Lake Erie

I'm thinking of headin' on up to Cleveland town.  Maybe do some shooting at this place I know up there. 

But what to bring?  Definitely both .308 rifles, the Garand and M14(ish).

I was thinking the new Commander, the 229, the Colt Pocket Hammerless.  What ELSE tho?  Maybe I'll just hold at that.

Ooo

Stay offa MY lawn...

List Inspiration

Been looking for blog fodder inspiration in my Master List, and I got bupkis.  There is no new gun acquisition sparking me up aside from my perrenial .45 carbine jones.  I went from "AR that fires from greasegun mags!" and back to Kriss Karbine, now.  Even with the Glock Mags.  I need to try that Kriss at a range.

I am still interested in tricking out the M1A a bit more with a optics.  Probably forward mounted EOTech.  I wonder if a wobbly rear magnification swing-aside scope in conjunction with a red dot would work like that? I could mount the red dot on a fore end scout type rail, and since the magnifier doesn't have to be precise the receiver rails that go with M1As aren't the best for a scope platform.  Simple way to add some capability.

Anyway, it's probably for the best, me not itching for a new boomstick or otherwise.  I don't have a lot of spare cash, really, lying around for expensive guns OR firearm accessories.   

Quake BoB

I mentioned how I foolishly forgot to replace my truck BoB after vacation.  That got me thinking.  It was a quake, and my truck was in the rickety parking garage.  Assuming massage damage to my office in a more severe quake, but not enough to kill me, and the garage pancaking on top of my vehicle...  What resources do I have to get the 25 miles back home via shanks mare?

Well, my work shoes are Doc Martens, and they wear like iron.  They'll do just fine and are probably better than other shoes I own. (my feet are notoriously hard to get good shoes for.)  I have water bottles at my desk and a snack area where I can raid granola bars and crackers and such.  In my desk I have matches.  Pen knife in my pocket.

Hmm.  Maybe I need a mini BoB at my desk for quakes and firedrills.  Something small so I can tote the water bottles and a ziplock bag or two to keep stuff dry.  Extra layers for winter.  A flashlight.  Mini-poncho.  Multitool could be good too.  Ooo, terlet paper.  That's always a crowd-pleaser.

Post Storm

That wasn't much.  No damage.  Power and cable back at 11AM.  I slept through the wind.

Nightmare

And an odd one.  I dreamt that I woke up and multiple other bloggers were posting on topics I had in the queue.  And covering the same ground I was.  It was going to look like I plagiarised their posts, even though I had written my post a day or more before seeing theirs.

I'm enough of a hack as it is.  I don't need my dreams making it worse.

Zombie Day Out

Hurripocaplypse

Or is it Hurricapocalpse?  Herrigeddon?

Be careful out there, my fellow East Coasters.

Going by all the hype on the news Irene is a Category 12 hurricane with 950 mph sustained winds that will drop 34 inches of rain an hour 18 hours with a tidal sure of 150 feet.

I Love History

But even I will admit, that whole War of 1812 is still admittedly kinda sketchy...

Hoover's Boys

What is the FBI thinking?  The obvious stonewalling going on over the Gun Runner scandal is terribly shortsighted of them.  The proper response is to disinfect the whole thing with sunlight, purge the folks that came up with the boneheaded manuever, no matter how high it goes, and start to heal their severly injured credibility.  This is asinine that obstruction occurred for more than a week or two.  What are they thinking?  More and more people are going to be suspicious and uncooperative.

Add this to the depravations of decades by the ATF (now a subsidiary of the DoJ, which controls the FBI).
Add this to the execution of a CCW guy outside a Costco by the local 5-0
Add this to the Canton Ohio patrolman threatening to promote himself to an angry, roidy, version of Judge Dredd (and Stallone was pretty roidy...)
Add this to the serial molesters at the TSA, not even kissing us first before having their way with us.

At the very least, the FBI should be concerned about their carefully cultivate PR going down the terlet.  Why aren't the honest FBI types up in arms over this fiasco?  If I were them I'd offer up a few scapegoats in the Bureau, including the AG, and then sell the majority of the ATF down the river just to preserve my rep.  If I was an FBI cynic, at least. 

NPR books

JayG's meme (or I saw it there first).  Highlight the ones you have read, in bold.  And now you have a shopping list.  Red ones are ones at the top of the queue that I need to rectify, purchase-wise.  Should probably add more Vonnegut and Bradbury, too.  The ones in blue I'll avoid for various stated reasons.  32 read on the list.  A third.  I am 33% NPR totebag drone that doesn't pledge donations.  The gummint took care of my NPR 'donations' from me.

The NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels with the ones I have read in bold:

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin (on TV)  
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan (too rapey)
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell (don't need to read, absorbed via cultural osmosis) 
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (tried and failed) 
 21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (feminist dystopian wish fulfillment and how they see all conservatives, methinks) 
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (tried and failed) 
 31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams  (tried and failed) 
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey (tried and failed) 
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley (tried and failed)   
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson  
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven 45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien (tried and failed) 
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven  Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind (or is this the rape-y one?)
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks (tried and failed) 
 68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe  
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven  Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Panic!

So I lived through a SHOCKING earthquake yesterday on the 4th floor of my office building.  Impressive.

I went on vacation a couple weeks ago.  It was a camping trip, so I had a full truck of Bug Out Bag with me, and I took out the regular BoB before I left.  Thing is, I hadn't put it back in the truck...

Yesterday I pounded in a post that was loose and helping prop up a young dogwood tree.  I took the 4 pound sledge I use for tent stakes and emergency egress out of my truck to do this chore.  Thing is, I hadn't put it back in the truck after...

I was thinking of these things as I went down the stairs to flee our office building.  25 miles from my BoB bag and sledge.

Dammit.

I have corrected this oversight.  Now.  After the horses have left the barn I closed the barn door.

One of the things I like about this area is we don't get many natural disasters like out west.  No mudslides, volcanoes, fires, tsunamis, droughts, earthquakes...  The occasional hurricane.  Well this week we get a 5.9 tremblor and this weekend the hurricane might pass overhead.

EARTHQUAKE

Tragedy

People get shot all the time.

Bad guys shoot at bad guys.  Bad guys shoot at good guys and good guys shoot back.  Either cops, or citizen good guy. 

Have you notice that cops will sometime shoot a bad guy that doesn't need to get shot (oops), or shoot 300 bullets at a bad guy and none of them hit said bad guy? 

And when bad guys shoot at other bad guy innocent bystanders seem to catch a bullet with some fredquency?

I find it odd that you rarely hear a story about a cop's profligate use of lead slinging rarely hits uninvolved parties, but it seems you can't open a newspaper without seeing a story of a bad guy's bullet finding the toddler.  It just seems like an odd sort of tragedy.  I wonder why?  At least it seems that way.  I rarely see stories about a stray bullet of a cop hitting some kid 3 blocks away from the action.

Oh sure, the bad guys aren't known for their marksmanship or adherence to the 4 Rules.  But cops aren't always shining through with stellar feats of accuracy.  Perhaps cops are just more atuned to #4 "be aware of your target and what is behind it" and such precautions are of no concern to bad guys.  But that doesn't seem right.

More causation could probably point to: bad guys readily shoot their guns more than cops, I think.  So more chance of hitting uninvolved parties in various violent disputes.

It's still a horrible tragedy when a kid takes a round.

Z

World War Z update.  

Pictures from the set.

Comet Intercept

 This is just another RoMERO ops to head an outbreak off at the pass. Rosetta and Elenin and Apophis. Hush hush intercepts planned.  Don't tell anyone.

Why?  Comets are a known source of Zombism.  Duh.  We've discussed this before.



And Elenin?  Like eLenin?  Electronic Lenin.  So it might be a commie comet rather than a zombie comet.  Either way, it must be destroyed before it destroys us.

History's Greatest Monster

I remember when Jimmy Carter was attacked by that rabbit.  I was made to understand, then, that the President was in a canoe.  Turns out that wasn't the case, but I can be excused as they didn't release any pictures, back then, to my knowledge. 

It was a dory.

If president Obama get's attacked by something at Martha's Vineyard, I am imagining it will be a horseshoe crab.  He'll look silly fending off the prehistoric beastie, but not as bad as Jimmy did.  That's my guess.

Co-Worker Question

"My wife has never shot a gun in her life.  I want to take her to the pistol range.  I don't want her to be scared by something powerful, but I don't want her to fire something incredibly weak so as to disillusion her about the capability of firearms.  What's a nice middle ground 'first' gun for her to shoot with."

Wow.  Talk about a softball question.

So you want to take the Missus shooting with a minimum of fuss and trauma and a maximum of fun and suchlike.  Sounds like you either have a .22 pistol, but don't want that to be the only clown at the rodeo.  Well, I recommend two things...

Take her to an outdoor shooting range.  The great outdoors is prettier, less claustrophobic, and the sound dissipates better.  Especially for a first timer.  Less boomy-jumpy echos off the walls.  Brighter.  You can see grass while you shoot.  Unless it is gawdawful hot out it's a more pleasant experience all around.

Second, I recommend taking one of 2 types of guns along.  This is the same recommendation and practice that a trainer I took classes with does.  When he takes a first timer to the range he doesn't bother with a .22.  He brings a full size police type service pistol.  Something like a Glock 17 (9mm) or one of the  other various plastic glock-types, or a regular .38 revolver.  A Smith and Wesson model 10 for example.  These shoot Goldilocks loads, the 9mm and .38.  Not to hard, not too soft.  And out of a full size pistol there is enough mass to make the recoil gentler, too.  They aren't weak, by any means, and are a serious round, but they aren't a handful to control, either, and well within the comfort zone of anyone that agrees to go to the range in the first place.

If they ARE too much for the n00bie, well, you can fall back on that .22 and they will still have fun and be comfortable. 

Social Disease

Social Disease? Like SOCIALISM?

Sure she LOOKS clean but... OK she doesn't look that clean.

(Gun content?  It says SNIPER, right there.)

muppets

Combat

American law originates from British Common Law.  Specifically Common Law before we split from them.  1776 and all that.   It's where the 2nd Amendment comes from and a right to defend yourself.  But after 1776, our jurisprudence system was evolving along its own path.

Britain didn't overturn trial by combat until after we declared independence.  No American court has really addressed it.  Ergo, trial by combat may still be legitimate under U.S. Law.  Thoughts?

Will the Miranda warning change to, "You have the right to speak to an attorney or to request trial by combat."

Bachman and Zombies

Michelle Bachman is campaign promising $2 a gallon gas, and National Review is unsure about how she might go about achieving that, even with the vast powers the President of the United States has.  Herman Cain's promise of 5% GDP growth is more realistic.

From the post, quote:

The only policies I can think of that would surely accomplish the $2.00 a gallon target are:

1) The seizure by force and nationalized exploitation of a large proportion of the world’s oil supply.
2) The massive federal subsidization of fuel costs.
3) The fomenting of a second global recession as bad as or worse than the last one, complete with negative global GDP growth. 

Am I missing something?

Yes, you are missing something.

4) Allow a Level 4 outbreak to occur worldwide.  Zombies don't drive cars, so demand will fall significantly if 5 billion people are infected.

That would do the trick.  Zombies don't destroy drilling and refining facilities, either.  Just keep a cadre of skilled workers to operate the plants from getting killed or infected and we're set in the gas price department.

Alternatively, Bachman may be promising '$2 gas' and not '$2 a gallon gas' and is intending to go full Carter on us and make us use the vastly inferior Metric System and sell us $2 a liter gas.   Which may be cheaper, I don't know.  It's the damn Metric System!

I don't know which is more monstrous, the Zombie outbreak, or "Carter's Folly," the Metric System.  The gram, weighs as much as a simple raisin.  About as much as a paper clip, now isn't that amazin'!  PAH!

Apocalypse Chow

Found this book, on vacation. Apocalypse Chow.

It was written by a guy that lived in hurricane prone eastern coastal areas the past 15 years. So he and his missus got a belly full of power outages. After the first disruption, he and his old lady got really tired of eating peanut butter crackers and drinking wine. When the power was on, they were gourmands. Foodies. They were accustomed to a certain high level of culinary delight. They vowed, never again. They'd be ready for the next power outage. And they were able to test their new menus because Mother Nature obliged with a few more storms in the past 15 years or so.

It's not about surviving the disruption. The book is about thriving, for at least a time, with strategies and menus.

For instance, go through the fresh produce first. The freezer will thaw next, so cook up all that next. Ooo, and have a simple one burner stove independent of the grid. Next up are recipes for a 4 people for 5 days on a mostly canned-heavy larder that fits in one 12 bottle wine box. The author notes that it'd also fit in one of those rubbermaid bins. A second companion bin was required for incidentals, breakfasts, snacks, and most importantly... spices. Hunger makes the best sauce, but I'd rather make sauce-sauce before I get too hungry if I can help it.

The disadvantage? He's a vegetarian, so precious little canned bacon and, my favorite, corned BEEF hints and tips.  And since I am a carnivore... it's a book of recipes of stuff that my FOOD eats.

Coming Soon...

... to a theater near you...

World War Z.

Filming has started on the Brad Pitt vehicle in Glasgow.  Looks like a 2012 release.

I just bought one of these.

I have the carry on size luggage version of a Pelican case for the rare times I wanna fly (which will be rarer still until TSA gets fixed.)

You know what else they make?  Rifle cases. 1750 model.

Oh sure, they SAY camera case, but look at the picture that also goes with it.

Yeah... long thin cameras.  Loud cameras.

Also useful for air travel if you want to take a rifle.  You have to check it in baggage, and be able to lock the firearm in a hard sided case.  Voila.

Now the next question...  The foam is a 3 layer sandwich.  Presumably, you carve a cut out in the middle layer to custom fit it to your rifle.  Or you can eschew the middle layer all together if you don't anticipate a lot of jostling.  What to do, what to do? 

They are a bit spendy, but I got mine on sale for even less than the linked item's price.  If I go to Northcoast, I may as well test it out. Ooo, the price was closer to this one.

Metrocon Goes Shooting

A friendly Metrocon, not so unfamiliar anymore.




First time EVAH. You'd expect as much from a DC native, even though he is a conservative.

Golly, I like the NRA range.



I don't remember Mr Geraghty at Pittburg...

Less Metro all the time

Anti gun control is still surging in the periodical once known as the MetroCon Fortnightly (MetronCon == otherwise conservatives that grew up in the suburbs or city, where guns are thought about less, so their position is often neutral/ambivalent or hostile to the 2nd A.)

A piece on James Q. Wilson.

A Regulation for the Regulators

From FY11 NDAA Sec 106, a posted clarification that my brother in the Navy noted.

I highlight an important bit from the document

Under Section 1062 oft he Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, the Department of Defense (DoD) shall not prohibit, regulate, or collect or record any information relating to the otherwise lawful ownership of a privately owned firearm or other weapon by a member of the Anned Forces or. DoD civilian employee on property that is not a military installation or DoD property. The law further requires that not later than 90 days after the date of enactment, DoD shall destroy any such existing record. There are exceptions to the new requirements, including: non-applicability in foreign countries; actions related to official duties; law enforcement and adjudication records; and records of fact finding regarding matters indicating a possible past, present, or future violation of law, including matters related to whether a member of the Anned Forces constitutes a threat to self or others. This memorandum is to clarify that this new law does not require changes to ongoing DoD programs and activities regarding suicide prevention, domestic violence, child protection, day care screening, sexual assault response, school counseling, and similar activities; that these matters are within the exceptions in the statute.

Translation:  Cut that crap out. No General, it is not your business to know about your troopers' off base guns.

Good for them for trying to keep their heads out of their posteriors.  Just because you defend the Constitution does mean the bosses in your Chain of Command get to violate it willy nilly.

And...

I'm back. Posting should resume it's normal character. So... what's been happening in the world?

Did they ever fix that deficit ceiling thing they were working on when I left for the wilderness?

Is my favorite GOP candidate T-Paw surging in the polls?

Did that ATF Gunrunner thing getted sorted out satisfactorilarily?

All quiet overseas?

Kipling

Four things greater than all things are
Women and Horses and Power and War.

--

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,
To call upon a neighbor and to say:
"We invaded you last night - we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away." 

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

 

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away." 

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say: 

"We never pay any one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost,
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"

--

"Asia is not going to be civilized after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old."

--

"All the people like us are We, and everyone else is They." 

--

"We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse."

 

Staph of Life

Liquid Bread

Proof that God loves us.

Rat

This movie came out in the summer of '87.



I entered the VTCC new cadet system soon after.  The upperclassmen were inspired.  I refrained from calling any of them an asshole or holing up in the head at 3 AM with a Springfield '03.

Tech Triumph

Attention to announcements.   The eating order will be.  Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta.  Report.

Ugh.

O'dark thirty was always too early for this sorta thing.

Bread

I've done this and it IS remarkably easy to get a really nice loaf.  I can't recommend it enough.

Book Binder

Linotype

My great grandfather was a linotype machinist.

Modern Wonders

Wood Burner

I am intrigued and want a car or truck that runs on seasoned firewood.  This is a WWII era one, but guys are making them and attaching them to their El Camino or F150.  Regular internal combustion engine (I'm sure some slight modifications are needed...) but with a different fuel source.  The combustibles given off form 'charcoal making.'  It'd be a great vehicle to keep at a retreat as a spare to run errands. 

BAR History

M1 Garand Field Strip

Tradespeople of Williamsburg

Watchmaking

More CD

Geiger Counter

Woo boy, real ones are expensive.

Bomb Shelter

A gun?  In your shelter?