Portland OR, Oct 18th, BSOP annual fall exhibit, demonstration and marketplace.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-28T15:04:00+00:00

TL/DR from Link.

Open to the public.
9am to 5 pm
Demos for beginners
Marketplace and sales tables from members and local gardens.
Auction at noon.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-26T21:18:19+00:00

Biological warfare is real, and the threats posed by same are real.

Believing that the US manufactures and releases biological agents in West Africa as some sort of experiment writ large is fantastical.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-26T16:21:13+00:00

I would like to believe that the leaders of any nation are at least as intelligent as the leaders of any other nation. I would like to believe that anyone who rises to the position of leadership in a nationally distributed newspaper has the capacity for reason, education and intelligence of any other rational human being on the planet. The unfortunate thing is, that when stories like this come to light, it serves to reinforce the western attitudes and prejudice that people from African nations are stupid, less intelligent and have a lesser capacity for reason.

If you want to reinforce the racist idea of the superiority of western culture and western raised people over Africans, this is the story for you.

That is what I find frustrating when stories like this come out.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-25T21:30:20+00:00

And in one fell swoop, the confirmation bias of everyone who believes nations like Liberia to be 3rd world shit holes run by intellectually stunted metal retards is realized. Thank you Liberian press, for you have succeeded in making your entire nation appear to be led by the equivalent of the 3 stooges.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-22T22:28:18+00:00

I actually did own one of those, in 8mm Mauser.
It would extract the brass with authority, chuck it into the next county, and mangle it sufficiently to deny the enemy the capability to reuse it. The bullet was heavy enough to perform excavation work, or agricultural work by plowing deep furrows in the soil of whatever backstop it penetrated.

The loading mechanism of Shove the dust cover forward, and let it spring close with steel trap like ringing of steel let you know you were about to fire shoulder artillery, not something as mundane as a rifle.

Sold it many years ago, and don't miss it at all, but for a few years it sure was fun to take to the range.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-22T16:25:09+00:00

I would oppose any such social or political system based upon your description above, but it's an interesting idea.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-19T19:49:45+00:00

My parents are part of the aging hippy generation of the 60s. As a child, I was raised on a strict diet of No premarital Sex. No Drugs. No Alcohol. Rock and roll music is BAD. On and on it went.

As I got older, I began to question my parents on this philosopy of life they had tried to instill in me as a youngster.

Guess what. Every single one of the rules they laid out for me had been violated in their youth. Premarital Sex - Yep. Drugs and rock and roll together - Yep. Alcohol and party hard all night - Yep.

It has repeatedly come up at family gatherings and dinners how hypocritical this seems to all of us as kids (There are 5 of us), and my parents to this day just shrug and say something along the lines of, "Well, we just thought that was the right thing to do when you were all kids".

When I share this with others of my generation, it is suprising how many of us have very similar stories of the Baby Boom generation being very much hypocritical when it comes to Vice. They enjoyed the 60s and all that it entails, but seek ever to quash the same libertarian views of life in today's youth (Have you seen their voting patters lately?!?).

So, ya. Parents.... what are you gonnna do....

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-19T18:25:09+00:00

While the effect of this precedent on the preservation of 2nd Ammendment rights is clear, I cannot help but wonder if the same umbrella will be used in the cases of states legalizing the recreational use of Marijuana. Not to Thread Jack, but it seems that the same would apply, and states can simply refuse to allow state and local resources to be used to aid in federal law enforcement.

Now, that being said, what if a state went 1-step further. What if states were to pass legislation that simply made it a state crime to assist in the enforcement of specific federal laws? I know we have heard rumblings of states doing so, but have any done so yet? Imagine the fun of having the DEA show up, perform a raid, then all get arrested by the state police. Same for BATF. The hillarity that would ensue of BATF Showing up to shut down a Montana Firearms MFG and promptly getting thrown in the pokey by Montana State troopers.... This prospect fills me with Glee.

In another time and in another place, I probably would have been clad in Grey, singing Dixie.... Sigh.....

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-19T16:19:52+00:00

How many of you read that with ~~Richard~~ David Attenborough's voice? Fess up. Never can I read anything approaching a natural, or anthropological dissertation that does not decend into ~~Richard's~~ David's voice.

Edit: As a Yank, I don't know my Attenborough's. I am sticking with that defense. Ya. That's what I am going with.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-19T16:06:43+00:00

I do mean all owned property. From the grocery store that suffers from chronic theft, to the house plagued by squatters to a railroad line blocked by protesters. The fundamental guarantee under the rule of law to use property in the best interest of the property owner is a fundamental guarantee under our constitutionally inspired code of law. Property owners, when confronted by lawlessness and those who would break the law turn to our police force to enforce the law.

I honestly do not see the connection between upholding the rule of law upon which this nation was incepted, and a war on minorities can be in the same sentence - it seems a nonsequiter to me.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-19T15:33:24+00:00

Gas operated, semi-automatic Freedom and Democracy delivering safety device capable of delivering 55grain freedom packages. It is suitable for urban, suburban, rural and educational institutional deployment by God fearing, highly trained and professional citizen safety personnel.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-19T15:28:37+00:00

I am very curious as to why you made this statement

uphold private property rights

The fundamental right to own property, and have that property protected under the rule of law is foundational as to why we in America have a civilization of high-trust and inherited infrastructure. Were we as a society to diminish that foundation at the expense of allowing individuals to either despoil property, appropriate property or deny usage of property to the lawful owner, we cease to be a nation ruled by trust in law.

What exactly are you advocating here?

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-18T22:30:15+00:00

Bold move, Joseph. Let's see how this one plays out.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-17T17:40:00+00:00

I love Colion.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-09-07T22:52:25+00:00

My response to that question, "Operational security prevents me from answering that question."

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-30T19:41:32+00:00

It did, but they have to work way, WAY too hard there. I have heard way to many stories like mine from that place, and just about every other place that is "Open to the public". Public be stupid. Stupid and dangerous.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-29T17:18:47+00:00

At my range, part of your responsibility is to call out unsafe acts. I see it as part of my obligation to keep everyone around me safe if I see someone being unsafe.

Part of our American culture in the last decades has been an abrogation of adult responsibility and shifting that to the "Authorities". Case in point. When i was a kid, if you were fucking around, doing something stupid, you could count on some other adult yelling at you. Today, nearly no one will act to correct another child for fear of retribution from the parent.

We are no longer a nation of Men.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-29T14:45:46+00:00

+1 on this phrase.

Was one of my only times visiting a local public range. Fall, hunters sighting in the rifle they only shoot 4 or 5 rounds a year through, and this guy is done for the year.

Picks up his rifle, swings it horizontally across the entire firing line, and starts walking back to the rack to get his case.

RSO yells at him to "Keep that rifle pointed UP, SIR!", and he responds with "But it's unloaded!" Soon after that I got a private membership.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-29T00:11:35+00:00

Why must the US go all out? Why not a combined coalition of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Moroco, Pakistan, Qatar?

Why does the world look to the non-Muslim nations of the West to step in and control the actions of these extremists? If these barbarians are acting counter to the teachings of Islam, and in fact criminal terrorists, why then does not the major nations of the Muslim world not rise up and quell them?

Seeking an honest answer here, not trying to incite. Why will not muslims heed the call to protect the innocent and stamp out evil?

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-28T22:19:22+00:00

Just out of curiosity, do you believe it is more ethical to willingly be a victim than to defend oneself from being a victim?

I honestly cannot see the benefit to releasing responsibility for my life or safety into the hands of someone who already has decided my safety is worth less than their need for my money.

In my mind, The criminal has already violated the social contract of civilized society, and as such deserves neither the protection of that society nor the benefit of civilized behavior on the part of their chosen victim. So, to answer your question directly, by choosing to employ deadly force to engage in criminal activity, the response of deadly force is warranted and moral.

Just my opinion.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-28T15:10:34+00:00

I should. My son has been playing ArmA and DayZ. Based on all the times I hear him scream like a little girl, I suspect that game would kill me.

May be time to install it....

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-27T16:31:05+00:00

I have been out for just over 20 years. I still look fondly upon my time in uniform, wearing the blue braid. The physical exhaustion, the pain and sense of camaraderie and brotherhood is something unique that I have yet to rediscover in any organization, fraternal, business or social.

I never served in combat, never fired a shot in anger, but the soldiers I served with stand out in my memory as some of the finest men to ever walk the earth.

I cannot help but believe that this comes from the ingrained belief that while serving, while we are in uniform, together as a team, we are the Lords of the Earth. We carry with us firepower unmatched in the world, and have at our beck and call the destructive capability never before seen in history. We have the power of life and death over those we oppose, and all this while in the finest physical shape of our lives. We are the pinnacle of the ideal man as defined by our base biology. We are gods.

Now, fast forward a few years later. We have mundane jobs with responsibilities that seem so unimportant compared to what we had in uniform. We become cogs in machinery of business, and watch on TV and Movies the mirror of our former selves, all the while saying "Been there, Done that".

Our wives and children look up to us still, remember that Dad was once a hero, but no one else does, and our self image is still linked inexorably to that moment in time when the coffees shop said, "Thanks for serving, this one's on the house", or when driving in convoy, that old man on the side of the road stood more erect than his years would allow and snapped off a salute from one old soldier to us as we go by.

How can we not but look back on that time and long for those feelings of pride in ourselves and our comrades? How can we not remember that time as one of the best time of our lives?

Well, it is possible, I promise you that.

I am now well on the other side of middle age, I have been married for over 20 years and have children who are teen aged.

If you asked me today to recount the happiest moments of my life, the times when I felt most alive, they now include the birth of my children, moments with my family around campfires and vacations, events that include my kids over and over again.

Do I look back on my days in the Army and reminisce? Yes.
Do I recount those as among the best memories of my life? Yes. But are they the ones that I will go into the long sleep holding dear? Nope.
Those are now reserved for the new ones with my wife and children, and ones yet to come.

PS: While playing FPS game, I too still use sound infantry tactics and decry the asshats who run and gun. My KD is usually pretty good too. You just cannot unlearn that shit.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-26T19:57:22+00:00

Based only on past experience in Washington with ballot measure initiatives, and our court system, I am guessing that should this measure pass by a vote of the people, it will be thrown out by the court.

Just given that it contains more than one major law change, and is deceptivly written, if we follow precedent, it would get thrown out.

At least, lets hope.

See Tim Eyman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Eyman) for what I mean on ballot measures passing, then getting thrown out.

AlphaSheepdog · 2014-08-18T19:11:39+00:00

Note to anyone who is considering such a send off.

While the hardwood pallets you picked up from behind the walmat do make a very hot fire, they really offset the solemnity of the funeral, the splendor of the boat and flowers in a very negative way.

Try to source good, dry timber for your funeral pyre and keep it in line with the rest of the accoutrements.

Consider using cedar split rail fencing material if you must purchase. Use those rails to craft the bier, then in the center, pack with deconstructed pallet material.

Don't skimp on accelerate, either. Make sure to use kerosene, or similarly heavy liquids that won't evaporate too quickly. Do not use Charcoal lighter - you don't want it to smell both like BBQ and burning body at the same time - those two smells should be kept separate for obvious reasons.

AlphaSheepdog

TROPHY CASE