Author Archives: Joe

More bad news from the U.K.

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It’s not just the lack of guns and the high rate of violent crime over there. As I have commented before their sex lives have something to be desired too. Here is another story on that topic.

Posted in Sex

Situational awareness

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This weekend Barb attended a class in Spokane. We stayed in motel and I ran errands and worked on the computer while she attended class. Saturday while out walking around on my errands I noticed that just a block or so from our motel there were a large number of vagrants hanging out under the freeway and the neighboring parking lots (I-90 and Division street). One approached me and asked for a dime or a quarter. Greg Hamilton describes this as an “interview”. I apparently failed the interview and did no further business with him.

Later that evening we walked to a restaurant for dinner past the same area. On the edge of the parking lot of a drive-in burger joint (Dicks) several vagrants nearly had the sidewalk blocked. We took a path through the middle of the parking lot to reach our restaurant (Frankie Doodles) that adjoined Dicks. Barb and I were talking but I was watching out of the corner of my eye. The largest of the vagrants stood up and followed us about 20 feet behind and to our left which put him in a position to close the distance if we returned to the sidewalk. For thirty feet or more he matched our speed and direction. My gun was between Barb and I and not in danger of being blocked by him if he chose to attack. I could deploy and utilize it if needed. But at his range he could probably get a first strike in before I could get off a first shot. But why wait for an attack? I’m not a grass eater, he needs to know that. I snapped my head around and looked directly at him while continuing to walk. He immediately stopped and developed an intense interest in something on the ground.

Later returning to the motel they were still there and we gave them an even wider berth. They paid us no interest.

Understanding the people of the 1930s

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Thanks to this link from Clayton I read this sobering article. Here is a sample:

When I used to read about the 1930s — the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, the rise of fascism in Italy, Spain, and Germany, the appeasement in France and Britain, the murderous duplicity of the Soviet Union, and the racist Japanese murdering in China — I never could quite figure out why, during those bleak years, Western Europeans and those in the United States did not speak out and condemn the growing madness, if only to defend the millennia-long promise of Western liberalism.

Of course, the trauma of the Great War was all too fresh, and the utopian hopes for the League of Nations were not yet dashed. The Great Depression made the thought of rearmament seem absurd. The connivances of Stalin with Hitler — both satanic, yet sometimes in alliance, sometimes not — could confuse political judgments.

But nevertheless it is still surreal to reread the fantasies of Chamberlain, Daladier, and Pope Pius, or the stump speeches by Charles Lindbergh (“Their [the Jews’] greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government”) or Father Coughlin (“Many people are beginning to wonder whom they should fear most — the Roosevelt-Churchill combination or the Hitler-Mussolini combination.”) — and it is even more baffling to consider that such men ever had any influence.

Not any longer.

Faith in the system

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Remember the old joke?

A republican is a democrat who has been mugged.

A democrat is a republican who has been arrested.

After my experience with PNNL I lost my faith in the system. Even with my current job being apparently secure I nearly constantly worry that someone may take a disliking to me because of my hobbies, skin color or some other non job issue and cause me harm. I couldn’t have imagined being in this constant state of fear prior to my own experience. Now I can.

This came up because Benjamin is on the verge of his own conversion.

Quote of the day–Bruce Schneier

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I have an ultra-secure wireless network that automatically reports all hacking attempts to unsavory men with bitey dogs.

Bruce Schneier
Schneier Asks to Be Hacked
June 28, 2006
[Cool! I’d stipulate that the unsavory men and dogs enjoy guns, explosives and rough sex but that’s just me.–Joe]

It’s not surprising

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I don’t probably don’t blame Reuters as much as a lot of others do. People have a very strong tendency to hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. Reuters got caught and is apparently taking the appropriate action.

Someone from the culture in a war zone is going to find it much easier to get pictures and stories that a less biased outsider would be. But then they are going to have their own biases, because of their culture, in that war. If the people at Reuters biases tend to align with the incoming pictures and stories it would be easy to look at pictures and stories less critically as those that did not.

That doesn’t mean I don’t think we should look the other way when it happens. Just don’t try and arrange a lynching because of it. A light flogging should be sufficient.

Here’s the story for those that haven’t been reading the big name bloggers:

 

Quote of the day–Alan Korwin

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Access taxes and proficiency tests for exercising your rights are very much alive for black Americans, and all Americans, if you wish to exercise your right to keep and bear arms.

Alan Korwin
August 04, 2006

This is what happens in places without guns–Case XIV

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From Michelle Malkin:

A disabled war hero and his wife were assaulted and robbed in Bethesda, Md., a few weeks ago.

The guy lost an arm and a leg in Iraq and five punks mugged him and his wife. If one or both had been armed things might have turned out differently. Maryland, however, doesn’t trust it’s citizens to carry firearms to defend themselves except under rare circumstances. Hence being outnumbered or out-sized is an invitation to the predators on the street.

I agree with Sarah Brady

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From the Washington Blade:

“It’s a shame in this world that both in the area of gay rights and in the area of gun issues that these should be political issues,” Sarah Brady says. “These should be common sense, human decency, public safety issues, not political footballs.”

The bipartisan approval that the Brady Bill ultimately achieved is something that she would like to see occur in the realm of gay rights, Sarah Brady says.

“We were able, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, to bring the two parties together for public safety and that’s something which is beginning to happen in the gay community as well,” she says. “It should not be a hot-button issue. It should be common sense and the right thing.”

I fully agree neither issue should be political footballs. Common sense and scientific facts should bring us together for the elimination of the Brady Act and other unlawful, immoral, and hazardous restrictions on our inalienable rights to keep and bear arms.

He got a job

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The other day I posted about a friend not getting a job after being asked bigoted questions about his gun ownership. I bumped into him again on Thursday. He now has a job with another company. This company didn’t ask any questions about his personal life during the interview.

He asked if I was interested in working there. For now I’m not. I’m happy with my job and my co-workers and no one has even hinted my interest in guns and explosives is a problem. I’ll keep my eyes open for warning signs though.

Quote of the day–Chief Justice Morrison Waite

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The right there specified is that of ‘bearing arms for a lawful purpose.’ This is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed; but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress.

Chief Justice Morrison Waite
U.S. Supreme Court
U S v Cruikshank
92 U.S. 542 (1875)
[In response to “The Gun Guys“. Remember that rights are guaranteed or infringed. They are not granted. Only privileges and permissions are granted.–Joe]

Lawyers and gun owner rights

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There has been some interesting research on the correlation between lawyers and gun owner rights. Here is the conclusion:

Lawyers contribute primarily to candidates who vote against gun rights. Most of this money ends up in the pockets of Democrats, who exhibit a heavy bias against gun rights. Interestingly enough, the Democrat party is the one that claims to represent the little guy, while a special interest group comprised of economically-elite professionals encourages Democrats to pass more laws limiting the right of self-defense for people who cannot afford private security guards. It’s time for those who believe in traditional Democrat values to take a closer look at their party.

My own research on a closely related topic supports this conclusion. I’ll post the details on my research at a later date.

Quote of the day–Albert Einstein

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The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men… it is easier to denature plutonium that to denature the evil spirit in man… Man’s skills have outstripped his morals…

Albert Einstein
[As applicable today with regard to the threat from Muslim extremists (Iran for example) as it was when Einstein said it.–Joe]

Recovering a combination

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Have you lost the combination to a Master Lock combination lock? Here’s how you recover it.

A new instructor

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Keith Tyler is teaching firearms classes now. I used to shoot with him when he was going to college at WSU in the ’90s. We both went down to Lewiston to shoot the USPSA (IPSC) matches at the Lewiston Pistol Club. He was always a very fast shooter. His accuracy sometimes left a bit to be desired but since he is a Grand Master (Open Class), and Master (Limited and Limited 10) I suspect that weakness has been corrected.

There is talk of getting him to visit the Lewiston Pistol Club for a weekend class sometime this fall. If you are interested let me know and I’ll forward your message to the appropriate person.

Xenia makes the front page

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As I mentioned the other day Xenia and Sara talked to a newspaper reporter. Yesterday their picture was on the front page of the Daily News along with quotes from them and me. I haven’t seen it yet but Barb and Xenia bought three copies and I should see it this weekend.

Update: I misunderstood. The picture was of Xenia and Jesse. Sara wasn’t available when the photographer called so Xenia called Jesse. And the quotes from me weren’t until page three.

Quote of the day–Lukas Grunwald

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The whole passport design is totally brain damaged. From my point of view all of these RFID passports are a huge waste of money. They’re not increasing security at all.

Lukas Grunwald
A security consultant with DN-Systems in Germany and an RFID expert.
Hackers Clone E-Passports
[In addition, the same arguments used against a national ID card can be used against passports.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Ehud Olmert

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There is no cease-fire, there will be no cease-fire. We are determined to succeed in this struggle. We will not give up on our goal to live a life free of terror.

Ehud Olmert
Israeli Prime Minister
Israel Approves ‘Full Force’ Strikes
On the attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

40 years ago today

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Charles Whitman made history. Both sides of the gun debate use the example for their case. The anti-gun people because he killed 15 people and wounded 31. The pro gun people because private citizens started shooting back and kept him pinned down while the good guys got in position to finish him off.

The link above is a factual retelling of the tragedy. It’s good reading.

[Sent to me by Meredith who is a student at the University of Texas.]

Stupid policies and laws

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Xenia was downtown with Sara yesterday when a woman identifying herself as a newspaper reporter for the Daily News approached them and asked if they were high school students and if they would mind talking to her about cell phones in the school. They had a nice conversation and Xenia called me shortly thereafter to tell me I might be getting a call about cell phones in the schools.

I received the call earlier this morning. And one of the first questions she asked was if I had any comments on the school policy against cell phones with cameras. I asked if they had a policy against ordinary cameras in the school. They didn’t. So I told her I didn’t think it made any sense to have a policy against cell phone cameras. One is allowed and the other isn’t. What sense can that make? Besides what’s the problem with cameras anyway? She expressed her opinion that there was concern about cameras being in the locker rooms and bath rooms. Yeah, I can see why they wouldn’t want pictures taken in those places but it’s just like gun control.

They don’t seem to get it. If someone is going to violate a rule against behavior that is obviously wrong and will be punished if the perpetrator is caught then what makes them think a rule against possessing the object to begin with will be honored? The possession is a victimless crime. Victimless crimes shouldn’t exist.