Draining the Swamp

[Shapley]

Two local shops are out of 5.56mm and limit purchases of 7.62mm. I wonder what that means.

It means: buy a .30 cal., and a reloader.

(A lot of my friends load their own. Brass is affordable, again.)

[Haggis@wk]

Two local shops are out of 5.56mm and limit purchases of 7.62mm. I wonder what that means.

It means: buy a .30 cal., and a reloader.

(A lot of my friends load their own. Brass is affordable, again.)

Heh. Actually, I've always liked .30 cal, but have been put off by the weight. any suggestions? I've never considered a reloader though, that might be a good idea. I think I'll google "reloader basics" and see what comes up.

[Shapley]

Heh. Actually, I've always liked .30 cal, but have been put off by the weight. any suggestions? I've never considered a reloader though, that might be a good idea. I think I'll google "reloader basics" and see what comes up.

Composite stocks are lighter than conventional wood stocks, that would help with the weight issue. I have a Marlin lever-action .30-30, which is not too heavy (about 7 lbs.) with the conventional wood stock. My SKS, by comparison, is about 9 lbs, also with the wood stock. Winchester lists the weights of their firearms on their online catalogue. Since the same firearm is frequently available in 7.62 mm or .30 cal, the weight should be the same.

.30-06, on the other hand, is always heavy, to the best of my knowledge.

We used to buy cheap 12 ga. shotguns that were light and rugged. Winchesters, I think, but they may have been Remingtons. That was decades ago, though. Back when you could mail-order them. My own 12 ga. is heavy. I think it is made by Howitzer.

V/R
Shapley

[Shapley]

Apparently, Sen. Reid has told Sen. Coleman he should accept the recount and drop his challenge to Al Franken's recount victory. Funny, I don't recall him offering Al Gore the same advice in 2000...

[Shapley]

I found this interesting. Since Gallup has been tracking congressional approval ratings, they have dropped below 20% three times, in 1979, 1992, and 2008. Guess which party had control of the Congress in each of those years...

[jamiebk]

We can guess why there is such dissatisfaction for 2008 (and prior)...here are some clues as to world conditions in the other years. Some similarities show up.....

Major Events of 1992

US Reports First Decline In Economy Since 1992
Unemployment Is 7.1% Highest In Five Years
Acquittal Of Officers In Rodney King Beating Sparks Riots, 52 Die
Riot Damage Reaches Over one Billion Dollars
Mob Boss John Gotti Is Convicted Of Racketeering
Mike Tyson Sentenced To Six Years For Rape
Testimony Of right-hand Man Salvator "Bull" Gravano is Key To Gotto Conviction
US Sends Food And Troops To Aid Famine Relief In Somolia
Evidence OF Serb Atrocities Of Rape And "Ethnic Cleansing" Uncovered

Major Events of 1979

Vietnam Takes Over Cambodia
Shah Leaves Iran For "Vacation"
Ayatollah Khomeini Returns To Iran From France
China Invades Vietnam
Accident At 3-Mile Island Pa., nuclear Plant Threatens Area
OPEC Announces Further Oil Price Increase, 50% In One Year
$1.5 Billion Federal Bailout Is Approved For Chrysler

[Shapley]

Looks like Chrysler comes around with their hand out every thirty years, regular as clockwork...

[Haggis@wk]

Obama on earmarks:

We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert pet projects without review. We will create an economic recovery oversight board made up of key administration officials and independent advisers to identify problems early and make sure we’re doing all that we can to solve it. We will put information about where money is being spent online so that the American people know exactly where their precious tax dollars are going and whether we are hitting our marks.

One of the reasons I voted for McCain was his pledge to veto any bill that contained earmarks. In reality that’s the only tool the president has to combat earmarks and pork. Obama won’t control how the money is spent so I’m not really sure what his “oversight board” is going to do. If he’s serious then more power to him, I fear that nothing is going to change.

[Shapley]

Of course, earmarks were okay when Sen. Obama was using them to gain funding for his pet projects. I'm glad he's 'grown in office'. We'll see.

You may recall the recent outrage when President Bush threatened to tell his administration to ignore the earmarks inserted by Congressmen if they did not go through committee and were not voted on.

Ultimately, Congress controls the purse strings and it is up to Congress to limit or eliminate the earmarks. The President has little to do once they are in place. President Bush was probably exercising the full extent of his authority over them in ordering the administration to ignore those that failed to meet the normal budget criteria (committee hearing and vote).

I'm all for openness, although we really have that. President-elect Obama's suggestion that they figures be posted online makes it easier for the 'average Joe' to look it up (depending on how the website is structured), but the data has always been available, with a few exceptions (military budgets, classified programmes, etc.).

We'll have to see how this all plays out in the end. I believe every President since Ronaldus Maximums has promised more 'openness'. Interesting that the Congress appears to be hurrying in the other direction...

[analog]

Two local shops are out of 5.56mm and limit purchases of 7.62mm. I wonder what that means.

It means: buy a .30 cal., and a reloader.

(A lot of my friends load their own. Brass is affordable, again.)

Heh. Actually, I've always liked .30 cal, but have been put off by the weight. any suggestions? I've never considered a reloader though, that might be a good idea. I think I'll google "reloader basics" and see what comes up.

Might want to stockpile primers. There's only a couple sizes - small and large - regardless what type rifle you settle on. Clintons put the squeeze on primers for a while....

Military calibers are handy because surplus ammunition is widey available.
Winchester .308 will chamber 7.62 Nato, unless you get one of the tight tolerance Palma Match rifles.
30-06 is of course the old WW1&2 .30 caliber M1.
And theres the .30 caliber Carbine , a small light rifle issued late in WW2 in lieu of the .45 pistol.

Note the guys in Iraq are going back to 30 cal (7.62/308) because it'll penetrate a vehicle better than 5.56



Attend a local gun show.......

[Haggis@wk]

Might want to stockpile primers. There's only a couple sizes - small and large - regardless what type rifle you settle on. Clintons put the squeeze on primers for a while....

Military calibers are handy because surplus ammunition is widey available.
Winchester .308 will chamber 7.62 Nato, unless you get one of the tight tolerance Palma Match rifles.
30-06 is of course the old WW1&2 .30 caliber M1.
And theres the .30 caliber Carbine , a small light rifle issued late in WW2 in lieu of the .45 pistol.

Note the guys in Iraq are going back to 30 cal (7.62/308) because it'll penetrate a vehicle better than 5.56
Attend a local gun show.......

Do you reload?

I saw where some SF units are re-issuing M-14s. It was a good weapon, just heavier than hell.

When I was in Somalia we came under sniper fire the evening of January 16, 1993. The sniper was too far away for our M-16s and the only other weapon we had at the time was a M-14 issued to the EOD folks to detonate munitions at a distance. The only problem was we didn't have U.S. style ammo so we used captured AK-47 rounds. They wouldn't feed correctly from the magazine (too large) so we had to load them into the breech one at a time. The sniper was concentrating on a defensive position that had actually been abandoned the day before but we hadn't gotten around to moving the sandbaggs and camo netting. I guess he thought someone was in there. I sat with the EOD troop and tried to call his shots with a NVD while he kept loading rounds one at a time and returned fire. After 10 -15 minutes (it seemed like hours!) the sniper stopped.

We went out to the position the next morning and could see that our return fire was close but no evidence that we hit the sniper. Almost a year later someone tried to fire at us from the same position but by then we had USMC and Canadian snipers with their .50 cal Barretts and the outcome of that duel was quick and dramatically different.

As for the carbine My father initially carried the M1 Carbine when he first got to Okinawa but during a Banzai attack he emptied an entire magazine into a charging Japanese infantryman and had to draw his .45 and fire it before the soldier was stopped.

He told me that when he went back to report to the Company Commander he threw the carbine on a pile of surplus weapons and picked up the cleanest M1 Garand he could find and used either that or a .12 GA pump shotgun the rest of the time he was in combat.

He said the only criteria he had for a personal weapon was “I EXPECTED the son of a bitch to STOP the Japanese, not to piss them off more than they already were!”

The rest of his life whenever he saw an M1 Carbine on TV or in a movie he always snorted in disgust. I don’t even think he knew he was doing it; it was just his reflex on the reliability of a weapon that let him down, the ultimate insult to an infantryman.

[barfle]

I saw where some SF units are re-issuing M-14s. It was a good weapon, just heavier than hell.

I've pulled the trigger on about a dozen different models of lead tossers, and as far as I'm concerned, the 14 is the worst of the bunch. I used three of them in different duty stations, and they were more dangerous to me than they were to the targets.

Seriously, I was reasonably familiar with rifles of that general caliber, having hunted with my dad's 30-30 and 30-06. I wasn't sniper material, but I hit what I was aiming at most of the time. And I could go to the range and run off 25 rounds and still use my shoulder. Similarly with a 12 guage shotgun. Although skeet don't get tender when they're cooked, they are fun to hunt, and a full round didn't cause me pain.

Not so with the M14. I was no more accurate with that than I was with the M1911A1. And after 25 rounds, meeting an officer was a painful experience. I supposedly had to qualify with one when I was in Germany. To the best of my knowledge, the safest item on the range was MY target. I never hit it once. I know I could have done better had I been given a chance to sight the SOB in, but it's pretty clear whoever used that weapon before I did bent the barrel. Or at least the sights.

And if you can't hit what you're shooting at, it won't stop him.

[Haggis@wk]

I saw where some SF units are re-issuing M-14s. It was a good weapon, just heavier than hell.

I've pulled the trigger on about a dozen different models of lead tossers, and as far as I'm concerned, the 14 is the worst of the bunch. I used three of them in different duty stations, and they were more dangerous to me than they were to the targets.

Seriously, I was reasonably familiar with rifles of that general caliber, having hunted with my dad's 30-30 and 30-06. I wasn't sniper material, but I hit what I was aiming at most of the time. And I could go to the range and run off 25 rounds and still use my shoulder. Similarly with a 12 guage shotgun. Although skeet don't get tender when they're cooked, they are fun to hunt, and a full round didn't cause me pain.

Not so with the M14. I was no more accurate with that than I was with the M1911A1. And after 25 rounds, meeting an officer was a painful experience. I supposedly had to qualify with one when I was in Germany. To the best of my knowledge, the safest item on the range was MY target. I never hit it once. I know I could have done better had I been given a chance to sight the SOB in, but it's pretty clear whoever used that weapon before I did bent the barrel. Or at least the sights.

And if you can't hit what you're shooting at, it won't stop him.

I can't say I've ever fire one but I'd thought they had a good rep. Maybe not.

[barfle]

I can't say I've ever fire one but I'd thought they had a good rep. Maybe not.

When I was in military mode, the M-16 was fairly new on the scene, and it had a reputation for jamming if it wasn't kept clean. Keeping a weapon clean was difficult in 'nam, so there were disparaging reports regarding it, and I suppose the 14 was the lesser of the two evils available.

Myself, I noticed my 16 slowing down if I had fired it yesterday and not had a chance to clean it. But it never failed to fire. I was only in training at Ft. Polk, LA, which wasn't 'nam, but it was hell.

I know there were guys who didn't have the problems with the 14 that I did. But based on my previous experience with other shoulder-fired lead-tossers, I found the 14 most useful for driving shelter-half stakes.

[Haggis@wk]

I can't say I've ever fire one but I'd thought they had a good rep. Maybe not.

When I was in military mode, the M-16 was fairly new on the scene, and it had a reputation for jamming if it wasn't kept clean. Keeping a weapon clean was difficult in 'nam, so there were disparaging reports regarding it, and I suppose the 14 was the lesser of the two evils available.

Myself, I noticed my 16 slowing down if I had fired it yesterday and not had a chance to clean it. But it never failed to fire. I was only in training at Ft. Polk, LA, which wasn't 'nam, but it was hell.

I know there were guys who didn't have the problems with the 14 that I did. But based on my previous experience with other shoulder-fired lead-tossers, I found the 14 most useful for driving shelter-half stakes.

I never used the M-16 for anything other than training. I did use the CAR-15 (GAU-5, in the USAF) which was a shortened M-16, although the one I carried had been upgraded to the M-16a1 barrel. I never shot it in combat but it was a pain to keep clean in the humid/salt water/desert environment around Mogadishu. I did use the MP-5 in combat in the same location. Both required daily cleaning but the MP-5 was easier, fewer parts.

[Shapley]

Geithner Confirmation Complicated by Tax Woes

Apparently, Mr. Geithner didn't pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for a housekeeper he had employed.

Not a good start for the man who wants to be in charge of the Treasury.

V/R
Shapley

[jamiebk]

Geithner Confirmation Complicated by Tax Woes

Apparently, Mr. Geithner didn't pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for a housekeeper he had employed.

Not a good start for the man who wants to be in charge of the Treasury.

V/R
Shapley

At least he's frugal

[Haggis@wk]

Geithner Confirmation Complicated by Tax Woes

Apparently, Mr. Geithner didn't pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for a housekeeper he had employed.

Not a good start for the man who wants to be in charge of the Treasury.

V/R
Shapley

Would a Republican candidate for Treasury Secretary get the same kind of pass Geithner's apparently getting from the press?

Why would anyone neglect to pay taxes? Forgot? Not a good sign. Procrastination? Not good. Didn’t know about it? Maybe o.k. for a plumber, but… Above it all? Won’t get caught? Didn’t have the money? (I’m self-employed, too, and I make sure I have the money). Doesn’t believe in taxes? Can you think of one good reason for not paying taxes that portends well for a Secretary of the Treasury?

I’m sorry but if you do your own taxes and don’t use one of simple, cheap and easy programs available then you are too ignorant to be the Treasury Secretary. And if you did use one it would have prompted you to calculate those SS and Medicare contributions. Only by ignoring them could you have “forgotten” to pay them … for 4 years in a row. Doesn’t pass the smell test. These are not complicated calculations like actual income tax, they are straight percentages.

[jamiebk]

xx

[Shapley]

Why would anyone neglect to pay taxes? Forgot? Not a good sign. Procrastination? Not good. Didn’t know about it? Maybe o.k. for a plumber, but… Above it all? Won’t get caught? Didn’t have the money? (I’m self-employed, too, and I make sure I have the money). Doesn’t believe in taxes? Can you think of one good reason for not paying taxes that portends well for a Secretary of the Treasury?

Apparently, he had paid them previously, and his failure to pay them corresponded with the timeframe in which her legal status lapsed. Apparently he resumed payment once her green card was current. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would think that he may have been avoiding paying taxes in order to avoid problems associated with the employment of an illegal alien (as in Nannygate). If I were a conspiracy theorist, that is...