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MAY 2006
Monday : 5-29-06: This Memorial Day I've been thinking about our Veterans. I was thinking about how we treat our soldiers. They get the short end of the stick at every turn. I was talking to a vet today, and he had to drive all the way to SLC just for a check up. What's wrong with the hospital right here? Making them drive 250 miles for what? That asinine. Like the hospital couldn't fax the paperwork to the VA hospital for billing? Fix that system. If a Vet has to seek medical help, he has to jump through hoops that would make the worst HMO look fantastic. Getting any of their benefits is like pulling teeth. The benefits they get is not enough when they do get it. Let's look for a moment about what we get from them... National Freedom. Isn't that worth a little bit more? So what should our Soldiers get? For starters, they should never have to pay for health care ever again... ever. They should be able to walk into any hospital, anywhere, and get first class treatment... no questions asked, no waiting, no problems. They shouldn't have to worry about paying for college... any school, any class, no issues, no questions... they get the class paid for, and no waiting. That's the Ogre GI Bill. Anything less is shortchanging our heroes.
Check out the paintball gear advertisement over there. I was wondering when Adsense would pop me over some cool ads. I post about ships and I get all these Navy ads... I thought that was funny... Navy ads on my site. Well, I talked about it, so Adsense put up those ads. The Paintball gear will do. Blogads hasn't done anything yet. Where are the ads with the hot sweethearts in the t-shirts? Speaking of Paintball, last Saturday there was a pretty big tournament, speedball, here in town. Looked pretty awesome but I didn't play. Was watching my boys play/win baseball. Couple of my little lads had fun picking up unbroken balls. My yard now looks spotted with Orange and Yellow. None broken in the house thankfully. Love paintball... I'd like to – want to – get back into the sport. I was getting the itch to get back into it some time ago and the itch has not left yet. If I do, I'll add a whole paintball section MadOgre.com The problem with the sport is that it is crazy expensive. A little metal bracket to change the tank angle, 50 bucks. A different valve, 125 bucks. Lots of cash for really minor benefits... but necessary benefits. Oh well. (If I was going to buy a new gun... Freakin Autococker. No need to waste time dicking around with lesser guns) Anyways, click the ad, check it out. Thank God today is Friday. I need a weekend. Start the new Job on Monday, and it's going to be different than what I'm used to. I'm going to actually have to Talk to customers. At least it will be about guns to people who at least have an idea of what a gun is and not about computers to John Deer type guys who thing their 10 year old Made for Win95 PC with a Pentium MMX and 64 megs of RAM should be able to run XP and be fast. Pistols, thank the Fates, do not require Device Drivers or are subject to unwanted and hidden 3rd party applications to enhance your computing experience. Guns don't have networking issues when there should be no issues because everything is right but it just doesn't want to freaking work. But the best thing about guns... to reload it, you don't have to enter in a huge string of numbers and letters and then have to call fucking INDIA to activate it. What I will miss, the good people I worked with. HOTAIR.com. Check out the link over to the left. HotAir.com is something to bookmark. Thursday: 5-25-06: Bush just did WHAT? WTF? You've got to be kidding me. Oh my hell. I'm wondering how Rush is going to spin this tomorrow! This is perhaps the most asinine thing Bush has done. This is unbelievable. And the Immigration Reform Bill just passed. Harry Reid said “No one got what they wanted on this bill.” Uh, yeah... all the illegal aliens just did. Things like this... makes you want to just throw up. You guys know why you watch Myth Busters... and it isnt to watch the guy with the big mustache shoot old rifles. You know you know why. This is proof god loves you and answers your prayers. Did I insult this guy? Read this thread here. The guy freely admits to trading a CZ-75 and a P95 plus 50 greenbacks for a Glock 19. He states some reasons for this that seem to defy logic as much as a hovering bulldozer would defy gravity. And all I did was point them out and say “they saw you coming”. And this guy thinks I insulted him. (taking a deep breath) Insults would be redundant. Now, I know I've made bad trades in the past, most gun nuts have one or two bad trade skeletons in their closets. But this guy commits the mother of all bad trades for some seriously questionable gains. Now lets take a look at the guns. The CZ-75 is in my opinion one of the best handgun designs in the world. They are outstanding and so much so that Jeff Cooper even praised it in spite of it being 9mm. The Ruger is not a first choice pistol for me, but it is one of the most rugged and reliable autos on the whole planet. So you have these two guns – two good guns... and he trades them on a Glock 19. Hold on a second... I just threw up into my mouth... Uugh.. Okay, the Glock...hold on... did it again. Okay... the glock... damn... Okay, the “19”... it's a decent pistol for point and bang service if you don't mind all its faults that I've gone into in the past. The only real argument for this that works in this guy's favor is ergonomics. This bulky squared off gun just might have better ergonomics than the CZ... but you would have to have some odd shaped hands. This is weird because the CZ has better ergonomics than damn near everything else. This made me wonder. What kind of guy would a gl.. a 19 have better ergos for than a CZ? Then I looked at this guy's picture. It all makes sense now. Wednesday: 5-24-06: I'm not very happy about this gigantic hypocritical asshole Fox being in my State of Utah. Fox rabidly opposes illegal immigration into his own country, yet refuses to answer any questions about the issue of his own countrymen sneaking in like burglars into our country. Who the hell invited Fox to Utah in the first place? Was it governor Huntsman? Huntsman is playing Tour Guide, did he bring Fox in? Whoever they are, screw'm. They should be horsewhipped. I don't care what he's doing – the man shouldn't be here. Until he is willing to recognize the sovereignty of the United States, he shouldn't be allowed in. Fuck this guy. And Fuck Mexico. And if you support him, then fuck you too. He's a slimebag that knows how to smile. He isn't a good guy. He's a complete ratbastard. Send his ass home in the back of a semi-trailer the way his people come in. No, don't tell me I'm racist or insensitive or cruel... don't even go there. How many people die every year because the truck they were in wasn't air conditioned or properly ventilated, and the dozens of people inside roasted to death? Huh? How many? How many people, including mothers with little children die every year because they tried to run across the freaking desert in the middle of the summer and they were to stupid to pack some water bottles? These guys don't even care what the risks are, they are so willing to come to America. You ask Fox why his country is so fucked up people are dying to come to America... you ask Fox that. Call me racist... screw you. I'm much more of a Humanist than Fox is. I don't have a racist bone in my body. I dislike everyone completely equally. If I like you, it's because you've earned my respect or because of your own personal merit – not because of your pigmentation. I'm not from West Virginia. And if you are... well, you have my condolences. I'm sure your “Mommaunt” still loves you. I've not picked on West Virginny for some time now... that was fun. I'll have to do that more often. Picking on France is too easy. Why are West Virginian girls such fast runners? Growing up running away from their brothers! Ha! Yeah, that never grows old. Senator from Hell John McCain: said Limbaugh, Dobbs and Savage fuel the border issue? What the hell? No, the thousands of illegal aliens crossing the damn border every day is what's fueling the problem... it's these illegal alien jackasses pulling down American flags and hoisting Mexican flags over American High Schools that is fueling the problem. McCain – I usually give respect to Vets, but you sir do not have license to use your service history to sink the United States, you self righteous, opportunistic, posturing blowhard. This isn't just an Immigration Issue – it's about our damn national security! You, McCain, should be all over this and leading the charge to make sure our borders are secure. You gotta love this Democrat getting busted by the FBI for taking bribes. Fantastic news. I heard mention on the radio that Nancy Pelosi has a scandal of her own but I didn't hear what that was. Wow. And they call the Republicans a “Culture of Corruption”! We see that what comes around, goes around as they say. The funnest part of this, the part that had me laughing, was that this jackhole was offended that they raided his home. What is it about Democrats that make them think that they are immune to the laws of the land and that they are completely above the law? Hell, they can't all be from Massachusetts. You have to be a Kennedy to get away with that sort of shit. Everyone knows that. What's amazing about this is how little there is of this on the news. I looked on all the news sites for this story and I only found it on Fox and Drudge. MSN, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, BBC even... I didn't see it. Maybe they had it in a back page, because they certainly didn't have it on the front page. Had it been a republican busted for taking bribes, we all know it would be Front Page News for the next three weeks with the Dems crying out for special prosecutors and investigative commissions. I'm happy with letting the FBI do their job in this case. As annoying as all of this is, having Speaker of the House Hastert saying that the raid on Rep. William Jefferson's house was unconstitutional? OMG!, The FBI has WJ on video taking a huge bribe! That my friends, is something I would call Probable Cause and thus would warrant a Search Warrant that would allow the raid. The FBI is finally starting to do it's job, and the republican speak of the bloody house is boobing about it too? My hell. Who the hell is Hastert to tell the FBI how to do their job? He said, “They need to back up, and we need to go from there.” WTF? Hastert, GET OFF THE CAPITOL HILL and GO HOME, you big bleeding MORON! I don't care what Osama Bin Llama says about Mousaoui... him not being involved in 9-11. Who cares what he says? If Mousassoui was sentenced to death and executed, OBL would have said the guy was a great hero. OBL is a bloody terrorist and not the hero from “V”. China is in the news again, huge build up. Man, those guys are itching to throw down. One thing I know, we're ready for them. They might take Taiwan, but they are going to pay a steep price for it and they wont have much of a Navy left over after the effort. I'm told we have assets standing by and are ready for the balloon to go up. Then there is this bit in the news. FBI missed China Spying warnings. Feh, that's bogus. The FBI knew all about it, but when it was coming right through President Clinton's Office, there was nothing they could really do about it. This whole situation wouldn't be a problem today if it wasn't for all the goodies Bill Clinton gave to China.
Monday: 5-22-06: Special Thanks to MadOgre.com Reader and Horde Member David... who has sent us a number of great photos of a ship that is a different yet very similar class of MSO to the ship I requested info about. These photos have already proven to be a huge help even if it forced a rewrite of a few descriptions. I was close, but these put me right (write?) on the mark. Then I got an email from my father, who being who he is and knowing more about matters of Naval Warfare than Jack Ryan and far more than any Civilian ever should, has a book (that he's going to send me ASAP, right?) with many more photos of this class of ship and about Mine Sweeper Ocean (MSO) in general. Then he informed me of something that I was unaware of. I was actually on one of these ships in Tacoma. The “Esteem”. It's a different class MSO, but similar enough to what I'm writing about. It was docked near another ship I toured, the DD866 Orleck, a Destroyer. I remember me and my friends used to climb all over these ships... this was back when the USS Missouri was docked there. Those were some fun times. I remember loving that Minesweeper for some reason. There was something about it. I had forgotten all about that. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I didn't go Navy when I enlisted. I love ships... I love chicks too so maybe that's why I didn't go Navy. Kidding... Don't send the SEALS after me. Don't even get me started... about the Congress giving the nod to thousands and thousands of FELONS by allowing Illegal Aliens to have rights to Social Security even when the jobs obtained were done so through Identity Theft. This really shouldn't have surprised me, Felons and Congress seem to be close relations. So, if you happen to be in Ramadi and have nothing productive to do... make rap videos. This is pretty funny and well worth watching. Tip of the hat to American Backyard where I saw this. Friday: 5-19-06: Okay guys... my book has taken me to a point where I have to ask for help again. Heads up you Navy types: There was a class of ships MSO-519 class, I'm interested in the MSO-520 specifically. I've researched it all out and I'm using it in the story. Fiction breaks from fact when folks buy the ship from the scrap yard... history has the ship scraped and that's the end of it. In my book it lives on. Anyways. I need any photos out there of the ship, of the insides, galley, bridge, everything, anything. I've already got all the photos of her I could find online, so I'm looking for scans of photos that are not already on the internet. This is not specific to the USS Alacrity, photos of other ships in her class would also be a huge help. I'm writing outside my grade here... I know shit about decommissioned minesweepers, so any photos would be awesome. Any models of these ships would also be a help. To write about this ship in a way that would make it real, and to do honor to those that served on her, I need to know as much about her as possible. If you know any old salts that might know this ship or a sister ship, have them contact me please. Email about Immigration and Bush: “Personally, I don't think you're being harsh enough on Bush regarding the illegal immigration issue. I find it weird, way beyond words, that anyone can accuse you of being too harsh ... those folks are simply not paying attention. This is a pivotal moment/situation in American history and, thus far, it's not shaping up so good for a positive outcome. I vote for more all consuming rage being displayed on your (and everyone else's) part. Mike” Another one: “Hi George, Just wanted to comment on your post about taking heat over supporting Bush- as an outsider looking in, I find it hard to believe that while the vast majority of the American electorate- Republican and Democrat- supports enforcing immigration laws; and yet the representatives of that electorate seems to be deaf and blind to those desires. I’m a European that has been a big supporter of Bush in the war on terror- and other issues- but it honestly seems like he’s been replaced with some sort of “body snatcher” pod person right now. Is this really the same man that oversaw the obliteration of not one but two totalitarian regimes in a matter of months with minimum casualties? I thought we had it bad in Britain when our courts saw fit to award citizenship to an inmate at Gitmo and then to allow nine Afghan hijackers to gain asylum here- even though the regime they claimed to be fleeing from has been overthrown. But the situation in America is worse- nearly five years after 9/11 and the same network that allows illegals to gain ID- the same ID used by 9/11 hijackers- is still up and running with apparently no police intervention at all. Bush and co. seem to be keener on pleasing illegal aliens and the Mexican government right now than the American citizens who put them into office. The best plan I’ve heard so far is your amnesty- given the illegals a set amount of time to leave and then ensure that ALL of the current laws on the books to do with illegal aliens are enforced rigorously. If they want to go home during that time and then apply for entry legally, open up the channels- if not, let then face the full force of the law. Cryptic” Okay Cryptic is in Northern Ireland, and he can see things rather clearly. I guess Washington DC is a little farther away from Southern Border than he is. One more: “Hi George! A little story of a girl from Norway who wanted to visit USA. Ten years ago my sister, then 20 years old wanted to spend a year in the USA as a Au Pair. She got in contact with a family in New York via the principal at her High School, whose daughter had been working for them before. She did not go via any international agencies or anything. Big Mistake. At JFK she got busted, she had no return ticket, her diary was full of notes of when to start her new job, in norwegian but the custom people got the drift, and threw her in the slammer, waiting for the next SAS plane to take her home, shes a tough girl but she told that until the door slammed shut behind her she had stood her ground, but then she started to cry. Then 9 years later, she and her then fiance/boyfriend should visit New York for a long weekend, her name started flashing at the screens at immigration and the same story again, not welcome to the USA, thrown in the slammer, her boyfriend waiting outside in "no Mans land" until the next flight back to Europe. Is there a point in this story? I feel that it is a point, but I dont know if it is wise to broadcast that point to loudly... So I wonder, will the amnesty work for her as well??:) STIG” (Not Top Gear's Tame Racing Driver “The Stig”... at least I don't think) I'm not going to reprint here what I sent back to Stig... but basically I think his sister's treatment was unfair. I think for tourists and such from countries known not to be in support of terror... countries that are a part of the Coalition of the Willing and have support the US... Officials should have helped her get her paperwork in order so she could come into the US and enjoy the fruits of the Free World. Locking her up like a felon was the wrong move. What's the difference between her and Illegal Aliens from Mexico? The ones from Mexico do not respect our laws and our nation's sovereignty... they think they have a right to come in and set up camp and make America a province of Mexico. This was a Tourist Issue and not an Illegal Immigration issue. There is a difference. I'd say the same thing about a Tourist from – god forbid – France. (sorry) Email from Middle Earth: “Thought it was about time to drop you a line. Love those Podcasts, and your Boondock Saints page. Love that film. Have to score it on DVD soon. I had to grin to myself mate when I heard you say CZ... Then I remembered how you jokers say your zeds. Its a zeeeee :) Cool to here your voice eh. The voice behind the writing that I've enjoyed for so long now. Great to be able to upload the HordeCast to the iPod Shuffle and have it cranking on the way into town. Have to say the comments on the AR15 were on the button. People will now know your thoughts aren't all negative regards the current (and well overdue for replacement) issue assault rifle. A few major design flaws don't negate some positive features. I have to say, it as a good day when my mates would offer up their 16's for a few klicks in exchange for my SLR. Okay, I love the heft of a real battle rifle, the stopping power, but when you're starting to feel it, its good have the light weight and, and in those days, the automatic sear :) You introduced me some months ago now to the SCAR and it looks an interesting piece of kit. Hearing of the 7.62x39mm chambering was less of a surprise as an overdue addition to us lot in the West who seem to be fighting an abundance of fellows carrying that classic Russian rifle. Well, okay, unless you happen to be the likes of al-Zarqawi showing off with a SAW. Not a very inspiring military leader when he can't deal with a stoppage without help. Sooner someone slots this scumbag the better. On other fronts, I eventually got a replacement iBook for my G3 which had had the logic board replaced three times. Thanks to the guys in Aussie at Apple for pressing that one. Ended up with a new G4 with a burner and DVD drive which I didn't have before. Happy Kiwi is me. Enjoying those flicks. Have heard this new Intel run Apple machines are cranking. Bootcamp, running Windows better on a Mac than a PC :) PS : splitting the Casts up is an excellent idea. Mrs Ogre was great in PodCast2. Keep ya powder dry, your sights true mate, Leon Proud Horde Member Way Down Under in New Zealand” Now this is an interesting bit here... check this out carefully. This fellow is claims that a .44 slug game in through his wall and almost killed him. This is possible... but look at the angle the slug came in, hit the desk, and bounced up to hit the top of the door jam... I've seen a lot of weird shit that bullets can do...This guy says he was sitting there when the bullet came through playing WOW. Look at the laptop and where you would be if you were sitting there at it. I'm no CSI investigator... but this doesn't seem right. Privateer Update. Due to things being out of control over
here with boys baseball and soccer games, and this western show we are all
in, work on Privateer had slowed down. Well, it's picked back up and
getting back up to speed. Progress is being made. Real progress
now, with the introduction of a couple new characters and significant death.
For those that have read small sections, one of those characters you've read
about exits the story rather abruptly. Sorry about that. No, I
wont say who at this time or in answer to emailed questions. You will
just have to wait. I was up very late last night writing... I have had
almost no sleep last night and I'm feeling... even my teeth feel exhausted.
Thursday: 5-18-06: Now this is an email that made my day. “Dear George, You're the best gun reviewer I've ever read for real. Your reviews are funny and honest. I am entertained and cannot put any of your gun reviews down until I've finished reading it, unlike other reviewers who put me to sleep zzzzzzzzz. You obviously don't copy technical information from a gunmaker's web site to fill up space. When I read your reviews in Concealed Carry Magazine, or on Mad Ogre.com, I know I'm getting a real review from a real guy like me. Keep up the great work. Dr. Bruce” Thanks Bruce, I needed to hear that. I try to make sure my reviews do not sound like every other gun review out there. You can pick up any two gun magazines on a rack, and they will most likely have the same guns being reviewed and if you had someone read the articles out loud to you, you would have a 50-50 chance of picking which magazine the article was in or who wrote it. I want my reviews to stand apart. Sometimes I think they stand too far apart, but I'm willing to be different. I'm tired, so freaking tired of reading what is supposed to be a gun review and only get ballistic reports on ammunition performance on that given day at that given location with those given batches of ammunition. Especially if the “reviewer” is running the gun and ammo through a bloody machine rest. That's not what I want to read about. That's fine for a sidebar graph but I don't want to read 8 paragraphs about it. If I don't want to read it I sure as hell don't want to write it. For those that think I'm bashing Bush too harshly, screw you. I don't want to hear it. Bush's plan IS amnesty. The illegal aliens are being allowed to stay. That's amnesty. If you steal a car and get caught... you don't just pay a fine and are allowed to drive away in the jacked car. That's what the Bush “plan” does. The only amnesty I will accept is an Amnesty Period of no more than 1 month. 1 month to pack up your crap, liquidate your assets, and get out. After 1 month, if/when your caught, all assets are seized and your butt is going over the fence. You came in illegally, you do not have a right to stay, work or buy property. Americans are not allowed to just waltz into Mexico and start setting up camp. I'd like to see these guys try to walk into the Netherlands and start protesting their rights. This is lunacy. Mexico doesn't allow people from countries south of them to enter illegally. They treat illegal aliens as felons. Bush's “plan” only serves to grow the government and spend huge amounts of money all to accomplish absolutely nothing. This is not what we wanted President Bush to do. This is not why we voted for him. His plan might have been acceptable – as a starting point – if he put it out there September 12th, 2001. But by this time is far too late and far too little. I feel that insults us. It tries to appease as many people possible, including those people in high offices in Mexico. Clinton sold out to China, Bush sold out to Mexico. Is it too much to ask for a President who isn't on ebay? Wednesday: 5-17-06: Do not be angry with me about my criticism of President Bush. I WANT to like President Bush. I really do. Some of the things he's done has been outstanding. Such as pushing the tax breaks that boosted the national economy. But everything else has been completely silly. He created the Department of Homeland Security which is in my opinion a useless bureaucracy that is redundant to organizations already in place. And now Bush's new plan for dealing with Illegal Aliens creates yet another branch of bureaucracy. No, don't tell me that his sending troops to the border does anything productive. Don't give me that. Bush called President Fox before he gave his speech to insure Fox that the troops were only there for as a symbol to appease the unwashed masses. Bush is playing us. He's growing the government bigger and fatter than ever and his spending is so far out of control he's like a pack of California Valley Girls at the mall. America can't afford Bush's “Plan”. Some say we can't afford expelling all the illegals. Ha! We can't afford to let the stay! And even if we could it would only serve as a big invite to anyone else who comes here. Email: “Here in Virginia, ****** hospital is in the top 10 hospital's in the country for births. It costs about $ 4000 to have a baby delivered (high cost of living). Right now of the 21 women in recovery after delivering, 7 are clinic patents, so no health care coverage. Probably all of them are not citizens of the United States and Spanish is their first language. This is typical. I think the hospital delivers over 10,000 babies a year. So this means per year: About 3,000 US citizens from illegal immigrants About $ 12 Million in free health care and the kicker. One of these clinic patents that is entitled to WIC and Medicaid somehow or the other managed to have a Gastric bypass operation performed at some point (date, hospital, etc unknown). Gastric bypass is something NOT subsidized by health care. How did she manage to pay for what is effectively a vanity procedure?” America needs immigration, but we don't
need Illegal Aliens. There is a difference. Bush's plan doesn't do a
thing to relieve the strain on the economy. The argument for Illegal
Immigration doesn't make much sense... they say “They pay Taxes doing the
jobs Americans don't want to do.” Yet then they say they Live in the
Shadows. If they are getting elective surgeries, having babies and
paying taxes... they are not living in the shadows. And the migrant
workers picking lettuce? They don't pay taxes. They are paid in
cash with no paperwork... no taxes. Tuesday: 5-16-06: President Bush's speech on the illegal immigration issue: That guy was talking out of both sides of his ass. He made no sense and his “plan” is nothing more than political doublespeak and expensive and unnecessary bullshit. Biometric ID cards? What fresh hell is this? We do this, then we are into biometrics for all state issued ID's. I don't want to get into all that... but this plan is nothing more than a really expensive window dressing. And then sending 6,000 Guardsmen to the border (and another 3,000 the following year) but then he makes sure to point out that they will have no authority. WTF? That's about as useful as UN Weapons Inspectors. This sort of bullshit is going to cost America millions and millions of dollars, and will accomplish absolutely nothing. It's really simple. If you are on a ship that's taking on water and starting to sink, the first order of business it to stop more water from coming in so you can get the unwanted water pumped out. The same thing has to be done at the border. What's Bush's deal with matching willing workers with willing employers? Um, that's not helping and is only going to get people lining up to make that run across the desert. That's actually one of the problems with illegal immigration... the willing workers who are willing to cross the border and work for wages below minimum wages. That's horseshit. The program should be identifying willing employers and then knock the shit out of them for hiring illegal aliens. Wait a second. I said Aliens. Illegal Aliens. How come we've not heard that phrase in some months now? Hell... The Liberals have taken an upper hand in the argument just by promoting the use of the phrase “Illegal Immigration”. Because this isn't any sort of Immigration at all. This was demonstrated on May Day all over the country... with these illegal aliens pulling down the American Flag and hoisting the Mexican flag instead. This isn't immigration, this is an invasion. People who want to come to America to be Americans do so learning about our country, learning to speak English, and learning how to fit it. They don't come in boisterous and pulling down American flags and making demands like a great pack of jackasses. There is a difference. I'm all for immigration done legally. I've no problem with that at all. But alien invasions tend to get me a touch pissed off. Screw these guys and screw Illegal Immigrants... they are Illegal Aliens. They should be identified and treated as such. I don't care if I seem harsh or unfeeling. If these Aliens had any consideration they wouldn't be Illegal Aliens in the first place. In my mind they are criminals and they should be dealt with as such. Instead of the expense of years of incarceration, they should be dragged by the scruff of their necks back to the border and thrown unceremoniously over the fence. America for Americans first. And don't give me the crap about North America and Central America and South America are all “Americans”. That's horseshit too. Canada has Canadians and Mexico has Mexicans etc... they are not the same thing because they are different countries and they have different laws and all that jazz. It's all about sovereignty. Cute quips and soundbytes do not render our nation's borders moot. You want me to respect Canada and Mexico? Fine. But Canada and Mexico has to respect the USA in return. And that means helping patrol the borders and finding these criminals who run across it. Simple as that really. Not too much to ask is it? To ask of the President of the United States? It seems so. This pussyfooting around for the sake of political posturing at the expense of National Security is utterly revolting. Monday: 5-15-06: How did you guys feel about having Mrs Ogre in the last Podcast? She's wondering if she wants to do the next one with me. I've got some bumper music for #3 that's pretty cool. I'll use a different bit for each one from now on. Makes it kinda fun. Oh, and by demand, I'm not longer calling them Podcasts. They are going to be Guncasts. No more shoes and baseball... just guns. Car discussions are going to have there own Carcasts. And each cast is going to be single topic so you can download what you want to listen to and wont have to listen to stuff you don't want. Like about the baseball and shoes. Although, I have to tell you... I'm wearing my Chuck Taylor's right now, and they make my feet happy. Brutus woke up today. He growled and roared and humped Mrs. Ogre's Mini Van until the Mini Van woke up. The Mini Van wouldn't start at all. Someone left something on inside and it drained her out. Brutus got her revved up again. Brutus is still the coolest fucking truck on the planet. I love it. This weekend we are going to start the restoration project that turns Brutus from a run of the mill Bronco into a Desert Raider. That will be a Carcast in the future. I'm going to cut up the top and make it a really big and angry SportTrack. Once I'm done maybe I'll get a SportTrack logo plate to put on the back. Speaking of Logos. Can anyone out there hook me up with a 3 inch or so Porsche logo plate? Like the emblem on the hood? I'm not going to be out there to SLC for some time and I need one. Don't ask why. Oh, for those in The Horde and others who contact me via phone. I've got a new cell phone and a new cell phone number. So if you need the new number, shoot me an email. This phone is one of the cheap options from out provider... but it has the best signal strength and reception of any cell phone we've ever seen. Mrs Ogre and I both have them now. Got my “back in black” ring tone on there and I'm set. The old phones we had were horrible. These rock. Kyocera believe it or not. Better signal than phones costing more than twice as much. This is something that I'm going to be talking about in my next guncast. Metal frames for your Glock. The ATF is going to have to see paperwork on them... Some states are not going to be able to bring them in... it costs as much as a decent used Glock... for what? You can't put wood grips on it like a 1911... and it doesn't solve the Glock's #1 problem of unsupported chambers so you are going to want to drop in an aftermarket barrel... so WTF? Sounds like if you are wanting to do all of this shit, then you didn't really want a Glock in the first place! In my opinion this a huge Idiot Check. If you buy one of these... your a freakin idiot. There are already guns like this out there that you could have picked up instead of buying the Glock that you didn't want. Such as the Spectre. What you would be paying for the Glock and this metal frame and for the armorer to put it together for you, unless you happen to be a certified Glock armorer... you could buy a nice Alchemy Arms Spectre. That's enough about this right now... I'm saving up for the Guncast. Friday, 5-12-06: HAPPY (early) MOTHERS DAY! I wont have an internet hook up on mother's day, so I'm posting this early. My Momma is the best. She is awesome. She's a case of Daisy Duke rolled up with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and never dressed me funny. Well, not that remember. I'll have to look at the family photo album next time I'm back in Virginny. I love you Momma. My wife and the mother of my sons... She's awesome too. She teaches dance from morning to night, wrangles 5 little Orcs in Training and does most of this single-handedly. She can shoot, she can kick ass, and she wont take shit from anyone. Not even from me. I love you, Babe. American Rome: I was sitting in my car listening to a Guns and Roses rock ballad when I was struck with the realization that the USA is Rome. SPQUSA. If you are a student of history, you are probably already seeing what I'm seeing here. Rome and all the factors that contributed to the slow demise... everything that brought Rome to ruin... it's all happening to The United States of America. Rome was once the greatest nation/empire on the planet. So is the USA now. And we have the same problems... and I'm not just talking about Muslim armies at the gates of Constantinople. Looking at the Western Empire... the Barbarian Hordes that slowly infiltrated Roman society... Illegal immigration, the economic, strategic, and logistical issues that arose... everything. It's all happening again. All this happened before. We will have the same results in the end if this continues. You want to know what's happening? Turn off the news and open your history books. Saturn Sky. Good grief, Saturn has built a car that causes strange feelings in my loins. The Sky is essentially a Pontiac Solstice done right. I'll be honest, I hate the Pontiac and I find its weird down syndrome styling repugnant. But the Sky... WOW. Talk about sexy. You want to wait (if you can) for the Red Line edition which has a turbo charger, better suspension, and upgraded interior. The Sky falls later this year. Start saving up for your down payment now... trust me. If you've not seen one yet, check it out online and download some photos. The really surprising thing about the Sky is that it's a freaking Saturn. Saturn! They are now building some very good cars now... the Ion is a great little car and now they have hit a smash home run in the Sky. Saturn needs to put out a diesel powered car. I don't think the Sky would be the platform of choice... it's already underpowered enough as it is... (again – wait for the Red Line) but the Ion would be a rocking option for a good high output turbo D. Think about it. Oh, and Pontiac... think about just slapping your red arrowhead badge onto the Sky and call it the Solstice or you are going to lose tons of sales. A hard top Sky coupe would also ROCK. Think about that... the Cobra and the Lotus Elise/Exige... whoa a hardened Sky with twin turbos... that would be just freaking sick. I'm thinking SCCA racing here! That car has so much potential. So does the Sol, but the Sol is the Sky's ugly sister and no one should buy one now. I hate Pontiac, you guys are a bunch of damn idiots for trying to make everything look like a Grand Am. Don't even get me started about the GTO. I hope you die in a fire. Government's Domestic Spying: I've not gone off on a good rant for some time... so stand back. What I'm about to say, I've said before... but if your new to MadOgre.com, your in for both barrels. Ready? Back-blast area clear! So the NSA has recorded phone calls. And people are freaking out about this now? No one said anything when all this started during the Clinton Administration. So why bash Bush for it now? Oh, that's right... Bush is Republican. I find the polls disturbing... Bush's approval rating is hella-low now. And that's too bad. But had Bush been a Democrat, Bush would be billed as the greatest president ever. Bush sucks for a number of reasons... but Bush has not sold secrets to China that have now put China on an equal military strategic footing as the USA. Bush hasn't shagged an intern in the ovarian orifice. Maybe he should switch parties and start acting like Leisure Suite Larry. The NSA and FBI have been scanning for certain key words and phrases for years now. Google for it. It's old news. Am I glad they are doing it? No, I'm not. But it's a little late for the outrage now. Remember Carnivore? The biggest hypocrisy in the Universe comes from the Dems. They blame Bush for Iraq when Clinton could have stopped it from happening long ago. They blame the CIA for not doing their jobs when it was the Dems that gutted the agency and limited the ability to gather human intel... the very kind of intel that we needed. They say nothing about Clinton blowing shit up with Tomahawks to take attention of his philandering, but as soon as Bush pulls the trigger, it's because he's an oil hungry madman. But it's the Dems that prevented oil exploration, development and for the shutting down of refineries instead of building new ones and improving the existing ones. This whole situation with oil dependencies and the war in Iraq is the result of Democratic slacking and Bush is left cleaning up the mess. I don't blame Bush for these things. He has a number of failures to his credit, but the war and the oil isn't his. His #1 failure in my opinion is the borders. We can't have national security with insecure borders. We can't have any immigration reform without cutting of the flood of illegals crossing into our land. These illegals cry about racism and justice and that the land is really theirs... and we do nothing about? This is asinine. We need to lock down the borders and then deal with the people already here. I don't care if we give them all amnesty – as long as we have not one single illegal immigrant crossing ever again. We need to do what Israel has done. That's the only way we can save the United States as a Nation. Then we need to turn most of our guardian's eyes outward instead of inward like they are now. I'm so tired of the Dems hearing our words and dismissing it as mere rhetoric... being about to take any argument, wrap it in paper, tie it with a bow, call it rhetoric and be able to dismiss it without a second word or thought. They can't argue points and issues so they tear away with relentless personal attacks. The Democrats are not leaders. They are leeches. They are dangerous. They strive only for power at the cost of weakening our Nation and infecting us a sickness of complete immorality and twisting right from wrong and making wrong into right. They can not be taken seriously. Unfortunately they have too many people who do take them seriously. America needs to shrug them off like a dirty shirt. Of course the Republicans are not the solution either. They can not be given a buffet. They are out of control and weak and spoiled. They need to have some serious attitude adjustments. I really think the only political party worth a damn is the Libertarians. At the same time all Political Parties make me sick to my stomach. I have a clear understanding of George Washington's admonition to avoid and reject political parties. Parties damage democracy... our Representatives no longer represent any of the people but only their party. Its a system that breeds and feeds on corruption. Ultimately making it no better than Mexico where they are at least up front about their corruption and don't pretend otherwise. However, unlike Mexico... I believe in our system of government and I believe in our Constitution. I just don't believe in those who we have in power at the moment. There are a few good men and women in office... but they are a very thin minority. We need to stop voting party lines and stop voting against the other side... we need to start voting for good people. We get good people into office and all will be well. It's really as simple... and as difficult as that. But we have to persist. It's our Duty. As Citizens. As Americans. We can't allow any more erosions of our freedoms. We have to heal our Constitution. And we start by building fences. How do we accomplish this seemingly insurmountable challenge? What does it take from each of us that is lacking in the general voting population and our nation's media outlets? Love. Love of our Nation and our Nations history. Warts and all. Like parents loving their children. Our Nation is our own creation and we have to love it. We have to have pride in it. We have to take care and nurture it. We can not allow anyone in a public office who does not love our country. This is the true Patriotism. Like a parent who would willingly lay down their life for their child... make any sacrifice... we have to be willing to do the same for our Nation. Not our Parties. Not our Lobbying or special interest groups. Going back to what I said before about Rome. What I'm saying now... this is how we keep Rome from burning again. If everyone in our country shares this vision – America will never be defeated and will never fall and we will be a lighthouse for the rest of the world. Build fences, then build schools, and America will be eternal. The matter of schools again. It's amazing these studies that we hear about... how students can't find places like Iraq or New Orleans on a map. Our schools need a complete overhaul from the top to the bottom. First subject should be History and teach the History with the correlating Geography. Why are these subjects separate? That's like learning learning to swim without any water. History should be the core... because all other subjects stem from History. Mathmatics, Economics, Politics, Art. Can all be said to be branches of the same tree. American and Global history. We are setting up our children for failure if we don't teach them where they came from. Because with out that, they wont know now where they are going... or where they could go. Schools should all be based on achievement instead of age group and mean averages. Students progress and graduate on their own merits at their own pace... K through MBA Merit only. No consideration to Race or Sex or Economic Status. Every school should operate like a Dojo... where the student doesn't progress until the student is ready and able. Doesn't matter what age the student is. Pure merit. Thursday, 5-11-06: I think this expresses how I'm feeling today. Migraine headache is killing me. This is the ancient art of Kabumei... oddly enough while its origins maybe oriental, it's most often practiced by Palestinians these days. Sheesh... my head is going kabumei... and in a couple hours I'm going to have to go sing and dance. I feel like puking and dying in a dark hole... but I'm going to have to sing and dance. Oh well. Wednesday, 5-10-06: Some guitar stuff... classic done as rock – freaking awesome. This guy jams too. Here is a link I've been meaning to post up for some time. You guys all know that I am a serious car-nut. Even more than I am a gun-nut. There are some very good car magazines out there, and one of the very best is free. Winding Road. You can download their issues for free in PDF format. They are fantastic. Great articles and the whole package is well polished. David E. Davis is writing for them now... if you don't know who he is... your missing out. He's one of the greats, perhaps the most astute automotive journalist that ever was, and still is. You guys have got to check out issue 8.5 and read Davis' scorching blast of the automotive industry. One of the best you will ever read.. Just below that is an interesting snippet. “The US could save up to 1.4 million barrels of oil per day – roughly the amount it imports from Saudi Arabia – if a third of the US vehicles ran on diesel.” Wow. That's a huge amount. Why don't US automakers produce more diesel option? VW has one, Mercedes has a couple. Who else? If you want to talk about alternative fuels, diesel is the ticket. There are so few on the road, they easily qualify for alternative status. And these fuel sipping hybrids... not one of them use a diesel engine. Considering the cost of the hybrid premium price, the cost of battery replacements, and the fact that you are not going to get ahead of the cost saving curve for 6 years... hybrids make no sense. None. You would have to be either a total lunatic to buy one, or just shockingly stupid. Get yourself a diesel instead. With the new diesel technologies you are getting great power and performance while still stretching the miles per gallon out well past what even miserly unleaded cars are getting. Funny how even the best hybrids are only barely keeping up with a 15 year old VW diesel Golf. Of course the downside is the smoke that diesels product. Luckily the industry is working on that. Modern diesels are burning cleaner, and the fuel itself is getting cleaner too. Diesels are all the rage over in the UK/EU. As gas prices continue to gouge the crap out of us... I expect to see more diesel options here in the USA. I don't know if you guys really noticed the link I put up to Oleg Volk's blog, but you need to check it out. I link to the blog, but he also has an online studio of all his photography work. Oleg is one of the few photographers out there that I really like. He has a very good eye when it comes to lighting... but there is more to it than that. Especially when it comes to pictures of people. More than anyone else, Oleg really captures the humanity in his subjects... it's a gift and that's what sets his work apart... and above... most every other photographer out there. If you get a chance, spend some time browsing Oleg's stuff... and order a print. Once we get some work done around Ogre Ranch, I've got a mind to order two for one of the rooms. Couple quick things... I'm going to be leaving the Tech field at the end of this month and I'm going to be taking a new job at a gun store. This will be a big reduction in stress and it's going to be a bit more money to boot. I think this is going to work out fine. That and I love talking guns more than talking computers. Another thing. We all know (or maybe you didn't but do now) that the Natty, Ohio PD has adopted the new S&W M&P 9MM as their new sidearm. From all reports the M&P is The Shizznit and S&W is committed to backing up their LEO customers. If they back up their civilian customers as well, this gun will be the one well worth taking another look at. This I did, and while the gun looks cool as hell, I'm left with a dry taste in my mouth. The slide is loose and sloppy, and the barrel is too. While I can see how this can mean the gun could be very reliable, I don't see how it could be nearly accurate enough... but maybe it is. I don't know. I've not fired it yet. Maybe I'm wrong and this pistol will do everything but the dishes. I'm going to have to get one to test as soon as possible. If you guys get the chance, swing by a gunshop, check out an M&P and tell me what you guys think of it.
Saturday: 5-6-06: You guys ever check out a handgun that you just can't get out of you mind? Couple days ago I took a look at a Taurus PT99. Chromed out, big shiny handgun, with rails, in 9mm. I can't say why I liked it, but I did. This is a completely different sort of handgun than I'm normally drawn to. Maybe if I was a rapper or something it would go great with my blinged out Navigator and I could justify it. What is it about it that tugs at my mind? The great trigger? The great sights? The action that has got to be the smoothest I've felt on a new in box automatic. Man, if that thing had a reasonable finish and I didn't have my CZ P01, I'd probably have had to snag that one up. They had 4 of them sitting there, side by side, for a real good price. Tempting. Very tempting. For a high capacity 9mm I think I have everything I need in my P01. I love the P01. Why would I ditch it for the shiny Taurus? I don't really even want the Taurus... but that shiny new gun thing has that temptation. I really couldn't even write an article on it for concealed carry magazine, so I couldn't even use that as a shred of justification for it. I think I'll just get the P01 worked on... slicked up. Trigger and action job. That would go a long way. I was talking to a motorhead today about some cars, when I came up with a crazy idea. The Ford 500 is a biggish 4 door sedan, comparable size wise to the Chrysler 300. Similar market as the Buick Lucern. The only problem the Ford has is that it's tired, boring, and is the perfect car for your grandmother. Great grandmother. They talk about safety as if that was the font of all automotive aspirations. Well screw that. If I was the President of Ford's SVT division, stand back for the rebirth of the 500. I'd drop in a 5.4 liter V8 that's stoked with a supercharger. That would generate in the vicinity of 450 horse. Mate that to a T56 6 speed manual transmission. Squeeze pressure onto huge rotors, 14 inchers up front and 13's at the rear to keep everything in control. If those features sound familiar, there is a reason for that. Those are the goodies under the hood of a Shelby GT 500. There is no reason why those goodies couldn't be shoved into the bodywork (with a little tweaking to make sure the evil inside feels at home, and to give warning to the Dodge Magnums and Chargers running around unmolested) of the Ford 500. That would be my first order of business, ordering this would be what I would call “Day One” of Ogre's reign over Ford's SVT. That day would start out with some introductions around the offices at SVT HQ, being show around the facility... then after lunch, have a staff meeting where I would outline this and tell everyone to make it happen. I'll leave the engineers up to making that vision work. That's what engineers are for. Make it so. Lincoln can have a version of my Evil 500, but they would have to use an automatic transmission... they don't need the manual shifter. Day two would be even more interesting when I drop some fission on the Ford Fusion. Pretty much the same concept here as the Evil 500... Make the Fusion something ferocious, something to cause fear and trembling in all the other cars around it. Instead of a supercharger, I'd opt for a turbo charger. Make that two of them. The Fusion would have to use a different tranny and all, being a front wheel drive platform, but twin turbos would make you forget that. An all wheel drive version would scare away the Quattros. The 3 liter V-6 might be the biggest engine you could shoehorn into the Fusion, but twin turbos would wake it up. A race tuned suspension brought over from Saleen would help make that Fusion GT nothing but pure driving aggression. Now, if I wanted to get really evil with it... so it's only a Fusion on the outside... would have to redesign the basic structure to fit it... wrap a Fusion around the engine straight out of a Ford Lightning pickup truck, and pour that power to the rear wheels only. This Fusion would have to lose the 3 slot grill and have a steel mesh grill like the Mustang. This Fusion would really make a statement... Ford is all about big fucking V-8 engines and biblical proportions of torque and horsepower. Thank you very much. The Mustang? It's the only car Ford is doing right. I'll let it be. For now. The Ford Focus? Life's too short for that thing. What I want to know is this. How come no one at Ford has done this already? All the other car makers are starting to pull themselves out out of the red by making cars that guys look at and say “Shit yeah, I want one of them!” I don't think anyone in the USA has ever said that about a Ford 500. Even with high gas prices... people are still buying muscle cars. Because that's what people really want and they are willing to spend and extra 20 to 50 bucks a month in gas. Ford needs to wake the hell up. If I was to trade my Contour in on another new car... the only thing I'd consider from Ford would be a Mustang GT. Ford is a one trick pony these days. That's sad. Ford need to stop trying to be like VW and they need to take a good hard look at BMW. I know they can do it. The Ford I'm driving was compared to a BMW 3 series more than any other car by the automotive press. Ford didn't know what to do with it. The parked them next to the Escort but didn't know how to explain it. How to market it. Fantastic little car. Everyone thought it was a Mini Taurus. Feh. Ford has no imagination or style. They've grown too old. Friday, 5-5-06: I've been seething over the news regarding the September 11th Terrorist. The poor man... all he wanted was to meet Allah. I'm of the opinion that we should have obliged him. He has been sentenced to life but this doesn't mean that he can't be beaten to death by large angry men with pipe wrenches. Start at the feet, boys. Start at the feet. I'm putting together Podcast #2 right now. Just the outline so far. Looks like the main subject is going to be handguns. Service, Home Defense, and Concealed Carry. While these types can overlap, they are pretty much different subjects. I'm also going to discuss automobiles. So when you listen to this cast, be ready to take some notes. I'll be going over the 20 best vehicles ever made, and I'm going to want you take on the list. This is basically in response to Automobile Magazine's list of the best 20 vehicles, which I found to have several problems. Computers: I've found that Kaspersky anti-virus is very good. It's slower to scan, but does the most complete scan that I've found. You can get a 30 day demo of it... While AVG is my first choice, I use this on computers that have serious virus issues. It works very well. Use it if you have some issues that AVG isn't resolving. Another good tool to use, Perfect Dist. I've got it on a bootable disk and I run it on any system that I have to do a defrag on. The Smart Placement option doesn't just defrag – the best defrag you can do – but it actually optimizes the disk to improve system performance. Unlike other software that makes such claims, this actually does it, and the difference is tangible if not drastic. Webroot's Spy Sweeper remains the top gun in the war on spyware. If you are running Windows are not using it... your wrong. We observed a large drop in the value of Microsoft's stock. I think this would be the perfect time to start buying it. When Windows Vista hits the market, MS Stock is going to soar. When people see it... they are going to want to buy it. When the whole planet upgrades, MS is going to make a mint. At the same time, Vista is going to be turning even more people off of MS products. Tons of folks are going to be switching to Linux... but with Apple lowering there prices later this year, even more people are going to be switching to Macs. If Apple was clever, they would release a version of OSX for the PC, before or at the same time MS puts out Vista. I'd buy Apple stock as well. Both companies are going to be doing very well. So those are the software giants... as far as hardware goes... AMD is looking very very good. Dell is going to start using AMD chips soon enough, and when that happens AMD stock is going to leap. I'd buy AMD now before that happens. Next time I buy/build a desktop machine for Ogre Ranch, it's going to be a AMD box. (With Vista on it? I don't know yet... possibly) I'm loving the Centrino CPU for laptops, but the AMD Turion64's are getting to be very very good. When Vista hits, that might be the combo you want. But I'm really enjoying my Centrino Duo powered Lappy. The performance is great and the 2 hour battery life is outstanding. Then again, that was the balance I was looking for. I didn't find that in an AMD laptop. Intel has the edge in laptops right now... but AMD's gains in the server market are more than enough to compensate. Yeah, AMD stock would be a good buy. Tell me if I'm wrong on any of these stocks. 3 of my boys are playing baseball on the same team. Watching them play baseball has become my absolute favorite thing in the world. There is nothing else I would rather do. They are great players... they can all make hits, catch, and run the bases... throwing is a little weak but compared to the other boys on the teams and at their age group, they are just fine. Seeing the looks on their faces after a hit or a catch... man... that's the best thing in the whole damn world. Right there. THAT is what it's all about. That is what I now live for, that is what I will die to protect. I assume that every father feels the same way. There are games Saturday, and I am looking forward to them... can't wait. Grandmothers will get photos email to them. Wed, 5-3-06: Email of the Day: “Yesterday my wife and I went to the Utah Minutemen counter protest at the Salt Lake City/County building. Where was everybody else?! There were about one to two hundred people there. Is that the best we can do?! Meanwhile the illegals and their supporters (by the reports I heard) were in numbers close to one thousand at Liberty Park! I have heard numbers from twenty five thousand to forty thousand for the march through Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago. And the Americans who are against illegal immigration mustered how many? You guessed it. A couple hundred! Why? What is wrong with us that we can’t even take a few hours out of our lives to keep our country from being overrun? Well, I came up with some ideas on this.
Am I close? Now, I have to tell you I did not go to the first rally. However, after I saw how few loyal Americans made it I felt like I could not possibly miss the next one. That was my incentive. What will yours be? On a lighter note the best protest sign I saw at the rally was “I went shopping today and heard only English spoken. It’s nice to have my country back.” I couldn't bring myself to comment on this May Day thing and the Illegal Immigrant Walk Out. The reason was that if I did, I was worried that my head might explode. The photos that I was seeing of the protesters... The illegals pulling down the American flag. That's to much for me to tolerate. So instead of ranting, I had a quiet seething rage. And then as if all this wasn't enough... some jackholes were spewing “Why is it okay for illegal immigration from Cuba but not Mexico?” Oh my hell. Okay, they don't call them Cuban Exiles for no reason. The Cubans in Florida are political exiles and refugees. As soon as that bearded bastard dies, Castro, a great many of those guys in Florida are going to go back to Cuba. Cuba is a communist prison. America has long history of taking in refugees from communist countries. I know this is hard to understand but there is a difference between illegally crossing the border and fleeing a communist prison pretending to be a country. Here is a good open letter about this illegal alien subject. These Mexicans coming into the USA and thinking they can spout off about rights... I'm done with them. The President needs to put up that damn wall, secure the border, and then without ceremony, pitch these illegals back over the wall. I suggest using a big trebuchet. Okay, now if that subject wasn't enough to get your blood in a rolling boil. Check this out. Did you ever think that you would agree with Alan Combs? That you would like what he said – about anything? Well, you will. Let me preface this. I've been harsh on Muslim extremists. Now it's time to harsh up Christian Extremists. You watch this clip and you will see the potential danger on the Christian side of the coin. This lady that Hannity and Combs talks to... Sheesh. Look at her eyes. She is completely psychotic. Zealotry of any religion is a really scary thing... but this lady is a little more scary than most. I've known many baptists, and none of them are psycho like this broad. What's amazing is that while she is so adamant about her faith – she knows nothing about it. That shalt not judge. Love the sinner. Love your enemy. Love thy neighbor. Forgive. This lady doesn't get it. It's about LOVE, forgiveness, and acceptance. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all for. This lady and her church, she sees it all wrong, and interprets everything as reinforcement of her own bigotry and hate. She is disgusting and is no better than any Jihadist. In fact, she's worse. Like any given terrorist, this psycho lady is capable of anything... any act of violence over anyone or anything that she deems to be counter to her idea of what her god wants. I say her god because while she might claim to be Christian, and I'm Christian... we must not be believing in the same God. If that lady's group protested at my Grandfather's funeral... oh sheesh... I'd probably still be in jail today. So what subjects does The Horde want covered in the 2nd podcast? Feedback has been universally positive... I'll do another one. Maybe make it a weekly thing? Tuesday, 5-2-06: The first podcast bit is up. Right Click and "Save As". This is a poor effort and I know a lot more about doing these now than I did when I did it. Let me know if guys want another one. When
Osama bin Laden died, George Washington met him at the Pearly Gates. He
slapped him across the face and yelled, "How dare you try to destroy the
nation I helped conceive!" Special thanks to Wilson Combat and HK. These guys have been a joy to work with. Wilson has lined up to send me out a couple more guns, one of them is their new ADP handgun, and the other is a slick compact 1911 that looks even cooler than the SDS I recently reviewed for Concealed Carry Magazine. HK was great to work with and actually sent me a shipping lable for the return of their P2000 pistol. This is the first company that's done that. That was a huge help! I just wish I could have been more optimistic in my review of their handgun... but I had to be honest in my review and I called it like I saw it. That's my job. If HK never sends me a gun to review again because of it, well, I'll just have to pick up an HK from another source. I'm not afraid of burning bridges if that's the result of telling the truth about a firearm. I just have this nightmare of me saying a gun is great and then someone gets it because of what I said, and then that gun fails them. I can't let that happen. Ever. No one has mentioned it or questioned it... but over on the left I've added a link to Digg.com. Digg has been getting the news out faster than Slashdot. I've been a huge slashdot fan for a long time but the last month or so I've been going to Digg first. If you like Digg, you might want to check out Diggnation.com and download these guy's vidcasts or podcasts. I like the vidcasts for these guys better because watching them is a little more entertaining and you see screenshots and junk that you don't get in the podcast versions. Alex and Kevin are pretty cool guys who refugeed from the old TechTV. Digg is Kevin Rose's brainchild. Interesting because he was my least favorite TechTV guy... but seeing what everyone else has done I think Kevin has actually come out on top. Kudos to Kevin. You gotta love their casual format. They are sitting on the couch, drinking some beer, and just talking about the stuff they want to cover. They are not taking themselves so seriously and that's what makes it great. Okay, update on the western musical thing. I'm not familiar with the show, and I'm sure your not either, but the show is called “The Star of Justice” and my part is “Jake”. The Jake character has the most lines, drives the story, and provides comedic relief from the more stern main sheriff character. Jake is the sheriff's deputy or something. I don't know. It's the best role, but not the main character if you know what I mean. I am told that the last time they did this show, Jake got the most applause. We shall see. I just have to keep asking myself “What would Clint Eastwood do?” As badass as Eastwood is, he's done some comedy and he did a musical too... so I can deal with this. Once. Still waiting for my villain roll. But no, I'm not going to do a singing badguy so let's not go there. Before you guys get too surprised about me doing this, remember, I did do a ballet. Once you do something like that, then nothing else is that bad. Cause I can always say “At least it's not a ballet.” This new Battlestar Galactica series: Well, not just BG, but scifi altogether... They are almost always using real small arms. They use FN's, HK's, Berettas, and Vectors. Sometimes they put junk on them to dress them up and change the look, but I don't quite think that's good enough. Why? Because I still recognize the makes and models. Some SciFi's are based in the future... others like BG are based in other universes where they do not have Heckler and Koch or Beretta to make guns for them. So why are SciFi soldiers packing them? This is just sloppy production. It doesn't take that much effort to dress something up so it doesn't even look like a regular firearm. That's not too much to ask is it? I'm not taking the position that Star Trek is ideal here... but come on. Your talking about people that have mastered the stars with faster than light travel, and they fight with 9MM pistol caliber Storm carbines. Yeah, right. A little suspension of disbelief is a part of SciFi. What's next in sloppy production, them driving Ford Expeditions? Please. I want scifi guns with my scifi show. Just like I want spaceships and evil robots and aliens. So what would an alien gun look like? Well, that would really depend on the alien. Weapons are devices where the function dictates the form. If the aliens you are talking about look like humans... then a gun built like them would probably look similar in basic structure to a gun from Earth. To make the gun look really different the gun would have to have a completely different function... such as not firing from a magazine as we know it but using another sort of device. I would like to think that they wouldn't use metallic cased cartridges. They wouldn't use a powder propellant too for that matter. Hopefully they would use something exotic. The only exception to this would be the show “Firefly” that is based on survivors from Earth. Mankind from Terra is a different thing. For future Man, I think guns wouldn't really change all that much unless we change the function of weapons. It's a simple matter of simplicity. Modern firearms are incredibly efficient devices. There is not much we could change, even in the future in the way a gun feeds and fires because we would still be using cartridges. You change the cartridge, then you could change the gun. For example, look at the HK G11 and compare that to the M41A Pulse Rifle from the movie “Aliens”. Sure, it's based on a Tommygun, but look at what it was supposed to be... what it supposedly fired. 10MM Caseless cartridges with huge magazine capacities. Of course you couldn't stuff that many 10mm rounds in a magazine of that size, but still... it's a start. The caseless technology is cool, but it has some serious problems that would make such a weapon an item for the distant future. Even still, it's still a recognizable weapon that a soldier from our time could pick up and use effectively. The G11 had a number of issues trying to use the caseless rounds. Heat and carbon build up, detonation of rounds in the magazine... these things killed the G11. Using primer and powder like we do, a metallic cartridge really can't be beat. Not only does the metal case hold the cartridge together, but it also helps the gun in feeding and keeping the gun clean and cool. The firing chamber is self contained and ejected with every round. The cartridge absorbs most of the heat and pulls that heat out when ejected. A caseless round doesn't do that. Residue and debris remains in the caseless chamber. Heat remains in the caseless chamber. Ultimately this means the caseless gun will become unusable or unsafe after a given number of rounds fired. To solve this, you would have to have a propellant that burns extremely clean, and the gun would have to have a cooling system. Such things are possible, but to get them together in a light and usable package... that's the tricky part. Then make it cost effective. I don't see that as a practical solution. So what would change in the future? Fire control systems most likely. Electronic fire control is already used... and when I say that, I'm talking the basic ignition. Remington has a hunting rifle that uses an electric jolt to fire the round in the chamber. Paintball guns are using electronic systems to control the shots and the rate of fire. Migration of these systems into select fire military style weapons is only a matter of time. It would be very easy to adapt a rifle like an FN FAL into an “E-FAL”. Another thing we would see is continual advances in material science. Carbon Fiber barrels and even receivers could become more popular and see more use. We are already seeing CF barrels for some sporting rifles. Carbon Fiber would be a little bulkier looking but would be a lot lighter and every bit as strong if not stronger than current guns. In pistol caliber SMGs and even in some paintball guns, we are seeing spiral feeding magazines. This changes the form factor a lot, but the basic function is the same. Now let's combine these technologies... Carbon Fiber receivers and barrels (with steel barrel inserts of course) ammo drums and electronic controlled firing sequences... you could have some really incredible weapons. You take a weapon like that, and it really wouldn't look all that different from regular weapon... somewhat different in some areas, but it would still look like a weapon that you could look at and say “that's a weapon”. That's what I want to see in my Scifi shows. CHECK ARCHIVES FOR OLDER CONTENT
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