Oleg Volk is trying to acquire another suppressor. He already has two, but the government wants him to jump through the same hoops, and pay the same (exorbitant) fees as before. He thinks this makes no sense.
The rules make perfect sense. They keep the peasants down, and they bring in money for the government. What else did he think they were for?
H/T to Robert.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Compare and Contrast
On the right, you sometimes hear a discussion over when it's finally acceptable to take up arms against the oppressor.
On the left, you sometimes hear a discussion over when the army should be used to impose utopia.
On the left, you sometimes hear a discussion over when the army should be used to impose utopia.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Entertainment
I am not anti-religious. I think most religions provide a genuine service to humanity by teaching morals and ethics to a level currently forbidden in, say, the public schools. Additionally, many of them sometimes provide us with much-needed, uplifting entertainment in the form of esoteric doctrine.
Sometimes one of them will go above and beyond the call of duty in the entertainment department, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.
In an example of "Crusading by Proxy" the pastor of an otherwise unremarkable Baptist church announced he was going to publicly burn a Koran, and in the ensuing riots, Muslims killed some 20 of their own coreligionists. Had the pastor killed 20 Muslims himself, he'd have gone to jail.
Fred Phelps and his flock at the Westboro Baptist Church are:
1) Independently wealthy and able to travel all over the country.
2) Deeply religious, as far as pastor Phelps' teachings go and
3) Batshit crazy.
Bring popcorn, beer, and brats, it has the potential to become quite entertaining.
Sometimes one of them will go above and beyond the call of duty in the entertainment department, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.
In an example of "Crusading by Proxy" the pastor of an otherwise unremarkable Baptist church announced he was going to publicly burn a Koran, and in the ensuing riots, Muslims killed some 20 of their own coreligionists. Had the pastor killed 20 Muslims himself, he'd have gone to jail.
Fred Phelps and his flock at the Westboro Baptist Church are:
1) Independently wealthy and able to travel all over the country.
2) Deeply religious, as far as pastor Phelps' teachings go and
3) Batshit crazy.
Bring popcorn, beer, and brats, it has the potential to become quite entertaining.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Winter Motorcycling
Harry's Roamers Turkey Run was not as well attended as it had been, probably due to the early morning temps in the low 30's. My daughter gamely decided to give it a shot anyway, and showed up wearing tight, low-cut jeans, to go with her 2-layer jacket. Turned out her gloves were perforated leather, too. Fortunately, I had noticed some of this and had tossed a pair of sweatpants into my saddlebags.
14 miles later, we're at the start, and she decides that this will be way too cold on her sport bike, but probably tolerable behind me, behind a big touring windscreen and engine radiator, and decides to participate as a passenger. I tape the directions to my tank, and off we go.
Try to imagine how hard it is to read directions while riding a big bike up a winding road, with a passenger poking you in the ribs every time she thinks I'm getting too close to the edge or something. Cheeze! you'd think I'd never done this before.
Some 60 miles later, we found that while the turkeys had eluded us, she had won a size petite, lavender-ish rain / weather suit, which she said was warmer than the sweats on the trip home. She finds the color tolerable, and as it happens, it's her size, too. It helped, I suppose, that by the time we started home, the temp was up to a balmy 44F. Overall, a good time.
14 miles later, we're at the start, and she decides that this will be way too cold on her sport bike, but probably tolerable behind me, behind a big touring windscreen and engine radiator, and decides to participate as a passenger. I tape the directions to my tank, and off we go.
Try to imagine how hard it is to read directions while riding a big bike up a winding road, with a passenger poking you in the ribs every time she thinks I'm getting too close to the edge or something. Cheeze! you'd think I'd never done this before.
Some 60 miles later, we found that while the turkeys had eluded us, she had won a size petite, lavender-ish rain / weather suit, which she said was warmer than the sweats on the trip home. She finds the color tolerable, and as it happens, it's her size, too. It helped, I suppose, that by the time we started home, the temp was up to a balmy 44F. Overall, a good time.
TSA Theater
Here the Japanese release their inner Benny Hill:
Feel safer now? H/T to Viral footage, who got it from Ace.
Feel safer now? H/T to Viral footage, who got it from Ace.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Irony
A lawmaker in Virginia is proposing to release a new license plate dedicated to the Tea Party:
A nice effort actually, as it colors the whole plate as the Gadsden flag, the unofficial banner of the Tea Party.
I don't know how they do it in Virginia, but in Colorado, if you get a vanity plate of any sort, you get to pay $25 extra up front, and $25 extra every year at renewal time. It's like paying the people you disapprove of the most for taking too much of your money $25/yr to say you disapprove of them.
I'll stick with the little bumper sticker.
A nice effort actually, as it colors the whole plate as the Gadsden flag, the unofficial banner of the Tea Party.I don't know how they do it in Virginia, but in Colorado, if you get a vanity plate of any sort, you get to pay $25 extra up front, and $25 extra every year at renewal time. It's like paying the people you disapprove of the most for taking too much of your money $25/yr to say you disapprove of them.
I'll stick with the little bumper sticker.
New Epidemics
Actually these are old epidemics, but why now?
In England, they're having a resurgence of Rickets, caused by a lack of sunshine, brought about not by global warming, which might be expected to prevent this, but by overly protective mommies who won't let the kids out of the house without a generous soaking in SPF 10,000.
I blame overly protective mommies for the increasing number of asthma cases as well. You moms need to toss your kids outdoors early and often, with the admonition not to come back until dinner time. Let the 6-year-old be the 2-year-old's overseer. This will insure that everybody will be exposed to, or ingest their MDR of dirt, which will serve to strengthen the immune systems. Immune systems are like any other system: Use it or lose it.
Of course there are exceptions to this. There is an ongoing movement among the tinfoil-hat brigades that insists that vaccinations cause autism. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Still, if you put on a lab coat, your credibility goes way up with graduates of the public schools, and you get people to go along with this. Coincidentally, we have a budding outbreak of whooping cough in California. I had sort of been hoping that some sort of disease would break out that targeted people with a tenuous hold on reality, which would be devastating on the coasts, but I suppose if the contagion gets bad enough, people will start asking questions.
In England, they're having a resurgence of Rickets, caused by a lack of sunshine, brought about not by global warming, which might be expected to prevent this, but by overly protective mommies who won't let the kids out of the house without a generous soaking in SPF 10,000.
I blame overly protective mommies for the increasing number of asthma cases as well. You moms need to toss your kids outdoors early and often, with the admonition not to come back until dinner time. Let the 6-year-old be the 2-year-old's overseer. This will insure that everybody will be exposed to, or ingest their MDR of dirt, which will serve to strengthen the immune systems. Immune systems are like any other system: Use it or lose it.
Of course there are exceptions to this. There is an ongoing movement among the tinfoil-hat brigades that insists that vaccinations cause autism. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Still, if you put on a lab coat, your credibility goes way up with graduates of the public schools, and you get people to go along with this. Coincidentally, we have a budding outbreak of whooping cough in California. I had sort of been hoping that some sort of disease would break out that targeted people with a tenuous hold on reality, which would be devastating on the coasts, but I suppose if the contagion gets bad enough, people will start asking questions.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Mens Health
It now appears that soaking up the sun, drinking red wine, having frequent sex, and eating big juicy steaks is the key to a long and happy life. At least up to the point where you die of a massive coronary while boffing your partner. In any case, it seems like an improvement over kicking the bucket malnourished and unappreciated.
I'd volunteer for the research study, but with my luck, I'd be assigned to the control group.
I'd volunteer for the research study, but with my luck, I'd be assigned to the control group.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Inflation
Here's a piece from F.T. suggesting that we can expect higher food prices soon, on account of bad weather.
Now this brings back memories of the cold war era, when no amount of covering up could hide the fact that the usual state of grocery shelves in the Soviet Union was: Empty. Being unable to hide the fact, the Russians would blame the recent bad weather. This led to jokes about the Soviets ability to control the weather as they had had up to 70 years, depending on when you heard this joke, of "bad weather".
Yesterday I saw a graph showing the change in price of several commodities, from soybeans and corn to silver and gold. Today, of course, I can't find it. Rates varied, but the average for the past year was in the 8-10% range. Looks like that there "global cooling" is really hitting us hard.
Or it could be that the governments fiscal policies are causing the money to become worth less and less. Quantitative Easing is highfalutin economist speak for paying your debts by printing more money. Unfortunately, this has the effect of making the money worth less, and since prices go up much faster than your paycheck, the effect is equivalent to a big tax increase.
Looks like it's going to be a long cold winter. La Nina, or QE2?
Now this brings back memories of the cold war era, when no amount of covering up could hide the fact that the usual state of grocery shelves in the Soviet Union was: Empty. Being unable to hide the fact, the Russians would blame the recent bad weather. This led to jokes about the Soviets ability to control the weather as they had had up to 70 years, depending on when you heard this joke, of "bad weather".
Yesterday I saw a graph showing the change in price of several commodities, from soybeans and corn to silver and gold. Today, of course, I can't find it. Rates varied, but the average for the past year was in the 8-10% range. Looks like that there "global cooling" is really hitting us hard.
Or it could be that the governments fiscal policies are causing the money to become worth less and less. Quantitative Easing is highfalutin economist speak for paying your debts by printing more money. Unfortunately, this has the effect of making the money worth less, and since prices go up much faster than your paycheck, the effect is equivalent to a big tax increase.
Looks like it's going to be a long cold winter. La Nina, or QE2?
Monday, November 8, 2010
Phoning It In
The Brits are working on an app for your cell phone that can detect bacterial infections. They're starting out setting it up for STD's but if you can detect one sort of infection, you should be able to test for many others.
Just lick the touch pad, and if it's really Dengue fever, the phone automatically calls an ambulance. Or if it's something more interesting, it calls a haz-mat team and notifies the morgue.
Next up, obviously, will be genetic screening. You lick the touch pad, and your info is stored. Someone else licks the touch pad, and you know right away if you really should be making those child-support payments, or if you're too closely related to be dating. This could be especially helpful in places like rural Arkansas.
The possibilities boggle the mind.
Just lick the touch pad, and if it's really Dengue fever, the phone automatically calls an ambulance. Or if it's something more interesting, it calls a haz-mat team and notifies the morgue.
Next up, obviously, will be genetic screening. You lick the touch pad, and your info is stored. Someone else licks the touch pad, and you know right away if you really should be making those child-support payments, or if you're too closely related to be dating. This could be especially helpful in places like rural Arkansas.
The possibilities boggle the mind.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Bowling Pin Shoot
I love it when we can go out to the range in early November and enjoy 78 degree temps, no wind (for a change) and hunt the wily wild bowling pin.
One of the shooters was 10 years old. His dad had fixed him up with a Beretta 9mm which demonstrated a predeliction to not cycle. It either needs a softer spring or livelier ammo, but the easiest fix, and probably the best one was to fit the kid out with daddy's .45. It was a bit of a handful for a small kid, but you could see him getting better with each table. By this time next year, he'll have his own .45, and the rest of us will be toast, except for our resident Finn, who can clear a table of 5 pins in under 5 seconds.
After the match, we got out the pin tops and let the kids have a go at them with .22's.
Here he is with the Ruger Mk 1, which is almost as old as the geezer behind him. He finds the pin tops to be great fun. Not surprising considering the big recoil drop from the .45. I suggested letting the kids shoot pin tops with .22's against the adults, but got overruled. Probably just as well as I believe he would have embarrassed several of us doing this.
The other youth was a cute little pixie, 9 years old, who helped me keep score and acted as my gun moll, refilling my speed loaders for me. She had shot a .22 rifle, but had never handled a pistol. The Mk 2 was a bit of a handful for her, but she gave it her best shot (!) and picked off her first pin top.
All together now: Awwww...
She'll grow into the grip size and gun weight, I'm sure.
BTW: Neither of the kids is that tall. In order to prevent ricochets from going over the berm, we set them up with a platform made from a couple of cinder blocks for them to shoot off of. It makes them about 9 inches taller.
Thanks to Don for the nice pictures.
One of the shooters was 10 years old. His dad had fixed him up with a Beretta 9mm which demonstrated a predeliction to not cycle. It either needs a softer spring or livelier ammo, but the easiest fix, and probably the best one was to fit the kid out with daddy's .45. It was a bit of a handful for a small kid, but you could see him getting better with each table. By this time next year, he'll have his own .45, and the rest of us will be toast, except for our resident Finn, who can clear a table of 5 pins in under 5 seconds.
After the match, we got out the pin tops and let the kids have a go at them with .22's.
Here he is with the Ruger Mk 1, which is almost as old as the geezer behind him. He finds the pin tops to be great fun. Not surprising considering the big recoil drop from the .45. I suggested letting the kids shoot pin tops with .22's against the adults, but got overruled. Probably just as well as I believe he would have embarrassed several of us doing this.The other youth was a cute little pixie, 9 years old, who helped me keep score and acted as my gun moll, refilling my speed loaders for me. She had shot a .22 rifle, but had never handled a pistol. The Mk 2 was a bit of a handful for her, but she gave it her best shot (!) and picked off her first pin top.
All together now: Awwww...She'll grow into the grip size and gun weight, I'm sure.
BTW: Neither of the kids is that tall. In order to prevent ricochets from going over the berm, we set them up with a platform made from a couple of cinder blocks for them to shoot off of. It makes them about 9 inches taller.
Thanks to Don for the nice pictures.
Musical Interlude
Here, this is sort of like Bullwinkles "Poetry Corner" where you knew in advance that some great work of prose was about to get the verbal equivalent of mag wheels and a quick flame job.
I like M4GW. The Weird Al's of climate change. Besides I liked the original song, too.
H/T to Moonbattery.
I like M4GW. The Weird Al's of climate change. Besides I liked the original song, too.
H/T to Moonbattery.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Tea Party Platform
David over at Blue Carp has a post defending Libertarians, in advance, just in case a Big-L candidate draws off enough votes from a Republican to give the election to the Donk. Until the Libertarians become big enough to field a serious candidate, they would be better served by working within the Republican party to pick more acceptable candidates at the primary level. This is the position the Tea Party finds itself in, and who do you think went further towards realizing the Libertarian agenda of small, limited government?
That said, the Republicans owe it to their constituents to support the popularly selected candidates wholeheartedly. As the line went:"Sure she's a witch, but she's our witch, and we want her in office." Yes, I know, fliers happen, as when David Duke, a lifelong Democrat and Klansman, couldn't get the party to back him in the governors race in Louisiana, so he ran as a Republican, the party having no significant presence in the state to stop him at that time. Someone has to make the call whether to strongly support someone who might be a weak candidate, or to let a whack job sink or swim on his own. Michael Steele? Hah!
If ever there was a chance to get amendments passed, or at least on the ballot, for things like a runoff between the two top vote-getters in the event no one draws over 50% (state level), federal congressional term limits, or a federal TABOR, now would be it.
Is there a window for circulation of petitions, or can we start now and turn them in in July of 2012? Not being much of an activist, I'm not familiar with the procedure.
Any Libertarian, or starting now, Tea Partier worthy of his rhetoric should be out there, clipboard in hand, gathering signatures. Polls indicate that federal term limits are favored by some 75% of the voting population, so this should be easy, yet I never see such a proposal. Certainly the public is ready to impose some limits on the government.
That said, the Republicans owe it to their constituents to support the popularly selected candidates wholeheartedly. As the line went:"Sure she's a witch, but she's our witch, and we want her in office." Yes, I know, fliers happen, as when David Duke, a lifelong Democrat and Klansman, couldn't get the party to back him in the governors race in Louisiana, so he ran as a Republican, the party having no significant presence in the state to stop him at that time. Someone has to make the call whether to strongly support someone who might be a weak candidate, or to let a whack job sink or swim on his own. Michael Steele? Hah!
If ever there was a chance to get amendments passed, or at least on the ballot, for things like a runoff between the two top vote-getters in the event no one draws over 50% (state level), federal congressional term limits, or a federal TABOR, now would be it.
Is there a window for circulation of petitions, or can we start now and turn them in in July of 2012? Not being much of an activist, I'm not familiar with the procedure.
Any Libertarian, or starting now, Tea Partier worthy of his rhetoric should be out there, clipboard in hand, gathering signatures. Polls indicate that federal term limits are favored by some 75% of the voting population, so this should be easy, yet I never see such a proposal. Certainly the public is ready to impose some limits on the government.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Gunney Report
The October postal match results are up.
First in class, 4th overall. Could have done better, I'm sure, but sometimes you have an extraordinary long and tiring day, then you get to shoot a bulls eye match.
This was also one of those targets that after putting forth your best effort, you discover your scores are wayyy lower than you thought they should be, and wonder if you should embarrass yourself by sending it in. The theoretical perfect score on this one was 60. Best score entered was 17. Think you can do better? Give it a shot.
Next, and last match of the year is at Cheaper Than Dirt. Zombies!
First in class, 4th overall. Could have done better, I'm sure, but sometimes you have an extraordinary long and tiring day, then you get to shoot a bulls eye match.
This was also one of those targets that after putting forth your best effort, you discover your scores are wayyy lower than you thought they should be, and wonder if you should embarrass yourself by sending it in. The theoretical perfect score on this one was 60. Best score entered was 17. Think you can do better? Give it a shot.
Next, and last match of the year is at Cheaper Than Dirt. Zombies!
The Morning After
So how did the elections go? Depends on who and where you are, I guess. Did the Republicans kick ass? Sometimes. Did the Republicans live up to the tag "The Stupid Party"? Yes, and they lost in places they didn't have to on that account.
Voters didn't seem to be overly interested in candidate Heffalump's assertion that he could run Sen. Donkmeyer's bazillion-dollar boondoggle better than Donkmeyer. That said, keep in mind that Repub promises to repeal anything the Donks have passed in the last 4 years, is so much smoke. To repeal anything at all, a party needs a majority in the house (check) a 60-vote majority in the Senate (Bzzzt!) and a sympathetic president (Bzzzt!). Absent a sympathetic president, they need 66 votes in the Senate to override the veto (Bzzzt!).
The very earliest those stars could possibly align will be January, 2013. There's also the assumption the Repubs can grow a real spine and keep it until then. I'm not holding my breath.
Are they knights in shining armor, riding to our defense? Maybe. As far as I'm concerned, they're on probation. If I don't see some real effort in the next six months, the Tea Party can begin making plans for a real convention, with real candidates, running on real issues, with a take-no-prisoners attitude.
SIL, who is a Republican of sorts, has been complaining that she couldn't vote for some conservative candidates who really could have used the support, because they came across as less than perfect in some way or another. I have informed her that in 40+ years of voting, I believe I've voted FOR a candidate exactly once. The rest of the time you have to pick the weasel you expect will do you the least damage, hold your nose, and pull the lever.
Colorado is still a blue state, notwithstanding a 1-seat republican majority in the State house, and having flipped 2 U.S. House seats. We have a solidly Democratic majority in the State Senate, and a pro-illegal alien, anti-gun governor. Who, by the way, gets to pick the replacement for a recently retired liberal Supreme court justice. If anyone out there is looking for work, may I recommend Texas?
Voters didn't seem to be overly interested in candidate Heffalump's assertion that he could run Sen. Donkmeyer's bazillion-dollar boondoggle better than Donkmeyer. That said, keep in mind that Repub promises to repeal anything the Donks have passed in the last 4 years, is so much smoke. To repeal anything at all, a party needs a majority in the house (check) a 60-vote majority in the Senate (Bzzzt!) and a sympathetic president (Bzzzt!). Absent a sympathetic president, they need 66 votes in the Senate to override the veto (Bzzzt!).
The very earliest those stars could possibly align will be January, 2013. There's also the assumption the Repubs can grow a real spine and keep it until then. I'm not holding my breath.
Are they knights in shining armor, riding to our defense? Maybe. As far as I'm concerned, they're on probation. If I don't see some real effort in the next six months, the Tea Party can begin making plans for a real convention, with real candidates, running on real issues, with a take-no-prisoners attitude.
SIL, who is a Republican of sorts, has been complaining that she couldn't vote for some conservative candidates who really could have used the support, because they came across as less than perfect in some way or another. I have informed her that in 40+ years of voting, I believe I've voted FOR a candidate exactly once. The rest of the time you have to pick the weasel you expect will do you the least damage, hold your nose, and pull the lever.
Colorado is still a blue state, notwithstanding a 1-seat republican majority in the State house, and having flipped 2 U.S. House seats. We have a solidly Democratic majority in the State Senate, and a pro-illegal alien, anti-gun governor. Who, by the way, gets to pick the replacement for a recently retired liberal Supreme court justice. If anyone out there is looking for work, may I recommend Texas?
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