Author Archives: Joe

The Setup: Explosions Don’t Just Happen, You Create Them – Boomershoot

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This is the fourth in the series of ESS Boomershoot videos.

The first three, and my comments, are here:

This one features me doing a lot of talking. I’m so pleased they edited out all the “umm”s and “ahhh”s.

There is also Rolf juggling the targets, scenes from our target/explosives production facility (Mecca), bowling ball mortars, anvil launch, Ry‘s fireball, both long range and High Intensity events, and people pounding stakes and putting targets on the stakes.

As I have said before ESS makes good stuff. They gave me a couple pair of their glasses and I use them whenever I need eye protection or even sunglasses.

I expect Barron will have something up with this video soon as well.

There are still 16 Boomershoot positions open. Sign up and be a part of Boomershoot 2013 here.

Quote of the day—Denny Bonavita

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We have guns, and we have violent crime – just as we have deer and we have trout. They both live hereabouts, but one doesn’t breed the other.

Denny Bonavita
October 25, 2012
Hey, gun control boosters: Gun sales soar, but murders don’t. Why?
[I like the way he expressed that.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Stanley G. Buford

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The Second Amendment clearly states that citizens of the United States have the right to “keep and bear arms” for “traditionally lawful purposes.”

Stanley G. Buford
October 29, 2012
Why Gun Control Has Nothing to Do With the 2nd Amendment.
[It would appear Buford has a reading comprehension problem. There has been some debate over the existence of commas in the Second Amendment but Buford had to be closing his eyes and imagining things or spending time in an alternate reality to come up with what he claims it says. The Second Amendment in my universe as passed by the Congress:

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.

As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:

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.

But one should not be surprised. The anti-gun people are used to lying. In order to have any hope of winning they have to.—Joe]

Quote of the day—GiGi

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@linoge_wotc I can see from your stockpile of guns and photos of guns that you have a VERY SMALL PENIS!

GiGI (‏@gigimorgan10)
Tweeted October 18, 2012
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!

H/T Linoge via Twitter.

Her statement presumes facts not in evidence. I think a citation is needed. Or, more likely, she has crap for brains.—Joe]

Hiking in the Cascades

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I had originally planned other activities but the weather forecast said “0% chance of precipitation” for a few hours today. The forecast beyond that looks a lot like rain until the end of time.

With a few seconds of conversation Barb L. agreed to go on a hike with me and suggested a place she had been a few years earlier. I got a little winded climbing up to the top of the waterfalls but it was more than worth the effort:

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It reminded me a lot of another hike I went on five years ago and told the gist of the story to Barb as we hiked. This is not Missouri.

Modern parables regarding self reliance

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My brother Doug sent me an email with a link. This gives you a hint of what it is about.

Professional trappers don’t catch fast-breeding and destructive feral pigs using hunting dogs and guns, or in little traps one or two at a time. The wily pigs quickly learn to evade humans after such fleeting contacts. So how do the pros trap entire feral pig herds, eliminating them all, from granddads to piglets, in one go?

They feed them, most generously. They kill them with kindness.

…

The moral of the story: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t go inside the “free corn” pen, not even when all the doors are open. Free food is as dangerous as the sirens’ song to ancient mariners. It is all too easy to get used to being fed, and then to miss the exits closing one at a time.

I read the entire post and all the comments. Most will stop after the first parable which is probably enough to get the point across. Just to make sure read the second one also.

Quote of the day—Thomas Jefferson (NOT!)

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All the terrible instruments of war are the Natural Birth Right of the American citizen.

Attributed to Thomas Jefferson
[Awesome quote!

I received this in email recently and it looked just a little too good to be true. I went searching for it and was only able to find one instance of it. This instance does not appear to be supported by any reference to any of Jefferson’s writings or speeches. I did extensive searches on http://www.monticello.org which I have found to be a good source for Jefferson quotes in the past.

I must conclude this is not correctly attributed to Jefferson.

While searching I did discover two other quotes I had attributed to Jefferson are probably bogus as well. I have update my posts here and here.—Joe]

Pumpkins for Peterson

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As per request from my previous post on this topic we now have video of the pumpkins we blew up for Joan Peterson, board member of the Brady Campaign:

Joan Peterson, and the entire Brady Campaign organization, should just get used to the idea that they cannot win this fight. We outnumber them by hundreds to one. We make people happy. They wallow in the pain, misery, and suffering of victims. We will spend hundreds of dollars, and countless hours mocking her and her kind.

You are on the wrong side of history Joan, give it up.

Priceless

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Barron made another video for Brady Campaign board member Joan Peterson. Read his blog post for the complete story with this as the dessert. It’s dessert because it is sweet (even if Barb L. says it can’t be dessert because there is no chocolate):

I’m working on a video of my own from last weekend. It will have a different focus but it still should give Peterson heartburn. Some people don’t like just desserts.

Quote of the day—NYPD Officer

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When I came into this police force I wanted to help people, but the civilian population, they’re being hunted. Instead of being protected by us they’re being hunted and we’re being hated.

NYPD Officer
On the Department’s Feudal “Stop and Frisk” Policy.
From 11:28 in the following video:

[H/T Tyler Durden and Michael Krieger.

Also of interest is, from 2:11, “I had this captain who walked into the precinct and gave a speech about harassing the public. His words were, ‘We’re going to go out there and were going to violate some rights’.”

The police should realize this will not be tolerated for long. If legal recourse fails to get them in compliance then they should expect ‘game on.’ With no rules.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Charles Woods

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I want to honor my son, Ty Woods, who responded to the cries for help and voluntarily sacrificed his life to protect the lives of other Americans. In the last few days it has become public knowledge that within minutes of the first bullet being fired the White House knew these heroes would be slaughtered if immediate air support was denied. Apparently, C-130s were ready to respond immediately. In less than an hour, the perimeters could have been secured and American lives could have been saved. After seven hours fighting numerically superior forces, my son’s life was sacrificed because of the White House’s decision. This has nothing to do with politics, this has to do with integrity and honor. My son was a true American hero. We need more heroes today. My son showed moral courage. This is an opportunity for the person or persons who made the decision to sacrifice my son’s life to stand up.

Charles Woods
Father of Tyrone Woods one of the former Navy SEALs killed in the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.
October 25, 2012
Joe Biden to Father of Former Navy SEAL Killed in Benghazi: ‘Did Your Son Always Have Balls the Size of Cue Balls?’
[The entire attitude of this administration toward the family of the dead is extremely troubling.

That doesn’t even address what Hillary Clinton said. She said they would “make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.” Yet we now know the Whitehouse had a live video feed of the attack and could not have seriously believed it was a riot rather than a planned attacked with mortars. The wounds that killed the SEALs were from mortar shrapnel!

I’m reminded of a book I recently finished, How Do You Kill 11 Million People?: Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think.

Take your blood pressure medication then read the whole thing.—Joe]

Atlas Shrugged II

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Barb L. and I saw the movie Atlas Shrugged II Tuesday night. There were only a few people in the theater. And after the movie I ended up spending a few minutes explaining bits of it to Barb and the three guys who sat behind us. None of them had read the book.

I liked the casting better than what they did for part 1. I liked that many scenes were essentially directly from the book. But I can see that it fails to get across the points essential to appreciating Rand’s message. And reading the book just doesn’t work for many people. I know several people that just couldn’t “get into it”. Whereas son James and I were spellbound by the book. It resonated with us like few books ever have.

Because the movie doesn’t resonate as well as I wish it did I almost think the movie would be better described as a documentary of our future with the script published in 1957. Judged from that standpoint it does amazingly well.

This is sad considering (from here) “Atlas Shrugged is the ‘second most influential book for Americans today’ after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club.”

Overheard

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Minor changes were made to give additional context.

B: I can’t keep my balance in them so you won’t ever find me wearing high heels.

Me: That’s fine with me. You are nearly 6′ 1″ in your bare feet. Why would I want you to wear high heels?

B: Okay. I’m just letting you know.

Me: Thanks. And I’m just letting you know you won’t ever find me wearing high heels either.

Random thought of the day

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Another data point to indicate we are winning the gun owner rights battle is that in the 2000 election George Bush was saying, apparently reluctantly, he would sign a permanent ban on “assault weapons” if it was put on his desk and his opponent, Al Gore, wanted the AWB as well as restrictions and licensing of ordinary handguns.

In this election President Obama, apparently reluctantly, said he would like to see an AWB passed and his opponent, Mitt Romney says he doesn’t want any more restrictions on firearms.

Hence today we have the more repressive candidate for President of the United States taking the position of the least repressive candidate of 12 years ago.

Yes, I can see an analogy being made to dungeon prisoners celebrating their ration of gruel being increased by 10%. But it is a measurable improvement and the trend for the foreseeable future continues to be favorable.

The importance of judges

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Sebastian reported a new gun blog and I poked around some. The author, Nicholas J. Johnson, is a Professor of Law specializing in firearm regulation. I found this post of his fascinating.

The following, in particular, caught my attention:

Both the majority and the dissent acknowledge that the AR-15 is a gun in common use. How they proceed from there is illuminating. The dissent treats common use as a solid liberty-protecting standard. Guns in common use cannot be banned.

For the majority, acknowledging the AR-15 as a gun in common use is just a rhetorical lead-in to the burgeoning two stage standard of review. The court found that the D.C. law did in fact burden a core Second Amendment concern. But at stage two it determined that the ban does not “substantially burden” the right to self-defense (people could still have handguns and many other long guns).

This reasoning is not derived from Heller and it is interesting to speculate what else would pass muster under this approach. Pushed hard, it would seem to allow very broad gun bans as long as some core self-defense guns remained legal.

In Heller it was said that guns “in common use” are protected from prohibition by the 2nd Amendment. But some judges are ignoring that. This is essentially a repeat of what happened in Miller where it was said that to be protected by the 2nd Amendment a gun had to “has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.” Yet many courts ignored that statement and instead substituted a twisted version of the actual wording of the Miller decision and said the individual wanting to own or bear a firearm had to be in a militia.

Mike B., a lawyer friend of mine, once told me engineers make poor lawyers because they believe the law means what the law says and it doesn’t. The law actually means whatever the judges want it to mean. This is another data point supporting that claim. And this is another reason why getting people who follow the law as written as our judges is vital to the preservation of our rights.

Or perhaps expressed better is the comment to the post by Brett Bellmore (Oct 06, 2012 @ 09:13:19):

In the end, there’s no substitute for staffing the judiciary with people who aren’t hostile to this liberty. They have too many ways to destroy liberties they don’t like, to afford enemies there.

Keep that in mind each and every time you vote.

Quote of the day—Ride Fast

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If Tamara shows up at a SnarkFest, we’re all out numbered.

Ride Fast
November 12, 2008
Comment to A job for the Queen of Snark.
[It wouldn’t just be “out numbered”. It would be “outgunned”, “outclassed”, and “out of our league” as well.—Joe]

Appeasement versus standing your ground

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The buses that I have taken to and from work are generally, but not always, drama free. But at some of the bus stops I walk by in the Seattle area make me uncomfortable even when I’m fully tooled up for defensive action. That I frequently see small groups of cops hanging out at some of the stops only adds to my concerns about the frequency of drama at these locations.


The Seattle Police department reports some drama at a transit center that occurred Monday evening:



The 31-year-old suspect’s bout of bad behavior all started around 7:45 pm when he began harassing a woman sitting at a bus stop.


When another man at the bus stop tried to get the suspect to leave the woman alone, the suspect turned on the man and started following him through the Transit Center. The suspect then grabbed the man from behind, shoved him, and demanded money. The man then handed his wallet over to the suspect.


A second man saw the suspect robbing the first man, and stepped in to confront the suspect. The suspect then turned on the second man, punching him in the face and kicking him in the leg.


Already on quite a roll, the suspect then began harassing two other women at the transit center, offering them a graphic and unsolicited description of his genitalia.


Apparently appeasement doesn’t work all that well. If you are going to confront someone about their anti-social behavior it would appear you need to be able to stand your ground should the behavior escalate instead of subside.


As somewhat of a side note I find it interesting that I frequently get “a nod” from one or more of the cops at the bus stops. Sort of like an acknowledgement of “I recognize you as one of my kind” or “I recognize you as a good guy, carry on”. At least that is the way I interpret it.


On Monday evening a cop even stopped to chat with me while I was waiting at a bus stop. He asked about my Unorganized Militia Propaganda patch and what my opinion on open carry was. I told him I had a gun blog and that in most cases I regarded open carry as a political statement (the context is Washington State where concealed carry license are very easy to get) and it needed to be handled carefully. In some locations it was very helpful. In others it could be detrimental. He said he was all for people carrying guns and being able to defend themselves.

Shelley Rae: On Target with ESS Boomershoot Vol. 3

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This is the third in the series of ESS Boomershoot videos. At about 1:30 in the video watch the trace from the bullet arc into the boomer for a detonation. Very cool.

From the YouTube page for this video:

Boomershoot: In the high Palouse of northern Idaho for one long weekend in April, the ground heaves with explosions and precision rifle and AR enthusiasts put their aim to the test.

That’s a good description. Perhaps “rumbles with explosions” or “vibrates with explosions” would be better than “heaves” but there is some ground heaving too.

There is also Volume 1 and Volume 2 in the series.

As I have said before ESS makes good stuff. They gave me a couple pair of their glasses and I use them whenever I need eye protection or even sunglasses.

Barron also has some comments on the video.

Quote of the day—Kris R

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Of all the things I have been able to do while in the United States of America, celebrating Halloween by shooting a pumpkin filled with Joe’s special blend is one of the things I will treasure the most.

Kris R
October 23, 2012
Comment to I agree with Joan Peterson.
[It’s nice to have such an event be remembered so fondly.

I wonder if the anti-gun people get reports like that for their events. No, I don’t think so either.—Joe]

I agree with Joan Peterson

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It’s a rare thing but this time I (partially) agree with Joan Peterson on this issue (H/T to Sebastian). She says, “Don’t carve pumpkins with guns”.

I took two almost new shooters to Idaho this weekend to do a little pumpkin “carving” at the Boomershoot site.

First we prepared some chemicals:

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Then we mixed them. Yes, she was a little apprehensive at first. This whole Kitchen Aid mixer making Boomerite is a little “different”. Six weeks ago had you told her she was going to be traveling to Idaho, making explosives to “carve” pumpkins, and shooting a rifle before Halloween she would have said, “No way!”

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Here are some sample pictures of the pumpkins being “carved” (thanks to Barron for bringing them to the party):

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The picture below was taken a fraction of a second after the picture above. Notice that the pumpkin pieces have slowed and are further from the origin. I wonder what the BC of a pumpkin seed is.
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The picture above almost duplicates a picture Ry took a few years ago. Here is a cropped version of the same picture:
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There are hazards to pumpkin “carving” with Boomerite. Max wasn’t really “entertainingly close” by some peoples standards but it was close enough that he sometimes turned away to avoid getting hit in the face with pieces of pumpkin. I was extremely pleased that his finger came off the trigger and he kept the gun pointed in a safe direction:
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I’m sure Ms. Peterson will be pleased to know we didn’t use guns as our primary tool for carving the pumpkins. It was just the remote detonator for the explosives. And these new shooters will share their experience and pictures with friends and family which will add to the set of people who recognize modern sporting rifles in common use are not “assault weapons” which should be banned. But instead many of them will desire their own and to share in the fun of the gun and Boomershoot culture. And what does Ms. Peterson and the Brady Campaign have to counter this?