't make that happen, I just may get more serious about that ol' razzle dazzle...
Well that didn't take long...
I figured it'd be a while before I looked at a news story about California and thought, "Those idiot Californians."
NOPE.
Nuts to sugar coating (and the readership shouts, agape, "You were sugar coating before?!") now that I feel psychologically free of California, I don't even have to pull punches to keep myself from jumping off one of California's beautiful, majestic, and brilliantly preserved cliffs.
High Speed Rail doesn't exist.
It's a fleece, a flim-flam, a fraud, a hoax, a shake-down, and lots of other words from the thesaurus.
It isn't legislation, it isn't badly planned, there aren't a few bad apples, there isn't someone "skimming off the top."
This is a long con. Ever see The Sting?
Everyone is in on it except the public. The hundreds of Sacramento lamprey eels from the highest appointees to the Board of Important Stuff, down to Joe Blow dirt shoveler union member #6724 of the International Brotherhood of Dirt Relocation Specialists.
They set up the con, telling you what it's going to be. How amazing it will look, how it'll grow hair on the bald, cure AIDS, clean your room, and walk your dog. They actually DO work on this part. They spend money and time building an impeccable presentation with 3D models, artists renditions, and pies in the sky, all backed up with reams and reams AND REAMS of paperwork from people who are in on the scam, telling you that you can't live without this, and you'd be an idiot to pass on this opportunity. This is all backed up expert "plants" who step out of the audience and say, "I'm an expert, and everything this man says is completely true!" Followed my murmurs of ascent (murmured by more plants in on the scam).
"Well," thinks you, "Everyone seems to agree with these people. I suppose I must just be stupid for questioning this. I'd better agree too, lest my peers think me thick."
Then everyone clamors for the snake oil. Except, snake oil would have been too kind to the dupes. One big hit of cash isn't enough. They get to slow bleed the mark for years if not decades, because they're not selling a thing, they're selling an idea. And that idea needs multiple installments of money, and constant improvement, and maintenance.
After the vote, the public's part in the scam has ended, and the bloodletting begins.
Committees are formed, and directorships, and organizations, and boards, and teams, and groups, and lots of other words from the thesaurus. And all these groups need office workers, and marketing, and public relations, and lawyers, and office space, and lunches, and computers, and HVAC work, and desks, and conferences, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and all these things are bought through contractors and political contributors who are also in on the scam (though lower on the totem pole).
Then when any of this work is actually done, it suffers delays, and comes in over budget, and racks up contractual penalties, and spawns lawsuits, and usually never gets done. Which means the next firm must come in to do the work, and do the same thing to gather their percentage of the scam winnings.
So it is that the legislator writes an extra sentence into the bill with a wink and a nod, and the lobbyists tell their client contractors how to exploit the sentence with a wink and a nod, and the contractors plan the job to get the additional payout with a wink and a nod, and the dirt relocation specialist moves half a shovel of dirt and signals to his boss that he's taking his 4 hour lunch with a wink and a nod.
All the way down.
Every single one of them.
Playing their parts in The Sting.
Gorging themselves on the scam's winnings.
Circling wagons and promising empty when questions arise.
And eventually, when the host withers and dies, the parasites detach, pick a new target, and with a wink and a nod formulate their next presentation.
The high speed rail does not exist any more than the beachfront timeshare in Arizona you just bought. You haven't used it in the years since you bought it, but you're sure that one day you'll visit.
NOPE.
Nuts to sugar coating (and the readership shouts, agape, "You were sugar coating before?!") now that I feel psychologically free of California, I don't even have to pull punches to keep myself from jumping off one of California's beautiful, majestic, and brilliantly preserved cliffs.
High Speed Rail doesn't exist.
It's a fleece, a flim-flam, a fraud, a hoax, a shake-down, and lots of other words from the thesaurus.
It isn't legislation, it isn't badly planned, there aren't a few bad apples, there isn't someone "skimming off the top."
This is a long con. Ever see The Sting?
Everyone is in on it except the public. The hundreds of Sacramento lamprey eels from the highest appointees to the Board of Important Stuff, down to Joe Blow dirt shoveler union member #6724 of the International Brotherhood of Dirt Relocation Specialists.
They set up the con, telling you what it's going to be. How amazing it will look, how it'll grow hair on the bald, cure AIDS, clean your room, and walk your dog. They actually DO work on this part. They spend money and time building an impeccable presentation with 3D models, artists renditions, and pies in the sky, all backed up with reams and reams AND REAMS of paperwork from people who are in on the scam, telling you that you can't live without this, and you'd be an idiot to pass on this opportunity. This is all backed up expert "plants" who step out of the audience and say, "I'm an expert, and everything this man says is completely true!" Followed my murmurs of ascent (murmured by more plants in on the scam).
"Well," thinks you, "Everyone seems to agree with these people. I suppose I must just be stupid for questioning this. I'd better agree too, lest my peers think me thick."
Then everyone clamors for the snake oil. Except, snake oil would have been too kind to the dupes. One big hit of cash isn't enough. They get to slow bleed the mark for years if not decades, because they're not selling a thing, they're selling an idea. And that idea needs multiple installments of money, and constant improvement, and maintenance.
After the vote, the public's part in the scam has ended, and the bloodletting begins.
Committees are formed, and directorships, and organizations, and boards, and teams, and groups, and lots of other words from the thesaurus. And all these groups need office workers, and marketing, and public relations, and lawyers, and office space, and lunches, and computers, and HVAC work, and desks, and conferences, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and all these things are bought through contractors and political contributors who are also in on the scam (though lower on the totem pole).
Then when any of this work is actually done, it suffers delays, and comes in over budget, and racks up contractual penalties, and spawns lawsuits, and usually never gets done. Which means the next firm must come in to do the work, and do the same thing to gather their percentage of the scam winnings.
So it is that the legislator writes an extra sentence into the bill with a wink and a nod, and the lobbyists tell their client contractors how to exploit the sentence with a wink and a nod, and the contractors plan the job to get the additional payout with a wink and a nod, and the dirt relocation specialist moves half a shovel of dirt and signals to his boss that he's taking his 4 hour lunch with a wink and a nod.
All the way down.
Every single one of them.
Playing their parts in The Sting.
Gorging themselves on the scam's winnings.
Circling wagons and promising empty when questions arise.
And eventually, when the host withers and dies, the parasites detach, pick a new target, and with a wink and a nod formulate their next presentation.
The high speed rail does not exist any more than the beachfront timeshare in Arizona you just bought. You haven't used it in the years since you bought it, but you're sure that one day you'll visit.
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
My foray into bath salts
I enjoy cooking, and because our stuff is not yet here, I've had to cook using my Mother in law's kitchen and supplies.
While cooking, I noticed an open tray of small white crystals. They're fans of Alton Brown's excellent show, Good Eats, and he advocates having Kosher Salt around in an open container because it's so easy to grab a pinch and toss it in your dish. "Ahh, just like true Alton Brown fans" thinks I, as I drop a pinch into the spaghetti sauce. Everyone has some, and enjoys it.
Two days later, I'm explaining something to my littler brother, and use the kosher salt as an example. "Oh, that's not salt, those are bath salts." "Bath salts in the kitchen in an open dish? Yeah right, little bro" thinks I.
Still, he's pretty sharp, and thinking back, I remember the consistency of the crystals being just slightly off from what I expected. I had attributed it to the salt being a different brand, but I realized that I never taste-tested any of it.
When my Mother in law got up, I asked her if the tray was kosher salt, "Oh no, those are bath salts. We put them there to keep the ants away, but they're old. I guess I should throw them out."
"Ok.
So.
First of all, we're not dead..."
I explained the situation and after the initial shock, everyone realized that were were, in fact, still alive, so we had a bit of a laugh about it.
There are a variety of household items that are unnecessarily non-toxic "just in case," but I really didn't know how something as obtuse as bath salts would hold against that "just in case" presumption.
I immediately started looking up the toxicity of bath salts, which was near impossible, since every search result was about zombies and face eating. Luckily I was able to find some common bath salt ingredients, but that only scared me more. After some searching, my Mother in law was able to find the brand of the salts, and a quick visit to their website showed all the ingredients were natural and quite edible (particularly in the small amount I used).
So that was fun.
While cooking, I noticed an open tray of small white crystals. They're fans of Alton Brown's excellent show, Good Eats, and he advocates having Kosher Salt around in an open container because it's so easy to grab a pinch and toss it in your dish. "Ahh, just like true Alton Brown fans" thinks I, as I drop a pinch into the spaghetti sauce. Everyone has some, and enjoys it.
Two days later, I'm explaining something to my littler brother, and use the kosher salt as an example. "Oh, that's not salt, those are bath salts." "Bath salts in the kitchen in an open dish? Yeah right, little bro" thinks I.
Still, he's pretty sharp, and thinking back, I remember the consistency of the crystals being just slightly off from what I expected. I had attributed it to the salt being a different brand, but I realized that I never taste-tested any of it.
When my Mother in law got up, I asked her if the tray was kosher salt, "Oh no, those are bath salts. We put them there to keep the ants away, but they're old. I guess I should throw them out."
"Ok.
So.
First of all, we're not dead..."
I explained the situation and after the initial shock, everyone realized that were were, in fact, still alive, so we had a bit of a laugh about it.
There are a variety of household items that are unnecessarily non-toxic "just in case," but I really didn't know how something as obtuse as bath salts would hold against that "just in case" presumption.
I immediately started looking up the toxicity of bath salts, which was near impossible, since every search result was about zombies and face eating. Luckily I was able to find some common bath salt ingredients, but that only scared me more. After some searching, my Mother in law was able to find the brand of the salts, and a quick visit to their website showed all the ingredients were natural and quite edible (particularly in the small amount I used).
So that was fun.
But I live in a good neighborhood Part 10
We're living with my Mother-in-law in Kentucky right now, in a fancy gated community full of fancy houses with a fancy HOA (bleh). We're not in the city, and not even in the 'burbs. In fact, we'd have to drive for 10 minutes to get to the 'burbs.
By any measure of the words, we live in a good neighborhood.
Because I haven't done one of these in a while, let me remind you of what this means to some people...
In a "good neighborhood" there is no crime.
In a "good neighborhood" people look out for bad guys.
In a "good neighborhood" you don't need to lock your door.
In a "good neighborhood" you invite strangers into your home (if they have a good excuse).
Basically, when you argue that you live in a "good neighborhood" you argue that you have no cause to worry about any-damn-thing.
Now that we've established that...
There was a string of car break-ins in our "good neighborhood." Sometime after 1 AM, someone went around either smashing windows or simply checking for unlocked car doors. They made off with a collection of wallets, a few iPODs, and a friggin' GUN.
Good job on the gun buy the way, I bet you'll feel like you really saved time not bothering to bring it into the house when the Kentucky PD returns it to you after the murder investigation is concluded.
I KNOW some (many?) people here don't lock their house doors, so I hope those people feel, in order, lucky, wary, then armed.
Just imagine it; posh house in a posh neighborhood, with a fancy gate to keep the riff-raff out, it's friggin' semi-rural Kentucky. Hell, after just describing it, I'm still not expecting it.
It's only natural to expect what has happened in the past. If everything is always fine when you suspect the worst, you begin to ignore the suspicious things. Do that long enough, and you even begin to make excuses for them.
It's terrible that we have to think like this, but the alternative leaves us at the mercy of the worst in our society.
Pay attention to your surroundings, remember that an ounce of caution beats a pound of "Oh my God, I never thought that would happen", and if you want to make our society better... Retire predators.
By any measure of the words, we live in a good neighborhood.
Because I haven't done one of these in a while, let me remind you of what this means to some people...
In a "good neighborhood" there is no crime.
In a "good neighborhood" people look out for bad guys.
In a "good neighborhood" you don't need to lock your door.
In a "good neighborhood" you invite strangers into your home (if they have a good excuse).
Basically, when you argue that you live in a "good neighborhood" you argue that you have no cause to worry about any-damn-thing.
Now that we've established that...
There was a string of car break-ins in our "good neighborhood." Sometime after 1 AM, someone went around either smashing windows or simply checking for unlocked car doors. They made off with a collection of wallets, a few iPODs, and a friggin' GUN.
Good job on the gun buy the way, I bet you'll feel like you really saved time not bothering to bring it into the house when the Kentucky PD returns it to you after the murder investigation is concluded.
I KNOW some (many?) people here don't lock their house doors, so I hope those people feel, in order, lucky, wary, then armed.
Just imagine it; posh house in a posh neighborhood, with a fancy gate to keep the riff-raff out, it's friggin' semi-rural Kentucky. Hell, after just describing it, I'm still not expecting it.
It's only natural to expect what has happened in the past. If everything is always fine when you suspect the worst, you begin to ignore the suspicious things. Do that long enough, and you even begin to make excuses for them.
It's terrible that we have to think like this, but the alternative leaves us at the mercy of the worst in our society.
Pay attention to your surroundings, remember that an ounce of caution beats a pound of "Oh my God, I never thought that would happen", and if you want to make our society better... Retire predators.
Quote of the Rose Colored Glasses
This country doesn't have a problem with rose colored glasses. It has a problem with the people who DON'T wear them.
-Me
-Me
More like "Google-meriKKKa"
I can't believe Google caved in to jingoistic pressure and made a graphic for something as riotous as the massive slaughter of tens of thousands simply because some religious zealots didn't want to pay a tax that the king levied for their own good.
I wish I lived in France, they sure know how to smoke, drink, and complain while the whole country goes to shit around them. Everyone here just clings to their guns and religion.
Le scoff.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Low profile plinker
zomg I'm going to post about guns!
My mother in law has complained that some varmits of the furry persuasion are causing problems with her small garden, and preventing her from planting a larger one.
The only method for vermin extermination which is 99% free of collateral damage (there are some very beautiful birds in the same area) is a manually applied high velocity lead lobotomy. Lead-on! Apply directly to the forehead!
A pellet gun was the first choice, and after some research I found the Crosman Phantom was the best choice for sub-$100 high velocity air guns. If anything, it was a little overpowered for what I was going to use it, but I figured it would get use in more official small game capacities. It was inexpensive, but not super necessary, so I wasn't totally convinced that it was the right way to go. Then I happened upon a post about Aguila Colibris.
After some memory refreshing research on subsonic .22 rounds, I rekindled my interest in these interesting options for a .22. Obviously, the underpowered cartridges wouldn't cycle the actions of semi-auto .22s, but there were other options. Like lever .22s and .22 revolvers.
I've always liked the idea of kit guns. Carrying around a small revolver in .22 for minor pest extermination, and being able to open it up and swap in a .22 shotshell, aforementioned Colibri, CB short, or whatever else. The ability to quickly switch ammo is gone on the lever gun, so that was a count against it, but a boltie or a break-action would be easy enough.
Actually, since we're talking about .22 revolvers, didn't I want a Ruger Single Six type gun? (You can see how quickly this got out of hand.) Being unemployed, there are a few low-cost but functional alternatives (Still being unemployed, these low cost options are still more than the Crossman Phantom.) Plus the single cartridge feed system (feed gate) might be a little fiddly to swap out a single round or keep track of what flavor of .22 is in what spot in the cylinder.
But...
After reading some more reviews and comparisons of the Super Colibris, I found many people saying the Super Colibris were quieter out of rifles than their 1000 fps airguns. If this holds up, I could have most of the things I want for the cost of one box of Super Colibris ($5).
Aguila advises for both the Colibris and the Super Colibris that they not be fired from a rifle for fear of the bullet not making it out of the barrel (ostensibly, the reason for the release of the Super Colibris which came later). Many people reported no problem with the Super Colibris through rifles, so I'm willing to give it a cautious try.
But this means I'll be using one of my existing .22 rifles, which is less than optimal, because both are semi-auto, and there can be some inconsistencies in velocity depending on when the pressure drops during the recoil operation. To be honest, this problem only seems to lead to problems at longer distances (which I don't need yet), but it didn't stop me from rekindling an old idea I had for a slide lock like on the old suppressed spy guns.
A slide lock prevents the recoil operation from taking place, and turns a semi-auto into a single shot in order to prevent gas (and noise) from escaping through the chamber when it opens to load the next round, while eliminating the mechanical noise of the reciprocation of the bolt/slide.
At this point, I'm pretty far off the beaten path, but the challenge of being unemployed seems to be fueling this thought process. If I was still well paid, I would have just bought the Phantom immediately and missed this whole tangent! BOOO-RING!
There are some options for slide locks on 10/22s, but that gun doesn't have much character. Plus, who wants to pay for someone else's product when you can make a something custom yer damn self! I've got a soft spot for that stupid space gun anyway. And while I'm in a fabricating mood, I should figure out a simple way to make a solid trigger bar.
Speaking of the G22, that sucker is SO getting a suppressor. The only question is; will I chop the barrel down to keep the end of the suppressor where the current barrel ends? Hmm... Thinking about it now, that would mean I couldn't keep the front sight on it, and I don't have nearly as much fun shooting with a red dot or scope. But it does look even more spacey with the front sight off... Oh the possibilities...
Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, gardens... Did I mention there's a Savage .22/410 at the local gun shop? Didn't think I'd ever get to see one of those up close. That thing tickles the neat-o part of my brain.
Hahaha! I started this post with the title "Low profile plinker" and by the end of the post I had a tricked out space gun!
My mother in law has complained that some varmits of the furry persuasion are causing problems with her small garden, and preventing her from planting a larger one.
The only method for vermin extermination which is 99% free of collateral damage (there are some very beautiful birds in the same area) is a manually applied high velocity lead lobotomy. Lead-on! Apply directly to the forehead!
A pellet gun was the first choice, and after some research I found the Crosman Phantom was the best choice for sub-$100 high velocity air guns. If anything, it was a little overpowered for what I was going to use it, but I figured it would get use in more official small game capacities. It was inexpensive, but not super necessary, so I wasn't totally convinced that it was the right way to go. Then I happened upon a post about Aguila Colibris.
After some memory refreshing research on subsonic .22 rounds, I rekindled my interest in these interesting options for a .22. Obviously, the underpowered cartridges wouldn't cycle the actions of semi-auto .22s, but there were other options. Like lever .22s and .22 revolvers.
I've always liked the idea of kit guns. Carrying around a small revolver in .22 for minor pest extermination, and being able to open it up and swap in a .22 shotshell, aforementioned Colibri, CB short, or whatever else. The ability to quickly switch ammo is gone on the lever gun, so that was a count against it, but a boltie or a break-action would be easy enough.
Actually, since we're talking about .22 revolvers, didn't I want a Ruger Single Six type gun? (You can see how quickly this got out of hand.) Being unemployed, there are a few low-cost but functional alternatives (Still being unemployed, these low cost options are still more than the Crossman Phantom.) Plus the single cartridge feed system (feed gate) might be a little fiddly to swap out a single round or keep track of what flavor of .22 is in what spot in the cylinder.
But...
After reading some more reviews and comparisons of the Super Colibris, I found many people saying the Super Colibris were quieter out of rifles than their 1000 fps airguns. If this holds up, I could have most of the things I want for the cost of one box of Super Colibris ($5).
Aguila advises for both the Colibris and the Super Colibris that they not be fired from a rifle for fear of the bullet not making it out of the barrel (ostensibly, the reason for the release of the Super Colibris which came later). Many people reported no problem with the Super Colibris through rifles, so I'm willing to give it a cautious try.
But this means I'll be using one of my existing .22 rifles, which is less than optimal, because both are semi-auto, and there can be some inconsistencies in velocity depending on when the pressure drops during the recoil operation. To be honest, this problem only seems to lead to problems at longer distances (which I don't need yet), but it didn't stop me from rekindling an old idea I had for a slide lock like on the old suppressed spy guns.
A slide lock prevents the recoil operation from taking place, and turns a semi-auto into a single shot in order to prevent gas (and noise) from escaping through the chamber when it opens to load the next round, while eliminating the mechanical noise of the reciprocation of the bolt/slide.
At this point, I'm pretty far off the beaten path, but the challenge of being unemployed seems to be fueling this thought process. If I was still well paid, I would have just bought the Phantom immediately and missed this whole tangent! BOOO-RING!
There are some options for slide locks on 10/22s, but that gun doesn't have much character. Plus, who wants to pay for someone else's product when you can make a something custom yer damn self! I've got a soft spot for that stupid space gun anyway. And while I'm in a fabricating mood, I should figure out a simple way to make a solid trigger bar.
Speaking of the G22, that sucker is SO getting a suppressor. The only question is; will I chop the barrel down to keep the end of the suppressor where the current barrel ends? Hmm... Thinking about it now, that would mean I couldn't keep the front sight on it, and I don't have nearly as much fun shooting with a red dot or scope. But it does look even more spacey with the front sight off... Oh the possibilities...
Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, gardens... Did I mention there's a Savage .22/410 at the local gun shop? Didn't think I'd ever get to see one of those up close. That thing tickles the neat-o part of my brain.
Hahaha! I started this post with the title "Low profile plinker" and by the end of the post I had a tricked out space gun!
Monday, July 02, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
A good gunny is always a good friend
My search for a proper gun shop (used the yellow pages lol) lead me to a nice place in downtown Lexington that actually had more guns than employees (unlike others). After eyeballing all the pretties I could now buy, one of the clerks asked if I needed help. Being overly eager to make connections at the moment, I chatted him up, and actually found him to be a proper gunny. We discussed laws in California (which he was surprisingly current on), a variety of new guns, gun shop etiquette, some light politics, and generally hit it off. He excused himself to lunch, and asked if I'd like to come along to talk more.
He's actually very well informed about a wide variety of topics, and is a proper libertarian, which meant we couldn't stop agreeing with each other. I could feel my excitement building; this was my first Kentucky friend, and so far, he was going to be a really good one.
He invited me on a range trip the next day, which I gladly accepted. The trip was a terrible bust due to a series of failures, but the driving around meant I got to talk to him more, and we definitely built a stronger foundation for the friendship.
The range we planned on visiting was temporarily closed due to the actions of some idiots causing a fire. Tracers + belt-fed = WTF do you think it equals?! Friggin' FIRE! There was some light joking that they'd have to sell some of their full autos to pay for the fines and fire dept bill. There were actually a few other shooters there who were learning the range was closed too, after hooking up with them, one suggested a nearby range he knew, so we convoyed over only to find it strangely empty. We went to a local outfitters (which I guess is just a shop) and asked about entry or if we could call the owners (who the clerk knew by name) who indicated the range was temporarily closed, and they wouldn't accept day passes. Well gee. Luckily, one of the friends we went with knew of another range, a little closer to the way back. We arrived to discover the range was now a chapel. Must be a Kentucky thing.
Hours and dozens of miles after starting, we gave up on the rifle shooting, and went to a popular local shop and pistol range in Lexington for some consolation shooting.
Luckily, this place hadn't been struck by lightning or been swallowed up by the Earth, and we were able to actually shoot. I shot my friend's Taurus Beretta 92 clone stupidly well, leaving a 1.5 inch group at 7 yards (he doesn't shoot past 7 yards, because he feels that beyond that range, he can probably run. (Fair enough, when in Rome, etc...) I wondered if he felt the responsibility to defend strangers, but didn't ask. There'll be time for that in the countless hypotheticals we gunnies concern ourselves with. Free to do rapid fire, I indulged in what I was only able to test in the desert, and found my accuracy extremely comforting. Carrying a 9 is much easier knowing you can put 10 shots in a fist sized area in seconds.
After shooting, I spent some time perusing the wide selection and even found some nice classic arms. The prices were second only to the selection. Some pieces were very similarly priced to California, but so many others were significantly less than I was able to find. The selection of suppressors was also of much interest to me. A .22 suppressor will be first.
After this, I went to lunch at a steakhouse, and because I had just enjoyed my newfound rights, I open carried from the parking lot to the steakhouse and back again. No one's head exploded, the police didn't draw down on me, and I didn't act like an idiot. In fact, I was overly polite, and even scratched my right ear a few times to make sure the proprietors had the opportunity to see me carrying so they could ask me to return my gun to my car (though I saw no "no guns" sign). Baby steps for now. I believe concealed carry has significant advantages to open carry, but I can't get my permit until I've lived here for 6 months, leaving open carry my only option. I plan on exercising this right more until then.
Overall, I made a good new friend, got an introduction to Kentucky's gun culture, and exercised a new right. I can't wait to see what else Kentucky has in store for me.
He's actually very well informed about a wide variety of topics, and is a proper libertarian, which meant we couldn't stop agreeing with each other. I could feel my excitement building; this was my first Kentucky friend, and so far, he was going to be a really good one.
He invited me on a range trip the next day, which I gladly accepted. The trip was a terrible bust due to a series of failures, but the driving around meant I got to talk to him more, and we definitely built a stronger foundation for the friendship.
The range we planned on visiting was temporarily closed due to the actions of some idiots causing a fire. Tracers + belt-fed = WTF do you think it equals?! Friggin' FIRE! There was some light joking that they'd have to sell some of their full autos to pay for the fines and fire dept bill. There were actually a few other shooters there who were learning the range was closed too, after hooking up with them, one suggested a nearby range he knew, so we convoyed over only to find it strangely empty. We went to a local outfitters (which I guess is just a shop) and asked about entry or if we could call the owners (who the clerk knew by name) who indicated the range was temporarily closed, and they wouldn't accept day passes. Well gee. Luckily, one of the friends we went with knew of another range, a little closer to the way back. We arrived to discover the range was now a chapel. Must be a Kentucky thing.
Hours and dozens of miles after starting, we gave up on the rifle shooting, and went to a popular local shop and pistol range in Lexington for some consolation shooting.
Luckily, this place hadn't been struck by lightning or been swallowed up by the Earth, and we were able to actually shoot. I shot my friend's Taurus Beretta 92 clone stupidly well, leaving a 1.5 inch group at 7 yards (he doesn't shoot past 7 yards, because he feels that beyond that range, he can probably run. (Fair enough, when in Rome, etc...) I wondered if he felt the responsibility to defend strangers, but didn't ask. There'll be time for that in the countless hypotheticals we gunnies concern ourselves with. Free to do rapid fire, I indulged in what I was only able to test in the desert, and found my accuracy extremely comforting. Carrying a 9 is much easier knowing you can put 10 shots in a fist sized area in seconds.
After shooting, I spent some time perusing the wide selection and even found some nice classic arms. The prices were second only to the selection. Some pieces were very similarly priced to California, but so many others were significantly less than I was able to find. The selection of suppressors was also of much interest to me. A .22 suppressor will be first.
After this, I went to lunch at a steakhouse, and because I had just enjoyed my newfound rights, I open carried from the parking lot to the steakhouse and back again. No one's head exploded, the police didn't draw down on me, and I didn't act like an idiot. In fact, I was overly polite, and even scratched my right ear a few times to make sure the proprietors had the opportunity to see me carrying so they could ask me to return my gun to my car (though I saw no "no guns" sign). Baby steps for now. I believe concealed carry has significant advantages to open carry, but I can't get my permit until I've lived here for 6 months, leaving open carry my only option. I plan on exercising this right more until then.
Overall, I made a good new friend, got an introduction to Kentucky's gun culture, and exercised a new right. I can't wait to see what else Kentucky has in store for me.
"It's too complicated, you wouldn't understand."
No, I think we understand plenty.
Now that we've had some opportunity to let the SCOTUS decision impact us directly, get the experts' opinions, get the strategists' opinions, and reconcile all this with our own opinions, I still don't feel particularly positive about the outcome.
People keep telling me that this decision is clever, strategic, even genius, but all I see is a man who preserved the public perception of the court at the expense of the entire country. Save the trickery for something less crucial to the survival of the republic.
Destabilizing the commerce clause, building some precedent (with liberal support) for limiting the overall power of the federal government, and advancing states' rights seems like a pretty sweet deal until you realize that the trade off is short term approval of the federal government to TAX YOU FOR EXISTING.
I appreciate that we have a long game to play here, but a dangerous game is still being played. This administration in particular has been VERY quick to use tricks of its own to expand its power. When you give this administration an inch, it buys guns with stimulus dollars and sends them to Mexican drug cartels who kill hundreds of Mexican citizens and at least one federal border patrol simply to advance gun control. These are NOT the people to whom you hand a dagger because you know you're going to get a sword later. They're just going to stab youin the back while looking you in the eyes soon as their fingers wrap around the handle.
I don't understand the argument that made the integrity of the SCOTUS more important than doing its job. If you ask me, they're one and the same.
If the SCOTUS had come down the way everyone expected (you know, the constitutional way), we would have had plenty of talk about the SCOTUS being overly political, and judicial activism, and all the bobble-headed pundits would have backed Obama the same way they always have. But the citizen of this country would have understood what all the polls said they did:
IT'S STILL UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
So now, instead of all the pundits hating the SCOTUS, all the citizens understand there are NO further checks on federal power.
Congratulations.
You saved the SCOTUS and lost the country.
If we're lucky, the enemies of the constitution will sit on their hands after their big win, Romney will win, the GOP will overturn Obamacare in its entirety, we'll trade some liberal justices for some strict constitutionalists, and we'll start getting this country on track.
But if all of those things don't happen exactly in that order, Roberts just handed Obama the win he needs to rebuild this country in his own image, with total federal control over everything we do, and everything we don't do.
Don't tell me that Obama won't stretch, bend, or break the "rules" in order to get what he wants. Is it beyond him to pack the supreme court? To simply choose not to enforce laws he doesn't like? To appoint unelected and unapproved czars to oversee huge swathes of economic and individual activity? To create labor relations boards under the treasury department, unelected, without congressional approval, appointed by him personally, who report only to him?
To personally oversee a "kill list" which includes American citizens who are to be exterminated by drone strikes without any form of process?
Then don't tell me that this is a win.
This isconservatives Republicans thinking they're clever by exploiting a little-known rule to beat an opponent who cheats.
This is winning the debate when the judges have already been bought by the other team.
This is fighting with finesse, skill, and guile, parrying every blow and eventually putting your opponent into an inescapable submission hold, only for him to pull a boot knife and stab you in the neck.
This is what this party has always done.
This is playing to lose.
Now that we've had some opportunity to let the SCOTUS decision impact us directly, get the experts' opinions, get the strategists' opinions, and reconcile all this with our own opinions, I still don't feel particularly positive about the outcome.
People keep telling me that this decision is clever, strategic, even genius, but all I see is a man who preserved the public perception of the court at the expense of the entire country. Save the trickery for something less crucial to the survival of the republic.
Destabilizing the commerce clause, building some precedent (with liberal support) for limiting the overall power of the federal government, and advancing states' rights seems like a pretty sweet deal until you realize that the trade off is short term approval of the federal government to TAX YOU FOR EXISTING.
I appreciate that we have a long game to play here, but a dangerous game is still being played. This administration in particular has been VERY quick to use tricks of its own to expand its power. When you give this administration an inch, it buys guns with stimulus dollars and sends them to Mexican drug cartels who kill hundreds of Mexican citizens and at least one federal border patrol simply to advance gun control. These are NOT the people to whom you hand a dagger because you know you're going to get a sword later. They're just going to stab you
I don't understand the argument that made the integrity of the SCOTUS more important than doing its job. If you ask me, they're one and the same.
If the SCOTUS had come down the way everyone expected (you know, the constitutional way), we would have had plenty of talk about the SCOTUS being overly political, and judicial activism, and all the bobble-headed pundits would have backed Obama the same way they always have. But the citizen of this country would have understood what all the polls said they did:
IT'S STILL UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
So now, instead of all the pundits hating the SCOTUS, all the citizens understand there are NO further checks on federal power.
Congratulations.
You saved the SCOTUS and lost the country.
If we're lucky, the enemies of the constitution will sit on their hands after their big win, Romney will win, the GOP will overturn Obamacare in its entirety, we'll trade some liberal justices for some strict constitutionalists, and we'll start getting this country on track.
But if all of those things don't happen exactly in that order, Roberts just handed Obama the win he needs to rebuild this country in his own image, with total federal control over everything we do, and everything we don't do.
Don't tell me that Obama won't stretch, bend, or break the "rules" in order to get what he wants. Is it beyond him to pack the supreme court? To simply choose not to enforce laws he doesn't like? To appoint unelected and unapproved czars to oversee huge swathes of economic and individual activity? To create labor relations boards under the treasury department, unelected, without congressional approval, appointed by him personally, who report only to him?
To personally oversee a "kill list" which includes American citizens who are to be exterminated by drone strikes without any form of process?
Then don't tell me that this is a win.
This is
This is winning the debate when the judges have already been bought by the other team.
This is fighting with finesse, skill, and guile, parrying every blow and eventually putting your opponent into an inescapable submission hold, only for him to pull a boot knife and stab you in the neck.
This is what this party has always done.
This is playing to lose.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I've escaped to Free America
So long California. It's been fun.
We packed up our stuff, tossed the rabbit in the car, and headed for the border.
It was a great relief crossing the Colorado river out of occupied America and into the unknown. While I don't know what exactly is going to happen in Kentucky, I know well enough what will happen if I stay in California.
Ava did alright on the trip. She barely moved the first day, but started to eat, drink, and hop across the back seat to use the litter box on the second day. By the fourth day, she was laying on the comforter between the driver and passenger seats. She has proven to be a unique bunny who doesn't adhere to the usual rabbit behavioral rules.
The Subaru was excellent on the long trip, running all 2500 miles smoothly with the AC on through the heat and ups and down of the road. The ride and seats were easy on us, and according to the MPG tracker in the car, we bested the EPA's highway estimates.
A special thanks must go to David brand Jalapeño Hot Salsa flavor Sunflower Seeds. Those things beat the hell out of caffeine on the long rides.
We took the southern route across the US, what I called the less-scenic route, in order to avoid complications with our cargo and our trip. I was quite wrong about the route being less scenic. I had expected little more than dirt and desert scrub until we hit Arkansas, but there were green pastures, dense forest, green plains to the horizon, and very few spots as ugly southern California. Certainly, Northern California is exquisitely beautiful, but southern California is a desert. Leveled, and paved over, with trees planted on top of it fed by borrowed water. Only New Mexico presented harsh lands, the rest were lush and green and inviting.
Northern Texas was second only to Kentucky, (thankfully) our destination, which only seems to get more breathtaking with each passing day. It really is beautiful here.
After some recovery time, we went to get our licenses, which required a total of 15 minutes from parking in front of the clerks office (downtown with no meters!), walking in, filling out paperwork, getting our pictures taken, and walking out with our licenses. It would take more than 15 minutes to find a parking spot at a California DMV.
I'm still wrapping my head around the small-town-ed-ness of this place. We're living with my Mother-in-law in a somewhat rural area, only 15 minutes from town, but there still isn't an easy way to "pop in" real quick. Assemble your chores for the day, go into town, and come back. Everything is further apart, and requires more of a commitment. Rarely do the roads exceed 55 mph, and I'm finding myself slowly acclimating to simply slowing down a bit. I haven't much to rush about at the moment, but it's still strange for me.
Being Free America, I expected the roads to be paved with Gadsden flags, and a gun shop on every corner, but I had more gun shops in a 10 mile radius in SoCal than I have in a 30 mile radius here. I understand there are fewer people here, but I didn't expect it to be this sparse. I suppose hunting only requires a few good rifles and shotguns, and doesn't need much ammo, but I expected sport shooting to keep the gun shop count high. It may be that I'm not looking in the right spots. Perhaps I should close google maps and crack a yellow pages (they still exist!). My little brother would love to shoot Puma's new PPSH clone in .22, and that doesn't exactly fit in with the type of guns you'd find at the goo' ol' boys' hunting shop.
I had expected some degree of culture shock coming here, in the form of different stores, different food, different accents, and different attitudes, but I've had trouble identifying any negatives in these differences. The stores are similar or the same, the food available matches what we had in SoCal, the southern accents are light and disappointingly sparse, and the attitudes are the kind of polite I tried to represent in SoCal. I do feel the need to adjust my soft polite tone to a louder polite tone, because people seem to have trouble hearing it or seem confused when they do. I've already caught myself matching some pronunciations, but only in response to the same.
More updatessoon when I feel like it. Everything is just slower here, in a good way. Again, I'm having trouble adjusting.
We packed up our stuff, tossed the rabbit in the car, and headed for the border.
It was a great relief crossing the Colorado river out of occupied America and into the unknown. While I don't know what exactly is going to happen in Kentucky, I know well enough what will happen if I stay in California.
Ava did alright on the trip. She barely moved the first day, but started to eat, drink, and hop across the back seat to use the litter box on the second day. By the fourth day, she was laying on the comforter between the driver and passenger seats. She has proven to be a unique bunny who doesn't adhere to the usual rabbit behavioral rules.
The Subaru was excellent on the long trip, running all 2500 miles smoothly with the AC on through the heat and ups and down of the road. The ride and seats were easy on us, and according to the MPG tracker in the car, we bested the EPA's highway estimates.
A special thanks must go to David brand Jalapeño Hot Salsa flavor Sunflower Seeds. Those things beat the hell out of caffeine on the long rides.
We took the southern route across the US, what I called the less-scenic route, in order to avoid complications with our cargo and our trip. I was quite wrong about the route being less scenic. I had expected little more than dirt and desert scrub until we hit Arkansas, but there were green pastures, dense forest, green plains to the horizon, and very few spots as ugly southern California. Certainly, Northern California is exquisitely beautiful, but southern California is a desert. Leveled, and paved over, with trees planted on top of it fed by borrowed water. Only New Mexico presented harsh lands, the rest were lush and green and inviting.
Northern Texas was second only to Kentucky, (thankfully) our destination, which only seems to get more breathtaking with each passing day. It really is beautiful here.
After some recovery time, we went to get our licenses, which required a total of 15 minutes from parking in front of the clerks office (downtown with no meters!), walking in, filling out paperwork, getting our pictures taken, and walking out with our licenses. It would take more than 15 minutes to find a parking spot at a California DMV.
I'm still wrapping my head around the small-town-ed-ness of this place. We're living with my Mother-in-law in a somewhat rural area, only 15 minutes from town, but there still isn't an easy way to "pop in" real quick. Assemble your chores for the day, go into town, and come back. Everything is further apart, and requires more of a commitment. Rarely do the roads exceed 55 mph, and I'm finding myself slowly acclimating to simply slowing down a bit. I haven't much to rush about at the moment, but it's still strange for me.
Being Free America, I expected the roads to be paved with Gadsden flags, and a gun shop on every corner, but I had more gun shops in a 10 mile radius in SoCal than I have in a 30 mile radius here. I understand there are fewer people here, but I didn't expect it to be this sparse. I suppose hunting only requires a few good rifles and shotguns, and doesn't need much ammo, but I expected sport shooting to keep the gun shop count high. It may be that I'm not looking in the right spots. Perhaps I should close google maps and crack a yellow pages (they still exist!). My little brother would love to shoot Puma's new PPSH clone in .22, and that doesn't exactly fit in with the type of guns you'd find at the goo' ol' boys' hunting shop.
I had expected some degree of culture shock coming here, in the form of different stores, different food, different accents, and different attitudes, but I've had trouble identifying any negatives in these differences. The stores are similar or the same, the food available matches what we had in SoCal, the southern accents are light and disappointingly sparse, and the attitudes are the kind of polite I tried to represent in SoCal. I do feel the need to adjust my soft polite tone to a louder polite tone, because people seem to have trouble hearing it or seem confused when they do. I've already caught myself matching some pronunciations, but only in response to the same.
More updates
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Quote of the every form of tyranny
Upon the altar of God I pledge eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
~Thomas Jefferson
~Thomas Jefferson
Looking to get into .300 Blackout without breaking the bank?
H&R Handi Rifle break-action .300 AAC BLK $360 MSRP
Did I mention suppressors are legal in Kentucky?
Did I mention suppressors are legal in Kentucky?
"8 rounds is enough if you don't miss!"
You've likely heard this before.
It's the answer to a question you didn't ask.
It comes in a variety of flavors; salted with a drawl of some kind, topped with unbecomingly childish superiority, slathered with disdain, even tastefully prepared with the liberals' favorite spices: ignorance and confidence.
It doesn't matter how you season it. You can't hide the bitter taste of WRONG.
Aside from the fact that you don't know how you're going to be able to perform under the stress of a self defense situation (all you need is ignorance and confidence, then success is sure!), this statement has another problem.
Though I must apologize in advance for the problem I plan to outline. I know that most internet gun arguments use some degree of subjectivity, leading to an animating debate about the topic which eventually devolves into two parties picking up their jousts, climbing on their rocking hobby horses, and rocking endlessly at each other. Sadly, my point is not up for debate, because my point is math.
9 Attackers - 8 Rounds = 1 Attacker
You can only expect to shoot 8 attackers with 8 rounds. Any additional attackers are unlikely to wait patiently while you reload.
There have already been a number of reports of small mobs of blacks getting Justice for Trayvon® by beating white people (or people who they judge by the color of their skin to be white) indiscriminately. Race issues aside, when there are multiple reports of more than 8 people attacking innocent individuals completely randomly, you have to consider the possibility of facing more attackers than you have rounds in your mag(s!)
Pretty unlikely? No argument there. But you don't carry a gun because ever having to use it is "unlikely," you carry because you feel you have a duty to be prepared.
There might have been a semi-convincing argument if the comparison was between 8 rounds of .45 and 10 rounds of 9mm, but we're talking about over double the capacity in a comparably sized pistol. I don't know of any argument that can be made here with a straight face. In a worst case scenario, you can shoot the same amount of people twice and possibly have a couple rounds left over.
So when someone tells you that 8 rounds is enough, or some other flavor of the same, tell them you hope they never get attacked by a high-capacity mob.
It's the answer to a question you didn't ask.
It comes in a variety of flavors; salted with a drawl of some kind, topped with unbecomingly childish superiority, slathered with disdain, even tastefully prepared with the liberals' favorite spices: ignorance and confidence.
It doesn't matter how you season it. You can't hide the bitter taste of WRONG.
Aside from the fact that you don't know how you're going to be able to perform under the stress of a self defense situation (all you need is ignorance and confidence, then success is sure!), this statement has another problem.
Though I must apologize in advance for the problem I plan to outline. I know that most internet gun arguments use some degree of subjectivity, leading to an animating debate about the topic which eventually devolves into two parties picking up their jousts, climbing on their rocking hobby horses, and rocking endlessly at each other. Sadly, my point is not up for debate, because my point is math.
9 Attackers - 8 Rounds = 1 Attacker
You can only expect to shoot 8 attackers with 8 rounds. Any additional attackers are unlikely to wait patiently while you reload.
There have already been a number of reports of small mobs of blacks getting Justice for Trayvon® by beating white people (or people who they judge by the color of their skin to be white) indiscriminately. Race issues aside, when there are multiple reports of more than 8 people attacking innocent individuals completely randomly, you have to consider the possibility of facing more attackers than you have rounds in your mag(s!)
Pretty unlikely? No argument there. But you don't carry a gun because ever having to use it is "unlikely," you carry because you feel you have a duty to be prepared.
There might have been a semi-convincing argument if the comparison was between 8 rounds of .45 and 10 rounds of 9mm, but we're talking about over double the capacity in a comparably sized pistol. I don't know of any argument that can be made here with a straight face. In a worst case scenario, you can shoot the same amount of people twice and possibly have a couple rounds left over.
So when someone tells you that 8 rounds is enough, or some other flavor of the same, tell them you hope they never get attacked by a high-capacity mob.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Break your molds
When I was younger, I told an equally prudent friend that I didn't understand how people could just pick up and move without a serious plan. Now I am that person.
The stress of the move broke, and I spent the day feeling absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed every person I met, enjoyed every cloud in the overcast sky, enjoyed the traffic on the drive home from work, I just felt so free that I couldn't worry myself if I tried.
I hope this keeps up, because I'd love to feel this way every day.
The change isn't a difference in the way I feel about life's "requirements" but a trust in my abilities and a trust that the universe has a way of working things out. I know that I have talent, and I know I can offer the market many things, so I'm just not worried about controlling every aspect of this move and planning for every contingency.
The things I'll need are just waiting for me to show up.
I'll show up, and I'll bring my "A" game, but I'm not going to get caught up worrying about what's going to happen next.
The stress of the move broke, and I spent the day feeling absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed every person I met, enjoyed every cloud in the overcast sky, enjoyed the traffic on the drive home from work, I just felt so free that I couldn't worry myself if I tried.
I hope this keeps up, because I'd love to feel this way every day.
The change isn't a difference in the way I feel about life's "requirements" but a trust in my abilities and a trust that the universe has a way of working things out. I know that I have talent, and I know I can offer the market many things, so I'm just not worried about controlling every aspect of this move and planning for every contingency.
The things I'll need are just waiting for me to show up.
I'll show up, and I'll bring my "A" game, but I'm not going to get caught up worrying about what's going to happen next.
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate.
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate.
Mr. Gorbachev — Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
It has been 25 years since these words were immortalized.
HotAir has some good links relating to this speech, its impact, and the entire text of the speech.
It's not about the west or the east, it's not about communism and capitalism. It's about freedom. Freedom, understood in a way that has vanished in most of America.
I've never read it before. It's powerful.
Mayor Bloomberg's milkshake
My milkshake brings all the cops to my door,
They're like "Don't sell any more!"
"Drop the popcorn, get down on the floor!"
Bloomberg's got a new nanny-state war.
They're like "Don't sell any more!"
"Drop the popcorn, get down on the floor!"
Bloomberg's got a new nanny-state war.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Understanding How Modern Liberals Think
[direct link]
A long, complete, in-depth analysis of the very root of the way modern liberals think.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Mora Knives
I was excited to see something new on my last trip to the gun show; a small booth of Mora knives. The well endowed Swedish woman in a low cut shirt running the booth was excited when I told her I had heard of Mora knives. I vaguely recalled someone mentioning European Mora knives on a forum and doing some quick research on them. Because I had never seen Mora knives in the US before, the result of my research was dim in my memory, but I remembered it being positive.
After handling a few of the knives and furrowing my brows at the strangely low prices, I decided on the knife that felt best in my hand and had the best overall look. I picked up the Mora 946 for $20.
The blade-to-grip size ratio was smaller than I was used to, but the grip felt so incredibly comfortable and positive that it was my first choice. I prefer a defined finger guard for utility knives, and because this one was added so artfully, it didn't disturb the lines of the grip. The light jimping on the grip was unobtrusive and positive. The actual grip material escaped me, it was rougher than rubber and had a feel more like a rough G10. It slid along your hand at minimum pressure, but as soon as you squeezed it seemed to glue itself to your fingers. Water does not seem to affect your grip on the material at all.
The second aspect that attracted me to this knife was the sheath. Retention is by friction on the handle, which has been quite effective so far. You'll note that the grip enters the sheath the same way most strapless leather sheathes do, this look has been attractive to me lately, and was definitely a plus on this knife. Modern materials with classic styling.
The "loop" on the sheath was actually clip made of the same materials as the sheath. I prefer clips for general use because it's easier to snap them on and off your waistband without playing with your belt. If you don't normally wear belts (like me) you don't have to worry about putting one on just so you can have a fixed blade knife nearby. Note the unfinished injection point in the blue plastic facing the camera. Easily removed or smoothed, and with no functional impact, it's perfectly acceptable on a $20 knife. There are a couple other unfinished edges on the grip, but they fall under the same category. Unobtrusive, reparable, and acceptable.
The clip rotates with a bias in the vertical position. This has aided in comfort when sitting as the knife seems to rotate out of the way on its own, without you needing to "prep" it for sitting. I've read reports of the clip being unsatisfactory due to crouching or sitting pressure pushing the clip up and off of your waist, but have yet to encounter that. From here you can see the button loop which is probably a popular method of carry for the Swedes, but most pants here lack suspender buttons. Still, the design of the clip is such that the button should be kept at the top of the slot by pressure (see the angle of the clip in the above picture).
The last feature I appreciated about this knife was the overall style. The lines of this knife and sheath combo blend beautifully together. Soft curves at the top, and geometric lines at the bottom. Looks were definitely a factor in this purchase. I'll always choose utility over looks, but having both is a definite benefit. It's hard not to appreciate a beautiful design.
The first few things I cut with this knife split easily, and after some slight misuse, I decided to touch up the edge. You probably noticed that this knife has a Scandinavian grind, meaning it has one bevel from the blade width down to the edge of the knife. This simplifies the sharpening process if you use the right tool. I used the wrong tool. I spent a couple hours fighting with the edge using the stones from my Spyderco Sharpmaker. My pocket microscope kept showing slight bevels due to minor inconsistencies in my sharpening process. The failure opportunities are exaggerated by the fact that you must remove steel from a 1/4" bevel as opposed to the 1/16" edge on most double beveled knives. After I switched to a proper whetstone, I started getting the results I wanted. These knives are made for whetstones because the extra long bevel can easily be pressed flat against the stone and drawn back and forth without worry of angle. After about an hour of metal removal to grind past the edge damage, it returned to a facet-free edge that bit easily into light materials along the entire length of the blade. I noted the grind was not perfectly even at the tip, and adjusted my draws to the slightly different angle. The result is an edge at the tip that is a bit thinner, and sharper.
The lesson was learned. Don't chip or deform these edges by letting them touch hard materials, and don't try to shortcut sharpening them by giving them a deeper pass on the sharpener. Grinding past the damage to reestablish the flat single bevel requires a lot of metal removal. Of course, this weakness is also a strength in that sharpening with a basic whetstone is extremely simple. This grind also seems to bite into and slice into materials easier than the double bevels I use. I don't have any hard evidence of this, but the feel of the knife was definitely different. I felt more like I was parting materials than cutting into them. I look forward to using this knife more, and will post any developments.
After coming home with the 946, I did some research on Mora knives to refresh my memory of their performance. Reviews were extremely positive and spoke mainly to the quality of the rolled steel and simplicity of the designs. After finding them somewhat difficult to order online, I decided to go back to the gun show the next day for the single purpose of buying another knife, the Mora 2000, for $40.
The Mora 2000 made a noticeable splash when it came out, so this model seems to have the most reviews and information available online. By comparison, it took me about 30 minutes of research to confirm the model number of the 946. Even then, information is very sparse about the less popular models. I decided to make my second Mora knife this model because it was a flagship of sorts, and because it had a larger blade with a belly and a more blunt tip. The proportions of the blade were more to my liking, but that was as far as preference by appearance went. It's an ugly knife. The grip material is surprisingly positive, and the hard plastic ends don't afford much protection from slipping, though I've yet to slip on the grip material. The pommel is flat, which some claim is good for hammering, but without a guard between the grip and blade, I'll skip that feature.
The sheath keeps the same classic form of friction retention on half the grip, but skips all the style. The sheath feels cheap and thin, but those who have used it longer attest to its strength. It is symmetrical for ambidextrous carry, which gives the sheath an odd profile which (coupled with the partial grip insertion) may increase your ability to carry this all day without worry of someone pointing and screaming "HE'S GOT A KNIIIIIIFE!" (depending on your locale, of course). Ok, I can't avoid the elephant in the room any longer. The color. This color scheme is so close to a standard OD green and coyote/desert brown, but is clearly off by several shades. It looks like dog vomit. But I didn't buy this knife for the looks... obviously.
Leave it to the Swedes. You tell them their blades need two bevels and they add it in the wrong direction. The blade is beveled a little over halfway down the blade. Clearly, the intent here was to provide the cutting benefits of the single bevel without so thick a blade jamming in your cut. I imagine this makes it easier to bite deeply into materials, but have yet to test this. It's a very interesting feature, and certainly adds something unique to the design.
The belt loop is a basic piece of leather with a slit and openings for button carry. I have yet to test this on suspender buttons, but suspect it is meant to offer a quick on/off method for casual carry. Because this is more of an outdoorsman's knife, I understand the reason for a solid loop instead of a clip, and appreciate the quality of leather for the loop material.
The loop is very flexible, which makes it less rigid in carry than the clip on the 946, and makes it more comfortable overall. It's also much thicker than I'd expect for a knife of this price point.
Both sheathes feature drainage holes to prevent the hard plastic from becoming an unintentional canteen. It's a minor feature but strangely lacking from more expensive designs. Another indicator of design by experience. One other small feature both knives have is no ricasso, meaning the cutting edge goes all the way up to the grip. Apart from the unique style, this allows you to do push cuts with minimal arm movement by putting the material up against your grip. This prevents you from swinging your arm through the cut when the knife makes it through the material. More control is always better, and because you're sharpening with a whetstone, there is no noticeable impact to this design decision.
I haven't had much opportunity to try out this knife yet, but that will change once I get to a state which allows you to interact with nature instead of making illegal things like moving branches out of your way.
I very much look forward to comparing these knives to my expensive utility knives. I feel like I've found something that's better than what we have, but didn't catch on for some reason. Unless further testing reveals catastrophic failures in them, these are easily worth more than the $60 I paid for them both. The $20 946 is less than I'd pay for the sheath and grip alone.
It hasn't been my experience that you can find tools that are cheap, good, and reliable, but I'm very open to the possibility.
After handling a few of the knives and furrowing my brows at the strangely low prices, I decided on the knife that felt best in my hand and had the best overall look. I picked up the Mora 946 for $20.
The blade-to-grip size ratio was smaller than I was used to, but the grip felt so incredibly comfortable and positive that it was my first choice. I prefer a defined finger guard for utility knives, and because this one was added so artfully, it didn't disturb the lines of the grip. The light jimping on the grip was unobtrusive and positive. The actual grip material escaped me, it was rougher than rubber and had a feel more like a rough G10. It slid along your hand at minimum pressure, but as soon as you squeezed it seemed to glue itself to your fingers. Water does not seem to affect your grip on the material at all.
The second aspect that attracted me to this knife was the sheath. Retention is by friction on the handle, which has been quite effective so far. You'll note that the grip enters the sheath the same way most strapless leather sheathes do, this look has been attractive to me lately, and was definitely a plus on this knife. Modern materials with classic styling.
The "loop" on the sheath was actually clip made of the same materials as the sheath. I prefer clips for general use because it's easier to snap them on and off your waistband without playing with your belt. If you don't normally wear belts (like me) you don't have to worry about putting one on just so you can have a fixed blade knife nearby. Note the unfinished injection point in the blue plastic facing the camera. Easily removed or smoothed, and with no functional impact, it's perfectly acceptable on a $20 knife. There are a couple other unfinished edges on the grip, but they fall under the same category. Unobtrusive, reparable, and acceptable.
The clip rotates with a bias in the vertical position. This has aided in comfort when sitting as the knife seems to rotate out of the way on its own, without you needing to "prep" it for sitting. I've read reports of the clip being unsatisfactory due to crouching or sitting pressure pushing the clip up and off of your waist, but have yet to encounter that. From here you can see the button loop which is probably a popular method of carry for the Swedes, but most pants here lack suspender buttons. Still, the design of the clip is such that the button should be kept at the top of the slot by pressure (see the angle of the clip in the above picture).
The last feature I appreciated about this knife was the overall style. The lines of this knife and sheath combo blend beautifully together. Soft curves at the top, and geometric lines at the bottom. Looks were definitely a factor in this purchase. I'll always choose utility over looks, but having both is a definite benefit. It's hard not to appreciate a beautiful design.
The first few things I cut with this knife split easily, and after some slight misuse, I decided to touch up the edge. You probably noticed that this knife has a Scandinavian grind, meaning it has one bevel from the blade width down to the edge of the knife. This simplifies the sharpening process if you use the right tool. I used the wrong tool. I spent a couple hours fighting with the edge using the stones from my Spyderco Sharpmaker. My pocket microscope kept showing slight bevels due to minor inconsistencies in my sharpening process. The failure opportunities are exaggerated by the fact that you must remove steel from a 1/4" bevel as opposed to the 1/16" edge on most double beveled knives. After I switched to a proper whetstone, I started getting the results I wanted. These knives are made for whetstones because the extra long bevel can easily be pressed flat against the stone and drawn back and forth without worry of angle. After about an hour of metal removal to grind past the edge damage, it returned to a facet-free edge that bit easily into light materials along the entire length of the blade. I noted the grind was not perfectly even at the tip, and adjusted my draws to the slightly different angle. The result is an edge at the tip that is a bit thinner, and sharper.
The lesson was learned. Don't chip or deform these edges by letting them touch hard materials, and don't try to shortcut sharpening them by giving them a deeper pass on the sharpener. Grinding past the damage to reestablish the flat single bevel requires a lot of metal removal. Of course, this weakness is also a strength in that sharpening with a basic whetstone is extremely simple. This grind also seems to bite into and slice into materials easier than the double bevels I use. I don't have any hard evidence of this, but the feel of the knife was definitely different. I felt more like I was parting materials than cutting into them. I look forward to using this knife more, and will post any developments.
After coming home with the 946, I did some research on Mora knives to refresh my memory of their performance. Reviews were extremely positive and spoke mainly to the quality of the rolled steel and simplicity of the designs. After finding them somewhat difficult to order online, I decided to go back to the gun show the next day for the single purpose of buying another knife, the Mora 2000, for $40.
The Mora 2000 made a noticeable splash when it came out, so this model seems to have the most reviews and information available online. By comparison, it took me about 30 minutes of research to confirm the model number of the 946. Even then, information is very sparse about the less popular models. I decided to make my second Mora knife this model because it was a flagship of sorts, and because it had a larger blade with a belly and a more blunt tip. The proportions of the blade were more to my liking, but that was as far as preference by appearance went. It's an ugly knife. The grip material is surprisingly positive, and the hard plastic ends don't afford much protection from slipping, though I've yet to slip on the grip material. The pommel is flat, which some claim is good for hammering, but without a guard between the grip and blade, I'll skip that feature.
The sheath keeps the same classic form of friction retention on half the grip, but skips all the style. The sheath feels cheap and thin, but those who have used it longer attest to its strength. It is symmetrical for ambidextrous carry, which gives the sheath an odd profile which (coupled with the partial grip insertion) may increase your ability to carry this all day without worry of someone pointing and screaming "HE'S GOT A KNIIIIIIFE!" (depending on your locale, of course). Ok, I can't avoid the elephant in the room any longer. The color. This color scheme is so close to a standard OD green and coyote/desert brown, but is clearly off by several shades. It looks like dog vomit. But I didn't buy this knife for the looks... obviously.
Leave it to the Swedes. You tell them their blades need two bevels and they add it in the wrong direction. The blade is beveled a little over halfway down the blade. Clearly, the intent here was to provide the cutting benefits of the single bevel without so thick a blade jamming in your cut. I imagine this makes it easier to bite deeply into materials, but have yet to test this. It's a very interesting feature, and certainly adds something unique to the design.
The belt loop is a basic piece of leather with a slit and openings for button carry. I have yet to test this on suspender buttons, but suspect it is meant to offer a quick on/off method for casual carry. Because this is more of an outdoorsman's knife, I understand the reason for a solid loop instead of a clip, and appreciate the quality of leather for the loop material.
The loop is very flexible, which makes it less rigid in carry than the clip on the 946, and makes it more comfortable overall. It's also much thicker than I'd expect for a knife of this price point.
Both sheathes feature drainage holes to prevent the hard plastic from becoming an unintentional canteen. It's a minor feature but strangely lacking from more expensive designs. Another indicator of design by experience. One other small feature both knives have is no ricasso, meaning the cutting edge goes all the way up to the grip. Apart from the unique style, this allows you to do push cuts with minimal arm movement by putting the material up against your grip. This prevents you from swinging your arm through the cut when the knife makes it through the material. More control is always better, and because you're sharpening with a whetstone, there is no noticeable impact to this design decision.
I haven't had much opportunity to try out this knife yet, but that will change once I get to a state which allows you to interact with nature instead of making illegal things like moving branches out of your way.
I very much look forward to comparing these knives to my expensive utility knives. I feel like I've found something that's better than what we have, but didn't catch on for some reason. Unless further testing reveals catastrophic failures in them, these are easily worth more than the $60 I paid for them both. The $20 946 is less than I'd pay for the sheath and grip alone.
It hasn't been my experience that you can find tools that are cheap, good, and reliable, but I'm very open to the possibility.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Friday, June 08, 2012
Mr. Rogers Autotuned Remix by PBS Digital Studios
Extremely well done!
The description indicates that PBS Digital Studios will be coming out with more of these
The description indicates that PBS Digital Studios will be coming out with more of these
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Quote of the ugliest of things.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
-John Stuart Mill, English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)
-John Stuart Mill, English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873)
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
California steals from 9/11 victims
This is impossible.
This is unfathomable.
This just can't be true.
Who am I kidding?
This is expected.
This is unfathomable.
This just can't be true.
Who am I kidding?
This is expected.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
