tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66105182410198159902024-03-12T21:46:50.048-04:00Eight Shots and a Ping aka The Suburban RedneckEight Shots and a Ping... The Suburban Redneck on politics, guns and current events.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-91269791672026473212012-11-07T16:59:00.002-05:002012-11-07T16:59:48.533-05:00OK.... so now what?Lots and lots of post-Election hand-wringing...<br />
<br />
"Oh crud, Obama Won!"<br />
<br />
"Buy more guns and ammo!"<br />
<br />
"Don't buy anything, because you're part of the problem!"<br />
<br />
"Damn, look at how Brady/CSGV are gloating over Obama's victory"<br />
<br />
OK...<br />
<br />
Lots of cursing the darkness.<br />
<br />
Who's lighting the candle?<br />
<br />
What's our plan, going forward - from this very moment?<br />
<br />
If you haven't joined the NRA or any other advocacy group, join now,<br />
and get others to sign up. There is strength in numbers.<br />
<br />
Tell your bolt-action rifle and double-barreled shotgun shooting/hunting friends<br />
that yes, their hardware is in the crosshairs of the gun banners. Just because their<br />
stuff doesn't have a military look, it doesn't mean that it's immune to restriction or an outright ban.<br />
The anti-gunners will definitely go after the former, but they will not be satisfied with just that beginning<br />
step... <br />
<br />
Take your kids, grandkids, nieces/nephews shooting. Don't force it on them, but do it. <br />
<br />
Write letters - thank your pro-gun representatives for voting our way. Write polite letters to the anti-gun politicians to let them know that we're out there, and that we care about our rights.<br />
<br />
Did your decision to move to a different state hinge at least partially on RKBA or lack thereof? Write a letter to the governor and Treasurer/comptroller of the state you are leaving. Let them know that gun rights are part of the reason, and that you're a productive citizen whose tax revenue will be missed. Giving them a reasonable annual estimate of your combined income, sales and property taxes will let them know how much.<br />
<br />
Take your non-shooting friends to the range, especially if they're anti-gun or neutral on the subject. I've found that "neutrals" unless they've been shooting, will generally lean a bit toward regulating firearms if pressed on the matter.<br />
<br />
<br />
Obama's re-election MAY make our shooting lives more difficult and complicated - but CANNOT make it impossible if we stand and fight. <br />
<br />Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-13122236833646014282012-09-23T07:46:00.000-04:002012-09-23T07:46:33.287-04:00Awesomeness of the Gun Community Imagine you're walking through the parking lot of a shopping center. You hear the following conversations in passing: "Yeah, I just got it a month ago. Been waiting a long time. Here's the key - take it for a spin." or: "You're low on gas? No problem, I'll hand siphon out five gallons and you can put it in your own car."<br />
I think the probability of that happening is vanishingly small, small enough to be called "zero."<br />
If you strike the words "car" and "gasoline" and replace them with "gun" and "ammunition" you'll understand the comaraderie, enthusiasm and generosity that exists in the gun community, between shooters. <br />
It's just one of the reasons why we're winning.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-5855240069785589602012-01-01T00:01:00.014-05:002012-01-01T00:01:02.970-05:00Time Marches On...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAXcGSQAfPU/Tv8SS8sN9MI/AAAAAAAAACw/758EFcIzHvE/s1600/kaizen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" rea="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QAXcGSQAfPU/Tv8SS8sN9MI/AAAAAAAAACw/758EFcIzHvE/s320/kaizen2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-size: large;">If you find you don't reflect, resolve and renew at the conclusion of every day of the year, why bother doing so on day# 365?</span></span></h6>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-4211871610277207612011-12-21T12:23:00.002-05:002011-12-21T12:23:34.982-05:00Indeed, I am...Firearms Coalition has this great essay posted:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=593:i-am-the-gun-lobby&catid=19:the-knox-update&Itemid=144">I Am The Gun Lobby</a>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-73589076590194170872011-12-07T07:27:00.003-05:002011-12-07T07:29:38.672-05:0070 Years ago, the Japanese woke a sleeping giant...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CUAUcXSiRC0/Tt9ayzNGI0I/AAAAAAAAACY/0I6u9tgCNJc/s1600/pearlharbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" mda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CUAUcXSiRC0/Tt9ayzNGI0I/AAAAAAAAACY/0I6u9tgCNJc/s320/pearlharbor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Much has been written about the sneak attack 70 years ago, and our subsequent involvement in the conflict that had already enmeshed Europe and Asia. There isn't much that I can add, except to say that it's a stark reminder that we need to remain eternally vigilant, and prepared.</div>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-41772381030619289192011-11-25T08:09:00.001-05:002011-11-25T08:32:49.007-05:00Black Friday: What are you fighting for?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KOxBThAl4Es/Ts-RIX4KKYI/AAAAAAAAACI/ltCBp_FsqdY/s1600/Shopping1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KOxBThAl4Es/Ts-RIX4KKYI/AAAAAAAAACI/ltCBp_FsqdY/s320/Shopping1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4iB4Gq9qJPA/Ts-RLHNJYLI/AAAAAAAAACQ/luYNrxVQ7Lg/s1600/tahrir1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4iB4Gq9qJPA/Ts-RLHNJYLI/AAAAAAAAACQ/luYNrxVQ7Lg/s1600/tahrir1.jpg" /></a></div>Today, are you fighting for your rights, or for the right gift for yourself or others?<br />
Are you braving the chemical sprays of a Government that won't cede power, or <a href="http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/25/9012057-15-hurt-after-unhappy-customer-pepper-sprays-black-friday-shoppers">those of a demented consumer who grew tired of battling crowds while she tried to shop?</a><br />
Are you putting gasoline in a bottle, or gas in your car so you can hit every store on your list, and a few that aren't?<br />
<br />
I'm sure this Black Friday will be a frustrating experience for most Americans, but remember that at the end of the day, you'll have just about everything you started with this morning - your car, your home, your family, your rights. Perhaps a bit less cash and gasoline, but the important things will still be there.<br />
<br />
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, but today might not be a bad day to be thankful for what you have, and to think, even for just a second, about what others do not have, and are putting their lives in peril to obtain.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-75833686361590698582011-11-22T09:28:00.001-05:002011-11-22T14:15:51.033-05:00He who shall not be named... I'm not invoking the Cthulu mythos here. I'm referring to a rather unpleasant fellow who has gone on record with public YouTube postings declaring his utter contempt for society. He brags about dressing up in a manner that implies he has served in the military, and describes how he soaks up whatever "freebies" veterans are given at restaurants, by passersby, etc and how easily we are all apparently fooled by his act.<br />
He's dumping not just on the men and women of our Armed Forces that have actually served, but everyone who goes out of their way to recognize their service with an extra bit of kindness.<br />
Sadly, this person is probably accomplishing a secondary goal - that of grabbing a LOT of attention. People like him are looking for that more than anything.<br />
There are a lot of message boards where active and former servicemembers confer, and in these fora, this person is receiving a tremendous amount of hate, bile, and veiled threats to harm him physically. His home address and a phone number have been posted, in case anyone wants to give him a piece of their mind.<br />
It's actually rather unfortunate in a way. The language being used to describe him sound like third-grade taunts. The talk of punching him out sounds like stuff I heard at the lunch table in high school. Is it me or are people letting themselves be pulled down to his level? Don't you think that if you call his house and curse him out, he'll hang up, but experience a warm and fuzzy at the acknowledgement of his effect on you? Or that if you strike him, he'll get up, grimacing and pain but again, smiling on the inside that *someone has listened to him*?<br />
Every time someone talks about him, how he makes them feel and what they'd like to do about it, gives him more and more power.<br />
I think the wisest course of action is to tune him out. Stop watching his videos, and posting the links. Don't call, write or talk to him in person. What I think this person fears more than anything is becoming a nonentity. And if we take the high road here and simply move on to other, more positive topics, he'll dry up and blow away.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-67787296396974187992011-11-18T18:03:00.001-05:002011-11-18T18:04:51.102-05:00Fiddling while Reno burns...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_0ujMeFk7tw/TsbiiWaPFsI/AAAAAAAAAB4/szJ0c3-yTwQ/s1600/renofire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_0ujMeFk7tw/TsbiiWaPFsI/AAAAAAAAAB4/szJ0c3-yTwQ/s320/renofire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I was astonished to catch a headline about wildfires outside of Reno, NV. This picture probably best sums up the peril that area is in. Luckily my personal experiences with wildfires are close to nil. A bit over ten years ago, Orange and Sullivan counties in New York State were aflame with smoke that I could smell over 50 miles away. And about six years before that, I took a late night drive out of Pasadena, and as the greater LA area sprawl receded, I saw the cherry red hellish glow atop the San Gabriel Mountains.<br />
<br />
I am quite taken with the state of Nevada, especially points north of Las Vegas. I found Reno to be homey and charming, and the area around it to be filled with the quiet beauty of the high desert.<br />
<br />
My headline isn't meant to impugn anyone's firefighting efforts, only my helpless inability to help them put out the flames. The folks out there battling these blazes are up against terrain that's rough and tinder-dry year round, with winds kicking up to speeds of 30 miles per hour and higher.<br />
<br />
God, watch over these brave people and the residents they are working so hard to protect.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-65087533827275775302011-11-08T07:16:00.001-05:002011-11-08T07:17:08.376-05:00Election Reflection Just finished voting... small slate of candidates, no initiatives. Nothing exciting, and very, very few voters at the polling station.<br />
<br />
When a candidate says the following, this is what they really mean:<br />
<br />
"I care about you/the little guy/the taxpayer." - even if they do care, all that "caring" really means is allocating forcibly redistributed money. There's really no personal sacrifice on their part.<br />
<br />
"I want to get things done." - even if they do want to be productive while in office, "getting things done" means, for the most part, passing new laws or harshening existing ones.<br />
<br />
"I want to see justice done." - even if they care about punishing the guilty, this really means passing feel-good laws, harshening existing sentencing guidelines, and stepping up enforcement of petty offenses. "Law and order" candidates typically boost their record by lowering the bar of what's considered criminality and snagging these increasingly low-hanging fruit.<br />
<br />
What would a truly effective candidate do, once reaching the office they're seeking?<br />
<br />
Show caring not by implementing new programs, but by tossing out programs that don't work, and making existing ones deliver the same results with less money spent.<br />
"Getting things done" should mean a focus on personally intervening on behalf of taxpayers caught up in bureaucracy. Is a merchant's customers the seeming target of aggressive parking tickets? Is a merchant in their district trying to expand their facility but can't seem to hurdle the red tape? Is a taxpayer in arrears trying to make an honest effort at catching up, but the collectors keep calling and also tacking on new penalties? These are all things most officeholders have the power to help with, and should.<br />
"Seeing justice done" should mean *eliminating* outdated laws, and seeing to it that civil fines and criminal penalties actually match the offense. It also means not targeting decent people who accidentally violate some law, like forgetting to remove their CCW gun before entering a school zone, but instead making police work harder at catching violent offenders. It also means not waiting until a pardon request makes its way to their desk, but actively looking for cases in which people were royally screwed by the "justice" system and doing their best to make it right.<br />
<br />
Just some humble suggestions, but hey, who am I, right???Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-421924327219232842011-11-08T00:01:00.001-05:002011-11-08T00:01:03.861-05:00Just vote, dammit Unfortunately, during "interstitial" elections, ie the ones that don't happen every four years voter turnout tends to be rather low.<br />
It's easy to dismiss these "petty" mostly local elections, but by voting (or not voting) you have more power than you think.<br />
Just about every man sitting in the White House got there by leveraging a career in public service that began humbly - alderman, state legislator, governor.<br />
By pulling that lever, filling out that OCR card, or punching that chad, you have the opportunity to keep another Obama from ascending to our nation's highest office - or help him along, if that's in accordance with your political beliefs.<br />
Whatever you do, go out there today and exercise your right to vote.<br />
Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-88235365697955489552011-11-06T09:18:00.002-05:002011-11-06T09:18:47.218-05:00Good Luck, NYC Runners...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6h9WS6FVqs4/TraXLT9V0mI/AAAAAAAAABw/hDU2kymRTR8/s1600/isitssafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6h9WS6FVqs4/TraXLT9V0mI/AAAAAAAAABw/hDU2kymRTR8/s1600/isitssafe.jpg" /></a></div>And by the way.. is it safe??Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-44592942750819621722011-11-05T07:23:00.002-04:002011-11-05T07:29:05.575-04:00Oooohhhh Canaduh....Canadian reporter discusses the imminent demise of Canada's gun registry. <br />
<br />
The antigun bias of this piece is evident within a second of clicking on <a href="http://www.planetsmag.com/story.php?id=638">This story</a><br />
<br />
I mean, you have a picture of Rutger Hauer, star of the low budget grinder Hobo With a Shotgun, with an expression of total insanity on his mug, something Mr. Hauer has perfected over the course of his decades-long film career. I guess that to the article's author, Stephen LaRose, every gun owner has an inner Rutger Hauer, waiting to come out at the slightest (or perhaps even no) provocation.<br />
<br />
But I digress.<br />
<br />
Mr. LaRose tries to justify gun registration by claiming it has reduced crime, and that it has been in place since the Second World War, back when according to him, it prevented Nazi sympathizers from formenting an insurrection. (Ah yes, the ol' "it's been around for decades, therefore it's a good thing" bromide)<br />
The stats on gun control actually seems to point to increased violent crime when weapons are denied to everyday citizens. And as for the WWII angle, does this Mr. LaRose really think that registering guns would prevent such a thing? That these "insurrectionists" wouldn't simply go through the bureaucratic process and then use their lawfully acquired weapons? Or that they wouldn't somehow find a way to acquire them by smuggling or some other method? Or that they wouldn't simply ambush some mounties, and take their service weapons? If someone has a cause they believe in strongly enough, or are being paid well enough to participate in, they'll try to accomplish their mission by any means available. And why isn't Mr. LaRose appalled at the idea of anyone's rights being diminished by legistlative fiat, (mis)informed by war-era paranoia?<br />
<br />
The author also describes his participation as an adult in his son's Beaver Troop activities, and how he apparently needed to clear his name before doing so, because his name coincided with that of a registered sex offender. The process of doing that supposedly took longer than it takes to legally purchase a firearm in Canada.<br />
<br />
He claims some sort of irony in that "deadly firearms" are being de-controlled, while his participation in a lawful, innocent activity is being hampered.<br />
<br />
He's missing the very point he's making - that government is perfectly capable of interfering terribly with all of the activities we just about take for granted.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-37966158497653844992011-11-03T08:14:00.000-04:002011-11-03T08:14:28.572-04:00You're on notice...Another asshole abusing our tort system.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/nyregion/suit-against-photographer-seeks-re-creation-of-wedding-after-divorce.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/nyregion/suit-against-photographer-seeks-re-creation-of-wedding-after-divorce.html</a><br />
<br />
Any service person with grey matter in their skull instead of rocks will steer clear of this guy. Who's to say he won't sue them years later for some imaginary or exaggerated failure to perform?Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-31399402397070232042011-10-30T23:59:00.000-04:002011-10-30T23:59:00.806-04:00For Halloween....Bad Serendipity: Your lab assistant drops the correct brain on the floor, and brings you the wrong one.<br />
<br />
Good Serendipity: Your lab assistant drops sodium onto the severed arm of an undead seamonster, therefore finding out how to destroy them.<br />
<br />
<br />
Happy Halloween!Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-58219621440466143462011-10-23T11:59:00.000-04:002011-10-23T13:22:23.680-04:00Happy f******** UN Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MPSyqmKsV18/TqRNDcVhh-I/AAAAAAAAABQ/LFm1o5TCBeQ/s1600/UnHelmet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MPSyqmKsV18/TqRNDcVhh-I/AAAAAAAAABQ/LFm1o5TCBeQ/s1600/UnHelmet.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
Happy birthday to the well-intentioned, but corrupt and ineffectual supranational body, whose annual Lower East Side gabfests accomplish nothing while causing commerce-stopping, pedestrian imperiling gridlock in New York City.<br />
And in the field, the UN "Blue Helmet Force" at best stands idly by while thuggish Third World strongmen do their dirty work, while at their worst, actively engage in it.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-11270139696029181042011-10-21T07:07:00.000-04:002011-10-21T07:07:02.350-04:00Edumacational Video#1 - concealed carry, Detroit Style Good friend of mine emailed this video to me last night:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyD8WXLuwVHDOYLRCG8HJETQF36mxFyin6ZTrwpgD3U-Y-raFroNGRUafeAMLYZ1mtGqOK90tw9iG9HheeXGg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-63451759463852934042011-10-20T08:55:00.003-04:002011-10-20T09:07:46.454-04:00Lions and Tigers and Bears... oh shit! Bang!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Idiotic animal worshippers (as opposed to animal lovers, a big difference) are upset at the manner in which an exotic animal "outbreak" in Ohio was dealt with, which was properly, by shooting them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The person who unleashed this plague was within the law by having his own zoological park, but then his private business became a public menace when he uncaged them all and corrected his lead deficiency with a 158 grain self-administered dosage, thereby preventing him from being held to account in this life.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If you have the resources to have your own live animal collection - fine. But to off yourself, and turn 'em loose on the rest of us is plain wrong. Anyone that does this has created a problem that puts the public at risk and requires publicly funded manpower and resources to deal with.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">At least on paper, I'm willing to bet that a "humane capture" operation would have cost more taxpayer dollars, as well as having taken longer. Remember, every hour these beasts are free to roam is more time for them to kill an innocent person, devour a treasured pet, or cause a serious road accident. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GnfftfSUfX4/TqAc6nWRcZI/AAAAAAAAABI/zUq56oXR26s/s1600/cautionexotic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GnfftfSUfX4/TqAc6nWRcZI/AAAAAAAAABI/zUq56oXR26s/s320/cautionexotic.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I like the way Ohio dealt with this problem, one they didn't ask for in any way. The only way it could have been done better and more quickly would be if a some citizen volunteer hunters had been deputized, and allowed to keep what they've taken down as a trophy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-66675365221621313332011-10-18T07:26:00.001-04:002011-10-18T07:26:54.150-04:00No Gun Ownership in New Jersey (Unless your last name is "Soprano") NJ2AS has put this together:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fC2iu3CTPc&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fC2iu3CTPc&feature=player_embedded</a><br />
<br />
Quite the well articulated plea to roll back some of New Jersey's Draconian firearm restrictions<br />
and the shockingly arbitrary manner in which they are enforced.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-59235682430278976012011-10-15T08:54:00.002-04:002011-10-15T08:56:39.993-04:00Does 1% + 99% always add up to 100% ??Interesting site:<br />
<a href="http://westandwiththe99percent.tumblr.com/">http://westandwiththe99percent.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<br />
I think it's interesting that these people are giving "testimonials" about their empathy for the "99%."<br />
<br />
They're priviliged people that at least acknowledge how fortunate they've been. Most seem/claim to have worked for what they have, some have simply lucked into it, ie inheritance.<br />
<br />
But why now? Did these protests suddenly make them feel guilty about what they have, and what others don't? When they bought a latte at Starbucks, did they always leave a decent tip, if any? And are they now dropping a dollar in the tip cup, instead of the leftover 11 cents as so many well-off patrons do all the time?<br />
<br />
I'm not railing against these "empathetic 1 percenters." But here is my issue with them, other than the epiphanic nature of what they're saying. Wealth is redistributed all the time. It's done purely voluntarily (charitable donations, gratuities, purchases of goods) semi-voluntarily ("My business is growing, and I can staff up to accomodate the growth, or not hire and risk flat revenue growth) or involuntarily (the taxman cometh).<br />
<br />
The proportions of these types of redistribution are really out of whack, and some sort of consensus needs to be reached about where to set them.<br />
<br />
What bothers me is how many of these "empathetic 1 percenters" are saying "tax me more." Wrong medicine for a serious problem.<br />
<br />
The more governments collect, the more they spend. It's not as if tax hikes or new taxes are "lockboxed" away and allocated specifically toward deficit or debt reduction.<br />
<br />
This is a common liberal confusion: mixing up "the economy" with "the national budget."<br />
<br />
Look, I'm going to break with a lot of fellow conservatives here and just say it: the private sector went a little too far with downsizing and overall job elimination. They fired people even when their balance sheets were strong, and rewarded the c-suite with ever-higher bonuses and salaries. They have every legal right to do that, but it does long term damage to the economy in the aggregate.<br />
<br />
That said, if these "empathetic 1 percenters" really want to be part of the solution I suggest the following: If you play golf with someone who's in a position to hire people, try to nudge them into calling back some laid off workers. If you own a business, and are on the fence about hiring someone, just go ahead and do it. If you are simply well-off, give that barista a dollar or more. Tip that deliveryman 5.00 intead of 1.00 or 3.00.<br />
<br />
And if you really don't think you're taxed enough, then by all means, write a check to the general fund of your state, town or city,or even a "gift to reduce the public debt." But remember that doing so will do very, very little to ameliorate the economic or fiscal mess we're in, and in fact may even "encourage the bastards."<br />
<br />
You don't have to sleep in a tent in Zucotti Park to make a difference... just write a check... to someone.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-39386699308043848912011-10-13T10:09:00.000-04:002011-10-13T10:09:03.110-04:00God Bless Kentucky!Today is Day 1 of the October antipode of the <a href="http://www.machinegunshoot.com/">Knob Creek Machinegunshoot</a><br />
<br />
It takes place right outside of Louisville, and the forecast: rain today, windy tomorrow, Sunshine for the weekend.<br />
Chances for a hail of lead: 100% with occasional streaks of tracers, punctuated by balls of flame and other miscellaneous detonations.<br />
<br />
For a gun person, it's an experience beyond compare. Just watching the firing line erupt, and watching the targets downrange take a pounding is an inspiring sight. As are the thousands of folks milling around, all of whom share this glorious passion of ours.<br />
<br />
Not to mention the opportunity to "rent" and fire all sort of interesting full-auto weapons. Aks, M-16s and WWII guns - both Allied and Axis are usually available - and a whole lot more. <br />
<br />
My youtube videos are at: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/finalascent">www.youtube.com/finalascent</a> - all of them are cool, two of them I shot at the Knob Creek shoot.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-59477136110173330742011-10-11T12:43:00.001-04:002011-10-11T13:17:56.044-04:00OK, I'M TRM over this oneDidn't realize that Governor Brown also signed a bill creating a registry for all long guns! Arrrrgh!<br />
Governor Brown, do you know how many educated, productive people make moving decisions (both leaving and arriving) because of how a state treats its gun-owning residents and visitors?<br />
<br />
Clearly, you are taking advice from the wrong people, and not listening to your citizens.<br />
<br />
Shame on you... you think you are protecting California, but in fact you are doing the exact opposite.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-42287051257315080742011-10-10T10:25:00.000-04:002011-10-10T10:25:08.151-04:00Only outlaws openly carry guns, now?Governor Jerry Brown, with a stroke of his pen has solved a problem that never existed. Open carry in California is now unlawful. It was in fact rather limited anyway - while it didn't require an existing concealed carry permit, it was only lawful if it the firearm was unloaded. There was nothing preventing an OCer from keeping ammunition close at hand, but having it inside the weapon was a no-no.<br />
<br />
Hopefully the Second Amendment Foundation will go after this one vigorously, since California is notoriously arbitrary with issuance of concealed carry permits.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-738177318782385992011-10-09T11:23:00.002-04:002011-10-09T11:24:48.651-04:00Questions, Questions...<a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20111009/LIVING01/110090313/Do-families-your-kids-friends-own-gun-You-should-ask">http://www.indystar.com/article/20111009/LIVING01/110090313/Do-families-your-kids-friends-own-gun-You-should-ask</a><br />
<br />
Sayeth this writer with the IndyStar: you should ask your children's playmate's parents if they have firearms in their home.<br />
<br />
Ah yes, pulling out the old bromide that having a gun = automatic endangerment of self and innocents nearby.<br />
<br />
It's only an appropriate question if there's an invitation in the air to go on a multi-family outing to go shooting or hunting.<br />
<br />
Keeping children away from firearms without explaning what they are and what they do is a recipe for disaster. They'll simply harbor an insatiable curiosity and try really hard to unlock a cabinet, safe or gun case.<br />
Youngsters should be taught early on that handling firearms in the absence of an adult is a no-no, and how to render a weapon safe. And then once they are physically and intellectually capable, should be taught how to handle and shoot a gun.<br />
<br />
I have a challenge for the author of this commentary:<br />
<br />
If your children go to a neighbor's house to go swimming, do you ask if there is a responsible adult right at pooside? Do they know basic rescue swimming, CPR and/or first aid?<br />
<br />
Or if they are going on an ATV excursion, will helmets be worn, speeding kept to a minimum and steep gradients scrupulously avoided?<br />
<br />
Drownings and ATV accidents tragically claim more young lives than firearms do, but for some reason no one seems to give it much thought when their children partake in those activities.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-13970779637983334882011-10-08T08:23:00.003-04:002011-10-08T08:30:17.884-04:00TRM = "Torso Rippin' Mad"Stuff like this makes me want to rip my torso open... From here on in, anything that makes me sufficiently angry will get a "TRM" label. My responses are in <span style="color: blue;">blue.</span><br />
<div class="clear_first"><br />
</div><div class="clear_first"><br />
</div>How Many Second Amendment Cases Will the NRA Lose? <br />
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</div><div class="title-blog"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue;">Hopefully not too many more.</span></div></div><div class="blog_content blog_design_a" id="entry_body"><div class="sidebarHeader sidebar_blog_first_design"><style>
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</div>For the NRA, it was not supposed to be this way. After the Supreme Court ruled in <i>District of Columbia v. Heller</i> that the Second Amendment granted a limited right to have a gun in the home, the NRA bragged that it was just the "<a href="http://www.bradycenter.org/reports/hollowvictory?s=1"><span style="color: #0088c3;">opening salvo</span></a>" in a legal war to use the courts to dismantle the nation's gun laws. Yet three years, <a href="http://www.bradycenter.org/reports/hollowvictory?s=1"><span style="color: #0088c3;">400 legal challenges</span></a>, and "<a href="http://www.nraila.org/2ALitigation/"><span style="color: #0088c3;">millions of dollars in [NRA] legal bills</span></a>" later, all the gun lobby has had to show for its efforts is <a href="http://blog.bradycampaign.org/?p=3430"><span style="color: #0088c3;">a growing body of case law</span></a> <i>affirming</i> the right of the people to have strong gun laws short of a total handgun ban. Just last week, the same Texas judge who was previously overruled for ruling that domestic abusers have a right to own guns <a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/press/view/1438"><span style="color: #0088c3;">threw out the NRA's lawsuit</span></a> claiming that teens have a right to buy semi-automatic handguns. <span style="color: blue;">It's not an unreasonable thought that "teens" (18-21 year olds) can purchase a handgun. They can shoot them and carry them openly in a large number of states. Under 21 year olds also routinely carry and handle them (and other, far more powerful weapons) in the military. </span> Never before have so many courts so cogently affirmed the constitutionality of so many strong gun laws in such a short span of time. But the biggest case was yet to come. After the <i>Heller</i> ruling, Washington, D.C. enacted <a href="http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view.asp?a=1237&q=547431&pm=1"><span style="color: #0088c3;">some of the strongest gun laws in the nation</span></a>, banning semi-automatic assault weapons and assault clips and requiring mandatory handgun registration. <span style="color: blue;">You mean, the most ridiculous set of hoops to jump through in order to enjoy a right that the Supreme Court had just gotten through affirming? (Other than Chicago's hoops which are far more ridiculous)</span> <span style="color: blue;">There are no "semi automatic assault weapons" nor are there "assault clips." There are *magazines* of varying capacities, none of which constitute a threat of any sort.</span> So the NRA <a href="http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=348&issue=010"><span style="color: #0088c3;">teamed up with Dick Heller </span></a>himself to file <a href="http://www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/lap/cases/currentdocket.pdf#page=52"><span style="color: #0088c3;">the broadest legal challenge yet </span></a>, arguing that Mr. Heller had a right not just to a handgun in his home, but also to amass an arsenal of AK-47s and high-capacity assault clips in the nation's capital and to hide his guns from registration laws that help police solve crimes. <span style="color: blue;">Not having to register firearms isn't the same thing as "hiding" them. Even in New York State, my longarms don't need to be "registered." Does that mean I'm hiding them? How about the 45+ states that don't require any sort of firearm registration whatsoever? If registration was such an amazing, indispensible crime fighting tool, why would so many states deprive themselves of it? Why is Vermont such a safe state to live in, despite not requiring registration or any sort of permit to carry, whether openly or concealed? How about this... we start registering every device capable of recording and disseminating any sort of thought or information. After all, an iPhone can Tweet out a Happy Birthday message or assemble a seditious flash mob. Good or evil, right? And we'll start by registering YOUR communication tools.</span> Even better, the lawsuit would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the same court that originally struck down the D.C. handgun ban. Yet, in what the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204524604576611141583366696.html?KEYWORDS=heller"><span style="color: #0088c3;">called </span></a>"the latest in a string of judicial setbacks for gun-rights activists," the D.C. Circuit this week rejected Mr. Heller's challenge and failed to strike down <i>any </i>of Washington, D.C.'s strong gun laws. Instead, it <a href="http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/DECA496973477C748525791F004D84F9/$file/10-7036-1333156.pdf"><span style="color: #0088c3;">ruled</span></a> that even the District's toughest-in-the-nation gun laws simply "do not affect the core right protected by the Second Amendment" to have a gun in the home. Citing and <a href="http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/DECA496973477C748525791F004D84F9/$file/10-7036-1333156.pdf"><span style="color: #0088c3;">heavily relying on evidence submitted by the Brady Center</span></a> about the dangers of assault weapons and the effectiveness of strong gun laws, Reagan-appointee Judge <b>Douglas Ginsburg wrote for the majority and upheld D.C.'s assault weapon and assault clip ban</b> . <span style="color: blue;">Again, "assault weapon" and "assault clip" are synthetic terms.</span> He noted that the ban barred "civilian copies of military weapons" that "pose a danger to innocent people and particularly to police officers," and that the ban does not "substantially affect [anyone's] ability to defend themselves." <span style="color: blue;">Barring some weird sort of self-animating metallurgy, military pattern guns aren't any more or less likely than a "friendly" looking bolt-action hunting rifle to harm or kill innocents.</span> And while the NRA has claimed that handgun registration amounts to an unconstitutional atrocity <a href="http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=67&issue=006"><span style="color: #0088c3;">on par with the Nazi <i>Kristallnacht</i> rampage</span></a> or the genocides in <a href="http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=201&issue=015"><span style="color: #0088c3;">Darfur and Rwanda</span></a>, Judge Ginsburg <a href="http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/DECA496973477C748525791F004D84F9/$file/10-7036-1333156.pdf"><span style="color: #0088c3;">held</span></a> that "the basic requirement to register a handgun is longstanding in American law," has been "accepted for a century in diverse states and cities," and is so "self-evidently de minimis" that such laws "cannot reasonably be considered onerous." <span style="color: blue;">Not an atrocity, but a travesty. Comparing it to genocide is a bit extreme, but registration often leads to confiscation, and confiscation often leads to a defenseless civlian populace.</span> The majority also took the unusual step of issuing a lengthy "appendix" lambasting Judge Brett Kavanaugh's flawed dissent that would have allowed AK-47 arsenals in the nation's capital. The majority rips Judge Kavanaugh's suggestion that gun laws must be struck down even if they serve a "compelling government interest in preventing death and crime. " <span style="color: blue;">It's not about "allowing AK-47s in the nation's capitol." It's about people exercising their freedom of choice to own the firearms that suit their needs, and not becoming felons on paper because of those choices.</span> Rather, the majority correctly points out that it is the job of the people through their elected officials, not activist courts, "to determine in the first instance whether banning semi-automatic rifles in particular would promote important law-enforcement objectives." <span style="color: blue;">Then why are you celebrating these defeats? They're only "activists" when they uphold laws you disagree with.</span> Lastly, while Judge Ginsburg concluded that several of Washington, D.C.'s laws were "novel," he refused to strike down any of those as well. Instead, he gave the District of Columbia the opportunity "to develop a more thorough factual record" at which point the court must "accord substantial deference" to the District's evidence. So far, such deference has resulted in <a href="http://www.bradycenter.org/reports/hollowvictory?s=1"><span style="color: #0088c3;">challenged laws being upheld</span></a>. The NRA's dreams that <i>District of Columbia v. Heller</i> would result in a free-for-all of gun-toting teens and AK-47 arsenals has so far been soundly rejected. <span style="color: blue;">I don't think that the NRA had a truck full of pistols and AKs ready to roll into DC and hand them out like candy. Again, it's about recognizing that 18 year olds have the right to own handguns just like they can purchase rifles. The NRA and other 2A rights groups DO NOT want criminals to have firearms, don't make it sound as if they do.</span> Instead, the NRA's litigation has led to a host of well-reasoned decisions <span style="color: blue;">Incorrect decisions that are marginally well reasoned and on top of that spit on Heller, McDonald and the Second Amendment itself.</span> from Republican-appointed judges upholding strong gun laws. While the NRA recently complained in an e-mail to its members that it is facing "a series of Second Amendment disasters," who knew they'd be in cases handpicked and funded by the NRA itself? <span style="color: blue;">I had no idea, either. But we'll keep fighting the good fight. When a city or state says, "OK, our residents can own handguns, but doing so requires taking substantial time off from work to navigate our bureaucracy, filling out a lot of paperwork, and paying substantial fees" that amounts to complying with the change in law, but only by the letter of it, not the spirit. Excessive gun laws also turn the otherwise law abiding into criminals, too. When you give people a burdensome chain of processes to follow, you increase the chances of innocent mistakes, for which they'll face some sort of criminal penalty. Wouldn't you rather law enforcement focus on arresting street thugs, rather than people who simply want to own a firearm and use it for target shooting and self defense???</span></div></div></div>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610518241019815990.post-53616426535349020742011-10-07T08:42:00.000-04:002011-10-07T08:42:29.358-04:00Crazy New Yorkers...<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/killer_wife_is_bulletproof_jEIaKcA7WA98AsyN6l5XqO">http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/killer_wife_is_bulletproof_jEIaKcA7WA98AsyN6l5XqO</a><br />
<br />
I don't want to step into whether Barbara Sheehan shot and killed her husband out of anger over alleged infidelities, or to end years of abuse.<br />
<br />
However, the legal system abused her by acquitting her of murder, but convicting her of "illegal weapon possession." Welcome to New York folks, where you can use a handgun only if you meet a lot of narrowly defined criteria and bow at the alter of the pistol permit bureaucracy. No exceptions seem to be allowable for exigencies of any sort.<br />
<br />
Damn you all to hell.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02622947422659853749noreply@blogger.com0