AR45 and 1911 quick thoughts

Gone through 250 rounds in my AR45 and have had one weak primer hit and 2 failures to feed that were magazine related (repeatable with those 2 mags not with others). And after every session the bolt rotates freely and the bolt carrier still moves very smoothly.

It looks like, as silly as it sounds, Automatic Transmission Fluid and high-temp bearing grease do work well enough. They last longer in the action without smoking unlike other lubricants.

Tried a flat trigger for my 1911 fullsize. Rather like it. Gives a better engagement and feels like a more even pull. If you have larger fingers you may want to try it.

A word of caution, since the trigger has less "meat" by being flat instead of concave you will want to check your holster to ensure that it covers the new trigger.

Also after a year I can say I really enjoy wood grips over rubber. To me, wood (or really any other stiff material) is nicer because it doesn't give, which means you don't need to use an overly strong grip to -well- grip.

As for checked grip versus smooth grips, I like smooth only if you have fore-grip checkering on the front of the frame. But that's a very personal thing. Just remember that the less checkering the more the weapon can slide.

How deliciousy Lovecraftian.

So a scientist discovers a collection of bones that have been arranged in spiraled loops and whorls.

By examining the age and wear on the bones he concludes that they did not fall at once, but were instead deposited over time.

He hypothesizes that they were deliberately placed, perhaps even a stylized self-portrait.

The kicker? They're the fossilized vertebrae of Triassic ichthyosaura. And the scientist thinks they were placed by a giant prehistoric octopus.

Granted cephalopods are very intelligent and in modern giant squid can take on sperm-whales, but... really?

However, truly ancient old art created by a species giant tentacled beings that ruled the earth long, long before man what's not to like?

But other than that it's a great investment.

A bit on the higher education racket.

Before you spend tens of thousands of dollars, or get loans to do the same... make sure it's actually worth the time and money.

Via Glenn Reynolds who also notes this:

Just look at all those unemployed and heavily-indebted #Occupy protesters. I didn’t notice any Petroleum Engineering graduates among them.
...
After decades of selling college as an “investment” — and pricing it accordingly — it’s going to be hard for the higher education establishment to pivot to a college-as-personal-fulfillment argument. If it’s the latter, it’s a consumption good, priced on a par with a Porsche or Ferrari. Those shouldn’t be financed by debt, or bought by 18-year-olds.

But that's what the Occupiers want. Luxury goods paid by someone else. Why? Because they want it.

At least they're peaceful sponges.

Oh wait, no one of their leaders said this in a speech in LA: "Ultimately the Bourgeoisie Will Not Go Without Violence. Long live revolution! Long Live Socialism!"


At least he wasn't a Tea Partier.

Zombie has a transcript and video and notes:

Every single day, more videos emerge from the Occupy movement showing people saying things that, if they had been said by a Tea Partier, would have been front-page news for weeks and discredited the movement forever. But since it’s the Occupy Wall Street movement, darlings of the media and Democratic politicians, they get a pass.

Darling of the media? Surely, that's an exaggeration.

Well, no.

Competence is not always a net positive.

One advantage of letting an idea percolate is that someone else might write up a similar post first, and do it more concisely.

Here's Weer'd's views on Mitt Romney. If he gets the nomination the election will be between Obama and a more-competent, more-popular, more-bipartisan enabling Obama-lite (who got his own tax hikes, AWB, and individual mandate). Yay....

Sure, the nation won't be run by a bunch of uncountable bong-soaked grad-students. No, we'd get someone who will be far more competent and perhaps slightly less damaging. Weer'd has more to say, having actually lived under Mitt's governorship.

At least in the national election we'd still have the option of voting Wookie.

Here in Indy the mayoral election doesn't even have that option.

Meh.

The Rubes rarely blame the person that ripped them off.

Ace of Spades looks at the "occupiers" and realizes there's something many have common

One very common thing here: They are all white and mostly college-educated. Some have multiple degrees. However, they mostly chose the degrees you're not supposed to choose unless you are some kind of standout or come from a rich family -- psychology and the other degrees that don't immediately scream out "Job prospects!"

Why did they do that?

Who knows. But they ignored advice to think practically about their future earning power and now find themselves lacking earning power.

So what they want is for the government (that is, you) to step in and make them whole, immunizing them against their own choices, giving them the earning power they believe is due them.

I don't see one goddamned accounting or engineering degree in the tales of woe.

And note that instead of protesting and complaining to the people that sold them this bill of goods, they run off and blame people not willing to buy the lousy product they're selling.

(Here's a hint prospective job seekers, it's not about what you want. And it really is about selling out to the man you have to convince someone else to buy your time and effort. Good luck making that sale. Seriously, good luck. It's hard out there, don't make it harder by being a twit.)


Glenn Reynolds has related thoughts.

And this is mostly an advertisement for the bursting of the higher education bubble. “Did greedy capitalists convince these hapless kids to spend a king’s ransom for a BA in World Politics? Did Exxon Mobil make them sign a contract to borrow $110K in exchange of a Masters in Global Social and Sustainable Enterprises? Did Bank of America trick the kids into borrowing more money than their useless degree is likely to generate in net worth in a lifetime?”

Once again, Republicans should be piling on the higher-ed bubble / student loan issue. Make fun of these people all you want — no, really, make fun of these people all you want — but underlying this are practices that in any other industry would be universally denounced as predatory.

That's also another difference. Exxon Mobil cannot make you buy their product of sign a contract with them. Only the State has that type of compulsory power.

Speaking of the term "occupation"

A quick Tuesday morning thought experiment: Can you imagine the paranoia and faux horror that would ensue were a right-wing protest movement to couch a sit-in in such historically insensitive and martial language as “occupation”?

Yes, the "Imagine if the Right..." card gets a lot of play, but that's because the double standards are so stark, and show how Institutionalized the idea of different rules for different ideologies is.

And, of course, the most galling part is that the people pushing the Left line and these double standards maintain the facade of their own neutrality and impartiality. It's a naked doublethink.

At least I didn't go for the "occupation for those that don't have an occupation" pun.

Remeber when they said the Tea Party were ignorant, violent savages?

So, we have brave and noble protests assaulting guard as they storm the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.

Why? Well:

Some of the protesters were affiliated with the Occupy DC demonstration that had sprung up at McPherson Square last week as an offshoot of the larger Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, said Cody Steele, 21, an American University senior who participated in the march to the museum.

Steele said the march was planned, however, by a different but like-minded group of protesters — known as the October 2011 group — who have been camped out in Freedom Plaza since Oct. 6.

“It’s a shifting movement,” said Steele, who has spent time with both protest groups this past week. “They are separate, but it’s a common set of goals.”

The two groups’ grievances span a range of issues, including corporate power, environmental destruction and American militarism. On Saturday, they were demonstrating at the museum against the U.S. military’s use of drones in overseas wars, witnesses said.

An exhibit of military unmanned aerial vehicles is currently on view at the museum.

I hear next week they're going to occupy the Library of Congress because it contains several books lauding and describing military actions.

Look, I can get being angry at US military actions, but maybe instead of attacking museums you go and protest, oh-I-don't-know, the Commander in Chief.

Because nothing says I'm a serious, intelligent person with ideas like merit than violently trying to storm a national museum.

Well, almost nothing.

Hey, at least they're not being called Racist by the Mass Media.

Via Hellinahandbasket.

Like a bitter cartoonist reciting faux-edgy talking points.

Scenes from a Multiverse is a webcomic that frames its jokes from a variety of science fiction tropes and locals.

And today they had this little gem.

Pretty funny, it's about the absurdness of self-denial. Though monastic life (Eastern and Western) is built on those very ideas. The bit comes on the mouseover alt-text of the comic.

hruthangians love their hair like tea partiers love their racism

Haha. Odd that Herman Cain has rather short hair, no?

My point's less on the banal attempt to say something offensive (or worse the cartoonist actually believes this pap. Because the Right so loved Clinton and Carter).

But I was reminded of the comic when Glend Reynolds quipped this today:

I’m sure this is because of Racism, Somehow: New Poll Shows Obama Losing to Herman Cain.

And speaking of Tea Party evils. Well, just go here and here and here.

And Richard Fernandez has some thoughts about the homogeneity of crowds and the problems of "useful idiots"

One of the creepiest things about the Occupy Atlanta video is the manner in which the crowd appears to act as a single organism, repeating word for word, like students in an elementary school literacy class, the sentences intoned by men holding the megaphones. The participants appear to think this behavior is not only entirely natural, but laudable. One wonders whether any of them are aware how much this resembles the eerie scream of the Pod People as shown in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and if they were aware, whether they had any residual consciousness outside the group to worry about it.

He also touches on the idea that there are people who do not want liberty, people who want "security" and the freedom from responsibility and decisions.

Though the problem is not those people per say, but those that want others to fall into the same morass.

But hey, what's wrong with mindlessly repeating the idea that being critical of Dear Leader is racist. Well, maybe these guys won't end up like the Red Guards.