Spend any time looking out the window as you drive through pretty much of any part of New Bern, NC, you’ll spot a bear. I’ve taken it as a hobby to hunt all the bears I can any time I’m in New Bern. I’ll pull over and stop if I see one, whatever it takes to get the shot. They are all over.
I caught that one in front of a Realty Office.
On AAR the topic of Drones came up. The use of drones for harassment, spying, and creeper pics.
I said my solution would be to shoot them down. If I’m on private property and a drone flies over, I believe this constitutes trespassing and spying. I believe I have the right to swat down the drone.
Now I’m not talking about high altitude Predators or Reapers… and neither were we on Air. We’re talking about the small QuadRotor types.
My first response on air was “Federal Black Cloud 3 1/2″”. A good shotgun shell for knocking a goose down. I thing it would knock a drone down too.
Trespass, invasion of privacy, spying, harassment, these are not things that have to be tolerated on your private property.
I see the use of them for honest reasons in law enforcement. But it needs to be done in accordance with the law. Warrants need to be had before they can come into a property and search… same rules should be in place for the use of drones. Also LE Drones should be marked clearly.
I can see the warrantless use over private property in some cases… fleeing criminal suspect… an active search and rescue of a missing person or amber alert. Or other extraordinary circumstances where the use is reasonably prudent to save a life. IE, you hear screaming or other sounds that lead you to believe a human life is in jeopardy.
Note: Corporate Espionage is a big business. Spying is a real and a growing problem.
Let’s say I sign an NDA with a gun company so I can test out a prototype weapon. I’m at a secure location, and have an expectation of privacy. A drone flies over and snaps pics of me and this weapon. Next thing you know the prototype is now on TV and I’m liable for breaking the NDA.
How many spy photos have you seen in car magazines?
The use of drones are going to cause problems that are going to have to be addressed in court.
I don’t even know how to process this… But this happened this morning.
It got cold. Real cold. Early in the morning, sun has just crested. You can see your breath. Now, I gotta take a leak so I run into this Porta John. As I start to relieve myself, this evil steam rises up from my stream. This steam comes up to my face, and I’m trying to get my face away from it… and I’m mid flow so I can’t just disengage. So I’m trying to pull my head back away from this Piss Mist, but it’s filling the Porta John now. There’s no escape. So all I can do is hold my breath until I finish.
Well, I finally finish so I quickly zip up and break out of there. I bust out the door and take a deep breath. Filling my lungs with fresh air all the sudden. Cold air. Causes me to cough. I look up, and there’s a dude standing there that had been waiting to use the Porta John himself.
He just looks at me. “Judas man, if it’s that bad maybe I don’t need to go in there.”
This cracked me up… I was laughing all morning about it.
I hate Dr. Who. I tried watching it, being as open minded as possible… but I’ve come to the conclusion that I really and truly just hate Dr. Who. The whole Whovian Universe.
1. The Daleks. They couldn’t come up with a more interesting design than semi conical domed top thing with a toilet plunger on the end. Just looking at them angers me. These things are supposed to be some sort of a World Threatening menace? If these things can threaten your world – you deserve to have them… whatever they do… plunger fuck your skull until you bleed to death.
2. Cybermen. Alien technology that hinges on plumbing from the local hardware store to make dumbass handles on their helmets. They actually make the Daleks look more interesting. But these things are just as bad when it comes to visibly threatening. The Tin Man from Oz was more threatening… because he had a creepy smile… and an axe. But that’s not the Cybermen. They have masks of dire bordom and they want you to be like them. How is this different from any trip to a Shopping Mall or Liberal Arts College?
3. The Tardis. The Space Ship is a freaking Phone Booth? Every one of you who piped up “It’s a Police Call Box!” can just shut up and drink engine coolant. A Police Call Box is just a phone booth that only dials one number. So like it or not, it’s not even that useful of a phone booth. Who came up with this idea? No, seriously, how did this become clever? How did this become cool? I walked into a book store and there was a whole table of blue phone booths for people to buy. Are you all mentally damaged? When it flies, it spins and wobbles as if from a single string. Because it’s dangling from a freaking string, and they didn’t even bother to stop it. The spinning just became part of the mysterious way it flies through space – not by magic, but by the mysteries of science. They didn’t even bother phoning it in with bad special effects. They just made it so bad, that everyone just stopped caring about it. Oh, that’s the Tardis. The ReTardis. The worst spaceship in any SciFi, and it’s in the worst of all SciFi’s. Which makes that Stupid folded in on its self. It’s stupidity that’s divided by zero. But it’s bigger on the inside, some say. Didn’t Harry Potter have Tents like that? What is it with the Brits with so much wishing for more interior space. Guess what, England, you can move to a less crowded place, where elbow room isn’t a Fantasy Plot Point. Like North Dakota.
4. The Sonic Screwdriver. Let’s call this what it is… Dr. Who’s Magic Wand. There’s no science to this SciFi, it’s Fantasy and Who is a wizard with a wand. It fixes everything, in any situation, magically, with no need to a scientific reason for it doing so. It just does. But instead of Magic, Who wraps himself in the stupidly oversized scarf and declares it to be science, because he is smarter than everything else in the universe. Because he says so. Because he has his magic wand. His phallic symbol of power. You know who else had a Magic Wand? Voldemort. Think about that.
5. The acting and directing are better in a High School Play. So are the special effects. Every episode is like a bad SNL Skit that everyone on stage hates, but they are pushing through until the end because they are SNL. Quite really, SNL does a better job of this because they all know they are doing comedy and it doesn’t matter. But Whovians are rabid fans and take this shit seriously and hang on every word and wave of the Fifty Shades of Magic Sonic Vibrating Wand.
6. Dr. Who changes bodies, but it’s the same character… just in a different body. Another phone-in effort. Oh, the last Dr. Who Actor quit because he can’t stand making Gene Roddenberry cry anymore… so he walks off stage left, and in from stage right walks Dr. Who, who has returned again… in a new body because that’s what he does because he’s not just a fucking wizard anymore but a TIME LORD… Dun Dun DuuunnnnN!!!
I hate it so much I can’t do a full 10 reasons… I just hate it. I only hope at some point in the series the Time Lord opens a portal to the Warhammer universe and a Blood Raven’s Terminator pops through and shreds Dr. Who with Lightning Claws. Because that’s an episode I could watch.
Almost every year I post this. I wrote it some years ago when Bush was the President. When I had a bit more pride in our Nation than I’m feeling now. But the message is the same. ”Thank you”.
Veterans Day: Just a word to you cake eating civilians out there… You don’t say Happy Veterans Day. You don’t say Merry Vets Day. But just because you don’t have a meaningless Seasons Greetings for it doesn’t mean you don’t say anything.
This isn’t some fat bunny in a sled passing around Jack O’Lanterns because it’s Santa’s birthday… This isn’t about some old fable-become-tradition.
Veterans Day is a day for those that are still alive, and for those who are dead… those who died for your freedom to flip soldiers the bird and to call them baby killers and spit on them in the airport.
Veterans Day is for the guys that died fighting for your personal independent liberty…
It’s for that Veteran that walks with just a slight limp and seems otherwise fine, but he doesn’t have a spleen because an enemy of our country blew it out his back with an AK-47 so you can get 15% Off that new leather fat-ass reclining couch that your going to sit on to mock the President from while watching your 42 inch plasma TV flipping through the channels trying to find some Friends rerun.
Veterans Day is for the guy that came home while all his friends didn’t.
Veterans day is for the woman who gave up the best years of her young adulthood so she could press her hands over the sucking chest wound of some guy from her own home town 6 thousand miles away from home.
Veterans day is for that old woman over there that raised 2 kids alone because when she was young she sent her handsome young husband off to fight for your freedom and came back as a flag folded into a triangle.
That’s what Veterans day is for… and what do you say to those people who served?
You just say “Thank You”.
Burger King, that is. This morning I had too much blood in my caffeine and I was getting a headache from it. Needed to fix that. Closest joint was a BK. So I stopped in, went inside. I had a minute. So I sit down with a large Coke on ice and pull out my Samsung Galaxy S4, which is awesome… Check messages… Oh, they have free WiFi. Well… Let’s just hop on that and use their bandwidth instead of my Verizon Miserly Minutes. Because Verizon doesn’t do an Unlimited Data plan, I try to use WiFi whenever possible.
Check my emails. Check my messages… Hmmm… What about any new comments on MadOgre.com?
THIS SITE IS BLOCKED. REASON: WEAPONS.
Burger King Blocks The Ogre. Oh really? So I check a few other Pro-Gun sites… and they are blocked too. Uh huh. Now, wait a second… If they are blocking me, undoubtedly for the children… they must be blocking – Nope… You can still pull up Miley Cyrus twerking that skinny little ass. So Burger King thinks it’s okay for Hanna Montana to shake that flat little money maker, but I can’t check out a Pro-Second Amendment discussion site.
Really, King of Burgers? That hurts me, King B. That cut me.
At this point I walked out. I don’t see myself spending any more of my money there. Check our your local BK establishments. See if they have free WiFi and if they are filtering guns too. Maybe it’s just this Franchise. Maybe it’s a Corporate thing. I’d rather see this be a Corporate thing. Because this Franchise was just outside of the main gates of a Marine Base. And they are banning gun related content on their WiFi. That’s just asinine considering all the Marines and Relatives that stop and eat there. Just sad. I was quite disappointed.
You know how some things set a standard. They become the benchmark by which all others are judged. Well, for many of my reviews I have mentioned the CZ 100 pistol as an example of what I consider to be just about the worst trigger ever made on any production handgun ever. I’ve mentioned it but until now I have never introduced it to you. That’s been rather rude of me and I apologize. Let me introduce it to you now.
The CZ 100 is a polymer framed automatic that is a radical departure from CZ’s standard 75 series based guns. It is not just a polymer framed CZ 75 clone. If that is what you are wanting, check out an IMI Desert Eagle poly in 9, .40, or .45. I reviewed a pair of them last year. Those were outstanding handguns.
One of the biggest departures from normal CZ tradition is that the 100 is a double action only pistol. The trigger mechanism is unique in that the idea behind it is simple to the point of almost being brilliant. Pulling the trigger moves a hook that grabs a bar on the striker and slingshots it back. At the farthest point of travel, the trigger hook drops off the striker allowing it to fly forward to fire the gun.
I say “almost brilliant” because it of course fails miserably at being any sort of usable trigger at all. No, I’m serious, it’s bad. It’s the stuff of nightmares. The trigger feels exactly like those old toy guns you used to be able to buy at grocery stores that shoot those little plastic disks. I’ve actually had nightmares where a large dark looming threat is advancing on me and I pull out my sidearm and pull the trigger… it feels like this and in my dream little plastic disks fly out to bounce off the menace which is of course unfazed by the plastic disks. To put it bluntly, the CZ 100 is my nightmare pistol.
Let me describe the trigger pull. A long take up pull, then heavy stacking up to a level that is off the scale. If the trigger pull was just bad, that would be one thing… but when the trigger breaks, it pulls the front sight off to the right suddenly. Trying as hard as I might, I could not pull the trigger without the sight being jerked off target. Interestingly, when I dry-fired the gun left handed, the sights stayed on target. I don’t know why that is… maybe it is the way I manipulate triggers and I just do it differently left handed. The trigger is not just bad, it’s funny how bad it is. It’s almost as if it’s a joke. How could a serious arms company release a pistol so awful?
Actually, several have. AMT’s BackUp .45, the HK VP-70, Stanley Staplers, all have bad triggers on the epic scale, but the CZ 100’s is worse. Trust me.
Now the question is this; is the 100 otherwise a decent pistol handicapped with a bad trigger? Let’s take a look at it objectively. When you first take up the 100, it feels pretty good in the hand. But the more you hold it, the more odd it feels. It gets to be downright awkward. The pistol’s styling is also interesting. They went to the trouble of making the gun as slick sided as possible, including the breaking of the slide release lever and take down pin into two separate parts instead of one combine unit. Then they hide the slide release under the frame and have the release lever sticking out an odd little window. It’s like a cross between something you might see on classic Star Trek and The Next Generation. The lines of the pistol are all wrong. Looking at it from a side view, it merely looks ugly. Change your viewing angle to look at it more from the front and it becomes absolutely hideous. This is the Pontiac Aztec of handguns.
Like the Pontiac Aztec, even for being an abomination, it does offer good utility. For example, you can sometimes fine CZ 100’s for under $300’s. They are very reliable. It has a unique belt/holster snag feature up on the top to help aid in one hand slide manipulation. They needed this because you can’t quite hook your belt on the rear sights… because as a cruel joke they topped this pistol with an adjustable rear sight as if someone with a room temperature IQ might mistake it for a target pistol. There is the hint of frame rails under the muzzle, tempting one to think it a tactical pistol. All the tactical lights I’ve tried on it either don’t fit and even if they did, they are not able to lock on to it. So it isn’t a tactical gun, or a target gun, and being a 9mm it is not an overly powerful gun… so what is it? I’m not exactly sure. I guess it is trying to be a self defense gun. Let’s see if it is.
If you can manage rowing that trigger all the way back, the gun will fire every time until you have emptied all 15 rounds. Of course you will feel like Ben Hur at the oars of a Roman galley by then, but still… the gun does work. That 15 round magazine is a decent payload for a gun so slim. The 100 is rather slick sided for being so ugly… but then again so is the Swamp Thing. All this can be yours, an easy packing, reliable, high capacity 9MM, for under $300. Like your momma told you about lima beans, it doesn’t matter how bad it tastes, it’s good for you. I’ve actually seen examples for sale for as low as $225. At that price you are at the Makarov level. I’m not sure which one I’d buy if they were side by side for the same price, but I’d probably lean to the Mak.
I don’t mean to bash the CZ 100 so completely, but I can’t help it. It is kind of like nachos… you can’t eat just one. Unless by one you mean a plate full. One plate full is a good stopping point. Those who are familiar to me, know that I am extremely fond of CZ firearms. So much so that one day I hope to make a pilgrimage to the Czech Republic to where CZ guns are made. My favorite handgun remains my CZ P-01. I especially like CZ’s magazine fed bolt action centerfire rifles. Dang near everything else from CZ I find to be excellent and most worthy. I wouldn’t hesitate to spend my own cash on anything from CZ, anything save the 100. The 100 is just awful and should be avoided as much as possible like it was mosquito borne West Nile Virus.
Unless you are a full blown CZ Freak and just have to anything and everything from CZ. That being the case, I can’t blame you. The 100 is a very interesting pistol. You can’t help but to look at it. Like a weird mole on the face of someone you are trying to talk to. There is some weird fascination about it that draws you to it. And that is the oddest thing about the CZ-100… for all it’s warts, for as ugly and utterly nasty as it is… you can’t help but to kind of like it. Like ET in a way. Shooting the 100 well is a challenge and there in is the draw. It’s like riding a GP class bike with a tight clutch and a throttle like the trigger on a detonator. Awkward and difficult… it’s fantastic. But it’s not something for everyone. Unlike the GP bike, the 100 is awkward and difficult, but it isn’t for anyone.
If this article contradicts its self, it is a good metaphor for the pistol.
CZ USA could make this a much more appealing weapon system, but it would require a completely different fire system. I would suggest they take a close hard look at a couple other good fire control systems. Kahr Arms has perhaps one of the best examples of a DAO (Double Action Only) system. Then again they could do it as a Single Action system like the Springfield XD. That would be my choice if I was the Head Honcho at CZ. I’d also do something to the looks and the size. I would clip the grip frame down to “CZ Compact” size, and then recontour the slide to something more appropriate to concealed carry. The weird way the slide overhangs the dust cover at the muzzle end… reminds me of the front end (the bow, sorry) of an Aircraft Carrier. But considering that CZ’s lineup already has better pistols for these purposes… the P-01, the PCR, really there is no point in the 100. There is no necessity for CZ to force out a polymer framed pistol before it is really ready for prime time. The only reason for using a plastic frame is to reduce weight. The only gun that this is needed in are for guns intended specifically for concealment. And CZ has already done a poly version of the RAMI. I guess the best thing for CZ to do would be to just drop the gun altogether.
Another thing about the 100 is that it has a brother. There is a .40 cal version that wasn’t imported into the USA. They called it the CZ-110. If you ever thought that the 100 was great, but it just needed a little more horsepower, well, your wrong. The 110 was just as bad as the 100 ever was but added snappier recoil. Good times. Ugly and awkward and now uncomfortable! Brilliant!
To sum up the CZ 100 quickly, if you are a CZ collector, fine, get it. If not, spend your money on a more worthy pistol.
I knew I was going to catch some flak from my 1911 Brothers out there for selecting, of all guns, the Glock in a .40. The Anti-1911. You wouldn’t believe the amount of flak I’m catching from work! They have been merciless. Let’s just say I don’t work at a Glock Shop. Guys, I am not turning my back on the 1911. I am still a 1911 Guy. But before I am a 1911 Guy, I’m a Gun Guy… which means I like guns… all guns.
The Glock’s biggest criticism is that it’s ugly. Many owners think it beautiful. Regarding the Glock’s beauty. I’ll be the first to say… it’s not Pretty. However the Function of it is what can make a Glock absolutely gorgeous. The low bore axis helps reduce muzzle flip. Combine that with that funky grip angle that helps return the gun to point of aim faster… now lets add in what really is a fine trigger pull… consistent and the same every time… with a super short Trigger Reset… And it’s simple. Nothing complicated. Nothing “trick”. It’s about as straight forward of a mechanism as it gets. The Glock really is the whole enchilada when it comes to Function. That’s why I am going to give the Glock another chance. I didn’t contact Glock for a Review gun, I ordered one for my own outright purchase.
When my Glock 23 arrived, I took off my SIG P229R and picked up the Glock. I had to carry it. I loaded it up with some 165 grain PDX1’s from my SIG Mags, and tucked it in. I know I usually advocate the test firing of your carry gun with your choice of carry ammo, but in this case, I had no concerns. There are 3 lines of guns have always felt comfortable with right out of the box. HK’s, SIG 22X series, and of course, Glock. See, I’ve owned a Glock before. A Gen1 17. I’ve been to this rodeo before… I know the Glock well enough and have always respected it’s reliability.
I dismissed them when the Gen2 came out, and I’ve not paid any attention to them since. They just didn’t feel right in my hand. The RTF2 grip feels much better to me, I don’t know why. I started looking at the Glocks again when we got in a 17RTF2 and I thought, “You know, this isn’t bad at all.” I’ve got friends who are into Glocks and they all kept recommending them. A lot of guys I respect recommended them. LittleLebowksi from WeTheArmed.com is one of them, but the kicker came Las Vegas. At SHOT Show, my friend Mark Walters and I sat down at Ceaser’s Palace and we had a good conversation. During which Mark gave good testimony about his favorite gun, the Glock 23. It was a convincing argument. I promised I’d give Glock a second look. So I did.
I borrowed a Glock 17 and shot several magazines through it. After a few mags I got used to the grip angle. It shot just as I expected it would. Reliable and predictably accurate. I had no problem with it. However I’m just not all that interested in a 9mm. I’ve become reacquainted with the .40, a caliber I used to stake my life on back in Virginia. My 229 is incredible with the .40 when it comes to shootability, but it’s heavy. When I carry I do the “AllDamnDay” Carry and that usually means from 6AM to 10PM. That’s a long time to have a Heater strapped on. As much as love the SIG P229… and I really do… I want (no, not need… just want) a lighter gun for all day carry. A mid-sized gun, not a compact, not a mouse gun for pocket carry… a Mid sized gun in a mid sized caliber. From Glock that means Mark’s beloved model 23. The balance of form, function and firepower is just perfect for what I was looking for. The Glock 23 is just “it”.
The RTF2 grip texture is said to be too rough, but it does perfectly what it was designed to do. Lock the gun into your hand so it wont slip. Oh, it does that. But it isn’t “Fabric Friendly” so you gotta watch what you wear over it, and you sure as hell want to wear something under it… it can be… abrasive. But when you draw the gun, and it’s in your hand. It’s going nowhere.
The large Tritium front sight post of these Warren Tacticals.
The trigger is one of the things that Glock Owners like to brag about. It’s worth bragging on, because it’s pretty dang good. The pull is consistent, shot to shot. But the trigger reset is what really sets it apart. The distance which you let the trigger move forward, to where it resets so you can fire it again… very short in the Glock. One of the shortest, if not the shortest resets on the market. What this does for the shooter is to allow that trigger to be run quickly and efficiently… which makes for fast and accurate shooting. Something Glocks are very good at. When I roll into an IDPA match, I note who’s shooting Glocks. More and more frequently it’s the guys with those Glocks that are on the tops of the Leader Boards.
ADAMS HOLSTERS
Accuracy? That goes without saying. Glocks are going to just as accurate as any other service auto. And when it comes to practical accuracy, they can be even more so. From the holster to putting rounds into the target, they are just as fast as the classic old 1911 while shooting groups that rival John M Browning’s Masterpiece. This is why so many Law Enforcement Agencies have adopted Glocks. Combine this accuracy, the utter reliability, and the simplicity of the Glock system, you have something a Department can issue to all its officers with little more training necessary than with a service revolver. Many departments have reported improvements in qualification scores overall after a Glock adoption.
Does this mean I have gone over to “The Dark Side”? Why, yes, I think it does..
The movie was fantastic. I read the book when I was young, and my sons have as well. We were not disappointed. We all enjoyed it a great deal.
Well acted, well directed, good casting, and awesome effects.
The story is solid. A good morality tale.
The ending of the conflict had an important dialog. Normally I’d agree with Harrison Ford’s Character that Winning was all that mattered. But Ender’s response that how they win is more important. This is true in any War based on Political Agenda. World Wars I and II were both Political Wars. The Civil War and our Revolutionary War were Political Wars. In these, “How You Win” is critical. Look at WWII specifically. Germany and Japan, who were our biter enemies, quickly became our allies. How You Win is what made the difference here. Look at WWI, how the Allied nations in that case is what set the ball in motion to start WWII. Many reasons for this, but allow me to oversimplify. The Allies were poor Winners in that conflict. Ender went the extreme route to Poor Winner, by the utter destruction and genocide of the enemy.
We see that pretty much as the goal of our Enemies now. The extremist Muslims who vow extermination of everyone that is not Muslim. As a result of these statements, a lot of guys I know have said the same thing in reverse… That we should exterminate the Muslims. This is the wrong tact. The wrong direction. And it’s counter to our beliefs as Americans. America is a Mixing Pot.
The talk of killing Muslims just because they are Muslims makes me ill and disappointed. We shall fight to defend, certainly. But only to defend. We kill only to protect. We do not engage because someone has a different belief system than our own. We do not shun someone because they come from a different corner of the world than our own ancestors who came here from a different corner of the world.
I enjoy Orson Scott Card’s works, and Ender’s Game was the first of his that I read.
I’ve had a few chances to meet OSC. Sat in on a lecture on writing once. Interesting fellow. While I do not agree with him in certain political areas, I do like his work.
Couple weeks ago I went through my DVD collection and pulled out all my Rated R movies. These movies were put into a box, leaving only the lesser rated movies. The purpose was to clean out any movies which did not uplift or teach a valuable and morally justifiable lesson.
After reviewing the films remaining and those removed, I quickly found that the R rating was no watermark for judging a movie’s content. Some movies I put back on the shelf. Some for the lessons or historical perspective or moral object lessons provided… Rob Roy, Saving Private Ryan…. among others.
And then I looked at the rest that remained… Films rated PG-13 and such “Safe” movies. Many were light minded, vapid, or every bit as deserving of an R rating due to content and language. Many had no historical lessons or held any moral justification. Many I felt were more spiritually damaging than some which had been culled.
I didn’t have time to finish the filtering… but will do so later. But my goal is to leave movies which have a purpose. Talking about this with my Bride, we determined that the deciding factor would be “What lessons do we want to our sons learning?” Movies, like literature often carry lessons for life. These can shape one’s views and opinions which can effect future moral decisions. Don’t try to tell me that Film is a weak medium and has no effect on Character. Film is visual literature and literature helps mold Character one way or another.
Take a look at the films in your homes. What lessons are you getting from them? How is that R Rating matching the lessons you want to share with your prodigy?
My Grandfather served in World War II. Saving Private Ryan, while a work of fiction, gives a very realistic interpretation of some of the things my Grandfather experienced or witnessed. The story it’s self walks through a series of some things that had actually happened in that war. And while no documentary feature, I feel it is a good example of that era in history. It also tells of of the moral of service and sacrifice and duty to causes higher than one’s self. That’s just an example of a rated R movie that is probably worth keeping. I’m keeping it.
Mormons as a whole try to avoid R rated movies in general. But I tell you what… I’d rather my kids watch The Patriot or The Last Samurai than Dumb and Dumber or Twilight.