I had to kill some time making a couple of comments to some tripe on CNN.

Congressman Chaffetz:

I'm greatly amused by the Democrats posting negative comments to Congressman Chaffetz's report. Are they the very same Democrats who claim that Republicans are so negative in regard to proposals from their own party? As typical, hypocrisy abounds on the left. And don't these guys know that "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit"? Since they can't make a constructive argument, they're reduced to ridicule, which requires no intellectual activity.

I'm encouraged that this freshman did the right thing and voted 'no' to the bailout provisions. He's already more responsible than most of Congress.

Good luck, Congressman Chaffetz.

Congressman Polis:

Well, Congressman Jared, I hope you'll settle in quickly and not spend too much time playing around. Your constituents should be eager to hear about real progress in place of frivolity. That's what you're paid for -- out of taxpayers' dollars!

Also, hopefully you'll uphold your oath of office and support the Constitution. Too many Democrats feel it necessary to violate it with asinine legislation, particularly the 2nd Amendment.

Obama Inauguration

Some links so I can close them out of my browser:

Obama's inaugural speech
Inauguration in Legoland
The balance of power
Retaking the oath of office (But he didn't use a Bible this time! What are the conspiracy theorists going to say?!)

Concussions

I'm reading too many CNN articles today. It's bad for my brain. However, the concussion I had as a kid might've been worse, according to an article on a CSTE study: "Symptoms can include depression, sleep disorders, headaches"—uh-oh.

Republican Negativity

I don't like this guy's political bent, but he's right about Republicans being too negative. People seem to detest negativity or criticism in general even if the arguments are completely warranted. That's a tough one because the Democrats are always blue-sky irrationals, but they're upbeat about it.

Zelizer is correct in asserting that Republicans can't be too negative. People are irrational and seem to disdain criticism even if it's logical and correct. In that regard, the Republicans will have to appear to be "building" something to appeal to the emotional populists who don't have the faculty to comprehend the reasons behind saying "no."

However, that FDR "saved" the country in the '30s is highly inaccurate. The country was no better for all the socialist programs FDR perpetuated. Let me remind the FDR champions that WWII was what "saved" the US's economy. (And FDR robbed the American public with gold confiscation and devaluing the dollar via EO6102.) This time, even if there were such a horrific world war, we wouldn't have the manufacturing capacity to win it!

NSF funds "connect-the-dots"

This is pretty freaky, although not unexpected. I guess I'd better watch out what I post on here. Not! If I don't call things out, that's one less person perceived to be in the opposition.

Democrats are the root of all that's gone wrong in America! "Expel the socialist liberals, revere the Constitution!"

Rare illness deaths in Minnesota?!

Now that I have a kid, this sort of thing scares the shit out of me. The CDC has a page on this so-called Hib disease.

Japan's Birth Rate

Yet another wonderful CNN article, which I had to comment on:

The low birth rate is a big problem because Japan, like the U.S., has a Ponzi scheme for a retirement system: future generations pay for retired previous generations through their taxes. If Japan doesn't have the young workers to support the system, it will collapse under its own weight. Social Security in the U.S. is similar, except we don't have a low birth rate and many people don't rely exclusively on SS for retirement.

Also, many Japanese people do work 12 hr days or more. To my perception, from having lived and worked there for several years, in general the Japanese work harder than we do in the U.S. If they had more natural resources, the power balance in the world would probably be very different.

Also, what's up with these racists criticizing Japan for trying to maintain their population? Perhaps they should be clamoring for population control in their own country!

Coinage

I had never been clear on which coins had valuable metals, e.g. silver. A site called Coinflation has all the pertinent info. Furthermore, I found a coin chart that lists dates and composition of the valuable U.S. coins.

AR-15 Builder

Brownells rules! The AR-15 Builder site they have also rules!

...too bad AR-15 lowers are sold out everywhere. That's a message for ya, new administration!

The Emperor's Chair

Russ found this somehow. What the smoke?! All they need is an IV and a catheter and you'd never have to get up!

Random Before Reboot

Some tabs in Firefox that I have open before needing to reboot:
The Cost of Raising Children
Failing Hard Drive Sounds
生命力テスト　変なことに、俺は「生命力は満タン！　ヤル気全開なあなた」って出てきた。うそだろと思うよな。ぎりぎり生きてる位じゃないか！

6.8 SPC FAQ

Meant to post this a while ago but it kept slipping down the list of things to do. 6.8 SPC looks to be pretty cool. Still, it's another caliber to stock in addition to 7.62x51mm, 5.56x45mm, 6.5x55mm, .45 ACP, 9x19mm, .22 LR, 12 ga, and 20 ga. And I have at least one more cartridge to add....

Feedkiller

I was trying to merge RSS feeds for a couple blogs into a single feed that I could import into Facebook. This site Feedkiller supposedly will do that, so I tried it. Not sure yet if it works. My feed is #1509.

Rogue Sci

Turns out that TPB has a good selection of firearm information. One guy who originates a lot of material, including AGI rips, is "Don't Tread On Me". In his postings, he plugs a site called Rogue Sci, which appears to have some educational information that the government control freaks definitely don't want their subjects to have access to. That is, it's the kind of stuff that a patriotic citizen should have, even if he doesn't ever intend to make use of it. Fight the power!

c|net commentary

Remarks to a c|net article on international SNSes:

mixi also now requires a Japanese cell-phone email address to confirm registration. This may not be too terribly effective in controlling one person having multiple accounts, since one could change one's email address and register again, but it certainly limits people who don't live in Japan from joining.

And another on DHS requiring fingerprints and photographs for permanent residents:

Japan does the same thing already. Even if you have a long-term or permanent visa, you get your fingerprints taken (just index fingers, though) and photo snapped. I think it sucks and does nothing to provide extra security, but who in the government is going to listen to foreigners' complaints? Resident aliens are pretty much 2nd-class citizens in Japan. Tourists are ok because they spend money then leave, but tourists don't have special visas.

This gripes me off, though. So why would DHS do this if the borders aren't sealed anyway? They're going to inconvenience people who enter via legal means, and ignore people who sneak in illegally? Brilliant. I feel safer already (that's sarcasm, in case you didn't catch it). The less government invasiveness the better.

.308 Ammo

I posted this link before, but to summarize on its own entry:

The site Rifle Company has a post on one of its forums that's continuously updated with the cheapest 7.62x51mm ammo on the Net, aptly titled "The cheapest 7.62x51mm Surplus on the Internet". The forum also has some interesting posts, like The 10 Golden Rules of Ammo and All About U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition. Great stuff!

Follow-Up Comment

A follow-up to the previous comment:

Clarification: The AK-47s used for hunting that I was referring to are semi-auto versions of the weapon, not the full-auto versions. That is, the "assault weapon" version of the gun, not the "assault rifle" version. The problem with the AK is that it's not particularly accurate in its common incarnation, so it's not very well suited to hunting.

And one more thing about anti-gun legislators: they're not only acting illegally (in terms of the Constitution), they're twisting the arms of legal gun-owners. That is, law-abiding citizens are forced to comply with the illegal legislation (an oxymoron on the surface, but it happens a lot) or become criminals. The anti-gunners would then point to defiant *formerly* law-abiding citizens as further "proof" that their illegal laws are correct. A blindly law-abiding citizen can't preserve his rights in the face of that, and committing civil disobedience in the case of firearms would get one killed by a government out of control (BATFE and FBI). The irony is that people in power don't need to have their own guns because they have security who do the dirty work of protection for them. Kind of like that hypocritical racist Rosie O'Donnell, who railed against handguns and backpedaled when it came to light that her kid's bodyguard carried a concealed handgun.

I have yet to hear one cogent and compelling reason from anyone for restricting 2nd Amendment rights.

GOA Article Comment

The GOA sent me an alert on Facebook, vectoring to an article related to the AWB.

People can and do hunt deer with AK-47s (in certain states, with 5-rd reduced capacity magazines, and with hunting loads). Yeah, I'm against a renewed AWB partly because I really like guns. It's not just that, though, it's because I have the right to own them. The reason the 2nd Amendment exists is to protect the people from a hostile government. Think the colonists would've been able to rise up against the British if they had no rifles? (Or would you have been one of those who welcomed the British domination because they told you they had your best interests at heart?) Rack your brain a bit harder.

I'd love to own an assault rifle, except I can't afford the 20-grand that it takes to buy one because of stupid anti-gun legislation. Since you seem to be confused, assault rifles are machine guns. "Assault weapon" is a bogus term the anti-gun people invented to mean semi-auto versions of assault rifles.

I'm a law-abiding citizen with a permit to carry. (I'll state that I'm an employed, white-collar engineer in high-technology and not a redneck, since most of the anti-gun schmucks stupidly seem to equate armed citizens with the uneducated. Also I have two degrees.) I don't go around shooting people indiscriminately -- I'm one of the good guys. For sure I'm more upstanding than the police officers you see in the news who get caught selling dope from impound and beating on people just because they're not white. I'm probably also a better shot that most police officers, who are allowed to carry handguns most of the time. Handguns are used to save lives -- the lives of the owner and his family. If the police can have handguns, why not law-abiding citizens? What makes the police and military so special? Training? Citizens can get training, but they shouldn't need it to own guns on their own property. They should get training to carry guns in public, same as a driver's license. The real point of that is control: the perception is that police and military are on a short leash and are directed by the government, which is exactly what you *don't* want, at least if you value your freedom. A standing military and police state are the first steps to becoming a non-republic.

The point of carrying handguns out in public is because criminals don't follow laws saying that you can't carry a loaded semi-auto handgun, rifle, or shotgun. (Most states only allow concealed carry of handguns, not shotguns and rifles.) Even if you could carry a rifle, you want to get rid of semi-auto rifles, which probably includes magazine-fed bolt-action, so you'd have a single-shot bolt-action. It'd be tough to save your bacon against multiple attackers with that. Besides, rifle bullets have more penetration than handgun bullets -- or didn't you know that?

The problem with the anti-gun crowd is that they're illogical, and always appeal to the emotional side of things. "Why can't you accept 'reasonable' bans on guns?" What's reasonable? The 2nd Amendment is quite plain on saying that there's no such thing as a reasonable ban. In fact, I'd say that rules restricting guns are illegal according to the Bill of Rights. Anyone following the NFA, GCA, etc., is actually guilty of breaking the highest law in the United States of America! Of course I'm not saying to break those rules, because the ATF will kick down your door and shoot you if you do. I'm saying that our legislators can't even follow our own laws, so how can they expect normal folks to respect their stupidity?!

Criminals don't follow laws by definition. Any new anti-gun laws, therefore, will be ignored by criminals. The only people that will lose their guns are the people who follow the law. So you'll have criminals with guns and law-abiding citizens without guns. Who's at a disadvantage? Think about it. Can't be more plain than that.

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

Just to make sure that I was using the idiom properly, I googled "wait for the other shoe to drop" and found a site that explained the origin of the phrase:

This phrase means "to await an event causally linked to one that
one has already observed". In the form "drop the other shoe",
meaning "say the next obvious thing" or "end the suspense", it dates
from the early 20th century. It derives from the following joke:

A guest who checked into an inn one night was warned to be quiet
because the guest in the room next to his was a light sleeper. As
he undressed for bed, he dropped one shoe, which, sure enough,
awakened the other guest. He managed to get the other shoe off in
silence, and got into bed. An hour later, he heard a pounding on
the wall and a shout: "When are you going to drop the other shoe?"

I have no idea if it's apocryphal or not, but I liked the joke.

Tiptacon

A while ago I found a site with a guy offering to add a rail to an HK-91 wide handguard for mounting a vertical foregrip. For some reason I didn't post it here. The real interesting thing, though, was the technique of using a sling with the foregrip to minimize the effect of recoil. Apparently, with an appropriate sling tension, by pushing forward on the foregrip, one can better keep the rifle in line with the target. It certainly made me revisit my stance on foregrips.

Edsger Dijkstra

Joel sent me a great link to a paper by Edsger Dijkstra on "the cruelty of really teaching computer science" and notably "radical novelties". The paper wanders all over the place, but it's excellent in many ways, particularly in highlighting that people misconstrue digital computers to have analog qualities, and that metaphors fall short in almost every technological instance.

西行法師

From some checking I did earlier: Saigyo Hoshi on Wikipedia. A collection of some waka by Saigyo. A translation of the quote I was looking for.

Super Sniper Riflescope

My dad told me about this scope as a possibility for one of my black rifles. Granted, the name "Super Sniper" is a bit pretentious. Still, it's got decent specs and doesn't cost as much as a Leupold.

WaterMill

Not a water-powered mill, but a water producing element called WaterMill. Joel sent me the link, and it looks pretty cool. Too bad they don't have more details, specifically pricing at the moment. That'd be pretty fugly on the house, though.

Leather Belts

I found a couple places that sell made-in-USA leather belts.
Solesu
Leather & Things

NH & FL Carry Permits

The application for New Hampshire carry is available online.

Florida requires that an applicant send away for a packet.

Combat Shotgun

I've been thinking up ways to trick out a Remington 870 shotgun for home defense. I was thinking that the 18" barrel (since MN prohibits SBSes) with a pistol grip, metal pump foregrip with a rail to hold a vertical grip, extended tube magazine, and receiver attachment with a shotshell holder and rail to hold a red dot would be pretty good.

Then I got to thinking that it'd be neat to have a detachable magazine for a shotgun. Flipping through Shotgun News, I saw an ad for a Izhmash's Saiga-12, which is an AK-47 receiver converted to fire shotshells. A company called Alliance Armament makes modified Saiga-12s as well as 20- and 30-rd drum magazines. Sweet! The base gun itself is only $600 or so, but when one starts accessorizing it, things get expensive really fast. Alliance offers a "reliability service" which makes me think that the Saiga as-is has issues. Their rail system is $250, and the drums area $380 and $425.

Then again, semi-auto only could jam in a critical situation. The SPAS-12 can operate in either mode, which would be better. I think I'll stick with the cheaper pump option for actual defense, but I might buy a Saiga-12 just for the hell of it.

Demiforce

This guy I used to know at OSU from the Japanese Club apparently has "made it" in the game industry. CNN has an article about his game Trism.

I saw the link in my CSS reader and figured I'd skim it. The pic kind of looked like Steve Demeter, and his name was mentioned in the text. "Nah, it can't be" I thought, but when the text mentioned Demiforce, a handle he'd used in the past, that settled it. Steve was always pretty driven to write games, so it's not really a surprise. Pretty wild, though.

Google Blows

I've had to keep these pages hidden by blanking out the template since I posted about "CCAW". I realized that the phrase was sufficiently unique to turn up high on the list of a search of that phrase, so I deleted the post and submitted a removal request to Google. They pulled the page from the index, yet it was added again later by the crawler for some unknown reason, and linked to the page that was supposedly deleted. Fuckin' piece of shit! With the pages blanked I can still access my links, which is kind of all I care about. Still, it sucks the way this worked out.

Glass Blocks

I was considering making a glass block skylight, so I did a little search and found that a company IBP (Innovative Building Products) makes them. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, but amusingly enough, IBP is a Berkshire Hathaway company.

IBP also makes glass walkways and such, which is kinda cool, too.

Pittsburgh Corning actually makes glass blocks—the IBP skylights are a derivative product. They have a projects site as well. According to IBP's site, other vendors include Solaris, Mulia, and Weck.