Upcoming Appearances for February

Hi everyone! February is going to be a busy month for me, as I'm going to be out of town two weekends this month, and [nervous laughter] they're back-to-back! What could possibly go wrong, am I right?

Like last year, I will be at the 38th Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium February 13-15 (I actually leave on the 17th). Once again, I am a panelist on things pertaining to guns and to military culture, but time I'm also going to be a moderator on "How not to freak the mundanes when you nerd out about your interests." I'm sure it'll be a learning experience for all of us.

The weekend after that I'll be in Orlando, where Operation Blazing Sword will have a table at the Libertarian Party of Florida Convention! No, this isn't a political endorsement of the LP; as a 501c3, Operation Blazing Sword cannot endorse a party or a candidate. However, different LP groups in Florida have asked me to speak to their members, and I am happy to do so -- I will speak before any group that wants to hear my message, so if the Democrats or Republicans want me to give a presentation I will happily do so -- and the LP of Orange County likes what OBS stands for and wants my message to be heard by as many people as possible, so they've paid our table fee. 

So if you're in Provo, UT Valentine's Day weekend, or in Orlando, FL the weekend after, please come by and say hello! I will give you a hug and even take a picture with you if that's what you want.

My Appearance on Conservative Enclave 1/22/2020

Last week I appeared on a podcast titled Conservative Enclave. To be perfectly candid, if I had been approached by someone I didn't know to appear on the show I would have been hesitant, perhaps expecting to be raw meat for the listeners, as I know that I am neither a darling of the right nor a bastion of conservative thought. However, I was recommended to this program by someone I know and trust, and so I gave it a chance.

I'm very glad that I did. This is quite a long performance for me, and my allergies were kicking my butt that day by giving me cottonmouth and making my voice crackle after a few minutes worth of talking. Still, I think I gave a great interview: I definitely had a great time and would return again.

My apologies to my fans who have by this point probably heard all this multiple times.

Also, I am ashamed to admit that I got my information wrong: the idea for the Pink Pistols first appeared in Salon, not Slate, and according to the story a warning shot was indeed fired. I shall attempt to memorize this so I do not commit future errors.

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 086: When Gun Owners Protest, They Leave the Streets Clean

In This Episode:

• Erin and Weer’d talk about the 2020 VCDL Lobby Day... and the violence that didn't happen;
• Erin also gives us the amazing news of Top Shot Chris Cheng joining Operation Blazing Sword's Board of Directors;
• David gives us some information about gun magazines and how to take care of them;
• and Oddball shares some of his insight by breaking down some knife attacks that were caught on video.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes and our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks.


Show Notes

Main Topic

• VCDL Lobby Day
• Blog Fisk Of Moms Demand Action on the Virginia 2A Rally
• Triggered NBC News correspondent Gabe Gutierrez tries to pass off the Pledge of Allegiance at Virginia gun rights rally as something very different; UPDATED
• Media Offers Thoughts And Prayers That Someone Would Start Some Violence At Gun Rights Rally
• Official OBS Press Release
• Top Shot Champion Chris Cheng Joins Pink Pistols Board of Directors
• Erin on The Peak Podcast

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers:

• Single Stack vs Double Stack Magazines
• Single Feed vs Double Feed Magazines
• Mag Slick
• Wolff Gunsprings
• Glock GTUL tool

Oddball’s Corner Pocket

• Fast Food place attack
• London street attack
• Steven Ho Teaches Conan Defense Against Guns & Knives - CONAN on TBS
• Karambit Blade Work With Doug Marcaida

My Appearance on "The Peak" Podcast

On Monday I had the pleasure of appearing on The Peak podcast. You might not have heard of it, as it's only 9 episodes in. Here's what it's about:

The Peak is Rainier Arms Podcast show that gives an inside look at what’s going on in the firearms industry and the people that work in it. We also discuss firearms news and what’s hot, tips and tricks to up your shooting game and discussions around the 2nd amendment. With special guests from the firearms industry and community.

If you want to listen, go here to the episode on their page, or you can download it for later listening here. I talk about prepping, Pink Pistols, and Operation Blazing Sword; you know, the usual things.

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 085: Our Condolences to Rosario Dawson

In This Episode:

• Erin and Weer’d talk about the end of Cory Booker's presidential run and Michael Bloomberg's campaign spending;
• Having previously talked to us about youth gun safety, David now talks about adult gun safety;
• Weer'd interviews Lara Smith of the Liberal Gun Club to find out how the Second Amendment really is for everyone;
• and then Weer'd fisks a BBC report on the rising gun crime in the UK.

Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that’s $1/podcast) and you’ll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes and our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks.


Show Notes

Main Topic:

• Cory Booker drops out of Presidential Race
• Assorted Calibers Podcast ep 056
• Super Bowl brawl: Trump, Bloomberg will drop whopping $20 million on game day campaign ads

Gun Lovers and Other Strangers:

• NSSF 10 Rules of Safe Gun Handling
• NRA Gun Safety Rules

Lara Smith Interview:

• The Liberal Gun Club

Weer’d Audio Fisk:

• Gun Crime in the UK: 'My kids don't see this side of me' - BBC News
• How helpful are CCTV cameras
• London's murder rate now tops New York City's
• Murder rose by 8% in NYC in 2019
• How many homicides go unsolved in California and the nation?
• Chicago police solved fewer than one in six homicides in the first half of 2018
• Serious violent crime under-reported for a decade - Telegraph

OBS/PP: Chris Cheng Joins Board of Directors

Insalubrious Basterds

More Vampire: the Masquerade nerdery.

As you may have noticed. we fans of role-playing are creative, passionate, and impatient. This means that when a new version of an RPG comes out and doesn't update a thing we like, then we will take it into own hands to make that thing ourselves so that we can have it for our game.

So just like I did with the Tzimisce, here are the Salubri for V5.

https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Salubri

A few notes:

• The clan bane and compulsion were crafted by my GM Adrian Rook, who I think got the ideas from various sources that weren't quite what either of us wanted, so we made a delicious jambalaya out of them to get what we wanted. 
• The same goes for Valeran; the list of powers and their levels were largely taken from someone else's attempt t make a V5 version but, oddly, they kept all the V20 mechanics which made me think it was just cut and paste from that edition. So honestly, I did more work converting them to V5 than the other person did. 
• Veterans of previous versions will note that this is a combination of the Healer's Path (Obeah) and the Warrior's Path (Valeran). I'm okay with this, because V5 already has 2-3 powers per level in all the other Disciplines and the writers apparently want to condense and consolidate the amount of old KNDs into a more manageable number. 
• Also, in my opinion, Valeran sounds better than Obeah. I don't think Valeran is itself a word; it's probably a derivation of vale, the Latin word for "farewell", because the power is about "saying goodbye to evil". Another possibility is that it is rooted in the Latin valeō, which means "I am strong / I am healthy / I have worth" and also means in New Latin "I leave, I go away" which brings us right back to farewell but in a more badass way. Please compare that to the word Obeah, which is "a system of spiritual and healing practices developed among enslaved West Africans in the West Indies" -- so basically, a religion. Yeah, let's not go and compare someone's religion with a supernatural power of a dead thing, thanks. 
• Also, fun fact: salubrious is a Latin word which means "wholesome, healthful, promoting health or well-being" which means that they already have the healing thing covered in their name and don't need a Discipline with another name for it as well. 

So, yeah. That's stuff you know now.