Phil has better stories than I do about getting home after work last night. I had to take numerous detours from my planned route because of all the backups. Even though it was 00:45 after watching another four episodes of Enterprise with James' at his apartment there were cars backed up for miles in some locations. I managed to look far enough ahead to detour around them and didn't actually have to stop for the traffic.

It was 01:15 when I arrived in my neighborhood and there were people on the street directing traffic down a little hill. I have the best snow and ice tires Les Schwab sells without getting studs and didn't really have any problems. There were places where I expect my 10 MPH stopping distances would have been 50 yards (downhill on a glaze of ice) but I could stop, I could go forward, and I could steer.

There were lots of cars abandoned along the streets and there were "interesting" vehicle tracks in places vehicles had no business going. I'm in the middle of a conference call from work right now (my input isn't needed right now) but soon I'm going to grab some food and cooking utensils (the cafeterias at work are closed) and head off to work. I'm hoping to get some good pictures.

...the Second Amendment is not for killing little ducks and leaving Huey and Dewey and Louie without an aunt and uncle.  It is for hunting politicians, like [in] Grozny, [or back in] 1776, when they take your independence away!

Bob Dornan
Congressional Record, 25 January, 1995

This "male pill" works by preventing ejaculation without inhibiting orgasm. For some people that would eliminate a lot of the fun but for others it would be most welcome.

Also "useful" is that it can be taken as a "one of" a short time before its effects are needed and normal function returns a few hours later:

A male contraceptive pill, which can be taken as a one-off dose just before a date without any side effects, is being developed by British scientists.

The tablet would prevent a man from being able to impregnate a woman by creating a “dry orgasm”. But the user’s fertility would return to normal within a few hours of taking the drug.

The pill, which was derived from drugs used to treat schizophrenia, prevents ejaculation but does not affect the intensity of the orgasm.

Very interesting.

As a scientist I can't think of a better way to bias your research and end up with bogus results:

The record is clear, and once we are able to get hearings on this, everyone will see what they already know, and that is that those who have the least opportunities at this age find themselves in the military, as I did when I was 18 years old.

Not only is Charles Rangel looking to find what he wants to find in these proposed hearings but he is announcing to the world what data he will find and what his conclusions are. Even if he managed to find data completely contradictory to what he believed he would have a difficult time admitting he was wrong and changing his conclusions. For a politician this is even more difficult than for a scientist. But then again he is a politician, not a scientist. For them it's not about finding the truth or doing the right thing--those things are irrelevant in politics.

That reminds me of a couple jokes:

POLITICIAN: From the Greek `poly' ("many") and the French `tete' ("head" or "face," as in `tete-a-tete': head to head or face to face). Hence `polytetien', a person of two or more faces.

Martin Pitt

And my favorite along this line:

The word 'politics' comes from the Greek root 'poly', meaning many, and 'tics', meaning blood-sucking parasites.

I don’t care about crime,  I just want to get the guns.  No, we’re not looking at how to control criminals  . . .  we’re talking about banning the AK-47 and semi-automatic guns. Until we can ban all of the firearms,  then we might as well ban none.

Senator Howard Metzenbaum
[Just so you know what most in the gun-rights movement have discovered after only a modest amount of research. It's not crime control that drives the people that want to ban guns.--Joe]

Update: Due to interest in an accurate citation of this quote I went looking some more. I looked yesterday but wasn't able to find anything satisfactory. Here are some hints:

• From HK Weapons Systems: it is suggested it was in 1993 or maybe 1994.
• From a personal profile on Free Republic: it is suggested it was during a debate on the Brady Bill in 1993.
• It is not on the list of Second Amendment Foundation or the Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms bogus quotes.
• It is not on the list of bogus quotes at GunCite.
• Searches for "I don't care about crime" and Metzenbaum (Google, Live Search, Yahoo) get a lots of hits.

If I were to spend more time on this I would look for transcripts of the debate on the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban. But I don't really have the time.

One battle at a time. We have a lot of work to do with things like property rights, ending the war on some recreational drugs, and Federal regulation of almost everything but we are still winning (or at least not losing) the battle to regain our right to keep and bear arms. Here is more proof from Eugene Oregon:

Other than alienating virtually every rural Democrat, there is no practical reason to ban handguns. We cannot take handguns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens when criminals would still buy them illegally or steal them.

...

Most importantly, gun ownership, including handguns, is the biggest deterrent to a totalitarian government or military coup. If the neoconservatives use the next terrorist attack to set aside more of our rights, we'll eventually run out of them. I'll be thankful that our "well regulated [neighborhood citizen] militia" has a "right to bear arms" that is not "infringed." Those are quotes from the Constitution. I wish gun banners and neocons would read it and love it.

Several years ago when I successfully moved to strike the gun control plank from the Democratic Party of Lane County's platform, no rural Democrats vocalized support. That wasn't surprising, because no rural Democrats were present. We certainly have been rectifying that, as our recent gains have illustrated.

This is not to say I agree with the Lane County Democrats on anything else. Here some info off of their website:

On every civil rights issue, Democrats lead the fight. Democrats support expanding opportunities in jobs, health care benefits, and education. We support vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws.

[Heavy sigh] They don't really understand what a "right" is. Health care is not and cannot be a right. Same with education and jobs. We still have lots of work to do--one battle at a time.

I was reloading some ammo yesterday and noticed this on the shelf:

This is left over from one of the tests I did in September of 1998 when I was first trying to come up with a mix that would go boom from rifle fire. It was a mix of potassium chlorate, ammonium nitrate, and diesel. I had gotten a couple successful detonations but then wanted to try adding a lot more diesel. There were three reasons for this:

1. A slurry would be easier to put in the pop cans
2. Excess fuel should produce a fireball (HAH! It was over three years later before Ry and I had our first success with fireballs)
3. Fewer measurements means less time spent making the targets

It didn't work. Even though I nailed the pop can from only 100 yards away with my 30.06 all that happened was the back of the can blew out. To this day excess liquid of any type we have tried is bad news to the sensitivity of the mix.

No surprise here.

Palestinian Attacks Go on Despite Truce

JERUSALEM Nov 26, 2006 (AP)— Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip as a last-minute cease-fire deal took hold Sunday morning, but two major Palestinian militant groups, saying they had no intention of stopping their attacks, fired volleys of homemade rockets into Israel.

The ongoing rocket attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad tempered hopes for a lasting truce, which was meant to end five months of deadly clashes.

I believe the problem is the mindset of the Muslim civilization. As told by Samuel P. Huntington in The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order they have a different viewpoint on group loyalties than we do in the West. I've made a crude chart that attempt to get the concept across:

Huntington describes it as a "U" and an inverted "U". I have it as more like 'V's because I didn't want to enter in all the data points to get a smooth U. But the point is that when our nations leaders say, "We are going to make peace, stop fighting while we talk" our civilization will obey even if the local groups think the fighting should continue. Muslim civilization doesn't have that much loyalty to their nation. The local tribe and community has more influence. And on the other end of the scale they have more loyalty to other Muslims than their nation as well.

This also explains why Saddam Hussein picked people from his hometown as his guards and elite army units. He trusted them far more than people from other areas of the country.

Where does that leave us? How can we, or the Israels, negotiate peace? Or even have peace with Muslims? Good questions. I'm not sure it can be done unless we destroy their culture.

Of course I do not regret the Bond days, I regret that sadly heroes in general are depicted with guns in their hands, and to tell the truth I have always hated guns and what they represent.

Roger Moore
[Daniel Craig isn't the only actor to play Bond and dislike guns.--Joe]

Xenia wants to be a photographer. She is doing some of her first "real" work now with senior portraits. Here is a set of pictures of Jessa. I really like this one:

Today she took pictures of Martin but I haven't seen them yet.

We went to my brother's place for Thanksgiving Day. They had a record number of people there--33. We brought seven of them in our van. In addition to Barb, me, and our three kids, James, Kim, and Xenia there was Xenia's friend Sara and Kim's fiancee Caleb. Here are some pictures. If I am in the picture Xenia took the picture (even the one with both of us in it). Otherwise I took the picture:

Kim and Caleb

Barb and me.

Xenia and me.

Amy. My brother's daughter who is the same age as Kim.

Lisa. My brother's daughter who is the same age as Xenia.

My Aunt Betty and one of her grandkids.

I'm thinking of giving (selling actually) the opportunity for people with night vision equipment the chance to exercise their equipment and skills on the night of Friday April 27^th 2007. This is two days before Boomershoot 2007. This would involve about 50 targets some of which would be "enhanced" for greater night time enjoyment. Other things that would be a little different from Boomershoot are the following:

• Targets would range from about 150 yards to 350 yards away
• Targets would be painted dark colors instead of being light colored
• Targets will all be 7x7 inches
• The price will be in addition to any entry fee you have paid already for Boomershoot 2007
• The price will be from $200 to $500 per person depending on how many people sign up
• The price will be finalized by April 15 2007 or when it is full whichever comes first
• Spotters are welcome but probably won't be useful and will not need to pay
• It will be limited to a maximum of 10 people
• The sun will be down
  • Sunset will be 19:50
  • End civil twilight will be 20:23
  • Moonrise will be 15:23
  • Moonset will be 04:06 the following day
  • The phase of the moon will be waxing gibbous with 82% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated
• Shooting will start at 20:30 and last for three hours or until the targets are gone
• A different location would be used. It is about two miles to the west of the usual site
• If it is too wet the site will be unusable and you would not have to pay even though you said you would participate
• All shooters will have a minimum of 10 feet horizontally and can set up starting at 19:00

This is a picture of the potential site as of November 23^rd 2006:

This location is facing north. The trees will shade the area from the setting sun but not from the moon. Of course if there is a heavy cloud cover it won't make much difference.

If you are interested send an email to JoeH@boomershoot.org with the subject of "Night Boomers".

Courage and conviction are powerful weapons against an enemy who depends only on fists or guns. Animals know when you are afraid; a coward knows when you are not.

David Seabury
[Good advice when you in a situation where you fear for your personal safety. We teach this concept in NRA Personal Protection classes.--Joe]

Citizens have the natural right and the common sense duty to protect themselves, their families, their communities, and their property...guns are the equalizing tools of self-protection, utopian lamentations notwithstanding.

Edgar A. Suter

Pretty interesting if you are a mechanical engineer type.

If somebody brings up guns I'm going to shoot 'em.

James Carville
November 22, 2006
Democratic strategist
Election changes hue of red states
News Observer via Alphecca
[I'd like to suggest someone makes sure Mr. Carville gets some good training and lots of practice time at the range.--Joe]

I do not believe in people owning guns. Guns should be owned only by the police and military. I am going to do everything I can to disarm this state.

Michael Dukakis
Then governor of Massachusetts, 1986
[Todays QOTD was inspired by this post from Say Uncle.--Joe]

I first saw it at The Smallest Minority. Then a friend from Microsoft (and Boomershoot) sent me a link to it and said, "This bit of fiction just absolutely scared the living daylights out of me." I'm pretty sure he is Jewish. [I was wrong] That makes at least a little bit of difference in the context.

It's a good read. You should read the whole thing.

I responded to my friend in email. What follows is a slightly sanitized version of what I said to my friend.

---

December 7th, 2008 is a Sunday. I'll be in Idaho.
 
Snarky remarks aside... Except for the level of detail and the scope it's nothing I hadn't already been concerned about. In addition to the financial centers I'm nearly certain Jewish population centers in New York City and Los Angles would be attacked--not just the economic targets. I've often figured Microsoft would be a target. It's too successful, too much of a bad influence (all that music and porn that is available via computers) and too big of a reminder of how unsuccessful Muslims are for them to tolerate it's continued existence.
 
And of course Israel would get it's share of "gifts". And probably England as well.
 
I need to find my book on nuclear warfare and see what sort of damage radius can be expected for warheads the size we are expecting. I think that for a 1 kiloton yield a mile or so is sufficient to have a decent chance of surviving the initial blast. That is not to say it would be something the U.S. could or should just shrug off.
 
On the flip side of that scenario I'm not sure most Muslim leaders and certainly North Korea will be very eager to buy into the expected endgame from that sort of attack.

I would expect that within a couple days Iran would have a soft green glow that would last for decades. If not from U.S. "sharing of the love" then from Israel suddenly becoming less inhibited in expressing their feelings toward Muslim extremists. I would expect many Muslim "Holy Cities" would become just "Holes".

North Korea geography would have some sudden changes that would require some changes in maps-should someone decide to put on their NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) suits and visit. 
 
I certainly regard Muslim extremists as an extremely serious threat--more so than North Korea. Watch the trailer for Obsession, The Movie. There are so many parallels between Nazi Germany and Muslims today that one has to be blind, ignorant, or stupid not to see what's going to happen if we don't take violent action and follow through on it. Unfortunately we don't have any good options available to us. I see it as either the long slow road something along the lines of what George Bush attempted, and the Democrats sabotaged, or wholesale genocide. We don't yet have the moral justification, and certainly not the political will, for genocide. But after we get nuked we may.

It will be ironic. The Democrats all demanding/promising peace and getting swept into office on that force of that idea. Then they deliver the peace of the grave for both us and our enemies.

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?

Joseph Stalin
[And hence, you can conclude that the left has a vested interest in not wanting people to think as well as own guns.--Joe]

I got an email from Babeland this evening. They have some toys they are pushing as gift ideas:

Spoil someone rotten with the look, feel, and total body indulgence of our top-of-the-line sex toys. These opulent items combine the latest technologies, premium craftmanship, and deluxe materials to create toys that are as decadent as they are delightful.

They have some interesting stuff available including programable ("as easy as sorting your music on iTunes"), 24K gold, stainless steel, and chrome toys. I will include just the paragraph titles to avoid pushing this blog too much past the PG-13 rating.

• For the Connoisseur
• For the Technophile
• For the Fashionista
• For the Adventurer
• For the Minimalist
• For the Sensualist
• For the Bootie Queen
• For the Realist (her)
• For the Insatiable
• For the Sophisticate
• For the Aesthete

I couldn't find any gPod's there however.

Blogging about the next Boomershoot, by people other than Ry and I, doesn't usually start until after the first of the year but it seems everything is happening early this year. Kirk made a blog post about it nine days ago: Boomershoot 2007. I expect that after Christmas people will start counting down the days and the blogging will get more intense. As last year I'll try to link to everyone that puts up a post mentioning Boomershoot.

In the past 90 minutes the last two "regular" positions for Boomershoot 2007 filled up. One was from Arlington, Washington and the other was from Florence, Montana. There are still six positions left in the .50 Caliber Ghetto and I'll let people without .50 cal toys to play there but they will be restricted in the available targets. This is amazing--64 positions have been taken up by November 20th which is over five months before the event.

I'll have a waiting list so send me an email if you want to attend and didn't get your position reserved in time. It seems there is always something that comes up for someone and they just can't make it and I nearly always give them their money back unless they insist that I keep it--in which case I just write them down as a free entry for the next year (yes, Phil, I'm talking about you for the second year in a row). The clinic is sold out too and again there is a waiting list. See here for details on that.

Speaking of places where people are coming from we have someone coming from Minnesota this year. That is a first from that state. See the map here for a complete list of where people have come from. It looks like Kirk (above) and Scott K. will be coming from essentially the same place on the East Coast and will be traveling the greatest distance.

In a day or two I'll be ordering most of the supplies--the cardboard boxes, zip-lock bags, and the vinyl gloves we use when mixing the chemicals. I'll probably order the potassium chlorate soon too. I have the money and want to put all the expenses I can into this year. Remaining will be the 800 stakes, batteries (for our walkie-talkies and our electronic scales), rubber bands (to attach the boxes of explosives to the stakes), baby wipes (clean up supplies for the chemical handlers), 25 pounds of [secret ingredient #3], 50 pounds of [secret ingredient #4], road flares, and gasoline. Most of these last items will be purchased locally at places like Costco and Wal-Mart. The stakes come from the local builder's supply place and will wait until just before before the event so I don't have to load and unload 800 stakes an extra time and store them in my already overflowing garage for months.

I had my first Boomershoot nightmare a week or so ago. Odd... I don't recall having any for Boomershoot 2006 although they were common for both Ry and I on several previous events. This nightmare was that I looked at my watch and realized it was 10:30 in the morning on the day of the event. It was 30 minutes past when the shooters meeting was supposed to start and I hadn't started making the explosives yet. All the shooters were patiently waiting on the grassy knoll, ready to start shooting, and I needed another eight or ten hours to make the targets. Not a pleasant thought.

I got a call from a woman today asking if there was room for her and her sister to park their RV's on-site and if it would be okay to cook some snacks for everyone the night before. Of course! And they aren't even planning on shooting. They are going to be driving several hundred miles to watch their husbands shoot (the wives are giving the entries as Christmas presents). I've had both of these wives call me now, as well as exchange several emails and they continually express a great deal of enthusiasm for the event and I'm beginning to wonder who the present is really for. Barb frequently asks, "Why do you do this?" I keep telling her it's for the explosives groupies--but I don't think she believes me.

This will be the 11th event I have put on. It was the 10th event before things really clicked well and the biggest problem I had only took ten minutes to completely resolve. Boomershoot 2007 should be a real winner for everyone.

There's plenty of room for spectators so bring your ear plugs, lawn chairs and we'll see you on April 29th. The directions are here. It'll be a blast!