Gun Smoke

…as in, blowing smoke up our ass.  Here’s a breathless little piece which, after careful reading, sounds like the kind of scam you would expect from a Nigerian con man:

Has the next generation rifle already arrived?

My immediate take is: no.  Not even close.  Not when you see puffery like this:

The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) efforts have resulted in multiple, unique 6.8 mm cartridge designs. Each of the companies involved has tried to develop a solution to the Army’s reported desire to penetrate modern, peer-level body armor far beyond close-combat ranges. The selections of SIG Sauer’s 6.8×51 mm hybrid-case ammunition, XM5 carbine and XM250 light machine gun as solutions have been met with both fanfare and skepticism. While the velocities that are reported for the 6.8×51 mm, and its .277 SIG Fury commercial counterpart, seem to generate the most excitement, this cartridge’s projectile energy is likely to be the main driver of the DOD’s interest. 

According to SIG’s published numbers, its hybrid steel-and-brass cartridge case allows chamber pressures to reach a whopping 80,000 psi. Subsequently, its 150-grain projectile is reported to leave a 16-inch barrel at 2,830 fps with 2,667 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy. Running those numbers through a ballistic program shows that SIG’s loads should fly flatter and hit much harder than anything used in current battle rifle and light machine gun designs, including 7.62 NATO/.308 Win. loads, out past 1,000 meters.

Long experience in examining the .dotmil’s record in tinkering around with this issue makes me think they’re still in the “oh what if” and “wouldn’t it be nice if” stages — wishful thinking, in other words — and even so there’s this little warning sign:

Pushing a bullet faster so that it will fly flatter and hit harder is one thing. Doing it without rapidly burning out barrels or prematurely wearing out other parts has proven difficult with several past attempts to achieve game-changing muzzle velocities.

Yeah, that bastard Newton enters the fray again.  But all is well:

One bit of reassurance on barrel wear concerns comes from a reliable source within SIG, who told me the special material technology used in their 6.8 barrels can hold up to this high pressure cartridge.

Oh, well then we don’t have anything to worry about, do we?  Manufacturers never lie about this kind of thing, especially when there’s a multi-billion dollar military contract dangling in the wind.

No doubt, their “special material techology” will be super-inexpensive too, cheaper than the current steel even.

Just think:  if the US Army had adopted the superb .280 British (actually 7.2x43mm, or .284 in Murkin) cartridge back in the late 1940s, we’d still be fielding it — but no, we had to go to the 7.62×51 which was oops too powerful and then over-correcting with the .223 which was oops too underpowered.  Ever since then, the Army has been fucking around trying to find ammo’s Holy Grail — and I have to say that based on what I can see, the 6.8x51mm isn’t going to The One.  (FFS:  .277 SIG “Fury”?  Better ammo through marketing?)

It’s like watching a kid with learning issues trying to fit the multi-shaped sticks into the proper slots:

So, to answer the headline’s question, the answer is…

Idiots.

Nazzo Fast, Guida

Then we have this lunacy:

The goal is to “reimagine” the traditional family beyond fatherhood and motherhood with such roles being replaced, in a “more universal sense,” where children are not “property” of their parents, but “raised by society as a whole.” 

“I suppose that I’m called to the challenge of thinking about these really difficult questions of how those intimate spheres are affected by capitalism and how they are political.

“The left needs to get a little bit braver also at challenging the rhetoric of motherhood. Because a lot of the people who do mothering, I call them mother-ers to just ram home the point, that we can mother one another after the abolition of the family, this is what will hopefully be lifted up.

“To abolish the family is not to destroy relationships of care and nurturance, but on the contrary, to expand and proliferate them. Reflecting on the conditions of possibility for such universally xenofamilial — that is to say, comradely — kin relations … argues for utopia(nism) in feminist kinship studies.”

Nurturance?  Xenofamilial?  Seriously?

The author of this Marxist lunacy is named Sophie Lewis:

Really?

Nah, I’m kidding — that’s another Sophie Lewis altogether.  This is the expert on “feminist, trans and queer politics and philosophy”, who looks exactly as you’d suspect she would:

There’s never a ducking-stool at hand when you need one, is there?

I don’t know what Sophie #1’s opinion on child-rearing is, but I’ll take hers ahead of the Marxist’s, sight unseen.

Train Smash Women — 2022 Update

It’s all bad news, I’m afraid.   First, Lindsay Lohan:

Lindsay Lohan reacted to the news that her return to acting in her new film “Falling for Christmas” hit number one on Netflix, as she thanked fans for all their support over the years.

Wait… you mean no more Train Smash pics are coming?

… etc?

Must admit, though:  the girl has cleaned up quite nicely:

But there’s still a lot of Teh Crazy lurking in those eyes, so all may not be lost yet.

The really bad news concerns my #1 Train Smash Woman, Lisa Appleton, who has gone from this:

 

…to this:

Lisa, 54, is set to co-host a new crime series called Hollywood Files, which will air on streaming service ROKU.

The star will present the documentary show with Bryn Curt James Hammond, who is an author and former magazine editor.

An actual job, instead of just giving the paparazzi work?

Say it ain’t so.

In other news, though, the newly-married Britney Spears continues to impress:

So all is not yet lost.

Slight Disagreement

Some guy has opined on the Top 15 Most Beautiful Vintage Cars Ever Made, and I agree by and large, taking issue with #15 (Dodge Charger, seriously?), the rankings of the Dino 246 GT at #12 (should have been at least #3) and the Lamborghini Miura at #14 (LOL).  And then there’s the inclusion of the Ford Shelby Mustang (performance, yes;  looks, blecchhh).

My favorite (about the ’50s Corvette):  “…the best-looking car Chevrolet ever conceived”  — talk about a low bar.

It’s only 20 minutes long, so help yourselves and then add your thoughts in Comments.

Will Of The People

So Oregon’s prospective gun owners are going to get it in the shorts:

Gun sales more than doubled in Oregon with Ballot Measure 114 (BM 114) pending, and Oregon State Police are struggling to keep up with the demand for background checks.

KDRV reports that BM 114 passed by a margin of 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent, and will take effect December 8, 2022.  The measure requires a permit, which costs $65, to purchase a gun. It also bans “high capacity” magazines and requires law enforcement to maintain a database of gun permit applicants, among other things.  The process for getting a gun permit under BM 114 includes submitting fingerprints and passing a gun safety course.

And for all those Oregon gun owners who couldn’t be bothered to go out and vote on Nov 8:  you have only yourselves to blame.

Ahhh that democracy thing… although I bet that if this “initiative” ever makes it to the Supreme Court, it will get revoked.  Keyword:  “if”.

News Roundup

Sponsored by:

And speaking of stale vaginas:


...and quite a few Vietnam vets are also ready for you to die, I bet.


...given that the average age of these airborne waitresses nowadays is about 57, the man obviously needs help.


...FIVE bullets to the chest?  That’s a textbook Clinton suicide right there.


...I can attest to at least ONE elderly family who’s not turned on the heat for the past three weeks.

From the P.R. company representing Green Lunacy & Panic, Inc.:


...you mean like it was 45 years ago, when you first started spouting this alarmist bullshit?


...not to mention the rising rates of athlete’s foot, night sweats, twisted ankles and toenail fungal decay.


...migraines, disease, dementia… is there anything climate change CAN’T do?


...I’m not a military expert, but I’m pretty sure that barbed wire is not much of a defense against missiles.

From the Hearts Of Stone Dept.:


...an easy mistake to make, if you’re French.


...didn’t she already do that in Track 2 on her last album?

And from the ever-silly INSIGNIFICA:

   

And in Totty News:


...off you go, then, to see for yourself.

Finally:


…I report, you decide:

And on that lavender note, we end the news.