Where we have enjoyed a pretty solid 25 to 30 vote majority, we must now get by with a somewhat less reliable 11 to 16 vote advantage – keeping in mind that we’re talking about politicians so they’re unpredictable and require constant supervision.

Jeff Knox
Director of Operations
The Firearms Coalition
November 13, 2006
Analysis and Action Plan
fcalerts-list -- News from The Firearms Coalition

After an eight hour commute home Friday night, arriving at 00:30 Saturday morning I got up and was off to Orofino before 07:00. I was supposed to be in Orofino by 08:00. I cut close to ten minutes off the usual travel time and arrived a few minutes after 08:00. I arrived only shortly after Xenia and Meghan so everything was cool. I took the pictures you see here. My favorite is the following where Xenia started levitating after the announcement that she and Meghan placed first in both drama categories (ensemble pantomime and ensemble humorous) they entered in. It's off to State competition for them now.

Oh, I almost forgot. This is the second year in a row they won first place at the District competition in both categories they entered. They are very, very good.

Putting makeup on her is like putting makeup on a super model.

LaffeeTaffee @ xyzmail.com (email address disguised to prevent spam)
November 12, 2006
Macy's in the Spokane Valley Mall
[While doing a "makeover" on our daughter Kim.--Joe]

At the constitutional level where we work, 90 percent of any decision is emotional. The rational part of us supplies the reasons for supporting our predilections.

William O. Douglas
[A lawyer recently told me something very similar. But it was perhaps a bit more cynical--or was it simply more truthful?--Joe]

Via Tam: While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within. Audible doesn't have it yet so it's going to have to wait. My backlog of dead tree format books is rather large.

I'm about halfway through Atlas Shrugged on my iPod Nano. With all the driving I have to do this weekend, plus the slow going over Snoqualmie Pass (I'm ready with good snow tires, tire chains, food, water, heavy coat, extra socks, work boots, extra gas, tarp, gloves, etc.) will probably mean I nearly finish it this weekend. I'm so pleased to "read" this book again. Thanks James for the birthday present.

Next on my Audible books list is Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

If the UK has this many plots in progress I wonder how many are active in the U.S.

Muslim extremists are plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain and the threats may involve chemical and nuclear devices, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency said.

Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of intelligence agency MI5, said young British Muslims were being groomed to become suicide bombers and her agents were tracking some 1,600 suspects, most of whom were British-born and linked to al Qaeda in Pakistan.

"We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and damage our economy. What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? No, nearer 30 ... that we know of," Manningham-Buller said in a speech to a specially invited audience in London on Thursday evening.

I wonder what the Democrats response to a chemical or nuclear attack in the U.S. or the even the U.K. will be. If they suggest negotiation their celebration of power will be short lived.

I'm a little bit surprised but very pleased with how firm the Prime Minister and cabinet are holding on to their intention to scrap the gun registry in Canada. If they can reverse the repression there it will help us to prevent it here:

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day paid a visit to Dawson College yesterday to discuss Canada’s gun control laws with the mother of Anastasia De Sousa, the student killed in the Sept. 13 shooting, and wounded student Hayder Kadhim.

Members of the Dawson Gun Control Committee were also present.

Kadhim, 17, had originally asked to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper to debate the Conservative government’s intention to abolish the long-gun registry, but Harper sent Day in his place.

Calling the meeting "productive," Day seemed not to have changed his mind on the gun registry issue after the discussion at Dawson.

He said Canada should be investing its resources in cracking down on gangs and gun trafficking, and in tightening gun-licensing rules.

Day’s press aide said yesterday’s meeting was part of an extensive series of countrywide discussions with stakeholders over the gun-control issue.

It's an ominous day:  The enemy has occupied headquarters, control has fallen into their hands, and freedom is once again calling for her defenders.

Wayne LaPierre
November 9, 2006
http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=61
[A little over the top perhaps but I can't see that it hurts to mobilize the troops.--Joe]

I said that I was at a pistol match last Sunday. Here are some pictures from that match. Yeah, I know it's really painful for people with dial-up. I have 3 MBPS downloads and I think you should too.

Adam's STI .40 S&W is in full recoil with a piece of brass just a few inches from the gun.

Don's .45 is in full recoil with his nickel plated brass in the air above the ejection port.


Don is playing Peek-a-Boo with his .45. Yes, that is a piece of nickel plated brass in front of his head.

Mike is winning the stage (and the match) Both Sides Now #1.

This last stage is the one that I was so pleased with my results on. An average of under five seconds to draw and shoot each of the six brown targets. Mike had slightly better time and was more accurate than me.

Progressive Gun Control: Tushnet v. Cornell:

Both scholars agreed that the actual impact of any realistically achievable gun control policy would not have the sweeping effect on reducing gun violence that most would be hoping for. However, while Tushnet saw this as one reason to not waste effort on the issue, Cornell maintained that reframing expectations about the impact of gun control policy could be part of developing a credible, progressive argument in favor of regulations.

"Credible"? Notice it not a "rational" or "persuasive" or "convincing" argument. It's a "credible" argument. In other words it doesn't matter if an improvement in crime rates can be measured. It's a good thing merely because regulation is what "progressives" do and they should feel good about doing it. "Progressives" regulate--it's in their nature. This is what I do--it's my nature and my arguments can be "forceful". Perhaps Mr. Cornell should further "reframe his expectations".

Molon Labe!

I think the reality is probably close to what Dave Kopel has to say:

The Second Amendment has emerged from the biggest Democratic victory since 1974 with relatively little damage. One reason is that in races all over the country, Democrats returned to their Jefferson-Jackson roots by running candidates who trust the people to bear arms.

But that doesn't mean we should sit back and relax. Wayne LaPierre has his own take on things:

We must start fighting today ... or tomorrow, we'll start over.

Spread the word to America's gun owners.  If they've wandered away from NRA, it's time to muster.  Sign up, recruit, enlist, renew, upgrade, get informed, get involved and get ready for battle again.

Of course Wayne has his own biases. Fear mongering helps his bottom line. But regardless of that what he says is probably good advice for gun owners. The more members the NRA has the more clout they have with the congress critters. The NRA lobbyists can really get a legislators attention by saying something like, "I have two emails already written and ready to send to our five (or seven or ten) million members. One says that you are a good guy and they should all donate $10 to your campaign. The others says you want to take their guns away and they should all donate $20 to your opponent. Maybe they won't pay attention. Maybe it's an empty threat but you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"

Apple doesn't like it but a small Japanese company has a innovative new product that is designed to be attached to your iPod--for women only:

Ichiro Kameda, the president of a tiny, two-man company in Osaka, is currently embroiled in a bitter battle with computer maker Apple.

"Putting it simply, the fight is all over what I call our beat generator. There's a small device with three different, sound-activated motors. It's a revolutionary invention. You can plug it in to iPods or mobile phones. It can also be programmed to operate only for certain voices," Kameda says, referring to his company's product.

Kameda's commercial pride and joy is actually a women's sex aid worn inside her most intimate orifices and buzzing her with good vibrations when set off by sound.

Though the Japanese Patent Agency gave him the right to use the devise (sic) in August last year, and the trademark he chose for the product was approved two months later, he still hasn't been able to sell. The problem? He called the product the gPod, presumably after the G-Spot and jii, the Japanese word for masturbation. Kameda has since found out his choice of product name was like, well, taking a bite out of a rotten apple.

I wonder if Phil has some appropriate tunage...

I think this is the most accurate statement I've found since the election:

The Republicans lost, and the Democrats won, for the same reason — they distanced themselves from their base.

After 30 years of being married I think I can safely say that Neal Bootz is pretty close to right. Except maybe about the food part.

Benton County. Case 06-2-02728-8.

More later. Some details need to be taken care of before I say much more.

For every attacker shot and killed in self-defense, 130 Americans are killed by guns for other reasons.

Mother Jones
Who We Kill
March/April 1996 Issue
The MoJo Wire and MOTHER JONES are projects of the Foundation for National Progress. A nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
Founded in 1975 to educate and empower people to work toward progressive change.
[Another case of using the wrong metric. The correct metric is attacks stopped, not attackers killed.--Joe]

I don't have more than a few minutes of experience on a Mac so I basically keep my mouth shut on the Mac versus PC war. I give you the following only for the humor value. It's not because I have any data to support anything negative said about the Mac.

Video: Mac attack

Video: PC vs Mac

Video: An Apple Gamer

I uploaded a several videos to Soapbox on MSN. They, not to mention Barb, won't allow me to upload videos of my sex hobby activities. So I did the next best thing:

Video: Kim's Project Fireball Test
After breaking up with her boyfriend this is Kim's first smile in a week. Fireballs will do that to you.

Video: Titanium Powder Works
One of our first successful fireball tests.

Video: Boomershoot Project Fireball Test

Video: Rocks Versus Explosives
My brothers had two big rocks in a field they couldn't get out with either the backhoe or the dozer. Ten pounds of explosives took care of the first one. Twenty for the second.

Video: Fairly Well
This is the first ever successful detonation of the explosive mixture to be used in Boomershoot. After two years of failures I was "enthusiastic" about the results.

Video: Exploding Guitar
It was a cheap guitar. Lyle can explain further. It was his guitar and he fired the bullet that detonated it.

Video: Pumpkin Popping
Aluminium powder gave it a bright flash. Flour gave it the white cloud of dust. It was hoped the aluminium would ignite the flour but it didn't work out.

I just got an email from Gene. The Boomershoot 2007 clinic is now full. Contact Gene to be put on the waiting list.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and then applying the wrong remedies.

Groucho Marx
[I expect we will be seeing a lot more of this soon.--Joe]

The main thrust of this article is something completely different but what really caught my eye was this:

Russia loses around 700,000 people each year - about 0.5 per cent of its total population - to emigration, disease and alcoholism.

It would appear that the "benefits" of socialism last for quite some time after the system has collapsed. One would hope that people not try another "experiment" such as that ever again. What is it? Something like 100 million dead in the last century that can be attributed to socialism and communism? And if the above numbers are correct and characteristic of what happens when socialism collapses one may even make a prediction.  And that prediction would be that the implementation of a "workers paradise" means the complete death of that society. It may be that the only escape from the death throes of that type of disaster is for some other culture salvage the remnants and rebuild it in a completely different image.

But one could always hope people could learn from the failure of others. But that hope would only reveal that I'm an optimist even in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. I do have irrefutable evidence that people don't learn from the failures of others--there are still people that vote for the Socialists Democrats in our country.

I did a little bit of pistol practice last week. Then I did quite a bit of dry firing Saturday evening before going to the IPSC match on Sunday. I came in fifth overall out of 17 entries. The practice helped. In particular on the last stage I shot (Both Sides Now #1) I could feel things working correctly. I still hit, just barely, a no-shoot target but I felt myself enter into "the zone". The conscious mind was merely an observer as the eyes, hands, and fingers aligned the sights and pulled the trigger. From 35 feet away I drew and fired six rounds into six targets while leaning around the edge of a barricaded in, on the average, under five seconds. It felt really good for a change. I should practice more.

Last night shooters 92 and 93 signed up for Boomershoot 2007 leaving, excluding the .50 caliber ghetto, only three positions. Even a month ago I could not have imagined such a thing would have happened. It's five and a half months before the event! What other sort of event fills up that far in advance? My guess is that I could start taking reservations for Boomershoot 2008 right now and I'd be half full for that within a month.

I'm pleased and proud but I need to figure out the answer to just one question, what do we do next with Boomershoot? Soon, I'll finish my posts "Boomershoot Past", "Boomershoot Present" and "Boomershoot Future". They aren't about the details or the mechanics of Boomershoot. They are about the philosophical principles of Boomershoot. From that I will figure out the implementation details of "Boomershoot Future".

Update: I had a person signed up to shoot alone request to be moved to a different position shared with his friends.  Position 19 in the main area is open again.

Ron Paul is actually a Libertarian. He just puts an R after his name so he can actually get elected instead of being on the outside and whine about things. He is a freedom advocate that is practical--something that is sometimes difficult for me. I tend to be more absolute and reluctant to sacrifice my principles even when I know it's not in my best self interests to be so.

That aside, here's what Ron Paul is saying about the current state of gun control:

The gun control movement has lost momentum in recent years. The Democratic Party has been conspicuously silent on the issue in recent elections because they know it's a political loser. In the midst of declining public support for new gun laws, more and more states have adopted concealed-carry programs. The September 11th terrorist attacks and last year's hurricanes only made matters worse for gun control proponents, as millions of Americans were starkly reminded that we cannot rely on government to protect us from criminals.

...

Gun control may have faded as a political issue, but the mentality that Washington knows best-- and that certain constitutional rights are anachronisms-- is alive and well. Look for gun control advocates to bide their time and look for new ways to resurrect the issue in 2008 and beyond.

As fast as we can... we need to change the negative view of guns and their owners. We need to have and create the proper State of Mind in the public.

I understand their point and I might even agree with it as long as the family was both paying for the health care and making the decision. But if the government is paying for the health care and/or making the decisions then I get very uncomfortable. And as this is in the U.K. it will be the government paying for the health care:

Doctors involved in childbirth are calling for an open discussion about the ethics of euthanasia for the sickest of newborn babies. The option to end the suffering of a severely damaged newborn baby - who might have been aborted if the parents had known earlier the extent of its disabilities and potential suffering - should be discussed, says the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in its evidence to an inquiry by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which examines ethical issues raised by new developments.

The reason I get concerned if the government is paying for it is that the health care budget is essentially fixed and to eliminating a few very expensive patients will save a lot of money. There will be a slippery slope they will have a great difficulty in avoiding. And once comfortable with elimination of those sort of expenses it will be more comfortable to "cut expenses" elsewhere. The elderly and the gravely, but perhaps not necessarily terminally, ill will likely find themselves next on the "chopping block". If the family is paying for it then there will still be financial pressure on the middle and low end of the economic scale but the option for the long shot attempt for a "normal" life will be available for some instead of being denied to all.

I should ask our Chinese friend if this is some sort of cultural thing. Maybe something was lost in the translation because this makes no sense to me:

China has a totally different attitude towards sex from many countries. We should not only promote a bold, open attitude, as in Western countries, but also preserve healthy, traditional views on sex," said Duan.

This appears to be a direct contradiction unless he is saying both (and I would presume all) behaviors are acceptable. But don't doesn't quite fit with the rest of the context:

BEIJING, Nov. 6 -- Once regarded as "bold and open," Li Yinhe's views on sex, particularly topics such as "wife-swapping," got a frosty reception from experts at the fourth Guangzhou Sex Culture Expo.

Addressing last year's festival, Li, widely acclaimed as China's foremost female sociologist on sex issues, said wife swapping was a normal kind of entertainment and all couples should have the right to do it if they wanted to.

However, this year scholars and experts at a forum held in conjunction with the ongoing expo rejected her easy-going views.

"Wife swapping should not be promoted to the public as it will lead to the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases," said Zhang Feng, director of the Guangdong Provincial Population and Family Planning Committee.

Zhang added that neither the sex forum nor the expo should provide a platform for advertising bold and "unacceptable" views to the public.

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.

John Quincy Adams

Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against.

W. C. Fields

Your vote isn't a bet on who's going to win the election. It's a statement of who you are.

Karl Hess
Fundraising Letter written on behalf of the Libertarian Party, November 1990.