What Dreams Are Made Of

Posted on January 27, 2012 by James R. Rummel

I had an hour to kill, so I laid my weary head down for a nap.  Sleep rushed upon me.

The Earth was doomed.  There was room on the ships for all the humans to escape, but animals would be left behind to die in pain and fear.

Leave my dogs, those loving creatures I rescued from the street and gave a home?

That wasn’t going to happen!

I started to build my own craft out of salvaged steel and pressure tanks, bolting and riveting and welding it together.  The planet started to come apart before it was ready.

Gravity was failing.  I floated a bag of kibble through the last hole in the hull, puppy chow looted from an abandoned WalMart.  The window didn’t want to cooperate as I nudged and kicked it into place in a zero gee ballet.  There was an awful shriek coming from outside as an entire world died.  My dogs answered with frantic barking as they hung in their harness, the sound thunder loud as it echoed from the steel.

The glass clicked home, and I worked fast to squeeze the silicon gel out of the tube and into the crack.  There were only seconds to go before the atmosphere boiled away.

It was at this point that the alarm situated next to my bed went off, and I swam my way back to the real world.

So far as dreams go, this one was extremely disappointing.  Silly and ridiculous.  I mean, everyone knows that common bathroom tiling grout won’t hold against a vacuum!

Posted in Funnies | 1 Comment

Packing A Velo-Dog

Posted on January 25, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Cast your mind back to the waning years of the 19th Century.  What was the all consuming fad of the respectable citizen?  Bicycles!

There were a lot of unintended consequences that came from the bike craze.  A fair number of historians claim that the first big push by the voting public to improve roads in the United States came from Wheelmen Associations, clubs formed by bicycle enthusiasts to promote their sport.  Suffragette Susan B. Anthony once praised bicycles during a New York Times interview, claiming that the muscle powered machines did more to bring women closer to true equality with men than anything else.  And, of course, the Wright Brothers managed to finance their research into powered flight with the proceeds from a single bicycle shop in the sleepy backwater of Dayton, Ohio.

So we had people pedaling merrily along, enjoying the great outdoors and getting some exercise.  But there was a hazard along those city streets and quiet country lanes in the form of dogs that rushed to the attack!

It is just as true today as it was back then, that dogs unschooled by their owners will view bicycles rolling on by as abominations that must be attacked.  Bicycles delenda est!

The son of a famous French gunsmith named Rene Galand, inspired by the handgun designs of his sire, is credited with inventing the Velo-Dog in 1904.  The idea was to provide a small handgun that was small and light enough so that it would be no burden for the laboring bicyclist, and with very light recoil so that it would not destroy the delicate balance of the user as they perched atop two spinning wheels.  The result was a .22revolver cartridge that produced a mere 56 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Stuff, Gun and Gear Review, History, Self Defense | 5 Comments

Anyone Got A Spare $200K?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by James R. Rummel

1950′s version of a futuristic jet pack.  Hey, is the fuel gravity fed?

What happens if gravity no longer pulls the fuel down, like when you are falling and really need to get some thrust going?

There actually is a working jetpack that uses water.

Top speed is only 25 MPH (40 KPH), and max height is only 25 feet (8.5 meters), but duration between fueling is 3 hours or so.  Pretty nice!

Posted in Technology | 2 Comments

Like A BB Gun, Except Louder

Posted on January 23, 2012 by James R. Rummel

It is difficult to imagine the impression autoloading handguns made in the opening days of the 20th Century.  Many people were only used to revolvers with clunky loading gates, slow to reload and low in firepower.

(Picture source.)

Semi-auto handguns must have seemed like science fiction made reality.  Shoot until the gun goes empty, slap in another loaded magazine, and keep shooting.  Using a large and powerful cartridge wasn’t seen as being absolutely necessary with that kind of projectile hose.  An endless stream of bullets to defeat any foe!

But urban dwellers wanted to conceal their self defense tools.  Small and unobtrusive was the way to go.  Designs chambered for the pitifully weak .25 ACP cartridge, like the Baby Browning, proved to be very popular.

(Picture source.)

If small is good, the theory goes, even smaller must be better!  So how small can you go?

(Picture source, as well as the source of all following pictures in this post.)

The Austrian firm of Erika specialized in firearms designed specifically for the woman with self defense on her mind.  The idea was to produce guns that could be comfortably carried in an elegant lady’s purse or handwarming muff, tiny and unobtrusively lightweight until brought forth to deal with a footpad.

The example above is chambered for the 4.25mm Lilliput, a cartridge that produces a measly 17 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.  That is about what you can get from an air powered BB gun if you pump it up pretty well.

How does that 17 ft/lbs compare to the .25 ACP, a cartridge I think is too underpowered for self defense purposes?  Considering that the .25 produces around 75 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, and also keeping in mind that such guns were marketed for female self defense, you can see how I reached the conclusion that men in the early 20th Century really didn’t value their women all that much.

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Posted in Gun and Gear Review, History, Self Defense | 5 Comments

Shocking!

Posted on January 19, 2012 by James R. Rummel

A balanced and respectful interview from National Public Radio, that bastion of Liberal thinking?

You can certainly count on the reporters at NPR to be polite, even slavish, if you are promoting Leftist ideology.  But what if you wrote a book about how Glocks changed American gun culture for the better?

I was so surprised that you could have knocked me over with a shovel!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Toy Guns Cost $5,000.00 Each In New York

Posted on January 19, 2012 by James R. Rummel

A discount store in Brooklyn put six Sheriff toy sets on the shelf, and now are facing a $30,000.00 fine.  That is five grand per toy gun.

Seems there is a law which makes it illegal to sell toy guns which look too realistic.  For some reason, a shiny plastic gun with a red tip fits the bill in The Big Apple.

The manager of the store has been fighting the penalty.  After an appeal hearing, the fines were reduced to “… about $5,400.”  Since the store couldn’t afford the lower sum either, they decided to take a stab at another appeal to try and get the fines down to zero.  Turned out to be a big mistake.

“After the store argued that no reasonable person would believe the guns were real, the hearing officer upheld the original fine, as did an appeals judge last week.”

In other words, “SCREW YOU, toy seller!  Claim that the original charge was silly and we’ll show you who’s boss!” After all, the powers-that-be have to protect their racket.

This isn’t the first time that the New York government has proven itself to be a bunch of swaggering bullies.  A former Marine visiting the city with $15,000.00 worth of jewelry he was going to sell ended up in the slammer for carrying a gun for protection.  An innocent tourist from Tennessee visiting the World Trade Center site was arrested for trying to do the right thing and check her defensive firearm when faced with a “NO GUNS ALLOWED” sign.

One incident which points up the paranoia and hatred that New York has against all things firearm can be found here.  When an off duty police officer was wounded during a bloody shootout with armed robbers, an unarmed school safety officer snatched up the fallen weapon and protected innocent lives.  It was touch-and-go for awhile if the quick thinking hero would face serious jail time.

“It was unclear if the shots fired by the school safety agent struck any of the suspects and if he would face charges of reckless endangerment for picking up the officer’s weapon and firing it, the official said. He isn’t a licensed gun owner. Even if he was licensed to carry a weapon, it is illegal to use a weapon belonging to someone else, the official said.”

Okay, okay, we get it.  Put your life on the line to save others, stand up to hardened criminals that are trying to kill you and other innocent bystanders, and New York will do what it can to ruin your life.

Why does anyone live there?

Just to show the good folks in New York what they are missing, below are a few pictures of the toys available here in Columbus, Ohio.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2nd Amendment, Gun Control Laws | 5 Comments

Sheer Poetry

Posted on January 16, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Chas brings us a poem you might enjoy.  I certainly did!

Posted in Blog Stuff | 1 Comment

I Hear You Knocking, But You Can’t Come In

Posted on January 16, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Someone tried to walk through my door last week.

I was sitting at the computer, just ten feet from the entrance to my very small apartment.  I heard the knob turn, and someone banged their shoulder into the panel.

My pit bull, Christopher T. Dog, went completely berserk.

He wasn’t that laid back about it.  It was less “Rub my tummy!“, and more like ….

… even though he doesn’t look anything like the German Shepherd pictured.

Why didn’t the door pop open?  Because it is always locked, obviously.

Most people look at their homes as the comfort zone, an area that is completely their property where they can relax without pressure.  An invulnerable bunker against the cares and concerns of the day, so to speak.  They usually only lock their doors right before retiring to bed.

People like me look at their homes as a suit of armor we strap on for added safety.  Instead of making us invulnerable from harm, it is merely one of the many self defense tools we use during the day.  And it isn’t much of a self defense tool unless the doors and windows are protected.

What did I do, with Chris leaping against the door with fanged maw agape?  I picked up my own set of fangs.

A defensive firearm is with me every minute I am home, strapped to my body or close at hand.  In this incident it was resting on the desk right next to my keyboard.

After arming myself, I walked over to the door and applied my eye to the peephole.

All clear.  No one outside.

So then I walked into the bedroom, a journey which is but a few steps in my tiny living space, and peered through the curtains to see if someone had flattened themselves against the wall.

Continue reading →

Posted in Home Security, Self Defense | 9 Comments

Revolver Speed

Posted on January 16, 2012 by James R. Rummel

A milestone in gun control history is the 1920 Firearms Act, legislation which passed the UK Parliament at a time of great social unrest in that country.  It turned gun ownership, which had been a right in Great Britain for centuries, into a privilege which was only granted on the whim of unelected government officials.

There were rational short term reasons for the shift in policy.  A flurry of international agreements had quickly, and perhaps unwisely, signed at the end of WWI.  More were sure to come, but were still in the talk-talk stage that comes before anyone gets around to signing documents.  Since almost all of these treaties regulated the production, transport, and sales of arms in one way or another, the 1920 Firearms Act was seen as a way to get a handle on a complex and nuanced situation before Great Britain inadvertently violated international law.

But such esoteric and abstract arguments did little to sway the man in the street.  How to convince the voters that it was a good idea to give up a right that had been enjoyed with no discernible problems for hundreds of years?  The powers that be managed to get public opinion on their side by demonizing a particular kind of firearm.

The weapon chosen to be labeled as a monstrous threat to public safety was the “automatic pistol”.  In the hands of anarchists and terrorists bent on violence, this type of firearm was supposedly “…more deadly than a bomb!“  What made it so effective was the way that rounds could be sprayed out with such speed that, should it be deployed in a crowded public space, the carnage would be too terrible to contemplate.

Semi-auto handguns had only been around for 25 years or so when the 1920 Act was signed.  So the politicians must have been talking about relatively new technology of which they were unfamiliar.  Guns like the following, perhaps.

Perhaps the authors of the 1920 Firearms Act were particularly savvy when it came to forseeing future developments in the field of handguns, as the German firm of Mauser introduced a select fire version of their C96 handgun in 1932.

Continue reading →

Posted in Gun Control Laws, Gun Handling, Gun and Gear Review, History, Jolly Old England, Law Enforcement, Technology | 10 Comments

I Find This Image …. Disturbing

Posted on January 14, 2012 by James R. Rummel

(Picture source.)

Posted in Gun Handling, Pictures | 3 Comments

Strictly For A History Buff

Posted on January 13, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Thought you might find this to be of interest, if you have a deep interest in WWII.  It is a photo array of armored vehicles destroyed during The Battle of Lake Balaton on the Eastern Front.

If a couple of military game grognards get together every weekend to log the latest turn in their decades old Axis and Allies match, I bet they could get a drinking game out of the photo array.  All they have to do is shout out the model of the destroyed tank as it appears on the screen.  The one who was slower to ID the smashed panzer has to gulp a shot.

Something tells me that whoever loses the first few rounds will find that their success rate would plummet as soon as the alcohol starts to take effect.  It would be a rather one sided conflict after that.

Much like the Battle of Lake Balaton, come to think of it.

Posted in History, Military, Pictures | 3 Comments

Soldierly Roots

Posted on January 10, 2012 by James R. Rummel

The archeological evidence is pretty clear.  Primitive man waged war with an enthusiasm that dwarfs the conflicts of today.

The reasoning by current scholars is that weapons developed for hunting could very easily be used for warfare.  If a spear or arrow can bring down even large and dangerous game, those same tools can certainly be used against a human foe.

So hunting implements could equip the first warriors, but they needed a little modification when armor started to be worn.  What was the first purpose built military weapon?  Most scholars agree that it was the mace.

Little more than a club with at least half of the weight at the tip, the idea was to smash through helmets made of boiled hide and reinforced with bone strips sewn on the outside.  Extremely effective against a man in armor, but of very questionable use for hunting.

The mace made an impression in those far distant Neolithic times.  Long before the invention of writing, this tool to smash heads was acknowledged as being the symbol of kingly might.  (“Obey the monarch, or get your own brains splattered!”)  Even today, a stylized mace in the form of a jeweled sceptre is the ultimate symbol of government authority.

Continue reading →

Posted in Gun and Gear Review, Hand to Hand, History, Military, Technology | 14 Comments

Barracks Room Comparison

Posted on January 7, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Here is a photo array of a Russian Army barracks that is currently in service.

How does it stack up to the American or British version?  Dunno, as I never served myself.  Any of my readers who have more first hand knowledge are invited to help out on this, with thanks.

I do note that there doesn’t seem to be any video game consoles to be seen.  The vending machine also offers cigarettes, which is rather rare here in the States.

Posted in Blog Stuff, Military | 14 Comments

Criminals Is Stupid

Posted on January 6, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Here in the United States, it is possible to find an electronic coin counting device near the entrance to most major supermarket stores.

The idea is to dump loose change into the hopper, the machine chuckles to itself for awhile as it sorts them out, and then it provides a printed slip of paper with the value of the coins minus ten percent.  Use the slip of paper to buy your groceries, same as cash.

It is  handy little service, and I’ve used it myself from time to time.  I think it is worth the 10% surcharge to have a machine count pennies, rather than for me to spend the required time to count them by hand, place them in paper rolls, and then take them to the bank.

The machine only sorts coins by size and weight.  It cannot tell the difference between ordinary currency, and rare coins valued by collectors.  Drop a collectible dime in the hopper and you get nine cents credited on the paper slip, not the ten thousand dollars a coin dealer would pay.

It seems that some thieves broke into a shed where a coin collector stored two safes, and made off with his valuable property.  What did they do with this valuable windfall, worth thousands?  They went to a grocery store with a coin counting machine and dumped the loot in the hopper.

The machine rejected coins that were made of silver, as they weigh differently than modern versions that are untainted by the valuable metal.  Those were taken to a bank by the criminals.

One of the suspects is the son of the victim.  He is doubly stupid, as it seems sure to me that his Dad was sure to recognize him from the bank’s video.

Posted in Crime | 5 Comments

Good And Bad

Posted on January 6, 2012 by James R. Rummel

About one half of the sexual assault victims I have encountered were male.  This surprises some people, as they assume that it is impossible for men to be attacked in such a way unless they are in prison.

Various activists have been claiming for decades that sexual assault is an act of violence, not of sex.  Most of the people saying this were feminists, and few are the claims made by feminists that I think are credible.  But this time around we are in agreement.

By any measure, sexual crimes against men must outnumber those committed against women.  After all, men are much more likely to be the victim of violent crimes.  So how come we don’t hear of sexual assault against males more often?

My students claimed that there was a howling lack of support for people who suffered in this way.  Not only socially, but also organized programs to provide some sort of relief were very difficult to find.  Many of the male victims of sexual assault I talked to said that my charity self defense course was the only thing of its kind they could find.

That might change, as the Obama administration has moved to expand the definition of a rape victim.  It used to be that only females were counted as such, but soon males will also be included.

We will see how this works out, but I’m guardedly hopeful.

Posted in Crime | 3 Comments

Justified Use Of Lethal Force

Posted on January 6, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Why did I start my charity self defense program?  Because I hate bullies!

I realized very quickly that I couldn’t be everywhere.  I’m not a bodyguard, and even if I was I couldn’t protect everyone that was under threat.  So I decided to train the infirm and helpless in armed self defense.  I couldn’t do anything about them being infirm, but they were no longer helpless after a very short period of time.

This isn’t a unique mindset in the United States.  Most police officers will say that stopping bullies in their tracks was the main motivation for them to join the force. Instead of training potential victims in self protection, they decided to pursue a career where they perform the service for the public at large.

Steven was kind enough to give me a heads up to this article over at PowerLine.  Three separate incidents where very young people employed lethal force to protect themselves and other innocent lives, all within a single month.

There are two threads running through all of these stories which I would like to bring to your attention.

In each incident, if they had remained unarmed, the potential victims would have been seriously overmatched by the criminals.  Rape, murder, or a life-threatening beating was what awaited them if they had not taken positive steps to arm themselves against their attackers.  It was only because weapons were taken in hand, backed by the will to use them, that tragedy was averted.  Such is the phrase “Violence never solved anything” proven to be a meaningless mouthing of tripe.

The second element is that all of the deaths were judged to be justifiable homicides.  This is, perhaps, something that is unique to the United States. We just plain hate those who prey upon the weak, and are not afraid to let that fact be known.

The national motto of the United States is “In God We Trust”.  I think it would be more accurate if it was “Bullies Beware!”

Posted in Crime, Self Defense | 1 Comment

Police Brutality

Posted on January 6, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Police officers are held to a higher standard.

That is just the cost of doing business.  If you can’t rein in your emotions, act cool and collected when just about anyone else would become angry, then you have no business putting on a badge.

This video is from the BBC version of Cops.  Watch what Martin the police officer does between 1:42 and 1:46.

Perfectly reasonable, considering the fright that the suspect gave to him just a moment before?  Perhaps so, but still a violation of the rules.

Posted in Jolly Old England, Law Enforcement | 15 Comments

Suppressed

Posted on January 5, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Hollywood fakery, obviously.

Posted in Movies | 3 Comments

I See Years Of Therapy In Your Future, Little Girl

Posted on January 5, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Posted in Pictures | 1 Comment

Passing Of A Legend

Posted on January 3, 2012 by James R. Rummel

Bob Anderson was a fencing master who worked on many Hollywood films over the past 55 years.  When Darth Vader took up his lightsaber against Luke Skywalker, it was Mr. Anderson who was wearing the cape.

It seems that Mr. Anderson passed away on New Years Day.

Of course, there are many other accomplishments that he racked up in his long life.  He served in the Royal Navy during WWII, and represented Great Britain at the Olympics.  But it was in his movie work that his life intersected ours in a more direct way.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments