“The biggest find at the site was a huge wine cauldron. Standing on the handles of the cauldron, is the Greek god Acheloos. The river deity is shown with horns, a beard, the ears of a bull and a triple mustache.”
The tomb of an Iron Age Celtic prince has been unearthed in a small French town.
The ‘exceptional’ grave, crammed with Greek and possibly Etruscan artefacts, was discovered in a business zone on the outskirts of Lavau in France’s Champagne region.
The prince is buried with his chariot at the centre of a huge mound, 130 feet (40 metres) across, which has been dated to the 5th Century BC.
A team from the National Archaeological Research Institute, Inrap has been excavating the site since October last year. …
Its discovery could shed light on Iron Age European trade, researchers say.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) this week reintroduced legislation that would abolish the ATF, arguing that the agency has become embroiled in too many controversies.
Many of the ATF’s responsibilities would be transferred to the FBI under the legislation.
“The ATF is a scandal-ridden, largely duplicative agency that lacks a clear mission,†Sensenbrenner said. “Its ‘Framework’ is an affront to the Second Amendment and yet another reason why Congress should pass the ATF Elimination Act.”
The GOP’s resentment for the ATF runs deep.
Republicans have been very critical of Fast and Furious, which ended up with weapons falling into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
Disdain for the ATF led the GOP to, for years, block the White House from placing a permanent director atop the agency, until B. Todd Jones was confirmed in July 2013.
The ATF’s bullet ban is the latest issue rubbing Republicans wrong.
Second Amendment advocates in Congress are rallying against it. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and more than 200 other lawmakers wrote to Jones this week demanding he “abandon†the proposal.
“Under no circumstances should ATF adopt a standard that will ban ammunition that is overwhelmingly used by law-abiding Americans for legitimate purposes,†the lawmakers wrote.
Meanwhile, the Protecting Second Amendment Rights Act introduced last week by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) would roll back the ATF’s power to regulate ammunition.
“We cannot and we will not stand by while the Obama administration tramples on the Constitution, the rule of law, and the Second Amendment rights of hunters,†Rooney said.
Under the ATF’s proposed rules, gun companies would be prohibited from manufacturing and selling 5.56mm projectiles for M855 cartridges that are commonly used in AR-15 rifles.
After Congress failed to pass legislation banning semi-automatic weapons, critics say this is an attempt by the Obama administration to do so unilaterally.
Should the ATF go through with the bullet ban, critics fear it would open the floodgates to all sorts of ammunition bans, with far-reaching implications for gun owners.
I used to reload ammunition, decades ago, when I was young and poor and keen. Like many people, over the years I became busier and more prosperous. I never reloaded anything, and I finally gave away all my tools and supplies. Farewell, Herter’s powder measure and scale and Pacific press!
I got outbid back in the 1980s, in the auction of John Amber’s gun collection, for a Krag customized by A.O. Neidner, and I’ve had a hankering for a Neidner custom rifle ever since.
Last Fall, I ran into a Neidner-built Mauser with a special barrel by the legendary old-time Tucson barrel-maker Bill Sukalle on Gun Broker. It was of unknown chambering, but it was a Neidner with extra Sukalle on the side, so I just had to buy it.
Of course, it turned out that the rifle had been made before 1930 and chambered in a wildcat cartridge invented by Major Ned Roberts, the .25 Roberts, that was modified slightly* and commercialized by Remington in 1934 as the .257 Roberts.
So I’ve been studying on how to modify 7×57 Mauser brass and gradually picking up loading tools and supplies in order to feed that Neidner rifle.
My acquisition agenda has me looking at used loading tools on Ebay, and (as everybody knows) Ebay thoughtfully arranges for items similar to those you have been looking at to pop up to tempt you.
Recently, via that Ebay policy, I came across the strangest thing.
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It was Ebay item number 121584408509 (this link will only function for for so many weeks, until Ebay gets rid of the expired listing).
Here is a restored Texan loadmaster turret reloading press. This is circa early 1960’s and in excellent overall condition. The shafts have been re-blued as has the top turret cap by Turnbull restoration and the turret has been color case hardened. The main driving tumbler has also been re-blued and the body has been sand blasted and re-painted with VHT wrinkle paint to simulate the original finish. The decal too is a new reproduction that is smaller than the originals. Finally, the handle has been turned out of stainless steel as the originals were prone to bending. It does NOT come with the priming system normally available with these. It also has no shell holders and only one priming arm. This was rebuilt to reload – or you can just sit there and look at it. It’s up to you. No international shipping – and no returns.
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Ebay shoved in front of my nose a massive old turreted loading press from the 1960s by a completely unheard of manufacturer. I used to load when I was in high school in the 1960s, so I’m basically familiar with the standard companies which made loading gear, Lyman and Lee, Reddding and RCBS, Hornaday, Pacific and Herter’s (both now gone). But I never heard of a Texas Loadmaster.
The bid was already up to $214.50, with a few days to go, which I thought extraordinary for an ancient 1960s model loading press. You can buy brand-new top end turret presses all day for that kind of money.
But what was really bizarre was the seller’s statement that this press had been painstakingly restored by Turnbull Restoration. Turnbull Restoration, of course, is a really high-end company, renowned for their unequaled case hardening, which produces extremely beautiful and extremely expensive replica Winchester Model 1886s and Colt 1911s.
What could possibly have possessed somebody to ship off some obscure 1960s loading press to Turnbull for a top-quality restoration? That kind of work by Turnbull undoubtedly costs roughly all the tea in China. For what that must have cost you could buy a large pile of brand-new, 50-years-improved current presses and still have change for a beer.
I was tempted to bid on it. The winner would obviously be getting thousands of dollars of restoration work for some hundreds of dollars, but… When I Googled “Texas Loadmaster”, I couldn’t find anything. All that came up was a new “Loadmaster” press by Lee. I had to search under “Sovereign Instruments Texas Loadmaster”, and I still found only minimal information.
Upon reflection, I concluded that this press was certainly missing parts. I felt sure I could never locate a manual or any parts for it, so what would I do if it needed special shell holders or die bushings?
Bidding ended where it was yesterday, at $214.50. Did someone get the bargain of the century? I doubt it, but who knows?
Anyway, I thought I would write all this up, and throw the mystery out there. The Internet being what it is, you never know. Somebody may come along who can supply the answer to the question of why would anyone restore that press?
*Remington saved work by skipping the original shortening of the 7×57 Mauser case by 1/16″, moved forward the shoulder angle and changed the angle from 15 degrees to a sharper 20 degrees.
This circus came to my hometown when I was a small boy.
John Katz mourns the victory of the Animal Rights fanatics and stupidity.
Ringling Brothers announced yesterday that are, after decades of legal wrangling and assaults from animal rights organizations, they are ending a tradition that is hundreds of years old, succumbing to pressure and phasing out their elephants over the next three years. It may be that I will never see an elephant again, and it is certain that millions of kids will never get the chance.
The drama of the elephants echoes that of the carriage horses. Both show us the ignorance more and more people have about the real lives of animals as more and more disappear from our world. The circus and the carriage trade have faced long expensive and cruel campaigns from people who claim to be speaking for the rights of animals, but who have just killed more elephants than have ever died at the hands of circuses. They will do the same to the carriage horses, given a chance.
There are many people cheering the decision of Ringling Bros. to phase out it’s domesticated Asian elephants, (generally, the African elephants have not been domesticated) claiming the decision is long overdue. It is the ultimate Pyrrhic Victory. The elephants are saved. The elephants have been condemned to die. …
[This] decision means the circus elephants are doomed and will soon disappear from our world. Another animal species we emotionalized, another group of humans abused and mistreated, more animals we could not thoughtfully and loving protect from extinction at the hands of people who claim to be saving them.
Like so many other animals that have lived and worked with people – carriage horses, ponies in farmers markets, horses in Hollywood – the elephants will vanish from our world and will not return. Like horses, elephants have worked well with people all over the world. They are intelligent, social, trainable, valuable. People love them, and the magic they emote.
What exactly, is the agenda of the people who say they are for animal rights? What kind of liberation movement offers animals one right: to disappear and die.
If you think it is hard for 300 big draft horses to find good homes, consider the future of the circus elephants. Outside of a handful of preserves, there is no place for Asian elephants in our greedy and over-developed world, poachers and developers, the true abusers of elephants, are slaughtering them en masse. Most, if not all of these elephants will die as a result of this campaign. Who will have the money or will to protect them and keep them alive? They aren’t safe anywhere in Asia, their home habitat? What kind of future will the animal rights organizations provide for them?
Ringling Bros. said it is becoming too difficult to deal with all of the local communities whose politicians have been pressured by animal rights activists and showered with money to restrict the use of animals in circuses, a new specialty for local governments who can’t fund their own schools, or balance their budgets. Circuses – and elephants – have been cherished for thousands of years, what of the people who love them and have always loved them? …
The plight of the elephants echoes the peril of the New York Carriage Horses. Organizations that claim to be deciding the future of animals lie about them, are ignorant of their needs and nature, invent evidence, bribe people to swear falsely, then drive them out of our world and celebrate their end.
Like John Katz, I have memories of the circus coming to the small town I lived in as a boy in the 1950s. We were excused school and got to stand and watch the parade of brightly decorated circus wagons and exotic animals pass down West Centre Street.
They erected the big top just west of town on a flat field covering the old Koh-i-noor Colliery. As it happened, I lived in the middle of the westernmost block of Lloyd Street, a short walk from the show. Naturally, I went right out there to see them setting up, and as I stood admiring the animals being unloaded, a big, muscular animal trainer approached me, and asked if I’d like to help.
I was offered the privilege of taking buckets over to one of my neighbor’s backyards, filling them with water, and returning with them to water the elephants.
You can imagine my delight at getting to hobnob with live elephants, to see them drink, to touch their trunks, scratch their heads, exchange civilities and generally interact with those enormous and exotic animals at arms length. I was in seventh heaven.
To top it off, after a good long time, the trainer returned, smiled and thanked me, and presented me a handful of free passes to the circus as payment. I was utterly flabbergasted. I would have hastily sold everything I owned and borrowed more to pay him to let me near those elephants.
It is sad to think that no American small boys living in the new regime of universal moral enlightenment presided over by the likes of Peter Singer and Wayne Pacelle will ever get to pet an elephant.
35 Whelen
You’re a loner. You really couldn’t give a rat’s rectum about other calibers, because the Almighty Himself chose Townsend Whelen to enlighten the shooting world, and that man could do no wrong. He may have used the (pathetic) ’06 case as a basis, but you know the .35 Whelen is the ultimate incarnation of the centerfire rifle cartridge. You keep a .35 Whelen cartridge on the night stand, so it is the last thing you see when you close your eyes, and the first thing you see when you wake up. And it should be that way, after all Col. Whelen also invented sunshine, smiles, bourbon and bacon.
These days, I fear that I am the late 1920s wildcat .25 Roberts cartridge (predecessor to the .257 Roberts). I bought a Niedner rifle with a Bill Sukalle barrel last Fall chambered in that, and I’m still assembling components and tools and trying to figure out how to load it.
The film version of Atlas Shrugged was financed by outsiders and made, despite Hollywood, which did everything it could to suppress and bury it, as a small-scale, noticeably inexpensive production.
Now, another major libertarian classic, Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, portraying a lunar revolt against earthly big government has been scheduled to be made by a major studio with a name director.
Bryan Singer is tackling an adaptation of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, based on the classic sci-fi book by Robert A. Heinlein. Twentieth Century Fox recently picked up the movie rights.
Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim will adapt the book for the project, which will be titled Uprising. Singer is producing with Lloyd Braun of Whalerock Industries and Thor Halvorssen. Executive producers are Andrew Mittman and Jason Taylor, and Alex Lloyd and Richard Martin are co-producing.
Heinlein’s 1966 sci-fi novel centers on about a lunar colony’s revolt against rule from Earth. The novel was nominated for the 1966 Nebula award (honoring the best sci-fi and fantasy work in the U.S.) and won the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel in 1967.
An adaptation has been attempted twice before — by DreamWorks, which had a script by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and by Phoenix Pictures, with Harry Potter producer David Heyman attached — but both languished and the rights reverted to Heinlein’s estate.
Several of Heinlein’s novels have been adapted for the big and small screen, including the 1953 film Project Moonbase, the 1994 TV miniseries Red Planet, the 1994 film The Puppet Masters, and — very loosely — the 1997 film Starship Troopers.
The Washington Post reports the latest case of European PC insanity.
Bird watching has long been a popular and seemingly harmless weekend activity in Sweden. Its innocence, however, came to an abrupt end when many of the country’s bird lovers were suddenly confronted with allegations of racism.
For centuries, it has now been revealed, the Swedish had given birds some names that now could be considered offensive to certain groups. One species, for instance, was called “gypsy bird,” whereas another was named “negro.” The insult “caffer,” which was used by white against blacks in South Africa, also resembled a Swedish bird species called “kaffer.” There were other offensive bird names in Sweden, such as “Hottentot” — apparently inspired by the name of the language of an indigenous southwest Africandem Changi tribe called Khoikhoi, yet also a derogatory term for that tribe.
Despite the prominence of bird watching among Swedes, the existence of these names and others like them had sparked little outrage and publicity until recently. When Sweden’s Ornithological Society completed its first-ever global list of all 10,709 Swedish bird names two weeks ago, the organization also announced some awkward name changes.
In the process of categorizing the names, staffers had raised concerns over some that had a potentially offensive nature. As a result, several of them have now been changed: “negro” bird, for instance, will now be called “black” bird. “When working on the list, it became obvious that some older names no longer were appropriate,” Anders Wirdheim, Communications Officer at the Swedish Ornithological Society told The Washington Post.
