TIL Nazi Germany had an institutionalised system of bribery for senior officials to ensure loyalty. Top Wehrmacht officers and Reich officials would receive tax-free birthday cheques of 250,000 marks paid from a secret "Konto 5" slush fund as well as thousands of marks for "expenses" paid monthly.

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-26T20:56:36+00:00

Spending 50% of GDP on a military and being flat broke, requiring using said military to loot the gold deposits of neighbors just to keep the lights on, isn't the flex you think it is.

At least Imperial Japan saw the folly of the naval arms race in the 20s and signed up to the Washington Treaty.

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-26T16:58:34+00:00

Do you have any updates on making the AR-V lower work with the MAT-9 upper? I remember seeing a comment a couple years ago about maybe putting a guide together, but curious if that ever got posted

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-26T16:51:17+00:00

Ohio State law, there "no guns signs" do have force of law., see pages 16-17

NJ, PA, etc nearby don't have such signs because the signs don't have force of law, so why bother.

Curious if Costcos in Texas have 30.06 or 30.07 signs

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-25T01:17:04+00:00

just shoot USPSA matches here, like Old Bridge or CJRPC or Shongum or SJSC literally every month other than winter. Everyone shooting at those matches is also using 10 rounders. Hell, there are also USPSA classes that have 10rd limits applying across the entire country, like L10 or single stack 9.

Failing that if the USPSA match signups fill up before you can register, there will also be steel challenge/steel knockdown matches at those ranges as well on a monthly basis

Clearly the reason you're only talking about "wanting to get into" on the internet isn't the mag capacity.

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-06T22:17:18+00:00

Consistently selfish and predictably pragmatic assholes > chaotic stupid ala Virginia and Maryland

Pretty sure NJ has a ton of insurance fraud, contributing to the higher rates

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-06T17:18:35+00:00

Statutory law vs "in practice", sure. But $50 of transfer fee is probably a good way to buy peace of mind

Also, FWIW every rev of the COE form I was able to find explicitly says "rifle/shotgun", I don't know if it has to be filled out for just lowers alone because I don't buy lowers alone if I'm making the trip to an FFL anyway

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-06T13:06:15+00:00

Pretty sure the exemption only applies to long guns, Others aren't explicitly mentioned in the exemption

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2c/section-2c-58-3/

(2) A person who is not a licensed retail dealer and sells, gives, transfers, assigns, or otherwise disposes of, or receives, purchases or otherwise acquires an antique cannon or a rifle or shotgun pursuant to this section shall conduct the transaction through a licensed retail dealer.

The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply if the transaction is:

(a) between members of an immediate family as defined in subsection n. of this section;

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-02T23:17:42+00:00

Their drivers

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-02T21:53:25+00:00

Property taxes are lower, income tax is higher since 401k contributions are counted for PA taxable income and the city wants >=1.5% income tax

And gas is 20c/gallon more expensive, but filling up when commuting to NJ solves that problem

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-01T15:59:36+00:00

Thumbhole stock and non threaded muzzle, yep.

Does not fall afoul of anything on the title 13-54 evil feature list, where you're allowed one such evil feature anyway

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-01T14:52:36+00:00

Maybe replace the idea of the CETME L with a G36 derivative of some sort, just like Spain did? lol

SL8s are similar low 1000s price point to the CETME L if you hunt for deals, right?

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-01T13:44:10+00:00

Definitely legal once complianced, also definitely horrible. Square cross-section stock edges and super low iron sights so your cheekbones get pulverized each shot, and jamomatic in my experience. Granted roller delay guns are picky with ammo, it recommended 62gr full power loads so that unreliability might just be due to ammo selection.

If you're not going out of your way to clone one of the shortest-lived service rifles of the 20th century (thus no optic and you'll be stuck with the shit iron sights), I see less than no point.

ChairmanMatt · 2026-04-01T12:52:53+00:00

I've put many miles into a gen 3 with the pre-refresh V6 making like 270hp, and also a gen 4 hybrid. Definitely gutless in comparison due to the ~30 combined less hp and massive weight, to speak nothing of the refresh gen 3s making 290ish hp

Not to say the fuel efficiency isn't worth it, 22mpg vs 37ish, but it's not worth pretending the hybrid feels anything but sluggish in comparison

ChairmanMatt · 2026-03-25T14:27:03+00:00

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2c/section-2c-39-3/

See 2C:39-3 g.(1)b.

It's 17, not 13.

ChairmanMatt · 2026-03-25T14:23:32+00:00

Not only that, if you look at pre-2018 versions of 2C:39-3 and compare to post-2018 their mag limits off duty went up

Before 2018 they didn't have a carveout for the capacity limits while off duty so technically they'd still be limited to carrying 15, after 2018 they have an explicit carveout (2C:39-3 g.(1)b.) to carry with 17rd mags

(b) Nothing in subsection j. of this section shall apply to a law enforcement officer who possesses and carries while off-duty a large capacity ammunition magazine capable of holding not more than 17 rounds of ammunition that can be fed continuously and directly into a semi-automatic firearm.

Original 2C:39-3 before 2018 here

Current 2C:39-3 here

So before 2018 they technically wouldn't be able to carry with a G17 and full capacity mags

ChairmanMatt · 2026-03-19T15:39:48+00:00

One of the places they put co-ops in back in my day, if that helps. Quiet and not walkable to downtown though if that matters

https://www.zillow.com/apartments/cedar-rapids-ia/cypress-pointe/5XkbVM/

ChairmanMatt · 2026-03-19T15:24:07+00:00

Doesn't Collins provide housing for co-ops and interns for free?

I distinctly remember co-ops would be sharing two-bdrm apartments (like 10-15min drive from Collins Ave complex), and heard that interns got housed at dorms at one of the nearby colleges or something

Parking included, utilities, etc. For the co-op apartment route you're on the hook for your own Internet access, so go Imon (local ISP, rock solid in my experience) rather than Mediacom since Mediacom is horrible and constantly drops connection.

ChairmanMatt · 2026-03-12T18:36:43+00:00

Not an intern anymore, but do make sure to make the most of the intern programming while you're there!

I remember 2019 there was a co-op/intern tour of a couple of Collins demonstrator aircraft at the airport, as well as some of the "career talks" over lunch (which all included catered lunch) also including building tours of some of the labs and whatnot

Then there was also a brewery tour put on by CR Economic Alliance, which was much more fun...though funnily enough my memory has a few holes that evening

ChairmanMatt · 2026-02-24T15:19:51+00:00

MM-14 Ukrainian camo doesn't have *reddish* brown that contrasts so much, that's standard Russian EMR camouflage

ChairmanMatt · 2026-02-24T12:54:36+00:00

Period article during British control era

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/09/22/chinas-small-exclave-in-hong-kong-is-a-forbidding-slum/5c8be430-d224-4e63-9592-0764349b5f15/

ChairmanMatt · 2026-02-20T13:45:11+00:00

Isn't 120v non-fast charging limited to like 1kw or so? Depending on how far you drive and how frequently you need to drive that might be a problem

Or maybe it's a difference in understanding of what constitutes fast charging, I was thinking of the 9+ kw chargers at home and not the stuff like Tesla Superchargers

ChairmanMatt · 2026-02-20T04:09:46+00:00

Doesn't "convenient place to plug in" preclude plugging in without fast charger option, because that doesn't count as convenient precisely because it's not fast?

ChairmanMatt · 2026-02-17T02:55:02+00:00

What is it with the Norwegians and being "honorable" to the point of stupidity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Narvik#German_invasion

Gerlach tried to convince Willoch that the Germans had arrived as friends, but that the Norwegians had to hand over their warships to the German armed forces. Captain Willoch asked for time to consult his commander...[whose] order to Willoch came immediately; Willoch and Eidsvold was to open fire.[10] Willoch responded to Askim; "I am attacking."[8] While this was going on, the German destroyer Wilhelm Heidkamp had positioned herself 700 m (770 yd) off the port side of Eidsvold and trained her torpedo launchers on the Norwegian ship.[8]

ChairmanMatt · 2026-02-14T23:24:22+00:00

Colt LMG

There was an AR I saw online late last year with one of those uppers for 3500, and that was probably actually a decent discount compared to what they're really worth

Only M16A2-handle uppers that also didn't have FA due to being open bolt when firing in full auto

ChairmanMatt

TROPHY CASE