Day: March 28, 2014

Notes from HJL:

Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value), A $300 gift certificate …


Building a Security Camera System, by S.S.

I have been working for several years on building a security camera system. I have finally found a camera that I really like. Previously, I had tried a number of things that did not work very well: Old-fashioned NTSC cameras with coax to a PCI video card resulted in terrible video quality, no matter how much money was spent. Webcams of various types offered pretty good video quality but were limited by the length of the USB cable. The Toshiba IK-WB02A IP network camera were too much money for not very good quality imaging. I bought several of these at …


Three Letters Re: Tumbling Live Rounds

In reply to HJL: Which begs the question: “Why are commercially-produced rounds going Ka-Boom then?” Hi, It’s sabotage, just like what has been going on in Syria. An awful lot of mortars seem to detonate in the tube over there. If only one in a few thousand or million rounds are altered, it would be very difficult to figure out since the effected round is destroyed and most of the rounds in the same batch or many batches in series are just standard production. Probably it is all just some sort of defect in the manufacturing process that has yet …


Economics and Investing:

The IRS just issued tax guidance for bitcoin and other virtual currencies. They classify bitcoins as property, instead of a currency, where tax rules of stocks and barter will apply. – H.L. o o o Video: Ann Barnhardt – Your savings are being robbed from you. – B.B. o o o Items from The Economatrix: Dollar Value Could Suffer Instant Change-David Morgan Low Fed Rates Worsen U.S. Retirement Crisis Stocks Edge Higher After Manufactured Goods Report Subprime Mortgages Are Slowly Making A Comeback


Odds ‘n Sods:

JWR Notes: The recent arrest of Democrat California State Senator Leland Yee on corruption and gun-running charges is beyond ironic. He’s just the latest in a long string of leftist gun-grabbing politicians, who have double standards on guns. They want to disarm the masses, while at the same time they are protected by pistol-toting bodyguards, and carve out special privileges for their cronies. Perhaps the worst of this can be seen in New York City, where for decades a key political favor has been bestowing a pistol permit to “special people.” This, one can safely assume, must require some surreptitious …


Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” – C.S. Lewis