Random thoughts: Aliens

     I was recently listening to an episode of "Skeptics Guide to the Universe" and the topic of aliens came up. I believe it was concerning a way to hide the signature of Earth from aliens that would be using the same methods we currently do to find extra solar planets. And they went on to discuss the need to do so. According to Stephen Hawking, we should at all costs avoid making contact with any extraterrestrial civilization, as it would most likely spell doom for the human race.
     I disagree with Dr. Hawking on this whole heartedly, not that I think that I'm smarter than him but, logically it doesn't seem likely it would be a bad thing. The way I see it, a civilization capable of making the journey between stars, and also having the resources to take over a planet from a species that is capable of resisting could just as easily harvest whatever raw resources  they needed from asteroids or uninhabited planets.  It would make no sense to try to get those things from Earth when they are available with much less effort and in greater quantities elsewhere. The only real reason an extraterrestrial civilization would come to Earth, that makes sense, is to explore and make peaceful contact with another civilization.

First Podcast?

     So, I have a vacation week coming up and would like to record my first podcast and get it out into the internets. I'm writing this here as Twitter's character limit is a bit of a pain. I'm looking for guests for a kind of interview/discussion on a variety of topics. I haven't decided on a length for the podcast but would just like it to be however long it takes. So I would like to formally reach out to some podcasters and youtubers that I listen to regularly and respect for this inaugural episode.  I'll also be contacting these folks through other means but would like to put a little explanation here. If anyone does feel like it contact me on twitter @Mr_Angry_Beard, Facebook  here or Google+ here.

So for Noah Lugeons, Heath Enwright, Eli Bosnik, Barnacules, JayzTwoCents, and Tom and Cecil from Cognitive Dissonance, if you are interested let me know.

Another Rant.

    So as some of you know, I work in an ER and I deal with a lot of patients from the simple toe pain that thinks that they are on the verge of death and, the truly sick and in need of help.
Although last night was one of the clinchers, I watched and help treat a baby that died. This child could not have done something that could have possibly angered any so called all loving  God. And to those that say that he needed another angel, Fuck You, with every inch of my being, with seven plus billion people you chose this small innocent child and ruthlessly ripped  them from their family. To stand there and watch a mothers heart shatter with pure grief and disbelief as this child laid dead, Fuck You.  The elderly and long time infirm I have generally have no issue with when they die. But this, this is unconscionable. All those that question why I deny a god, explain to me why things like this happen. Take a tour of an pediatric oncology ward and explain how this is just and moral.
        I'm going to stop here before  I become too angry to continue.


Mr. Angry Beard

The Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting, and my thoughts.

     So I held off speaking about the Paris attack last month, because I didn't want to be another person commenting and throwing in my two cents on such a tragedy. There were plenty of people doing that, both horribly, and blaming the victims (see Christian pastor Kevin Swanson), and those that come from a place of reason and compassion, assigning the blame where it belongs (Noah Lugeon's diatribe on episode 144 of "The Scathing Atheist"). And it was a subject that was being beat into the ground, and as stated by Noah in his diatribe, "I don't want to be yet another voice standing atop 129 corpses to say 'Hey, you know that thing I'm ideologically committed to, that thing I've been saying for years? That's the real issue behind these Paris attacks'." It's been done and better than I probably would have.
    That brings us to the recent shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The shooter, as described by his own ex-wife is a conservative, anti-abortion, Christian. And already we have fucktards like Glenn Beck rushing in to shout down the fact that he's Christian with the old rhetoric of that's not a thing that "real" Christians do. Immediately attempting to separate his religion from his actions, where, if he were a Muslim, Beck and his ilk would have no problem embracing that fact and shining a giant fucking spotlight on it.
     This was an act of violence was at the very least had some basis on his religious beliefs, if not the sole factor. To divorce this attack from the Christian religion would be the same as removing the Muslim influence from the Paris attack. To do so, to me, marks you as someone that lives in state of delusion and ignorance that makes me wonder how you are able to function at all. And I've noticed that when it comes to the Colorado shooting, the media is being amazingly quiet about his faith.

Amateur Gunsmithing II: 1911 complete

    So a while ago I wrote about amateur gunsmithing and mentioned a 1911 build. Whelp, I finished it recently and took it out for a test fire. And I still have all my fingers, so it didn't blow up on me which is nice.  So that being the result I'll go a little in depth about the process of completing a build like this. Again as with my AR-15 build I garnered everything I needed to know from the internet, Youtube videos, and various forums online were overflowing with knowledge.
     To start it wasn't that difficult, just a few places that took some patience and a little elbow grease.
I began with a stripped Rock Island Armory frame and Para Ordnance P14.45 slide from Sarco, both at a respectable price of about $120 each.

     These are the two main pieces of the build which house all the moving and make go bang parts. The frame, according to the BATFE, being the actual firearm I had shipped to a local FFL dealer so all the legal paper work could be done and have it registered to me. The slide itself, as well as all the other parts, were able to be shipped straight to the house. The slide to frame fit was a bit too tight for my liking so with a little bit of fine grain sanding on the top of the frame rails I was able to obtain a nice smooth, yet still tight fit with no wobble. This consisted of a few strokes on the sandpaper, brush off the dust, and test fit over and over again until I got it to where I wanted it. 

     Then came the frame internals, sear, trigger, disconnector, mainspring hammer safety and all the associated springs and pins. Some of these parts required minor fitting, a little light filing or sanding here and there but it all worked smooth like butter. I unfortunately didn't take pictures of this process as I was to engrossed in the process and lazy. I really need to get better at documenting these things as I go along, but it's hard to break concentration once I get going. 

     Still missing at this point are the grips, plunger tube, slide release, barrel, grip safety, and the rest of the slide internals. After receiving these parts it was probably the easiest part of the build as I've played with 1911's a little in the past and was familiar with how to take them apart. the barrel link pin needed a bit of fitting as well, and a little light hammering to get it in place but it fit nice and tight and pivots without any binding. The same can be said for the barrel bushing which I admit that I may have over done a little as it fits and functions just fine but a little looser than you would expect on a new 1911, more like one with a few hundred rounds through it. And at this point I'm pretty much done, aside from the rear sight, which being a Para Ordnance slide (the dovetail cut they use is a bit different from other slides) can be a bit difficult to source, and or pricey.  So this is what I ended up with. and I love it. It's mine, I made this to my liking and I probably have a much better appreciation for it than I would having gotten one off the shelf. 

     So, there you are, a second entry into amateur gunsmithing. With hopefully more to come. Still in the works is a .300 AAC Blackout upper for my AR-15, which admittedly won't be difficult at all but still fun. Again for those of you out there that are looking to get a 1911 at some point I would highly recommend doing a build, the outcome is very satisfying. 

                   Mr. Angry Beard

The issue with education in this country

     Today's education system in the US seems to be a bit lacking. From some brief research I was able to learn the we are pretty low on the totem pole when it comes to overall education when compared to the rest of the developed world. I'm sure partially due to the fact that while other nations have increased their spending on education the US has actually cut spending. This aspect alone could prompt a long diatribe on the national budget and federal spending in general, but I won't go down that path today. I'm more focused on the 'how' of the current system. The methods of teaching and the stick and carrot methods used to encourage better results.
     It seems today, and even when I was in school it was already headed this way, that students are being taught to the test. Which is an absolute horrible way to teach. In effect giving the students only the instruction that will be covered in the test, and drilled in memorizing dates and snippets of facts. And in the science based classes memorizing formulas and not really worrying about the actual application of them, just enough to figure out the correct answer. In an age now, when all these things are available to damn near anyone on a whim, wouldn't it be more prudent to not have students memorizing? But show them how to apply these things and stimulate critical thinking and problem solving. The availability of knowledge is only gong to become more and more easy to come by as time goes on. Hell, at this point I'm pretty certain that you could gain a decent grasp of  advanced math, world history, and even electrical engineering from Youtube.  

     The point is that we're stuck in a mode of instruction that severely limits the potential of today's youth. And the current model of schools being rewarded or punished financially based on standardized testing. Leading to students being taught only what is on the test to try to bring those scores up. That's not saying that there are not teachers out there that try to go beyond and actually instruct students on the how and why of their specific subjects, but those teachers are few and far between. 

     Do I have the answers on how to shift things to provide a better education to the students of today? No. But I'm sure that there are people out there who have put the relative thought into it and have some damn good plans on how to implement it. 

The bravest man I ever knew.

     Ten years ago SFC Alwyn Cashe took action during an ambush in Iraq that would cost him his own life in an attempt to save the lives of others. He knowingly rushed headlong, under and on fire into a burning vehicle to rescue his soldiers who were trapped inside. An act of complete selflessness that was definitive of who he was as a soldier and a leader. A man of courage and quick thinking, placing the needs of those he led before himself. A man, I had the privilege and honor, of serving with during my time in  A Co. 1-15. He was the platoon sergeant of first platoon, while I was a team leader in third platoon. While I never fell directly under him in the chain of command, after a short time in the company I knew that he was a hell of an NCO. In fact he was the first person that I met when I was transfered from HHC of 1-15 to Alpha company, having had my sergeant stripes pinned on at the final formation the Friday before with orders to report to Alpha company on that Monday.  Monday morning before PT I went to the CQ desk to report and SFC Cashe was the first person I ran into, he was waiting to talk to the 1SG about some unrelated issue, but he greeted me all the same. I can't recall his exact words to this day but it was something along the lines of  'good to see a young new hard charging NCO'.
     The following is taken directly from his silver star citation, which is currently being worked on to be upgraded to the Medal of Honor, documenting his actions that night:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Sergeant First Class Alwyn C. Cashe, United States Army, for exceptionally valorous achievement following an improvised explosive device explosion on 17 October 2005, while serving with Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. 

Sergeant First Class Cashe's disregard for his own safety proved evident when he saved the lives of six fellow soldiers despite his serious injuries. His bravery is in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, Task Force DRAGON, the SLEDGEHAMMER Brigade, Task Force LIBERTY, and the United States Army. 

Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe heroically distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous conduct in the face of the enemy of the United States as a Platoon Sergeant in 1st Platoon, Alpha Company (HARDOCK), 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment stationed at Forward Operating Base MACKENZIE, Iraq, on 17 October 2005. 

On the evening of 17 October 2005, Sergeant First Class Cashe's heroic actions saved the lives of six of his fellow soldiers. At approximately 1920 hours, 1st Platoon of Alpha Company, 1-15 Infantry departed FOB MACKENZIE to conduct a route clearance in the city of Daliaya, Iraq. 

Along Route JAIME, the lead Bradley Fighting Vehicle, of which Sergeant First Class Cashe was gunner having just moved from a NMC vehicle, struck a victim detonated pressure-switch IED at grid MC 25357243. The blast ignited the fuel cell on the vehicle causing fuel to spew everywhere. The vehicle came to a stop and immediately erupted in flames. 

Sergeant First Class Cashe was initially slightly injured and drenched with fuel. Despite his condition, he bravely managed to get out of the gunner's hatch, crawl down the BFV and assist the driver out of the driver's hatch. 

The driver had been burned and Sergeant First Class Cashe extinguished his flames. The following minutes were crucial. Six soldiers and a translator were in the back of the Bradley. Flames had engulfed the entire vehicle from the bottom and were coming out of every portal. The squad leader inside the vehicle managed to open the troop hatch door to help the soldiers escape. 

Without regard for his personal safety, Sergeant First Class Cashe rushed to the back of the vehicle, reaching into the hot flames and started pulling out his soldiers. The flames gripped his fuel soaked uniform. Flames quickly spread all over his body. 
Despite the terrible pain, Sergeant First Class Cashe placed the injured soldier on the ground and returned to the burning vehicle to retrieve another burning soldier; all the while, he was still on fire. A crew from a trail Bradley arrived within moments and assisted with CASEVAC. 

During all this and with severe burns, Sergeant First Class Cashe bravely continued to take control of the chaos. Within minutes, the company First Sergeant was on the scene and began to evacuate the seriously injured soldiers. One of which was Sergeant First Class Cashe. 
In the end, the national translator was killed in action, and 10 soldiers were injured. Seven of the ten were very seriously injured. 

Sergeant First Class Cashe stayed a hero through it all. His injuries were the worst as he suffered from 2d and 3d degree burns over 72% of his body. Sergeant First Class Cashe's heroic actions saved the lives of six of his beloved soldiers. He is truly deserving of this award. His actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, Task Force LIBERTY and the United States Army.