Palestinian Resolution Flops

The Palestinians had a resolution to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in three years. It made it all the way to the UN Security Council, and then failed to get enough votes to continue. It needed nine of the fifteen members to vote for it, and even then, given that the two who voted no where the US and Australia, it still wasn't going to happen. After all, the US has veto power.
Even if it had passed, how, exactly would they have enforced it? It was, like pretty much every other UN resolution ever, a propaganda gimmick.

Sensationalism: An Epidemic?

Apparently this flu season has reached epidemic levels with 15 kids dead since the beginning of the flue season this fall. I call bullsh*t. These are the same people who say that obesity and gun violence are epidemics. I'll believe its an epidemic when I see most of my coworkers call in sick.
The sensationalism of the media is rather annoying. They like stories that involve people dying (with the implication that you could be one of those people soon), the latest celebrity gossip, or both. And they're not above making something that is, at worst going to somewhat inconvenience you seem like it'll end your world.

Merry Christmas to all

And a Happy New Year!

Mosin-Nagant part 2

Pictures of a battle classic. I took pictures of both of my Mosin-Nagants. One pre-war hex receiver from 1932 and the other a war rifle from 1943. It's not too hard to see the changes made due to the increased demand caused by WWII. 

Update on New Mosin

During the ten day waiting period, the pawn shop where I bought the gun managed to find the bayonet for it in their back room. As with the rest of the gun, serial numbers matched. Unfortunately, they didn't include it in the original deal and I had to buy it separately (although for less than the normal market value of a bayonet). I find the "lost and found" bayonet to be mildly suspicious, and have no plans on buying any other guns there, unless they're a really good deal. Pics later.

Hamas vs. Egypt

Rather than deal with Hamas using tunnels to get into and out of Egypt, the Egyptian government has decided to build one hell of a moat.
And I quote:

And unlike the fierce resistance and international public relations campaign Hamas mounted against Israel in August, the terrorist group that governs Gaza appears to not be seeking a head-on fight with Cairo.

The difference is, Israel cares about what the international community of the very caring and sensitive says and thinks about them.  The Egyptian government doesn't.

New Mosin

In ten short days (@$!#ing CA waiting period) this will be mine. An M91/30 hex receiver Mosin in great (for a Mosin anyway) shape. All serial numbers match, but it is unfortunately missing its bayonet. I'll be acquiring another bayonet to replace the missing one, but it just won't be the same as the original bayonet would have been. Even so, this is still a pretty good find.

The Unarmed Felon

By law, felons can't own guns. This seems like a good idea on the surface. After all, felonies are serious crimes, and felons are often dangerous criminals. It only makes sense to keep guns as far away from them as humanly possible.
The problems with this line of thought are as follows:

1. Career criminals don't really care about laws. Their options for procuring a firearm illegally range from making it themselves out of PVC pipe, a nail, and a rubber-band (although some "garage guns" meet or exceed the safety and effectiveness of professionally manufactured firearms) to buying off of the black market. And if all else fails, they can default to items which are, used properly (or improperly) quite dangerous, such as knives or baseball bats. The lack of a gun does not magically make a dangerous criminal into a law abiding citizen, as certain mentalities can always find something to use as a weapon, to deadly effect, no matter the situation.
2. Reformed felons do care about laws. This means that, by choosing to reform, they are limited in their self defense options. An unrepentant felon will always have an advantage over a reformed one, simply because the reformed is no longer willing to break the law.
3. It is effectively impossible for any single human to be aware of every single felony that it is possible to commit. Moreover, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Thus, it is entirely possible for generally law abiding citizens to commit felonies and not find out about the existence of the felony until the handcuffs are being applied.

What's your political lean?

I'm a: Objectivist Libertarian Non-Interventionist Reactionary
http://www.abtirsi.com/quiz2.php

Veteran's Day

On this Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day, depending upon location) remember this:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

Range Day!

I just took my AR-7 Henry survival rifle and my M91/30 Mosin-Nagant shooting. .22 ammunition is still ridiculously difficult to find - I got lucky and had a friend who gave me a 500 round brick - but 7.62x54R is available at reasonable prices (about $100 + shipping for a 440 round "spam can")
There is nothing quite like going out into the desert and shooting old electronics with a rifle whose design predates radio as a communications tool. And then bayoneting them.

Fully Assembled AR-7

M91/30 with bayonet and sling

Heads, I win, Tails, you Lose

There is an irrational madman shooting at you and your family. So far, he's missed, because you and your family have taken concealment. You go to return fire, but the madman is using his own daughter as a human shield, and in order to shoot him, you have to shoot his daughter.
Do you:
A. Do nothing but huddle behind your concealment until the shooter shoots you and/or your family through your concealment

B. Shoot him through his daughter.

C. Try to reason with the irrational madman, even though other people who've tried to reason with him have been shot at, and you've already tried it with no result.

There is only one ethical answer - B. Anything else results in the murder of people who you are supposed to defend.

As an outside observer do you blame for the daughter's death? The man who shot her in order to defend his family, or the man who used her as a human shield?

This is the situation that Israel is currently in. They can do nothing as Hamas shoots rockets at their citizens, they can try to negotiate with Hamas, or they can grit their teeth and shoot at Hamas, despite the terrorist group's willingness to hide behind human shields. Israel chose least bad of the three answers, and they cannot truly be blamed for it.

The Unorganized Rebellion

The Unorganized rebellion is a state of revolution where, rather than operating in an organized and identifiable group, the rebels act individually, taking it upon themselves to assassinate the politicians who are the cause of the grievance. The goal of the unorganized revolution is to force the government to change it's policy in order to avoid the risk of assassination of the individuals in charge of policy.

The Reason:
An individual assassin lacks the greatest weakness of any revolution - the need to trust. Since the individual operates alone or with a small group whom they know well, there is very little chance of counterrevolutionary infiltrators leading to discovery and death. In addition, the assassination of policy makers (in large enough numbers) may lead to the elevation of sympathetic policy makers, or the fearful capitulation of the already in place policy makers.

The Weapons:
There are a multitude of firearms in the US (approximately 1 firearm per individual), but for the purposes of this post, the concern is with rifles (with a ratio of approx. 1:3), and more specifically, with rifles capable of allowing an individual to assassinate an individual from a distance where a protective detail would be incapable of detecting the assassin or responding in time to capture said assassin (assuming a well laid escape plan). This excludes a great deal of rifles in a variety of calibers, but still leaves behind a considerable amount of weapons. Unfortunately, there are no estimates of the number of rifles with this capability, an estimate made more difficult due to the ease with which a scope can be attached to a scope-less rifle. Even without such attachments, it must be noted that the most successful sniper in history used a scope-less rifle designed in 1891, and during the American Civil War sniper kills as far away as 800 yards were recorded. The standard infantry rifle of the Union, the Springfield 1861 rifled musket, had a maximum range of 1000 yards, with trained soldiers capable of accurate aimed fire at 500 yards. No amount of bodyguards can protect an individual from a halfway competent shooter. The ability of the shooter to escape depends upon the person assassinated, the location where the assassination took place, and any measures that the individual took to prevent identification.

Even if only a third of all rifles are capable of being used for the proposed purpose, there would still be millions of them. Should the line in the sand be crossed, and large numbers of citizens choose to exercise the political power inherent in a gun, the proverbial "rifle behind every blade of grass" will be aimed at the politicians responsible for crossing the line.

Given that it is effectively impossible to disarm a populace that doesn't want to be disarmed (e.g. Chechnya) the citizenry of the US will always have the means to express their extreme displeasure.


A disorganized rebellion, with individual sharpshooters running around taking potshots at politicians will quickly establish  that no policy maker is truly safe from a sufficiently disgruntled populace.

Memorial Day

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13

In all of the USA's wars, 848,163 Americans have died in combat, with another 433,161 dying from "other" (disease, wounds, etc.) leaving us with a total of 1,321,612 deaths.

Members of the US military sacrifice a great deal, traveling to places far from home and family, often a place where someone is doing their utmost best to kill them.


 No matter which service a person chooses to join, be it Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, or Coast Guard, that person has chosen a path which could lead to their death.
Let us not forget those who gave the greatest sacrifice

Let's play Pretend...

I have a pellet gun and an 83 Chevy S10 with severe problems. You live all the way across the country, over two thousand miles away. You own multiple cars, all new Corvettes and a couple of trucks, both new F-350s, along with enough enough firearms to arm a company of Marines. I tell you that I'm going to drive all the way across the country and drive all the way into your driveway waving my pellet gun, just to prove that I can.

This is essentially what the Iranian navy is planning upon doing. And this is why we should just ignore them.

Governor Chris Christie

He should step down until his scandal is cleared up.

Seriously, Governor Chris Christie should step down until it is determined by a third party, non-affiliated investigator whether or not he was involved in closing down a bridge in retaliation for not supporting his reelection campaign (Bridgegate).

That said, he did own up to being ultimately responsible for the actions of his staff. Thus, I am not calling for his immediate resignation, only a pause in his administration.

Rope is Cheap and Reuseable

Apparently the drugs used for lethal injections are in short supply, causing some states to consider going back to the firing squad and others to look for new alternatives, and causing some people to talk about cruel and unusual punishment.
They should go back to hanging them. Cruel and unusual punishment is meant to limit the punishment to that appropriate for the crime, so that petty thieves don't receive the sort of punishment that those guilty of first degree murder do.
Rather than trying to find the ultimate in painless death - which given the inability to ask the deceased anything is rather pointless - we should be be looking for quick and cheap. Forget the firing squad - send them to the long drop. Even if an accidental beheading occurs, the long drop is the guaranteed quickest and cheapest form of execution.

Martin Luther King Day

Today we celebrate the life of the man who defines American civil disobedience. America is a better place because of him.