Cultural Dimensions Test

Someone I know (KBL) posted their results to FB.  Here's a link the test for whenever I feel like I have the time for it: Cultural Dimensions Test

Beekeeping Link Dump

The accumulation of this detritus is getting out of hand!

• Removing hardened latex paint from brushes -- well...it happens, when painting hives....
• Ulster observation hive design
• Funky beehive hardware at Eco Bee Box
• UofM beehive equipment plans
• Handhold jigs: Beesource (Hogan's jig, circular saw), Korschgen (YT video, drill press)
• YT video on how to make your own dado set -- good stuff
• How to start a queen in a 2-frame nuc (HoneyBeeSuite) -- explanation of using a "queen castle"
• Using queen cages to hatch multiple queens in the same hive, thus preventing one from killing the others (Facebook)

So much info, so little time.

Can Comparison

On the Minnesota NFA FB group, a guy posted a link to an Arfcom thread and YT video of a comparison of a bunch of popular rifle suppressors.  Very cool.  Apparently the Rugged Surge, Dead Air Sandman, or Silencerco Omega are the ones to consider.

MLK & Guns

I'd posted a link on FB about Obama's recent EO banning importation of AKs.  As always, E.W. argued that it doesn't affect the average American, and I made the argument that gun rights are civil rights, and not caring just because it doesn't affect you is like a white person in the '60s saying they don't care about black voting rights, etc.

One of E.W.'s friends posted:

"I was much more afraid in Montgomery when I had a gun in my house. When I decided that I couldn't keep a gun, I came face-to-face with the question of death and I dealt with it. From that point on, I no longer needed a gun nor have I been afraid. Had we become distracted by the question of my safety we would have lost the moral offensive and sunk to the level of our oppressors." --Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (From his writings, compiled by Clayborne Carson) [source]

To which I replied:

T.F.: MLK did undergo something of a transformation in the late '50s to the early '60s, completely adopting the notion of non-violent protest. This was part of the power of his message; if he were all about an eye-for-an-eye, then it'd be too easy for his antagonists to provoke a confrontation to solidify support against him. I think he was trying to avoid the Middle East syndrome, where they've been trading blows for centuries. And indeed, the Black Panthers' blatant display of weapons freaked out the timid whites and arguably precipitated California's draconian gun laws and contributed to the 1968 Gun Control Act.

Dr. King also, in response to activists trying to get him to join sit-ins in the early '60s, said, "I think I should choose the time and place of my Golgatha"--with the implication seemingly that he realized that he was at some point going to be killed for his work. That he did it anyway was heroic. (Further, it's not clear that those around Dr. King didn't keep their weapons for his defense--I couldn't find good sources on that after his conversion to non-violence.)

However, this is non-violence to affect political change, and it seems like Dr. King had an idea where it was going to lead. In his 1967 book, he wrote:

"Finally, I contended that the debate over the question of self-defense was unnecessary since few people suggested that Negroes should not defend themselves as individuals when attacked. The question was not whether one should use his gun when his home was attacked, but whether it was tactically wise to use a gun while participating in an organized demonstration." (Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?)

The point he was making, as I interpret it, is that he wasn't against self-defense or guns; rather, he advised that when marching for political purposes, the potential for a protest to devolve when arms are present overshadows the potential advantages. Of course, the risk is that one will be defenseless, and the personal choice one must make--which Dr. King made--was whether to put the cause or one's self-preservation first. I believe that the quote that you put forth doesn't contradict that interpretation.

In those same papers, Dr. King said he only owned one gun in '56; however, some of his advisers noted that there were firearms all over the house. This would imply that perhaps Dr. King distanced himself from the image of firearms ownership, but his crew didn't necessarily.

Other related pieces:
When MLK gave up his guns [Salon]
Civil Rights Leader and Gun-Owner MLK [Guns.com]
The Secret History of Guns [The Atlantic]

Links from FB

Stefan Molyneux on the Hypocrisy of Gun Control (from 2007):

In general, the argument for gun control comes down to this.

Guns are used to commit crimes.
A crime is defined as the initiation of violence against a peaceful citizen.
Thus guns must be restricted or banned, in order to reduce crime.

It is easy to see the illogic of this argument. How does the government go about banning guns? Why, by initiating violence against those who possess them “illegally.” Thus there is no way to ban guns without initiating the use of force – in other words, a certain crime must be committed for the sake of possibly preventing an unknown crime at some point in the future. We might as well jump off a cliff when we are 20 to prevent the possibility of falling off a cliff when we are 70.

Indeed, anti-rights activists ignore the aspect of who is doing the confiscating. The implicit statement is that the government has the authority to do all of this, "for the greater good".

A blogger with "A Message for My Beloved Children Who Insist Their Lives Are Really Really Hard"—ugh, HuffPo, but it's a funny post.

How Different Cultures Understand Time, by author Richard Lewis.

The guy who created the company that made the Video Toaster, Tim Jenison, did an analysis of how Vermeer may've created his photo-realistic images--which was turned into a movie by Penn & Teller.

The Big Government Religion

Response to a FB post, which I shan't link to here....

This might've been addressed in the prior 462 comments, but my understanding is that LDS hasn't allowed polygamy for a long time; it's just the "fundies" (fundamentalists) who won't drop it.

Religion prescribes a moral code, and people can't seem to stop applying it to others. Kind of like how many Christians still judge others even though that's supposedly reserved for the man upstairs. ("Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and all that.) This is also why libertarians are so few, because not many people can keep their opinions in their respective pockets; and why we have Big Government: to force the majority's judgments on everyone else. Personally, I believe that Big Government is worse for the human condition than even religion, although I'm not sure I'd get many who agree with me on that. We're conditioned now to condemn old-time religion and worship the capricious god of majority rule.

Smash!! I'm an agnostic of sorts, myself, but sometimes atheists and hardcore anti-religion people really piss me off.

The Selam

EW posted a link to the mini-album an acquaintance of his released recently.  Apparently it's "bounce-worthy"; I listened to it, and it's not bad.

Ken Ota

Ryohei Ota posted an article on his father Ken on FB a while ago.  And apparently Bloomington-Normal is called the Twin Cities, too.

Politically True?

Found this on Facebook, actually attributed to Jeff Foxworthy.  Apparently it wasn't him, but a post on a site called Politically True:

• If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but your government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book, but not to vote for who runs your government … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If your government believes that using steroids or other drugs will ruin your life, but throwing you in prison for years will not … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If your government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If an 80-year-old woman can be strip-searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If a seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher “cute,” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested “homes”… you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and free cell phones … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If your government’s plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of Unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If you pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big screen TV while your neighbor buys iPhones, TVs and new cars, and your government forgives his debt when he defaults on his mortgage … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

• If your government believes that the way to make a school of unarmed children safe is to pass another law, this time with the illusion that three 10-round magazines in a rifle is safer than a 30-round magazine … you might live in a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots.

Well, that last one is weaker than the rest.  Otherwise, yeah, it's apparent that things are pretty fucked up.

ぼく、おいしいよ。

This is horrible: what sicko would make such a graphic?  But bacon is too tasty to resist....

So Much Ignorance in One Article

One of my unfortunately liberal friends posted a link to an article making stupid anti-gun suggestions.  A retort:

It's hard to fit so much ignorance into one article! From the top:

- While I haven't fact-checked the statistic on deaths, these numbers typically include self-defense shootings and cops shooting bad guys, which I'd argue are good things. It'd also include suicides, which isn't good, but someone who really wants to kill himself will use the most efficient and available tool for the job.

- No license is needed for driving a motor vehicle on private property. (Permits are currently required to carry weapons in public.)

- My Minnesota license is good for concealed (and open) carry of pistols. It also allows for open carry of long guns. I'd get a license to carry a sawed-off shotgun if they made one (although it'd have to be an AOW since SBSes are illegal in MN).

- No title is needed for a transaction between private parties for use on private property. States use titling as a chance to rape the seller for sales tax on used property, which is unethical.

- Most states don't have smog testing. Besides, a malfunctioning pistol is primarily dangerous to the shooter (it could blow up in his face).

- The author confuses a magazine with ammunition to put in the magazine--7.62x39mm ammunition used to be found for under $0.20/rd (before the gun ban insanity), so a full 40-rd magazine would be $8. And taxing ammo is a stupid idea. Well, gas taxes go to roads, so ammo taxes could go to building more shooting ranges, right?

- Flammable materials most definitely can be shipped. Gasoline isn't economical relative to pumping stations due to the weight and hazmat charge, but you can order propane online and have the truck come to your house.

- All handguns are required by law to be shipped with a lock. Some newer models have integral locks. However, there's no law that says you have to lock a car door.

- A gun that shoots is functioning properly. A car that kills people in an accident is not functioning properly. The negligent discharges last Saturday were at gun shows, not at the rallies, where tens of thousands of people across the country carried loaded firearms without incident, me being one of them.

Wow, the author of that article is dumb. How about requiring licenses for publishing stuff, because otherwise you could spread ignorance too easily, which is damaging to readers' minds. Oh wait, that'd be prohibited by the 1st Amendment. Oh wait, all of the author's idiotic suggestions are prohibited by the 2nd Amendment.

It's exasperating having to deal with this crap. Why can't more people be logical?

Random Comment

GCA68 was partly racially motivated: the Black Panthers were unabashedly armed. The cover for passing that law was the assassinations of JFK and MLK, and people supported it based on emotion alone.

Never mind that anyone with basic handyman skills could build a black-powder zip gun and knock off any politician he can get within 10 yds of. Knocking off one person with a homemade gun is easy; resisting Brownshirts is another matter. And like most laws, the GCA only applies to people who follow the law, unless you enforce it with the threat of deadly force.

.950 JDJ in Action!

American Specialty Ammo posted a picture of a .950 JDJ rifle on Facebook (in which I had a passing interest), and one commenter linked to a YouTube video of the rifle actually being fired.  Talk about bad-ass!

If I could only afford one larger-than-half-inch-bore rifle, I think I'd have to take the .950 JDJ over 20 mm.  I mean, just think of the incredible amusement in having a .950-caliber (24.1 mm) firearm that's not Title II!

Don't Carpe Diem

A week or so ago, E.L. posted a link on Facebook to this article by a "mommy blogger" about how people always tell her to enjoy every moment of dealing with her young kids rather than agonizing over every little thing that goes wrong.  Raising kids is a pain in the ass, there's no way around that.  Some people have the right temperament for it, though, to let go and not let it bug them.  Yeah, I'm not one of those people.  But at least I'm not the mom...that'd suck!

Vortex and Primary Arms Red Dots

AIM Surplus just posted the Vortex SPARC scope in their Facebook updates.  I'd never heard of it so I'd checked the manufacturer's page.  A little searching on the forums seemed to have mixed reviews, but the negative ones weren't by people who've actually used the device--just people who prefer Aimpoint's or Trijicon's offerings.  People who actually own the sight seem to like it.  One post referenced a Primary Arms red dot, saying that if you're not going to go with the gold standard you might as well go with the el cheapo solution.

More Shit

Further commentary on the shit thread of Demian's:

Finally getting back to this. What else am I gonna do when I'm down with a cold....

I was throwing the charity thing out there to counteract Demian's assertion that conservatives are cold-hearted SOBs. I've heard of a study (but haven't seen it myself) that indicates that conservatives, particularly midwestern ones, donate in much higher percentages than liberals, particularly the ones in California.

Charity for business may be, and I quote, "fucking bullshit", but it's not like that for me and, I'd wager, for most individuals. I feel like it's a social imperative: I am able to make a decent living developing HDDs because the social structures exist to support my specialization. As such, I can afford to donate from my salary to help as I see fit. On the other hand, much of my donations go to cancer research organizations.

The problem with sending aid to third world countries is that usually the dictator or whatever corrupt government is running things takes the spoils. How would you expect to "end poverty", though? There will always be poor people (despite what socialists will have one believe), and poor people beget more poor people. It's an unending cause, and to expect otherwise is purely unrealistic. Charity could be a means of preserving the status quo -- or it could be a good element to balance the tendency of things to go to shit. Your call. I prefer to believe that some good can be done. That said, some is never enough.

Part Two:

Your argument about Venezuelan gun possession is bogus, by the way. Check your facts -- most of those 6M guns are illegal. Right now only law enforcement can legally buy guns there. They just don't have the gestapo environment that the U.S. has. Americans are in general too cowardly to revolt, otherwise we would've had a new government after the Waco massacre.

If you're talking "socialism" like Chavez and dictators like him -- might as well be Hitler or Stalin -- then you're really nuts. Democratic socialism is at least plausible in that they believe that non-totalitarian government can help the underprivilieged. Communist socialism has been completely discredited. Communism itself is an ideal that unfortunately cannot be implemented practically: anyone with a modicum of logical thinking can appreciate that in order to administer things fairly a class must exist that decides those matters, and such an administration is prone to corruption. Plus, a populace that puts themselves in a position of servitude deserve whatever they get.

Small-time tyrant socialists like Castro (who vehemently denied being a communist before rising to power...now he's unabashed about it) and Chavez needed their backers to be armed in order to execute their "revolutions". When they're in power, though, they aim to crack down on access to weapons of resistance so as to enforce their monopoly of force. That's precisely why the people shouldn't trust a government that disbars the use of arms: it's the first step down the road to totalitarianism.

Part Three:

You're right about Jefferson's support of public education. I think his heart was in the right place, but the problem with government involvement in education is that they then gain the ability to brainwash future generations. In this regard, homeschooling is a vitally important option to maintain. I don't see myself doing it (my kids will go to a private school if I can afford it, otherwise I'll shoot for a charter school) but it's every right of a parent to avoid government-mandated crap. Regarding private versus public, I went to a Montessori for a year in elementary and learned more in that one year than in any other two years in the public school system. (This coming from a kid who's been an honors student since 3rd grade.) Regardless of the availability of public education, private will always be superior because of less red tape and the presence of a business mandate (if the kids don't do well, parents quit paying for it).

In any case, the mandatory public systems instantiated by the government, regardless of good intent, are villainous. People shouldn't be forced to comply with someone else's idea of how they should spend their income.

As for the infallibility of icons such as Jefferson, of course he was human and had his failings, such as keeping slaves. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, eh. Abraham Lincoln, however, revered, was not as great as some make him out to be: he was the first to make extensive use of Executive Orders, which are used for vile purposes today. I'm a bit torn on the Civil War: while slavery was definitely a bad thing, the right of the states to secede should have been inviolate. (Yes, I'm solidly in the camp of the Anti-Federalists.) Slavery was an institution at the time, and while now it seems very antiquated, the whole colonial "white man's burden" was at a time the prevailing thinking. Kind of like smoking used to be atarimae, a sharp contrast to how it is villified today. Then there's that piece of shit Franklin Roosevelt who devalued the dollar, outlawed private gold ownership, created a raft of socialist programs including Social Security, and managed to get us embroiled in WWII, which set the stage for the U.S.'s interventionist foreign policy in the 70 years since. (Yes the Japanese attacked the U.S., but not until after we embargoed them, basically cutting off the lifeline to an island nation, to limit their aggression. The embargo itself was tantamount to an act of war. I'm not an apologist for what happened, but it's important to look at the entire context of the conflict. Plus, we had intelligence that the Japanese were planning an attack. Just clarifying my views on WWII -- basically one that pisses off both Americans and Japanese!).

Information on Venezuelan gun laws is hard to find, but the sources I've been able to find indicate that private ownership isn't legal (for example). From the link, dated 2006.11.25:

However, the Chavez government has tightened gun laws. Once it was easier to take out a gun licence than a driving licence, but now only police officers can buy guns legally. In spite of this, there are a number of gun shops nationwide and the evident levels of gun ownership would suggest that the law is not being implemented effectively.

Shit

One of Demian's scatological rants on FB turned political, prompted me to respond, which led to him questioning the manhood of gun owners and me to retort with the following piece of eloquence:

You can joke about gun owners compensating all you want, it's bullshit. We got more inches and testosterone than the pussy anti-gunners. We'll screw your girl and her friend and they'll be back in a week for more when they can walk again. =D

Wouldn't be surprised if he unfriends me this time, haha. That's ok, we weren't butt buddies anyhow.

Organic Homemade Ketchup

This showed up in my Facebook stream because Marigold commented on the author's wall picture. The recipe looks pretty simple:

INGREDIENTS

1 x 28 oz. Can Tomato Puree

1 x 6 oz Can Tomato Paste

1 Tbsp Vinegar (I like Unfiltered Raw Apple Cider)

1/4 Cup Water

1/6 tsp each Garlic & Onion Powder

1 pinch each Secret Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

1/4 tsp Stevia Extract Powder

1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum (optional natural thickener)

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, pour in the 1st 4 ingredients. Stir, and bring to a simmer.

Add in the rest of the ingredients, and stir them in using a whisk.

Simmer for 10-20 minutes. The longer you simmer it, the thicker and more rich it will become.

Let cool,and pour into glass jar(s).

Well, that wasn’t too bad now was it.

You should have been making your own this whole time!

Will keep in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.

If you like tangier ketchup, add a little more vinegar. Sweeter? Add more sweetener.

You can play with the spices & seasonings to develop your own signature ketchup. Spicy sounds good, too.

What’s you’re favorite ketchup accompaniment to have with you’re new recipe?

How will you tweak it? I’d love to know how it goes for you :)

ENJOY!

Be Well,

-Maximillian Barry

Hmm, it uses Stevia. Did the FDA accept that finally...?