On theBlaze TV last night. You can watch the video at the link there.

Of course, if you were a Blaze TV subscriber you’d have seen it, and much more, Monday night.

InSights Training Center Tactical First Aid Featuring Caring For Blast Related Injuries On August 3, 2013

Bellevue, WA – InSights Training Center announced today that it added Blast Injuries Care to the Tactical First Aid class to be taught by Mike Shertz M.D. on August 3, 2013.

Following recent events we are reminded that we need to be prepared for injuries occurring to yourself and/or others during an active fight situation.  With these factors in mind, InSights Training Center has expanded it’s Tactical First Aid curriculum to now include caring for blast related injuries.

Most penetrating injuries are not immediately life-threatening. However, there are some injuries where death before the arrival of EMS is almost assured if not quickly and effectively managed.

Our 1-day Tactical First Aid class is designed to give you the knowledge and skill to identify and manage those immediately life-threatening injuries, whether they occur to you or another individual, while you are still engaged in the violent attack.

The cost of the Tactical First Aid class is $225. Students may register at http://insightstraining.com/view_course.asp?courseID=11.

About InSights Training Center

InSights Training Center has been teaching quality, fast-paced, informative courses around the country since 1990. We offer the most complete self-defense, firearms, and tactical training available to the Private Sector, Law Enforcement, and Military organizations. We have taught more than 10,000 students— private citizens, Law Enforcement officers and instructors, SWAT teams, corrections personnel, security officers, and Military Special Operations personnel.

Our professional instructors come from highly specialized and thorough backgrounds in Law Enforcement, Military Special Operations, and the Private Sector. They have all received extensive instructor development training from our own master trainer, Greg Hamilton, in addition to high level training from numerous national academies. Learn more about self defense training at www.InSightsTraining.com

About Dr. Mike Shertz
Dr Mike Shertz is an active, board certified emergency medicine physician practicing in one of the busiest emergency departments in Oregon.  His tactical experience was gained as a former US Army Special Forces Medic.  He is a Special Deputy for the Washington County, Oregon Tactical Negotiations Team (S.W.A.T.) where he is the medical director as well as being actively involved in tactical operations.  Mike serves as the medical director for a large fire department in Oregon. He is an Advanced Cardiac Life Support Instructor, a Federal NBC Disaster Preparedness Instructor, and has attended the Counter Narcotics Tactical Operations Medical Support Course.

Some Boomershoot staff will be attending.

http://entry.boomershoot.org/

If you were a participant in Boomershoot 2013 then the software will allow you to enter tomorrow, Wednesday May 22, after 6:00 PM PDT.

Anyone is allowed to enter after Friday May 24 6:00 PM PDT.

There may be some web service interruptions. My web hosting provider is updating my server and it will involve a change in IP address. If you get a page not found type error wait an hour or so and try again.

EXT – Day – Cab of a heavy military truck

Two soldiers are driving down a road on the outskirts of Adelaide, not far from the port. The morning sun casts sharp shadows, but the dust arising from the truck ahead of them in the small convoy makes things a bit hazy. They are in tan camo uniforms, with no armor other then helmets. Semi-auto rifles are in a gun rack in the back window. Their uniforms are dirty and unkempt, both have not shaved in a few days, one has his shirt buttons misaligned. They look a bit rough – not evil, just lazy and sloppy and poorly disciplined.

Pvt Schumer: This war sucks.

Pvt Levin: ALL wars suck.

Pvt Schumer: This one REALLY sucks.

Pvt Levin: Dun’no. I think not getting blown up or shot at is kind’a nice.

Pvt Schumer: I mean, we are at the absolute ASS-END of this thing.

Pvt Levin: Get’n paid. Get’n fed. Get’n sleep. Seen worse.

Pvt Schumer: Yeah, but we ain’t got ANY action for six months. Can’t even get action in town!

Pvt Levin: You never get any action anywhere ‘cause you’re UGLY. AND still barely a private after six years.

Pvt Schumer: I mean, we been reduced to getting used as a safe supply point for people picking up ammo and shit to use where things are really HAPPENING.

Pvt Levin: (grunts assent, pauses) I heard we were getting a visit from some high-price Plataean ass-kickers, so SOMETHING must be up.

Pvt Schumer: Christ on a left-handed rubber crutch. Really?

Pvt Levin: That’s the rumor. Supposedly the same platoon that took out that Air Defense Battalion that was giving the 41st fits.

Pvt Schumer: PLATOON?! Naw, must’a been a company at least! A platoon is even less likely than the one I heard about a babe shoving some local muscle around.

Pvt Levin: Flint said it was a small platoon that leveled em’, an’ the locals DO seem a little jumpy. He’s pretty well connected, so…

Pvt Schumer: We are SO ass-end we not only gotta use civilian transport, but we get our asses bailed out by female mercs when we aren’t even fighting!

Pvt Levin: Yeah. That’s pretty low. I’m sure you’ll find a way to sink, though.

Pvt Schumer: Gee, THANKS.

Pvt Levin: I mean, the tech limits on weapons make for mostly pretty slow movement. Can’t use the old grav tanks, or newer fun stuff, in Sourkrauts battalion unless the Kiv break the rules in a big way. Manual aiming and simple ballistics and all is a pain. A lot more ways to get stupid and killed than get brilliant and win.

Pvt Schumer: Well, maybe so, but… I guess this must be the ship.

The convoy of three vehicles pulls up to a stop to one side of Tajemnica, in the late morning shadows. Their radio squawks.

Private3: (OC, on radio) Hey Asshole, hop out and see who’s home.

Pvt Levin: That’d be YOU.

Pvt Schumer: (to radio speaker) Shit-head. (then, to Pvt Levin) Damn civvies will likely run in terror at the first sign of trouble. Rather deal with uniforms.

They both grab their rifles and hop out of the cab. They sling them casually over their shoulders, and saunter up to the cargo ramp. They look up inside, see no-one, then continue around the end and get a look on the sunny side. They get a view down the side, and stop in their tracks. Neither of them look at the other while they talk in low tones.

Pvt Schumer: On th’other hand, ain’t never seen uniforms like THAT.

Pvt Levin: Make love, not war, daddy always said. How’s my uniform look?

Pvt Schumer: Like shit.

Pvt Levin: Yours, too.

Pvt Schumer: Screw it.

Camera view slews around to show what they see. About half way down the side, by the side-entry, there are seven folding / reclining chairs laying out in the sun. On them are Allonia, Kaminski, Quiritis, Helton, Bipasha, Kaushik, and Harbin. They are in bathing suits and bandages (smaller than original, but still numerous on the three Plataeans, and Allonia’s temple still has a slight red scar), basking in the sun, looking very mellow, eyes closed and/or wearing sunglasses. There are a couple of pitchers of iced beverages, and glasses for each. Apparently un-noticed by the skin-entranced pair, there are ALSO rifles or pistols hanging or leaning by each chair.

The two privates straighten out their uniforms a bit as they walk toward the seven, reflexively feeling their stubble and brushing their hair back.

Pvt Schumer: How would you ladies like to meet a pair of gen-u-wine war heroes?

Quiritis: (politely sarcastic) Why – know any?

Pvt Levin: (ignoring her sarcasm) We were told there was a ship here to haul our classified equipment out to Raptus Regaliter.

Pvt Schumer: If you FINE young ladies could direct us to the person in charge of this bucket, we’d be HAPPY to regale you with the tales of our adventures!

None of the crew move for a moment. The privates glance at each other – they are used to a lot of things, but NOT being ignored.

Pvt Schumer: Ain’t GOT all day! Got important things to do!

Then Kaminski, who is sort of sitting upright, glass in hand, takes a sip.

Kaminski: (kind of a slow drawl) Doctors orders. R&R. Sunshine. Take it easy, let things heal.

Pvt Schumer: Sorry to see you lost your bar fight, pal, but I was talking to the ladies.

Harbin: (serious drill sergeant voice, not moving from his somewhat reclined position otherwise) SCHUMER! You still a private?

Pvt Schumer’s jaw drops for a second, as he recognizes THAT voice- he’ll NEVER forget his first basic training instructor’s voice. He snaps to attention. His partner recognizes the tone, and sees Pvt Schumer’s reaction, and does the same, knowing they just stepped in it.

Pvt Schumer: YES, FIRST SERGEANT!

Harbin: Made second class yet?

Pvt Schumer: Three times, First Sergeant!

Kaushik: (droll) Wonder why?

Kaminski: Classified beans ‘n bullets, eh?

Helton: (politely, calmly) This “bucket” is very sensitive. It’s the best ship on the planet. Please talk nicely about her. You ARE talking to the owner, pilot, war goddess and heroes recovering from combat injuries. Unlike yourselves. And the first sergeant’s niece… Care to start again?

Pvt Schumer: Uh, we, uh-

Harbin: Guru save us. PROPERLY, private Schumer. I KNOW you were taught.

Pvt Schumer: Private Schumer, Foxtrot 23rd combined arms support base Raptus Regaliter, reporting in with a convoy of three truck for transport by the ship Tajmagica. Or something like that. This one. I think. Sir. I mean, First Sergeant. Or, uh…

Helton: Yup, you found us. I’m the captain. Only three?

Pvt Levin: The other six are supposed to be along in a little while. Sir.

Helton: Well then, I suggest you and the other drivers hit the showers and get yourself cleaned up before the Colonel shows up, and the First Sergeant gets back into uniform and takes any sort of official notice of your condition. IF you pass inspection, I expect you might get lunch aboard before we lift. (then, into com unit) John, got a few passengers that need to clean up. Can you show them the facilities, please? (then, to the two privates, still at attention) He’ll meet you at the top of the ramp. Go get your partners in crime, get ‘em squared away. You’ve got some time – make the most of it. Dismissed.

The two privates about-face and walk away, FAST.

Cut to

The two privates round the corner of the ship, and talk quietly out of the corner of their mouths as they head over to get the other drivers.

Pvt Schumer: Holy SHIT! Sergeant Reel! AND a COLONEL. We are SO screwed!

Pvt Levin: But if HE’S here and INJURED – and the Captain said recovering from combat injuries – then THEY must have been the ones that took out the ADB!

Pvt Schumer: Floggers! Even his NIECE is a bad-ass!

Pvt Levin: Well, NICE ass, anyway!

Pvt Schumer: Not GOING there! Better ways to commit suicide.

Pvt Levin: But if THEY took it out, maybe Flint WAS right, and it WAS only a light platoon, one with WOMEN in it!

Pvt Schumer: I’d always figured those stories about how tough Plataeans were were stories, and Reel was just a hard-ass, but-

Pvt Levin: If THEY’RE heading out, then SOMETHING big MUST be up.

Pvt Schumer: Ah, shit. This war SUCKS!

Cut to

The R&R crew and soldiers.

Bipasha takes a sip from her glass. Kaminski flexes, gently, a bandaged leg. The sun inches up higher. Well-earned R&R, being lethargically enjoyed to its fullest, while it lasts.

Fade to black

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Why don’t you do us all a favor and stick your gun in your mouth and blow your brains out.

Remy Marco
Email to Connecticut Carry on May 8, 2013.
[Another example of a violent anti-gunner. It’s in their nature.—Joe]

“We’re right and our opposition is wrong. When lobbying for a cause, make sure your cause is right and just and is historically supportable. Having it already enshrined in the constitution is a big plus. Otherwise, even huge amounts of money and millions of warm bodies are going to have a difficult time getting support for your provably wrong (and unconstitutional) ideas. There is no substitute for being right.”

There are cases wherein you can never “figure out” (by tactics alone) how a person or movement achieved a particular aim. The American Revolution comes to mind. Those without principles may look at it every which way they know how and never understand it, because they’re looking in the wrong places. You can study it all your life and never be able to apply it to your own cause. It can (and does) drive people quite insane.

No, Young Grasshopper; you can not have a pet cause that you want to shove down Americans’ throats, and then “study to see how the NRA did it”.

It is not so much the “how” as the “why”.

Do not assume the canary in the coal mine has been silenced.

The change over could happen anytime in the next 72 hours.

*On a Windows machine open a DOS prompt and type “ipconfig /flushdns” followed by the “Enter” key.

someecards
Tweeted on March 20, 2013.
[It's another Markley’s Law Monday!

The artist’s ignorance is almost overwhelming. Beyond the invocation of Markley’s law check out the pistol grip and magazine locations, the angle of the cut on the muzzle (produces muzzle climb), no grip for the right hand, and the ejection port forward of the magazine.—Joe]

After making the arrangements my thoughts soon went to what my profile on Match.com (where I meet Barb) said about the beach:

Long walks on the beach are nice–if we brought the explosives to see how big a crater we can make in the sand and how high the water will shoot up into the air.

In addition to the legal issues involved I left my chemistry set in Idaho.

Still… there are solutions to most of the issues and the temptation is great.

Kelly Peters
Email to Connecticut Carry on May 8, 2013.
[Why are anti-gun people so violent? Oh yeah! Now I remember. It’s in their nature.—Joe]

The revelations of political repression by the IRS against Conservatives should send chills up the spines of every American. For this is how tyrannies gain traction.

And under Obamacare, the IRS will have even more power.

…

*Socialist: noun \ˈsō-sh(ə-)list\— a Communist who has not yet picked up an AK47.

Robert J. Avrech
May 13, 2013
It Can’t Happen Here
[Not only can it happen here. It is happening here. People who have lived in “those other places” are experiencing déjà vu and we need to undo the damage done.—Joe]

Marty Robbins is sort of in the same genre as “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, singing gospel, country, early rock, etc. Good stuff.

If any of you have suggestions, I’d be happy to consider them. Got another seven queued up, keep us in Friday tunes until the 4th of July.

sandbagger
May 16, 2013
Comment to Words That Should Not Be Strung Together In America, “IRS Building Largest Government Database”
[I suppose there is at least one third option; the Executive Branch quietly rewards those that do it’s dirty work while maintaining plausible deniability.

In any case I can’t think of any options that are very flattering to the integrity of the Obama administration.

There are more than one way to deal with this as someone opposed to the current administration. One is to let them remain in power and exploit their weakness like what Sebastian is saying. Another would be to try and remove them from power. I’m not sure which would be best. “President Biden” does not have a pleasant ring to it but having Obama impeached would be satisfying. I’m just not sure the rewards are worth the effort. A “radioactive” Obama may be better long term than “cleaning house” when you can’t purge the site of the entire toxic waste pit until 2016 anyway.—Joe]

I did a quick scan of the document and I’m a more than a bit skeptical. There’s the whole “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof” aspect but there is also this notice:

DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTION: Distribution authorized to the DOD and DOD contractors only to protect technical or operational information from automatic dissemination under the International Exchange Program or by other means. This determination was made on 8 December 2008. Other requests for this document must be referred to the Commandant, U.S. Army Military Police School, ATTN: ATZT-TDD-M, 320 MANSCEN Loop, Suite 270, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri 65473-8929.

DESTRUCTION NOTICE: Destroy by any method that will prevent disclosure of contents or reconstruction of the document.

That isn’t the proper notification used with restricted documents.

On the other hand a lot of work went into creating the document.

When I can see aerial photos of the camps on U.S. soil I’ll be a lot more susceptible to being convinced it’s real.

Lag, Stenson, Allonia, Seraphina, sit at the table, with food and settings for six. Helton walks in with the book and sits down to general greetings.

Helton: A bit more readable already. Take a look.

He slides the book over to Stenson.

Stenson: Yup. Looks like a math primer, alright. Hmmm… Base twelve.

Seraphina: What do you mean, “base 12”?

Helton: We count in base ten – ten digits, zero through nine, then you add a column when you get to ten, and at ten times ten you add a hundreds digit, and so-on for any power of ten. Computers are binary, use base two – ones and zeros.

Lag: Where did you get that?

Helton: In a cave Harbin and I hid in, back during that event that didn’t happen at the mine, after we weren’t hit by pirates. It was closed. The hole on the back there is where it got hit with a grenade shot at me while I was carrying it on my back.

Allonia: If you hadn’t been carrying that…?

Helton: -Both Harbin and I would likely be dead.

Stenson: You can see some writing around the edges of the blast hole, here. Lost a lot of stuff, though.

Seraphina: That font looks like the Planet Mover message.

Helton: Let me look at that again.

He pulls the book closer, and the other crane their necks a bit to get a better look.

Ship AI: (OC, thin, dreamy voice) Nice folks. Quiet. Good listeners.

Helton: Uh, what was that?

Everyone: …

Helton: Taj, WHAT did you just say?

Ship AI: (OC, normal voice) What? I didn’t say anything.

Helton: Just now, you said something.

Ship AI: (OC, petulant) Of course I did. I said I didn’t say anything!

Helton: No, BEFORE THAT.

Ship AI: I was talking to Quinn on deck 5, but I’m not sure how you heard that.

Seraphina: Deck five? I thought there were only three decks here?

Lag: That symbol there. It looks like the three line “equals” sign in the Planet Mover’s message.

Helton looks where she was pointing. He flips back and forth through the pages rapidly, suddenly starting to tremble a bit. As he flips describing what he’s seeing and what it represents, the pages flash by on the screen. They show densely packed symbols, tables, diagrams, short “phrases,” etc.

Helton: Counting, just like a child. You start with counting. Number symbols. Then basic arithmetic operations – add, subtract multiply, divide. Fractions. Roots. Algebra. Geometry. Pythagorean theorem – that HAS to be a proof! A circle gives us pi and irrational numbers. Physics – definitely physics diagrams. Free-body diagrams. Text describing the problem – switch the objects moving and acting on them, change in syntax, change the formula… THAT’S Got to be a table of elements, with hydrogen, helium, oxygen. Water. Balancing chemical reactions. More symbols. More math. Mostly text. Good GOD….

Helton looks up at them. They look at one another.

Allonia: Is- is that a book ABOUT the planet movers?

Lag: I think it’s a book BY the planet movers.

Helton: Mother of all that’s warm and fuzzy.

They sit staring at the book, soaking up the implications when Bipasha walks in with a a tray of food. She sits down chattering, then notices their stunned silence.

Bipasha: I was just talking with Kwon about how we seemed so lucky to get a high-paying easy job, then so unlucky to find out we were set up, then lucky to get through it all and make a pretty penny, then … What’s got all you all bent? Is the book that good a read? I…

Helton: Until we know for sure, NO ONE says ANYTHING. Agreed?

They all nod their heads.

Bipasha: Agree to what?

Lag: Don’t breath a word to ANYONE

Bipasha: Even uncle Harbin?

Helton: OK, your uncle, he deserves to know, and I’m pretty sure he can keep a secret.

Bipasha: Um… OK, I guess. What?

Helton: I think this book was written by the Planet Movers, and it may be a universal translation text for their message.

Seraphina: Not just a text book?

Helton: How would you send a message to someone in ANY advanced culture, regardless of what language they speak or what their background? It doesn’t make any difference if you are counting on fingers, flippers, or feathers, or what symbols you use, 2+3=5. If they have space travel, they have science, and the basis of ALL science is mathematics. Start with counting, work your way up, defining and building counting numbers, then arithmetic symbols, then use pictures for physics and chemistry which are both pretty universal, then build a written language out of that by describing the things in the physics and chemistry diagrams. Build up from there. We have more than four hundred pages totally intact, and about the same that are damaged to some degree by the grenade. Diagrams and text look dense, so it’ll take a while to decipher, but the more I look at this, the more I think that’s it. It might be premature, but-

Stenson: I think you’re right. A basic, universal medium, a printed book: tough, and will only be readable by someone in a relatively high oxygen atmosphere who uses visible light. ANY space-faring race could translate the message with this, if that is what it is.

Allonia: But it’s incomplete – will it still work?

Bipasha: That’s worth more than this planet. You DO know that, right?

Helton nods his head in wonder.

Allonia: (incredulous) You’re joking.

Bipasha: No. Just about any government in the universe would kill us all in a heartbeat to get their hands on this.

Seraphina: Some might kill us to cover it up, too.

Helton: So… do we keep silent, sell it, or copy it and put it out on general broadcast for everyone to see at once?

Bipasha: If we sit on it, it won’t pay the bills.

Stenson: We don’t have the tools to properly decode it and understand it here.

Allonia: I think it should really belong to everyone, so the best minds can really figure it out.

Seraphina: Give it away? You are very sweet, dear, but crazy naive.

Helton: Crazy? I agree that giving it away kind of makes it hard to pay the bills-

Seraphina: There are people who don’t WANT the truth to be known, just like they don’t want Jews alive, or self-aware computers, or honest politicians. They feed on the problems. They’d kill us and destroy the ship to keep it secret for their own purposes.

Helton: And I thought Kwon was the only conspiracy-nut I knew.

Lag: She’s right, though.

Helton: I don’t follow.

Stenson: There ARE people who would want to keep this under wraps. Think about what ANY major religion would think of a potential challenge to their message?

Allonia: This is insane! People will want to kill us to get it if they knew we had it, others who would want to kill us to destroy it, it’s so valuable no-one can afford to buy it, but it’s REAL value is in letting everyone know what it says, but then it’s of no value to US!

Bipasha: But, we don’t know for SURE that that’s what it is?

Helton shakes his head, still leafing through the book.

Allonia: What languages does everyone here speak? Anyone know anything but English?

Seraphina: A bit of Spanish and Hebrew.

Bipasha: Hindi

Stenson: Math, a bit of German

Lag shakes his head.

Helton: Some Latin and Greek, and a handful of words in a dozen other languages. COMPUTER. Awake? What language analysis programing do you have?

Ship AI:(OC) My name isn’t “computer”.

Helton: … well, how much?

Ship AI: Nothing specific to this task. Basic organizational tools may get a lot, if you are correct in your basic assumptions, depending on damage. I have some vague records that indicate I worked on a language problem long ago.

Helton: OK, then. We need to find out what it says, scan as much of it as we can with every tool you have, Stenson, to establish if it’s genuine as well as what it says. We don’t say anything to ANYONE until we know more. Then, if we are reasonably sure it IS a real artifact Rosetta Stone, THEN we figure out what to do. It might be worth more as a hole-card than a played one.

Allonia: I guess that sounds as good as any plan, at least for now.

Seraphina: For once I get to be in on the conspiracy! Silence for now. I just hope more good than evil comes of it.

Stenson: As if I didn’t have enough to do.

Bipasha: More knowledge is always better. How long?

Ship AI: A few days to a few weeks, if it is laid out as logically as Helton suggests, and depending on what was damaged. At least it looks like we are starting from the beginning.

Helton: Well, I’ll get to work on it, and in the meantime-

Seraphina: meals don’t cook themselves

Lag: -things are heating up at the New Medina complex, and there is a lot of intel to evaluate

Stenson: The drives and power cores need all the new parts installed and checked-

Allonia: I have a couple of projects to work on while the good sergeants get better.

Bipasha: And we need a new PAYING cargo lined up.

Helton: Well, then, let’s get to work, while more of these pages “come to light”…

Fade to black.

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[I need to take another short break - the next mission was actually the first one I wrote, and needs some substantial re-writing to make sense with all the stuff that's gotten put in before it now. It's also job application season for teachers, so I'll be busy with that. Should be back in a week or two.

Also, speaking of books. Any thoughts from the world and readers which you'd prefer in (electronic) published form:

Just one big book, ~150 k words, ~$4;

Free "teaser" intro, maybe start thru the escape from the prison mine, then five volumes of missions and repair, and a "finale" volume, at $1 each, so total story price is $5 if bought in parts;

Both;

Something else]

Richard Horton
Tweeted on May 4, 2013
[I find it telling that Horton, editor of Lancet, wrote a book with “war” in the title: Health Wars: On the Global Front Lines of Modern Medicine.

The “war” referred to by the NRA is a “culture war” and is no more violent than Horton’s “Health War”.

Horton is not just an hypocritical anti-gunner but an elitist anti-freedom advocate. After we finish liberating the U.S. we should liberate Canada, the U.K., and Australia.

H/T to Col. Milquetoast for the email pointer and Snowdon for more background information on Horton.—Joe]

As I have noted before it’s in their nature.

For Immediate Release:   5/15/2013

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation will launch an ambitious three-week public education and awareness effort on nationally-syndicated talk radio programs, and XM Sirius radio to explain its legal and educational efforts and encourage public support.

SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said a series of advertisements will air on “threats to firearms rights and SAF’s response through litigation against unconstitutional gun laws.”

“We will highlight legal abuses of constitutional rights, and explain how we challenge such laws in the courts to protect our liberty,” Gottlieb stated. “We’ve secured tens of thousands of dollars in advertising time over the next three weeks.”

Radio spots will air on radio programs hosted by Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Lars Larson, Laura Ingraham, John Gibson, Tom Sullivan and Fox News broadcasts on XM Sirius radio. The effort is expected to reach millions of listeners, many who may be learning of SAF and its legal and educational programs for the first time.

“If additional funds can be raised as a result of this advertising effort,” Gottlieb said, “we will hopefully be able to continue and expand the campaign beyond the initial three weeks.”

Gottlieb said the education effort was made possible by SAF supporters who have already contributed to the organization.

“I want to personally thank all of those donors who made this possible,” he said. “It is important that the public have a clear understanding about existing and proposed laws that can seriously impair their right to keep and bear arms.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. In addition to the landmark McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court Case, SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; New Orleans; Chicago and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and numerous amicus briefs holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

First; what did you expect from a communist administration? Really. Can you say, “DUUUH!”? Second; the entire tax code is a weapon of political power. Always has been. It is designed to nudge you into behaviors you’d not be engaged in if you were left to your own devices, and to nudge you out of other behaviors. The very concept of a progressive tax is a political weapon, designed to substantially reduce wealth creation and accumulation. Raising revenue is far down the list, or it is only an ancillary function of the tax code and the IRS. I could on and on, but you should have gotten the point by the time you received your very first paycheck.

The specific targeting of individuals and groups is nothing new at all either. The Clintons were famous for it. Rush Limbaugh has been getting audited every year for many years. The list is longer than this whole blog since its beginning.

A “Gosh, we’re sorry” will change nothing. The only solution, assuming anyone wants one, is to abolish the tax code, abolish the IRS and go to a single digit flat tax. Otherwise quit your bitching– this is exactly what you’ve been asking for. Begging for, actually. Don’t bother pretending to be surprised– it makes you look even more stupid.

EXT – Day – Landing Pad D9

Tajemnica is on the pad, aft ramp down toward the building across the street. Helton sits on the ramp, a long piece of grass between his teeth, looking like he’s waiting. For once, it looks fairly peaceful and quiet. The ship and cargo deck look clean and orderly, with minimal gear or equipment around. The day is overcast, no sharp shadows.

The sound of an approaching truck breaks the quiet. It comes down the road, and stops in front of the ramp. A grav truck with a large cargo container on the back. The driver hops out, walks over to Helton, and hands him a tablet to sign for receipt of the container.

Deliver Driver: Where do you want it?

Helton: Need the container back?

The driver shakes his head.

Helton: Can you drop it inside?

He indicates with a move of his head the interior of the cargo bay. The driver eyes the bay for a moment.

Deliver Driver: No problem.

The driver hops back into the cab, and spinning it around in place, back easily up the ramp and into the cargo bay. A pair of folded retractable loading arms lift up on either side, hook onto a set of brackets on each side, lift it up a little, then gently back and down onto the deck. The arms fold away, and the driver glides gently out of the hold, down the ramp, and away. Helton walks over to a wall com unit.

Helton: Henery, got a few of those parts you were waiting for. Think you’ll need a hand unloading them.

Fade to

INT – night – Helton’s cabin

Helton walks in, looking tired. He takes off his shirt and flops down on his bed.

Helton: Lights out.

Most of the lights turn off, but the one on the shining on the book is still on.

Helton: ALL lights off!

The light remains on.

Helton sighs, gets up, and walks over to the book, open to the first page under the light. It is clearly legible. The two pages are densely covered with writing, with very narrow margins. The writing is clearly broken into various parts by rounded-corner rectangles grouping things together. In the top left it starts with a set of small tally marks, next to a symbol. There are twelve symbols, and no tally mark in the top row next to a zero-ish symbol, then one, down to eleven. Then there is a group of 12, and the first and second symbols next to each other. It looks like a very beginning math text, setting up counting and numbering system. Below it are further symbols and simple groupings of tally marks. The symbols look angular and somewhat like Futhark. As Helton flips through the pages they become less clear and distinct, as they have gotten less light. The next page appears to have some simple math expressions, showing tally marks and symbols.

Helton: (thinking out loud, to himself) Weird place for a basic math book. Wonder what language it is?

He turns the book up on its end, and spreads out the covers to hold it up, and sets the light so it can shine in on all the pages from the side, and heads back to bed, lays down on his side facing the bulkhead, and tries to get to sleep.

Dissolve to

INT – day – engineering

Stenson is working with a couple of guys and gals on a long, partially disassembled tube-shaped thing, watching them as they take it apart and discuss it. Helton walks in through the open hatch.

Stenson: How goes it, captain?

Helton: You tell me. Ready to trans-light again yet?

Stenson: Almost. The drive cores will be so far out of harmonic alignment we’ll look like a calliope on anyone’s scope until we can tune them, but I think we are close enough to not turn ourselves into a small star.

Helton: Well, THAT’S good to hear.

Sanchez: (looking up from working on tube) Calliope?

Stenson: A ship with poorly matched drive cores, so they are “playing different notes” in the same tune, as it were, like the old musical instrument. Ships built from parts not designed to work together. Slower, less efficient.

Helton: This ship has ALWAYS played a different tune, it seems.

Stenson: We can get them synchronized and meshed together close enough to fly, then fine tune on the next trip. Anything new in the book?

Helton: Things are showing up. Looks like a math text.

Stenson: Math?

Helton: Yah. Kind’a weird. Didn’t recognize the language, though.

Stenson: We can take a look at it later, and run a comparison to known alphabets. Shouldn’t be to hard to match.

Helton: How about when you break for lunch?

Stenson: Sounds good.

Fade to black

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