Kind of begs the question --- how would homesteading look w/ 21st century technology? How much land does one need for a self-sufficient existence for a family of 4?
CNC Milling has also come a long way since the Navy first looked into it (I recall seeing a story about a huge contract and multi-million dollar machines ~30 years ago):
Every time I see the wait cursor (or find myself waiting) on my 2.8 GHz Intel Core Duo iMac, I think back to how amazing the performance of my 25MHz NeXT Cube was (when compared to a Mac Quadra 900 and ThinkPad 755c w/ similar amounts of memory and the same bus speed), esp. when I was running WriteNow on the NeXT Cube.
For those who don't recall it, early versions of WriteNow were written in M68K assembly ~100,000 lines of it.
Could we please get away from the X Window attitude and write elegant, efficient code? I'd like for my machine to work as fast as I can and not have to spend so much time waiting for it.
``Live Free or Die!'' --- New Hampshire state motto.
There wouldn't be a U.S. if the founding fathers hadn't believed that a new nation w/ new principles was worth pledging their ``Lives,... Fortunes, and... Sacred Honor''.
Of course, it's easier to do something other than look on as evil is done if one is not disarmed as much of the world is.
``Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.'' --- John Stuart Mills
Here's the sort of thing which happens when a nation is disarmed:
It was the first one I could think of where I was certain that I could find a set of factory tour photos which would be new to people.
I've actually decided that all of my future purchases will be made in the U.S., save where there's a traditional reason behind the importation, so have been collecting links like:
I wish that some politician would challenge America's retailers to fill their end caps w/ only Made in the U.S.A. products for the 4th of July holiday weekend.
No, closest one gets to bartering for larger manufacturers is groups like KT Ordnance which gives one a significant discount for paying w/ gold or silver:
Is whatever will benefit them at the moment --- idealistic drivel which would outlaw ``exploitation'' such as raising chickens for eggs or cows for milk (let alone for meat) and also banning working animals such as riding horses or service dogs, but allows them to save money by not funding no-kill shelters and have their lawyers arguing in court that``[a dog named Happy] was PETA's property, and she [defendant Hinkle] had the absolute legal authority to put the dog down.''
- you need to have artificial gravity to make it work or everything not bolted down falls into the sun
- where do you get the material from? Dismantle several (dozen, hundred, thousand, million?) star systems?
- what material could it be constructed of?
Even a ringworld is pretty far-fetched (though it could be spun).
The most believable space habitat I've seen in fiction thus far is Varley's Gaea (from his Titan/Wizard/Demon trilogy).
Al Capone went to jail for income tax evasion in 1931, not for paying a tax which didn't exist at the time (the National Firearms Act was passed in 1934).
To wit, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in Haynes v. United States that the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution exempts felons—and, by extrapolation, all other prohibited possessors—from the registration requirements of the Act --- in other words, the tax on NFA registered items is one which only applies to honest citizens and not to felons.
- you can turn the brass on a lathe
- cast bullets on your home stove
- make primers using the tips of strike anywhere matches (see TM 31-210 Improvised Munitions Handbook for the specifics)
- make up black powder from chemicals available at the local store (or which can easily be made at home --- I used to make black powder w/ my own charcoal and scraping up saltpeter from the local cow pastures and sulfur purchased at the local store --- no local natural deposits unfortunately)
That form is only for short barreled rifles (SBRs) and sawed-off shotguns, any other weapons and silencers.
It doesn't apply to any other firearms which don't require the payment of this ``tax'' (which is only required of honest citizens w/o criminal records --- a felon can't be held accountable for tax evasion for not paying it).
``Sporting'' is a word copied into the 1968 Gun Control Act from Nazi Germany's firearms control laws.
The intent is to emasculate the 2nd ammendment of its original intent to arm the people co-eval w/ the military so as to be able to stand against them if the government became tyrannical.
The sporting requirement has never been tested in a Federal court and devolves down to certain cosmetic features which originated on military firearms (folding stocks, vertical foregrips, &c.) or arbitrary magazine limitations to match hunting ordinances.
The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied
males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section
313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a
declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States
and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the
National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are -
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard
and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the
Naval Militia.
and just in case someone thinks there're weasel words in section 313 of title 32:
(a) To be eligible for original enlistment in the National Guard, a person must be at least 17 years of age and under 45, or under 64 years of age and a former member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps. To be eligible for reenlistment, a person must be under 64 years of age. (b) To be eligible for appointment as an officer of the National Guard, a person must - (1) be a citizen of the United States; and (2) be at least 18 years of age and under 64.
Winston Churchill wrote in Their Finest Hour: "When the ships from America approached our shores with their priceless arms, special trains were waiting in all ports to receive their cargoes. The Home Guard in every county, in every village, sat up through the night to receive them.... By the end of July we were an armed nation...."
but they make them by traditional injection molding --- the resolution of 3D printers is still not fine enough to make parts which will properly interchange w/ real Lego bricks (which are made using tons of pressure to a precision of ~10 micrometres).
When I interviewed w/ one of the oldest publishers in a certain older American city, one of the things which attracted me to the job was that their conference room's door was secretly a part of a a wall of bookcases.
- Iran ranks 79th in the rate of private firearms ownership
- The rate of private gun ownership in Iran is 7.32 firearms per 100 people
- In Iran, only licensed gun owners (separate licenses required for owning, possessing, carrying and using a firearm) may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition
- In Iran, the law requires that a record of the acquisition, possession and transfer of each privately held firearm be retained in an official register
Slashdot Mirror
(no, not for the Micronaut)
Kind of begs the question --- how would homesteading look w/ 21st century technology? How much land does one need for a self-sufficient existence for a family of 4?
The Form 1 argues against that:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer
Amazing quality at that pricepoint.
CNC Milling has also come a long way since the Navy first looked into it (I recall seeing a story about a huge contract and multi-million dollar machines ~30 years ago):
https://www.inventables.com/technologies/cnc-mill-kits-shapeoko
$999 for a compleat (premium) kit
Okay, it won't mill tool steel, but it also doesn't weigh the several hundred pounds that a mill which can does.
William
Moreover, Saddam would still be funding suicide bombers in the Gaza Strip:
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-543981.html
How is one going to have any sort of peace process there w/ that kind of outside influence?
Every time I see the wait cursor (or find myself waiting) on my 2.8 GHz Intel Core Duo iMac, I think back to how amazing the performance of my 25MHz NeXT Cube was (when compared to a Mac Quadra 900 and ThinkPad 755c w/ similar amounts of memory and the same bus speed), esp. when I was running WriteNow on the NeXT Cube.
For those who don't recall it, early versions of WriteNow were written in M68K assembly ~100,000 lines of it.
Could we please get away from the X Window attitude and write elegant, efficient code? I'd like for my machine to work as fast as I can and not have to spend so much time waiting for it.
Murasaki Skies wrote:
>Human rights don't mean shit when you're dead.
``Live Free or Die!'' --- New Hampshire state motto.
There wouldn't be a U.S. if the founding fathers hadn't believed that a new nation w/ new principles was worth pledging their ``Lives, ... Fortunes, and ... Sacred Honor''.
Of course, it's easier to do something other than look on as evil is done if one is not disarmed as much of the world is.
``Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.''
--- John Stuart Mills
Here's the sort of thing which happens when a nation is disarmed:
http://twinbuttebunch.org/index.php?fuseaction=misc.sendguns
And here's what happens when one brave man takes a stand (despite being limited to low capacity bolt action rifles):
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/11/mexican-marines-reconstruct-death-of.html
“If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.”
Malcolm X.
Problem is, the U.S. is getting out of the rare gas business:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/11/AR2010101104496.html
So one can't even convincingly joke about it.
Fictional look at this:
http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
It was the first one I could think of where I was certain that I could find a set of factory tour photos which would be new to people.
I've actually decided that all of my future purchases will be made in the U.S., save where there's a traditional reason behind the importation, so have been collecting links like:
http://www.arrowmoc.com/
or
http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/mens/mens-collections/usa-made-tools-clothing/usa-made-tools-clothing.aspx
I wish that some politician would challenge America's retailers to fill their end caps w/ only Made in the U.S.A. products for the 4th of July holiday weekend.
William
I was hoping not to politicize the discussion, or I'd've posted a link like:
http://www.americansworking.com/guns.html
No, closest one gets to bartering for larger manufacturers is groups like KT Ordnance which gives one a significant discount for paying w/ gold or silver:
http://www.ktordnance.com/kto/order.php
Bear Archery still makes bows in the U.S. Tour of the factory here:
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=428012
Is whatever will benefit them at the moment --- idealistic drivel which would outlaw ``exploitation'' such as raising chickens for eggs or cows for milk (let alone for meat) and also banning working animals such as riding horses or service dogs, but allows them to save money by not funding no-kill shelters and have their lawyers arguing in court that``[a dog named Happy] was PETA's property, and she [defendant Hinkle] had the absolute legal authority to put the dog down.''
which actually has such an institute as a plot point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_Hero
William
Still didn't keep them from featuring one (see TNG:Relics w/ the James Doohan appearance):
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/09/star-trek-the-next-generation-qrelicsq
I still don't find the idea of a sphere workable:
- you need to have artificial gravity to make it work or everything not bolted down falls into the sun
- where do you get the material from? Dismantle several (dozen, hundred, thousand, million?) star systems?
- what material could it be constructed of?
Even a ringworld is pretty far-fetched (though it could be spun).
The most believable space habitat I've seen in fiction thus far is Varley's Gaea (from his Titan/Wizard/Demon trilogy).
The need for the emission controls are tied to the engine --- when that's removed, there's no need for any emissions check.
Al Capone went to jail for income tax evasion in 1931, not for paying a tax which didn't exist at the time (the National Firearms Act was passed in 1934).
To wit, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in Haynes v. United States that the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution exempts felons—and, by extrapolation, all other prohibited possessors—from the registration requirements of the Act --- in other words, the tax on NFA registered items is one which only applies to honest citizens and not to felons.
Making ammunition is not that complex:
- you can turn the brass on a lathe
- cast bullets on your home stove
- make primers using the tips of strike anywhere matches (see TM 31-210 Improvised Munitions Handbook for the specifics)
- make up black powder from chemicals available at the local store (or which can easily be made at home --- I used to make black powder w/ my own charcoal and scraping up saltpeter from the local cow pastures and sulfur purchased at the local store --- no local natural deposits unfortunately)
William
That form is only for short barreled rifles (SBRs) and sawed-off shotguns, any other weapons and silencers.
It doesn't apply to any other firearms which don't require the payment of this ``tax'' (which is only required of honest citizens w/o criminal records --- a felon can't be held accountable for tax evasion for not paying it).
``Sporting'' is a word copied into the 1968 Gun Control Act from Nazi Germany's firearms control laws.
The intent is to emasculate the 2nd ammendment of its original intent to arm the people co-eval w/ the military so as to be able to stand against them if the government became tyrannical.
The sporting requirement has never been tested in a Federal court and devolves down to certain cosmetic features which originated on military firearms (folding stocks, vertical foregrips, &c.) or arbitrary magazine limitations to match hunting ordinances.
In the context and the language of the time, ``well-regulated militia'' simply meant one trained to the firearm and other drills of the time.
Moreover, the membership of the militia is quite a bit larger than most people believe:
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/10C13.txt
The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied
males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section
313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a
declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States
and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the
National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are -
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard
and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the
Naval Militia.
and just in case someone thinks there're weasel words in section 313 of title 32:
(a) To be eligible for original enlistment in the National Guard,
a person must be at least 17 years of age and under 45, or under 64
years of age and a former member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy,
Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps. To be eligible for
reenlistment, a person must be under 64 years of age.
(b) To be eligible for appointment as an officer of the National
Guard, a person must -
(1) be a citizen of the United States; and
(2) be at least 18 years of age and under 64.
William
Why not just mill a block of casting wax, then place that in a mold?
And historically, that worked out so well:
http://twinbuttebunch.org/index.php?fuseaction=misc.sendguns
Winston Churchill wrote in Their Finest Hour: "When the ships from America approached our shores with their priceless arms, special trains were waiting in all ports to receive their cargoes. The Home Guard in every county, in every village, sat up through the night to receive them. ... By the end of July we were an armed nation ... ."
There're already companies making weapons for Lego mini-figures:
http://www.brickarms.com/
but they make them by traditional injection molding --- the resolution of 3D printers is still not fine enough to make parts which will properly interchange w/ real Lego bricks (which are made using tons of pressure to a precision of ~10 micrometres).
William
When I interviewed w/ one of the oldest publishers in a certain older American city, one of the things which attracted me to the job was that their conference room's door was secretly a part of a a wall of bookcases.
For the record:
- Iran ranks 79th in the rate of private firearms ownership
- The rate of private gun ownership in Iran is 7.32 firearms per 100 people
- In Iran, only licensed gun owners (separate licenses required for owning, possessing, carrying and using a firearm) may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition
- In Iran, the law requires that a record of the acquisition, possession and transfer of each privately held firearm be retained in an official register