Author Archives: Joe

Quote of the day—Anonymous Reader

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The National Rifle Association (NRA) is the flagship organization of the gun crazies. It claims to be an organization of law-abiding Americans who are doing more than defending their Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms. However, the truth about the NRA is far from benign; the truth is frightening. They are a group of sociopaths with a clear agenda: unlimited gun proliferation at all costs, human and otherwise. They have not one iota of human compassion or feeling; their devotion to their implements of death knows no bounds.

Anonymous Reader
July 26, 2001
The Terrible Truth About Gun Owners
[Imagine what they think “the government should do” about “a group of sociopaths” with “not one iota of human compassion or feeling”.

These are very dangerous people.—Joe]

Boomerite testing

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This weekend Barb and I did some testing for a new Boomerite recipe. We ground up some Styrofoam peanuts in the blender. We blended the Ammonium Nitrate until it was a fine powder. Then we used the usual masses of the AN, Potassium Chlorate, and Ethylene Glycol. We added about a cup and a half of the ground Styrofoam and mixed it all together.

The result looked like this:

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That is 300 grams of the mixture which nearly fills the 4”x4”x2” box. It takes 400 grams of conventional Boomerite for the same volume. The hope was that the finer particle size of the AN would result in a more rapid and complete chemical reaction. The AN is usually in prill form. When finely ground it does not detonate easily.

Our hypothesis is that the prills create air gaps and the supersonic shockwave from the bullet compresses the air which heats the chemicals to the required temperature for detonation.

The hypothesis being tested was that the Styrofoam would supply the “air gaps” and enable the detonation in the usual fashion.

As you might expect for the last day of November it was a bit on the cool side at Boomershoot Mecca. Barb’s clothing confirms that suspicion:

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We took the test and control targets to the Boomershoot site and shot them with Stinger 22LR from 23 yards away. The two out of two conventional Boomerite targets detonated with a single hit. Zero out of six of the Styrofoam “enhanced” targets detonated. I then tried shooting them with 55 grain FMJ .223 American Eagle ammo from 23 yards away. Two out of ten detonated. Many of the others were “smokers”. They were close to detonating but weren’t quite over the threshold.

Barb finished off the four remaining conventional Boomerite targets with one shot each.

There are some other tests we could do along the same line. It could be we had too low a density. Packing the targets some might make a difference. We also have some hard polystyrene pellets (used for stuffing dolls, etc.) that might replace the prills. But I’m concerned they would not be consumed in the reaction and would be scattered all over the field. I expect the ground Styrofoam would just be fuel for the excess oxygen in our Boomerite mix and we wouldn’t have to worry about the potential for litter.

Brunch at Tam’s Place*

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Barb and I went to Idaho this weekend and as we were leaving the area on Sunday we had brunch at Tam’s Place in Pullman (Washington) with daughter Kim and Jacob.

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I had a bacon and cheese omelet. I was impressed. The inside was mostly bacon with only enough cheese to fill in the gaps. I opted for the French toast on the side. I could have had hash browns or regular toast. I really liked the meal.

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Kim and Jacob seemed to enjoy their meals:

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Barb had eggs benedict and said it was marginal.

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* No. Not that Tam. But that is what I wanted you to think with the title.

A changed mind

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Via email from Lou Gagliardi I received links to the following Tweets of theirs with the comment, “There, go ahead and have a field day”.

I’m having a difficult time imagining how or why anyone would transform them into a “field day” but here they are:

 

 

 

 

For more background see these posts of mine about the same person:

Quote of the day—rich roberts ‏@boris3324

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@linoge_wotc keep telling yourself that. #NRAdicklesswonders

rich roberts ‏@boris3324
Tweeted on May 16, 2013
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday via a Tweet from Linoge!

This was in response to:

Linoge @linoge_wotc

I see your mind is fabricating delusions for you to comfort yourself in. Good, considering #guncontrol‘s history of failure. @boris3324

—Joe]

Quote of the day—Anonymous

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A gun has no other purpose than to kill. It appear to me that the right to bear arms transcends the right of school children’s right to live. As long as the public are allowed to own weapons of local destruction children’s lives will be in danger. Make ALL ownership of guns a capital offence.

Anonymous
Comment to Would a ban on guns reduce crime in the U.S.?
[Simple solutions from simple minds.—Joe]

Quote of the day—The Responsive Communitarian Platform

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There is, however, one measure sure to gain monumental benefits in the short run. It is politically nearly impossible to take, otherwise low-cost and very effective.

…

What is needed is domestic disarmament. This is the policy of practically all other Western democracies, from Canada to Britain to Germany, from France to Scandinavia. Domestic disarmament entails the removal of arms from private hands and, ultimately, from much of the police force.

The Responsive Communitarian Platform
November 18, 1991
THE CASE FOR DOMESTIC DISARMAMENT
[From the dark ages of gun ownership.

Low cost? The cost would be incalculable.

Effective? At what? The only thing I can see it being effective at is mobilizing people to “recall” (one way or another) all the politicians foolish enough to support it.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Rabbi Michael Lerner

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Banning all guns is necessary but NOT sufficient in light of the increasing violence in our society.

Rabbi Michael Lerner
December 15, 2012
Banning Guns Is Necessary But Not Sufficient
[The Rabbi should check his numbers on the “increasing violence”. Then he should talk to the good folks at JPFO.—Joe]

Shiny

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I recently purchased some Hornady One Shot Sonic Clean Solution (currently on clearance at Midway USA). This is only for cleaning brass, not gun parts in general.

I put a bunch of dirty, deprimed, brass in the sonic cleaner with the solution diluted 40:1 with water and let it run for 30 minutes while stirring every six minutes or so. The result is quite pleasing:

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The interior of the brass and even the primer pockets are shiny clean. This is faster than using the tumbler with corncob media and gets the interior clean as well as the exterior.

Quote of the day—Ed Koch

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When Washington, D.C., passed a law that nobody could have a gun except law enforcement and it was struck down by the United States Supreme Court, that we should overrule the Supreme Court with a Constitutional amendment. I don’t believe that in our society that we should have guns.

Ed Koch
Former New York City Mayor
January 13, 2013
Ex-NYC mayor: Ban all guns
[ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ.—Joe]

Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer

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I bought this printer when I got my first computer in May of 1984. It’s nearly the identical age as my son James. And, appropriately, I stored it in James’ closet for many years before he moved out. From my discussion with him last night that was a bit of a sore point with him over the years. He told me he frequently uses the story about the printer in his closet of an example of me being a packrat or something. I’m not sure why he would think it is evidence of that but whatever.

As I was unpacking in my new Clock Tower residence I came to the printer and decided it was time for it to go to the great recycling pile in the sky. But it was painful. It still looks to be in pretty good shape. Barb L. offered to try selling it for me which eased the pain some.

She has a bid of $50 for it! Amazing.

EpsonPrinter

Ammo by the pound

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This could be a good deal for a lot of uses. Ammo by the pound. Think of this as “shelf sweepings”.

“Black Friday” only and the limited quantities will disappear fast.

Via email from Eric the AmmoMan, who said in part:

we’re doing something kind of cool for Friday related to loose-pack ammo— lots of it. Basically, we’ve sorted out any rounds where the boxes have been damaged so we’ll have ammo for dirt-cheap (For example – 2100 rounds of .22 delivered in an ammo can for $99).

You can see all the details and calibers we’ll have in stock here:

http://www.ammoman.com/ammo-by-the-pound

If you think it’s worth sharing, the ammo will be put “in-stock” on Friday morning at midnight.  We’re limiting each caliber to one per customer since it is kind of a unique deal and we want to help as many shooters as possible.

Quote of the day—Thomas Sowell

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President Obama really has a way with words, such as calling the problems that millions of people have had trying to sign up for ObamaCare “glitches.” When the Titanic sank, was that a “glitch”?

Thomas Sowell
November 26, 2013
Random Thoughts
[The government has said the website will be fixed by December 1, just four days from now. That will not be the case. The keel of that ship is broken and it’s headed for the bottom of the ocean. As I have been privately telling Barb L. they did not build the web site with security in mind. They tried to put security in as an afterthought.

Security as an afterthought is like attempting to put brakes on a car after it has been purchased. You end up with solutions like throwing a boat anchor out a window and holding on to the rope really tight. When it fails they put gloves in the car and tell you to use them when holding the rope.—Joe]

Ignorance and bias

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The headline is “Police find 5 guns, large ammo stash in George Zimmerman’s home.” The text of the article says, “police found five guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition in the house.”

“Large ammo stash”?

When I buy either components for reloading ammo or completed ammo I consider 100 “sample size”. When reloading, unless I’m doing load development, the smallest batch of anything is 100.

100 rounds isn’t enough for an ordinary morning pistol match. When at a match I carry close to that many (typically about 85) rounds in the magazines on my belt. I could easily burn through that in a two minutes of practice. A single ammo can holds about 1000 rounds of .40 S&W and I have several cans in my gun room. A year ago I bought 4000 rounds of .22 LR (yeah, great timing!) which I could probably have stored in my coat pockets.

If I’m down to 100 units of any type of ammo I consider that “out” and time to restock.

Ignorance or bias by the reporter? Ignorance and bias?

It depends on how I feel

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Yesterday I posted some screen clippings of Tweets by @lougagliardi. Today I received these Tweets directed at me from them:

.@JoeHuffman hates free speech. He hates people that disagree with him. Why is he so angry? what is he trying to compensate for?

— Me (@lougagliardi) November 26, 2013

interesting that @JoeHuffman believes the screenshots of a pro-gun, transphobic bigot without actual links to anything. should sue for libel

— Me (@lougagliardi) November 26, 2013

 

This gave me flashbacks and other symptoms of mild PTSD from years of dealing with someone with mental health issues. @lougagliardi lives in an alternate universe where they imagine I have written things that have no basis in our reality.

If I hated free speech, in particular speech by @lougagliardi, why would I posted their Tweets? Where is the evidence I hate free speech?

Where have I said @lougagliardi should be sued for libel or anything for that matter?

@lougagliardi either imagines I have said things I have not or believes they can read my mind and spectacularly fails when they attempt to do so. I can feel the anxiety rise up as the flashbacks occur of these same things happening to me before.

All that remains to complete the connection to interactions I once had with someone else with mental health issues is to ask, “What is the process by which you determine truth from falsity?” And their reply being, conclusively confirming the mental health issues, “It depends on how I feel.”

Quote of the day—Richard C Suquer

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As you can see, any reasonable person would support the banning of all guns. It is time we put these gun-toting extremists in jail where they belong!

Richard C Suquer
November 7, 2001
Ban All Guns Now!
[I could almost believe this post was satire but not quite. Here are some more choice quotes from the same post:

It all goes back to an obscure centuries-old document called the “Constitution of the United States of America.”

…

Many right-wing members of today’s United States have interpreted this amendment to mean that every citizen has the right to “keep and bear arms.” Absurd? Perhaps. But uneducated people in our society (such as members of Congress) can still be fooled into believing this absurdity.

…

Suppose a person breaks into your house at night and attacks you with a knife. Now, according to the right-wing point of view, you would be justified in shooting him with the gun you keep hidden under your pillow.

However, it is impossible to truly understand the circumstances leading up to this person’s breaking into your house. Perhaps he is a minority. Maybe he was made fun of in school for being a homosexual. He is probably poor. Knowing these facts, how can you, an upper middle class exploiter, be justified in ending this man’s life? The answer is: you can’t.

In fact this man is homeless and was merely looking for some food to feed his starving family. By killing him in so-called self-defense you are no better than a common murderer.

…

Imagine the typical day of the white male hunter:

The hunter gets up early, before daybreak. While shaving, he cuts his face. He tastes the blood and it is good. His desire for the prey has become sexual.

Later that morning, the hunter enters the forest with his phallic firearm, and stalks the great horned beast. He sees one innocently drinking water from a stream, and raises his phallus-gun to his shoulder. Pulling the trigger he releases his sperm-bullet into the innocent mammal. But rather than life, his sperm-bullet spreads death.

I have to conclude people like this have a mental illness.–Joe]

And another thing that made me angry

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Thinking back to the dark ages of the ‘94 Assault Weapon ban today reminded me of some other things that upset me at the time. There were numerous court challenges to the law. One of the most frustrating things about the disposition of these cases were that the government would say, in essence, “We haven’t prosecuted anyone under this law so you don’t have standing to challenge it.” I recall (but cannot find a quote) Attorney General Janet “Butcher of Waco” Reno saying that they had no intent of enforcing the law either. Hence the courts dismissed the challenges. Here is one such case.

My interpretation of it was that this they knew they would lose in court and were deliberately preventing us from proving they had overstepped their Constitutional limits.

They lie. They can’t help themselves

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Over at Sebastian’s he talks about the distortion of the language by the anti-gun people. In specific the attempt to change the meaning of the phrase “well regulated militia” from “well functioning” to “government regulated”. And how it upset him when he found out about it:

I went through most of the Clinton years not understanding how the Assault Weapons Ban was even remotely constitutional, and wondering why nothing was done about it. When I found out, I became angry.

It was just a few minutes ago when I was having lunch with Barb L. I told her about Speaker of the House Tom Foley losing his seat over the AWB. At about that same time she was a Washington State lobbyist and generally pretty plugged into Washington State politics. But she didn’t understand how he lost his seat.

I explained it was because of the AWB and there were two things that really, really pissed us off above and beyond the ban itself.

One was they called the ban “Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act”. It’s a firearms use protection act that bans guns? They lie. It’s what they do. They can’t help themselves.

And the other was that Foley kept the voting open for several minutes after the stated voting period had expired. The bill failed but by keeping the voting open they got people to change their votes until they had enough for passage. He then closed the voting. The video of him doing that was incredible propaganda for the pro-gun side during his election that fall. Foley became the first sitting Speaker of the House to lose his bid for re-election since Galusha Grow in 1862.

If the gun owners his district in Eastern Washington could have gotten away with it I’m sure you could have sold thousands of tickets to use a horse whip on him.

Russian commentators on U.S. gun rights

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Russian political commentators seem to have a better handle on some aspects of U.S. politics and human psychology in general than do U.S. commentators:

Who is stronger, the gun lobby or the president? The answer is – of course, the gun lobby.

…

Obama came up with his gun violence reduction plan after last year’s mass shooting drama in a Connecticut primary school. Immediately, gun sales shot up. Leading US firearms manufacturers – Ruger, Smith&Wesson, and Remignton – reported a 40-50 sales increase. So, Obama virtually did his opponents from the National Rifle Association (NRA) a big favor, said Valery Garbuzov, deputy head of the Institute for US and Canadian Studies in Moscow.

“Whenever people learn that there might soon be a shortage of some goods or other, they rush to buy things they would never have bought under usual circumstances. That same with guns. Obama’s plan triggered an adverse reaction. I think that it was a poorly calculated move,” he told the Voice of Russia.

My first gun was purchased because of President Clinton and the impending “Assault Weapon Ban” of 1994. Numerous other people I know became gun owners for almost identical reasons. Obama is a better gun salesman than Clinton. We’ll be reaping the rewards from Obama’s efforts to ban guns for at least a decade.

Which U.S. political commentators are talking about this? Our opponents just keep urging the politicians to, indirectly, sell more guns. The more gun owners there are the more firmly entrenched the right to keep and bear arms becomes.

This is what they think of you

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Via a Tweet from Linoge:

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After you grasp the fact that this person regards gun owners as “murderers who hate children” think about what the next step is. What is the normal disposition of “murderers who hate children”?

My conclusion is that this person wants people who exercise the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arm in prison or executed. And just what does someone like this think of people who defend Second Amendment? My speculation is they are hostile to the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments as well as the Second.

These are very, very dangerous people.

Update: Linoge emailed me more tweets from this person. Imagine if they were saying these things about blacks, Jews, or gays. It reinforces my conclusion that these are very dangerous people.

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