The View From North Central Idaho

Thanks to David for bringing this to our attention. I named this plan Porn for Peace several months ago after Ry and I outlined the basics of it nearly three years ago.

That are lots of other implications for the data supplied in this posting. Think on this for a while:

Up to 70% of files exchanged between Saudi teenagers' mobile phones contain pornography, according to a study in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.

The study quoted in Arab News focussed on the phones of teenagers detained by religious police for harassing girls.

...

The men of Islam are obsessed with sex beyond even the wildest imaginings of the Western male's mind. And the obsession is far from healthy and even further from reality.

We frequently joke about men's preoccupation with sex and female body parts in the West, but our fascination with "T&A" is nothing when you consider that the Muslim world is literally consumed by female sexuality and with their fear of it. It is ironic that both Muslim men and women are under the mistaken impression that Western society is oversexualized compared to them, when in fact, it is practically impossible to be more obsessed with sexual matters than they are in Muslim communities.

It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember.

Eugene McCarthy
[Giuliani and Romney come to mind as having not learned that lesson. And that most politicians have learned that lesson explains why I get a weird sort of frustrated anger after listening to them. They can talk for hours without say anything.--Joe]

Ouch!  It hurts just watching this, especially having myself fired the Safety Harbor 50 Caliber AR that Ry loaned us last summer.  The 70+ year-old who's firing it didn't get the buttstock on his shoulder, so it slid under his armpit from the recoil, causing the optic sight to clock him in the face.  That's a heavy rifle moving back at him at a good clip.  He was OK, after he stumbled to his feet and I was able to get him to reply to questions.  Notice the image blur as the shock wave (usually referred to as "muzzle blast" but in this case I use "shock wave" as a more descriptive term) hits the camera.  Also notice the gravel being hurled back and to the sides from the high-pressure jets coming out of the muzzle break.

Firing the little .50 BMG "carbine" with a proper hold feels about the same as firing a magnum load from a 12 ga. shotgun.  Quite nice, really.  Its all about style.

As I mentioned yesterday he stops by after I post a link to his website:

Domain Name		mindspring.com ? (Commercial)
IP Address		66.47.159.# (EarthLink)
ISP		EarthLink
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  Illinois City  :  Chicago Lat/Long  :  41.8675, -87.6744 (Map) Distance  :  1,478 miles
Language		English (United States) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Firefox 2.0 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.3) Gecko/20070309 Firefox/2.0.0.3
Javascript		version 1.5
Monitor		Resolution  :  1280 x 1024 Color Depth  :  32 bits
Time of Visit		May 30 2007 8:55:50 am
Last Page View		May 30 2007 8:59:45 am
Visit Length		3 minutes 55 seconds
Page Views		3
Referring URL		http://technorati.co...arch/www.gunguys.com
Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffm...I Know That Guy.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffman.org/default.aspx
Out Click
Time Zone		UTC-6:00
Visitor's Time		May 30 2007 10:55:50 am
Visit Number		158,702

Yesterday I quoted Robyn Ringler on her error in thinking the D.C. snipers used a .50 caliber rifle. Today she posted a correction. Although she had been informed of her error in the comments two days before that she didn't correct it then. Yesterday she got additional comments about her error and then this morning she posted her correction.

Today she made another post and another error:

A guy walks into a gun shop to buy a gun. The gun shop’s employee performs a background check. The information from the background check which links the gun to its new owner and its origin (the gun shop) must be destroyed WITHIN 24 HOURS.

...

So, now, a crime is committed with a gun. Any record of where that gun originated has been destroyed. How do we trace it? How do we figure out where it came from? It is impossible to follow the gun’s journey when we destroy the records after ONE DAY.

The NICS check does not, and was never officially intended, to link a gun to it's owner. That is what Form 4473 is for. The 4473 has been the law of the land since GCA68 was passed (1968). The 4473 is required by law to be retained for 20 years. There has not been any repeal of this records keeping requirement as Ms. Ringler believes. She is confused. But that's not surprising, bigots confuse and warp the facts to maintain internal consistency with their world view.

I briefly mentioned in this post about the natural advantages and disadvantage on both sides in our "war" against the anti-gun bigots. As I mentioned then one of our advantages is that we have the facts on our side. Another advantage is that because we use, buy, and sell guns we know them and the laws governing them much better than the other side. Because of this lack of familiarity it's easier for them to confuse and warp the facts. It's also easier for them proselytize their bigotry to other ignorant people.

Ms. Ringler and other bigots have a very difficult time getting their minds around the concepts (thoughts about "small-minded bigots" come to mind here). The definition of a barrel shroud or a folding stock is likely to go right over their heads. But of course that doesn't stop them from want to ban them. When they make errors like this we get to make them look stupid by pointing out their ignorance. In general they aren't really stupid. They are just at a disadvantage because they don't have the extensive contact with the subject matter that we do. That doesn't mean that I think they should be given any slack. If they are honest people, and most of them probably are, as they become more and more aware of the facts they will have a more difficult time spouting their bigoted ideas in a sincere manner.

As Barb only too well knows, I enjoy pointing out the errors of others (I also like for others to point out my mistakes). Ms. Ringler promises to be a source of great fun for me.

I found this collection of You-Tube/Google Boomershoot videos. Then Jason has his collection of videos I have previous linked to.  And he has some great pictures of Boomershoot 2007 as well. I like the following best:

Ry (on the right) and I in front of his fireball creation--"If you are going to do something you might as well overdo it."

Xenia and John seen through the smoke of the unintentional fire created during "cleanup".

I've been thinking about Boomershoot a lot recently. I've been working on the online entry program and am about to open up entries for Boomershoot 2008.

The fifty caliber sniper rifle, for example. What purpose did it have besides killing people? The notorious Washington, D.C. sniper-killers used the fifty caliber sniper rifle to kill their victims.

Robyn Ringler
Let's Ban the Fifty Caliber Sniper Rifle
[The D.C. snipers used an AR-15 type in .223. The .223 cartridge has a bullet that is less than one half the diameter and less than one tenth the mass. Facts are irreleveant to these types. Then there were all the people with .50 caliber guns at Boomershoot this year, they fired hundreds of rounds this year without killing anyone. Were those guns malfunctioning when they were fired without killing anyone?--Joe]

Reading the worst of the nut case anti-freedom, anti-gun bigot websites I came across this:

That kind of sentiment is exactly what we need more of online. We definitely don’t need any more gun guys blogging– they’re full of venom and vitriol, cursing and overcompensating masculinity, and instead of providing insight on the news, they provide rehashes of decades-old NRA lies and propaganda. We definitely don’t need any more gun nuts coming up with (or, more likely, just parroting) NRA catchphrases or repeating nonsense about how guns are the only way you can protect yourself– the fact is that guns don’t protect you at all.

The "gun guy blogging" link is to Say Uncle. I spent quite a bit of time with Uncle at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous last fall. The above characterization of Uncle is completely wrong. Uncle is incredibly soft spoken and full of thoughtful insight. Overcompensating masculinity? Ha! But then bigots don't really care about the facts. Stereotypes are their currency.

The owner of the anti-freedom, anti-gun site visits here (Hi Gonzo!) occasionally too. When I link to the "gunguys.com" site, even with the "rel=nofollow" attribute set, he checks out my posting within a day or two.

The New York Times has become Mad Magazine.

Rush Limbaugh
May 29, 2007
After reading the second paragraph of this opinion piece.

I support the war against the Islamic extremists who insist we must convert to their religion or die:

They are willing to die for their beliefs and I am willing to help them with the dying part until they are willing to leave us alone. But it's tough when the cost of those convictions are brought home:

An explosive device built in Iran (not really an IED) nearly killed our nephew Jason. He lost his right arm, the vision in his right eye, and his face, his buttocks, and his left arm were severely wounded.

Adam Plumondore was a Boomershoot Precision Rifle Clinic Instructor. He was killed by a car bomb in Iraq. His partner at Boomershoot, Walter Gaya, was injured a few months later by an explosive device in Iraq.

A friend of mine was shot in the leg while invading Granada. He never completely recovered from that wound. That and numerous other injuries suffered both in combat and training took him out of the Army and are now a permanent part of his life.

Growing up I just missed the draft for the Vietnam war by a few months. I knew people and relatives that participated in WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam. Even by the time I graduated from high school I can only think of one person I knew who was even wounded in combat--a friend of my Dad that I only met a half dozen times. It was all "just numbers" in the history books and on the news. It wasn't real. Reality is different.

I don't think that teenage and early twenty-something males really have that good of grasp on reality. Certainly their judgement center is insufficiently myelinated. This causes them to take risks they shouldn't and to have a high rates of organ donation compared to the general population. For the survival of our species this is a good thing. Young males are best fit to fight predators whether it be a man-eating tiger or the people trying to finish the job Hitler and his gang were unable to complete. They are better fighters and they are more likely to survive their wounds than women and older men.

For them to not really understand the risks makes it harder for me. I know the job must be done. I know we can't let the predators have their way. Their way would be to go back to the dark ages. Because I know a little more about the risks, the costs, of defending or freedom my inclination is to keep our young men and women off the ground in the Mideast. I think, "Glass over the entire sandbox! Better that that lose another one of our people." But that's my emotions talking. That's not the right thing to do.

It's a tough battle with my emotions. Logically the right thing to do is much different that what my emotions are fighting for. It's particularily difficult for me right now. Not just because it's Memorial Day but because my daughter's boyfriend, John, is shipping out next month.

John just turned 18. Good luck John. Please come back in one piece. Thank you, and all the others, for your service.

See also Xenia's Live Journal post.

Interesting. Tish Durkin, in essence, turned my Just One Question around. She took nearly 2000 words to say it but here is the essence:

In other words, the burden would not be on the gun control lobby to prove that there absolutely, positively would be fewer violent deaths if it were harder to get guns.

She overlooks, perhaps too conveniently, that the data already exists. She only need go look for it rather than imagine she knows the answer. But maybe she doesn't want to know the answer. She admits she is very hard core anti-gun but she is far from stupid.

I updated the Boomershoot 2008 web page today. I also added a page outlining some of the preparations already accomplished.

I have increased the number of shooting positions to 76 total.

The new online entry website is currently under test. If you would like to help test it let me know and I'll send you the URL.

The date for Boomershoot 2008 has been set--April 27^th. We will be accepting entries soon--probably by the end of the week. I already gave away two positions to King County Friends of the NRA. Staff and Boomershoot 2007 entrants will have first chance when it opens up. When I give the general announcement expect it to fill up within a month with the best positions filled within a couple weeks. If you think you might want to attend sign up soon then get a refund if you can't make it.

Not because they committed criminal acts but simply because the lab didn't have enough work for them

Nearly 60 employees at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have left their jobs in recent months mainly because of the "ebb and flow" of federal funding.

About 40 of the employees received involuntary layoff notices, said Greg Koller, spokesman for the lab run by Battelle for the Department of Energy.

I haven't checked with my sources but almost for certain it didn't include the people that should be facing felony charges. That will have to come later after I do some more work on the problem.

This has exposed the abusive, arbitrary and autocratic nature of Chavez's Government, a government that fears free thought, that fears opinion and fears criticism.

Marcel Granier
Chief of RCTV, the country's oldest broadcaster
May 28, 2007
Venezuelan TV channel shut down
[Chavez is just being true to his socialist ideals. Socialism, The Road to Serfdom.--Joe]

Since my post on my colonoscopy last week was so popular (over 100 referrals in the last 16 hours) I thought I might bump the readership numbers still more by reposting something from UseNet from nearly 17 years ago. The details of my vasectomy:

From joe@proto.COM Wed Aug 15 11:59:07 1990
Path: proto!joe
From: joe@proto.COM (Joe Huffman)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Vasectomy
Summary: I am pleased with the results.
Message-ID: <1392@proto.COM>
Date: 15 Aug 90 18:59:07 GMT
References: <SCOTTP.90Aug14093250@bwdlh461.bnr.ca>
Distribution: misc
Organization: Prototronics; Sandpoint, Idaho
Lines: 110

In article <SCOTTP.90Aug14093250@bwdlh461.bnr.ca>, scottp@bwdlh461.bnr.ca
(Scott Pace) writes:
> I would like to hear from anyone out there who has experienced a
> vasectomy (or knows someone who has).

What do you want to know?  As a means of birth control it has been successful.
I got mine about 2 years ago and I haven't got anybody pregnant yet.

The operation was relatively painless.  The doctor and I talked about
computer programming most of the time during the surgery.  I had some
slight internal bleeding in the scrotum area that left a bruise appearing
discoloration for about a week and a half.  This is normal.  The doctor
told me to take some pain pills before the novacaine wore off, go home put
a ice pack under my shorts and go to bed for the afternoon.
I got bored in bed and keep waiting for the pain to kick in after the
novacaine wore off but it NEVER did ache or hurt.  I finally got up and
went to work on my computer in the other room.  No orgasms allowed for
one week after the surgery (one of the toughest parts of the whole thing). 
No heavy physical activity allowed either.  It was a bit tender for a week
or two but no big deal as long as the kids didn't jump on me.  A month after
the surgery it was nearly impossible to see the incision marks.  In 2 months
it was impossible.  I had to use other methods of birth control until I got a
0 sperm count.  That normally takes about 3 months.  My first count (at 3
months post surgery) was 2 dead ones.  A month later it came back 0.  So 4
months past before other methods were deemed unnecessary.

-----
>>>DETAILED<<< DESCRIPTION OF PROCEDURE FOLLOWS
-----

The doctor had a pre-surgery consultation and advised me of all the risks.
The ones I remember were:
1) About 1 out of 200 fail and have to be redone.
2) Some number (I forget how many) develop a nodule at the point of
blockage.  This may get as large as 3/4 of an inch in diameter.  Usually it
is painless but sometimes it must be removed with surgery.  I think I have a
very small occurance of that on my right side.
3) It should be considered permanent.  Reversal rate is about 80% but it is
much more involved, more costly, and of course less successful.

This was our GP and I asked how many he had performed, he told me about
300.  I asked about complications that he had observed.  He told me that he
had one patient that had to be redone, he had done nothing different in that
case that he was aware of.  One patient was riding his motercycle about
three days later and ending up pushing it some distance when the engine
failed and he was bedridden for a couple days afterwards.  With one
procedure the guy was more nervous than most but made it through one side
without freaking out.  The doctor put in the stich on that side and said,
"Now we'll do the OTHER side."  At which point the patient did 'freak' for
a while. 

He instructed me to shave the front of my scrotum the morning of the
surgery.  The surgery was to be at about 10:00 AM.  I went in a bit early
and they started early due to a previous patient canceling.   The nurse
(Viki, beautiful woman, but that's irrelevent, or is it?) had me take off my
pants and lay down.  She draped my stomach -> thigh area with sterile
sheets with an opening for my scrotum and penis.  She complemented me on
the shaving I had done and said she wouldn't have to do any more.  She then
scrubbed the front of my scrotum for (a timed) five minutes.  We had a nice
chat about how it had worked out for her and her husband (she was very
pleased and indicated he hadn't had any problems with it).  She draped
that area and got the doctor.  He put on latex gloves and manipulated the
vas deferens to the front of the scrotum (it is normally near the rear).
He then used a clamp to hold it place near the surface while he got the
syringe in his hand.  He warned that this would hurt for a little bit.  He
poked the needle upwards skewering the vas deference lengthwise, this HURT
until he started injecting the material.  He then pulled the needle out of
the vas deferens, but not the scrotum, and repeated in the downward
direction.  He then made an incision about 3/8 inch long vertically above
the vas deferens between the jaws of the clamp where he had made the
injection.  He cauterized a few blood vessels that were bleeding and
pulled the vas deferens out of the scrotum so that about a 1 inch section
was exposed.  I could feel some tugging on my testicles but it was not
painful.  He 'stripped' the sheath that contains blood vessels from
around the vas deferens being careful keep damage to a minimum.  When about
3/4 inches of the vas deferens was exposed he tied it off in two places
about 1/2 inch apart.  He then used a scaphel to cut a section about 1/4
inch long from between the two places that were tied off.  This section
was set aside to be set to a lab for "identification".  I asked if he had
ever had a lab report indicate he had made a mistake and he said, "No"
(then why do it?  I didn't ask, but I suspect it is insurance against
lawsuits).  He then cauterized the two ends of the vas deferens.  This was
to seal the ends (in addition to being tied off).  He then put the severed
vas back in the scrotum and put in a single stitch.

Repeat for the other side.

Through all the surgery Viki would come in and ask how things were going
and chatted with us a bit.  The doctor had a mother cat that had kittens and
Viki had picked up one of the kittens a couple weeks earlier...

They gave me some pain pills (which I only used one doseage of), some gauze,
and instructions on how to care for the incision site.  No big deal, I was
to keep it dry for 24 hours, and change the dressing if it became blood
soaked.  I had some minor external bleeding for about 1 1/2 days and had to
keep the gauze pads in place to avoid bleeding on my underwear.

From the time I walked in until I walked out it took about an hour and 45
minutes.  Actual surgery was about 50 minutes or so.

I think it was about 4 days later I went in and had the stitches removed.

Anything I left out?

--
--
netcom!proto!joe
joe@proto.com

When everyone in politics jumps on a bandwagon like ethanol, I start to wonder if there's something wrong with it. And there is. Except for that fact that ethanol comes from corn, nothing you're told about it is true.

John Stossel
May 23, 2007
The Many Myths of Ethanol
[Remember when I wrote about ethanol a while back? My brother Doug did some quickie "back of the envelope" type number crunching and came to the same conclusions Stossel writes about.--Joe]

All the early reports on the nut case known as Jason Hamilton that killed a bunch of people in Moscow last weekend said he shot his wife Crystal first. An email from Mike informs me that Crystal was his ex-wife:

The couple filed for divorce on Aug. 3, 2004, citing irreconcilable differences. Hamilton and Jones said in court documents they had no children. The couple had been separated since March 2004 and listed separate home addresses in Moscow.

There was no dispute over the division of assets or debts. The divorce was granted the same day it was filed, records show.

It looks to me as if she should have read How to be Invisible and then disappeared after the divorce.

There is a phrase I have heard from people in the news business: "If it bleeds it leads." The traffic on this site over the last week illustrates why:

Typically I get about 200 visits a day with the weekends being a little bit lighter. On Sunday (and here) and Monday (and here) Lyle and I reported about the nut case that shot up the Latah County Dispatch center and killed three people before belatedly removing himself from the gene pool.

Yes, there is media bias about gun control but part of that tendency is fed because of readership/money. If I had reported the nut case had shot at the dispatch center, the police showed up and arrested him without incident there probably wouldn't have been a blip. If it had been a private citizen that had run him over with a car while he was reloading it would have been only a minor blip. But three innocent people were killed and two others were wounded so there was almost six times the normal traffic.

In this "war" we are fighting against the anti-gun bigots there are natural advantages and disadvantages for both sides. The bigots have the advantage of better media coverage for their viewpoint and much higher emotional content. We have the advantages of the facts, the numbers of dedicated activists, and our social networks. There are other advantages too, but that is a topic for another post.

I believe that a persons moral compass can be determined by how he references free men the right to defend themselves. The Second Amendment is so obvious to me it's insane that there's an argument.

Ted Nugent
From a video found at Say Uncle
[The rest of video is a "must watch". Not as quotable, but great stuff.--Joe]

Yesterday I took off work early to get a guided tour of a place I've never been before. Actually a place no one has visited before. I'd been putting it off for a while now. I hadn't had a physical for about three years now. The last time I did the doctor said that when you turn 50 it's recommended you know. <great> No physicals for me for a while since I didn't want to be reminded. I turned 51 several months ago and had procrastinated as long as I could.

Tuesday night I had my last meal with solid food. No solids until after the procedure. Wednesday I had a few six ounce cans of apple and grape juice, and a can of Cherry Coke for my sustenance. I noon I took four little pills. About six that evening they were starting to work their magic and it was time for me to go home and spend some quality time with the porcelain goddess. I had four liters of some sort of stuff to drink that would clean me out from end to end. It did. It continued to clean me all night and I didn't get much sleep.

Yesterday morning I had nothing but water for input. At noon I stopped the water. About 13:30 Barb and I drove to the to the medical center. I was required to bring someone with me to drive and receive my care instructions afterward. <great> They were going to mess with my mind as well as my alimentary canal. Barb was joking with me about it. I tried to threaten her about "When it's your turn" but she knew she would "get it" even if she was easy on me and didn't let up. <heavy sigh> Yeah, she was right. She knows me too well after 33 years together.

I filled out the paperwork, took off my clothes and put on the hospital gown that opens, full length, down the back. They put me on a stretcher, put an I.V. in my arm and wheeled me in to a room with a T.V. monitor and some other instruments. I knew what was going to be on the T.V. monitor. It was going to be me. All me and nothing but me. The nurses hooked me up to the other instruments. Oxygen saturation: 100%. Blood pressure: 100 over 60. Pulse: 61 to 64. All very good. That was before the doctor showed up.

The doctor showed up introduced herself and a student who would just be watching. An audience--the two nurses, a student, and the doctor. The doctor started to give me the meds that would mess with my mind. She said, "This is very fast acting so you will start to feel it right away. I presume you want to not feel..." I cut her off before she pushed the plunger on the syringe. "Actually", I said, "I would rather you go light on that stuff." "Would you like to try it without meds?" she asked? "Okay", I agreed. I think the audience all started smiling. Something different I guess. I was going to be their entertainment for the day. I couldn't see the doctor. She was behind me--of course.

One of the nurses announced she used to work in OB/GYN and that I needed to focus on something and take some deep breaths. "Relax", she told me, "And keep your muscles soft. This is going to be a lot like having a baby." The doctor quipped that I wasn't going to be doing any pushing though. At my suggestion they agreed there wouldn't be an episoitomy either.

It wasn't bad a first. At the turns the pressure increased. At the third turn I asked to doctor to stop for a moment. She offered the meds and I said I just wanted to relax a bit. It's tough to keep your stomach muscles relaxed when there is a five foot long snake writhing around in your large intestine. Now I wonder what my blood pressure and pulse were. At the time I didn't really think about it.

After a few seconds with my breathing coach praising me and putting her hand on my stomach to help focus on the relaxing of the muscles I told the doctor okay and she continued pushing the one eyed snake until it's head reached the junction with my small intestine, my cecum, and appendix.

The trip out was much easier. And that was when we got to really see things. But they pumped me full of air, inflating things so the snake could get a better view of things. That air pressure caused some discomfort but not too bad. Especially compared to the pushing around those corners. I focused on the monitor and the doctor explained all the different things we were looking at. The student, with a great deal of glee said, "It's rare we get to give guided tours." <wonderful. She thinks of me as a tourist in my own bowel where she gives tours.>

After it was done they all praised me. "Wow. That's not something you see every day--no meds." The student asked the doctor if I get a two for one deal next time. The doctor said they should have some gold stars to hand out for people like me. I was just glad to have the alien out of my belly.

Everything was normal. The doctor told me I didn't have to do that again for seven years. And the question she wanted answered is if I was going to do it without meds next time. I said I didn't know. I liked being able to see what was going on but there was a lot of discomfort.

They gave me pictures of the various places we visited. Sort of like those pictures you get at tourist attractions except these were much, much, more expensive. I'd post them but I don't think the pictures were taken from my most flattering angle.

Our data do not show whether guns at college confer a net benefit, impose a net cost, or have an indifferent effect on college communities or on individual gun owners.

Matthew Miller, MD, ScD
David Hemenway, PhD
Henry Wechsler, PhD
Guns and Gun Threats at College
Journal of American College Health, Vol. 51, No. 2
[When you read the Brady Campaign Against Gun Ownership web page on allowing teachers and students to exercise their inalienable rights keep the above quote in mind. Brady claims this paper supports their insistence it's insane to recognize constitutionally guaranteed freedoms on college campuses.--Joe]

Mike has researched the genealogy of Jason Hamilton. Hamilton is the guy that shot up Moscow Idaho last weekend before terminating his branch of the family tree with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Replace my real light bulbs with fluorescents, in sickly yellow or morgue blue, and I’ll have to burn something else for color. Whale oil, maybe.

Tom Scocca
May 22, 2007
Fluorescent Fanatics Turn Me Off

But this is the reality of the idea that firearms in “good” hands can somehow protect us from firearms in “bad” hands. They can’t, and even if they help in one lucky situation, the balance of all the pain and suffering they make possible in every other just is not worth it.

Guy Guys
May 23, 2007
Referring to the fact that Peter Husmann was wounded while attempting to stop the shooting in Moscow last weekend.
Idaho Gunman Had Mental Illness History, CCW Owner Shot at Scene
[Apparently, according to this nut case, even police shouldn't have guns. He is facing the problem that if you believe guns in the hands of the police can be used for good then you will have to admit that guns in the hands of private citizens must, at least sometimes, be a good thing also. He solves this dilemma by claiming guns are so seldom used for good that they shouldn't even be in the hands of the police.--Joe]

Via Ry we find the Spokemans Review tells us all we need to know about the Moscow shooter. The following is just a sample:

Jason Kenneth Hamilton, the man responsible for the deadly shooting spree in Moscow, Idaho, was a card-carrying Aryan Nations member...

...

Hamilton had an extensive criminal history in Idaho, Arizona, California and Oklahoma, including arrests for violent crimes, domestic battery and drugs, according to court records obtained Tuesday by The Spokesman-Review.

...

He was arrested in September 2005 for attempted strangulation of his on-again, off-again girlfriend. A jury convicted Hamilton of a reduced charge of misdemeanor domestic battery in June 2006.

As he was awaiting trial, he was arrested for allegedly grabbing another woman by the hands and throwing her to the floor, injuring her. The case was dismissed.

Prior to moving to Latah County, Hamilton was charged with felony aggravated assault in 1992 in Lake Havasu, Ariz., and placed on probation. He was charged a few months later with possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license; both charges were dismissed.

Hamilton was arrested in 1995 by the Tulsa, Okla., city police on a cruelty to animals charge that was reduced to malicious injury. He was sentenced to a year in jail, but the sentence was suspended.

He needed to be locked up a long time ago. But you never know for certain until it's too late.

See also Ry's report on the conversation we had today at lunch about the police response.

It is not a help. In fact, it's a hindrance and it greatly places people in danger. The police are liable to shoot someone with a gun.

Dan Weaver
Moscow Police Chief
May 21, 2007
UI senior tried to help but became victim
Referring to Peter Husmann who grabbed his pistol and went to help stop the person shooting up the Latah County Courthouse.
[I'm in total agreement with Weaver. In addition the evacuation and care of Husmann consumed resources that could perhaps have been better allocated to other tasks had Husmann not been collecting bullet wounds. If you are there when the shooting breaks out and can stop the shooter then by all means do so. But you don't leave a safe area and seek out the shooter. There may be some exceptions such as when the police will not be arriving for many minutes or perhaps hours and your loved ones are in danger but Husmann's actions were clearly wrong. This event took place just outside the Sheriff's office and maybe three blocks from the Moscow Police Station. In this case the police response time could be expected to be within one or two minutes and perhaps even in seconds. A person out of uniform with a gun in hand in these circumstances when the police arrive have special names--they are call a "Target" or "Bullet Magnet". I understand Husmann's motivation. I am glad there are people willing to put themselves in danger to help others. But this wasn't the time or the place.--Joe]

It turns out that the Moscow shooter had multiple issues.  According to the police chief, the guy had been convicted of domestic violence, had tried suicide earlier and failed, had been involuntarily committed to a mental facility.  In the past he had told people he was going to off himself and take others with him.

Saturday night he went to a local bar and had some drinks, then went and killed his ex, then attacked the courthouse complex.

Side note:  Though several major news sources said there was an SKS "assault rifle" involved, spoke of ten-round clips, etc., and repeatedly showed a photo of an SKS, there was in fact no SKS.  There was an AK and an M1A used-- a big difference to people who know guns, but of no real significance otherwise.  The lesson here is that rumors can spread like wildfire and be totally wrong.

There is the issue of urban response and combat tactics, which leave me curious.  The guy apparently was shooting at anything that moved.  He was on a hilltop surrounded by mostly residential streets and a high school, but also surrounded on two sides by solid buildings.  What do you do?  That's my question, and I don't have a good answer, mainly because I have no exact details and maybe never will have them.  IF (if) there is guy in a parking lot firing shots at everything around him (was he maneuvering? was he behind cover?  we don't know) he might be a fairly easy target for someone intent on stopping him.  Certainly a SWAT team arriving hours later was in this case of no use.

These are my thoughts and questions.  It is a given that the occasional, random douche-bag will go off like this.  What are the best ways to handle it?

Via Dale and the Lewiston Morning Tribune we have more information about the suspect in the shooting over the weekend:

Crime scene investigators began searching the suspect's brown, single-story house at 1020 Juliene Way. Neighbors gawked at the FBI suburbans and a Kootenai County crime scene trailer parked out front. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted with the search.

Juliene Way is in a rather poor, isolated, and unkempt part of town. While in high school our daughter Kim had a friend just a block or so further east she frequently spent the night with. The friends father was in jail and her mother, in her late 30's, was living with a 19 or 20 year old boyfriend. Then the boyfriend committed suicide and things got so messed up that Kim didn't visit much anymore. What I'm trying to say is that some of the people in this area of town have more than their share of problems.

I find it very interesting that the FBI and ATF are involved. Some Federal law(s) must have been broken. The first thing that comes to mind is that perhaps the SKS rifle had been converted to full auto. That would explain the reports of "automatic rifle" in some of the early news reports and what the assistant Police Chief said at the news conference yesterday. It's a little odd that Kootenai County would be involved too. Kootenai County is 90 miles north of Moscow.

Something that bugged me on the drive back to the Seattle area and as I was trying to go to sleep last night was that part of the Federal Building and Post Office were taped off by the police:

The picture above is looking north at the Post Office. The one below is looking south at the taped off area with the Post Office just out of the picture to the right. 5th and Jefferson is the intersection where the barricade is in the middle of the street. Use the two police cars parked there on 5th street for reference between the two pictures.

The Post Office/Federal Building is two blocks west of the dispatch center that was shot up. It's out of sight, down a hill, and on the opposite side of the building from the window and door that were shot up. But looking at maps and where the police officer was killed it looks like bullets intended for him could have continued down the hill and street and connected with the Federal Building. I suppose this could also be reason enough for the Feds to get involved.

The next news conference is in 90 minutes. We'll all learn more then.

If a gun bill will pass because of the politics of a situation, you must see to it that its burdens are imposed upon a man because of a criminal background and not because he is an ordinary citizen and perhaps poor.

Gen. James H. Doolittle

From the air we have these pictures. At the center bottom is the Latah County court house, sheriff's office and dispatch center. The at the junction of the white roofed north-south building with the darked roofed east-west building is the dispatch center where the first shots occurred. If we could stand in the parking lot you could see through the glass in the door through a glass window into the dispatch center itself. There were three people in the dispatch center when the bullets came through the glass. Two women, one a trainee, and a man. They called for help and were escorted to the basement where the jail is.

At the press conference they reported the dispatch center was messed up pretty good. There is broken glass everywhere, bullet holes in the wall, and some equipment was broken, etc. They have an alternate dispatch center at the drivers license office at a shopping mall at the east end of town. They opened it up and are "back in business".

It was at this Sheriff's office that I got my Idaho concealed carry permit. I taught a NRA Personal Protection firearms class in a room at the north east end of the courthouse, just across the street from the high school.

The Moscow police officer that was killed came to investigate and was shot some place outside. The second officer shot was a Latah County Sheriff's officer who was attempting to come to first police officer's aid.

Just north of the court house is another white roofed building. This is the high school Xenia attends. The shooter entered the building just to the east of the high school which is the First Presbyterian Church and killed the caretaker.

Police attempted to negotiate with the shooter but to the best of my knowledge never got a response from him. The last shot heard was about 1:00 AM this morning. This was probably a self inflicted gunshot to the head.

When I arrived about 7:30 this morning the police were still taping off the area:

I walked their perimeter as did numerous news people:

There were lots and lots of police present. Officers from Lewiston, Whitman County (just to the west from Washington State), and Washington State University Police officers came. Idaho State Patrol from Coeur d'Alene to Twin Falls (by airplane from hundreds of miles away) were there as well. The ISP will be doing the investigation since both city and county police officers were victims.

The Sheriff's deputies below were well armed. AR-15's or maybe M-16's. I did not see any unloaded guns or unsafe gun handling. All appeared to have iron sights.

The picture above and the one below were taken facing north at the intersection of sixth and Adams at the south west corner of the Latah County Courthouse, Sheriff's office, and jail. In the picture below you can see the radio tower for the dispatch center. One block further north is the Moscow High School.

The 9:00 AM press conference was at the Moscow City Court House at 3rd and Washington. It was well populated with news crews:

(Photo by Xenia)

Xenia and I took lunch to Barb at the hospital. While waiting for her to meet us across the street at Therapy Central I took a picture of someone lowering the flag outside the hospital to half-mast:

Update: Complete video of the press conference Xenia and I attended is here. It includes my question about the SKS rifle being an automatic.

Some of the main stream media coverage is here:

• 3 Wounded in Idaho Shooting, Police Say
• Two killed, three wounded, in Idaho shooting
• Officer dies after Idaho shootings
• Hundreds more

Xenia and I got back from the press conference a few minutes ago.

Two police officers were shot. The first one shot took multiple hits at about 11:31 PM last night. He wasn't able to be evacuated until 12:05. He was dead on arrival. The second officer was shot a few minutes later and was taken to Gritman hospital (where Barb works) his condition is "serious". A private citizen was shot in the same time frame as he came out of his house and approached the area to "try and help". He has been in surgery for hours and his condition is satisfactory.

The police did not fire any shots. None of the police officers could determine the exact source of the gunfire. The shooter is believed to have started shooting while on the street then moved to the church nearby where additional shots were fired. At about 1:00 AM this morning the last shot was fired. About 5:45 AM three police entry teams went into the church while a diversion was taking place at the opposite end of the building. They found two people dead inside. One of them had a rifle next to him and is believed to be the shooter.

David Duke, assistant Police Chief, reported that a "SKS type rifle" was found. Earlier he had said the rifle was an "automatic" so I asked, "You said the rifle was an SKS but the SKS is not normally fully automatic. Are you sure it was a fully automatic rifle?" He only clarified to say, "It was an SKS type rifle. The exact rifle has not been determined." He also said that four empty magazines were found. He did not know the capacity of the magazines or the type of ammo used.

Barb came home a few minutes ago to change her clothes after a patient vomited on her (unrelated to the shooting). She reports police officers are outside a patient room at the hospital.

Xenia wanted to go to the press conference. One of her best friends, Jessa, is the daughter of the Paster of the Church where final shots were fired. Jessa wasn't answering her cell phone and calls to the house went unanswered. Xenia reports on her Live Journal here. At the press conference we learned, indirectly, that Jessa's father is OK.

More later after I take a shower and get some breakfast.

Update: The best coverage I have seen so far is from the Daily News (you need an account to read the article but Dale has a copy up) and KXLY. KXLY has officer Newbill's time of death wrong. He was probably dead at the scene and certainly was dead on arrival at the hospital.

You're alive!

Ry Jones
7:16 AM May 20, 2007
[I was in bed. A call came in from Ry and those were the first words he said. He then told me what he knew about the shooting in Moscow were I live. I went to investigate. I took lots of pictures and had a minor confrontation with the police. Xenia and I just now got back from the Press Conference. More blog posts and pictures to follow.--Joe]

Inside sources claim the gun control community (Sarah Brady, et al) are urging D.C. Mayor Fenty to stay away from the Supreme Court and just try to rewrite the D.C. ban to allow very restrictive handgun licensing a la New York City.

Joe Waldron
May 18, 2007
GOAL Post 2007-Final Legislative Update from Olympia
[Exactly two months ago I said they should do this--If they were smart.--Joe]

One of the marvels of the United States has always been Her "Melting Pot" status, wherein people from all walks of life, from all around the world have come together to produce the most successful society in human history.

That's why it bugs me when I hear people who should know better discussing the political situation in Iraq, for example.  We hear about the various and disparate groups in that country having trouble coming to an acceptable "power sharing" agreement.  What does that mean-- power sharing?  That's something that might be arranged between one king or one dictator and another, or between rival gangsters, but in a free society?

No, Grasshopper!  In a free society all individuals have the same rights, so the term "power sharing" has no meaning.  That one race, religion or other demographic might outnumber another in a certain region is, rightly, of no consequence for the simple fact that they haven't the political power to trample on the rights of the minority.  If that ideal is not the foundation of their Constitution, then the Constitution needs a serious rewrite.

I am reminded of a quote from Ayn Rand (thanks to "The Smallest Minority" web site):  "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities."

Its time more of the freedom-hungry people in Iraq understand and embrace this simple concept if they are to have any hope of realizing their dream.  It would be nice if more Americans understood it too.

I think that it is very unlikely that five justices on the Supreme Court are going to say that the Second Amendment means nothing. That’s what they would have to say to uphold the total ban on handguns that exists in Washington D.C.

It is also especially unlikely during the heat of the 2008 election—and that is when it is going to happen—because it would be a rallying cry for the whole pro-gun committee. Just like an abortion decision that overturned Roe v. Wade would animate the pro-choice folks. That kind of political turmoil is something the court is sensitive to.

Dr. Robert Levy
April 19, 2007
Interview: The Way of the Gun
Mother Jones
[Mother Jones is typically a left wing news magazine. Levy is the lawyer is driving the Second Amendment challenge to D.C.’s ban on guns. Also known as the Parker case. I think it should have been "community" rather than "committee" but still--Levy has his act together.--Joe]

Big Brother gets to watch you in return for the false promise of increased security. From our worlds airports:

Faces are blurred, but not chests or crotches. Snoerwang said that was necessary because otherwise "women could just hide things by stuffing them in their bras."

...

Snoerwang said the images generated by the machine were not like photographs.

"They're kind of futuristic. There's nothing sexy about it," she said.

What does "nothing sexy" have to do with making it acceptable? And to who? There are people that find animals and fecal material sexy. Want to bet that there won't be a culture of some sort of deviants built around these photographs? And there will be names attached to the photos as well. Names are checked on your ID just before you go into the machines. People watching the images will snap pictures with their cell-phones or other miniature image capturing devices and associate the picture with the name from their friend checking the ID.

It will do nothing to prevent determined people from getting weapons on board. It only will catch those that are careless. In the mean time airport security costs billions. The airplane security game cannot be won with the current assumptions. It's time we considered the alternatives.

Before bringing my blog back online I did some performance testing while it was hosted on my own machine. This included tests with all the links, sitemeter, etc. visible. Most of the testing was done early (as in midnight until 3:00 AM) on Wednesday morning. Can you tell from my Sitemeter graphic?

And hey! Nuclear Winter will stop Global Warming! It's a two-fer!

Kevin Baker
May 14, 2007 2:16 PM
[From the comments to the post To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. Which, by the way, is an excellent post. I kept thinking that someday I would write down my thoughts as expressed by Kevin in this post. But it would have been a far more feeble effort than Kevin's well researched masterpiece.--Joe]

No hair transplants for me. I would consider regrowing it though.

There is a demand for change. Never have the risks of inertia been so great for France as they are now in this world in flux where everyone across the world is trying to change quicker than the others, where any delay can be fatal.

Nicolas Sarkozy
May 16, 2007
Sarkozy Gets Off to a Fast Start as President of France
[He also said France needs to get back to work. Sounds good to me.  And from the same article:

Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which claims links with Al Qaeda, threatened in an Internet posting on Tuesday that it would wage “a bloody jihadist campaign” in France in the coming days in reaction to the election of the “Zionist crusader,” Mr. Sarkozy.

Ditto what Tamara said.--Joe]

The short story is here. Despite some coincidences I do not believe it had anything to do with PNNL/Battelle. Here is the slightly longer story I told my web hosting company:

I believe I have the answer as to why there was high CPU usage. The blogging software I'm using (dasBlog) has some very inefficient code for dealing with what it calls "Comment Views". When viewing a single post without the comments, for the same CPU usage, the number of views is over 100 times faster than when viewing with the comments.

I did some code and configuration tuning and was able to improve the performance by a factor of 2 to 3 depending on how I was testing it. There are still lots of room for improvement and I decided to just turn off the comments until the performance is more comparable to the performance without the comments. This eliminates the CPU intensive view type entirely.

This CPU expensive view mode probably normally isn't a problem except with the robots come visiting. They view the posts in all their view modes.

Would you please enable my site again?

Thank you.

I was up until 4:30 this morning getting it ready to go back online in crippled form (comments are disabled). I still have work to do to get comment views more efficient and then I'll turn the comments back on.

I need to get to work now but I'll update the story here by tonight sometime. I'll fill in the Quote of the day posts tonight sometime too.

The guy's as popular in France's Muslim ghettos as a bag of pork rinds, which rates another thumbs up in my book. If non-assimilating misogynist welfare leeches hate him, he can't be all bad.

Tamara K.
May 9, 2007
My reaction to the Frog reaction to the Sarkozy win...
[Sarkozy has a big job ahead of him. But his election gives me hope for a world where the Islamic extremist demands for world domination are thwarted.--Joe]

An unarmed person is a slave, or is subject to becoming a slave at any time.

Huey Newton
[See also Negros With Guns and blog postings one and two. Of course Newton want to implement the slavery of communism in this country but that's a distraction from the truth of his statement above.--Joe]

We are at the point in time and terror where nothing short of a strong uniform policy of domestic disarmament will alleviate the danger which is crystal clear and perilously present.  Let us take the guns away from the people.  Exemptions should be limited to the military, the police, and those licensed for good and sufficient reasons.

Patrick V. Murphy
Former NYC Police Commissioner
HCI spokesman
[HCI, Handgun Control Inc, has become the Brady Campaign but the sentiment remains the same. Don't let them tell you they respect the 2^nd Amendment as a right for the people to keep and bear arms. If you have to be licensed, ask the government for permission, it's not a right. It's a privilege.--Joe]

Unquestionably, there is progress.  The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages.

H. L. Mencken
[This is no exaggeration. I'm still smarting from the checks we wrote out for taxes on April 15th.--Joe]

France has neither winter, summer, nor morals - apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.

Mark Twain
[French jokes apparently go back a long time. Probably since there was a France. I had said no more French jokes for a year. But that was before I found out the pilot wasn't French.--Joe]

The PNNL/Battelle lawyers must be desperate, have dirty minds, or else are just fishing around for the pleasure of more billing hours. Since Battelle isn't paying the bill (U.S. taxpayers probably are) what do Battelle executives care?

Interrogatory 4: Do you operate a website that is a bedroom cam website or similar type website? If the answer is affirmative, please describe in detail the contents of the website whether a person must pay to view the website and the approximate number of people per year that view the website.

The answer is no. Never have. Almost for certain never will.

What they may be fishing for is that while I lived in Richland I had a cam in my room which showed the table where I used my computer and part of the bed. Primarily this was for my wife and kids to check to see if I was awake before they called me at odd hours of the day or night.

I also used it for security as I had a gun safe and sometimes left the company laptop there and wanted to be able to see if my roommates (or anyone else) ever came into my room when I wasn't there. I know the PNNL "investigators" repeatedly viewed that cam.

Other questions include the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all marital counselors Barb and I have ever visited.

On the other side of things it's also clearly apparent they either deleted or withheld email that we requested in our interrogatories. Yeah it's a crime, but it's a lesser crime than the felonies they have already committed so you can understand their motives.

 These guys are "real pieces of work". I'm looking forward to attending their sentencing hearings.

Uhh... I don't think so Ry.

My dream is to attend Boomershoot with an energy weapon.

Sean Flynn
May 9, 2007
[This was while discussing potential changes for Boomershoot 2008 with Ry and I. This is actually close to one of my nightmares from a few years ago. The fields burst into long streams of flames from dozens of laser range finders that ignited anything they illuminated.--Joe]

From a "Gun Guy" email I received.

If someone is opposed to one inalienable right, such as the right to keep and bear arms, then it comes as no surprise when they are also opposed to other inalienable rights:

Terrorism suspects shouldn't be allowed access to any weapons, much less these deadly ones.  But if the bill is defeated by the NRA, those suspects will still be able to walk into any gun store and buy a weapon off the shelf.

"Suspects" are whoever law enforcement wants to call a "suspect". There is no due process, another inalienable right, involved. Everyone could be a suspect. But of course "everyone" is who this bigot wants to prohibit from owning a firearm.

Another thing this idiot bigot doesn't understand is that making it illegal to sell a "suspect" a firearm gives people an easy way to find out if they are "on the list". Just try to buy a firearm and if you are successful you can be pretty sure law enforcement isn't watching you or that your fake ID hasn't been exposed yet.

If someone is so dangerous they can't be trusted with a firearm then they shouldn't be allowed to roam the streets and buy gasoline and matches either. Either lock them up or stop infringing their rights.

I want my kids to grow up in a society that is more free than the one in which I grew up.

Anyone agree, or do you believe we are still not restricted enough?

Today we have this:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

This:
http://arepublic.blogspot.com/2007/02/hr-1022.html

This:
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

This:
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/oaths.htm

And this:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/crim/242fin.htm

...all at the same time.  One may connect the dots in any order.

Peter showed these to me on his camera a few seconds after I pulled the trigger that initiated the explosion. All the other pictures I have seen missed a lot of the fireball because the fireball left the top of the frame so quickly. Peter captured it with this sequence. Probably 20 seconds prior Peter asked if we were too close. In response I asked, "You are wearing sunscreen, right?" As I knew from experience four gallons of gas being burned in the space of a couple seconds it was going to be very warm for the observers.

Here is my favorite of the sequence:

For scale notice the sticks, some of them on fire, some falling from the sky and others attempting to achieve orbit. Those are all 18 inches long.

That was a fireball. Not some wimpy fire spread around on the grass like some years. This was a true fireball. As Ben said, "The morning fireball was amazing. A-MAZE-ING." Thanks Ry.

Thanks to Peter for sharing.

Thanks to David at Random Nuclear Strikes for finding Peter's pictures.

I hadn't fired (or cleaned) my pistol since last November. I did both on Sunday. I came in fifth out of twenty people. My only complaint is that I showed Adam what I thought was the best way to shoot "Secret Agent Double-Oh-Spud". Then he was the only person to beat me on that stage.

I'll work to make the event so painful and expensive that nobody returns... I've already put out enough ideas about how to make a 1000 yard shoot hard; we'll see how moderate they are when Joe rejects all of them.

Remember, Joe wanted a berm to shoot from, I wanted a trench full of mud. spectators would get paintball guns to distract the shooters. Joe's no fun!

Ry Jones
May 9, 2007
You love me! You really love me!
[He forgot to mention that after Boomershoot 2006 he also suggested the entry fee be raised to $4000. And don't forget that at Boomershoot 2007 it was his creation of the fireball target that resulted in flaming sticks falling from the sky. I love Ry's ideas. I just don't always implement them as originally proposed.--Joe]

If every person has the right to defend--even by force--his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right — its reason for existing, its lawfulness — is based on individual right. And the common force that protects this collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other mission than that for which it acts as a substitute. Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use force against the person, liberty, or property of another individual, then the common force — for the same reason — cannot lawfully be used to destroy the person, liberty, or property of individuals or groups.

Frédéric Bastiat
The Law -- What is Law?
1850

As Ry mentioned he pitched an idea to me today. For Boomershoot 2008 he suggested two things:

1. We dispose of the farce known as "cleanup" where people shoot the "leftover" targets from 25 yards away. In actuality I hold back 150 to 200 targets just so people get a chance to do that. Instead we do that in a more formal manner on a different day and give people more targets especially for that.
2. We do a 1000 yard event for the few, the arrogant, those that say the existing Boomershoot is too easy. Utilizing the existing targets, four and seven inches square boxes, we separate the "men from the boys" by separating the targets from the shooters by 1000 yards. We do this on a different day and perhaps a different location. It could be called 1000 yard Monday or some such thing.

I'm interested. It could work. And as Ry pointed out, it's in keeping with my original intent for Boomershoot. I need to find 1000 yards that can handle five or ten shooters. And I need to confirm my potential new supplier of ammonium nitrate. We'll be making and using more HE.

Jason has posted some of the best Boomershoot 2007 video I have seen so far. In the opening fireball "ceremony" notice the flaming sticks falling from the sky. Ummm... that wasn't what we planned. As software developers we should have known better than to ship product that Test hadn't even tried to install. It was sort of, "It compiles, it links, let's ship it."

For the people in government, rather than the people who pester it, Washington is an early-rising, hard-working city. It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.

P. J. O'Rourke
Parliament of Whores
[Adhering to the enumerated powers granted the government would resolve this problem. But of course most people really don't want this problem solved. They keep telling each other that if just given enough money and power government can solve nearly any problem. Of course most people teach their kids there really is a Santa Claus, an Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy too.--Joe]

Xenia is polling people about their sex education. If you have a Live Journal account you can participate. Even if you don't you can still view most of the results.

BUUURRRRRP!

Bet you've never seen a fairy do that.

Xenia Huffman-Scott
May 5, 2007
[She's 18. It's too late to teach her manners now.--Joe]

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln
[This is why we have a constitution that enumerates the powers of government. Because power is so tempting to abuse.--Joe]

Excluding my blog, here are all the blog reports I have been able to find about Boomershoot 2007. They are in chronological order starting a few days before the actual event:

• BAG Day purchases and Range Report April 16, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes.
• Boomershoot Prep, Continued April 22, 2007 via David at Random Nuclear Strikes.
• RNS Quote of the Day: 04/23/07 April 23, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes.
• I'll have to go one of these years April 26, 2007 via SayUncle at SayUncle.
• RNS Quote of the Day: 04/26/07 April 26, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes.
• Boomershoot! April 27, 2007 via Jeff Soyer at Alphecca.
• Boomershoot Weekend April 28, 2007 via Fodder at Ride Fast & Shoot Straight.
• I heart explosives April 29, 2007 via Ben at Periodic Journal of my wanderings.
• Boomershoot 2007 wrapup April 30, 2007 via Ry at Outrageous Malfunction.
• Opening fireball May 1, 2007 via Ry at Outrageous Malfunction.
• Weeee'rrre Back! May 1, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes
• .30 Carbine Order May 1, 2007 via Benjamin at Reasonablenut.
• Boomershoot 2007 May 1, 2007 via Ben at Periodic Journal of my wanderings.
• Anvil altitude May 2, 2007 via Ry at Outrageous Malfunction.
• It's Almost Too Much Fun May 2, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes.
• RNS Quote of the Day: 05/02/2007 May 2, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes.
• Boomershoot Videos May 3, 2007 via Mr. Completely at Mr. Completely.
• Boomershoot Equipment AAR (At least most of it) May 3, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes. Includes video of the opening fireball and the anvil launch.
• Boomershoot 2007 May 3, 2007 via Ben at Periodic Journal of my wanderings. Good chronology of the event and some great pictures if you follow the link.
• Boomershoot 2007 May 4, 2007 via Ben at Periodic Journal of my wanderings. Includes some movies made from his still camera on full auto.
• More big booms May 4, 2007 via SayUncle at SayUncle.
• Boomershoot AAR (The rest of it) May 4, 2007 via Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes. I love the clean up video!
• Boomershoot 2007 May 4, 2007 via Xenia at A Celebration of Contemplation. Complete with video of her and others working and goofing off at the event.

The morning fireball was amazing. A-MAZE-ING.

Benjamin Kaufman
Boomershoot 2007
See also these posts by Ben about Boomershoot 2007:
http://leroy-brown242.livejournal.com/209809.html
http://leroy-brown242.livejournal.com/207943.html
http://leroy-brown242.livejournal.com/207746.html
[And yes, the morning fireball was really, really good.--Joe]

From a Second Amendment Foundation news release:

The bill, S. 1237, was introduced last week at the Justice Department’s request by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), one of the most extreme anti-gunners in Congress. Called the “Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2007,” this legislation would give the Attorney General discretionary authority to deny the purchase of a firearm or the issuance of a firearm license or permit because of some vague suspicion that an American citizen may be up to no good.

“This bill,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, “raises serious concerns about how someone becomes a ‘suspected terrorist.’ Nobody has explained how one gets their name on such a list, and worse, nobody knows how to get one’s name off such a list.

“The process by which someone may appeal the Attorney General’s arbitrary denial seems weak at best,” Gottlieb suggested, “and there is a greater concern. When did we decide as a nation that it is a good idea to give a cabinet member the power to deny someone’s constitutional right simply on suspicion, without a trial or anything approaching due process?

It's not surprising of course. The infamous Lautenberg Amendment is notable in part because of it's lack of due process as well.

It makes me laugh to see hypocrisy exposed:

Marriage controllers assert that “society has a right” to control marriage, that “democracy” justifies infringing Individuals’ rights for the supposed good of the people.   They frantically purport that society is imperiled without marriage control.   Yet the Constitution’s Ninth and Tenth Amendments say that, unless any authority is specifically delegated to the federal government in the Constitution itself, the right is always reserved to the States or to “the People” (codified or not).   Marriage is – appropriately – nowhere in the Constitution.   Thereby, government is banned from marriage.   Moreover, both federal and state governments are additionally prohibited by the First Amendment (freedoms of assembly, religion, and speech).   Yet marriage controllers cry, “Let the People choose” the re-definition of marriage through majoritiarian collectivism.   Hence, their re-definition of “the People” means a constitutional absurdity that the government – not the Individuals - has the supposed right to determine marriage.    

But there is no such thing as “society’s rights” – a collectivist idea premised in Marxism.   America is not a “democracy.”   And constitutionally, “the People” only means the Individuals.   America is a Constitutional Republic of limited government to protect Individuals’ rights.   The founding principle is that Individuals are endowed by their Creator with inalienable God-given rights.   Accordingly, Individual Rights are neither “granted” nor overturnable by government – precisely because they are God-given. 

Gun control infringes the God-given right of the Individuals.   The issue is not about the guns, hunting, or sports.   It is about the Individuals’ God-given right to protect themselves – from psychotic murderers to even a tyrannical government gone amok (as was necessary in America’s Revolutionary War for Independence).    

Marriage control equally infringes the God-given right of the Individuals.   Marriage pre-dates the invention of government.   Ironically, marriage controllers cite Adam and Eve from the Biblical book of Genesis.   Yet that very story never involved government.   In fact, no one in the Bible was ever married “by government.”   Plus, the author of that Genesis story married two wives himself.   Yes, polygamy - Moses was a polygamist.   Therefore, even the Adam and Eve account proves that marriage is an inalienable God-given right of the Individuals.   This is true even if the godless choose it or otherwise personally invent foolish re-definitions for their own imaginations.

Gun controllers believe that “society has a right” as a “democracy” to protect “the (collective) People” from the supposed dangers of law-abiding citizens choosing responsible firearm ownership.   And marriage controllers believe that “society has a right” as a “democracy” to protect “the (collective) People” from the supposed dangers of law-abiding citizens choosing real or imaginary marriage. 
 
In both debates, it comes down to big government control versus Individual Rights. 

Because gun controllers argue Individuals Rights during the marriage control debates, and because marriage controllers argue Individual Rights during the gun control debates, the solution is to mutually embrace the Constitutionalism of Individual Rights.  

Constitutionalists have always known this answer.   But will gun controllers and marriage controllers honor the Virginia Tech victims and now apply this solution together? 

From the Times Online (UK):

The Islamic State of Iraq was declared last autumn by a coalition of al-Qaeda-linked and hardcore Sunni insurgent groups. It is focused on Diyala province to the northeast of Baghdad, although it lays claim to six other governorates including Baghdad.

The aim of the “state” is to recreate a Sunni land in the image of Arabia at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, turning back the clock in a way that the Taleban tried to do in Afghanistan.

The puritanical movement enforces a rigorous version of Salafist Islam, banning men from shaving their beards, having short hair like American soldiers or even smoking. Men caught repeatedly smoking have their index fingers rammed into metal pipes and then snapped, while cigarette shops have been torched.

The rules have often been taken to absurd extremes. Greengrocers in the Caliphate told The Times they had been ordered not to sell bananas in public because they were deemed obscene, while for similar reasons cucumbers could not be sold next to tomatoes, which are deemed to represent femininity.

At the most extreme level, shepherds have even been ordered to cover the nether regions of their goats to avoid offending strict Salafist sensibilities. A doctor from Baquba who recently spoke to The Times said he always written off such absurd tales as rumours. But driving in a shared taxi through a village near the provincial capital of Diyala he saw a goat wearing boxer shorts and started laughing.

“The other passengers told me to shut up, or it could cost me my life,” he said.

Edicts have also been issued banning the use of ice, as the Prophet would not have had access to chilled water. While seemingly ridiculous, the rules are often enforced by brutal extremists who fail to see the absurd side of their regime.

So where in the U.S. media do we find these reports? Don't let anyone tell you that the American "Religious Right" is "just as a bad" as the Islamic extremists. And it's the leftists in this country that want to use force to stop people from smoking in this country.

The NRA should be banned as a terrorist organization. They have contributed to more deaths in the United States than any other terrorist group.

Charlie
Your Thoughts on How to Stop the Gun Lobby
Freedom State Alliance
[How ironic. The "Freedom State Alliance" endorsing the suppression of free speech, free association, and other freedoms. They have mental problems.--Joe]

In some ways the camera motion in this picture adds to the realism of the event:

There were 50 to 75 people shooting at 150 or so high explosive targets from 25 yards away. The rapid detonations at such close range gave my chest a real pounding.

It was all over within a minute or two. But then there was the fire...

Notice the burning flare just right of center in the picture above? That was one of four used to ignite the gasoline from the fireball targets.

The fire required two fire extinguishers and several gallons of water to extinguish. Even though there was no smoke or detectable hot spots two hours later I wasn't satisfied and persuaded my brother Doug to bring out the water truck and we put another 100 to 200 gallons of water on the stump and ashes. We turned the area into a muddy, ugly, soup.

Boomershoot 2007 cleanup--It was work for me but it was fun for others.

All photos are from Xenia Joy.

So however much some people might yearn for gun control, it seems unlikely that it would have prevented Cho from achieving his ends. He had substitutes available, he had more than one means available to achieve his ends, and he plotted long enough to hit upon other means — especially since those other means are described in detail on TV, in the newspapers, and on the internet every day.

Scott A. Kjar
May 2, 2007
Why Economists Tend to Oppose Gun Control Laws
[With the doors chained shut even a crude sword would have been a sufficient substitute against the victims disarmed by the bigoted politicians. And as others (Was it Ry? Or was it son James?) have pointed out, "You don't have to reload your edged weapon." A few gallons of gasoline and a book of matches would have been rather effective in that environment as well.--Joe]

I got lots of praise for Boomershoot 2007. The emails are still coming in. I also received lots of compliments received during the event. Even daughter Xenia had people come up to her and thank her for putting on the event.

It went really well. I had some great help. Scott arrived on Thursday before I did and stayed almost as long as I did on Sunday night. Tim, Ben, Sean, Rolf, Jason, Ry, Xenia, Kim, Caleb, and John also put in lots of hours to make the event great. My brothers and my parents both contributed to making the event a success too. Then there were the groupies that helped--Barb and Jennifer. They want jackets with the dates of all the events they attended.

Kim and Caleb made nearly all of the 1300 to 1400 pounds of Boomerite we used. And it was done in record time. This was in part because of what great workers they are but also because Kim came up with a great innovation in the manufacturing process. I thought I had it all optimized and was feeling pretty clever when I showed Kim how to prepare the Potassium Chlorate. About 15 minutes later she said, "Hey Dad! Watch this." Wow! I'm sure she doubled production with that little twist on things.

The fireball target that Ry built was wonderful. I just love the way that ball of fire rises up into the sky with clear air underneath it.

Gene and his crew put on the Precision Rifle Clinic and several people came up to me and told me how much they learned from taking the class and what a great value it was. One guy drove up from Arizona--mostly for the class which would have cost more to take closer to home. Which is kind of ironic because one of the instructors also drove from Arizona.

We did have a fire get a little out of control at the end of the day. No harm done. It burned an old stump and some dead branches that needed to be cleaned up anyway. We used up two fire extinguishers to put it out. Then used several gallons of water to quench the hot coals. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the end result even though I couldn't find any hot spots or smell smoke a couple hours later. I convinced my brother Doug to bring over the water truck and we put another 100 to 200 gallons of water on the burned area and turned the ashes, sticks, and dirt into a thin ugly soup.

About 900 targets were consumed in the three days. Over 700 of those were on Sunday.

And it is my claim I had the best shooting record of anyone there. I fired four shots, connecting with four boomers, using an AR-15 carbine with Wolf ammo, iron sights, and from a kneeling position.

Of course all my boomers were less than 25 yards away. Most everyone else had to shoot the majority of theirs from at least 375 yards away.

I expect I'll open up entry for Boomershoot 2008 by the end of the month. Prices will remain the same as 2007. The date will be a weekend near the end of April or the first of May. Expect it to fill up sometime in June or July of 2007.

Heavy sigh. Barb cried watching it. I felt my eyes getting moist.

Xenia's senior prom video.

I had two old computer hard drives that needed to be disposed of and James had another. I had deleted everything on mine then overwrote the free space with random data and wasn't too concerned about someone getting their hands on it. But James hard drive failed in a strange manner. He could read from it just fine but couldn't write to it. He transfered all the data to his new drive but couldn't delete the data off of the old drive. "Dad", he said, "I think this is something for you to take care of. Boomershoot is next weekend, right?"

The two cardboard boxes on the sides each contain about two pounds of Boomerite (a impact sensitive high explosive manufactured by FlashTek). The cardboard box on the top contains another pound of Boomerite. We call this stress testing.

Here I am about to initiate the stress test with a shot to the top cardboard box.

The stress test is completed in microseconds.

This is where the hard disks used to be. That is my size 14 boot for comparison purposes.

Although there are lots of smaller pieces in the crater this is the majority of the mass we were able to recover from the three hard disks.

Les Baer Custom is Illinois' garbage. Assault weapons manufacturers in Illinois are getting kicked to the curb. And for good reason.

Leah Woodward
April 30, 2007
Executive director of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence
LeClaire council holds off vote on Les Baer Custom Inc.
[Bigots. Imagine the uproar if it were blacks or gays moving out of a place where the laws were hostile to them and at the proposed destination people called them garbage.--Joe]

The recent truck accident and resulting overpass collapse must have Rosie convinced that Bush has done it again, but here's the deal:

Even a C-average Jr. high school shop student knows that steel loses almost all of its strength when you heat it ('cause, you know, they actually work with the stuff).  I can't say this loud enough, but here it goes, "***The steel does not have to melt, nor will it melt in a typical structure fire, in order to fail as a support material***".

Get it cherry red hot, and its like putty, or molding clay, in consistency long before it gets hot enough to "melt".  Adding chromium and molybdenum will help reduce, but not prevent, this phenomenon, which is one reason why so many gun barrels are made of chrome/moly steel.

No matter; every account I've heard to date in reference to WTC, and this latest event in Caleeforn-ya, has used the word "melt" or "melted" to refer to the resulting structural failures, displaying in sharp relief the monumental ignorance of not just the average journalist, but every last one of them.

And not a single one of any import, it would seem, bothered to look up the properties of various steels at various temperatures on that there internet thingy, presumably because it would have taken a whopping fifteen minutes of one assistant's time.  Looking up facts is not in their job description, apparently, nor in Rosie O's.  Facts get in the way of so many things...

On a related note:  After hearing of the scope of the recent lorry crackup in California, "Republican" Gov., Arnold Schwartzenblather, who ran his campaign using conservative-sounding rhetoric, made the following statement in his response: "Everyone is going to get a free ride." (And he meant it)

That is a perfect example of why the Republican Party does not now own the House, the Senate and the Whitehouse for the rest of the foreseeable future-- they just cannot grasp the concept of Liberty, but instead merely talk about it as part of their shtick, offering themselves as the less socialist socialists in the big, socialist bag of nuts.