It's Kalashnikitty Time!

An email from Eric:

Back again for its quarterly run - the infamous Kalashnikitty shirts! The last run worked out great, but some people missed the order deadline or wanted more after they got their first order. I’ve also been getting a lot of requests lately for shirts. So, I'm going to do a new run of shirts for everyone, and am offering a few new styles!

Here is a link to the many photos I have from people of all ages, races, and sexes (well, OK, sure, there are really only TWO of those, but you never know!) wearing the shirts, as well as some of the styles and colors – if you have a special request please ask – my shirtmaker is very accommodating and can often find different colors, styles, etc.

Click here

to view a Slideshow of various men, women, children wearing various colors and styles of the Kitty, as well as some pics of the shells used.

I will be taking orders until Sunday, March 4 and the order with my shirt maker will go in on Wednesday. I should have the shirts in my hands and shipping out by the end of the third week of March or the next week at the latest and they will ship out immediately by Priority Mail.

Here's the procedure for getting the shirts (this makes it a LOT easier for me to track and ship these things ASAP):

Email me

(erickelly1@verizon.net)

with the following:

1 - Number, color, style (short-sleeve, tank top (Male or Female), baby-doll, long-sleeve, hoodie, or sweatshirt) and sizes you want –

2 - Your name and address

3 - How you would like to pay for them (Check, Money Order, Paypal)

Colors, Styles, and Sizes:

Shirts now come in multiple COLORS – Solid colors are an ash grey (very nice and light), a light pink, olive, and black, plus there are a blue-sleeved and a red-sleeved “patriotic” style, DIGITAL CAMO pattern in Urban, Green, and Desert, and WOODLAND CAMO pattern in Urban, Desert, Blue, Green, and Pink.

Shirts come in multiple STYLES - short-sleeve, long-sleeve, sweatshirt, "baby-doll", tank top (specify male or female), Ladies fitted (like a babydoll style – those are available for the woodland camo colors) and Hoodies. The hoodies have the graphic on the back. They are pull-over style with hoods and drawstrings, and hand-warmer pockets in front on the bottom. Children’s hoodies do not have drawstrings.

NOTE – only the ash grey, black, and pink are available in all the styles – the rest of the shirts are limited in style. All Woodland Camo colors (Green, desert, urban, pink, and blue) can be bought in short sleeved and Ladies Fitted style).

Many sizes to choose from – most shirt styles and colors come in Children’s Small up to Children’s L, and Adult Small up to Adult 2XL. Sizes and colors above 2XL are limited.

Short Sleeve: Ash and Black Child Small up to Adult 5XL, Pink short sleeve Child Small up to Adult 3XL, Camo and Patriotic are available in Adult Small up to 2XL, Olive only in Adult size Small – 3X.

Long Sleeve: Black Adult Small up to 5XL, Ash up to 3XL, and Pink up to 2XL (no camo in Long Sleeve)

Sweatshirt: Black Adult Small up to 5XL, Ash up to 3XL, Pink up to 2XL (no camo in Sweatshirt)

Baby-Doll: from Adult Small up to 2XL (no kid’s sizes) (no camo in Babydoll – these will be "Ladies Fitted" style – not as tight or form-fitting as the Babydoll)

Tank Tops: all colors from Adult Small up to 2XL (no kid's sizes - women's tanks are in a "sport grey", not ash – no men's Pink tanks - no camo in Tank Tops)

Hoodies: the sizes are light pink S - 2X, ash grey S - 3X and black S - 5X. The Children’s Size Hoodies have light pink S - L, ash and black S – XL

PRICING:

Any size (short-sleeve) up to XL is $21.00, 2XL is $23.00, 3XL is $24.00, 4XL and 5XL is $25.00

Camo shirts, including Ladies Fitted – up to XL is $27, 2XL is $29

Patriotic shirts – up to XL is $27, 2XL $29, 3XL is $31

Long-sleeve shirts - up to XL is $25.00, 2XL is $26.00, 3XL is $27.00, 4XL and 5XL is $28.00

Sweatshirts - to XL is $26.00, 2XL is $28.00, 3XL is $29.00, 4XL and 5XL is $30.00

Baby Doll - to XL is $23.00, 2XL is $25.00

Tank Tops - to XL is $23.00, 2XL is $25.00

Hoodies - to XL is $32.00, 2XL is $35.00, 3X $37, 4X $39, 5XL $40 (Camo from Child S up to 2XL are $45 each, 2XL is $48)

Shipping via 2-3 day Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation is $6.00 for 1 shirt, and an extra $2.50 per shirt after that. Hoodies will cost an extra $1 for shipping due to weight.

Check, MO, or Paypal is good for payments. If using Paypal, add 4% to the total payment, including the shipping.

** When you email me your order, include your full name and mailing address. I will email you back with the total.

Thanks again for this opportunity to provide these for you.

erickelly1@verizon.net

Remember, I am not involved in the manufacture or sale of these shirts - I just give Eric advertising space because I think Kalashnikitty contributes to the renormaliziation of America's good gun culture, and gives the anti's heartburn. Please aim all correspondence to ERIC.

Yes, It Really IS That Easy...

Quote of the Day - Electile Dysfunction Edition

This, from Lissa:

I look forward to pulling the lever for Not Obama in November, but until then, I’m going to sit back in disgust and rail at the skies for giving me such unpalatable candidates.

A pox on all their houses, say I . . .

Camoflage and Pearls

Cowboy Blob has an excellent example of why we're winning - The Debutante Hunters, a 12 minute short-subject from the Sundance Film Festival.  Go.  Watch.  Make Sarah Brady cry.

I Bet There's an Interesting Pucker Mark in His Seat

Just... wow.




From my brother.

Central AZ Blog Shoot AAR

Well, I think everyone who showed had a good time.  I think there were about nine of us all told, unless I didn't meet some people.  Lots of lead went downrange.  I shot the half-inch rebar support for the 100 yard steel swingers.  Twice.  My AR-15 Olofsoned on me because the hammer pin walked loose.  (It is disconcerting when your semi-automatic AR-15 rips off a three-round burst.)  I guess a loose hammer pin qualifies as a machinegun these days.  (Hey, if a shoestring can...)  I discovered that my 180 grain .40S&W loads don't group, they pattern.  But my 155 grain handloads work pretty damned well.  That's good, because I was prepared to sell the Witness until I managed to whack the 50 yard plate six times out of ten with the 155s.  (I could barely frighten the plate with the 180's.)  I learned that a front-stuffer charcoal-burner actually doesn't make that much smoke if you load it with Blackhorn 209 powder.  I learned that the action on a Swiss K-31 really is very, very smooth.

I've got some pictures up for you to peruse.

Got to do this again next year.

Last Call for the Central AZ Blogger Shoot

If you're going, it's tomorrow at the Elsy Pearson Public Shooting Range just outside Casa Grande.  Take I-10 to I-8W, exit at Trekkel Road.  Turn South on Trekkel to W. Arica Rd., left on Arica to Isom, right on Isom at the Casa Grande Trap Club, and you'll see the range on your left in about a half mile.  The first range you come to is the police range (not open to the public), but right next to it are the five bays of the Public Range.  We'll be on the long one, which is 300 yards.








Range opens at 0700. Bring eye & ear protection, and something to sit on - the range has benches, but no chairs. The shooting line is covered, but sunscreen is still advised. Bring target stands if you have 'em. You won't be shoving anything into the ground out there, it's like concrete. If you want to shoot up cans or other junk, be prepared to clean up after yourself. I'll be bringing steel AR500 plates that anyone can shoot.

We'll be tailgating it for lunch. Bring (non-alcoholic) beverages, and something to eat. I'll have a small gas grill. I'm bringing six rifles: my M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, Ted Brown M14, my target AR-15, 1917 Enfield and my Remington 700 5R. I should have at least 100 rounds for each of them.  I haven't decided which handguns I'll be bringing.

Hope to see you there!

5 Most Wanted

Robb Allen asks,

What 5 firearms would I purchase, should price nor practicality be an issue?

Well, I'm a practical kinda guy, but here's my list:

1) Single-shot falling-block type rifle. For me, this is a tossup between a Ruger No. 1 in a varmint caliber, or a Shiloh Sharps .45-110 Quigley. (Or, in AR15.com tradition, BOTH!)

2) A semi-auto combat-style shotgun. I'm not a shotgunner and I don't follow 3-gun so I'm not really sure what's hot right now, but I have only one scattergun in my safe at the moment - a Mossberg 590 pump. I'm open to suggestions on this one.

3) A 4" barreled Colt Python in Royal Blue with the roller-bearing action job. (Did anybody ever make a 5" version of this revolver?)

4) A really nice full-custom Browning Hi-Power, like this Cylinder & Slide Peerless Grade. After all, price is no object, right?

5) Uncle wants a full-tilt G.E. Minigun. OK, I can see that. But I think I'd really like something similar, but not as big. Lakeside Guns makes firing miniature replicas of 1917, 1919 and M2 Browning belt-fed machine guns that fire the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. I'd like a six-barreled 6,000 round-per-minute mini-minigun that shoots the .22 - complete with backpack power supply/ammo hopper so it's man-portable. I want to carry it and to be able to shoot it like Jesse Ventura in Predator.

Damned Hughes Amendment....

Bill Whittle States it Plainly

I Know it's Fiction, But . . .

...sometimes there's truth in there.

One of the few television shows I watch with any regularity is ABC's Castle.  I started watching it because the title character is played by Nathan Fillion, Firefly's Malcolm Reynolds.  I like the guy.  Turns out, it's an entertaining show - and I still like the guy.

Anyway, for whatever reason - solar storm, falling stock market, Newt winning South Carolina, my DVR screwed up and didn't record part of the latest episode, so I went to the ABC website to watch it there.

Where I discovered that one of the characters - Det. Ryan - has his own blog.

Oh how cute.

Except the latest post on that blog caught my attention: Ryan on his Glock. Let me excerpt:

It's 22.04 ounces unloaded, add another 9.87 when it's got all the rounds in there. It's got a synthetic polymer frame to cut down on wear and tear - still sets off a metal detector though, don't worry. 17 round capacity, 7.32 inches long, 5.43 inches high and with 5.5 pounds of pressure to the trigger it can change from a symbol of authority, to the last thing someone sees in this life.

Straighforward, technical. Interesting. Next paragraph:

Now imagine that strapped to your hip. It’s not comfortable. I see people on the subway shifting around, trying to keep their keys from digging into their leg and I think they have no idea how bad it can be. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. Every time my Glock digs into my side, every time my hand bumps into it, heck, every time it makes my pants sag, I'm reminded of what it means. Its weight on my hip is a reminder of the weight I have on my shoulders. The city of New York has entrusted me with the right to take the life of another.

My emphasis.

No. No it hasn't. But honestly, that attitude I think explains a lot of things. It explains why places like New York refuse to allow their citizens to exercise their right to arms. It explains why individual members of police departments all across the country, and some full departments do the things that Radley Balko writes about on a daily basis.

They think that by carrying a firearm they've been given a right to kill.

No, they've been entrusted with the power to kill only in the defense of self or others. But if they believe they have the right to kill, well...

Chained dog lunges at you? Kill it. You have the right.

Want to beat up an old man? Hey, you have the right to kill him! Why not?

There has been story after story of individual officers, SWAT teams, and groups of cops dealing out violence, often lethal, without sufficient cause. Part of it, I think, is the belief that the gun, the badge and the uniform confer upon them the right to kill. If you've got that, anything less than lethal must be OK too, right?

Read the rest of the piece. When the author starts talking about bullying, I just stopped reading. Today the bullies wear uniforms, badges and guns.

Update: Like these Connecticut cops.

Here's another, via Uncle.

Love and Self-Worth

Back when I wrote What We Got Here is ...Failure to Communicate, I quoted Thomas Sowell extensively from his magnum opus A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggle. One of the excerpts dealt with the differences in the way his two defined ideological groups deal with "new knowledge" and its effect on past decisions:

All social processes -- whether economic, religious, political or other -- involve costs. These costs are seen very differently by those with the constrained and the unconstrained visions, just as they see differently the kinds of attitudes needed in these processes -- sincerity versus fidelity, for example. These costs may be due to time or to violence, among other sources, their corresponding benefits may be apportioned justly or unjustly, and their recipients may be free or unfree. All these aspects are assessed differently in the constrained and the unconstrained visions.

The passage of time, and its irreversibility, create special decision-making difficulties, social processes, and moral principles -- all of which are seen quite differently by those with the constrained and the unconstrained visions. Both recognize that decisions made at one point in time have consequences at other points in time. But the ways of coping with this fact depend upon the capabilities of human beings and especially of human knowledge and foresight.

Accretions of knowledge over time mean that individual and social decisions made under conditions of lesser knowledge have consequences under conditions of greater knowledge. To those with the unconstrained vision, this means that being bound by past decisions represents a loss of benefits made possible by later knowledge. Being bound by past decisions, whether in constitutional law cases or in marriage for life, is seen as costly and irrational.

In the unconstrained vision, there are moral as well as practical consequences to intertemporal commitments. Gratitude, as well as loyalty and patriotism, for example, are all essentially commitments to behave differently in the future, toward individuals or societies, than one would behave on an impartial assessment of circumstances as they might exist at some future time, if those individuals and societies were encountered for the first time. Where two lives are jeopardized and only one can be saved, to save the one who is your father may be an act of loyalty but not an act of justice. Thus, in behavioral terms, gratitude and loyalty are interteporal commitments not to be impartial -- not to use future knowledge and future moral assessments to produce that result which you would otherwise consider best, if confronting the same individuals for the first time. From this perspective, loyalty, promises, patriotism, gratitude, precedents, oaths of fealty, constitutions, marriage, social traditions, and international treaties are all constrictions imposed earlier, when knowledge is less, on options to be exercised later, when knowledge will be greater.

--

All of those things ... loyalty, constitutions, marriage, etc. ... have been lauded and revered by those with a constrained vision. The process costs entailed by intertemporal commitments depend on (1) how much more knowledge, rationality, and impartiality human beings are capable of bringing to bear as a result of the passage of time and (2) on the cost of accepting the disadvantages of moment-to-moment decision-making.

Got that?

Now, go read THIS.  (h/t Vanderleun)

There are other rewards for loyalty, promises, constitutions, marriage etc. that are honored that sometime aren't factored in to the calculations. And costs when they are not.

Quote of the Day - Astrology Edition

From (who else) Tam:

I do share a birthday with Hadrianus Augustus, Frederick the Great, Edith Wharton, Ernst Heinkel, Generalfeldmarschall Model, Oral Roberts, Warren Zevon, John Belushi, and Natassja Kinski. (Oral Bob and Bluto Blutarsky on the same day? That should tell you everything you need to know about the predictive power of astrology.)

D'OH! Forgot to add: Happy Birthday, Tam!!

OK, The Date is Set - BUMPED ONE LAST TIME

The Central Arizona Blogshoot will be Sunday, January 29 at the Elsy Pearson public shooting range just off Trekell Road and I-8, just West of I-10. The range opens at 7:00AM. There are no rangenazis rangemasters. There are no chairs - bring something to sit on. The firing line is covered and there are concrete shooting benches, however.



And the city has porta-potties out there on a permanent basis now, so we don't have to rent our own (but bring your own TP just in case.)

The rules are pretty simple:



No explosives, no .50BMG rifles, clean up after yourself, don't be a dick.

ETA: In comments, ExurbanKevin advises:

A coupla item of note: The ground there is reinforced concrete disguised as sun-baked clay/ Fugetabout any target stand that needs to stuck into the ground, it ain't happenin'. Steel and targets that don't need taping are best. And the benches are funky-shaped. Regular camping chairs are marginal, stools are better.

Yup. I bring folding chairs, I have a 2" PVC target stand, and a half-dozen steel swinger targets. End edit.

I plan on being there when the range opens. We'll shoot until noon or 1 o'clock, then pack up and have lunch. I can't remember the name of the place we went last year, but there's a fairly well-ranked restaurant just up the road called the Creative Café, or we can bring grills and meat and bread and chips and tailgate it right there at the range, or others can suggest someplace else to eat in the comments. I'm open.

BUMPED: OK, looks like about 13 of us say we're going, and the vote is 10-4 in favor of tailgating it at the range for lunch. I can live with that.  Anybody else?  The more the merrier!

Final bump.  I recommend you bring:  water or other non-alcoholic beverages (no alcohol on the range), sunscreen, ear & eye protection, (ladies, don't wear anything low-cut or open-necked.  Yes, I'm sure it looks lovely, but you don't want to catch hot brass down in there), something to SIT ON (folding chairs recommended, but a 5 gallon bucket upended will work in a pinch), something to eat (enough to share would be nice, but not necessary), a roll of TP just in case the porta-potties are low.  OPTIONAL:  Something to shoot with, and something to shoot AT.  I imagine most of us will be bringing multiple firearms and lots of ammo, but if you don't, well, I'm willing to let people shoot my stuff (with my ammo), and I'm willing to let them shoot at my targets.  We gunnies are generous that way.

If you're a reader or a non-gun blogger interested in coming to a off-the-cuff funshoot, please come on down!  Hope to see you there!

Giffords Steps Down

Thank you, Ms. Giffords.  You have my respect, and my best wishes.

Quote of the Day

For years, cellphone makers had avoided using glass because it required precision in cutting and grinding that was extremely difficult to achieve. Apple had already selected an American company, Corning Inc., to manufacture large panes of strengthened glass. But figuring out how to cut those panes into millions of iPhone screens required finding an empty cutting plant, hundreds of pieces of glass to use in experiments and an army of midlevel engineers. It would cost a fortune simply to prepare.

Then a bid for the work arrived from a Chinese factory.

When an Apple team visited, the Chinese plant's owners were already constructing a new wing. "This is in case you give us the contract," the manager said, according to a former Apple executive. The Chinese government had agreed to underwrite costs for numerous industries, and those subsidies had trickled down to the glass-cutting factory. It had a warehouse filled with glass samples available to Apple, free of charge. The owners made engineers available at almost no cost. They had built on-site dormitories so employees would be available 24 hours a day.

The Chinese plant got the job.

"The entire supply chain is in China now," said another former high-ranking Apple executive.

"You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That's the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours."

An eight-hour drive from that glass factory is a complex, known informally as Foxconn City, where the iPhone is assembled. To Apple executives, Foxconn City was further evidence that China could deliver workers — and diligence — that outpaced their American counterparts.

That's because nothing like Foxconn City exists in the United States.

The facility has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn's work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day. When one Apple executive arrived during a shift change, his car was stuck in a river of employees streaming past. "The scale is unimaginable," he said.

That's not QotD, though I strongly recommend you RTWT. I quoted that so I could quote you this, from an AR15.com thread, "What's the stupidest thing you've ever heard a professor say?":

Yesterday, I had a professor who was born and raised in China try to give a lecture about how offshoring hurts China. Yeah, you read that right, American offshoring hurts China.

He went through a power point presentation showing environmental problems (dead fish in streams, sand storms, etc.), and I just sat there. He held up a dry-erasable marker and said "Chinese workers only make 100-200 dollars per month making things like these." He kept emphasizing how little they made and how hard they worked.

I couldn't take it any longer. I respectfully raised my hand and asked "how much were these workers making before offshoring was prominent?"

You want your iPhone, iPad, Macbook AirJordans and $7 quilted winter coats? Offshoring is the cost.

Discuss.

But I Want a PHASER!

Via email from my brother, it looks like the predictions of the Star Trek series keep coming true:




Yup, transparent aluminum. Well, an aluminum-based ceramic anyway - aluminium oxynitride. It's been in development for a while, but now they've figured out how to produce it in significant quantity.

And, since this IS a gun blog, ballistic transparent aluminum:

My Feelings Exactly

Stolen shamelessly from Mostly Cajun.

SOPA - Too Little, Too Late

In the fine TSM tradition of using Other People's Words when they say it better than I can, I quote Larry Correia quoting co-author Mike Kupari on the recent legislative setback of the SOPA bill by an uprising of netizens:

You didn't care when the government decided it could spy on you without a warrant. You didn't care when they started telling you what you could eat. You didn't care when your kids' education was turned into indoctrination. You didn't care when they were more worried about military veterans than Islamic terrorists. You didn't care when they spent so much money that our entire economic system may collapse. You didn't care when they gave billions of your money to unions and corporations that were their political contributors. You didn't care when inert cosmetic features on guns were felonies. You didn't care when they made it a fucking crime to not have government approved health insurance.

All of these things were done in your name. On your behalf. To help you, protect you, take care of you. Each time you gave them more power and gave away more of your freedom. Each time you believed them when they said they were protecting you, or helping the less fortunate, or sticking it to "the rich" who "aren't paying their fair share".

Each time you applauded their efforts. Mocked those that were concerned. Called them uncaring or racist or alarmist or stupid. Each time you asked for more. You begged them to take care of you, protect you, right wrongs, enforce equality.

But now that your Internet porn and bit torrents are threatened, NOW you care?

It's too late for all that, kids. Turning off Wikipedia for a couple days isn't going to win back the freedoms we've pissed away. It isn't going to undo decades of expanding government power. They've already decided there's nothing they can't do, no law they can't pass.

We watched it happen. We let it happen. We have the country we deserve.

So go ahead, post a rant about SOPA on your blog. Link to Ron Paul's web page. Pretend you're doing something. It'll make you feel better. Then you will go back to business as usual and so will they.

Democracy in action. Isn't it beautiful?

Can I get an "AMEN!"?

Edited to add this found at Tam's:

Another Non Sequitur Strip

Looks like the Commandments of the Church of JAPete to me...





Non Sequitur from Sept. 8, 2011.

The Philosophy CANNOT BE WRONG!

Do it again, ONLY HARDER!

Reader Eric G. sent me a link to this cartoon. It's from the strip Non Sequitur, Sept. 1, 2011. I think I'll post it every time I write about cognitive dissonance:




Yup, that's it.