February 28, 2003
"Threat level for every flyer"
I heard about this yesterday. Thanks to Michael for sending me a link about it today.
Transportation officials say a contractor will be picked soon to build the nationwide computer system, which will check such things as credit reports and bank account activity and compare passenger names with those on government watch lists.
I ask: what degree of police state are you people willing to put up with?
Quote of the day
The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.
Wang Yang-Ming
1472-1529
February 27, 2003
HighLift Systems: a commercial space elevator in our near future?
I just found out about HighLift Systems today. Looks like someone is trying seriously to make a business out of the space elevator concept.
Update on the Ronald Dixon case
Fox News' Hannity & Colmes just now completed an update on their coverage of a month ago on the plight of Ronald Dixon, again interviewing Mr. Dixon, the Brooklyn man who honorably defended his family - his wife and 2 year-old child - from a vicious scumbag home invader (who, by the way, has a 15-page Brooklyn rap sheet and 5 felony convictions under his belt). I'm not surprised to hear that the Brooklyn DA is dead set on persecuting/prosecuting Mr. Dixon.
The DA wants to put Mr. Dixon away, in prison, for a year, on a spurious "unregistered firearm" charge. I consider this actionable criminal behavior on the part of the DA: an attempt at prosecution with malice. The DA should himself face charges.
Mr. Dixon is doing the honorable thing, refusing to plea bargain with the DA. Even Alan Colmes, an anti-gun liberal, is passionately on Mr. Dixon's side in this matter. It's interesting to note that while Mr. Dixon appeared with his defense attorney Andrew Friedman, at no point did Friedman try to keep Mr. Dixon from saying anything he wanted to say. This is a very clear-cut case of justifiable self-defense, and the DA is not exercising his discretion in dismissing the spurious registration charges.
Greta Van Susteren asked an interesting rhetorical question of Colmes in the transition to her show: is the Brooklyn DA elected or appointed?
I'll remind readers here that there's a cheap, effective way to contact the Brooklyn DA. Use it. Use it again.
A better way to complain about Mark Morford
News of Mark Morford's latest disgraceful San Francisco Chronicle article has spread like wildfire the last 36 hours. Quite a few people have expressed their displeasure with his irresponsible rantings, writing him directly. I'm not convinced that writing the guy does anything more than let him know that he's succeeding in angering people he obviously wanted to anger. He's a print-medium version of a radio shock jock: he wants to raise our hackles.
I would like to emphasize, as I did in my original post on the matter, that he should lose his job at the Chronicle, since he's going to cost his employer advertising dollars if he continues. That's the way to be truly effective. Certainly, you should copy Morford on your complaint, but he's much more likely to get that special sinking feeling when he realizes that he's simply a 3rd party in the complaint.
The SF Chronicle does have an impressively comprehensive "Address Book" page, from which I'll excerpt this interesting little tidbit:
Reader representative: If you have comments on The Chronicle's coverage, standards or accuracy, please call Dick Rogers, the readers' representative, at (415) 777-7870. Written comments can be e-mailed to readerrep@sfchronicle.com, faxed to (415) 442-1847, or addressed to Readers' Representative, c/o San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103. For information on delivery, billing or how to become a subscriber, call (800) 281-2476.
The Chronicle has a page listing contact information for the people who run the revenue side (advertising makes up the lion's share of a newspaper's revenue stream).
Consider contacting these people directly:
- George Raine - Business Reporter, Advertising and Marketing
- Beverly Best - Retail/National Sales Manager - (415) 777-7244
And here's the masthead: the people who actually run the paper's operations. Contact them.
The Japanese have a word for it too: Kaitakusha Seishin / Pioneering Spirit
I've just now posted this to my other blog.
Japan has extropians and cryonicists, and a language capable of expressing our ideas. Oh, and it's a country of latent gun nuts. There's hope... on a singularitarian timescale.
Quote of the day
...then I speak my mind. TV likes a nut. If I just speak my mind honestly, I fulfill all my nut obligations.
(I hate to be the one to break this to y'all, but being a Libertarian, pro-freedom, governs-least-governs-best, free market advocate makes you as bugnutty in the TV world as Christopher Walken tangoing with Dennis Hopper while Sinead O'Connor plays finger cymbals.)
February 26, 2003
Geoff Metcalf returns fire against Mark Morford
I'd written earlier about a piece of trash writing pawned off on San Francisco Chronicle readers today. Geoff Metcalf returns fire against Mark Morford in an analysis piece; highly recommended. Geoff also makes the point that the Chronicle is especially potentially vulnerable in respect of their advertising revenue (thanks to Dr. Edgar Suter for passing this along).
Mark Morford does it yet again. This time, let's make the San Francisco Chronicle pay, literally
Dale Seago once again alerts us to another wildly hysterical San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece by Mark Morford, this time entitled "Me And My Big Dumb Gun", bemoaning the introduction of the new Smith & Wesson .50 caliber handgun.
I urge you to read the article and see just how vile a writer can be. Search this site for references to "Morford", and also read Dr. Edgar Suter's early commentary on the same, as well as Dr. Jim Finn's response.
These were done in response to Morford's earlier rant, but - surprise, surprise - seem to have done little or nothing to convince Mr. Morford (unlikely, anyway) or his employer to curb his nasty behavior.
I suggest this: do continue to editorialize against the idiot writer, but direct your responses to the advertisers of the San Francisco Chronicle, copying the Chronicle editors. This is a tactic suggested a while back by L. Neil Smith, who is in my experienced opinion correct in stating that the threat of losing advertising dollars is the only thing editors truly fear.
I will very gladly reproduce well-written letters here. Copy me at whitakerATsurvivalartsDOTcom (replace the appropriate tokens with "@" and ".", proving to me you're not a spambot).
Quote of the day
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.
T.E. Lawrence
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
February 25, 2003
Oleg Volk's "A Human Right" site
Thanks to commenter Dirk for pointing me to this excellent resource! I highly recommend pointing your friends to this site, Oleg Volk's "A Human Right", especially potential new shooters - females, particularly - and political fencesitters.
Aside from being an excellent source of pro-rights arguments, there are so many superb, powerful images worth reproducing. For fellow Bujinkan practicioners, there's an interesting article by a Texas shidoshi on martial arts & firearms.
The Liberty Belles ask: "which would you choose?"
The Liberty Belles issue this challenge:
Which would you choose?
Quote of the day
The enemies of the Industrial Revolution — its displaced persons — were of the kind that had fought human progress for centuries, by every means available. In the Middle Ages, their weapon was the fear of God. In the nineteenth century, they still invoked the fear of God — for instance, they opposed the use of anesthesia on the grounds that it defies God’s will, since God intended men to suffer. When this weapon wore out, they invoked the will of the collective, the group, the tribe. But since this weapon has collapsed in their hands, they are now reduced, like cornered animals, to baring their teeth and their souls, and to proclaiming that man has no right to exist — by the divine will of inanimate matter.
The demand to “restrict” technology is the demand to restrict man’s mind. It is nature - i.e., reality - that makes both these goals impossible to achieve. Technology can be destroyed, and the mind can be paralyzed, but neither can be restricted. Whenever and wherever such restrictions are attempted, it is the mind - not the state - that withers away.
Ayn Rand
“The Anti-Industrial Revolution,” from Return of the Primitive
February 24, 2003
BASTARDS! New York State to regulate martial arts!
Thanks to Clayton for pointing out this shocker: New York State to regulate martial arts (originally posted on Sword Forum).
These east coast martial arts licencing & regulation schemes are partially a way to eliminate non-sport, combat martial arts, like the Bujinkan arts, and partially a way for the "respectable" sport arts such as Tae Kwon Do and (modern) Karate to lock the rest of us out of "their" turf. This needs to be fought.
Miami Vice "Calderone" Video: amazing gun handling clips
A while back on the Front Sight Alumni site, there was some discussion about a Miami Vice episode a couple of decades ago, called "Calderone", in which a real-life pistol champion plays a character (in this case, a hitman) who executes one of the most spectacular displays of true gun handling ever caught on film and integrated into a fictional narrative.
Apparently the episode aired a couple of nights ago. Video captures are available too... wow. Do check them out.
Quote of the day
You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... so let's look at the bird and see what it's doing - that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.
Richard Phillips Feynman
February 23, 2003
An ancient Japanese hideout gun
Thanks to fellow Bujinkan practicioner Jeff Sherwin, who knows my interest in firearms, for giving me copies of a couple of photos he took on a recent trip to Japan. Pictured here is what is apparently either a flintlock or percussion blackpowder single-shot pistol, artfully concealed to resemble a tanto. This would be worn in a samurai's obi, even in a castle, where longswords were often not allowed. This is a digital scan of a low-contrast analog photograph, so please forgive the lack of detail:
Here's a blurb from a Japanese tourist guide:
The simple yet magnificent castle has become the symbol of Matsumoto. The 5 tiered 6 storied castle tower is approximately 30 meters tall and is the nation's oldest among existing castles. The dark stairwell leads to a viewpoint of the Matsumoto plains. The moon-viewing turret and all sorts of crenelations for stones, arrows, bullets and such still remain. The battlements and the scarce windows are all parts of the historic war strategies which display the intense power struggle of the times.On the 2nd floor of the Matsumoto-jo Castle tower is an exhibit of 106 historic guns [emphasis mine - ed.] as well as references regarding modern weapons.
All the times I've been to Japan, and the year I lived there, I never thought to visit this museum near Nagano. I plan to make the trip sometime, and take a very good digital camera with me. Jeff has enticed me with descriptions of grenadier samurai armor and lacquered blackpowder grenades. I really must see this stuff.
Oh, and relatedly, I guess it's about time I get around to writing a review of Noel Perrin's Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879, as I'd mentioned a while back.
Rock SOPMOD M-14 Commando Carbine: opinions solicited
Thanks to my friend Michael for passing this along to me: the Rock SOPMOD M-14 conversion ("Commando Carbine"). I'd love to try one of these 9-pound carbine modifications. It's apparently a smaller overall package than even a typical M-4.
Notice also the IER (intermediate eye relief) mounted Aimpoint, placed Scout-style. Anyone have experience with this? I'd love to see your comments.
Quote of the day
For the better part of those eight centuries under the shoguns, most Japanese were unaware that emperors still existed, and only a small circle of court nobles continued to regard them as divine. When the shoguns were toppled in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan's new strongmen gained control of the current Son of Heaven, a boy of 15, and announced that the whole country had "submitted to rule by the divine emperor." This was sheer bluff. Even today, there are huge credibility gaps in Japan. If there were a Japanese version of the fable The Emperor's New Clothes, the tailor would be executed for exposing the truth, the little child for speaking the truth and the peasantry for seeing the truth.
The Yamato Dynasty, p15
Sterling and Peggy Seagrave
February 22, 2003
Looks like Bill Whittle will be publishing in print soon
I'd opined a few days ago that Bill Whittle, author of the essay Courage, should publish a book of his writings (an opinion neither original or unique to me). Looks like he'll be doing exactly that, soon.
56 years later, the socialist arms designer finally sells out
Octagenarian arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov has finally agreed to start licencing his name... to a German firm selling "manly products". Took him long enough: guess he still has a few years to enjoy some benefit from the half-century of marketing of his easy-to-field ingenuity.
Quote of the day
The three-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots.
Robert A. Heinlein
February 21, 2003
Reminder: Women's Safety Series - Weapons Disarming, Teri Seago, 22 Feb 2003 (San Francisco) TOMORROW
This is a reminder that Teri Seago's Weapon Disarming seminar is tomorrow. I very strongly recommend her to women wanting to learn the art.
Quote of the day
Take the best and make it better. If it doesn't exist, create it. Accept nothing nearly right or good enough.
Sir Henry Royce
February 20, 2003
Opening shots in a libertarian culture war: "What Ever Happened to TV?"
L. Neil Smith has some interesting things to say about the state of television. Take this interesting tidbit about the Star Trek franchise:
Star Trek: the Next Generation came along and I watched it, too. In many ways it was a tremendous improvement over the original series, although the world it was set in would have been a fascist nightmare to live in, the hero was more bureaucrat than ship's captain, and the "final frontier" was being settled under strict military and political supervision, after the timid Canadian or Australian models—which is to say not much at all—instead of the robust and energetic American model.The best episodes of the series were those involving the Klingon civil war, when it became clear almost immediately that the Klingons were the only decent, honorable, heroic, and worthwhile people in the galaxy. Maybe that's why the socialist creators of the series had it terminated. There has to be some reasonable explanation. To this day, Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) says that she doesn't know why they did it.
The essay continues to state that The Libertarian Enterprise will, from now, be taking on a much broader mission, to take back popular culture from assorted fascists and other scumbags. See "You Can't Fight a Culture War If You Ain't Got Any Culture" for some background reading.
Fundamentals of Nanotechnology Tutorial, 2 May 2003, Palo Alto, California
Those of you interested in learning the why and what of the concepts of molecular nanotechnology should consider attending the Fundamentals of Nanotechnology Tutorial, 2 May 2003, Palo Alto, California, hosted by the Foresight Institute. Lecturers include K. Eric Drexler, Ralph Merkle, Scott Mize, and Ed Neihaus.
Quote of the day
"But vehicles, they are different somehow. If you do not believe it is possible to love an inanimate object, then you do not know too many teenage boys and their first cars. Ships have always been she. Airplanes, too. And I don’t think this is so hard to figure out, because there is something about a machine that takes us places, something alive and magical. Many foreign observers of America simply cannot comprehend our love of automobiles, but that is because they have never had to face crossing Texas. There is a rite of passage for everyone in the US, and that is your first teenage road trip. And no matter what kind of piece of shit you may be driving when you take that trip, that machine is serving you up pure, unrefined freedom and it’s so delirious and liberating that it makes your head spin, and carves the songs you heard during those glorious hours into that part of your brain that makes you cry when you hear them again twenty and forty and sixty years later.
A guy on a Harley knows real freedom in the single, left and right direction of the highway. Sailors know it in two dimensions, the ability to point the bow anywhere on the compass and follow it, come what may.
And then there are those of us who have worked and studied and trained like hell so that we may know freedom in all three dimensions. Now a lot of people think this makes pilots a little arrogant and aloof. Not so. The average pilot, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring. It’s just that these feelings don't involve anyone else."
Bill Whittle, in his essay Courage
February 19, 2003
Quote of the day
"I like to fly because it combines intelligence, ingenuity, passion, skill, discipline and guts. We do not flirt with danger. We try to get as far away from danger as we can. We look at the death of our friends and colleagues right in the eye so we know what it looks like when it comes for us. This is not a love or a fear of dying. This is confronting the fact that death is in fact real, and by doing so, by facing that, you do, indeed, develop courage.
Courage is not the absence of fear. It is taking action in the face of fear.
And I know courage is the stern face of love because I love to fly more than I fear being killed while flying. I do everything I possibly can to reduce the risks, knowing I can never eliminate them all. There comes a time when I can honestly tell myself I’ve been as careful as I know how to be, and then, and only then, is the time to strap in. I’ve made the risks and the fear as small as I can. The joy stays as large as it ever was."
Bill Whittle, in his essay Courage
February 18, 2003
If this man doesn't write a book, the world will be a poorer place for it
Very few people understand why some of us fly. Bill Whittle is one of those people. Stand warned: you will cry after reading his brilliant essay Courage.
Quote of the day
The single most important thing to know about Americans -- the attitude which truly distinguishes them from the British, and explains much superficially odd behavior -- is that Americans believe that death is optional.
Jane Walmsley
February 17, 2003
NRA of Great Britain: I'd not known such an organization existed
I lived in London the early part of the '90's, and had the opportunity to go shooting with the Imperial College Non-Staff Shooting Club - on campus! - at their indoor range, where I learned some neat tactical tricks from a retired Hong Kong cop. Even then, though, I didn't know there existed an "NRA of Great Britain", but now I know, according to a Samizdata article by David Carr.
I do hope the NRA/GB is not like the crowd of statist wimps which characterize the National NRA of the US, crying out to "enforce the existing laws" of the land. I wonder if there's a JPFO/GB or a GOA/GB... until then, the UK Libertarian Alliance is the closest thing they have.
Speaking of the club at Imperial College, I see that while they apparently still exist, and under the name Imperial College Rifle and Pistol Club, there is no mention other than in name of the word "pistol" on their website. I'm assuming that the nice little underground pistol range that ex-girlfriend Nagako and I trained at a decade ago has been turned into a rimfire range, at best. Ugh.
Another glance at the ICRPC website mentions this sad fact, emphasis mine:
ICRPC only owns one fullbore target rifle so we normally organise our shooting trips in conjuction with the University of London Rifle Club. The rifles we use fire 7.62mm rounds, normally 155 grain.
As I implied in a piece I wrote for Samizdata a few months ago, a once-great country has been strangling it grassroots culture of weapon ownership at its base. I predict that the ICRPC will eventually lose even that one rifle... unless the students are willing to fight for it.
A great time had by all at last weekend's "Guns 'N Blades" Dale Seago seminar
I'd meant to post this a week ago, but I just now recovered the digital camera I left at the Bujinkan Stockton dojo in my post-training fatigue.
Those of you who didn't make Dale Seago's Guns 'N Blades seminar at the Bujinkan Stockton dojo last weekend missed a training event worth travelling for.
As had been advertised in the original announcement, and at the request of the Stockton dojo, Dale spent some time talking about the care and maintenance of Western-style blades. Pictured above, Dale speaks about the differences in sharpening techniques between blades with conventional bevelled edges, e.g. most pocket knives, regardless of expense, and the relatively less common convex edge on a blade such as the custom Bowie pictured with Dale here.
I had known about sharpening and honing techniques particular to bevelled edges; I'll remember what Dale had to add with respect to convex blades whenever I own such a specimen. What really surprised me was, when in the discussion of the use of steel rods and leather strops for finalizing an edge to remove the "wire edge" burr created by sharpening, Dale recommended plain cardboard as an alternative strop! I'd not known this before, but cardboard is typically impregnated with silicates (the stuff sand is made of, folks)... which explains why blades dull so easily when cutting it! Finding out these little gems about the "commonplace" of everyday life helps keep one young.
The seminar was held in Stockton, a bit less than 2 hours from Dale's home dojo in San Francisco, relatively close but apparently far enough that the only attendees were regular Bujinkan practicioners. Good for us, but those of you who've not trained with Dale really should take the opportunity to train with him.
I should mention that the very reason I took up the Bujinkan martial arts was that a good friend, Kennita Watson, a bit less than 6 years ago forwarded an annoucement from Jeff Chan's ba-firearms mailing list (since migrated to Yahoo! Groups) to a local extropian mailing list advertising a firearms retention & disarming seminar. I'd been studying a number of other systems in the previous years, and at the time had been studying northern-style long fist kung fu, but had never felt "at home", especially as a gun owner: my training had always felt disjoint in that regard.
Well, the intervening years are history, some of which found me training and living in Japan: I'd been convinced. Last weekend was incredibly interesting for me in light of the fact that I've been through quite of few iterations of Dale's handgun retention & disarming seminars, but this was the first I'd attended which was (by default only) attended only by current practicioners. As Dale noted in a a followup mail to our dojo mailing list, he was able to cover material to which he normally devotes 8 hours... in about 1.5 hours. This is nearly Hatsumi-style pacing.
So, we had time for the pistol-oriented training track, the knife-oriented training track, and the detailed sit-down lecture on Western-style knife maintenance. As was usual at these events, and typical of non-sports oriented old-style Japanese warrior arts systems such as the Bujinkan and a few other surviving systems, training was conducted in a warm, friendly, and incredibly helpful and supportive manner. The people of the Stockton dojo were great hosts, and made everyone feel at home.
Quote of the day
"...when we want to know whether something was worth making, we look for the answer in a discovery machine called the market. When we want to know how something works, we have another discovery machine, called science. When we want to know if somebody was right to kill somebody else, we have a discovery machine called the law."
Jon Wilde
Ken MacLeod, in The Stone Canal
February 16, 2003
Quote of the day
E pur si muove!
(And nonetheless it moves!)
Giordano Bruno's last cry from the burning stake
16 February 1600
February 15, 2003
Quote of the day
It is impossible to understand the history of economic thought if one does not pay attention to the fact that economics as such is a challenge to the conceit of those in power.
Ludwig von Mises
February 14, 2003
"Guns for Tots" segment on The Daily Show, 18 February 2003
Don't miss the airing of the "Guns for Tots" giveaway that Jim Lesczynski bravely attempted a few weeks ago in New York City:
We're getting one last hurrah out of this silliness, when "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central broadcasts its report on "Guns For Tots" on Tuesday, February 18, at 11 pm eastern. Check your listings for local time and station.If you don't get the joke after watching it on "The Daily Show", there's not much hope for ever getting it.
Jim Lesczynski
February 13, 2003
Quote of the day
Understand from the minute the fight begins that you're going to take damage. Accept it. (You'll always suffer more from the idiots and cowards on your own side than from any enemy.) Keep your overall goal in mind above all. Those who swerve to avoid a few cuts and bruises defeat themselves.
L. Neil Smith
Tactical Reflections
February 12, 2003
Foresight Institute 11th Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology, 9-12 October 2003
Foresight Institute will be hosting its 11th annual Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology in Burlingame, California (near San Francisco International Airport) 9-12 October 2003. I plan to attend.
Quote of the day
Unlike its antonym, 'hoplophilia' does not describe an aberration: a man who loves weapons is no more abnormal than a woman who loves babies. Countless millennia of hunting and war fighting have programmed man with the knowledge that a weapon means LIFE. This stark realization repels some - they are the hoplophobes. To us hoplophiles it is a delight.
Paul Kirchner
February 11, 2003
Take this History Channel poll now
Thanks to Edgar Suter for passing this on: the current History Channel Poll is "Which right or freedom is most crucial to America's democratic way of life?" As of this posting, the right to keep and bear arms, as written in the 2nd Amendment, is leading the poll.
Quote of the day
It is not the purpose of education to produce good citizens, but to help children become successful human beings. The former is properly identified as "indoctrination" and, when undertaken at the taxpayers' expense, should be illegal.
L. Neil Smith
Tactical Reflections
February 10, 2003
Quote of the day
Choose your allies carefully: it's highly unlikely that you'll ever be held morally, legally, or historically accountable for the actions of your enemies.
L. Neil Smith
Tactical Reflections
February 09, 2003
Women's Safety Series - Weapons Disarming, Teri Seago, 22 Feb 2003 (San Francisco)
Teri Seago will be teaching the 4th installment of her women's safety series on Saturday 22 February 2003 at the San Francisco Buyu Center.
Weapons Disarming is the fourth installation of this popular safety series. For many people who learn self-defense, fighting back is no longer an option when a weapon is involved. If anything, the threat level is increased, adrenalin is pumping, and choices seem more limited. There are still choices, however, and this seminar will address how to remove a weapon and control the person who is attacking.
As I've mentioned before, I highly recommend her to women wanting to learn this approach to self-defense.
Re: "Extended Report on Estate Reduced-Recoil 00 Buckshot"
I stumbled today on this review of Estate Reduced-Recoil 00 Buckshot. and after having myself put several hundred rounds of it through my bedside Benelli a few months ago at a 4-day Tactical Shotgun course at Front Sight, I would say I wholeheartedly agree with the reviewer. It's what I use now.
2nd Quote of the day
The function of government is to provide you with service; the function of the media is to supply the Vaseline.
L. Neil Smith
Tactical Reflections
Quote of the day
"Remember, though, your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp - provided it's loaded."
B. P. Matson
Tunnel in the Sky, by Robert Heinlein
February 08, 2003
Quote of the day
It is not a bad definition of man to describe him as a tool-making animal. His earliest contrivances to support uncivilized life were tools of the simplest and rudest construction. His latest achievementjs in the substitution of machinery, not merely for the skill of the human hand, but for the relief of the human intellect, are founded on tools of a still higher order.
Charles Babbage
February 07, 2003
Why Aren't We There Yet? by L. Neil Smith
An article today in the Sierra Times by L. Neil Smith accurately reflects the mix of emotions I've felt in the last week about the Columbia tragedy. He's also got some interesting things to say about the asbestos link in both the Challenger disaster and the early collapse of the Twin Towers.
As for the space shuttles' solid fuel rocket boosters, the next generation of O-rings was simply manufactured without the offending asbestos. During the first few minutes of Challenger's fatal flight, burning gases inside the rocket tube ate through the substandard O-rings, creating a jet of flame -- exactly like a welding torch -- that cut into the auxiliary fuel tank under the shuttle and ignited it.For whatever it's worth, it was exactly this same phenomenon -- an insane political correctness with regard to asbestos -- that allowed the World Trade Center towers to collapse several hours earlier than they would have, killing three thousand people, if the use of asbestos hadn't been abandoned partway through their period of construction.
Speaking of the Towers:
As to Easterbrook, his notions about "rebuilding" NASA -- he wants to send the shuttles to a museum and let the space station burn up in the atmosphere just like Skylab did -- are exactly like the notions of those who want to rebuild the World Trade Center to a smaller, more humble design. Me, I'd rebuild it a mile tall and put Phalanx guns on top.
Read the article. After you read that, then read the text of a speech Neil gave 15 years ago at the December 1987 Future of Freedom Conference in Culver City, California.
February 06, 2003
Trip report: Front Sight 4-day Defensive Handgun course, from new contributor Anton Sherwood
Two years ago at about this season, Russell sold me a half-price voucher for a four-day course in practical defensive pistolry. I didn't schedule the trip until late summer.
The weekend after the Disturbing Events in the East, there was (as every few months) a gun show at the Cow Palace; I had been told to bring 800 rounds of ammo to the course, so I went looking for bargains. I also needed a new hat for Nevada sunshine, so later that day I went to the Berkeley Hat Company.
``Can I leave this behind the counter for now? It's heavy.'' ``You're not kidding. What's in there?'' ``A thousand rounds of ammo for next weekend.'' ``Wouldn't loose powder be more convenient?''
I came so close to explaining.
There were forty pistol students that week, on two target-ranges; on each range we were divided into two relays, so ten of us were on the firing line while ten sat in the shade, reloading and drinking ice water or Gatorade. Most of the time there were four instructors on the range. (Every one of them told me, at some point, that my feet were at the wrong angle. I have a crooked hip; what's natural to others feels pigeon-toed to me.)
We were taught grip, stance, how to draw quickly and safely from a holster, how and where to aim, how and when to reload (at any lull after firing, swap magazines so that the one most full is usually in the gun). Basic routine: two shots to the chest cavity (which stops anybody who isn't enhanced by drugs, armor or cussedness), a quick glance to left and right to see who else might be coming, make sure the first target is down (if he's still coming, kill him with one shot to the soft bones of the face), then look slowly all around. When practicing one should balance speed with accuracy; thus, if you can consistently hit a target much smaller than the lungs, work on speed.
Normally we shot at paper targets showing a silhouette and the two target zones (the chest and the `brainbox'). These were mounted on swivels to present themselves for a specified time, typically around two seconds. The founder of the school is/was a chiropractor, and he designed the targets from his collection of xrays! He says adults' ribcages are more similar in size than you'd expect.
(I meant to ask why - given that under stress one is only half as accurate as at target practice - the practice targets' scoring zones are not half-sized.)
One of our sessions was at night, to practice handling a flashlight. An instant before the order to fire, I remembered that I had not plugged my ears! Drop gun, slap hands to head, panic, struggle with earplugs between volleys - in the dark, only one of the instructors saw my distress. Happily no damage, I think.
We also had a lesson in `clearing' a house: finding the badguys before they find you.
On the last day we had a little tournament with `reactive' targets - steel plates mounted on stands, to fall when hit. At the whistle, each student had to draw, hit three targets and miss one `hostage'. Bing - bing - bing. I won my first two rounds. Russell said, ``Your stolid deliberative nature pays off!'' I replied, ``I felt like I had all the time in the world!'' But in the next round I needed four shots.
``Nice shooting, kid, now don't get cocky.'' - Han Solo
I failed the final exam by slowness in aiming; I decided then that the white dots on my sights, intended as an aid, were distracting me. (When I bought that gun, I rejected Russell's advice to black them out; I now did so. As I have not since done any timed shooting, I can't say whether that helped!)
Here's some cheap irony. I just got mail from Piazza entitled ``Why Do So Many Women Attend Courses At Front Sight?'' When I was there, the answer was: All three of them (out of twenty in my class) are with their husbands.
Quote of the day
Our government gets more than thugs in a protection racket demand, more even than discarded first wives of famous rich men receive in divorce court. Then this government, swollen and arrogant with pelf, goes butting into our business. It checks the amount of tropical oils in our snack foods, tells us what kind of gasoline we can buy for our cars and how fast we can drive them, bosses us around about retirement, education and what's on TV; counts our noses and asks fresh questions about who's still living at home and how many bathrooms we have; decides whether the door to our office or shop should have steps or a wheelchair ramp; decrees the gender and complexion of the people to be hired there; lectures us on safe sex; dictates what we can sniff, smoke, and swallow; and waylays young men, ships them to distant places and tells them to shoot people they don't even know.
P.J. O'Rourke
Parliament of Whores
February 05, 2003
Koman's book still pretty hard to come by in London
I have to agree with Russell's earlier posting about the Koman book cover and the lackluster marketing of the book itself. I tried to get the book on Amazon.co.uk, and it wasn't even listed. So I ended up going to a Barnes and Noble site instead, and to be fair they shipped it over pretty fast.
Book covers do make a big difference, to state the obvious. I quite like the cover on Kings of the High Frontier but I agree that the cover could be a lot better. The covers on books by folk like Vernor Vinge, Peter Hamilton or David Brin are in a different class, and draw the readers in. Also, SF art is still a much under-appreciated art form in its own right.
Perhaps, in the light of the current flurry of interest in what we do next about space travel and commercial development up there, there may be more interest in Koman getting a decent publisher with more flair and drive. It bugs me that his magnificent book was so hard to find while there is so much garbage on our bookshelves here in Britain and elsewhere.
I once went into a huge Waterstones bookshop here in Chelsea and there was not a single work by Heinlein, Anderson (Poul) or Larry Niven on the shelves. It's a bit like going to a classics section and seeing nothing by Hugo or Tolstoy. How the hell are young people going to get inspired by science and technology if there isn't the fiction out there to whet their appetites? After all, I am pretty sure many of the astronauts in the 1960s and subsequent decades first got their taste for their activities by reading a book by Heinlein or a Buck Rogers comic strip.
However, we Londoners can seek solace in The Forbidden Planet bookstore in New Oxford Street and Babylon 5!
William Stone pretty much sums up my views on the Columbia matter
The major name of this blog is "Survival Arts", but the minor name is "Freedom, Immortality, and the Stars", which just happens to be the name of an article by William Stone III. He pretty much took the words right out of my mouth.
We both, of course, took the slogan from a speech given by L. Neil Smith at a conference 15 years ago.
February 04, 2003
Another, really interesting way to help Ronald Dixon
I first posted my appeal for help for Ronald Dixon two weeks ago, and have to my happy surprise become a bit of a clearinghouse for information on ways to help Mr. Dixon. Here's one posted as a comment by user "Steve", which really caught my eye: a free email-to-fax gateway service which anyone can use to fax the Brooklyn DA!
"Fax letters may be more effective than email.1 718 250 2210 is the DA's fax number.
You can even send the fax free via the tpc.int email to fax gateway by writing your email and addressing it to the following email address (make sure you get it EXACTLY right, yes it must be this long):
remote-printer.Charles_Hynes/Kings_County_District_Attorney@17182502210.iddd.tpc.intThey will then send your email to him as a fax, free, with no signup or anything. (see http://www.tpc.int/ for more info).
I faxed my letter via email already."
That's a great idea! Not only am I going to post it here, to bring it to special attention, but I'm also going to urge allies in the Anglosphere elsewhere to send their appeals via this free fax gateway.
As you can see from my volume of posting today...
...I've rediscovered that green tea has more caffeine than coffee. Oh, and it's better for you too.
Another GPS mapping software recommendation from a friend
Further to my earlier posting, Steve Pegram has another mapping software recommendation, ExpertGPS. I've not tried this or the other yet. Feedback, as always, is most welcome here.
True Life Humour: A Rational Libertarian Goat
Thanks to Chris Tame for forwarding this; sounds like justice to me... - ed
"Goat pushes man over the edge"
"Waheeb Hamoudah, a 56-year-old Egyptian tax evasion specialist for the local police department, was pushed to his death by a sheep as he was preparing for Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice. Hamoudah was keeping a sheep he was to sacrifice on the roof of his house, and while on a venture to feed the animal, the sheep head-butted him off the roof and onto the street below."
Slick (and free) GPS map display software
Forwarded with permission by Steve Pegram on behalf of a friend of his, who has asked to remain anonymous. - ed
"Go here and download USAPhotoMaps.
It is free and is one of the absolutely slickest little GPS map display programs I have come across. It does NOT have a lot of features (like route planning or any of those fancy functions) but it will give you a taste of what is possible and you will see what satellite imagery maps look like and you can also display USGS topo maps of your chosen area. What it does is download aerial photos (satellite imagery) and USGS topo maps from Terraserver and creates a scrollable, zoomable, GPS enabled moving map with your position located by a dot in the center of the screen.
Find out what your GPS coordinates are and load them into the set-up screen. On command, (if you are connected to the internet) the screen will automatically download and fill up with your choice of A) 1-meter satellite imagery or B) USGS topo map imagery centered on the coordinates you entered. Once downloaded, you can instantly swap out the overlayed satellite imagery with the topo map.
You do NOT need a GPS receiver to make this work. Also, even on a dial-up internet access, the process is not too painful if you are not too greedy and try to slurp up too big of an area. You can shut off the download anytime you like just by clicking on STOP DOWNLOADING.
Again, this is one of the slickest, cutest and easiest to use GPS moving map display software programs I have yet come across and best of all it is FREE.
It has very few features, but what it has, it does WELL and is SUPER EASY to use. If you know the GPS coordinates at the center of the area you want to look at and enter them, it automatically accesses TerraServer and downloads the satellite imagery you want.
TerraServer imagery offers just barely good enough resolution to see a vehicle on the interstate or a car parked in your driveway. Its resolution falls far short of being able to follow a path in the woods, but in sparsely vegetated areas you can pick out an individual tree. My property is heavily wooded and I can see my house and driveway clearly in the imagery as well as a large drainage ditch along one side of my property. Best of all, you can also download the USGS topo map of the same area.
You DO need a GPS receiver if you are going to locate yourself on the screen and have the maps scroll around as you drive along.
If you do have a GPS receiver with a data output connection on it, you can plug it into your laptop and USAPhotoMaps will automatically put a little colored do on the screen where you are. As you drive around, the software keeps putting little dots down every 10 meters or so and leaves a track record as you move along.
You can get your GPS latitudes and longitudes from the TerraServer address given at the top of the start-up screen or get them from your GPS receiver.
At the start-up screen, just make up and enter a name for the map area you are going to start with and enter the lat and long. You can leave the UTM Northing, Easting and zone blanks empty for this purpose.
I bought a 12-volt power supply for my laptop so I can use it for extended periods in my vehicle when I am driving around in back country roads or trails. Ahead of time, I download both the satellite imagery and the topo maps of the entire general area where I will be prowling around and store it all on the harddrive. USAPhotoMaps makes this super easy to do.
I have several GPS receivers and they all work well, but for certain applications, the 14 inch super-high resolution screen on my laptop makes all the difference in the world. Like most laptops, the major drawback is that it is hard to see in bright daylight. I rigged up a sun-screen-hood for it out of cardboard and duct-tape which helps a lot.
Just recently, a couple of laptops have come out which have the new style REFLECTIVE color screens. Very nice in bright sunlight! In fact, the brighter it is the better these screens show up. Unfortunately, these new reflective display screens on laptops are pretty expensive and not available in the larger screen sizes yet. Twelve inches is the biggest (that I know of) at the moment. Next year, maybe.... Until then I will just have to make do with the 15 inch hard-to-see-in-the-sunlight screen on my Dell Inspiron laptop."
Details: Dale Seago "Guns 'N Blades" Seminar this coming Saturday, 8 February 2003, Stockton, California
The following is a follow-up to the original announcement for Dale Seago's "Guns 'N Blades" Seminar this coming Saturday, 8 February 2003, in Stockton, California - ed
"Just to give everyone who's coming Saturday a "heads-up" on what you'll need, it isn't much: At minimum a training knife, and (if you have one) a training pistol (non-firing!) as well.
Per Dave Furukawa's request, there will be some information presented on blade sharpening as well, which will include:
- Different sorts of stones and grind angles to get the best edges for different purposes
- Sharpening a knife vs. sharpening a sword
This presentation will be relatively short, as there will be a LOT of training to do! Dave had also asked me to bring some knives for display, being somehow under the impression that I have a collection of custom blades. :-) Actually I don't: the only three custom pieces I have are all Scottish dirks... but I'll bring 'em!
Training-wise, there will be some weapon disarming and weapon retention work, but that won't be the entire focus by any means. You can expect to find some of what we'll be doing a bit... unusual.
The seminar starts at 11:00, but the Stockton dojo doors will open at 10:00.
See you there!"
-- Dale Seago
Quote of the day
Government's power to steal what it wants at gunpoint must be abolished. We must strive to make that the "slavery" issue of the 21st century.
February 03, 2003
Any Russian linguists out there?
Continuing to check today's site referrer logs, I see this Cyrillic-only posting strangely referencing a blog post I made some weeks back apropos the banning of gun shows at a venue in San Mateo County, California. I get along well in several Asian and western European languages, but not Russian. Anyone care to clue me on on this?
BattleRifles.com: Boston T. Party would love this!
I discovered BatttleRifles.com in my referrer logs, and am now myself a contributing member. It's one a burgeoning number of phpBB-powered firearms discussion sites, and looks like another good one at that. This is a pure, raw guess, but I'll bet there are a lot of Boston T. Party fans there too.
Quote of the day
In the 70s, somebody -- I think it was Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw -- told us that for each year we manage to make it through, science is extending our lifespans by two years. Not only do I believe it, I'm proof of it. But this splendid process is by no means automatic. It stands on three legs: sufficient wealth to power it; adequate communication between scientists and physicians; and the freedom to do that science without interference.
February 02, 2003
Athena Sakura Howland born to Curt and Lissa Howland, 31 January 2003
Friend and ally Curt Howland and his lovely wife Lissa are now parents:
"Family and Friends,Athena Sakura Howland was born Friday, January 31st. Mother and baby are recovering fine and are now home. The stars in my eyes are no longer cold and far away. One has come down and landed, warm and soft, in my hands. I accept the charge with all my heart.
Curt"
Curt and Lissa: congratulations! Of course, Lissa did the really hard work, but now it's time for you to help out. If my vicarious experience ("always an uncle, never a father") holds true, then you both have a couple of years of sleep deprivation ahead of you. At some point, around a couple of years from now, you'll enter what Americans too often unfortunately call "the Terrible Twos", but which my good friend Yoav informs me the Israelis call "the Age of Why", because that's when the "Why?" circuit really kicks in. I like the Israeli term.
Kings of the High Frontier, by Victor Koman
Just two days ago, Friday, I received by mail my only copy of a book I'd lent out to a former co-worker, who surprised me by finally returning it to me by a private express carrier. I'd been warned by Murray Rothbard many years ago never to lend out my personal books, as I'd never see them again... even if that book was one of Murray's own (which it was, which was a reason we were having the chat at school... another story).
Friday's mail gifted me Victor Koman's Kings of the High Frontier, to my relief - and to my erstwhile colleague's credit, in exactly the same good condition as I'd lent it. The events of the last couple of days, including my truly belated and short account of a visit I made a little over a year ago to private space transportation startup XCOR, prompt me to write at least a short recommendation, if not a comprehensive review, of this superb novel.
The story surrounding the publication of this book is a bit of an unknown to me. From what I can gather so far, Victor Koman first published it online, then arranged with a small publishing house, Bereshith Publishing, to publish the novel as the first book in Bereshith's new "Final Frontier Books" imprint. My "First Limited Edition" of 1998 is signed on a page that was sewn into the book, and numbered 545 of "...1250 signed and numbered copies". The frontspiece is enticingly subtitled "Book One of the High Pilgrimage", but I know of no as-yet published "Book Two".
I'm astonished that the Amazon listing for this edition of the book (there's also an even more limited edition listed for $75) mentions a 4-5 week availability, with a US$1.99 surcharge. This extra little charge is apparently due to the requirement that Amazon special order their copies from Bereshith, manually.
No knock on the excellent job that Bereshith did with the book - everything between the covers is as good or better than what most major imprints would have done - but the idea of limiting such an important work to 1250 copies borders on tragic. The only thing I don't like about the book is the unfortunate cover. I'll go out on a limb here, but I do tend to judge a book by its cover. Good books deserve good covers, and it's unfortunate that few publishing houses with a science fiction imprint produce to the quality of the cover - as an example - on Ken MacLeod's The Stone Canal (TOR). I've even seen people on various mailing lists recently mention that they had a copy of Koman's book "laying around, waiting to be read", but were put off by the cheap dustjacket.
These same people are getting around to reading the book now, and are exclaiming their delight: it's a first-rate piece of science fiction, and one of those books, like Atlas Shrugged, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, or Unintended Consequences, that you simply can't put down once you pick it up.
Neil Walsh, even with his slightly squishy Canadian sensibilities, gives a good account of the book in his otherwise glowing SF Site review, and the Amazon entry gives a large body of editorial reviews of the book, with synopses. Go there for a longer description.
L. Neil Smith stated yesterday, on the day of the Columbia disaster:
NASA needs to be abolished, rather than handed over to anybody. It's a great wonder that many more of these fatal accidents haven't happened. NASA's record of incompetence (read the original specs the shuttles were supposed to meet), together with their real mission -- to keep you and me out of space -- make them a burden and a liability to anyone who wants to get off this mudball or who simply desires to be free.
Koman is a friend of Smith, and the above is pretty much his thesis too... and an opinion I share wholeheartedly. Even as I write this, my TV in the background is airing the opinions of hairspray heads like Geraldo Rivera who are wailing and needling people like "space tourist" Dennis Tito that "non essential personnel" shouldn't be flying into space, since... get ready for this... "it's tooooooo dangerous..."
Well, hell, human life is inherently dangerous. There's no escaping that fact. There's also no such thing as risk-free human action.
Koman's characters take that risk on themselves, as free men and women, and defy a government and its bureaucracy - NASA - that have no intention of allowing the final escape from tyranny that space truly represents. The viewpoint characters (there are quite a few of them) explore some wild and wonderful - and mostly fairly plausible - escape vehicles. The engineering efforts alone are fascinating stories, but the characters themselves, by the end of the story, are well fleshed-out and memorable.
This book really deserves a much larger audience than its initial 1250 print run. It's the Unintended Consequences of the free space movement. Pick up your copy before it becomes unavailable... then carefully lend it out to your friends!
And while you're at it, contact Bereshith Publishing and see if they'll consider another print run.
"America, and the idea of America, is an unending cornucopia of astronaut material"
...they knew their job was hazardous, they did it anyway, and by all accounts, they died doing what they wanted, and loved, to do. There are many more astronauts in the astronaut corps who, if a Shuttle was sitting on the pad tomorrow, fueled and ready to go, would eagerly strap themselves in and go, even with the inquiry still going on, because they know that it's flown over a hundred times without burning up on entry, and they still like the odds. And if yesterday's events made them suddenly timorous, there is a line of a hundred people eagerly waiting to replace each one that would quit, each more than competent and adequate to the task. America, and the idea of America, is an unending cornucopia of astronaut material.
Quote of the day
A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, USN (ret.)
February 01, 2003
Pictures from last year's visit to XCOR Aerospace, Mojave, California, 25 September 2001
Today's events remind me that I never got around to posting these photos anywhere. In September of 2001, friend Anton Sherwood and I were on a long roadtrip back from training at Front Sight, and had a few hours on our hands. I suggested a side trip to the Civilian Flight Test Center at Mojave Airport in southern California. I enquired at the FBO for the address of XCOR Aerospace, and was told the location of their main office a few blocks away. I called ahead and was graciously welcomed into the production & prototype lab while someone tracked down "Rocket Plumber" Doug Jones, a long-time poster on several mailing lists I'd been subscribed to.
Doug very hospitably met us two strangers and offered to show us a rocket engine testbed, the EZ-Rocket, that he and colleagues had been working on. What a treat! We jumped at the offer, and were let in to see this:
This machine has gone on to be piloted by Dick Rutan on several occasions, such as this day on which 2 flights were made in turnaround fashion.
Here's Doug Jones giving me and Anton the rundown on the testbed craft:
Here, Anton Sherwood gets a good, close look in the cockpit:
A note about why I chose just now to post these photos...
I've been following much of the blogosphere coverage of the tragedy, especially the coverage on Samizdata by long-time space advocate Dale Amon, a respected member of the "spacer community". I was truly annoyed at the derisive comments of a poster to one of Dale's articles, who likened XCOR and others to "hobby space clubs", and felt I should draw some attention to the amazing work being done by one of those "clubs".
Keep up the good work, Doug!
The future is not NASA's
To cheer myself up, I've been perusing the X Prize website. As Dale Amon points out:
NASA will go to Boeing or Lockmart for a replacement. They are not going to talk to XCOR [spelling corrected by me - ed.] or Armadillo or any of the other companies who will develop the true space ships.What is my guess? I will suggest we'll see a half hearted program for a shuttle replacement initiated. It will run over budget or be stillborn like every other such program in the last 15 years. The ISS schedule will stretch out to a completion date of 2010, almost 30 years after Ronald Reagan called for a space station to be completed in 10 years. An X-Prize space ship will fly suborbital this year or next year and there will be private tourists on private suborbital flights by 2006 and orbital by 2010. NASA will then buy one for crew turnaround. The Russians will get a big capital infusion to turn out more Soyez and Protons.
On a related note, just yesterday I received by mail, from a former co-worker who had borrowed it, my sole copy of Victor Koman's Kings of the High Frontier, which I'm astounded to see is $75 new on Amazon, and about half that used. My copy is not leaving my house again anytime soon!
The Blogosphere is all over the story
I checked in with Samizdata.net to see if Dale Amon had posted on the Columbia loss, and indeed he has, several times in fact.
Rand Simberg of course has posted on the issue; I recommend checking in with his site Transterrestrial Musings as the days wear on.
There are still no routine space flights
I hate having to write about this, especially after having written about my experience of the Challenger explosion a couple of days ago. I'm no fan of government space programs, but my heart aches for the 7 who died on re-entry a few minutes ago on NASA's oldest shuttle, Columbia. They died doing what they wanted to do.
Quote of the day
Men rarely (if ever) dream up a God superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
Lazarus Long
Time Enough for Love, by Robert A. Heinlein
