Wow, I actually want one

Despite being a huge gun guy, there's not a whole lot of .22 LR guns that actually interest me. Even rarer is when a .22 not only interests me, but is not a uber-rare collector's item that costs a million bucks (looking at you, Whitney Wolverine!). So color me shocked when SiG comes out with a 20 round capacity semi auto pistol called the P322 that I can actually afford. The potential quality and reliability is also something that is particularly interesting to me, as I have shot a lot of temperamental 22s in my time. I want one...really bad. 

Can we just repeal the NFA already?

It's effing disgustingly unconstitutional, as it's nothing but a way to stifle/infringe on the second amendment rights of the people. 

I'm sick and tired of seeing third world country's citizens, with no second amendment to speak of, shown in the news enjoying all the things we aren't allowed to in America. Often these people in the news have them because they need to combat another government, or other foreign invaders of some kind. 

I'm also sick of the cheerleading from moronic American lefties who cheer these guns being in the hands of citizens of other countries, but do nothing but literally hate on their fellow Americans for wanting the same for the same reasons. It also doesn't help that the ATF and FBI are breaking the law by having de facto gun ownership registries to begin with, then they break the law again by constantly changing the definition of the law and how they enforce it. 

I just want an non-neutered AK, AR, MP5, Glock 18, M249, G36, or any other gun with a full auto capability, short barrel, or suppressor, as they do have a use against the government. I want no restricted access to sawn off or full auto shotguns as they are some of the best home defense and vehicle defense tools ever made. I just want to exercise my rights to their fullest extent without being infringed.

Repeal the NFA now!

Partisan Rock

New Mexico is another state that feels like just a barren hellscape with not much to see there, but if I were to go there for whatever reason, there are few things I'd like to see. White Sands Missile Range would be cool if they would allow me in, and I don't think I could ever miss out on visiting the Los Alamos National Laboratory if I could.

But by far the thing I think I would want to see most is the fictional town of Calumet Colorado from the movie Red Dawn, which in reality is Las Vegas, NM. Anyone who knows me well will also know that I absolutely love that dang movie, and have watched it more times than my dad has told me he loves me. That, and recent world events have made me want to watch it a few more times recently. 

So naturally I'd want to go there an check out all the places from the movie just to say I did. Thankfully, there are a lot of people who have already done a lot of the foot work in finding a majority of the locations already. 

The only thing I haven't been able to deduce is if the Partisan Rock in the film was just a prop or was actually etched on a rock out there somewhere. Either way, I'd love to see it.

Black Mesa: The Half Life we need

I've said before there are a few games responsible for me getting really into PC games. The holy trinity being Rainbow Six, StarCraft, and Half-Life. Half Life is one of those games that has just aged well, but despite that, people had endeavored to remaster/remake it and that has resulted in the excellent Black Mesa. This week there was a pretty good documentary released about the making of Black Mesa on youtube that was pretty good that got me thinking how much I liked it's soundtrack.  

The Black Mesa Soundtrack just has the perfect blend of mystery, horror, and action movie vibes that really enhance the setting. So, I'll have to put in a few of the best examples to ensure you're getting even more bang for your buck today.

The original theme song above is still the best. Unfortunately they used a remix for the game that is nowhere near as good. More are beyond the jump:

UMs: Missing/Ghost Ships

Another one of my favorite topics I'm glad is now a part of this series is Ghost Ships. The whole idea of the topic is just too intriguing to not be a good read. So, of course, you'll need to put on the music for it, then give 'em a read. 

A former navy boat, crewed by experienced Navy veterans is found listing with no one aboard:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Joyita

A small leisure boat found adrift with no mechanical issues and no sign of foul play but no crew either:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaz_II

An unknown boat left drifting for an unknown period of time intercepted near Australia: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian_Seng

This one is practically the original ghost ship story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste

Crew disappears under mysterious circumstances, but some question if the ship was real at all:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ourang_Medan

The creepiest of all, the crew was still aboard, but they were not alive:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlborough_(1876_ship)

The Fausto. Significant evidence of foul play, or just a mechanical failure?

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/8tbc62/the_mystery_of_fishing_boat_fausto/

Browning's Utah headquarters

A google street view of the main gate.

For a long time I was wondering where in the world the Browning headquarters was at since all documentation seems to suggest it's in Morgan, UT.  Lo and behold, it's not actually located in the town of Morgan, UT but just in the county of Morgan. In reality, it's located in the town of Mountain Green, which is little unincorporated town that is about 6 mi north of Morgan just off I-84. 

They not only have their headquarters there, but also the executive offices, research and development labs, along with sales and data processing offices at the location. Just a shame that most of Browning's manufacturing is located in various overseas locations, such as Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Japan, as I would love to have that come back home to the U.S. of A.

Good 'ol Hoser

 Two years ago today we lost one of the greatest legends in modern naval aviation. Commander Joe “Hoser” Satrapa, at the age of 78, passed away on Mar. 17, 2019. Thankfully, he is well remembered by all who served with him, and also by all those who helped compile the book about him, which I'm glad to say I own. If you have a chance, pick up a copy of "Hoser Here......Shoot!" by the TomcatSunset.org staff.

Not too long ago, Ward Carrol had made a nice video tribute to him in which he and another Tomcat pilot had some good things to say about 

The best obituary I've read for him was over at the Aviationist, it's full of interesting info on the man, the legend.

Hot take on a hot slice

Not quite to the same level as donuts, but Utah does has a bad track record with pizza as well, so when you find a good place, you really gotta give 'em props. Deb's Spicy Pie in Morgan, UT is a very good good little place that really embraces the small mining town roots it has in it's décor. 

Great atmosphere, and solidly good pizza to boot, but that's far from the limit of the menu selections either, as they have sandwiches, pasta, chicken, and even classic fish 'n chips! so go give 'em look see and I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Late blooming

 Okay, I know I'm really late to the party on this one, but are you tired of the all the superhero genre stuff out there? Sick of all the milk toast, bland, and super safe, mundane-ness of it all? Then go give the show Invincible on Amazon a watch. I was pretty skeptical at first, I saw the memes, saw the gore, heard the praise, all before watching the show myself. I thought it just had some good gimmicks, but no. It's pretty dang solid show, with characters you actually care about, an interesting universe, and great humor in there to boot. It's still got a few big flaws, but for the most part, it's still pretty dang awesome.  Even the trailer doesn't do it any justice. 

Terrorism in Utah? It happened here!

A picture of the damage to the Cedar Mountain, UT site. Pic source.

On May 28, 1961 there was a coordinated bombing attack on three Bell Telephone company microwave repeating stations. They were located in Knolls and Cedar Mountain in Utah, as well as a location in Wendover Nevada. A "group" (I use the term loosely) calling themselves the "American Republican Army" claimed responsibility for the attack, which left three towers and some support buildings destroyed. The resulting damage not only consisted of destroyed buildings and towers, but 2200+ telephone and telegraph circuits along with four television channels were interrupted/stopped.

The remains of the location at Knolls, UT. Source.

Larry Douglas, who was working in SLC at the time said that "The Explosion at Knolls K station was so strong, that the only thing that was left was the floor slab. The Emergency diesel engine was blown 50 to 60 yards out into the flat. The Towers were not just blown over, a charge was set on each of the tower legs about a third of the way up, and detonated at exactly the same instant. The result was the lower part of the legs spread open and let the upper part of the tower drop straight down inside the bottom section still standing upright. This dropped the antenna below the line of site signal. This also made it more difficult to erect a new tower, as the old one had to be unassembled and removed first." 

Thankfully, within hours Bell Systems had restored services and the FBI was on the scene to begin the investigation, and quickly found out the types of explosives used. Not much long afterwards, the site was cleared of debris, and new towers were being constructed with Bell Systems also now hiring guards to protect the previously unattended facilities. 

Remains of the Wendover location. Source.

What is odd about this story, is that there is a lot of documentation about the towers, locations, damage done, as well as recovery efforts, with plenty of pictures which are detailed on the Long Lines website I mentioned before, but there isn't much detail to find on the perpetrators of it. 

Bernard Jerome Brous (age 52) and Dale Christian Jensen (age 23) were the only official members of the group. They stated that they "advocated political overthrow of the United States" and that the Army was "similar in some respects to the militantly conservative John Birch Society, but more active". Brous also said they supported the nationalization of the United States utility companies. In reality, it seems he was just an emotionally unstable individual who was made jobless because of Bell contracting out some of it's maintenance and emergency services to a competitor of his.

Not long afterwards, both were arrested by the FBI on June 18, 1961, in Ensenada, Lower California, Mexico. They were found on a yacht named the Monsoon, while holed up with grenades, M2 rifles, .50 and .30 cal machineguns, along with other rifles and small arms. They were extradited to the US and held at a Reno NV prison and bail set at $300k (almost 3 million in today's money); certainly a massive amount for the time!

They were initially brought up on charges of sabotage (which would have been up to a 30 year sentence), but they were ultimately dropped, as his motive wasn't technically terrorism, but merely revenge. The final verdict after trial was ultimately a sentence to 8 years in a federal prison instead. 

Big thanks to Sam's Journal of Stuff site, as he did all the footwork in finding out about the perpetrators for the same reasons I had and he has a whole lot more detail about them and the effort to apprehend them. Go check it out as there is a lot more to the story.