There's a meme going around, and I picked it up over at Tam's:
"What would you get if you could get any five guns, cost and practicality be hanged?
Cost be hanged? I'll rule out fixed and crew-served guns here, to keep the decision making process manageable.
1 - A registered, transferable Thompson submachine gun. I could never possibly afford one at closed-registry prices, and even when we get the machine gun registry reopened, I could never afford to feed the damned thing. But if it was free, I'd put the purchase price into ammo.
2 - A Savage Arms US Army Test Pistol.* It could never beat John Moses Browning's pistol, but if it had, this would have been the issue pistol of the US military for the better part of a century. Losing the 1911 would be a tragedy, but having our soldiers look more like Buck Rogers characters would give me a lot of solace. The closest I'll ever get IRL is the much smaller Model 1907 pocket pistol, after which the .45 Test Pistol was designed.
3 - A Nazi K98 rifle, with the swastika overstamped with Hebrew arsenal marks. I would make a point of taking it out to the range every April 19th, which is of course the anniversary of both the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
4 - A Winchester model 1892 with a 16" barrel, in .357 magnum. Takedown model. The Winchester name cranks the price above comparable models in the first place, and you pay half again more for the takedown mechanism. But it's gloriously slim, and would be useful when travelling in those bleak backwater states (like New York and Massachusetts) that restrict handgun possession. I'd get a fitted leather shoulder bag made to hold both halves and a couple dozen rounds.
5 - A full-auto Mauser C96. With original detachable shoulder stock holster. It's on Tam's list, too, but frankly this should be on everybody's.
[* - Many thanks to The Weasel King for the correct link.]
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Starbucks Appreciation Day update
So. Gun control advocates announced a Valentine's Day boycott of Starbucks because that company won't abuse its gun-carrying customers. As discussed last week, gun owners called for an informal buycott to balance the scales.
Before they hid the number of attendees out of embarrassment, their Facebook page showed 137 participants, most of whom, according to the comments, already don't patronize Starbucks.
As of right now, the opposing pro-gun Support Starbucks Facebook page shows just a hair over ten thousand attendees.
It's nice to have something going right with my country.
Before they hid the number of attendees out of embarrassment, their Facebook page showed 137 participants, most of whom, according to the comments, already don't patronize Starbucks.
As of right now, the opposing pro-gun Support Starbucks Facebook page shows just a hair over ten thousand attendees.
It's nice to have something going right with my country.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Starbucks Appreciation Day
On February 14, the ladies and I will be spending a romantic evening at Sleep No More for Hecate's Valentine. Because we are weak, weak people.
We'll also be dropping by Starbucks before the show to get ourselves all high on stimulants, and to thank them for refusing to cave to anti-gun activists. The dickbags at the Brady Campaign went after Starbucks a couple years ago*, figuring a chain that branded itself in such an urban liberal way would be an easy win. Starbucks told them to pound sand. Now, because all their talented people have abandoned the sinking ship and their "advocacy" has degenerated into Internet trolling, the frantically rebranding US gun control groups are trying the same failed tactic again, calling for a Starbucks boycott to start on February 14. It makes little difference, since the five people left in this country who believe in gun control can't buy that many lattes, but it would be nice if the Starbucks brass saw a little bump in business that day, just to drive the point home. If you like a froofy coffee now and then, kindly consider dropping into a Starbucks on Valentine's day.
[* - Context not included in that article: At the time, California allowed local police chiefs to issue and refuse concealed carry permits on a whim, but open carry of unloaded firearms was legal without a permit. Most of the people OCing at the time were doing so because they were prohibited by law from carrying more discreetly.]
We'll also be dropping by Starbucks before the show to get ourselves all high on stimulants, and to thank them for refusing to cave to anti-gun activists. The dickbags at the Brady Campaign went after Starbucks a couple years ago*, figuring a chain that branded itself in such an urban liberal way would be an easy win. Starbucks told them to pound sand. Now, because all their talented people have abandoned the sinking ship and their "advocacy" has degenerated into Internet trolling, the frantically rebranding US gun control groups are trying the same failed tactic again, calling for a Starbucks boycott to start on February 14. It makes little difference, since the five people left in this country who believe in gun control can't buy that many lattes, but it would be nice if the Starbucks brass saw a little bump in business that day, just to drive the point home. If you like a froofy coffee now and then, kindly consider dropping into a Starbucks on Valentine's day.
[* - Context not included in that article: At the time, California allowed local police chiefs to issue and refuse concealed carry permits on a whim, but open carry of unloaded firearms was legal without a permit. Most of the people OCing at the time were doing so because they were prohibited by law from carrying more discreetly.]
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Bear gun
When it comes to dealing with dangerous bears on the trail, there are two and a half schools of thought:
The first is that you should practice avoidance, and know how to back down from a bear without making it feel challenged.
The second is that you should pack a powerful, deeply penetrating handgun. .44 magnums are generally assumed, but I've seen videos of park rangers dropping grizzlies with (a full cylinder of) "mere" .357 rounds.
The point-five, and where I stand, is that in bear country I'm most definitely going to practice avoidance and know my proper bear safety procedures, but I'd rather have a powerful revolver in my hand while backing away than not.
Brigid agrees, but takes a controversial stand:
She argues convincingly that a .22 is plenty of gun for grizzly.
The first is that you should practice avoidance, and know how to back down from a bear without making it feel challenged.
The second is that you should pack a powerful, deeply penetrating handgun. .44 magnums are generally assumed, but I've seen videos of park rangers dropping grizzlies with (a full cylinder of) "mere" .357 rounds.
The point-five, and where I stand, is that in bear country I'm most definitely going to practice avoidance and know my proper bear safety procedures, but I'd rather have a powerful revolver in my hand while backing away than not.
Brigid agrees, but takes a controversial stand:
She argues convincingly that a .22 is plenty of gun for grizzly.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Occupy Roma
If you're already depressed about the current state of the world, it may not be a great idea to read Livy's history of Rome.
From the Loeb Classical Library edition of Book II, translated by B.O. Foster (paragraph breaks added):
But not only was war with the Volsci imminent; the citizens were at loggerheads among themselves, and internal dissension between the Fathers and the plebs had burst into a blaze of hatred, chiefly on account of those ["nexos"] who had been bound over to service for their debts. [Foster's note: "The word nexus was used (1) of one who had borrowed money by 'binding' himself to work out the debt as a virtual slave of his creditor, if unable to repay the money; (2) of one so 'bound' and actually serving."] These men complained loudly that while they were abroad fighting for liberty and dominion they had been enslaved and oppressed at home by fellow-citizens, and that the freedom of the plebians was made more secure in war than in peace, amongst enemies than amongst citizens. This bitter feeling, which was growing spontaneously, the notable calamity of one man fanned into a flame.
Old, and bearing the marks of all his misfortunes, the man rushed into the Forum. His dress was covered with filth, and the condition of his body was even worse, for he was pale and half dead with emaciation. Besides this, his straggling beard and hair had given a savage look to his countenance. He was recognized nevertheless, despite the hideousness of his appearance, and the word went round that he had commanded companies; yet other military honors were openly ascribed to him by the compassionate bystanders, and the man himself displayed the scars on his breast which bore testimony to his honorable service in various battles. When they had asked him the reason of his condition and his squalor, he replied, while the crowd gathered about him much as though it were an assembly, that during his service in the Sabine war not only had the enemy's depredations deprived him of his crops, but his cottage had been burnt, all his belongings plundered, and his flocks driven off. Then the taxes had been levied, in an untoward moment for him, and he had contracted debts. When these had been swelled by usury, they had first stripped him of his farm that had been his father's and his grandfather's, then of the remnants of his property, and finally like an infection they had attacked his person, and he had been carried off by his creditor, not to slavery, but to the prison and the torture-chamber. He then showed them his back, disfigured with the wales of recent scourging.
The sight of these things and the man's recital produced a mighty uproar. The disturbance was no longer confined to the Forum, but spread in all directions though the entire City. Those who had been bound over, whether in chains or not, broke out into the streets from every side, and implored the Quirites to protect them. At no point was there any lack of volunteers to join the rising; everywhere the crowds were streaming through the different streets and shouting as they hurried to the Forum. Great was the peril of those senators who happened to be in the Forum and fell in with the mob...
And then, as the Senate and the Consuls are trying desperately to assemble a quorum and figure out how to calm the mob, scouts arrive with word that the Volscian army is on the march toward Rome.
As usual the Eternal Analogy will probably confirm whatever you already believed: "watch out, privileged classes, because the people will only take so much of your crap," or "call me when your creditors are literally chaining and scourging you, ya pussies."
From the Loeb Classical Library edition of Book II, translated by B.O. Foster (paragraph breaks added):
But not only was war with the Volsci imminent; the citizens were at loggerheads among themselves, and internal dissension between the Fathers and the plebs had burst into a blaze of hatred, chiefly on account of those ["nexos"] who had been bound over to service for their debts. [Foster's note: "The word nexus was used (1) of one who had borrowed money by 'binding' himself to work out the debt as a virtual slave of his creditor, if unable to repay the money; (2) of one so 'bound' and actually serving."] These men complained loudly that while they were abroad fighting for liberty and dominion they had been enslaved and oppressed at home by fellow-citizens, and that the freedom of the plebians was made more secure in war than in peace, amongst enemies than amongst citizens. This bitter feeling, which was growing spontaneously, the notable calamity of one man fanned into a flame.
Old, and bearing the marks of all his misfortunes, the man rushed into the Forum. His dress was covered with filth, and the condition of his body was even worse, for he was pale and half dead with emaciation. Besides this, his straggling beard and hair had given a savage look to his countenance. He was recognized nevertheless, despite the hideousness of his appearance, and the word went round that he had commanded companies; yet other military honors were openly ascribed to him by the compassionate bystanders, and the man himself displayed the scars on his breast which bore testimony to his honorable service in various battles. When they had asked him the reason of his condition and his squalor, he replied, while the crowd gathered about him much as though it were an assembly, that during his service in the Sabine war not only had the enemy's depredations deprived him of his crops, but his cottage had been burnt, all his belongings plundered, and his flocks driven off. Then the taxes had been levied, in an untoward moment for him, and he had contracted debts. When these had been swelled by usury, they had first stripped him of his farm that had been his father's and his grandfather's, then of the remnants of his property, and finally like an infection they had attacked his person, and he had been carried off by his creditor, not to slavery, but to the prison and the torture-chamber. He then showed them his back, disfigured with the wales of recent scourging.
The sight of these things and the man's recital produced a mighty uproar. The disturbance was no longer confined to the Forum, but spread in all directions though the entire City. Those who had been bound over, whether in chains or not, broke out into the streets from every side, and implored the Quirites to protect them. At no point was there any lack of volunteers to join the rising; everywhere the crowds were streaming through the different streets and shouting as they hurried to the Forum. Great was the peril of those senators who happened to be in the Forum and fell in with the mob...
And then, as the Senate and the Consuls are trying desperately to assemble a quorum and figure out how to calm the mob, scouts arrive with word that the Volscian army is on the march toward Rome.
As usual the Eternal Analogy will probably confirm whatever you already believed: "watch out, privileged classes, because the people will only take so much of your crap," or "call me when your creditors are literally chaining and scourging you, ya pussies."
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Dura-Europos at NYU
On Saturday, the ladies and I went to see the exhibit of artifacts from Dura-Europos at NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. It was a small exhibit by NYC museum standards, but holy hell, what a collection.
The usual assortment of inscriptions and reliefs are either your thing or they're not. They happen to be my thing, but I expect anybody could be impressed with the state of preservation of some of them. Up close, the "Relief of the Goddess Atargatis, or Tyche, with Doves" looks like it was carved last year. There was also a selection of organic artifacts (wooden signs and textiles, mostly, but also a child's shoe), which always impresses the heck out of me in collections from antiquity. They had a little collection of coins--a handful of drachmae and a sestertius--which were recovered from the remains of a Roman soldier killed in the fight for the mine under the city's walls; I believe these were the coins that helped date the fall of the city. There was a Sator square, which I've never before seen in person, and a long-gone bride's engagement ring.
The most individually significant objects--one given particular pride of place in the exhibit and one not--were a brilliantly painted iconic Roman body shield (the only one known to have survived from antiquity), and the earliest verifiable image of Jesus.
Fantastic exhibit. Absolutely worth the trip into the City.
The usual assortment of inscriptions and reliefs are either your thing or they're not. They happen to be my thing, but I expect anybody could be impressed with the state of preservation of some of them. Up close, the "Relief of the Goddess Atargatis, or Tyche, with Doves" looks like it was carved last year. There was also a selection of organic artifacts (wooden signs and textiles, mostly, but also a child's shoe), which always impresses the heck out of me in collections from antiquity. They had a little collection of coins--a handful of drachmae and a sestertius--which were recovered from the remains of a Roman soldier killed in the fight for the mine under the city's walls; I believe these were the coins that helped date the fall of the city. There was a Sator square, which I've never before seen in person, and a long-gone bride's engagement ring.
The most individually significant objects--one given particular pride of place in the exhibit and one not--were a brilliantly painted iconic Roman body shield (the only one known to have survived from antiquity), and the earliest verifiable image of Jesus.
Fantastic exhibit. Absolutely worth the trip into the City.
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