Tomato / Tomahto

I'd often heard the tomato / tomahto thing, but didn't know where exactly it was from.  Apparently the song is from a 1937 film, Shall We Dance, and is titled, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off".

Charity Evaluation

It's that time of year again, and many people are hashing out charitable donations prior to the end of the year.  To that end, so-called "charity watchdog" sites can be helpful in ascertaining where to spend one's philanthropic capital.

• Charity Watch - The former American Institute of Philanthropy's charity watchdog rates fewer charities, and is more apt to skewer someone's sacred cow.  They only have 550 or so charities rated, and require a $40/yr donation to see the actual analyses.  However, there does seem to be a difference in the quality of the ratings relative to CN and BBB.
• Charity Navigator - The claim is that they rate 5500+ charities, but are less stringent than Charity Watch and have suspended adding new charities to their list.
• Better Business Bureau - The BBB is even less strict on their criteria than Charity Navigator and require a fee (somewhere in the order of $15k) for "accreditation".
• GuideStar - Has the most comprehensive database of the review sites listed here, albeit limited coverage of each one.  Definitely a useful resource for organizations not listed by other watchdogs.  I read that over 640k charities are cataloged.
• Give Well - A minor review organization focused on international charities.  While they appear to be quite liberal, at least they have a page chronicling their past mistakes, which seems to be a good-faith effort in accountability.
• Charities Review Council - A Minnesota-based charity review site.

Another site, GiveSpot, has some interesting vectors as well.

What I really want is a list of gun-friendly and anti-gun charities so I can be sure to steer my money away from the latter and toward the former.  Amusingly, the NRA rates well on multiple sites, whereas the Brady Campaign and VPC don't rate so well.  And I wish organizations like 2AF were more transparent: while I am absolutely for the cause, one wants to make most effective use of one's resources.

Diamond Gusset Jeans

Recently I read that Levi's supports anti-gun organizations and has such a policy.  Ah well, 501s fit like shit if you have testicles (I've tried them on multiple times and they always crunch my kiwis).  I used to wear their carpenter jeans because the fit was better in the crotch and have extra pockets.  However, their quality control went to hell and I had a number of them wear out in the back pocket--and I put my wallet in my front pocket.  Now I rather like Vertx tactical pants, except they're owned by Berkshire Hathaway....

Anyway, one forum thread had a link to Diamond Gusset, which has a gusseted crotch and apparently isn't anti-gun.  Looks to be worth trying.  Motorcycle riders might appreciate their jeans with kevlar to prevent road rash.

A bit of editorializing: anti-gun people are one of three things: ignorant, stupid, or evil, and none of those characteristics are good.

"The Scot who shaped Japan"

The Japan Times had an article in the print edition last weekend about a Scotsman, Thomas Blake Glover, who had an inordinate influence on post-Meiji Japan.  The centennial anniversary of his death is today (2011.12.16).

Ammo Oracle

Looking for info on 5.56x45mm ammo?  The Arfcom Ammo Oracle is the source for debunking stupid myths and educating the typical "heard it from a buddy" disinformation-passing gunowner.  (This is mirrored as a single file on various sites [1].)

What's really horrid is the pricing on M193 ammo: it's significantly lower than what I'd consider cheap nowadays: 18 cents per round circa 2002 versus 28 cents and change in 2011 (for new production).  If only my 401(k) had done that well.

SHTF School

Via RNS I came across this interesting site describing the realities of a real SHTF scenario.  Allegedly (well, unless you know the guy in person, he could be some bored teen making it up) the guy's from the Balkans and survived the meltdown there in the '90s.  Might be worth perusing for ideas; it'd be nice if someone trustworthy could confirm the validity of Selco's story.  Like Reagan said, "Trust, but verify."

Anyway, the post of interest was regarding gold/silver when SHTF.  His point was that nobody'd take such things because people were scrambling for food and needed useful items, not inert metals.  Further, having such items would make you a target.  He makes the interesting suggestion of buying cheap gold jewelry for wampum, and when making trades play it off as being that you're down to bartering the family jewels, i.e. there ain't any more left where that comes from.

I'd counter that if you have a core of self-sufficient people with a diverse skill-set, who don't really need food/water, the money is a way of keeping the non-essentials on an even basis.  It's hard to predict, so it may be wise to hedge one's bets.

misc.survivalism

There's a misc.survivalism newsgroup that lives on post-Usenet.  USA Emergency Supply appears to have cribbed some of their info on food storage from the FAQ.

HK Builds 2

Looks like HKParts is selling a flat bending jig for HK-pattern rifles.  It'd be pretty neat to put an HK91 clone together, but I'd have to learn how to TIG/MIG weld first.  A hydraulic press is necessary for affixing the trunnion to the barrel, and for some jigs, forming the flat.  So one needs either a well-equipped shop, a friend with said shop, or a build party in the vicinity.

I also came across a pictorial guide to bending a flat and building a CETME.  Way cool.

The jig shown in a link on my earlier build post was cooler than either of the above, though.

Sugatsune

While browsing the Rockler site to see what they have, I noticed a section "Sugatsune special order".  Japanese name, special order: must be good stuff, right?  Apparently it is indeed made in Japan.  The prices are higher than stuff made in China, but one pays for quality.