Mental Health & DSM V

The DSM V is coming out and it looks like a disaster.  Even Mother Jones (far left rag) and subject matter experts in the field think it is way overreaching.

I am a big fan of treatment, including outpatient commitment, for people with serious mental illnesses.  Thinks like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and so on are actual diseases which respond to medication and a highly structured environment.  While most of these people are sick and not dangerous, if they don't take their medication they can become very dangerous to themselves or others either through violence or negligence.

However, a lot of the little stuff is BS.  "Oppositional-defiant" disorder counts as a learning disability. That basically means "Johnny has authority issues and yells at the teacher and throws tantrums."  "ADD" is hugely diagnosed, and basically seems to describe the normal behavior of many young boys.  And "depression" is often part of "grief;" dealing with loss is part of being human.

I personally know seven people who died in combat zones.  The first batch of deaths were a big shock and I was unsettled for awhile.  After initial contact with the mental health world, I made the choice to deal with it on my own and with some off the record counseling, and I think that was a wise one.  I am now a stronger, more resilient person and I'm not hooked on crazy drugs with many unknown side effects.  It turns out that knowing young people who die violently is a traumatic experience that requires time and reflection to process.  Grief is part of being human, and there's no easy way to deal with it immediately.  You can't pop a pill to grow through difficult life experiences overnight.

Personally, if someone is (A) not suicidal and (B) not suffering from a chronic serious life-debilitating credible mental illness (like schizophrenia, bipolar, etc) then I would not suggest seeking "on the record" mental health care.  I personally am not willing to go anywhere or talk to anyone where a permanent record, either paper or electronic, is made.  There are other good options like talking to a faith adviser, seeking off-the-record counseling, working on the "whole person" issues (physical fitness, good social network, etc) to try before going down the shrink route, in my opinion.  The information is being warehoused for who knows what future purpose (it may start with gun rights, but I suspect other civil liberties will be chopped for "mentally ill" people in the future), the new DSM-V is so expansive that everyone can be defined as crazy for normal life experiences like stress or grief, and the medication continues to have significant side effects.

Letter Writing Weekend

Over the weekend, I wrote a few letters to keep up the heat.

• One to Beretta USA in Maryland.  I let them know that I appreciated their effort on behalf of the 2A, that I am a customer who owns several Beretta & Stoeger products, and that I am no longer willing to consider products (A) made in ban states or (B) sold to LEOs in ban states if a reasonable alternative exists elsewhere.  I hope they move their production out of the state.
• Another round to my Sen Begich & Sen Murkowski.  I wrote to thank them for standing strong on this issue, expressed my appreciation, expressed that Toomey-Manchin or any resurrected variant was unacceptable, and reminded them that I expect them to support any pro-2A amendments or consideration of Sen Begich's bipartisan S480 if this issue comes up again.
• A quick one to Rep Young asking him to support any pro-2A action from Rep Goodlatte's house judiciary committee.  I'm not too worried here as Rep Young is solid on the issue and he is not on the Judiciary committee, but figured it couldn't hurt.

I'd encourage gun owners to remain engaged going into the 2014 elections.  We cannot go back to sleep.  We must remain vigilant and keep the heat on lest something get slipped through.  Remember, Gun Free Zones still exist all over the country.  There is nothing stopping a lunatic from shooting up another soft target tomorrow, and the post-Sandy Hook furor will re-erupt anew -- except this time all the bills are ready to go.

Moreoever, we must push back.  The anti-gun folks upped the ante on the last round.  I'd love pro-2A stuff to be tacked onto must-pass legislation, like the NICS re-authorization act.  Nothing would make me happier then to see Pres Obama forced to either sign or veto, say, National CCW reciprocity or a strengthening of FOPA or preemption of Washington, DC's gun laws to get NICS reauthorized.  Either way is a win for us:  if he vetoes a key bill like NICS funding then it pisses off a ton of gun owners who now need Brady waiting periods and who will vote in droves in 2014.  If he signs it, the gun control "grassroots" (such as they are) will be utterly demoralized and routed.

In America, he'd get a Medal

Man saves child's life by taking out aggressive pit bulls that were mauling the kid.

Washington DC prosecutors cut him a deal with only a $1000 fine and seizure of his pistol, his M1 rifle, and his 12 gauge shotgun which were unregistered (probably as it is essentially impossible for the hoi polloi to do so in the District), along with some sort of double secret probation where the charges are suspended for two months pending good behavior.  The guy has no criminal record and appears to not be a gang banger.

Meanwhile, in America, such behavior would earn an honest citizen a medal.  We can no longer tolerate two Americas.  I hope that Rep Goodlatte forces the District to accept the 2A as a condition for reauthorizing NICS this year.  That would be a good start.

Deal Alert: GWACS Lowers

GWACS Armory has blemished CAV-15 lowers, which are a complete polymer lower with stock, for $140.

I got a CAV-15 from GWACS during the panic and they treated me right:  no price inflation (in fact, a small discount!) and the lower assembled easily.  It makes a handy carbine right around 5 lbs with a lightweight carbine profile barrel.

NICS Funding Bill in House

Looks like the NICS funding authorization bill is up for renewal this year.  As it is a funding bill, it must originate in the house, in the very pro-2A judiciary committee run by Rep Goodlatte.

I'm hoping that they tack on the Cruz Amendment from the Senate, tack on national CCW reciprocity, and ease NFA restrictions on suppressors and such.  Then, force the Dems in the Senate to either (A) vote for NICS reauthorization or (B) defund their precious national instant check system that they think is so important for background checks.

Moreoever, if they defund it and NICS goes offline, I'd assume every gun sale reverts to the Brady waiting period.  That will piss off tremendous numbers of voters, and I suspect the blame will be laid right at the feet of the voters.  If our base wasn't engaged before, that will definitely fire them up.

I'm looking forward to tracking this bill's progress.

Cutting the Cord

Well, we finally got around to cutting the cable cord.  There were three big strikes.

1. Cost.  Our phone, cable, and internet bill skyrocketed to around $150 a month.  Throw in cell phones, content (Netflix, etc) and it was almost to $200 a month.  Yikes.
2. NY.  Our telecom company is based in the Evil Empire state.  I have no desire to fund Gov Cuomo's attacks on the Constitution, even indirectly through taxes paid by my telecom provider.  I am trying to sever as many financial ties with the Evil Empire State and other ban states as possible.
3. Antigun Telecom.  The provider took an antigun stance, prohibiting lawful firearms advertising while continuing to profit from violent TV shows and movies.  Their local office was posted with a Gun Free Zone sign too, which didn't hold the force of law so screw them--I certainly was armed while turning in their box and modem.  I don't need to directly fund a mainstream media content gatekeeper that is running a propaganda campaign which results in me going to jail or a pine box if they get their way.

We signed up with a local coop that provides us with basic DSL for a low promo rate, plus a no-frills barebones basic landline.  In a few months our internet plus phone will be about $50 a month I figure.

We picked up a Roku 3 Streaming Player and surprisingly it was super easy to install.  After less than 15 minutes of fumbling I had a viable stream going.  Our current DSL isn't fast enough for HD but it plays standard definition TV just fine; once our promo DSL is up we'll probably upgrade to the next tier for another five bucks so we can stream HD.

For content we upgraded to paid Amazon Student (graduate degree .edu address FTW) which is 50% for about $4 a month.  We killed out Netflix disk subscription too, but I figure we'll buy or rent some additional content streaming too for another ten bucks a month or so that is basically a wash.

On the cell phone front we reset our pay-as-you-go phones which run about $9 a month.

It is nice to cut the monthly telecom and entertainment bill down to about $80 a month, and plus I can stream the NRA Life of Duty channel.

Gas Rotation Day

Today was a nice cool spring day and the cars needed gas so I finished the last of our semiannual gas cycling chores.  I treat the gas with stabil so it is theoretically good for 12+ months, but I rotate it every six months or so just to be safe, especially as I'm storing ethanol in a non-climate controlled humid environment.

A week or two ago I tried to do this with great frustration due to the cruddy EPA-approved no spill "post ban" cans.  Those cans work ok if you need to put a gallon into a lawn mower but gosh darn they are a pain in the neck for putting 20 gallons into two cars.  It took about two or three minutes per gallon to pour, and I spilled gas all over myself.  I ended up transferring the gas into a single 2.5 gallon "pre ban" can then using that to go into the car.  Blah.    Obviously that timeline would be pretty bad if we were trying to gas up the cars in order to bug out before a hurricane hit, or at a crowded rest stop or something.

So, I went on an internet ordering rampage for new solutions because government ruined the gas can.  This is what I found and used today.

• NATO Jerry Cans.  Old Grouch Surplus has a four pack of jerry cans with a "Donkey Dong" fuel spout for $200.  While I would never put gas in a non-EPA approved "pre ban" style can, I can report that liquids poured quickly.  The cans are a good upgrade from the plastic ones in terms of stack-ability for storage and durability.
  
  CONS:  Expensive, some spillage when pouring, a bit heavier, can scratch a car if you put them on top, no side handle to assist with pouring.  I handled it fine but a smaller/shorter person  might have a bit of trouble.  They are a bit pricey, but seem to be built like tanks.
  
• Super Siphon w/ 6' Siphon Hose 2 Pack:   This was a great buy from Amazon.  Stick the gas can on top of the car, put the correct end of the siphon into the can, and let gravity take over.
  
  CONS:  Works great for sedans, may be harder to put the can on top of a taller car.  The tube could be a little fussy but generally flowed ok.  A bit slower...  but still faster than an EPA approved can spigot and you can be lazy while the gas flows.
  
• Lumax LX-1613 Black 1-1/2 Quart Multi-Purpose Combination Funnel with Flex Spout:  This super funnel was good for polishing off the last bits of the can.
  
  CONS:  None, really.  You have to hold the can up but it is mostly empty at this point so no big deal.  This was a well designed funnel.

I am now pretty happy with our fuel storage lineup.  The siphons are great as they run on their own with minimal supervision, and the NATO cans pour quick if you just need to dump fuel in and don't mind a bit of spillage.  All in all it took about ten minutes to put 15 gallons of fuel into two vehicles, and it was much less of a pain in the neck than with the pre-ban environmentally friendly cans.

This illustrates the importance of testing your gear out.  If you have a half dozen empty gas cans stashed away with the vague notion of filling them 48 hours before a hurricane hits, do you know how well they pour (or don't), or how long it will take you to gas up the car?  Do you have the little things like a siphon tube or big funnel that make fueling easier, especially for a smaller person to do?

If I were starting from scratch, I'd get one or two 2.5 gallon cans (for convenience and lawn machines), a four pack of the steel NATO cans, and 2-4 plastic 5 gallon cans (for easy scratch-free siphoning, low profile appearance) to stash away in a shed along with some siphon tubes and a big funnel.  That is probably a decent stash for most folks who just need to be able to top off the cars, run a generator, and maybe refuel once as they depart the hurricane (or whatever's) ground zero.