Author Archives: Joe

Quote of the day—Leslie

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You definitely have the most interesting hobby of anyone I have ever talked to.

Leslie
Dental hygienist
February 5, 2014
[She was referring to Boomershoot.

It started out with her asking if I was going to the Seahawks parade in downtown Seattle yesterday. “Involuntarily. I work in the building next to the parade route”, I responded, “I’m not participating. They are a football team, right? Do they use the round balls or the funny oblong ones?”

She then ask what my hobbies were since I don’t have an interest in football. “Guns and explosives.”, I replied. I expected her to speech center to freeze up and then get to work on cleaning my teeth but instead she wanted to know my favorite handgun. Okay. We are going to talk instead of getting my teeth cleaned. At least it is something I like to talk about. So I told her, “STI Eagle. I use it in competition.”

She is looking to buy a gun for carry. And another hygienist in the office is a firearms instructor. She thought Boomershoot sounded really cool and suggested she and her husband should come over to watch. I encouraged it and gave her links to Kathy Jackson’s blog, my blog, and Boomershoot.

And I did get my teeth cleaned.—Joe]

Quote of the day—M.E. Thomas

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I understand why sociopaths can be scary — we don’t have any of the emotional barriers. But empaths can be scary too, especially when their emotional sense of right and wrong overwhelms rational barriers.

M.E. Thomas
February 4, 2014
J’Accuse: Twitter justice
[I found this incredibly insightful. She is right. “FOR THE CHILDREN!!!”, is just one example. Gun control is an example. The facts don’t matter. The constitutional limits don’t matter. Natural law and the right to self-defense don’t matter. All that matters is “gun violence.”

Their emotional sense of right and wrong has overwhelmed all rational barriers and they are willing send innocent people to concentration camps because GUNS (H/T to David Hardy):

One could make the argument that a society would be better off with sociopathic public servants who are subject to complete transparency and strictly enforced rules than empathic ones and little accountability.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Matthew

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Always will there be the cry for gun control, the weeping and gnashing of teeth to reduce the capacity of bullets capable of being fired from a gun, yet some of us seem to forget that people murdered each other long before someone thought up the rifle barrel and gun powder.

There is this resounding remark after every atrocity that invariably makes the rounds of “I don’t want to live in a world where principals and teachers have to….”

You already do.

Matthew
January 22, 2014
Securing Your Six: Teacher’s Edition
[I’ve encountered this same sort of response to gun control debates, “I don’t what to live in a world where…”.

My response was, “Utopia isn’t an option. You can either ‘check out’ or you can deal with reality.”

I just don’t get why they cannot comprehend this. Evil people exist. These evil people must be defended against. The police cannot be everywhere at all times. And even the police must, in rare occasions, be defended against. It is up to individuals to defend themselves and other innocent lives. That is a self-evident, fundamental law of human existence. These people who would have us disarmed in the absurd hope of making society safer appear to be delusional. I have no other explanation for it*.—Joe]

* Yes, there exist people who want us disarmed for evil reasons as well as those with the absurd hope of creating a safer society. I’m only referring to those who really believe disarming the potential victims is a viable solution to stopping evil people as apparently delusional.

Diminishing goals

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Two months ago CSGV had a fundraising goal of $10,000.

Last month they had another fundraiser with a goal of $5000:

From: Chelsea White
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2014 12:10 PM
Subject: FW: Visa is Funding the Gun Lobby

I wanted to make sure you saw Josh’s email from Friday and give you a first look at one of the satirical ads we will be running to educate Visa employees about their company’s affiliate (credit) card program with the NRA, which is funding lobbying detrimental to the safety of our communities.
Here’s the first ad:

CSGVVISAAd

Thanks to supporters like you, we have already raised over $1,200 dollars, which is a great start toward our goal of $5,000! Can you make a contribution to help us out?

Click here to donate $20 or whatever you can give right now.

Thank you for backing this important campaign,

Chelsea White
Director of Development
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Josh Horwitz
Date: Fri, Jan 24, 2013 at 3:35PM
Subject: Visa is Funding the Gun Lobby
To: Chelsea White

Dear Chelsea,

4,780 petition signatures and 275 calls to the head of Government Relations later, and VISA is definitely starting to feel the heat.

Everyday people like you have been clear that VISA’s support of NRA lobbying activity through their affiliate card program is irresponsible and offensive.

But while we know they’ve received our message, the people responsible for this decision at VISA are still refusing to budge. That’s why the next step in our campaign is to go bigger and make sure everyone at VISA knows about the embarrassment this program is bringing their company.

We want to launch a Facebook ad campaign targeting VISA employees that will educate everyone in the company about the tremendous harm being done by the NRA VISA card.

Will you make a contribution today to help us fund Facebook ads exposing Visa’s toxic relationship with the NRA?

Our ads will target all VISA employees across the country—from the administrative assistants all the way to the CEO. You can imagine the water cooler talk that will result when the ads start showing up on their computer screens:
“Can you believe we are funding NRA lobbying against background checks?!”

“Who’s in charge of this program anyway?”
Visa won’t be able to hide its dirty little secret anymore.

We want to raise $5,000 for this campaign. Can you pitch in $20 today?
A Fortune 500 company should not be promoting and paying for an extreme, pro-gun agenda that is causing untold suffering in neighborhoods across America. Thank you for working with us to put an end to the NRA VISA card.

Sincerely,
Josh Horwitz
Executive Director
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

I already addressed their pathetic VISA campaign here. But the bigger point is that they are hoping to collect just $5000 compared to $10000 in the previous fundraiser. That’s like the equivalent of 20 entries to Boomershoot or a very poor outcome for a Friends of the NRA event. Boomershoot usually gets 65 to 70 entries. And furthermore, assuming they continue decreasing their goal by a factor of two every month, they should be down to collecting money for a dinner for two by the end of this summer.

Quote of the day—MauryCompson

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There is a new winner in the World’s Tiniest Penis Contest.

MauryCompson
July 24, 2013
Comment to “Fuck All You Libtards,” Pennsylvania Police Chief Announces
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!—Joe]

Quote of the day—Daniel Vitalis

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Banning “Assault Rifles” is the fundamental violation of the 2nd Amendment. These are the very weapons that We The People must possess to equalize power throughout the Republic. The mainstream media continues to ask the question of “why would anyone need an ‘assault rifle?” since they are not designed for hunting. The answer, though obvious, continues to be left out of the conversation- and since many gun owners do not feel sufficiently protected by the First Amendment anymore they are hesitant to openly discuss that “assault weapons” are the last equalizer of power throughout the republic.

Daniel Vitalis
January 31, 2013
On Gun Control
[Vitalis is correct. A certain judge is going to have to be told by the higher courts about the fundamental violation of the 2nd Amendment that he is allowing to continue.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Italian Rose

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If we have enough information on gun owners to start a confiscation effort, lets get started what are we waiting for?

Italian Rose
January 21, 2014
Comment to Knowledge is Power: How the NSA bulk data seizure program is like gun registration
[H/T to Sebastian for the link to the blog post.

To answer Italian Rose’s question:

  1. It is unconstitutional.
  2. There are over 300 million guns in this country and probably 10 billion rounds of ammunition in the hands of private citizens.
  3. The majority of those guns will only be willingly given up after the owner runs out of ammo.
  4. No one wants to take point on the confiscation project.

—Joe]

Quote of the day—Jeannie Darneille

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I am not a person who handles guns. I don’t own guns. I don’t…they shock me, quite frankly. We’re an open carry state and when I see people open carrying their guns, while it may be perfectly legal, it creates a visceral, personal, physical reaction in me as it does in other people…

Jeannie Darneille
January 29, 2014
Washington State Senator  (D-27th District)
In Senate, less circus, more circumspection, no media, one ‘shock’
[This is precisely what Anonymous Conservative says happens in the brains of liberals. The rabbit brain cannot handle the concept of stress. To others guns are tools to protect innocent life when threatened with immediate danger—a stressful situation.

She is compelled to reduce the thought of stress by demanding you become a rabbit or at least masquerade as a rabbit.—Joe]

Quote of the day—JPFO

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Why would a rational person believe, just because Hitler used gun registration lists to identify, disarm and then murder millions, that anyone in America would ever do the same thing? That’s crazy talk. No one here hates the Jews. Or blacks. Or Latinos. Or Christians.

We have very little hate here. We love each other. The FBI, ATF, NSA, IRS, SS, TSA, CIA… they’re on our side. You have nothing to worry about. Trust us. Lay down your arms. Or you will be forced to.

JPFO
January 2014
Gun Control in the Third Reich
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—the snarkster

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Guns are the gateway drug to rightwingerism.

They were for me.

the snarkster
January 25, 2014
Comment to The Washington Post’s Readers Are Already Freaking Out At Having to See the Volokh Conspiracy in Their Little Cocooned Cult
[There is more than a little truth to this. With gun ownership many realize they can handle responsibility and have the ability to take care of themselves and their family. I’m not certain I agree this is called “right wing” but it’s opposed to “left wing” which many on the left label “right wing”.—Joe]

AR-15 lower from a 2×8

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We used to say that anyone who knows a little bit of metal shop can build a gun in their garage. Well, it’s easier than that. Here is the lower of an evil “assault weapon” made out of a pine 2×8.

SolidPineAR15Lower

Or maybe it isn’t evil if it is made out of wood and has a natural color finish instead of being black plastic. I never could figure out the rules for good versus evil guns.

Meet Gabrielle Giffords in Olympia today

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I have my vacation budget allocated up through Boomershoot this year or I would be on my way to Olympia Washington today to testify against the “universal background check” initiative. Gabrielle Giffords is coming in from Arizona to testify in favor of it. And almost for certain she will imply the initiative would have prevented the shooting in which she was a victim. This is rather odd because the guy that shot her passed a background check. She knows she can only make progress on her agenda if she is deceptive.

Barron Barnett and Anette Wachter say they are going.

Despite what KING5 says it is TODAY that we need your testimony. Here is where you go and what you do. It’s not hard. Even an introvert like me has successfully done it.

Be civil and succinct. Think “sound bite” instead of “essay”. Don’t repeat what others before you have said.

If you want some ideas on what to say read my Crazy Talk post. Or more succulently say something like this:

“Universal background checks” is crazy talk. They cannot be any more useful than bans on recreational drugs or underage drinking and smoking which are bypassed by any high school dropout in minutes.

The only thing the proposed legislation will be useful for is harassing people exercising their specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms. It will cast a chilling effect on this right and, if it were any other right being regulated in this manner, will be declared unconstitutional.

I am adamantly opposed to the proposal.

Quote of the day—Gabrielle Giffords

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Until now, the gun lobby’s political contributions, advertising and lobbying have dwarfed spending from anti-gun violence groups. No longer. With Americans for Responsible Solutions engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and funding political activity nationwide, legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby.

Gabrielle Giffords
January 8, 2013
Giffords and Kelly: Fighting gun violence
H/T to Douglas Anthony Cooper for his post Now We Know Who’s Going to Take Down the NRA
[So… how did that “take down” work out for you guys?

I’ll bet after what happened in Colorado recently anti-gun legislators walk tall, proud, and confident, right?—Joe]

Lists

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What if some “news” organization or politician were to propose making lists of one or more of the following sets of people with home and work address, and making them publically available:

  • Homosexuals
  • Blacks/Hispanics/Asians
  • Christians/Muslims/Jews/atheists
  • People infected with HIV
  • People in interracial marriages
  • Women who had abortions
  • Abortion doctors
  • People with I.Q.’s below 85

Suppose the people creating the list of Jews were neo-Nazi’s or Muslims.

Suppose the people creating the list of abortion doctors were abortion protestors.

Suppose the people creating the list of homosexuals were from Westboro Baptist Church.

Suppose the people creating the list of people in interracial marriages were members of the KKK.

Would you consider this covered under free speech? I probably would. I’d also consider them at least partially liable if the people on those lists were harmed by people utilizing the information on those lists. I think I could convince a majority of people that the intent of the list(s) was to intimidate and/or harm the people on the list(s).

Now imagine it was the government making such a list. Would you regard this a permissible use of the force of government?

So when a U.S. newspaper conglomerate considered making a public database of people with concealed carry licenses and says this about them:

We are launching two enterprise projects across our newsrooms this month. The first will deal with the creeping influence of heroin in our communities. The deadly drug has quietly taken over, reaching across all age groups and eclipsing meth as the recreational drug of choice,” Lawitz began.

“The second project examines the explosion of ‘conceal and carry’ gun permits across the U.S. Through public records act requests, we will attempt to build state-by-state databases that list those who have the right to carry a concealed weapon,”

What do you think their intent was?

What do you think the intent of a government is when it makes such lists?

I don’t know about you but my mind immediately goes to the story of the Belgium Corporal.

Quote of the day—GEOFFREY(@jeffreynola)

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@youth4_america “A Hoot”?! You know, Comedy, along with everything else, has Progressed since the ’50’s. Big Gun=Small Manhood. #uniteblue

GEOFFREY(@jeffreynola)
Tweeted June 3, 2013
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday! Via still another tweet from Linoge.—Joe]

Plywood gun

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Wood is easier to work with than metal. So why not make a homemade gun out of wood? Yes. It won’t last nearly as long and it will be susceptible to moisture if you don’t treat the wood correctly. But wood stocks have been used on guns for hundreds of years. People are making complete guns out of plastic. Why not make an AR-15 lower made out of wood?

I didn’t come up with idea and I haven’t tried it. But someone else is trying it:

Quote of the day—Douglas Anthony Cooper

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Only a couple of aspects of the Australian Model would legitimately outrage a predictable group. The ban would be retroactive. Citizens would then have to specify why they wish to keep or purchase an unbanned gun. Sufficient reasons would include hunting, pest control, and target shooting. Insufficient reasons would include, notably, “self defense.” Anyone with a demented understanding of the Constitution would be outraged by this, and you ought to welcome their outrage. They are a menace.

Douglas Anthony Cooper
December 12, 2012
A Proven Way to End the Gun Slaughter: Will We Fight For it?
[It is critical for the anti-gun people to eliminate the concept of self-defense. It is our strongest point in this battle. Look what we did with the concealed handgun laws in the last 30 years. That was the “tip of the spear” and getting some of our gun rights back.

What is surprising to me is that self-defense, of almost any type, does not resonate with many people from other cultures. Our culture of individualism regards self-defense as self-evident. My communist brother-in-law has flat out told me “the needs of the society outweigh the needs of the individual” and denigrates self-defense and individual rights. Individual rights, to him, hinder “progress” because they inhibit the “advancement” of society as a whole.

My brother-in-law and Douglas Anthony Cooper regard anyone who has a respect for individual rights as a menace to society. Stalin, Pol Pot, Lenin, and Mao Zedong were in full agreement and demonstrated the “proper” way to deal with such people. It should be no surprise so many of these people want you disarmed. And it should be obvious what they would do if they could acquire the power to deal with you as they wished.—Joe]

Overheard

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Barb has been in Ecuador for the last ten days visiting her daughter. I picked Barb up at the airport today.

Joe: Were you ever concerned about your safety?

Barb: Things were fine except when the serial killer was there.

Things weren’t exactly “fine”. There were lots of times when she had her pepper spray and Spyderco knife at the ready. But she never had to actually deploy them. I’m glad she made it back with the worst wounds being the multitude of bug bites.

And the “serial killer” was a guy that gave her and her daughter “the creeps”. Things just didn’t add up right about him but to the best of their knowledge he didn’t actually do anyone harm.

Quote of the day—Anonymous Conservative

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The real engine which powers this hidden force is actually our world’s reality, so the force is almost useless to Leftists. Until reality can be replaced with fantasy in the real world, Leftists can do no more to stop our wielding of this weapon than they can do to stop gravity. They are helpless before us, and ply their political strategies only with our willing acquiescence to their evil and our passive acceptance of their fantasy.

The day major Conservative strategists grasp the force at work in the graph above, from the macro-level effects down to the effect on dopamine receptor gene transcription within neurons, is the day our battle ends, and our species begins a stratospheric ascent to levels of technological and societal advancement that we can only dream of.

Anonymous Conservative
January 16, 2014
The Forces Exerted By r and K-Selection Effects Mold the Ideological Inclinations of Societies – How Resource Availability Determines Destiny
[It’s a pleasant thought but I’m not convinced of this conclusion even though I’m mostly convinced of many of the less specific conclusions made in his other blog posts and his book. I have a lot more to read in his book but what I have read resonates well with me.—Joe]

Update: I asked a question in the comments to his post:

If resource depletion causes a strong shift to K-selected behavioral traits then why doesn’t this always happen in other countries? It appears to me that they frequently turn communist.

Two days after my question he came back with a 2200 word response.

Wow!

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I just watch the video Uncle put up on January 1:

It’s an hour long which is why I just now got around to watching it. I suspect that only about 10%, at best, of software developers will understand all of it. Non software security people will grasp only 10% of the material.

I had to look up several terms and I stopped it many, many times to more closely examine the classified documents. I am very impressed with the technology the NSA has implemented. That is amazing stuff.

They have tools that can, literally, fly over your home or city from up to eight miles and away infect computers with spyware. That’s just one of hundreds of tools they have.

There was some very serious bad-ass stuff in there that I knew was possible, and actually implemented prototypes of, years ago. They have it perfected and massively deployed. Seeing that they have it deployed explains some things that always bothered me about some of the projects I worked on or was sort of associated with. It all makes a whole lot more sense now.

The NSA people should congratulated on the awesome technology they have developed and deployed and then they should be sent to the gulags.