Author: hsoi

See, that’s the thing….

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

People say there’s no use in having guns. Why would we need guns? We’re not going to have a war here. We’re not going to see the end of the world and societal collapse.

Well, maybe … maybe not.

But ugly things can and do happen.

Take a look at the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. Voters screamed for mandatory waiting periods to obtain guns. Then the riots broke out. People wanted guns to defend themselves… but that pesky waiting period. Doesn’t do you much good. Of course, you could have planned ahead…. yes we don’t expect things like riots to happen, but they do and are usually unplanned and won’t show up on your social calendar. So you just have to be prepared.

Then look at New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina.

And today, we have Chile post-earthquake:

My neighbors and I were all without firearms. That is something I regret. My opinion of those things has changed overnight, believe me. Fortunately, a nearby department building was full of army families and they would start shooting at anyone moving in the street during curfew (18:00 to 12:00 for the first days of curfew). Maybe they were shooting in the air, but the people roving in the street always changed direction after that, so it was enough.

Yeah, we don’t want these things to happen. But you know the old expression… shit happens.

Be prepared.

Yeah life would be better if such things didn’t happen and if we didn’t have to take such measures. But those who deny the existence of predatory scum in this world are lying to themselves.

(h/t) to SayUncle.

Today

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Today has been good. Today has been bad.

The bad? Normally I work from home, but recently my company opened an office in Austin. Today I had to do a bunch of things in that part of town so I figured I’d work from the office…. I don’t want to be a stranger. Going in just tells me why I’m so happy to work from home. Not just the traffic to get in and out of here, but all the office-isms. Like right now as I type this someone’s on a conference call… on their speaker phone… and while they have a door they could close, they aren’t closing it and thus disturbing everyone else in the office. *sigh*  So, I shall just close my door. That’s OK tho… I have a great view out my window. I know… really these are rough problems to have . No place to gripe, but it’s little things that add up to appreciating my work-from-home situation more and more.

The good? Well… you’ll just have to wait to see. 🙂  Have to write about it later.

85 or 110? 95 of course

/ hsoi

So… the 85 grain Barnes TSX or the 110 Barnes TSX?

Well, SSA has the 85 grain on sale, and ultimately I ought to be handloading these. 68forums.com reports either work great on feral hogs. I think I’d rather go with the 110 grain but again, the 85 grain are on sale right now so why not. Something about 3000 fps makes me giggle. 🙂

Of course, what we really want are the 95 grain TTSX, which Barnes is finishing up but hasn’t put to market yet. But testing reports from people like Bill Wilson are very positive. So methinks use the 85 grains now, collect the brass, then handload the 95 grain TTSX down the line.

Yes yes.

So why all this talk of 6.8 SPC ammo? Oh… I dunno.

Kuk Sool Cane – He-Young Kimm

/ hsoi

Cool video of Dr. He-Young Kimm. This was back when he was in the World Kuk Sool Association (WKSA). Demonstration of cane technique. Thing is, these aren’t the rote 10 Ji Pang Ee techniques. You can see the fundamentals are all there, but it’s more.

No Corporate Taxes? Outrage!

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Via Slashdot I read an article from Forbes Magazine about how some of the top corporations in the US ultimately pay no taxes.

Some of the world’s biggest, most profitable corporations enjoy a far lower tax rate than you do–that is, if they pay taxes at all.

The most egregious example is General Electric. Last year the conglomerate generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion.

Insert outrage here, right?

I’m not sure. On the surface yes, that sucks. Thing is, we’ve developed a structure that ultimately rewards people who want to get rich and are willing to do so… almost at any cost. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing. But as I go through life I’ve come to realize that the less I accept being someone else’s drone and instead work to manage my own affairs and utilize “the system” to my advantage, yes, there are benefits.

Who doesn’t want to reduce the amount of money the government takes out of their paychecks? We all strive to fork over as little as possible, right? If there are ways that color within the lines to do so, why shouldn’t we take advantage of that? The tax code is set up in such a way that these big corporations can shelter income from taxes, so why shouldn’t they do that? Yes they perhaps lobbied to gain such advantage but again, that’s just them working to fork over as little as possible. It’s what we all ultimately want, right?

So why get ugly with these people? Do we have our sights and goals set so low that we should punish the rich big guys? What happens when the day comes that you’re one of those rich big guys? Or do you never esteem or see yourself there? Call me an optimist, but I’m going to continue to work towards that end. I may never get there, but it sure seems like time better spent (being productive and working to achieve bigger things, than just bitching about those that have achieved bigger things).

Because ultimately folks… if you screw the big guys, you end up screwing yourself.

Would no more tax holiday for GE really end up helping Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer? Doubtful. “The average Joe should be in favor of lower corporate taxes,” says Hodge, “because ultimately they are paying the corporate income tax. Either as workers, getting lower wages and fewer jobs, or as consumers, paying higher prices, or as retirees, getting lower dividends and earnings on their investments.”

In the same vein, JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has spoken out against an Obama proposal to levy a special tax on banks to recoup bailout costs. “Using tax policy to punish people is a bad idea,” said Dimon. “All businesses tend to pass costs on to customers.”

In the end you’re always going to be the one that pays. They may hide the cost, they may redirect, there may be many layers of indirection between you and the ultimate tax. But it’s always going to be you and me that ultimately pays. So if you really want to work to keep more of your paycheck, well… stop letting taxes pay for everything. Don’t think “corporate taxes” or “taxing the wealthy” is somehow putting the burden on someone else and not you, because it’s false — it will come back to bite you. And if you’re that sort that feels we should spread the wealth around, put your money where your mouth is and PayPal your paycheck to me now. 🙂

Sunday Metal – Sacred Reich

/ hsoi

Truth and honor, faith and pride
All convictions surely died
Honesty’s time has passed
Time for lies is here at last
Truth is false, I’m so fed up! How did we come to be so fucked?

Lady Liberty rots away. No truth, no justice. The American Way.

My double-barrelled 12 gauge

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I’m listening to Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell”

and when Phil sings about his “double-barrelled 12 gauge”, the thought that goes through my head is how inadequate that is with only 2 shot capacity.

What does it say about me? 🙂

Getting serious on 6.8 SPC

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

So I post about my hunting itch and Rog posts a link to this article by Frank James.

Here’s what didn’t sit well with me:

On one of my gunwriting trips a well known gunwriter/hunting specialist recommended to me Federal Premium .223 Rem. 55 gr. Barnes Triple Shock (#p223s) for hog hunting as he felt it was the only .223 load that worked in his experience. So I purchased 5 boxes (100 rds) at a big box store in northern Indiana and loaded the M&P-15. I must no longer be high on the gunwriter food chain as the ATK ammo fairy doesn’t like me as it once did. It is just as well, because this load also proved to be a disappointment. Yeah, it killed, but it didn’t drop ’em. On our first night I intentionally picked out the smaller animals as the targets of choice because I have such a dim view of this caliber on hogs. Even the little ones ran off after being shot and I know I shot ’em because both the guide (using thermal imagining) and I through my PVS-14 night scope saw them stumble, roll and get back up again. After we left, the ranch emailed us to inform us they were still finding dead pigs in a hay pasture close to the first night’s kill zone. I am NOT impressed with this load for use on hogs and feel it was over-rated. If it were made in a heavier weight maybe it would work better.

That’s the very load I was going to use for hunting (Federal P223S). The above isn’t promising. The load is rated for deer, but deer aren’t as tough as hogs. Still, it gives me pause.

I wonder why the problem. My guess is too light a bullet, because I know TSX in larger, heavier bullets have no problem dropping hogs. As well, in the Frank James article he uses some Black Hills 77gr JHP’s and has no problem dropping hogs. Makes me wonder if say the CorBon loads with the 62 grain TSX (the only factory load I know if that uses the 62 grain TSX, or rather a factory load that uses something other/heavier than the 53/55 grain TSX’s) might work out.

But really… it just increases my want to go to 6.8 SPC. I know that’s suitable. I’ve seen the results from Bill Wilson on some monster hogs.

I know it’s a bad itch because last night in bed I’m using my iPhone and poking around the Bison Armory website.

I think that may be how I start out. Buying a good upper, keeping it minimal in accouterments for now (other than a set of iron sights since Bison’s stuff are all flattop), swapping the scope and lower, and going from there. I just finished talking to The Tax Man so now may be the time to get this rolling.

Any 6.8 users out there with any advice or recommendations?