Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 1664 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Home Grown MREs

Conservative Scalawag has an [interesting post about making your own MREs]*. I’m not a huge canned tuna fan, but it can’t be any worse than Country Captain “chicken” (it might be chicken, the jury is still out). Personally, I always like the beef enchilada.

But I think his choices here are great! I’d estimate the calories in his packet to be close to 800 calories, and probably pretty good on weight too. For backpackers, weight is a pretty big issue, so you tend to favor foods that are really calorie dense in terms of weight. Nuts are a great choice, so chocolate coated nuts are even better. One other thing to consider is the lowly pop tart. While not entirely durable, the 8oz package packs 400 calories of yummy frosted goodness.

* Dead link removed

Google Funnies

Search for 5.56x45mm and google nicely tells you:

5.56 x 45 millimeters = 25.02 centimeters

Thanks for the info there google!

Sometimes I Regret My Suburban Upbringing

One of the things Carrie’s family likes to do when they go to their ranch is shoot one of the wild pigs and have a pig roast. Unfortunatly for me, I was born and raised about 5 miles south of Philadelphia, and I’ve never cleaned and butchered an animal in my life. The idea does not repulse me, in fact, I think it’s something people should know how to do, but no one ever taught me, and none of the other women I’m going with have actually done this with a pig either, just watched it being done by other guys in the family.

I like the idea of the pig roast, but I’m afraid my suburban upbringing has never equipped me to deal with this circumstance, so it’s probably not going to go beyond the idea stage. I’d have to use one of my “terrorist rifles”, probably the PSL, since apparently these wild pigs are rather large, and I don’t have any non-military patterned rifles. But shooting it I can handle, it’s the turning it into dinner part I’m not familiar with. So for those of you who hunt, what’s the basic process once you have a dead animal?

Mowing the Astroturf

The other Sebastian exposes one of the “concerned citizens” appearing before the Maryland Generally Assembly to testify in favor of SB43, the assault weapons ban in that state:

Sue Peschin is trying to sell the idea that sheâ€™s just a concerned member of the voting public. Donâ€™t be fooled! In the comments below, Norton has the goods on our friend Sue.

Pretty clearly sheâ€™s NOT just a worried Marylander, but a paid, professional anti-liberty lobbyist.

It’s my sincere hope that if we keep exposing their astroturf campaigns and outright deceptions, it’ll really damage their credibility, and fewer political bodies will be willing to listen to them.Â But it’s just a hope.Â Do you think this little bit will be covered by the Baltimore Sun or other Maryland media?Â Not on your life.

A Bit Too Much Credit

Old Blind Dog makes an interesting comment:

â€œâ€¦.what the left of today fails to understandâ€¦â€

They most certainly do understand it. They are deathly afraid of the threat to power that it implies. It stands in the way of their power over this country and the citizens of this country that they would subjugate under the mantle of socialism. That is why they must destroy it.

I know a fair number of people who support gun control, and I can tell you for none of them is this really true. In fact, I think it’s giving them a bit too much credit. What many on the left want does have the ancillary effect of making us easier to subjugate as a people, but most of them don’t really think that strategically about gun control. There are surely some die hard commies out there who wake up every day and think “We really need to disarm the proletariat before we can seize power and establish our workers paradise!”, but I would be hard pressed to say that even the most left leaning folks think that way. In fact, I generally find the radical left more open to RKBA arguments than much of the mainstream left, at least until the revolution against the bourgeois is over. There are also your basic hoplophobes, who are just afraid of guns, and don’t want anyone else to have them because of that. But the commies and true hoplophobes I think are a minority.

Gun control, for much of the left, is a form of cultural chauvinism. They look down in rural people and rural culture, and would like to “introduce them” to a better way to live, namely the way they live. To them, arms are barbaric, and by allowing them, we corrupt our national culture with an odor of incivility. They see themselves as above that kind of thing, and don’t see disarming as a way to subjugate, but as a way to make the country as a whole reflect their cultural values. One could argue this is still subjugation, and you’d be right, but the motivations are different, and it’s important to understand the mindset properly in order to discredit it. They don’t see gun control is a precursor to ruling, but as a package of values that are counter to our own.

That doesn’t diminish the importance of defending our rights as Americans, but it’s important to understand the many reasons that people support gun control in order to bring fourth good arguments to defeat it in the public debate over the right to keep and bear arms.

It’s Everywhere You Want to Be

4oz Bottle of Hoppes No. 9… 5.99

Cleaning kit… 14.99

Bag of Q-tips – 3.99

Having a girlfriend that will clean your .44 revolver for you? – Priceless.

Preperations

Bitter and I have been preparing for our trip to Texas for a week of shooting time fun. We went up to Cabela’s in Hamburg, PA this weekend to stock up on some needed goods. For one, we needed some ammunition, and some misc camping supplies. I decided to was time to pick up a Surefire 6P and holster. I generally carry a flashlight on me because I find it useful, and it’s a good idea. This replaces my older halogen, which isn’t nearly as bright or durable as the Surefire.

The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning guns and figuring out plans. The hardest decision to make is what guns to take. I can’t take everything, because I don’t have room. But so rarely do I get to shoot on a large chunk of private land, that I’m going to take most everything if I can. On the list so far to go:

AR-15 Carbine – If I could only take one rifle with me, this would be it. The only problem is, 5.56x45mm is damned expensive these days.
AR-15 – This one has optics and a standard 20″ barrel and fixed stock. The carbine is my “grab and go” AR. This one is just for fun.
AK-47 – If everything else breaks, I know this one will still works.
AK-74 – Same as above, except that it has very mild recoil, and I have about 2000 rounds of ammo for it… all of it corrosive. If I can get rid of even 1000 of it here, that means I get to have a lot of fun for only a single cleaning. After that I can replace it with non-corrosive ammo.
PSL – Time to try some long range shooting with this. I suck at shooting this, hopefully I can get better.
Mosin–Nagant – As long as I’m taking 7.62x54R along for the PSL, might as well.
10/22 – Because if I’m going to shoot all day, I need something I can afford to shoot all day.
Glock 19 – This is what I carry, so it goes, and travels on me, except through Maryland, because their politicians suck ass.
Ruger MK II – Because I’m already taking a lot of .22LR, and there’s room. It’s also fun to shoot.
S&W 629 Classic – Texas has crappy laws about having to carry concealed if you have a license. When I hike in more remote parts of PA, I’ve been known to open carry this pistol loaded up with some hot .44 mag soft nose. For Texas, I got some snake shot too. I don’t plan on gratuitously killing any snake we see, but if one gets too close to camp, and doesn’t make on its merry way, I thought it was a good idea just in case. Most of the rattlesnakes in PA I have familiarity with (timber rattlers) are pretty non-aggressive, and generally avoid confrontations with humans. I’ve seen timber rattlers before, end never had any cause to get aggressive with one. Western Diamondbacks are more aggressive, and I’m not familiar with how much more aggressive.
Makarov – Every outing needs at least one to shoot. Carrie thought that the star on it looked like a Texas star, even though it’s a commie star. But we can pretend for a week.

So that’s the list. At least what I’m taking. Bitter will have her own additions. Carrie as well. Should be a fun week. The drive down should be a blast too. On the way there, and on the way back, we’ll be stopping in various places to meet some folks.

Dessert Protocol

While I am on the topic of homosexuality and restaurants, it got me thinking of a funny thing I’ve run into with commenter Brad (who is also a friend from college).Â If we went out to get some beers and food, and one of us ended up ordering dessert, the waitress would invariably bring two spoons.Â That’s two spoons, one dessert, and two guys.

After this happened a few times, I started saying “Dude, do we look gay or something? Did she miss the wedding ring on your finger? I mean, this isn’t Massachusetts.” So we went back and told Brad’s wife about this, and she suggested that women would make the assumption that two male friends would want to share a yummy dessert.

So we set out to test this theory when one night we had a male waiter instead of a female waitress. I ordered dessert, and sure enough, he brings a single spoon. A few more female waitresses would give us two spoons after that, so it would appear that the theory was correct.

So, ladies, if you ever wait tables, men do not share desserts with other men. They may share them with women, and I suppose women share with other women, but the only possible circumstance where men would be able to share a dessert is if it was so impossibly huge as not to be reasonably possible to be consumed by a single person, but even there, throw in bananas or any similarly shaped food items in it, and the deal is off. So when you bring two spoons, and one dessert to guys, they will start wondering if they are giving off gay vibes.

So the next question becomes, would a flaming gay waiter, presented with the same situation, bring one spoon or two? These are the kinds of fundamental questions about the universe I would like to have answers to. So Brad, we should go to the BBQ place with the flaming gay waiter, and one of us order desert, so that it will be a mystery no more. Just don’t order the smoked sausage plate.

“Out”

So Bitter and I went out for some BBQ tonight (in PA, nothing spectacular), and had a flaming gay waiter. This presented a bit of dilemma, because I normally like to get the smoked sausage, but I didn’t know whether I could keep a straight face having a really flaming gay guy serve me what looks, in effect, like a giant schlong on a plate. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to contain at least a snicker, but it could have easily erupted into full blown laughter if he made any comment in regards to “I hope you enjoy it,” or “My, doesn’t that look tasty,” and definitely would have not been able to contain myself if he said “Oh, excellent choice. Those are my favorite,” after I ordered it.

So to avoid risking any homosexual sensibilities, I decided to go with the ribs and brisket. It’s really the safe choice, when you go out for BBQ in Pennsylvania, and have a flaming gay waiter. Just something to keep in mind if you ever visit the area :)

New Thermonuclear Warheads

Bitter has the skinny on something that will make the hippies go mad:

The Energy Department will announce today a contract to develop the nationâ€™s first new hydrogen bomb in two decades, involving a collaboration between three national weapons laboratories, The Times has learned.

The interesting thing about this new warhead is that it will be the first time any nation has deployed a nuclear weapon into the field that has never been tested anywhere except inside a supercomputer.Â I work in the field of high performance computing, and we run a rather large one here at my place of business, doing molecular simulations.Â Los Alamos, Livermore, and Sandia have supercomputer setups that make mine look like a toy.Â Anyone familiar with what goes on inside a thermonuclear warhead understands what an impressive feat it is to be able to model things things thoroughly enough to have faith enough to stick it on the end of a missile and bet the country’s nuclear detterence on it.

These warheads will not be adding to our arsenal, that will still continue to shrink.Â But a lot has changed technologically since we last put a new device into the field.Â These new devices will replace old ones, that are wearing out, and getting more and more difficult and expensive to keep in operational order.Â New technology should make these new warheads cheaper to maintain and more reliable.