Saturday, February 28, 2015

Dogs and Cowbells



Totally fake, you can tell the guitar's not properly miked.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Gun Control: the focus is on the second word.

Over at Shall Not Be Questioned  Ian Argent looks at the budding field of "Drone Control".


Thursday, February 26, 2015

Annnnd Cracked Sh*ts the Bed: Buys into the 90% of Mexican guns come from the US

Wow. Cracked.  Way to buy into some propaganda that was debunked years ago.

Edit (well that was embarrassing how about a link t the article itself!)

It can be found here.  And I guess Cracked has a theme of having the URL be a different title than the article's overt title.

But hey, it's an article about "horrible things the US exports to the rest of the world"...  so narrative!

Oh and as a bonus they blame the "private sale loophole"  and the lack of US registration... not just for the violence in Mexico but also for the whole lack of data.

For a sense this is how they assert it:

Understand we are talking about a country that, in 2012, had more homicides by firearm than the U.S. Do I even need to tell you where all of their murder guns come from? Depending on who you ask, as much as 90 percent of them arrive illegally from America. Back when Mexican authorities made that claim, there were more than 6,000 federally licensed gun stores on the U.S. side of the border, so it's a pretty safe bet that estimate wasn't too far off. 
Damn. That's some water-tight logic there.   Also it's adorable how they present it as if it were some aberration that Mexico had more "gun death" than the use.

See if the US didn't have all those icky guns  I mean how could the Cartels get their weapons? I mean it's not like they're international contraband smugglers....

Oh.

The other examples are also pretty hilarious.  Mostly because of the presumption that the bad things listed are uniquely the fault of America.

Though its also funny, in a "Stop hitting yourself" way, to see America get blamed for making the 3rd world "fatter".


Annnnnd,  if you really want to hurt yourself check out the comments.  Specifically to the gun issue you'll get some amazing trutherism to Fast and Furious (it was just a fox news plot!), you'll get the The US needs to grow up and become like the rest of the world and ban guns! (Ignorance on actual international gun laws there...)   or  this one, and I'll go with an actual pair of quotes:

TeRy_OrweLL: Yes we can say that blanket bans are better, because they undeniably are. Switzerland has ten times as many gun deaths as the UK, so don't buy into that hype train. You are right about a gun-ban happening in America though. Not with that attitude. It will be a long, slow struggle to bring America into the modern era. There always reaches a point where a country's citizens can no longer deny that other countries have better ideas about certain things.      
More of that modern-era pap.   And "better ideas".   I'm sure if guns are banned int he US, why they'll be as hard to get as coke or heroin.... oh.

But the best part is this comment that came afterwards.

ThistleBird: Yeah, quite true. One of our problems in America, though, is that some people (and there are LOTS of them) equate any restrictions on gun ownership at all to a blanket ban. So it's very hard to have a reasonable conversation about what kinds of new measures would be appropriate, even after awful mass shootings.

ThistleBird, you want to know why lots of people in America think that any restriction on gun ownership will equate a blanket ban?


Just look to TeRy_OrweLL  right here he's advocating for a blanket ban and is saying that it will be "a long, slow struggle".    So right of the bat it's hard to think such a conversation on gun laws would be in good faith.

Moreso because the laws proposed seem to have little to do with actually preventing the tragedy..  Take Sandyhook.  The biggest push on that was to ban Private Sales...  despite the killer murdering his mother to get her guns.  Guns she bought at a gun shop and thus had a background check run.

Or heck take the Assault Weapons Ban.   That got pushed as well.  Despite the fact that an assault weapon is defined not by the amount of bullets it can fire, or by the caliber,  but by some cosmetic and ergonomic features.

The conclusion is drawn that the people advocating for such laws don't actually know what they do, or don't... care.


Thus its very hard to have a reasonable conversation when dealing with people who you suspect don't have that as a goal, but instead are playing a long game to go for that blanket ban.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

A neat analogy.

Erin has one on Firearms and Fashion

This one got me the most:
Finally, purses = holsters. You're going to acquire a ton of them to go with your various outfits. Some are old favorites you'll return to over and over; some will go with only a few ensembles; and some will be worn once, then tossed into the closet to gather dust. Accept this, embrace it, learn to live it.

I've been rather fortunate in finding holsters that really work and have been happy with even after years of use.  Buuuut  before I found them I still went through a bunch of holsters.  It seems the box of holsters is inevitable.

Monday, February 23, 2015

So, do the Gnomes of Zurich drink PBR?

So the ATF is lookin' to ban some common AR ammunition because -well- it might be considered pistol ammo and that means it could fall under an armor piercing ban.

And naturally some think this is all a conspiracy...  by the ammunition companies.  Tam has more on the stupidity.


The thing that gets me is the "Conspiracy Hipster" aspect. I mean heck, there's already a pretty basic conspiracy one can have with this: "The ATF/Admin hates gun owners and is playing bureaucrat games to punish gun owners because they failed to get gun control passed at the fed level these last few years."


But I suppose that theory is too "mainstream". I guess to properly social signal to your buddies you've gotta go to something else, something that'll show people that you're hip and know the*real* truth.



I'm reminded of the Italian word Dietrologia .

Defined in this exchange about the Monster of Florence

Dietrologia,” said Count Niccolo. “That is the only Italian word you
need to know to understand the Monster of Florence investigation.”
We were having our usual lunch at II Bordino. I was eating baccala, salt
cod, while the Count enjoyed stuffed arista. “Dietrologia?” I asked.
“Dietro—behind. Logia—the study of.” The count spoke grandly, as if still in the
lecture hall, his plummy English accent echoing in the cavelike interior
of the restaurant.  
“Dietrologia is the idea that the obvious thing cannot be the truth. There is always something hidden behind, dietro. It isn’t quite what you Americans call conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theory implies theory, something uncertain, a possibility. The dietrologist deals only in fact. This is how it really is. Aside
from football, dietrologia is the national sport in Italy. Everyone is
an expert at what's really going on, even . . . how do you Americans say
it? . . . even if they don’t know jack -shite-{e}.”
“Why?” I asked.
"Because it gives them a feeling of importance! This importance may only be
confined to a small circle of idiotic friends, but at least they are in
the know. Potere, power, is that I know what you do not know.
Dietrologia is tied to the Italian mentality of power. You must appear
to be in the know about all things.”


Sunday, February 22, 2015

Shooting Elmer Keith's Carry revolver...

Dang,  he gets access to some amazing stuff.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Carrier Night ops

Foxtrot Alpha has a neat bit on how a night launch of a F14 off of a carrier would go.

What I liked most were the diagrams that showed the terms for the various parts of the flight deck.

Friday, February 20, 2015

A mixed bag from Cracked.

Okay,  if you can get past the intro that has a sly bit of Ferguson trutherism (it was all the police's fault!)  and that mass shootings raise "important questions about guns and the culture at large"  the article itself has a bit on what it was like being at a mass shooting.

Specially someone who was at Utoya in Norway.

The piece is interesting because of the level of denial,  it can't happen here,  "this is the safest spot in Norway", and just killing people like that isn't rational.

It's also interesting that the counselors had an hour's warning that something was wrong, notably the bombings beforehand.

There's also the mixture of tedium and terror that came with the people hiding.  And then there's that the little voice of denial was still going strong even when the attacker was trying to shoot his way into the building.

And there's the valid point of,  "you don't know what you'll do until your there."

Which leads to this gem:

The truth is that you really don't know what you'll do until you're there. What will you do if a guy with a knife suddenly bursts into the room as you're reading this? Did you have a plan before you finished reading the last sentence? Of course you didn't. Most people don't have a plan for reacting to a lunatic with a knife interrupting their morning latte, and, honestly, it would be pretty suspicious if you did.
There you go... having a plan for if you're attacked makes you suspicious.

And amusingly the very next lines are...

After what seemed like approximately 12 years, the police burst through the door and windows, and for the first time that day, the sight of guns was very welcome.
A-hem.

Still,  the article isn't bad in that it does show how confused things will be, how little you will know at the moment,  how strong the urge will be to deny that things are actually bad, how you don't know what you'll do, and...  that in the immediate term you are the first responder.

Still, I'll give Cracked credit,  for as charged as the subject is, there's useful information and no politicizing of events.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

You know....

Maybe Cracked isn't stealth changing the titles of their posts out of some "political" reason.

It could be plain old incompetence

See the URL is : the-5-ballsiest-ways-anyone-ever-toppled-u.s.-government

But the title is: 5 Uprisings Cut from U.S. History for Being Too Successful

And if one looks at the list.

Well there's Aaron Burr's post duel attempt at empire, a near civil war due to a disputed gubernatorial election, the British occupying part of Maine, the overthrow of the kingdom of Hawaii, and Athens Tennessee.

Note that none of those exactly...  toppled the US government.  The closest was the occupation of Maine during the War of 1812.

And hey, at least most of 'em were successful.

And you gotta give Cracked a golf-clap for admitting that Venezuela is a dictatorship that suppresses free speech rights in petty and insane ways.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Hard to Watch....

Cornered Cat has some video (well mostly audio) of a defensive shooting and the aftermath.

Read her description and if you can give it a listen.

After the shooting. It won’t be easy, but you’ll want to listen to the entire recording, including the conversations that happen after the shooting. It’s not graphic — the screen will black out — but the voices will send a chill up your spine. Listen anyway. This is what the aftermath of a shooting sounds like.
Brrr.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The first swing out revolver.

Going once more to the forgotten weapons well.

What's neat is how it bridges the gap between loading gate style and swing out style.

And some neat firearms legal history.


Monday, February 16, 2015

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Oh Cracked....

So  Cracked decided to tackle Brian Williams.

Now... once again we have the fun of URL title versus actual title.

The url is "why-internet-needs-to-calm-down-about-brian-william"  but they then decided to go with the more sedate... "4 Terrible Lessons the Brian Williams Scandal Taught Us"

What's funny is that the article actually doesn't say that Williams is a victim of a witch hunt or that it was even political scalping/swifboating whatever.   In fact they actually a passable summary of events and implicitly condemn Williams for unacceptable behavior.

However....  the rest of the article is all about how stupid 'merican's are stupid for feeling offended.

And their list is basically 

4 Internet news people aren't trusted... and that's somehow... relevant to a non-internet newscaster...

3 "We Can't Trust Ourselves to Choose What's Important"  Yeah... that's the literal title. Yup... an article about a "legitimate" reporter being caught in an ethical lapse is just evidence that the proles *need* those elite media gatekeepers.  

Okay I kid.  See because newspapers cover "legitimate" news and articles trending on facebook are fluff that means the proles can't be trusted.  

"Newspapers tell you what you should know, and tabloids tell you what you want to know."  Again that is an exact quote.  I mean... wow.  Paging Walter Duranty

2 Let's complain about shoddy standards of such internet news sources as Newsweek and Salon

Seriously.  These guys point to Newsweek, including that it didn't report on Williams years ago as the fault of "internet media"

And again let's go to something that I have to stress... is a direct quotation "Hey, Internet Media: Why didn't you figure out and report that Williams was a fibber 12 years ago?"

Good points.  At least they mention... Salon (supposetly a publication in good leftward standing) but hey it was online 12 years ago!  And Newsweek...   was a magazine. In fact was up there with Time, and only stopped publishing a print edition two years ago.  After....  80 years of publishing.

Note  that one of the major news publications that has been in print for nearly a century  becomes "Internet Media".

And note that they do not ask why the print media or broadcast didn't bother to break the Williams story.  You know...  given he was a broadcast anchor...

Oh and the best part...  

1 "We're Comically Smug About How Uninformed We Are"

Again, this is the actual line.  Now sure they're bashing Gawker...   but in the immediately preceding section they were snidely deriding Newsweek as "Internet Media"  and in the section precding THAT they were jock-sniffing the print media.


Man... if only Newsweek had kept printing issues....


Now here's the thing.  There are some good points on how people are just as uniformed as they always have been, and how we like media that confirms our own biases, and that the media was lazy and didn't actually investigate Williams...

But...  those points are kind of lost when the writers themselves engage in the very things they rant about.

Course Williams isn't the only bad thing to happen in the media last week...

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Dresden Files and Chicago Carry....

Know what's funny...  The Dresden Files has as it's main character a wizard who lives in Chicago; he's fond of revolvers.

Now the first book was published in 2000  And in a few of the books it was a point that his guns weren't exactly.... legal not just to carry but to even own.

(Not that the McDonald ruling wasn't until 2010).  And now, as of last year,  CCW is legal in Chicago.

How's that for history outpacing events in a book?

Though in fairness... I don't think Harry Dresden even has a FOID card...

Friday, February 13, 2015

Huh.... what no Leeland Yee?

Cracked on 5 Moral Crusaders Caught Being the Worst Hypocrite Possible

I suppose he wasn't a "moral crusader" for gun control in the Bloombergian definition of things.

Ah well.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

A tiny house that isn't pretentious!

Rather nice.

I'm not as keen on the whole, requires an outhouse, adjacent shower, and requires a cooler and outside prep for my food.  But the owner fully realizes this and has past experience where that's fine for him.

But does show with a little bit more space, at least less than doubling,  those amenities could be added to the house.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Air Traffic Controller stuff....

Cracked has one of their list articles on Air Traffic Controllers.

It is Neat.


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

"It is quiet possibly the worst pistol ever made."

Yes, it's the Lady's Home Companion.



Welp, that makes my Kriss seem sensible and subdued.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Now that's a pretty gun.

The Sokolovsky Automaster.


Though horrible expense aside there's another major problem.  Just look at where the safety lever and mag release are (you'll have to read into the article because they're pretty dang hidden, but they're not in spot that I feel is very wise... or safe).

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Secret Trigger....

That's a neat way to do double action.



Course it's not without problems, as comments to the horrific trigger pull attest.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Bwahahaha!

Oh this is just plain rich.

So noted Anti-gun advocate and politician and alleged arms trafficker, Leland Yee faces more federal charges.


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Possibly the worst Shotgun ever made...

Well... blow forward, open bolt, single shot, awkward action cycling, bad shoulder stock... and it doesn't even look good.




Via Forgotten Weapons.

Not that open bolt and blow forward are bad by themselves.  It's just part of the WTF of this thing.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

So..... that's how you get the Left to decry Marx

Turns out some among the Progressive/University Left are turning against Marx....

And Jonah Goldberg has why:

It’s amazing. We spent a century trying to explain to the Left why Marx was wrong. It just never occurred to us to try “He’s a white guy!” It should have been obvious. It’s like we spent hours trying to hack their computer and then suddenly someone suggests trying “password” as the password — and voila.

Huh.

This comes by Goldberg commenting on a piece by James Lileks on the same subject:

Anyway, back to the canon. Marx is derided for being a white male, which seems to be the least of his sins. It’s like criticizing Mao for bad dental hygiene. There’s not a soul on the right who ever regarded his works and thought “it’s a muddle-brained exercise in utopian twaddle that inevitably leads to statist tyranny, but I am strangely drawn to its precepts by the author’s possession of testicles.” Likewise a conservative on Foucault: “Sure, he was a leftist who praised Ayatollah Khomeini, but he was a milky-skinned guy who peed standing up, and that’s gotta count for something.”

 Amazing.   Can I make a dustbin of history comment or is that too on the nose?

Both do make about the protests to the Vagina Monologues (basically some SJW's are taking exception that the play doesn't have trans women in it) that do make me raise my eyebrow.   Though I suppose Lileks' was more on the special snowflake angle..


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

A list of Strange planes.

And unlike most such lists, this one actually has some planes other than the old standards.


Monday, February 2, 2015

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Only Children....

Cracked Talks about Only Children.

In my experience this is pretty correct.  Especially items 1 and 2.