Blogging rewards

I get a number of rewards from and it’s hard to enumerate them all or say which is at the top of the list but things like this have rank right up there:




























































































Domain Name   (Unknown) 
IP Address   204.97.104.# (New York State Assembly/NYSERNET)
ISP   Sprint
Location  

























Continent  :  North America
Country  :  United States  (Facts)
State  :  New York
City  :  Albany
Lat/Long  :  42.6706, -73.7791 (Map)
Distance  :  2,113 miles
Language   English (U.S.)
en-us
Operating System   Microsoft WinXP
Browser   Internet Explorer 6.0
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)
Javascript   version 1.3
Monitor  









Resolution  :  1024 x 768
Color Depth  :  32 bits
Time of Visit   May 7 2009 11:38:42 am
Last Page View   May 7 2009 11:38:42 am
Visit Length   0 seconds
Page Views   1
Referring URL http://www.google.co…born five point plan
Search Engine google.com
Search Words richard aborn five point plan
Visit Entry Page   https://blog.joehuffman.org/2009/05/04/platform-of-a-bigot/
Visit Exit Page   https://blog.joehuffman.org/2009/05/04/platform-of-a-bigot/
Out Click    
Time Zone   UTC-5:00
Visitor’s Time   May 7 2009 2:38:42 pm
Visit Number   499,572


Someone at the New York State Assembly in Albany did a Google search for “richard aborn five point plan” and found my post explaining why Richard Aborn, candidate for District Attorney in Manhattan, is a bigot.


What were the odds of me getting that viewpoint to that person or persons in a position of power and hundreds (or more–I get about visits from about 45K unique IPs per month) of others with so little effort prior to the Internet and the existence of blogs?

Quote of the day–Dmitry Orlov

I’ve covered what I think are basics, based on what I saw work and what I think might work reasonably well here. I assume that a lot of you are thinking that this is all quite far into the future, if in fact it ever gets that bad. You should certainly feel free to think that way. The danger there is that you will miss the opportunity to adapt to the new reality ahead of time, and then you will get trapped. As I see it, there is a choice to be made: you can accept the failure of the system now and change your course accordingly, or you can decide that you must try to stay the course, and then you will probably have to accept your own individual failure later.


Dmitry Orlov
February 13, 2009
Social Collapse Best Practices
[Is society collapsing? I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that we haven’t had so many banks and major companies failing anytime in my lifetime. I know there are very, very few things governments can do better than the free market. I know government “solutions” are almost always worse than the original problem. And I know that our government has expanded and plans to expand into more areas than any other time in my life. I’ve not personally seen society collapse but it seems to me this is likely to be what it appears like in the early stages.–Joe]

Gun blogger match?

There is talk in this post (and some behind the scenes email) about having a “Gun Blogger Invitational” match. There is a poll on Caleb’s post and lots of comments. Robb Allen has his own thoughts on the topic as well.


Check them out and give your own suggestions.

More Microsoft layoffs

We received an email from Steve Ballmer yesterday morning saying the other shoe was dropping. I’m fine and everyone I checked with is fine but I still need to check in with a few more.

Quote of the day–Clayton Cramer

It is astonishing how poorly researched this brief is–perhaps competent gun control advocate lawyers realized how hopeless the task was, and decided to put their energies into briefs for cases easier to win, such as repealing the law of gravity.


Clayton Cramer
May 5, 2009
Embarrassingly Bad Amicus Brief in the Chicago Case
[See also Dave Hardy’s take on it.–Joe]

Boomershoot 2009 podcast

I just finished listening to Alan’s (and Squeaky and PDB’s) podcast on Boomershoot 2009. It was nice. I’ve been reading all the various posts and looking at all the pictures everyone being posted but the podcast was something a little different and I really liked it.


At the Boomershoot dinner I promised I would post a list of all the bloggers in attendance and I will do that (and more) soon. That will probably happen this Saturday when I have some time to do the job right.

Attack! Attack! Attack!

I’ve said this before but it doesn’t hurt to mention it again with a fresh example. Never give your enemy an opportunity to regroup. If they are on the run keep them on the run. When you are attacking you are choosing the time, place, and terms of the engagement. Sure, defenders have some advantages. But I’d much rather be on the outside laying siege to the castle than on the inside wondering if we can hold out long enough for help to arrive.

And so it is in politics. We won Heller less than a year ago. We won a bunch of cities in Illinois in the weeks and months that followed. We got a partial victory with Nordyke two weeks ago. Now we are attacking again in California. From The Second Amendment Foundation last week:

The Second Amendment Foundation, The Calguns Foundation and four California residents today filed a lawsuit challenging a California state law and regulatory scheme that arbitrarily bans handguns based on a roster of “certified” handguns approved by the State. This case parallels a similar case filed in Washington, DC, Hanson v. District of Columbia.
California uses this list despite a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer that protects handguns that ordinary people traditionally use for self-defense, and a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments. The California scheme will eventually ban the purchase of almost all new handguns.

And, again from SAF, today:

The Second Amendment Foundation, The Calguns Foundation and three California residents today filed a lawsuit seeking to vindicate the right to bear arms against arbitrary state infringement.

Nearly all states allow qualified law-abiding citizens to carry guns for self-defense, but a few states allow local officials to arbitrarily decide who may exercise this core Second Amendment right. In the action filed today, Plaintiffs challenge the policies of two California Sheriffs, in Sacramento and Yolo counties, who reject the basic human right of self defense by refusing to issue ordinary people gun carry permits. Of course, violent criminals in the impacted counties continue to carry guns without police permission.
State scientist Deanna Sykes believes her sexual orientation and small stature makes her an appealing target for criminals, particularly as she often transports firearms as a competitive shooter and firearms instructor.
“I am highly qualified to defend myself against the sort of crime that the Sheriff cannot, despite his best efforts, completely eradicate,” Sykes said. “Violent crime is a real risk in our society, but happily, we enjoy the right to defend ourselves from it.”
Andrew Witham has over 15 years experience as a police officer in Britain, and is licensed to carry a firearm while working as a private investigator and campus public safety officer. But despite having been the target of death threats stemming from his work in security, Sheriff John McGinness saw to it that Witham’s license to carry a gun while away from work was revoked upon Witham’s relocation to Sacramento.
“I’m allowed to defend other people,” said Witham, “so why can’t I defend myself, where the Bill of Rights guarantees me that right?”
Adam Richards, a Northern California attorney, would also exercise his right to bear arms in self- defense. But the Yolo County Sheriff’s policy on gun permit applications is: don’t bother. “How can the Sheriff tell whether I am capable of responsibly exercising my Second Amendment rights, when he doesn’t even acknowledge that these rights exist?”

I’m donating money with every paycheck to SAF which is matched by Microsoft. You can also donate money directly to Calguns to help keep our forces on the attack. Don’t let a lack of money be the reason they have to slow down. The only thing I want holding them back is the flood of tears from our enemies.

Quote of the day–Matt Groom

I think a “Cache” is two, an “Arsenal” is 2-4, a “Stockpile” is 3-5, and an “Armory” is more than 4. The confusion stems from the fact that there is an overlap, for example, a “Stockpile” can also be an “Armory” OR an “Arsenal”. As for me, I’m going for the much heralded status of “Third World Military Power”, which is 20 or more and includes reloading equipment or at the very least “Warlord” status, which is more than 10.


Matt Groom
Comment to More than a cache?
May 4th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
[This reminds me of about 10 or 12 years ago when a bunch of us gun nuts at Microsoft started referring to each others homes as “compounds” and buying a few bricks of .22 rim-fire ammo as “resupplying our arsenal”. This was because of the way the press treated gun owners. Times have not changed much.–Joe]

Platform of a bigot

Keep in mind that laws aren’t written or enforced which punish inanimate objects or violent crime. Laws only punish people who possess those objects or commit those crimes. Hence what District Attorney candidate Richard M. Aborn says he plans to do is actually attack people who own guns–people exercising a specific enumerated right:




He has received endorsements from a former police commissioner, William J. Bratton, and from several elected officials, and on Monday, he released his first detailed policy paper, a five-point plan for combating gun violence in Manhattan.


The plan calls for a regional interdiction approach to gun trafficking; more gun buyback programs and a program in which parents could give the police permission to search homes for guns; a requirement that pistols sold in New York include micro-stamping technology; a five-year renewal process for handgun permits; and support for a national gun-control strategy.


What would be the public response if he announced his “five-point plan” for combating Jewish vermin in Manhattan? Or putting uppity blacks in their place? And what of the people that endorsed such a person? They would, and rightly so, have a tough time getting a job as a janitor in Manhattan. A job as an elected official? The only thing they could get elected to would be a prison cell by a jury.


But this isn’t the way things are supposed to be. This is New York and an article in the New York Times. Where such bigotry is the norm and bigots such as Aborn are not only tolerated but praised. Just like some deep south sheriff who roughs up blacks for entertainment on Saturday nights Aborn is praised and endorsed by many. He should be prosecuted under 18 USC 241 and/or 242.

Stage hell

Robb tells us about a stage from hell he shot in last weekend. I also shot a tough stage yesterday but it wasn’t entirely because of the stage design. And strangely enough both of our stages were “Stage 5” in the match.

Do you notice anything wrong with this gun?


Update: A close up of the broken safety.

People familiar with 1911s and sharp eyes will notice the safety is in the ON position but the hammer is down. This can’t happen on a normal 1911. It turns out the ambi safety was broken but I didn’t know that when I inserted a magazine and racked the slide to “Make Ready” for the stage. The tip of the safety ripped a trench through the end of my left index finger. It bled profusely.

We didn’t really understand why my finger got ripped open and after getting a band-aid I went ahead and shot the stage.

The stage was unusual. The shooter had to traverse between two barricades in the shape of a U with ports in both sides. There were targets on the sides, bottom, and the interior of the U.

Since it was a 38 round stage even with my 18 rounds magazines I had to change magazines during the course of the stage. At the far side of the U, shooting into the interior of the U at targets near the ground from a high perspective my bullets impacted the ground on the other side of the U in the shooters path–the path I had just traversed.

Good shot, huh?

Despite a mutilated finger and destroying a magazine I did pretty well on that stage:

Stage: 5 U Turn Again
Place Name Class Division Pts Pen Time Hit Fact Stg Pts Stg %
 1 BROWN, MIKE A Limited 10 176 10 30.43 5.4551 190.0000 100.00%
 2 HUFFMAN, JOE B Limited 188 0 36.51 5.1493 179.3490 94.39%
 3 MCINTOSH, ADAM M Limited 185 0 40.50 4.5679 159.0990 83.74%
 4 HIPPS, KW B Limited 10 188 0 45.30 4.1501 144.5471 76.08%
 5 WOOD, DON A Limited 176 20 41.31 3.7763 131.5277 69.23%
 6 WATSON, ROGER U Limited 10 187 0 55.32 3.3803 117.7351 61.97%
 7 ASTRELLA, JOSH U Production 186 0 56.34 3.3014 114.9871 60.52%
 8 Moore, Bill U Open 180 0 65.68 2.7406 95.4545 50.24%
 9 Uhle, Bob U Open 187 0 68.60 2.7259 94.9425 49.97%
10 Grimes, John U Limited 174 10 68.69 2.3875 83.1561 43.77%

Update: My verbal description of the stage wasn’t very good. Here is a rough drawing of what it looked like:

There were ports in most of the walls. I started on the left side of the U and dropped a magazine about half way down that side. I went around to the other side and shot through the port at the target on the left side of the interior of the U. The bullet passed through the paper target and hit my magazine which I had dropped on the other side.

It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you

Senator Crapo via Joe Durnbaugh on the Lewiston Pistol Club email list. Emphasis in the letter body is mine:



From: senator_crapo@crapo.senate.gov
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 2:37 PM
Subject: Correspondence from Senator Crapo


April 27, 2009



Mr. Joe Durnbaugh
Lewiston, Idaho 83501


Dear Joe:


Thank you for contacting me regarding your opposition to the Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (referred to by its Spanish acronym CIFTA). I agree with you and welcome the opportunity to respond.


On November 14, 1997, the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted the CIFTA treaty, which among other things, aimed to curtail the small arms trading of deadly weapons often used during the traffic of illegal drugs. Although President Clinton signed the CIFTA treaty, it received less than the requisite two-thirds majority vote in the U.S. Senate. As a result, it was never ratified.


As you may know, President Barack Obama is now urging its ratification in order to combat the Mexican drug cartel. The CIFTA treaty would ban any firearm that falls under a misleading classification of “illicit” manufacturing. For example, the treaty would make illegal the assimilation of a lawful firearm from a kit. Further, it would criminalize any modifications made to a firearm. Additionally, this treaty would prohibit pro-gun organizations. Most alarming is that a broad interpretation of this treaty would call for the extradition of U.S. gun dealers.


The Second Amendment reads: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” I firmly believe this provision prohibits the federal government from denying citizens this right.
Let me reassure you that I do not support gun control. We must protect and preserve our constitutional right to bear arms. I will not support any legislation that requires a waiting period for the purchase of a firearm, bans the ownership of firearms, promotes or requires the rationing or taxation of firearms, or the taxation of ammunition.


As you may know, gun control advocates continue to seek creative methods of advancing their agenda, both through legislation and litigation. You may be assured that I will continue to oppose all efforts to weaken Second Amendment rights.


Again, thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to contact me in the future on this or other matters of interest to you. For more information about the issues before the U.S. Senate as well as news releases, photos, and other items of interest, please visit my Senate website, http://crapo.senate.gov.


Sincerely,     
   
Mike Crapo
United States Senator


MDC:js


If U.S. Senators are saying this does that mean I’m not really paranoid after all?

Primers

Just a hint of the current situation on primers from Powder Valley, Inc.:

At this time we are not taking any new backorders for primers that are not listed here. We currently have over 50 million primers on backorder. If you currently have a backorder in place your order will be processed as primers become available. Once we begin receiving more primers from the manufacturers and are able to begin filling current backorders we will update the website.

Via Kevin on the Lewiston Pistol Club email list.

Quote of the day–Tamara K.

You know what the worst thing is about the internet? It gives you concrete proof that your fellow citizens are as ignorant as you’ve secretly suspected they were all along…


Tamara K.
May 2, 2009
News Flash: HuffPo readers have difficulty with News Flashes.
[Not only ignorant, but stupid and bigoted.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Saul Cornell

Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea recasts the gun debate by showing its importance to the future of democracy and the modern regulatory state. Until now, gun rights advocates had effectively co-opted the language of liberty and democracy and made it their own. This book is an important first step in demonstrating how reasonable gun control is essential to the survival of democracy and ordered liberty.


Saul Cornell
Ohio State University
From the publishers web site.
[Ahhh, yes. We’ve heard this party slogan before only with slightly different wording: Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace, Ignorance is Strength.–Joe]

That’s my wife

Last night as Barb and I were in bed preparing to watch a DVD on my laptop computer I scanned Google News. There was a headline which read Couple arrested for sex on lawn at Windsor Castle. I passed it over but Barb read it out loud. So I asked, “Did you want to read that?” Her immediate and matter of fact response was, “Do they have pictures?”


That’s my wife.

Quote of the day–Christopher Whitcomb

Sometimes, the most important shot is the one you don’t take.


Christopher Whitcomb
Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team
[Whitcomb wrote about his experience as an FBI sniper. He was at Ruby Ridge and Waco. His insight was extremely interesting to me. It was a bit more favorable to the FBI than what I think is actually the case but that is to be expected. It was well written and I really appreciate him telling the story from point of view of the snipers who were there. Probably the thing that bugs me the most is that he said Marshall William Degan was murdered. This is false. Weaver and Kevin were acquitted of those charges. Hence Degan was not murdered. It’s possible that he was saying that is what they believed at the time and did not intend for that statement to apply in a universal sense. But that isn’t made clear.


I’m probably a little sensitive to that because FBI Director Louis Freeh frequently made the same claim in a context which was clearly post trial and a manner that made it clear that the trial result was irrelevant in his world view.


Ry also pulled a QOTD from the book over two years ago.–Joe]

Bill Whittle vs. John Stewart; A Knockout in One Punch

There are many recurring themes among the left.  Then there are mantras for every leftist, but one that gets passed around, modified, recycled and reused a lot is the “America is evil for having actually used the A-bomb” meme.  The jihadists have been using that one, as have socialist and communist governments around the world, for years.  At least someone agrees with John Stewart besides a few pimple-faced high school students watching Comedy Central on their parents’ TVs. 


Whittle does a wonderful job of refuting this blatant ignorance.  “Ooh! Ouch!”


Watch the whole thing.  Whittle didn’t even have to mention what the Japanese did in China.


I almost feel sorry for Stewart.  Almost, but then I have to think that surely he knew all this stuff beforehand, and was just playing out a shtick on his show.  That would be giving him the benefit of the doubt I suppose.  Maybe he really is that vacuous.


The left however will be clinging to this worn-out meme for generations to come, no matter how many times it’s proven wrong.  As they say; there’s sucker born every minute.

Quote of the day–Max Blumenthal

If a new militia movement coalesces, its members will have no shortage of sophisticated assault weapons to choose from. At the gun show in Reno, I witnessed the sale of rocket-propelled-grenade launchers and bazooka guns; I watched a California-based dealer demonstrate how rapidly he could field strip his .308-caliber sniper rifle, then stash it in a deliberately innocuous-looking backpack and a briefcase that “looks just like a camera case.”


Max Blumenthal
April 29, 2009
Pro-Guns, Anti-Obama
[This is part of the reason the anti-gun bigots get so much traction with the public. They are willing to lie or at least have no concern for the truth. He almost for certain did not witness the sale of RPGs or bazookas since they are very highly regulated and require an extensive and expensive process involving the ATF. Combine that with the confusing the definition of “assault weapons” with the definition as used by any of the “assault weapon” laws past or present and you see why the common person would be inclined to side with the bigots.–Joe]