A huge list of outdoor survival web site links was recently posted over at the Gulching/Self-Sufficiency forum at The Mental Militia Forums.
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I’m now ten chapters in, reading my copy of Michael Z. Williamson’s latest science fiction novel “Better to Beg Forgiveness“. It is set a couple of centuries in the future and follows the adventures of a band of mercenaries sent to guard a national president on a war-torn backwater colony planet. I got a slow start reading the book, given the time constraints of elk and deer hunting season, but now I’m hooked. Thusfar, this book has been a great read, with plenty of the elements that Williamson fans love: action, great technical detail, believable characters, accurate tactics, vivid imagery of distant worlds, and some compellingly deep drama. Note that it is definitely not a book for children! I will post a full review once I’ve finished it. The novel is now available from Amazon.com.
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“Low” Inflation? Egg, Beans, Chicken, Milk: Prices for Key Foods Rising Sharply
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Rod sent us a link to Remington’s web site, where they are hyping their new AR-15 “R-15” clone. It has been reported that these rifles actually built by Bushmaster, one of Remington’s sister companies–also owned by Cerberus Capital Management, the same conglomerate that also own Chrysler Corporation.) Apparently these models are tailored to attract hunters. Aside from a fancy paint job, it appears to be just another variation on a theme, with the same old AR crud-injecting direct impingement gas tube action. The pictured models lack bayonet lugs or threaded muzzles (which would allow them to be fitted with tactical flash hiders or muzzle brakes), apparently to be politically correct. Jim Zumbo would be proud. I guess nobody told the Remington managers that the 1994 Federal Ban expired.
What I’m waiting to review are some truly innovative new designs, such as the Robinson Armament XCR, the MagPul Masada, and the Kel-Tec RFB .308 Bullpup. The latter uses standard FAL magazines and employs a very unusual forward axial cartridge ejection system, just above the barrel. It ejects a fired cartridge case on the same forward stroke of the bolt that chambers each subsequent round, and they “dribble” out the front!