The regulation that prohibits firearms in National Parks has long been a point of irritation for me. Barb and I really enjoy visiting the National Parks and have contemplated trying to visit all of them. But we aren't supposed to bring a self-defense firearm to places where grizzly bears snack on the tourists? What's up with that?

I received my marching orders from the apex of the triangle of death along with another wheelbarrow full of cash yesterday informing me they have been working on this for the last five years and finally have made some significant progress. Idaho Senator Mike Crapo sent a letter, signed by 46 other senators, to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting the regulation change.

What they didn't mention on the website or in the note on the wheelbarrow was that not only was it an Idaho Senator that played a big role in writing this letter but that Interior Secretary Kempthorne is a former U.S. Senator and more recently governor of Idaho and has a strong pro-gun rights record. He did veto a bill that would have allowed concealed carry on school grounds by teachers and parents but he had a lot of pressure by the media and even national attention that caused him to cave on that one. When I called his office to encourage him to sign it I was told the phone calls, letters, faxes, etc. were running something like 50:1 against the bill.

Furthermore, Kempthorne graduated from the University of Idaho in 1975 and his wife Patricia also graduated from the University of Idaho. Barb and I graduated from there in 1977. Our son James graduated from there, our daughter Xenia is currently attending, and our daughter Kim has applied there. The University of Idaho is walking distance from our home in Moscow. In fact Xenia, since she (procrastinator extraordinaire) still doesn't have a drivers license uses her feet as her primary transportation to and from class from our home.

If it's up to Kempthorne I expect we will, at long last, get rid of this oppressive and dangerous restriction on our ability to defend ourselves in national parks.

If that happens I'll be a lot more enthusiastic about visiting the parks and less grumpy when I'm hiking through the woods without the constant reminder of that empty feeling of no gun on my hip in country with large predators.

What follows are some more pictures of our recent trip to Glacier National Park (and here):

Thank yous go to NRA-ILA, Idaho Senators Crapo and Craig, who both signed the letters and Ashley for the email (and also said she liked my earlier pictures of Glacier).

Shame on you to the senators that didn't sign the letter such as the Senators of Washington State where I currently reside. Please note that Presidential hopefuls Senators Clinton and Obama did not sign the letter. McCain did.

You also have to figure it’s probably frustrating as hell for them to not have a single legislative achievement at the federal level in 14 years. They try to push a bill, after the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history, that makes so many concessions to gun owners that the NRA doesn’t have any problem with it, and they still can’t get it through Congress because the Brady name and cause have become so politically poisonous that even a whiff of their involvement is enough to send Congress running.

Sebastian
December 17, 2007
Can You Smell the Desperation?
[Regarding Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke's blog post.--Joe]

An editor should have a pimp for a brother, so he'd have someone to look up to.

Gene Fowler
1992 Daily Curmudgeon Calendar
[Uncle's example from the New York Times where they rant about the lack of gun control reminded me of this.--Joe]

I find it difficult to model the mind of someone that says, all in the same article, the following things. The best I can come up with is some sort of machine with most of the gears missing teeth. It starts and stops and sort of seems to be working but the end results is totally different from what is expected for the given input.

In the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we have to ask the question whether anyone outside of the security forces must be allowed to carry a gun at all. Gun control is a controversial issue all over the world. Opponents of gun control argue that it takes away the rights of good people to protect themselves while criminals will always find a way to own or use guns.

[...]

I am aware that there is a body of evidence, especially in the US that shows that gun bans or even gun control does not substantially affect the crime rate.

[...]

Therefore the unpalatable conclusion must be that gun control has failed and has to be replaced by a complete gun ban at least for a period of time preceded by a campaign against gun use and ownership and an amnesty for the handing in of illegal guns.

Gun control has failed therefore we need more gun control? It's typical, even though I don't understand it except as a sort of psychological pathology.

As a private citizen, as a prosecutor, as a Mayoral candidate and as Mayor, I have advocated for more regulated and more uniform gun licensing regulations, similar to those for a drivers license.

Rudy Giuliani

Mitt Romney

John McCain

Fred Thompson

Mike Huckabee

Ron Paul

Via Jeff Knox Candidates on Rights
[There is a fair amount of further information in Knox's post.--Joe]

WHEREAS: The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, must be protected by every Member of Congress.

WHEREAS: Sarah Brady and the Gun Control Lobby are already bragging how they are going to work with their allies in Congress to put the right to keep and bear arms on the congressional chopping block.

WHEREAS: Sarah Brady and the rabid gun-grabbers are planning to ban private gun sales, exterminate gun stores, renew the Clinton Gun Ban, enact gun rationing, ban other self-defense guns, expand no-safety zones, make concealed carry permits useless and otherwise infringe on the Gun Rights of Americans.

THEREFORE: Let every U.S. Senator know I’m opposed to such efforts to undermine my right to keep and bear arms and I demand Congress pass “NO MORE GUN CONTROL.”

National Association for Gun Rights
No More Gun Control Petition
[I got a call a few minutes ago asking me to listen to a message from Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave. I did listen and it asked me to sign the above petition and donate money. I signed the petition but haven't donated any money. This week I put $1300 into car repairs and it's not a good time of year for finding extra cash anyway.--Joe]

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Winston Churchill
[Remember that when you consider "biting your tongue" rather than offend an anti-freedom bigot who deserves to be offended or worse. If you don't speak up for the things you most strongly believe in then you should not be surprised when you lose the things you most cherish..--Joe]

You know, that is the most inane statement I have ever heard.

Mika Brzezinski
December 11, 2007
Video here: 2007-12-11MSNBCMJMika.wmv (2.17 MB)
In response to Joe Scarborough telling her, "One person with a gun in the right place can make a big difference." in regards to Jeanne Assam stopping the murderer at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
Via Mark Finkelstein at NewsBusters and an email from Ashley Varner @ the NRA-ILA.
[No attempt at refuting the claim, just dismiss it. But of course what else could she do other than change her mind? The facts speak for themselves.--Joe]

This is from a friend who lives there.  He's been a long-time marksmanship and sniper instructor for the IDF, and he does seminars in Israel and the U.S. on counterterrorism.

You just can't make up this stuff:

Friends:

 

Over 20 Kassam rockets rained down on the northern Negev.  We get only partial information.  If we received all the facts and figures, like Kassams landing around Askelon almost every single day, the government would be forced to defend the country or resign.

 

Have a good weekend.

Just outside the city limits of Chicago there are gun shops selling guns to people that live in the city. That is an entirely legal transaction. They owners of the new guns are prohibited by Chicago law from bringing the guns into the city. Since some of them violate that law the politicians and media are whining and making plans to shut down the gun shops--who did not violate the law. Nothing to see here, just punishing the innocent, move along now.

Anyone with a cursory interest in the Second Amendment can find a lot about the Original Intent of the Framers with just a few quick internet searches and a few minutes of reading.  Why then would we need an exhaustive documentary on it?  Because so many people, knowing what it means and hating it, attempt to deny it using all manner of silly rationalizations.

Now we can drive those people crazy (or bring their already existing craziness into the full light of day) while educating those who are willing.  I just ordered four copies-- one to keep, two to give to friends, and one to donate to our local public school library (heh).  (The "heh" is there because, as we all know, most people in our public school system will go bananas over anything that shows even a hint of tolerance or acceptance of gun rights.  60 years ago however, there were still quite a few gun ranges on public school property, so the statement that one would donate literature regarding the original intent of the Framers of our Constitution would have been seen in the appropriate light-- as a nice gesture, rather than an attack on their politics.)

Joe and I watched the documentary at his discrete, undisclosed, hardened & secured, intimidating underground bunker facility last month, and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed in this work of scholarly excellence.

Thomas Sowell is one of my heroes, but I've never known him to comment on guns or shooting until now.

Even within a range of 6 feet or less, the police miss more often than they hit — 57 percent of the shots at that distance miss and 43 percent hit.

As you might expect, there are even fewer hits at longer distances. At 75 feet — which is less than the distance from first base to second base — only 7 percent of the shots hit.

Moreover, just because a shot has hit does not mean that it is now safe to stop shooting.

Sowell wastes not a single word while offering more perspective than an entire flock of regular journalists.

James and I just finished up Stargate Atlantis season three and were going to start watching Farscape but the first season is very tough to find on DVD. Is there anyone near where I roam (Seattle to north central Idaho) willing to loan it to us for a few weeks?

Thanks.

According to both statistics and sheer logic, the very notion of gun control is so patently stupid, that only people with too much education could possibly believe it, and it is no accident that for self-described “progressives,” gun control is often at the top of their list. Call me old fashioned, but I much prefer English statesman Edmund Burke’s observation that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” And when it comes to these random shootings, allowing as many good men possible the ability to shoot back is our only hope for less deadly results in the future.

Jack Hunter
Columnist
December 11, 2007
WTMA commentary broadcast
The Insane Logic of Gun Control
[And good women.--Joe]

The little guys try harder:

In what's likely to be seen as a privacy-friendly move, IAC Search & Media's Ask.com search engine Tuesday announced a new feature called AskEraser that deletes a user's search activity data from the company's servers.

When enabled by the user, the feature will completely delete search queries and associated cookie information from Ask.com servers -- including IP addresses, user IDs, session IDs and the text of queries made, according to the company. In most cases, the deletion will take place within a few hours of the time a search is completed, the company said.

What's bizarre is that some people want government involvement in something where the big concern is government involvement to begin with:

Ask.com has also said that it will also retain user search data in cases where it is required by law to do so, according to Chester. Formal legal requests for search data will continue to be honored, even if AskEraser is enabled.

As a result, Chester argued that Ask.com still hasn't fully addressed consumer privacy concerns.

"Some privacy advocates will suggest that this announcement shows the 'market' is working," he said. "No doubt, that's what Google and the other online advertisers opposed to a serious privacy policy will echo, whispering it to regulators, lawmakers and journalists. That's why a national privacy policy is required."

I reported the other day that I was very, very busy at work and was putting in some very long hours on weekends and evenings/nights/early-mornings. They've been telling us it's really important to get these changes done soon, we can't miss this deadline, etc., etc. It's not that I doubted that, but it's interesting when aspects of the project my officemate and I have been spending unreal hours working on (she worked all day on her birthday this last Sunday) make the news.

To my Program Manager and Dev Lead who have been expressing concern; Yes, we will be code complete by Friday. There will probably still be bugs which won't be fixed for week or two but the feature set will be there and working. Perhaps as early as tomorrow.

Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one.

E. B. White
[While this may seem to be true I would have to see the actual numbers to believe it myself. I have known and worked with many people that qualify as genius in the I.Q. department. I suspect that the genius can see what others either cannot or do not want to see and ignores many societal conventions simply because they are superfluous. This gives the appearance of "cracked". The non-genius wishes to either deny they are blind, and/or have their eyes closed, calls the genius "cracked" in an effort to bring the genius down to their level. Still, using the model as described above could be useful if for no other reason than you don't reject the company or contribution of someone "a little strange". Being in the company of genius can have it's advantages and is perhaps worth putting up with a little strangeness.--Joe]

Sometimes you can't make this stuff up. Now maybe someone did make this up and is just playing with me but I would expect a bimodal distribution across this particular dimension if that were the case. Instead I get a more normal distribution with this guy pushing the limits of the tail.

From: XXX@aol.com
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 3:46 PM
To: Joe
Subject: yo jo

yo want a bomd well do you want tio kill some one becouse you can use a fairly resonoble flash pree bomb that will make a lot of nois ans send shrapnal for several hundred feet take any house hold cleener that has hydreclorikacid in it and add mettle shavings to detinate if you want shrapnal to maximize damage atache it to the 12oz botle you mix the chemical and medil shavings in or put glass inside the botle etyher or your bomb will be loud and there will be no flas

________________________________________
See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.

Just as one would expect it is an AOL user. The IP address places the sender in New York City.

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.

Adam Smith
The Wealth of Nations
[I just finished listening to Free to Choose and just started Freedomnomics. Both, and rightly so, reference Smith's book and the quote above.--Joe]

I've been working very long hours the last week or so--including this weekend. Barb came over to my Seattle area "bunker" to visit and it's a good thing she had lots of scrap-booking supplies to work with while I was doing the "work from home" thing. I'm waiting for a build to complete now after making tons of changes.

Anyway, sorry for not making anything but the QOTD posts, not answering email, and almost not reading anyone else's blog postings for days. I haven't been doing much except work, a little food, watching a couple crappy movies on-line with Barb (Breasts, A Boy and His Dog, and Darwin Awards), and partaking in liberal amounts of Dr. Joe's Cure for Everything as needed.

Things will probably still be pretty busy for the rest of the week before I get through this crunch period.

Thanks for your patience.

Honestly, and as God as my witness, when I saw him shooting and as watched for a few seconds trying to figure out what he was going to do and what I should do, the thought that when through my mind was, “If I had a gun, I have a perfect shot.”

Yes, a perfect shot. I had a full side profile, I was close, and no one was visible behind him execept a wall. I had a clear shot during the second round of fire. I told this to every cop I came in contact with. The interviewer agreed.

When I realized that I had no gun, fear instantly struck me, along with anger, and severe panic.

[...]

I am very angry at the city of Omaha and the mall for their stupid laws that nearly cost me my life. The laws protected no one, and in my opinion, caused people to die.

"NW"
A witness to the Omaha Mall mass shooting
Via Joe's Crabby Shack, thanks to an email from Rob.
[People died because some anti-gun bigots didn't even try to answer Just One Question before they passed criminal rules prohibiting firearms in the mall.--Joe]