Glibertarians.com 2017 Archive

Category: KHAAAAAANNN!!!

  • Mid-Day Open Post

    Keep on conversatin’ here.

    Oh, one bonus link for you.

    Makes you glad this wasn’t prescient:

     

    I am Governor Jerry Brown
    My aura smiles and never frowns
    Soon I will be president
    Carter power will soon go ‘way
    I will be Führer one day
    I will command all of you
    Your kids will meditate in school 
    Your kids will meditate in school

  • Firearms Friday: Left Handed Lamentation

    I want to start off today with some excellent news: The SHARE Act has passed out of committee in the house and is headed to the floor. This bill does a ton of awesome stuff, most noteworthy being the removal of silencers from the clutches of the evil NFA, as well as gutting the ‘non sporting purposes’ bullshit and preventing rifle ammo from being banned as ‘armor piercing’. Barring any unforeseen problems in the house and senate (I’m looking at you, McCain, you shitbird) it should be on the president’s desk in a few weeks. This would be the biggest pro gun victory since the sunset of the assault weapons ban. Do everything in your power to get this to pass. Seriously, this is YUUUGE!

    In case that last bit of news made you too excited, here is a little nut punch to even you out: Paul Ryan has unilaterally blocked the National Reciprocity Act from reaching the floor, claiming ‘the timing is not right‘. This fucker needs to be primaried.

    That’s enough news. Onto the topic du jour. When most people buy a gun, they probably put an immediate consideration into things like price, reliability, and features. I, however, am a bit different. When I see a new gun, the first thing I ask myself is ‘can I even use it?’. That’s because I am left handed. If there was ever a hobby that discriminated against left handed participants, I would imagine shooting to be just behind polo in that regard. Up until very recently, you could not even get ‘ambidextrous’ or ‘left handed’ guns. You had to simply buy a right handed gun and learn to do everything ass backwards. God forbid you needed to reach a safety at any point cause you were proper fucked. I have heard that in WW2, southpaws would leave their 1911s on the half cock notch and learn to draw and cock the hammer before firing, since the safeties on those guns could only be used right handed.

    Not exactly what I had in mind when I did the GIS, but I’ll take it.

    Things have gotten much much better in the last few years as gun companies realize there is a whole 20% of the market they could be servicing better. Even 7 years ago when I started seriously getting into guns, there were only a handful of companies that made ambidextrous handguns. Now just about every single brand has a left hand friendly model. Even Glock’s newest generation has an ambi slide lock and a reversible magazine release.

    This does not mean that everything is awesome, however. The handgun market might be very lefty friendly at this point, but the long gun market still has much to be desired. Let’s take one simple example. Say you wanted a 9mm rifle. Most of you would simply go online, buy a Kel Tec Sub 2000 for around $350, and call it a day. Not quite so simple for me, however. You see, the Sub 2K has a right hand only safety and mag release. I could probably learn to use them, but if I am going for competition use those extra few seconds add up. This means I have to look at guns 2 to 3 times more expensive just to get the features that I need. I either have to build a custom 9mm AR or I have pony up damn near a grand for something like a CZ Scorpion Evo. That is a significant price bump just because I was born this way. Revolvers are similarly problematic because 99% of them are completely right handed. I know of one company making a very small number of reversed 38s for southpaws, but that’s it.

    It isn’t just boutique guns that suffer from this problem. Let’s look at the ubiquitous AR-15 platform. Aside from the trigger, there are three controls on an AR: The charging handle, the safety, and the bolt release. All of these are inherently right handed. If you normies wanted to buy an AR, you could go and get the cheapest thing from Palmetto State or Radical Firearms and be happy. Lefties don’t get off so easily. First, I would have to change out the safety. That’s a minimum of $20. Then I have to add an ambi mag release. Another $20. I also need a BAD lever. 30 bucks. Finally, I need an ambi charging handle. The absolute cheapest I have ever seen one is $40. Add that up and you are looking at an extra $120 just to use the gun. Mind you these prices are the bare minimum. It is not uncommon to pay $50 for a good ambi safety, $50-$100 for a lefty mag release, and $80+ for a charging handle. You can see how quickly this stuff adds up.

    The place that really gets dirty for lefty shooters are bullpups and bolt action rifles. By design these guns are not ambi friendly. You have to go for one hand or the other, and since most people are right handed, most guns are as well. I do not own a single bolt action rifle for this very reason, and up until the Tavor was released I didn’t own a bullpup, even though I love bullpup rifles. The Tavor can be set up for left or right handed operation, but in order to make mine a lefty I had to pay an extra $200 and ship the gun out for a conversion. Not cheap or convenient.

    I think the worst part about all of this is that there are ways to make guns more lefty friendly. Companies simply don’t do them. Top break revolvers have been around for centuries but they are basically nonexistent today. Ambidextrous bullpup designs are starting to proliferate but they are still in the minority. To my knowledge there has never been a bolt action rifle that could be swapped from left to right handed operation (trust me, I’ve looked). Just about the only place ambidextrous design is in vogue is the handgun market, which is kind of silly because the handgun is probably the easiest weapon to learn to use weak handed.

    I am sure there are some of you out there reading this rather incredulously. Waah, poor Vhyrus was born a freak and the world won’t change to accommodate him. And you’re right. This is a minor gripe. A textbook first world problem. That is exactly what’s wonderful about our country in [current year]. Things are so good I can bitch that my military grade death rifle isn’t user friendly enough. Compared to disease, starvation, war, slavery, oppression, and everything else going on, this is a giant nothingburger. So, in reality, this rant is actually glowing praise of our society in disguise. But, I still want my left handed guns dammit, and I sincerely hope that the ambidextrous trend for gun makers continues to build. Because as it is now, the kids are definitely not all right.

  • ZARDOZ SPEAKS!

    ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. DO NOT FEAR THE SUN DISAPPEARING – ZARDOZ WILL RESTORE IT YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES…AS TEMPTING AS IT IS TO LEAVE IT HIDDEN AND FREEZE AND STARVE ALL BRUTALS.

    ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.

  • The Progpocalypse

    And I saw when the pan-sexual, differentially-abled, undocumented Person of Color opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

    2 And I saw, and behold a white privileged horse: and the shitlord that sat on him had a semiautomatic assault rifle with a black thing that goes up; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth kinetic actioning, and to utilize authorized military force.

    3 And when xe had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

    4 And there went out another horse that was a non-revolutionary red: and power was given to the cis-het patriarch that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should microaggress one another: and there was given unto him a great phallus.

    5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black lives matter horse with spinners on it’s hooves; and the (((racist))) that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

    6 And I heard a capitalist voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of GMO wheat for a penny, and three measures of non-fair trade barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the fracked oil and the wine.

    7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

    8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Discrimination, and Anthropogenic Global Warming followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to hurt with words, and with food insecurity, and with lack of single payer care, and with the fascists of the earth.

    9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of Bernie, and for the testimony which they held:

    10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O DNC, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the primaries?

    11 And robes of color were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowtravellers also and their xirthren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

    12 And I beheld when xe had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of culturally appropriated, braided hair, and the moon became as blood;

    13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a non-GMO, organic fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty AGW caused wind.

    14 And the True Socialist State departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

    15 And the politicians of the earth, and the Top. Men., and the rich kulaks and wreckers, and the chief captains, and the mighty fascists, and every welfare recipient, and every libertarian, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

    16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Xe that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the pan-sexual, differentially-abled, undocumented Person of Color:

    17 For the great day of Xir wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand without government transfer payments?

  • Millennial Hipster Clothing Site to join Jet.com and Walmart Family

    All that the light touches came from Modcloth

    You might be wondering why this is relevant–it’s because fully 90% of my wardrobe is from Modcloth, including the dress I  wore to our wedding. So it’s relevant to me and you all get to read about it. I can promise some delicious salty tears, but if that’s not enough, go ahead and skip down to the comments and we can discuss why there are no libertarian women.

    Modcloth announced on Friday via tweet and blog post that they “are joining the Jet.com and Walmart family.” What does this mean? According to the blog:

    This will give us the necessary resources and support that we need as a business to grow. Growth allows us to reach more women, grow our community, and amplify our message. Our mission to help our customers feel like the best version of themselves continues. And our commitment to inclusivity continues. Our amazing team continues. And we can open more stores — in your hometown! I hope you will continue to join us as well on this next phase of our journey together.

    Brought to you by Modcloth

    If you’re wondering how receptive Modcloth’s client base is, you need look no further than the replies to the tweet or the comments in the blog. There’s a lot of complaints about Walmart’s anti-union policies (oh nooooooo), their lack of respect for women (lolwut?), and how Walmart is just bad for ‘Murica (m’kay?). One person even goes so far as to say that this “marks the death of Modcloth.” Regardless of the specific complaint, the overarching message is the same–goodbye/unsubscribe/unfollow. I could not find one positive comment. I’d leave one myself, but I suspect I’d just get shouted down. At least no one found Jet.com offensive.

    I highly doubt I’ll ever see a brick-and-mortar store in my town, but I love shopping at Modcloth.com. While I find a lot of their products unnecessarily trendy–I can’t stand mustaches and manatees on everything–they also tend to offer clothing that I think could be described as timeless and/or classic. I’m looking forward to seeing how this new partnership (hopefully) improves what Modcloth can offer.

  • Transmogrification and Projection

    What was once a humorous but true observation has become a blatant tactic with the Left: everything they do is about projection.

    The 24-minute news cycle is currently obsessed with transsexual and transgender rights because the President rescinded an awful “Dear Colleague” letter that was fraught with more danger than just who uses what bathroom.  Naturally, of course, the Right, being stupid, latched immediately onto talking about who uses what bathroom, but I digress.

    The Left fell in love with the term and promptly used it obsessively, wrongly, and beat its usefulness into the turf.  The Left accuses anyone who dares questions the rationality or wisdom of a “victim’s” feelings of “gaslighting” that person. Gaslighting, however, is not about refuting or mocking the fee-fees of a humorless 19-year-old twat (gender neutral) on Twitter.   Gaslighting is actually a systematic form of abuse which causes the victim to question his own memory, his own recollection of facts, his own judgment and perception.  When I think of a campaign to systematically undermine known facts, rational thought processes, and good judgment, one political and cultural group stands out to me.

    Naturally, the Left is whinging about gaslighting (without using the term correctly) while actually gaslighting the American public about gender and sexuality.  If you are one of those crazy regressives who thinks there are two biological sexes, and those two sexes (male and female) happen to correspond neatly to “socialized” gender roles (men and women) that have evolved over thousands of years and generally hold true across cultures and civilizations, boy are you in for it.  The Left is willing to Madred you until you squeal, “There are 1,000 genders!” We have actually come to the point where it is considered bigoted and awful to repeat biological, historical, psychological, and sociological facts.

    I am sure, to no one’s surprise, my feelings on transgenderism and transsexuality will make me first against the wall when the First Internationale – United States Edition convenes its Comintern. I am a semi-educated layman on psychological disorders, and Gender Identity Disorder — I mean, Gender Dysphoria — fits fairly neatly into the class of problems called psychotic disorders.  I am not the only one to think so, and the evidence is pretty compelling.  For example, a study conducted in the Netherlands, a country notably “progressive” on this issue, found that GID/GD was the primary diagnosis in only 39% of psychologists’ patients.  For the other 61%, it turned out,  “cross-gender identification was comorbid with other psychiatric disorders.”  Another paper in The Journal of Psychiatric Research found that 71% of GID sufferers had or currently have an Axis I psychological disorder, and wrote, “Lifetime psychiatric comorbidity in GID patients is high, and this should be taken into account in the assessment and treatment planning of GID patients.” The paper rightly points out this may be a chicken-egg problem:  are GD sufferers’ additional psychiatric symptoms caused by the high stress of having GD, or does the comorbidity of Mood and Dissoaciative Disorders with GD prove GD is a kind of psychosis that “travels along” with mentally ill patients?  Given the aforementioned Dutch study, where only 39% of GD sufferers had it as a primary diagnosis, I know which side I’m taking.

    Science!

    It’s important to note GD remarkably mirrors Body Integrity Identity Disorder.  If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say it is rather convenient the DSM-V renamed Gender Identity Disorder at around the same time Body Integrity Identity Disorder was named as such, but fortunately for you, I’m off Alex Jones duty this week.

    All kidding aside, the parallels between GID/GD and BIID are obvious.  You suffer from a delusion, despite biological and social evidence, that your body is “wrong” somehow, and the only way to fix it is to radically alter it.

  • Letters to the Editor

    When I was a kid, the second thing I turned to in the evening newspaper was the Letters to the Editor. This was after the comics, of course- what sort of mischief are Nancy and Sluggo up to today? In any case, the Letters were vastly entertaining in a place and era where Spiro T. Agnew was the liberal candidate for governor. Once in a while, the editors would respond, but mostly, the letters stood as they were, with no commentary. I thought that was a waste of comedic opportunity.

    To help me work through my childhood disappointment, I’ve decided that The Glibertarians needs a Letters to the Editor section. And rest assured, they will have answers attached. I’ll drop these on the world weekly, culling out the best ones. Unlike my childhood, where Letters were typed with Underwoods and Royals using carbon paper, we use the method invented by Shiva Ayyadurai (don’t sue me, bro!), email. Please direct it down the following tube:

    Submit Letters Here

    Letters may be edited for length, style, or if I maliciously want to make you look stupid. And it goes without saying that just because you got an OCR to read the crayon scrawls on brown paper bags that you painfully drew with your prehensile paws and stuffed it into Outlook doesn’t mean we’ll post them. Sturgeon’s Rule.

  • What This Feels Like For Us

  • Hello, My Name Is….

    You killed my father. Prepare to die.

    I’m going to abuse my demigod-like status to deal with a housekeeping topic that vexes me: handle-hopping.

    That one quirk drove me fucking bugnuts at H&R, with people changing handles so often, that I had no idea who I was talking to.  H&R, and now, Glibiteria, is a reputation-based economy.  If we don’t know who you are, we can’t judge the value of your opinion.  And our mongoloid trolls would use this to their advantage.   (Hi KK!)

    So, as one of your apparently friendly landlords, I plead with you, just don’t.  Keep the same handle you rode in with and if you had a different, non-woodchipper handle that we all came to know and cautiously love you under, use that one.   Make this place better than the place we left behind.  It’s the viscous glue that holds the community together.  At least, I think that’s glue.

    So, don’t make me angry, by handle-hopping.  You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.