Monthly Archives: November 2012

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Luke 22:36.

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“Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.”

I think this is good advice, coming straight from our Savior himself.    We are heading into a time of trials.  For me, this last 4 Years have been very difficult.  I am not expecting the next 4 to be any better.  In fact, I am expected things to get much worse.
I am not a very Religious man.  But I am a Spiritual one.  I believe in God, and I believe in the Gospel according to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I am a Mormon and proud to be so.  Even though I am not a very good one.  I do not attend church very often.  More like, hardly at all.  But the Spiritual side of me is telling me that it’s time to go back.

Warning – Religious Post Here.

Continue reading Luke 22:36. →

Government

Massive Layoffs

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In the past 48 hours, these companies reported layoffs:
Westinghouse – 200
Research in Motion Ltd – 3,000
Lightyear Network Solutions – 15
Providence Journal – 23
Hawker Beechcraft – 410
Boeing 61,000
CVPH Medical Center – 17
US Cellular – 980
Commerzbank – 6,000
Iberia – 7,000
Momentive Performance Materials – 150
Brake Parts – 75
Vestas Wind Systems 1,700
Husqvarna – 390
Ericsson – 14,000
SRA International – 222
PerkinElmer – 75
Majestic Star Casino and Hotel – 80
Center for Hospice NY – 80
Bristol-Myers – 500
Lower Bucks Hospital – 500
Oce North America – 9
Corning United Blood Services Gulf – 150
Atlantic Lottery Corporation – 16
Welch Allyn – 10% of manufacturing work force
Dana Holding – 12% of work force
Stryker – approx 5%
Boston Scientific – Unspecific amount
Medtronic – 1,000
Smith & Nephew – 80
Abbott Labs – 550
Covidien – 600
Kinetic Concepts – 300
St. Jude – 300
Hill Rom – 200
Darden Restaurants – 3%
JANCOA – 350
Kroger – 30
ING – 2,350
Caterpillar – 4,000 (Decatur plant)
Alcatel-Lucent – 5,000
Umatilla Chemical 34
Rocketdyne…100
Pepsi – 8,700
Bank of America 30,000
And the unnamed Las Vegas Employer who let go of 22.

No, I’m not making this up.  Some of these layoffs were planned in advance of the Election regardless, but were asked to not announce until after the election – such as Boeing, who had been hinting at it though for some time.  Many of the others were holding on and were not going to lay people off if Romney won.   Many of these companies just couldn’t afford to keep them on thanks to the Healthcare laws passed which would have been repealed under Romney.
Guys, this has just started.  There are going to be more layoffs coming.  Buckle up.  It’s going to get bumpy.

For you business owners out there… something to think about….
You didn’t fire those workers.  The Democrats did.

Crusader

Oleg and a Broadsword

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Oleg Volk has been sent one of our Broadsword rifles, the same one that Rob Pincus as just tested.  Yes, the Broadsword really does look that cool.    In fact, it can be cooler yet, because we can do your Broadsword in whatever colors you want.  Coyote Tan.  Flat Dark Earth.  Murder Black.  Our Signature Gray.  Ogre Green.  Whatever you want.

The Broadsword rifle from Crusader Weaponry.  A 762 that shoots like a 556.  Rugged, reliable, and deadly accurate.  This is the best 762 AR type weapon on the planet, bar none.  If you buy anything else, you have made a mistake.

In the picture is the Broadsword wearing Diamondhead sights and an Elcan optic which are not included, but one could consider them “Serving Suggestions”.  I would suggest these highly, as I would also suggest perhaps a 6x ACOG.

Government

The Election

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Words can not describe my utter dismay and disappointment with the Election.  I am glad MadOgre.com has been down for a few days since the election – because my ranting would have been as incoherent as Liberal Logic.

We have (as a Nation) re-elected the guy that basically ordered the death of a US Ambassador and a couple US Navy SEALS.    We’ve elected the guy that bows before leaders of other nations, not as a lack of tact – but as a symbol to the world that America is lower than the others.  Come on, he even bowed to a Florida Mayor.   We’ve elected the guy that has been to all 57 States.  The guy that claimed to be a Foreign Student at Colombia.  The guy that grew up hating America.  We’ve elected to keep sending Chewbacca on expensive and extravagant vacations.  We’ve elected to keep going down the path of Socialism and destruction.

As a Nation… We have really and truly fucked up.   How did this happen?

Continue reading The Election →

Crusader

Crusader Weaponry at SHOT SHOW

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Both Joe and I will be going to SHOT SHOW 2013.  While there, we will be interviewed by a pretty big magazine in the gunslinger community.  We will be making contacts, taking names, and generally kicking ass.  I’ll be interviewing some people, taking pics and vids and such.  A group of Bloggers are going to be meeting for a lunch one of the days there.  It’s going to be a blast.

Uncategorized

Server Failure

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Sorry for the Down Time, Guys.  
My Host suffered a massive failure in a Blade Server Stack that brought down all the servers, including MadOgre.com and a bunch of commercial clients.  A pretty expensive event there.  This happened last Sunday afternoon about 4 PM and it’s been down all week.  It’s now Thursday, 2:23PM and it looks like we’re back up.

I’ve been offered hosting by about four different sources…. But it would be hard to change.  Since I registered MadOgre.com, I’ve used the same host.   I pay a very reasonable fee quarterly and I pretty much get away with whatever the hell I want.  So I am reluctant to make a switch as many of you  have been encouraging me to do.  I was freaked out like crazy just changing over to Word Press.  I did NOTEPAD for years and then used MS FrontPage for years after… and now Word Press.  I take a long time to get comfortable changing anything. 

Anyways, for you MadOgre.com readers, most any time MO is down, I’m found on Facebook under my real name, or I’m on WeTheArmed.com.  

Weapons

Remington Buys TAPCO

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Just read that Remington has acquired TAPCO.  That’s interesting.  Because as much as Remington has turned MARLIN into a major SNAFU, they have been doing very well the Tactical stuff.  Bushmaster and DPMS – for all their flaws – has been made better by Big Green.  AAC, the guys that make some serious use Suppressors has had some more attention as well.   Remington is putting a huge amount of effort into the Tactical Category.  I find this very interesting.   And now TAPCO.  Well, if anything, Remington can’t screw up TAPCO, makers of cheap crap to hang off your AR.  Sure, some of it isn’t bad I guess, functional, and does what it is supposed to do.

I still find the MARLIN, H&R, New England Arms purchase to be most curious.  Remington wanted to get into the Lever Action business and has just about completely ruined Marlin because of it.  But then again, Marlin was on a downhill slope to begin with.  But I still find it funny that Remington is still having Marlin make their Savage Clones, and New England is still importing their Chinese made 870 knock-offs.  I don’t get this.  Did Remington really need to get into the Cheap Gun market?  Or did they need to get into the Lever Market?

I tell you what though, Remington needs to get back into the Hunting market.  That’s what built Big Green into Big Green.  The Tactical Market has far too many competitors and Remington is gambling big time on the possibility of future Military Contracts.  And while they are concentrating on Fighting Guns, the Hunting Gun market is slipping out of their grasp.

If I was going to buy a hunting rifle right now – whatever caliber – I’d be looking at Sako A7’s, Tikka, or Browning.  The T3’s have come a long way and are consistently impressive with their accuracy.  Browning rifles have never disappointed,  in fact, their X-Bolt rifles are a top choice.  I’ve not seen one that looked like it was the last rifle slapped together on a Friday evening.  I’ve not seen one that couldn’t shoot.  They are building them right.

Back to TAPCO.  Why would Remington need to buy TAPCO?  I would have thought Remington would have rather swallowed up MAGPUL, considering that they are already using a lot of MAGPUL stuff in their BushyPanthers.  The MOE line is almost as universal as “A2” Furniture.   Are they going to stop using MAGPUL now and go TAPCO Intrafuse?  That would be a mistake, but if they own the brand, they are going to want to pimp it as much as possible.  And I’ll be honest, I’d rather not have anything TAPCO on any of my AR’s.

So why TAPCO?

What does TAPCO do in the Tactical Market that no one else is really doing?  AR SWAG?  No… Shotgun shit?  Cheap ass stocks for your Mini-14 and SKS?  No.   You know what comes to my mind when I first think of TAPCO?

AK-47’s.  They are the Go To Guys for your AK parts.  Their stocks are industry standards, and if you want a Trigger then you have to get the TAPCO G3 trigger.  The only company really doing anything else for your Kalish is US PALM, but they are small potatoes compared to TAPCO’s market penetration into the AK sector.

Does this mean that REMINGTON might get into the AK business?  Well, yeah, they just did.  But are we going to see an R-47 rifle?   Hmmm…

Automotive

Monday’s Motorcycle: KTM Cafe

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I don’t know exactly what this is… But it’s a KTM dirt bike of some sort, rebuilt as Cafe Racer.   I don’t know why I find this so appealing.  I really don’t.  I love Cafe bikes, but mostly those built on big brutal and thuggish engines.  Not angry little Singles.    I bet this would be an absolute blast to ride.

Cafe bikes continue to turn my head more than anything else.  This is in spite of the fact that I couldn’t even put my feet on the pegs right now.  My right leg remains uncooperative thanks to a knee that refuses to bend.

Speaking of KTM… My own is ready to be picked up again.  I just have to wait till Tuesday because they are not open on Monday and I couldn’t get in there to get it Saturday.    We’ll see.  It will be very nice to have my Wheels under me again.  While I can’t ride my ZX-11, I can ride the KTM thanks to the position of the foot pegs.    I already miss my ZX-11 a lot.  It’s parked in front of Ogre Ranch, sipping on a Battery Tender, waiting for me to come play.  People who don’t Ride, just don’t understand this.  “Just get a car.” They say.  What they are really saying “I totally don’t get Motorcycles.”  And that’s fine…. you don’t have to get it.  Just please shut the fuck up then, okay?  Riding is… like Flying.   Next time you go to the Zoo take a close look at the Eagles there on their perches.  They can’t Soar like they used to… they are Tethered.  That’s how I feel when I look at my ZX-11.  I feel like that Eagle that can’t fly.

Uncategorized

Robin Hood

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If there is one movie that has had more than it’s share of treatments, it’s Robin Hood.  More than Spiderman, Batman, and Superman… Robin Hood has been done to death.
We’ve had Russell Crow do an excruciatingly boring version, Kevin Costner do a fun version only because of the guy playing he Sheriff… you know who I’m talking about.  “Because its dull, you idiot, it’ll hurt more.”
But out of all of them, the best version remains Disney’s Animated Robin Hood. 
Here’s why… it connects with everyone.  Without dumbing it down.  See, I enjoyed it as a kid.  I watched it the other night with my youngest, and he loved it as much now as I did when I was a kid… and I still loved it.  Its the classic. The songs, tunes, the voice acting… top notch.
There will never be a better version.