Confessions of a Gun Toting Seagull

Just... Unbelievable.

2012-01-24T08:16:00.001-06:00

It has really been 1000 days since "our" government has passed a budget. That's 3 years. Which is the biggest F. U. congress gets away with. Rather than having to shut down till a budget is passed, they get to automatically increase it without even a how do you do from the people they're taking the money from.

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Life of a charter pilot...

2012-01-16T22:45:00.000-06:00

(Yes, I know that title gets used a lot in my blog.)

My day.
Times in Eastern.

1:30 am. Phone call from dispatch, possible ASAP pop up air ambulance trip. Will know for sure by 3 am. Will call by then. Just go back to sleep.

Yeah, right....

3:30-3:45 am. Finally fall back asleep. No phone call.

7:30 ASAP pop up trip, Home to Dayton, pick up, Peoria IL, drop. Come home. Promise you'll be back by 1:30.

Yeah, right.
Times in Central. from here on.

10:30 Land in Peoria, see passenger off. Get call from dispatch. Wait there to see if they can sell the airplane on a trip headed back towards home. Will call one way or another in 2 hours. This I foresaw.

Yeah, 2 hours, right.

2 pm. Call Dispatch, Ask why they haven't called. Told to wait while they make a call to see what's going on.

2:30 Call Dispatch. Told we could have launched for home "anytime". Pay FBO for forehead shaped hole in wall.

106 knot tail wind, shaves 15 minutes off of flight.

Times back in Eastern.

4:15 pm. Land back home. tremors from caffeine make filling out logs... difficult...

5:15 Clear airport finally, Airplane cleaned, restocked, reset, Paperwork filled, filed and mutilated.

How was your day?

Train people! TRAIN!

2012-01-04T20:36:00.000-06:00

This article was posted to GBC tonight:

Collier judge upholds 'Stand Your Ground' stabbing death defense in teen's bus stop bullying.

What I'm about to rant... about... has very little to do with the actual article and a whole lot to do with idiots that post in the comments.

One of the comments that shall remain nameless to protect his idiocy said, "See, that's the problem. Having never been in the situation of fighting for my life, I don't know how I'd react to that stress..."

THAT'S WHY WE FUCKING TRAIN, YOU MORON!

Listen, few of us have been in that situation. That's why we "game" it out. We think about that situation, map out strategies, actions, reactions, discuss the plans with the wife, girlfriend, Rover the dog, whoever. Then we go to a quality range, either take a class, talk to, or hire a reputable instructor. See what works, what's been done before, what they recommend. Then we go back re-imagine the scenario, remap the strategies, actions, reactions and plans and then re-discuss what we're gonna do and what we'd like anyone with us to do to either help or stay out of harms way during the situation.

And, for fucks sake, if you've gotten your concealed carry permit (if required by your state) or are carrying a weapon for self defense and you haven't thought about what to do in those situations. FUCKING STOP! FIGURE IT OUT! DON'T BE A MORON!

Moment of Zen

2012-01-03T10:15:00.000-06:00

43,000 ft. over eastern Colorado looking at the sun setting behind the Rockies.

Call me a moonbat

2012-01-02T14:50:00.004-06:00

When I read stuff like this:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/02/aclu-others-slam-obama-for-signing-defense-bill-that-includes-detainee/

It makes me really think we need a truly strict constitutionalists as our next president. Someone who will look at this and strike it off the books on principle.

- Edit: I fixed the link to a FoxNews story that's close to the opinion piece I originally read. All copyrights belong to FoxNews etc. No infringement is intended.

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Life of a Charter Pilot....

2012-01-01T21:12:00.000-06:00

Or, Thems the ways it goes...

So, the day after New Years, we're on a trip that takes us from home base, to Music City, to City of the Rising Dead Bird, then south of the border, WAY south, to Honduras, sit for a while and then bring them back. Supposed to have been 8 days on the road, most of that outside of the US.

Except

We were flying the airplane into Music City tonight, the night before, so we could be ready for an early launch tomorrow. And as we're descending into the approach we get a lovely CAS (caution and advisory system) message announcing the right engine chip detector has... detected. Great. It's a white message in the air, as opposed to amber or red, only because there's not a blasted thing we can do about it while we're flying.

Of course as soon as we touch down it goes all amber and chimes at us.

Now, rather than racking up nearly 15 hours of flight pay, we're possibly losing this trip and stuck here.

Dammit, I'm trying to bank enough in flight pay each month to pick up my rotary rating by the end of the summer.

And with that I'm done whining.

Seasonal Greetings

2011-12-24T23:18:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmachaunakwanzicamas to everyone.

And if that offends you, Happy Festivus to you.

What's been going on.

2011-12-22T21:33:00.000-06:00

Not that anybody else cares.

I am pretty proud of myself this week. I managed to hit 3 places featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

On Sunday, El Indio in San Diego, CA.
On Tuesday, Rino's Place in Boston, MA.
and Today, Clanton's Cafe in Vinta, OK.

So far, the food is 3 fer 3 as in great eats. I'll try to hit another place or two tomorrow in Indiana and Ohio.

In Memorium

2011-12-03T21:36:00.001-06:00

My dear friends, the Farm Fam, lost their matriarch last night. She finally figured she'd kicked cancers butt long enough and she'd throw it a bone. My prayers go out to the family.

For what it's worth, Blogorados will never be the same for me.

To paraphrase John Donne,

"...Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,..."

It tolls loudly this week for those I care about.

Things I overheard

2011-11-27T09:53:00.001-06:00

So, I'm sitting on the hotel eating my breakfast and the people in the table behind me are having a little political discussion. And I overhear one of the ladies there say, "I'm a Liberal, Black, American, and I'm never voting for Obama again." And the bonus is she's in college.

That warms the cockles of my heart.

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Location:Columbus, OH.

Made me think

2011-11-21T21:09:00.001-06:00

Does anyone else think the "See Something, Say Something" commercials don't pass the Jews in the Attic test?

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Quick Thought.

2011-11-07T09:18:00.000-06:00

I see a lot of similarities between the #OWS and the Revolutionary Council of France. And no, that's not a good thing. Read a history book.

I don't know what the Californians get all excited about....

2011-11-06T01:21:00.000-06:00

http://ww2.cox.com/myconnection/tulsa/today/news/national/article.cox?articleId=D9QR21U01&moduleType=apNews

But seriously, they managed to shake things up here just a little bit. I actually had to listen to the radio and hear them talking about it to figure out what it was I felt.

I hate airports

2011-11-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

So, I'm on my way to Columbus OH, for a last interview for a job in Lear 45's up there. And I've decided to come clean finally.

I hate airports.

I know that's shocking to see. Doubly so because I'm a pilot and we, you know, kinda have to use them.

And don't get me wrong. I love to fly. Best office window view you could ever get, all the buttons you'd ever want to push, etc.

But when I have to use the airlines to get anywhere, I'm virtually bombarded with reminders of why traveling this way sucks. Normally, I don't have to worry about the suckage. Being a corporate pilot, when I'm flying the trip, rarely do I use the main passenger terminal at the airports. In fact, we actively try to avoid using the same airports airlines use. And if we do, we'll use the private or general aviation terminal. No lines, no TSA gropings, no gigantic fat guy who just sat in the gate seat RIGHT NEXT to me when there's 80 open seats all around us. WTF, srsly dude?

Great, we're boarding now. And only 20 minutes late too.

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Location:DTW

My thoughts on this video.

2011-11-01T18:56:00.000-05:00

This video:

came out just after the OccupyOaklanders were dispersed/arrested by the police. I've watched it several times and I've come to some conclusions about this.

She used the term "chemical weapons" twice. Once before the cut to the Oakland Police Chief's comments and once after. Notice the police chief didn't say chemical weapons and I would have to doubt that the officer who made the announcement before tear gas was deployed used that term.

When asked if this was an "appropriate response", she pauses and looks up and left. As if she is trying to remember what she was told.

Call me crazy, but she had to have been coached. And badly at that. I can see whoever coached her telling her to make sure to use the words "chemical weapons" but not telling her that throwing bottles and rocks at the police is assault. So, she's grabbed from the crowd, told what the interviewer will ask, instructed to use the incendiary catch phrases and then gets blindsided when the talking head decides to ask a preliminary setup question not on the script she'd been handed. At which point the fail became avalanche like in proportions.

I have no idea.

2011-10-28T22:27:00.001-05:00

No, seriously. I have no idea what the fuck she is saying here. I mean I recognise that the words are English but I'm not sure she's actually, you know, speaking it. OOH! Maybe she's just getting out of one of them tent revival meetings and she's still speaking in tongues.

Note to #OWS

2011-10-27T14:48:00.001-05:00

Always a classic.

2011-10-26T22:13:00.002-05:00

What I'm watching on YouTube right now:

On a serious note...

2011-10-10T09:31:00.002-05:00

As another Blogorado comes to an end, I think it's time we talked about one of the down sides to the gathering.

It's a documented psychological phenomenon. I'm talking about PBD syndrome. Post Blogorado Depression Syndrome.

Years of research by many of the most noted doctors in the field have studied it. I feel it's important that I post here their recommendations.

Currently there is no known cure. You will feel depressed for the next few days to a week. It's Okay. Spend some time in bed. I find crying into your pillow or favorite Teddy bear works. (I use Ambulance Driver). And remember we're gonna do it next year.

So, buck up, little campers.

This has been a public service announcement. I now return you to your regular scheduled blog reading.

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Some pics

2011-10-08T22:57:00.002-05:00

Give me a big kiss baby.

Worlds most pissed off bull snake.

We had ~~ditty martoonis matty dartoonis datty mitannos~~... We're drunking... Dammit! Figure it out.

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Location:Blogoradoville

Blogorado, The Epic Trek Out

2011-10-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's after 10 pm, Blogoradoville time, and I'm checked into a new hotel. Well, new for me anyway. I am posting this from the hotel that is a registered historic landmark for the state of BlogoradovilleState. I like it. There's a picture of the Duke on my wall.

Today started early. I met NFO at his hotel in Tulsa and we loaded all the rifles and other assorted implements of shootiness and hit the road with some vague plans to do some stuff and maybe some other stuff too. If we get time. And aside from the usual construction suspects getting across the state was easy. Except for listening to the great anointed one do a multi-hour news conference were he managed to be condescending, berating, belittling, and more general fear mongering. My blood pressure....

We ended up calling Lawdog, Phlemmy, Expert Witness, The Great Tam herself, and Ambulance Driver and coordinated a meeting in Amadillorillo for a late lunch with plans to caravan the rest of the way to Blogoradoville.

Two words, Cat Herding.

We eventually lallygagged our way to Blogoradoville where Mr and Mrs Sci-Fi and Christina_LMT were already there. Having successfully managed to avoid any lallygagging, ambling, loping, or other forms of non-urgent perambulations coming from the other direction.

I ate too much.

Somehow, FarmMom has gotten better at making fried chicken. Yes, I know. It's shocking. I still find it hard to believe myself. But the oily proof was all over my hands and face by the time I raised the white flag.

Tomorrow, we finish the set up on the range, scope out a direction that will give us 6 miles of clearway for long range shooting, rezero for the altitude, and probably eat too much again.

Tomorrow, Tractortracks and her squeezetoy, Salamander and his family, Evyl Robot of the quality holsters with his sexay holster model, InJennifersHead and their offspring, plus a couple of others will arrive. It looks to be a good group.

Honestly, I plan to blog something and maybe have pictures too, maybe, everyday. But, as the saying goes, a plan is just a list of things that won't happen. So, we'll see how I do with that.

Late night levity.

2011-09-28T01:28:00.001-05:00

I saw this on my Fox News feed.

7 Bears Rounded Up in Yellowstone Mauling Probe

And all I could see was the police line up for that.

"Don't worry ma'am, they're behind a two way mirror and can't see you."
"Number three, step forward and say, 'Hey Booboo, let's get us some pik-a-nik baskets!'"
"ROWRRRRRRRrrrrrGROWRRRRrrrrr"
< sob >; "That's him, officer!"

I'm sending this one out to my CO homey, Salamander. A known Ursinophiliac. Don't try to deny it.

Edit: Sorry, the above clicky-linky to Sal's blog is the old blog, you can currently find him terrorizing the bears at http://armedandamphibious.wordpress.com/. Sorry for the mix up.

Edit edit: After I published this again, I realized that maybe using the word "terrorizing" will pop me up on a couple of gub'mint three letter department's radars. Oh well, another day, another watch list.

I haven't mentioned politics in a while.

2011-09-25T23:11:00.000-05:00

I suppose there are a few reasons for that. But I have to say.

The only job I want the great anointed one to talk about is he won't be seeking a second term for the one he has.

We didn't forget...

2011-09-11T20:46:00.000-05:00

My commemoration of the fudamentalist islamic terrorist attacks of 9/11 was to go to the range today. I skipped the rally across from the Mosque in town and decided that punching holes in paper would do for me.

I packed the Barrett, an ammo can of .50BMG and the usual range stuff and set up for some long range shots. It's was slightly longer than 500 meters when we had everything set up.

I'm disappointed in myself. My zero is way off. 5 rounds and only 1 hit and I was holding a mildot and a quarter left to hit. I'll go back out next weekend and sit down and get that zero perfect.

The other thing I was commemorating today was the death of my friend Chris Horton, late of the 45th Inf., Oklahoma National Guard. He was one of the men killed in a fire fight in Iraq on Friday. Please send out a prayer for him. He's survived by his wife and family.

Answering a request.

2011-09-06T16:25:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am. Don't act so shocked. Someone asked to see a pic of the zeroing sticker on my Garand. So, here's a quick pic of it. Sorry for the quality, but I'm using my crappy phone camera and I was trying to balance the stock, hold the phone and snap the pic at the same time. I needed an extra hand. Anyway, here ya go.

As you can see, it's in some sort of modern Elvish. At least I think that's what they speak over there in Dane-land.

They said the sight should be set for 15 clicks up from bottom and 1 click right of center. And that was spot on. I still don't know why the Danes gave up such a good rifle. But I want to thank them for it.

Thank you, Dane-land type peoples. It's an excellent rifle and I'll give it a good home.

Range Day Report.

2011-09-04T15:41:00.002-05:00

This time with pics!

Since hunting season is quickly approaching, I thought it might be a good idea to make sure that I can actually, you know, hit stuff with my rifles. And since every other hunter and his kin are probably having the same idea, I figured now would be a good time to get out there. Early enough that maybe only the black powder guys are out, late enough that I'm not doing it in OMGLOLWTF heat.

Nice day today, upper 70's to lower 80's with a good breeze straight down the range.

I loaded up the Garand, the M14 and the AR. Because I just wasn't sure what I'd be hunting and with what. It was actually a quick rezeroing session today. I'd had the Garand looked at by an expert since I'd shot it last and he'd moved the rear sight around. But the Danes were nice enough to leave their zeroing sticker on the inside of the stock, so I used that and I figured I'd see what that did for me. The M14 really hadn't been messed with too much and the AR had only had a rough zero from when I first shot it right after the build.

Like I said, quick day. The upper left is the Garand using the Danes zero info. I guess they do know how to shoot over there. Or at least some of them do. The upper right is the M14. Both of them using iron sights. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Center is the AR using a 4x ACOG.

Here's a close up:

The first 3 were at 6:30 - 7 right on the edge of the X ring. I adjusted up 3 for the next group and up 2 more for the final group. With one flyer at 9.

I then finished the clip or mags on a half size steel torso at 100m. Went 6/6 with the Garand, 17/17 with the M14, and 15/20 with the AR. I think I was sighting wrong with the ACOG. I was aiming between the shoulders and hitting head shots. Which makes sense for the trajectory/zero/distance. I should have aimed at the lower COM and expected shots in the breastbone/heart region. That's why I missed 5 with the AR. That's my story and I'm sticking too it.

Then I had Chicago style pizza at the new place 2 blocks from home. Yummo.

Never Forget...

2011-09-03T18:44:00.000-05:00

Today is International Bacon Day!

Scifi Books Meme.

2011-08-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

I can't remember if I'd done this before, so here goes... (maybe again).

The NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels with the ones I have read in bold:

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony (But not all of them, just the first dozen or so)
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Fifty out of one hundred. Not bad, but I see an Amazon purchase in my future.

Accusations fly....

2011-08-19T17:15:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I was accused of being a gear-do. Now, since I'm always on a limited budget and thus I have to be careful about what I get and why, I was a bit surprised, to say the least. I'm not one to rush out and get the latest doodad or gizmo just because. Well, aside from the latest AR build that is. But in my defense, that build took more than a year to finish and on an AR, "just because" is a valid enough reason.

But since I'm labeled as one, I thought I aught to do a gear review. In for a penny, in for a pound. Or maybe, damned if I do, damned if I don't would be a better one. Anyway, here goes. My first gear review.

For my first gear review I'm going to review a rifle carrying case. After the latest slew of builds I was left with two rifles without a carrying case.

The two on the right.

My first thought was, "Cool, two carbines. I'll get a double rifle case.". The more I thought about it though, the less the idea appealed to me. Because I would only be carrying both rifles at the same time on very few occasions, namely Blogorado and events like that. The M1 Carbine just wont get shot that often. The occasional range trip really. It's not going to be a hunting rifle like the AR or the M14 are. Also, my rifle bags tend to be bulky for whatever reasons, I figured I didn't want to make one doubly so.

So, I sat down and mentally listed what I wanted in a carbine rifle case. Since most of my ready range stuff had migrated to a separate range bag, I decided I didn't need a case that could carry everything for a trip to the range. That cut down on size. I wanted something that I could carry around easily. By that I mean in and out of the Jeep without having to fold the back down. I also wanted something that didn't scream rifle. So, I had a list of sorts. Something discrete, with a shoulder strap or straps, needn't carry more than the rifle and maybe a couple of mags,

So, I went hunting and found this.

It's available at Cheaper Than Dirt. It's called the covert carbine discreet rifle case. Which aside from being named by the Departmental Office of Redundancy Department, really fit the criteria I had in mind.

It doesn't scream rifle. It does scream equipment, but unless you're a gunnie, you won't immediately think rifle. It holds the AR, in a broken down form, and two mags quite nicely. Has carrying handles or a shoulder sling that can be tucked into a pocket in the back, and three pockets on the front for other items.

See, it can fit a 16" barreled AR Carbine plus optic and a couple mags with no problem.

Granted with the Trijicon on it, it has to fit crosswise, but that's just the way the optic is mounted. You could just as easily remove the optic. Everything will still fit in it.

Things I like about this. Size for one. It's easy enough to move it in and out of the Jeep without having to do any fancy maneuvers. The center padded divider. Your rifle isn't going to beat itself up when it's broken down and in the bag. In fact the padding all the way around this bag is nice for protection. The carry options. The carry handles are good enough, solidly double stitched. In fact the construction quality of the whole thing looks to be on the better side and I'll keep you up to date on how it holds up to daily use. But the real ace is the shoulder strap.

It's nice and wide where it needs to be, namely across the top of the shoulder. So, even as light as this bag is, it wont ever dig into the shoulder if I have to trek it in the bag any length of time. And it's truly ambidextrous. Either bottom strap can be buckled in to the bottom of the shoulder strap and the other either tucked away or buckled to the side of the strap to add stabilization. So, you can easily set it up for offside carry if that's your concern. The back of the bag has plenty of breathable fabric to help keep it comfortable in hot weather or if you're carrying it for extended periods.

Things I don't like. The red straps on the inside of the bag. Yes, they would be good for extra security for the rifle upper and lower, but I don't see a need for them really and they just get in the way. The three front pockets are basically useless with the rifle in the bag. There's no give to them and with the rifle on the inside anything you put in them is gonna be sticking through the front or poking your rifle in the bag. If they'd made them with some way to expand along the sides, that would have been better. Maybe a bit more MOLLE webbing. There's some on the shoulder strap, but that's about it. But then, a lot of that would have defeated the idea behind the whole "discrete" thing.

I've had friends point out that some states get all PSH'y if you have an assembled rifle in your car and this would be perfect for toting your AR to the range and back, rather than that giant blue plastic case that it came in.

Others of you out there are going to scream that the rifle is disassembled and therefore useless if I happen to need it in a hurry. First off, I'm not a first responder. I'm probably never going to need the rifle in a hurry like that. If, by some wild stretch of the imagination, I did end up like that, my situational awareness is shit and I deserve what I get. Secondly, come on guys, it's two take down pins. Last night, because I knew you'd make this argument, I had the thing out of the bag, assembled and loaded in under 30 seconds. In the dark. If you can't slap two take down pins in faster than I did without the blindfold, then you need to review your understanding of the AR platform.

So, there you go Vine, this geardo has done a geardo review for you. I didn't rush out and buy the shiny, or pick the first thing I saw that had "tactical" in the title. I figured out what I needed, what I wanted and got the best bag to fit the requirements. Although maybe that makes me a thinking man's geardo. hmm....

What I did on my summer vacation.

2011-08-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

I went to Blogoradoville this last weekend. A couple of us gathered there to help do some setup for this years Blogorado. The plan was to start work on the Blogorado Battle Buggy and maybe do some setup on the range.

We actually stayed mostly to plan.

Here are a couple of pics of the buggy. Coming along nicely, don't you think?

I'm trying to convince them that this should be the Blogorado flag. The Skull and Bewbies. I'm finding it a tougher sell than I first imagined. Can't figure out why.

It's a double dip recover?

2011-08-10T14:17:00.002-05:00

So, the DOW drops 400 or so point on Friday, then another 600 some on Monday when the great zero stood up at the podium, you know the one that has the seal and everything, and said "Move along, nothing to see here... Nothing to see..."

Quick math... carry the one...

That puts us down 1000 points at the beginning of Tuesday. When the market creeps up 400 that day, we've got talking heads touting the "Obama Recovery"... ZOMG We all be saved! Praise the Lord Anointed One....

Now, today that the market has dropped all it was able to get yesterday and then some by noon, the crickets chirping is deafening.

Edit: And in further news, in true liberal form, they're calling for "reform" of the credit ratings system. Figures, if something happens they don't like because of their actions... Well, just cheat till it goes away.

I listened on the radio....

2011-08-08T14:40:00.002-05:00

To the President's speech today....

I think he's got Baghdad Bob writing for him now.

M1 Carbine project.

2011-08-06T21:16:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note on it. Since it was OMGLOLWHT hot today as well as threatening to rain, I decided to spend the day cleaning cosmoline off the parts.

One thing led to another and I finished the day with an assembled rifle. Not bad considering I had none of the special tools and the trigger group was literally in individual pieces.

No pics yet. When I'd finished I found out I have none of the parts that go on the stock. So, no recoil pad w/ screw and nut, barrel band spring, butt pad and screw. Also, the barrel band screw is stripped out, so I had to find replacement front sight keys and pins so I can replace the barrel band with a new one. I think the new barrel band will be the kind with the bayonet lug (type 3).

Parts are on order and as soon as I get everything together I'll post pics.

p.s. BTW, the plan for the M1 Carbine has always been to build a stock rifle. It's gotten so that all the ones I'm finding at the gun shows or in the shops are either basket cases too unsafe or shot out to shoot or museum quality pieces that I'd be afraid to shoot for ruining their worth. And what I wanted was something that I could pull out and take to the range for some fun with no worries one way or another. I should have enough parts for two by the time I'm done and still be no more than what they're charging for one of those reproduction Auto Ordnance ones.

It's the desert....

2011-08-05T22:12:00.001-05:00

Travelling around my city and it's surrounding communities, I realized today that after Lash's closed there was no one who carried basic gun parts for sale except Medlock's. That's a shame. But, Medlock's prices are really good and they're a local business. Plus they carry .30 Carbine ammo as cheap as I can find it anywhere on the web. (Best price is 43 cents a round right now.)

Piston AR Build: Range Report

2011-08-03T16:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, as promised I got to the range today to sight in and test fire my new Adams Arms Piston AR. But since it hit 115 F today. I opted to wuss out and go to the nice air conditioned brand new indoor range. Sighting in was without issues, and even though I was generous with the trigger pulls I had it zero'd in at 25m inside of 10-12 rounds. I must say the ACOG Horseshoe reticle is nice.

The rifle, on the other hand, was not without problems. Almost from the beginning I had FTE issues. By the end of the first magazine, it was happening pretty consistently. I broke the rifle down and examined the bolt and extractor. One thing I forgot to mention in my build report was that I'd installed one of Brownell's improved extractor kits. The spring was supposed to be good for 50,000 rounds and was also supposed to improve extraction. This kit is shit. Everybody I know who's installed this kit has had the same issues regardless of DI or piston systems. As a product review for Brownell's extractor spring kit. Don't waste your 10 bucks. Oh, and the extractor pin supplied with the kit was a roll pin which is incorrect for that part. So, I broke out my tool kit, got out an extractor spring and pin from some DPMS spare parts kits, put those on the bolt and ran the next 90 rounds without an issue.

So, in summary, the rifle runs great, the piston is working as advertised, the ACOG is a dream, and I'm a happy camper.

Piston AR build Report.

2011-08-01T19:29:00.000-05:00

For one reason or another it's taken me a bit longer to do this build than usual. But it's finally together.

Specifications: It's an AR-15 built up using AeroPrecision's upper and lower receivers. I have to say that these are a very snug fit with no play at all between the two receivers. In the lower I used a Rock River National Match 2 stage trigger,wolf springs in the buffer and non-trigger related springs. All the pins, roll pins and internals came from a DPMS kit. But, considering that everyone gets their fiddly pieces from the same couple of manufacturers, one kit is as good an another. Although I did get a KNS anti-roll pin kit for the trigger and hammer pins.

I put MagPul's extended trigger guard, BAD lever and the UBR buttstock on it. In fact it's all MagPul furniture, including their MIAD grip and MOE Midlength Hand Guard. I'm waiting on a rail to arrive and when it does I'll have MagPul's AFG attached to it.

The upper, as I said was AeroPrecision, is an A3 flat top with M4 feed ramps. On to this I stuck a BCM stainless steel 16" midlength barrel. I am also using BCM's GunFighter charging handle. The BCG is an Adam's Arms made for their piston kit. Which also means that the gas block and piston, piston rod, etc. are all from the kit. On the front of all this is AAG's 51T flash hider. And yes, I do plan to someday put a can on it. I'm just waiting on paperwork and money for that.

On top is a Trijicon ACOG T31H 4x scope. I went with the horseshoe reticle for a couple of reasons. It tends to cover up less of the target and, for me, it's a little easier to do the hold under/over for range shots.

On the dust cover you can see I engraved the model name of this rifle. Yes folks, this is the TACTICAL SCHMOO rifle (TM pending).

Below are a few quick snaps I took of it. With some closeups of the various parts. There were a couple of parts that needed to have the loktite set on, so I'll put up a range report for it on Wednesday.

Now before the flames start, this AR build was all about "because I can". So, why the piston? Because I can. Why all MagPul? Because I can. Why the ACOG? Because I can. Do you see a pattern developing here? So, when you start screaming at me in the comments about how a piston will never run right or that trigger teh suxxors or whatever bee you have buzzing in your bonnet. My reply to you will be... because I could.

I only have one more project gun on the books right now. And I'm expecting the last few part to finish it to show up in the mail this week. So, keep your eyes open for another build report sometime this month or the next.

p.s. The last pic is the parts I have for that last build.

Geek Quote of the Day.

2011-07-28T19:57:00.000-05:00

Heard on the IRC today:

Salamander: I looked behind me and saw only one set of footprints. Jesus looked at me and said "The sand people travel single file. To better hide their numbers."

You have to understand this came out during an argument over who was more disorganized, the Star Wars Rebel Alliance or the US's Founding Fathers......

The world ain't gonna geek itself.

What I'm listening to right now.

2011-07-27T23:12:00.002-05:00

Interesting comment.

2011-07-27T17:53:00.001-05:00

NOT!

I'm so glad I have comment moderation on now. I got comment from some Maj-somedood Almadinnerjacket. No, I'm not gonna put his real name up or link to his profile.

Listen Maj-i-fucktard. My blog isn't here for your money making scam. It's here solely for my enjoyment. I blog about what I want or need to and that's it. It's not some fucking money making machine for me (like my 5 readers could generate more than .00001 cents per century) or for anyone else.

I don't give a fucking wisp of a hair of a rat's ass if you're having trouble making college tuition. You can do what I did and fucking get your lazy ass off your flea infested couch you picked up on some corner and work your way through school. Oh, and put the bong down dude, you can't put epic dope fiend down on your resume and expect to get a job after school anywhere. Except maybe isolated parts of San Fransisco.

And if you think that making up a name that sounds vaguely middle eastern or oriental is gonna guilt me into entering your little ponzi scheme, think again cheddah-head. Our college system is so fucked you actually qualify for more free fucking financial aid that you never have to pay back then if you'd chosen the name Joseph Smith. So, you know what you can do with your bleg for money for your fictitious college ed-a-ma-k-shun? You can cram it up that waste of space ass of yours and have your roommates take hits off of it.

Oh, and if I ever see you try to put any comments up on my blog again, I'll hunt you down and beat you like a red headed step dog's unloved annoying cousin.

p.s. holy crap, when did I become my grandpa?

I stepped outside...

2011-07-23T13:43:00.002-05:00

And my hair burst into flames!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location: Tulsa,United States

New EDC knife.

2011-07-16T00:16:00.000-05:00

As some of you may or may not know. I lost my favorite EDC pocket knife while trying to get back from deepest, darkest bad continent. So, I had to replace it.

What I had before was a Boker Subcom like in this link. I loved that thing. It may have been small, but it fit nicely in the hand, was flat enough that it's not uncomfortable to sit on for good periods of time, held an edge through daily use, had a thick enough blade that it wasn't going to easily break using it to pry or as a screw driver, and the blade was multifunction enough that I could use it to open envelopes or open... other things to the bone. Had a nice little clip sturdy enough to hold it in the pocket or on the belt without popping off or slipping away. In short it was the best knife I'd found for EDC in a long while. The only issue I had with it was it was a liner lock, not a frame lock. But that's a personal thing. I feel that liner locks may collapse more easily than a frame lock. Mind you, I have no experience or evidence to prove that. The lock looked like it engaged well enough that I probably would never had had that issue.

So, having found something that worked well for me, I wasn't going to spend weeks and loads of money finding something new. When I went to replace the Subcom, I found that they had a new Chad Los Banos Subcom Titan available. Still had the good clip (now titanium), and 440C Stainless Steel blade. But now, the frame is titanium. All the features that I liked about my original Subom are still there, but just enough improvements to make it worth it to get this and not just replace my original Subcom F.

Below are some pics of mine. The bottom pic has a quarter in it so you can get an idea of scale. This may seem like it's too small to be an effective knife. But honestly, it fits into the hand very nicely and once you have a grip on it, it's not gonna slip out of your hand easily. And open, it's overall length is 4 1/2" with a nearly 2" blade length. Plenty long enough unless you have hands like Matt G, or Gigantor the freakishly large being from Planet Bigtron 4.

While it may not be truly ambidextrous, the clip can be flipped from top to bottom and the thumb stud is on both sides of the blade. But if you want to know all the specs, just follow the link to the Titan above.

Oh and for the record, while this may have turned into a product review and praise piece. I bought this knife with my own money and am not being compensated by Boker or their US subsidiary for this post.

Strictly for Educational Purposes....

2011-07-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

I realize it's been a while since I blogged anything. So something educational. This is strictly for perspective only.

On the right is the 12.7x108mm cartridge used by the Soviet Union and Warsaw pact countries. In the center is the .50BMG round or 12.7x99mm (NATO designation) round. And on the left is a lope eared bunny with a switchblade.

Earwoms

2011-06-06T17:06:00.003-05:00

What I'm listening to now.

Okay....

2011-06-04T17:39:00.000-05:00

I've had enough of people asking, so here's THE blog post.

I'm not dead, yet.

OBL dead.

2011-05-01T22:57:00.002-05:00

Apparently, The Anointed One micromanaged the intelligence and operation that resulted in OBL's death. I wonder how he fit that in between all the golf games.

Seriously, if his press conference was to be believed. He was directly involved in all the intelligence and all the briefings. And then he apologized to the world for America.

Oh and Quote of The Day:
From IRC's #Gunblogger_Conspiracy
(NinjaViking): I wonder if OBL will be counted as another tragic victim of senseless gun violence

Changes, and not the way we'd want them.

2011-04-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

Both Libya's and Egypt's regime changes started as food riots.

Now watch what current gas prices are doing to the price of a gallon of milk.

When gas hit this price at the pumps last time, Bush signed an executive order suspending the moratorium on oil exploration. And gas prices plummeted to under 2 dollars a gallon in the space of weeks. Mind you, no actual drilling took place. Just the fact that it could brought price speculation down. This regime says they can't do anything about it, but they'll form a commission to look in on price gouging by the oil companies. Seriously? They banned exploration, banned new drilling, banned just about anything that would make us more energy independent as a nation and when prices do what they will do when that happens, they try to blame someone else.

But, I'm not surprised. This regime believes corporations are evil, that capitalism is evil, that freedom is evil, that being an adult and standing on your own two feet is evil. This regime would love to see European prices at the pumps here in the states. It would make their dream socialist state that much closer.

On a side note, have you seen some states are proposing a usage tax on electric and hybrid vehicles to help offset the drop in revenue from sale of gasoline?

How's that hopey changey thing working out for ya?

New Easter Tradition

2011-04-24T21:11:00.003-05:00

My new Easter tradition will be shooting an M1 Thompson. Now if I could only afford one... or to shoot it....

Sorry, no pics from today's range visit. But trust me, shooting the Thompson was F.U.N.!

On Tuesday I fly back to darkest dark continent to start making buckets of money again. If you haven't guessed. I'm squeezing in all the shooting I can because I'm looking at a long dry spell ahead.

Naming the BAG Day Rifle

2011-04-20T20:35:00.000-05:00

Since everyone seems to think that that's what it's name is. Or at least that what they've called it when they see it for the first time. I'm naming the new rifle:

"Holy Mother Of God!"

Or HMOG for short.

BAG Day Zeroing and Range Report

2011-04-20T15:37:00.001-05:00

As most of you know by now. I bought a new rifle from Sal’s Funstore back on the 7th.

Yeap, it’s a Barrett M82A1 in .50BMG. Kinda purty, ain’t she. I went with the Trijicon 5-20x50 optic with standard MilDot reticle.

Anyway, I picked up 20 rounds of Barrett’s 660gr M33 for zeroing and another 10 rounds of American Eagle XM33c for fun and went to the range yesterday.

I had crunched some numbers on a ballistics calculator and while Barrett recommends a 100 yd. zero. I opted for a 250 yd zero this time. For two reasons. One, the bullet drop beyond 250 basically lined up with the mildots on the reticle. First dot down was almost 400, next was about 500, etc. With the top of the bottom post at 800. This would make hold over easier to judge on quick shots. And two, I could set the zeroing target up at 50 yds and that would correspond to 250. Since the longest range I have is 300 yds and the 200 yd berm would have been in the way of an actual 250 yd shot, this seemed like the best solution.

Ammo: Barrett M33 factory reload ammo, 661 gr projectile, ballistic coefficient of 0.620, muzzle velocity of 2750 ft/sec.

Atmospheric conditions: Alt: 640 ft., Temp: 68 degrees F, Pressure: 29.70 inHg, Winds were 310 at 13kts according to the airport. (It was a really nice day yesterday.)

It took 4 rounds to get it onto paper and then another 7 to zero and confirm. (Both Geoff and I shot confirming shots. By the way, I want to thank Geoff for the excellent pics of the rifle. Most of the pics here are his doing.)

After that, we were joined by Levi, the range master, and we moved down the bays to one that had some cars sitting on it. I had to see what shooting through the engine block on a car would do. The three fresh holes in front of the tire are mine.

And the gigantic exit hole in the same position on the other side too.

I would have taken pics of the giant divot in the berm behind the car, but we were laughing too hard at the time to remember. Come on, that was just fun! So, yes. The .50BMG will shoot through the engine block of a car, no worries.

After that we moved to the 300 yd berm and knocked over some steel plates there. I mean literally knocked them over. I guess even at 300 yds there’s a butt load (that’s the technical term for ‘a lot’) of kinetic energy left in a .50BMG bullet.

This is an artsy shot by Geoff.

And another.

Range day.

2011-04-19T17:26:00.001-05:00

At the range sighting in the new rifle. Range report to follow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Home again

2011-04-17T14:54:00.000-05:00

I'm finally home again. I love all y'all dearly, but damn, that was too much time driving. Next time y'all can come here.

Bring beer.

Quick Update

2011-04-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Just so you all don't think I fell off the face of the earth again and landed in Africa. I'm still in the US. I'm up in Jayhawk territory visiting friends from college with their 3 grade school aged boys. I still haven't gotten to the range to do a sighting or range report on the new OMGBFR. But rest assured, I'm as anxious as the rest of you to do it. It should be sunday or monday when it happens.

Till then, stay warm.

QoTD

2011-04-06T18:27:00.001-05:00

Heard on Sean Hannity today.

Gold is the money of kings.
Silver is the money of gentlemen.
Barter is the money of peasants.
But Debt is the money of slaves.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:On the road.

Blogorado Bleg

2011-03-30T11:39:00.008-05:00

As most of you have probably seen over at FarmGirl's blog, she's involved herself in a Kinetic/Potential engery experiment last week with an Elk. Well, I've been informed that we have a unique (an unique?) opportunity here. If we can get enough together to beat what her car guy would offer her for salvage (she says between 5 and 6 hundred) we can have ourselves our very own blogorado war machine! We chop off the top, maybe pull the bumper and front fenders off, mount the quad crossbow on a pole behind the front seat.... Something like this maybe?

Collander hats are optional. (Don't look at me! I was all for making them required, along with post apocolyptic ass-less chaps.)

I'm in for a hundred, Farmmom said she'll kick some, Vine said he'd kick in as well.

Please, I'm blegging you, please give to the blogorado war machine fund. ITS FOR THE CHILLUNS!

Actually, just leave a comment on this post and we'll add it up and figure out how to get her the money.

Edit: I coordinated with FarmGirl and we can use her tip jar. Just go to FarmGirl's blog, hit the tip jar or click
and enter as much as you want. Just make sure you put War Machine or "Vine in Ass-less Chaps" as a comment on the tip. If we hit 1000, we can keep Vine from wearing ass-less chaps and really do a bang up job on the war machine.

Uzi Money

2011-03-28T14:47:00.004-05:00

Here's what happened today. And just to head off the wild rumors, no I did not buy an uzi.

The traffic leaving the airport is always bad. I mean an hour to get 1/2 a mile bad. So, we decided to try going the opposite direction and see if it was any quicker. (In crash investigations, this is referred to as link one in the chain that led to the badness).

It looked like a fairly easy navigation (for Luanda) problem. Basically 3 roads, all listed in yellow on the maps. (That means they're 4 lanes, divided, PAVED and at least marginally free of the pot holes that swallow elephants.) Link 2.

Somewhere before we even got to the second road, we got lost. I mean we probably took the wrong exit out of one of the roundabouts. Link 3. The road very quickly stopped being 4 lanes, stopped being divided. Hell, stopped being paved, and don't even ask about the pot holes.

We found ourselves driving through that unique style of shanty town that is 75% of Luanda. It was a rough neighborhood. So we stopped using any sort of map and just kept prominent landmarks at the same relative bearing to us and followed were most of the traffic was heading. Hey, they've got to be going "out of here" eventually. Link 4.

About half an hour after starting this bounce between ruts and pot holes we come upon a traffic jam. Only about a dozen cars bottle necked at an "intersection". We don't know if someone hit someone, a car broke down or what. But there are cops on the scene. Not a good thing in this country. There is no "To Protect and To Serve" motto on the police cars here. If the cops are here, someone's getting beaten, thrown in jail, sent away, or any combination of the three that the cops take a whim to.

After about 15 minutes, (no time at all in Luanda) the traffic starts moving again. Right past the cops. Now, we're two white guys, in civvies, in a part of town that two white guys in a Hyundai Getz should NOT be in. The traffic snakes it way past the cops and the bigger meaner of the two takes that chance to cut in front of us to get across the dirt rut that's the road. Johnny is sitting next to me saying, "Just go, JUST GO" out of the side of his mouth and I'm doing my damnedest to not look the cop in the eyes while mentally levitating all the other obstacles out of my way. Just as the cop gets to the other side of our car, he looks in, sees said white guys and the following flashes across his face.

Surprise, because hell, two white guys here, just ain’t possible.

Anger, what the fuck are two white guys doing here!

And whatever someone’s face looks like when they realize they’re about to get to beat two white guys in a part of town that they ain’t supposed to be.

At which point I gunned the engine and moved with alacrity away from the scene.

Pucker factor, about 6.5 Cops carry uzi’s here, or AK’s if they’re feeling bad.

People back in the states laughed when I told them that I keep a bunch of hundred dollar bills in my wallet as “Uzi Money”. (No, I’m not gonna tell you exactly how much, but there are more than 3 figures to the left of the decimal point.) When someone sticks an uzi in my face on this continent I’m gonna shove hundreds at him till he goes away. That is what uzi money is.

Random sighting today

2011-03-21T14:53:00.002-05:00

I was at the shopping center in Luanda Sul today and saw this in the bookstore window. I was pretty much gob-smacked.

My initial thoughts on Libya...

2011-03-20T04:12:00.002-05:00

and the US's involvment in this "Police Action". And they're not happy ones.

I can't help thinking the only reason Obmama did this was so...

1) He'd APPEAR to be tough to the people in the US and

2) He's set up the precident that the UN takes precidence over the US in international matters. Now, he only does what the UN wants and not till they want it.

So when the UN says we need to go into Ohio to stop whatever, then he'll get to say, "We have to, because we let them in Libya, See... See? Let me be perfectly clear...".

In the Immortal Words of...

2011-03-19T09:56:00.003-05:00

The Great Bill Murray...

Koo Chakalaka-laka, Koo Chakalaka-laka, Koo Chokalaka-laka....

Random Thoughts

2011-03-19T05:44:00.002-05:00

The Cricket World Cup roster is composed entirely of countries that used to be colonies of once Great Britain. And they complain about us calling it the Baseball World Series.

All the sports in the US have "ball" in the name. Baseball, Basketball, Football... None of them do outside of the US. Rugby, Cricket, Soccer... Were they worried we wouldn't know it was a sport if they didn't specifiy the ball? (While I'm all for the name Handegg, it just doesn't have the recognition that Football does, no matter how much more accurate and appropriate it is.)

Rugby RAWKS over Handegg, that is all.

A few days rest.

2011-02-26T04:01:00.002-06:00

I've got a few days on my hands now. The airplane is down for inspections. It should be back up sometime next week and we have to go pick it up then. But until then, I've got a time on my hands again.

As for all the upheaval that's rolling across the continent... Well, it ain't here so much. You'll notice that it's mostly centered on countries that are predominently muslim. Angola is outside of that belt. That isn't to say it can't happen here, just that it hasn't. Yet.

Right now, northern Africa is a lot like central Africa a decade or two ago. Enter at your own risk.

It's beef for chriminey...

2011-02-25T06:07:00.002-06:00

I've come to believe that South Africa, as a general rule*, can take a piece of beef, no matter how bad and truly make it terrible.

*There may be individuals who are the exception. But if there are, they don't live in South Africa.

Random trip continued.

2011-01-16T14:22:00.002-06:00

The differences between Windhoek and either Luanda or Menongue are astounding. You could pick Windhoek up from Namibia and put it down anywhere in Europe or America and you couldn't tell that it wasn't always there. I guess that's what 20 years of war and strife will do to a country.

Windhoek has a very European feel. Well more British, since they drive on the wrong side of the road. But nobody is perfect.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Windhoek, Namibia.

Eerrrp?

2011-01-15T14:23:00.000-06:00

I think they fed me snake tonight.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Menongue, Angola.

Pics from a random trip

2011-01-15T12:00:00.000-06:00

I've been farmed out to a different company for a trip this weekend. We're hopping around southern Africa in a Lear 60. First stop is Menongue (field elevation 4500 ft.) where we stayed at a lodge that was a funny mixture of the traditional and the modern.

But it's still pretty cool.

(Yes, I'm still using my crappy iPhone camera. I'll get a better camera when I can.)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Observations.

2011-01-11T11:40:00.002-06:00

In a surprising hollywood got it right moment.

Women here actually do carry everything in baskets balanced on their heads. I read somewhere they can carry up to 10 times their own body weight.

Here we are.

2011-01-06T05:09:00.002-06:00

Or me rather. I'm sitting in a hotel in Luanda, Angola now. Waiting to hear from the new job. My thoughts on Africa so far. South Africa was a strange mish mash of England, America and something all their own. But that may be because I was in a casino for the 4 days I was there. Angola is seriously under construction. There are buildings going up everywhere. Most of the money appears to be coming from China. At least that's what all the electronics and other machines are labeled in. Someone told me that China put 5 billion into Angola last year alone. But that's not surprising when you consider how much untapped resources Angola has. If I were a country bent on massive development like China, I'd put a lock on all the resources I could for at least the next 25-50 years. Oil, minerals, diamonds, Angola has it all.

Talking with the other pilot I came over with, the dollar is crashing bad against all foreign currency. Not surprising, given the way they've been treating the printing presses back home.

One thing that struck me as I came in were all the crashed Migs that were still scattered around the airport and I'm told there are still hulks of tanks left over from the war with South Africa down south in Angola. I'm told there was a very large tank battle in Angola. I'll have to do the research on that and read up on it.

What's the speed limit again?

2010-12-28T19:50:00.002-06:00

The ability for life to change at such a rate as to leave one literally shaking is astounding.

More when I can.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T12:43:00.002-06:00

Just in case I don't get a chance to wish you all the best tomorrow, I wanted to tell you all now.

And for those of my friends who have loved ones or friends in the hospital, you have my prayers as well.

Jim

Today, in history

2010-12-16T16:31:00.001-06:00

Today is the anniversary of the original Tea Party. Yes, the one on Boston. Wow, has Massachusetts changed.

I swear to God...

2010-12-15T13:04:00.003-06:00

This guy really asked this.

Allow me to quote. This is unedited and as I got it.

"i really dont know what the type is but you see gang members use them like on the street there called oozy's with a bannanna clip do you have these?"

How do you respond to this? Srsly.

Just some thoughts from a long drive.

2010-12-09T21:28:00.009-06:00

The outgoing speaker of the house, based on her tactics and shenanigans, would have been one the the greatest Soviet Premiers of all time. All the dirty tricks and underhanded dealings and outright threats and corruption would have made Stalin proud. All she needs is a national gulag system to make her complete.... oh wait....

The tax compromise that was maybe almost reached this week. IT'S NOT A TAX CUT! In fact, it's worse than that, it's a 2 year temporary reprieve. Taxes are not going down, they're staying the same, so the situation that's existed for the last two years that's made this mess we're in, IT'S STILL HERE! On top of that we can't run on a temporary economy, that's what this "compromise" has created. Businesses are not going to expand or spend or whatever if they're staring at being in the pickle barrel in two years. And on top of that, 2 years is nothing in terms of business plans. They look at 5 and 10 year business models. I seriously doubt that any smart business will do anything if they know that just as they're getting started, they'll get slapped down with extortionate tax burdens. Looking at individuals, this equates to less than what most of us spend on car insurance per year. You think people are going to look at that 500 dollars and go all spendy crazy? Hell, no. Especially with the government printing money like it's going out of style and devaluing it in job lots. So, all that will happen is in 2 years when the next election cycle rolls around, is the dems will get to shout "SEE, LOWERING TAXES DIDN'T WORK!" Which is complete and utter bull shit. But if you say the lie often enough and loud enough it becomes the truth. The dems have proved that over and over the last few years.

The liberal mindset that will insist on demonizing the item and ignore the fact that it took a person to put that item to an evil purpose, is the same liberal mindset that's running DHS and TSA. They have time and time again refused to look at the people, under the guise of "Oh we can't profile, that's evil.", and demonized the fingernail clippers and bottle of shampoo that you have. We will not be be safe, we will not be anything other than a joke, till we change the mindset that runs these agencies. Listen, some people are bad. That's just the shit of life. And what's even shittier is some people do evil things for what they believe are good reasons. That's just the way it is. The sooner we get over this stupid notion that somehow box cutters are intrinsically evil and realize that it was the fucking nutjob jihadist wielding it that was evil, the sooner we'll actually start making things safer.

And don't get me started on the porno-scanners.

STOP THE PRESSES! We have definitively located the epi-center of fug bucking nuts crazy: http://www.my9tv.com/dpp/my9_news/Berkeley-Mulls-Resolution-to-Honor-Army-Private-Accused-of-Passing-Secret-Info-to-WikiLeaks_49833953 Yes, that's right. These moonbats sitting on the door step to our outgoing speaker of the house's home district have that warped a view of the world. It does go a long way to explaining why Pelosi is the way she is. No?

English is a dying language.

2010-12-01T12:46:00.003-06:00

This is the sort of emails I have do deal with day to day. And I quote:

"If You Have Larger Once Let Me Now The Price Of Them."

He actually capitalized the first letter of every word! And still blew the English language out of the water. Talk about working harder not smarter.

Om nom nom

2010-11-29T20:45:00.001-06:00

Meat is murder.... Tasty tasty murder.....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Christmas List

2010-11-28T21:39:00.003-06:00

This:

Just went on my Zombiepocolypse Christmas list. How kewl is that!

Birthers resurface.

2010-11-28T15:43:00.001-06:00

Just read an article by Anthony G. Martin. It seems the supremes have agreed to confer on a lawsuit on Presidential Eligibility.

SCOTUS confers on Presidential Eligibility

What does this mean? Probably nothing. IF they rule that the case has merit, and IF they can find a court to hear it, and IF they win that case, do you really think the ruling class will let us even contemplate trying to unravel all the damage they've managed to wreck on our liberties or take away the power they've gathered?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Speaking of dancing...

2010-11-27T13:08:00.003-06:00

Seems we will continue to dance to the tune Osama plays till we find the ~~scum~~ ~~filth~~ ~~peace loving~~ islamic ~~extremeist~~ ~~terrorist~~ ~~shithead~~ person.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, Somali-born US teen with Al Qaeda links, arrested.

What pisses me off most is now we will have to strip our Christmas trees when we go through the airports.

I lol'd at work...

2010-11-21T14:54:00.000-06:00

A Necessary List of Quotes.

2010-11-18T18:49:00.007-06:00

First a h/t to Old_NFO for emailing this out today.

"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose."
- James Earl Jones

"There are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents, and undisciplined children. Period."
- Ted Nugent

"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic."
- Ted Nugent

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."
- Sigmund Freud

"An armed society is a polite society."
- Robert Heinlein

"There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous men."
- Robert A. Heinlein

"Among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised."
- Charlton Heston quoting Machiavelli, from The Prince.

"We would just go out and line up a bunch of cans and shoot with rifles, handguns and at times, submachine guns... When I was a kid it was a controlled atmosphere, we weren't shooting at humans... we were shooting at cans and bottles mostly. I will most certainly take my kids out for target practice."
- Johnny Depp

"But if someone has a gun and is trying to kill you ... it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun."
- Dalai Lama

"A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders."
- Larry Elder

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
- G. K. Chesterton

" ... the right to defend one's home and one's person when attacked has been guaranteed through the ages by common law."
- Martin Luther King

"That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there."
- George Orwell

"It's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it."
- Christian Slater

"A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand."
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"I will teach my children weapons and warfare, so they might teach their children science and law, so they might teach their children art and literature."
- Unknown Greek

"Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."
- Pericles

"The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."
- Thucydides

"Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men."
- St. Augustine

"A free people ought to be armed."
- George Washington

"Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth."
- George Washington

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
- George Washington

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin

"The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
- Thomas Jefferson

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
- Thomas Jefferson

"The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
- Thomas Jefferson (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria)

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks."
- Thomas Jefferson

"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."
- Thomas Jefferson

This one is a personal favorite. Lord knows, I've had to pound on this everytime one of the liberal constitutional revisionists starts speaking.
"On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
- Thomas Jefferson

"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense."
- John Adams

"To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them."
- George Mason

"I ask sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few politicians."
- George Mason (father of the Bill of Rights and The Virginia Declaration of Rights)

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe."
- Noah Webster

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority ... the Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
- Noah Webster

"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops."
- Noah Webster

"A government resting on the minority is an aristocracy, not a Republic, and could not be safe with a numerical and physical force against it, without a standing army, an enslaved press and a disarmed populace."
- James Madison

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms."
- James Madison

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country."
- James Madison

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
- Richard Henry Lee

"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms."
- Richard Henry Lee

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.... The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun."
- Patrick Henry

"This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.... The right of self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction."
- St. George Tucker

"... arms ... discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.... Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them."
- Thomas Paine

"The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
- Samual Adams

"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."
- Joseph Story

"What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty .... Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."
- Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts

" ... for it is a truth, which the experience of all ages has attested, that the people are commonly most in danger when the means of insuring their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the least suspicion."
- Alexander Hamilton

"A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men? Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of Society? ... The Scriptures tell us "righteousness exalteth a Nation."
- Abigail Adams

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
- John Adams

"The thing that separates the American Christian from every other person on earth is the fact that he would rather die on his feet, than live on his knees!"
- George Washington

"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."
- Daniel Webster

"Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men."
- St. Augustine

"Without doubt one is allowed to resist against the unjust aggressor to one's life, one's goods or one's physical integrity; sometimes, even 'til the aggressor’s death.... In fact, this act is aimed at preserving one’s life or one’s goods and to make the aggressor powerless. Thus, it is a good act, which is the right of the victim."
- Thomas Aquinas

"When the law disallows both the means and moral authority to defend one's self and property, crime and violence fill the void between common sense and the hoped for utopia."
- JD Filkins

"Keeping and bearing arms is not only a fundamental right; it is a fundamental duty upon which all liberty and sovereignty is based."
- Donald L. Cline

"A shoot-out is better than a massacre!"
- David M. Bennett

"It is a lesson of history that it is ethically, morally, and philosophically impossible to have too many personal weapons, whether they be edged, impact or projectile."
- David W. Loeffler

"Nothing puts the dignity in personal dignity (or the freedom in personal freedom) like the self in self-rule."
- John Longenecker

"Those gun control activists advocating exchanging a liberty for safety should recall that the safest place on earth is solitary confinement at Leavenworth."
- Rand T. Lennox

"The gun control extremist has at least two things in common with the Islamic extremist. He has a willingness to die for his fundamental beliefs. And he has the sanctimony to demand that others go with him."
- Dr. Mike Adams

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
- Daniel Webster

"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

"The philosophy of gun control: Teenagers are roaring through town at 90MPH, where the speed limit is 25. Your solution is to lower the speed limit to 20."
- Sam Cohen (inventor of the neutron bomb)

"The tragic history of civilian disarmament cries a warning against any systematic attempts to render innocent citizens ill-equipped to defend themselves from tyrant terrorists, despots or oppressive majorities,"
- Daniel Schmutter

"If the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is to mean anything, it must, as a general matter, permit a person to possess, carry and sometimes conceal arms to maintain the security of his private residence or privately operated business."
- David Prosser (Wisconsin Supreme Court justice)

"If you've got to resist, you're chances of being hurt are less the more lethal your weapon. If that were my wife, would I want her to have a .38 Special in her hand? Yeah."
- Dr. Arthur Kellerman (famous gun grabber) (this is just one example of the unashamed hypocricy of those who think they're somehow our betters)

"If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of crime rates reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying -- that they must sweep under the rug the southern attempts at gun control in the 1870-1910 period, the northeastern attempts in the 1920-1939 period, the attempts at both Federal and State levels in 1965-1976 -- establishes the repeated, complete and inevitable failure of gun laws to control serious crime."
- Senator Orrin Hatch

"Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. ... the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible."
- Sen. Hubert Humphrey

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."
- John F. Kennedy

"By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia,' 'the security of the nation,' and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy... The Second Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important."
- John F. Kennedy

"Just as the First and Fourth Amendment secure individual rights of speech and security respectively, the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. This view of the text comports with the all but unanimous understanding of the Founding Fathers."
- Attorney General John Ashcroft

"There's no question that weapons in the hands of the public have prevented acts of terror or stopped them."
- Israeli Police Inspector General Shlomo Aharonisky

"The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world... The first step – in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come – is to teach men to shoot!"
– President Theodore Roosevelt

"The ruling class doesn't care about public safety. Having made it very difficult for States and localities to police themselves, having left ordinary citizens with no choice but to protect themselves as best they can, they now try to take our guns away. In fact they blame us and our guns for crime. This is so wrong that it cannot be an honest mistake."
- Sen. Malcolm Wallop

"One of the arguments that had been made against gun control was that an armed citizenry was the final bulwark against tyranny. My response had been that untrained, lightly-armed non-soldiers couldn't prevail against a modern army. I had concluded that the qualitative difference in firepower was such that all of the previous rules of guerilla war no longer applied. Both Vietnam and Afghanistan demonstrated that wasn't true. Repelling an armed invasion is not something that American citizens are likely to face, but the possibility of a despotic government coming to power is not wholly unthinkable. One of the sequellae of Vietnam was the rise of the Khmer Rouge and slaughter of perhaps a million Cambodian citizens. Those citizens, like the Jews in Germany or the Armenians in Turkey, were unarmed and thus utterly and completely defenseless against police and paramilitary. An armed minority was able to kill and terrorize unarmed victims with total impunity."
– Paul Hagar

"Make good scouts of yourselves, become good rifle shots so that if it becomes necessary that you defend your families and your country that you can do it."
- Lord Baden-Powell, Scouting For Boys

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and passed on ... or we will spend our sunset years telling our children's children what it was like in the United States when men were free."
– Ronald Reagan

"I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within."
– General Douglas MacArthur

"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie."
– Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

"Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars."
- Unknown

TSA Motto:

2010-11-17T22:27:00.001-06:00

"TSA, what is best in life?"

"To crush your passengers, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."

h/t to Daniel

The Looter Religion

2010-11-15T19:59:00.004-06:00

I was watching The Weather Channel of all things this morning. They were doing a "news" blurb on the big snow fall up in Minneapolis. They were getting sound bites from some of the people who'd had their cars towed because of the snow emergency. One lady said "Towing my car in the middle of the night is a SIN!", not wrong, not unfair, not mean, not even petty. A Sin.

and of course, this got me thinking.

This may be what's so hard for me to understand about that mindset. They've worked so hard to remove religion of any kind from their lives or the lives of anyone remotely near them. Only to replace it with this weird sort of quasi-religious belief that they are some sort of deity. Anything done that hurts/angers/inconveniences them violates the prime commandment of their religion: Thou Shalt Not Not Cater to My Whims.

Interesting religion indeed.

If I understand what happened, and I doubt that I really do, in order to remove one god they had to elevate someone or thing into it's place. Why they thought this would be the best course, I couldn't fathom. But there it is. The most convenient idol at hand was their own ego. I guess it makes sense. Sort of, if you squint really hard and hold your nose.

Mind you, I'm not saying everyone did this, some took on the religion of The Green, or the religion of The Nanny State, or the religion of whatever the talking head tells them the current One True Religion is. But the one commandment still holds true.

The situation is as bad or worse than jihadists and other religious extremists. No matter what you say or how you say it, unless you're in lock step with them and their religion, whatever that may be, you're breaking The Commandment. And The Commandment is the ultimate in personalization.

This is why there can't be anything like reasoned discourse with them. Everything is personal, everything is too emotionally invested for them to talk about anything but the feelings associated with the issue. Everything is self-centric. When you're the god of your universe you don't need to explain why something is, it just is.

November 11th.

2010-11-11T11:10:00.002-06:00

Happy Veterans Day.

November 10th.

2010-11-10T14:10:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday US Marine Corps! Is the Navy gonna drive you to the party like they always do? :D

Useless Gun Trivia # 346

2010-11-07T23:20:00.002-06:00

I've had a lot of people ask me this question over the last few month. "Who makes the best AR receivers?" Well, a better question would be who actually makes the receivers. I've found a couple of places that list who and for the record and to make it easier for me to answer this question in the future, here's the most accurate one to my knowledge.

Lewis Machine & Tool

LMT
Lauer
DS Arms
PWA
Eagle
Armalite
Knights Armament
Barrett

Continental Machine Tool

Stag
Rock River Arms
High Standard
Noveske
Century (New)
Global Tactical
CLE
S&W
MGI
Wilson Tactical
Grenadier Precision
Colt

LAR Manufacturing

LAR
Bushmaster
Ameetec
DPMS
CMMG
Double Star
Fulton Armory
Spike's Tactical

JVP

Double Star
LRB
Charles Daly

Mega Machine Shop

Mega
GSE
Dalphon
POF
Alexander Arms

Olympic

Olympic
SGW
Tromix
Palmetto
Dalphon
Frankford
Century (Old)

Sun Devil

Sun Devil forged billet receivers

Superior

Superior Arms
Lauer (New)

Aero Precision

Aero Precision

I hope this helps.

Today...

2010-10-29T15:43:00.001-05:00

Gun Pr0n, Surprise Edition

2010-10-27T15:24:00.004-05:00

Saw this today at the fun store;

Yes, it's a glock. But before you say, "Wow, another glock..." and roll your eyes. Look closely.

Yeap. It's a G18. I giggled, I handled, I flipped the go faster fun switch.

I didn't get to shoot it. :(

TOTD.

2010-10-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

The only thing a bureaucracy does quickly is grow.

Too much time to think and the First

2010-10-20T22:18:00.004-05:00

Had to do a lot of driving today and as such got to listen to a lot of talk radio. Never a good thing. It seems there's a bit of a kerfuffle about a question asked by a conservative of a liberal. Specifically the question was; what five freedoms are enumerated in the First Amendment.

The short answer is freedom of:

Religion
Speech
Press
Assembly
Redress

But that's not what the to do is about. It seems the libs think that the first spells out separation of church and state. And the "radical right wing nuts" say it doesn't. Okay.... Let's look at the First Amendment as it's actually written.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Lots of commas and semi-colons.

The first clause. "...make no law respecting AN establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise THEREOF;" (emphasis mine)

The highlighted "thereof" is where most people point and say "See, freedom of religion" and libs say "See, freedom FROM religion". I blogged about this before, complete with Websters and Oxfords definition of "thereof". I don't feel like repeating myself, so go dig through my archives. The upshot? The founding fathers meant, and they expounded on this in the Federalists Papers among other places, you're free to practice, don't practice, whatever, pray, don't pray, God, Ghu, Nature, Glaciers (The Great Pumpkin help us), Trees... well you get my drift. If you want to dance naked around trees on the summer solstice and that's how you worship whatever you worship that was honky-dory with our founding fathers.

The "an" on the other hand. You see, the libs, and this is just my guess, look at "establishment" as a verb. The "an" on the other hand sort of forces "establishment" to be a noun. And therein lies the rub. The libs read that and say "Look! Separation of church and state! See, you stupid conservative bible banging idiots.", and then laugh in a condescending and superior way.

Which is ironic.

Because the "an" is sitting there right in front of "establishment". The noun establishment is a different beast and sort of makes the libs wrong. Which means they're... well, the idiots in this case and even dumber for laughing at the conservatives about it.

At the time the First Amendment was drafted, most, if not all, of the 13 states had official state religions. So, the founding fathers were limiting the federal government from stepping on what they saw as the purview of the states. Which is what the first 10 amendments are all about. Limiting the power of the federal government.

So, "establishment of religion" was meant to be a fancy way of saying churches. Or any organized religious body. (The sticky bit here is that read that way, it makes all those laws exempting churches from taxes unconstitutional)

On a side note, the complaint is if churches had to pay taxes they'd be paying things that were against their beliefs, like abortions and civil union marriages, etc. I'd counter with two arguments. Show me where in the constitution abortions are enumerated. Or for that matter where does it say ANYWHERE that the government has any business in marriages?
Secondly, the government has it's fingers in places that would make the founding fathers flip their powdered wigs. Things like soup kitchens, housing the indigent, orphanages, etc were originally funded in a secular manner by the churches and local charity organizations. If they were put back in their hands the churches wouldn't have to pay taxes for things that were against their beliefs. And besides, I have to pay taxes that go for A LOT of thing I don't want to pay for, why should they be any different.

But I digress.

So, when you look at the word establishment as a noun, you sort of make the concept of separation of church and state vanish from the first amendment. But as it was never there in the first place, that's not that amazing.

People have an astonishing penchant for reading the constitution using modern definitions. Which is boggling when you consider that the people writing the stupid thing could have no way of knowing how the definitions would evolve. They wrote using words with definitions that were valid for their time. We should read the constitution using those definitions, NOT ours.

Today is a banner day.

2010-10-03T16:55:00.001-05:00

This is a model 1918 BAR made in April 1919. And I just got to shoot it! Squee!!!!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Tulsa,United States

Frustration Level.... 7.9

2010-09-27T18:12:00.005-05:00

Interesting conversation today. Well, interesting in a pull-whats-left-of-my-hair-out sort of way. And interesting considering where I work and the type of people that frequent the place.

I met someone who doesn't vote.

"Okay", thinks I. "Why not?"

"I don't care to." hmmm.....

When pressed, she finally gave me these reasons (in no particular order);

I don't want to learn about all that stuff.
None of it is relevant to me.
My opinion doesn't count for that much. (Yes, she said opinion.)

Wow. Since I couldn't tell her what I thought of those reasons to her face, I get to take the chicken way and blog about them. I know, lucky you.

Here goes.

Reason one: Wow, how unimaginably lazy of you. Don't want to learn about all that stuff. Great, so... you just want someone to tell you which lever to pull and thats good enough for you. Congratulations! YOU ARE THE REASON WE'RE IN THE MESS WE'RE IN NOW! Thanks for playing, we have some nice parting gifts for you off stage.

Reason Two: She expanded on this reason by saying she happy living in her little corner and everyone can leave her alone since she's not bugging anyone else. Really, you think none of this is relevant to you? You want to know how not relevant it is to you? Look at your paycheck. See all that withholding? You realize you're working till late May every year just to pay for the DIRECT taxes that the government takes out? If the Bush "tax cuts" are allowed to expire, you'll be working till the end of June. Literally 50% of your pay will be taken by the government. Tell me how that's not relevant to you?

You know what? All this talk about flat rate or fair or just plain tax reform. Throw it out the window. What I want is a law that says the government can no long do withholding and everyone must write a check every month for what they have to pay in taxes. That more than anything else will bring about tax reform. The second people start actually seeing how much their losing they'll get pissed. Trust me.

Reason Three: Your vote doesn't really count for that much. That has got to be the most self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic thing I've heard since the last presidential address. You wont vote because your opinion doesn't count for that much. Guess what Princess Lookatme, your "opinion" counts for just as much as MY opinion. I wouldn't want it any other way. No, that's not entirely true, I want my opinion to count for more than yours, but that opens up the door for all sorts of political shenanigans and we don't want that. If you think your opinion is so fucking important that it should really REALLY count for more... Guess what, fuck you. I don't want you voting. We've got way to many narcissists in politics now.

Ultimately though, voting is a privilege. Everyone is free to not exercise that privilege if they so choose. But if you don't vote, don't bitch to me about what life hands you.

QoTD: Old Man Edition.

2010-09-27T14:03:00.001-05:00

Overheard today:

That reminds me of a comment my grandfather, who was a pilot during the dubya
dubya tew, in regards to how downed pilots were expected to arm themselves in
enemy territory.

"You'd have a nine'een eleven with 5 bullets and whatever rifle was carried by the first dumbass that had the misfortune of finding you..." He told me that German rations tasted funny, but they had solid gear.

Education and WTF?

2010-09-21T10:14:00.003-05:00

I was pointed to this news article today at http://www.msn.com/.

University Undead? Students Study Zombies in New Course.

The payoff is farther down the article when they give examples of other courses offered by universities around the country.

And in a larger context, Blumberg’s zombie class aligns well with a spate of other offbeat courses at universities across the country. At Georgetown University, students have the option of enrolling in the “Philosophy and Star Trek” course. Students at Bowdoin College in Maine can take classes called “The Souls of Animals” and “Tolkien’s Middle Ages.”

In 2007, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s comparative media studies program began offering a course titled “American Pro Wrestling.” The same department also offered a course in 2008 exploring American soap operas.

Srsly?!?! They get to study the philosophy of Star Trek? Soap Operas? Don't get me wrong, I will admit to spending more than one night of my geekdom on Star Trek. But I did it for the sheer enjoyment of it and not for college credit. I think that was very magnanimous of me.

Hey, I've got some ideas for college classes. How about....

Your life and Reality.

Determining Relevance to Life

What color is the sky in your world?

or for Masters Level work

You know all those stupid courses on Oprah and Soap Operas you took? They won't help you now.

ITLAPD!!!

2010-09-19T08:01:00.002-05:00

Aaarrr Me Matey's....

It be that season again. Batten down yer hatches, shiver yer timbers... and clean up that parrot dookie will ya?!?

It's...

INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

Gratuitous knife pr0n

2010-09-15T16:17:00.001-05:00

We did a big order from Ka-Bar and the box-o-fun came in today. These are what I got as well as a neck knife that I'm wearing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Tulsa,United States

burning books

2010-09-11T20:58:00.004-05:00

Today I burned a copy of the Koran.

Yeap, I found a .pdf version and burned it to CD.

I'm waiting for the Imam's to declare a fatwah against me. (or would that be for me?)

9/11

2010-09-11T20:55:00.001-05:00

Never forget.

And fuck you Obmama administration. It's is NOT a day of service. If anything it should be a day of rage.

Ossum doggeh ear pro

2010-09-06T15:40:00.001-05:00

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Who's a better Christian.

2010-09-05T18:59:00.003-05:00

Apparently that question is flying around the news and blogosphere. Who's a better Christian, our president or Glenn Beck.

Interesting.

Okay, for the record Glenn Beck is a Mormon. And none of the recognized Christian religions like Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. recognise Mormons as Christian. So, Glenn Beck is disqualified for that.

And also for the record, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being Mormon. Its just that's the way it is.

Also, in my opinion the Great 0 is disqualified as well. He's really too narcissistic to have any god other than himself. So, he's out.

So for that great question, who's a better Christian, Glenn Beck or BObmama? Neither.

Now if you were to ask who was more religious, that's a tougher one. I'd go with Obmama, because he spends all day every day worshiping at the altar that is himself. No one can beat that.

Ripples in a pond.

2010-09-01T15:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, evening to be more specific, after the place I work at closed, the owner took his own life.

He suffocated himself in his car behind one of the 100m carbine bays.

No one can make sense of what happened. I suspect that no one will.

We gathered today to discuss what happened and what little facts were available.

It is not for me to make judgements or conjecture about the act or the reasons behind it. My thoughts and prayers go out to those he left behind, both at home and at work.

Cool thing of the day

2010-08-29T16:00:00.001-05:00

Todays cool thing

Colt .22 Ace. First service issue, serial number 996.

Colt .45 1911. First government issue, serial number 997.

Both US Navy issued in 1912.

People bring in the coolest things.

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Location:Tulsa,United States

Hear Hear....

2010-08-25T19:40:00.001-05:00

Jen hits one out of the park.

Srsly. Well said!