Author: hsoi

One reason I left BSA

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

There are a lot of reasons I left Boy Scouts of America. I support the general nature of what they do, building character, building leadership. The Scout Oath and Law are some pretty good guidelines to live your life by. There are a lot of good skills that are taught.

But then, there’s shit like this.

When he first met with organizers, [Jon] Langbert told them he was gay, and that his son was interested in joining. There were no problems then, he said.

So, he participated in as many activities with Carter and the pack as he could. Langbert said when Cub Scout Pack 70 was low on money, he hit the streets and raised more than $13,000 last year.

That is what Scouting needs more than anything else: parents dedicated and willing to help and contribute. I should know. I spent many years as a Cub Scout Pack Den Leader, and I know what really makes a Pack go and a program successful is parents willing to step up and help out. Scouting needs more parents like Jon Langbert.

But instead….

“I just found out a few days ago that some of the dads are not happy about having a gay guy running the popcorn fundraiser,” Langbert said.

Once the parents complained, Langbert was told he could no longer hold a leadership position in the Boy Scouts of America. They even took his leadership shirt away.

So it was fine when “the gay guy” was raising $13,000 for the Pack (which is an amazing amount of money for a Pack to have), but it’s not fine that he’s gay. OK then… you guys willing to give up the $13,000 he raised? I didn’t think so. My guess is the Pack leadership didn’t have a problem, but some parents did. So what furthermore burns my butt is the leaders not standing up for both Langbert AND their original decision.

Officials with the Boy Scouts of America said their policy does not permit leaders to be gay or atheist.

“Sexuality of any level does not have a place in the Boy Scouts of America,” said Pat Currie, spokesman with the Boy Scouts of America. “What we are all about is teaching kids lifetime values and trying to develop characters and make them better citizens … We are not about sexual orientation.”

Bullshit.

BSA is very much about sexual orientation! The fact you don’t want fags in your midst tells me you do care about sexual orientation and only wish to permit heterosexuality. The lifetime value you’re teaching here is intolerance and exclusion of people you don’t like.

Langbert said he wants the Boy Scouts to change their policy. He said his pack is meeting Monday at the University Park Elementary School, and hopes the school will reevaluate its connection with the Boy Scouts.

[…]

The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts of American does not have to allow gay individuals into its organization. Langbert said he is researching legal action.

Yes, the whole meeting at a school thing is a sticky situation. But honestly Langbert, legal action? give it up. BSA is a private organization and the courts have already upheld that they can do this. And frankly, that’s the way it should be. If we could force any private organization to behave in the way someone else wanted them to behave well, that’d be an ugly day for America and freedom.

If you really want to put your energy into something, put it into other organizations. There are other “youth groups” like this out there. Trouble is, they are few, far between, and often kinda suck. But this is where a dedicated parent like Jon Langbert can help to promote and improve those organizations.

This is part of why BSA is dying. The world is becoming a more tolerant and accepting place, but BSA isn’t. That is their perrogative, and I do respect them for standing up for what they believe in. But like all dinosaurs, if you fail to adapt, you will go extinct.

When it comes to gays and lesbians, I really don’t care. You live your life, I’ll live mine. With 6 billion people in this world, there are going to be some people who do things I don’t care for, and there are going to be some people who don’t like what I do. So long as we don’t tread on each other, so what? You have your right to life, liberty, and pursuit of your happiness, just like I do.

Freedom is something we must give to others if we wish it for ourselves.

Doggie School – Day Two

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Sasha had her second dog training class today.

Every day I realize more and more that this is not about training the dog, it’s about training the humans… and the dog kinda gets something along the way. 🙂

We started out reviewing what we did last week, which was basic walking and sitting. Issuing commands, issuing corrections. Being consistent. That’s really the key is consistency. Getting the set down to something simple and everyone sticking with it. For instance, you don’t really need sit, stay, quiet, etc. because implied in sit is to stay and be quiet. But it was evident to Abel that we’ve been working with Sasha — he saw a world of difference compared to last week.

We worked in a slightly different location on the grounds, taking Sasha into new places, new noises, new things, new distractions. She was certainly nervous, but we were able to manage it and she did OK. It’s interesting that she does not eat when she’s nervous enough. Both the trainer and a friend who came with his dog to watch us commented that was odd. But that’s how she is. Once she calms down, she’ll take the treats again.

Then we started to work on “place”. Moving her onto the place, getting her to understand the place. Wife struggled with it a bit because while Wife was working on it, Sasha didn’t get fully onto the stand, Wife moved her leg onto it, the stand creaked, Sasha jumped, and Wife didn’t react immediately to correct things. Plus, Wife isn’t as big or strong as me, so Sasha quickly realized that a physical strength fight against Wife is one she could win. So, there was some struggle there, but they were able to overcome it. I think it was good for Wife too, as it’s helping her gain more confidence in her ability to handle Sasha.

Our homework is to continue working on walking, sit, consistency and simplification of commands (gotta watch what comes out of our mouths, e.g. “sit” not “Sasha sit”, “No” not “Sasha No” or “NoSit”). But now we’re going to add working on the “place”. No command yet, just getting her used to the physical thing.

We needed to get home, but before I go to bed tonight I need to buy her a “place”. I have guidelines… just need to figure out what’s going to work for her. Plus… where in the world are we going to put the thing?? That’s really the big question. 🙂

All in all, she’s improving. There is a LOT of work still ahead. I admit, I’m tired. It’s very mentally and emotionally consuming and thus draining. But we’ll hang in there, for I believe the investment is worth it.

Droid impressions

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

I’ve been an Apple guy all my life. I like Apple products because Apple puts an emphasis on making things “just work”. Oh sure, nothing is perfect, but they score higher on the success chart than anyone else. Human-computer interaction is a primary thought, not an afterthought, and it shows in the design of both their OS and their hardware. Apple leads, everyone else follows.

While I love my iPhone, I can’t help but be curious about Android. This past Sunday at a dinner, a gentleman sitting next to me had a Motorola Droid X phone. I asked him about it, he let me play with it.

Gosh, but I’m impressed.

I liked that you could put a storage card in there, to facilitate transfers between your phone and other devices. Not sure how smooth and seemless it is, but gosh that’s nice.

Decent camera with a flash. Seems like a simple request, but my iPhone 3GS’s camera isn’t that great.

Overall response of the system and network was peppy. Never felt like anything was dragging.

I loved the huge screen size. Of course, that meant a larger device and it’s certainly pushing the limits of a “pocket device”. But I think what I also dug was the use of that limited space. For instance, menus weren’t constantly along the bottom of the screen but only came up on-demand by pressing one of the 4 buttons on the front of the device. I like that because precious screen space is now filled with content, not menu. It doesn’t always matter of course, but I just like the concept of being able to use limited resources to the fullest.

I liked that the main screens aren’t just flipping through pages of app icons, but instead you can have some vital things running so you can quickly access information you care about, like sports scores or today’s calendar of appointments, or whatever.

I only got to play with the device for a short while, so my impressions are shallow. There were some things I didn’t think it did as well as the iPhone, but it’s subtle little human-computer interaction details, too difficult to articulate in the limited space I have here. Still, I left with an overall positive impression and certainly am curious to explore it more.

Early Voting Rally

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

I just returned from an Early Voting Rally. It happened to be sponsored by Texas Republicans… not 100% sure who exactly was sponsoring it (e.g. Travis County Republicans, Texas as a whole, etc.), but it was attended by all your big Texas Republicans: Gov. Rick Perry; Sen. John Cornyn; Jerry Patterson, Texas Land Commissioner; Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller; Attorney General Greg Abbott; Melissa Goodwin, 3rd Court of Appeals; Paul Workman, candidate for Texas State House District-47; Dr. Donna Campbell, candidate for US House Texas District 25; and a host of other Texas Republicans.

Now, I’m not a Republican… and on more than one occasion I wanted to shout out something that would have rubbed folks raw. But this was not the place for such things, and I had bigger reasons to not stir the pot. For you see, I took my children to this event. I was glad to see other parents brought their children too, because this is a lesson in civics. Furthermore, it let’s them see these people close up and see they’re not just a picture on the TV. Besides, you can’t appreciate Gov. “Good Hair” unless you can see him up close. 😉

What I loved most? Oldest. He groaned at the thought of attending this event, but of course he had no choice… he was going. Then I happened to notice during Gov. Perry’s rousing speech… there was Oldest, cheer and applauding with gusto! Yeah, he got into it. 🙂

As a random aside, it was fun watching Gov. Perry’s security detail. One guy (you can see him behind Jerry Patterson in the above picture, in the sunglasses) was pretty tough and serious looking. I nicknamed him Agent Franks. 🙂

As the rally broke up, I managed to chase down Dr. Campbell to say hello. Introduced Daughter to her as well. I could tell she was a tired lady, but a tough one. I applaud her efforts and hope it pans out in a couple of weeks. Daughter was excited to meet Dr. Campbell. 🙂  I was also happy that on the drive home we saw a couple more Donna Campbell yard signs in the neighborhood!

For me, that’s the big reason I went this morning: I wanted my children to experience this. Oh sure, I’ve done things like this before, when I was a kid and my Dad was a Congressman; but then it was “Ugh.. can we go home now?”. Today was the first time I attended a rally because I wanted to be there, and I wanted my children to be there. I want them to understand that politics can and does suck, but we cannot ignore it. It’s important to our lives and something all responsible citizens must care about and partake in. Plus, since they had such a good time, I think it left a positive impression on the kids that sometimes yes, politics can be fun.

Dog-strong

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I’m getting quite the crash-course in being a good dog owner.

Before owning a dog I could generally tell who was a good down owner and who wasn’t… it was evident in how the dog behaved and how the owner treated the dog. But now I see more subtle things, and one very interesting thing.

Read this article.

 

The number one biggest mistake dog owners can make with their dogs is to treat them like humans. The human race is such a kind, compassionate species that we tend to look at our canine companions as little humans. When in reality, they are canines and have a very different thought process. This is what differentiates mankind from other species in pack societies; there must be a specific order, from the leader on down to the last follower. Everyone has a place. The leaders are the strength of the pack. The followers need the leader to guide them. This primal instinct keeps the pack secure and happy.

 

 

And oh, do we treat our dogs like little humans.

We must think like a dog and must treat the dog… like a dog. Of course, in human society, to treat someone like a dog means to treat them in a sub-human and poor manner. If towards your dog you act in a manner that humans see as strong and compassionate, your dog will see it as you being weak. If towards your dog you act in a manner that the dog sees as strong, then humans are going to see you being an incompassionate asshole to your dog.

What to do?

Be viewed as an incompassionate asshole.

Treat the dog like a dog. That doesn’t mean treat them badly, that means treat them as they need to be treated — like a dog. Dog groks dog, and our human behavior passes through their dog-filter and gets interpreted in dog ways. In any communication, what’s more important is the message received by the receiver. Make sure your dog receives the right messages.

 

Bushmaster ACR recall

/ hsoi

Bushmaster is recalling ALL ACR rifles. If you own one of these, you MUST contact Bushmaster immediately. It’s a safety issue and a legal issue.

Here’s Bushmaster’s notice.

The Firearm Blog has a transcribed copy of the notice.

Monster Hunter Vendetta

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I finally finished reading Monster Hunter Vendetta by Larry Correia.

You see, I didn’t want to give a hoot about the Monster Hunter books. It’s just not my cup of tea. But TXGunGeek loaned me his copy of the first book, Monster Hunter International, and I did enjoy it.

So when I had to go to California a few weeks ago, I needed a book. I’ve found that when I fly, the best thing for me to do to pass the time is read. I can’t read technical or deep-thought books; I need light but engaging fare. It’s how I started reading the Harry Potter books. So while at the bookstore I was looking for the Dave Mustaine autobiography (which I enjoyed), but while waiting for someone at the counter it hit me that MH Vendetta was out. So why not… I picked it up figuring it would be good fare for the plane.

I wasn’t disappointed.

I don’t want to say too much and risk spoilers for folks that haven’t read it but plan to.

The book is certainly a good read. It’s enjoyable, action-packed. I reiterate that I think the Monster Hunter stuff could make for exciting viewing on the big screen (and again, Julie Strain for Julie Shackleford!).

I felt this book had more twists, more things to keep you on your toes. For instance, Agent Franks. I think there was more character development and more depth, but also a lot more to keep track of. I read half the book on the plane, then have been reading what I can when I can since then. If I stepped away for a couple days, I did find myself having to reorient and remind myself of the state of things, else I lost track of what was going on. It can be an involved read, but not heavy or demanding.

Certainly felt more suspense in this. A lot more “damn… how are they going to get out of this? thoughts… more “geez.. and I thought it couldn’t get any worse”. But it never felt forced or campy, at least, within the realm of sci-fi limits. 🙂   Oh sure, there’s still a lot of perfect far-fetchedness going on, Owen is still a super-human despite being merely human, but hey… suspend disbelief and just enjoy the fun.

No regrets about buying it. Very much enjoyed reading it.

And yes…. G-Nome. Couldn’t stop laughing. 🙂

Sunday Metal – Danko Jones

/ hsoi

I wouldn’t classify Danko Jones as heavy metal (they’re not Iron Maiden or Cannibal Corpse), but they are pretty hard rockin’, so good enough.

Besides, Lemmy’s in the video:

And someone needs to teach Elijah Wood to keep his finger off the trigger unless the gun is on target.

I bent my wookie

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Reloaded another 200 rounds of .38 Special this morning.

It was anything but routine.

I broke the decapping pin on the sizing die. *sigh*  I’m not 100% sure how it happened, but here’s my guess. Earlier in the session I guess I didn’t get an empty case set in the shell plate correctly. I pulled the lever and it felt and sounded strange. I look at the shell plate and notice the old case was on its side and had been smashed flat against the bottom of the resizing die. Furthermore, the decapping pin had punched through the brass walls. Oops. I removed the damaged case and kept going. There were some hard to resize cases. I figure the pin had a crack or at least was stressed from the punch-through, and now with the difficult cases probably had more stress. Then on one pull of the handle I heard a strange noise and the pull felt weird. I looked, no more pin… it was in crumbled pieces inside the case I was attempting to resize and decap. *sigh*

Fortunately, I had an old set of Lee dies that I bought off Karl for cheap some time ago. I was able to put that sizing/decapping die in and finish the session.

So now I need to buy a new decapping pin. Thing is, I’m sure the cost of shipping it is going to be more than the pin itself (it’s about $3 for a pack of 5 pins). So, I need to find a way to make this worth my while. I am probably going to need to go to Cabela’s to get more bullets and probably some deer-hunting stuff, so if they have pins, great. If not well… I guess I’ll hope the Lee dies hold out until I’m done with .38 and then I’ll pick up pins whenever I next do an online order.

I’m just glad I had the spare dies and didn’t really have to break my stride. I’m itching to get .38 done with so I can get to working on 6.8 SPC loads with those Barnes .277″ 95 grain TTSX bullets. They won’t get used for hunting this season, but maybe hogs afterwards and into the future.

(Thanx to Ralph Wiggum for the title).