I'm disappointed. The New York Times headline says, "Where an Orgy of Shopping Meets Shopping for an Orgy".  Cool.  I'll take three orgies for Christmas gifts (I have interesting friends), can I have them gift wrapped?  I was disappointed to find:

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4 - The season of the holiday shopping orgy has arrived. In San Francisco on Sunday, they took it literally.

"Holidays are a time for intimacy," said Carol Leigh, a k a Scarlet Harlot, a pink-haired former call girl who was selling her own brand of perfume, Whore Magic, along with feather boas and other "sex positive" gifts at the holiday bazaar at the Center for Sex and Culture. "It's winter, so it's time to keep warm."

While shoppers in suburban malls trolled the aisles for iPods and salad spinners, at the Belle Bizarre, as it was called, they could pick up a used copy of Sophocles's "Oedipus Cycle," a Delta Burke bustier, a Post-it-note-style pastie, or a candy garter belt or G-string, a new spin on candy necklaces sold at Kissable Cutie, a booth operated by Contessa Carlton, a professional escort.

It is probably safe to say that the average American mall would not feature a sign that said "U.S. Out of My Underwear."

The bazaar, where Santa Claus was not spotted, was a benefit for the sex and culture center, a nonprofit organization that specializes in adult sex education programs. The money raised from the sale of geisha hair clips, suede chokers and the like is to help finance the center's Exotic Dancers Education Project, a support program for sex workers that addresses issues like filing taxes and "avoiding sex worker burnout."

There's more but it wasn't much more interesting.  The local shops in the Seattle area sound just as interesting.

Real men use guns made of metal and use other people’s teeth to rack the slide.

Bill Boyle
Monday, December 05, 2005 2:33 PM
Microsoft Gun Club
After someone else suggested using his teeth to rack the slide on his polymer pistol if one hand was incapacitated.

As long time readers will know I watch my log files pretty close.  In the last month or two I have had occasion to be amused at some of the things I found.  For example I found the U.S. Justice Department doing a Google search for {"sheriff's office" "clearwater county" idaho}.  I sent an email to the sheriff with the details.  In addition to just being a neighborly thing to do, Boomershoot is held in Clearwater County and I like staying on the good side of the people in the office.

I found another search by the IRS for {nancy amos}.  I don't know if they were looking for the same Nancy that is my sister-in-law, but I was amused to send her an email telling her that it was.

Today I ran across something far more amusing.  Someone, at the IRS, did a search for Ayn Rand quotes:

Domain Name		irs.gov ? (United States Government)
IP Address		152.216.7.# (INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE) 152.216.7.5
ISP		INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Location		Continent  :  North America Country  :  United States  (Facts) State  :  District of Columbia City  :  Washington Lat/Long  :  38.8933, -77.0146 (Map)
Language		English (United States) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Javascript		version 1.3
Monitor		Resolution  :  800 x 600 Color Depth  :  32 bits
Time of Visit		Dec 5 2005 9:54:12 am
Last Page View		Dec 5 2005 9:54:12 am
Visit Length		0 seconds
Page Views		1
Referring URL		http://www.google.co...en&lr=&start=50&sa=N
Search Engine		google.com
Search Words		quotations from ayn rand books
Visit Entry Page		http://blog.joehuffm...Ayn Rand Quotes.aspx
Visit Exit Page		http://blog.joehuffm...Ayn Rand Quotes.aspx
Time Zone		UTC-5:00 EST - Eastern Standard EDT - Eastern Daylight Saving Time
Visitor's Time		Dec 5 2005 12:54:12 pm
Visit Number		51,048

I received these via email.  Interesting stuff:

http://www.anti-cair-net.org

http://www.hvk.org/articles/1202/200.html

The Toronta Star says a brutal winter with colder than normal temperatures is coming.  Contrast that with the CBC story on all the people marching in downtown Montreal urging our government to sign the Kyoto treaty to prevent global warming.  The CBC story, even a single sentence all by itself, is an amusing contrast:

Thousands of people marched in frigid temperatures through downtown Montreal on Saturday as part of worldwide rallies to urge the United States and other countries to do more to curb global warming.

And people wonder why we call them barking moonbats.

Boomershoot 2006 just got a mention on Survival Blog.  There weren't any permalinks that I could find so it's on the main page for now and probably will go into the December Archives at the beginning of next month.  This blog is written by James Wesley, Rawles.  Rawles wrote an interesting book that is a cult classic in survivalist circles.  It has gone through numerous versions and titles.  Currently it's called Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse.  Starting in about 1998 (I think it was in the version called "TEOTWAWKI" (The End Of The World As We Know It) Rawles gave credit to me under the name, which he chose, "Huff the dynamite shooter" for comments I made on previous versions.  I couldn't see that he used any of my suggestions but it was nice that he made mention of my input.

The novel takes place just a few miles from where I currently live near Moscow Idaho.  It's an interesting read even if there are some errors and oversights that I find distracting.

If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.

Thomas Jefferson
[We failed.--Joe]

It's time for me to create the next Boomershoot t-shirt (and mugs, hats, thongs, etc.).  If you have a slogan you think would especially appropriate let me know and if I use it I'll give you a free shirt, mug, whatever with that slogan on it.

Send your entry to slogan@boomershoot.org.  Enter as many times as you like.  I will be the final judge on what is used.  All whiners complaining about not winning will receive an ammonium nitrate prill as a consolation prize if they show up at Boomershoot 2006 to claim it (valued at $250/ton--one prill weighs approximately 1 grain).  Boomershoot helpers, friends and family members are all welcome to submit entries.  Deadline is December 15, 2005.  Here are previous years slogans:

• 2001--THE BIG BANG!
• 2002--Guns.  Explosives.  I was there.
• 2003--Project Fireball 2003
• 2004--A ton of explosives.  Fun beyond measure.
• 2005--Exercise your freedom with guns and explosives.

Update: The slogans proposed so far.  I don't want people entering duplicates:

• BANG -- BOOM -- COOL!
• A practical alternative to a wholesome day at work. [I think I would change this to "A wholesome alternative to a practical day at work."--Joe]
• A magical land full of rifles and explosives.
• Good marksmanship has EXPLOSIVE rewards!
• WHOO-WEE! That blowed up REAL GOOD!  [obscure SCTV reference]
• Take your shot from the Grassy Knoll.  [get all sorts of Google traffic from JFK theorists.]
• The smell of cordite. The sound of thunder.
• Heads up! Here comes the anvil!
• Prometheus suffered so you could do stuff like this. Don't be ungrateful.
• Welcome to Joe's World!
• Freedom smells like gunpowder
• Feinstein's worst nightmare: Families. Guns. Fun.
• Sight alignment, trigger squeeze, holy shit!
• Guns, Explosives, and the Pursuit of Happiness
• Blow Shiite up
• Famous potatoes explosives
• Reach Out And Blow Something Up
• This is my target.  There are many like it.  But this one explodes!  [based on the Rifleman's Creed]
• Peace Through Superior Marksmanship [I think I would change this to "Freedom Through Superior Marksmanship"--Joe]
• The blood of the enemy!
• Vini. Vidi. Boom. [I came. I saw. I blew stuff up.]
• Don't know Jesus??? I'll make ya Holey !!! Braaappp....
• Peace, Love, Explosives and Guns.
• Got boom?
• Got kaboom?
• If you don't get it, then never mind.
• Life, liberty, and the pursuit of kaboom...
• I shit you not - we shoot bombs. [Hint to others.  We NEVER use the 'B' word at Boomershoot.--Joe]
• We shoot bombs. [Ditto the previous comment.]
• Get a big BANG for your buck.

They aren't technically calling it marriage but there is no legal distinction between the two.  Read about it here.  Many of my conservative readers will disagree with my libertarian viewpoint on this but I think it's a good thing.  Marriage (the first 29 years anyway) has been good for me and I expect it will be good for others even if they happen to be of the same gender as their partner.  And what is good for the average individual is almost always good for society.  I've posted on this topic before and don't need to expound on it much again:

• Gay marriage in California
• California Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
• Gay marriage is spreading
• Looking back at my predictions
• Why the election related violence?
• Gay marriages in MA
• Bush calls for Constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage
• Gay marriage and the disintegration of the Democrat party
• Gay marriage in MA is inevitable

Click on the image for variations on the theme.

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded--here and there, now and then--are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people.  Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.  This is known as "bad luck."

Robert Heinlein
[This, in a nutshell, is the problem with socialism in all it's forms.--Joe]

Xenia called earlier and told us both of her and Meghan's entries made it into the finals in state drama competition.  The competition will be over within about 15 minutes.  It probably will be another hour or so before we hear the results.  She was really excited--I could barely understand her.  Break a leg Xenia!

Update: She got third place in ensemble pantomime and a medal.  It was a skit they created on their own.

Update2: Xenia has her own post up with lots of pictures.  Caution--pictures of teenage girls in nightgowns and beds.  (That should generate some traffic for her.)

Update3: I fixed the broken link to the teenage girls in nightgowns and one wearing a bra on her head.

The Canadian Shooting Sports Association invited Glen Caroline, director of the NRA's grassroots division, to be a keynote speaker and is give a seminar. Wendy Cukier (I wrote about her before) and other anti-freedom advocates are all bent out of shape about it. They apparently have a problem with freedom of association and freedom of speech as well as freedom to keep and bear arms.  From The Star:

U.S. gun lobbyist here to `counsel'

Canadian shooting group enlists NRA Official denies interfering with election

Nice.  The paper doesn't say the NRA is interfering in the election--they just plant that thought by saying the Canadian shooting group denies it.  Mahatma Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, and Mother Therese would have denied being mass murderers too.

Dec. 3, 2005. 01:00 AM

BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER

A crime reporter!  How appropriate for a political story.

...

But Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, said she's astonished by the blatancy of the NRA's involvement because the group's influence in jurisdictions outside the United States, while well known to people who monitor gun control issues, is not as familiar to the public at large.

"I don't think the average Canadian understands how powerful the gun lobby is," in opposing attempts to block tightening of gun control legislation and bans on handgun sales, the Ryerson professor said.

"It is ironic because it's three days before the anniversary of the Montreal massacre, it's in Toronto where most people are currently preoccupied with trying to prevent gun violence."

The NRA has a well-established tradition of "interfering" in other countries, Alun Howard, of the International Action Network on Small Arms, said yesterday by phone from London, England. "We've seen them working in Central America ... their arguments have appeared in England and Australia, so it's certainly a worrying trend that the NRA has gone global."

Most recently, the NRA's influence was credited — or blamed, depending on your viewpoint — with influencing the outcome of Brazil's national referendum in October on a proposal to ban the sale of guns.

In a country with one of the world's highest firearm murder rates, the proposal was soundly rejected.

NRA public affairs director Andrew Arulanandam said yesterday that the organization is only too happy to provide "counsel" to organizations in other countries to help ensure that "gun rights" prevail around the world, adding "we're really heartened with what happened in Brazil."

The NRA was approached because members belonging to the association share its underlying mantra: that gun control laws don't work, criminals don't obey the law, and the only people affected by gun control are law-abiding citizens, Whitmore said.

I just "love" that a "crime reporter" wrote the story, not a political reporter.  And that the reporter describes as a mantra (mystic incantation) the verifiable fact "gun control laws don't work, criminals don't obey the law, and the only people affected by gun control are law-abiding citizens."

After we are done in Iraq we need to liberate Canada from the bigots like this 'reporter'.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't we have this discussion with you folks about 223 years ago? I'd have thought that having the road between Lexington and Concord fertilized with dead Redcoats answered that question back then.

...

If my ancestors would have been armed, they wouldn't have been slaves.

JJ Johnson
Black American gun-owner
Answering the poll question "Should America ban the handgun?"
BBC News -- March 1998

Of course I didn't expect they would go all the way in one step.  I'm actually surprised they would even go in the right direction.  But they are making progress and everyone benefits:

TSA Would Allow Sharp Objects on Airliners

Screeners to Focus More on Bombs

A new plan by the Transportation Security Administration would allow airline passengers to bring scissors and other sharp objects in their carry-on bags because the items no longer pose the greatest threat to airline security, according to sources familiar with the plans.

In a series of briefings this week, TSA Director Edmund S. "Kip" Hawley told aviation industry leaders that he plans to announce changes at airport security checkpoints that would allow scissors less than four inches long and tools, such as screwdrivers, less than seven inches long, according to people familiar with the TSA's plans. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because the TSA intends to make the plans public Friday.

...

The TSA's internal studies show that carry-on-item screeners spend half of their screening time searching for cigarette lighters, a recently banned item, and that they open 1 out of every 4 bags to remove a pair of scissors, according to sources briefed by the agency. Officials believe that other security measures now in place, such as hardened cockpit doors, would prevent a terrorist from commandeering an aircraft with box cutters or scissors.

What's interesting to me is that they concluded the same thing as I did--explosives is the real threat and the most attention should be given to that.  We should do the research, as I outlined, and go wherever the results take us.  One step at a time if necessary, but we need to do it. 

It's interesting they dropped the plan for putting more air marshals in the air because it's too costly.  Check out my research outline for lower cost alternatives to achieve similar protection capabilities.

ARE YOU A MENACE TO CRIMINALS?

If householders were required by law to own and know how to use revolvers, burglary would cease. It is an act of good citizenship to make crime dangerous -- an encouragement of crime to remain defenseless.

From an Iver Johnson revolver ad
Circa 1904

They visited Jason today.

It was just a few days ago that Barb was asking, "Where's Bob Hope and Bing Crosby?"  A subtle slap at current celebrities that are not visiting the troops.

Here is one way if you want to show your appreciation.  I already have a couple of their albums.  I just put on Greatest Hits.  I'll be listening it to them as I go to sleep tonight.

Despite the best efforts of the hoplophobes, the U.S. remains way ahead of most other jurisdictions in the matter of firearms freedom. Recently an English jeweler, whose shop had been raided twenty times in twenty years, repelled borders by seizing the firearm of one of the bandits who broke into his shop. With the captured firearm he shot both of the bandits, though not fatally.

This was in England, and, of course, he was immediately in a great deal of trouble. He was fined 2,000 pounds for "illegal use of a firearm," 100 more for possession of ammunition which was related to another weapon, plus 1,050 more pounds for prosecution costs. This whole affair is costing the jeweler over $6,000 in American money, plus his attorney's fee.

Just how this sort of idiocy is justified in the eyes of the British courts is unclear, but though we find a lot of domestic jurisprudence pretty bad, such things can get worse.

Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 12
October 1995
[This idiocy is easily justified in the eyes of the British--if they subscribe to the cattle philosophy of human governance.  See?  It all makes sense now.--Joe]

I knew this sort of thing happened but this is the first time I have heard it used as a defense in a sexual assault case:

TORONTO - In an unusual case Tuesday in a Toronto courtroom, a 33-year-old man was acquitted of sexual assault after a judge ruled he was asleep during the attack, the Toronto Sun reported Wednesday.

"This is indeed a rare case," said Justice Russell Otter, as the woman who Jan Luedecke had sex with shook, sobbed and then left the courtroom.

"His conduct was not voluntary."

...

Luedecke, a landscaper, met the woman at a party on July 6, 2003. Both had been drinking.

The woman had fallen asleep on a couch. She woke up to find him having sex with her. She pushed him off, then contacted the police.

Luedecke said he fell asleep on the same couch and woke up when he was thrown to the floor.

He only suspected he had had sex after using the bathroom and discovering he was wearing a condom, court heard. He confessed to police.

During his trial, sleep expert Dr. Colin Shapiro testified Luedecke had parasomnia - a disorder with symptoms such as sleep-walking. Shapiro testified Luedecke suffered from sexsomnia, which is sexual behavior during sleep.

It was brought on by alcohol, sleep deprivation and genetics, Shapiro said.

Luedecke previously had sex while asleep with four girlfriends, court heard.

News of the successful defence of sexsomnia may spread to others accused of sexual assault, said University of Toronto law professor Hamish Stewart.

"We may hear more forms of this defence from accused persons," he said, adding he has never previously heard of such a case.

Luedecke has cut down on his drinking and is taking medication to stop a repeat of the incident, court heard.

It sounds to me like the correct decision was reached but the woman says she has the means and the intent to appeal the decision.  I would like to suggest she stop falling asleep in drunk stupors at parties and get on with her life.

It's a little bit subtle but once you think about it and look at the numbers it's hard to come up with any other conclusion.  Howard Nemerov didn't spell it out quite like my posting title but that is what jumped out of his posting at me.  If you are for the restriction of self defense tools that compensate for the physical advantage men, on the average, have over women then the unintended consequence is that you increase the violence against women.  I found these numbers particularily disturbing: 

Rape Rate Trends 1995–2003 (per 100,000 pop.)
	1995	2003	% Change
Australia	72.5	91.7	+26.5
United Kingdom	43.3	69.2	+59.8
United States	37.1	32.1	-13.5

In the time period under consideration above Australia and the UK both implemented extremely repressive firearm laws.  The U.S. made it easier for people to carry the tools necessary to defend yourself from violent attacks.

His final word is a little over the top, but it's a thought that certainly comes to mind:

Is “Burka-ed and pregnant” next on the gun-ban agenda?

One of the peace activists recently kidnapped by the Islamic extremists was written about in tomorrows Washingon Post.  It's so sad to read the words he wrote before going to Iraq and what his friends here are saying now:

As Tom Fox headed toward the end of his first week in captivity in Iraq, friends said the 54-year-old musician and peace activist was well aware of the dangers he faced in the war-ravaged country.

He was so realistic, in fact, that he devised a written plan he distributed to friends and co-workers that they should follow if he were taken hostage. Don't pay ransom for his return, he wrote in an October 2004 e-mail, and reject the use of violence in trying to win his freedom. Don't "vilify" the abductors, he said, but instead "try to understand the motives of their actions."

...

"We are very worried about our four friends," Christian Peacemaker Teams said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. "We fear that whoever is holding them has made a mistake. [They] are four men who came to Iraq to work for peace and explain their opposition to the occupation. They are not spies."

...

At the service in McLean, where Fox's e-mail from 2004 was read aloud, his friends reminisced about his ideals. One woman said that just before Fox left for Iraq, he told her, "Too many are willing to die for war and too few are willing to die for peace."

"Try to understand the motives of their actions"?  The motives are, "You are not Muslim or you are not the right flavor of Muslim.  You must convert or die."  "Explaining your opposition to the occupation" isn't going to yield the desired results.

And who has ever said they were willing to die for war?  I've heard or read about people willing to die for country, freedom, honor, family, way of life, and a lot of other things but I've never heard it said they were willing to die for war. 

These people are living in an alternate reality.  It's sad their introduction to reality will likely be in the form of a box full of sand covered body parts.  Don't expect it will convert many of them.  They are prime canditates for When Prophecy Fails mention.

The online entry has been a big hit.  Some women have purchased gift entries for their husbands and numerous other entries have resulted in a big rush.  I have a total of 19 slots filled now.  In 2003 that many positions weren't taken until February 7th.  In 2002 it wasn't until February 28th.  Get your entries in soon unless you just want to be just be a spectator.

Unless you sent a snail mail in the last week everyone should have received their confirmation email by now.  If not let me know.  I was really slow in getting some of the confirmations out and there's a remote possibility I lost one or two.

State drama competition is in the state of Southern Idaho and that's where Xenia is going to be for a couple days.  It snowed last night (see her pictures of it here) and that made the roads very slick.  Barb and I are somewhat worried about all the road travel but it's really important to her and it's not very often that kids on a school trip are injured--the drivers know they have an extra responsibility and have commericial drivers licenses.

I talked to her a little bit ago.  "Good luck!", I said.  Then I remember that was wrong and followed up with, "And break a leg!"

I have often used the analogy in personal conversation, teaching self-defense classes, and sometimes alluded to it on this blog (here, here, here, and here).  But Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Ret.) spells it out better on this page than anyone else I have seen.

Thanks to someone at work for pointing this page out to me.

The terrorists have identified Iraq as central to their global aspirations. For that reason, terrorists and extremists from all parts of the Middle East and North Africa have found their way to Iraq and made common cause with indigenous religious extremists and former members of Saddam's regime. This group cannot be won over and must be defeated -- killed or captured -- through sustained counterterrorism operations.

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
From the Whitehouse

I ran across these stats in a UK newspaper:

• Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped more than 200 foreigners since the invasion in 2003
• Of these, 52 are known to have been killed by their captors — 41 in 2004 and 11 in 2005
• Of those killed, three were American and two were British
• Margaret Hassan, an aid worker, was kidnapped on her way to work in October 2004 and is believed to have been shot. Kenneth Bigley was beheaded after being kidnapped in September, 2004
• Approximately 55 foreign nationals are currently being held hostage in Iraq

With stats like that it's amazing to me there are leftist "peace activists" that complain about U.S. soldiers putting a "holy book" on top of a toilet.  I'm with Clayton on this--the left is completely "losing it". 

You would think the "religion of peace" and peace activists would get along well.  But currently the extremists for the "religion of peace" are holding some Western peace activists with a sword hanging over their heads:

AN ELDERLY British man and three other Western peace activists kidnapped in Baghdad appeared last night in a video released by an unknown insurgent group that labelled them “spies of occupying forces”.

...

Friends of Mr Kember dismissed the spy claim as outrageous. “He would never ever dream of doing anything like spying,” Bruce Kent, the veteran peace campaigner, told the BBC. “The last thing he would do would be working for the British Government.”

...

Mr Kember’s family released a statement yesterday saying that he had gone to Iraq “for a short time to join a peace group that’s talking and listening to people of all persuasions, believing that dialogue not confrontation should help to bring about conciliation. He feels very strongly that the occupation in Iraq is a mistake.”

These naive fools need to read a little bit of what Osama bin Laden has to say about things.  He is very clear on things--convert, submit, or die.  Think about it.

I would have never have guessed.  Perhaps it's only true in Australia:

Some rural sex workers, male and female, are aged over 70, a new study has found.

The study by the University of New England, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, interviewed 20 NSW rural sex workers.

It found the numbers of female and male sex workers in the state's country areas had risen in the past 10 years.

While there had always been brothels in country areas, escort services had only taken off since the early 1990s, project leader Dr John Scott said.

And male escorts had only begun to appear in rural centres in the past five years, he said.

The study also found country sex workers were more educated and much older than those in the city.

The interviewees were mostly aged between 20 and 58, but there were a few - male and female - over 70, he said.

In case you hadn't already heard Kim has a new blog up.  In his email he said, "I got sick of anonymity."

The new blog promises to show another side of Kim--a Kim more presentable to corporate America.  I understand the sentiment.  I have had my own problems with that.

Our movement took a grip on cowardly Marxism and from it extracted the meaning of socialism. It also took from the cowardly middle-class parties their nationalism. Throwing both into the cauldron of our way of life there emerged, as clear as a crystal, the synthesis- German National Socialism.

Hermann Goering (1893-1946),
German Nazi leader, air marshal.
Speech, 9 April 1933, Sports Palast, Berlin.
["Progressives" and "Liberals" should never be allowed to forget the roots they share with the Nazis.-- Joe]