Sail Away, sweetheart.
Today’s Earworm
Latest Posts
Countermeasures
From the People’s Soviet of Portland:
An online anarchist platform encouraged people on Wednesday to shine lasers at federal helicopters in Portland, Oregon, a crime that law enforcement officials say can create extreme danger for pilots.
A post on the leftist, Portland-focused website “Rose City Counter-Info” tells viewers to scatter throughout the city’s streets on Saturday for the attack — nicknamed “Laser Tag” — as federal agents respond to demonstrations near the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. The goal is to “ground” the helicopters by making it difficult to safely fly them and flash too many lasers for law enforcement to hunt down those using them, according to the anonymously-written post.
“All you need is a laser. Leave home – they can see where the laser is coming from,” the post reads. “Go to a park, a field, or some other public place, and once the clock strikes 9 unleash your beam at the cop copter. Mask up. Coordinate with friends to throw a laser party!”
“Let’s take back the night together!” the announcement continued. “It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!”
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a few patriots scattered around said parks and fields, likewise equipped, so that when one of these goblins shines a laser up at a chopper, he or she could find themselves lit up in turn…
All together now:
“♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ You say you want a revolution, well you know…♫ ♪ ♫ ♪”
Never Have I Ever
…done these three things:
- watched Dr. Who on TV,
- read a Jilly Cooper novel (although I might give in at some point because I despair at the level of modern writing and its authors),
- ridden a horse.
I always thought that Dr. Who was an infantile take on sci-fi — just hearing people talk about the show irritated me — so I never bothered. I kinda feel the same about Star Trek, although I have watched a few episodes of that series, always kicking myself for wasting time immediately after the closing credits.
I don’t know why I never read Jilly Cooper’s books, unless it was because of my misogynistic attitude to female writers. No, I can’t be bothered to explain that, either. Reading the blurb on the back of any of her novels, I always wondered why I would ever be interested in her silly, two-dimensional characters and fluffy inconsequential plot lines, and I’d return the book to the shelf, un-tempted into its purchase. The only thing I can find to recommend Dame Jilly, other than the obvious:
…is that she always had a very casual attitude towards sex, both in her writing and in her observations about the people around her. Not judgemental, she. Besides: it was the 1970s and -80s, FFS [sic].
Horses are filthy, fragile animals, prone to all sorts of illnesses, and even the “quiet” ones are always trying to kill you. Besides, as black powder and muzzle loaders have been superseded by metallic cartridges and bolt-actions, our transportation needs have evolved and we don’t need them.
Caption Competition #414
Your suggestions in Comments.
Thoughts On That Poodleshooter Post
My acquisition of an AR-15 “pistol” (above) generated more than a few comments, but the one that interested me the most was this one:
Your friends are logically planning for group support. They’ve got your back, and you’ve got theirs.
Armies standardize platforms and calibers for a reason. Sometimes, that’s a compromise.
The scenario in question is a group defensive action, and one of you runs out of ammo. If it’s you, and you’re the one shooting .375 H&H, you’re just outta luck. If it’s your best friend, and all you’ve got is 7.62×39, he’s dead. Because you won’t give up your outdated niche calibers.
Harsh, but true.
Then again, I remember back when 7.62x51mm NATO was the mainstream, and the .223 Rem was the varmint-appropriate “niche caliber”. But that’s not the point.
Frankly, knowing my friends as I do, if there were any suggestion of a “group defensive action”, I know that each of them has at least one “spare” AR-15 poodleshooter to hand me, and let’s just say a sufficiency of ammo to share (actually, they singly and collectively have enough ammo for about a company of troops let alone just me, but let’s not go there). I think we’re covered, in that regard. (Oh, and by the way, if they happen to be at my place when the SHTF, let’s just say that I have the means to do the same for them, just with a sufficiency of 7.62x39mm as the “common” ammo, and the necessary guns to shoot them.)
What worries me is if I’m flying solo in a SHTF scenario. In that dismal eventuality, the ammo-intensive “spray and pray” mindset is never going to be an option for me — my habit of “making every shot count” dates back at least half a century, and is unlikely ever to change. And I practice, endlessly, to ensure that I have the ability to support such an activity.
In that scenario, my go-to gun — if I have the time to make the choice — is always going to be an AK / SKS-type rather than an AR simply because when it comes to self-defense, I always want to be absolutely confident in my weapons.
I ditched carrying 9mm pistols for that precise reason — because I always felt “under-gunned” with the High Power despite its 15-round mag — and now I carry only 1911s or (if I’m feeling like a change) a .357 Mag revolver. And I understand that in these modern times, both of these gun types are “quantity-deficient”, ammo-wise. To compensate for that, I just have to carry sufficient backup magazines / speedloaders (which I do) and practice reloading of same, which I also do; the latter activity for something like an hour every single day of the work week, using empty mags and / or dummy ammo for obvious reasons.
As for the long gun option: rest assured that my pack-out ammo load is sufficient to inflict a considerable reduction of numbers in any goblin horde I may encounter. And I don’t want to wound or incapacitate said goblins, or shoot to make them keep their heads down or chase them away or whatever; in that final extreme, if I’m really going to be forced to shoot, then I want fucking death to occur at the naughty end of my firearm.
And my caliber choices reflect that mindset.
Now all that said, as I think about this issue, there is a definite reason to keep the AR-15 pistol: as a practice tool if ever I’m going to be forced into a “group defensive action” with my buddies. It’s all very well to have a spare gun handed to you, but it’s useless if you don’t know how to work the damn thing.
So I guess it’s probably going to stay in Ye Olde Gunne Sayfe. But we’ll see… because if we’re looking at a small carbine (which is what the AR-15 pistol really is), then all sorts of options come into play — such as this lovely thing.
And everyone — my friends as much or more so than many — will have some .45 ACP lying around.
By the way, that insistence on ammo compatibility does not extend to our handguns. Doc carries something chambered in 10mm (because he’s a big, tough guy — no sarcasm or irony, he really is), and CC (who is also big and tough) carries either a 9mm pistol or occasionally a .357 Mag snubbie revolver. Interestingly enough, on a day to day carry basis I think I actually carry more spare ammo on hand than they do. And in a SHTF scenario, I almost certainly have more backup .45 ACP mags than either of them have for their carry guns.
Mighty, Fallen
Chris Muir has a savage take on today’s NFL. (For those who don’t get the first panel, this may help.)
Everyone has a website which is the first stop on their daily round of Intarwebz browsing.
Day By Day is mine, without fail.
Chris and I have a warm and cordial relationship which extends back to his very first cartoon strip. If you’re one of the few people on the planet who have never seen his stuff before, click on the “First” tab, and read them all in sequence. (It’s known as the “DBD Haj” to his regulars, and several of them, myself included, have done it more than once.)
And support him with yer $$$, because DBD is his job.