Heartless Libertarian

Um, Mr. President? NATO? Anyone?

2011-06-05T13:12:00.002-04:00

Wasn't the intervention in Libya supposed to be about saving civilian lives? So why aren't we intervening in Syria? I mean, the Syrian government is actually shooting civilian protesters, unlike the Libyans, who were only endangering them in the crossfire while fighting armed rebels. Quite honestly, they were probably within the Laws of Land Warfare, too.

You know what I think? I think there were two elements to The One's decision-making on this: first, the Europeans were going to go in with or without us, and he didn't want to look like a wimp, even though the Euros were protecting their own interests (oil supply, and avoiding a wave of refugees) whereas we had no interests at play.

Second, I think The One figured that Quadaffy would cave when faced with the awesome might of the USAF, and he could score an easy foreign policy victory. Instead, Quadaffy didn't cave, and now we're stuck backing one side in a stalemated civil war. Instead of looking like a strong, competant statesman, The One looks like a Newb who's in over his head. Which is exactly what he is.

Sargeant Major of the Marines Has A Hissy Fit

2011-06-05T12:25:00.002-04:00

Over the possibility of the Army using MARPAT.

“The main concern for the Marine Corps when it comes to other services testing our patterns is that they don’t exactly mimic them,” said Kent, who is scheduled to retire June 9. “The MARPAT design is proprietary, and it’s important those designs are reserved for Marines. We just need to make sure each of our designs is unique to each service.”

Really, Sar' Major? I know you've been around long enough to remember when everyone wore woodland BDUs or DCUs. Ya'll still had your 8-corner hats and rolled your sleeves. I don't remember it causing any problems.

And BTW, if it's proprietary, the rights are owned by the US taxpayer. Who also employs the Army. Oh yeah, and the pattern was developed by the Army's Natick Labs. With Army money.

And finally, unless I got close enough to see national flag patches or the color of web gear and body armor, I usually couldn't tell US Marines from Canadian troops in Afghanistan. So what was it you were saying about being unique?

I suggest you shut up and color, before you further embarrass the Corps.

China Accuses US of Launching 'Internet War'

2011-06-05T12:05:00.002-04:00

From Foxnews.com:

BEIJING – The Chinese military accused the U.S. on Friday of launching a global "Internet war" to bring down Arab and other governments, redirecting the spotlight away from allegations of major online attacks on Western targets originating in China.
....
Writing in the Communist Party-controlled China Youth Daily newspaper, the scholars did not mention Google's claims, but said recent computer attacks and incidents employing the Internet to promote regime change in Arab nations appeared to have originated with the U.S. government.

"Of late, an Internet tornado has swept across the world ... massively impacting and shocking the globe. Behind all this lies the shadow of America," said the article, signed by Ye Zheng and Zhao Baoxian, identified as scholars with the Academy of Military Sciences.

"Faced with this warmup for an Internet war, every nation and military can't be passive but is making preparations to fight the Internet war," it said.

So, the Red Chinese are accusing the US of using the free flow of information as a weapon. Of course, free information is immensely dangerous to totalitarian regimes, and I'd like to think our government is competent enough to actually use it as a weapon to advance the cause of liberty around the world. But personally, I think they're giving the folks at Foggy Bottom and Langely more credit than they deserve.

China needs to "express to the world its principled stance of maintaining an 'Internet border' and protecting its 'Internet sovereignty,' unite all advanced forces to dive into the raging torrent of the age of peaceful use of the Internet, and return to the Internet world a healthy, orderly environment," the article said.

And, thank you very much for letting us know that you regard this as a threat. Not we know where to concentrate our efforts.

Remember, the Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. Information wants to be free, and will find a way to be so.

Making America More Economically Competitive

2011-04-19T15:55:00.003-04:00

I originally wrote this in March of 2010, while sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting to go back to Afghanistan after mid-tour leave. IIRC, that was before Pelosi, Reid, and The One managed to ram through the still smoldering pile of shit known as ObamaCare, so the health care section had to be updated a bit - namely, by adding "Repeal ObamaCare"

OK, here we go - Radical, Painful, and Necessary Steps to Fix the Economy

I. STOP TRYING TO REINFLATE THE BUBBLE AND LET PRICES BOTTOM OUT

The real way to get the housing market moving again is to let prices settle at a level which works the inventory surplus through the system by letting prices settle at levels people can afford.

a. Terminate the homebuyer tax credit – at this point, it’s just a handout for people who were going to buy anyway. (Note - this has already expired, and prices have continued to fall.)

b. End FHA mortgage guarantees. If borrowers are judged to be too high risk to loan money to without a guarantee by Uncle Sam, they’re too high risk to loan money to, period. We don’t need to be putting the taxpayers on the hook for any more stupid private borrowing/lending decisions.

c. End the government’s involvement in Fannie and Freddie, and make it explicitly clear that under no circumstances will their loan portfolio be guaranteed by taxpayer money.

d. Repeal the Community Reinvestment Act, and remove the government’s power to coerce and/or pressure lenders to make loans based on political considerations (i.e. to ‘underserved’ –(read ‘minority’) constituencies) that they wouldn’t lend to based on considerations of risk

e. (I’ll be ending the mortgage interest tax deduction later, under Tax Reform.)

II. FORCE STATES AND MUNICIPALITIES TO FACE FISCAL REALITY, AND HELP THEM OUT WITHOUT GIVING THEM MONEY

a. Make it clearly understood to state and local governments that there will be no more bailouts. They dug their holes for themselves, and they will have to get themselves out of it. (Note: with the GOP takeover of the House, this looks unlikely to happen prior to the 2012 elections. One point for the good, at least.)

b. Repeal Davis-Bacon, to make it easier for states and localities to reduce expenditures by contracting out without ‘prevailing wage’ floors.

c. Repeal all minimum wage laws. In conjunction with repealing Davis-Bacon, this will help reduce expenditures, and will help reduce unemployment by allowing labor costs to fall further. The Law of Supply & Demand works in the labor market, too. Right now we have a surplus of available labor (aka, high unemployment and underemployment), but the .gov is keeping the price from dropping to encourage demand.

III. STOP REINFORCING FAILURE.

There is no such thing as ‘Too Big to Fail.’ In the long run, it is better to let unsuccessful businesses fail and reallocate their resources to those who can use them more productively.

a. Liquidate Uncle Sam’s interest in GM, Chrysler and any other bailed-out companies. Admit the money they were given is a sunk cost, and recover whatever we can. If the businesses are viable without government money, there will be buyers. If not, let them go bankrupt and better run companies can buy whatever is worth anything.

b. End TARP and return whatever money is still sloshing around to the Treasury. There’s too much temptation to use this as a slush fund. And as above, if companies can’t survive without government help, let them be cannibalized.

IV. INCREASE AMERICA’S COMPETITIVENESS RELATIVE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

a. Tax Reform

i. Eliminate the Corporate Income Tax. Businesses don't pay taxes, they just collect them for the .gov. Taxes are just another expense to them. Therefore, the ideal corporate tax rate is Zero. Without the tax requirement, corporations will do one or more of the following four things:

1) Give the extra profit to shareholders (which becomes income for the shareholders, and thus taxed);
2) Increase pay to employees (which again increases tax receipts);
3) Expand their business (which means buying stuff and hiring more people, and thus, more taxes); or
4) Reducing the prices of their goods/services, which gives consumers more money to spend on other things, which expands the economy.

Furthermore, this will end, or at least reduce, the so-called ‘Benedict Arnold Corporations’ moving parts of their operations overseas for tax reasons, as well as ending the practice of keeping overseas earnings out of the country to avoid having them taxed a second time.

ii. Scrap the current income tax and replace it with a flat tax. The trigger for American independence was taxes, and historically, America’s low tax rates have attracted a disproportionate share of the world’s most productive people to our shores. Furthermore, tax compliance costs impose an estimated $200 billion drag on our economy – money that could be put to more productive uses than paying tax attorneys and H&R Block. We should regain that low-tax crown and eliminate that drag with a flat tax set at least 1% below the current lowest country.

iii. Repeal the inheritance tax entirely. It’s a class-warfare relic enacted to fund World War I, which ended over 90 years ago. Furthermore, it causes inefficiency as people make economic decisions based on avoiding the tax, rather than on maximizing utility.

b. Health Insurance Reform. The kind that won’t cost the government anything.

i. Repeal ObamaCare. It's a giant flaming pile of shit that is sure to cost far, far more than the Troika of Assholes told us.

ii. Eliminate state barriers to buying insurance across state lines. These barriers are blatantly unconstitutional, given that the Constitution reserves to Congress the power to “regulate commerce among the several states.” Furthermore, increasing the size and thus competitiveness of the market will reduce in lower prices for insurance.

iii. Eliminate mandatory policy coverages, and allow consumers to choose what coverage they want. Again, this will reduce the cost of insurance to individual consumers.

iv. Level the tax playing field between employer-purchased and privately purchased insurance. More consumer control and choice, once again, means more competition and lower prices. Ideally, this would be done by IV.a.i and .ii, above. (No corporate income tax means no employer deduction/credit, as would a flat tax with no deductions or a single standard deduction in the case of personally owned businesses.)

v. (Note that these health insurance reforms are designed only to reduce costs. They are not designed nor intended to address issues such as increasing access to/cost of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions or tort reform.)

c. Regulatory Reform

i. Reassert the sole authority of Congress to promulgate laws. The vast bulk of the impenetrable thicket of red tape which threatens to strangle America is generated by Executive Branch agencies which have no authority to make laws, but which still carry penalties for violating said rules, regulations, etc. Congress should re-assert its authority by passing a law stating that all rules, regulations, etc, promulgated by executive agencies, which carry any penalty whatsoever for non-compliance, are repealed, and that executive branch agencies have no authority under the Constitution to generate any such rules, regulations, etc, and that any authority that may have been granted under previous statute law was in error and is thus revoked and reserved exclusively to Congress.
Some will complain that Congress lacks the expertise and the time to pass laws to regulate all the things that needs controlling, and thus won't be able to do enough, but I see that as a feature rather than a bug.

I Thought Holland Had Gun Control...

2011-04-09T16:00:00.001-04:00

7 killed, 15 wounded in Dutch mall shooting

As Uncle would say (and probably already has): Unpossible!

Strykers and LAVs and Rosimaks, Oh My!

2011-03-22T15:00:00.002-04:00

Plus a couple of other random 8 Wheeled Combat Vehicles, from the Brigade.

FYI: The Rosimaks are the ones that look like turretless Strykers on steroids, sometimes with chain link fence bolted to the sides (they belong to the Polish troops in Ghazni province, Afghanistan). They also have turreted (30mm) versions.

And no, those aren't Strykers with 25mm turrets. Those are Canadian LAV IIIs. The Stryker was built on the LAV III chassis.

QOTD

2011-03-22T12:16:00.003-04:00

From Marko:

Chernobyl resulted in fewer than a hundred deaths, and a few thousand people with radiation-related health problems, mostly from the area 20 miles around the plant. That’s the worst nuclear accident in history, and that death toll is unacceptable, and proof that nukes aren’t safe, despite the fact that hundreds of reactors worldwide have been running for decades without any accidents...More miners die every year digging for the coal that runs coal-powered plants than people have died of nuclear accidents in the history of the technology.

And I will remind everyone out there with green-energy delusions: Cheap energy is the key to the modern economy, and to improving the standard of living for everyone. The only reliable, renewable energy source that can even come close to supplying cheap energy on a reliable basis is hydropower. Which ya'll hate. Don't try to give me any of that "We should use solar/wind/unicorn farts" BS because it can't even come close to supplying what we need, when we need it, on a reliable basis.

It's Official

2011-03-20T08:58:00.002-04:00

CNN can no longer be considered a serious news network. (From DailyCaller via Insty)

400 reporters for Prince Billy's wedding, but only 50 for Japan? Why don't ya'll just go ahead and change your name to something more fitting, like TMZ-2?

And interesting thought: I wonder what the BBC's ratio is? How about al-Jazeera? (I'm not going to add Fox News; I'm sure they're just as royal/celeb addled as CNN.)

Russians in Afghanistan

2011-03-18T22:07:00.001-04:00

Interesting pictures from English Russia. The more things change...

I Seem to Recall Hearing That Before

2011-03-13T20:45:00.002-04:00

Instapundit, via CBS News, posts that the massive quake/tsunami combo could happen here - something I blogged about almost five years ago.

Also, the first episode of History Channel's Mega Disasters was titled West Coast Tsunami, featuring a rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

Lying with Statistics

2011-03-08T09:50:00.003-05:00

This story, which says the US military is "too white and too male at the top," is yet another example of using misleading statistics to advance the agenda of political correctness.

The report states that, as of 2008,

seventy-seven percent of senior officers in the active-duty military are white, while only 8 percent are black, 5 percent are Hispanic and 16 percent are women

It then determines that there is problems with the military's recruiting, promotion, and ground combat exclusion policies. (Actually, the ground combat arms exclusion is a law, not DoD policy.)

The problem with this is, they're not comparing the percentages of senior officers to the appropriate populations. The appriate comparisons are not, as they seem to be doing, the percentages of women and minorities in today's general population. The story doesn't define 'senior officerm,' but I'll call them O-5s and above. So Commander for the squids, Leiutenant Colonel for everyone else. You can't just take someone off the street, send them to some training, and have a senior officer come out the other side. It takes at least 15 years of service, from time of commissioning, to make O-5. Second, all commissioned officers are required to hold a bachelor's degree. So, your relevant population would be college grads from at least 15-20 years ago.

The best stats I could find are in this report from the Dept. of Education, which breaks down college graduates from academic year 1997-98. For that year, 8.3% of college graduates were black, and 5.6% Hispanic. This correlates pretty well to the racial breakdown of senior officers quoted in the story, at 8% blacks and 5% Hispanics. Not exactly a reason for panic. If anything, the problem is not the military, but the civilian education system which turns out minority college graduates at rates below their representation in the general population.

Now, on to the women. What's relevant here is not the percentage of women in the overall population or the percentage of women college graduates. What's relevant is the percentage of women in the force. That's because the military - whose primary function is killing people and breaking things in furtherance of national security policy - has never been a popular career choice for women. Which is not necessarily a problem. There aren't a lot of women in construction, or the NFL, or working on offshore oil rigs, either. I didn't look up the other services, but in the Army, 17.2% of the overall force is female. And according to the story, 16% of the military's senior officers are female. A difference of just over 1% isn't exactly something to panic over.

The story does not contain a link to the actual report, so it's impossible to say if it examined attrition, but my personal experience has been that female officers tend to leave the services in higher percentages than their male counterparts, in large part due to children. Understanding that the plural of anecdote is not data, I've known 5 dual military officer couples in my career, 1 Navy, 4 Army. Of those, the Navy couple had no children. Of the four remaining, 3 of the wives left the Army, either when they got pregnant or within a year after giving birth.

Overall, the data cited in the article does not make any argument for any needed changes.

Wait a Minute...

2011-03-02T13:13:00.003-05:00

Doesn't Germany, and most of Europe, have incredibly restrictive gun control laws?

So how does this happen?

Two U.S. Airmen Killed in Shooting at Germany's Frankfurt Airport

The shooter is described as being a native of Mitrovica, Kosovo. The story doesn't say, but most Kosovars are Muslims. Interestingly, the US has a generally positive image in Kosovo and Albania thanks to our intervention n their behalf in 1999.

Less so with the ethnic Serb minority population of Kosovo. So it is entirely possible that it could be a pissed off Serb trying to get revenge. Just wanted to throw that note out before folks jump to the "self-radicalized lone wolf radical Islamofascist jihadi" conclusion.

All American Bravado

2011-03-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

Overheard in the hall today, reference (indirectly) the ongoing interestingness in the Arabic speaking portion of the world:

"If they ask, we can be anywhere in the world in 4 hours, and sustain forever. Our reach-back is incredible. Our rucksacks are bigger than any other rucksacks in the world."

I believe the G3's tongue was planted firmly in his cheek. Unless DARPA has some cool toys capable of Starship Troopers-style orbital drops that we haven't heard about yet. Which would be awesome. And which would definitely need 'AA' logos all over them.

I will put the Kool-AAid down now.

Chicks with Guns

2011-02-08T13:07:00.002-05:00

FNC story on the women of Top Shot (new season, tonight at 2200 EST)

One question: why is the safety off on that AK?

Army Carbine Competition

2011-02-02T15:12:00.002-05:00

From a story in the Military Times, the Army earlier this week announced details of the new parallel programs to upgrade the M4, while also developing a potential replacement.

A few things from the article that stood out for me:

No caliber restriction has been placed on a new design. It will be at least a 500-meter weapon and have a higher incapacitation percentage.

So something other than the standard M855 5.56 is at least possible. Whether this would be an improved 5.56 cartridge, an existing round in a heavier caliber (something in the 6.5-6.8 range) that fits the existing M4/M16 magazine envelope, or an entirely new round apparently will be a matter to be tested. More on this in a bit.

It can have a gas or piston system.

I think the author means direct gas or piston system. I'd love to see the actual Army solicitation, to see if other operating system types (such as the Kiraly lever-delayed blowback, a la the FA-MAS and TKB-517) would be allowed.

Once the carbine competition’s winner is determined, the Army chief of staff will determine whether the service should go with the top carbine or the improved M4 as it recapitalizes the force. In an era of diminishing budgets, the winning carbine must hit financial goals as well as it hits targets.

Now I keep seeing echoes of the .276 Pederson - even if a new cartridge were to prove better suited than the existing 5.56, the suggested new cartridge may well fall victim to budgetary concerns. Just like in 1932, the Army again faces tightening budgets, and has significant stockpiles of existing 5.56 ammo and weapons. Even a somewhat compromise of a new round that fits the existing M4/M16 magazine envelope would entail significant costs to convert existing weapons (not just the M4/M16, but also the M249 SAW) and build supplies of the new round.

Another strike against both a new round as well as a new carbine design is the LSAT program, which may well provide the Army's long term replacements for both the rifle/carbine and light machinegun.

In sum, if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on some sort of product improved M4/M16, with at least a 50/50 chance of the addition of something like the Mk 262 Mod 1 being adopted as a new 5.56 round.

Gunnies According to Cracked

2011-02-02T14:59:00.002-05:00

Actually, it's not bad at all. Found at WTA.

Rate me somewhere between Paranoid and Because I F***ing Can!

Al Jazeera Calls Out Obama

2011-01-28T13:36:00.002-05:00

President Obama, say the 'D-Word'

The most depressing and even frightening part of the tepid US response to the protests across the region is the lack of appreciation of what kind of gift the US, and West more broadly, are being handed by these movements. Their very existence is bringing unprecedented levels of hope and productive activism to a region and as such constitutes a direct rebuttal to the power and prestige of al-Qaeda.
...
Obama doesn't seem to understand that the US doesn't need to "take the fight" to al-Qaeda, or even fire a single shot, to score its greatest victory in the "war on terror". Supporting real democratisation will do more to downgrade al-Qaeda's capabilities than any number of military attacks. He had better gain this understanding quickly because in the next hours or days the Egypt's revolution will likely face its moment of truth. And right behind Egypt are Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, and who knows what other countries, all looking to free themselves of governments that the US and its European allies have uncritically supported for decades.

RTWT.

The despotic regimes that emerged from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire have probably done more to fuel the rise of militant Islam than any other single factor. A few years ago, neo-con policy wonks talked about a democratic Iraq serving tocatalyze democracy in other countries of the region.

That future may well be now.

What She Said

2011-01-26T14:43:00.002-05:00

From Tam:

Me? I have no strong opinions one way or another on choo-choo trains, whatever their speed. If someone wants to build a railroad and drive their trains really fast on it, more power to them. If they have reasonable rates and are going somewhere I want to go and they promise to treat me like a paying customer or even just a dignified human being and not like livestock or an airline passenger, I might even purchase their services.

I think that about sums up my feelings on the matter. If Union Pacific or BNSF wants to build super-fast trains from A to B, I say go for it. Just don't ask for any of my tax money (either direct spending or tax breaks) to build it. And no loan guarantees or acres of .gov land to sell, either. That goes for light rail, slow heavy rail, and things like the DC Metro, MARTA, and BART as well. (FWIW, this also applies to things like stem cell research. You want to play with stem cells? Go right ahead. Just use your own damn money. If it was as promising was you promise, you should have no shortage of willing investors.)

My favorite saying about mass transit: "Two-thirds of those surveyed supported mass transit for other people."

I Actually Agree with Frances Fox Piven

2011-01-23T10:22:00.002-05:00

at least, on a small point.

I found this quote in a Power Line blog post on how Piven and her fellow travelers have their panties in a bunch because Glenn Beck has been quoting her.

But here's the quote:

[T]he out-of-work have to stop blaming themselves for their hard times and turn their anger on the bosses, the bureaucrats or the politicians who are in fact responsible.

Except I think we differ slightly on which set of "bosses, bureaucrats, and politicians" are responsible. My list includes the bosses of the Fed, Fannie, Freddie, and .gov unions, the bureaucrats like the clowns at the EPA who call the product of exhaling a controllable pollutant and the FDA jerks who add years and tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of developing new drugs, and politicians like FDR, LBJ, Bill Clinton, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, and His Oneness who built the mammoth edifices of the welfare state that are crushing us under a mountain of government spending.

I kind of doubt that withered old Marxist bats like Piven want us to hold them responsible for the problems they created.

100 Years of Flying Squids

2011-01-18T13:27:00.003-05:00

Hockey celebrations in Detroit notwithstanding.

On this date in 1911, Eugene Ely landed a Curtis biplane on an improvised flight deck on the USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay. An hour later, he successfully took off again.

[Capt. Charles F. Pond, commanding officer of the Pennsylvania] praised Ely's flight as "marvelous" and "extraordinary," but also struck a cautious note. "To say what effect Ely's demonstration will have on naval development, of course," is debatable...Rear Adm. E.B. Barry, commander of the Pacific Fleet, thought flying machines would be useful for scouting, but little else. As for a plane attacking a warship, he noted that every warship carried U.S. Marine riflemen. "It seems unreasonable that the bird men could get close enough to become effective," the admiral said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/16/MNDK1H97FO.DTL#ixzz1BPfqzPmb

The caution of Capt. Pond and Admiral Barry would reign at least until 1922, when the Navy commissioned its first aircraft carrier. It was left to the Japanese in 1941 to truly enlighten the US Navy.

Also of note, on Eli's landing, a display of what today would be called 'jointness':

When he landed back at San Bruno 15 minutes later, Ely was hailed as a hero by Army soldiers at the airfield.

Some folks think I'm a bit nutty for jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. But I'm not crazy enough to try to land a plane on a boat.

Just a Thought

2011-01-14T18:40:00.002-05:00

Appropos of Tam's post on the ever predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth about "high capacity" magazines in the wake of the Tuscon nutjob shooting, this thought crossed my mind:

-the shooter was finally subdued after he had successfully loaded a second thirty-one round magazine into his pistol - not while he was reloading, as has been implied by many press reports. But that magazine - an third party aftermarket one - failed to feed properly.

Ever stop to think that, had the nutjob been limited to standard or reduced capacity magazines, the odds are probably better that they would have functioned properly, allowing him to keep shooting?

SCAR Multi-Caliber Lower

2011-01-11T09:48:00.002-05:00

This looks pretty darn cool. I assume that the upper is the ATF-recognized serial numbered 'gun' for the SCAR.

Actually, when this is what I first envisioned when they announced the SCAR and claimed that it would be 'multi-caliber' - a single rifle that could change calibers by swapping out barrel, bolt, and magwell.

Might actually get me to buy a SCAR.

Some Interesting Pictures

2011-01-01T15:29:00.003-05:00

From English Russia.

First, pictures of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Note, about 1/3 of the way down, the Soviet troop holding a Stinger missile tube. Also, the troops posing in front of the stone Buddhas of Bamian province, which were destroyed by the Taliban.

(Of note, Bamian's population is almost entirely ethnic Hazara Shiites, who were treated brutally by the Taliban. The only ISAF troops in the province are a reconstruction team from New Zealand. There are no Afghan Army troops. And also no Taliban.)

Second, pics of the Russian army in Chechnya. I do find the number of BMP-1s shown to be interesting, since back in the late 90s, when I was a mech infantry platoon leader, we were told that those had been relegated to second line use.

What Gun for Zombies?

2010-12-21T18:27:00.002-05:00

Not to get into a huge discussion, of which I'm sure there is plenty on places like THR, TFL, and arf.com, but just some commentary on a couple of recent postings I've read.

First of all, I'll agree with this author that a shotgun is not the best weapon for dealing with zeds in the wild, I'd posit that using a Saiga-12 would greatly reduce the problem of slow reloading.

And second, a post full of good advice from the inestimable Chuck Z. I will take issue, however, with his choice of the .22 LR for dealing with zeds. Firstly, because I have doubts about the ability of the .22 to penetrate a human skull reliably, especially when striking at an angle of significantly less than 90 degrees. Secondly, not every shot is going to be a head shot, especially when dealing with zeds in large numbers. A .22 which doesn't kill instantly isn't going to do much at all. But larger calibers at least have the capability to shred muscle and break bones. And shredded muscles and broken bones reduce the mobility and/or grabbing abilities of zombies just like regular people. Personally, I'd recomend something in 5.56 or 7.62x39.

Beyond GFWs...

2010-12-21T18:15:00.002-05:00

...to complete and total wussies. (HT: Uncle)

So these people are getting worked up at the thought of a few folks using bows in their backyards? How do these people get out of bed in the morning without their shadows scaring them back under the covers?

the chief expressed concerns after a resident recently asked whether he could use a compound bow in the village. It is the third or fourth such request since March 2007, Dahlberg's memo stats.[sic]

First of all, to whomever called the police to find out if they could shoot their bow: this is America. If the law doesn't say you can't, just do it.

And second, 3 or 4 questions in almost 4 years? I can see this is a raging epidemic of dangerousness. I don't think I'd trust the village police chiefs to hose out the cages at the dog pound.

Village code currently does not prohibit the use of compound bows on private property, unless the arrow is propelled onto or across public property.

And this is exactly how it should be: as long as what I'm doing stays on my own property, it's nobody else's business. If I'm negligent and my activity strays off my lot and does damage, then the law can intervene.

This last on needed to be pointed out:

Trustee John Korn said the matter is not a simple one and pointed out that confining the activity to an enclosed area does not necessarily make it safe. He said he once set up a range in his in-laws' home in Wheeling and was surprised to find bullet holes through the side of their house.

This clown set up a range inside a house...and then was surprised to find bullet holes through the exterior wall? Unless you've got solid masonry construction, even a .22 LR will punch holes in the wall more often than not. The fact that someone that deficient in judgment and common sense could get elected to public office says a lot about the judgment of the voters of the village.

Just The Thing to Go With Your Travel Kilt

2010-11-30T13:38:00.003-05:00

Underclothes That Display The 4th Amendment When X-Rayed by TSA

Found via TMBG on Facebook

Dilemna of the Fan of a Losing Team

2010-11-30T09:55:00.002-05:00

Do you root for them to win, or do you hope they lose, so a worse record will get them a higher draft position?

This season has been one of dashed hopes for Niners fans, and has shown the team to be in need of a few more key pieces. (Most notably, head coach, but you can't draft that.) Those are, from my foxhole:

1. QB. You can't win in the NFL without a good one, and Alex Smith isn't cutting it.
2. CB. The Niners need a shutdown corner who can neutralize the other teams #1 receiver (when the other guys are Arizona, and that receiver isn't Larry Fitzgerald). ESPECIALLY when the other team has a serious speed guy (see Jackson, DeSean)
3. DE. A DE who can put consistent pressure on the opposing QB would help the weak SF secondary a ton.

The tough thing about needing a QB is that there are a bunch of teams, most of them even worse than the Niners, who also need a QB. Also, since they picked Joe Montana in the 1979 draft (a draft day steal second only to Tom Brady), SF has done a lousy job of drafting QBs. This is partly a result of bad choices (Jim Druckenmiller, Alex Smith) and partly due to not being bad enough when some of the up-and-coming young QBs were available (Mark Sanchez, Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Jim Bradford.)

The big prize this year could be Andrew Luck, from Stanford. Luck is a redshirt sophomore, but would undoubtedly be the first QB taken if he comes out. Do the Niners have a chance?

Right now, there are 4 teams with a good probability of drafting ahead of the Niners who also need a QB:

Buffalo 2-9
Cincinati 2-9
Arizona 3-8
Minnesota 4-7

I left Denver and and Cleveland off the list due to the presence of Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy, respectively.

The wild card is Carolina, currently the worst team in the league at 1-10 (that one win, sadly, over SF). Carolina currently has rookie Jimmy Clausen on the roster.

If Luck comes out, I expect a bidding war among many of the teams - the four above, SF, plus Oakland, and Washington - who are in need of an elite QB. And if Carlona doesn't want Luck for themselves - still a possibility - I expect the price for that spot to be high if Luck comes out. Worth it? Hard to say.

Random Find

2010-11-26T11:43:00.002-05:00

In the pen holder on my desk: one expended 7.62 NATO shell casing. Headstamp PMJ (Korea) 06.

Even weirder is that I haven't been on a range with 7.62 weapons since December, 2005.

Interesting

2010-11-25T13:38:00.002-05:00

The Russians have a battle in their WWII history books that nobody else does...the Battle of Volgograd.

I wonder...do the Turks call it the capture of Constantinople, or Istanbul?

National Ammo Day

2010-11-21T21:19:00.003-05:00

I was a day late for National Ammo Day (yeah, and two with this post), because I already planned to go to the Fun Show in Raleigh and buy ammo.

I was successful in selling one of my extraneous K31s, and with the money bought ammo.

From Georgia Arms:

-100 rounds of .30 carbine 110 gr soft points. I haven't seen these on their website, only at the gunshow.

-50 rounds of .380 ACP 95 gr FMJ

From a new (at least to me) company called Sillman Cartridge Company

-50 rounds .380 ACP 95 gr JHP

-50 rounds .45 ACP 185 gr JHP. My Springer Champion so far doesn't like Georgia Arms, so I'm looking for something that it does like.

I'll post a review on the Sillman .45 JHPs once I get a chance to take them to the range. (The .380 is for the Mrs, and she's too pregnant to shoot.)

The Difference Between 6 and 36

2010-11-21T21:10:00.002-05:00

The December issue of Dillon's Blue Press was sitting on the table. Junior looks at it and asks:

"Why does that lady have a stuffed ninja turtle?"

Me: "She has a stuffed ninja turtle?"

F*ck the TSA

2010-11-19T13:12:00.002-05:00

Picture from the Denver Post

One word, for the guys out there: KILTS. For maximum effect, wear one in the traditional Scottish manner.

This moment in civil ~~disobedience~~ harassment brought to you by Larry.

Chuck Schumer is an Assclown, Part....I've Lost Count

2010-11-17T18:48:00.002-05:00

All of this started because of multiple incidents of college kids drinking too much and managing, in various ways, to end up dead. Because somewhere in the last century, it was decided that the primary function of the .gov was to be a super-nanny to protect all of its ~~citizens~~ children from our own stupidity.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will effectively ban the sale of beverages that combine caffeine and alcohol...by ruling that caffeine is an unsafe food additive, according to Senator Charles Schumer (Assclown-N.Y.)

There is so much stupid in this single sentence, it's hard to know where to start.

First of all, is the FDA going to start going into every bar in the country to tell them to stop mixing rum and coke, Jack and coke, Red Bull and vodka, Jaeger bombs, and Irish coffee? Because all of those have caffeine and alcohol.

Second, if caffeine is "an unsafe food additive," why isn't the FDA banning Coke, Pepsi, coffee, and tea?

And finally, when the hell did was FDA - a bureaucracy, part of the executive branch, not even the legislative - granted the power to just up and ban stuff? Back in 1919, it required a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to ban booze. It's been a while since I took Con Law back at UCD, but I'm reasonably certain that the relevant portions of the Constitution haven't changed in the intervening 90 years. So when the hell did a bunch of unelected bureaucratic busybodies acquire the power to tell me what I can or can't drink?

Here's the sentence I'd like to read:

"The U.S. Senate will effectively ban Senator Charles Schumer from legislating, by ruling that assclownery is dangerous to the Republic."

GIANTS WIN!!!!!!

2010-11-02T10:26:00.005-04:00

(Pictures from SFGate.com)

I grew up in the Bay Area. The 49ers won 5 Super Bowls in my memory, the first when I was in first grade.

This World Series win by the Giants seems so much sweeter, so much more amazing, for having to wait so long.

My maternal grandparents were born in SF in 1909. They were 49 years old when the Giants came west in 1958. Grandpa passed before the loss to the A's in 1989, Grandma before the Series loss to Anaheim in 2002. I'm sure they were watching last night.

I remember 'You Gotta Like These Kids' and 'Humm-Baby' when Robby Thompson and Will Clark came up, with new manager Roger Craig in the mid-80s.

I went to the Old Timers' game in 1987, a 'reenactment' of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. Willie McCovey hit one into the upper deck in right field at the 'Stick - 10 feet foul, 20 feet away from me. Oh, and Mike LaCoss pitched 10 shutout innings to beat the Dodgers, 1-0.

I remember listening to the NLCS on a transistor radio, on a Boy Scout camping trip, in 1987. Jeffrey Leonard hit 4 home runs in the first 4 games, earning the MVP, but the Giants lost.

I remember having to put up with my friends, all A's fans, after the A's swept the Giants in 1989.

I remember the Giants winning 103 games in 1993, but not even making the playoffs. I still curse San Diego for trading Fred McGriff to Atlanta.

In 1997, I owned the only "San Francisco Giants - 1997 NL West Champions" t-shirt in Macedonia. And I'm pretty sure I remember not liking Edgar Rentaria very much after Florida swept the Giants in the NLDS.

I like him a lot more now.

I was in the stands in Seattle in 2001, when Barry Bonds hit #41, and then in SF when he hit #73, in a game that was rescheduled because of 9/11.

I remember dancing in my living room when the Giants went up 5-0 in Game 6 in 2002 - and then being crushed when they lost it all.

Last season, I got to watch the 9th inning of Jonathan Sanchez' no hitter, thanks to AFN and an 11 1/2 hour time difference.

This summer, I trucked my two oldest kids from North Carolina to DC to their first Giants game. The Giants won, with the new kid, Madison Bumgarner getting the win.

And I remember the bad years from 2004-2008, with losing records. But some of those losing records became the high draft picks that became this some of season's heroes - Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner, and Posey.

This season, and especially this postseason, has been great. To all the Giants - thank you.

Voting Complete

2010-11-01T11:28:00.002-04:00

Because of Washington state's 'Top Two' primary system, there was only a non-GOP/Dem candidate in one race - County Sheriff.

I voted against the incumbent in every partisan race except one, or against the incumbent party when the incumbent wasn't running. Because of my voting address, this meant a straigh GOP ticket, except for Sheriff.

The lone exception was County Auditor. In WA, the auditor's office is responsible for, among other things, voting, including both the mailing and the counting of ballots. Since my primary ballot managed to not only get to me in NC in plenty of time to vote, but do so via Afghanistan (I hadn't told them I was back home before they were mailed), and my general election ballot likewise arrived in plenty of time, I figure she's doing her job pretty well.

WWII Photos

2010-10-26T12:49:00.001-04:00

Another collection of photos from World War II, brought to you by the folks at English Russia.

Note the photo of the King Tigers about halfway down.

Mexican Cartels Get Grenades Cheap

2010-10-21T10:54:00.002-04:00

For roughly $6.50 US, or about 80 pesos, according to Borderland Beat.

And sorry Brady people, they're coming from central America, not the U.S.

The information Commander Valiente has released matches that of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives which reported that most of the grenades used by drug cartels in Nuevo Leon originate from Central America, not from U.S. weapon trafficking.

And some of them are making their way north of the border, as well.

Bill Newell, regional director for Arizona and New Mexico A.T.F., said there are indications that several of the explosives seized in the State were acquired through connections with corrupt officials in Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador.

An interesting side note, one of the metrics our intel guys used to gauge how successful our efforts at interdicting bad guy supplies were was the price of AKs.

Looks like the Mexicans aren't having much success at controlling their southern border.

This Is Probably Wildly Inappropriate

2010-10-19T10:10:00.002-04:00

...but I'm going to say it anyway.

Fannie Mae champion Barney Frank's boyfriend spent yesterday heckling Frank's opponent, Sean Beilat. (h/t Insty)

Aside from the whole 'stand by your man' aspect of it (apologies to Patsy Cline), I can see why James Ready supports Barney Frank.

Frank has done a wonderful job of bending the American taxpayers over. Ready is the only person in America who gets to bend Frank over.

WA Ferries Pull Seattle Weekly Over Pic of Murray

2010-10-18T15:29:00.002-04:00

Via Hit & Run, we learn that the Washington state ferry system has removed copies of the current issue of the Seattle Weekly, which features a less than flattering picture of WA Senator Patty "Proud of My Pork" Murray on the cover.

According to a ferry spokesdroid, "We decided to pull it because we thought it was denigrating to women. It was not in keeping with what we want our customers to have to view. I thought it forwarded a disrespectful attitude toward a public figure."

The fact that over a fifth of the ferry system's capital expeditures are paid for with federal dollars, and Murray chairs the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, had nothing to do with it.

It was not in keeping with what we want our customers to have to view.

I'm quite sure you don't want your (heavily subsidized) customers to view an unflattering portrayal of your sugarmama.

I thought it forwarded a disrespectful attitude toward a public figure.

Now, I can't say for sure, but I'm reasonably certain, given the usual leanings of the staff of the Weekly, that at least once during the period 2001 through 2008, they featured a cover that was plenty 'disrespectful' of President George W. Bush. And the ferry folks didn't pull those issues off the racks.

VFW Dissolves PAC

2010-10-18T14:11:00.002-04:00

Via BlackFive: seems COM-VFW has ordered the dissolution of VFW-PAC.

Now, I'm not a member of either the VFW or the Legion, but here's my take on the whole thing, from 'net discussions I've seen, and dusting off things I studied in PoliSci class back at UCD.

VFW set up the PAC to give money (if you're not giving money, you don't, I think, need to be a PAC) to candidates who voted (in the case of incumbents) or advocated (in the case of non-incumbents) in favor of the VFW on things of interest/importance to the VFW. Now generally, almost any interest group will tend to favor incumbents, for the simple reasons that incumbents have had more opportunity to cast actual votes in ways the group favors, and they have control over the money right now. This may be even more important this year (as opposed to other election years) since Congress hasn't gotten off their lazy asses and passed next year's budget, thus making the taking of fiscal revenge by ousted legislators post-Nov 3rd a very real possibility.

But anyway, you've got these incumbent politicians, who have voted the VFW's way in the past, and you've got VFW-PAC, who gives out endorsements to politicians who have voted VFW's way in the past. Absent any other guidance from the VFW leadership, or the membership at large, the VFW-PAC did what it has always done: endorse politicians who have voted VFW's way in the past.

The problem is, this year isn't normal. And a lot of those incumbent politicians are senior Democrats, leaders in Congress who are looked upon very, very unfavorably, by vets/retirees who are the VFW's members/constituency, but also but much of the nation as a whole. Thus resulting in backlash, both from the general public, but most importantly, I'm sure, from VFW members.

One thing I can't confirm, but I can speculate about: many of those same Democrats were very vocal in opposition to GW Bush (who is generally looked upon favorably by military personnel), the war in Iraq, and especially the Surge. These servicemembers, understandably, see these Dems are having not supported them when they were in harm's way. This leads me to wonder if any influx of new members to the VFW from veterans of the GWOT, especially Iraq, played any role in the backlash to business-as-usual from the PAC.

I'd Like to Thank My Readers

2010-10-12T16:37:00.002-04:00

as well as the folks whose blogs I read. I took the GRE on Friday, and did pretty well, though I won't get the official scores for a couple of weeks.

Where blogs and bloggin helped is on the writing section. One section requires you to critique an argument offered by the test computer. After reading countless fiskings, and doing more than a few of my own, I'm pretty sure I did well on that section.

The 700 & 800 on the verbal and math sections made me feel pretty good, too.

Dumb Question

2010-09-21T20:37:00.002-04:00

When figuring out the "prevailing wage," why aren't people without jobs put into the equation as having a wage of $0.00 an hour?

Does Anybody Else Have This Ad Showing Up?

2010-09-14T16:55:00.003-04:00

The 9mm Won't Save You

Honestly, since their opening line sounds like it's coming from some gun forum keyboard commando, I don't feel the need to click through, especially since it has been pretty well established that given quality JHP ammo, the 9mm is more or less equal in effectiveness to any of the other major semi-auto pistol calibers (.40, .45).

Maybe a 9mm loaded with Acai berry is the One Trick to a tiny belly...

9-11

2010-09-11T15:12:00.004-04:00

Nine years later.

I was stationed at Fort Lewis on Sept 11th, 2001. I was asleep when the first plane hit the WTC. I was just getting up when the second plane hit, and heading out for my morning run when the plane hit the Pentagon. After my run, I showered and read the newspaper while I ate breakfast.

I didn't know anything had happened until I got in my car at 0825 to head in to work. By that time, both towers had already collapsed. Fort Lewis had closed every gate except one, and the trip to work that normal took about 25 minutes, took 2 hours.

I was assigned to be the unit night LNO at the I Corps EOC. So that night I watched footage of planes hitting the Twin Towers, from just about every angle, for twelve hours.

My boss' boss, the Division G-3, was stationed at the Pentagon. His office was destroyed, but he was in a meeting elsewhere in the building. Today has a very personal meaning for him.

I've been in Afghanistan on September 11th the two years prior to this. The piece of steel in the picture above came from the World Trade Center. It now sits in from of the headquarters of NATO Regional Command - East, at Bagram Airfield.

They have not forgotten.

How Progressive Are You?

2010-09-10T11:32:00.002-04:00

Answer: not so much - 95/400

HT: Unc

May Peace Be Upon Him

2010-09-09T08:23:00.002-04:00

Nine years ago today, al-Qaeda assassins, allied with the Taliban, killed Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud.

Massoud had been one of the most effective mujahadeen fighting the Soviets, and was the most effective leader remaining standing against the Taliban. As such, he would have been a natural ally for the U.S. had he remained alive.

This is not to say that the situation in Afghanistan would have been all sweetness and light had Massoud survived. But they definitely would not have been worse. Massoud was not only a great warrior, but also a man of conviction who advocated for tolerance and peace.

The post title is the traditional Muslim blessing upon the deceased. Now, from the Christian: Requiescat in pace

It's a Start...

2010-09-08T15:48:00.002-04:00

Boehner: Roll back spending to 2008 levels, extend all tax cuts

It's a nice place to start...but you need to start actually eliminating things. Like farm subsidies...take them out behind the barn and kill them. (Ethanol fuel requirements, too.) The entire departments of HUD and Education, along with HHS except the CDC. Sell Amtrak to any investors who'll take the risk, for whatever price you can get.

Repeal any Porkulus money that hasn't already been spent. And repeal Obamacare. Add in some bits knocking down the state-erected barriers to interstate commerce in medical insurance, as well as minimum coverage requirements, and let the markets digest that - say, for at least 5 years - before you dick around with it anymore.

Replace the current special-interest playground of a tax code with a flat tax at a revenue neutral rate.

Oh, and help out the states by passing a law allowing state governments to declare bankruptcy.

Then we'll talk about selling federal land to retire what debt we can, and disassembling the Social Security and Medicare Ponzi schemes.

Loading Literature Bleg

2010-08-06T16:03:00.002-04:00

So, the loading manual that I have on hand is the Lyman 47. I know Lyman is up to at least 49.

Is it worth buying an updated manual? If so, which would ya'll recommend, Lyman or Lee? (I'm avoiding the ones by the component makers. Might be wise, might not; I'm open to suggestion.)

I currently load .45 ACP, 10mm Auto, .223, and 7.62x54R. In the next year or two I'm looking to start loading .308, .380, .30 carbine, and maybe 7.5 Swiss and 7.62x39.

Gotta Love Craigslist

2010-07-30T20:02:00.002-04:00

Yes, their official policy is No Guns. But, as long as you don't post pictures, you can get around that.

Like this: Launcher fmj

10 Books

2010-07-28T21:27:00.002-04:00

I'm taking a meme from OPFOR and twisting it a bit. Instead of ten books I think a person should read, I'm going with the ten books that are currently at the top of my reading list.

The Anti-Federalist Papers. As the Administration's hammering of it's Big Government agenda leads to a renewed discussion of the proper Constitutional role of the federal government, it's nice to see the original objections to our current form of government.

The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauf. The first volume of the Oxford History of the U.S. I've already started this one - past the Townsend Acts, but not to the Intolerable Acts yet. Amazing some of the similarities between the late 1760s - early 1770s and today.

The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood. Today, the ideas of the Revolution are held to be commonplace. We too often forget exactly how radical they were ini 1776.

Empire of Liberty by Gordon S. Wood. Yes, two by the same author. The early republic, and the beginnings of individual democracy.

From Manassas to Appomattox by James Longstreet. Moving from the early U.S. to the War Between the States. Can't get much better than a first person account from Lee's 'Old Warhorse.'

Vicksburg is the Key by William L. Shea. The Western theater of the Civil War is underappreciated, and the Vicksburg campaign was probably Grant's best.

The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian. Something I've wanted to get into for quite a while. Once I master the basics, I plan on naming my first original HL brew "Clinger Bitter IPA."

Fighting Massoud's War by Will Shariat and Abdullah Davies. Currently out of print, but Ahmed Shah Massoud was perhaps the most brilliant of the 1980s mujahdeen commanders against the Soviets, and then the Taliban.

Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One by Thomas Sowell. Sowell on Economics. Need I say more?

Monster Hunter: Vendetta by Larry Correia. Because too much seriousness makes my head hurt. Sometimes you just have to enjoy blowing up monsters.

Mantis on My Sunflower

2010-07-25T19:50:00.002-04:00

Eating a yellowjacket.

Picture taken with my Canon PowerShot SD780

Are These People Just Stupid?

2010-07-23T23:16:00.003-04:00

I just saw a commercial for this: Countdown to Zero.

To quote a great demotivator: "That which has been seen, cannot be unseen." And that which has been invented, cannot be uninvented.

They like to say the "MAD is madness." Well, they also say that, "If it's stupid, but it works, it isn't stupid."

In the 55+ years since the US lost it's nuclear monopoly, no two nuclear armed nations have fought a war with each other. The US and the USSR, despite staring down tank barrels at each other across the inner-German border from 1954-1989, never fought directly. Even the Indians and the Pakistanis have limited themselves to proxies since they both detonated nukes.

Oh, and if they say that the only reason the Russians have nukes is because we have them, they're either delusional or myopic. It's not always about us. Every other country in the world has its own strategic situation, and most that doesn't involve us. The population of Russia is about 142 million. The population of China, against whom the Russians have had some, um, division sized border 'skirmishes' is over 1.1 billion. With a B. Just like a gun can be an equalizer for an individual vs a gang, nukes are the equalizer for the Russians against the Chinese.

So the Russians will keep their nukes, because they may someday be the only thing that keeps the Chinese from invading Siberia. And if the Russians have nukes, the Chinese won't give theirs up, and neither will the US, France, or the UK. And if the Chinese have nukes, the Indians will, too. And if the Indians do, so will the Pakis (and the Pakis might not give them up regardless, since India has a 5-to-1 size advantage, and most of the important parts of Pakistan are within easy tank driving distance of the border.)

But these hippies still want to live in their shiny happy world. Does it take deliberate effort to ignore reality this much?

Blinded by Ideology

2010-07-23T08:55:00.002-04:00

Ideologically-driven political logic, brought to you by the Obama administration.

Obama’s Economics Czar: Tax Increases Significantly Contract the Economy. (h/t Instapundit)

Geithner: Taxes on Wealthiest to Rise

The only logical explanation I can come up with is that the Obama administration is so ideologically fixated on making "the rich" pay their "fair share" (nevermind that, according to IRS statistics, they already pay more than their "fair share." 'Reality-based' my ass.) that they're willing to further contract the economy to do so.

I'm sure that will be comforting to the current and future unemployed.

The worst part is, because the planned increase is an expiration of the tax law passed under GWB in 2001/2003, short a 2/3 majority in both houses of Congress needed for a veto override, taxes will go up in 2011 if the President decides to oppose any bill maintaining the current law.

This Is Just to Say...

2010-07-20T16:01:00.002-04:00

That the Mrs and I are happy to announce that we have signed up for a further 2-3 years of Diaper Duty. Said Duty is due to commence on or about 31 March, 2011.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Monday, already in progress.

Win Free Ammo!

2010-07-17T11:13:00.002-04:00

Firearm Blog is running an ammo giveaway contest for Lucky Gunner. In exchange for posting a link to Lucky Gunner (and to this contest) he will enter you in a draw to win 1000 rounds of .380 ACP (Military Ballistics Industries 95 gr FMJ ).

Yes! 1000 rounds of once impossible to find .380 ACP from Lucky Gunner! Which, since the Mrs. has a Raspberry Red Ruger LCP on layaway (see earlier post on annoying NC paperwork), this could be what is known as a Good Thing.

At least I don't have to worry about trying to give it away and having to run away from someone's husband.

Full Disclosure: Lucky Gunner does not pay for advertising on this site. Though if they would like to do so, I would be more than happy to do so. I think the going rate for the 20 or so pairs of eyeballs I can deliver is probably about $.01/month. Which means they wouldn't have to send me a 1099!

Bleg

2010-07-15T11:44:00.002-04:00

So I've decided to pursue homebrewing as a new hobby.

Anyone out there have any recommendations for good books for getting started, and good internet-based supply sources? (Fayetteville lacking any brewing stores that I've been able to find.)

New Shottie, and NC Paperwork PITAs

2010-07-15T09:24:00.003-04:00

So yesterday I was finally able to pick up the Saiga-12 conversion I ordered from Cadiz Gun Works back before I deployed. I say finally because I ordered the gun back in the gun buying panic right after the innauguration of The Big Mistake, and due to the order backlog, it wasn't ready until after I had already deployed. Big Kudos to CGW for being understanding and holding on to it until I got home. Now I need to get some 12 gauge slugs (the post range only allows use of actual shotshells during the various bird seasons, and only for patterning.)

Now, on to the NC PITAs...so, the Mrs and I have two pistols on layaway at another local gun store (Ruger LCP and Springfield Loaded Champion). NC requires that you obtain a 'pistol purchase permit' from the sheriff's office (which I'm sure is one of their Jim Crow relics) in order to buy a handgun (but not for long guns). Because Fort Bragg adds another couple of steps to this process, but for soldiers only, not dependants, the Mrs applied for the permits.

So yesterday the permits were ready, so, papers in hand, we went to pay for and pick up the pistols. Only to find out that, while servicemembers only need orders and military ID, dependants need to obtain some form of NC ID. (We both still have WA driver's licenses, since WA issues them with open-ended expiration dates for military and spouses.) So today the Mrs has to go back to the county DMV office to get an ID.

Oh, and since I goofed and put my name instead of hers on one of the layaway slips, I still have to jump through the hoops erected by Fort Bragg and get a form from PMO and then a signature from my company commander. Ugh.

The Self Parody Continues

2010-07-14T09:54:00.001-04:00

So the NAACP is accusing the Tea Party of being 'racist.'

Which I guess means that opposition to idiotic, out-of-control, destructive spending policies is rascist if if the leading idiotic, out-of-control spender happens to be black.

Apparently this guy didn't notice (photo taken by my dad, April 15th, in Pleasanton, CA)

And somebody refresh my memory: has the NAACP ever denounced the Black Panthers?

Oh Bubba, Why?

2010-07-14T09:49:00.002-04:00

Seen yesterday at Jim's Gun Jobbery on Yadkin Road: a 1904 Iszhevsk (bow and arrow marking) M1891, still with Imperial Eagle, matching bolt, and no immediately visible import marks.

Barrel cut to 20", rear sight gone (front sight went with the front of the barrel, I assume), receiver drilled and tapped for a single scope ring, and bolt knob ground on each side to make the front and back sides vertically flat.

On the other hand, the wood (original stock, cut down) was fairly nicely refinished.

$89.99 (and on the Clearance rack) if any of ya'll are near Ft Bragg and are interested.

Am I Alone in This?

2010-07-09T23:10:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry, but I hate video blogs.

No offense to the fine folks at PJTV, but please, if you've got something to say, use the keyboard and write it out. I can read faster than you can talk (not to mention I can read it at work without attracting attention) and my mind won't wander off nearly as quickly from the written word.

Please...less v-logging, more blogging.

It Was Seven Years Ago Today...

2010-07-04T19:39:00.002-04:00

To Reno that we ran away;
In the chapel on Virginia Ave,
I took the Mrs to hold and have...

Happy Anniversary babe!

And Happy Independence Day to the rest of ya'll!

Visiting the In-Laws

2010-07-03T12:10:00.001-04:00

At lot of guys have strained relationships with their in-laws.

My father-in-law loans me a carry pistol (Springfield XD 9mm) when I come to visit.

Army LSAT

2010-06-29T12:49:00.002-04:00

Which is Lightweight Small Arms Technology, not the Law School Aptitude Test.

Firearm Blog reports on the latest developments on the project, which looks to have a good bit of potential. I'm encouraged by the fact that it's not (that I've seen) being ballyhooed in any sort of media (and that the Counterstrike kiddies don't have boners for the thing yet.)

My big hope, though, is that, since they look to be going to a whole new kind of ammo (cased telescoping or caseless) that they use the opportunity to reconsider the 5.56mm projectile as well. (Hint: 6.5mm in the 120-130 grain range, please!)

Honey, I'm Home!

2010-06-27T14:51:00.002-04:00

Actually, I've been home for just over 2 weeks...done all the reintegration stuff, including another parachute jump, and I'm now on leave for the next month.

Got lots of stuff banging around in my head, including an entire, somewhat lengthy, blog post that got lost when my (old) laptop went Tango Uniform. I'll be taking it to a shop so I can hopefully recover the HD.

For now, I'll leave you with this quote, from the night I came home:

"This has been the best day ever. Daddy came home." -Junior, age 6

Attention on the Blog! Attention on the Blog!

2009-05-02T20:16:00.003-04:00

I will be deploy to Afghanistan tomorrow for a one your tour with the HQ, 82nd Airborne Division. I will be stationed at Bagram Air Field north of Kabul. (No, there's no OPSEC issues there. The bad guys know our HQ is there, it's been there for years, and they know Bagram is north of Kabul.)

I won't blog any stuff about the deployment here, mostly because on this blog I spent a good amount of time calling saying unkind things about elected officials. Combining that with deployed milblogging just isn't a good idea. So deployed blogging will be done through another blog, most likely the Castle.

Beyond that, I doubt I'll have much time for the usual blogging (not that I've been that great recently anyway), since the workday for my shop will probably run to 9pm or so.

See you at the rally point in about a year. All the Way!

Insanity

2009-04-19T21:31:00.002-04:00

I was working on a much longer post, but my browser crashed and dumped all the pages with all the supporting web articles I was going to link to. So here goes, without the linkage.

Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Emmauel, et al...they're all INSANE. Insane in the "trying the same thing, expecting different results" sense. Because everything they're doing to 'solve' the current economic problems, and most everything on their wish list of policy proposals, has been done before, and failed.

Bailing out the banks when a credit and real estate bubble bursts? Japan tried that in the '90s. Now they call it "the Lost Decade." And Japan has a cultural ethic of saving to cushion the long economic stagnation. America doesn't, at least not since the Baby Boomers came of age. (We'll ignore the idiocy of trying to get banks to lend more, and consumers to borrow more, when it was unsustainable debt levels that caused the crisis in the first place.)

Massive spending to try to stimulate the economy out of recession/depression? FDR tried in in the ~~Raw~~ New Deal. Unemployment didn't get below 14% until the draft started in earnest in the run up to WWII.

Cap and trade to reduce carbon emissions? Europe's been trying it, and it's been a failure.

Socialized medicine? Yeah, Europe and Canada have tried that, too, and it's awful. Or do they think that Canadians who can afford it come to the US because their healthcare system provides so much better care than ours?

And finally, increased unionization of the private sector. Name one industry that has been made more efficient and competitive by unionization. I know it's been great for the Big 3. [/sarcasm]

Of course, they think all these failures were simply because the 'right people' weren't in charge. (Team Obama, of course, is the 'right people.') The failures, of course, can't be because the programs are based on a flawed ideology and will inevitably collapse when they collide with reality. Because the ideology CAN'T be wrong. So, as Kevin says, "Do it AGAIN, HARDER!!"

And we all know what they're doing to all of us. BOHICA, harder.

Like You Couldn't Have Predicted This

2009-04-17T22:10:00.001-04:00

You Might Be A Terrorist If...

HT: Cassandra

Something Else I Forgot...

2009-04-16T18:05:00.001-04:00

Blogiversary #5 passed back on April 3rd.

The anniversary of my birth occurred on the same day.

I am now officially old enough to serve as President of the United States.

Tax Day, BAG Day, Etc

2009-04-15T22:19:00.002-04:00

Send in my 1040 a couple of weeks ago, expecting just enough back to pay the first half of the property taxes on my lot back in WA.

As for buying a gun, well, I didn't physically buy one today. I do have an M1 carbine on order with the CMP. Figured a His & Hers set would be nice. Best guess, it'll show up around July. 1,000 rounds of ammo on order to go with it.

Smeggin' 'ell!

2009-04-11T11:43:00.002-04:00

It's only 3 episodes, but Red Dwarf has resurfaced after a 10 year absence!

Unfortunately, it's on Brit TV, not here (yet) and Hulu doesn't seem to have heard of it. Grrrr.....

Bitterly Clinging

2009-04-11T11:37:00.002-04:00

I think about the only way this could annoy the Leftists more is if I'd posed the whole set on the hood of my truck.

The gun is a Saiga-12, 22" barrel, with a K-var stock, Tapco SAW pistol grip, and Tromix DIY trigger guard and FCG. I'll probably make more upgrades to it after I finish the deployment.

New Arrival

2009-03-17T11:33:00.002-04:00

At 0847 Local (Romeo) on 16 MAR 09, This One finally 8 days past due) deigned to grace us with his presence.

We left home for the hospital just before 9 pm on 15 MAR, with the frequency of the contractions narrowing fairly quickly. We thought there was an outside chance of him making it out on the Ides. In which case, the Mrs had OK'ed giving him the additional middle name of Brutus.

This One and the Mrs will be coming home this afternoon.

What Liberal Media?

2009-02-17T21:17:00.002-05:00

Instapundit links to two sets of pictures of an anti-porkulus protest in Seattle.

Did the local media bother to cover it? Not that I could find. I checked the web sites of the 3 biggest papers in the Puget Sound area - the Seattle Times, Post-Intelligencer, and the Tacoma News Tribune - and not one had a story on the anti-porkulus protest. Some of the pictures show that at least one local TV station did show up, though.

Protests of similar size against the Iraq war almost always drew coverage in all the local media. Heck, protests half that size outside of Fort Lewis supporting that jackass Watada were covered.

Guess protesting the Lightworker's program of Chicago-ization of America doesn't fit the meme.

Why Finish the Garage?

2009-01-25T08:52:00.002-05:00

I mean, seriously, why? I can understand if you live somewhere that has really cold winters, you spend a lot of time out there, and want to insulate the walls, but this is North Carolina. And not only did they finish the garage walls on our new house, they painted them, making it virtually impossible to locate the studs without buying a stud finder.

My house in Washington has a finished garage, but it's not painted, meaning you can see the drywall nails and find the studs.

All I want to do is put up some hooks to hold my ladders, hang my bike, extension cords, etc. It shouldn't be this tough.

Oh, and finishing also means you can't use the rafters for storage like you can with unfinished, open rafters. Given the amount of stuff most of us have out in the garage, we need all the storage space we can get.

I'm Still Alive

2009-01-18T11:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry if it's been awhile. My parents paid for a family trip to the Bahamas for Christmas([Buffett]Christmas in the Caribbean...we've got everything but snow[/Buffett]), then we came back and spent the next week moving from our old house on post to our new house on post (benefit to living in post housing - when your family gets bigger, you qualify for a bigger house - within limits). After THAT, it took Time Warner (cursed be their name) two more weeks of constant phone calls to get our cable hooked up.

And we're still unpacking - it's amazing how much stuff can fit in a house, and how everything that had a nice cozy place to fit in an old house doesn't necessarily have one in the new house. Even with the biannual household inventory reduction that goes with moving (actually, this is the fourth duty station and fifth home in the 5.5 years we've been married), it's still a buttload of crap.

In other news, the deployment that used to seem way off in the indeterminate future is now in view. We've been given our packing lists for gear, and the unit connexes (whose loads include non-essential personal stuff) get loaded sometime next month. We'll follow them a couple of months later. I'm still trying to figure out which DVDs and books to load into the connex, since I have no clue how much free time I won't have.

That's it for now. I've got a a few things running around in my mind, but haven't had the time to sit down and type them out.

Paging Xavier

2008-12-14T16:39:00.000-05:00

I received a mailer from the Fifty Caliber Institute yesterday, advertising their annual fundraising raffle. This year they're raffling of an EDM Windrunner .50 BMG semiautomatic.

Holy movie props, Batman, that has to be one of the ugliest guns I've ever seen. It looks like a prop from one of the future portions of a Terminator movie.

Not going to stop me from buying a ticket, but geez...did Ronnie Barrett get a copyright on attractive .50 BMG semis?

Unfinished Readings

2008-12-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

Starting the slow process of getting the house packed up to move (many thanks to the American taxpayer for the bigger house), and I've unearthed a small pile of books that I started to read and haven't finished. In no particular order:

What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis

On the Wealth of Nations by P.J. O'Rourke

That Every Man Be Armed by Stephen Halbrook

What Kind of Nation by James F. Simon

A History of Warfare by John Keegan

The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater

Restoring the Lost Constitution by Randy Barnett

Armed America by Clayton Cramer

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by Robert Spencer

Economic Facts and Fallacies by Thomas Sowell

The Second World War, Vol. I-III (missing Vol. IV-VI) by Winston Churchill

The Fragmentation of Afghanistan by Barnett Rubin

In the unread the I badly need to get to pile:

America Fights Back: Armed Self-defense in a Violent Age by Alan Gottlieb and Dave Workman

On My Honor by Rick Perry and Ross Perot

I Can't Come Up With A Suitable Title...

2008-12-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

This AP article by some bottom of his J-school class historically ignorant yutz named Jim Kuhnhenn.

Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.

Apparently the fact His O-liness doesn't like to take actual positions on things, preferring instead to avoid making hard choices and be a 'canvas for people to paint their hopes on' (yes, I'm paraphrasing) is just dawning on some in the Evil Party.

Frank, who has been dealing with both the bailout of the financial industry and a proposed rescue of Detroit automakers,

"dealing with...the bailout of the financail industry"? Um, Jimmy-boy, how come you forgot to mention that Barney the Congressional Dinosaur had a big hand in helping cause the financial meltdown? Or that Barney was fucking one of Fannie Mae's execs before the Congressman fucked the American taxpayer?

And then Jimmy wanders off, forgetting history:

this transition is occurring at an extraordinary time, with bad economic news mounting by the day and with one of the country's major industries begging for a hand to keep from collapsing.

Apparently the 1932 transition was missing from his US history book, when the economy had already been in the shitter for a couple of years. Or maybe 1860, when the South had decided it wanted to be it's own country. Or 1980, with inflation out of control and unemployment chasing it. Or 1952 or 1968, with the US involved in a couple of nasty little wars against Asian commies.

I Didn't Know Dilbert Worked for GM

2008-11-29T11:41:00.000-05:00

Random Item

2008-11-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

The Mrs informed me last night that after I retire I will be allowed to grow a beard for 1 year.

I'm trying to figure out the most obnoxious looking thing I could do...

Fu Manchu? (this would look amazingly weird with a high and tight haircut)

Or shaved head with a full on, Civil War beard?

So I'm I History Nerd

2008-11-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

Decisions, Decisions...

2008-11-18T21:44:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is National Ammo Day, and I can't decide...South African battle pack 7.62 NATO (for which I have 1 rifle) or M855 5.56 green tip (2 rifles).

I was going to include .30 carbine, but I plan to pick up some at the gun show in a couple of weeks. Assuming I can actually get to the Georgia Arms table (if they show up - they were absent in October) before they sell out.

Thoughts?

2008-11-14T21:28:00.000-05:00

Via Sebastian comes this tidbit from the questionaire for prospective minions in The One's administration:

Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.

Now, I'm not sure he's just an ignorant twit (he grew up in Hawaii which I believe requires registration of Semiautomatic Firearms of Scary Visual Appearance, went to school in NYC and Taxachussetts, and now lives in Chicago, all of which require registration) and doesn't know any better because he's never lived in the free part of America, or if he and his inner circle are really that freaked out by guns.

But, since I am in the Army and thus this patronizing con artist will soon be telling me what to do, I'll answer the questions.

1-Yes. Between my wife and myself we have quite a few. I do know exactly how many, which means I don't have enough, but you don't need to know the exact number.

2-Ownership information: they were all purchased legally, and no they're not registered, because I am not a resident of the People's Soviet of Daleyland.

3-Something which does not exist cannot lapse. See above.

4a-They are mostly used by my wife and myself to shoot holes in paper, although a few are carried and/or stored for use defending against criminal attack, much the same way you keep a fire extinguisher in case of fire.

4b-Given the history of several of my guns, it's highly probably that some of them have caused property damage, wounded, and maybe even killed people. You see, they're military surplus of various types, and as such were carried by soldiers, in wars, where, in case you were unaware, people shoot each other with guns. 6, maybe 7 of my guns are of an age to have been used in WWII, 1 in WWI, and 1 in Israel's war for independence.

I'd invite Urkel to come over and go shooting with me, maybe get him over his insecurities, but the Secret Smurfs don't trust soldiers with guns.

Chicken!

2008-11-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

The "Agenda" section of Obama's Change.gov transition website has gone effectively blank. Apparently, The One couldn't take the heat that it was drawing, before he even had a chance to become Supreme Overlord.

Part of what they tried to suck down the memory hole, courtesy of Google Cache:

Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

The "America Serves" section is still there, although the wording of Oba-Massa's student slavery proposal, has been changed, to now be a "goal" instead of being "required." But the internet doesn't forget.

God, if they can't take the heat from the web less than a week after winning the election (which they did largely by avoiding getting into policy proposals as much as possible), they're going to have a very rough 4 years, and it will only be 4.

BLEG - Withdrawing from Withholding

2008-11-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

How do you do it? I'm sick of loaning Uncle Sam a few grand, interest free, every year.

My intent is to turn off the withholding, and have my bank automatically stick the money that would have been gone to Uncle Sam into a savings account. Then on April 15th, I give the .gov what I owe, and I get the interest.

I do actually pay taxes, even with a wife and 2 kids, so I can't just write "Exempt" on the appropriate line on the W4.

So, anyone out there know how (or if) I can go about this without breaking any laws? Can I just claim enough exemptions that nothing gets withheld?

Call Him Oba-Massa

2008-11-07T21:11:00.002-05:00

From the Word of the One: (ttp://change.gov/americaserves/ No, I'm not going to link to that duplicitous fuckwad's website.

“When you choose to serve — whether it’s your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood — you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That’s why it’s called the American dream.”

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Let me repeat that one section again: "require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year."

Require. As in, make mandatory. And since it's "community service," the children won't get paid. The labor of your children will belong to the State.

There's another name for mandatory, unpaid labor. Slavery.

Does anyone else find this a sickening twist on part of the Tenth Plank of the Communist Manifesto? "Combination of education with industrial production." Except instead of industrial production, it's ~~labor for~~service to the ~~State~~ community.

Although I do have an idea for the "Clean Energy Corps": take all those kids that the nannyists are fretting about being overweight, and have them hop on a bunch of stationary bikes hooked up to dynamos. Presto! Thinner kids and low pollution (although all that panting and wheezing will produce CO2) electricity.

More discussion at Coyote Blog and Mostly Cajun

ADDITIONAL
New theme song of the Obamanauts?

slave screams he thinks he knows what he wants
slave screams thinks he has something to say
slave screams he hears but doesn't want to listen
slave screams he's being beat into submission

don't open your eyes you wont like what you see
the devils of truth steal the souls of the free
don't open your eyes take it from me
i have found
you can find
happiness in slavery

slave screams he spends his life learning conformity
slave screams he claims he has his own identity
slave screams he's going to cause the system to fall
slave screams but he's glad to be chained to that wall

don't open your eyes you wont like what you see
the blind have been blessed with security
don't open your eyes take it from me
i have found
you can find
happiness in slavery

i don't know what i am i don't know where i've been
human junk just words and so much skin
stick my hands thru the cage of this endless routine
just some flesh caught in this big broken machine

Lyric link

The Appropriate Response to Urkel's Self-Infomercial

2008-10-30T21:59:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Insty
--------
Look into my eyes, what do you see?
Cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
Ive been everything you want to be
Im the cult of personality
Like mussolini and kennedy
Im the cult of personality
Cult of personality
Cult of personality

Neon lights, a nobel prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You dont have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
Im the smiling face on your t.v.
Im the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three
Im the cult of personality
Like joseph stalin and gandi
Im the cult of personality
Cult of personality
Cult of personality

Neon lights a nobel prize
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You dont have to follow me
Only you can set you free

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your gods name
Im every person you need to be
Im the cult of personality
Look into my eyes, what do you see?
Cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
Ive been everything you want to be
Im the cult of personality
Like mussolini and kennedy
Im the cult of personality
Cult of personality
Cult of personality

Neon lights, a nobel prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You dont have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
Im the smiling face on your t.v.
Im the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three
Im the cult of personality
Like joseph stalin and gandi
Im the cult of personality
Cult of personality
Cult of personality

Neon lights a nobel prize
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You dont have to follow me
Only you can set you free

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your gods name
Im every person you need to be
Im the cult of personality

The Obamunist

2008-10-27T20:30:00.000-04:00

Answering Joe the Plumber's question wasn't the first time The One revealed his radical roots. Courtesy of Bill Whittle:

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Barack Obama, in 2001:

You know, if you look at the victories and failures of the civil-rights movement, and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples. So that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at a lunch counter and order and as long as I could pay for it, I’d be okay, but the Supreme Court never entered into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.

And uh, to that extent, as radical as I think people tried to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution — at least as it’s been interpreted, and Warren Court interpreted it in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties: [It] says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.

And that hasn’t shifted, and one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil-rights movement was because the civil-rights movement became so court-focused, uh, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change. And in some ways we still suffer from that.

A caller then helpfully asks: “The gentleman made the point that the Warren Court wasn’t terribly radical. My question is (with economic changes)… my question is, is it too late for that kind of reparative work, economically, and is that the appropriate place for reparative economic work to change place?”

Obama replies:

You know, I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. The institution just isn’t structured that way. [snip] You start getting into all sorts of separation of powers issues, you know, in terms of the court monitoring or engaging in a process that essentially is administrative and takes a lot of time. You know, the court is just not very good at it, and politically, it’s just very hard to legitimize opinions from the court in that regard.

So I think that, although you can craft theoretical justifications for it, legally, you know, I think any three of us sitting here could come up with a rationale for bringing about economic change through the courts.”

"Redistributive change"

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

You know, I can come up with two possible interpretations for this. The first is expressed above: that the Obamessiah is a communist who keeps it mostly well hidden.

The second possibility, if you keep it strictly within the "liberal urban black politician talking about the failings of the civil rights movement" context is that maybe he's talking about reparations. Not implausible from someone who spent 20 years in Rev. Wright's pews before throwing him under the bus.

Whittle mentions the shame that it wasn't the media, with their investigative reporters and research staffs (all apparently too busy digging into the Palin baby's birth certificate and his Mom's wardrobe) that uncovered this, it was a blogger.

The other thing I find amazing, and horrifying, is what the late uncovering of this clip says about the Democrat party. The Clintons were thought to have one of the most impressive political operations going, and yet even when she was fighting to come from behind, Hillary didn't bring this up during the nomination fight, even when trying to make the point that Obama was too Far Left to win in the general election. Either her opposition research wasn't nearly as good as its reputation, or she figured using something like this would alienate Democrat primary voters. Given that no other candidate brought it up either, I'm inclined to believe the latter.

Heartless Libertarian's Voting Reform Proposal

2008-10-20T21:32:00.000-04:00

Something that's been rattling around in my head for a bit, and it's based on two major observations:

1. There are too many people (roughly 40% of the population under current tax law) that pay no Federal income tax.
2. There are too many complete ignoramuses out there, without a clue as to what's going on or how our system of government was designed to work, who are nevertheless allowed to vote.

So, here's my proposal:

First of all, we're going to almost completely do away with absentee voting and mail-in voting. Mostly because it makes fraud way too easy, but partly because I think voting should actually take some effort. The only voters who would be allowed to receive absentee ballots would be those who were forced to be away from their home (and thus polling place) by government order - active duty military, diplomats overseas, and the like - and they must present a copy of their orders to obtain the absentee ballot. "Away on business/vacation" won't cut it - tell your boss you need to vote (I would make firing someone for refusing a business trip to vote against the law, but only if the employee could present proof that a)they were registered to vote at the time of the refusal and b) that they actually voted.), and plan your vacation at another time. And living in France sure as hell don't earn you the priviledge of voting absentee. You want to live in France, vote in France.

Second, registration. All voters would be required to re-register after each election for the House of Representatives. As soon as the election, and any necessary run-offs and challenges are complete, all voter rolls would be completely purged. Again, this is mostly because I think that the act of voting should actually require some effort. It would also have the positive side effects of de-registering dead people and folks who have moved but not bothered to inform their Registrar.

Third: only those people who actually pay taxes qualify to vote. Anyone (properly registered) wishing to vote must present a current 1040 showing that they (or their household, for married couples filing jointly) paid at least some amount of income taxes the previous year. A single dollar would do, as long it's something. And yes, I realize that this would require an Amendment. To that end, I would be amenable to modifying this section to to substitute that the 1040 show that a prospective voter cannot receive the majority of his or her income from any or all forms of public assistance, or possibly any source of taxpayer funds. People living on welfare and government employees are dependent on the politicians for their incomes, and thus have an inherent conflict of interest when voting.

Finally, all prospective voters must pass a basic test of political literacy, administered at the polling place on election day. The test would have two parts: first, a political literacy section, with questions pulled from the most current edition of the test given to people wishing to become naturalized citizens; and second, naming the candidates for the offices up for election. A score of 75% or better would be required to receive a ballot.

Gregoire Scores a D in Fiscal Responsibility

2008-10-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

According to a new report from the CATO institute, the Governor Select's score puts her in the bottom half of the nation's governors. From the report:

Governor Gregoire has supported numerous tax increases on politically unpopular behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and driving. In her first few months in office, Gregoire pushed through a tax hike of more than $500 million, which included increases for cigarettes, gasoline, liquor, fuel, and vehicles. She also reestablished an estate tax after a previous version had been struck down by the state supreme court. The state government has enjoyed large surpluses in recent years from rising revenues, but Gregoire has blocked efforts to give back part of the excess to taxpayers, arguing that "a tax break is spending money."

A couple of thoughts:

-driving is only "politically unpopular" with the Governor-Select's core constituency of Seattle Leftists. The rest of us like it very much, thank you.

-I believe the unstated part of the quote from the Governor of King County is "a tax break is spending money...on people who didn't give money to my campaign.

I do feel slightly better knowing that the governors of Oregon and Idaho are actually worse than ours. But not much.

Slowly Coming Together

2008-10-15T18:32:00.000-04:00

Obtained another piece of my SDMR build. I obtained a set of Matech BUIS (same type the Army uses on CCO equipped rifles) on ebay for $35 plus shipping. Although, since I don't have the optics yet, BUIS are kind of pointless.

Here's a pic of the rifle with a set of fixed irons.

Sorry, no pics of my wife with the rifle until after the pregnancy is done.

Bleg

2008-10-08T07:27:00.000-04:00

Does anyone out there in gun blog land have any good performance data on the 7.62x45mm Czech?

The best I've been able to find (from Wikipedia, no less) is launching a 130 gr bullet at between 2400-2500 fps.

References in SCC

2008-10-07T07:59:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure most everyone who saw last night's episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles caught the references to the original movie: the Terminator on a mission to kill someone with a specific name, and going after everyone with that name to make sure it gets the right one, wearing a surplus Army field jacket, and of course, the long slide 1911 with big laser sight.

The other reference is much more obscure, unless you were a fan of Steve Jackson Games back in the 80s. During one of the flashbacks to the future, Reese's buddy (who turns out to be the guy they've been working to save all episode) refers to a SkyNet tank as an "Ogre." Maybe I'm a super dork, but I'm pretty sure the writers were refering to this.

Barack Obama and the Treasonous Terrorists

2008-10-06T21:31:00.000-04:00

Roger Simon at PJM looks at Barack "Asking Those Questions Is Racist!" Obama's relationship with unrepentant Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, calls bullshit on the Obamessiah's lame explanations, and asks questions the media isn't asking.

The Chosen One's acolytes claim that they're just acquaintances, despite the fact the BHO's political coming out party took place in the Ayers-Dohrn home, and the fact that they've known each other for at least 20 years.

But Barry Boy didn't know Ayers was an active participant in a terrorist organization that carried out attacks against the US government.

Kind of like he went to Rev. "God Damn America" Wright's church for 20 years and didn't know the good Rev. hated America.

If the MSM weren't so busy fellating the junior Senator from Illinois, they would have dug into this many months ago.

This Makes My Head Spin

2008-09-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

I was watching The Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight, and I started trying to trace lines of causality. (I know, bad idea.)

Humor me, and tell me if this makes sense:

The premise of the show is that John and Sarah Connor are trying to stop the creation of SkyNet, in order to stop the war between SkyNet (and its cyborg army) and humanity.

It was precisely that war which resulted, in the original movie, in Kyle Reese being sent back in time to stop the future governor of Kalifornia from killing Sarah Connor.

Kyle Reese, of course, is John Connor's father.

But...if John and Sarah Connor prevent the creation of SkyNet, and therefore the war never happens, then Kyle Reese would never have to be sent back in time, and John Connor would have never been born.

If John Connor was never born, then he and his mother wouldn't prevent the creation of SkyNet, and thus the war would happen...resulting in Kyle Reese being sent back in time to save Sarah and father John...leading to John and Sarah stopping the creation of SkyNet...and so on, and so on.

The only way I can see to prevent this mobius strip of causality is if John and Sarah fail to prevent the creation of SkyNet.

Another Thought On Disaster Prep

2008-09-03T22:10:00.000-04:00

I'll admit to not being the most prepared person out there, but I've got all the basics covered - water, canned and dry food, stove, lights, defense weapons and ammo, sleeping bags.

Now, with Hurricane Hanna heading toward North Carolina, a key piece of the distaster preparedness kit for my family will be missing. Me.

Tomorrow I head out for a previously planned recon to the CENTCOM AOR. So my wife will have to manage without me. Luckily, the track no longer takes Hanna straight over the top of Fort Bragg, and it doesn't look like she'll be nearly as strong as once feared.

Mental note: make sure disaster plan can be executed with just one adult.

The PRK - A Continuing Bastion of Stupid

2008-09-01T11:21:00.000-04:00

The People's Republic of Kalifornia occupies a special, melancholy place for me. I grew up there, went to college there, my favorite sports teams are there, and most of my family lives there. So it greatly saddens me that to see it saddled with liberal shithead politicians intent on turning it into a warmer version of the USSR.

It seems those politicians have been unable to pass a budget for the state. They've got a $17 billion gap in the state budget, and they can't figure out how to close it.

This is because politicians do not live in the real fiscal world.

When real people don't have enough money (and they've maxed out their credit cards), they cut back on expenses.

With a state budget, there are 2 ways to do this:

1) Across the board cuts. Figure out how much, percentage wise, you need to cut to balance the budget, and apply this to everything the government does, including salaries for elected officials.

2) Prioritize. Make a prioritized list of everything the state government does, and then work down the list from the top until you run out of money. Anything below the line gets cut.

Politicians,as a group, are almost all genetically incapable of doing this. Cutting spending means .gov employees lose their jobs, and generally less pork for the barrel. Government programs are the only thing on Earth that are harder to kill than the undead.

But never fear, there's a fearless 'liberal activist' (with absolutely no knowledge of basic economics) with a solution! Via Tax Prof Blog, we find this proposed initiative, which would, basically, destroy the economy, and thus the tax base, of the state of Kalifornia.

The proposal:

* Impose a new 35% income surtax (in addition to federal taxes and the existing 10.3% top state rate) -- 17.5% (on all of the taxpayer's income) when income exceeds $150,000 (single)/$250,000 (joint), and an additional 17.5% (again, on all of the taxpayer's income) when income exceeds $350,000 (single)/$500,000 (joint).
* Impose a one-time 55% wealth tax on assets exceeding $20 million held by a California resident or held in California by nonresident.
* Impose an exit tax of between 36.5% to 54.3% on both income and unrealized appreciation in asset values over $5 million when a resident dies or leaves California.

The truly hilarious part is the included fiscal impact estimates.

One-time increase in state revenues potentially in the low hundreds of billions of dollars from imposition of a wealth tax,

No mention of the utter devastation of the state real estate market as owners of high end real estate sell it off and flee the state to avoid the tax.

ongoing increase in state revenues potentially in the billions of dollars from imposition of the tax on certain people dying or leaving the state.

I'm sure the exit tax bit was put there to try to stop the Evil Rich from leaving the state to avoid the other taxes, but it's obviously unconstitutional, and would only actually cost the state money to fight a losing battle to defend it in the federal court system. As for the Death Tax part, well, rich people I'm sure would only die in the state by accident, and while visiting from Las Vegas, Reno, or Phoenix.

Potential annual net increase in personal income tax revenues in the tens of billions of dollars annually.

Actual net loss in personal income tax revenues would be in the tens of billions as the high income folks whose taxes already make up a disproportionate chunk of the state's revenue flee the state, and take their jobs with them. You think Hollywood is going to stick around if they're losing at least 17.5% of their paychecks to the state? Especially when Nevada doesn't have an income tax?

I love the negative estimate:

Unknown state and local revenue reductions – potentially in the tens of billions of dollars annually – due to changes in taxpayer behavior.

Gee, ya think?

So, for at best a one time payoff, this tard monkey would be willing to flush the whole state economy down the toilet. Makes me wonder if he's being paid by the governments of Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon.

Barking Up the Family Tree

2008-08-30T15:34:00.001-04:00

My dad's hobby, now that he's retired, is geneology. With This One's impending arrival, I requested he send me what he's found so I could go rummaging for names.

A couple of things I found:

1) There's a couple of trashy branches. I found two relatives, one born in 1988, the other in 1989, named Amber Lynn Xxxxx.

UPDATE: Make it three. I found another born in 1987.

This woman's career began in 1984.

2) My family is mostly of German origin, and I have many ancestors named Adolph or Adolf. Naturally, you don't find any after 1940 or so. I actually think the name itself is kind of cool, but it would never dream of using it for the obvious reason. Fucking Hitler.

I'm Predisposed to Like Sarah Palin

2008-08-30T14:16:00.001-04:00

Rough sketch of Gov. Sarah Palin:

1) She's a mom

2) She's conservative

3) She's gun friendly

4) She's not afraid to get dirty

5) Oh yeah, she's hot

Where have a seen a woman like that before?

I married one.

And This Is What They Do OUTSIDE...

2008-08-26T08:12:00.000-04:00

Poached from Rachel Lucas