Hot Shots 2013

I have the calendar hanging in my office.  Hell yeah.

The videos are amusing, though, because the models are quite different when not 'shopped.  And personality counts too, right?

There's a behind the scenes video as well as three other mini-interviews with two models each: Rosie Jones & India Reynolds, Kelly Hall & Sam Cooke, and Holly Peers & Emily O'Hara.

[Links NSFW] I have to say that Kelly Hall (!) looks the best non-pinup, and has the least obtrusive accent!  Followed by perhaps Emily O'Hara (!) and India Reynolds (!).

Edit [2013.06.29]: Rosie Jones isn't bad after all.  Must've been her makeup in the above YT video.

Massive Link Dump

This is one dump sitting in my browser that needed to be taken.

A video of Alan Gura's comments on 2A rights, post-Newtown.

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person, a profanity-laced tirade that actually will make one a better person:

#6. The World Only Cares About What It Can Get from You (Skills, which lead to results, are everything)
#5. The Hippies Were Wrong ("If you want to work here, close"--your job is who you are)
#4. What You Produce Does Not Have to Make Money, But It Does Have to Benefit People
#3. You Hate Yourself Because You Don't Do Anything (Self-loathing originates from uselessness)
#2. What You Are Inside Only Matters Because of What It Makes You Do (History remembers deeds, not potential to do deeds)
#1. Everything Inside You Will Fight Improvement (Happiness takes effort)

In the comments of one forum thread was a stupid gun-control rant that did have one interesting point about having unrestricted weapons use at ranges.

In most discussions about gun control, the pro-gun advocates like to pretend a technical superiority, which they believe entitles them to decide the issue. They know the jargon, they understand the mechanical design, they're really into ballistics and product specifications, and they believe this somehow makes their opinion more informed, and therefore correct.

Hi. I'm a gun nerd, from a time when "nerd" meant something. I'm intensely interested in the history, design, and application of firearms. I spend an inordinate amount of my time going through formal and informal studies of various small arms and munitions. That includes their effects on society. I now firmly, irrevocably, believe in gun control.

These are some ideas for effective regulation and legislation based on technical and practical and psychological criteria, and refutations for common pro-gun arguments:

The most stupid pro-gun argument is that the press and gun control advocates mistake "automatic" with "semi-automatic." In gun-enthusiast jargon, "automatic" means the firearm will fire for as long as the trigger is pulled, like a machine gun, and "semi-automatic" means the gun will fie as fast as the trigger is pulled. So, when people describe a Glock as an automatic, the gun-nuts will scoff, as "automatic" firearms are already illegal save for those with very specialized licenses.

Well, they're wrong - the technical term for any self-loading weapon, that is, a weapon that ejects the spent round and loads a new round from a magazine or clip using energy from firing the weapon, is "automatic." Full automatic or semi automatic weapons are both automatic. Take this simple test - ask them if a Glock is a revolver or automatic. They will instinctually, without hesitation, tell you that a Glock is an automatic pistol… regardless of whether or not it has a full-auto mode or not. (It doesn't in the US.)

More, the real problem is semi-automatic weapons. You can't hit shit with a pistol or assault rifle set to full automatic.

The technology that enables mass murder, more than anything else, are high-capacity magazines. It allows the murderer to keep shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting. You can purchase a 33 round magazine for a 9mm Glock autopistol. You can point-and-shoot 33 times before needing to reload… and you reload by ejecting the spent magazine with a single button, and sliding in another 33 round magazine. Under heavy stress, maybe a 10 second operation, if you fumble a bit.

So. Here's a 5 point proposal that is simple, incremental, and respectful of hobbyists who spent thousands of dollars on murder/suicide machines instead of a bass boat or cruise on the Mediterranean or something.

1) Ban on the sale or manufacture of any magazine or clip larger than 6 rounds, for rifles and pistols. You can own them, you just can't buy or sell them anymore. This is enough, as the Amok in America prefer to buy new equipment at retail prices.

2) Ban the manufacture or sale of any other repeating firearm with a capacity larger than four rounds. If you can't take the turkey with four rounds, it wasn't meant to be.

3) Limit the sale of ammunition. You can buy four rounds a week, heavily taxed, and after a month, can only buy more when you bring back the brass. For those who like to load their own ammo, this means they're limited to 16 casings. This restriction is completely lifted for those shooting at registered and licensed gun ranges… shoot as much as you like. No taxes, either! Load as much as you like… so long as it stays at the range.

4) If you want to keep a gun at home, even a .22LR bolt action, a police officer will come to inspect how you're keeping it twice a year, and you will pay the police for this service. If you're being stupid about gun safety, you will be fined, and your license to own a gun revoked. If you want to keep a M2 heavy machine gun or any other firearm at the range… this is permitted, and cheaply. No tax, and the range deals with all of the inspections. Also, you need to pay a tax on the guns at home that covers the social cost of gun ownership in your community... no tax if you keep the gun at the range. The range needs to immediately report to the police if someone takes a gun off-site for any reason, legal or not.

5) Private gun sales need to be registered, just like auto sales. If you sell your gun to someone, and you don't register the sale after a background check, you get to keep paying the gun tax on it, and when the cops show up to see how you're storing it, and it's not there, you will go to jail. If your gun was stolen and used in a crime, and you were negligent in its storage, you will go to jail, and be on the hook for civil damages.

These points allow enthusiasts to keep shooting and hunting, and the living to keep breathing.

I don't believe for a second that this jackass actually knows much about guns.  He fails to notice the obvious point that it's not impossible to manufacture guns or ammunition at home, none of which would be registered.  But Big Government liberals are fucking stupid and don't think things through.  If I had a place to shoot it, though, it'd be neat to have a Ma Deuce....

From Jen, an article on where the GOP goes from here.

A blurb from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Minnesota about DMC.

Comparisons by "Food Babe" of junk food in the U.S. versus the version overseas--the U.S. versions have more crap in them!

Some composting tips...I need 'em....

Comparison of cross-platform VMs on Wikipedia (?!)

Adult ADHD

Perhaps this explains why I procrastinate.

At its core, ADHD is a disorder of impulse control. Adults with ADHD were very impulsive as kids, and they continue to be that way in what they say, do and feel. They don’t think about future consequences.

Adults with ADHD also have great difficulties with time management and organization. They end up wasting a lot of time and procrastinating.

This is why they’re ill-prepared for deadlines. Adults with ADHD are chronically late for work, appointments and dates.

They’re often inflexible. An ability to reprioritize on the fly and shift to whatever is important at the moment is difficult. Whenever they get involved in an enjoyable activity they find it very difficult to get away from it. They often quit if there is no immediate payoff for what they’re about to do.

Adults with ADHD often can’t keep a job or sustain a relationship for more than three months.

No particular issues with jobs or relationships (any more than the usual, anyway), but the lateness is a struggle.