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I think "privilege" may be the wrong term to apply, though it's taken root for repetition if nothing else, so we're stuck with it.. But if all things (education, opportunity, personal drive, connections, ect.) are relatively equal, I find it quite easy to believe that a black individual will have a disadvantage in comparison to a white individual in pursuing the same objectives. Kind of like starting a race at different starting points along the track, but not adjusting the finish line to compensate. If nothing else, they have to overcome all the latent and not so latent prejudices and misconceptions that forces them to prove they're not "that kind" of black person.

Not me. I think it is absolute B.S. As you said, being born into a wealthy or successful family gives an advantage but there are 'minorities' who are born into wealthy, successful families and there are plenty of white people who are born into families that don't have a pot to piss in. The wealth, influence or success one is born into is going to trump skin color every time. I have a lot more in common with the black man who gets up and goes to work every day and works a regular job to pay his bills than either of us has in common with Barack Obama or Donald Trump. However, as long as the 'powers that be' can keep racial tension stirred up then the general population will never take a look around and see that it is people in the circles in which the Obamas and Trumps of the world operate - regardless of skin color - who are screwing the rest of us - regardless of skin color. These folks have the money and power and they use that money and power to make sure that they keep the money and power which means keeping most of the rest of us 'in our place' - regardless of skin color. That 'white privilege' garbage is just another tool used to keep folks from looking behind the curtain. The only color that really matters is money green.

Thanks OS, well there goes my paper towel tube filled with news paper.

Just consider when burying something water will always find a way. It is a fact you cannot deny or explain away.

Kelly is 1/4 Mexican. Kelly is 1/4 Mexican. We use it for an excuse to drink more Tequila.

Seems like you never left.

There goes the neighborhood.

Exactly. It's called an umbrella policy. They're fairly inexpensive and cover lots more than what these specific policies do.

In my part of TN we just call that "what I keep in easy reach under the bed".

I hear she's not been seen much anywhere since she threw a house on that old hag.

Any update here. Seems like the drain is clogged at the department of bureaucracy...

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Looks good. The stocks on a lot of these Type 53 rifles are in bad shape. That's probably why somebody put the synthetic on. You gotta love Mosins.

Since we are expanding into larger caches of ammo. I knew a guy that took one of the smaller cargo storage containers, the size that two fits on a flatbed tractor trailer, coated the outside with tar/waterproofing and buried it into the side of a hill so only the door was showing. He did add some extra security latches and such. He stored his reloading supplies as well as ammo. Not sure what all he had in there I was never allowed to look. He died about 15 years ago and I always wondered what happened to his stash when his widow sold everything. Never saw a sale advertised.

You must have a forklift sitting around to move them.

About that Oz thing, have you seen Dorothy lately? She owes me money. Welcome.

I think the phrase you are looking for is, "sucks monkey butt at the local level" Honestly, the NRA could be much more successful national issues if they focused on local issues first. Local issues change mindsets which help changes national issues easier. This has been proven over and over again with other issues.

It makes you my hero

I have a lot of thoughts about this, but I'll stick to a few for right now - because truthfully at 2200CDT on a Wednesday evening I own and run a small business - and I'm still here, today. I haven't had a guaranteed payday on Friday in a long, long time. So, here I am. Both of our political parties have their hands in our pockets. This isn't a "conservative"/"liberal" thing. It's an American political thing. Find more than a handful of our 536 elected representatives in Washington that actually understand what it takes to actually create and sustain a job. You'll be hard pressed. And, I say that as a small business owner who knows the extraordinary effort it takes to go from zero to one employee. I am successful. Truthfully, I am rich. Maybe not by every metric, but certainly by most. I've been all over the world and I know what poverty looks like. I don't have to worry about much. Every time I open the refrigerator, it's like I've won the freaking lottery. There's good food in there, and I don't have to worry about whether or not it's going to make me sick, or whether there's still going to be some in there tomorrow. Success is a funny thing, though. I work hard. I work really hard. But, as it turns out, that's not the single biggest indicator of success. In America today, the single biggest indicator of success is the level at which you can tolerate risk. And, as it turns out, I can tolerate a fair bit. Some of that is the product of decisions I made earlier in my life, but a lot of that is also luck and privilege. You can discount it, but sitting where I sit today as the managing director of one company and the CEO of a new company, those last two factors are significant. What plays into those? A non-exhaustive list off top of my head: I come from a two-parent home I never once worried about my safety at home or whether or not I would have food to eat in the morning I went to good schools where teachers knew my name, cared if I did well, and by and large actually knew something about the subject they were teaching I graduated from high school I graduated from college with no debt - scholarships and the fact that my parents were able to fund the rest of my education I went to graduate school I started a little business with a couple of friends in the 90's that was in the right place at the right time We met some people who took a liking to us who happened to worth a whole lot of money - and they mentored us I waited until I was married to have kids My wife worked while I got my first company off the ground - and she had good benefits I'm white - discount that if you want - but I walked into a bank that I've never been into in my life today and the bank president walked me out when I left On the rare occasion that the police come into my neighborhood, they always address me as sir. I've always had reliable transportation - or lived in a place that had public transportation so good you didn't need it My family has not gotten any serious illness or disease My wife is able to parent with me so that I don't have to worry about childcare so I can go to work - it doesn't even cross my mind - if my schedule changes, it's not a huge deal. Can you take away one or more of those things and still be successful? Sure. But, you're going to have to work a lot harder at it than I do - and probably for a lot longer. The fact of the matter is that now, at 42, I can start a brand new company, and it's likely that it'll be successful. I'm good at what I do, but the only reason I'm starting it is because I have both an opportunity AND the ability at this point in my life to take advantage of it. As to a CEO having a huge compensation plan while stepping on the backs of employees, there are some giant problems in America today. Frankly, the economy is being looted by financiers. So many CEO's today aren't adding much value - they're just in a position to be able to extract as many assets of value from the companies they're heading as they can. See Sears, JC Penney, Radio Shack, Kmart, et al right now if you need examples. I cannot speak for everyone, but I can tell you how I see it. I'm pretty generous with my employees. I look at it in two ways. First, you can have a large piece of a small pie, or a smaller piece of a much larger pie. I try pretty hard to bring more people to the table and give equity away generously. In doing so, yes, I own a smaller percentage of the company. But, there are a lot of people who suddenly have an equity stake in it doing well. What do you think they're going to do with that? My experience shows that they work a lot harder to create value. And, having been through it a couple of times, instead of having 80% of something that's not worth that much, I have maybe 25% of something that's worth 10 times as much. In my experience, it works out better for everyone. I also look at it from a Biblical perspective - actually an ancient Jewish perspective. In the 23rd Psalm, there's the idea of the Lord filling a cup until it overflows. In the ancient Jewish tradition, there was no idea of individual blessing/salvation - it was all community based. So, when your cup overflows it's not wasted - instead it flows out into the community around you. And, everyone is better off because of it. Sure, I don't much care for having the government tell me what to do with my money. I would just assume they left me the heck alone. But, that is coming from a position of privilege. The truth of the matter is that while I'd love it if our churches, communities and civic organizations took care of our local communities - we suck at it. And as we embrace the politics of 'the other' over the gospel, it's getting worse. I can think back to the flood in 2010. We have a major church in Nashville that was built with the intention of being a disaster relief shelter. But, when the time came to put it to use, they didn't - because it would be disruptive to services, and liability, and insurance, and safety, and our kids, and whatever... Every last one of us depends on the government for way too much. And, that's unlikely to change anytime soon. I grumble and moan every time I write a big check to the government for taxes. But, as individuals we've become way too dependent. And it's not like our churches are going to step up. Western individualism has run completely amok in American christianity. So, it's a question that doesn't have a discrete answer that fits into a neat little partisan box. Do I "deserve" more because I work hard for it? Maybe? I probably deserve more than the Instagram starlets. But there are plenty of single moms that work every bit as hard as I do every day as vet techs or as medical assistants or teachers or at Target for that matter. There are women at the Target up the street that I know for a fact are there from open until close most days. I am in a position by luck, privilege and effort that allows me to tolerate a lot of risk - and that will more often than not lead to success. That's the easy part. It gets a lot harder from there.

It's funny, when I read the OP and got to the part about taking what you didn't earn, I immediately assumed he was talking about all the worthless scum taking government handouts and not contributing to society. I guess that's not as big a deal as big bad corporations, huh? The great thing about America is that we aren't stuck with just complaining about what we don't have and someone else has more. We are all able to further ourselves if we choose to. I am a blue collar worker and have zero desire to have a corner office and 7 figure salary and wear a suit every day. But I could if I wanted to put forth the effort to do so. The rich are rich for a reason, they ( or their family) have contributed to society in one way or another at some point in time in a measurable way. If you want to be rich, chase your dreams and live your life to the fullest. Hell, right now we have a guy who started with a real estate investment and is now sitting in the White House. If nothing else, that proves you can go as far as your ambition and determination allows you to.

I actually kinda like it - and I don't like Glocks.

Folks, This will definitely be happening, Im offshore just crossing the Equator for the 4th time in my career, en route to Brazil from Gran Canaries Spain anyway a package arrived at my home from Protech that I was not expecting, I am guessing it will be the TGO Dark Angel Prototype, I will be home in 3 weeks then I will know pricing and launch the official thread, God Bless you all!

And now we know why the USCCA was uninvited from the NRA convention.

I guess that would not surprise me. Look at the advisors for the NRA, all special forces types. It always grinds at me a little that a lot of folks simply do not understand the differences between military, police, and civilian firearm uses and 'rules of engagement'. Same thing in the political arena. Waving training for LEO and military, especially in our state when knowing the TN law is a very important part of carrying a gun in this state. And before anyone yells it is about the money, my preference is that one should complete an online test about those laws, much like hunter safety. Does no one any good to survive the gunfight and have to spend 20 in the big house because you couldn't survive the legal fight.

I'll let you all know this knife will have a Black Body, Black Ion Bond blade, Black Lip mother of Pearl push button and Dave is doing a few engraving of the TGO logo, I will let the majority rule on choosing the one we go with

Just got off the phone with Dave, he is awaiting the blades to get back from Ionbond then he will build the Prototype im looking forward to this knife, it will be very cool