Saturday Gunblogging: Summer Love

"Saturday Gunblogging" posts are posts with which I indulge myself by talking about (usually) the equipment of the shooting sports. These are often topics extensively covered elsewhere in the gun world, but whatever; I like talking about 'em.

Yeah, I know, it's Sunday, but being in the stands for an SEC football game (see below) is, I believe, a daggum good excuse for being away from the computers. Better late than never, eh? Anyway, lately I've been thinking about a new, preferably brand-new, summer/lightweight/smallish concealed-carry handgun. Yeah, I know it's November, but hey, no time like the present to start thinking about these things.

Living in Georgia forces a major, unalterable, and rather glaringly obvious, condition into my concealed carry choices: it's too hot and humid to easily wear clothing suitable for concealing any sort of large or medium framed handgun. I'm a pretty big guy (6'1", 240, big shoulders) but my preferred carry gun, a Colt Commander (see the end of this post) is just a bit too large to easily carry unnoticed under an un-tucked polo, golf shirt, etc., especially since I like to carry it outside the waistband. So when conditions force me to go a bit smaller, I've been using a semi-borrowed (long story) blued aluminum-framed S&W 2" barreled J-Frame loaded with either .38 Special +P 125 or 158 grain. It's a nice piece that's loaded fairly well, but it's really TOO small, better suited as a backup gun or for those times when carrying a piece is socially verboten, like a wedding (unless you're the father of the bride, but then you really should be carrying a shotgun for the sake of tradition), church, etc. I could carry something bigger for those events, but I'd feel a little guilty sitting next to, say, the 80 year old aunt of the groom while packing a Colt .45 under my suit jacket. Events like that are perfect for a snubbie. Besides, that sub-2" barrel doesn't do much for accuracy out beyond 5 yards, unless I put about a million rounds down the practice range.

No, what I need is something between a full/service-sized pistol and a tiny little revolver. It's not like there's a dearth of medium-framed autos or revolvers out there, but I'm a bit discerning in my tastes, so here's my criteria:

1)It has to be reliable, without question,
2) It has to conceal fairly well,
3) It can't be too heavy, but it shouldn't be so light that I can't use full-power loads,
4) It has to be chambered in a reasonably-powered centerfire cartridge,
5) It has to have some style, look good, etc. (that takes GLOCK's out of the equation)

So with that in mind, I put my gunny thinking cap (seriously, it's a hat with the logo of my "home" range/gun shop) on and started going through my choices, narrowing it down to two semi-automatics and two revolvers. . . kinda.

Auto #1: Kahr K40
I've loved this little pistol since the Father of Garm bought one awhile back for exactly the same reason that prompted this post. Wonderfully comfortable grips, beautifully finished stainless steel, just the right amount of heft, but not enough weight to bother while carrying. It's chambered in .40 S&W, which, while having a little bit of "pop" in the hand, has plenty of street and lab proven power downrange. Accurate? You better believe it. The first time I shot it, I was frankly amazed at the accuracy (the polygonal rifling in the barrel is the main factor for this), and even now when F.o.G. let's my dirty mitts touch the K40, it's a little amazing how well fitted and accurate it is. The trigger is very smooth, with the same length of pull on every shot, no creep, and a slight tightening toward the end of the pull. Think about a really smooth old S&W revolver DA trigger; that's about where the Kahr is, especially once it gets broken in. Durability? Well, it's still fairly new (the gun world often measures model longevity in decades), and I have heard of a few incidents, but they were with the polymer-framed versions and besides, I always take internet complaints with a rather large grain of salt. Sorry about the picture quality, by the way, but it was a quick n' dirty find.

Auto #2: SiGARMS P229 SAS
I've liked this little guy for quite awhile. One of the latest versions of the venerable SiG 220/226/229 series, which means it has quite a bit of "real-world" reliability testing behind it. Plus, it's a SiG, so you KNOW it's accurate. Also chambered in .40 S&W, I have nothing to concern myself with in the power category. I've only had the opportunity to dry-fire, but it does have a pretty nice trigger pull, though things do change when there's a round in the chamber. I love the two-tone stainless finish, and the "melted" treatment on the frame and slide make it both easy to conceal (hard edges "print" through clothes more than rounded edges) and more (to my eyes) aesthetically pleasing. Plus, wraparound wood grips! SWEET! It's only slightly more expensive and, in my opinion, somewhat better looking than the Kahr. However, this 229 is slightly wider than the K40. I think if my choice came down to these two, it'd really depend on what kind of deal price-wise I could get.

Revolver #1a: Ruger SP101 (KSP-331X)
This is one of those handguns I keep coming back to when thinking about a summer gun. Reliable without question, the timeless beauty of a stainless-steel six shooter, and a lower price than the two autos above. It's chambered in the venerable .357 Magnum, though of course .38 Special (standard, +P, and +P+) can also be loaded, as full-house Magnum loads are a bit stout. It's accurate, it's weight and balance are just about perfect, and it's fairly easy to conceal under a shirt, especially as I can carry one of these inside the waistband comfortably. I love Ruger revolvers; you just can't break the damn things. I'm really leaning toward one of these. However, there is Revolver 1b to consider:

Revolver #1b: Gemini Customs SP101 (third item down)
I lust after this pistol. There's no other way to say it. It's the same SP101 as above, but customized into a work of art: hard chrome finished, ported barrel (aids in recoil reduction), gorgeous grips, action job (stock Ruger triggers are consistent and creep-free, but a tad on the heavy side), a bobbed hammer (which I really like, as a hammer has the potential to snag on a shirt at a very bad time), and a bunch of other custom touches. This is one beautiful custom. I want one. Badly. The price tag of $550.00 (not including the gun itself; that's 550 for the custom work) is a bit steep for a small/medium frame revolver, but damn, it's worth it, and really isn't that bad, as custom guns go. I don't know if I'd be able to afford it before next spring/summer, but I'll sure be pinching pennies in a valiant attempt. Even if I can't get one anytime soon, this bad boy is on the "Must-have-before-I-die" list.

Although I'd be well-served by any of the above pistols, hopefully that custom SP101 will find a home on my belt when the weather warms up. Whichever way it turns out, it looks like I'll be giving a range report on a new summer carry piece next spring. Stay tuned, keep 'em in the X, and be safe.

Auburn 15 - Georgia 37

I was at Jordan-Hare for this debacle (section 104 on the East Upper) as I try not to miss the yearly Auburn-Georgia meeting. As long as they aren't playing each other, I'm a fan of both the Dawgs and the Tigers. When they do play each other, I'm a rabid Auburn fan, so it was pretty heartbreaking to see Auburn get dominated yesterday afternoon, to say the least.

What can I say? Georgia showed up to play, Auburn didn't. As I told Father of Garm last night, there was NOTHING (zero, zilch) in Auburn's game to point to as being remotely good. The Defense was dominated (zero sacks on a freshman QB), the Offense was horrid (INT, INT, INT, ah screw it), and the Special Teams were lackluster, to say the least (seriously, did you see those punts? gah!). I don't know where the collective head of Auburn was at. . . yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition. Anyway, Georgia came to play; after all, they had something to prove after their losses this season. Auburn didn't, and now they're out of the SEC Championship game. Oh well, hopefully they'll be better next season.

In the meantime though, we got Bama coming up, and a win on them will erase all my criticisms and make me feel so much better about life in general.

BEAT BAMA!
WAR DAMN EAGLE!

(by the way, I just want to say that I didn't talk to any Georgia fans, either in Auburn or back home while I was shopping after the game, who were obnoxious, annoying, etc. They were all gracious in their victory and quite polite about it. [not that they have that much to brag about this season, but still...] I appreciate that, and hope that Auburn fans, myself included, display similar levels of good sportsmanship next year when we kick y'all's ass.)

OK, I'm back (again for like the 8th time)

Yeah, another unexplained absence. Sue me. Wait, no, don't sue me; I'm broke. Suing me would waste the time and money of everyone involved and the judge would laugh at you after seeing my financial records. Seriously though, sorry for the extended absence; it was unintended and unavoidable. Besides, let's face it: this a pretty low traffic site (I don't do it for that reason) and sometimes life gets a little large and some priorities have to pushed to the side a bit. Hopefully I'll be around awhile this time. If (when) an absence must occur again, I'll endeavor to learn some manners and let y'all know.

In the interest of fostering those manners, I suppose I should let loose the reason for my internet vanishing act:

If you have a dog with a proclivity to make HALO jumps into the lap of his doting master while said master is sleeping or otherwise unaware and unprepared for the impending canine Fallschirmjäger assault, for all that is holy in this world, keep his frightfully, unaccountably sharp nails trimmed and buffed into slightly-less-painful dullness. Otherwise, you might find yourself curled into the fetal position on your bathroom floor clutching a handful of paper towels and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in white-knuckled hands, all the while petitioning JesusAllahBuddha for sweet death to take you away from the alternating waves of nausea, the sharp, tearing pain, and the sight of what is rapidly becoming a blood-covered crotch.

Just an FYI.

(Am I being facetious? Is that really what happened? Only I know.)

Oh, God No!

Beer drinkers beware: 4 percent of U.S. hops crop burns. Not only tragic, but this may cause rioting in the streets if the beer supply is cut. If people can't drink away their feelings about high gas prices because beer prices are too high. . . well, this could lead to a situation that shakes this nation to its very core.

There will be a moment of silence as soon as the sun dips below the yardarm.

Want to get freaked out?

These Human medical experiments occurred right here in the U.S. Here's a sample:

(1896) Dr. Arthur Wentworth turns 29 children at Boston's Children's Hospital into human guinea pigs when he performs spinal taps on them, just to test whether the procedure is harmful (Sharav).

(1943) In order to "study the effect of frigid temperature on mental disorders," researchers at University of Cincinnati Hospital keep 16 mentally disabled patients in refrigerated cabinets for 120 hours at 30 degrees Fahrenheit (Sharav).

(1967) Continuing on his Dow Chemical Company-sponsored dioxin study without the company's knowledge or consent, University of Pennsylvania Professor Albert Kligman increases the dosage of dioxin he applies to 10 prisoners' skin to 7,500 micrograms, 468 times the dosage Dow official Gerald K. Rowe had authorized him to administer. As a result, the prisoners experience acne lesions that develop into inflammatory pustules and papules (Kaye).
[. . . ]
The U.S. Army pays Professor Kligman to apply skin-blistering chemicals to Holmesburg Prison inmates' faces and backs, so as to, in Professor Kligman's words, "learn how the skin protects itself against chronic assault from toxic chemicals, the so-called hardening process," information which would have both offensive and defensive applications for the U.S. military (Kaye).
[. . . ]
Professor Kligman develops Retin-A as an acne cream (and eventually a wrinkle cream), turning him into a multi-millionaire (Kaye).

(1953 - 1957) Eleven patients at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston are injected with uranium as part of the Manhattan Project (Sharav).

(1951 - 1952) Researchers withhold insulin from diabetic patients for up to two days in order to observe the effects of diabetes; some test subjects go into diabetic comas (Goliszek).

(1955 - 1957) In order to learn how cold weather affects human physiology, researchers give a total of 200 doses of iodine-131, a radioactive tracer that concentrates almost immediately in the thyroid gland, to 85 healthy Eskimos and 17 Athapascan Indians living in Alaska. They study the tracer within the body by blood, thyroid tissue, urine and saliva samples from the test subjects. Due to the language barrier, no one tells the test subjects what is being done to them, so there is no informed consent (Goliszek).

Here's my favorite (for lack of a better word) if only for its "what the hell" factor:

(1919 - 1922) Researchers perform testicular transplant experiments on inmates at San Quentin State Prison in California, inserting the testicles of recently executed inmates and goats into the abdomens and scrotums of living prisoners (Greger).

There's plenty more, including some of the .gov's Greatest Hits, like Tuskegee, MKULTRA, and the CDC vs. gay men. Whenever I read things like this, I just get a warm fuzzy feeling all over regarding doctors, the government, and my fellow man in general.

Parental Apathy

Children left behind. . . by their parents. This is the kind of stuff that makes me bang my head into walls:

[School officials] sent letters to parents in English and Spanish, notifying them that under the federal No Child Left Behind act of 2001, their children were eligible for free tutoring.

Parents, the letters said, could choose from a list of state-approved tutoring companies. The district, the letters said, would spend up to roughly $1,000 and tutoring would be provided by private companies such as Catapult Online or PLATO Learning.

More than 650 families were eligible. A few parents called with questions, but when the sign-up period concluded, "none of our families took us up on that," said Cynthia Davis, a district coordinator.

Wait, what? Students aren't doing well. Federal dollars (from the much-derided No Child Left Behind Act) are made available to parents of those students in the form of free tutoring. NONE of the parents took advantage of the program. I could understand (maybe) if the parents weren't made aware of the program, but they were. The article cites Colorado educators stating that the low response to the program has to do with things such as notification letters being "confusing or filled with technical jargon" and lack of transportation to extra-curricular programs. I understand the latter; parents have to work or take care of other children. What I can't understand is the former: if you can't understand something you get from your child's school, why can't you request clarification from the school? I can also understand if some parents don't take the offer of free tutoring when their children are already involved in another after-school program, but NO parents signed up for the program in the school district?

That's just (a)pathetic.

Technical Difficulties

Don't you hate it when you're gone for the weekend, return home, and find that your cable tv/internet is out? Yeah, so do I. Posting to resume as normal now that everything's fixed.

Football; Not happy, not sad

Army 14 - Rice 48

Meh, I'm not at all surprised. I'll be happy if Army breaks even for the season and ecstatic if they finish above .500.

Auburn 24 - South Carolina 17

Damnit Auburn, get it together. This is why AU hasn't gotten any national championship lately; they have great teams, but they either A) play too many teams that aren't nationally ranked and/or B) they don't score enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they won. After all, I've hated Spurrier for as long as I can remember, so beating any team he's the coach of is a good thing, but they have got to start scoring some points.

Georgia 14 - Mississippi 9

pending Good, but I'm tired and going to bed now.

Exact Karma

Feel good story for gunnies, or in my perfect world, anyone:

At age 8, Terry Jackson gave up his prized .22-caliber Winchester short-barrel rifle to get his grandmother a washer. Recently, the 57-year-old got the gun back through a series of chance encounters and conversations.

How cool is that? A good dead that didn't go unpunished for once. The rifle, which he bought with his own money, was the only thing of value he had and his grandmother couldn't afford even a manual clothes washer, so he did what he thought was right by giving up his prized possession.

Fast-forward 49 years: it turns out that someone in the town still owns the rifle, heard the story, and gave the .22 back to Jackson, saying, "That was a really nice thing he did for his grandma."

Gawd, family- and small-town values of the best (non-political) kind. . . and a gun? This sounds like the kind of story that the writers of The Andy Griffith show, the publishers of Guns and Ammo, and the Hallmark channel would produce if they ever got together. I love it.

Saturday Quick Hits

I'm sure you know about Mark Foley's resignation, but here's an example of his hypocrisy. From his (soon to be not his) official House website, regarding sex offender legislation:

“For too long our nation has tracked library books better than it has sex offenders. That day is coming to an end,” said Foley. “Senator Hatch and Leader Frist have been resolute in keeping this legislation on track. We are closing loopholes that sex offenders and pedophiles have used to prey on children.”

Idiot. If you really want to, you can read some of the instant message conversation between Foley and the 16 year old here (pdf file, sexually explicit) I'm not about to play partisan politics with this, though I'm sure some who are further left than I probably will, claiming that this is yet another example of "Republican hypocrisy." It is hypocrisy, but both parties are filled with hypocrites.

Moving on, doc Russia has a good, and in my view, correct take on Howard Dean's (somewhat bizzare) pledge to take back Texas. . . and to do it before tackling other states:

Unfortunately for the DNC, I find it highly improbable that they will suddenly turn about, divorce themselves from the nanny-statists, militant atheists, and proffessional beureaucrats that penetrate the warp and woof of their party. If you want to play politics in Texas, you can be a tough old grandma, a Jewish cowboy, or common republican, as long as you at least intend to leave a persons liberties and properties alone.

Read the whole thing.

Here's some random 1911 gun pr0n. . . extra kinky, since the Springer's stripped.

Finally, never take whiskey from the Irish, they might explode. Really.

On the Road

I'm driving down to GenieJunkie's (for the first time in God knows how long) for the weekend. I'm still planning on posting over the weekend and today, just not this morning.

This will be the first time his dog and my dog will meet. Should be interesting, to say the least.

Update: Well, the meeting of the dogs actually went better than I'd hoped. There were a couple of tense moments when Genie's dog didn't appreciate the over-curiosity of my dog, but both were well-supervised, behavior (of both) was immediately corrected, and all was well.

Filed in:

• Site-Admin

Dayummm

W.T.F.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea

More on Jeff Cooper

Guns and Ammo posted their Jeff Cooper Tribute, a collection of some of his quotes. The amazing thing is that the list is only a fraction of Cooper's total publicized output; love him or hate him, the man was prolific. Here are two more of my favorites regarding violence and aggression, and exemplify part of why I attempt to train my mind and hands in effective defensive shooting techniques:

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that 'violence begets violence.' I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure--and in some cases I have--that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

And:

Fight back! Whenever you are offered violence, fight back! The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you. Whatever the risk, and at whatever the cost, fight back!

Damn straight.

Filed in:

• Gun-Stuff

Unintentionally Funny

OK, maybe my coffee hasn't kicked in yet, but I think this is the funniest unintentional line I've read this week:

Soldiers are afraid of third parties stirring things up after the coup, so we had to make sure they were harmless.

Can't imagine why, after taking over the country, they'd worry about someone, uh, trying to take over the country. Also:

The army appears determined that the carnival atmosphere following the country's first coup in 15 years does not detract from the serious business of power. Yesterday, it banned go-go dancers from flaunting themselves near tanks and troops.

Why can't we have a war there?

Filed in:

• Miscellanea
• Politics-Global

Be nice if Bush did this

All we get from Bush and others in the Administration is "Islam is a Religion of Peace" and "it's just the extremists who are to blame," etc. Looks like some members of the Australian government are calling a spade a spade:

The Howard Government's multicultural spokesman, Andrew Robb, yesterday told an audience of 100 imams who address Australia's mosques that these were tough times requiring great personal resolve. Mr Robb also called on them to shun a victim mentality that branded any criticism as discrimination.

"We live in a world of terrorism where evil acts are being regularly perpetrated in the name of your faith," Mr Robb said at the Sydney conference.

"And because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem.

"You can't wish it away, or ignore it, just because it has been caused by others.

"Instead, speak up and condemn terrorism, defend your role in the way of life that we all share here in Australia."

Mr Robb said unless Muslims took responsibility for their destiny and tackled the causes of terrorism, Australia would become divided. [emphasis mine]

Substitute "U.S." or even "the entire world" for "Australia" in that last sentence and that's exactly what I want to hear our leaders say, verbatim. Yes there are many "moderate" Muslims, Muslims who believe that violence is not the way, that violent conquest, retribution, and overreaction is antithetical to modern civilization, and those Muslims are all over the world, and some do speak out. Unfortunately, too few of those Muslims, the ones who dislike seeing their brethren burning effigies, taking misguided and violent retribution for unintended insults, rioting, etc., over ancient feuds, cultural misunderstandings, or just words, rarely, if ever, speak out against, much less actively work against, the more violent elements in their society and faith.

It'd be good to see them do so. . . and for Bush & Co. to call them on not doing so.

ETA: I also like what Angela Merkel said yesterday:

I think self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practise violence in the name of Islam. It makes no sense to retreat.

Filed in:

• Politics-Global

Gone Fishin'

On a deadline, so very light to no posting today. Hopefully I'll get some things posted, but I don't know yet.

Filed in:

• Site-Admin

Two steps forward

Good news in our state-level war on drugs: The number of crystal meth labs being discovered in Georgia is down, which is a very good thing.

In 2003, 800 home meth-labs were dismantled in the state of Georgia. Law enforcement officials predict they may not even dismantle a hundred clandestine labs this year.

I know for a fact that my county Drug Task Force has pushed virtually all, if not every one, of the meth producers out of the county. I'm thankful for that, as I've been a first-hand witness to both the drug's effects on its users and what happens when a meth lab explodes. It seems that last year's law forcing all drugs containing pseudoephedrine behind the pharmacy counter and limiting the per-purchase quantity of those drugs has helped to a large degree as well.

There's a catch though: crystal methamphetamine use is not down, nor is the supply on the street. Why?

On August 30th, David Nahmias, the United States Attorney with the Northern District of Georgia said, “Atlanta is an epicenter for [crystal meth]. Not only just the use, that is continuing to grow in North Georgia, but more the distribution throughout the east coast of the United States.”

Nahmias made that statement after Federal, State and Local law enforcement agents seized a record amount of the drug. But it was not home-made. It was shipped from Mexico.

The importing of methamphetamine has grown as substantially as the home labs have decreased. It is changing the focus of the fight for people like Phil Price [Special Agent in Charge, GBI].

“The imported meth is so readily available that it’s not cost effective to make your own,” Price said.

In other words, were it not for our sieve-like southern border, the supply, and thus the use, of one of the worst and most widely available drugs to ever hit Georgia would be severely curtailed. So thanks FedGov for nullifying the efforts of my state lawmakers and law enforcement personnel, not to mention your own anti-drug agencies. Yeah, I saw the money Congress recently set aside for a bit of a wall on the southern border, but what kind of success could my state have had in our fight against meth had you secured our national border 5 years ago, or 10, or 20, or even last year, when the raw material supply of our in-state meth producers was heavily restricted? So Georgia take two steps forward, and one giant step back.

Filed in:

• Law/Crime
• Politics-Georgia
• Politics-U.S.

Thank You Col. Cooper

Michael Bane reports that LTC Jeff Cooper has passed away. If you don't know, Cooper can easily be considered the founder of all our modern handgun techniques, not to mention his work with combat rifle techniques. In his books he, often eloquently, described and codified the how, what, when, who, and why of shooting, melding both the art and the science of the many shooting genres. Most modern training courses, if not all of them, take something in varying degrees from LTC Cooper's writings and Gunsite, one of the first and still among the best of the "modern" firearms training programs.

In the gun world, this man is a legend.

Here's a link to The Jeff Cooper Bibliography, which should give interested shooters some idea of what to read by the Colonel. Here's one of my favorites of his sayings:

The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.

The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.

Godspeed, Semper Fi, and thank you, LTC Cooper.

Filed in:

• Gun-Stuff

Face reality guys

...'cause ya'll lost, and the battle flag won't be put back on the Georgia flag.

Supporters of the 1956 state flag with its dominant Confederate cross plan a final all-out charge to oust a Georgia governor who outflanked their no-retreat-no-surrender efforts to keep the controversial banner flying.

Seriously, it's over. The Southern Cross shouldn't have been on the state flag in the first place, and I say that as an ardent Southerner with colonial ancestors, descendents of whom fought in the War of Northern Aggression Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. After all, Georgia's current flag has more in common with earlier state flags than did the '56 Battle Flag-inspired design. If you're interested, here's the Wiki of the Georgia flag fracas, which in my mind is resolved and a non-issue. It's too bad some people don't feel that way; they should move on to more important, and pressing, concerns for the state, like immigration, taxes, dealing with Yankees moving down here and then complaining that it's "not like home," etc. OK, I'm kidding about the Yankees thing. . . kinda.

By the way, the battle flag, or "Southern Cross," the most commonly thought-of flag when referring to Confederate flags, is NOT the "Stars and Bars," a common mistake. In fact, the national flag of the Confederacy (the first one, anyway), which was/is properly called "The Stars and Bars," is this one. . . which looks a heck of a lot like the current Georgia State Flag, and is yet another reason why the Battle Flag supporters should just move on.

ETA: Also, don't even get me started on the Bonnie Blue Flag, which actually predates the Civil War by about 50 years and inspired its fair share of state's flags. The CSA was all about flags.

Filed in:

• Politics-Georgia

Appeasement

Brits to brief Muslims before terror raids

POLICE have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid.

I love it when "cultural sensitivities" get in the way of effectively prosecuting a war or defending against a threat.

Filed in:

• GWOT

Weekend Update

8 things I either learned or had reaffirmed this weekend:

1) A dog (not on its leash, not being supervised) should thank me for being knowledgeable enough to know that when he attacked Conscientious Objector (on a leash, which was being held be me) while we were walking on the other side of the damn street, it was not his fault, but rather the fault of his owners. I know Mr. Husky just thought we were trespassing on "his" territory, and that he thought he was protecting the other side of a public street. He should thank me for A) not shooting his snarling, biting ass, or B) not doing more to him than putting him into a submission pose until he calmed down. See, my dog's middle name is Conscientious Objector because he's, well, a pansy. He's a great alarm system, and I know he'd protect me if he really had to, but he knows I'm the pack leader and aggression of any sort is not tolerated in our two animal pack. Unfortunately, Mr. Husky's owner(s) apparently don't feel the same way. Train your pets people; don't let them train you.

2) It's almost worth it to sell a kidney to make a beautifully blued Colt Lightweight Commander, Series 80, chambered in .38 Super, affordable.

3) When the assembly holding a lawnmower blade onto the lawnmower breaks, a lawnmower blade, after bouncing off the ground and flying approximately 15 feet, has enough velocity to bury itself approximately 7 inches into the trunk of a Silver Maple.

4) I need a new lawnmower blade.

5) I don't need a new leg, so I don't mind that I need a new lawnmower blade.

6) Visiting the elderly in the hospital is good for the soul, especially when the elderly person used to be a nun/schoolteacher.

7) Seeing planes and helicopters circling and lingering very, very low over your neighborhood several times in the same day, is not only annoying, but disconcerting.

8) Tinfoil hats are easy to make; tinfoil cowboy hats take much more time and effort.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea

Very good football day

Army 27 - Baylor 20

Hey, Army's 2-2, which for them is pretty good. Definite improvement over the last few years.

Auburn 38 - Buffalo 7

Yeah, not surprising, but a W's a W.

Georgia 14 - Colorado 13

I'll take it, but damn if I wasn't worried about Georgia for most of that game. Let's, uh, score some points in quarters other than the first, 'k guys? Thanks.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea
• Football

On the Prospective Gun Owner

OK, it's soapbox time. I apologize if this comes across as patronizing or obvious in its statements to some, or even all of you. I feel, however, that it's an important subject that I need to talk about. I came across this article, titled An Arming of One, last night and a few points stood out, some welcome and some that made me angry. First, I was happy to see a citizen taking steps to take control of her own security after realizing that the authorities are unable to protect every person at every moment:

The people charged with my public safety [. . .] keep telling me, most recently in a meeting with reporters, to calm down. Overall, they say, crime is down. Homicides and shootings are up, but they're up everywhere. And more cops on the streets isn't the answer.

And then there's the fact that the overwhelming majority of shooters have criminal records, and the thugs who rape, rob and murder are just passing time, awaiting trial for some previous crime.

So if the police can't protect me, and the criminal justice system can't protect me, shouldn't I protect myself?

Yes, my dear, you should. After all, self-preservation is one of our most deeply-ingrained instincts and there is nothing wrong with equipping yourself with the tools to do so. I was additionally buoyed to see that the author is attempting to go about her self-introduction to firearms in a responsible manner: attempting to find a gun that "fits" her and that she'll be willing to practice with, making the commitment necessary to master the safe operation of a handgun, analyzing the reasons for firearms ownership, etc. This is the kind of thinking person I want included in the ranks of firearms owners, and I hope other "gun people" do as well.

Which brings me to the part of the article that brought me down from my cordite cloud-nine: her interaction with a gun-store salesperson. Yeah, all the long-time firearms enthusiasts have "gun-store jackass" stories; I have a few myself. Such stories may be humorous to relate to each other at the range, over IM chats, or on message boards, but we should not ignore their lessons: just like our beloved firearms, knowledge can be a weapon used for good or ill. Moreover, how that knowledge is imparted to the novice gun owner reflects on all experienced gun owners, especially the outspoken ones who promote our sport and our industry in the mainstream media, on blogs, in break rooms, at public functions, etc. While organizations such as the NRA, the NSSF, and many others, along with many individuals, promote responsible and knowledgeable gun ownership, these organizations are often not the first point of contact for a first-time civilian shooter. Instead, the first time shooter will most likely seek information, guidance, and experience from either a family member/friend or the salesperson at a gun store, and sometimes both.

In the case of the woman in question, the first point of contact were gun salesmen, one of whom is illustrated by this scene:

After I emptied the Ruger, I took my target to the counter and turned in my ear protection and goggles. I told the guy behind the counter I did much better with the .22.

Disappointment clouded his face.

The bullet from a .22, he said, could easily travel through a wall, killing my next door neighbor. Oh no. Not sweet, little Ms. Mason. Or the bullet from a .22 can enter and exit the body, simply annoying my would-be attacker. Great.

"Then he takes it from you, and starts shooting you with it," he said, aiming his finger at the ground, saying the word "Pow!" over and over.

I asked him what he carried, and he pulled a black Beretta from his pocket. It fit in the palm of his hand.

He said he uses only hollow-point bullets, which once inside, saw through veins, bones and organs.

He told the story of a recent trip to a bad neighborhood. He carried a gun on his ankle, another on his waist and the Beretta in his pocket.

The building's elevator was broken and he had no qualms about taking the dimly lit stairs. "I was the baddest guy in there," he says with a proud grin. "I'd light that whole place up."

"I'd light that whole place up," said with a broad smile, is not the best way to influence a person who might be on a very shaky fence regarding buying and carrying a gun. Nor is somewhat incorrectly, and graphically, describing why you carry hollow point loads. Or telling our shaky-fence sitter that they might kill their neighbor and subsequently be killed themselves with their own gun. Or, worst of all, showing the slightest disappointment toward an apprehensive shooter showing even a hint of optimism following a range session.

All of us, but especially gun store owners and salespeople, must remember that novices seeking knowledge from us regarding defensive firearms ownership most often do so with no frame of reference other than,

"There exists a potential threat to myself and/or my family. I must take action to protect against that threat, therefore I should investigate firearms ownership."

They more than likely have no knowledge whatsoever of revolver vs. pistol, caliber differences, local laws, or safe gun-handling practices, much less knowledge of more involved subjects, such as ballistics or selection of proper 12ga home defense loads. We must remember that these are people making a rational, and entirely correct decision to arm themselves in the face of a threat, not because they want to. They don't care minutiae of full-length guide rods vs. conventional types or the religious war between the 1911 aficionados and the Glock zealots. They want to protect themselves, and if asked for guidance, it is our duty to give such in a respectful, patient, and most of all, rational manner.

The novice self-defensive gun owner certainly don't want to see glee expressed when describing what happens to flesh and bone when a bullet strikes it or how you feel like Charles Bronson when you're "strapped." Nor do they want sensationalist descriptions of gunfights or the reasons to carry a weapon. They already know why they want to arm themselves; that's why they're asking the what and the how of the matter. And the last thing they want to see is disappointment following what they thought was a successful trip to the range.

So when you're asked questions about guns, whether you own the biggest store in your state or you're just the "gun-nut brother-in-law," please don't go off the deep end with your answers. If a new shooter says they did better with a .22 than they did with your preferred defensive firearm, affirm their good experience, then calmly and rationally suggest that after they become comfortable and proficient, they move on to a more suitable defensive caliber. If they ask what kind of load you keep chambered in your carry pistol, tell them and explain the ballistics and the advantages/disadvantages of a particular load. Explain to them as simply as possible, without sensationalism, the concepts, facts, and contributing factors behind wound channels, muzzle velocity, and muzzle energy. Impress upon them the rationale behind the "4 Rules" and why safety should be paramount regarding firearms. Explain to them that having a mind prepared to react to violence with violence is not the same thing as being bloodthirsty or relishing such a confrontation. Please don't preach (like I feel I'm doing here) or act in a condescending manner towards them, and for God's sake, don't do anything to make them think that carrying a gun is the same thing as wanting to actually shoot someone.

Also, and I swear I'm getting to the end of this self-indulgent diatribe, save the politics for later. Again, these people just want to protect themselves, and have made the decision to do so. They don't care about the politics, at least not yet, they just want to protect themselves. Will they eventually become active, or at least interested, in the "politics of the gun?" Maybe, but that is not the issue; responsible, safe, and effective self-protection and preservation is.

Responsible gun ownership is more than just safe gunhandling; it is also responsible promotion and teaching of our sport, hobby, and lifestyle to those completely ignorant of it. If you're the first point of contact for a prospective gun owner who is approaching the subject from a strictly self-defense point of view, do you really want their first impression to be,

Listening to the ease with which gun-shop guys seem prepared to take someone's life, and knowing the ease with which criminals are prepared to take mine, I'm not sure if owning a gun makes me part of the solution or part of the problem.

But until the state Legislature and the city stand up against gun violence, I may not have much of a choice.

I certainly don't. I want that person to be confident in their decision to take some measure of control over their life and its safety, to become interested in the aforementioned minutiae, to eventually experience the same joy as I when going to the range, and maybe even become involved in the politics and further promotion of gun ownership. I truly hope I'm preaching to the converted, that anyone reading this thinks I'm a self-indulgent windbag, and that you all already know the proper manner to "handle" an apprehensive novice. Unfortunately, I've seen too many gun store commandos come across as bloodthirsty, too many 'net forum ninjas expound crackpot ideas, and too many prospective gun owners walk away from gun shows with confused, nervous expressions on their faces and nothing in their hands to truly believe that.

We as experienced gun owners have a responsibility to help the less experienced among us; to do less is a disservice to not only those novices but to the industry and the community as a whole.

Thanks for your time; now I'll get the hell off my giant soapbox. . . and go straight to the range.

Filed in:

• Gun-Stuff

Good

Maybe this means I won't have to see any more of those stupid "Smiling Bob" commercials.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea

Heart in the right place

Misguided, funny, and somewhat true:

At the first parent teacher conference, the P.T.A. handed out the survey, telling parents where they could be used as volunteers. It was the last option on the page that has some up in arms. A line that read, "No, I do not want to get involved. I want my children to be thieves, drug addicts and prostitutes."

Hehe. . . awesome. Well, at least the guy had the right intentions; that of getting parents involved in their kids' lives. Personally, I think parents should get involved in the actual lives of the kids, not the PTA, but whatever. Hey, if there were any offended parents, they should look at it this way: at least the guy didn't possibly infect their kids with blood-borne diseases.

Filed in:

• Edjamacation

Blind Hate

Would you like to see an example of an argument, rhetoric, tone, and language changing when the writer realizes the person to whom they're writing is not Canadian but is instead American?

Check out this post over at Girl on the Right to do so. Bush/America/Conservative/etc. Derangement Syndrome indeed.

Update: Please see the comments for RG's correction; she is in fact not American but Canadian. Apparently her schizo emailer rubbed off on me and I jumped to conclusions as well. Still, if anything, the point about Derangement Syndrome is only made stronger by his mistake, as his derangement is even more, well, deranged. Again, sorry RG!

Filed in:

• Politics-U.S.
• Politics-Global
• Idiocy

I'm doomed

Oh, this is just f'ing great. I've been ardently working on getting my health under control for months; specifically, I've been trying to lose weight. Not that I was/am obese or have any current health problems (physical health, anyway) but being overweight, having high cholesterol, and having high blood pressure are embedded deep in my DNA. So when I woke up one day and realized that I weighed significantly more than I should, I made some serious lifestyle changes. I've lost a significant amount of weight in a healthy, responsible, and safe manner and according to my physical a month ago, all my numbers are within the normal range for my age group, although my weight is still a bit above where it should be. There are self-improvement goals still to be met, but I've done well so far.

And then I read this headline:

McDonald's May Offer Breakfast Menu All Day Long.

Oh, the temptation! The McGriddle was the bane of my midsection before I embarked on my weight-loss quest, and is still a huge temptation for me, but I was able to hide behind the impenetrable wall of "Thou Shalt NOT Order Breakfast Food After a Certain Time". . . and soon that wall will be torn asunder, allowing a flood of cheesy, eggy, maple syrupy goodness to flow forth in all its calorie-laden glory. Damn you McDonald's! From hell's heart I stab at thee!

Oh, God, I just realized a possibility, nay! a probability, might soon exist: being able to purchase a McGriddle, a vanilla milkshake, McDonald's Fries (suck it Wendy's), and coffee at the same time. I'm doomed.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea

Blackout? Part Deux

According to Blogger, there will be a "scheduled outage" at 4PM Pacific today for 45 minutes (hopefully only 45), so if you try to visit us around then and are unable to, that's why. If you're reading this after trying and failing to view GH about 4PM PDT, then that's why.

By the way, I found this blog/post and think the conversation described really is the way the Google ownership of Blogger came about. Funny, sad, and probably true.

One other random thought: Does anyone else find it bizarre that Blogger's built-in spellchecker doesn't recognize the words "Blog, "Google," or even "Blogger?" It's not that big of a deal, but what is that all about?

Filed in:

• Site-Admin

Evil Little Squirt

From the "Zero Tolerance" file comes another story of school administrators' overreaction, in this case, regarding a bright orange plastic squirt gun and a first-grader suspended for 10 days:

The incident will stay on Tawann's permanent school record. But Womack said her son does not understand why he's not in school.

Can't imagine why not, since he's 6! While I agree with the school officials that the parents of students should know what their child may or may not be taking to school, suspending a six-year old for over a week is going too far. As one school district official said:

We regret that this happened. My feeling is that by not giving any exceptions, this young man will not bring a toy gun to school again.

So there are no other ways with which to teach the boy a lesson? Depriving him of whatever education he gets at 6 is the best way to teach him? He shouldn't have had the squirt gun in school, as it is a distraction, and the squirt gun should be taken away, the parent(s) should be informed, and the kid should be made to sit in the corner or something.

Give administrators and teachers the ability to use their best judgment regarding cases like this. With a little common sense, the child would learn that squirt guns are not allowed in school but would not be deprived of 10 days of the 3 "R's."

Filed in:

• Edjamacation

Good idea

Kim du Toit posted a good idea regarding would-be terrorists and the pain they've inflicted on law-abiding air-travelers:

Having just been subjected to the tender mercies of the TSA at a couple of airports, allow me to make a modest suggestion.

If we catch a terrorist before he manages to board a plane, his punishment should be to be strapped upright to an X-shaped frame which forces his legs apart. Then, every time an airline passenger is subjected to a "close" search (ie. near-strip search), an electronic pulse is sent from the airport to the prison, and thence to a machine which delivers a precise blow to the terrorist's genitals.

Yeah, I could get behind that.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea

At least ONE of 'em gets it

I was actually working on a post that is, or rather, was, remarkably similar in its points to this article, on Muslim extremism, the possible destruction of Western Civilization, and the fact that too many ignore the obvious truths of both, and here I am beaten to the punch by someone way to the left of me. Will wonders never cease. There's really too much to quote that I want to quote here, but I'll give some points that jump out at me:

On questions of national security, I am now as wary of my fellow liberals as I am of the religious demagogues on the Christian right.

This may seem like frank acquiescence to the charge that "liberals are soft on terrorism." It is, and they are.
[. . . ]
Given the degree to which religious ideas are still sheltered from criticism in every society, it is actually possible for a person to have the economic and intellectual resources to build a nuclear bomb and to believe that he will get 72 virgins in paradise. And yet, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, liberals continue to imagine that Muslim terrorism springs from economic despair, lack of education and American militarism.
[. . . ]
Given the mendacity and shocking incompetence of the Bush administration especially its mishandling of the war in Iraq liberals can find much to lament in the conservative approach to fighting the war on terror. Unfortunately, liberals hate the current administration with such fury that they regularly fail to acknowledge just how dangerous and depraved our enemies in the Muslim world are.
[. . . ]
Unless liberals realize that there are tens of millions of people in the Muslim world who are far scarier than Dick Cheney, they will be unable to protect civilization from its genuine enemies.
[. . . ]
While liberals should be the ones pointing the way beyond this Iron Age madness, they are rendering themselves increasingly irrelevant. Being generally reasonable and tolerant of diversity, liberals should be especially sensitive to the dangers of religious literalism. But they aren't.

And unless they pull their heads from their asses the sand so aptly mentioned in the title of the editorial, liberals never will be. By focusing so much on the supposed internal threats and problems of Western Civilization, liberals constantly and consistently ignore the threat posed by outside forces, often ignoring them with the same determination and unyielding devotion to dogma they derisively attribute to the religious. I'll use Ace to make my final point though, as he sums up liberal defeatism perfectly:

There's a great amount of odious liberal condescension at work here. No matter how many times Jihadists say "We are killing you because Allah commands it," liberals keep saying back, "Oh, pish-posh. We know what's really driving you -- a need for more day-care and infrastructure development."

Don't liberals believe in actually listening to the diverse narratives of oppressed peoples? Or is that just a cover for making up their own one-size-fits-all narrative and hegemonically imposing it on the world's repressed?
[. . . ]
[L]iberals are convinced we cannot win this war. Or, more accurately: They are convinced we cannot win this war in a way they find morally acceptable. And for many, fighting a war is itself morally unacceptable.

Ergo, the steady drumbeat from the left that we deserved it, we actually blew up the WTC ourselves, etc. They have decided the only liberally-correct response to the War on Terror is to lose it.

Far too few will ever understand that; if they ever do, their realiztion will come far too late to be of any use. Both posts are well worth your time for a full read.

Filed in:

• Politics-U.S.
• Politics-Global
• GWOT

Blackout?

According to Blogger, there will be a "scheduled outage" at 4PM Pacific today for 15 minutes (hopefully only 15), so if you try to visit us around then and are unable to, that's why. If you're reading this after trying and failing to view GH about 4PM PDT, then that's why.

At least they told us this time; maybe they read my last site-admin post and realized telling their members about what's going on is a good thing.

Filed in:

• Site-Admin

Mandatory Pope Post

Cause:

On Sunday, Benedict said he was "deeply sorry" over any hurt caused by his comments made in a speech last week, in which he quoted a medieval text characterizing some of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman" and calling Islam a religion spread by the sword. [emphasis mine]

And effect:

Al-Qaida in Iraq and its allies said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross," saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose the 'jizya' tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (being killed by) the sword." [emphasis mine]

So the "insult" is that the Pope quoted a text saying Islam is spread by the sword, and some Muslims say that after they conquer the West, they will spread Islam by the sword? And others protest in Britain, assassinate nuns in Somalia, and burn Christian churches in Gaza, not to mention the protests elsewhere in the world? The West may not think we're in a Crusade or Holy War, but through the actions of extremists, there is such a conflict being forced upon us, whether we want it or not.

Filed in:

• Politics-Global

Pure Genius

I have got to become a consultant. I don't even care what kind of consultant so long as I can come up with off-the-wall ideas about how to "improve" a product and get paid a wheelbarrow full of money to do so. In this case, the product is the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority and the consultant is a guy named Joey Reiman, who I'm sure is a nice guy and all, but c'mon. His basic idea to improve the woefully crappy MARTA?

MARTA's mission must no longer be limited to simply getting people from point A to point B, Reiman told the MARTA board of directors last week.

To be fair, MARTA does get people from point A to point B; they just don't do it very well. And you really don't want to know why that dude sleeping in the corner smells like that. Or wonder what exactly is growing on, and under, the seat next to you; whatever it is, it's evolving and possibly becoming sentient. So yeah, technically MARTA gets you wherever you're going, but you won't like the trip. Maybe they should work on cleaning things up a bit and improving reliability first. Some of Reiman's specific ideas:

•Leather couches in a furniture-store sponsored train car.
•Pictures of reindeer plastered on trains during the Christmas season [...] putting pictures of pumpkins in train car windows during Halloween, and turning train car walls into gallery space for local artists.
•Short films and even serials could be broadcast on televisions already installed on buses and trains to entertain riders and encourage frequent use.Train cars could be sponsored by companies.
•The walls of a Borders-sponsored car, like the illustration below, could be lined with books, though it's not clear how theft would be prevented. [snicker]

And my favorite, if only for its tastelessness:

• Free rides on MLK Jr. Day -- "Free at last," get it?

Ughh. At least the MARTA officials' reaction to the pitch was sufficiently sober:

"I like his ideas and his vision, and I really agree that we need to take MARTA to the next level, but some of the things he's recommending are not very realistic," said Upshaw-Monteith, executive director of Leadership Atlanta. "When you look at our clientele, I just don't think our ridership would be willing to pay $3 for a cup of coffee."

Understatement of the month right there; MARTA users only use MARTA because they have too. At least MARTA realizes this and seems to be trying to improve basic point-to-point service instead of making the trains and buses the bestest cultural experience ever. Oh well, they did get a deal in hiring Reiman; they had to pay only $150,000 for his services, instead of his normal fee of $750,000.

I have got to become a consultant. I totally would have done all that for a measly $75,000.

Filed in:

• Idiocy
• Miscellanea

Small words please

Yeah, I don't really get all the physics (way outside my field), although I understand the bare-bones basic idea behind the article, the project, and the problems. Interesting stuff, although not what I usually read over my breakfast cereal. I just wanted to say that this is one of the greatest real-life supervillain-like headlines I've ever seen:

World's Largest Supercollider Could Destroy the Universe.

Filed in:

• Tech

First they came for our, well, everything

Unreal:

COOPER CITY · The city has given itself the right to seize its residents' personal property for public use in an emergency.

Noooo, that's not the sort of thing that has massive potential to be abused. I mean, it'd only happen in an emergency, right? Residents should be assured though:

"There's always the possibility of abuse of power," Commissioner Elliot Kleiman said, "but it's not going to happen here."
[. . . ]
Kleiman said Cooper City residents should be happy because their city has taken preventative steps to ensure their well-being.

Yeah, best intentions and all that. Forgive me if I'm leery of a government, any government, extending its power and control over its citizens, especially when that extension includes the ability to legally seize property under the subjective condition of "emergency." Oh, and it's not just seizure of property that's now legal:

Under the city law, once the city declares a state of emergency, officials would be able to regulate fuel and alcohol sales, close any place of public assemblage and prohibit public possession or display of firearms. In addition, they would be able "to confiscate merchandise, equipment, vehicles or property needed to alleviate any emergency condition."

I'd be speechless if I was speaking this instead of typing it. So the Cooper City government, after declaring an emergency, a term that can be defined by the Cooper City government, can now do anything from giving away fuel to forbidding its sale, doing the same for alcohol. It can block public access to any place large enough to hold a public assembly, without defining what exactly constitutes a "public assemblage;" is it 3 dudes talking on the sidewalk? 2 or more families meeting in a church? Dogs and cats living together? What?

And what exactly is "public possession or display of firearms" anyway? If a concealed-carry permited, background-checked citizen walks out of his/her front door with a legally-purchased, never-been-used-in-a-crime, holstered handgun discretely secured under his/her jacket, could he/she conceivably be arrested or otherwise detained?

What if the city government declares an emergency and decides that your home is worthy of confiscation; would your home now be considered a public area? If you happen to have a beat-up shotgun or something locked in a gun case, you better hope not; under the set of circumstances possible with this new law, that'd be verboten.

Yeah, I know those are hypothetical, over-the-top situations, and I know that the government cannot reasonably have resources standing by at all times, ready for any emergency situation. C'mon though, this law just seems a little over the top; neighboring cities down there have their own emergency powers laws, but, according to the article anyway, and to some family of mine who live around FL, those cities' laws are not as intrusive or as wide-reaching as Cooper City's.

Here's the most heinous and disgusting part though, in my eyes:

The plan was advertised in local newspapers for several days before it became law. Commissioner Bart Roper said only one resident complained during a public hearing, when the item was discussed and approved by a 4-0 vote.

That wet thud you just heard was my laptop impacting my forehead with sufficient force to draw blood.

Yep, the bill was publicly advertised multiple times, in multiple locations, and, except for 1 guy, the citizens said and did nothing. Instead of taking a look at what their local government was planning and taking steps to prevent such a law, the residents are left to complain after the fact. The citizens apparently didn't want this sort of law on the books, but they did nothing to prevent it. Look people, it's up to you to take a proactive stand on how your government operates, no matter if that government is local, state, federal, Evil Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, whatever. If they're doing something you don't like, SAY SOMETHING! Threaten their positions during the next election, rally like-minded citizens to your position, but for God's sake, do something! Even if you fight a losing battle, at least you fought.*

The government will try to take everything they can if they can get away with it. It's the nature of power; no matter how little or how large, power always wants more of itself. It is up to us to make sure the government cannot do what we don't want it to do. If we do nothing, they'll come for, well, everything.

Gah!

*Unless your government really is the Evil Galactic Empire; Palpatine would just have you killed, and that would suck. You probably wouldn't even rate a Vader Force-powered choke hold, you plebeian slime.

Filed in:

• Politics-U.S.
• Idiocy

Football; Fairly happy

Army 24 - Texas A&M 28:

Heartbreaker for Army, but damn if they didn't fight harder than I've ever seen them fight before. I don't know what was up with the play calling and clock management at the end, but the Cadets left everything on the field, and to me that comes as close as you can to winning without winning. Great game.

Auburn 7 - LSU 3 :

This was a big game on AU's schedule, so a W is a W, no matter how we take it. I gotta admit, though, that was a bad call. But hey, first time LSU's allowed a TD in something like 16 quarters of football, so that's pretty cool for Auburn. Good game if you're like me and love defense; Auburn certainly rocked at that today. I don't think their position will change on the polls, but I wish they'd score more points, especially against tough programs, to help them in the BCS.

Georgia 34 - UAB 0:

Shocking, I know, but at least UAB made some money.

Filed in:

• Miscellanea
• Football

Under the hood

If you like this, then you are truly a geek. The Linux Kernel Map is a zoom-able visual representation of the Linux Kernal, and it's pretty daggum neat.

Filed in:

• Tech

Sat. Gunblogging: $1000 Part 1, .22's

"Saturday Gunblogging" posts are posts with which I indulge myself by talking about (usually) the equipment of the shooting sports. These are often topics extensively covered elsewhere in the gun world, but whatever; I like talking about 'em.

The dollars in the Garm Gun Fund have to go a long way, as they are not too many of them. So I often contemplate what kind of and how much gear (guns, ammo, accessories, etc.) I could purchase with dollar amount 'X.' As the title suggests, with this series I'm going to use $1000.00 as my budget and, using approximate costs, see how far that one grand would take me into a particular category of gun-gear. Most of the time, the posts in this series will be on the assumption that the buyer does not already own any of the equipment in that category.

For this first "$1000 Gun Collection" post, I've obviously chosen the .22. Why? Well, in my view, it's the caliber that is the foundation of many people's shooting lives. It certainly is mine. I started with the .22, under the patient, strict, and proud tutelage of my father, I shoot .22 more than any other caliber, and I think .22LR in particular is the single most useful caliber out there. Why do I think that? Well, the .22LR is first of all cheap and plentiful, thus ensuring that cheap bastards poor people like myself can afford to burn up 500 rounds on a Saturday afternoon. Secondly, it's a great training tool; teaching a new shooter the basic skills of shooting on a .22 rifle or pistol builds fundamentals and good shooting habits cheaply and easily; we don't want Little Johnny developing a flinch from that sharp-kicking .308, do we? .22LR is also, out to ranges within its performance envelope, a quite accurate and effective target/hunting round, with the proper ammunition. Yeah, those fancy AR-15 based varmint rifles are great for prairie dogs, but what if you just need to take care of some gophers in the back yard? The most important factor that ensures the modest .22's foundation status is the fact that it's fun. Shooting a .45 ACP 1911 all day is my idea of heaven, but that doesn't mean my hand won't be sore by the end of that day. The .22, on the other hand. . . well, you can shoot one of those as long as you want without worrying about your hands or shoulder complaining that night.

OK, that's enough "reasons why;" let's move on to the equipment. If someone owns no .22 firearms, where should they start?

---------------------------------------------------

1) A pistol, Ruger 22/45 Mark III, $300.00*
First of all, I always prefer quality over quantity. Yeah I could go find a .22 pistol dirt cheap, but it would most likely be a piece of junk. I may be on a budget, but that doesn't mean I'm going to compromise quality. Still though, one can pick up a decent .22 for relatively (when compared to centerfire firearms) good prices. There are a ton of good .22 handguns out there from virtually all the different makes, but I'm partial to the Browning Buckmark and especially the Ruger Mark III series. In fact, I've written about the Ruger before, here and here. They're both simple, reliable, rugged (especially in the case of the Ruger), and even in the lower price-range models, are very, very accurate handguns. Both are equally suited to the range and to the field.

2) A rifle, Henry Octagon .22 Lever-Action, $300.00*
Now I know this may be a weird choice to some people; "what about the Ruger 10/22, you heathen!" I can hear you saying. Well, I like the 10/22 well enough, but the Henry's only a bit more expensive, and it's well, better than the Ruger, or at least the base model Ruger 10/22's. Yeah, you can spend some serious dough and get a competition-winning 10/22, but that would be way outside the budget of this list. All the same rules regarding quality mentioned above apply to the rifle, but why not get something beautiful as well? I think the blued finish on the Henry is better than the Ruger and other .22's, you can shoot different kinds of .22 through it, its stock and its overall lines are gorgous, and its lever action is tons more reliable than just about any semi-auto rifle (again, in basic stock form). Besides, with some practice, one can shoot that lever action almost as fast as a semi. One other point: it's tube-fed, so no magazines are needed, which is a pretty big factor in light of my $1000 budget. Don't think tube-fed equates to less capacity though: it'll still hold 16 rounds of .22LR goodness. Oh, and that octagon barrel is just so damn cool looking.

The best part about both the pistol and the rifle I've chosen is the fact that although both are relatively inexpensive, both can be used for just about any subcatagory of shooting (hunting, target, training, etc.). The guns are just one half of the equation though:

3) Rimfire Rifle Scope, Leupold VX-I 2-7x28mm, $220.00*
Ever tried shooting .22 rifle at a target the size of a fist at 50+ yards with iron sights? Yeah, you'll need a scope, especially if you plan on doing any varmint hunting; they may be vermin, but they deserve just as clean a kill as that trophy buck. Besides, scopes give some versatility to your setup. Now I know you'll be tempted to buy a cheap, sub-$100 scope. Don't. Spend the money on good glass; you'll appreciate it down the road. I'm partial to the Leupold brand, myself, as I've never looked through a bad one. The 2x-7x magnification gives you good range options without going overboard.

4) Accessories, $115.00*
Hey, what are you going to clean those bad boys with anyway? This list assumes you not having squat, so you better buy a cleaning kit. Figure about $20.00 for a decent, albeit basic, kit. Oh, and don't forget about magazines; you'll want extra mags for that pistol (or if you ignore me and buy a semi-automatic rifle, you traitorous jerk, for that as well). Figure about $30.00 for two of those, more if you need some for a rifle. And with what are you going to attach that scope, hot glue and firm wishing? Tack on $25.00 for good scope rings. By the way, how are you going to secure, transport, and store those firearms? You're not going to hide them unsecured somewhere, hoping that little curious hands don't get ahold of them, thus ensuring yourself a place on the bad side of gun-safety statistics, are you? I hope not; safety before all else, after all. Plus, you need something in which to carry those guns around without scratching them into ugliness. So figure another $40.00 for an inexpensive, but functional, hard case and a padlock, or whatever, which leaves us with:

5) Ammunition, $65.00
$65 buys a TON of .22 ammo, which is great; because it's cheap, you'll burn through a ton of it, which will necessitate buying more, which means you'll burn through THAT, because, hey, it was cheap, which means. . . eh, you get the idea. Seriously though, you have some choices when it comes to .22LR ammo: High velocity, standard velocity, match, etc., and there are plenty of companies, bullet weights, etc. to choose from. I recommend you split the money, buying $40.00 worth of decent quality standard velocity, like 7 of these CCI Standard 100-rd. boxes. Then take the remaining $25.00 and buy some performance ammo, like 5 50-rd. boxes of CCI Stingers, which is my favorite .22 LR brand/model. That'll give you 700 rounds to use for plinking/casual target shooting and another 250 rounds for more serious target shooting and hunting. That may seem like a lot of ammo, but, as an example, the last time I took a .22 out, my dad and I put all of a 500 round brick of ammo down the pipe; it flowed like water. Thank God it's cheap, eh? So 950 rds. is a good amount of .22 to keep on hand; that way you can just look around some Saturday afternoon, realize you've finished all your chores and there's no decent football on T.V., decide you need head over to the indoor range and smell the cordite goodness, all without incurring the wrath of your significant other for spending ungodly amounts of money on ammo.

---------------------------------------------------

So that's how far you can get with $1000 in the world of .22's. Not bad, eh? A quality pistol, a beautiful rifle, a sweet scope, some basic accessories, and almost 1000 rounds of ammo to get you started. Good thing I replaced that 500 round brick I mentioned, 'cause all this talk about .22's reminds me that I've got a date with a pretty little thing with "Ruger" emblazoned on the grips.

Filed in:

• Gun-Stuff
• Saturday-Gunblogging

$10.00 GLOCK

Well, kinda, anyway. I'm going to mention this idea to my local gundealers; free publicity, a good cause, police helping brother officers, and some lucky gun owners = good stuff. For gun-guys like myself, THIS is a feel-good story.

Up (for me) in Gainsville, GA, a gun/outdoors shop is holding an interesting raffle: win one of four NIB GLOCK 27's by buying a $10.00 ticket. The cause? Raising money to help two Gainesville Policemen who are battling cancer. That's pretty cool. But guess what? Shuler's Great Outdoors, the shop holding the raffle, is not the one who actually thought up and organized the raffle; rather, members of the police force are.

Yep, fellow officers who wanted to help their afflicted comrades came up with this idea, which in my view is a damn good one. According to the article, at first,

it was meant primarily to be an incentive to law enforcement to make donations, but judging by the already brisk sales at Shuler's, everybody wants in on the action.

Damn right they do! I wish I still lived near Gainesville, or that I had time this weekend to drive up there; if I did or could, I'd buy some tickets in a heartbeat. Not only is this helping out a couple of underpaid public servants (I know they're underpaid; I really did live near there for a few years), but it's a chance to get a GLOCK for peanuts.

Oh, and the article doesn't say this, but I'm certain that the winners of the pistols would have to go through the standard background checks before taking possession. After all, the store isn't really "giving" them away; they're actually selling them for a minimum of $10.00 apiece.

Maybe I can make some time somehow. . .

Filed in:

• Gun-Stuff

Human Rights, U.N. Style

Koppel had an interesting hypothetical exercise a couple of days ago over at The Volokh Conspiracy:

Advanced Topics in Human Rights Law. Exam, Spring 2010. Question 4: One day, a woman goes to a gun store in Florida. She provides picture identification to the store owner, who then, pursuant to the National Instant Check System, uses his telephone to contact law enforcement, and ensure that the woman has no criminal record. The woman then purchases an expensive double-barreled shotgun, manufactured in the United Kingdom. She plans to use the gun for all lawful purposes, but primarily for sporting clays. In accordance with Florida law, she did not need to obtain a government license to possess the gun.

Two years later, a man breaks into her home at night. The woman reasonably (and correctly) believes that the man intends to rape and torture her. She also, correctly, believes that there is absolutely no possibility that the man will kill her. She shoots the man and kills him.

Summarize the human rights violations.

Guess what the U.N. thinks. Don't think it could happen? Well, I'm not preparing the firebombing campaign just yet, but it's something we should be keeping an eye on.

Filed in:

• Politics-Global
• Gun-Stuff

Not my fault (this time)

C'mon Blogger, I know you're free and all, and I really like you and all, but if you're going to completely crash and burn, rendering every single Blogspot blog unavailable (HTTP 500 errors) for hours at a time, well, then what good are you? I mean, I understand that you're rolling out an updated system and all, and that's great, especially the stuff you say you're doing on the backend, but are you just not going to check on the Blogger 1.0 servers while you're working on Beta? None of the Beta Blogger blogs went MIA; are you just leaving the rest of us out in the cold while you play with your shiny new toy? Not cool guy.

And hey, what's up with letting the unwashed masses that your users know what's going on when the entire system dies? I mean, you say on your Blogger Status (which also died more than a couple of times over the last few hours; very reassuring seeing crap like this at 1107EST when I try to find out what the deal is) page that at 0652 EST,

Blogspot was down for about 30 minutes. It has been restored now, but some blog pages are still returning an error page. We are working on resolving the problem.

And then at 0725 EST time you say that the problem has been fixed. Oh really? Then how come the earliest time I can find at the Blogger Help Group referencing the problem is marked at 0243 EST, making your initial claim of 30 min. downtime untrue? Then why, at 1058EST, hours after your claim that the problem was fixed, was I able to take this screen shot:
You say that the problem is fixed, but as of 1125EST, when I actually wrote this and had to extricate myself from the clutches of Garm's Big Bad PC of Love, there are STILL 500 errors all over the Blogspot world, including our humble little blog over here.

Why can't you just let us know what's going on, and apologize for not feeding the hamster in the wheel that apparently powers your servers? Listen Blogger, I've NEVER complained about your service before, in any medium; in fact, I've defended you many times in the past when things have gotten screwy. After all, you're providing an easy to use, customizable, free communication tool to the world, and I can respect that. I understand that problems happen; I mean, Google's struggling in the marketplace and all. OK, that's not fair since I don't know how much ad money the big G is sending your way, but the point still holds: I don't mind TOO much when little things happen. I don't mind when you break things in the middle of the night. But when things break and they're not fixed for hours, even after you say they're fixed, well, then I'm going to get really upset with you.

What happened to you Blogger? You used to be cool, man. Now you're making Baby Jesus cry.

Filed in:

• Site-Admin

A few birds, one stone?

Hrmmmm. . . Interesting: pay Afghan farmers to grow crops used in ethanol production:

Why not send a little cash toward Afghanistan to allow them to develop an ethanol industry? Farmers in Afghanistan are growing opium because it pays the most. This is one instance where throwing money at the problem will solve it. Pay the Afghan farmers more for a different crop. We're already paying our US farmers to grow crops for ethanol production, why not pay the Afghan farmers as well?

This is definitely intriguing, as such a program might take care of a few things that interest me:

1)Heroin is some evil stuff and anything to cut its production is a good thing,
2) It would take away one the Taliban/Al Qaida cash cows,
3) I'm all about getting away from oil dependence, and
4) If done right, it would be legal for all involved.

Will this happen and if so, would it work? I doubt it will happen, as it first of all both makes too much sense and would be controlled by politicians; therefore, it would be doomed from inception to failure. Secondly, how much money are the Afghan farmers actually making off of opium? Not the distributors, but the actual poppy growers out in the fields? According to Michael Yon (one of my favorite reporters), the poppy farmers are getting poorer at the moment, as they are creating a glut on the opium market with their ever-larger crops. Additionally, how much would it cost to build whatever infrastructure is neccesary for such an endeavor? Still, would it be economically feasible to pay what would likely be well-above-market prices for ethanol crops in order to make such a scheme viable for the opium growers? If it can stabilize the Afghan government, which is needed to both curtail the opium trade and to eradicate the Taliban/Al Qaida, then yes, it is probably worth it. There are more factors than a straight-up goods-for-currency exchange at work here. The currently fragmented Afghan government isn't effective, nor have NATO/U.S. forces been able to combat the opium trade. There is certainly a need for something new and different, and an ethanol-for-cash scheme just might work.

Again though, politicians would be in charge, so it'll never happen.

Filed in:

• Politics-Global
• GWOT