Don’ t know much about them, don’t feel like research. Guess it’s pot luck for y’all.
Author Archives: Rolf
No one wants to confiscate your guns…
Except when they do. Even things like a tube-magazine bolt-action 22, because it can hold more than 5 rounds. NYC at it’s stupidest. The 113 year old 1911 .45 ACP has a standard seven round magazine, so you need to get rid of your old magazines and buy… er, I don’t know of any makers of 5-round 1911 magazines. Maybe they exist, but I’ve never seen one.
Sheep testicles
I came across a “TED Talk” by the guy that does Dirty Jobs. In the comments, there was a link to a podcast he did giving some background on how it came about. The first in fascinating, funny, and thought provoking. The latter I thought was hysterical. Mike Rowe is sharp, and surprisingly well educated (I don’t mean just “he has a degree,” but seems to be familiar with Classics, Greek and Latin). He’s an excellent speaker. [Edit: Hmmmm… It doesn’t like to embed the frame with the video. Link to TED Talk is here.]
ID Verification
I came across this, a story about people getting hung up on the “ID Verification” part of the application, because Healthcare.gov won’t let you shop for plans until it “knows” who you are. So data-security issues aside, could this hangup be used to leverage a renewed call for new universal ID cards, now possibly (probably) tied in with biometrics, DNA, and medical records?
Let me rephrase: I know can be. Any bets on whether or not it does (soon) and who will be the first to call for it?
Kafka didn’t write Cliff’s Notes for law design… did he?
Shamelessly borrowed from RNS comes this gem:
Section 501 of ObamaCare makes a non-profit hospital giving charitable care a punishable offense. Short version: people might not buy insurance if they think they can get free care via charity, so Section 501 “discourages” giving free care by fining non-profit hospitals that do so. For-profits face no such penalty.
But, not to worry! via AceOfSpades comes the return volley.
Hospitals, being full of smart people, are now exploring buying insurance for their frequent delinquents, er, regular uninsured customers. Possibly even working ObamaCare exchange insurance that can’t deny care for pre-existing conditions into the regular admitting procedure for uninsured people.
[Later Edit, pulled from my own comment: Don’t forget that the EMTALA requires emergency medical care centers to treat all comers with emergency medical needs, and those in active labor.]
Sure, why not! No possibility of adverse selection there, right? No chance of side-effects or unintended consequences to either of these things, eh wot?
FacePalm.
Folks, we now have front-row seats at the Theater of the Absurd. Gonna need more popcorn.
Gun Song – I feel like a bullet (in the gun of Robert Ford) by Elton John
Another Elton tune. Not really about guns, but guns have become used as metaphors in all sorts of ways in our language. Much of language is sourced in metaphors and cultural references and expressions that have (d)evolved into words or shorthand. The more common or the more powerful an item or reference is, the more it’s used and the further expressions are stretched. Here it is yet another oblique reference.
Robert Ford was an old west outlaw that killed his gang leader, a guy by the name of Jesse James.
Total speculation
I’m an optimistic sort of guy, really. Kind of a contrarian because I get to explore and test my thinking and assumptions better that way, but I’d rather look at the bright side, all things being equal. So, what’s the possible bright side of the ObamaCare crap sandwich we have been handed? Just spitballing a few thoughts, here… Continue reading
Old Rations
You often hear the phrase “rotate your supplies” from experienced preppers. You have to use what you store, store what you use, and check things regularly to that you know you really do have what you think you have. Great idea, doesn’t always work exactly as planned. I came across a couple of these the other day.
Ammo day
Tuesday, November 19th, is National Buy Ammo Day. Be sure to do your part. If you can’t find some in a caliber you shoot, but a new gun for the ammo you do find. (I’m partial to 6.5mm, aka .264 caliber). If you can’t / don’t want to do that, load some of your own.
Just a friendly reminder.
Prepping – know your environment
There are all kinds of “survivalists” and “preppers” in the world. Most are good folks, if a bit odd. Some are… not so acceptable. I came across this article about a group that explicitly says in a major disaster, which they expect, their plan is to take what they need. Not stockpile their own stuff, but take it from their neighbors. I.e, they plan to become looters. They claim to have “80 dues-paying members.” But I have to admit, the last paragraph in the story really gave me a laugh – it tells me they are really not all that clued in about their working environment. Situational awareness operates at many levels, and it seems they are seriously missing the big picture in a major way.
Gun Song- Annie Get Your Gun by Squeeze
A short one this week.
Have a good Friday and weekend.
Securing your arms
It’s funny how the anti-rights cultists always have exceptions for governments and their minions. We peons are expected to just suck it up, because we are not as professional, as well trained in their use, and as well screened for psychological problems, and all the rest. Then we see cases like this, where the FBI SWAT team loses a couple of their rifles, and M16 and a “sniper rifle,” and they are considering if they should be charged with “improper storage.” Duh, ya’ think? This being Mass people freaked of course, and they also offered $20k for a reward for less than $5k worth of guns.It looks like the guns have been recovered, but the FBI isn’t saying anything, saying it’s because it’s an ongoing investigation, not just that it’s full-on CYA.
H/T to Paul.
11th day of the 11th month
It’s Veterans day, commemorating the end of world War One, The Great War. It’s good that it ended, but because the politicians didn’t know much about psychology or economics, they ended it badly, guaranteeing a rematch. Ouch. In any case, just a few thoughts.
I volunteered and served in the Army Reserve. Drove boats for them – at the time is was MOS 12C (bridge crewman) a subcategory of combat engineer specializing in bridging. Also spent time packing an M60 around. I was in during the first Gulf War but not deployed. I did my six years and got out. My dad and his brother were both drafted around the Korean War, served their time, got out. My mom’s brother was career Air Force, and her dad was in during the 30’s (army, horse- and mule-back unit) and WW II (coastal patrol, kind of vague on navy vs coastguard). My brother in law is retired regular AF, now in the AF reserves as an E9, senior NCO on the airbase. A great uncle was in the Spanish American war. My wife’s “adoptive” dad was a gunner in WW II on a troop transport, saw kamikaze attacks landing troops on Okinawa. [Later edit: Oh, yes, I don’t want to forget the great aunt that was a WAAC. She wound up in North Africa in WW II]
I always thought it interesting that there was never much talk about “duty” and all, no strong service rivalry. It was just sort of a “respectable thing to do if it was a good fit” sort of thing, but it still rubbed off on me that it was more of a “very good thing to do unless it was a very bad fit.” I know it’s not for everyone. But it is done for everyone, even those that hate the military – and I think that’s one of those things that galls the peace-niks on the left most. They can’t stand the idea that maybe the military where they couldn’t or wouldn’t serve MIGHT be necessary, and really MIGHT be doing it for them as well, and that level of selflessness from people they despise and look down on just totally rubs them raw. On the other side of the coin, for all the inter-service rivalry, trash-talking and competition, at the end of the day they all respect each others signing up and going through it.
But it seems like there are increasingly two Americas, one that doesn’t expect it deserves anything, and as a result it volunteers and serves (or at least supports and understands those that do), and those that expect to be given a lot, have a sense of entitlement, and at the some time don’t serve or honestly respect those that do. Not sure what it all means, or where that’ll lead, but it doesn’t strike me as a good thing.
Those those that served, cheers! To those that understand, thanks for your support.
Gun Song- Don’t take your guns to town by Johnny Cash
A classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F9l-Wp4itQ
Johnny Cash wrote and performed for a lot of songs over the years, and a lot have something to say. In spite of the title the moral in this one seems to be as much “avoid strong drink” as it is that on any given day you might meet the one guy faster than you. Leaving it behind means that it’s an option you don’t have.
I do like one of Heinlein’s ideas from “tunnel in the sky.” The idea of going unarmed means you think “hide!” and “run!” rather than “I’m a tough SOB,” and a more cautions attitude can be a great life-saver. I think better training is a better choice that actually being unarmed, but hey, whatever gets you to the right mental place.
ACA leads toward divorce
Remember what I posted a little while ago? Looks like it’s going mainstream as a consideration. No, I’m not predicting a sudden tsunami of two-income divorces, but society changes a bit at a time, incrementally, at the margins. And at the margins, ObamaCare makes divorce look like an economically sensible thing to do, and it’s yet another drag on the economy and social stability as people try to game the system for personal benefit at the expense of “the greater good.” The incentives in the law are really insane.
Stars schedule slippage
Best of intentions, yadda yadda yadda. Between various things happening on the home front that took time away from editing, my editor having a few medical challenges, the fact she’s doing it “on the side” and has to work around her work schedule, and the fact I am ending up looking at somewhat more substantive edits than I had originally planned, it isn’t ready quite yet. Cover art is taking longer than expected, too. All in all, The Stars Came Back is taking a bit longer than planned. *sigh*. An educational experience, if often frustrating and painful, all around. But I think the book will be much better for it. Now aiming for sometime in November, because it is national “write a novel” month.
Low-speed heavy bullet expansion
I was pondering my earlier experience with bullet performance, and got to wondering about the other end of things, with low-velocity rifle bullets. When shooting at very long ranges, or when using a subsonic cartridge like a 300 Blackout / Whisper, what heavy .30 cal bullets expand reliably at around 1000 fps? Obviously something like a 200 grain Nosler Partition will hold together, but will it mushroom at all at low velocity? They only brag about expansion down to 1800 fps on their Ballistic Tip, which only goes to 180 gr. Their “long range” Accubond recommends greater than 1300 FPS. Now, with a BC of .730 in a 210 gr Spitzer it’s still going to hurt what it hits, but if you want to maximize energy transfer, punching a neat hole isn’t the way to do it.
Any thoughts, experience, recommendations, or rumors?
Downrange is a bad place to be
Supposed to be real footage, from something like a thousand meters on full zoom. Not a fun spot to be filming from. Likely fake, but hey, it’s cool.
One big happy family
This ought to make you feel all warm and fuzzy.
The same company that made the healthcare.gov website (on a no-bid contract, naturally) is the same one that created the Canadian gun registry that cost roughly twenty times the original estimate and got scrapped a decade later after being found to be both useless and seriously defective.
But they want us to just trust their good intentions, ’cause they are so smart and transparent. Yeah, riiiight.
Ever had a cell phone get strange on you?
Ever heard of “carrierIQ?” Its an “app” on most cell phones (one that is hidden) that’s sort of part of the OS. It sends stuff to the carriers. It can also execute commands that someone texts to your phone by intercepting them before you see them. It has bugs, and might get a buffer overflow and blow chunks on your phone. Or it might just execute the code, and send a keylog or your current location or contact list back, then delete the text message so you never see it.
As a friend of mine that has been doing software research for years said, it’s basically a trojan that gets loaded by your phone manufacturer, and yes it’s been hacked more than once. (Of course I’m sure a software researcher would never hack the OS of a phone, any more than they’d see if they could run UNIX on an XBox 360, and here of course I’m just making up hypotheticals that no one would ever do.)
Just thought you’d like to know. Sleep well.