Month: May 2009

Smart guns aren’t so smart

/ hsoi

Tam is usually full of snark, but this was a surprisingly snark-free and reason-filled posting from her (not that her postings aren’t reason-filled, just usually a healthy dose of snark goes with it). Anyway, here’s her posting about smart guns. The choice quote:

But if you look at a firearm as a piece of emergency equipment, then Authorized User technology is a no-go. A cop’s partner may need to use her gun; my roommate may need to use mine. It needs to work right the first time, every time. It cannot malfunction or, if it does so, it must “fail-dangerous“, in such a way as to leave me the ability to use the gun to defend myself, even if the Authorized User function no longer works.

Look at it this way: Would you put fingerprint recognition sensors on a fire extinguisher? How about a biometric sensor on a reserve parachute? No, you wouldn’t, because it needs to be as easy as possible for anybody to operate, even under duress and in harsh environmental conditions.

Cops and military don’t want this technology because they know the dangers of it. So why should we allow it or even force it upon the rest of the citizenry? It won’t stop bad guys from doing bad things, only good people from doing good. Why do this? And please don’t tell me it’s for the children.

Range report

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I haven’t been to the range on my own accord in a while. Darn this ammo situation. Making up for it with dry fire, but dry fire doesn’t simulate recoil and other things (like reacquiring sight picture). So I went with the point of not just “shootin'” but ensuring there was solid purpose to every round downrange. Really, every practice session should be like that, but some times it’s just fun to throw lead. That said, it was off to the Lone Star Gun Range.

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Tough times don’t last; tough people do.

/ hsoi

Gibson Guitars has an interview with Zakk Wylde, guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and the creative force behind Black Label Society. Some people give Zakk a bunch of crap, but I’ve yet to see any of them give Zakk that same crap to his face. 🙂  I’ve seen BLS live and it’s most enjoyable. Good music (tho I think some of the later albums were rushed and not as inspired as the earlier albums). Nevertheless, Zakk’s got the right attitude:

Zakk on Metallica and Some Kind of Monster
“When I saw the guys, I said, ‘What were you thinkin’?’ Who needs a psychiatrist? Like I need marriage counseling? I’ve been married for 24 years. Look, I’m gonna get in fights with the wife and that’s life, man. You got the high and the lows. You’re in a band, you’re gonna fight, you’re gonna get over it or it wasn’t meant to be any more.

“The bottom line is this: Tough times don’t last; tough people do.

“Once Mom sent me to Promises rehab. I said, ‘Promises rehab?’ I’ll make you a promise right now: either I’m going to cap myself or some mother is going to die in this joint.’ And one of the bylaws of Black Label is ‘suicide is not an option.’ I got in there and had no time for those weak-willed assholes. One guy said he just couldn’t get out of bed in the morning to get to the group therapy meetings. I said, ‘Hey, sometimes I don’t want to get up on that stage but you get your damn jock strap on, you man up, and you do it.’ I’ve got no time for weak willed bull****. I was cut from the same cloth as General Patton.

“Hey, lions are born lions. They are not made. Berserkers are born berserkers. They are not made. Marines are born Marines. They are not made. Get tough or get out.”
 

“Survival” Rifles

/ hsoi

James Rummel posts about a survival rifle, a Browning .22 take-down. It’s pretty cool.

I’ve mentioned before about making a survival-style rifle out of a Ruger 10/22, but there are some purpose-built ones.

There is the AR-7, which is now being made by Henry Repeating Arms. Nice article here. Now, in my take on a “survival” rifle the intent was for the rifle to be the kit: the rifle is whole but the buttstock has a hole into which you can stuff things, then you could strap or wrap things around the rifle. The AR-7’s approach is for the rifle to break down into something very small, which you could then pack away into your backpack. Everything breaks down, without tools, and stores in the buttstock, which I understand to be waterproof and will float (tho I’ve read varying reports on this; maybe Henry’s resolved it in newer versions?). Accuracy and ammo feeding tend to be questionable, but this isn’t a match gun… it’s meant to help you get some food or maybe even be a last-ditch defensive weapon if you’re in a survival situation. Conceptually it’s appealing to me, but I’d have to really try one out before I could make a decision. Thankfully they’re not that expensive.

There’s the Springfield M6 Scout, (more here and here is a great entry). The appeal of this is that it can fire ammo like .22 Hornet or .410 shotshells. That has a lot of appeal because you could take birds or even larger game.

Marlin’s Papoose is another offering, and I read a lot of praise for it. It breaks down, the bolt holds open on the last shot (important on a rimfire so you don’t end up dry firing after firing your last shot if you weren’t counting your shots).

Each offering takes a similar approach, but also addresses different issues. Which is right all depends upon your needs.

Updated: A few days ago I was at McBrides and they had an AR-7 on a rack. I picked it up and whoa…. that stock is kinda crappy. Not so much on the holding to your shoulder part, but in terms of the lid, for storage. It felt cheap. I could easily flex it a tiny bit and make the cap “crack off” such that any moisture would come in. It also felt like one not-so-good whack and the stock would crack or otherwise break. I was not impressed.

What prompted me to updated this was seeing this article. I will say that it was extremely lightweight, was listed at $190 so it’s nothing to really cry over. And it certainly breaks down in a manner than none of the others do. It’s the sort of thing where the concept seems really good, but the deployment could still use some improvement.

Media bias? or ignorance?

/ hsoi

Some AR-15 uppers and ammo were found in a dumpster in Austin. Howard Nemerov provides some analysis of how the local Austin media covered the story.

I’m pretty sure it was someone dumping stolen goods… but man, I can’t help but shed a tear at the wasted goods, especially that ammo. 🙂

George Carlin videos

/ hsoi

George Carlin is one of my favorite comedians. I do think he was better in his younger years, as some of the stuff he did prior to his death I thought was less funny and sounded more like a pissed off old man (tho he always still had a great point).

My morning reading ended up taking me to this one:

and from there I just had to go find and watch some of my favorites:

Baseball vs. Football is great material, but it also showcases how Carlin used delivery effectively.

Of course, today farts are all over TV… still can’t say “fuck” tho.

Ways to improve your home office

/ hsoi

Web Worker Daily has 7 Simple Ways to Improve Your Home Office.

The suggestions are fairly simple: you spend a lot of time and energy in this place, so you might as well make it pleasant and comfortable. 

One advantage that we often have at home that officer workers may not have is natural lighting. If you’ve got windows, take advantage of them. They make a big difference in your mood. Of course, I do know some that prefer to work in the dim and dark, so I guess brick up your windows in that case. 😉  Either way, lighting makes a difference in your mood and productivity.

Another thing that helps me is being able to keep my office’s air comfortable. Now, I do have a lot of computers in here which generates a lot of heat. Consequently I have a portable A/C unit in my office because otherwise it’s a sweatshop, especially in the heat of the summer. But having your own A/C unit, fans, heaters, or whatever you need is useful so you can keep things where you like it. Wife likes it a bit warmer, loves to open up the windows (which often leads to higher humidity levels). I prefer it a bit cooler and drier. 

It’s your office and being your home office you’ve got free reign over it. Take advantage of that to make your best workspace.

Double standards

/ hsoi / 11 Comments

I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Latina female who hasn’t lived that life.

Sounds pretty racist and bigoted, perhaps a little misogynistic, doesn’t it?

Here’s the original quote:

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.

Hopefully you’re paying attention and can see what I did there, just swapping the gender and racial terms around. Now that latter statement is considered a proud and good statement, one acceptable to utter. By the way, that original statement was said by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s pick for the next SCOTUS Justice.

Can someone please enlighten me as to why the latter statement is acceptable and the former is not?

Why is “black power/pride” good and “white power/pride” bad?

As far as I can tell, they’re the same thing. They’re saying that one person or group is superior to another due to race. I thought that was the very definition of racism.

What happened to the cries for equality? To being blind to people’s racial and gender and other differences (religious, sexual preference, etc.)? I swore this sort of thing was what the Democrats/Liberals all wanted in this world. So why do they go so far out of their way to always make such a big deal out of their race and gender? I mean, if you want people to stop caring about race and gender and those such things well… then you need to stop caring about race and gender and those such things. So long as you keep making a big deal out of your race and your gender, then well… it’s always going to remain a big deal. 

Linoge shares his thoughts on Judge Sontomayor.

So, does this mean Obama is selecting a racist? Gosh… and in those days after his election all people kept saying was how his election was proof that we’re no longer a racist country. Change you can believe in?

Updated: Richard A. Epstein @ Forbes weighs in.

Updated 2: Breda, who I think has a vagina, is thus partially qualified to speak here.

TSRA Highpower Rifle Championship

/ hsoi

Courtesy of SayUncle and Robert’s Blackfork blog we have some pictures from the Texas State Rifle Association’s Highpower Rifle Championship. The winner. More pictures.

Notice all the rifles they’re shooting? No sporting purpose to them, of course.