Sunday, May 07, 2006

Xenia posted a little bit about her Boomershoot experience.  It includes pictures by and of Sara and Lexi.

Joe Huffman  Sunday, May 07, 2006 8:14:47 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 

In the 1840s Americans still thought Manifest Destiny was really cool and got the president to fight a war to get more land from Mexico including Texas and California. Texas said it was already free, but Mexico didn’t think so until after America kicked their butt.

Xenia Joy Huffman-Scott
4:00 AM, May 1, 2006
On the day the history project was due.
[There is other great stuff in her timeline of American history too, check it out.--Joe]

Joe Huffman  Sunday, May 07, 2006 7:54:39 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Saturday, May 06, 2006

I liken Boomershoot to the state of mind when one is doing yoga. It's very peaceful.

Stephanie Sailor
April 30, 2006
While at Boomershoot.

Joe Huffman  Saturday, May 06, 2006 10:26:10 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Friday, May 05, 2006

From Ry


Boomershoot 2006 cleanup. April 30, 2006. 14 MBytes .WMV

As Ry said, "Why weren't you there?"

Joe Huffman  Friday, May 05, 2006 7:29:36 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 

The first nationalization of the 21st century…. After today the hydrocarbons will belong to all Bolivians. Never again will they be in the hands of transnational corporations. Today the country - la patria - stands up…. This is a patriotic and heroic decision that takes back our soul and dignity. But it will be a measure attacked by dinosaurs, conservatives, and traitors of the country.

Álvaro García Linera
Vice-President of Bolivia
May 1, 2006
Nationalization of Gas!
From ZNet--A community of people committed to social change
[Yet another attempt of an experiment that has repeatedly failed.  It's a sad day for the people of Bolivia as this resource and source of income heads toward it's ruin.--Joe]

Joe Huffman  Friday, May 05, 2006 7:24:03 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [1]  | 
 Thursday, May 04, 2006

At Boomershoot 2005 (last year) we blew up a computer.  Watch the KING5 Evening Magazine video to see it.  Someone else blew up their computer and made a really nice video of it as well.

Joe Huffman  Thursday, May 04, 2006 8:14:29 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [1]  | 

Most gun control advocates have mental problems but they usually avoid contradicting themselves in the space of two minutes.  Mayor Street can't even manage that:

The illegal guns - about 1,500 of them - covered most of the floor of the Mayor's Reception Room on the second floor of City Hall.

Mayor Street, who said they had been confiscated since the start of 2006, used them as a platform yesterday for launching another gun-control campaign in Harrisburg.

"This [effort] isn't going to go away," Street said at a news conference. "When the General Assembly goes back into session, we will be there. I expect to be joined by mayors from other areas."

"... If we can have gaming in the commonwealth, then we can restrict the flow of guns."

...

"When you are out on the street and someone points a gun at you, you have to do something," Street said. "We believe we have a well-managed Police Department."

...

This was echoed by Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson: "To kill or be killed often involves only a split-second decision. When cops are confronted by a person with a gun, they have to react."

The cops "have to do something" when someone points a gun at them.  But private citizens don't have the same need?  These people need some help from a mental health professional.

Joe Huffman  Thursday, May 04, 2006 8:04:50 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 

The mayor asks the state to pass laws that prevent firearms from getting into the hands of criminals. But state and federal laws already prohibit the possession, purchase or sale of firearms for felons, people with a history of mental illness or facing allegations of domestic violence. All commercial sales of firearms require a background check for such disqualifiers.

What else could the state do? An outright assault weapons ban is unfair and unenforceable. Manufacturers supply trigger locks with their firearms and the locks are widely available at no cost.

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Gun Control: Blaming the state
May 4, 2006
[This is a huge turn around for the PI.  Add in their publication of the Boomershoot article on Tuesday and I'm a little weak in the knees.  This is really good news.--Joe]

Joe Huffman  Thursday, May 04, 2006 7:51:27 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Boomershoot 2006 is over but the blogging doesn't stop:

In addition to blogging activity the Spokesman Review article was picked up by the AP and showed up here:

Joe Huffman  Wednesday, May 03, 2006 9:45:23 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [5]  | 

From Mail & Guardian online:

A rash of cases of Malaysian women being tricked into having sex with fraudulent "healers" has prompted a warning from authorities for women to beware of smooth-talking con men.

In the latest case, a 41-year-old woman was tricked into having sex dozens of times with a medium who claimed to be the "Ninth Emperor of the Kingdom of God" and said she was possessed by evil spirits, newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old medium said her domestic and financial problems would be solved with the sex sessions, which took place over seven months at a cost of 20-50 ringgit ($5,50 to $13,85) each, during which he moved into her house.

He was eventually turfed out by the woman's husband and has threatened to put a curse on the family.

Dr. Joe recommends sex as a cure for everything but this guy was out of line--unless he was hired by the husband in which case the couple is just too stupid be given much sympathy. Even sex doesn't cure stupidity.

Sex
Joe Huffman  Wednesday, May 03, 2006 9:08:24 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 

Everything's better with a boom.

Lee Ellyn Frailey
April 30, 2006
While at Boomershoot 2006.

Joe Huffman  Wednesday, May 03, 2006 7:28:24 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Via Ry and Wired Magazine. Take The AQ Test:

Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.

I scored a 23.  Ry scored 13.

Aspergers is closely related to Autism.

Joe Huffman  Tuesday, May 02, 2006 7:28:18 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [8]  | 

Wile E. Coyote's got nothing on us.

Steve Joachim
April 30, 2006
After blasted an 80-pound anvil over 100 feet into the sky, which then buried itself into the ground, for halftime entertainment at Boomershoot 2006.

Joe Huffman  Tuesday, May 02, 2006 7:09:22 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Monday, May 01, 2006

Boomershoot 2006 was the best ever.  No doubt about it.  I'm way too tired to say everything I want to about it now but here are some links to what the Spokesmans Review (a Spokane area paper) had to say about it:

The high point of the event for me was seeing 17 year-old Sara Young (Xenia's friend and one of the workers for Boomershoot) detonate a 700 yard boomer on her first shot.  Of course she was using the rifle of one the Precision Rifle Clinic's Instructors and had some expert coaching from him, but it was still quite a thrill for both Sara and I.

Joe Huffman  Monday, May 01, 2006 9:46:35 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  | 

For some shooters, the event is all about marksmanship. Others say they're driven by politics – how the combination of guns and explosives is the ultimate expression of their constitutional rights as well as a gentle show of force for anybody watching in the federal government.

James Hagengruber
May 1, 2006
Spokesman Review: Boom with a view

Joe Huffman  Monday, May 01, 2006 9:28:51 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Sunday, April 30, 2006

It's an overcast day and vampires could attack at any time. We take safety very seriously.

James Huffman-Scott
Boomershoot April 30, 2006
Explaining the reason for the wooden stakes being given to every participant at check in.  The real reason, which James was not allowed to know, was that each shooter was to get a personal target to put at close (20 to 30 yards) range after lunch. More context from James:

Random person checking in "What's the stake for?"

Me: "Killing vampires."

Possible follow ups:

"Bullets won't hurt a vampire, they'll just piss it off. That's why you need a stake."

"It's an overcast day and vampires could attack at any time. We take safety very seriously."

Joe Huffman  Sunday, April 30, 2006 8:45:34 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [3]  | 
 Saturday, April 29, 2006

Do you know how to double the effectiveness of any bullet?  Put another round through your target.

Greg Hamilton
Self Defense Instructor
Nov. 19, 1995
[The lesson was, don't put effort into buying the best bullet or cartridge, put your efforts into placing your shots where they count.--Joe]

Joe Huffman  Saturday, April 29, 2006 8:58:18 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |