I don't often just pass along links, but I read a couple articles recently that were so excellent and full of data I'm going to do that.
First is a test of shotgun patterns and effectiveness from Field and Stream. Totally worth a read.
Second, Andrew did some exhaustive testing of AR-15 muzzle brakes and flash hiders. It's broken into a Part 1 and a Part 2. This is amazing work. This is the same guy that a few months back did exhaustive testing on different ammo and barrel life in AR-15's. And also measured how noisy different pants are in his recent review. This guy rocks.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy those as much as I did. Stay safe out there!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Dick Moves
While Republicans and Democrats are seeing who can be the bigger dick over passing a continuing resolution to fund the federal government (I think the Republicans are winning that contest right now), we are seeing a lot more examples of the federal government making some dick moves. Some of them are making the news, others not so much.
You may have seen where Veterans were denied access to the war memorial in Washington DC, but bypassed the barricades and visited it anyway. Since the barricades didn't work the first time, federal government tried again. During a period of partial federal government shutdown, the federal government spent extra resources to deny the public access to an unmanned monument. And it seems they are only doing it to popular locations, not all memorials and monuments. That's a dick move. It's sad that this happens enough there is even a name for it, the Washington Monument Syndrome. We saw this in the spring during the sequester, when hyperbole and hysteria reigned the day as the white house spoke of doom and gloom, and in the end almost no services were effected.
What you may not have seen is all the other places the federal government is shutting down. Most of these places are unmanned. For example, the federal government has taken down some websites. The websites still exist and the servers sit there waiting to dish out information, but when you go to the page you get redirected to a shut down notice. That's a dick move. It actually takes more manpower to setup those redirect pages than to just leave the pages up. In a time of tightened budgets and resources they chose to do more work to block citizens access to information just out of spite. That's a dick move
As well, we have federal agents working to close off access to open-air unmanned federal property. Things like parks and monuments. Why could I go hiking in a national forest last week but today the federal government spent money to restrict my access? Why spend the time and resources to barricade off parking lots? It's not like the forests are manned, it's being done purely to spite us and sway public opinion. It's an opportunity to convince the public we really need the federal government to be as large as it is. However, I think it proves just the opposite. A government that has enough resources to use them for purely spiteful reasons is a government that has too many resources as their disposal. They have too much power.
This is exactly why these bastards can't be trusted with any power. They look for any excuse to exert their superiority over us. It's time we took that superiority away. Remember this next time you go to the polls, the representatives we have in power now take any chance they have to use that power to be dicks. It's time to vote them all out.
You may have seen where Veterans were denied access to the war memorial in Washington DC, but bypassed the barricades and visited it anyway. Since the barricades didn't work the first time, federal government tried again. During a period of partial federal government shutdown, the federal government spent extra resources to deny the public access to an unmanned monument. And it seems they are only doing it to popular locations, not all memorials and monuments. That's a dick move. It's sad that this happens enough there is even a name for it, the Washington Monument Syndrome. We saw this in the spring during the sequester, when hyperbole and hysteria reigned the day as the white house spoke of doom and gloom, and in the end almost no services were effected.
What you may not have seen is all the other places the federal government is shutting down. Most of these places are unmanned. For example, the federal government has taken down some websites. The websites still exist and the servers sit there waiting to dish out information, but when you go to the page you get redirected to a shut down notice. That's a dick move. It actually takes more manpower to setup those redirect pages than to just leave the pages up. In a time of tightened budgets and resources they chose to do more work to block citizens access to information just out of spite. That's a dick move
As well, we have federal agents working to close off access to open-air unmanned federal property. Things like parks and monuments. Why could I go hiking in a national forest last week but today the federal government spent money to restrict my access? Why spend the time and resources to barricade off parking lots? It's not like the forests are manned, it's being done purely to spite us and sway public opinion. It's an opportunity to convince the public we really need the federal government to be as large as it is. However, I think it proves just the opposite. A government that has enough resources to use them for purely spiteful reasons is a government that has too many resources as their disposal. They have too much power.
This is exactly why these bastards can't be trusted with any power. They look for any excuse to exert their superiority over us. It's time we took that superiority away. Remember this next time you go to the polls, the representatives we have in power now take any chance they have to use that power to be dicks. It's time to vote them all out.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Value For Your Dollar
I spend a fair bit of time thinking about where my money goes. In a consumer driven society, the people who spend money have the ultimate control, as I've mentioned before. If we support good working conditions we have the option of patronizing establishments that have them. If we want to see more local grown organic food we can spend our money on it and increase the market. If we want to bring manufacturing back to the US, we can by domestic goods. People often gloss often the power their dollar has when they spend it and instead just look for the cheapest of a given thing.
Recently I was trying to find a new pair of cargo pants. My every day pants were starting to get worn, and one of the pairs has a rather obvious repair where I ripped them. My wife doesn't hold me to many standards, but not looking like a homeless person when I'm out with her is one of them. It's a reasonable restriction. So I went looking for a pair of American made cargo pants or BDUs. This ended up being more challenging than I thought.
Recently I was trying to find a new pair of cargo pants. My every day pants were starting to get worn, and one of the pairs has a rather obvious repair where I ripped them. My wife doesn't hold me to many standards, but not looking like a homeless person when I'm out with her is one of them. It's a reasonable restriction. So I went looking for a pair of American made cargo pants or BDUs. This ended up being more challenging than I thought.
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