Atlas Shrugged

I bought the book a while back, but I've not started the 1,000+ page journey... looks like I need to get going.



Via Instapundit

Multiculturalism Fails

From Wikipedia: "In a political context the term has come to mean the advocacy of extending equitable status to distinct ethnic and religious groups without promoting any specific ethnic, religious, and/or cultural community values as central."

I really don't have a problem with diversity, multiculturalism, or whatever you want to call it - assuming everyone brings an open mind to the table. Unfortunately, some cultures want to convert those in their host countries.

Multiculturalism Fails in the United Kingdom

Multiculturalism Fails in Canada

Multiculturalism Fails in France

Multiculturalism Fails in Germany

Testing Blogger-droid

Just a test post from my phone.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Guns in Switzerland

I had seen this video and always thought it was a great argument for the 2A side... and now it appears that some Swiss citizens may lose their right to possess a gun.

470 Amateur Radio Net - FlexRadio and Echolink

Paul, W4PGM, gave an overview of the FlexRadio, Software Defined Radio. He runs the FLEX-3000 and really likes it. He compared it favorably to many other HF rigs he has run. Since it is software based, he says it is easy to apply the updates that come out every 6 months or so. The updates may change the tuner from a 5-to-1 to a 7-to-1 or improve the noise blanker. Even without the customary buttons or dials on the radio, it is very configurable - you just use the PowerSDR software from your PC. It sounded like any fairly recent computer would be sufficient as long as you have or can add a Firewire port. Paul really liked its abilities in digital modes. On the band scope, you can pick a peak, representing a signal, and click it to tune to that frequency.

From Brick O'Lore

He mentioned a couple of issues with the CW and notch filtering, but says the company is working to resolve those issues. He also said that contesters may not like the software, because it doesn't integrate into the popular logging programs - you have to manually change the focus of the windows to switch between apps.

Also, Rick Sr., N4JTQ, explained the problems they were having getting the Echolink working on the KJ4HPM/443.225 repeater. I was glad to find out it wasn't just me.

Clean your AR-15

A guide from Coal Creek Armory for cleaning your AR-15. I think they need a copy editor. (Not that I'm perfect!)

The Cost of Faith

Powerful faith... I don't know if my faith is that strong. I can't help thinking about my family and not wanting to miss a minute.

Encrypted Google Search

I just noticed that my Google search defaulted to an encrypted page. Strange. I've never see that before tonight. It shows the "Beta" and a "SSL" tag.

https://encrypted.google.com/

From Brick O'Lore

Old Mobile Phone for 911

Not a bad idea... keep an old mobile phone charged to use as a back-up for 911 calls. He recommends using a timer to keep the phone from sucking juice all the time. I would suggest looking at the phone to see if shows that it is getting an SOS signal of some sort.

Home Defense Experiment

A friend sent me the link to Legion's Fate blog and an experiment for shooting through drywall. They test the conventional wisdom that a shotgun is preferable to a rifle or handgun for self defense in the home when there is a risk of an errant round passing through a wall and hitting a loved one or neighbor.

The conclusion...

"For fun, we also shot a .38 Special MagTec frangible round, a .357 magnum Glaser Safety Slug, and a Black Hills 124 grain +P 9mm at the walls, and all of them went straight through the five walls and into the woods. High velocity small mass bullets hitting something hard like drywall makes them break up and slow down, and low velocity high mass bullets just keep going."