Saturday, March 31, 2018

Saying Thanks

The March For our Lives needs to thank the folks who came out, especially the high school kids who had not figured out that they were being used. At the school where I'm mentoring the robotics club, I noticed that there were at least 3 flyers inviting the students to pop on over for the march downtown. The march being over, and the flyers having not yet been removed, I put this one together and taped it over the top of one of the invitations.

Some time early this coming week, I hope to hear from my friend who teaches there about the faculty member who was blowing a cork in the staff meeting over the presence of such right wing propaganda.

We've all seen the car in the food store parking lot with the rear side nearly completely covered with leftie bumper stickers. Well there's a classroom in the school whose door closely matches that image. I expect that this will be the location of the exploded head.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Trumps Rabbit Trick

So Trump just signed a budget bill worth $1.3T that looks like it was written by Schumer and Pelosi and gives conservatives nothing while taking care of every pony under the Christmas tree the Dems asked for.

It's not often you see a pol commit political suicide right out there in front of everybody. The last time was when Bush signed a big tax increase after promising "no new taxes, read my lips". Didn't work out well for Bush now did it? At this point I can see little reason for Republicans to even go to the polls for the mid terms if they think that this is the way the party will be treating them. The local parties will be pleading for turnout claiming that the local pols will be forthright in defense of their constituents, but by now we've seen that local candidates who get elected by promising this or that, vote the party line in lockstep with the leadership once they sit down in the big building and this is true at both the state and Federal levels.

To save the day, Trump is going to have to pull from his hat, a rabbit big enough to trample and eat Manhattan, and do it before the mid terms. I can only think of one thing that might serve at this point and that would be an indictment against Hillary Clinton. For good measure, perhaps include a few of her enablers. The budget deal has foreclosed on most of Mr Trumps other political promises and his tax reform phase 2 is probably destined for death by committee as the Dems have little else to ask for at this point. Absent this rabbit or something of equal import, I anticipate a veto-proof Dem majority in both houses of congress next year.

The budget bill impact at the local level will vary by state of course, but here in Colorado where we are fending off becoming East California by one Senate seat, this will most likely translate into another Dem trifecta similar to 2013 with a raft of bills imported from California, paid for by Styer and Bloomberg whooped through a compliant legislature.

I am eagerly awaiting the appearance of the rabbit. I am also hoping that my near perfect record of being wrong on predictions will hold up.

Update: As noted in the comments, the bill passed is NOT a real budget and the monies authorized are NOT guaranteed to be spent as wished. See Post on dailytimewaster.

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Gun Fun

So while the kiddies were enjoying their all expense paid trip to wherever to protest the existence of civil rights, I went to the range for a Qualifier. Good news for me! I moved up to Sharp Shooter, the mid-level for IDPA. At this  point I'm as happy as I'll get over that as I have no illusions of moving up from there. People much younger and faster than I am are having trouble getting to Expert.

The rankings are:
DM - Distinguished Master
MS - Master
EX - Expert
SS - Sharpshooter
MM - Marksman
NV - Novice
ST - Storm Trooper

OK that last one isn't actually officially on the list but it probably should be so as to make note of when you're having a really bad day with malfunctions and brain farts combining to make you wonder if you should take up knitting or something. Of course if you qualify at the ST level and don't have malfs or BFs, then maybe you probably should.

Friday, March 23, 2018

The Future Of Transportation

Sold my pickup today. 93 Dodge Dakota with 228,000 miles on it. Runs fine, lust a bit slower than it used to. I'm missing it already as I haven't been without a truck pretty much since 1971.
Doran's Law states that if something works, they'll stop making it. Seen a real compact pickup lately? I really liked my Mazda 2000 back in the '90s. Here's a contender: an '02 Ford Falcon XL.
 Seems they kept the name alive down under. Pity it only comes with the steering wheel on the wrong side. Another possibility would be a Pontiac G8 ST. Never heard of that one either? Pontiac decided not to go to production with it just before GM decided not to continue production with Pontiac at all.

Your basic pickup today is sized to compete with Kenworth and is seemingly only available in 4X4 with a lift kit added at no extra charge. Hint to automakers: A Subaru Baja, if it hasn't been wrecked, is worth damn near what you paid for it new.

Oh well. I put a small hitch receiver on the Camaro so I guess all I need is a 4x6 trailer from Harbor Freight, and a bicycle carrier to plug in to it.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Scenes We Would Have Liked To Have Seen

Or maybe Scenes we'd Like To See* on the new hit TV series. Based on alternative histories conjured up by celebrities or perhaps ripped straight from the fevered imaginings of fevered imaginers.

Storyboard: Trump and Biden meet as teenagers in high school and take an immediate dislike to each other. Biden picks a fight with Trump, and actually wins. 2 weeks later Trump hires a couple of his own friends from New Jersey with some money and an NDA and Biden is never seen or heard from again.

Like a famous Russian once remarked: Ees loving story weeth happy eending.

*H/T to Mad Magazine for that title

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Military Parades

Rule 1: Have it in someone elses country.

Removing Barriers to Work

 SB-18-193 has been introduced with significant co-sponsorship to allow challenges to laws and regulations restricting entry to jobs. This covers such absurdities as demanding a college degree to be allowed to braid hair or perhaps having to get permission from a coalition of all the existing licensed taxi drivers to operate your own cab.

It allows a citizen to request a judicial review of such laws and regs, and specifies how the judiciary should address the review.

Great idea. I bet it requires the person filling out the form to be licensed to practice law before the bar in Colorado instead of making the request a sort of fill-in-the-box form letter that any clerk could help you with.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Ammo Comparisons

The folks at Ammo to go sent me an e-mail with links to their ammo testing results. The available data includes gel penetration, bullet weight, price/round, Average MV for the test quantity, and other technical information. Some people care a great deal more than others about the quality of the doom they throw about so here's the place to start.

I was impressed by the variety of results with MV's ranging from the mid 900's to the low 1200's and gel penetration ranging from 12 to 24". One would think that 12" would suffice for most threats and that one also featured sub-fragmentation that made the wound cavity look like an H.E. round had gone off in it. If you expect to face acid spitting near unkillable aliens, this may be the stuff for you despite the $2.50/rnd price tag.

I shoot cardboard targets along with the occasional steel popper or plate with arthritic hands so I look for something with a middling weight and modest velocity. I also use the ammo in a pistol caliber carbine at greater ranges than the pistol so getting a velocity boost from the carbine is a plus. Alas, that latter bit of info is not usually extracted. The last batch of ammo I tested was a "training and defense" setup that featured some very fast powder as witness the minimal difference in MV between the pistol and the rifle of 100-150 fps as I remember. That stuff would likely work very well in compact guns with the fast burn time offsetting the minimal time the bullet spends in the barrel. Some of my hand loads have shown as much as 300 fps velocity improvement. Blazer ammo w/180gr bullet is rated to 1000 fps from some mythological test pistol, and delivers 1400 fps from my carbine. Nice jump. Impressive muzzle flash from the pistol too, I bet.

Anyway, here's some links to their test results which feature sub-links to more detailed information, including pricing:
You can see our results for each caliber at the following pages:

9mm: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-9mm#gel-test

45 ACP: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-45-acp#gel-test

40 S&W: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-40-sw#gel-test

380 ACP: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-380-auto#gel-test
Hitting any of these links makes available links to several other calibers with most of the popular ones shown. LOTS of information here if you want to compare Blasto DRT defensive ammo to Everyday Range Fodder.

Monday, March 19, 2018

Social Scores

In China, it kind of looks like you start out with a social score of zero. If you do nothing, it stays at zero. Grumble about life in general or the government in particular, and it drops. Unless of course the official you were complaining about happens to be on a higher ups list in which case the officials score goes down and yours goes up.

Setting the same system up here involves first setting it up in the school system where anything can be rationalized as being for the greater good and necessary to keep things orderly. By the time a kid graduates, it's the only system they've known and they know that complaining will reduce your social score.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Culture

Remember, if you lift one or two in honor of the Leprechauns tomorrow, it's not appropriation. It's assimilation, and if you're lucky (!) the wee folk will bless you with a pot full of fireworks for Independence Day. It works both ways you know.

Monday, March 12, 2018

MacDonalds To Merge With Wendys

And the new logo just jumps out at you. Mac's woman-empowering version of the arches on its back with legs in the air, topped by the visage of a successful, empowered woman.
What's not to like?

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Abolishing Agencies

This early in the cycle, nothing you hear can reasonably be called party policy yet. The correct term is "trial balloon". The latest one to be floated from the left calls for the abolition of ICE whose existence is depleting the ranks of Dem voters.

So swell. I'm a republican, for lack of a better place to hang out, and I approve this message. I think the Donks should begin right now buying ads and making sure that everyone knows that illegal, as in coming across the border without papers, does not mean illegal as in selling classified information to hostile foreign operatives.

Of course the Reps could take the same tack. Call for the abolition of the Department of Education, Energy, EPA, and of course the ATF. Attach a coupon to every K-12 child good for say $7-8000/yr, payable to whatever accredited educational institution their parents want to send them to.

Promise the people that they will get the most cost-efficient energy available subject only to their state regulations. Cali will soon be as dark at night as North Korea, but so what?

Without the EPA, it's still illegal to pollute, and polluters would still be liable for damages. It would, however, be legal to remove wildfire fuel from around your house without worrying about an astronomical fine for disrupting the lifestyle of some differently abled vermin.

Then there's the ATF. Your shoelaces and the belt loops on your jeans will soon be classified as machine guns and you'll have to give them up on the premise that this will make the kids in school safer. The mandatory "voluntary" turn-ins should be amusing to watch. Kilts will be coming back in style.

So Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho!
Department of* has got to go!

*Well, maybe not the Department of Defense, but no one would miss the rest of them.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Caucus Night

Here in Colorado last night was caucus night. As a precinct leader I was there and presented the Convention Of States resolution for consideration. I have to say I should have brought more copies of it  with me as it seemed to be getting about 90% approval from the delegates.
Calling for a Convention of States - It is resolved that Colorado Republicans encourage the Colorado General Assembly to adopt a resolution calling for a convention of the states under Article V of the US Constitution, restricted to proposing amendments that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power and jurisdiction, and impose term limits on its officials and members of Congress.
As many precincts as I had copies voted the resolution up, noted the vote numbers on the page, and dropped the page into the precinct results. Several others went so far as to hand copy the document and do the same. I'm told that the COS resolution would pass the Colorado senate easily as Republicans hold a 1-seat majority but would likely fail in the Dem controlled house. Certainly any suggestion that the government might be too powerful will be treated by Dems like garlic at a vampire convention.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Stiff New Gun Laws = More Crime

In Mass. anyway. Here's a story from the Boston Globe:
The 1998 legislation did cut down, quite sharply, on the legal use of guns in Massachusetts. Within four years, the number of active gun licenses in the state had plummeted. “There were nearly 1.5 million active gun licenses in Massachusetts in 1998,” the AP reported. “In June [2002], that number was down to just 200,000.” The author of the law, state Senator Cheryl Jacques, was pleased that the Bay State’s stiff new restrictions had made it possible to “weed out the clutter.”
What it actually did was create a safe working environment for the states criminal class .

Monday, March 5, 2018

Gov Hickenlooper Favors More School Shootings

He won't say so as such, but his approach to the problem suggests it. In a story at PJ Media, Hick says:
“I’ve probably talked to 1,000 teachers and this was not too long after Columbine happened in 1999, and we discussed those kinds of questions all the time. I can count on one hand the number of people that wanted to be trained and wanted to be carrying handguns or weapons in their schools,”
Of course. The educational cadre is made up mostly of lefties, and anyone identifying as pro-gun would be ostracized and most likely forced out of the profession.

Of course there are alternative solutions. Right off one could install the TSA at every school entrance and make 1-3000 students go through the same kind of screening the rest of us undergo at the airport. Remember kiddies, your classes start at 8 AM so allow 2 hours to clear security in the morning

UPDATE: Added second link. Not local, but typical.

Theme Song

As the Donks like "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow", the right could do worse than this ditty:

Found at Samizdata this morning.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

"Never trust an Automatic pistol or a D.A's deal"

Quoth J. Dillinger. Seems the Parkland shooter should have studied more history or something. He came to the school, not with an AR and some large capacity magazines, but with 15 10-rounders. Part way along it seems one of them jammed so he dropped the rifle and joined the rest of the students exiting the building.

So far:
Armed guard in school                                         Check
Armed cops outside of school                               Check
Background check for rifle                                    Check
10 round mags only                                                Check
Shooter banned from entering school                     Check

Blame being placed squarely on non-participants   Check