New Toys Coming, Compliments of my Mom
I just got back from an Alcor meeting, and was talking with a Polish acquaintance at the potluck which followed. We were discussing the until-recent history of Russian occupation of his country, and he told me that some Poles he knew had during that time advocated "Layered Communism":
"Layer of Communists, layer of sand, layer of Communists, layer of sand..."
-- Russell Whitaker
From The Federalist:
"These things I believe: That government should butt out. That freedom is our most precious commodity and if we are not eternally vigilant, government will take it all away. That individual freedom demands individual responsibility. That government is not a necessary good but an unavoidable evil. That the executive branch has grown too strong, the judicial branch too arrogant and the legislative branch too stupid. That political parties have become close to meaningless. That government should work to insure the rights of the individual, not plot to take them away. That government should provide for the national defense and work to insure domestic tranquility. That foreign trade should be fair rather than free. That America should be wary of foreign entanglements. That the tree of liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. That guns do more than protect us from criminals; more importantly, they protect us from the ongoing threat of government. That states are the bulwark of our freedom. That states should have the right to secede from the Union. That once a year we should hang someone in government as an example to his fellows." -- Lyn Nofziger
# Midway USA - Wheeler Engineering 89-Piece Professional-Plus Gunsmithing Screwdriver Set - This is advertised in the latest (May 2005) issue of Shooting Times. I think I'll use part of the birthday (tomorrow) money my Mom gave me to buy this. I've been using regular screwdrivers on my guns, which is not a good idea. On sale for $83 plus shipping.
Looking for a deluxe screwdriver set that has every bit you might ever need to work on your guns? A set with flat bits that are hollow ground, many of them specifically designed to match the thin slots in gun screws and specialty tools to help with disassembly and minor gunsmithing tasks? Well, Wheeler Engineering has created this fantastic Screwdriver Set painstakingly designed to meet the needs of all your gun projects, and at a price that is affordable for everyone. 89-Piece Set includes hinged storage box, short and long handles, 3" shaft extension, hex to square drive adapter, 54 hollow-ground flat bits, 8 Allen bits, 4 Phillips bits, 3 Torx bits, plus 15 specialty tools: 3 Pin Punches .062", .093", .118", 2" #2 Phillips Bit, Weaver and Ruger Scope Ring Clamp Screw Bit, Redfield Scope Base Windage Screw Bit, Leupold Scope Base Windage Screw Bit, Millett Rear Sight Adjustment Bit, M1, M14, M1A Rear Sight Bit, Glock Replacement Front Sight Screw Bit, Mauser Recoil Lug Spanner Bit, S&W Rebound Spring Compressor Tool, 1911 Grip Screw Bushing Driver, Ruger, Colt, SA Base Pin Latch Nut Bit and Remington 870, 1100, 11-87 Trigger Plate Pin Punch.
# With my mom's birthday present last year, I bought SkyFighters 1945 (SF), a World War II (WWII) dogfight simulator that I flew an earlier verion of many years ago. I also got a Saitek X45 Joystick to control it. I looked around on the net afterwards and discovered that there was no longer a community of people flying that sim. My son and I had a good time flying against the bots, but it wasn't the same as a dogfight with real human opponents. I discovered recently that Don Hill is writing a new version of his sim, OSX SkyFighters 1945. It works on Macintosh OSX only, but he improved the graphics and added a mission builder. A pre-release is available. It appears to work. PolarBear's Hangar is a good place to learn about it. He also runs an IRC server. I had only flown the new SF with the mouse until he recommended trying the Saitek on the Mac. It worked; no driver installation necessary. I plan to pay for OSX SkyFighters, buy a second joystick for my son, likely the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Twist Handle Joystick USB that PolarBear recommends, and join PolarBear in helping to rebuild the flying community. So the Flybar Model 1200 high-tech pogo stick will just have to stay on my wish list for a while longer.