The Devil's Paintbrush

Tonight I'd like to tell you the tale of one of histories great inventors. So great in fact... that Thomas Eddison paid him to move to Europe and stop working on new designs.

Tonight... we're going to talk about Hyram Stevens Maxim... and what happened after Eddison made him that deal.

One never knows how even the most flippant remarks may effect world history. There is no greater example... than this one.

While he was in Europe Hyram was visited by an old friend from America. His friend said to him... "Look.. drop all this chemistry nonsense. If you want to make real money... give the Europeans something to cut each other's throats with."

Flippant as it may seem... that statement rocked Maxim to his core.

By 1886 he had his first working prototype. It was accurate. It was ultimately reliable... and at a time when the finest soldiers in the world could fire 26 rounds per minute with a bolt action rifle... you could put a moron behind this weapon and tell him to pull the trigger... and fire a symbolic 666 rounds per minute.

Maxim invented the worlds first machine gun... in 1886. When americans were still using Gatlin Guns.

The Crash

What you are looking at is a graph of the Baltic Dry Index. Now most likely you have no idea what that is. Basicly its a tool that estimates the demand for shipping world wide. It estimates the price of a standard cargo shipment, and tracks the cost change over time. The higher the cost of the shipment, the higher the demand for shipping.

Now this is important... because when economies are working... things are moving around. Stuff has to go from factories to stores... from country to country. Dig? These types of tools tell us a lot about the state of the economy world wide.

Now take a good look. From a high of 12,000 a few months ago... to 1000 today.

Ya know what that means? It means stuff ain't moving around. It means... factories aren't selling goods. It means factories aren't even making goods.

Consider as well... Its Christmas people. This is supposed to be the busiest time of year for shipping companies. Look at the graph. At the end of each year there is a spike. Not this year.

Not good.

Not good at all.

A New Tool

In many situations I've taken to carrying two steyr m40's. After all... the quickest way to reload is to draw another weapon. Still... even a gun nut like me has to admit that a firearm is only one tool. It is not the answer to all personal security questions.

So... I've indugled myself a bit... and picked up a few stun guns.

I went with Black Cobra... 600,000 volts. They're very small... think cigarette pack... and believe it or not... they are powered by a 9-volt battery.

Unfortunately there is not a lot of info on individual stun guns. You can't go read reviews of them... because lets face it... test subjects aren't easy to find... and lets face it.. cats look far to flamable for something like this.

I can tell you.. the little bastard makes a very loud pop... and throws an impressive spark.

I don't know that I can recommend relying on something like this as your own and only line of defence. Not until I can actually see it used. Still... no more than they cost... It certainly seems like a good option.

And lets face it... a stun gun may save you some legal bills.

Glocks Suck

I thought I should take some time to explain my disdain for Glock... and to provide some contrast... I'll also explain why the Steyrs I own are demonstratably superior in every way.

First.. you need to understand that the Glock was designed as a 9mm. When they decided to offer it in .40... they had a choice... redesign the whole weapon... or find some way to rig it.

Guess what they chose?

That's right. They simply rebarrelled, modified the breech face, and dropped in a stiffer spring... and called it a Glock 22... or 23... depending. In fact... many manufacturers have done this... including S&W... with the S&W 99.

We call this bastardization an Unsupported Chamber. If that sounds bad... its because it is. In unsupported chambers brass expands far to much... and is even mishapen... most commonly expanded oval.. pushed down in the 6 o'clock position. Brass fired from an M40 measures between .428 and .430. Brass fired from a Glock 22 measures .431 to .433. That's a huge difference... as anyone who reloads can tell you.

Look inside a M40 sometime. Side by side with a Glock 22 you'll notice right away how much beefier the Steyr is. Because again... the Steyr was designed to be a .40. Not a 9mm.

The simple truth is... you don't want to reload brass that was fired from an unsupported chamber... and you want to be very careful about what loads you put in that chamber... lest you learn first hand why we use the term KaBoom.

I'm not trying to panic you here. If you're shooting factory tested ammo... you're obviously fine. But you should think long and hard before you start rollin' your own for your Glock. Glock isn't interested in making sure your brass lasts. They apparently only give a damn about rigging up half-assed designs that function... sort of.

The only good thing about glocks is the fact that you can't swing a dead cat without hitting one. Consequently ammo manufacturers have beefed up their cases to attempt to deal with the flaws in the 22 and 23.

How pathetic is that?

And now for a little background. The Steyr M4o was designed by a former employ of Glock... Wilhelm Bubits. He was around at the begining... and was extremely critical of the 22 and 23 designs for the reasons listed above. He was so frustrated with Glock's designs he actually became a designer himself and presented his copyrights to Glock. Glock didn't like the M40... so he took it across the street to Steyr.

They loved the design... and after some tweaking put it into production. The result was the most impressive modern pistol that no one gave a chance.

What Would You Do?

You wake up.. and the internet is buzzing. While you slept last night... by executive order... martial law has been declared and all firearms are to be confiscated. The government says you have 24-hours to turn in all weapons and ammunition at the nearest police station. Anyone caught with so much as one bullet will be imprisoned without trial.

There are pictures and videos of huge fenced areas where violators will be taken. The government refers to these concentration camps as "Gun Court".

You have 24 hours.

No time to wait for a trial or an injunction. Federal judges have refused to accept any challenge to the orders.

What do you do?

At 11:00 an army general holds a news conference where he explains that this is a military mission and it will be handled as such. The membership records of the NRA have already been siezed... along with the records of all pro-gun organizations. He states plainly that the homes of every NRA member will be searched. They have begun searching digital pictures from public survielence systems searching for hints of fire arms ownership like bumperstickers or t-shirts. He announces that the FBI has turned over the background checks on every firearm purchase made in the last decade.

At 4:00pm the President announces that you have 12 hours left to turn in your weapons. People have started leaving work to turn in their guns. Police are everywhere... soldiers are everywhere. They aren't doing anything... they are just... around.

What do you do?

This is all fantasy right? This can't happen. It never happens like this. Its just nuts.

Well consider... this is exactly how it happened in Jamaica in 1972.

OWNED

Please watch this particularly entertaining clip on Youtube.

You will hear Peter Schiff (Ron Paul's chief economic advisor) explain in specific terms exactly what happened to the market this year... and why... and he did so in 2006 and 2007. Pay particular attention to the buy recommendations given by the other so called experts. They are telling you how cheap Merril Lynch is at 58 bucks a share.

Everyone that listened flushed that money down the toilet.

Who's laughing now bitches?

Sig Heil

So... Its not with a little suprise... that I find otherwise intelligent people shrugging their shoulders when they learn of Der Fuhrer's plans for requiring community service.

I mean... what's wrong with community service right?

Well... let's see... when you think of community service.. you probably think of some hearty volunteers spending an afternoon picking up litter... or serving soup to the poor at the local kitchen.

What you don't think about... is boot camp. You don't think about 3 months of your life at a barracks. You don't think about 50 jumping jacks in Aunt Samantha's Civilian Security Force.

But you should.

Because that's what Obama and his advisors are talking about.

When they say community service... they mean... conscripting your kids into a civilian police force that will conveniently circumvent the US laws which prevent the US military from taking action against US citizens.

There is nothing else such a force can do, that cannot already be done by the National Guard.

Consider... There is already a system in place for civilians to voluntarily and temporarily serve the country... its called the National Guard. We don't need a completely new organization...unless the National Guard isn't good enough. And its obviously not. If it was... the administration could simply suggest requiring everyone to serve there-in. But nope... that doesn't solve their problem. They want a new force entirely... and they are specific about it being a "civilian" force.

In other words... a police force... for a police state.

This is not paranoia people. This is the only logical conclusion.

The new administration is flat out declaring their intentions to create an extremely well funded federal police force the likes of which has never existed on this continent.

Pack.

Your.

Bags.

Look at the Loonies!

Boy the morons are getting pretty damned brazen aren't they? I mean am I the only one paying attention here? Have y'all noticed all the psycho ideas that have bubbled up from the cesspool of the liberal mind? The election was held less than 7 days ago... and so far we have...

- Confiscation of all 401ks and IRAs.

- A 1 dollar per gallon gas tax INCREASE

- A Gestapo. Well... I mean a civilian security force.

- Adding community service to middle school, high school, and college curriculums

- Outlawing High Tide

Ok I'm kidding about that last one... but give them time.

We're So Outta Here

Let me start off by saying the blog may under go some changes. Mainly you can expect that the most common topic will be escape. I choose the word escape... because that's what it is. Escaping what may well become Fortress Amerika is now priority number 1.

So... if like me... expatriating is something you're serious about... or if its something that is a little more interesting after the recent unfortunate events... then I think you'll enjoy things around here a lot.

If it all sounds defeatest and you're looking for someone to lead a rebellion... look elsewhere.

I don't give a damn about this yankee hell hole.

I don't give a damn about the flag or the principles for which it now stands.

My loyality is to my God and to my wife and kids.

So lets start this off right...

Here are some countries that are high on our list right now:

Panama
Belize
Switzerland
Brazil

Our plan is pretty simple really... vacation in the places that interest us... make professional contacts while we're abroad... then make the decision.

Awake

Last year a movie came out called Awake. You probably saw the previews. It played on a popular fear of waking up during surgery... being paralyzed... but still feeling everything that happens during the procedure.

Now... this lead to people all over the country harassing anesthesiologists with stupid questions.

I mean seriously... did you call up NASA and ask them if there really was a moon sized space station capable of destroyign planets? I mean... you saw it on a movie right?

There are countless claims of course by people who say this happened to them. Never mind that you can pull the chart from their case and see plain as day that their blood pressure and heart rate never fluctuated.

See... Anesthesiologists don't just sit around back there with their thumbs up their butts. They moniter every vital sign. More than that... in many cases they manipulate them. They stop you from breathing and do it for you. If necessary... they stop your heart deliberately... then restart it.

Now ask yourself this question... when you're scared... or in severe pain... does your heart rate remain completely steady? Or does it start pounding like hell?

And on top of everything else... even if you did "get a little light", which is what they call it when you start twitching or something during surgery, they crank the gas up big time... and you stop twitching. Not to mention... they have these wonderful drugs that have the greatest of side effects... They eradicate short term memory.

So if you did wake up... no way in hell you'd remember it.

All of that said... If an anesthesiologist wanted you to feel it all and remember you felt it... he could... and if you payed attention during that assinine movie... you'll note the medical staff was actually trying kill the protagonist.

Oh... those drugs with the convenient side effects? I should also point out that some of the gases are known to cause extremely violent dreams... and think about it... you're going into surgery... what you scared of? What's on your mind?

So yes... I'm saying they dreamed it. All of them. Well.. except the ones that REALLY pissed off their anesthesiologists.