Monday, July 25, 2005

As predicted there was no repsonse from PNNL.  They (both Richland and Battelle in Columbus) spent a lot of time reviewing the site but in the end they did not have any factual corrections to make.

Check out http://www.pnnl.info.  There is a link on the main page to What You Should Do.  Check it out.

Barb and I are going hiking now.  Internet and cellphone access again tonight sometime.

Joe Huffman  Monday, July 25, 2005 11:17:01 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback

Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.

Milton Friedman

Joe Huffman  Monday, July 25, 2005 12:03:47 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Sunday, July 24, 2005

I sent an email to the NRA about their recent article and got back a response directing me to their "General Counsels Office".  I sent them a link to my Terminate Report website.

I love it when the timing of things works out just as if you had actually planned it that way.

Joe Huffman  Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:59:33 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback

Barb and I got back into civilization tonight and found, after some difficulty, an Internet connection.  Much to my surprise I found this email waiting for me (magazine and writer name deleted for now):

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 6:21 AM
To: JoeH@boomershoot.org
Subject: an interview with XXXX magazine


My name is XXXX XXXX and I am a freelance writer for XXXX magazine.
We are working on a story about people who got fired for blogging. If
you were fired for blogging (it was unclear from the one post I saw on
another website) would you be interested in doing an interview? If so,
email me back with your name, age, where you live, what you wrote that
got you fired and where you got fired from.

Thanks.

This is a national magazine everyone with two or more functional brain cells has heard of.  I wrote them back saying I would be glad to be interviewed and will send them the news release when it goes out tomorrow afternoon.  I also put my previous employer on the Bcc: line.

Joe Huffman  Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:34:14 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  |  Trackback

Joe dishonest? <snort> Joe is so honest, it gets him in trouble.

Dow Scott

Joe Huffman  Sunday, July 24, 2005 12:18:02 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Saturday, July 23, 2005

It kind of makes me nervous; I mean you are probably the best engineer I know. What's to stop them from firing any one? It doesn't make any sense... You are one of the most ethical people I know.

Anonymous co-worker at PNNL to Joe Huffman upon hearing Huffman had been fired.

Joe Huffman  Saturday, July 23, 2005 10:19:02 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Friday, July 22, 2005
Barb and I are off on a on well deserved vacation now.  I'll have one of my kids post the quote of the day until I get internet connection again.  Have a great weekend everyone!
Joe Huffman  Friday, July 22, 2005 12:30:39 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback

A few minute ago the last of the FOIA requests went out and I sent the following email to my former employer:


Subject:
Corrections?
 
I have created a new website, XXXX, that might be of interest to you.  Before the news releases are sent out on Monday afternoon I am giving you an opportunity to make any factual corrections.

Please send all corrections, complete with documentation, to XXXX before 12:00 PM PDT Monday July 25th.  Only email to that address will be accepted.  All responses will be posted on the web site.
 
And since the picture below seemed to play a significant role in the investigation that lead to my termination I am including a copy:
 
----
Joe Huffman

A few people have seen a preview of the site.  Here are some of their comments:

I'm shaking with rage. Bastards.

-Kim du Toit-

Jesus H. Christ.

-Neaderpundit-

I thought PNNL's mission was to support the Constitution--not destroy the lives of those who exercise the rights it guarantees.

-Lyle Keeney-

 

You can get canned for practicing free speech in support of one’s right to self-defense. What’s next? Get canned for blogging about the war? Gay marriage? Religious freedom?

-Stephanie Sailor-

New Jersey gun rights activist

 

This is the point in the story where the audience comes to understand, if not condone, the antagonist turning into a mad scientist.

-Sean Flynn-

And then head off on vacation. Good move. Pay cash. Watch out for Black Helicopters.

-Sean Flynn-

 

Does your life insurance cover getting knocked off by your former bosses?

-Lyle Keeney-

 

Be careful. Don't get shot in some dark alley.

-James Huffman-Scott-

 

They honestly had no clue that you are so fastidious in your operation. This kind of evidence is very clear and easy for even a layman to understand.

-Permission Pending-

Joe Huffman  Friday, July 22, 2005 12:29:22 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [3]  |  Trackback

Here is a link to Match #1.  Swatting flies, standing, un-supported, at 30 feet with your handgun.  Results due August 8th.

I'll be on vacation a lot of this time and not sure I be able to participate.  But I'm going to try.

Joe Huffman  Friday, July 22, 2005 10:34:10 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  |  Trackback

Computers and the internet are a far bigger problem for the government than they are for the individual.

Eric Engstrom
October 2003

Joe Huffman  Friday, July 22, 2005 8:40:31 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Thursday, July 21, 2005

The media insist that crime is the major concern of the American public today. In this connection they generally push the point that a disarmed society would be a crime-free society. They will not accept the truth that if you take all the guns off the street you still will have a crime problem, whereas if you take the criminals off the street you cannot have a gun problem.

In the larger sense, however, the personal ownership of firearms is only secondarily a matter of defense against the criminal. Note the following from Thomas Jefferson:

The strongest reason for the people to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against the tyranny of government.

That is why our masters in Washington are so anxious to disarm us. They are not afraid of criminals. They are afraid of a populace which cannot be subdued by tyrants.

 

Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 5
May 1994

Joe Huffman  Thursday, July 21, 2005 7:35:59 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Barb and I are going on vacation for a while starting Friday afternoon.  Friday is her last day of work and she has two weeks before she starts her new job. 

Barb, Xenia, and I went shopping for new camping gear yesterday. 

Our old tent had a bad zipper and we had to use duct tape to hold the door shut the last time we went camping.  So we bought a new five-man tent and a Queen size inflatable (comes with a built-in 12V pump that inflates it in 110 seconds) air-bed.  We also bought a three-man tent for Xenia to stay in.

As before the Huffman-Scott "compound" will be guarded while we are gone by the dogs, an adult child of ours trained on both rifle and pistol and access to my "arsenal".

Joe Huffman  Wednesday, July 20, 2005 2:10:53 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  |  Trackback

According to these guys I imagine I exhibited all the symptoms of someone about to go postal, except for one.  The one missing was supplied by PNNL--by firing me.  How many other civil rights activists exhibit the same "symptoms"? 

Some type of obsession, e.g., weapons, other acts of violence, romantic/sexual, zealot (political, religious, racial), the job itself, neatness and order

Performance Problems, including problems with attendance or tardiness [I am a night person and I, and others, would arrive late and leave late]

Access to and familiarity with weapons

Being fired, laid off or suspended; passed over for promotion

As I read this web page I and others who advocate for the rights of gun owners, should never be hired in the first place.  There is a word for this--bigotry.

Joe Huffman  Wednesday, July 20, 2005 8:15:42 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [3]  |  Trackback

Peenie Wallie sent me an email with his post about a draft of the Iraq "Bill of Rights".  I finally got around to reading it this morning.  Yuck.  It's not a "Bill of Rights". It's a list of things the government must provide--such as health care.  And it specifically says citizens may not own weapons except by permit.

It's a draft.  It should be scrapped.  Rights are things that no government can give or take away--only infringe upon.  A Bill of Rights is a written promise to not infringe upon those rights.

Joe Huffman  Wednesday, July 20, 2005 7:47:39 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  |  Trackback

"Free trade" is actually a misnomer, Grieshaber-Otto contends; the new global rules are actually aimed primarily at restricting government regulations, which is bad news for advocates.

Jim Grieshaber-Otto, Ph.D.
An international trade expert with the government of British Columbia.
From: http://www.jointogether.org/gv/default.jtml?O=264057
August 12, 2000

Joe Huffman  Wednesday, July 20, 2005 6:31:07 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Tuesday, July 19, 2005

My license to manufacture high explosives just arrived in the mail.  They renewed it in something like 20 days.  Very cool.

I know that there have been a lot of people that have had problems with the ATF but every single encounter I have had with them has been good.  I don't like their rulings with regards to firearms.  I don't like that they have been given power over intra state commerce.  But given they have been tasked with making explosives manufacture, storage, and use safer I can't really complain in regards my manufacturing of reactive targets.

Bummer.  I just noticed they have the expiration date as July 1, 2005.

Update: I sent an email to Crystal last night.  I got a response this morning saying she thinks she has things straighten out for me.

Something I have long said about people and organizations: I am far happier with those that make an occasional error and correct it quickly than those that seldom make an error and don't admit it or correct it.

Update2: A few minutes ago I received a Letter of Authorization from the ATF Federal Explosives Licensing Center, via a FAX from Crystal, to continue manufacturing high explosives until the corrected license is received. :-)

Joe Huffman  Tuesday, July 19, 2005 7:41:17 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback

I'm doing some research on employers that enforce an anti-freedom bias on their employees.  I was inspired by the recent American Rifleman article and some other events.  I'm just getting started but I ran across this "Hiring Guide" and I would rather not pay the $20.00 for it.  Does anyone else have access to it?  If so can you tell we if it says anything about gun ownership or free speech advocates?  A sample of the description of the guide:

This guide presents valuable tools and approaches:

  • Critical Behavior Traits
  • Checklist for Evaluating Resumes
  • Important Questions to Include in the Employment Application
  • Interviewing Techniques
  • Reference and Background Checking
  • Employment Verification and Release Form

If not it, how about any similar hiring guides--even if they are specific to a particular company.

Thanks.

Joe Huffman  Tuesday, July 19, 2005 9:49:41 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback

If all mankind minus one were of one opinon, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.

John Stuart Mill

Joe Huffman  Tuesday, July 19, 2005 8:17:45 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Monday, July 18, 2005

Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by aberration.

H.L. Mencken
MicroNews
[This doesn't mean that all aberration is a form of human progress.  Just as in DNA mutations--most of the mutants are not viable.  -Joe-]

Joe Huffman  Monday, July 18, 2005 5:36:17 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
 Sunday, July 17, 2005

Barb and I went to Moscow Mountain for some geocaching this morning.  It was a most successful and rewarding trip.  First we replaced the Moscow Mountain High ammo can with the bullet hole in it:

Then we found Moscow Mountain Higher which we were not able to find on our last trip out on June 4th:

More pictures can be found here.

Joe Huffman  Sunday, July 17, 2005 6:49:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback

The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by rule of construction be conceived to give the Congress the power to disarm the people.

William Rawle
1825
He was offered the position of the first U.S. Attorney General, by President Washington.

Joe Huffman  Sunday, July 17, 2005 1:37:18 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback