Reverse Birthday Present

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Jay of Stop the ACLU turned 29 yesterday, but instead of accepting gifts, he gave one out to all who stop by his blog.

Top Ten Myths About The ACLU

Go read and then come on back here more informed.

Posted in Kewel! | 1 Comment

Underwhelming Understating

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Phil Kadath

In one the ever more frequent ‘Open Threads’ at dKos, Kos makes mention of the denial of entry to the US for French Eco-Terrorist, Jose Bove.

The link he supplies goes to this three paragraph Reuters article from MSNBC that mentions little to nothing of Bove’s antics on the other side of the pond.

And that is where the title of this post comes in; because of Kos’ inablility to find a factual article on Bove he is able to call him “A Critic of Big Business“.

However, if Kos would have looked further than his nose for Bove’s antics, I wouldn’t even be writing this post. Looking around the interweb for a short bit I found an AP article via the Headmistress SondraK that lays out things that Bove has done which are ‘critical’ of big business.

Last November, Bove was sentenced to four months in prison for destroying a field of genetically modified corn planted by an American seed company in southern France in July 2004.

He shot to fame in 1999 after leading a group of protesters who dismantled a McDonald’s restaurant under construction in Millau, near his sheep farm.

So Bove’s wanton destruction of private property is now only a ‘protest’ “critical of big business” to Kos and his followers now?

It is a good thing that I see protesting as a waste of my time or I might have to protest Kos’ hosting service for him being so ignorant.

Posted in Evil walks the earth | Leave a comment

RNS Quote of the Day

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Phil Kadath

It is not a matter of accidental personalities, of “dishonest businessmen” or “dishonest legislators”. The dishonesty is inherent in and created by the system. So long as a government holds the power of economic control, it will necessarily create a special “elite”, an “aristocracy of pull”, it will attract the corrupt type of policitian into the legislature, it will work to the advantage of the dishonest businessman, and will penalize and eventually destroy the honest and the able.

Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise – Ayn Rand (1959)

Posted in Quote of the Day | Leave a comment

The Soundboard: Bang and Thump

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Phil Kadath

For those not into what is commonly called “Electronica” or my least favorite word for it, “Techno”, you’re missing out.

The genre of music has more diversity than any other style of music and even though it is so underground, it has so many artists/musicians/DJ’s supplying tunage that you stand a damn good chance of hearing something you’ll like in at least one of the genres. An added bonus to having so many contributors is that if you don’t like something, you’ll probably never have to listen to it again.

One thing I would like to point anyone brave enough to wander through some possibly completely new music should scroll down the blogroll to near the bottom. There is a button there marked ‘DI’, which stands for “Digitally Imported”. DI has at least a dozen channels of Electro-Box music playing at all times. I tend to hang out in the Hardcore area (we may get into some of that next week) while I’m at work and then cool off in the Drum and Bass section.

Just click your way through there this weekend and if you like, keep clicking because it is completely free. I have a subscription because every couple hours or so they toss in a completely inane commercial and I got tired of listening to them, but at work or at other people’s places, I don’t even bother signing in and listen to the free stuff. 

Today, for the uninitiated, I would like to introduce you to the style called ‘Drum and Bass’ (and not the striped kind of bass that Headmistress Sondra K likes so much).

As you can probably guess by the name, it consists of mostly percussion sounds and bass variations with little to no sampling,  vocals or keyboards and can seem, at times, very minimalistic. That was the reason I asked my Pre-Soundboard question yesterday, because to get the full effect of this, you’ll need a decent set of speakers, hopefully with a low frequency register.

Don’t get me wrong, it still sounds great without them, but some things you just need to experience since listneing doesn’t do the trick. BTW, if you are listening on your computer with a sub, step about 10 feet back and listen because the 8ohm subs toss the sound out and you might not hear everything if you’re right on top of it.

Now, this isn’t the tune I was wanting to toss out today. I decided not to take the chance of ruining people’s equipment with multichannel bass (Dolby 5.1 can sometimes handle it, but it cooks most others).

Not to downplay today’s selection which, after the two minutes of baby-stepping, really gets up and rocks.

And that is enough from me for now. Give it a right-click and save and let me know what you think.

Orion – Dark Dreams

Posted in Kewel! | 2 Comments

We Already Knew This

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Phil Kadath

But the blatantness of it is just a bit grabbing.

I haven’t said squat about the cartoon kerfuffle because I get sick of reading about it twenty times a day, as I’m sure you do as well.

But take a look at this pic I found at LGF. It has not been photoshopped.

20060207Pakistan01.jpg

Click for bigger

Now wouldn’t it be refreshing if the moonbats would hit the streets with signs that honest. Signs that read: “Down With Democracy! Up With Communism!” or “We Think the Troops are Too Stupid to Get A Real Job” or “We Just Hate George Bush and Will Do Anything to Get Back into Power”.

I know, I know, it’ll never happen. But a guy should have dreams, shouldn’t he?

But back to the picture. Except for the two words on the bottom of the banner, that very sign could be carried by members of the American media if they ever get together and march.

Posted in Knee-Jerk Anti-Americanism, Too Stupid to Live | 2 Comments

A cure for what ails ya

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Alaska

Some people, when life gets them down, go out and buy more accessories for their ARs.

Lucky bastard!

I hit the range again Wednesday for another lunch shoot, and it was nice & warm, not a cloud in the sky, a typical gorgeous California day. Is being able to shoot in short sleeves in February worth it when I can’t play with ARs and AKs like the other kids? I dunno….

Of course I could take Josh’s route and try to lawfully build an AR in California (!!!) by taking advantage of the slowness of the bureaucracy in keeping up with the variety of aftermarket receivers out there. Read here about the legal loophole everybody but me’s been jumping through.

Continue reading →

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel | 1 Comment

Wherein New Shotguns Soothe what the IRS hath Riled Up

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Alaska

They’re here! Our new shotguns, that is. And the timing’s about perfect for my peace of mind.

Nova H20.jpg

As has the Analog Kid, I’ve recently been fighting with the tax man— but in my case, there’s really a human tax man. I’ve touched him. He’s real. That is, for the past week and a half my company’s been enjoying a visit from our friendly neighborhood IRS auditor.

This was not a fun experience. I may have more to say about this in a later post — a lot more. But for now, I’ll just mention that when the auditor “suggests,” not five minutes after his arrival, that it might be best for all concerned if we just “agreed” with his determination of our tax status so that the audit can be cut short and we can all go on with our lives — before he’s looked at any of our records, mind you — I suspect that he’s not going to be all that open-minded about any evidence we present in favor of our case. Asshole!

Anyway, the day after Mr. Bureaucrat finally left our premises, I got a welcome call from my gun dealer — the Benelli Novas had arrived. One for me, one for the wife. Hooray! I’ll swing by on Saturday and fill out the paperwork to start the clock running. Ten days later, they will be mine!

Er, yes dear, I mean, they will be ours.

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel, Order of the imperial upraised middle finger. | 3 Comments

Thursday Gun Links

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Phil Kadath

You see, I get these links in my email, but then I get busy with stuff and forget them. I hate it when that happens, I really do, because they’re good posts.

Anyway, so I may be a day (or two) late with these, but if you haven’t seen them as of yet, check them out.

First up, Mr. Completely has the very first of his ‘Rimfire Round-Up’ posts that feature any and all things rimfire. If you’re the type that needs centerfire to get you excited, well, I guess I can only express my pity for you.

Our good man Murdoc (who is heading off to the Las Vegas SHOT Show, lucky stiff) informs us that the armed forces are once again accepting new submissions for 5.56 weapons. Specifically, a carbine and a light machine gun. He also has the list of minimum requirements.

The 5.56 requirement disappoints me. I was really hoping for a more modern cartridge that is an actual manstoper in ball form.

Oh well, lets hope that, like Murdoc supposes, this is just a stop-gap-req until the brass hammers out their real quals for the new gun.

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel | 1 Comment

RNS Quote of the Day

Posted on February 9, 2006 by Phil Kadath

Still another popular accusation against big business is the idea that selfish private interests restrain and delay progress when they are threatened with a new invention that might destroy their market. No private interest could or has ever done this, except with government help. The early history of railroads is a good illustration.

The railroads were violently opposed by the owners of canals and steamship companies, who were doing most of the transportation at the time. A great number of laws, regulations and restrictions were passed by various legislatures at the instigation of the canal interests in an attempt to hamper and stop the development of railraods. This was done in the name of “The Public Welfare”.

When the first railroad bridge was built across the Mississippi, the river steamship interests brought suit against its builder and the court ordered the bridge destroyed as a “Material Obstruction and Nuisance”. The Supreme Court reversed the ruling, by a narrow margin, and allowed the bridge to stand*.

Ask yourself what the fate of the entire industrial development of the United States would have been, if that narrow margin had been different, and what is the fate of all economic progress when it is left, not to objective demonstration, but to the arbitrary decision of a few men armed with political power.

* See Frank H. Spearman – The Strategy of Great Railroads (Pgs 273-276)

Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise – Ayn Rand (1959)

Posted in Quote of the Day | Leave a comment

The Analog Kid has good taste…

Posted on February 8, 2006 by Alaska

…so sayeth the collective wisdom of Grammy voters. Galvanize won a Grammy tonight. Kewel!

And no, although I enjoyed Peter Jackson’s King Kong immensely when I saw it the other night, I still have Galvanize running through my head whenever I visualize the great ape, no thanks to this post.

Posted in Kewel! | Leave a comment