Regressive Progressivism: The Halloween Horror

Sit back, boys and ghouls, and I'll tell you a tale. A tale of terror. A tale of horror. A tale... of privilege!

Every year, Halloween comes around and we get a plethora of different reactions. A lot of people love Halloween because of the darkness of it all, some love the costuming and pageantry of it all, and others just enjoy another excuse to party. But just like there's always someone looking for an excuse to party, there's always people looking for an excuse to get angry.

And some of it's justified. There are some pretty tasteless costumes out there that people should re-think, or even think about for the first time, before throwing them on and leaving the house. But anti-privilege crusaders, obsessed with finding the problematic in anything fun, will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing, in their pursuit of... well, whatever passes for happiness for them:

Look, I understand that you have strong feelings about how problematic Halloween is. The internal struggle not to appropriate a Celtic holiday for an excuse to drink indie craft beers with your friends in the safest costumes possibly imaginable must be hard. But should you really be surprised that someone would have an objection to you defacing merchandise in the seller's place of business? Not everyone's going to see you as a noble defender of the downtrodden when a local business owner is facing a potentially serious loss in their profits because you wanted to make a statement. It's a shame your white privilege didn't protect you from repercussions.

Welcome to the reality of "You break it, you bought it."

I have a couple of thoughts on this.

First off, if you were that serious about your activism, why were you not willing to be arrested? When I was still an activist, I was cuffed, put in a cop car, and detained. Fortunately, no charges were laid against me and I was released, but I went willingly. You seem genuinely shocked that, after defacing property that wasn't yours, that you'd be charged with a crime. You're very lucky the police gave you the option of paying it off.

Speaking of which, I have a few hundred bucks in my bank account right now. All of my bills are paid, and I don't have any major expenses planned coming up, but you have the privilege of having enough money to pay for $1500 worth of Halloween costumes. Which, by the by, count as sales, so congratulations on artificially inflating the market for "the shittiest costumes." Expect more "Sexy Policewoman" costumes on sale next year, partially due to your efforts.

Gosh, they didn't let you go tax-exempt? What's your charity status? Did you file a 501(c)3 form for yourself? No? And you're upset that his reasoning was that he had to pay his taxes, too? He's a small business owner, of course he has to pay his taxes; the people who run Halloween Spirit franchises aren't in the 1%.

I think I've just about had it with spoiled rich kids thinking they're the world's saviours by doing dumb little things like vandalizing private property they don't agree with. Back in my day  we went out and protested. We didn't go into stores with a credit card at the ready and vandalize sweater vests in the hopes that... in fact, what the hell were you hoping to accomplish here?

I mean, imagine what she could do if her strength of conviction matched her bankroll... but I imagine that would cut into her tweeting time.

WNW: Ice Cream

I felt crappy yesterday after getting a flu shot, so I forgot to post something.

Enjoy this back-dated video showing a Turkish ice cream vendor trolling his customer.

MGPPR: Team Never Quit Training Ammo

(Monday Gunday Palette's Product Reviews)

Back in May, I had the privilege of attending a dinner hosted by Lucky Gunner that featured SEAL Marcus Luttrell and spotlighted a new ammunition brand he had created. This brand, Team Never Quit, gave away 50-round boxes of 9mm or .45 ACP ammo to everyone who attended the dinner.

I scored three boxes* of TNQ 100 grain frangible semi-wadcutter rounds, and after promising a great review of them to the Lucky Gunner rep, I promptly put them in my range bag and forgot all about them. Oops.

Which is why I'm reviewing them now. Better late than pregnant, I always say!

Specifications
For the number crunchers, here's the spec sheet on this particular ammo load.

Recoil
I usually shoot 115 grain round nose, and I could definitely detect the difference between it and the recoil of 100 grain TNQ rounds. Since I'm not an expert shooter I likely can't use the proper terminology to describe the difference, so I'll explain it like a writer: while muzzle rise was about the same as traditional rounds, the backwards kick into my hand was reduced. Usually my hand is sore after 100 rounds of 115gr RN and is ready for a break, but I shot 150 rounds of the TNQ ammo and still felt great. If I'd had more boxes, I would have happily shot those as well.

Performance
Out of 150 rounds, I had only one failure to fire. I'm not sure if the primer was a dud or if it was something else entirely; all I know is that my Glock 26 went "click" instead of "bang", so I worked the slide and went back to shooting without issue.

All of the rounds -- even my single dud -- loaded and fed properly, and ejected smoothly.

Accuracy
I feel a bit odd talking about bullet accuracy when my limited shooting ability is the greatest hindrance to that, but I promised Lucky Gunner a great review in exchange for those extra boxes, so here is some photographic evidence.

The top target was shot with a box of 50 at a distance of 25 feet, using the LaserMax Guide Rod Laser in my Glock 26 to help with aim. You'll notice I don't have the best grouping (although that big hole at 11 o'clock is nice), but they're all good hits and nothing was outside the 8 ring.

The center target was a second box of 50, shot at the same distance and conditions but without the laser. Performance was similar, only my groupings weren't as tight and I had a few outside the ring (all of them are solid hits, though). There's a bit of a hole at 11 o'clock but it's not as good as above.

The target at low right was shot at 50 feet, using the laser. You'll notice I'm even more scattered, with a few wingers above, below, and to the left.  Still, they're all on paper.

Conclusion: These bullets are plenty accurate, but the shooter needs more practice.

Cleanup
My pistol was remarkably clean after shooting 150 rounds through it. I've shot some ammo (Federal, I'm looking at you) which turned my pistol absolutely filthy after just 50 rounds. This was the opposite -- after shooting three boxes I just needed to boresnake the barrel a bit and give the boltface a good once-over with a nylon brush.

Price
Here's the sticker: these bullets are $27.00 for a box of 50. That's nearly three times the price of a 50-count box of Tula Ammo or Brown Bear, or just a bit over twice what a box of American Eagle runs.

Admittedly, some of the ouch of that price is mitigated by the ease of cleanup and the knowledge that a percentage of each box goes to the Lone Survivor Foundation, but as someone who is notoriously stingy and yet still loves to shoot, I don't love this ammo enough that I think it's worth paying that price for it.

Recommendation
These are very nice bullets and I enjoyed shooting them. If you buy them, you will enjoy them very much (especially the lack of cleanup afterwards). However, their cost prices me out of their market.

In short, this is Premium target ammo. You will get what you pay for.

* How?  Without going into great detail, here are the steps:

1. Camp the ammo boxes to make sure that everyone who wants a box has gotten one. 
2. Set a pick to discourage people from grabbing more than one as a target of opportunity. 
3. Casually mention to the event organizer that the servers really want to clear the swag table, and that the organizers don't want to take heavy ammunition back home with them anyway. You, however, are perfectly happy to take home that ammo, and can write a nice review with a larger sample size...

Obligatory FTC Disclaimer: I received this product for free. I was not paid or otherwise compensated in return for giving it a good review. In fact, these boxes were handed out for free to anyone who attended the dinner. Of course, I scored more boxes because I promised a review, but it's not like 9mm bullets are valuable enough to be a bribe. 

Doctor Who: A Painted Backdrop No More

Spoilers exist in more (and less) than 3 dimensions..

     How do you explain “out” to a 2-dimensional person? Say a very talented painter, one so talented that he could quite literally breathe life into his paintings, one day painted a picture of a person. A painting so exquisitely detailed that the person on the canvas came to life. When that 2-dimensional person wondered who created them, how could the painter put into words an answer they would understand? How could they explain “out” to their creation? More importantly, what if their creation didn't care? What if their creation could pull them into a painting and kill them?

     The series so far, whilst for the most part very good, has only hinted at creepy. Previous series have brought us giant killer dolls, man-eating shadows, and the weeping angels, but this series has been very pulp-sci-fi heavy, with lots of aliens and killer robots and retro spaceships. I've loved it, but I've been wondering where the creep factor has been. Flatline delivers, where episodes like Listen have merely teased.

     I'm honestly surprised that a show that's explored alternate dimensions and regularly deals with a ship with interior dimensions vastly larger than the exterior dimensions has never broached this subject (I'm choosing to ignore Fear Her). The execution of monsters that exist only in 2D, which I think Twelve called “The Boneless,” was brilliant. This was obviously cheap CGI, but the design of the monsters, once they leave the walls and enter into 3D space was terrifying. The budget CGI actually may have made them more distressing. I have not seen a monster quite so disturbing to human sensibilities in some time. I'm hard-pressed to say that there's been a monster in the new series to match them. My skin crawled seeing them stagger unsteadily through the tunnels, like zombies you can't quite focus your eyesight on. And the sheer horror of how they take their victims, sapping them of a 3-dimensional existence and reducing them to a mere image or projection... I really can't express how unsettling these monsters are. Poor #22 George...

     If I'm disappointed by one thing, it's the lack of opportunity to use the joke that someone's performance was 'flat.' Taking a step back from the creepiness and excitement, you have to stop and admit that Peter Capaldi spent pretty much the entire episode stalking around the console room and ranting, and still managed to make it feel like he was an active part of the story. Clara's growth continues, and she seems to be moving in a very interesting direction. It feels like some of the scrapped plans for Ace back in the day are being adopted for her. I would go so far as to say that's she's being inadvertently groomed, like Ace was supposed to be, to hold her own in a situation The Doctor would normally find himself in. I'm not going to say she'll end up a Time Lord herself, but I really don't think we're going to get a standard story's end for a companion with her.

Possible mini-TARDIS courtesy my kitchen counter

     Clara really does take the lead in this episode, in a manner unlike any other companion has, and it's very interesting to see how naturally she takes to the role of leader, even getting her own Companion. From “the one chance you've got to staying alive” to Missy's having “chosen well,” Clara leads the charge in this episode, with the Doctor reduced to Mission Control role, much like you'd find in a video game, little more than a voice in Clara's ear, occasionally handing her a tool. And Jenna Coleman sells the hell out of it. These are the kinds of companion-led episodes that you'd normally only find in the novels or Big Finish audios. I'm really looking forward to where this is all building to.

     This episode was written by the same person that wrote MummyOn The Orient Express, Jamie Mathieson, and given that he's now 2 for 2 in excellent episodes, I hope they invite him back next year. He's batting a higher average right now than even Neil Gaiman did. I like the little touches that were thrown in, too. The Addams Family reference, resulting in Twelve hilariously piloting the TARDIS Thing-style. “Siege Mode” basically resembling a tiny Pandorica, and the Doctor's hair seeming flatter in seige mode. The fact that the mini-TARDIS looked almost exactly like the “flight and sound” TARDIS toy for the 5.5 inch scale figures. Twelve's speech at the end about having to play the role he's dealt as he comes charging out to banish the Boneless back to two dimensions as he declares himself not just protector of our universe, but our very plane of reality.

     “Good had nothing to do with it.” Clara is understanding, on a level few companions have, how much darkness and burden that the Doctor has to carry. I hope she's strong enough to carry that, because I get the feeling she might soon have to.

Next week: The forests of London

SHTFriday: Spring Forward, Fall Back, Prep Up

Not actually Erin.
Picture by KJ Photography
& is used with permission. 

In today's SHTFriday post, I recommend that you use the time change to remind you to check your preps as well as your smoke alarms. And preps mean more than just gear and supplies...

Ironically, this post is two weeks later than the actual time change it talks about. Ah well, better late than pregnant I always say!

Thursday is Thorsday

But Wednesday is for Wotan.

I had originally planned to post this yesterday, what with it being Wotan's Day AND Christmas AND the day for Wednesday Night Wackiness, but it was Christmas and I was being lazy so fuckit.

But, because I feel guilty about missing it, I'm posting it anyway. Mazel tov and all that.

The rest of this funny and informative series hay be found here.