I Hate Hymenopterids

While digging for a water feature in the yard Wednesday, I seem to have angered a nest of digging wasps. Of course, given the nature of the critters, first I knew of it was the classic flaming poker into the back of my left index finger. Through gloves no less. Little bugger.

In related news, finger stings HURT

On some level though, I can hardly blame them, considering I came out later and soaked their nest with wasp killer. It took some effort not to light it on fire too, tell the truth.

It did get me thinking though. I have had thankfully few interactions with the nasty things. One trend I have noticed is that, while I have a reasonably high pain tolerance, a sting from one of them is enough to get me to vacate the area. Not only that, but I always find myself fairly uneasy going back to the same areas again. It took effort to go back and spray the nest, and it was very much a hit and run type of operation.

Simply put, they are critters that have a really compelling defense mechanism. If it weren't for the miracles of modern chemistry, I may have had to abandon the project because of them. This has been unusually (or perhaps entirely typically) rambly, but I suppose the dual point to this is that first off, hymenopterids are nasty but effective little things, and I love living in the modern era.



In other news, I spent today cleaning guns. I detail stripped my Enfield for the first time, and found a few strands of grease caked grass or other plant matter. A part of me has to wonder whether it's been there since wwii.

I also have a bit of an advice bleg. I'm looking to replace the glass that came with my 700. It's really not bad glass, with nice crisp images. My main complaints though are the reticle and the eye relief. I have to creep uncomfortably close on the scope to get the image, which I am none to happy with. (somewhere in the 2-3" range on a .308) Any suggestions for a scope in the 4-16x range with a bit longer eye relief and a price that is acceptable to a poor college student budget?

Ammo blues

Finally managed to find ammo at reasonable prices (ok, steep but not absurd prices) so I stocked up as much as I could afford to.

.303 Brit for $.90 per pop is painful enough that I reeeeeally want to look into reloading. Ah well though. At least I can finally shoot my Enfield.

Mostly .308, with a bunch of 7.62x54R, 7.62x39 and .30 carbine too. It's steel case stuff, but I'm trying to feed a bolt gun, so I'm not too worried.

The supply I bought will hopefully see me through the rest of the drought so I can buy some better stuff at reasonable prices. Or who knows. Maybe the Herter stuff will be excellent ammunition.

Shame on Me...

...for not picking up on this sooner.

One of the things that I find fascinating and wonderful about this whole "gunblogger community" thing is the way we truly look out for each other. One of us needs a bit of help. Bonnie of Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease is looking at some fairly hefty medical bills for Lyme disease, and is unable to work because of the aforesaid sickness. She is currently taking donations.

I'm putting a bit forward for her. The talk of modern internet tribes is meaningless if we don't take care of our people. She needs help, so go give it!

If pure generosity alone is not incentive enough, the eponymous Jennifer of In Jennifer's Head is running a bit of a raffle, with some neat prizes on offer. She's closing it down at midnight on July 31st though (read: Tomorrow) so get your entries in quick!

We talk about the difference between taxation and charity not infrequently. This is our chance to prove it.

Bleg over. How are you all?


8/1/13 ETA Due to technical difficulties, entries now end TONIGHT. You can't use the "awww, i missed it, oh well" excuse anymore. Go! Donate!

Creating Royalty

It's interesting. Last I checked, this country fought a couple fairly nasty wars to be free of the British crown. Yet here today, 237 years later, everyone is going gaga over the progeny of the royal family.

Beyond snarking at this stuff, it is rather a neat example of the human predilection for royalty. Even should there be no power behind the throne, people are taken with the notion that there are the special few who hold the reins of everything. Little girls wanting to be princesses notwithstanding, few people actually want to be royal, but there is a fascination nevertheless.

I am torn between not getting it, and getting it all too well. Idol worship, be it a royal family, celebrity, or charismatic politician, has quite the siren song. In all cases, there are people who have their positions based on birth alone. The royals are obvious. The Kardashians and Hiltons are celebrities because.... Well, they're celebrities. The Kennedys and Bushs have a similar case in politics.

I am inclined to think that this behavior comes from our natural human predilection to laziness. We don't want to fix things ourselves, but if you've got God Emperor Zeushiltonbama who can do it for you, you feel ok about watching America's Funniest Home Video reruns* and eat potato chips, because we've got our 'best people' on it.

Looking at Obama these days, it seems clear that a great many people, consciously or subconsciously, want him to be king. The fascinating thing about it is that we love a king, so long as he does what we want. We love super soldiers, so long as they obey the timid grumpy bureaucrats. We love a rebel, so long as she fights against the stuff that annoys us. 

The fact that I understand this stuff doesn't make it any less frustrating. The royal sprog means nada to me. Get back to the things that matter.

And while I'm at it, I oughta get those dang teenagers off my lawn.

*Is that a thing? I don't watch TV

Stop the Planet and LET ME OFF

Taken from a recent facebook conversation (Yay NSA, you get to read it twice!):

More depressed at [the current situation]. This whole Zimmerman mess, the media COMPLETELY ignoring the waves of violence, larceny, and vandalism sweeping the nation since the verdict ("it's not 'rioting' so shut up you stupid racist racists"), the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to not be actually racist, the fact that our government in the past year murdered four US citizens with drones… the fact that emotion and tides of public opinion matter far more than truth, integrity or rationality… the fact that 1984 reads like a bloody mirror… need I continue?

 And of course I barely scratched the surface of what's been going on.

I don't know what to do. I run a mostly ignored little blog where I vent and write about this stuff, but while my readers are greatly appreciated, I doubt I'm reaching anyone who might learn from it. I love the ideals of this country far too much to be comfortable taking up arms against it. There's nowhere left to run to that's any better.

I hate this feeling of impotence in the face of these situations. For every little victory we gain, we lose a dozen, some of which we aren't even aware are being fought.

Rereading 1984 is interesting. While last time I took a slightly more optimistic view, this time through I see it much more as the inevitable result of our current progression. The framework for most everything seen in the book is already in place, and expanding daily. While I wish I could hope for the ability of the American people to say no, scandal after scandal has passed by in recent months to the great fanfare of... nothing. A few diligent folks scream into an echo chamber about the atrocious behavior of our government, and the rest just sorta... ignore it.

In an ideal sense, I would finish a post like this with a call to action. 'The world is crap, so go and fix'. The problem is that I don't know that it CAN be fixed, much less how I would go about it. Instead, I will just say this. If you have ideas on how to get this mess fixed, don't be silent. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Media Bias ARGHHH

I tend to avoid listening to radio news. It's highly frustrating trying to get my news on someone else's schedule, with interesting stories scattered throughout drivel and ads. None of the interesting stuff gets enough attention. I have little interest in hearing someone else read off the headlines.

The other huge problem I have is that, while news agencies tend to be very careful about what bias shows up in print, tv and radio news not so much.

Listening to WBBM on the way to work, the talking head said "four jurors who failed to convict Trayvon Martin's killer..." At which point I almost shut the radio off.

Can you say bias? I am sick and tired of this crap.

The Race Card

While reading Robb Allen today, I came across this old post.

It sorta got me curious. What, dear readers, do you consider as "playing the race card"? To me, it is a simple case of bringing up race of any kind as a leverage point in anything other than a demographics discussion. This definition clearly could use some refinement. Any thoughts? Is it the race card to aggrandize your own argument based on race?* To belittle the opponents argument?**


Similarly, and perhaps more importantly, are there any reasonable, appropriate uses of the race card? Is it inherently fallacious?

I'm legitimately curious to see what you all have to say, so please, do comment (respectfully, please.)




*I am (insert here) so I understand what it's like!
**You couldn't understand, being an (insert here)