More confirmation of Dr. Joe's cure for everything.  The history of the vibrator.

They kill innocent men, women and children to achieve their objective. These folks cannot be appeased. We can't hope that nice words will change their point of view.

And so the decision I made right off the bat is we will find them, and we will hunt them down, and we will bring them to justice before they hurt America again.

President George W. Bush
President Discusses Global War on Terror at Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
January 23, 2006

Yesterday I got a call from some reporter at a Boston area newspaper, The Enterprise.  She was looking at the title to this web page: Want Some Help Building a Bomb?  In a very hesitant voice she ask, "Why would anyone put up a web page like that?"  I asked if she had read the web page.  "No."  Okay, so I have to start at the beginning with her...  I was tempted to ask her if she knew how to read but figured that would make a poor first impression and I generally try to stay on the good side of people that buy their ink by the barrel.  So I explained how I make explosives for recreational purposes and I get email from people wanting to build bombs and I tell them no and if appropriate forward the email on to the appropriate law enforcement agency.  She seemed particularly interested in this story about the 13 year old kid waiting in the headteacher's office for his parents to arrive. 

After telling a few stories about how stupid some of these people are--I put all this email on my website telling about how I turned in everyone yet I still get email (and calls from reporters) from people thinking I actually provide help on illegal activities.  She then got a lot more friendly and enthusiastic about what I'm doing.  It turns out that some kid in her area got caught with pipe bomb materials in his car at high school.  Talk turned to "It's so easy to find bomb building instructions on the Internet" and she was tasked with writing a story about it.  The librarian did the research and the reporter was calling the people with the web pages to ask "Why?"  She asked a bunch of questions about have I helped catch any other kids with bombs or bomb building intentions.  I told her I didn't really know because it's rare the police will get back to me with that sort of information.  I told her I did get one kid arrested but it wasn't related to my web page.

She then went on to ask about "this hobby".  I explained Boomershoot to her and she keep asking "Why haven't I heard of this before?"  Again I refrained from pointing out the obvious about this question.  She works in Massachusetts, guns are very restricted there.  Boomershoot is near Orofino Idaho.  We are separated by about 2200 miles and totally alien cultures.  I told her, "It's been in Newsweek, Outside Magazine, and this year we have a magazine coming from the U.K."  Anyway she started seemed quite interested in Boomershoot and people coming from all over the continent to this event and generally seemed quite enthusiastic.  I'll be checking out their website everyday for a while to see if she actually publishes a story on what we talked about.

Very nice of the VPC to point this out to us:

State	Number of Gun Dealers	Number of Gas Stations	State	Number of Gun Dealers	Number of Gas Stations
Alaska	844	229	Oregon	1,479	1,146
Idaho	682	663	Wyoming	550	401
Montana	1,017	597	U.S. Total	54,902	121,363

This isn't so cool.  It's just ignorance and bigotry:

The 1992 VPC publication More Gun Dealers Than Gas Stations first focused national attention on abuses by FFL holders and revealed that at the time of its release the number of Americans who possessed the Type 1 FFL outnumbered gas stations 245,000 to 210,000. The bulk of the licenses were held by illegitimate "kitchen-table" dealers who operated out of their homes or offices, an unknown percentage of which were actively involved in criminal gun trafficking. As the result of policy recommendations contained in the study that were implemented under the Clinton Administration, today only five states have more gun dealers than gas stations (see chart below). The full study contains information for all 50 states as well as policy recommendations.

"Illegitimate kitchen-table dealers"?  "Unknown percentage of which were actively involved in criminal gun trafficking"?  Are "kitchen-table" cosmetic dealers illegitmate?  I'm sure an "unknown percentage" of them are engaged criminal activities too.  By saying "unknown percentage" they only admit their ignorance and their open disregard for knowledge.  As far as the number of dealers goes, most gun owners have far more guns than cars so it's to be expected there are more gun dealers than gas stations.  At least I live in one of the states where the gun dealers still outnumber the gas stations.  And remember the gasoline is more effective in mass murders than guns.  But the "Violence Policy Center" isn't really interested in reducing violence, just the availability of guns.

More guns means more violence, no matter what. Trained or not (and many carriers aren’t anymore), anyone who’s carrying a concealed weapons represents a threat to those around them.

The Gun Guys
Our Country's Crazy Concealed Carry Laws
April 4, 2006
[I guess the police carrying guns means more violence and are a threat to those around them too.  Let's get rid of them.  I have just one question for these nuts.--Joe]

Things in Chicago and Washington D.C. could be worse I guess.  This guy had just a single cartridge (they say bullet exposing their ignorance but from the context it's a cartridge):

Bandar Seri Begawan - A 27-year-old Indonesian man was sentenced to five years imprisonment and three strokes of whipping by the Bandar Magistrate's Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to possession of an unlicensed bullet.

The defendant, Andriyadi was convicted of possessing a three-cm by one-cm bullet without a: licence issued by the licensing officer. It is an offence punishable under rule 17(l) of the Arms and Explosives Rule of the Arms and Explosives Act, Chapter 58.

He got caught when he tried to get on an airplane:

The defendant then took his wallet out and placed it in the X-ray machine.

As the wallet was screened, one of the airport security officers noticed something that looked like a bullet inside the defendant's wallet.

The defendant was asked to take out the contents of his wallet which he did witnessed by the airport security officers.

Asked by the airport security officers about the bullet, the defendant admitted that the bullet belonged to him. The bullet was sent to the Royal Brunei Armed Forces where upon examination, the bullet was found to be a live bullet which had not been used before.

IMHO the wrong person is getting the whipping and the prison sentence.

I'm going to my room and sulk now.  Because it looks like I have feces rubbed all over my face.

Xenia Huffman-Scott
After makeup to imitate a jackal was applied to her face for the play Jungle Book.  Her post on the play is here.
April 1, 2006

The New York Times has an article about Bloombergs attack on the right of people to keep and bear arms.  They have the headline of In His War on Illegal Guns, Bloomberg is Facing Uphill.  It should be In His Illegal War on Guns Bloomberg is Facing Prison.  But he's not--even though 18 USC 242 says he should:

Section 242 of Title 18 makes it a crime for a person acting under color of any law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

For the purpose of Section 242, acts under "color of law" include acts not only done by federal, state, or local officials within the their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of that official's lawful authority, if the acts are done while the official is purporting to or pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties. Persons acting under color of law within the meaning of this statute include police officers, prisons guards and other law enforcement officials, as well as judges, care providers in public health facilities, and others who are acting as public officials. It is not necessary that the crime be motivated by animus toward the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin of the victim.

The offense is punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime, and the resulting injury, if any.

Just like the blacks of 50 or 100 years ago the law doesn't apply when it is the rights of gun owners that are being violated.

Ry and I were out the door of my house in Moscow by 7:30 AM then traveled the hour to the Boomershoot range and made about 45 pounds of reactive targets by 11:00.  We tested them with .223 and .50 BMG ball ammo.  With the .223 we got detonation 50% of the time at 460 yards which figures out to about 1700 fps.  On the .50 BMG there have been problems in the past.  Smaller calibers were popping them off just fine but the .50 in ball wouldn't.  No problem today -- at least at 460 yards.  We also tested some steel targets with the .223 (no damage at 460 yards with VMAX bullets).  Targets six weeks old detonated from 20 yards away with a .223 (last year targets just a four weeks old wouldn't detonated with a .223).  Just as we were leaving some guy drives up, walks up to the driver side of the Jeep as we are pulling out on the road and asks, "Are you going to be doing that next weekend?"  "No."  "Good!" and he walked off.  <shrug>  It will be four weeks before we detonate about 1000 pounds (in one and two pound increments) instead of just fifty pounds.  Oh well.  He'll find out soon enough.  I dropped Ry off at his van, parked at Microsoft, about 12:20 AM.  And now I'm ready for bed at 1:20 AM...

Pictures of Barb's Jeep later.  I got a comment of "Been four-wheeling, huh?" when we stopped for a bathroom break in Ellensburg.  I didn't know mud covered Jeeps attracted the attention of pretty college-age girls... I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time Barb is out of town.

Update: Ry has a couple posts up here and here about our adventures this weekend.  And here is the picture of Barb's Jeep after we got back from the Boomershoot range:

We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

We note with amazement that Bill Clinton has had the chutzpah to pose as a devotee of Theodore Roosevelt. For a draft dodger to presume to align himself with the hero of San Juan Hill is possibly the crowning impertinence of the 20th century.

As it has been mentioned, the Clinton administration may be quaintly characterized as "the evil of two lessers."

Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996

On February 15 I posted about some tests I did with the new Boomerite mix.  At 630 yards the targets didn't detonate with with .223 ammo I was using.  I was using muzzle velocity numbers from several years ago for the same brand of ammo in the same gun but I didn't trust the numbers because the point of impact was lower than I expected.  I measured the muzzle velocity again and found the MV was 135 slower than my previous numbers.

Using the new MV I recalculated the target velocities of my tests in February.  My best estimate is the target velocity was 1182 fps.  Too slow to expect detonation.

Assuming the weather holds Ry and I will redo the tests tomorrow to find out if 1500 fps .223 bullets will detonate the targets.  1500 fps is the expected velocity of my .223 bullets at about 550 yards under Boomershoot conditions.

They couldn't just wait any longer.  Xenia and John got married.  Details and pictures are in Xenia's Live Journal post.  Here is one of the pictures:

The ring is the one I gave Barb (which she wore for about a week)

Update: If you click on the link to Xenia's LJ and follow it to the bottom of the page you will see it's--April Fools Day!

I saw an ex-marine buddy of mine back down two Seattle Seahawks in a bar once -- scariest thing I have ever seen.  This guy is only about 5'8", the Seahawks just towered over him.  Things escalated to the point where they said, "We are going to mop the floor with you and what do you think you are going to do about it?"  The ex-marine eyes are just as black as death and he said, "I don't know, but we'll find out if you try."

This was the perfect thing to say.  It didn't challenge them, and it wasn't submission (although submission and running might have been a good way out for most people).  It drew a line for them and told them there WOULD be a response if they stepped over it.  His body language made it clear that he would respond.  The Seahawks backed down -- they didn't feel a need to find out what the response might be.

Greg Hamilton (paraphrased)
Self Defense Instructor
February 5, 1997

The successful imposition of "gun control has not stabilized Guatemala politically.  In effect, "gun control" ensures that only the wealthy may lawfully own firearms.  However, they tend to settle political problems with firearms.  What the "gun control" laws achieved -  some 90 years after the first such was enacted - was to clear the way for mass murder.

Lethal Laws -- "Gun Control" is the Key To Genocide
Page 229
by Jay Simkin, Aaron Zelman, and Alan M. Rice
Copyright 1994
ISBN 0-96442304-0-2

The 2005 edition of the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide provides information designed to help you comply with all the laws and regulations governing the manufacture, importation, and the distributions of firearms and ammunition.

Carl J. Truscott
Special Message From the Director
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Washington, DC 20226
ATF Publication 5300.4
[With nearly 250 pages of Federal law and regulation it appears either I or someone else misunderstand the meaning of "shall not be infringed."  I can think of better ways to help me comply than publishing this tome.--Joe]

I got an email from someone that works at the Hanford site for an organization other than Pacific Northwest National Laboratory which has close ties to Hanford as well.  He said Boomershoot.org is blocked from his work.  Interesting....  I must have quite a reputation.  Or else I just flatter myself.  I'm not sure which. 

I know it is blocked from Xenia's school.  I don't know the reason there. 

A friend who works at Cingular told me, "The website was blocked because of relating to Violence..."  I'm insulted by that. 

Although I forget who it was someone told me it was blocked from their work access because of related to criminal activities or some such thing.  Now that I am really insulted about.

I like to think these things are, as I suggest in the FAQ, because some Puritan is afraid that someone, someplace, is having fun.

Background:

• Why not think for yourself?
• A question for my readers
• My decision

I received an email from FirstName today.  She sent me the response she would like me to post.  She asked that I give her my opinion of it before I posted it.  I emailed my opinion to her and I include it here:

I detect a little bit of "sucking up" to me in your response--but not so much that I'm going to "take points off" for it.

I believe her response will be a worthwhile footnote to her writing career.  And for the record, her response to my comment was: "...there was no sucking up whatsoever...I meant every word I said."

The following is from FirstName:

Imagine you’re on top of the world…an honor student, an opinion columnist, a sorority sister, with amazing friends and a loving family…ready to take on the rest of the world ahead of you with strength and unlimited potential. And then on one ugly day in March, your world comes crashing down…and you learn that you’re unemployed at the only place that ever gave you hope, depth and honor.
 
I am an avid writer with a crazy passion for words, and I was given the opportunity to share these words, my words, with thousands of listeners. My opinion wasn’t typically respected in College Station, but this only made me stronger and more excited to write.
 
Needless to say, my time as an opinion columnist was short-lived because I blatantly cut corners. I made one of the biggest, ugliest mistakes in my life, and I undeniably regret it every single day. My facts were not well-researched and my context certainly overshadowed my opinion. I know years from now no one will even remember this happened, but I know it will haunt me forever. I am ashamed, I am remorseful, and I have paid a weighty price.
 
After much hesitation about emailing Joe about the whole situation, it turned out to be probably one of the most enlightening experiences I’ve had with someone who has contrasting opinions. Joe told me a story about the board of directors at his company who were searching for a new CEO…they wanted someone who had made a major mistake in their life for this poignant reason:
 
“People that went through life without making any mistakes or without realizing they had made a mistake were more likely to make a major mistake in the future.  They tend to think of themselves as "charmed" and/or infallible.  They trust their instincts too much.  They will charge ahead despite evidence that the path is doomed to failure.  They cut corners because they got away with it in the past.  If you really have realized you made a mistake more serious than getting caught then you may be a better person for having made that mistake.”
 
These words of Joe’s (and my other academic credentials) may be the only faith I have to hold on to in hopes of succeeding after graduation. This May, I am moving out of Texas, and hopefully moving on with my life...I am taking this chance to start over in a (hopefully) forgiving world.
 
I know I screwed up, but I am an honest woman with a good heart…and I have learned an incredible lesson. I appreciate Joe’s constructive criticism and insight, and I thank him for giving me this opportunity.

Update: September 18, 2006. I removed the actual name of the plagiarist and substituted FirstName LastName after she asked me to remove her name, wrote an apology, and I waited what I considered was a reasonable period of time.

I normally would have waited another week or so to mention more Boomershoot blog posts but this is a special occasion.  I forgot one posting last time and today I noticed the first ever negative posting.

• Exercising the right...
• HOW THE NEXT ELECTION WILL BE "WON"

The second one is the negative one.  And Boomershoot is just a extra brain fart from a barking moonbat that can't stay on topic.  Here is the most of the relevent text:

IT'S APPARENTLY CALLED BOOMERSHOOT AND AS FAR AS I CAN SEE IT IS ONLY FOR THE TOTALLY BRAIN DEAD. NOT THAT ANYONE WHO STOPS BY HERE FITS THAT CATEGORY OF COURSE. NOLA IS STILL A RUIN AND WE HAVE TWATS SPENDING LARGE CHUNKS OF CASH ON SHIT LIKE THIS. THE WORLD IS A SAD PLACE INDEED.

[shrug]  I left a comment thanking him for the free advertising.  It probably won't be approved but it was worth a try.

Thanks to this pointer from Raymond I can now stop stressing on why it's called WiFi.  The "Wireless Fidelity" answer just didn't sit well with me but I never bother to go searching for a better answer or rub someone's nose in the obvious nonsense name.  Cory Doctorow gives us the real story.  WiFi isn't short for anything.  I feel so much better now.  Thank you.

I checked with Cingular, Inland Cellular, Qwest, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Only Inland Cellular and Verizon have coverage at the Boomershoot site. Inland Cellular is analog only. Last year I had coverage with my AT&T phone. I switched over to Cingular and now have nothing. I will get a cell phone just for the event and give the number out to all attendees.

Gun bans, knife bans, surveillance cameras everywhere, and now the National ID Card has passed both the House of Lords and Commons.  There were some compromises made that may allow saner minds to prevail before implementation but it's still bad news.  No good can come of a National ID card.  The U.K. is making significant progress toward a police state.