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I have a Nexus 5, but I run CyanogenMod instead of the software that Google would want me to have.  They hope to have their version of Lollipop out "to welcome the upcoming holidays and New Year."  So, I'll just be a patient boy until then, I suppose. http://www.cyanogenmod.org/blog/cyanogenmod-11-m12   For those that are literate in the whole open source Android realm, I've been digging CyanogenMod ever since I flashed when I took my N5 out of the box.  It's a lot simpler to use than any of the developer kits to root your device (it does that automatically when it puts on the OS) and removes a lot of the "Google knows best" parts of the standard Android OS.  Bloatware, spyware, ect...it's in your interest to get rid as much of that stuff as you can.  I also add other privacy and security measures such as my VPN service, TextSecure, Red Phone and Avast.        I always go through and make sure there isn't any unnecessary power drain.  A lot of apps have to be told when and how to run.  I have a lot of them set to wi-fi only for most things, always turn off send usage stats so it isn't kept running in the background, and I keep my brightness at about half.  I have no problems getting through a standard day if I start it with a 100% charge.

  Tooreal, thanks for taking the time to detail all that for me. Obviously, you're in love with this thing.  I'm all about variety of product in the AR market, even if I don't think a particular modification is my cup of tea.  I'm also a skeptic until I can see durability test results for a gun.    If a guy like Dustbuster gets a chance to put your gun through its paces with a day at the range, I look forward to reading the review.  I also would enjoy reading about if you get it involved in some kind of tactical course.  Yes, I know they can be corny, but they would do a good job at putting your build under at least some kind of stress you don't get just sitting at the bench and firing at your leisure.   Maybe next month, when I have some time on my hands between semesters, I could put a few mags worth of ammo through it and put my own thoughts here.

  What about the forward assist?  On an AR, it needs to be there since you can't manually move the bolt any other way.  With your setup, like an AK, you have the handle to move and it should move the assist, right?    If remedial action fails (meaning the spring won't move the bolt all the way forward), and you can't move the bolt with a side handle via normal pressure from the shooter, the problem is likely one that can't be solved on the firing line anytime soon.

  I was talking about the charging handle, not the bolt release.    I'm not a big fan of the extended bolt releases either, but I know those serve a functional purpose that help people during reload & malfunction drills.

  Well put, all around.     In a lot of these "cops shoot dog stories" I've been reading, the evidence justifying the shooting of dogs is speculative at best, and it reminds me of the classic South Park scene... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt6kKhlX8vU     I'll leave it at this: “He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” -Immaunel Kant

  Everything you wrote down is gold, but this is the closest to pure truth as you can ever get.  It's the part I've yet to master.       Sage advice here as well.

I would never want a side charger on the left side.  That would put it up against my body while slung, a mild annoyance and just begging to get stuck somewhere if I was wearing kit.   I can't even say I like the aesthetics of it.  It seems out of place, especially so close to the trigger.  I wonder how easy it would be to push the gun forward as opposed to pulling the charging handle backwards that close in.  Not a lot of space to make that happen from what I see.  Could it handle that repeatedly?  Now we are into durability testing issues.  A broken charging handle on an AR is a cheap replacement if I'm using the standard one, is this as cost effective?  And so on, and so on...   It looks big enough in the picture, but I'd want to make sure it works well enough in my hands.   With the traditional charging handle, I can push pull at the same time, or with the action of say, my GSG-522 (MP5 style), the action is far out enough to let me just pull it back in a smooth motion.   Maybe I just let my nightmares of misfires drive me too much, but I wouldn't want a gun that I can't run the action on in a smooth motion under stress.

  Weapons in the Army, pistols especially, are always abused and not taken care of properly.  Between the officers who don't clean them well enough between firings and the armorers who play around with them in the arms room, Army pistols get beat up pretty good.

  Damn well put.       How do you reconcile your theory with the fact that there were parts of the helicopter that crash landed recovered by the Pakistani government?   How could he have been dead since 2006 and not a peep leaked by the prior administration?  The death of OBL would have been too big for anybody to hide.

  It's possible the mission itself (ie: the fact that it happened) is still classified by the military.  It doesn't matter that it's been disclosed, reported in the media, even talked about by politicians on the record.  If it's still classified as Secret or any level of Top Secret by the military, it's covered under the NDA.  Period.   There was a similar issue when Wikileaks and the Snowden files came out.  Even though they are available on the internet in several places, the information is still considered classified at it's original level until someone with the proper authority declassifies it.  If someone still in the military without the proper clearance is found looking at it, they can be in trouble.  The whole concept is asinine, but that's the way they handle it.

  I never heard anything about regular ETS'ing folks getting to enroll in Tricare after they get out.  I had Tricare extended to me for 180 days since I was stop-lossed, but I never heard a peep about any way to stay enrolled after that.  Do you have a link?       Well, there is such a thing as a nondisclosure agreement in the military, it's titled a "Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement" and covers classified info like you said.  The fine print always was it's up to the units to decide what is classified and what isn't.  In a SOF unit, I'd imagine even operations in general terms can fall under it once you go into TTP's and what not.   Just because the news of the raid made the news hours after it happened, doesn't mean it still isn't classified and anybody who signed a NDA isn't still bound by it.

  Wrong Roosevelt.  Oh Shoot's history goes back to a childhood rivalry with Teddy, not Franklin Roosevelt.   He carried his own "big stick" after Oh Shoot gave him a whooping with one.  :D

I really don't think that gun rights, or gun control was the big issue for either side.  The candidates paid lip service to whatever cause their base sided with, but this election was all about President Obama and his policies.  Since the Democrats had more seats to defend, they took the brunt of the steamroller this election.   But that won't stop the NRA and the other orgs from trying to tell you they were the reason as they ask you for more money.

Unless Haslam starts building a national profile, he won't be running for President.  Keep an eye on his schedule with regard to out of state travel to determine if he is thinking about anything.  I highly doubt he is, though.   My best bet is he serves out the 4-year term he was just re-elected to, and in 2020, if Lamar retires (I think he does) and another state-wide name isn't good enough he might run for the Senate.

  When does a can ever loose with you? :P

Prohibiting the sale of alcohol, for any reason, is as stupid as it gets.  Just a perfect example of a local government that wants to exert its authority with despite having no reason to do so. 

  Just some more gridlock.  There will only be one year of actual legislative activity, then we have the Presidential primaries to suffer through and things will slow down in the House and Senate.   Expect some bills with the Republican agenda to be sent to the President so he will be dared to veto them.  If they send the Keystone Pipeline bill to him sooner rather than later, he signs it so the environmentalists have a while to get over the butt-hurt.  Not one federal judge will get confirmed to the circuit or appeals courts.  The Attorney General confirmation hearings will be a public trial over the last 6 years of Justice Department activity.  The real fights will be over the debt ceiling raises and budget cycles.   But the Republicans have to get their own house in order first.  Mitch McConnell will have his hands full keeping the "tea-party" wing of his majority under thumb.  Ted Cruz won't say if he supports McConnell for Majority Leader.  I think that's a tactic to get McConnell to make promises on the agenda in return for his public support.  We'll see how far he wants to push it.

  Landrieu has won 2 of her three prior Senate races through run-offs.  I'm not saying I think she wins, but I'm not counting her out in the least.   The fact is, Bill Cassidy is an tool from a PR standpoint.  He seems like a nice enough guy, but comes across as somewhat aloof.  Rob Maness is the alpha male, in your face type that voters in Louisiana responded to.  He came from nowhere and took that 14% for a reason, he was a good candidate who knew how to engage voters, especially through social media.  Bill Cassidy was running on anti-Obama sentiment alone and letting the establishment carry his water more than anything.   In a run-off, I honestly don't know which side will get better turnout.  Now that the balance of the Senate is already decided, I think there will be people who aren't excited enough by Cassidy to come out and vote.  I'm just not sure if it's enough for Landrieu to sneak by.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

  I agree.  The margin of victory shows a big shift, not a possible fluke election.  Joe Manchin has been tacking right due to how big a shift he can see.  The fact that he is doing that four years away from his own re-election campaign means this is a for real trend in WV.   It's also a good argument for term limits.  Imagine how many candidates decided to pass on challenging "a Rockerfeller" and the war chest he had after so many years in the Senate.  This switch could have come 6-12 years ago for all we know.

  Boston media called the Massachusetts Governor's race for the Republican.  Really bad night for Democrats.

  That was predicted to be a Republican pick-up way early in the election cycle.  The only reason hope Democrats had of holding it ended when Rockefeller decided to retire at 30 years in the Senate.

  It's neck and neck in Massachusetts between the Republican and Democrat for Governor as well.   That speaks to how horrible Martha Coakley is as a candidate as much as anything else, but Massachusetts has elected Republicans Governor before.  From 1991-2007 they had nothing but Republican Governors. 

  Like I said here, she was just trying to bring out those demographics to avoid the run-off.  It was a long-shot, but didn't hurt to try.   Provided that the supporters of Rob Maness come back out to vote again next month for Bill Cassidy, Landrieu will be moving back into her parents house.  That's the address she used on her candidate filing paperwork.  :)    Landrieu could still win if Bill Cassidy can't convince his voters go get out and vote again.  That's possible since this election isn't needed to change the balance of power in the Senate anymore and would be the only thing on the ballot.

Pretty good night for the red team.  Victory might not seem as sweet when the afterglow wears off though.  Now that they are a majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell and the other establishment Republicans will have to deal with Ted Cruz and the like pulling them farther to the right then they might like.  I will laugh my ass off if Ted Cruz tries to get himself elected Senate Majority Leader.   Then in 2016, Republicans are the party with a lot of seats to defend, during a Presidential cycle.  Sort of the opposite to how this election was handled.  They might only have control of the Senate for two years.   Expect some games of chicken on the federal budget, debt ceiling now that the Republicans are in total control of the legislative branch, but still not strong enough to overcome a veto.  I'm still wondering how many bills the Republican Congress will send for him to veto.     The postmortem on these races will be interesting.  The polling in Georgia, Colorado, Kentucky and Kansas was way off.