Now there’s a shocker

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., I'm from the government, news, politics, weapons, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Apr 102021
 

The current President babbled out some nonsensical prattle about some proposed executive actions to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms. included in this are his desire to ban pistol braces as well as “ghost guns,” the scare-term used to describe incomplete gun “kits” that people can buy legally without registration (because they are not actually guns at that point) and then finish into guns.. Right now these generally revolve around what are called “80% lowers:” generally a block of aluminum in the shape of a lower receiver (typically of an AR-15) that can be finished with some drilling and milling by a competent machinist. If he somehow succeeds in making 80% lowers illegal, people will just start selling 75% lowers, or 49% lowers, or even just rectangular billets of aluminum. Currently the receiver is the only part of a firearm that is regulated; you can buy all the barrels and trigger assemblies you like without having to file paperwork. Sniffer Joe might want to change that, however.

Turning a billet into a finished receiver is becoming easier and easier with modern CNC mills; witness the “Ghost Gunner.”

Ghost Gunner 3

Ghost Gunner is a general purpose CNC mill that gives you the ability to finish a growing library of mil-spec 80 percent lowers to completion. With simple tools and point and click software, the machine automatically finds and aligns to your 80% lower to get to work. No prior CNC knowledge or experience is required to manufacture from design files. Legally manufacture unserialized rifles and pistols in the comfort and privacy of home.

AR-15
AR-308
AR-9
AR-45
Polymer80
1911
Engraving
Serialization

The Ghost Gunner 3 pre-orders for $500 (deposit, as was pointed out in the comments. total price is about two grand). This is the approximate price of a modest AR-15 or a decent 1911… but it should allow you to make an indeterminate number of receivers. Right now it seems to need “80% lowers,” rather than just rectangular blocks of aluminum… but some future iteration of the Ghost Gunner no doubt will be able to achieve that. Hell, soon enough you’ll be able to melt down a bunch of aluminum cans, pour the molten aluminum into a sand or plaster mold, shove the crappy casting into the GG#X and it’ll bang out a serviceable receiver.

Of course, most people are not even aware of the option they have of making their own firearm. Most people only think of firearms procurement in terms of buying one from a gun store. So what has been the result of Temporary President Bidens mumblings about executive actions? Let’s got to the tape:

It’s beginning to look like Biden will be a better firearm salesman that Obama ever dreamed of being. At the same time that the far Left is openly talking about locking up millions of Americans in Federal prison, more and more Americans are lining up to be the targets of the Lefts pogroms.

That said, Biden did make an interesting point:

Biden on the Second Amendment: ‘No amendment is absolute’

And this is true. It is now time for the press to confront Biden about the lack of absoluteness with regards to, say, voting rights.

 Posted by at 2:06 pm

Hyperspace Ram: corrected

 art, awesomeness, science fiction, youtube  No Responses »
Apr 092021
 

Recently I’ve noticed a lot of people on both sides both “correcting art” and getting upset about “correcting art.” Example: someone illustrates a comic book or anime female character. Said character has, shall we say, exaggerated proportions. Or the skin tone doesn’t quite match the canon or what other people think it should be. So sometimes the critics “fix” or “correct” the art, changing skin tones and proportions and sometimes even genders in order to make the critics happy. Sometimes “woke” art is “corrected” by making masculine female characters look feminine, or make emasculated male characters look like actual men. And then “fixing” the art is suddenly “wrong.” It’s hard to keep up.

Me… you do your art however the frak you want. I only might become annoyed at crappy art if The Powers That Be decide that your crappy re-imagining of the quality original is declared the new canon. I’m looking at YOU, JJTrek and STD. But amateurs? go for it. And thus… someone has fixed the “hyperspace ramming” scene in the execrable “The Last Jedi,” and it looks pretty awesome.

And because why not, an oldie but a goody:

 Posted by at 8:47 pm

Marxism and riots: a path to wealth

 Crazy, dumbassery, Hmm..., news, politics, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Apr 092021
 

Huh.

Black Lives Matter co-founder describes herself as ‘trained Marxist’

This is neither news (this article dates from June of 2020) nor surprising. But here’s the “huh-worthy” part of the yarn:

BLM Co-Founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors Buys Million Dollar Home And The Streets Have Questions

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors is once again getting backlash over money and BLM finances after purchasing a $1.4-plus million home in the rustic and predominately white Los Angeles community of Topanga Canyon.

Kahn-Cullors, 37, is a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California who has been married for about five years to social activist and amateur boxer Janaya Khan, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, Dirt reported.

Huh.

Huh.

HMMMMMMM……..

The property is, for a million and nearly a half, is *tiny,* at only 0.27 acres, with 2400 square feet of actual house.

 

And she says yes. Marxism in the west is one hell of a grift.

As noted at one of the links, this is a particularly *white* area, and somewhat off the beaten path. One wonders if she chose it for its presumed distance from Molotov cocktail throwers.

BLM contributors: you’ve paid to have minority homes burned… and to provide million-dollar homes for Marxists. Good Job.

 Posted by at 8:39 pm

What will this do to his insurance?

 blather, Hmm..., news, youtube  No Responses »
Apr 082021
 

So yesterday a murder suspect fled from the cops, leading them on a two-hour high speed chase. The chase only ended when a semi truck driver intentionally put his truck into the path of the suspect. The small pickup truck drove smack into the semi, damaging both vehicles, ending the chase with no deaths, no guns fired.

Clearly the semi driver is to be applauded here. he stepped up and saved the day. But… technically he drove recklessly, putting his truck into danger. The semi took a substantial hit, probably tens of thousands of dollars in damage. The insurance company, if they are smart and PR savvy, should pick up the tab with a smile and *not* whack his insurance rates. but… how often are such companies actually that smart. Plus, he could be criminally charged, I suppose, if a prosecutor *really* wanted to be an officious dick.

I have little doubt that if the driver here is hit with a massive repair bill that the insurance company refuses to pay, he could take care of it with a crowdfunding effort.

So… what will the damages to this guy be?  Could his insurance company and/or employer dangle him over an edge?

—

This incident also potentially illustrates the reality of “doing the right thing.” We’ve all seen videos of people giving to charities or homeless people or the poor or whatever… while filming themselves doing it. Playing the role of “hero” for clout or internet fame or maybe even making money. They are free to do so, and I would not stop such people from doing so, no matter how selfish their motives. But *true*  heroics comes with a different motive. Going into a situation with a “How will I turn this to my advantage” mindset is not heroism. “Can I survive what I’m about to do” might well be. If you do something praiseworthy and your thought isn’t “now to profit from this” but “how can I recover from this,” you might well have done “the right thing.” The difference between “behold what I have done” with a smug smile and “I could have done more” while you break down in tears.

You know you’ve done the right thing when you feel broken, I guess.

 Posted by at 6:50 pm

Another mass killing to stuff down the memory hole

 AARRRGH, Crazy, Hmm..., news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Apr 082021
 

Let us ponder how this one will play, given how it messes with The Narrative:

 

 Posted by at 1:56 pm

No seeing eye to eye

 AARRRGH, blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., history, Hmm..., politics, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Apr 072021
 

There are lots of people fairly far apart on a number of important issues. It is wisest, when trying  to figure out what to do about The Other Side, to have an *actual* understanding of The Other Side. When your understanding of them is limited not only to bumper sticker statements, but strawman bumper stickers, you will not only fail to truly understand The Other Side, you will come off as an idiot not only to The Other Side but also to potential allies who actually understand The Other Side. Anyone on the right who has listened to lefties bloviating about right wingers being “Nazis” or “Fascists” or “racists” will know this. Any non-religious person who has listened to a preacher or an imam or just some idjit going on about how non-believers *really* *do* actually believe in some god or other, they just pretend not to so they can behave immorally, will know this. Anyone who knows by not just education but experience that the Earth is spherical-ish and has listened to Flat Earthers blather on about a conspiracy  to keep the Truth hidden, will know this. Anyone who owns and respects firearms and has heard idiots going on about how the only purpose of an AR-15 is to murder people will know this.

Communism died three decades ago. Or at least it should have when the Soviet Union went down, dragged into the abyss by the weight of the chains that socialism forged and draped around its neck. But thirty years later… here we are, still having to contend with the most destructive economic ideology of the last millenium. Why? What could actually appeal to people about an economic system that revolves around slavery, theft and the stifling of the human spirit? Is it because those touting it are crazy, or stupid, or just young and naive?  Sure, all possible. But… why not ask? Someone did, and the answers are so balls-to-the-wall bizarre that it’s clear that at least some such people, and some of us other people, will *never* see eye to eye. Hell, even agreeing to disagree might be a challenge. But it’s best to see where they come from. Behold:

What do communists want?

Alexander Finnegan, J.D. Law, Marxist Leninist
“People don’t want to cooperate. You will have to use violence to stop those who resist having their riches nationalized. You will have to fill up the prisons with people who refuse to pay their taxes,” I hear. If a bunch of insulin manufacturing executives take up arms to prevent the people from nationalizing the industry and saving lives by bringing down the cost of insulin, then if violence is used to resist their violence, why is this a moral problem for me? I would enjoy smashing them. It would mean justice is done. Same thing with putting those who don’t pay taxes in jail. Why is this controversial? How is it different anywhere else? And yes, Marxist classes would be required, so the people can learn to be more prosocial and less selfish. China has them and they are a great idea.
Huh. He’s up front about wanting “re-education camps” and to use violence in order to take your stuff.
No, I don’t feel sorry for the kulaks. They killed many families during their riots. They slaughtered half the livestock used to farm the land. They hid grain to speculate on prices, knowing people were starving. They encouraged others to stop growing grain, which would have made the famine worse. They deserved it. In this photo Soviet workers found them hiding grain. The kulaks deserve what they got.
The kulaks, you may remember, were relatively small land owners and farmers. “Private owners of the means of production.” They resisted having their stuff stolen. They were slaughtered. This guy would seem to approve of doing the same to any American farmer who would resist having his home and livelihood stolen. By the standards of the early Soviet Union, a Kulak today would be someone who ran a *very* small home-based business.
If anything, under socialism people would work harder knowing their bosses aren’t getting rich from the unpaid value of their labor, while they survive on food stamps because they are getting ripped off so badly.
He actually seems to believe that people would work harder when they know that doing so would not only not earn them more, it wouldn’t even earn them the *chance* to earn more. People would just work harder… because.
Democracy stinks. Studies have shown there is no relationship between what the public wants and policy enactment. Zero. American style representative democracy is a farce. The rich own the politicians. At least in China they have a functional and well run government that plans the economy and is doing a good job.
That’s neat. If you like how the Chinese are genociding the Uighurs, you’ll love *this* guys vision of a proper government.
No, Joseph Stalin wasn’t a monster. No, he didn’t cause the Holomodor, he didn’t kill 60 million people, he didn’t become besties with Hitler, the kulaks deserved it, and the purges were not a cynical attempt by him to grab power. The people voted for the purges and wanted them.
Ayup.
If you have a bunch of time and a bunch of excess brain cells to kill, go and read the rest of it. Like many Communists, this guy goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Like many Communists, his idea of dealing with people is to lecture them into oblivion (and if that doesn’t work, I guess lining them up against a wall might be ok too). But note that when he trots out horrific notions, it’s not a matter of accidentally saying the quiet part out loud. No, he’s open and clear that he wants to take your stuff and your land and your factory. He certainly seems ok with the idea of killing you to take them.
Following his screed, there are numerous other answers to the question “What do communists want?” from numerous other communists. They are generally pretty open about their desires. It is a mishmash of power fantasy and a stunning disregard for the basic human desire to own and control the products of your own mental and physical labor, to live as *you* wish, not as some government tells you to. As nightmarish as their desires are… there they are, for anyone to see.
 Posted by at 10:52 pm

B-60 photos

 aircraft, awesomeness, history, photography  No Responses »
Apr 072021
 

The B-60 was Convairs failed effort to compete against the Boeing B-52. It began as a modification of the B-36; the wings were snapped off and swept back, the piston engines were removed and replaced with four turboprops and was originally dubbed the B-36G. When the turboprops were replaced with eight dual-podded turbojets, it was designated the B-60. Compared to the B-52 it was woefully obsolete, with World War II aerodynamics married to Korean War engines; it was incredibly fat and draggy and could not hope to compete with the advanced B-52. Still: it’s a B-36 with jet engines.

A while back someone on eBay sold a few vintage photos. I thought they might be of interest.

 Posted by at 8:51 pm

Omega Mart: Where Lovecraft Would Shop

 art, Crazy, Gah., Hmm..., humor, youtube  No Responses »
Apr 072021
 

Some of these made me laugh harder and weirder than I have in a while…

 

And this one. For some inexplicable reason… this one:

Turns out these aren’t just commercials. Someone actually built a complete Omega Mart in Las Vegas. The amount of effort that went into this is fairly astounding:

 Posted by at 9:55 am
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