Author Archives: Lyle

Your Safety and the Rights of People You Hate

Posted on by

This started as a comment to this post of Joe’s, but Joe has told me not to bury so much in comments.


Getting to basics; rights (or equal rights) have a long history of being extremely unpopular.  The American Founders knew this. They knew our rights would be constantly under attack, and tried as they could to protect them.


I spent some time, during the Cold War, listening to Radio Moscow, Radio Havana, and several other English broadcasts from not-so-friendly countries.  These programs were aimed at Americans, and attempted to malign, impugn, and smear the capitalist, libertarian ideals upon which the U.S. is founded.  The people they had as speakers were extremely good at sounding like your favorite, American-born uncle.  Very nice, well spoken, friendly, and (drum roll) they sounded exactly like today’s more reasonable sounding pundits of the American Left.


The posted quote instantly reminded me of listening to Radio Moscow back in the day, except that it is much more vitriolic than the Soviet broadcasts.


Yes; the protection of rights makes many more things possible, however, a potentiality is not actuality.  One of those things made possible by rights protection is a prosperous, dynamic society in which people can live their lives and pursue their dreams without looking over their shoulders all the time wondering when and why they might get arrested, fined, audited, stopped at a checkpoint, harassed with no recourse, et al.  Without rights protection, that vibrant society is impossible, mainly because doing less makes you safer from the above harassment, doing more makes you a target, and doing far more, and being good at it makes you the target…at some point Atlas shrugs.


As for the safety that the left pretends it wants to force on all of us;
Just as a matter of general practicality, are you safer with your rights protected, or without?  “Safe from what” would be the next question, or “from whom”?  As we’re discussing “safety” in the public arena, keep in mind the question of whether your and your neighbor’s rights are safe.


Human rights protection means that, no matter who you are, a lot of people are going to be doing a things that you absolutely hate, but are perfectly legal anyway.  A lot of other people are going to hate what you’re doing too, but they won’t be able to stop you without committing a crime of some sort.  That’s what it means, People.  It means all the good things that go along with liberty, but it also means you have to actually be tolerant, along with being tolerated, and not just talk about tolerance to make yourself look good in public forums.


Try this mind experiment, next time you see or think of someone or some activity that you hate, or that someone else hates.  Ask yourself; “who’s rights are they violating, or trying to violate?”  That’s a very clarifying and even liberating question.  If the answer is “no one’s” then move along.  Nothing to see there.  It’s time to dig in and start minding your own business, and hopefully you’ll have the freedom to mind your own business without someone trying to mind it for you.


ETA; I was once in a very long debate with my communist brother-in-law.  He was reciting the litany [as he saw it] of horrible, evil things that Wal Mart [a big target because they do so much so well] had done over the years.  When I asked that magic question; “Who’s rights are they violating?” he shut right the hell up.  In his mind I was just “tricking” him with clever rhetoric, but in fact he had never considered rights in his extensive evaluations of Wal Mart [or, presumably, in most other areas of consideration].  Again, I blame education [or what used to be referred to as Soviet propaganda] for the mass ignorance with regard to America’s Promise.

It Bears Repeating

Posted on by

A kind, compassionate, thoughtful, responsible, caring member of Congress, looking out for the rights of “the little guy” interacts with his beloved constituents;





Is it an isolated incident, or part of a culture that has metastasized throughout the halls of American government?  Little do we know that often we are actors in a grand play, the script being many thousands of years old.


All the guy had to do was answer the question; “Well, he is our president, but I can’t imagine I would “totally” support any administration.  That’s a bit of a stretch, son.  Now if you’ll excuse me…”


“Course then, the kid might have asked; “You don’t totally support Obama?  So you hate black people then, right?  You just can’t stand the thought of a black man in the Whitehouse?”  That’s probably what our good Congressweasel feared.


At a little over 400 thousand views on Youtube, last I checked, I figure it’s not near enough.


HT to Say Uncle and Snarkybites

‘Get the Hell Out of Palestine’…

Posted on by

…says Helen Thomas to the Jews in Israel.


Doug Powers posted it.  I’m amplifying it.  Watch the video.  Helen Thomas is one of the most revered journalists in all of Leftopia.  She’s been in the front row at Whitehouse press conferences since the Grant administration, and she’ll be there, just as revered, at the next one.


Let’s see; it’s been nearly 10 years since I began linking the motivations and goals of the jihadists with those of the American and European left.  In examining the various “peace talks” between Israel and Hamas, et al, brokered by American presidents, keep that in mind.

Nervous Cops Make Me Nervous

Posted on by

I got pulled over today for having studded tires.  No big deal there.  I’ve been meaning to change them out, but it seems I always had something else to occupy my attention.  Besides; it wasn’t but a few weeks ago I needed them up in the mountains.  We had snow right here in mid May too.


Strangely, the cop asks me if I have any guns in the vehicle.  This has never happened to me before in Idaho, and only once in Washington, in all my nearly 40 years of driving, even though I usually have a bandolier of .30-30 ammo hanging on the headrest for all the world to see.


“Well, yeah.  Certainly.”


“Where are they.”


“Let’s see.  I have to think about this.  There’s an AR in the back seat, a 9 mm pistol in the back seat, and one on my hip.  For which I have a permit” I added.  (I’d forgotten about the Mark II auto pistol in its soft case on the front seat)  That’s about the minimum.  I usually have more guns with me, because sometimes I like to go shooting after work.


“Oh,  alright” he says.  Now, I would have been glad to show him the permit, but he didn’t ask.  He just walked back to his cruiser.  I figured he didn’t much care and would rather proceed checking my record and writing up the ticket.  Wrong!  Fail!


He was back there forEVER.  I’ve never had a stop take half this long.  Eventually a second cruiser shows up, and the second cop gets out and has a LONG conversation with the first one.  I’m really beginning to wonder what they could possibly be discussing.  Who do they think I am?  What do they think I’ve done?  WFT?  I have no record, my driving record is pristine.  Man, studs in June must be one hell of a big deal!


By now I can feel the adrenaline coming on, ’cause both cops are approaching my pickup, one on either side, cautiously, like they are afraid I’m going to start shooting any second, or like they’re getting ready to make an arrest of an “armed suspect”.  I’m half expecting to see a SWAT van tear around the corner at this point, they way they’re acting.


Understand that this whole time I was nothing but peaches and cream, putting forth my most polite and straight-forward mannerism, and keeping my hands on the wheel or in full view every second.


Turns out they “had a hard time finding [my] carry permit” in my home town in Washington.  Several years ago, the rules were changed such that you now must apply for your permit, and any renewals, in your home town police dept., and apparently they had a hard time getting hold of my local guys, or my local guys had a hard time keeping their records straight.  I don’t know which, but several of these fellows need a little talkin’ to.


For one thing, if I were a real threat, would I have declared the pistol on my hip?  I think not.  Yet these guys never did relax.  Not even after everything was cleared up.  They were polite and all, but wow– very nervous, and it seemed the more I tried to be all polite and accommodating and chatty, the more nervous they got.  The first guy is the only one I spoke with, and he acted plenty nice and all.  No complaint there.


For another thing; really, if you are so risk averse that you have to call for backup because I have guns just like most people around here, maybe you should be in another line of work.  I know it’s tough, but that requires a certain personality and the understanding that sometimes shit happens and that you’re willing to accept the risks.  We all do that for example every time we get behind the wheel.  Lots of people we know have been is serious vehicle accidents, but we’re not at DefCon One all the time, like these two cops were today.  For another; my family name is something of a local institution here in Moscow.  We’ve had a downtown business here, right next door to the cop shop, since 1990, and in this town since 1978.  Our ads have been on the radio here every day.  For years.  My name is the name of the business.  This is a small town.  If you’re afraid of me you must be afraid of your own shadow.  Besides, if you REALLY believe in the second amendment, you wouldn’t be worried about whether I have a permit to exercise my rights, except as a formality or an afterthought.


Now I know more what it must be like to be caught “driving while black”.  “Driving while armed” can be much the same, even in Idaho it seems.


Now I don’t want to hear from anyone about how tough the cop job is, or about how many cops get into dangerous situations as fast as lightening.  I know.  Sorry.  You know that when you apply.  There are those who can handle it, those who probably shouldn’t be there, and others who just need a little talkin’ to once in a while, to keep them on track.  These two were just a bit off track, and it Does.  Not.  Help.  Anything.


That being said; I was pulled over by ID State Police a few months ago, for not signaling a lane change, and he was cool as a cucumber.  No ticket.  Just wanted to talk about it and check the equipment.  Huge contrast.

Opposing Gun Control

Posted on by

I want to expand on a comment made here, since Joe often says I shouldn’t bury certain things in comments.  I’m never really sure what he means by that, so I can only give it a go;


The citizens have been declared incompetent.  Posing a danger to themselves and others, they cannot be entrusted with their basic rights.  That is, in a nutshell, the entire message of the left, and they call us hateful, racist and divisive.


 


It’s really simple; in their efforts to rob us of our treasure and trample our rights, they have to portray us as evil by way of justification and to rally others to their side.  That’s the whole gig, right there.


 


In opposing them, always keep that in mind.  When you cut right to the chase with the basics, there’s nothing for them to do but express outrage, kicking and screaming, pointing fingers and lying in the hope that we’ll be distracted off-subject, that we’ll embarrass ourselves with a reply in-kind or be intimidated into silence.  Maintain your course and composure, argue principles, and they lose every time.  This takes practice.


 


Remember that this is not about the person, or the people, making the argument.  If this or that person weren’t making the silly assertions, it would be someone else.  “It” will always find a willing accomplice.  You’re not fighting the person or the group of people on the attack.  You’re fighting the urge toward theft and coercive power.  That urge feeds on weakness, and can infect a lot of people.

The Bigger the Government…

Posted on by

…the Smaller the Citizen.


I heard that saying from Dennis Prager the other day, and it stuck.  Turns out you can buy the bumper sticker here.  Go there and watch the video too.  It’s nicely done.


Speaking of freedom; I just had a nice conversation with a pro freedom (which makes him an enemy of the state, I guess) candidate for the Idaho state legislature.  We talked while he was standing outside a local business handing out pamphlets.  I mostly asked questions.  First was; “What’s your political philosophy?”  I’ve hit others with the same question, and it stumps them a bit every time (strange, don’t you think?).  This guy reacted a little better than most.  One thing sticks out like a sore thumb anytime I talk with one of these (for lack of a better word) “tea party” candidates.  They tell me the same thing– people are pissssed offfff at the status quo Republicans and the Left in general.  I mean torches and pitchforks pissed off.  Regular Americans, who would much rather just mind their own business, have had enough B.S.  But they’re waiting for a peaceful resolution.


November 2010 can’t come soon enough.  That’s when we get what will be one of our last chances to start to resolve this from within the system.  November 2012 is a very, very long way off given the pace at which things have been going to hell.  Still; talking with people like Ike gives me some hope.  We agreed that “the fix” if it’s possible, will come from the state level, and will involve no small level of defiance of the feds.


The feds are hopeless at this point, and will resist with all effort, I believe.  That would make state politics more important than ever.

Changing Colors

Posted on by

Ah, Spring!  It’s a time when the land turns green, the trees are budding, the flowers are blooming, and the Republicans begin to change their spots, pretending to be conservative in preparation for the upcoming election season.  It’s the never-ending cycle of life.

Cold Call

Posted on by

I just got off the phone with a rep who called us from one of the big optics companies.  He started the conversation by asking if we sold gun accessories.


Need I say more?


OK; any half-baked salesman would spend at least one whole minute researching the company he’s calling, you know, before making the call.  I point out this failure because it’s rare, but it keeps happening.  Along with failure “a” usually comes failure “b”; salesman wants to do all the talking and no listening.  He’s going down a list of phone numbers and reading a canned presentation.  That might result in some sales, but that’s not a salesman.


We knew a musical instrument salesman from the American affiliate of Big International Music, Inc. and he was the best in the business.  Here in the Northwest, the sales reps were generally given larger commissions due to the vast expanses they had to cover to make the same sales volume one of the big city reps could make within 20 square miles.  This guy did so well that he started to make “too much money” at the higher, Northwest commission rates.  Big International Music didn’t like that, so they cut his commission.  Mind you; no one had ever sold so much in the Northwest as this guy in all the history of the company.  THAT was the “problem” that was eating away at them, and they solved it alright.  When they cut his commission the guy quit and went to work for the competition, who suddenly started doing quite well for themselves.


That’s a salesman.  He knew about your business before he contacted you, for one thing.  This was before the internet, when it took more than a minute or two.  He’d talk to local professors and musicians– people most likely to know about you.  He’d go in with actual knowledge, and he’d talk WITH you rather than AT you.  Always looking for a deal, he’d also check all the local classified ad papers.  On one visit he left with a ’50s Oldsmobile he found here in town, figuring he could turn a profit on it.  I believe they’re more born (or bred) than trained in a month.  It’s a personality type.

Illegal Immigration – a Primer

Posted on by

You can speculate over the notion that so many legislators over the decades proposed and passed immigration laws that they never intended to see enforced.  You can speculate over the intentions of said legislators, whether or not they’re evil or just retarded, or some combination of both, or whether they should be tarred and feathered or simply stripped of their citizenship and deported to Cuba.  There are some things regarding illegal immigration however, that I believe are not arguable (though I know well that most readers will argue passionately all the same.  You shouldn’t bother on my behalf, as I’ve heard it all before, more times than I can count).


One assertion at a time;


“They’re takin’ our jobs, Man.”  Uh,.. no.  First, you don’t own your job.  Your employer, and to some extent your employer’s customers, own your job.  Illegals are coming here, some of them, to work for below minimum wage.  They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t consider it an improvement over their previous situation.  American citizens also work for below minimum wage, under the table so to speak.  Immigration status is not the issue in this case.  Minimum wage and income deduction laws are the issue.  Government has no business getting between a worker and a prospective employer.  Peaceable, voluntary exchange is not a crime, since no one’s rights are being violated.  Repeal minimum wage laws and the sixteenth amendment, eliminate 95% of the IRS, and that government-manufactured problem goes away overnight.  Instate a fixed 5 to 8% national sales tax and all the legitimate functions of government will be more than paid for, given the massive increase in GDP that will soon follow, plus we’ll save billions of dollars, and countless productivity hours, on tax preparation.


“They’re using up government services, breaking the bank of local governments, Man…”  That’s a case of socialist services being used as a magnet to attract freeloaders and deadbeats (more socialists).  American citizens take advantage of the same goodies– more slowly perhaps, but with the same results eventually.  Immigration status is not the issue in this case.  The socialist goodie spigot racket is the issue.  If people are not being attracted by the socialists’ confiscated goodies, they’ll only come here for the right reasons, and in that case the more immigration the better.  More people equals more productivity, not less resources.  Turn off the spigot completely, remove the pump, dig up the plumbing, dynamite the well, and that problem goes away literally overnight.


“They’re comin’ here to sell drugs, Man, and that results in violence, Dude…”  (sigh) Did we learn absolutely nothing from alcohol Prohibition?  Seriously?  Prohibition’s primary legacy is the empowerment and enrichment of international organized crime.  Its secondary legacy is the encroachment and entrenchment of official government corruption.  Together, those two inevitable results are vastly worse than the actual drugs’ effects on society.  Government has no business telling any emancipated adult what they may or may not put into their bodies on their own property.  No rights violation, no crime.  That’s the proper test.  Eliminate all vice laws and that whole set of problems goes away almost overnight, plus we save billions and billions on drug enforcement and the corrupt sons-a-bitches in government will have to resort to more conventional crime.


Immigration is tedious and takes a long time, so it’s much easier to jump the border.  Simplify the process, which will be easy after the above steps are taken, and that problem goes away overnight.


Take those simple steps, and we can all get on with howling over some other man-made/government-created problems we’re unwilling to face honestly or with courage, or compassion, or tolerance.


Is all that too “extreme” for you?  Can’t handle the nation’s founding principles?  OK then, this manufactured problem will persist and grow and become far more expensive, which is of course the intention, and it is just one of countless examples of how, as I put it some fifteen years ago; every little bit of socialism requires just a little bit more.  Just a little.  Hope you like crap.

Hear Ye!

Posted on by

I can’t call it the Quote Of The Day, because that’s Joe’s gig.  Instead I’ll just post it;



“I think public service should be an honorable profession, with high standards of integrity.  I don’t know about you, but I’m done waiting for these people [the current crop of politicians and their sycophants in media] to supply that which they do not have.  I’ve come to the conclusion that if we want it, we’re gonna have to bring it.”  —  Scott Ott of PJTV, referring to his recent decision to enter local politics.


Yup.  That’s about the size of it.  If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.  After all; you can’t expect a pig to write a sonata, no matter how hard you might wish for it.


Afterthought; We hear a lot of talk about integrity.  “This is a man of great integrity..” and so on.  OK, but how about principles?  Integrity doesn’t really tell the whole story, does it?  Cannot one have integrity and still be wrong?  Alright then, I want to see integrity and principles.  Alright; integrity and American principles (of liberty).  It’s all I ask.

You ARE the Help

Posted on by

The now infamous North Hollywood bank robbery has been analyzed every which way and beaten to death.  Dozens of cops pinned down and absorbing fire from two sedated robbers was a disgusting, pathetic situation.  But this isn’t about that.  Seeing the History Channel documentary on it again the other day only reminded me of the larger point.  What triggered this post was the comment that these dozens of cops were waiting for help.


Help?  Dudes; WTF?  You ARE the help.  As Ron White pointed out; any teenager having experience with a hunting rifle could have ended the bank robbery standoff with two shots from a concealed position.


It comes down to mindset.  Sure, some people have more capabilities and resources than others, but in your everyday life, you, the reader, ARE the help if you have your mind right.  Bringing a pistol to a rifle fight is just one of countless examples of going through life, and even responding to an on-going situation, unprepared and oblivious.  Condition white.


You Do have fire extinguishers in your house and garage, right?  You do carry one in your vehicle, and you do carry jumper cables, tools, a working jack, water, a first aid kit, a spare coat, a good spare tire, a tow strap, a phone and a carbine, right?


I don’t have to try to display a complete list.  That’s not the point.  It starts with the mindset.  After that, the list comes along naturally.  Nor does preparedness come solely from hardware and supplies.  You can have all the goodies and not the mindset that tells you, everywhere you go, that you are the help.  Backup is another matter.  You are the first responder in your own life.  You choose either to face up to it or shirk your duty.


The current crop of weasels in government would have you do the latter.  They fear and hate the strong, the self reliant and the charitable, as threats to their relevance.


Tam’s recent post provides further study.

Dealer Discounts

Posted on by

You won’t learn about this in public schools.  If you haven’t been in business before (or if you are new at it) I feel compelled to educate you a little on the facts of life.


It’s quite common that a small dealer will call us for the first time, and want to order one or two items at a dealer discount.  When we inform them that there is a minimum buy-in for dealer pricing, sometimes they’re just fine with it, but other people act all disappointed.


I have to wonder why they think it is that we offer discounts to dealers in the first place.  Maybe they just don’t think about it.  This is not the manufacturers being nice, or considering dealers to be part of some good-ol’-boys club or something.  We offer discounts because it benefits us to have our product stocked and promoted at the local level.  We could sell direct only, taking the same money we offer as the dealer discount, and put it all into advertizing, but we feel it is a better value to have certain dealers invested in the product and thus promoting it for their own benefit.  When done right, it’s a symbiotic relationship.


If all you want is one or two units, you’re not a dealer, by definition.  You’re just some guy who wants a discount.


Our buy-in is pretty easy, even for the smallest mom & pop store.  One of the branches of Yamaha that I’ve dealt with for decades has an annual purchase requirement (or did) of $100K to consider you a dealer.  Part of the language in their dealer agreement (which must be signed and witnessed) states that the dealer must “promote the product in such a manner as to elevate its perceived value”.  Yes; that’s what they’re paying you for, in the form of a dealer discount.  You’re expected not only to stock a “representative selection of the product line” but to maintain it, keep it looking nice, display it in an attractive setting, know the product and be able to demonstrate it, and you’re expected to advertize.  Some manufacturers want to see your advertizing budget and see your ads.  Our current, one-time, minimum buy-in requirement is around 500 or 600 dollars (five hundred or six hundred dollars– not thousands) more or less, depending on the model mix (it’s a unit count minimum).  You want to tell me you’re a dealer, but you can’t produce a few hundred bucks for something you say your customers want?  Seriously.

We Get Questions

Posted on by

Some of them are answerable, and some are not.  Just got this one;


“I am own this rifle which UltiMAK mount would I need for it?”


That’s it, exactly, in its entirety.  Not to make fun of my customers- the point is, if you want the right answer, you must ask the right question.  Another, very common one is; “Does your product fit my (XYZ) rifle?”  OK, which product?  I understand that you know which product you have in mind, but you have to actually tell me.  This one happens several times a week; “I lost this little, specific part for this specific product.  Could you send me another?”  OK, an address would be nice, you know, for the postman, and all.  I can’t remember the last time someone included an address when they wrote to ask for a part.  I don’t believe it’s ever happened.


A local restaurant owner wanted to talk to me about how he could attract more business.  When I went there to talk, I couldn’t find the door.  The first door I tried was locked.  If I hadn’t just talked with him and agreed to meet him there, I would have assumed the place was closed, and I’d have left.  I told him he might want to put a sign out front, you know, indicating that a; there is a restaurant here, and that, b; this is the door to use to get into it.  Lots of stuff like that.  That was months ago.  There is still no sign.  He notices his restaurant, and he knows which door to use, but…

The Most Sociable of Social Activities…

Posted on by

…and the most intense.


If you really want to get acquainted with your fellow man, if you want to understand people and society, start a business.  I’ve run a business since January of 1978.  Originally it was in musical instruments.  First repair only, but that quickly led to retail and installment sales.  It’s a walk-in store and shop, plus we do on-location sales, sound system installation and setup, and on top of all that I was part of a performing group (sound engineer) that also traveled.  All that’s still going on, but I’m now doing the design, manufacturing and internet sales thing with the gun accessories.


Please; this is not about me, though it may sound like it.  It’s really about you.  And people.  It’s about the world.


You cannot really understand your fellow human beings until you’ve sweated, worried, obsessed, invested, committed, risked everything, issued credit, and experienced the range of reactions, to that effort, from your fellow citizens.  You end up knowing the bank managers (they come and go) on a first name basis, the county clerk on a first name basis, several lawyers, teachers, fellow business owners.  You end up in small claims court, as a repo man, in debt yourself.  You end up in district court and in federal court trying to defend the property you sweated, cried, and devoted your life to.  You develop a relationship with the local collection agency, the local churches, and the local schools.  You deal, haggle, plead with, and give charity to, many people per day, every day.  In our case it was six days a week, plus weekends in the taverns, conference halls, churches, farms, businesses, and convention centers playing music.  One gig was in the garage/shop of a trucking company, for a company party.  Another was for a wedding of two friends.  Later, we played for their “divorce party”.  We played for a lot of weddings.


You deal with many thousands of people on a very personal level.  You learn of their troubles, their struggles, their marriages, their kids, and their extended families– their successes, their failures, their medical problems, their births, their schooling, their graduations (and do come, please) their weddings, their new children, and their deaths.  All of those things become part of your business.  They buy things from you, they utilize your services, and many of them owe you money.  They are your life.  One family could no longer pay us because their mother was in jail.  Another customer could not get into the Air Force because he’d rented a saxophone from us and immediately pawned it for cash, eventually losing the pawn, and had never paid us.  He eventually got in on a promise to pay, but I must have spoken to four or five base commanders on several continents, before we ever saw one payment.  Another family invited us to their son’s graduation party, being as we’d been so much a part of his music education.


You owe a lot of other people money.  You get to know your account rep at General Motors finance, at TransAmerica, and at Textron Financial.  You get to know the sales reps at the manufacturers, while you must see and judge the credit reports of hundreds of your customers.  Can these people be trusted with a thousand dollars worth of my sweat, blood and tears.  They sure think so themselves, but that’s not the benchmark.  The proof is in the pudding.


Wal Mart gets to know millions of people– their habits, their wants, their needs, their strengths, their weaknesses, their successes and their failures.  They have to.  It’s how they stay in business.  Some people love them, some people hate them and want them eliminated, and some don’t care– all for the same things Wal Mart does.


Then there’s hiring and firing.  You find out what’s being taught at the universities.  And what isn’t.  You make friends, and then you have to fire them.  You make other friends that are permanent.  You share in their successes and their failures, their sickness and their health, in good times and in bad.  You learn of their families, and their extended families, and you meet their circle of friends.


You learn more about life than you can ever tell.  You learn that utility rates (phone and power) are nearly double the rates paid by residents.  You learn that property taxes are also nearly double the rate for a live-in home.  “Home Owner’s Exemption” they call it here.  You learn that property tax isn’t just paid on real estate.  Those tools you built yourself?  Those are property too, and subject to the same tax.  You wanna spend forty grand to beautify the exterior and improve the sidewalks of your downtown business?  That’s gonna raise your assessment, and increase your tax bill, you money-grubbing motherfucker.


You get to know the police, too.  Very well.  You end up testifying as a witness when that customer you though you knew, ended up embezzling the entire trust fund his bed-ridden mother signed over to him as executor.  You end up in federal court when you refuse to hand over an instrument that you’re still making payments on, but a customer rented it (on a rent-to-own plan which is deemed legally as a “purchase”) and then filed bankruptcy, and it’s a big no-no when you try to exert your property rights without permission from the trustee (you also find out how a trustee can get a personal hatred for business owners who try to assert their rights without permission, and launch into a years-long vendetta).


Back when we were still operating, out of a one-car garage in my brother’s back yard, our competition in town (a music store that had been in business for many years, was much bigger and had a downtown location) started to lose franchises.  Having no one else to sell to in the area, the factory reps came to our garage.  We eventually bought a pathetically few instruments from them.  A personal friend of the competition in town reacted by visiting us to yell at us for “grabbing up all the business”.  Yeah; that’s us.  Two kids in a garage we’d rebuilt ourselves, in a backyard.  It had no inside walls– just bare insulation.  Living hand-to-mouth.  Virtually no assets other than our brains and our hands.  We’re the “privileged class”.  We’re “The Man” out to suck the life out of the righteous, with our dirty, no-good instrument repair tools (many of which we built ourselves) and little more than the trust and faith placed in us by some wholesalers’ credit departments.


People are funny that way.  You’ll never be able to please all the people all the time, but you can sure as hell please a few of them some of the time.  That’s the best anyone can do, and in the process you’re being as sociable as sociable gets.  You’re participating in life, and interacting with the community, to a degree that few people ever experience.


Sometimes it is very, vary sweet to be alone.  Only for a while.

All Hopey Changey in the UK

Posted on by

From Drudge.  Pet shop owner fined 1,000 pounds and charged criminally for selling goldfish to an under age buyer.  No one puts up any meaningful opposition.  I hope y’all like this sort of thing (and I’m sure some of you do) ’cause we’re getting more and more of the same crap here.


You have to hand it to the statist scum.  They do know their business.  Anything to keep the citizenry off-balance, distracted and afraid.  The question remaining unanswered is when and how the advocates of liberty will acquire the same sort of organization, audacity and clout.


We’re only about 80 to 100 years behind the statists in this war, give or take.  How long, you figure, will it take to catch up to a point where we’re on par?

The Revolution has Begun

Posted on by

Just so we’re clear; No, I’m not kidding.


I attended a rally for Idaho Gubernatorial candidate, Rex Rammell last night in troy, and spoke with him for some time.  No arrests were made.  They fed us elk spaghetti.  Afterward, I told my older brother that Rex was either the best damned actor in all the world or he is for real.  I’m now convinced he is for real.  Rammell has fought the Idaho Legislature and won, he has defied state authority over his own property rights, had his livestock killed and taken by state goons, been arrested, fought that, and won, and he is now jacked up to fight for Idaho, within Idaho and with the feds, for liberty.  His plan is make Idaho an example for the rest of the states to follow.

Read his website and his Facebook page.  That’s not the half of it.  This is our guy.  I don’t care what state you call home, Rex wants be the one to show the rest of the country how it’s done, he’s willing to push back and to defy the powers that be in order to restore liberty based on America’s founding principles.  Among the agenda items in what he refers to as “The Cause” are; eliminating the Idaho income tax and creating a welcome environment for business to grow the economy, that will in turn attract more motivated people into the state to grow the economy, massively reduce the state department of education thereby eliminating the top-heavy system and relinquishing education control back to the locals, get everyone in the state off of welfare, and (get this) returning the two thirds of the State of Idaho that’s now federal land, back to the state.  If elected, he promises to climb aboard a bulldozer and use it to rip out some Forrest Service gates in front of the TV cameras.


He’s willing to “force them (the feds) out” of the state and he has a plan for doing just that.  “Gone.”  I don’t mean he’s going to sue on Tenth Amendment gounds or whatever.  That’s just a first step.  Rex is willing to do whatever it takes.  He’s been there before, as state goons were shooting his elk (with 5.56 mm AR-15s, the dipshits) right in front of him on his own property.  Don’t let his soft looks fool you.  He’s that skinny, quiet kid who’ll nail his targets at 1,000 yards and carry the water after the loudmouth bodybuilder has quit the fight.


Rex is a Mormon, and some will be put off by that.  Don’t be stupid.  Listen; he’s convinced that fighting for American principles is his calling in life.  That’s passion.  He has courage and a sense of purpose, and those are exactly what we need for this fight.  Make no mistake about it; there will be a fight and it will get ugly.  Best we start it from inside the system, with the constitution and founding principles of liberty as our guide.


If you’re one of those people, as am I, who’s been alarmed and disgusted at the direction this country has been going, and yet frustrated that there seems to be no one to vote for who’s serious, Rex is your candidate.  For years I’ve been watching the culture war in this country, hearing talk show host after talk show host, reading blogger after blogger, all chronicling the corrupt behavior of the Evil Party, and the cowardice, capitulation and corruption of the Stupid Party.  For years I’ve been saying; “OK!  I get it already!  Now what do we DO about it?”  Well this is what you do about it– you spread the word about Rex Rammell, attend his rallies, and support his primary campaign.  If you live in Idaho, you get at least ten people out with you and you vote in the primary election in May.


The Idaho Gubernatorial election will be decided in the May primary.  Rammell is up against Butch Otter, and the winner in the primary is going to be our next Governor.  Spread the word.  His campaign is running on a shoestring right now.  This Revolution can either splutter to a pause, leading to more and deeper pain, or it can roar forward.  It depends on you.


There you go.  I’ve never said much of anything nice about a politician before.  Most of them are sub-human scum.  If you knew me, you’d understand what a difference I see in this guy, to say anything positive about him.

How do you measure fairness/justice?

Posted on by

In response to the QOTD here;



“How do you measure fairness/justice?”


It’s not terribly complicated.  First, you determine whether someone’s rights have been violated.  If so, you hold the perpetrator accountable, with restitution as a priority.


The statist will attempt to argue over what is and is not a right, and who possess the right (the individual or the collective, or some sub set of the collective).  Ayn Rand has a couple of quotes that nail it;



“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” – Ayn Rand (copied from Kevin’s site)


I’ll paraphrase this next one from memory, because I don’t have the book handy;


“Any proposed ‘right’ that demands the violation of another’s rights is not and cannot be considered a right.” – Ayn Rand.


Next the statist will declare these truths to be too simple, that you’re being too simple-minded seeing the world in such black and white terms, and that only in navigating through complexity can we come to some semblance of economic and social justice, etc., etc.


Eventually it degrades into a contest of push verses shove, as the snarling, hate-filled statist is more than willing to start the pushing (or more likely to have someone else start the pushing for him, the typical statist being a coward as a rule).


There is no reconciling the two visions of society (statism, verses the property rights model on which this country was founded) and any attempt to do so will only delay the inevitable reckoning, prolonging and deepening the pain and destruction along the way (the traditional role of the Republican Party).  Our only sensible plan of action is to defeat the statists at every opportunity, relegating them to the woodwork of society where they belong (along with the cockroaches and spiders).


Our biggest problem is that the statist’s goal is much simpler than ours.  They want destruction and decline of civilization.  The free man wants to create and build over time.  He might spend a lifetime carving out his niche, and building a life for himself and his family, while the statist can wipe the whole thing out in a moment.  Building is difficult and time consuming, and it takes planning and creativity, while destruction is simple and quick, and most any idiot/loser can do it.


With that in mind, a more specific and urgent course of action is presented.  The leftist/statist power infrastructure needs to be dismantled, and the individual statist power brokers (perpetrators) have to be held personally liable.  They have to pay a price or they will not stop.  There’s your “Social Justice”.  Anything less will prolong the problem and deepen the pain.  Investing our hopes and resources in the traditional Republican Party model of going along and trying to run the statist system more responsibly, is nothing but a recipe for disaster.


We’ve too often accepted the leftist premises or their claims to compassion and justice, when their goals are just the opposite.  We’ve reached a radical situation by sitting back for generations, allowing the leftist radicals to have their way.  Closing a few dozen federal departments, including education, and shutting down hundreds of programs might seem radical or extreme to the inattentive.  So what?  The level of government intervention we’ve reached is in itself extreme or radical, compared to the vision of the founders.  The status quo is what’s extreme.  Getting back on track is not, even if means passing out a million pink slips to federal and state employees.

Coolidge Almost Got It Right

Posted on by

In response to the QOTD;


Ah, but Mr. Coolidge, and the Republican Party leadership, apparently never understood the game.  The assertion that building up the weak is the Left’s goal is one thing.  Taking that assertion at face value is another.  It’s the Big Mistake of the 20th century, and has resulted in perpetual confusion (to say nothing of the stagnation, decay and destruction around the world).  The preponderance of the evidence regarding the Left’s goals points elsewhere.  Their objective is statism for its own sake, and the tactic, stated openly in some circles time after time, is to bring down “The System” so it can be remade– “Redistributive Change” in Obama’s own words, and it’s been said in other ways throughout the generations.


Republicans, as they occupy themselves trying to understand and argue the details, the costs and so on, of the “healthcare” bills, are demonstrating their utter cluelessness (or is it their complicity?).  “Why, this could end up funding abortions with taxpayer dollars, and that would be bad, and I’m not so sure we can afford this other bit over here…”


That’s not the point, Skippy.  The point is, the whole thing is a massive power grab.  What more do you need to know, for crying out loud?


Weigh down the economy with debt, entitlements and restrictions, then blame what remains of the private sector.  Take advantage of the chaos and the public demands for an altogether new approach that they hope will ensue.  They’re telling us every day; “Never let a crisis go to waste” is only part of it.  The other part is their understanding that they can manufacture the crises.  Chip, chip, chip, chip, and sooner or later even the hardest stone will crumble, after which (they believe) they can swoop in and take it all.


So far as I can tell, the Republicans have been playing along for decades.  “Oh, but you’re crazy, Lyle.  Look at the differences between Republicans and Democrats!  Are you willfully blind, or what?  Surely you must be mad!  Look!  Just look!  LOOOOOOOOOK, MAN!”


Uh huh, and there’s a world of difference between that “good cop” and that “bad cop” too.  The bad cop is a real, dangerously scary, out-of-control sonofabitch, but that good cop– why, he’s a sweetheart!  Look at him!  Just look!  He brings you coffee and food and he talks nice.  He doesn’t like that bad ol’, meany mean bad cop at all, either.  No Sir, not at all.  Such a nice fellow, and he really cares.  He listens.  He understands.  He’s my advocate in this time of uncertainty.  I want to work with him, by golly gosh oh gee.  Yessiree.  No doubt about it.  Without him, that bad cop would have beat the living shit out of me by now, for sure.  Man, am I lucky to have Good Cop!  Wow!  Thank God!  This must be an angel sent from Heaven to deliver me from despair!


Right.  Both cops are working to take you to the same place after they’re finished with your sorry, dumb ass.


OK; got that out of the system.  Now I’m all ears.

Playing With Fire

Posted on by

That’s fire and brimstone.  This is pure gun geekery, and even for gun geeks its nerdy because it’s about percussion guns of the 1800s.  You’ve been warned.

Saturday, Nephew and I tried some heavy loads for the repro 1858 Remington revolver.  I’d been using a 28 grain powder charge and a round ball with decent results, but wanted to try something with more pep.  Civil War era military loads ranged from very light, to as much powder and lead as could be stuffed in the cylinder.  To start, we tried round ball (~140 grains) over a charge of 39 grains of 3F Goex with a greased felt wad in between.  That load filled the chambers completely and delivered an average of 925 fps at 10 feet with an extreme spread of 46.  Not too bad.  The 29 grain charge was yielding a velocity of about 850 fps.

It’s like pulling teeth to find acceptable “conical” bullets (“bullet shaped” as opposed to a round ball) for these “.44” percussion revolvers unless you cast your own, which I don’t.  I did find some Buffalo Bullets 180 grain jobs that fit the chambers nicely, and ordered 100 of them to try.  Since the bullet takes up more room in the chamber, the most powder I could get in and still seat the bullet below the cylinder face was 30 grains.  But, wow.  Average velocity was 1047 fps.  That’s a tad better than a .40 S&W, and matches the V of a .45 Auto load in the Speer manual for their 185 gr GDHP.  Extreme spread was 67, with a standard deviation of 21.

That was with two different people doing the loading.  I’m going to guess that with the same person loading all the rounds, the charge weight and ramming pressure would be a little more consistent, and so too the velocity.  Groups with this load opened up slightly from last week’s all-ball venture, but not enough to be sure.  This time was in direct sunlight, which makes aiming a little more difficult.

The extra pressure it takes to move the heavier bullet, which also has more friction surface against the bore, I will assume ramps up the powder’s burn rate.  More velocity with less powder and a heavier bullet.  Neat.  We’ve found a performance, or efficiency, zone.  More pressure equals more heat, equals a faster, more complete burn inside the bore, equals yet more pressure.

This is how guns (and sometimes chemical factories, engines, etc.) blow up– things look great as you increase the pressure and temp a little.  The reaction speeds up, a little bit more, things are doing fine, a little bit more and, Boom!.  A threshold is reached and a runaway reaction takes place.  You shear some bolt lugs, or burst a cylinder, etc. and maybe you go home with slightly fewer or slightly misshapen body parts.  That can be embarrassing.

I wasn’t worried about this load in a modern repro made with modern steel.  When these revolvers were designed and built originally, metallurgy wasn’t anything like it is today, and even back then they were known to stuff the chambers full on a regular basis.  Further, it makes no sense to build a cylinder that will take more powder than it can handle with the commonly used “44-100” bullets of up to 250 grains.  That would take more material and make the gun bigger and heavier, for no other reason than to encourage over-pressure loads.  I’m also running on some faith that they wouldn’t have done that (though the much longer 1847 .44 Colt “Walker” cylinder was known to occasionally let go).  Remember that back then there was only black powder, not the wide spectrum of nitro powders we have now.  All they had to control the powder’s burn rate were different granulations of the same mixture (though brand and lot inconsistency would likely have thrown in some degree of uncertainty).  With smokeless propellants you can get into a LOT MORE TROUBLE making your own loads.

Here’s Nephew torching off one of the heavy loads.  The bullet has been on its way for about a millisecond, as the gun is still in firing position and the hot gas (I mean hot– this is in direct sunlight) has traveled a foot or so out from the muzzle;

Below is the same shot in full recoil a fraction of a second later.  Forget about quick follow-up shots.  You can’t see the target until the smoke clears. By then you’re re-cocked and ready to go.  A side wind would be a big help in this case;

Today’s rapid fire guns wouldn’t be worth as much if they had to run on black powder.  For one thing you wouldn’t be able to see squat.  It is “interesting” to take a shot, and find that your target has simply disappeared after the smoke has cleared.  There’s that moment of uncertainty.

I like the slow, frame-by-frame animations as below.  You can see the mechanics of the recoil (though a high speed camera would be nice).  You can watch the force wave travel from his wrist, into the arm, the shoulder, and whole torso.  Nephew’s grip is fairly relaxed, which isn’t a problem with a medium weight 44 revolver.  Some people hate animated gifs on a web page.  I’m one of them, but this is for science;

You shouldn’t haul off and max out your charcoal burner just because I did.  I’m not saying it’s the thing to do.  What I can say is; I still, for the moment, have all my body parts (and gun parts) and all are operating satisfactorily, thank you.  I have a load that’s within the range of those used in the 1860s for the Remington New Model Army revolver and 1860 Colt Army, and it matches some of the .45 ACP loads for a ~180 grain bullet.

Now here’s a puzzler.  I’ve had barrel leading in modern revolvers and autos firing bare lead, hard-cast or swaged bullets.  Using pure, soft lead bullets in the ’58 Remington and ’51 Colts, no leading has been observed, even with these loads that achieve modern handgun KE levels.  I don’t know why.  Is it the grease?  But we’re told in no uncertain terms never to lubricate a modern gun bore, while black powder guns are greased all to hell.  Is it the propellant temp?  But the KE is the same.

Shooting Lingo – Group Size

Posted on by

This sort of thing appears with some regularity on the forums, product reviews, etc., so I can only assume there is a significant number of people who don’t quite understand how a shot group on a target is measured.  What I recently read on an ammo review is that, since the bullet is x diameter, your group size cannot be less than x.

That’s not how it works. (Boomershooters bear with me, I’m pretty sure you all know this)  For the size of your group on the target, you’re measuring the center-to-center distance between hits.  If your holes were clean enough to allow such precise measurements, it is in theory possible to have half-inch diameter bullets and a group size of a hundredth of an inch or less.  You could just as well, theoretically, have an eighteen inch Navy ship’s gun that shoots a group of 1″ (all rounds through the same hole, to within one inch of center).  Actually getting a gun and several projectiles to do that is of course another matter, but it wouldn’t violate the simple theory of taking a distance measurement on your target.

This isn’t rocket science.  Well, maybe some aspects of shooting are in fact rocket science, but measuring the distance between centers of a few holes isn’t complicated, and has nothing to do with the diameter of the holes.  Any carpenter, machinist or cabinet maker, etc. knows this, and it is often learned by farm mechanics in early childhood.