Monthly Archives: May 2011

Live blogging from the Boomershoot site

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I’m doing some maintenance at the Boomershoot site. Lots of little things:

  • The oil in the generator needs to be changed (it’s warming up and charging the battery right now all charged!)
  • The O/S in my Wi-Fi access points needs to be updated (one done the other in progress)
  • The yellow jacket trap needed the bait replaced (done)
  • There is still garbage which needs to be hauled away
  • The bowling pin rack was hauled back to the shed (cousin Alan brought it down off of his hill—whoops! I was going to do that two weeks ago and didn’t make it out here)

Need to do some chronograph work and practice for the steel challenge match tomorrow while I’m out here too. And that reminds me that I need to pay a special someone for all the steel targets they brought to me at Boomershoot.

Today We Mark The End of The World…

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…of end-of-the-world cults.  Yes I know– wishful thinking.  End-of-the-world cults are as old as history, and they’ll just keep right on coming and going, no matter how many times they’re proven wrong (much like socialism and jihad).  Eventually of course the world will end.  All Things Must Pass.  Then one of these cults will probably be proven right after all.  That’ll show us.


This should be a course of study in high school – “Introduction to End of The World Cults.”  Students could get involved by forming into groups within the class and starting their own end of the world models and doctrines.  I’m trying not to be too flippant because this is a very serious subject.


Religious and political leaders, or leader wannabes, and most hippies, find that people desperately want to believe in something that makes them extra special.  It is easy to convince people that they are part of a special group.  A group that has super duper important information, and that the rest of us will rue the day if we don’t take heed of it and recognize that group as The One, and so on.  It’s usually all about power.  Raw power and nothing else.  Algore and the Global Cooling, I mean Warming Now/Global Cooling Now/Oh What the Hell; Climate change cult is one of thousands of examples.  Most churches practice some variant of it also, and it always works on someone.  No matter what.  Since people can’t bear the thought that they’ve been duped to such a deep level– that they’ve been so, so very foolish.  They’ll do anything to explain it away somehow, to avoid the profound sense of embarrassment and shame.


That’s when the bullied become the bullies.  The cycle repeats.


I know, I know.  Trust me.  I’ve felt The Spirit too, I know exactly what you cultists are going through.  I was young and impressionable.  I deeply wanted to believe in something that would relieve me of my doubts, confusion, self-loathing or whatever it was.  And then there was that need to “fit in”.  That’s when they get you.  It’s a form of hypnotism, and it works on you because you want it.


It’s never going away, but you don’t have to participate in it.  When you let go of that garbage– that baggage people have used to control you, and live a life guided by principles, none of it can touch you.

Quote of the day—Kieran Healy

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I guess on Sunday when the #Rapture people feel really upset, we can’t console them by saying “Cheer up, it’s not the end of the world”.

Kieran Healy
May 20, 2011
[Via a retweet by Kris R.

On a more serious note—I should have updated my website www.whenprophecyfails.info. It still has a lot of great info on it. But I should have included info about this particular incident a week or two ago. I procrastinate too much.—Joe]

Boomershoot 2011 in time lapse

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Notice the clouds of water vapor from the explosions in this time lapse video of Boomershoot 2011. The winds–they are a changing.

Quote of the day—Sarah Brady

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The licensing debate is not about the right to own a firearm; it’s about responsible gun ownership, about safety, and about law enforcement’s ability to revoke the license of someone who becomes a danger to themselves or others. Additionally, a licensing system will ensure that gunowners understand their own states’ laws, from the regulations governing the carrying of concealed weapons to the responsibility for keeping loaded guns away from children.

Sarah Brady
Brady Campaign
January 28, 2000
STATEMENT OF SARAH BRADY RE: PRESIDENT CLINTON’S LICENSING INITIATIVE
[If a licensing scheme would “ensure that gunowners understand their own states’ laws” and presumably “preventing gun violence” then perhaps the government could license recreational drug (including cigarettes and alcohol) users and “revoke the licenses of someone who becomes a danger to themselves or others”. Or maybe licensing homosexuals, Catholic priests, and/or Muslims. Never mind that the right to keep and bear arms is a specific enumerated right and (probably) cannot be subject to a license while recreational drug use is not a specifically enumerated right.

Once the concept of licensing drug users proves its worth then we can talk about how effective licensing might be when applied to firearms. Don’t forget to do the arithmetic before you bring the topic up with me.—Joe]

The entire world is a battlefield

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This may be reading too much into a few words but it bears watching. From Salon.com, “How many Americans are targeted for assassination?”:



Dozens of Americans have joined terrorist groups and are posing a threat to the United States and its interests abroad, the president’s most senior adviser on counterterrorism and homeland security said Thursday. . . . “There are, in my mind, dozens of U.S. persons who are in different parts of the world, and they are very concerning to us,” said John O. Brennan, deputy White House national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism. . . .


“If a person is a U.S. citizen, and he is on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq trying to attack our troops, he will face the full brunt of the U.S. military response,” Mr. Brennan said. “If an American person or citizen is in a Yemen or in a Pakistan or in Somalia or another place, and they are trying to carry out attacks against U.S. interests, they also will face the full brunt of a U.S. response. And it can take many forms.”


See also Congress Proposes Bill to Allow Worldwide War … Including INSIDE the U.S.


It’s may be important to note that exercise certain, perhaps any, rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights could cause you to be considered a “low level terrorist” and the DOJ, FBI, and JTTF will consider it justification to be watching you.


Via email from former co-worker Chet.

There is no privacy

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I had lunch with someone today that told me they attended a “Privacy Conference” recently. One of the interesting things that came out of it was that the technologist all thought the lawyers would be the ones that would save privacy and the lawyers all thought the technologists would save it.

Other observations included:

  • Kinect has a camera, microphone, a connection to the Internet and a view of the interior of your home.
  • Many people carry a device with GPS, camera, microphone, and a connection to the Internet with them wherever they go.
  • Surveillance cameras are almost free.
  • Someone has demonstrated a system that you can take a picture of a random person on the street and ~40% of the time deliver the person’s SSN within a minute.
  • An 8-core computer processor in quantity 1 can be now be purchased for about $8.00. This has implications.
  • The UK may have millions of cameras and no improvement in their crime rate to show for it but they were trying to watch the cameras with human eyes. My fear is that we may get 100s of millions of cameras with computer eyes (Kinect technology?) and a police state to show for it.

I think I’m depressed again.

My headache was cured this morning

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If you follow my Tweets you will have already gotten a few hints.

  • 11-30 AM May 18th Is insanity contagious? I think I might be infected by contact with someone at work. May I take another sick day now? Please?
  • 11-39 AM May 18th I have a headache now. I almost never get headaches. Is there a pain reliever you can get OTC for reducing pain in the ass people?
  • 11-42 AM May 18th My coworker will be buying a months supply of such medicine too. Maybe we can get a discount on a bulk buy.
  • 11-46 AM May 18th Someday I will blog about this person. Other people need to be warned.
  • 10-19 AM May 19th Woot! I just got a great offer from another company. I can tell my crappy boss goodbye!

I have been told, in a very firm tone, by two different friends that I shouldn’t blog about this person by name. So, at least for now, I will hold off. But lets just say my mood has greatly improved in the last 24 hours and Barb will probably stop telling me I should take anti-depressants.

Former co-worker Chet also left Microsoft because of this guy. This morning, after I told people I was leaving, someone who also has had to deal with him came to me and said, “He is crazy! He has to be insane.” I think it is a case of Peterson Syndrome (a generic case which is probably unrelated to guns). Imagine having to deal with someone like that on a daily basis. Now imagine them writing your performance review. Yeah. I have been having nightmares for months now.

There are some things about working for Microsoft that are very good. There are other things that are very broken. Two more people, who don’t work with my boss, told me today they are looking for an exit for similar reasons to mine. Microsoft has some very serious flaws that are not being addressed by management.

My offer from another company includes a raise larger than all the raises I have gotten in working at MS for five years and a stock grant (vested over three years) that made me light-headed and made Barb squee.

I have another interview on Monday so I haven’t accepted the offer yet and I keep hoping I will get an interview at Barron’s place of work which is a few minutes from my home in Idaho instead of the Seattle area like the others I have been looking at. But the job applications there are moving way to slow for me to wait around much more. I need to get out before I just pull the covers over my head and never get out of bed.

You may notice an uptick in blog post frequency… we’ll see.

Do all socialists have this much money?

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One has to wonder where socialists get all their money and why doesn’t everyone have as much wealth as this guy in all socialists societies? [/sarcasm]

Mr Strauss-Kahn secured his release from Rikers Island prison as it was announced a grand jury had voted to have him prosecuted for the alleged sexual attack of a 32-year-old maid in his hotel room.

In a hearing at New York supreme court, Judge Michael Obus said he would allow the 62-year-old former head of the IMF out of jail despite the fact there was a “serious risk” he would try to flee.

He warned Mr Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested at JFK airport on a flight about to take off for Paris, that the consequences would be serious “if there is the slightest problem with your compliance”.

…

He must move into an apartment in Manhattan rented by his wife, and “will be monitored 24 hours, seven days a week, electronically and by at least one armed guard”, the judge said.

He will pay $1 million (£600,000) upfront, provide a guarantee for a further $5 million (£3 million), and cover the expense of his own security, which was estimated at $200,000 (£120,000) a week and include an armed guard at all times.

Ry, you are a magnificent god!

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Peter Biddle (Twitter feed is here) shares another video of Boomershoot 2011. This one is of the opening fireball.

I think it is Barron whom you hear say, “Ry, you are a magnificent god!”

Quote of the day—Chief Justice Paul De Muniz

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We hold that the Federal Gun Control Act does not preempt the state’s concealed handgun licensing statute and, therefore, the sheriffs must issue (or renew) the requested licenses.

Paul De Muniz
Oregon State Supreme Court Chief Justice
May 19, 2011
Ore. court rules medical pot users can have guns
[What the article doesn’t say is that, as pointed out by Dave Workman, “A permit to carry is merely a document. Nobody ever got shot with a document. And the Oregon Supreme Court’s ruling takes great pains to explain that issuing a permit does not constitute allowing the recipient of that permit to actually possess a firearm in defiance of federal law.”

One step at a time.—Joe]

Logical Contradiction

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NRCC Chairman, Pete Sessions, just sent out a letter.  First sentence;



While House Republicans are working hard to return our country to economic prosperity and strengthen and secure Medicare…


Let me see if can put this into perspective.  While House Republicans are working hard to run our economy for us (because we’re too stupid and/or evil to do it ourselves) and to try, once again, to make socialism viable.  ETS; Or are they working hard to free the economy so it can work, AND trying to make socialism viable?  They don’t say.  That’s about how I read it.

Quote of the day—Circuit Judge Richard C. Wesley

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There is nothing in the record that supports the conclusion that defendants knew or should have known that sales of guns in their home states were having consequences in New York.

…

A particularly troubling aspect of the jurisdictional analysis conducted below is the reliance on what the district judge termed the defendants’ “cumulative parallel conduct” as a basis for establishing personal jurisdiction. According to the district court’s theory, although the “out-of-state activities of a single defendant alone may not suffice to establish jurisdiction,” because of “knowing parallel conduct, the extent of the combined harm may provide a basis for jurisdiction over each one.” 501 F. Supp. 2d at 422. The New York Court of Appeals has never adopted a theory pursuant to which combined or parallel conduct may be relied upon to establish a basis for the exercise of personal jurisdiction over a defendant when jurisdiction does not otherwise exist.

…

The district court determined that an “inflexible application of a traditional jurisdictional analysis that fails to take account of unique practical commercial factors does not effectively insure the fair and orderly administration of the law.” Id. at 419. The court preferred to adopt what it termed a “reality-based pragmatic jurisdictional analysis.” Id. However, the district court was not free to depart from “traditional jurisdictional analysis” in order to hold defendants subject to suit in New York. The “fair and orderly administration of the law” is best achieved by applying the same standards to all litigants and by adherence to well-defined legal principles.

The district court’s jurisdictional analysis undermines the protection afforded to out-of-state defendants by section 302(a)(3)(ii). As both this Court and the New York Court of Appeals have previously explained, this provision “is intended to ensure some link between a defendant and New York State to make it reasonable to require a defendant to come to New York to answer for tortious conduct committed elsewhere.” LaMarca, 95 N.Y.2d at 215 (quoting Ingraham, 90 15 N.Y.2d at 598). The relevant long-arm provision is specifically “designed to . . . preclude the exercise of jurisdiction over nondomiciliaries who might cause direct, foreseeable injury within the State but ‘whose business operations are of a local character.’” Id. (quoting Ingraham, 90 N.Y.2d at 599). Here, it is indisputable that defendants’ businesses are of a local character.

The district court also asserted that “[t]here is no specific dollar threshold at which revenue becomes substantial for purposes of [section] 302(a)(3)(ii).”7 501 F. Supp. 2d at 417. Even if this is so, it was error to excuse the City from making any showing that defendants derived substantial revenue from interstate commerce.

Circuit Judge Richard C. Wesley
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The City of New York, Plaintiff-Appellee, – v – Mickalis Pawn Shop, LLC,
May 4, 2011
[What isn’t, but should be, said is that “the district court” is Federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein. Weinstein has long used tortuous chains of logic that blatantly violate due process, existing law, and previous decisions to arrive at anti-gun conclusions. This is not the first time Weinstein has been overturned on decisions he has made regarding firearms. His rulings have been so biased and clearly wrong they have frequently been overturned.

Mayor Bloomberg, the Brady Campaign and other anti-gun bigots have never had anything but praise for him and take advantage of his bias against gun ownership.

As Sebastian said, Judge Weinstein’s Game is Hopefully Over. He is now 90 years old and it is time for him to retire into the dustbin of history.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Bob Walker

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FreedomChannel.com will be a valuable tool to reach Americans from all political persuasions. The fight against gun violence should not be a partisan issue and we look forward to getting our message out to the public through FreedomChannel.com.

Bob Walker
President of Handgun Control, Inc.
November 4, 1999
HANDGUN CONTROL PARTICIPATES IN LAUNCH OF NEW POLITICAL INTERNET SITE, FREEDOMCHANNEL.COM
[One would think it has to be satire when an organization with a name like “Handgun Control” gives praise to an organization with “freedom” in its name. But FreedomChannel.com was an Orwellian construct. Apparently they really believed that if their slogans are repeated enough people will believe them. It was a slogan taken directly out of the book, WAR IS PEACE, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, and, obviously, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.

Apparently they thought people would fail to recognize Nineteen Eighty-Four was dystopian novel rather than play book to achieve their goals.—Joe]

Critical Pedagogy Hits Home

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There’s been some talk about it lately and it’s been in the news, but it’s also been in your home town school for some time.  Here is a history paper, handed out in my son’s history class, complete with syntax errors, inexplicable asterisks, bad grammar, omitted words, and miss-numbering.  The kids were told to memorize it.  Keep in mind the title of the piece – “U.S. History”  This is all American.  Everything below is what made/makes us tick;



U.S. History
Philosophies — Foreign and Domestic


“What Made/Makes Us Tick”


1. Capitalism – Pure*** vs. Regulated


An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.


OK, right there; no mention of property rights, the acknowledgement and protection of which result in capitalism.  “Corporately owned” IS privately owned, but they must make a distinction.



Pure capitalism over time results in poverty, worker abuse, environmental destruction, a two class social structure, and governmental control by the wealthy.  All economic, political and social norms were control directly ad indirectly by the wealthy.  Even the presentation of religious views were seen through the eyes of the capitalistic values.(2-


Karl Marx would be giddy with pride seeing what our public schools are teaching my kids today.  There’s so much wrong with that one paragraph I don’t know where to begin.  For one thing, “governmental control by the wealthy” defines a corrupt government.  The acknowledgement and protection of property rights, which defines capitalism, does not lead to governmental control by the wealthy.  That’s a contradiction in terms, but you’re not supposed to notice.  Corrupt politicians lead to governmental control by the wealthy, and for that they should be arrested.



Regulated Capitalism – has produced our nation.  Government regulates what industry can do within limits.  Environmental impact (air quality), worker safety, fair pay, fair trade, and business dealings are regulated by law.


The Fascisti would certainly approve of that statement, and they were committed Marxists.  Notice throughout this whole piece that there is no mention of human rights, or of America’s founding principles.  That would blow the whole thing though, wouldn’t it?



2. Expansionism


The belief that the nation must grow to acquire natural resources, new areas of trade, and living space. (Safety Value Theory – Turner Thesis)


3. Manifest Destiny (New Manifest Destiny)***


— Similar to Expansionism.  This was the belief that God had pre-determined (destined) the United States to expand.  It was an outgrowth of the Puritan ethic [God rewards those who work hard and live an exemplary life.]  The term eventually meant that the U.S. would eventually control the land from coast to coast.  This belief system motivated the “Western Movement.”  The acquisition of land and the displacement of Native Americans became justified in part by this belief system.  The Mexican War, the Southwest land, Northwest Territory, and Alaska are also acquired with belief system as the driving force for America to expand.


Nearly every country that ever existed has practiced some version of Manifest Destiny or Expansionism.  The American government did some terrible things to the Indians.  The innuendo I get from this is that there are wrongs remaining to be righted, which is actually being said elsewhere, complete with the “R” word (revolution) in the above linked video, as part of a school curriculum.



4.  Whiteman’s Burden – Anglo Saxonism***  The term is taken from a poem by Rudyard Kipling in which he states is was “the white man’s burden” to colonize the other nations for their benefit.  In practice it was the belief that:


God had chosen the Anglo-Saxon race to colonize the “less fortunate” peoples of the world.  In so doing they were to bring them education, the Christian faith, a Puritan work ethic, capitalism, health care, and the other “benefits” of our culture.


Ah, so America really IS racist!  Crap!



5.  Imperialism***


–,The control of one nation over another nation or territory for the purposes of acquiring natural resources, trade, and/or military advantage.  This is the core of U.S. expansion.  The acquisition of Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines are examples of imperialism.


Notice how they slipped trade in there, like trading with people in another nation amounts to Imperialism.  We bastards!  Those poor victims!



6.  Rugged Individualism


— The belief that individuals are to provide for their own needs without the help of others.  “I can do it myself.”  This was the pioneer spirit and the belief of the nation in the 1800s.  It worked against the average person during the latter part of the Industrial Revolution as corporations controlled the variables of life.  Working harder did not mean greater rewards for the worker.  It meant greater profits for the corporation.


The ideal of self sufficiency worked against the average person, eh?  So you’d be better off relying on others.  Notice too the repeated use of the word “worker”.  “Workers of the World Unite” then, I guess.  There are those evil corporations again, and the use of “profits” as an epithet.



7.  Social Darwinism


— Applying the theory of Darwinism, survival of the fittest, to political and social life.  The strong must survive to benefit the entire nation.  No sympathy for the weak, (poor, workers).  Laws and social customs were for the benefit of the fittest (rich, industrialist, upper crust of society).  When you combine the philosophies of Social Darwinism with imperialism, and Manifest Destiny., the world created was a tough one for the average person.


The Nazis were Social Darwinists, or I would say “Socialist Darwinists”.  Let’s be clear.



8.  Humanitarianism


— the belief that mankind should help others just because they can.  “Social Gospel” of the latter 1800s.


“Just because they can”, mind you.  Not because it’s the right thing to do.  Not because there are rich people who are, you know, actually human.



9.  Liberty/Freedom/Self-determination*


These fundamental beliefs began to take on a new meaning for many of society as the end of the century approached.  The empathy to “occupied countries” overseas and to the oppressed at home gains attention of a wider spectrum of society in the late 1800s.


Again no mention of rights, rights protection, or founding principles.  Instead it’s all up for grabs, depending on prevailing theories.



9. AMERICAN IMPERIALISM


It is easier to define American Imperialism by contrasting it with Imperialism.


Imperialism is centered on Social Darwinism, Manifest Destiny, and White Man’s Burden.


There were never, ever, anywhere, any non-white Imperialists then.  You racist, you.



American Imperialism tempers those beliefs with humanitarianism and the beliefs of self-determination, freedom and liberty.  Our present foreign and domestic policies are motivated by this belief.


There you have it.  We’re an Imperialist nation.  Damn us all to hell.


This history lesson is a self-contradictory and confused jumble of omissions, lies, half truths and truths.  Would Karl Marx strongly disagree with any of it?

Quote of the day—Jim Maas

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The constitutional … right to keep and bear arms, Article I, Section 25 of the Wisconsin Constitution, passed in 1998. It makes bearing arms a right, rather than a privilege, just like the right to free speech.

Just like free speech, we should not expect to have to purchase a permit or jump through bureaucratic hoops to exercise our freedoms. Some who oppose law-abiding fellow citizens from bearing arms would like to pretend that the Constitutional amendment was never passed. They are bringing up the same old arguments they offered back in the ’90s. Those arguments are now irrelevant. Our statutes must now conform to the constitution. That is how the system is supposed to work.

Jim Maas
April 17, 2011
Jim Maas column: Concealed carry is a right
[That is the way it is supposed to work but just like with the Jim Crow laws the bigots make it as difficult as they possibly can for minorities to exercise their rights. We have a lot of work to do to reach true equality.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Josh Moon

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There are too many guns floating around here these days.

…

They’re doing all they can on the back end to get guns off the street, but they’re fighting a losing battle.

It sure would be nice if we did something to help on the front end, when we’re handing these guns out like candy to anyone with a pulse.

I’ve made no secret of my po­sition on guns: The ease with which we distribute them drives me crazy.

I’m sorry, but it shouldn’t be easier to get a gun than it is to get a driver’s license. And it certainly shouldn’t be easier to get unlimited amounts of am­munition than it is to vote.

Josh Moon
May 14, 2011
Just Saying: Proactive measures needed to help curb gun violence
[I could spend a paragraph or three fisking each of those sentences but I think it boils down to a single problem with this guys mindset. There is no “we”. If he could ever understand that then the rest of his errors would fall away like hot ejected brass shell casing.—Joe]

Mother and child of Satan

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Last year there was this guy that blew himself up and was in the hospital for some time but ultimately recovered. The speculation at the time was that he used Tannerite and he was extremely stupid in the application.

Even if the stupid part was correct it turns out that it wasn’t Tannerite. Darwin was unable to cure his stupidity and now the Federal Government is attempting to address the symptoms. He was arrested Monday and the affidavit for his arrest was unsealed yesterday with interesting details. His explosives included Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) which is sometimes known as Mother of Satan because of its high susceptibility to accidental detonation.

Other interesting stuff in the affidavit indicates the world would have been much better off if Darwin had been successful. This guy appears to be someone many would characterize as a child of Satan.

Update: I found the following interesting as well. This is from the list of items to be searched for and seized in the affidavit. Notice that nearly every home has the precursor chemicals to make explosives. This is one of the reasons I say the TSA explosives tests cannot be effective and are a waste of time. Explosives can be easily made from common household materials. If the TSA were to screen for these they would generate so many false positives that the “pat downs” and extensive searches would raise the cost of TSA to even higher levels and create even more public outrage. Since they don’t test for these chemicals explosive devices can be easily made and detonated on board commercial flights at will.

image

Archive photo

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Barb and I have been digitizing and storing old photos with redundant storage on two computers hundreds of miles away from each other. This picture of Barbara from 1982 really struck me:

 0214456-R1-E001Web

Very nice. Pleasant memories.

Quote of the day—Tom Diaz

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We are singular in the world culture in our tolerance of guns.

The United States has become a kind of underdeveloped moral Third World, a place where the rest of the world can indulge its gun lust.

Tom Diaz
Senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center.
May 23, 1999
Florida — Gun Culture Makes The U.S. A Trigger Point For Foreign Tourists With Firearms Fantasies
[This is from the dark days of the late 1990s. There are still troglodytes who think this way and want us to return to the age of clubs, rocks, and primitive knives even though most of the rest of the country is far more enlightened these days. Just don’t forget this is what they think of us and what they will do to our culture if they get the chance.—Joe]