dancapostagno

I've read about many such developments in terms of this and stuff like biodegradable Styrofoam, harvesting methane from landfills, biomass, etc. I think each of these developments is good, and I can't help but wonder if they wouldn't have come about without a certain focus on "environmentalism" or whatever one wants to call it. While I don't agree with terrorizing the general populace, regardless of the good intention of the issue, the fact that this and other questions have been raised has not only resulted in a single solution, but a wide range of solutions being brought forward and develope

all great posts, from about Post #8 on down. This realization reminds me of a theory that I've been kicking around with regards to why we get along so well with China. The rough summary is that they have both matured as equal opposites: China had a one-party dictatorship, but has subsequently split into two demographically distinct factions under the umbrella of the CCP. The US at about the same time has gone from demographically distinct parties to a more homogeneous club that cooperates on most things and argues for show, but basically have the same levels of respect for constitutionali

it's a Russian-made SMG, the Veresk SR-2M. info about it on WorldGuns

You should have spares for everything you can then. Don't count on the AK's ruggedness to be absolute. Anything can break. (I would trust a quality AR bolt/carrier, from quality manufacturer, as much as I trust my AK's bolts. There seems to be more shitty companies out there, in the AR world, as opposed to the AK world. Stay away from them, and you'll be fine.) +1 yesterday i saw a gas-piston AR with a 1-piece bolt carrier coated in Melonite. i think we are turning a page in the refinement of these things where reliability isn't as big an issue as it once was.

saigafun was correct, there are different levels of assault rifle design philosophy that dictate the details based on a variety of factors, including the range you expect the firefight to occur within (which is an important factor i didn't see mentioned.) However, i can say that this argument becomes more irrelevant with every passing decade. Case in point, the T91 rifle from Taiwan. If i had to outfit an army, with a reasonable budget, this would be my pick.

heard of it, never seen it in person. they made a splash at SHOT a couple years back, but not much in the way of a public followup since. Neat design though; by loading it front-to-back-to-front instead of back-to-front they give you extra barrel space in a compact size.

that's why I say this conversation could be more fun as a what "AK school" rifle is the best. that's the best term I could think of for it, as there is definitely a school of design predominant amongst 1st generation and early 2nd generation assault rifles that represents an entirely different design philosophy than that of the "AR school" which predominates amongst 3rd and 4th generation assault rifles. Common features include the use of Industrial Age technology, like stamped sheetmetal receivers and the influence of machine gun design, as well as a predisposition towards earlier rifle calib

that's why i qualified the statement. one could argue the same about the Type-81; they were designed to a similar set of criteria as the AK series and fire the same round, but underneath bear little to no commonality whatsoever. I personally think that both of those give the AK a run for the money and thus deserve to be considered in the conversation about "the best AK" because to some degree it is really a conversation about the same school of assault rifle design (the 2nd World model of design if you will.)

that's actually a slightly tougher call. Though the Chinese made one model that was a direct copy (the Type 56) they also made a heavily-Kalashnikov-based weapon, the Type 81, that joins the INSAS as being in a category of weapons that don't technically qualify as Kalashnikovs (in the pure sense.) While the Galil and Valmet represent improvements in manufacturing processes and some minor mechanical advances, none of this comes at the cost of general compatability with the greater family of Kalashnikov parts, and the design, while improved, is still fundamentally the same. Having said that- the

well to a certain degree, everybody wants to have it both ways these days. When Jefferson wanted greater enfranchisement, even he knew that there had to be significant groundwork laid to make sure that the people who were bestowed the right to vote would be worthy of that responsibility, and to that end he fought hard to establish a public school system so that the common man might be educated in the way that was previously only open to the political and social elites of the day. While it's interesting to note that from the quotes in the article that Sen. Reid lays some groundwork for what pro

Read the documents of our heritage. Study on this one a bit. We're a representative republic. Where do get democratic from? Not the founder's..... yes, and if you read past the first page in the history book, you will notice how the Jeffersonian, Jacksonian, and Civil War Eras greatly changed the mechanics of the representative nature of our country. Suffrage was extended from white, landowning males to all white men, to all men, to all citizens above a certain age. There was also an amendment (the 17th) that replaced nomination of Senators by the State Governors with direct election of

Yeah, too much about personal choices relating to religious moral preference and not enough about pure politics and sticking to the constitution . I don't ever want or expect the Fed. to be a moral authority on anything. Not that I have anything against against Christians or Muslims or Gays or whatever it's just that those things do not belong in politix. These are the areas that we should be trying to keep the Gov. out of as much as possible. big +1 for the both of ya right here. Where's the love for the Rockefeller Republicans? Ike, HW Bush, Powell, Tom Ridge... that's not a record

While we are at it, I got a problem with you! ......A VAN DYKE??????????????????????????????? HAHAHAHA It can be spelled both ways. The original Belgian [Flemmish] spelling is "Van Dyck" but it was later Anglicized to "VanDyke". Both are correct. I had just come back from Brussels at the time, so I was more inclined to use the former. Wiki article on VanDyck, with "other uses for name" at the bottom.

a democratic republic, as opposed to a feudal republic, like the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth for example. (Or like in Iran, provided that you see the mullahs as boyars instead of theocratic figures.) We -and the nations who emulate our political tradition and practices- while not direct democracies, are about as democratic as it comes, short of the Swiss (who, ahem, are not exactly a direct democracy either, despite being the closest to it.) any other words you would like to parse?

??? You and a few others have been persistent in the mantra of "Things aren't as bad as you think, give peace a chance, obammy ain't that bad, yak yak yak". This in particular has nothing to do with you. The overall view that the direction our country is being taken is somehow O.K. and not so bad is why I have attached your name to this. Things are bad and going to get a lot worse. A moderating of discourse is not what is needed for change we can believe in. A bold statement of "ENOUGH, BACK OFF" is needed. Lines in the sand need to be drawn and defended. chances are that your