Good Guys vs. Bad Guys (with Guns)

I've posted about John Stewart before.

I hate to admit it, but I don't hate the guy or the show as a whole.

In fact, I watch it fairly often when I'm at home for the replay at 7 p.m. (Sorry, the first-run 11 p.m. is far too late for my lifestyle!)

It's a little preachy and often comes out pretty "progressive" for my personal taste.

But I think he's good at what he does.

With this latest commentary about the whole Chipotle situation... we pretty much agree. At least once you get through his snark and mocking of gun owners of the first 1:30 of the segment:

The Daily Show

But wait, there's more.

It seems Stewart also had to weigh-in on "Smart Guns".

Apparently a gun shop owner in Maryland was getting threatened by 2A supporters because he was willing to sell Smart Guns.

I don't get it. It's probably the same class of gun owners that caused the uproar at the Dallas Chipotles.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Smart Guns but death threats to a gun shop owner for carrying a product isn't exactly what we need to be projecting as a community.

The Daily Show

Stupid Chipotle... Irresponsible Open Carriers?

I wasn't going to write anything about this.

After all, when Starbucks had to go forward with a pseudo-statement that asked gun-owners not to be idiots and open-carry into their coffee shops, I thought we were all on the same page.

Now, open-carry idiots in Texas are forcing Chipotle to do pretty much the same thing.

Unknown Source on the Photo. Sorry.

"The display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers" - Chipotle

ABC News also quotes Moms Demand Action in their story:

Erika Soto Lamb, a spokeswoman for the group, said she thought the move by Chipotle was a "bold statement," especially considering its previous stance of complying with local laws.

Was this really a "bold" statement? I mean, Chipotle is a business. They sell food. With, what, say 40% of the population completely freaked out by guns, let alone "scary looking" Armalite rifles do you blame them for asking gun owners not to bring the firearms into the restaurant with them?

Once again, the dollar speaks more loudly to corporations than The Constitution. Why can't we learn this lesson as a community?

Sebastian at PA Gun Blog is one of the gun owners who has spoken out about this repeatedly and even tried to mount a counter campaign to the Moms Demand action over the weekend.

This #NRA family is having lunch at @ChipotleTweets because they didn't cave to @MomsDemand & @Everytown #BloombergSucks
— Sebastian (@SebastianSNBQ) May 18, 2014

Unfortunately, the responsible actions of many couldn't make up for the showboating of a few tactical fanboys. Now, my lunch options are further limited if I listen to the pleas of many of my 2nd Amendment supporting brothers and sisters. Although, I'm not sure that the free market side of my mind can blame Chipotle for their actions following the display we saw in Texas over the weekend.

Don't be stupid.

Please.

While this will surely help my diet that damn Chipotle cilantro rice will surely be missed.

Debt and Depression - The New Empire of Debt

I'm in the middle of reading "The New Empire of Debt".

I'm sure you've realized, we're broke as a nation and so far, this book does a pretty thorough job of explaining the why and how of the situation.

I'll spare you the majority of the details in this 350-page saga but essentially, the spirit of empire-building intoxicated our leadership and at about the time of Woodrow Wilson's presidency, we got on the gravy-train of printing money that we'll never get off. It's the same story with great empires of the past such as the Romans, Mongols, etc...

I'm not saying the authors are wrong.

But, damn. It's depressing.

As a younger guy with minimal personal debt, is there something we should be doing as individuals to get ready for this collapse? I know prepping is one outlet folks lean to and I've done some of that. But, in all seriousness, if we are in a place where we need to have our own food, water, and safety for an extended period of time I'm not sure if I trust myself to be militant enough to protect what is mine.

Further, should we be convinced that at some point in the coming decades we will be forced to lower our expectations from thriving to merely surviving? It sounds somewhat petty, maybe a little immature, but if we don't have "hope" to cling to and our best days are behind us, what's the point?

(Please note, this use of the word "hope" and use of the word "hope" in any political campaigns past or present are merely coincidental and absolutely do not indicate an endorsement!)

I find the prospects depressing. I know a lot of you think it's worth fighting for here on the homefront through education and political awareness but I'm not convinced it's a battle that can be won. Looking around our communities, seeing the type of people we share society with, I just don't see the drive, personal ambition, and desire to get off the government teet.

So, where do we go?

Godzilla: Trailer Myths and a Review

So, like billions of other people. I went to see Godzilla this weekend.

How was it? In a nutshell, "meh".

There are going to be a few spoilers in here, so please bear with me and you may want to bypass this post if you have plans to see it.

Although, come on, the Godzilla movies are 60 years old so isn't the whole premise of a Godzilla movie a spoiler? It's not like things are going to seriously change and all of a sudden Godzilla is on a ruthless mission for belly-rubs.

The film itself was ok. The special effects were better than I expected. Although, I must admit, I was a fan of the original Godzilla films as a child so I might be comparing the modern day special effects to the robotic tricks they had in the 1950's.

The original Godzilla in 1954.

As for plot, it was about what you'd expect from an action film: Pretty thin.

I expected better because of Bryan Cranston's involvement in the film. (More on that in a moment). Really, I guess knowing it was Godzilla with no major changes to the premise occurring other than the country being "attacked", I probably shouldn't have set the bar so high and just have entered the theater expecting a popcorn movie. That's my fault but I do feel like the trailer misled me to expect a few things I didn't see in the film itself.

So, What's Deceiving About the Trailer vs. the Actual Film?

There are a few things that'll get you if you enter with expectations set by the trailer.

1.) This movie isn't about Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston). This movie is about Joe Brody's son, played by Aaron Taylor Johnson, which is too bad. In the trailer embedded below, Cranston's voice or face is featured for about 20 seconds total. Taylor-Johnson --- only about 4 seconds worth of coverage. I'd say Taylor-Johnson is on camera or a major part of the action about 10x more than Cranston in the film itself.

Cranston, featured in front of Taylor-Johnson on set of the film.

2.) While a significant portion of this film is set in the United States, a lot of the story takes place in Asia. You'll see the devastation left behind in the United States throughout the trailer but the movie starts out giving a lot more background about how Godzilla "feeds".

Screen grab taken from the Godzilla trailer.

3.) There are certainly a lot of special effects in the film but the cinematography was outstanding. I expected to see a ton of flash and bang done by computer animation but there was a lot of beautiful shots throughout the film that I really enjoyed as a hobbyist-photographer.

Did you see it? What'd you think?

Uninvited: Maybe it's for the Best

So you might have heard, Russia says the United States isn't allowed to use their space station anymore.

Good for them. They're hitting us where it hurts.

Or are they?

Spoiler alert: now how is Sandra Bullock going to get home? (Sorry folks that haven't seen Gravity yet).

As it turns out, not being allowed in their space instruments may be a blessing in disguise.  Russia's not as good at "space" as I might have thought.

A Russian Proton-M rocket crashed in Kazakhstan early this morning. It was the air about nine minutes and carrying some sort advanced satellite that my capitalist mind cannot understand.

Luckily, nobody was injured.

Courtesy: RT (Russia Today)

I just think it's funny and somewhat interesting that Russian continues pushing in the space race... long after the U.S. has dropped out and decided to stay in the pits. Maybe we'll regret the decision as a nation but that's not going to stop me from dancing when Russia fails and burns resources (so long as nobody gets hurt).

Russian Helicopters for Afghanistan?

I received my quarterly "Washington Report" from my local U.S. Representative today.

I typically read it and toss it out without thinking much. It's packed with rhetoric from a guy who has been in D.C. for nearly 25 years now. (Oh, and his Daddy held the office before him... so you know the value of a name).

Anyway, this particular edition had a bit that caught my eye:

"As of last year, the Pentagon had purchased 50 helicopters from a Russian company, Rosoboronexport, for use in Afghanistan at a total cost of $857 million."

In this case, the Congressman makes a good point.

Why are we, as American tax payers, buying helicopters for Afghans with an economic benefit that doesn't even serve an ally? Instead, we're going to fund Russia, a company that we may or may not be on the brink of war with?

A Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter. Photo Credit: AIM.org

Taking the issue one step farther, while there seems to be some sort of apathy toward the absolute withdrawal of American forces in Afghanistan, I believe if you put it to a vote the public would say bring everybody home.

Oh, and Rosoboronexport, the Russian company involved isn't involved like Lockheed-Martin, Halliburton, or one of the so-called "evil" American companies the government often does business with. No, in Russia, they take away all doubt because Rosoboronexport is a state-owned company.

In the United States, you could argue one hand shakes the other as lobbyists, politicians and profits swirl together in democracy. In this case and in Russia, we may as well be cutting the check directly to Vladimir Putin.

But this apparently gets even worse. Reports that are apparently more recent than the info supplied to my Congressman claim the total bill is now more than $1 billion.

So what's the other side of the argument?

Ease of use.

A pair of American airmen flank an Afghan Air Force maintenance worker near a Mi-17 chopper.
Photo Credit: Defense.gov

The rotary craft, or Mi-17 chopper, is the "Ford F-150 pickup truck" of helicopters, Lt. Gen. David Barno, the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 said according to the Christian Science Monitor. "They're like farm tractors - they're simple to operate, simple avionics, simple to maintain."

They are also familiar to Afghan pilots, who flew them during the Soviet era.

Yes, but are they simple enough that if Afghanistan falls to some sort of extremist sect that the terrorists in charge who find the keys will be able to operate them and use them fire at our men and women?

After all, those types of loses would make the billion dollar investment our taxpayers have made seem like just a drop in the bucket.

Can You See Me Now?

Wait, what?

Remember when we thought the whole idea of a accessing someone's computer camera was creepy?

Well, now Google has patented contact lenses with a camera built into them.

It sounds like something that should be one of those silly April Fools' Day pranks that some companies do. The potential here is crazy --- for both good and "evil". Reports say that the Google lenses could go so far as to give humans zoomable "super vision".

It sounds to me as if power is the big question. There's no word if the device would somehow to be wired to a power source or if there are batteries or how exactly you'd make that work. Insane, right?

Think of the possibilities here --- For one, if you're a criminal --- can your Google contact lens history be subpoenaed?  Can someone hack into the network and essentially "see what you see?"

In terms of virtual reality - there seems to be more potential here than with anything else out there. Think of the fantasy lives you could see from a first person perspective.

Incredibly creepy. Incredibly scary.

Putin on Patrol

I'm not sure what to think about Russia.
Good way to start a blog post, right?

Vlad Putin, probably about to kill someone with his hands.

So, on one hand you have an ego-maniac in power of a former Soviet republic that seemingly wants to grab as much land and power as possible with no repercussions. You've got to stop him, right?

On the other hand, you have an American electorate that is tired of fighting wars in places across the world that they have no desire to be in. I'd love hear how many Americans can deliver the capital of Ukraine when asked. (You knew it was Kiev but you're smarter than most Americans).

With Russia being left largely unchecked, Ukraine is freaking out.

"The aim of Putin is not Crimea but all of Ukraine... His troops massed at the border are ready to attack at any moment," Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council chief Andriy Parubiy told a mass unity rally in Kiev.

You know what, I would be freaking out too if I were in their shoes. Is it Team America's job to keep them protected? They're not in NATO (at least not yet) and I'm not really sure where our allegiances lie when it comes to protecting some of those eastern most allies. (Poland, I'm looking at you).

Warning: Probably not safe for work (some profanity):

So, help me out here. Should I be afraid enough of Russia that we need to squash any signs of their aggression at the absolute moment they start? Or, is it time we focus on getting our own house in order and leave Russia to do what it wants with its former soviet republics?

Personally, I worry there is a slippery slope if you get into the business of ensuring actual and not just figurative democracy across the world. What I mean by that is that in places like Ukraine, there has been an election. But there are also elections in nations where the results are riddled with fraud. Should we have to police all of these nations to ensure that their "democracy" is a "fair" democracy?

Final Four Prediction

I'm already out of billion dollar perfect bracket challenge. To be honest, I'm not feeling the whole NCAA basketball tournament as much as I have in past years. But, I suppose it's still good, clean fun, right?

To keep it interesting --- here are my Final Four:

1.) Syracuse
2.) Arizona
3.) Duke
4.) Michigan State

'Cuse wins it all.

Who do you have?

First Guest Post I hope!

I just wrote a piece for the folks over at Blog Brigade/Military OneSource.

I hope it gets picked up, we'll see!

Feels good to be writing again! More to follow!

RIP... RIP Ammo

You've heard about this new RIP Ammo, right?


So, it's generated a ton of buzz on the web over the past two weeks. I know I got a bunch of emails about it. The funny thing is, everybody was giddy about it but nobody had ever fired a single round.

Now, there are not one but two at least somewhat critical reviews of this stuff.

In the first video Shooting the Bull shows how this stuff isn't much different than a round of .22lr. Yep, the "wussy" handgun caliber most of us make fun of and say we'd never carry for self-defense.


In the second, Richard Ryan shows petals breaking off and some of the issues this stuff has with drywall.

I think this stuff is a joke and I won't shoot it.




Maybe I'm too "old school" to not drool when I hear about something as gimmicky as this. Their marketing plan was ridiculous and over-zealous. It made gun owners seem like a bunch of blood thirsty pricks, which we (mostly) are not.

The second thing that bothers me is when we jump on something that isn't based on proven results or science at all.

The gun community was all about it. The mainstream media was all about it (for better or worse). Heck, even Esquire wrote about RIP Ammo... and how stupid it made gun owners look.

Come on guys (and gals), we're better than this.

2014 Resolutions

It's the time of the year for resolutions, getting better, improvement and all that jazz.

So who is ready for another year to go down the drain with no action?

(Quit pointing at me).

Thanks Moroch.com for the cartoon.

In no particular order, here are my 2014 resolutions:

1.) Start reading more and watching television less.
I just get annoyed when I watch television. It doesn't matter if it's sit-coms or cable news. It stresses me out, makes me mad and doesn't serve any real purpose. At least reading I can try to make myself a more intelligent person.

2.) Take One Day a Weekend for Fun
The past year I've spent a lot of my free time doing things that were chores. We painted the house, remodeled two bathrooms, and spent a ton of money on things that were investments in the future. It's draining. I'd like to spend more time at the gym and the shooting range. Speaking of which, I was asked to contribute to this piece on what handgun caliber is best and I totally dropped the ball but I'm glad to see some great shooters mentioned in it. Next year, no more dropping the ball on stuff that matters --- I'm a little jealous I didn't get my thoughts submitted in time!

3.) Focus. Focus. Focus.
As much as I try to keep busy, I need to focus more and start knocking things out systematically. There is a ton I could get done in a day if I would start using all my brainpower at once on a given task. I haven't done a good job of prioritizing over the past year and that's got to change!

So, do you do the whole resolution thing or not? Anything you want to share? Want to be accountability-buddies? (Just kidding, I hate that stuff).

Welcome to 2014, I hope it's a great one for you!

Obamacare Grilled on... Comedy Central?

Jon Stewart is good at what he does.

I can admit that.

Even if I do find myself disagreeing with a lot of what he says... preaches... etc.

Last night was pretty good.

If you haven't seen Kathleen Sebelius on his show, you missed a pretty entertaining 7 minutes.

It was epic. Pure gold.

Stewart seemed agitated by the fact that companies could delay Obamacare if they wanted while individuals cannot. Seems the large companies hold the power in this country... :)

Worth watching - I'd skip to about the 3-minutes remaining mark if you're pressed for time.

"Let me ask you this. Am I a stupid man?" - Jon Stewart

October 7th show on Comedy Central

So... Only Cops Had Guns?

First, let me say I have a ton of respect for Police Officers.

The media?

Not so much.

Thursday afternoon's headlines were littered with rhetoric about a shooter on Capitol Hill.

They were right, except not in the way we've come to understand these headlines.

An unarmed mother with a history of mental illness drove a single car through a barricade near the White House.

Then, police shot the unarmed woman and she died.

The rage of gun-grabbers could once again be felt as headlines across the major news outlets of America had to be changed once again. The "intruder" didn't have a gun. In fact, she had a son with her and that's about it.

I'm not saying police officers didn't have a right to shoot her. I'm just saying the media overplayed the "chaos" of the situation to hyperbole, once again striking firearms fear into the hears of the uneducated electorate.

AR-15 vs. Shotgun

I know the rest of the gunblogs have gone off on this.

It's my turn.

I rarely watch cable news anymore. When I do, it's usually for a short period because I simply cannot stand it.

Monday evening, we watched for a while after dinner. I legitimately wanted to know more about what happened at the Washington D.C. Naval Yard and figured it was no longer a "breaking" news situation as Aaron Alexis had been dead for more than 8 hours.

I was wrong.

In the 20 minutes or so I could stand to watch the Erin Burnett program on CNN, we heard that Alexis used an AR-15 at least a dozen times. It sounded as if this AR-15 is a terribly dangerous gun and certainly not what my father or his father would use for a noble purpose such as hunting.

Then, Tuesday happened.

Alexis used a shotgun. Not an AR-15. Not the weapon the media has come to "know" and hate.

So. I'll turn to alternative ammo media to present a story about 5.56 and how it may be the "greatest caliber ever made"!

All jokes aside, prayers with those who lost loved ones and those who are still recovering from Alexis' paranoia-filled attacks. I certainly wish the men and women who spend their lives working hand-in-hand with our military the best.

New Gun Regulations - No Congress Required

So, he couldn't get it done the way our democracy is set up so now he's going to go about it the way a dictator would?

Maybe I'm being dramatic, but how is it that with one swoop of a pen the President gets to make law? That's not how it's supposed to work.

From the Associated Press:

"...the Obama administration announced new steps Thursday on gun control, curbing the import of military surplus weapons and proposing to close a little-known loophole that lets felons and others circumvent background checks by registering guns to corporations."

Still Here - New Editor

Fate of Legions is still operational - proud to have a new editor.

We'll be keeping up with posts somewhat more frequently and we are really excited to get to work!

A robbery gone well

Story with video from three cameras of two armed scumbags taking fire from a victim.  The two scumbags were tripping over one another trying to get away.  Don't mess with the elderly!

Funny, I've been told that the .380 ACP cartridge was too weak for defensive work -- more info from someone in the know.

How many reloads does it take to shop at Wal-Mart?

This is beyond scary:



This is a good way for someone's little prince or princess to get shot to death by a scared shopper.  As I've mentioned before, there are folks out there (like me) who might not have the option to leave the area.  There are some who would casually say to let the cops handle the mess, which I agree with whole-heartedly, but what happens when the 300+ kids decide that the watermelons they're throwing just don't splatter enough, and they turn towards your cart with your kids.  If you don't think that will ever happen, are you willing to bet the lives of your children on it?  I'm not.

Teenagers or not, the disparity of force is overwhelming here even if they were all eight years old; and it's been well established that mobs like this tend to get violent in a heartbeat.  I'm still of the mindset that I would try to get out with my family if I can, but if not I would back my kids into a corner and try to keep the savages away.  Seeing a mob like this one in a small area makes me think a lot less of two spare magazines.

Bring the pain

Long time no see.  My new pad doesn't have internet or cell coverage, so I'm in the stone age until I can get things sorted out.  On top of that I've been moving things, emptying boxes, and working my ass off in between.  There will be more blog delays, but hopefully not as long as this last time.

***

I finally got to do the first significant shooting yesterday since the move.  I say significant because I shoot rimfire off the front porch, but yesterday I put the first rounds through the .338 Win Mag, and made a good bit of noise.  What neighbors I may have in the surrounding area know I'm here.  To get the beast online, I picked up some steel Weaver rings to mount the beater Simmons 3-9 that I had sitting around.  It had been mounted to a muzzle loader at one time, so I figured it would take the brutal kick from the .338WM.  This setup will work during load development until I can put better glass and mounts on it.


First thing I'm going to say is that the concept of a lightweight magnum rifle is absurd.  I'm no pussy when it comes to magnum rifles; I was slaying critters with a 7mm Magnum on a regular basis before I hit puberty, so I know all about opposite and equal reactions.  Lately though it's become very trendy to have a pencil-thin barreled rifle with a featherweight composite stock chambered in a heavy recoiling belted magnum rifle under the asinine conclusion that it will be "carried a lot and shot very little," or "when I have to use this, I won't even notice the recoil!"

Well, hoist the BullShit flag, me hearties, and set sail for the Isle of Ghostah Reconfanboi!  We're going to plunder it for all it's worth and burn it to the ground!

Okay, what we're talking about here is a rifle that's so light it's comfortable to carry for days in the field, like you would to go hunting; and, presumably, since it's chambered in a magnum cartridge it's going to be fired in fear/anger at lions, tigers, or bears, or at the very least elk or moose, which aren't cheap to hunt.  So your telling me that you're going to take these .300, .338, .358, .458 Winchester Magnum "mountain guns," which weigh MAYBE 8 lbs. fully loaded with a scope, out to hunt either a once-in-a-lifetime creature with a $5,000 tag, or a monster bear with teeth and claws that will kill you in a moment, and you're going stake it all on your ability to shoot a rifle that recoils like a donkey punch to the soul?!?  Bad idea, hoss.  Bad idea.

Consider that when you're hunting "in the field," (DUUURRRHH!!!  When people say that I envision them in full Fudd attire, with their grey socks pulled up to their knees, wearing a fishing vest and big brimmed hat) you're likely to not be standing square to your target with the perfect cheekweld and the stock firmly in the pocket of the shoulder.  If you've ever settled for an ad hoc rest on a log, twisted in a precarious position so you can get that shot off at a deer, or taken a snap shot at game with a badly mounted gun you know that it's highly likely that the shot is going to hurt.  I've had a .243 Winchester bring tears to my eyes when I didn't have it mounted right, so what do you think is going to happen with something bigger?  I sold a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .300 Win Mag once that was one of these super lightweight guns, because she was a rowdy bitch and I wanted nothing more to do with her.  That thing was punishing to shoot, and because I shot it in "field" positions and not from a bench I knew I would never be a great shot with it.  It kicked way too hard and sooner or later I would develop a flinch (I have a video of me shooting it, but I can't load it right now).  Now though these guns are everywhere, and I think people are kidding themselves when they say they can shoot them when it counts.

My .338WM came with two boxes of 225 grain Hornady SST ammo, seven rounds of which had been fired.  A once over the gun brought me to the conclusion that these seven rounds were the only ones sent down the bore.  Let me tell you, after every shot with this thing I had to wait for my thoughts to return to my skull, like when you smack a video camera and it jacks the picture up for a couple of seconds.  If a bear was charging me I had better hit it well with the first shot, and it would probably be better if that round was the first I had ever fired through it, lest I fear the recoil more than the beast.  I shot twelve rounds getting it sighted in and confirming my zero, and the scope kissed my face with every shot.  The very next purchase for this thing is going to be the heaviest stock made, and I'm going to bed it to the action with lead.  Seriously, this thing should have a clevis at the end of the barrel to mount a boat anchor to arrest the recoil.

Keep in mind that I was shooting casually, from a relaxed position, and not snapping the gun up and getting off a quick shot.  People who say they can handle rifles like this (without developing a flinch) are full of it.  With heavy recoiling rifles you have to accept the pain before every shot -- that's a given.  You have to wait that extra second for your inner self's pitty party to end and the moment of flinch to pass, then you accept that it's going to hurt for a second while you make the shot count.  That doesn't happen when you fear permanent damage from the gun -- with the 5th shot yesterday I thought for a second that I might have cracked a rib.  Yeah, ouch.

Anyways, I have dies and brass on the way, but I have to have it delivered to my brother because there's no way a UPS driver is going down my creepy driveway.  I'm going to try to launch a 250 grain Berger hybrid at 2,800 fps without destroying the gun.  Where I live now, I can shoot basically anything I want in about 270 degrees around the house, out to 100 yards under limited conditions, so by this time next year I should be a handloading savant.  Unless I break my shoulder with the .338WM.