Daily Archives: 02/13/2013

Uncategorized

What’s going on…

7 Comments

Okay, earlier this week my Publisher hired a Publicist for me. This is a good thing and will eventually lead to increased book sales and untold wealth whereby I can by my secret lair under a volcanic island.
After not hearing anything for a day, all the Publicist has been busy.  I’m lined out on Radio Interviews. 

Today, I’ve just done a few, but tomorrow will be rather heavy.  The topic at hand is the Chris Dorner case in California.  This case is a big snarly one that needs to be examined carefully.  Not just about how and why Chris Dorner snapped, but also the LAPD’s response and how they pursued him.

The case is interesting on several fronts, but only until you read the Manifesto does it become clear that this wasn’t just a man with grievances  but a man that was smart, educated, and he just went completely nuts.  In one part, he details his grievances very clearly.  In another he pretty much declares war on the LAPD.  And then another he gives Shout Outs to Celebrities… His letter has great detail on some things, but then tracts off course into wild tangents.  What it is, is he was saying goodbye to the world.  He had no intention of being taken alive.

Regardless of how freaked out the LAPD was, it did not justify some of their actions.  Lighting up trucks that looked like Dorner’s for example.  Target Identification anyone?

Automotive

What the hell is wrong with Jeep?

23 Comments

Due to a couple comments by my Father, and seeing a few running around town, I’ve been thinking about Jeeps a lot lately.  So I wandered over to Jeep’s official brochureware site to take a look at the line up.

Jeep doesn’t have one.

Jeep makes the WRANGLER, which is a stand alone icon of the brand.  And then they make two others with two other slightly smaller versions.  This isn’t a Line Up of Vehicles, this is a dramatic lack of imagination and vision for the Jeep brand.

You have the Jeep Liberty, and it’s slightly smaller twin the Patriot.  Then you have the Grand Cherokee and the little brother “Compass”.  None of these vehicles are explained.  It’s up to you to figure out what they are for.  I’ve owned a couple Jeeps.  A regular Cherokee (Jeep XJ) and a full sized old Wagoneer with an Earth Gobbling V-8 engine that loved to overheat and explode.  Very different vehicles that needed no explanation.  With these new Jeeps, at best I can come up with is that these are for His and Hers kits.
I enjoyed our old Cherokee XJ.  We drove that rig to hell and back and most everything under the hood was worked on by Yours Truly until my mechanical prowess no longer was enough.
“Huh, hitting it with this rock didn’t fix it this time.”
I miss that old Cherokee.  It had Character.  It was unique.  It started out as a 4X4, then I put in a 4 inch lift and then broke the transfer case so it was only a 4X2… but that didn’t stop it.  It was still a mountain goat.  What a great little truck.  You never questioned what it was… it was a Jeep.
Since that time, Jeep has come out with some odd ones… the original Jeep Liberty from 10 years or so ago, looked like a Wrangler and a Grand Cherokee did the Naughty and this little Baby thing crawled out… Like a hard top Wrangler, squished and rounded.  I test drove one, with a Diesel Engine.  I hated it.  Not because it’s engine was truly guttless and just felt tired… but because the rig felt like it wanted to fall over.  On it’s face.  Especially under braking.  I was grabbing on to things because I thought the Liberty was going to do a forward somersault.
Evidently the Liberty is the Spiritual Successor to the Cherokee XJ.  It’s grown up from the little baby Jeep it was, into a more well rounded, and by that I mean Squared off and Squared Away Jeep.    But then you have the Patriot, the smaller version of the Liberty that looks exactly the same, but you just parked it a little further away.  The Patriot must also be a step child, being build on the same factory line that builds the Dodge Caliber, but it doesn’t get any of the Dodge Caliber’s Machoness.  (Not that there was enough to share)
Okay, the Grand Cherokee… I like them well enough.  There is the base version, the more comfortable version, and the “I don’t want it to get dirty” version.  For Grins, there is the Evil Twin version that they call the SRT8.  I have no problem with that, but where is the serious Off Road Oriented version?  Where is the Grand Cherokee with the Lift and the bigger knobbier tires and the Lockers?  A Grand Cherokee Rubicon if you will.  Where is that version?   Don’t talk to me about the TRAIL RATED sticker when the damn thing has 20 inch polished wheels and Street Tires.
Then there is the Compass.  WTF?  “I wanted the Grand Cherokee, but not so Grand.  How about a Trial Size?”  This is a Patriot with a different face on it.   It might look like a little Grand Cherokee, but it even has the same engine options as the Patriot.  I don’t care if you have one and like it… it’s useless.  You could have had the Patriot and at least got a little more room inside.  This isn’t a Ute of any sort… Not a Sport Utility, not a Cross over, it’s just a Car.  (spit after reading the word “Car”)  Jeep branding on a Car.  That’s just freaking sad.  Do you know what they made on the line before the Compass?  The Dodge Neon.

Jeep needs to bring back the Gladiator and the Scrambler.  Actual Jeeps crossed with Trucks.  Don’t think that would sell?   AEV builds the Brute for 100 thousand dollars, and they sell every one they build.  Why the hell can’t Jeep build this?

 

 

Even though the Jeep company has lost its vision and purpose almost entirely, I’d still love one. A Rubicon Unlimited… a real Jeep. And if I was going to get one, I’d have to get one before they are built in China. Jeep was once a proud American icon. And it could be again, if the Brand was to stay in the US and pull it’s head out.

Government

Magpul Leaving Colorado?

23 Comments

Colorado passed a very strict Anti-Gun measure today.  It bans ammunition magazines above 15 rounds capacity.   It also bans the manufacturing of higher capacity magazines.

Because 15 rounds is a reasonable number.

This is where MagPul comes in, as everyone knows, MagPul makes one of the very best magazines for AR-15 rifles.  Some say the best.  I have several and yes, they are indeed very good magazines.  But now Colorado has basically said they can’t make them anymore.  MagPul’s only options are to either A, comply with the law, or B, leave the state.

MagPul has said that if this law passes, they would be forced to leave Colorado.   And since it did pass, I think it’s time get to moving.  I think as Industry Leaders, MagPul has to.   A solid message has to be sent to these Anti-Gun states.  You can not be Anti-Gun, and yet enjoy the wealth that resident Gun Companies provide.  MagPul gives a huge amount of money to the State of Colorado.  Through Taxes directly, and through the Taxes paid by MagPul’s Employees via State Income or Sales Taxes.  These Employees also cycle the businesses of others… because they need food, drink, shelter, entertainment, and everything else that people spend their money on.    And Colorado as basically said “We don’t want you, but we don’t want to lose your Money.”  That’s nice.

I’d like to see MagPul pull up their stakes and head out.  Utah would be a great place to go, but I believe Texas has been mentioned.  Doesn’t matter.  Just go.  Show Colorado that their stupid legislation as cost them and the MagPul’s community a great loss.  I’d like to see all of MagPul’s employees move too.  I know this is hard, but it would show the rest of the country what happens when they legislate a company out of business.  This would send a message to the other Anti-Gun States, and Companies effected, such as Remington and Kimber behind enemy lines in New York.

Don’t reward Anti-Gun States with your Money.

This is Voting with your Feet.  Rewards States that value your Rights, and Punish those that want to infringe on your rights.  We need all of our brothers across the industry to look at a Relocation if they are in a State that wants to crush our Liberty.  The Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade industry is almost a 5 Billion Dollar Industry.  That’s a pretty big pull if it could be used wisely and all together.  Thousands of small companies and employees.  Some pretty big companies as well.  Anti-Gun States should not get any slices of this pie.

And what is this 15 round limit supposed to accomplish?  I can reload a Magazine in my AR in about a Second Flat.  Same with any number of my handguns.    Is this limit supposed to slow me down?  Slow down a Crazed Psycho?  How is this supposed to be of any benefit for the people of Colorado?

You know what happens when people are limited on the number of rounds they can have?  They opt for bigger rounds.  If I can’t have 30 rounds of .226, I might as well have 15 rounds of .458 or such.  This is what we saw during the utterly pointless Clintonian AWB… High Capacity 9mm’s were limited to 10 so what did people do?  They went to .45’s and we saw a huge resurgence of popularity for the 1911 pistol. Generally they only hold 8 rounds, but they are 8 rounds of a potent and military proven ordinance.   So instead of limitations the American Gun Owner ramped it up and went with as much power as they could handle.  This is going to happen again.  Trust me.  Go ahead and do an outright ban on AR-15 type rifles.   A rifle that uses ammunition with pictures of Rodents on the box.  And people will opt for rifles such as the Marlin Guide Gun that is fast handling and easy to use… and fires a round that damn near causes the Genocide of America’s Buffalo and can Curb-Stomp damn near everything that lives and breathes, walks and crawls, on this planet.  From Prairie Dogs to African Elephants.  .45-70 is a Monster of a Cartridge.  But that’s okay, because it’s not fed through the rifle by a Box with a Spring in it… Whatever, you Liberal Idiots, you do what you feel you must.  As will we.
Limit me to even one shot.  And I’ll use a rifle that fires projectiles the size of Coke Bottles that could punch through Armor Plate like it was tissue paper.
Here’s the other thing about the AWB.  Their are millions of these high capacity magazines out there.  All a Ban does is make them a little more expensive and you change where I get them from.  Because during the AWB, I still bought, sold, and traded many a High Capacity Gun.  It really didn’t effect me.  And I’m nothing special.
Prohibition didn’t effect people from getting a Drink either.  For all it’s Liberty Crushing Efforts, what turned out from Prohibition was that it became more popular than ever to Drink and it ushered in a new form of Organized Crime into the USA to supply the demand of Booze.  I remember staying at a big house in Northern Illinois some time ago.  Big nice house.  Had a huge – HUGE – ballroom and Bar.  This house was a “Speak Easy” during the Prohibition Era.  So you couldn’t go to the local bar that had to close down, that was almost closing anyways… you came to this house… which was bustling with people enjoying what they were not supposed to be enjoying.  The owners of this house did quite well for themselves.
Much like the Drug Trade is doing now.  Prohibition hasn’t stopped illegal drugs.  In fact, you can now have former illegal Drugs in Colorado, Weed, and you can smoke it all you want.  But you can have a Magazine that holds 16 rounds or more.  How is that working out?  Considering that we now have Drug Cartels warring for control of Mexico and Central America, openly, taking on the Mexican Government head to head.
This is all especially stupid considering that with a cheap 3D printer you can PRINT your own 30 round Magazines.  You can make one as easy as clicking “PRINT”.  Come on.  Use some Common Sense, People.  Gun Laws put people in Danger.  If Gun Laws worked, Chicago would be one of the Safest Places in the World.  Chicago would be a Utopia of Peace.
It isn’t.
Because Gun Laws don’t work.