Author: hsoi

Pat Robertson said what??!?

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

If there wasn’t video, you wouldn’t believe it.

Over at Gawker is video of Pat Robertson (yes, THAT Pat Robertson) calling for the decriminalization of drugs (or at least, marijuana) on the December 16, 2010 edition of the 700 Club.

“I’m … I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kinda thing it’s just, it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.”

Ah. There’s a video on YouTube:

(That video says this was on the Dec. 22 edition of the show. Whateva… he said it.)

However you want to take the man’s comments well… given a lot of the other looney statements he’s made in the past, perhaps this is just another. Or perhaps, there’s something sound to what he has to say. And you have to consider where this is coming from and the audience that listens to him and that he has influence over. This is rather against the grain. But for once, I’ll agree with the guy.

Art Carden @ Forbes writes:

As a Christian who has written and spoken against drug prohibition, I was both surprised and gladdened [to hear Robertson’s comments]. Given his influence among Christians and social conservatives, this is very encouraging.

Governments do a lot of silly and sometimes heinous things. The American War on Drugs is both: it is silly, and it is heinous. The economic case for drug legalization is rock-solid and straightforward, and a lot of the maladies and social ills that we associate with drug use are products not of the drugs themselves but of the fact that they are illegal.

Indeed. It’s not like all that violence going down on the US-Mexico border is the result of bad George Lopez jokes or tamale importation issues. It’s drugs.

Carden continues:

As a result of prohibition, we have more violence, stronger drugs, and an army of people with shattered lives. There are important moral consequence, as well, and these are moral consequences that should be especially resonant with Christians. My friend Timothy D. Watkins, a professor of music at Texas Christian University, said it well when I was looking for perspectives on this last year:

“Part of what [being created ‘in the image of God’] entails is the ability to make morally meaningful choices. The story of the Fall in Genesis is in great part about God allowing humans to make choices that are bad for them because without such freedom morality is a meaningless concept. Prohibition is the denial of moral agency.”

Drug prohibition–and any other attempt to regulate private, non-coercive behavior, for that matter–cheapens our humanity. It isn’t like we are getting anything in return. Prohibitions generally give us the exact opposite of what their advocates intend. The war on drugs is a war that is almost all cost with scant benefits.

Well, it all depends who we’re trying to benefit. It’s sure benefitting those directly involved in “the war on drugs”, namely the drug cartels and law enforcement (and perhaps pharmaceutical companies), at the cost is great pain throughout society. But hey… what’s a lot of death and crime when there’s money to be made and special interests to protect, right?

Scout Vesper

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I was digging around my office and found a Boy Scout Songbook.

Publishing date is 1963. I remember finding this book as a kid… must have been my Dad’s, but the publishing date was after my Dad was 18 so… not sure how it would have fit into his Scouting involvement (Dad is an Eagle Scout). Nevertheless, I always dug the book and could never part with it. It has a lot of good songs, and harkens back to a day when men were men not hampered and pussified by the political correctness of today.

Under the chapter “Closing Songs”, the first song listed is “Scout Vesper”. Sure it’s a Scout song, but I think it’s message is good for anyone to reflect upon.

Scout Vesper

Tune: “Tannenbaum”. Key: G. Time: 3/4

Softly falls the light of day,
While our campfire fades away;
Silently each Scout should ask
“Have I done my daily task?
Have I kept my honor bright?
Can I guiltless sleep tonight?
Have I done and have I dared
Everything to be prepared?”

Barnes Bullets in 2011

/ hsoi

Just got an email from Barnes Bullets about what’s coming from them in 2011.

I’m excited!

A few highlights that stand out to me:

  • Match Burner bullets. A new line of bullets made specifically for competition.
  • Barnes LRX – Long-Range hunting bullets.
  • 22 caliber TTSX!! Finally! 55 grain and 62 grain BT’s. Oo… could this make for a light but effective hog round?
  • They are announcing the 6.8mm 95 gr BT TTSX’s, but those have been around… maybe this is just officially announcing it?
  • I think it’s interesting they’re making a 165 grain BT 30 cal TTSX… they said “mid-range weight with a shorter, secant ogive designed specifically for 30 caliber magnums; note: Barnes 168 grain bullets have a longer, tangent ogive designed for 308 Winchester and 30-06).
  • The “Tactical Handloading Manual”. Says this load data and trajectories for popular tactical rifle and handgun cartridges (5.56, 6.8 SPC, 7.62, 380 Auto, 9mm, 45 Auto, etc.).
    • I recall hearing about this some time ago. I had contacted Barnes during my trials to load their .224″ 62 gr TSX’s in .223 Remington and I was told that 5.56 data was in the works but not yet available. I was starting to wonder if it was ever going to see the light of day… and finally it is!

This is pretty cool!

Here’s the PDF with full details.

Geez. This really opens up a slew of possibilities now. I mean, I have been thinking about using a red-dot scope for hog hunting, and right now that’d probably mean using a .223 Remington chambered AR… which means I’d need to use Barnes bullets. And being able to now use TTSX’s… oo, that’s sweet. Plus having “tactical” load data will be pretty cool, including more specific stuff for the 6.8 SPC.

Man… I can’t wait!

Customer Service Wins

/ hsoi

This time of year is full of commercial transactions, which inevitably means a high chance for customer service fail.

Most things went smoothly for me this year, and a couple really good ones I wanted to point out.

First was amazon.com. One package was to be delivered some days ago. It went by FedEx SmartPost. The tracking said it should have been here by now, but wasn’t. USPS tracking only said “we’ve received shipment information”. I called Amazon’s customer service because the items were gifts for the kids and I wanted them to be here in time. A very friendly and helpful gentleman named Pat handled my call. He listened to everything, looked things up, and when the tracking numbers all were a bust he said he’d call me back. When he did he said he tracked as much as he could to try to find things but no luck and no one has any idea where the package is. So since it was vital for Christmas, he sent out another shipment UPS 2nd Day Air. I thought that was cool. I didn’t have to ask, there was no prompting, he realized the greater problem: making kids happy on Christmas morning, and worked to solve it. That’s a big win, and one reason why so far I continue to enjoy shopping with Amazon.

Second is Bonny Doon Vineyard. I ordered some wine to be shipped as a gift. Due to the fact it’s wine it really should be shipped quickly, at least 2-day air. Well, one of the shipments is going to a location not too far from the Vineyard, so within a few hours of placing my order I was contacted by someone at the vineyard saying they could change my order to standard Ground shipping, it’d still be there in time, and cost me less. Hey that’s cool! Looking out for your customers like that is really nice.

We’re all quick to point out when things suck. We should also be so quick to point out when things do right and well.

Back from the range

/ hsoi

Just returned from the local indoor gun range.

I’ve been wanting to rework my AR’s, so I’ve been swapping parts, buying a few new things, putting a few old things on the shelf. Still not at my 100% ideal setup, but close enough for now… especially since more changes require money, and right now I’m drained.

So the range trip was for two things:

  1. Re-validate the 6.8 SPC to ensure it was still holding zero.
  2. Zero the rebuilt Bushmaster

The Wilson Combat 6.8 SPC upper now rests atop a Rock River Arms lower, still with the RRA 2-stage match trigger. Shooting the Silver State Armory 6.8 SPC 85 grain Barnes TSX tac-load, shot just fine. If anything, it’s evident that I am the weakest link. 🙂

The main focus was to work on the Bushmaster. I wanted a lighter gun, so this is a minimal setup. I started zeroing it at 50 yards with some Georgia Arms “canned heat” 55 grain FMJ, just to get things on paper. A lot of twisting of knobs and adjusting the front sight post, and things were looking good. I switched to Hornady TAP FPD .223 Rem 75 grain. A slight tweaking to the sights and things were good. Then I got to the real meat of it all: the Aimpoint Comp M4s. A bit of adjusting, a bunch of playing and oh… what a sweet sweet optic.

The thing is? I can’t tell you much about it here. I received the Aimpoint on T&E for TacticalGunReview.com. So my experiences and results are going to be written up there, not here. I’m working on the write-up, but I have a little more field work to do before I publish it. When I do have it all up, I’ll of course link to it from here. I’ll just say that yeah, I dig that Aimpoint. 🙂

And… if you could guess by my previous post, going to the local indoor gun range is always an adventure. I prefer to go mid-week first thing in the morning: i.e. about as dead as it can be. But due to schedules, I had to go in the afternoon. The place was busy and I had to wait for a lane. Once I got one… boy, it was noisy in there (this is why you wear both ear plugs and ear muffs). It was also a continued reaffirmation as to why I generally try to surround myself with competent shooters. While most of the folks there weren’t bad, there was much room for improvement. Folks, this is why it’s essential to get good training. If you really want to tighten up those groups, if you want to stop throwing all your shots low-left, find a good teacher… I happen to know one.

As for some tips:

  • Again ladies, you may have nice boobs, but for your own well-being, cover them up. Hot brass down the shirt is no fun.
  • If you want to thumb-cock your revolver that’s fine, but there’s no need to point it up at the ceiling every time you do so.
  • When you (un)case your firearm, please do it on the benches so the muzzle points downrange… not on the floor behind the line so the muzzle points towards everyone on that side of the line.
  • We all know about ear/hearing protection, but eye protection is important too.
  • Wash your hands before you touch anything you care about: your eyes, mouth, food, etc.. Not that there was food on the line, but many people were handing guns and ammo, then just leaving. There’s a sink, use it.
  • If you want to borrow the extra benchrest that’s sitting unused next to me, all you need to do is ask.

 

Nice boobs, but….

/ hsoi / 21 Comments

Ladies. A friendly tip.

You may be blessed with an ample bosom. You may enjoy wearing clothing that shows off your cleavage.

That’s all well and good… unless you’re at the gun range.

Nothing says “poor wardrobe choice” like getting a hot piece of brass stuck between your boobs.

As well, it leaves a mark, it hurts, and you can’t do much to control the muzzle of that gun in your hands while you do the “hot brass dance.”

Wear a top that closes around your neck. Your boobs thank you… as well as the guy in the next stall (me) that doesn’t like loaded guns pointed at him.

No big rush

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I’m on vacation for a little while.

That means, I’ll get around to things whenever I want to get around to them. Blogging included. 😉

Not going anywhere on vacation, just staying home and getting things done… including spending lots of time with Wife and Kiddos. But I do have to remember to unwind. I was going to reconfigure some AR’s on Saturday night, then go to the local indoor range to re-zero them on Sunday, then this morning to the local outdoor range to do some work with them. But alas… none of that happened. Things like naps, sleeping in, playing with doggie, cuddling with Wife… they took precedence.

But this morning I did get to reconfigure the AR’s. I’ll get to the range eventually. I’m excited to see how this all works out.

More later.

Sunday Metal – Slayer Christmas

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Everyone likes syncing up Christmas lights to music.

About time someone did it to SLAYER!

The light show is ok for the most part, but I dig the increased chaos at the end.

SLAYER!!!!!