Both personally and in a society, they're priceless. And when you lose them?
I just finished 'Life At The Bottom', by Theodore Dalrymple, a British doctor(mentioned here at Kevin's place). He covers quite well what happens when multi-culti, PC beliefs throw the standards of a society out in the name of being 'inclusive' and 'sensitive'. Then I found this and this at Tech Central Station. All covering, in Britain, how things have gone downhill.
I can't remember where I first heard it, somone said "Tell your kids they have no prospects and they'll live down to them"; I'd add "Tell them there is no better or worse way to live, and they'll find the worst". Read the articles if nothing else; read the book if you can get hold of it. They're all scary as hell. Youve read of the increasing crime problems in Britain? From what I've found out, from these sources and others, it's worse- apparently much worse- than the official numbers let on. We tried some of the 'let the minor crimes go, worry about the big stuff' in many cities in the 60's & 70's, and crime rates exploded; I remember the upset when it was announced that New York City PD would no longer show up to take reports on routine burglaries because there were too many of them and too much other crime to deal with. Well, in most cities they finally got their collective heads out of their butts and stopped that. Rudy Guliani became famous because he insisted on "I don't care how minor the crime, arrest and prosecute them!". The civil liberties weenies screamed- as expected- and the average citazen applauded- as expected- and crime- ALL crime- began dropping. Lesson learned, except to those so tied to 'we must cuddle all people, no matter what they do' types.
But in Britain, it seems that they took that attitude, kept it going and are now at the extremes. The doctor notes cases he's personally witnessed where police show up after- sometimes during- an assault, break up the fight, and then refuse to arrest the bad guy. He's a known bad guy, you see, he'll just do it again, we've got more important things to worry about. The other side of this is if you're an honest citazen, and you smack somebody attacking you, YOU they'll arrest and take to jail, and do their very best to put in prison.
Standards. Those abandoned, and those people growing up without them. Why bother to work when you're guaranteed a place to live and food to eat and medical treatment? Why care about anything except your own desires of the moment when you face very little chance of any real punishment? Why worry about taking care of kids you bring into the world when they're guaranteed those things? Of course, that means the sperm-donor 'fathers' walking out, and/or beating up the mother and kids when they are around, and so forth. Which means the kids grow up thinking that's the normal way to behave.
We've got much of the same trouble here. It hasn't reached the proportions of Britain, and I have hopes that we can reverse the trend. But it's very troubling to see, and more troubling to consider how many people think the system in Britain is just the thing that we need here. It's like they look at what's happening there, and in places where it's tried here, and either cannot see it or refuse to acknowledge it.
Mark Steyn had a column recently where he was criticizing the British government for the 'shoot to kill if in doubt' policy when dealing with bombing suspects. There are parts of the column I'd argue with, but not the one where he points out that while the British government now has the agents of the state permitted to kill if they think someone might be about to enter a tube station or whatever with a bomb, if someone breaks into your house and tries to knife you and you swat him with a cricket bat, those same agents of the state will put you in prison. It used to be the standard in Britain that you had the God-given right to protect yourself and your family- and your HOME- with whatever force necessary, but that standard is gone.
Standards like 'if your kid misbehaves in school, you punish him for it; and you don't gripe at the school for punishing him'. That's been replaced by parents- using the term loosely- screaming at and threatening teachers for daring to fail a kid on a test, or for daring to tell the parent in a conference that the kid's in trouble now and it'll get worse if he doesn't straighten up. I've a friend who's a teacher, I've heard these stories firsthand as well as from the news. There was a kid in my daughters' first grade class who had 'developmental problems'; this was a polite way of saying he hit other kids, disrupted class, hit the teachers, and so forth. The parents threw a fit every time he was sent to the office: they knew he had a problem but didn't want him 'damaged' by being put in a special ed class, he deserved to be in a regular class and they'd SUE if you suggested otherwise! And the principal, and standard-issue bureaucrat, kept suspending the kid for a couple of days and then letting him back into the class. So the kid got to keep hurting other kids and keeping the teacher from possibly teaching the other kids, and that kid did not get the help he needed. All because the parents cared more about his tender feelings(can you say 'self-esteem? I knew you could) than about actually dealing with his problem. Their standards no longer included 'if your kid has a problem, get him in a class where he'll get the help he'll need' because it might stigmatize him, you see; much better to let him screw up a whole class than have his God-damned self-esteem troubled.
Standards like you don't let your pre-teen or teen daughter go out dressed and made-up like a cheap hooker because "that's the FASHION, don't you understand?!?" Standards like if your kid isn't doing well in school you find out why and try to fix it, not run to the school and blame the teacher for being mean/bigoted/whatever for daring to bring this up.
I wrote once before that I was split in my thoughts on some of my kid's friends when they were growing up. On the one hand they were really messing up their lives, and on the other they made such a fine bad example: "Yeah, So-and-So dresses and acts like that; remember what happened to them?" That's a damned expensive example; expensive to those kids directly, and expensive to other kids who thought that was cool and didn't get slapped down from acting the same.
Standards like an adult does not go out in public wearing a shirt with obscene words on it, or obscene suggestions. Standards like, if you're an adult, ACT LIKE ONE!
I do not think we should revert in all ways to the 'Father Knows Best' attitudes of earlier days, but in some damned important ways we should. We'd all be better off.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Microlon followup 4
128 miles, 2.8 gallons, 45 mpg. I think this would have been a bit better if not for some circumstances I won't go into right now. Overall, seems to be sitting(with this one corrected) at 47mpg, two above past norms. So far, so good.
Forging, part 2
When last I wrote of this, you had the blade rough-forged to shape, and now have to take care of the ricasso, and shape the tang.
Most modern knives have the edge end before the blade meets the guard; in most old knives, continuing up into the 1800's, the edge came all the way back. If you want the ricasso to have a squared-off or rounded section before the guard, have the edge run back a little further than the point you want it to end, then make sure the area you want for the ricasso is square with the blade shape- not bent up or down. Remember, leave it a little big in all dimensions, especially to the rear.
Now comes the tang. If you want a full tang- as wide and long as the grips, which will be riveted or pinned on- it's fairly simple. Mark off a touch shorter than you want the tang to be and cut the piece off, then into the fire with that end. Unless your blade is quite long, you'll need tongs to hold onto the piece at this point. Bring the tang section up to heat and hammer it out. At this point do two things; leave it oversize in width and length, and taper it a bit in thickness. A tapered tang is just as strong, and a lot lighter.
If you want a narrow or 'stick' tang, you will need something like this:
That piece on top of the anvil is a spring fuller. A fuller is a piece, often looking like a straight-peen hammer, used to shape a notch in steel. Often they're used as a set; the top fuller has a handle, the bottom fits into the hardy hole(the square one on the anvil face), and a hot piece is set between them to narrow it at that point. Obviously you need help to do it that way, so you can make one like this to do it alone. This is just a piece of coil spring from a truck suspension. Straighten out about two feet of it; flatten and bend one end into a 'U' to fit snugly into the hardy hole; flatten a section in the center and bend it over, leaving about an inch between the two round sections. To use it, you heat the area you wish to shape, slide it between the two round arms, and swat it right above the stock with a fairly heavy hammer. With a light piece you can use a lighter hammer, with a piece of thick stock you'll need more energy in the stroke. If the blade is very wide you put it in sideways, then turn it vertical. Pick a spot a little further back than you want the tang to begin(you can always grind up to the line), mark it if need be, heat it, put it in place and strike. Do one or two strokes, then flip the piece over and hit one or two from the other side; again, stop when the notches leave the stock a little wider than the finished tang will be. Now you can put the tang section back to heat, remove the fuller, and work out the tang.
Set the piece with the tang section on the anvil face and the notch at the edge, and hammer it along the length of the section; turn over and work the other side. That'll narrow and thicken it, so the next heat you work the sides, to thin and stretch the tang. Alternate sides to keep it even, and make the tang longer than needed. If you have a straight-peen hammer(cross-peen will do, straight is easier for me), you can use it like this: use the peen side and hammer a set of parallel notches in the piece, then flip it over and do the same, then flip back and flatten with the regular face. This will stretch the piece a lot faster, but if you don't watch it you can wind up making it thinner than you planned; it takes practice.
When the tang is forged, look at the piece from all angles. Is it straight? Is it twisted anywhere along its' length? Is the edge centered? If you spot a problem, correct it now, striking- or bending or twisting- just hard enough. When all is ready, there's a last step I'd recommend, called packing.
Supposedly this can refine the structure of the steel, making a better blade; I have noticed that if I do it right, it does seem to make a difference. Without that factor, it does smooth and even up the surface. In any case, take a hammer with a smooth face- not flat, just slightly rounded and as wide as you have-, bring as much of the blade as possible up to a low red heat, lay it on the anvil face with the flat of one side on the face, and start hammering with light, fast blows. Remember, this is not to shape, this is to refine, so control yourself. After it cools to a dark red, heat it back up and do the same on the other side, and try to use the same number of blows(roughly) and cover the same area as the first heat. If you need to heat a long blade in sections, no problem, just keep it even.
When you're done with this, back to the fire. This time you need to get the whole blade, or as much of it as you can, to a low red heat, as evenly over the length as possible. When it's there, take it out and let it cool in the air. I'll often clamp the tang in a vise and let it sit if it's a big one. When it's dark, do it again. I generally go for three annealing heats like this, the purpose of which is to even out stresses from hammering and, if you got it a bit too hot in earlier stages, will help keep the grain size of the steel where it should be. After the third heat, clamp it in the vise or set it somewhere safe and let it cool down completely.
The forging is done at this point. Next comes grinding, then heat-treating, then polishing.
Most modern knives have the edge end before the blade meets the guard; in most old knives, continuing up into the 1800's, the edge came all the way back. If you want the ricasso to have a squared-off or rounded section before the guard, have the edge run back a little further than the point you want it to end, then make sure the area you want for the ricasso is square with the blade shape- not bent up or down. Remember, leave it a little big in all dimensions, especially to the rear.
Now comes the tang. If you want a full tang- as wide and long as the grips, which will be riveted or pinned on- it's fairly simple. Mark off a touch shorter than you want the tang to be and cut the piece off, then into the fire with that end. Unless your blade is quite long, you'll need tongs to hold onto the piece at this point. Bring the tang section up to heat and hammer it out. At this point do two things; leave it oversize in width and length, and taper it a bit in thickness. A tapered tang is just as strong, and a lot lighter.
If you want a narrow or 'stick' tang, you will need something like this:
That piece on top of the anvil is a spring fuller. A fuller is a piece, often looking like a straight-peen hammer, used to shape a notch in steel. Often they're used as a set; the top fuller has a handle, the bottom fits into the hardy hole(the square one on the anvil face), and a hot piece is set between them to narrow it at that point. Obviously you need help to do it that way, so you can make one like this to do it alone. This is just a piece of coil spring from a truck suspension. Straighten out about two feet of it; flatten and bend one end into a 'U' to fit snugly into the hardy hole; flatten a section in the center and bend it over, leaving about an inch between the two round sections. To use it, you heat the area you wish to shape, slide it between the two round arms, and swat it right above the stock with a fairly heavy hammer. With a light piece you can use a lighter hammer, with a piece of thick stock you'll need more energy in the stroke. If the blade is very wide you put it in sideways, then turn it vertical. Pick a spot a little further back than you want the tang to begin(you can always grind up to the line), mark it if need be, heat it, put it in place and strike. Do one or two strokes, then flip the piece over and hit one or two from the other side; again, stop when the notches leave the stock a little wider than the finished tang will be. Now you can put the tang section back to heat, remove the fuller, and work out the tang.
Set the piece with the tang section on the anvil face and the notch at the edge, and hammer it along the length of the section; turn over and work the other side. That'll narrow and thicken it, so the next heat you work the sides, to thin and stretch the tang. Alternate sides to keep it even, and make the tang longer than needed. If you have a straight-peen hammer(cross-peen will do, straight is easier for me), you can use it like this: use the peen side and hammer a set of parallel notches in the piece, then flip it over and do the same, then flip back and flatten with the regular face. This will stretch the piece a lot faster, but if you don't watch it you can wind up making it thinner than you planned; it takes practice.
When the tang is forged, look at the piece from all angles. Is it straight? Is it twisted anywhere along its' length? Is the edge centered? If you spot a problem, correct it now, striking- or bending or twisting- just hard enough. When all is ready, there's a last step I'd recommend, called packing.
Supposedly this can refine the structure of the steel, making a better blade; I have noticed that if I do it right, it does seem to make a difference. Without that factor, it does smooth and even up the surface. In any case, take a hammer with a smooth face- not flat, just slightly rounded and as wide as you have-, bring as much of the blade as possible up to a low red heat, lay it on the anvil face with the flat of one side on the face, and start hammering with light, fast blows. Remember, this is not to shape, this is to refine, so control yourself. After it cools to a dark red, heat it back up and do the same on the other side, and try to use the same number of blows(roughly) and cover the same area as the first heat. If you need to heat a long blade in sections, no problem, just keep it even.
When you're done with this, back to the fire. This time you need to get the whole blade, or as much of it as you can, to a low red heat, as evenly over the length as possible. When it's there, take it out and let it cool in the air. I'll often clamp the tang in a vise and let it sit if it's a big one. When it's dark, do it again. I generally go for three annealing heats like this, the purpose of which is to even out stresses from hammering and, if you got it a bit too hot in earlier stages, will help keep the grain size of the steel where it should be. After the third heat, clamp it in the vise or set it somewhere safe and let it cool down completely.
The forging is done at this point. Next comes grinding, then heat-treating, then polishing.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Mr. Completely has OBVIOUSLY been drinking,
look at the spelling:
"In case you missed it I tagged you for the "What do you have on your Night
Stand" meme. Do you really keep a Scoytish Broad Sword next to the bed?"
'Scoytish'?, for God's sake?
Oh well, let's see... a lamp, a Surefire flashlight, a watch and sometimes something to drink on the table. By the bed... three, no, four books, David Drake, James Doss, Glen Cook and Rex Stout. No, there's not a broadsword, that's a little too tight quarters for that. There IS something sharp, and something noisy, just in case.
Assuming he's so hard up for reading that he comes by, I nominate the gentleman from mASS BACKWARDS. Due to living in the People's Republic of Maryland he doesn't have a noisemaker, but what else do you have there, dude?
And I'll try to get the next 'forging' installment in tomorrow.
"In case you missed it I tagged you for the "What do you have on your Night
Stand" meme. Do you really keep a Scoytish Broad Sword next to the bed?"
'Scoytish'?, for God's sake?
Oh well, let's see... a lamp, a Surefire flashlight, a watch and sometimes something to drink on the table. By the bed... three, no, four books, David Drake, James Doss, Glen Cook and Rex Stout. No, there's not a broadsword, that's a little too tight quarters for that. There IS something sharp, and something noisy, just in case.
Assuming he's so hard up for reading that he comes by, I nominate the gentleman from mASS BACKWARDS. Due to living in the People's Republic of Maryland he doesn't have a noisemaker, but what else do you have there, dude?
And I'll try to get the next 'forging' installment in tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Range report
I had a chance to try out a couple of firearms I've never worked with before; I had originally planned to shoot them next week, but as the last couple of days have not gone real well, it got done today(yeah, I know, lousy English).
First, the Savage 340 Series E
This is a bolt action repeater made, in this case, in .30-30 Winchester. There were very few bolt rifles made in this cartridge, and I'd rarely seen one of these. Barrel is 22 inches, it has a bead front and folding rear with a notch. It's light and handy, it'd work nicely in the woods. Trigger was light, I'd guess about 3-4 lbs, with a little creep.
One of the strange things about this is the magazine. Instead of a staggered-cartridge design it's a straight, like the Mosin Nagant. This one hold three cartridges; any more and the mag would stick out from the receiver bottom. And it's damn near impossible to load it from the top, you have to drop the mag to load. You can load single rounds, but you can't just drop it in and close the bolt, you have to push it into the chamber and then close, and with a flat-nose bullet it can be a bit of a pain.
Good things are, as mentioned, it's light and handy, and since you don't have to worry about a cartridge nose hitting the primer ahead of it in the magazine, you can load it with pointed bullets. What I had today was some cast-bullet loads I made up for practice with a Winchester 94, it's a 150-grain RCBS flatnose bullet with a gas check. If you're not familiar with this, on a gas-check bullet the base is slightly smaller diameter than the rest of the bullet body, and a copper cup is locked on. With lead bullets there are definate limits to how fast you can push them without badly fouling the bore; with a gas check on the base, you can drive them faster without a big mess to clean up. This load, if I remember correctly, drives the bullet about 1500fps, and is fairly accurate in my 94(I've also used this bullet in practice ammo for a .308, it's very versitile). So I tried it out, and got a pleasant surprise; very good accuracy out of this rifle. I'd started off at 50 yards, and then went to 100. My last five shots are below:
Overall group size is 2 3/8", with three within 3/4". That's accuracy that would put meat on the table at that range, and it's possible that with better sights- or a scope- that overall would tighten up nicely. Overall, it's a good rifle I wouldn't mind having. I've always liked the .30-30, and think a double-barrel in this cartridge would make a fine deer rifle in many areas. Maybe someday, if I win the lottery...
The other to try out is an odd beast, the Nagant Revolver
This thing fires a 7.62mm bullet(actual diameter about .311 I think) out of one of the stranger cartridges I've seen:
It's 1.5" long, and the bullet is seated way down inside the case(this is some Russian target ammo from SOG). When you cock the hammer, not only does the cylinder rotate, at the end it cams forward so the end of the case actually sits inside the forcing cone. When you fire, the case seals so you have no flash, and no pressure loss, between cylinder and bore. This makes this thing the only revolver I know of that will actually work very well with a silencer.
This one is a double-action, from what I've read they were also made single-action and double-action only. And it has what a friend once described as the 'trigger pull from Hell'. Single-action is not too bad, heavy but it breaks cleanly. Double-action is awful; heavy and it stacks toward the end. Sights are a tapered front post and a notch rear, though there are some target models with adjustable sights on the market.
I shot this one at ten yards, and was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy. Single-action fire gave nice tight groups(this ammo is a hollow-base wadcutter) as long as you could work the heavy trigger. The thing has a heavy V mainspring, and if you had one to work on you might be able to lighten the spring a bit to improve the trigger, but I don't know that for certain, it's just a guess.
Ammo for this is either the Russian stuff shot today($15 for 40 rounds), Fiocci($25 to $30 for 50!) or handload. Starfire now makes brass for this cartridge, and RCBS has dies. Lee makes a die set to load ammo using .32-20 brass; from what I've read it works pretty well. This case isn't long enough to give the gas seal, but it's a lot less expensive than factory ammo and from what I've read, with the right bullet gives good results.
I'd like to have one of these because of the history of them, and the unique action. It's a Belgian design, selected by the Czar's army in Russia, and stayed in use clear through WWII.
Overall a much nicer day than I'd expected it to be when I woke up.
First, the Savage 340 Series E
This is a bolt action repeater made, in this case, in .30-30 Winchester. There were very few bolt rifles made in this cartridge, and I'd rarely seen one of these. Barrel is 22 inches, it has a bead front and folding rear with a notch. It's light and handy, it'd work nicely in the woods. Trigger was light, I'd guess about 3-4 lbs, with a little creep.
One of the strange things about this is the magazine. Instead of a staggered-cartridge design it's a straight, like the Mosin Nagant. This one hold three cartridges; any more and the mag would stick out from the receiver bottom. And it's damn near impossible to load it from the top, you have to drop the mag to load. You can load single rounds, but you can't just drop it in and close the bolt, you have to push it into the chamber and then close, and with a flat-nose bullet it can be a bit of a pain.
Good things are, as mentioned, it's light and handy, and since you don't have to worry about a cartridge nose hitting the primer ahead of it in the magazine, you can load it with pointed bullets. What I had today was some cast-bullet loads I made up for practice with a Winchester 94, it's a 150-grain RCBS flatnose bullet with a gas check. If you're not familiar with this, on a gas-check bullet the base is slightly smaller diameter than the rest of the bullet body, and a copper cup is locked on. With lead bullets there are definate limits to how fast you can push them without badly fouling the bore; with a gas check on the base, you can drive them faster without a big mess to clean up. This load, if I remember correctly, drives the bullet about 1500fps, and is fairly accurate in my 94(I've also used this bullet in practice ammo for a .308, it's very versitile). So I tried it out, and got a pleasant surprise; very good accuracy out of this rifle. I'd started off at 50 yards, and then went to 100. My last five shots are below:
Overall group size is 2 3/8", with three within 3/4". That's accuracy that would put meat on the table at that range, and it's possible that with better sights- or a scope- that overall would tighten up nicely. Overall, it's a good rifle I wouldn't mind having. I've always liked the .30-30, and think a double-barrel in this cartridge would make a fine deer rifle in many areas. Maybe someday, if I win the lottery...
The other to try out is an odd beast, the Nagant Revolver
This thing fires a 7.62mm bullet(actual diameter about .311 I think) out of one of the stranger cartridges I've seen:
It's 1.5" long, and the bullet is seated way down inside the case(this is some Russian target ammo from SOG). When you cock the hammer, not only does the cylinder rotate, at the end it cams forward so the end of the case actually sits inside the forcing cone. When you fire, the case seals so you have no flash, and no pressure loss, between cylinder and bore. This makes this thing the only revolver I know of that will actually work very well with a silencer.
This one is a double-action, from what I've read they were also made single-action and double-action only. And it has what a friend once described as the 'trigger pull from Hell'. Single-action is not too bad, heavy but it breaks cleanly. Double-action is awful; heavy and it stacks toward the end. Sights are a tapered front post and a notch rear, though there are some target models with adjustable sights on the market.
I shot this one at ten yards, and was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy. Single-action fire gave nice tight groups(this ammo is a hollow-base wadcutter) as long as you could work the heavy trigger. The thing has a heavy V mainspring, and if you had one to work on you might be able to lighten the spring a bit to improve the trigger, but I don't know that for certain, it's just a guess.
Ammo for this is either the Russian stuff shot today($15 for 40 rounds), Fiocci($25 to $30 for 50!) or handload. Starfire now makes brass for this cartridge, and RCBS has dies. Lee makes a die set to load ammo using .32-20 brass; from what I've read it works pretty well. This case isn't long enough to give the gas seal, but it's a lot less expensive than factory ammo and from what I've read, with the right bullet gives good results.
I'd like to have one of these because of the history of them, and the unique action. It's a Belgian design, selected by the Czar's army in Russia, and stayed in use clear through WWII.
Overall a much nicer day than I'd expected it to be when I woke up.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Forging, part 1
I thought I'd go through the process, and my favorite thing to make being blades, I'll focus on that this time.
This may sound silly, but before you start, decide just what it is you're going to make. Not just 'a knife', but details: how long a blade, how wide, what shape, what kind of tang and how long? That affects not only the making, but also the choice of steel. What I'd choose for a big, heavy-cutting type of blade isn't what I'd choose for a smaller general-purpose type. It also affects how big a fire you need; you only work a section at a time, until near the end, but a big knife will, obviously, start out with bigger stock and need more heat.
That decided, the steel in hand, light off the forge, let it burn a few minutes to clean out the fire, then put the first section in to heat. While it's heating make sure the tongs are handy(if needed), the hammers you'll need are handy, and any other tools- such as a fuller to narrow the blade at the tang- haven't wandered off to hide..
If you're starting with round bar stock, the first thing you do is flatten it, wide and thick enough to shape the blade. Again, a section at a time; unless you have a really big forge, about 6" is as much as you can heat at this stage. DO NOT hammer the stock too thin; leave it thicker than you need, as you can always thin it a bit more later. And, unless you want to leave hammer marks in the finished piece, you'll want to leave it a bit thick at the end, so you have enough mass to grind away the forge marks.
Ok, you've worked your way down, and have about 12" of the bar flattened out. I'll generally leave it attached to the main bar 'till near the end; holding onto the bar is generally more secure than using tongs. Now you shape the point.
Let's say you're making a bowie-style blade with a straight clip point like this one. You start off by heating the squared-off end and forging it down so that it tapers from the back of the blade to the edge, not the other way around(reason to come). You'll have to hammer the sides to keep the thickness even as you go, and you should wind up with a bar with a straight angle from a few inches back from the end down to the point. It may take several heats, depending on thickness/width/type of steel, just try to get it done with the least number possible. Every time you bring a piece up to red heat, you lose some metal from the hot surface combining with oxygen in the air and forming scale that falls off as you hammer.
Now, if you haven't already, decide how long you intend the blade to be from point to end of cutting edge, and either keep a steel ruler handy or mark it with soapstone or something. And now you can start forging in the bevels, the angles from the back of the blade to the edge.
Start at the point, and this is why you wanted to taper the end from the back down toward the edge. Bring a section up to heat, place it on the anvil face with the edge along one edge of the face, and start hammering. I use a 4lb. hammer with a nicely rounded face for this(not applicable all users, your results may vary), and start from the point and work my way back. This gets tricky because you don't want the hammer to be coming down squarely on the stock, you want it to come down at a bit of an angle, so the strike is thinning the edge and leaving further back thick. This does two things; first, it gives the blade a nice taper from back to edge and second, it stretches the edge further than the rest. This causes the point to curve back up, and with experience you can, by working the edge and the clip section of the back, adjust the shape so the point will be exactly where you want it. It can be amazing how much the point will move as you shape the bevels, in some blades I will shape the point as described above, then hammer it over the horn so it droops down below the edge; that way, when I shape the bevels of some shapes I don't wind up having to hammer the point back down because it's become too high.
Work this side, then put it back into the fire, get it up to heat, and then work the other side of the blade in the same area, preferably with roughly the same number of strokes(it helps keep things even). Then turn it edge up and look at it closely. The edge should be centered along the length you've worked so far; if it's not, even it up now. This works much better than doing the whole length and then trying to straighten it all- especially on long blades. Trust me.
When this is all as you want it- smooth taper from back to edge, point where you want it, move back to the next section, heat it and hammer. Two things to remember here: first, in a long blade you may have to give much of the blade a downward curve before you start hammering the bevels in, with a long blade it can be amazing how much the blade will curve up as you shape the bevels; second, remember to leave it thicker than you want the finished piece to be. Not only do you want to be able(generally speaking) to have enough stock to grind & polish out the forge marks, but by leaving it a bit thick, the finish grinding after heat treating will remove the surface steel that lost carbon to the fire. So work your way back to the point where the edge will end, and at that point you'll need to shape the ricasso- the area where the blade body meets the tang- and the tang. That'll be part two.
This may sound silly, but before you start, decide just what it is you're going to make. Not just 'a knife', but details: how long a blade, how wide, what shape, what kind of tang and how long? That affects not only the making, but also the choice of steel. What I'd choose for a big, heavy-cutting type of blade isn't what I'd choose for a smaller general-purpose type. It also affects how big a fire you need; you only work a section at a time, until near the end, but a big knife will, obviously, start out with bigger stock and need more heat.
That decided, the steel in hand, light off the forge, let it burn a few minutes to clean out the fire, then put the first section in to heat. While it's heating make sure the tongs are handy(if needed), the hammers you'll need are handy, and any other tools- such as a fuller to narrow the blade at the tang- haven't wandered off to hide..
If you're starting with round bar stock, the first thing you do is flatten it, wide and thick enough to shape the blade. Again, a section at a time; unless you have a really big forge, about 6" is as much as you can heat at this stage. DO NOT hammer the stock too thin; leave it thicker than you need, as you can always thin it a bit more later. And, unless you want to leave hammer marks in the finished piece, you'll want to leave it a bit thick at the end, so you have enough mass to grind away the forge marks.
Ok, you've worked your way down, and have about 12" of the bar flattened out. I'll generally leave it attached to the main bar 'till near the end; holding onto the bar is generally more secure than using tongs. Now you shape the point.
Let's say you're making a bowie-style blade with a straight clip point like this one. You start off by heating the squared-off end and forging it down so that it tapers from the back of the blade to the edge, not the other way around(reason to come). You'll have to hammer the sides to keep the thickness even as you go, and you should wind up with a bar with a straight angle from a few inches back from the end down to the point. It may take several heats, depending on thickness/width/type of steel, just try to get it done with the least number possible. Every time you bring a piece up to red heat, you lose some metal from the hot surface combining with oxygen in the air and forming scale that falls off as you hammer.
Now, if you haven't already, decide how long you intend the blade to be from point to end of cutting edge, and either keep a steel ruler handy or mark it with soapstone or something. And now you can start forging in the bevels, the angles from the back of the blade to the edge.
Start at the point, and this is why you wanted to taper the end from the back down toward the edge. Bring a section up to heat, place it on the anvil face with the edge along one edge of the face, and start hammering. I use a 4lb. hammer with a nicely rounded face for this(not applicable all users, your results may vary), and start from the point and work my way back. This gets tricky because you don't want the hammer to be coming down squarely on the stock, you want it to come down at a bit of an angle, so the strike is thinning the edge and leaving further back thick. This does two things; first, it gives the blade a nice taper from back to edge and second, it stretches the edge further than the rest. This causes the point to curve back up, and with experience you can, by working the edge and the clip section of the back, adjust the shape so the point will be exactly where you want it. It can be amazing how much the point will move as you shape the bevels, in some blades I will shape the point as described above, then hammer it over the horn so it droops down below the edge; that way, when I shape the bevels of some shapes I don't wind up having to hammer the point back down because it's become too high.
Work this side, then put it back into the fire, get it up to heat, and then work the other side of the blade in the same area, preferably with roughly the same number of strokes(it helps keep things even). Then turn it edge up and look at it closely. The edge should be centered along the length you've worked so far; if it's not, even it up now. This works much better than doing the whole length and then trying to straighten it all- especially on long blades. Trust me.
When this is all as you want it- smooth taper from back to edge, point where you want it, move back to the next section, heat it and hammer. Two things to remember here: first, in a long blade you may have to give much of the blade a downward curve before you start hammering the bevels in, with a long blade it can be amazing how much the blade will curve up as you shape the bevels; second, remember to leave it thicker than you want the finished piece to be. Not only do you want to be able(generally speaking) to have enough stock to grind & polish out the forge marks, but by leaving it a bit thick, the finish grinding after heat treating will remove the surface steel that lost carbon to the fire. So work your way back to the point where the edge will end, and at that point you'll need to shape the ricasso- the area where the blade body meets the tang- and the tang. That'll be part two.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
A way to try out new stuff, and one new rifle in particular
H&H range in Oklahoma City is having Dealer Days(or whatever they call it); lots of dealers displaying their wares. This setup has a nice addition; buy a ticket for $3- money going to the state shooting team- and if you find something you'd like to try out, give the dealer rep the ticket and you get the firearm and one load of ammo and a target. See the new Springfield or Taurus or whatever you'd like to try? Three bucks and you can!
They've done this before, this year there were enough vendors wanting in they're doing some this week and some next. What I specifically wanted to mention was something at the Kahr table; the M1 Carbine. Apparently they've got the rights to the design now, and are building it. First glance it looks like a standard M1 with a nicer stock and bluing, bayonet lug and all. Looked it over, very nice piece of wood, good fitting, nice balance, and in the original .30 carbine cartridge. And, instead of the turn-lever safety of the original, this one had a cross-bolt safety.
So I handed over my ticket and got the rifle and a magazine with ten rounds. I started at about 20 yards to check sighting, and it was dead on. I also found the other big difference from the original; instead of a two-stage trigger, it's got a single-stage that broke cleanly at about (I'm guessing) 3.5 pounds. After a couple of shots I ran the target out to 30 and finished the mag. Ten rounds with a rifle I'd never fired before all in a 2.5" bull, all offhand.
No, I didn't buy it. But dammit, I was tempted! I'm going to have to check around on this later when(hopefully) I've got some cash.
They've done this before, this year there were enough vendors wanting in they're doing some this week and some next. What I specifically wanted to mention was something at the Kahr table; the M1 Carbine. Apparently they've got the rights to the design now, and are building it. First glance it looks like a standard M1 with a nicer stock and bluing, bayonet lug and all. Looked it over, very nice piece of wood, good fitting, nice balance, and in the original .30 carbine cartridge. And, instead of the turn-lever safety of the original, this one had a cross-bolt safety.
So I handed over my ticket and got the rifle and a magazine with ten rounds. I started at about 20 yards to check sighting, and it was dead on. I also found the other big difference from the original; instead of a two-stage trigger, it's got a single-stage that broke cleanly at about (I'm guessing) 3.5 pounds. After a couple of shots I ran the target out to 30 and finished the mag. Ten rounds with a rifle I'd never fired before all in a 2.5" bull, all offhand.
No, I didn't buy it. But dammit, I was tempted! I'm going to have to check around on this later when(hopefully) I've got some cash.
The Brits are giving me hope
First there's this, money quote being:
"Under secret guidelines codenamed Operation Kratos, armed officers were instructed that they should shoot to kill suspected suicide bombers. “The most effective way of dealing with someone with explosives is to shoot them in the head,” said the officer.
S019 commanders also sent armed teams onto the streets of London in four Jankel armoured vehicles, bought by Scotland Yard last year for this eventuality. The vehicles are designed to protect their passengers from the impact of a suicide bomb blast.
Inside each vehicle were marksmen and women from the elite 72-man cadre of Specialist Firearms Officers (SFOs). The SFOs are divided into six teams of 12 which have been given different colour-coded names.
They are armed with Glock pistols, Heckler & Koch MP5 semi-automatic machineguns and G3 short-barreled rifles, which are small enough to be carried discreetly in a shoulder holsters. The rifles, equipped with “red dot” sights, use “frangible” ammunition that releases all its energy in the target’s body, instead of passing through it and endangering nearby civilians. "
Interesting that a government that will throw you in jail if you hurt someone who attacks you in your home will have plans waiting for 'you think he's a bomber, kill him'. Hypocritical as hell, but at least they did have a plan for it.
Second thing is this:
"Upstairs in the station, a passenger, Paul Martin, saw "a guy being chased. It was completely crazy. People were trying to drop him, to rugby tackle him," he told The Guardian."
So they're actually acting, this is good. Now if they'll start deporting the jihadis("I don't care what they'll do to him in Jordan, ship him out!"), and stop harassing people for acting in self-defense, they'll be well on their way.
"Under secret guidelines codenamed Operation Kratos, armed officers were instructed that they should shoot to kill suspected suicide bombers. “The most effective way of dealing with someone with explosives is to shoot them in the head,” said the officer.
S019 commanders also sent armed teams onto the streets of London in four Jankel armoured vehicles, bought by Scotland Yard last year for this eventuality. The vehicles are designed to protect their passengers from the impact of a suicide bomb blast.
Inside each vehicle were marksmen and women from the elite 72-man cadre of Specialist Firearms Officers (SFOs). The SFOs are divided into six teams of 12 which have been given different colour-coded names.
They are armed with Glock pistols, Heckler & Koch MP5 semi-automatic machineguns and G3 short-barreled rifles, which are small enough to be carried discreetly in a shoulder holsters. The rifles, equipped with “red dot” sights, use “frangible” ammunition that releases all its energy in the target’s body, instead of passing through it and endangering nearby civilians. "
Interesting that a government that will throw you in jail if you hurt someone who attacks you in your home will have plans waiting for 'you think he's a bomber, kill him'. Hypocritical as hell, but at least they did have a plan for it.
Second thing is this:
"Upstairs in the station, a passenger, Paul Martin, saw "a guy being chased. It was completely crazy. People were trying to drop him, to rugby tackle him," he told The Guardian."
So they're actually acting, this is good. Now if they'll start deporting the jihadis("I don't care what they'll do to him in Jordan, ship him out!"), and stop harassing people for acting in self-defense, they'll be well on their way.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Carnival of Cordite #23 up!
At a place called But That's Just My Opinion. Ammo, explosives and idiot ideas about, range tests and other good stuff.
Ever notice how many places you wind up seeing because of this?
Ever notice how many places you wind up seeing because of this?
Thursday, July 21, 2005
The 'Root Problems'
Was over at Wizbang reading this post on P.J. O'Rourke and one of his books. In the comments someone hit the usual 'we need to address the root causes of terrorism' idea, following with 'we need to stop treating the people of the region as the provider for our oil addiction. Which made some things come to mind.
The only reason most of the countries over there have the money and influence they do is oil. It's of very little intrisic value; what value it has comes because it's needed for particular uses. Motor fuels, lubricants, fertilizers, etc. So because there is a use for this stuff, the various countries in the mideast that have large deposits of it have lots of money. Which is one of the reasons I have little patience with the 'poverty' section of the root causes argument; if the upper social levels of those countries weren't looting it, there'd be lots of cash to go around there. But here's where the other thought comes in.
We have lots of people working on alternate energy sources. Some have great hope, some very little, and somebody might well fall over something that can take the place of oil and/or coal as an energy source. Sounds good, right? So what happens when the discovery is made? Whether it's super-efficient solar cells or a way to make oil for $25/barrel from trash or something someone falls over, it means the price of oil drops. A lot. Which is a good thing; less-expensive motor fuels & lubes, and so forth. A good thing. For us.
But if you truly believe that poverty causes terrorism, wait to see what happens to the countries that have lots of money and influence because they have oil. When the demand drops, and the price drops, their economies will go down the toilet. The ONLY reason they became what they are is the need for oil; without that, they go back to being(in some cases) the world's biggest litterbox. And all the people and causes that have been supported by the governments and royal families are going on a diet, and they won't like it. Can you say 'revolutions'? Lots of them? When those governments can no longer buy off their attackers and populations, it will get very ugly over there.
I'm going to have to think some more about this. For the moment, I have to get ready to take my daughter to dinner.
The only reason most of the countries over there have the money and influence they do is oil. It's of very little intrisic value; what value it has comes because it's needed for particular uses. Motor fuels, lubricants, fertilizers, etc. So because there is a use for this stuff, the various countries in the mideast that have large deposits of it have lots of money. Which is one of the reasons I have little patience with the 'poverty' section of the root causes argument; if the upper social levels of those countries weren't looting it, there'd be lots of cash to go around there. But here's where the other thought comes in.
We have lots of people working on alternate energy sources. Some have great hope, some very little, and somebody might well fall over something that can take the place of oil and/or coal as an energy source. Sounds good, right? So what happens when the discovery is made? Whether it's super-efficient solar cells or a way to make oil for $25/barrel from trash or something someone falls over, it means the price of oil drops. A lot. Which is a good thing; less-expensive motor fuels & lubes, and so forth. A good thing. For us.
But if you truly believe that poverty causes terrorism, wait to see what happens to the countries that have lots of money and influence because they have oil. When the demand drops, and the price drops, their economies will go down the toilet. The ONLY reason they became what they are is the need for oil; without that, they go back to being(in some cases) the world's biggest litterbox. And all the people and causes that have been supported by the governments and royal families are going on a diet, and they won't like it. Can you say 'revolutions'? Lots of them? When those governments can no longer buy off their attackers and populations, it will get very ugly over there.
I'm going to have to think some more about this. For the moment, I have to get ready to take my daughter to dinner.
The bastards have done it again
" July 21, 2005, 8:45 AM EDT
LONDON -- Three London Underground stations were evacuated at midday Thursday following reports of incidents, British Transport Police said. The Fire Brigade was investigating a report of smoke at one station."
Link to news release here, the post at Wizbang where I read it here.
Now, will someone over there tell Red Kenny to shut the hell up and stop encouraging these dirtbags? And will someone finally kick the multi-culti nuts and tell them to shut up, and start catching and jailing or deporting the jihadist jackasses they've been paying living expenses to for the past few years?
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Damn, I like this camera!
I finally remembered to take this thing outside at night & try it out:
Nice & sharp. One of the things this unit does- the camera, not the dog- is if you have the flash activated, when the shutter button is halfway down, it fires a green laser that shows you exactly where the center of field of view is, so even if you can't see through the viewfinder, you can accurately aim. Very nice feature.
And now I'm tired and sweaty and heading for the shower.
Later, folks
Nice & sharp. One of the things this unit does- the camera, not the dog- is if you have the flash activated, when the shutter button is halfway down, it fires a green laser that shows you exactly where the center of field of view is, so even if you can't see through the viewfinder, you can accurately aim. Very nice feature.
And now I'm tired and sweaty and heading for the shower.
Later, folks
Trees
One reason I liked this house is the trees. There are trees, elms and maple and something I need to get around to id'ing all around, giving shade much of the year and places for the squirrels and birds. And some big bushes I keep forgetting to find out what are, but the blossoms are pretty, and the birds love them. There is one thing, though, about trees and the bushes; from early spring to late fall they grow.
And grow.
And grow.
Over the last two days I did a buttload of pruning, which is bad enough when it isn't 90+ degrees and 60-something humidity. Pole saw and pruning saw and ax, cut down the limbs, section and stack them. Thank God for power polesaws, without this one my arms would be falling off. There were some too close to the power lines, the one to my place and to the house next door, and some were hanging too far out. There's more to do, but it'll have to wait until I get rid of these. One nice thing about this area is every month the city has a big trash pickup day, so I'll be able to drag this all out front and they'll take it away.
The pup likes it, because she can steal a small branch and carry it off to chew on. Happily, she takes direction from the older dog and stays out of the way.
One of these days I'm going to rent a chipper. Most of this stuff is small enough to go in, and I can either use it for mulch or put it in the trash.
I like the trees, but pruning is a pain.
And grow.
And grow.
Over the last two days I did a buttload of pruning, which is bad enough when it isn't 90+ degrees and 60-something humidity. Pole saw and pruning saw and ax, cut down the limbs, section and stack them. Thank God for power polesaws, without this one my arms would be falling off. There were some too close to the power lines, the one to my place and to the house next door, and some were hanging too far out. There's more to do, but it'll have to wait until I get rid of these. One nice thing about this area is every month the city has a big trash pickup day, so I'll be able to drag this all out front and they'll take it away.
The pup likes it, because she can steal a small branch and carry it off to chew on. Happily, she takes direction from the older dog and stays out of the way.
One of these days I'm going to rent a chipper. Most of this stuff is small enough to go in, and I can either use it for mulch or put it in the trash.
I like the trees, but pruning is a pain.
Microlon followup 3
Tanked up, 123 miles & 2.6 gallons, 47mpg. This includes the first 40 miles or so on the highway at 75 in yesterday's winds.
I've never tracked mileage precisely, just knew it ran around 45 most of the time. That being the average before, it's still showing a gain in mpg.
I've never tracked mileage precisely, just knew it ran around 45 most of the time. That being the average before, it's still showing a gain in mpg.
Red Ken returns to normal operating mode
'Red Ken' being the commie mayor of London. And no, I do not use 'commie' lightly, he really IS. And, after his bombing-day demonstration of telling the fascists that they'll be hunted down, he had this to say:
"Ken Livingstone yesterday blamed western policies for contributing to the spread of the extremist beliefs that inspired the London bombers. The mayor of London highlighted the West’s role in the creation of al-Qa’eda by saying: “We created these people. We built them up. We funded them.”
"Ken Livingstone yesterday blamed western policies for contributing to the spread of the extremist beliefs that inspired the London bombers. The mayor of London highlighted the West’s role in the creation of al-Qa’eda by saying: “We created these people. We built them up. We funded them.”
His comments coincided with remarks from Muslim extremists that went much further, claiming that ministers were “the real terrorists” and that voters were to blame for the attacks because they returned Tony Blair to power."
Remember what I asked about could and would Britain stand up? Here's part of the problem; the people in power blaming their own people for all problems, and the idiots keep voting them back into office. Here it is about two weeks after this mass murder, and Kenny is back to blaming his own people- or maybe I should say 'his subjects'- for what happened, just happening to sound like an echo chamber for the fascists.
Well, he is a commie, so it shouldn't be surprising. Full post here at Little Green Footballs.
Oh, he says it's the fault of the Joooooos, too.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Microlon followup 2
111 miles, 2.5 gallons = not quite 45 mpg. Not nearly as good as before. Most of this tank was out on I-40 between 65-75mph with strong, gusting winds from the front and side(depending on direction travelling). If you've never been on a bike, strong headwinds really drag on you, so I'm not unhappy with this. As I recall, last time I took a trip to Fort Worth I had winds like this all the way down, and I think I got about 40(wasn't tracking it closely; just "I'm on reserve, and YES! there's a gas station!)
Ref that shooting in Los Angeles a few days ago
where the bad guy and his baby daughter were killed? I was looking at Michelle Malkin and found this link with a lot more information about what happened, and what's happened since.
It seems that the dirtbag was not only an illegal alien, he had been previously deported, for cocaine possession. So he snuck back into this country, and on went things from there.
And of course the family of the deceased is putting out the usual: “The police killed my daughter. I want justice,” said Lorena Lopez, the unmarried mother of Pena’s 18-month-old daughter, Susie Lopez. “It’s cruel what happened to my brother,” said German Pena. “He was a good person.” Let's see, illegal alien, drug possession(at the least), using his own DAUGHTER as a shield... doesn't sound so damn good to me. Which makes me wonder, how many of the family, and how many of the idiots rioting are illegals themselves?
Investigate police actions, fine. If someone messed up, take care of it. They should also be grabbing every illegal at these riots and in the family and deporting them. They (the legal immigrants and citazens) want to protest, no problem; for rioting they should be in jail.
It seems that the dirtbag was not only an illegal alien, he had been previously deported, for cocaine possession. So he snuck back into this country, and on went things from there.
And of course the family of the deceased is putting out the usual: “The police killed my daughter. I want justice,” said Lorena Lopez, the unmarried mother of Pena’s 18-month-old daughter, Susie Lopez. “It’s cruel what happened to my brother,” said German Pena. “He was a good person.” Let's see, illegal alien, drug possession(at the least), using his own DAUGHTER as a shield... doesn't sound so damn good to me. Which makes me wonder, how many of the family, and how many of the idiots rioting are illegals themselves?
Investigate police actions, fine. If someone messed up, take care of it. They should also be grabbing every illegal at these riots and in the family and deporting them. They (the legal immigrants and citazens) want to protest, no problem; for rioting they should be in jail.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Comments policy
Was over at GOC and Hog On Ice earlier, and decided to follow their example and state my policy. It's pretty much based on theirs:
Comments on a post are generally welcome. That includes those that disagree with something I say or an idea I put forward or the content of something I link to. However, if your intention is to be an annoyance, with no redeeming value to your comments(as determined by me) I may delete your comments, or I may edit them to say something I consider more appropriate. I started the blog just for the fun of it, and overall it's been worth it; I did not start it to give a sounding board for those who like to leave trash everywhere they go.
There, that was easy.
Comments on a post are generally welcome. That includes those that disagree with something I say or an idea I put forward or the content of something I link to. However, if your intention is to be an annoyance, with no redeeming value to your comments(as determined by me) I may delete your comments, or I may edit them to say something I consider more appropriate. I started the blog just for the fun of it, and overall it's been worth it; I did not start it to give a sounding board for those who like to leave trash everywhere they go.
There, that was easy.
Think about the attitude behind this
Was checking out the Weekly Bias at Alphecca and read this:
"We at Amnesty International are not going to condone the escalation of the flow of arms to the region," said Trish Katyoka, director of Africa Advocacy. "You are empowering (the victims) to create an element of retaliation.
"Whenever you create a sword-fight by letting the poor people fight back and give them the arms, it creates an added element of complexity. You do not know what the results could be."
Think about that. You can't 'condone' giving people being tortured and raped and murdered a way to fight back because it 'creates and added element of complexity'. You don't 'know what the results could be'. God, we can't have that! MUCH better to have the victims keep suffering rather than give them a way to protect themselves and not know what the results might be! I mean, really, they might decide they don't have to wait for the U.N. and such to get around to giving enough of a rat's ass to do something, and THEN where would we be?!?
This is a wonderful example of the mindset of the left wing nowadays: better people die than people give them the tools to do something themselves. Action can only be properly taken by some international agency(U.N.), after proper review and after they decide what they might need to do when all the proper factors have been considered... and so on until they're all dead or enslaved and there's no more problem to actually make a decision about. Just absolutely wonderful.
Remember Rwanda? Remember the U.N.(Kofi,anyone?) ordering out almost all the troops and forbidding the commander on the scene to do anything? Remember all the other places and all the other damn near countless dead? All because you can only have legitimate action when the U.N. approves it and controls it. And the U.N. absolutely HATES the idea of peasants with arms able to act for themselves. Or do anything else without U.N. approval, which won't come unless it somehow increases U.N. control over the lives of those involved. Hell, look at malaria; the politically correct won't allow even the idea of DDT even though it is harmless to people and wildlife as properly used and cheap and effective. Instead, you've got to have bed nets that don't do anything when you're not in bed and expensive programs and guess who has control of them?
What goes on in the minds of people who'd rather see mass murder and slavery go on rather than see people able to fight back because fighting back would increase 'complexity'?
"We at Amnesty International are not going to condone the escalation of the flow of arms to the region," said Trish Katyoka, director of Africa Advocacy. "You are empowering (the victims) to create an element of retaliation.
"Whenever you create a sword-fight by letting the poor people fight back and give them the arms, it creates an added element of complexity. You do not know what the results could be."
Think about that. You can't 'condone' giving people being tortured and raped and murdered a way to fight back because it 'creates and added element of complexity'. You don't 'know what the results could be'. God, we can't have that! MUCH better to have the victims keep suffering rather than give them a way to protect themselves and not know what the results might be! I mean, really, they might decide they don't have to wait for the U.N. and such to get around to giving enough of a rat's ass to do something, and THEN where would we be?!?
This is a wonderful example of the mindset of the left wing nowadays: better people die than people give them the tools to do something themselves. Action can only be properly taken by some international agency(U.N.), after proper review and after they decide what they might need to do when all the proper factors have been considered... and so on until they're all dead or enslaved and there's no more problem to actually make a decision about. Just absolutely wonderful.
Remember Rwanda? Remember the U.N.(Kofi,anyone?) ordering out almost all the troops and forbidding the commander on the scene to do anything? Remember all the other places and all the other damn near countless dead? All because you can only have legitimate action when the U.N. approves it and controls it. And the U.N. absolutely HATES the idea of peasants with arms able to act for themselves. Or do anything else without U.N. approval, which won't come unless it somehow increases U.N. control over the lives of those involved. Hell, look at malaria; the politically correct won't allow even the idea of DDT even though it is harmless to people and wildlife as properly used and cheap and effective. Instead, you've got to have bed nets that don't do anything when you're not in bed and expensive programs and guess who has control of them?
What goes on in the minds of people who'd rather see mass murder and slavery go on rather than see people able to fight back because fighting back would increase 'complexity'?
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