wants to negotiate with the garbage that did this. And get along with them.
I thought at the time- still do- that one of Reagan's big mistakes was not hammering the bastards. Training camps, weapons dumps, target individuals, the whole works. Hammer them into dust. Should've been done then. Barring a miracle, we'll have to do it sometime.
Of course, of The Obama makes President, I'm sure his followers believe the radiance of his lightworker presence will cause the poor, misunderstood terrorists to See The Light and become nice little socialists we can get along with. After all, look at his friend Ayers, the murdering little bastard.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Front moved through this morning
accompanied by thunderstorms, then dropping temps through the day. Supposed to be about 40 for a low tonight, 30's the next few days. Yuck. I hate being cold. Kim would probably love it.
The dog's barking at something, but when she's done she'll dive into the doghouse, which has a nice, thick layer of straw to curl up in. She likes this crap, especially once the grass dries. However, every joint that gives me trouble has been a little achy; add years to injury and wear to get weather forecasting ability. Not as much as before started glucosimine; before that, about a day or so before a cold front came in my knees would get bad enough to make walking hurt at times.
So not much done outside today, some cleaning and rearranging inside. I think I'm going to clean up, have a drink and read a bit.
'Night, all.
The dog's barking at something, but when she's done she'll dive into the doghouse, which has a nice, thick layer of straw to curl up in. She likes this crap, especially once the grass dries. However, every joint that gives me trouble has been a little achy; add years to injury and wear to get weather forecasting ability. Not as much as before started glucosimine; before that, about a day or so before a cold front came in my knees would get bad enough to make walking hurt at times.
So not much done outside today, some cleaning and rearranging inside. I think I'm going to clean up, have a drink and read a bit.
'Night, all.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Knife for self-defense?
James links to a very good post on the subject of knife 'fighting', well worth reading. Especially the quote noted by James:
As far as your attacker is concerned this is not a fight, it is an assassination.
I'll throw in another quote I heard from someone years ago:
In a knife fight, the winner goes to the emergency room.
Way back when I was playing in the SCA, one day at a tournament there was a 'side-issue' of a trophy for knife-fighting. Basically dueling: two people in a ring with wood and/or foam knives, see who scored first. Very little to do with a serious "He's trying to KILL me!" fight, but it did point out a few useful things. Like the fact that it's almost impossible, facing off with another knife-armed somebody, to be able to cut them without getting cut yourself. And if you honesty assessed where you got cut, it was easy to see that even if you won you'd be looking at anywhere from stitches and blood loss to crippling injury. I managed to take out a guy who was ungodly fast and good, basically I surprised him; but I'd have been cut on both upper arms doing it, see the above noted injuries.
Would I carry a knife as a primary means of self-defense? Only if I had no other choice.
As far as your attacker is concerned this is not a fight, it is an assassination.
I'll throw in another quote I heard from someone years ago:
In a knife fight, the winner goes to the emergency room.
Way back when I was playing in the SCA, one day at a tournament there was a 'side-issue' of a trophy for knife-fighting. Basically dueling: two people in a ring with wood and/or foam knives, see who scored first. Very little to do with a serious "He's trying to KILL me!" fight, but it did point out a few useful things. Like the fact that it's almost impossible, facing off with another knife-armed somebody, to be able to cut them without getting cut yourself. And if you honesty assessed where you got cut, it was easy to see that even if you won you'd be looking at anywhere from stitches and blood loss to crippling injury. I managed to take out a guy who was ungodly fast and good, basically I surprised him; but I'd have been cut on both upper arms doing it, see the above noted injuries.
Would I carry a knife as a primary means of self-defense? Only if I had no other choice.
Since Ayres the Dirtbag Terrorist & Co. keep claiming
that 'they were just damaging property, nobody died, etc'., anyone repeats that crap to you,
The four, along with Bill Ayers, were among the leaders of the Weathermen terrorist group. In addition to the New York police officers killed, a 1970 pipe bomb in San Francisco set by the group killed another police officer and critically wounded another.
But remember, he's a 'respected English professor', etc. ad bullshit.
The four, along with Bill Ayers, were among the leaders of the Weathermen terrorist group. In addition to the New York police officers killed, a 1970 pipe bomb in San Francisco set by the group killed another police officer and critically wounded another.
But remember, he's a 'respected English professor', etc. ad bullshit.
Also from range day
On the subject of '.22's can be picky about ammo', I took the Enfield Trainer along since I hadn't fired it in a while. While sitting at the bench with it, I decided to try it with the Remington/Eley ammo I had. So I fired five rounds, looked through the scope, and fired five more.
That's at 100 yards with iron sights and my eyes. And a little better grouping than with just about anything else I've tried. By the caliper that's right at 2", and that includes a couple I felt iffy about right after I squeezed off.
I'm tempted to get one of the bolt-on scope mounts for the #1MkIII and see what I can do with it.
And yes, even though it hurts mycheapasseconomical nature, I may have to get a couple of boxes of this ammo for the Enfield, since it likes it so much. And for .22, this stuff is expensive(to me, anyway; shut up, Kim)
That's at 100 yards with iron sights and my eyes. And a little better grouping than with just about anything else I've tried. By the caliper that's right at 2", and that includes a couple I felt iffy about right after I squeezed off.I'm tempted to get one of the bolt-on scope mounts for the #1MkIII and see what I can do with it.
And yes, even though it hurts my
Range report
Primarily on the .45acp I loaded to try to match the factory Gold Dot specs.
Yes, I did remember the Chrony, so fired one full load(8 rounds). High velocity 1087, lows 1021, average 1050. Considering the Speer website shows muzzle velocity for the 185-grain Gold Dot to be 1050, I think this does indeed duplicate it nicely. At slightly less powder than shown at the Alliant site. So I'll call this a very successful project, which will make the magazine or two of Gold Dots for practice MUCH less expensive.
Yes, I did remember the Chrony, so fired one full load(8 rounds). High velocity 1087, lows 1021, average 1050. Considering the Speer website shows muzzle velocity for the 185-grain Gold Dot to be 1050, I think this does indeed duplicate it nicely. At slightly less powder than shown at the Alliant site. So I'll call this a very successful project, which will make the magazine or two of Gold Dots for practice MUCH less expensive.
If you need a few things to get your pulse rate up,
check out these:
Gee, no wonder the Justice(?) Department hasn't been working too hard on this vote fraud stuff; chunks of it is in the tank for The Obama, just like the media.
Yet Mukasey is nowhere to be found, perhaps because the career attorneys in his Civil Rights Division seem to lean well to the political left.
Consider the California case in which the division’s lawyers have actually indicted former Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen for making “misleading statements to investigators.”
About what? Nguyen was tangentially involved with sending a letter that urged Latino citizens to vote but warned that illegal immigrants could be prosecuted if they tried to vote.
Every word in the letter was true. But DOJ investigators were more interested in cracking down on the people who wrote the letter – a legitimate expression of free-speech rights – than on the illegal immigrants who may be voting.
The kicker: The DOJ attorney on the case, former Ted Kennedy-affiliated lawyer James Walsh, is as contributor to the Obama campaign, as is his boss, former ACLU attorney Mark Kappelhoff.
In all, DOJ lawyers and staff in the metro area have donated at least $150,000 to Obama.
No wonder they seem more interested in prosecuting those who warn against vote fraud than enforcing vote-fraud laws.
Which is why we need to reserve some lampposts for bureaucrats.
I just heard a piece on Glenn Beck's show from Rep. Barney Frank(Slimy Pol-MA) saying that 'what we really need is a massive increase in spending to fix things'. Massachusetts, even if you don't mind him stealing from the rest of the country, do you not realize that this slimy statist thief is stealing out of YOUR pocket, too? Especially since he had such a prominent role in letting this mess get as bad as it is in the first place?
Let's see, Sen. Dodd(Socialist Thief-CT) was not only getting 'special' deals from Countrywide, he was getting lots of 'contributions' from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Isn't that so special? But not to worry; the Democrats are going to hold hearings. AFTER the election.
Team The Obama just can't seem to help lying about Ayers and the connections. There's physical proof of the connections? Lie anyway. After all, the triple-edited-and-fact-checked media sure isn't going to report on it if they can avoid it.
Up in Canada, the Nice-Fascists can't help themselves either:
But here's where Dagenais becomes a symbol of everything that's wrong with the CHRC and its censorship fetish: she blacked out portions of my defence before passing it on to the commissioners. Seriously -- she censored what I wrote in my own defence, before she passed it along to the people who will sit in judgment of me. She's only allowing me to say things in my defence that she approves in advance.(bold mine)
Isn't that just freakin' amazing? And look for the same crap here if Barack Hussein I Decide What's Free Speech Obama is elected.
Pennsylvania, if you people put Murtha back into office, you are too damn stupid to be out in public without a keeper. To keep you from running into traffic.
Just days after classifying western Pennsylvania as racist, Murtha took a step back from those comments, albeit a small one.
"What I said, that indicted everybody, that's not what I meant at all. What I mean is there's still folks that have a problem voting for someone because they are black," Murtha said.
Murtha said the history of southwestern Pennsylvania is rife with racism.
"This whole area, years ago, was really redneck," Murtha told Channel 4 Action News.
Murtha believes there is one segment of the population which is holding on to its racist beliefs and he said it's difficult for them to change. Murtha said it may be even more difficult for them to vote for Barack Obama.
And everyone knows that ANYONE who might be described as 'redneck' is automatically a hood-wearing, cross-burning racist who hates blacks. And everyone else. That's SO much better than his original statement.
Screw it. I'm off to the range.
Gee, no wonder the Justice(?) Department hasn't been working too hard on this vote fraud stuff; chunks of it is in the tank for The Obama, just like the media.
Yet Mukasey is nowhere to be found, perhaps because the career attorneys in his Civil Rights Division seem to lean well to the political left.
Consider the California case in which the division’s lawyers have actually indicted former Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen for making “misleading statements to investigators.”
About what? Nguyen was tangentially involved with sending a letter that urged Latino citizens to vote but warned that illegal immigrants could be prosecuted if they tried to vote.
Every word in the letter was true. But DOJ investigators were more interested in cracking down on the people who wrote the letter – a legitimate expression of free-speech rights – than on the illegal immigrants who may be voting.
The kicker: The DOJ attorney on the case, former Ted Kennedy-affiliated lawyer James Walsh, is as contributor to the Obama campaign, as is his boss, former ACLU attorney Mark Kappelhoff.
In all, DOJ lawyers and staff in the metro area have donated at least $150,000 to Obama.
No wonder they seem more interested in prosecuting those who warn against vote fraud than enforcing vote-fraud laws.
Which is why we need to reserve some lampposts for bureaucrats.
I just heard a piece on Glenn Beck's show from Rep. Barney Frank(Slimy Pol-MA) saying that 'what we really need is a massive increase in spending to fix things'. Massachusetts, even if you don't mind him stealing from the rest of the country, do you not realize that this slimy statist thief is stealing out of YOUR pocket, too? Especially since he had such a prominent role in letting this mess get as bad as it is in the first place?
Let's see, Sen. Dodd(Socialist Thief-CT) was not only getting 'special' deals from Countrywide, he was getting lots of 'contributions' from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Isn't that so special? But not to worry; the Democrats are going to hold hearings. AFTER the election.
Team The Obama just can't seem to help lying about Ayers and the connections. There's physical proof of the connections? Lie anyway. After all, the triple-edited-and-fact-checked media sure isn't going to report on it if they can avoid it.
Up in Canada, the Nice-Fascists can't help themselves either:
But here's where Dagenais becomes a symbol of everything that's wrong with the CHRC and its censorship fetish: she blacked out portions of my defence before passing it on to the commissioners. Seriously -- she censored what I wrote in my own defence, before she passed it along to the people who will sit in judgment of me. She's only allowing me to say things in my defence that she approves in advance.(bold mine)
Isn't that just freakin' amazing? And look for the same crap here if Barack Hussein I Decide What's Free Speech Obama is elected.
Pennsylvania, if you people put Murtha back into office, you are too damn stupid to be out in public without a keeper. To keep you from running into traffic.
Just days after classifying western Pennsylvania as racist, Murtha took a step back from those comments, albeit a small one.
"What I said, that indicted everybody, that's not what I meant at all. What I mean is there's still folks that have a problem voting for someone because they are black," Murtha said.
Murtha said the history of southwestern Pennsylvania is rife with racism.
"This whole area, years ago, was really redneck," Murtha told Channel 4 Action News.
Murtha believes there is one segment of the population which is holding on to its racist beliefs and he said it's difficult for them to change. Murtha said it may be even more difficult for them to vote for Barack Obama.
And everyone knows that ANYONE who might be described as 'redneck' is automatically a hood-wearing, cross-burning racist who hates blacks. And everyone else. That's SO much better than his original statement.
Screw it. I'm off to the range.
Monday, October 20, 2008
We are not hanging various politicians
why?
The effective cost of the various bailout packages is that the expansion of the U.S. military that had been set in motion is now effectively dead. D-E-A-D.
That's the word in Washington that no one wants to talk about, proving once again that regardless of which party's administration sits atop the Executive, the military is the only federally mandated 'program' ever under consideration for real and meaningful cuts.
And that's now. If Obama is elected, he's been promising to slice big bleeding chunks out of the military. After all, with the Obamessiah elected there will be peace, so long as we destroy our military and sovereignty, right?
And yes, I am expressing my opinion on this crap to the congressvarmints.
The effective cost of the various bailout packages is that the expansion of the U.S. military that had been set in motion is now effectively dead. D-E-A-D.
That's the word in Washington that no one wants to talk about, proving once again that regardless of which party's administration sits atop the Executive, the military is the only federally mandated 'program' ever under consideration for real and meaningful cuts.
And that's now. If Obama is elected, he's been promising to slice big bleeding chunks out of the military. After all, with the Obamessiah elected there will be peace, so long as we destroy our military and sovereignty, right?
And yes, I am expressing my opinion on this crap to the congressvarmints.
And let us note a piece from Down Under on why some women
hate Palin so much:
...But in her brief starring role on the global stage she has been a powerful psychic enema, flushing out the poison at the heart of establishment feminism for all to see.
No more sheathed claws or pretence about "tolerance" and "diversity". From Madonna to Sandra Bernhard, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Wolf, Lindsay Lohan and Kathy Lette, a certain type of influential progressive woman has been driven to insane rage by Palin's very existence.
Good piece, well worth reading
Added: So now, according to the Apostles of the Obamessiah, she's not even human. Just bloody wonderful.
...But in her brief starring role on the global stage she has been a powerful psychic enema, flushing out the poison at the heart of establishment feminism for all to see.
No more sheathed claws or pretence about "tolerance" and "diversity". From Madonna to Sandra Bernhard, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Wolf, Lindsay Lohan and Kathy Lette, a certain type of influential progressive woman has been driven to insane rage by Palin's very existence.
Good piece, well worth reading
Added: So now, according to the Apostles of the Obamessiah, she's not even human. Just bloody wonderful.
The question is, is Biden puffing weed and blowing smoke
to get the 'support The Barack no matter what' feelings up, or preparing supporters for "The torches and pitchforks will come out, and we need you to keep the peasants under control"?
And note the obligatory reference to he then said of the Bush regime, at the bottom. No, no bias at ABC, nosiree.
And note the obligatory reference to he then said of the Bush regime, at the bottom. No, no bias at ABC, nosiree.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Why do so many damn near crawl before politicians?
From what I’ve read, it really started in the 1930’s, the habit of deference to our employees. I mean the politicians, of course. The ‘Most Exclusive Club’ members of the Senate, and the Representatives in the House. Have you ever listened to the way these clowns address each other? "The Honorable Gentleman/Gentlewoman from", "My Esteemed Colleague" and so on. Which, if that garbage stayed in the chambers, I wouldn’t mind so much; if you want to vocally kiss the ass of people who despise you, in some cases hate and want to destroy you, go ahead. It’s the ass-kissing they get in public that ticks me off.
So many people are in the habit now of deferring to some suited jackass because his job title is Senator or Representative. And they love it, far too many of them. They love it when people give them things, speak far more respectfully of them than they deserve(people remind us to write "The Honorable" before the name of the politician we’re writing to; must properly bend the knee to them, you know). They love the chance to make insider deals and then demand it not be noticed. Sen. Countrywide Dodd insisting that just anybody could call the owner of the company and get a special deal; Rep. Rangel shouldn’t be prosecuted for violating the tax laws he helped write because "He’s a simple man, and didn’t understand them"; Feinstein and Boxer and Schumer have the kind of concealed carry permit the average citizen has no chance of getting but hey, they’re wealthy and powerful politicians, so they shouldn’t be held to the same restrictions as us peasants. And let us not forget that the last three spend half their time speaking of how firearms are evil and nasty and ought to be banned; from everyone except them and those like them. And when they get caught? Remember Rep. Jefferson having fits because the FBI dared to search his office? How many other politicians of both parties had the same fit? Their office is FAR more sacred than our homes, and even a search warrant shouldn’t allow the servants to disturb them.
And the staffs reinforce it. Some are flat enablers who don’t want anyone who won’t stroke the ego of their master through to speak to them, try to keep anyone who’ll ask uncomfortable questions from speaking and so forth. They only want their masters to speak in places where they’ll be applauded, not places where they’ll be held to account. Some because they worship at the altar of Party and Their Candidate, some simply becuase of the prestige and perks that fall their way as a Servant of the Senator or Rep.
And far too often we cannot count on law enforcement. Agencies like the FBI and ATF have proven that the bureaucrats running them are very sensitive to politics; crap they would throw you or I into jail for, the politicians aren’t even investigated for, or it’s a show to pretend they actually did something.
You know, it really wouldn’t take much to change this crap we’re dealing with. If enough people started treating these clowns as what they are, hired help, and stopped acting like that job title made them royalty. Ask them hard questions and demand answers, none of this taking around the question and wanting to move on: "Senator, that was a nice round of nonsense, but I WANT AN ANSWER. And I’m not stopping until I get one." Refusing to let the bastards get around it.
What started my distrust and dislike of politicians in general, and career ones in particular, was a man named George Nigh. Several times governor of this state, lifelong politician. I was 17 at the time, he was a guest speaker at a summer thing called Cadet Lawman; you spent a week in a scaled-down version of the Highway Patrol academy, and he was the graduation speaker. He finished what amounted to a comedy routine(so-so) and asked for questions, and I asked his opinion on gun control. And then listened in amazement for a couple of minutes. That man managed to use more words while actually saying less than anyone I’d ever heard before. Then, at the very end, threw in- very quickly- "I think you should have to have a license" and immediately "Next question!". I sat down in amazement at the technique: throw around a whole lot of words fast and throw the actual answer in so late, and so fast, he could move on hopefully before you realized what he’d actually said, or at least before you could follow on with asking for more information.
That actually started me listening to what a lot of these people say, and what they actually mean, and over time that brought me to despise about 90% of them. They’ll lie to get into office, they’ll lie to stay there, far too many of them who start out fairly honest become corrupt once they’re there. And they’ll do ANYTHING to stay there. And when they do get around to leaving? Why, they have a pension waiting for them. Paid for out of our pockets, one last chance for them to loot us.
Personal thoughts? First, stop treating these parasites(which all too many of them are) like royalty, treat them like people we hired when we voted. DEMAND answers, real ones. And when they do something unethical or illegal, hold them fully to account.
No pension. It was never intended that people spend their whole damn life in the House or Senate or Mayors or Governor’s office; you want to do that, no retirement package. And if we find you making shady deals to set yourself up when you leave, we put you in jail.
A Constitutional Amendment would be nice, two terms in the Senate, three in the House. Period.
And stop calling someone who used to be in that office by the job title. I didn’t call Reagan ‘President’ after he left office, because he no longer held that job; why the hell should I call someone else who left- or was thrown out of- office by the job title?
Yeah, I’m dreaming. I am so very sick of these people I just have to consider what might do something about them. What started me on this particular track? Insty linked to this article, on why so many of the ‘upper-class’ types seem to despise or flat-out hate McCain and Palin while Ayers and Dohrn and Obama are wonderful people. A couple of bits:
And what about Sarah Palin? Here, the upper-middle-class deficit gets worse. Throckmorton-Zakaria's husband, Fareed Zakaria, uses a rare one-word sentence to make his entire argument against her: "Palin Is Ready? Please." She notoriously strikes the wrong class note on a thousand media keyboards with what Andrew Sullivan calls gallantly "Sarah Palin's cocktail waitress act." But the problem is not that the governor can't conform to upper-middle-class norms. It's that she won't.
If only Palin were really as trashy as Sullivan thinks she is. Sadly she is quite the opposite--one of nature's noblewomen. She rose by refusing to accept the limitations of her proper station in life; she is despised for continuing to do so. If Palin wants to pal around with the Throck-morton-Zakarias, she is wasting her time memorizing classic 19th-century Supreme Court decisions (Katie Couric isn't going to give her a mulligan). Instead, she should learn from watching herself as she ought to be.
…
Scheiber's attempt to understand Sarah Palin, detailed in the New Republic, took him all the way to Wasilla, as strange to him as Ethiopia to Evelyn Waugh. Scheiber spoke to various people from Palin's past, all of whom have two things in common: Every one of them is smarter than Palin and none of them has been heard of since their encounter with her. Scheiber's pet specimen among what he calls "the more urbane members of the community" is a Dartmouth graduate who reads Civil War histories, self-published a book, and not only does but "savors" the New York Times crossword puzzle. This sort of résumé wouldn't get your niece an unpaid internship on L Street--but for a Rhodes Scholar lost in Alaska, the Dartmouth degree, the Civil War buffery, the Times crossword puzzle all take on huge significance. Unable to comprehend how Palin could have outpaced the Wasilla gentry, poor Scheiber clings for dear life to these sad fragments of class dignity.
…
The Republicans, alas, are stuck with this election's true and unrepentant revolutionaries. McCain and Palin have each refused, by sheer cussedness, to fulfill the social expectations of others. This may make them poison to undecideds who suffer, more than most, from class anxiety. But do not despise the undecideds. Even conservatives can contract Scheiber Syndrome. Think of David Brooks, Christopher Buckley, David Frum, Peggy Noonan, and George Will. The symptoms? Curiously amplified, obsessively repeated, sometimes elaborately stage-whispered doubts about the Republican ticket.
Note: ‘do not despise’ them? Too late, I already do. More so ‘conservatives’ who think this way.
And, finally,
The influential section of our upper-middle class, which lives in media centers, does, of course, have an understanding of the ethic of service, and a special familiarity with men in uniforms decorated with epaulets. Paula Throckmorton-Zakaria finds the spirit of service right at home in Manhattan:
We may not have a ''servant'' class in the strict Victorian sense, but a "service" class we have indeed, and it is serving us. How do we square our egalitarian self-conceit with a liveried doorman? Not easily. For non-New Yorkers, doormen are the guys who carry the bags, organize the packages and tell you who stopped by to see your 15-year-old while you were out. They also open the door.
Receiving all those services in exchange for a partially deductible maintenance fee and a Christmas tip, we don't much miss the small matter of McCain's authentic service to his country. I, my children, and perhaps the Sulzberger and Couric children spent years passing through doors opened by uniformed, epauletted men on the way to private schools that were proud to teach an ethic of service. The experience didn't equip us to recognize the real thing.
Yeah, to all too many of the ‘upper classes’, a uniform means a menial, a servant, someone to look down on. Remember, early in the war, the intellectuals who had kids who joined the military? All the other ‘intellectuals’ asking them what went wrong? Because, obviously, someone of their class wouldn’t join the Army or Navy or Marines or Air Force unless they couldn’t hack it in school. Or had a mental problem. Wanting to serve and protect the United States? Obviously the act of someone with a mental defect, who can’t do any better.
It’s just amazing, isn’t it? Someone who actually puts their life on the line, someone who takes on their own party to clean up a mess? Plebeians to be despised. Someone who consorts with terrorists and wants to tear the country down? A bloody natural wonder, they are. And the terrorists are considered 'rehabilitated'; they're of the proper class and have very PC ideas, so they're just wonderful people.
And the clowns who believe these things think they deserve to run our lives.
So many people are in the habit now of deferring to some suited jackass because his job title is Senator or Representative. And they love it, far too many of them. They love it when people give them things, speak far more respectfully of them than they deserve(people remind us to write "The Honorable" before the name of the politician we’re writing to; must properly bend the knee to them, you know). They love the chance to make insider deals and then demand it not be noticed. Sen. Countrywide Dodd insisting that just anybody could call the owner of the company and get a special deal; Rep. Rangel shouldn’t be prosecuted for violating the tax laws he helped write because "He’s a simple man, and didn’t understand them"; Feinstein and Boxer and Schumer have the kind of concealed carry permit the average citizen has no chance of getting but hey, they’re wealthy and powerful politicians, so they shouldn’t be held to the same restrictions as us peasants. And let us not forget that the last three spend half their time speaking of how firearms are evil and nasty and ought to be banned; from everyone except them and those like them. And when they get caught? Remember Rep. Jefferson having fits because the FBI dared to search his office? How many other politicians of both parties had the same fit? Their office is FAR more sacred than our homes, and even a search warrant shouldn’t allow the servants to disturb them.
And the staffs reinforce it. Some are flat enablers who don’t want anyone who won’t stroke the ego of their master through to speak to them, try to keep anyone who’ll ask uncomfortable questions from speaking and so forth. They only want their masters to speak in places where they’ll be applauded, not places where they’ll be held to account. Some because they worship at the altar of Party and Their Candidate, some simply becuase of the prestige and perks that fall their way as a Servant of the Senator or Rep.
And far too often we cannot count on law enforcement. Agencies like the FBI and ATF have proven that the bureaucrats running them are very sensitive to politics; crap they would throw you or I into jail for, the politicians aren’t even investigated for, or it’s a show to pretend they actually did something.
You know, it really wouldn’t take much to change this crap we’re dealing with. If enough people started treating these clowns as what they are, hired help, and stopped acting like that job title made them royalty. Ask them hard questions and demand answers, none of this taking around the question and wanting to move on: "Senator, that was a nice round of nonsense, but I WANT AN ANSWER. And I’m not stopping until I get one." Refusing to let the bastards get around it.
What started my distrust and dislike of politicians in general, and career ones in particular, was a man named George Nigh. Several times governor of this state, lifelong politician. I was 17 at the time, he was a guest speaker at a summer thing called Cadet Lawman; you spent a week in a scaled-down version of the Highway Patrol academy, and he was the graduation speaker. He finished what amounted to a comedy routine(so-so) and asked for questions, and I asked his opinion on gun control. And then listened in amazement for a couple of minutes. That man managed to use more words while actually saying less than anyone I’d ever heard before. Then, at the very end, threw in- very quickly- "I think you should have to have a license" and immediately "Next question!". I sat down in amazement at the technique: throw around a whole lot of words fast and throw the actual answer in so late, and so fast, he could move on hopefully before you realized what he’d actually said, or at least before you could follow on with asking for more information.
That actually started me listening to what a lot of these people say, and what they actually mean, and over time that brought me to despise about 90% of them. They’ll lie to get into office, they’ll lie to stay there, far too many of them who start out fairly honest become corrupt once they’re there. And they’ll do ANYTHING to stay there. And when they do get around to leaving? Why, they have a pension waiting for them. Paid for out of our pockets, one last chance for them to loot us.
Personal thoughts? First, stop treating these parasites(which all too many of them are) like royalty, treat them like people we hired when we voted. DEMAND answers, real ones. And when they do something unethical or illegal, hold them fully to account.
No pension. It was never intended that people spend their whole damn life in the House or Senate or Mayors or Governor’s office; you want to do that, no retirement package. And if we find you making shady deals to set yourself up when you leave, we put you in jail.
A Constitutional Amendment would be nice, two terms in the Senate, three in the House. Period.
And stop calling someone who used to be in that office by the job title. I didn’t call Reagan ‘President’ after he left office, because he no longer held that job; why the hell should I call someone else who left- or was thrown out of- office by the job title?
Yeah, I’m dreaming. I am so very sick of these people I just have to consider what might do something about them. What started me on this particular track? Insty linked to this article, on why so many of the ‘upper-class’ types seem to despise or flat-out hate McCain and Palin while Ayers and Dohrn and Obama are wonderful people. A couple of bits:
And what about Sarah Palin? Here, the upper-middle-class deficit gets worse. Throckmorton-Zakaria's husband, Fareed Zakaria, uses a rare one-word sentence to make his entire argument against her: "Palin Is Ready? Please." She notoriously strikes the wrong class note on a thousand media keyboards with what Andrew Sullivan calls gallantly "Sarah Palin's cocktail waitress act." But the problem is not that the governor can't conform to upper-middle-class norms. It's that she won't.
If only Palin were really as trashy as Sullivan thinks she is. Sadly she is quite the opposite--one of nature's noblewomen. She rose by refusing to accept the limitations of her proper station in life; she is despised for continuing to do so. If Palin wants to pal around with the Throck-morton-Zakarias, she is wasting her time memorizing classic 19th-century Supreme Court decisions (Katie Couric isn't going to give her a mulligan). Instead, she should learn from watching herself as she ought to be.
…
Scheiber's attempt to understand Sarah Palin, detailed in the New Republic, took him all the way to Wasilla, as strange to him as Ethiopia to Evelyn Waugh. Scheiber spoke to various people from Palin's past, all of whom have two things in common: Every one of them is smarter than Palin and none of them has been heard of since their encounter with her. Scheiber's pet specimen among what he calls "the more urbane members of the community" is a Dartmouth graduate who reads Civil War histories, self-published a book, and not only does but "savors" the New York Times crossword puzzle. This sort of résumé wouldn't get your niece an unpaid internship on L Street--but for a Rhodes Scholar lost in Alaska, the Dartmouth degree, the Civil War buffery, the Times crossword puzzle all take on huge significance. Unable to comprehend how Palin could have outpaced the Wasilla gentry, poor Scheiber clings for dear life to these sad fragments of class dignity.
…
The Republicans, alas, are stuck with this election's true and unrepentant revolutionaries. McCain and Palin have each refused, by sheer cussedness, to fulfill the social expectations of others. This may make them poison to undecideds who suffer, more than most, from class anxiety. But do not despise the undecideds. Even conservatives can contract Scheiber Syndrome. Think of David Brooks, Christopher Buckley, David Frum, Peggy Noonan, and George Will. The symptoms? Curiously amplified, obsessively repeated, sometimes elaborately stage-whispered doubts about the Republican ticket.
Note: ‘do not despise’ them? Too late, I already do. More so ‘conservatives’ who think this way.
And, finally,
The influential section of our upper-middle class, which lives in media centers, does, of course, have an understanding of the ethic of service, and a special familiarity with men in uniforms decorated with epaulets. Paula Throckmorton-Zakaria finds the spirit of service right at home in Manhattan:
We may not have a ''servant'' class in the strict Victorian sense, but a "service" class we have indeed, and it is serving us. How do we square our egalitarian self-conceit with a liveried doorman? Not easily. For non-New Yorkers, doormen are the guys who carry the bags, organize the packages and tell you who stopped by to see your 15-year-old while you were out. They also open the door.
Receiving all those services in exchange for a partially deductible maintenance fee and a Christmas tip, we don't much miss the small matter of McCain's authentic service to his country. I, my children, and perhaps the Sulzberger and Couric children spent years passing through doors opened by uniformed, epauletted men on the way to private schools that were proud to teach an ethic of service. The experience didn't equip us to recognize the real thing.
Yeah, to all too many of the ‘upper classes’, a uniform means a menial, a servant, someone to look down on. Remember, early in the war, the intellectuals who had kids who joined the military? All the other ‘intellectuals’ asking them what went wrong? Because, obviously, someone of their class wouldn’t join the Army or Navy or Marines or Air Force unless they couldn’t hack it in school. Or had a mental problem. Wanting to serve and protect the United States? Obviously the act of someone with a mental defect, who can’t do any better.
It’s just amazing, isn’t it? Someone who actually puts their life on the line, someone who takes on their own party to clean up a mess? Plebeians to be despised. Someone who consorts with terrorists and wants to tear the country down? A bloody natural wonder, they are. And the terrorists are considered 'rehabilitated'; they're of the proper class and have very PC ideas, so they're just wonderful people.
And the clowns who believe these things think they deserve to run our lives.
What's your buckshot of choice
for home defense use? #4 or 00? Magnum, standard or reduced recoil?
The 12-gauge I have for the purpose is, with magnums or standard buckshot, fairly nasty to shoot. It’s light, which is very nice, except less weight means you feel more of the recoil energy; makes practice downright uncomfortable. So I tried two loads: the Winchester Ranger low recoil, and the Hornady FPD reduced recoil, both with 00 buckshot.
The Ranger load uses eight pellets, the Hornady nine and a lower powder charge. Recoil feels about the same, definitely lower than standard(let alone magnum) loads. Both give tight patterns in across the room/across the yard ranges(my scattergun has a 18" improved-cylinder barrel), easily placing all pellets well inside COM. With a high COM aim, all pellets in the upper chest of a silhouette. And I can’t believe that, at these ranges, the slightly lower velocity of some of these will be enough to make a difference to the goblin.
The 12-gauge I have for the purpose is, with magnums or standard buckshot, fairly nasty to shoot. It’s light, which is very nice, except less weight means you feel more of the recoil energy; makes practice downright uncomfortable. So I tried two loads: the Winchester Ranger low recoil, and the Hornady FPD reduced recoil, both with 00 buckshot.
The Ranger load uses eight pellets, the Hornady nine and a lower powder charge. Recoil feels about the same, definitely lower than standard(let alone magnum) loads. Both give tight patterns in across the room/across the yard ranges(my scattergun has a 18" improved-cylinder barrel), easily placing all pellets well inside COM. With a high COM aim, all pellets in the upper chest of a silhouette. And I can’t believe that, at these ranges, the slightly lower velocity of some of these will be enough to make a difference to the goblin.
It's GOT to be some kind of rule
Is there a rule that the Sci-Fi Channel HAS to make crap movies?
Due to circumstances watched as much as I could stand of a ‘Made for Sci-Fi Movie!’ called Pterodactyl. Let’s see,
Special Forces team that can’t shoot for shit(also generally incompetent),
Flying lizards going from hatching to big enough to carry people away(and breed) in three months,
Said lizards, except for certain scenes, virtually invulnerable to gunfire,
AND not bothered by the noise,
Etc.
I mean, it was BAD.
There’s GOT to be some rule they have.
Due to circumstances watched as much as I could stand of a ‘Made for Sci-Fi Movie!’ called Pterodactyl. Let’s see,
Special Forces team that can’t shoot for shit(also generally incompetent),
Flying lizards going from hatching to big enough to carry people away(and breed) in three months,
Said lizards, except for certain scenes, virtually invulnerable to gunfire,
AND not bothered by the noise,
Etc.
I mean, it was BAD.
There’s GOT to be some rule they have.
Just as a thought,
How much trouble ARE we going to have after this election?
The weenies have been prepping the ground for a while now; consider that sorry bastard James Carville’s speech a few days ago that ‘If Obama has a lead in the polls and loses the election, it will be bad.’ Setting up excuses for the morons to riot if The Obama is denied his ascension(just one of the reasons I loathe that miserable bugger. Carville, that is). Every nutcase on Daily Kossacks and Democrat Underground is threatening violence if their selection isn’t officially selected. Question there becomes, how many of these morons will actually head out to break, burn and assault? If they’re so willing to openly commit vote fraud, what inhibitions will these clowns have against taking another step?
And let us not forget the grievance-mongers, for whom everything is an excuse to “take some of what I’m owed”. Barack Hussein I Am Owed This Obama losing the election will be prime excuse material for those parasites.
And the Nation of Islam and every islamist jerk in the world: “See! The evil white crusader Christians conspired to prevent Obama from taking his place in the world!” Etc. Think they’d have many inhibitions about staging A Summer in Paris in NYeffin’C? Or Chicago? Or Los Angeles?
And may I suggest something else to worry about: what if The Obama wins? Some of these clowns are going to take that as virtual license to riot and burn in celebration. Got a McCain/Palin sign in your yard, a sticker on your car? In some places, be ready for damage as they celebrate.
Let’s see, Evil Party members have been playing “The last two elections were stolen!” victims for years and threatening all kinds of violence; the Obama cultists are liable to take anything short of a landslide victory as evidence the eeeeviilllle right-wingers are coming after them; the professional victims and enablers will use his loss as an excuse for more demands for blackmail and ‘no justice, no peace’ demands that rioters and rapists and arsonists not be punished; and, especially considering the absolutely disgusting levels of bias and falsehood the major media have shown themselves to be willing to stoop to, you know that they’ll be making excuses for damn near anything of the kind: “Since The Obama’s victory was stolen, can you blame them?”, etc.
Few days ago I caught part of Glenn Beck’s show on CNN. Among other things, had a segment on the FBI and other agencies monitoring the internet for ‘militia’ and other groups and individuals showing upset over the current idiocy and theft going on in government; “They are looking for warning signs” and so forth*. Beck ended that with a heartfelt “PLEASE, keep things under control, don’t do anything hasty or bad”(he’s been hitting that frequently lately), which is all very nice; I wonder if he’s asked if the Obama and DU kool-aid drinkers and associates are being ‘watched for warning signs’? And, referring back to our ‘triple-layer edited and fact-checked’ media, the fact that if any of the Dummies attack people and burn things the ‘right-wing militia types’ who fight them(i.e., anyone trying to keep the bastards from burning things and beating people) are going to be portrayed as ‘vigilantes taking the law into their own hands’. In suitably breathless terms, of course, while asking why the Feds aren’t ‘cracking down on these militia people/right-wing nuts/current term for ’. Some freelance socialist breaks into a home and attacks someone and gets shot and he gets portrayed all too often as the choirboy who was ‘murdered’ by the victim NOW; what happens if the major media has co-religionists to defend? It’ll be “The fascists attacked the peaceful protesters who were expressing upset after losing the election.”
I very much hope none of this crap happens; I very much fear it will, in some places.
*Beck, referring to the people ‘keeping their eyes on’ the ‘net, asked the guy(retired FBI weenie) if the people doing the watching, considering the political climate, might let politics influence them. The weenie informed him that ‘in all my years, all the fine agents I worked with, none of them would do that’. Which, considering the crap that’s come out about FBI and ATF the last few years, makes me think he either
Worked only with paragons of virtue his career,
Is blind, or
Is lying.
I tend to go for the last two.
The weenies have been prepping the ground for a while now; consider that sorry bastard James Carville’s speech a few days ago that ‘If Obama has a lead in the polls and loses the election, it will be bad.’ Setting up excuses for the morons to riot if The Obama is denied his ascension(just one of the reasons I loathe that miserable bugger. Carville, that is). Every nutcase on Daily Kossacks and Democrat Underground is threatening violence if their selection isn’t officially selected. Question there becomes, how many of these morons will actually head out to break, burn and assault? If they’re so willing to openly commit vote fraud, what inhibitions will these clowns have against taking another step?
And let us not forget the grievance-mongers, for whom everything is an excuse to “take some of what I’m owed”. Barack Hussein I Am Owed This Obama losing the election will be prime excuse material for those parasites.
And the Nation of Islam and every islamist jerk in the world: “See! The evil white crusader Christians conspired to prevent Obama from taking his place in the world!” Etc. Think they’d have many inhibitions about staging A Summer in Paris in NYeffin’C? Or Chicago? Or Los Angeles?
And may I suggest something else to worry about: what if The Obama wins? Some of these clowns are going to take that as virtual license to riot and burn in celebration. Got a McCain/Palin sign in your yard, a sticker on your car? In some places, be ready for damage as they celebrate.
Let’s see, Evil Party members have been playing “The last two elections were stolen!” victims for years and threatening all kinds of violence; the Obama cultists are liable to take anything short of a landslide victory as evidence the eeeeviilllle right-wingers are coming after them; the professional victims and enablers will use his loss as an excuse for more demands for blackmail and ‘no justice, no peace’ demands that rioters and rapists and arsonists not be punished; and, especially considering the absolutely disgusting levels of bias and falsehood the major media have shown themselves to be willing to stoop to, you know that they’ll be making excuses for damn near anything of the kind: “Since The Obama’s victory was stolen, can you blame them?”, etc.
Few days ago I caught part of Glenn Beck’s show on CNN. Among other things, had a segment on the FBI and other agencies monitoring the internet for ‘militia’ and other groups and individuals showing upset over the current idiocy and theft going on in government; “They are looking for warning signs” and so forth*. Beck ended that with a heartfelt “PLEASE, keep things under control, don’t do anything hasty or bad”(he’s been hitting that frequently lately), which is all very nice; I wonder if he’s asked if the Obama and DU kool-aid drinkers and associates are being ‘watched for warning signs’? And, referring back to our ‘triple-layer edited and fact-checked’ media, the fact that if any of the Dummies attack people and burn things the ‘right-wing militia types’ who fight them(i.e., anyone trying to keep the bastards from burning things and beating people) are going to be portrayed as ‘vigilantes taking the law into their own hands’. In suitably breathless terms, of course, while asking why the Feds aren’t ‘cracking down on these militia people/right-wing nuts/current term for ’. Some freelance socialist breaks into a home and attacks someone and gets shot and he gets portrayed all too often as the choirboy who was ‘murdered’ by the victim NOW; what happens if the major media has co-religionists to defend? It’ll be “The fascists attacked the peaceful protesters who were expressing upset after losing the election.”
I very much hope none of this crap happens; I very much fear it will, in some places.
*Beck, referring to the people ‘keeping their eyes on’ the ‘net, asked the guy(retired FBI weenie) if the people doing the watching, considering the political climate, might let politics influence them. The weenie informed him that ‘in all my years, all the fine agents I worked with, none of them would do that’. Which, considering the crap that’s come out about FBI and ATF the last few years, makes me think he either
Worked only with paragons of virtue his career,
Is blind, or
Is lying.
I tend to go for the last two.
In what passes for 'news' today,
when I opened up AOL last night it noted that one of the most prominent celebritutes, Miley Cyrus, was openly flirting with an 'older man'. In front of her mother, who apparently did nothing about it.
I have to say 'apparently' because I did not read this crap. First, I have no interest in Miss Cyrus or her activities, though I do worry about what other girls that age and younger are getting from it. Second, I just wonder what friggin' moron decided this was news?
I have to say 'apparently' because I did not read this crap. First, I have no interest in Miss Cyrus or her activities, though I do worry about what other girls that age and younger are getting from it. Second, I just wonder what friggin' moron decided this was news?
Friday, October 17, 2008
So it's officially- as much as the Feebs will do it- labelled an honor killing
Found this at Keyboard's place:
Almost a year after two teenage girls were found dead — allegedly executed by their father — in the back seat of a taxicab in Texas, the FBI is saying for the first time that the case may have been an "honor killing."
Sarah Said, 17, and her sister Amina, 18, were killed on New Year's Day, but for nine months authorities deflected questions about whether their father — the prime suspect and the subject of a nationwide manhunt — may have targeted them because of a perceived slight upon his honor.
The usual suspects are whining that it shouldn't be called that, it might 'stigmatize the islamic community' and so forth. I would like to inform CAIR that muslims murdering their daughters and wives- many, many documented cases around the world- is what 'stigmatizes' your beliefs. Be nice if you did something to stop that garbage.
Almost a year after two teenage girls were found dead — allegedly executed by their father — in the back seat of a taxicab in Texas, the FBI is saying for the first time that the case may have been an "honor killing."
Sarah Said, 17, and her sister Amina, 18, were killed on New Year's Day, but for nine months authorities deflected questions about whether their father — the prime suspect and the subject of a nationwide manhunt — may have targeted them because of a perceived slight upon his honor.
The usual suspects are whining that it shouldn't be called that, it might 'stigmatize the islamic community' and so forth. I would like to inform CAIR that muslims murdering their daughters and wives- many, many documented cases around the world- is what 'stigmatizes' your beliefs. Be nice if you did something to stop that garbage.
As the man says, the Obamessiah people are officially
insane:
Absofreakinlutely amazing.
I'm listening to Fox, on which an Obama spokeshole is claiming that the McCain campaign "didn't vet Joe the Plumber."
They must be terrified.
So terrified that they come up with crap like this. Let's see, Barack Don't Ask Me REAL Questions Hussein Obama is in the guys neighborhood. Asks for questions. Guy asks a question and The Obama slips and tells the truth about what he is. And the McCain people should have vetted him?Absofreakinlutely amazing.
This definitely counts as 'Law Enforcement-
Sorry Excuse For:
He runs into a member of one of the groups, and they tell him outright that the group has their eye on him, will get even, he is dead meat, etc.. He requests from his supervisor an emergency transfer. With one of those the person and family are moved immediately, to a good distance, and given new identities (down to a credit history under their new names, so no one can trace them that way).
His supervisor handles it as an ordinary, voluntary, transfer. As in, it'll take weeks for approval, if we do approve, you can be transferred nearby, no new identity. In the meantime other reports are coming in. An informant who shared a cell with a prison gang leader reports that he saw a list of men marked for "hits" and noticed the agent's name on it. Etc., etc.. It becomes apparent that not one, but two groups well-known for killing people are both out to kill him.
The transfer is not modified. It's still voluntary, agent is in one duty station and would like to move to another for personal reasons, and HQ will process when they feel like it.
It's kind of amazing. If nothing else, how the hell do these clowns expect to get people to volunteer for this kind of amazingly dangerous work, when they know they'll be crapped on for it down the line?
He runs into a member of one of the groups, and they tell him outright that the group has their eye on him, will get even, he is dead meat, etc.. He requests from his supervisor an emergency transfer. With one of those the person and family are moved immediately, to a good distance, and given new identities (down to a credit history under their new names, so no one can trace them that way).
His supervisor handles it as an ordinary, voluntary, transfer. As in, it'll take weeks for approval, if we do approve, you can be transferred nearby, no new identity. In the meantime other reports are coming in. An informant who shared a cell with a prison gang leader reports that he saw a list of men marked for "hits" and noticed the agent's name on it. Etc., etc.. It becomes apparent that not one, but two groups well-known for killing people are both out to kill him.
The transfer is not modified. It's still voluntary, agent is in one duty station and would like to move to another for personal reasons, and HQ will process when they feel like it.
It's kind of amazing. If nothing else, how the hell do these clowns expect to get people to volunteer for this kind of amazingly dangerous work, when they know they'll be crapped on for it down the line?
Ok, this is interesting
and might become very interesting:
API is disturbed by the way many have reacted to the story on Mrs Obama’s call. Many have shown us by the way they have behaved towards API that they only think of their own interests because they have demanded that the audio recordings should be released immediately. We understand that the tapes should be released, but those who have demanded the release of the tapes seem not take into account that API may become a suing target.
The Recordings:
API has recordings of the conversation between API and Mrs Obama (Shocking development: Mrs Obama decides enough is enough: “My husband was born in Hawaii and adopted by his step father, does that make him unpatriotic; she asks”, on a direct telephone to API., and we confirm that the audio will be released to the public. In the last 24 hours, API has been consulting legal advisers on the way forward in order to avoid being sued by the Obama camp. API has realised that the contents of the tapes if made public may change the political atmosphere in America for ever, especially in the next few days.
Due to enormous reactions received, API now understands the impact of the statements made by Mrs Obama. The American people have reacted in a way we in API would never have expected............
...
A number of Americans who are die-hard Obama followers have tried their best to intimidate API using all kinds of threatening methods when they call in and when they email us. They are implying that API is planning to destroy Obama’s chances to become the next US President. API does not have a direct interest in the US Presidential elections and we want Obama supporters to understand that. However, when someone who may become the next first lady makes such comments as in the story we have published, the public have the right to know. Intimidation directed to the publishers of the story is not the answer.
API is disturbed by the way many have reacted to the story on Mrs Obama’s call. Many have shown us by the way they have behaved towards API that they only think of their own interests because they have demanded that the audio recordings should be released immediately. We understand that the tapes should be released, but those who have demanded the release of the tapes seem not take into account that API may become a suing target.
The Recordings:
API has recordings of the conversation between API and Mrs Obama (Shocking development: Mrs Obama decides enough is enough: “My husband was born in Hawaii and adopted by his step father, does that make him unpatriotic; she asks”, on a direct telephone to API., and we confirm that the audio will be released to the public. In the last 24 hours, API has been consulting legal advisers on the way forward in order to avoid being sued by the Obama camp. API has realised that the contents of the tapes if made public may change the political atmosphere in America for ever, especially in the next few days.
Due to enormous reactions received, API now understands the impact of the statements made by Mrs Obama. The American people have reacted in a way we in API would never have expected............
...
A number of Americans who are die-hard Obama followers have tried their best to intimidate API using all kinds of threatening methods when they call in and when they email us. They are implying that API is planning to destroy Obama’s chances to become the next US President. API does not have a direct interest in the US Presidential elections and we want Obama supporters to understand that. However, when someone who may become the next first lady makes such comments as in the story we have published, the public have the right to know. Intimidation directed to the publishers of the story is not the answer.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Went to the range
to get the bad taste of politics out of my system, and to try a couple of loads. Specifically, I wanted a load that would closely duplicate the factory 185-grain Gold Dot 45acp load. The factory stuff is damned expensive, so having something very close to practice with would be rather nice.
Couple of days ago I looked at the Alliant Powder site and, lo and behold, they had some loads for that specific bullet. Since I A: had some and B: it gave higher velocity I went with Unique.
I have to mention, I've always had two problems with Unique: it didn't feed very smoothly through my powder measure, and it burned fairly dirty. Why use it? Because there are a couple of older cartridges it's one of the most recommended powders for, and because it tends to give good accuracy in them. Last time I got a bottle I noticed the new bottles are marked 'Cleaner Burning'. And it is, noticeably so. It also flows through the measure better than the previous version; whether the two are related, no idea, but I'm glad of it either way.
Yes, I did drop the charge from the load shown, using 8.0 grains. I loaded two full loads in my pistol(16 rounds) to try. Well, it felt indistinguishable from the factory loads, and the shots went right where they were supposed to. No signs I could spot of high pressure, so I'll make up some more and, next time I'm at the outdoor range, use the Chrony to check velocity(along with the other stuff I need to test).
I love it when something actually works the way you want it to.
Couple of days ago I looked at the Alliant Powder site and, lo and behold, they had some loads for that specific bullet. Since I A: had some and B: it gave higher velocity I went with Unique.
I have to mention, I've always had two problems with Unique: it didn't feed very smoothly through my powder measure, and it burned fairly dirty. Why use it? Because there are a couple of older cartridges it's one of the most recommended powders for, and because it tends to give good accuracy in them. Last time I got a bottle I noticed the new bottles are marked 'Cleaner Burning'. And it is, noticeably so. It also flows through the measure better than the previous version; whether the two are related, no idea, but I'm glad of it either way.
Yes, I did drop the charge from the load shown, using 8.0 grains. I loaded two full loads in my pistol(16 rounds) to try. Well, it felt indistinguishable from the factory loads, and the shots went right where they were supposed to. No signs I could spot of high pressure, so I'll make up some more and, next time I'm at the outdoor range, use the Chrony to check velocity(along with the other stuff I need to test).
I love it when something actually works the way you want it to.
I wrote to both my congresscritters this morning
telling them what I think about the current results of the Pork, Payoff and Bribes Bill. Yes, I was polite. No, I do not write 'The Honorable' in the address or any other of that bullcrap; they're our EMPLOYEES, dammit, since when am I supposed to crawl when I speak to them?
I just got a canned response from Coburn, basically "We had to act or the world would end." So I just sent asking him why, if it was so damned important, they had to lard all the bribes and payoffs and pork into it?
You know, this is just freakin' disgusting, on a level hard to find words for. Countrywide Dodd and Fannie Mae Frank, complicit in causing the problem, corrupt, and still in Congress with their hands all over this crap. And further in our pockets. And the excuse we still get is "We had to act NOW!!!"
Lampposts, ropes, politicians...
Oh, saw part of the Glenn Beck show last night. There was a segment with a retired FBI weenie talking about how the government is 'monitoring the internet to keep an eye on 'militia' types who may cause problems after the election'. You ever wondered if a lot of us are on a list, I think you can end your doubts.
Beck asked him if the FBI(mentioned as the agency primarily involved in the monitoring) could be trusted not to let politics shape their actions, and the weenie informed him 'of all the agents I knew over my career, none of them would do that'. WHich means, considering what's come out over the last few years, he either worked only with paragons of virtue, he's blind, or he's lying.
Can we add bureaucrats to the list? Not nearly enough lampposts, but there's always trees, and cranes...
I just got a canned response from Coburn, basically "We had to act or the world would end." So I just sent asking him why, if it was so damned important, they had to lard all the bribes and payoffs and pork into it?
You know, this is just freakin' disgusting, on a level hard to find words for. Countrywide Dodd and Fannie Mae Frank, complicit in causing the problem, corrupt, and still in Congress with their hands all over this crap. And further in our pockets. And the excuse we still get is "We had to act NOW!!!"
Lampposts, ropes, politicians...
Oh, saw part of the Glenn Beck show last night. There was a segment with a retired FBI weenie talking about how the government is 'monitoring the internet to keep an eye on 'militia' types who may cause problems after the election'. You ever wondered if a lot of us are on a list, I think you can end your doubts.
Beck asked him if the FBI(mentioned as the agency primarily involved in the monitoring) could be trusted not to let politics shape their actions, and the weenie informed him 'of all the agents I knew over my career, none of them would do that'. WHich means, considering what's come out over the last few years, he either worked only with paragons of virtue, he's blind, or he's lying.
Can we add bureaucrats to the list? Not nearly enough lampposts, but there's always trees, and cranes...
That hijacked Iranian ship?
Something I hadn't heard before about it:
[Russian sources claim she] was an enormous floating dirty bomb, intended to detonate after exiting the Suez Canal at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and in proximity to the coastal cities of Israel. The entire cargo of radioactive sand, obtained by Iran from China (the latter buys desperately needed oil from the former) and sealed in containers which, when the charges on the ship are set off after the crew took to the boats, will be blasted high into the air where prevailing winds will push the highly dangerous and radioactive cloud ashore.
That would be remarkably nasty. And fit right in with Ahmadogcrap's threats.
[Russian sources claim she] was an enormous floating dirty bomb, intended to detonate after exiting the Suez Canal at the eastern end of the Mediterranean and in proximity to the coastal cities of Israel. The entire cargo of radioactive sand, obtained by Iran from China (the latter buys desperately needed oil from the former) and sealed in containers which, when the charges on the ship are set off after the crew took to the boats, will be blasted high into the air where prevailing winds will push the highly dangerous and radioactive cloud ashore.
That would be remarkably nasty. And fit right in with Ahmadogcrap's threats.
I have been taken to task for daring to write about
Elsa the Lion turning out to be less than a storybook happy-ending story a while back, in the comments. Including:
I cant see why you had to write this story.About elsa the lion she was doing what any lion woud do to feed her young cubs when she can not hunt,on her own and you shot her. Shame on you
Yeah, God forbid I actually take note of a problem with an idea. But, of course, I am a Nasty Gun-Clinging American:
But you are from the US the gun country shoot anything and anyone.
Yeah, corpses everywhere and holes in the neighbor's houses, that's me.
Nothing in this world is perfect and even the best of intentions can go awry. The wild animal population needs our help and support! Not people like you who could probably find a negative thing amidst an almost perfect bed of roses!
Well, the roses don't crawl out of the bed and chase me with their thorns, but overall I find them pretty pleasing. And he's stuck on 'people like you!' It seems that simply by writing about this incident, I have become a Destroyer of Wildlife and All That is Good; kind of like writing about Barack I Hate Plumbers Obama makes you a racist, I guess.
I wasn't going to post about this until I got another comment today, including the above and this gem:
Maybe when we can fully appreciate all forms of life(including people like you), maybe then we can find hope in saving ourselves!
No, of COURSE I have no consideration for other forms of life. Otherwise I'd be a enviroweenie animal-rights squirrel(oops, there's that specie-ism again) who thinks writing about a people-munching lion is equivalent to wanting them all shot. Geez.
Ah well, I need to check the muzzle-loader out. Just in case I have a chance the next while to go out and whack Bambi.
I cant see why you had to write this story.About elsa the lion she was doing what any lion woud do to feed her young cubs when she can not hunt,on her own and you shot her. Shame on you
Yeah, God forbid I actually take note of a problem with an idea. But, of course, I am a Nasty Gun-Clinging American:
But you are from the US the gun country shoot anything and anyone.
Yeah, corpses everywhere and holes in the neighbor's houses, that's me.
Nothing in this world is perfect and even the best of intentions can go awry. The wild animal population needs our help and support! Not people like you who could probably find a negative thing amidst an almost perfect bed of roses!
Well, the roses don't crawl out of the bed and chase me with their thorns, but overall I find them pretty pleasing. And he's stuck on 'people like you!' It seems that simply by writing about this incident, I have become a Destroyer of Wildlife and All That is Good; kind of like writing about Barack I Hate Plumbers Obama makes you a racist, I guess.
I wasn't going to post about this until I got another comment today, including the above and this gem:
Maybe when we can fully appreciate all forms of life(including people like you), maybe then we can find hope in saving ourselves!
No, of COURSE I have no consideration for other forms of life. Otherwise I'd be a enviroweenie animal-rights squirrel(oops, there's that specie-ism again) who thinks writing about a people-munching lion is equivalent to wanting them all shot. Geez.
Ah well, I need to check the muzzle-loader out. Just in case I have a chance the next while to go out and whack Bambi.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This about says it all
This moron thinks that taxing the life out of someone building a business is 'spreading the wealth around'. Spoken like a socialist politician who's never had a damn thing to do with a business in his life."Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."
"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
I don't think I've said this before, though I thought it: this man is flat-out dangerous to this nation.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Yeah, it's fall
Cool, solid overcast, and a mix of fog and/or very light rain all day. And I think most of the night. Which makes it nasty outside, but a good night for sleeping it was.
And the stuff helped the friend plant- and the stuff that wasn't in the ground yet- should like it.
Times past, I'd have headed for the woods on a day like this. However, between work, time and distance that isn't an option most days. Does make baking and such a more comfortable, though.
And that's the extent of my brilliance today. Except I'll pass on another dog story:
My parents used to have a West Highland Terrier; think of a Scottie, white and smaller. Very nice dog. Got along with everyone, cats no problem, with one real dislike.
Skateboards.
She detested them. If she heard or saw one coming down the street, she hit the fence. If she was inside, and there was no one to let her out, she’d run through the house to the doggie door in back to get out, then clear around the house to bark at it.
Well, years before this Mom & Dad had a deck built on back of the house. Except for the hottest weather it was a comfortable place to sit, and Dad extended the roof over a bit to cover an area he leveled with patio blocks for the grill. The one drawback was cats. Stray pregnant females would home in on the place and set up housekeeping under the deck to have their litter. Dad spent a lot of time taming the mom & kittens so he could find homes for them(there was a BIG problem with stray cats for a couple of years).
So one day Mom’s in the bedroom folding clothes, Dad’s out back sitting watching the latest mother & litter play on the deck and the dog’s in the living room. Then she hears it.
Skateboard wheels. Coming down the street.
At this point two of the kittens are rolling around, and the other four & mom are sitting grooming, about two feet in front of the back door.
Cricket(from past experience) jumps up, looks out the window and heads for the back.
Dad is watching the felines when the dog came through the door at a dead run and scattered cats like pins in a kids bowling set and never broke stride. She shot off the deck and around the house to deal with the hated skateboard, leaving five cats in various poses of “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?”
Damn, the things that happen with no camera rolling.
And the stuff helped the friend plant- and the stuff that wasn't in the ground yet- should like it.
Times past, I'd have headed for the woods on a day like this. However, between work, time and distance that isn't an option most days. Does make baking and such a more comfortable, though.
And that's the extent of my brilliance today. Except I'll pass on another dog story:
My parents used to have a West Highland Terrier; think of a Scottie, white and smaller. Very nice dog. Got along with everyone, cats no problem, with one real dislike.
Skateboards.
She detested them. If she heard or saw one coming down the street, she hit the fence. If she was inside, and there was no one to let her out, she’d run through the house to the doggie door in back to get out, then clear around the house to bark at it.
Well, years before this Mom & Dad had a deck built on back of the house. Except for the hottest weather it was a comfortable place to sit, and Dad extended the roof over a bit to cover an area he leveled with patio blocks for the grill. The one drawback was cats. Stray pregnant females would home in on the place and set up housekeeping under the deck to have their litter. Dad spent a lot of time taming the mom & kittens so he could find homes for them(there was a BIG problem with stray cats for a couple of years).
So one day Mom’s in the bedroom folding clothes, Dad’s out back sitting watching the latest mother & litter play on the deck and the dog’s in the living room. Then she hears it.
Skateboard wheels. Coming down the street.
At this point two of the kittens are rolling around, and the other four & mom are sitting grooming, about two feet in front of the back door.
Cricket(from past experience) jumps up, looks out the window and heads for the back.
Dad is watching the felines when the dog came through the door at a dead run and scattered cats like pins in a kids bowling set and never broke stride. She shot off the deck and around the house to deal with the hated skateboard, leaving five cats in various poses of “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?”
Damn, the things that happen with no camera rolling.
Monday, October 13, 2008
As somebody said, significant hemorrhage takes the fun out of things
Smaller amounts, not as bad. At least when it's not my blood. And for a change it was not I losing blood.
Went out to visit some friends don’t get the chance to see very often and, while there, helped plant some trees. They bought this house about two years ago and he’s been very big on planting both trees and roses. Some have done fairly well, some not so much; the weather this past winter didn’t help matters. So, went to Lowe’s to help him pick up some potting soil and they had their remaining trees on sale, so…
Six trees and nearly twenty berry bushes later(also on sale), back at the house, there was one tree that’d been loosened up in the pot badly enough thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and get it in the ground. So dug the hole. Which took more than you might think; about two or three inches below the surface there’s a thick layer of clay, actually had to break it up with a pick and then scoop it out to get the hole deep enough. Finally got that done, put some organic matter in the hole and soak it, put in the tree and fill the hole up, then soak it well. Now comes the post, to hold the tree upright in this wind while it settles in and roots. So he got a t-post and the driver and began hammering.
If you’ve never worked with one of these, the driver is basically a section of pipe with a heavy cap welded on one end and a handle on each side. Slip it over the top of the post, drive it down, lift and repeat; lots easier than using a hammer for these.
Well, the ground was hard enough that he was having to really slam it down to get the post in, and had only gotten it in three or four inches when- in one of those “Damn, how’d THAT happen?” accidents- he lifted the driver just a bit too high, which naturally means the thing moved a touch toward him, the bottom edge rose clear of the post and as he drove it down the far side hit and the driver pivoted over and slammed into his head.
I was figuring the best way to tie the tree when he said a word(I promise, it was not “Shuckins”) and hit the ground. It took a minute to figure out exactly what’d happened, since I hadn’t seen it and he was concentrating on pain. Then he took off his hat and we discovered the bleeding, so I told him to stay down with his daughter for company(“Daddy’s ok, he just needs to rest.” “Daddy booboo?” Etc.)
Get inside, “Do you have a first-aid kit?” His wife was on the phone- that was a call that ended quick- and she grabbed a towel and out we went. Apparently the “There’s a bit of hemorrhage, but not much” didn’t really help. “Hemorrhage?!?” “Just a little bit, he banged his head.” She didn’t exactly leave a vacuum behind, but there was a bit of a swirl.
Let me note, the wife is a nurse specializing in pregnant women and newborns; a damn good one. But she says herself that she doesn’t deal well with family and other problems, like head injuries. So after getting him in and cleaned up a bit, she was worried enough to demand a trip to the ER. So an entourage of the wounded, the wife, the daughter(not quite three) and me loaded up. Happily the daughter doesn’t get freaked out, so my job in the event was to
First, park the car after dropping dizzy husband and wife at the door,
Second, bring child in,
Third, keep her out of the way and as happy with things as possible. Which I hadn’t done in quite a while, but I remembered how and she did quite well.
So it was determined that while he may have damaged one of his five remaining brain cells, there didn’t seem to be any serious damage. So while wife was being informed as to what specifics to watch for over the next couple of days, I took kid to car and brought it to the door, and all went back to the house. Shortly thereafter I had to go home and get some sleep before work(this is being written at o-dark-thirty in the morning), and as of last word the injured is doing fine. Though his head is going to be sore for a while.
By the time I got home I was able to get about two hours sleep before having to be at work at the proverbial oh-dark-thirty. But I do get to sleep tonight.
And how was your day off?
Went out to visit some friends don’t get the chance to see very often and, while there, helped plant some trees. They bought this house about two years ago and he’s been very big on planting both trees and roses. Some have done fairly well, some not so much; the weather this past winter didn’t help matters. So, went to Lowe’s to help him pick up some potting soil and they had their remaining trees on sale, so…
Six trees and nearly twenty berry bushes later(also on sale), back at the house, there was one tree that’d been loosened up in the pot badly enough thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and get it in the ground. So dug the hole. Which took more than you might think; about two or three inches below the surface there’s a thick layer of clay, actually had to break it up with a pick and then scoop it out to get the hole deep enough. Finally got that done, put some organic matter in the hole and soak it, put in the tree and fill the hole up, then soak it well. Now comes the post, to hold the tree upright in this wind while it settles in and roots. So he got a t-post and the driver and began hammering.
If you’ve never worked with one of these, the driver is basically a section of pipe with a heavy cap welded on one end and a handle on each side. Slip it over the top of the post, drive it down, lift and repeat; lots easier than using a hammer for these.
Well, the ground was hard enough that he was having to really slam it down to get the post in, and had only gotten it in three or four inches when- in one of those “Damn, how’d THAT happen?” accidents- he lifted the driver just a bit too high, which naturally means the thing moved a touch toward him, the bottom edge rose clear of the post and as he drove it down the far side hit and the driver pivoted over and slammed into his head.
I was figuring the best way to tie the tree when he said a word(I promise, it was not “Shuckins”) and hit the ground. It took a minute to figure out exactly what’d happened, since I hadn’t seen it and he was concentrating on pain. Then he took off his hat and we discovered the bleeding, so I told him to stay down with his daughter for company(“Daddy’s ok, he just needs to rest.” “Daddy booboo?” Etc.)
Get inside, “Do you have a first-aid kit?” His wife was on the phone- that was a call that ended quick- and she grabbed a towel and out we went. Apparently the “There’s a bit of hemorrhage, but not much” didn’t really help. “Hemorrhage?!?” “Just a little bit, he banged his head.” She didn’t exactly leave a vacuum behind, but there was a bit of a swirl.
Let me note, the wife is a nurse specializing in pregnant women and newborns; a damn good one. But she says herself that she doesn’t deal well with family and other problems, like head injuries. So after getting him in and cleaned up a bit, she was worried enough to demand a trip to the ER. So an entourage of the wounded, the wife, the daughter(not quite three) and me loaded up. Happily the daughter doesn’t get freaked out, so my job in the event was to
First, park the car after dropping dizzy husband and wife at the door,
Second, bring child in,
Third, keep her out of the way and as happy with things as possible. Which I hadn’t done in quite a while, but I remembered how and she did quite well.
So it was determined that while he may have damaged one of his five remaining brain cells, there didn’t seem to be any serious damage. So while wife was being informed as to what specifics to watch for over the next couple of days, I took kid to car and brought it to the door, and all went back to the house. Shortly thereafter I had to go home and get some sleep before work(this is being written at o-dark-thirty in the morning), and as of last word the injured is doing fine. Though his head is going to be sore for a while.
By the time I got home I was able to get about two hours sleep before having to be at work at the proverbial oh-dark-thirty. But I do get to sleep tonight.
And how was your day off?
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Had a question at an old post about the Remington 512,
Specifically asking about mounting a scope, and if you'd need a gunsmith.
WARNING: I am not a gen-u-wine, officially certified gunsmith: this is what I've picked up over time. This is one of those "Do it right the first time, or not at all" things, so if you're going to try it, make sure you've studied it, that you understand exactly what you're doing, that you get/get access to the proper tools, and that you take the time to do it right.
First off, the gentleman is asking for a relative in India. I have no idea what, if any, regulations there are on parts like this(scope bases, drill bits, taps, rings, scopes) being shipped to India; if he buys them locally, no problem(tap and bits shouldn't be any problem, so many of them COME from India nowadays). If he needs to order them, the company should be able to help him figure it out. India being a friendly country, I doubt any problem, but check to be sure if you’re sending them to him. (Gun Parts has a one-piece base for this rifle, the same one I used on mine)
As to whether needs a gunsmith, depends on what tools he has access to and if they feel up to trying this. At the base level, it’s pretty simple:
Remove the barrel/receiver from the stock.
Clamp it in a suitably padded vise and make sure it’s absolutely square and level in both axes, preferably on a drill press table, or milling machine table.
Set the base/s in place and lock them somehow so they’re square and level.
Use a punch to mark where the holes need to be drilled.
Remove base/s and drill the holes.
Thread the holes.
Clean out thoroughly, all cutting oil and chips.
Install bases.
Like a lot of things, basically straightforward. The trouble comes in keeping everything right at each step. Here it's critical to
Keep the receiver level
Make sure the base/s are level/square and do not move while marking the drilling spots
Make sure the drill does not wander while drilling
Do NOT drill too deep
Run the tap straight while cutting the threads.
You really need a drill press and vise; they make both squaring & leveling and drilling a LOT easier and more precise. For a centerpunch to mark the spots for the drill to bite, there are punches made just for the purpose: different diameter shafts with the punch point in the center. You find the one that will just fit inside the holes in the base, set it in the hole and tap to mark the spot. You can take a pin punch, carefully grind a centered point on the end at a very shallow angle, then carefully grind the diameter(belt sander or grinder) so it’ll barely fit the hole and use it. Or,
You can use the scope base for a drilling guide: level the receiver, set the base in place and clamp it so it cannot shift out of place and use the bases as a guide for the drill. If you do that, be careful; many of the bases are aluminum and relatively soft, and you can damage the side of the hole if the bit is just a touch off center. I have heard of gunsmiths using superglue for this instead of a clamp; clean the top and the bottom of the bases absolutely clean and then glue on square and level; after the glue sets drill the holes.
He’ll have to set the press so the hole depth is just deep enough; one thing that cannot be fixed(short of a new barrel, really) is drilling through into the chamber.
Generally, screws for mounts are threaded 6x48, a small, fine thread and not to be found at most tool places(they can be found at Brownell’s or Midway). They’re easy to break, so use lots of cutting oil and go slowly, in a ¼ to 1/3 turn and then back up. Make one turn at most, then all the way out and clean chips from the hole, relube and go back in. You can chuck the tap into the drill press and use that as a guide to help make sure the tap goes in exactly vertical.
If he has some shop skills and can take it slow and careful, he can probably do it himself. If he has any doubts at all, find a gunsmith. With the right tools and experience, a simple job for the smith.
Please note, this is a very short & dirty ‘how it works’, not an in-depth how. If he’s interested in more details, I’d recommend the Gunsmith Kinks books from Brownells. Lots and lots of tips from gunsmiths on just about everything from mounting sights to bluing to trigger and stock work. And I make this sound possibly worse than it is, but understand that with a scope base you really have no wiggle-room: if you have it a little to one side or the other, the scope will be off-center and that's bad. If you're using two-piece bases and they're not aligned exactly, the rings won't be in line and that's bad. If you get one hole in the right place and your mark for the second turns out to be a little off, that's bad. I've done this job a couple of times and practically sweated blood at some points, checking and rechecking to make sure it was right.
His other question was any scope I'd recommend. You want to start a LONG argument(assuming the moderators don't kill it), go to any gun board and ask that question. My opinion:
For general use on a .22, get either a 4x or, if you want a variable, a 3-9x; for anything but a match rifle that's plenty of magnification. Go with a known brand(Weaver, Bushnell, Tasco and such), and you shouldn't have any problems with it. Most scopes will have either a 1" tube or a 30mm; make sure you get the rings to match.
WARNING: I am not a gen-u-wine, officially certified gunsmith: this is what I've picked up over time. This is one of those "Do it right the first time, or not at all" things, so if you're going to try it, make sure you've studied it, that you understand exactly what you're doing, that you get/get access to the proper tools, and that you take the time to do it right.
First off, the gentleman is asking for a relative in India. I have no idea what, if any, regulations there are on parts like this(scope bases, drill bits, taps, rings, scopes) being shipped to India; if he buys them locally, no problem(tap and bits shouldn't be any problem, so many of them COME from India nowadays). If he needs to order them, the company should be able to help him figure it out. India being a friendly country, I doubt any problem, but check to be sure if you’re sending them to him. (Gun Parts has a one-piece base for this rifle, the same one I used on mine)
As to whether needs a gunsmith, depends on what tools he has access to and if they feel up to trying this. At the base level, it’s pretty simple:
Remove the barrel/receiver from the stock.
Clamp it in a suitably padded vise and make sure it’s absolutely square and level in both axes, preferably on a drill press table, or milling machine table.
Set the base/s in place and lock them somehow so they’re square and level.
Use a punch to mark where the holes need to be drilled.
Remove base/s and drill the holes.
Thread the holes.
Clean out thoroughly, all cutting oil and chips.
Install bases.
Like a lot of things, basically straightforward. The trouble comes in keeping everything right at each step. Here it's critical to
Keep the receiver level
Make sure the base/s are level/square and do not move while marking the drilling spots
Make sure the drill does not wander while drilling
Do NOT drill too deep
Run the tap straight while cutting the threads.
You really need a drill press and vise; they make both squaring & leveling and drilling a LOT easier and more precise. For a centerpunch to mark the spots for the drill to bite, there are punches made just for the purpose: different diameter shafts with the punch point in the center. You find the one that will just fit inside the holes in the base, set it in the hole and tap to mark the spot. You can take a pin punch, carefully grind a centered point on the end at a very shallow angle, then carefully grind the diameter(belt sander or grinder) so it’ll barely fit the hole and use it. Or,
You can use the scope base for a drilling guide: level the receiver, set the base in place and clamp it so it cannot shift out of place and use the bases as a guide for the drill. If you do that, be careful; many of the bases are aluminum and relatively soft, and you can damage the side of the hole if the bit is just a touch off center. I have heard of gunsmiths using superglue for this instead of a clamp; clean the top and the bottom of the bases absolutely clean and then glue on square and level; after the glue sets drill the holes.
He’ll have to set the press so the hole depth is just deep enough; one thing that cannot be fixed(short of a new barrel, really) is drilling through into the chamber.
Generally, screws for mounts are threaded 6x48, a small, fine thread and not to be found at most tool places(they can be found at Brownell’s or Midway). They’re easy to break, so use lots of cutting oil and go slowly, in a ¼ to 1/3 turn and then back up. Make one turn at most, then all the way out and clean chips from the hole, relube and go back in. You can chuck the tap into the drill press and use that as a guide to help make sure the tap goes in exactly vertical.
If he has some shop skills and can take it slow and careful, he can probably do it himself. If he has any doubts at all, find a gunsmith. With the right tools and experience, a simple job for the smith.
Please note, this is a very short & dirty ‘how it works’, not an in-depth how. If he’s interested in more details, I’d recommend the Gunsmith Kinks books from Brownells. Lots and lots of tips from gunsmiths on just about everything from mounting sights to bluing to trigger and stock work. And I make this sound possibly worse than it is, but understand that with a scope base you really have no wiggle-room: if you have it a little to one side or the other, the scope will be off-center and that's bad. If you're using two-piece bases and they're not aligned exactly, the rings won't be in line and that's bad. If you get one hole in the right place and your mark for the second turns out to be a little off, that's bad. I've done this job a couple of times and practically sweated blood at some points, checking and rechecking to make sure it was right.
His other question was any scope I'd recommend. You want to start a LONG argument(assuming the moderators don't kill it), go to any gun board and ask that question. My opinion:
For general use on a .22, get either a 4x or, if you want a variable, a 3-9x; for anything but a match rifle that's plenty of magnification. Go with a known brand(Weaver, Bushnell, Tasco and such), and you shouldn't have any problems with it. Most scopes will have either a 1" tube or a 30mm; make sure you get the rings to match.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Yesterday morning I decided to hit the range. And it was good. And then I came home. Which was so-so as I was short on time. And when I tried to take care of some online stuff, McAfee was updating(which seems to take bloody forever lately) and when it finishes it’s started causing things to slow down. So aside from posting about Fenris, accomplished squat electronically. In any case,
I had the chance to shoot one of these the other day
The Swiss G96/11*. Interesting history as to how this model and the 7.5x55 cartridge came about, found here at Swiss Rifles, including:
It was determined that the 89/96 could easily be converted (Model 1889s could not) to handle the new cartridge by re-barreling the rifle.
The action is a straight-pull bolt; when you pull the handle back it pivots at the rear to unlock the action, the bolt head is rotated to unlock and the bolt comes back to the stop. Push forward and it strips a cartridge from the magazine and feeds it into the chamber, the bolt head rotates to lock the lugs into their recesses, and at the end the handle pivots in and locks everything. The bolt head extends a lot way from the body, which is why the receiver is so damn long. Which makes cleaning interesting: I’ve got a 36” Tipton carbon-fiber rod, and with a long jag on, cleaning from the breech, when the handle hits the receiver the jag is just sticking out the muzzle, not far enough to get the patch out. Need a rod either a bit longer or with a smaller handle to push a patch all the way through. Yes, I had to clean it; small price for shooting it.
Back to the results, when I did my part this was the usual group using ball:
With the sun at a different angle to remove the glare in the rear sight, I think I might(probably in my dreams) have been able to tighten that up a bit. Even if I couldn’t, that’s still a nice group from a almost century-old rifle. Note that I was aiming at the target below this one: right about 6.5-7" above point of aim, which should indeed put it dead on at 300 meters. Recoil was a light thump; the rifle weighs enough and the stock is shaped such that it’s not bad at all. MUCH more pleasant than the 1903 Springfield with ball(I’m going to get either a slip-on recoil pad or fit one to replace the steel buttplate when I take that to the range, as after twenty rounds my shoulder is unhappy with me).
I took along some of the cast-bullet loads I’d made up for my K31 and tried them out:
Not bad at all. I do blame the vertical stringing on me; I was getting a bit tired at this point. Interesting contrast here is that with the K31 the rear sight has to be set to 500 to bring this bullet into the black at 100 yards; with the G96/11 the sight at the lowest- 300- setting places the same load dead-on. Maybe the longer barrel gives a bit more velocity; if I shoot this again I’ll try to take the Chrony along to check it.
Personally, I’d like a deeper, square-bottom notch on the rear; when the sun is hitting the sight from a frontal angle it makes for a somewhat fuzzy notch with the standard ‘u’ shape(there will be no comments tolerated about my being fuzzy). Overall, a very well-made, accurate firearm.
And, I find that Interordnance has the G96/11, the G11 and the K11 right now.
I took the M95 Steyr along to try at 100 yards. I have no ball ammo for this one, just the cast-bullet loads I made up. If you remember, the last time I tried this thing out it was something like a foot high at 30 yards, which was just amazing. Happily things are dropping enough that at 100 the point of impact is only about 8” high. No great groups to show off. This thing has the aforementioned tapered-to-a-rounded-point front sight and combined with the sun and the rear notch, I had trouble sighting precisely. The action is fast and smooth(another straight-pull design), has a strange trigger(long first stage that gets heavier as you go, then a fairly clean, heavy second stage), and the rear sling swivel is on the left side of the wrist, just right to be under your fingers. Which makes me wonder how they settled on the various features. Why not move the swivel a bit back so it’s out of the way? Why have such a heavy spring in the trigger? Why that !*#*^& tapered front post instead of a taper to a flat-top like the Swede Mauser? And why have the battlesight set so damn far for a carbine? All this must have made sense to somebody, but I have no idea why.
Side note: the clips you load the Steyr with will often drop out the bottom of the magazine well as you chamber the last round. If they don’t it’s not a problem: the empty will be pushed out as you load the next. If some don’t drop, and you want them to, squeeze the sides in just a touch and try it again.
And the reason I don’t have any 8x56r ball? Last time I saw any at a show it was $8-10/box of ten, in clips. Not worth that much to me.
*I thought it was a G11. But after looking at the comparisons a Swiss Rifle, it does appear to be a 96/11.
I had the chance to shoot one of these the other day
The Swiss G96/11*. Interesting history as to how this model and the 7.5x55 cartridge came about, found here at Swiss Rifles, including:
1889/96s were converted to 1896.11s buy replacing or modifying the following:
A new barrel was added.
Already fitted the the barrel were new front and rear sights.
A pistol grip was grafted onto the stock of the rifle.
The new rifles were also fitted with 6rd magazines, similar to the 1889/1900 pattern magazine, minus the reinforcing ridge, although the magazine did include a bolt hold-open feature for when the magazine was empty.
A new trigger-guard was fitted to accommodate the new magazine.
The action is a straight-pull bolt; when you pull the handle back it pivots at the rear to unlock the action, the bolt head is rotated to unlock and the bolt comes back to the stop. Push forward and it strips a cartridge from the magazine and feeds it into the chamber, the bolt head rotates to lock the lugs into their recesses, and at the end the handle pivots in and locks everything. The bolt head extends a lot way from the body, which is why the receiver is so damn long. Which makes cleaning interesting: I’ve got a 36” Tipton carbon-fiber rod, and with a long jag on, cleaning from the breech, when the handle hits the receiver the jag is just sticking out the muzzle, not far enough to get the patch out. Need a rod either a bit longer or with a smaller handle to push a patch all the way through. Yes, I had to clean it; small price for shooting it.
Back to the results, when I did my part this was the usual group using ball:
With the sun at a different angle to remove the glare in the rear sight, I think I might(probably in my dreams) have been able to tighten that up a bit. Even if I couldn’t, that’s still a nice group from a almost century-old rifle. Note that I was aiming at the target below this one: right about 6.5-7" above point of aim, which should indeed put it dead on at 300 meters. Recoil was a light thump; the rifle weighs enough and the stock is shaped such that it’s not bad at all. MUCH more pleasant than the 1903 Springfield with ball(I’m going to get either a slip-on recoil pad or fit one to replace the steel buttplate when I take that to the range, as after twenty rounds my shoulder is unhappy with me).
I took along some of the cast-bullet loads I’d made up for my K31 and tried them out:
Personally, I’d like a deeper, square-bottom notch on the rear; when the sun is hitting the sight from a frontal angle it makes for a somewhat fuzzy notch with the standard ‘u’ shape(there will be no comments tolerated about my being fuzzy). Overall, a very well-made, accurate firearm.
And, I find that Interordnance has the G96/11, the G11 and the K11 right now.
I took the M95 Steyr along to try at 100 yards. I have no ball ammo for this one, just the cast-bullet loads I made up. If you remember, the last time I tried this thing out it was something like a foot high at 30 yards, which was just amazing. Happily things are dropping enough that at 100 the point of impact is only about 8” high. No great groups to show off. This thing has the aforementioned tapered-to-a-rounded-point front sight and combined with the sun and the rear notch, I had trouble sighting precisely. The action is fast and smooth(another straight-pull design), has a strange trigger(long first stage that gets heavier as you go, then a fairly clean, heavy second stage), and the rear sling swivel is on the left side of the wrist, just right to be under your fingers. Which makes me wonder how they settled on the various features. Why not move the swivel a bit back so it’s out of the way? Why have such a heavy spring in the trigger? Why that !*#*^& tapered front post instead of a taper to a flat-top like the Swede Mauser? And why have the battlesight set so damn far for a carbine? All this must have made sense to somebody, but I have no idea why.
Side note: the clips you load the Steyr with will often drop out the bottom of the magazine well as you chamber the last round. If they don’t it’s not a problem: the empty will be pushed out as you load the next. If some don’t drop, and you want them to, squeeze the sides in just a touch and try it again.
And the reason I don’t have any 8x56r ball? Last time I saw any at a show it was $8-10/box of ten, in clips. Not worth that much to me.
*I thought it was a G11. But after looking at the comparisons a Swiss Rifle, it does appear to be a 96/11.
A Fenris story
Fenris had three reasons to like it when his pack stopped by my booth: a place to rest, water to drink, and Scotch eggs.
Take a hard-boiled egg, wrap it in sausage, roll that in bread crumbs, then bake until done. That’s a Scotch egg. And he loved them. My ex and daughter help out at the booth(long history there), the ex always makes some, and when Fenris started coming by the ex began setting a few aside, so he could have one or two each day. Oh, yeah, he remembered that.
Last year there were no eggs on Friday. Late in the afternoon they came by and, since were on their way out, just stopped out front to talk, and I noticed Fenris looking over the table with an odd expression(if you don’t think animals can have an expression on their face, you haven’t really looked). The chihuahuas were in the booth, but he didn’t pay much attention to other canines(“You are not worthy of my attention”) so it wasn’t that. It finally hit me what the trouble was; I leaned over the table and said “Fenris, there are no Scotch eggs today.” Oh, God, the look he had. “There’ll be some tomorrow, and some are just for you.”
“But what about TODAY!? I was looking forward to it all DAY!”
“None today, but you get some tomorrow.”
That was one seriously disappointed critter.
Next day they came by for a usual stop, and soon as I saw them coming got an egg out. Fenris came to the end of the table and I told him “Yeah, we’ve got it for you today!”
“WHERE?”
Tossed it to him and chomp-chomp, it was gone. Much happier. He got another before they left, and made it known we were forgiven for Friday.
Another comes to mind:
Fenris was one of the worst beggers I’ve ever seen. Take a 100+ pound wolf, in fine health, and imagine it managing to look hungry, downright starved, at you. “You’ve got food, and I’m starving, can I have a bite?” Etc. He was also sneaky. One Sunday we had a jar of cookies on a table, and Cassie- the daughter of the human part of the pack- took off the lid.
Fenris was sitting just behind her left leg, watching. Waiting.
She lifted the lid, took out a cookie.
He tensed just a touch.
She took out a cookie and held it aside as the replaced the lid.
And he reared forward and up and snapped off the entire cookie outside her fingers.
He’s sitting licking his chops when Cassie looks around and says “Hey!” And he just looked at her, “Do it again.” Pretty much a command. But he didn’t get the next one.
Take a hard-boiled egg, wrap it in sausage, roll that in bread crumbs, then bake until done. That’s a Scotch egg. And he loved them. My ex and daughter help out at the booth(long history there), the ex always makes some, and when Fenris started coming by the ex began setting a few aside, so he could have one or two each day. Oh, yeah, he remembered that.
Last year there were no eggs on Friday. Late in the afternoon they came by and, since were on their way out, just stopped out front to talk, and I noticed Fenris looking over the table with an odd expression(if you don’t think animals can have an expression on their face, you haven’t really looked). The chihuahuas were in the booth, but he didn’t pay much attention to other canines(“You are not worthy of my attention”) so it wasn’t that. It finally hit me what the trouble was; I leaned over the table and said “Fenris, there are no Scotch eggs today.” Oh, God, the look he had. “There’ll be some tomorrow, and some are just for you.”
“But what about TODAY!? I was looking forward to it all DAY!”
“None today, but you get some tomorrow.”
That was one seriously disappointed critter.
Next day they came by for a usual stop, and soon as I saw them coming got an egg out. Fenris came to the end of the table and I told him “Yeah, we’ve got it for you today!”
“WHERE?”
Tossed it to him and chomp-chomp, it was gone. Much happier. He got another before they left, and made it known we were forgiven for Friday.
Another comes to mind:
Fenris was one of the worst beggers I’ve ever seen. Take a 100+ pound wolf, in fine health, and imagine it managing to look hungry, downright starved, at you. “You’ve got food, and I’m starving, can I have a bite?” Etc. He was also sneaky. One Sunday we had a jar of cookies on a table, and Cassie- the daughter of the human part of the pack- took off the lid.
Fenris was sitting just behind her left leg, watching. Waiting.
She lifted the lid, took out a cookie.
He tensed just a touch.
She took out a cookie and held it aside as the replaced the lid.
And he reared forward and up and snapped off the entire cookie outside her fingers.
He’s sitting licking his chops when Cassie looks around and says “Hey!” And he just looked at her, “Do it again.” Pretty much a command. But he didn’t get the next one.
I wrot to my Rep., Mary Fallin, and this was the response I got
to my "Why the hell did you vote for this crap?" letter:
The last few weeks have been a very challenging time for our nation and financial markets as we in Congress and on Main Street have debated about what action, if any, is required to stabilize our national financial system. While we have turned the page on the first chapter of this crisis, our economic problems require a long term fix, and there are surely many more challenges ahead.
We've turned the page into a horror novel.
I share the anger and frustration of all Americans over the current financial crisis. The fact that we have been forced to pass a government intervention of this magnitude is a testament to how great the scope of this problem truly is. I am optimistic, however, that the actions taken in Congress and the deliberate and careful process by which the final economic rescue plan was produced will help to eventually stabilize our economy.
'Deliberate and careful process?!? That mess we witnessed with Congress and the White House yelling "The sky is falling! Give us a blank check OR WE'RE DEAD!" ?
The first hastily drafted version of this bill, presented to Congress on September 29 and voted on that same day, was flawed. It did not contain market reforms, nor did it adequately protect the use of taxpayers' money. I opposed it on these grounds. Like many of my colleagues, however, I understood something needed to be done to keep our economy from further market and job losses.
That you opposed that mess was good. However, anymore, when a politician says 'something needed to be done' I want to put a Claymore on my wallet.
As the week following that vote progressed, I joined my colleagues in pushing for the addition of market reforms that were included into a new and improved version of the rescue package. Raising the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 was an important step in protecting Americans' savings and small business assets. Additionally, the suspension of "mark to market" accounting rules will add a degree of stability to this volatile climate. While these changes in no way made the new bill perfect, they did mark an improvement over what we saw earlier.
Oh, yeah, LOTS of 'market reforms'. With Chris Countrywide Dodd and Barney Fannie Mae Frank leading the way instead of being the targets of FBI investigations. Real confidence-builders, those. And anyone who thinks this abortion that came out of the Senate was 'more carefully crafted'(I'm assuming that's what she means by 'new and improved version') than the original House version... unless, of course, overlooking all the additional looting added into it makes it look 'new and improved'.
These improvements, combined with a clear need to act decisively, convinced me to offer my support for this new bill. Inaction was not a choice. Although Oklahoma has been fortunate to have a stronger economy than the rest of the nation, the implications of an economic collapse and its potential impact on every American family could not be ignored.
How about 'action to strip out all the pork'? How about 'action to strip out all the bribes to businesses and politicians'? Why couldn't we see THAT action in this mess? THAT kind of 'acting decisively'?
The calls I got from the Fifth District only reinforced that notion. Many in business and banking called to discuss the tightening of credit for business expansion. Families called, worried about the difficulty of getting car and home loans during a credit crisis. Municipalities and universities were concerned over the lack of sale of bond issues to finish or begin new projects. Oklahoma's State Treasurer expressed his concern for teacher pensions, which he estimated would suffer a $42 million loss, along with over $15 million in expected losses to the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement Fund.
Which means you had to vote for something that would loot billions out of our pockets to pay off the aforementioned politicians and their supporters? Wonderful solution, that is.
If the instability in our markets is not aggressively addressed, it will affect the economic security of almost every family and business in Oklahoma. It is for that reason that I decided, in what is surely one of the most difficult decisions I have made while in office, to support the revised economic rescue package.
Therefore deciding that the aforementioned looting of our pockets was worth it. Instability that could have been addressed WITHOUT all the payoffs and bribes. As if all the money taken out of our pockets to pay bribes and buy votes WON'T affect our economic security. As if the Treasury Secretary being given all kinds of neat authority won't screw with things. Yeah. How about 'aggressively addressing' this crap, dammit?
This plan is the first step towards economic recovery, but it is hardly the last. Looking forward, we must seek additional measures to ensure the taxpayers are never placed in this position again. Congress will retain oversight of the process, and I will work to make sure new safeguards are put in place to prevent future problems. Fixing things is not enough. We have to permanently end the bad practices that caused this mess in the first place and punish the bad players in the marketplace.
Yeah, we're hearing about all the 'next steps'. Like the treasury secretary and all the new powers he's been given to play with, and the increased socialization of our nation. And more and more screwing with our lives by corrupt politicians.
And I do not use 'corrupt' lightly. As Scalzi wrote the other day, all those 'sweeteners' written into the Senate bill are properly called 'bribes'. Which means every Senator or Rep. who changed their vote based on them is properly called corrupt, as they were bribed to change their vote. I have no idea if there was something there that helped change Fallin's vote; I'm speaking in general. If she did change it based on one of these 'sweeteners', then she's a corrupt as the rest.
More and more, either a meteor or the rope stand seems like a real good idea.
The last few weeks have been a very challenging time for our nation and financial markets as we in Congress and on Main Street have debated about what action, if any, is required to stabilize our national financial system. While we have turned the page on the first chapter of this crisis, our economic problems require a long term fix, and there are surely many more challenges ahead.
We've turned the page into a horror novel.
I share the anger and frustration of all Americans over the current financial crisis. The fact that we have been forced to pass a government intervention of this magnitude is a testament to how great the scope of this problem truly is. I am optimistic, however, that the actions taken in Congress and the deliberate and careful process by which the final economic rescue plan was produced will help to eventually stabilize our economy.
'Deliberate and careful process?!? That mess we witnessed with Congress and the White House yelling "The sky is falling! Give us a blank check OR WE'RE DEAD!" ?
The first hastily drafted version of this bill, presented to Congress on September 29 and voted on that same day, was flawed. It did not contain market reforms, nor did it adequately protect the use of taxpayers' money. I opposed it on these grounds. Like many of my colleagues, however, I understood something needed to be done to keep our economy from further market and job losses.
That you opposed that mess was good. However, anymore, when a politician says 'something needed to be done' I want to put a Claymore on my wallet.
As the week following that vote progressed, I joined my colleagues in pushing for the addition of market reforms that were included into a new and improved version of the rescue package. Raising the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 was an important step in protecting Americans' savings and small business assets. Additionally, the suspension of "mark to market" accounting rules will add a degree of stability to this volatile climate. While these changes in no way made the new bill perfect, they did mark an improvement over what we saw earlier.
Oh, yeah, LOTS of 'market reforms'. With Chris Countrywide Dodd and Barney Fannie Mae Frank leading the way instead of being the targets of FBI investigations. Real confidence-builders, those. And anyone who thinks this abortion that came out of the Senate was 'more carefully crafted'(I'm assuming that's what she means by 'new and improved version') than the original House version... unless, of course, overlooking all the additional looting added into it makes it look 'new and improved'.
These improvements, combined with a clear need to act decisively, convinced me to offer my support for this new bill. Inaction was not a choice. Although Oklahoma has been fortunate to have a stronger economy than the rest of the nation, the implications of an economic collapse and its potential impact on every American family could not be ignored.
How about 'action to strip out all the pork'? How about 'action to strip out all the bribes to businesses and politicians'? Why couldn't we see THAT action in this mess? THAT kind of 'acting decisively'?
The calls I got from the Fifth District only reinforced that notion. Many in business and banking called to discuss the tightening of credit for business expansion. Families called, worried about the difficulty of getting car and home loans during a credit crisis. Municipalities and universities were concerned over the lack of sale of bond issues to finish or begin new projects. Oklahoma's State Treasurer expressed his concern for teacher pensions, which he estimated would suffer a $42 million loss, along with over $15 million in expected losses to the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement Fund.
Which means you had to vote for something that would loot billions out of our pockets to pay off the aforementioned politicians and their supporters? Wonderful solution, that is.
If the instability in our markets is not aggressively addressed, it will affect the economic security of almost every family and business in Oklahoma. It is for that reason that I decided, in what is surely one of the most difficult decisions I have made while in office, to support the revised economic rescue package.
Therefore deciding that the aforementioned looting of our pockets was worth it. Instability that could have been addressed WITHOUT all the payoffs and bribes. As if all the money taken out of our pockets to pay bribes and buy votes WON'T affect our economic security. As if the Treasury Secretary being given all kinds of neat authority won't screw with things. Yeah. How about 'aggressively addressing' this crap, dammit?
This plan is the first step towards economic recovery, but it is hardly the last. Looking forward, we must seek additional measures to ensure the taxpayers are never placed in this position again. Congress will retain oversight of the process, and I will work to make sure new safeguards are put in place to prevent future problems. Fixing things is not enough. We have to permanently end the bad practices that caused this mess in the first place and punish the bad players in the marketplace.
Yeah, we're hearing about all the 'next steps'. Like the treasury secretary and all the new powers he's been given to play with, and the increased socialization of our nation. And more and more screwing with our lives by corrupt politicians.
And I do not use 'corrupt' lightly. As Scalzi wrote the other day, all those 'sweeteners' written into the Senate bill are properly called 'bribes'. Which means every Senator or Rep. who changed their vote based on them is properly called corrupt, as they were bribed to change their vote. I have no idea if there was something there that helped change Fallin's vote; I'm speaking in general. If she did change it based on one of these 'sweeteners', then she's a corrupt as the rest.
More and more, either a meteor or the rope stand seems like a real good idea.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
A sad note today
Fenris, the wolf who always came to Med-Fair, died the other day.His people are taking it about like you'd expect.
Damn, I'm gonna miss him.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Let's see, all kinds of things out there
Some people may be playing games with American Carol showings. Trying to depress ticket sales figures? Trying to keep people out by messing with ratings listings?
Google needs a new slogan: "Don't be Evil: Let Us Do It!"
Saturday Night Live notes crooked Evil Party politicians and connections: video disappears(mostly).
And, thanks to a suggestion in comments, it's not my hat: it a ACU Tactical Pet Bed.
Yeah, it's not much, but I'm short on time
Google needs a new slogan: "Don't be Evil: Let Us Do It!"
Saturday Night Live notes crooked Evil Party politicians and connections: video disappears(mostly).
And, thanks to a suggestion in comments, it's not my hat: it a ACU Tactical Pet Bed.
Yeah, it's not much, but I'm short on time
Monday, October 06, 2008
The machinery of civilization
Insty notes something about it here, which got me thinking. I've come to the conclusion(long time ago, but it kind of coalesced now) that to an awful lot of people that machinery just appears from somewhere. Kind of like food appears in the grocery store.
I once worked it out for someone. They thought getting rid of all the nasty coal and gas and oil-fueled power plants would be just wonderful, somehow doing so would force clean, abundant alternate sources to appear(the Pure Effing Magic effect). So I asked them if metals would be needed for society to continue? Machines and tools and so forth? Of course, they said.
So how are you going to make them? The metals, and the tools?
I don't think that'd ever really occurred. How DO you make them?
Ok, so at the most basic level, metal tools, that means forging them. Will coal be allowed as a fuel for the fire? No? Too dirty? So back to the original. Charcoal.
Charcoal?
Yep. Over time whole sections of forest were cleared by the charcoal burners, turning trees into forge and furnace and cooking fuel. One forge might not use that much, but a bunch? Not to mention the furnaces to refine metal from ore, and recycle steel and brass and copper(to mention a few); say goodbye to a LOT of trees. What? Can't allow that? Well, then, considering that you cannot name one alternate energy source capable of replacing oil and gas and coal(not going into nuke plants right now), in efficiency and cost and space in the next ten years(at least, barring a miracle-level discovery) let alone right now when you turn off the currently operating plants, we're screwed. If you did allow charcoal you'd have to log off most of the forest on the continent to keep a metals industry of any size going.
Which connects to, I wonder if a lot of the enviroweenies have really thought about what the effect is on people in third-world countries when they try to deny them coal or whatever-fired power? That means cutting trees and drying animal crap for fuel; the latter is not exactly fun, the former means cutting trees and spending a lot of time each day to get the fuel just to cook food. I know the real nutcase level greenies have a solution: let die off(or kill off) so much of the population that the nasty humans are no longer any real influence on Mother Gaia; but for the less genocidal/homicidal types, what the hell do they THINK people are going to do? Solar panels won't cut it, wind won't cut it(either one on any real scale), and the greenies break out in hives at the thought of dams, so the question becomes WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THESE PEOPLE TO DO? They want the machinery of civilization, badly. And they get really, really pissed when you tell them they can't have it, to stay in their quaint little villages and be happy.
I once worked it out for someone. They thought getting rid of all the nasty coal and gas and oil-fueled power plants would be just wonderful, somehow doing so would force clean, abundant alternate sources to appear(the Pure Effing Magic effect). So I asked them if metals would be needed for society to continue? Machines and tools and so forth? Of course, they said.
So how are you going to make them? The metals, and the tools?
I don't think that'd ever really occurred. How DO you make them?
Ok, so at the most basic level, metal tools, that means forging them. Will coal be allowed as a fuel for the fire? No? Too dirty? So back to the original. Charcoal.
Charcoal?
Yep. Over time whole sections of forest were cleared by the charcoal burners, turning trees into forge and furnace and cooking fuel. One forge might not use that much, but a bunch? Not to mention the furnaces to refine metal from ore, and recycle steel and brass and copper(to mention a few); say goodbye to a LOT of trees. What? Can't allow that? Well, then, considering that you cannot name one alternate energy source capable of replacing oil and gas and coal(not going into nuke plants right now), in efficiency and cost and space in the next ten years(at least, barring a miracle-level discovery) let alone right now when you turn off the currently operating plants, we're screwed. If you did allow charcoal you'd have to log off most of the forest on the continent to keep a metals industry of any size going.
Which connects to, I wonder if a lot of the enviroweenies have really thought about what the effect is on people in third-world countries when they try to deny them coal or whatever-fired power? That means cutting trees and drying animal crap for fuel; the latter is not exactly fun, the former means cutting trees and spending a lot of time each day to get the fuel just to cook food. I know the real nutcase level greenies have a solution: let die off(or kill off) so much of the population that the nasty humans are no longer any real influence on Mother Gaia; but for the less genocidal/homicidal types, what the hell do they THINK people are going to do? Solar panels won't cut it, wind won't cut it(either one on any real scale), and the greenies break out in hives at the thought of dams, so the question becomes WHAT DO YOU EXPECT THESE PEOPLE TO DO? They want the machinery of civilization, badly. And they get really, really pissed when you tell them they can't have it, to stay in their quaint little villages and be happy.
Story from the sandbox
I haven't printed a lot about what son's doing/been doing; partly he doesn't say a lot about things, and partly(if he did tell me a lot) I'm not the New York effin' Times, I don't want to inadvertently let something out. But it's been a while since this happened, so...
While back I was driving somewhere and the phone rang, it was he.
"How's things in your part of the world?"
"I no longer have a truck."
Confusion, as his truck was in the driveway five minutes ago. "What do you mean, it's in the-"
"I mean my truck here."
"Oh. What happened to it?"
"It blew up."
Yeah, that does kind of get your attention. However, he was obviously alive and not in pain or something so I figured any injury had to be minor, so "What happened?"
Background: A few months before this they'd gotten MRAPs to replace(for some uses) the humvees. They're big(gunners cupola on top is 12-feet off the ground), heavy, from his report handle such that saying they handle like pig would be insulting to the porcine race, and armored out the wazoo. In fact, during the wet season they couldn't use them on some roads: too big and heavy.
So, they're on patrol, rolling down the road, son in the cupola, when they hit a mine. As he described it it was like getting hit in the face with a hot pillow and then the MRAP stopped. Aw, crap. He's scanning for ambush(like everybody not inside that vehicle) and waiting for the aother shoe to drop. One-legged man this time, apparently an old mine. So once it was determined the bad guys weren't about to pop over the hilltops they assessed the damage and injuries. Injuries consisted of one guy inside who'd been snoozing with his helmet off; banged his head on the "Ow! Dammit!" level. Damage?
Left front wheel gone, suspension trashed(what was left of it), engine and tranny pretty much trashed. Nothing else. They found a 80-pound piece of the run-flat tire 200 yards away. The EOD guy who checked it out thought it was an old mine, at least a month; looked like the driver just happened to be a bit out of line with the vehicles in front so this vehicle tripped it.
No, at the time didn't pass this on to the grandparents, as they worry enough already.
About a month ago, after the unit moved to another area, another of the MRAPs went through an almost identical situation: big mine taking out one side of the front end. No injuries to speak of this time, either. The things are big, heavy and clumsy, but the armor works.
He also mentioned that the M240 he's been using is a very good piece. Among other things, from the vehicle mount he can put a belt into about a 3" group at 50 yards, which is pretty damn good for an MG.
And that was about the most exciting thing he's mentioned over time.
While back I was driving somewhere and the phone rang, it was he.
"How's things in your part of the world?"
"I no longer have a truck."
Confusion, as his truck was in the driveway five minutes ago. "What do you mean, it's in the-"
"I mean my truck here."
"Oh. What happened to it?"
"It blew up."
Yeah, that does kind of get your attention. However, he was obviously alive and not in pain or something so I figured any injury had to be minor, so "What happened?"
Background: A few months before this they'd gotten MRAPs to replace(for some uses) the humvees. They're big(gunners cupola on top is 12-feet off the ground), heavy, from his report handle such that saying they handle like pig would be insulting to the porcine race, and armored out the wazoo. In fact, during the wet season they couldn't use them on some roads: too big and heavy.
So, they're on patrol, rolling down the road, son in the cupola, when they hit a mine. As he described it it was like getting hit in the face with a hot pillow and then the MRAP stopped. Aw, crap. He's scanning for ambush(like everybody not inside that vehicle) and waiting for the aother shoe to drop. One-legged man this time, apparently an old mine. So once it was determined the bad guys weren't about to pop over the hilltops they assessed the damage and injuries. Injuries consisted of one guy inside who'd been snoozing with his helmet off; banged his head on the "Ow! Dammit!" level. Damage?
Left front wheel gone, suspension trashed(what was left of it), engine and tranny pretty much trashed. Nothing else. They found a 80-pound piece of the run-flat tire 200 yards away. The EOD guy who checked it out thought it was an old mine, at least a month; looked like the driver just happened to be a bit out of line with the vehicles in front so this vehicle tripped it.
No, at the time didn't pass this on to the grandparents, as they worry enough already.
About a month ago, after the unit moved to another area, another of the MRAPs went through an almost identical situation: big mine taking out one side of the front end. No injuries to speak of this time, either. The things are big, heavy and clumsy, but the armor works.
He also mentioned that the M240 he's been using is a very good piece. Among other things, from the vehicle mount he can put a belt into about a 3" group at 50 yards, which is pretty damn good for an MG.
And that was about the most exciting thing he's mentioned over time.
Yeah, Barack I BELIEVE!!! in the 2nd Amendment Obama
has been a supporter just, practically forever!
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama must demonstrate executive experience, but he remains strangely silent about his eight years (1994-2002) as a director of the Joyce Foundation, a billion dollar tax-exempt organization. He has one obvious reason: during his time as director, Joyce Foundation spent millions creating and supporting anti-gun organizations.
There is another, less known, reason.
During Obama’s tenure, the Joyce Foundation board planned and implemented a program targeting the Supreme Court. The work began five years into Obama’s directorship, when the Foundation had experience in turning its millions into anti-gun “grassroots” organizations, but none at converting cash into legal scholarship.
The plan’s objective was bold: the judicial obliteration of the Second Amendment.
...
The Joyce directorate’s plan almost succeeded. The individual rights view won out in the Heller Supreme Court appeal, but only by 5-4. The four dissenters were persuaded in part by Joyce-funded writings, down to relying on an article which misled them on critical historical documents.
Having lost that fight, Obama now claims he always held the individual rights view of the Second Amendment, and that he “respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.” [.pdf available at link] But as a Joyce director, Obama was involved in a wealthy foundation’s attempt to manipulate the Supreme Court, buy legal scholarship, and obliterate the individual right to arms.
Read the whole damn thing, and spread it around. Especially to anyone of the "He won't bother my shotgun/target rifle" mindset.
As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama must demonstrate executive experience, but he remains strangely silent about his eight years (1994-2002) as a director of the Joyce Foundation, a billion dollar tax-exempt organization. He has one obvious reason: during his time as director, Joyce Foundation spent millions creating and supporting anti-gun organizations.
There is another, less known, reason.
During Obama’s tenure, the Joyce Foundation board planned and implemented a program targeting the Supreme Court. The work began five years into Obama’s directorship, when the Foundation had experience in turning its millions into anti-gun “grassroots” organizations, but none at converting cash into legal scholarship.
The plan’s objective was bold: the judicial obliteration of the Second Amendment.
...
The Joyce directorate’s plan almost succeeded. The individual rights view won out in the Heller Supreme Court appeal, but only by 5-4. The four dissenters were persuaded in part by Joyce-funded writings, down to relying on an article which misled them on critical historical documents.
Having lost that fight, Obama now claims he always held the individual rights view of the Second Amendment, and that he “respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.” [.pdf available at link] But as a Joyce director, Obama was involved in a wealthy foundation’s attempt to manipulate the Supreme Court, buy legal scholarship, and obliterate the individual right to arms.
Read the whole damn thing, and spread it around. Especially to anyone of the "He won't bother my shotgun/target rifle" mindset.
And, for a display of full-blown PDS and enablers,
check this out:
And then came Sarah. My reaction to her, and the way the Republican Party threw her in our faces, and the pandering and hypocrisy that was behind their decision to do so, was immediate, visceral, and indeed, vicious. I have crossed every line I believed should never be crossed in public discourse — I have criticized not only her policies and her record, but her hair, her personal style, her accent, her abilities as a mother, etc. I’ve also begun to suffer personally and professionally. I bore my friends with my constant tirades against her, and am constantly distracted from my work by my need to continually update myself on the latest criticism, and indeed, ridicule, of her. In my hatred for her, I have begun to hate myself. I don’t want this woman ruining my life before she even gets a chance to ruin our country. How do I stop? Is there a self-help group for this? A “Hater”
And, if you have the stomach for it(or some tranquilizers), read the whole of the 'response' to it; these people really, truly are freakin' insane. Here's what the proper response should have been:
Dear 'Hater';
'This woman' is not ruining your life, YOU ARE. You are obsessed and about to drive away your friends and ruin your career by it. When you get home, have a drink and GIVE IT A REST! She's not the freakin' antiChrist, she's not out to get you, and you need help.
And then came Sarah. My reaction to her, and the way the Republican Party threw her in our faces, and the pandering and hypocrisy that was behind their decision to do so, was immediate, visceral, and indeed, vicious. I have crossed every line I believed should never be crossed in public discourse — I have criticized not only her policies and her record, but her hair, her personal style, her accent, her abilities as a mother, etc. I’ve also begun to suffer personally and professionally. I bore my friends with my constant tirades against her, and am constantly distracted from my work by my need to continually update myself on the latest criticism, and indeed, ridicule, of her. In my hatred for her, I have begun to hate myself. I don’t want this woman ruining my life before she even gets a chance to ruin our country. How do I stop? Is there a self-help group for this? A “Hater”
And, if you have the stomach for it(or some tranquilizers), read the whole of the 'response' to it; these people really, truly are freakin' insane. Here's what the proper response should have been:
Dear 'Hater';
'This woman' is not ruining your life, YOU ARE. You are obsessed and about to drive away your friends and ruin your career by it. When you get home, have a drink and GIVE IT A REST! She's not the freakin' antiChrist, she's not out to get you, and you need help.
A very good piece on Barack Don't Look At My History Obama
at Tammy Bruce:
I don't place much faith in what a candidate says and does after declaring his or her candidacy. Once he steps into the spotlight, he's playing to the crowd. He's on good behavior, and he'll tell us whatever we want to hear. This is a demonstration of his acting ability...and a politician is indeed part actor, but there's more to the job than that. The true measure of the man is what he did with his life when he didn't think he was being watched. That's what you're going to get when the candidate is in power, and never mind the speeches.
As we do with celebrities, we tend to project our fantasies onto politicians. The less we know about a person, the easier this is. With Obama's charisma and short history, and with the sympathies of the mainstream media behind him, he's been allowed to remain too much of a blank slate. This is slowly changing, as the reality becomes known and eats away at his mystique. Note that Obama's greatest string of victories in the Democratic primaries came when he was a new thing. As information trickled out, he lost steam. If more facts had been on the table earlier, Hillary certainly would have been the Democratic nominee.
Our job as voters isn't to nitpick and debate every nuance and gaffe. In a world of trivia and spin, we must seek the most essential truths and make them known.
and takes it from there. Including
At this point I'm scratching my head in puzzlement and wondering how Obama's candidacy didn't come to a complete halt when his background became known. He stood at the forefront of an organization that is on the record in promoting a hateful, racist agenda. He did this over the entirety of his adult life, only stepping away reluctantly and when compelled as a matter of political expediency. Something has gone horribly wrong with a political party that takes this damaged man and pushes him to the head of the crowd.
Very worth reading.
Also, a bit more on Obama and Ayers. AND, for your Monday-doesn't-suck-enough enjoyment, how ALL questions of Obama are RACIST!!!
I don't place much faith in what a candidate says and does after declaring his or her candidacy. Once he steps into the spotlight, he's playing to the crowd. He's on good behavior, and he'll tell us whatever we want to hear. This is a demonstration of his acting ability...and a politician is indeed part actor, but there's more to the job than that. The true measure of the man is what he did with his life when he didn't think he was being watched. That's what you're going to get when the candidate is in power, and never mind the speeches.
As we do with celebrities, we tend to project our fantasies onto politicians. The less we know about a person, the easier this is. With Obama's charisma and short history, and with the sympathies of the mainstream media behind him, he's been allowed to remain too much of a blank slate. This is slowly changing, as the reality becomes known and eats away at his mystique. Note that Obama's greatest string of victories in the Democratic primaries came when he was a new thing. As information trickled out, he lost steam. If more facts had been on the table earlier, Hillary certainly would have been the Democratic nominee.
Our job as voters isn't to nitpick and debate every nuance and gaffe. In a world of trivia and spin, we must seek the most essential truths and make them known.
and takes it from there. Including
At this point I'm scratching my head in puzzlement and wondering how Obama's candidacy didn't come to a complete halt when his background became known. He stood at the forefront of an organization that is on the record in promoting a hateful, racist agenda. He did this over the entirety of his adult life, only stepping away reluctantly and when compelled as a matter of political expediency. Something has gone horribly wrong with a political party that takes this damaged man and pushes him to the head of the crowd.
Very worth reading.
Also, a bit more on Obama and Ayers. AND, for your Monday-doesn't-suck-enough enjoyment, how ALL questions of Obama are RACIST!!!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Bill Ayers and Barack He's Just An Acquaintance Obama
now have a bit more questioning of their relationship to deal with. And, just to do my part to keep the noise up, I'll note these things Sondra found:
Last week, Ayers defended the September 2001 comments on his blog stating: “I’m sometimes asked if I regret anything I did to oppose the war in Vietnam and I say: No, I don’t regret anything I did to stop the slaughter of millions of human beings by my own government.”
while over here we see
In the wake of the Barack Obama association with Bill Ayers and friends, Zombie pointed out something that many people in the mainstream press conveniently forget or forgive — the Weather Underground wasn’t just anti-war. Instead like ANSWER, WCW, and UFPJ they were, and remain radical communists bent on revolution. Many of their activities occurred after the US had already pulled out of Viet Nam, Zombie recalls a few:
And let us not forget their fund-raising activities loooong after Vietnam was over:May 18, 1973 - The bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York. WUO states this is in response to the killing of 10-year-old black youth Clifford Glover by police.
September 28, 1973 - The ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy are bombed. WUO states this is in response to ITT’s alleged role in the Chilean coup earlier that month. [NYT, 9/28/73]
March 6, 1974 - Bombing of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco. WUO states this is to protest alleged sterilization of poor women. In the accompanying communiqué, the Women’s Brigade argues for “the need for women to take control of daycare, healthcare, birth control and other aspects of women’s daily lives.”
May 31, 1974 - The Office of the California Attorney General is bombed. WUO states this is in response to the killing of six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
July, 1974 – The WUO releases the book Prairie Fire, in which they indicate the need for a unified Communist Party. They encourage the creation of study groups to discuss their ideology, and continue to stress the need for violent acts. The book also admits WUO responsibility of several actions from previous years. The Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (PFOC) arises from the teachings in this book and is organized by many former WUO members.
September 11, 1974 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation (part of the Rockefeller Corporation). WUO states this is in retribution for Anaconda’s alleged involvement in the Chilean coup the previous year.
June 16, 1975 - Weathermen bomb a Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York, WUO states this is in solidarity with striking Puerto Rican cement workers.
October 20, 1981 - Brinks robbery in which Kathy Boudin and several members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army stole over $1 million from a Brinks armored car at the Nanuet Mall, near Nyack, New York on October 20, 1981. The robbers were stopped by police later that day and engaged them in a shootout, killing two police officers and one Brinks guard as well as wounding several others.
Assuming we actually had any reporters worth their salt in the major media, the big questions on the Ayers-Obama connection would've been asked, repeatedly, a long time ago. And the excuses and evasions really reported, and investigated. That this hasn't happened really tells us all we need to know about what's happened to our major media(as if Dan Rather & Co. hadn't already done that).
I don't hear the visitor for a while, look around and find her
using my hat.
Which is not supposed to have a dog-fur lining, dammit.
Which is not supposed to have a dog-fur lining, dammit.
No no, you mustn't lock up your tools,
then they might break in:
Tenants have been warned that padlocks can lead to thieves forcing their way through doors and windows of the council-owned sheds to steal garden equipment.
Bristol City Council claims its 'Don't Use a Padlock' initiative will save taxpayers' money because fewer sheds will have to be repaired or replaced.
...
But a gardener at Bifield Allotments, in the Stockwood area of the city, whose shed was broken into a few weeks ago, criticised the advice.
Terry Nichols, 71, a retired engineering consultant, who has rented a plot at the site for more than 25 years, said: "It beggars belief that the council is telling us to leave our sheds wide open so that anyone can get in them.
"Everyone who has an allotment has been sent a letter. I have never read anything so ridiculous in all my life.
"I doubt the council would pay up if the sheds were burgled while they were left unlocked."
...
The council acknowledged that not locking the sheds could leave expensive equipment uninsured.
The spokesman added: "It would be a matter for discussion between the allotment-holder and their insurance company which would be able to advise them on the conditions of their policy."
Translation: "If they steal your tools, that's your problem, but if they damage the shed it costs US!"
Of course, the 'US' money comes from taxing the ass off the people, so why are they so upset? They generally act like that's a bottomless well.
Tenants have been warned that padlocks can lead to thieves forcing their way through doors and windows of the council-owned sheds to steal garden equipment.
Bristol City Council claims its 'Don't Use a Padlock' initiative will save taxpayers' money because fewer sheds will have to be repaired or replaced.
...
But a gardener at Bifield Allotments, in the Stockwood area of the city, whose shed was broken into a few weeks ago, criticised the advice.
Terry Nichols, 71, a retired engineering consultant, who has rented a plot at the site for more than 25 years, said: "It beggars belief that the council is telling us to leave our sheds wide open so that anyone can get in them.
"Everyone who has an allotment has been sent a letter. I have never read anything so ridiculous in all my life.
"I doubt the council would pay up if the sheds were burgled while they were left unlocked."
...
The council acknowledged that not locking the sheds could leave expensive equipment uninsured.
The spokesman added: "It would be a matter for discussion between the allotment-holder and their insurance company which would be able to advise them on the conditions of their policy."
Translation: "If they steal your tools, that's your problem, but if they damage the shed it costs US!"
Of course, the 'US' money comes from taxing the ass off the people, so why are they so upset? They generally act like that's a bottomless well.
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