I quietly declare war with the State, after my fashion, though I will still make use and get advantage of her as I can, as is usual in such cases.
Henry David Thoreau
(1817-62), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist.
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849).
Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power.
Noah Webster
An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution
Philadelphia, 1787
He didn’t answer Just One Question when I ask the other day. He didn’t even look at it (I checked my logs). He knows what he wants to believe and that’s all that is important. And he calls Chris Cox evil? What can be more evil than insisting we ignore the facts and do things his way? The way that has enabled the murder of at least 60 million people by their own governments in the 20th century? His name is Michael Daly and he says:
Staring down barrel of NRA’s evil lobbyist
The devil does not wear Prada.
The Devil wears an off-the-rack suit and tie and speaks with a honeyed Southern accent.
That much remained clear yesterday as you gazed at the congealed blood on W. 22nd St., where four more New Yorkers had been shot with an illegal gun. The figure who immediately leapt to mind was the guy in the suit you had seen over the weekend at the National Rifle Association’s annual gathering in Milwaukee.
His name is Chris Cox, and he is the NRA’s chief lobbyist. He leads the charge to block Bloomberg’s effort in Washington to get the federal legislation that is the only way to stem the flow of illegal guns into New York.
Considering the 2nd Amendment says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed and the 14th amendment says the Bill of Rights apply to the states and cities as well as the Feds, just what is an illegal gun? Michael Daly has mental problems.
We pray that it will not come to shooting in South Africa, but if it does – God forbid – consider who is likely to win between a group armed primarily with AK47s and no skill in their use and another group armed with sporting rifles and considerable skill in their use. Numbers would not matter particularly in such a confrontation. Formal armies can defeat other formal armies, and they can put down mobs of agitators, as in China. They cannot defeat a population completely armed with simple old-fashioned rifles. What the disarmers never recognize is that episodes like Tiananmen Square can never occur if every citizen maintains his own rifle in his house, as in Switzerland.
Jeff Cooper
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 10
15 November 1993
They have done all they could (and failed) with guns and crimes committed with guns and now they are working on knives. A “knife amnesty” program is now underway in the UK. Can you believe it?
A NATIONWIDE knife amnesty aimed at reducing knife crime comes into force today.
For the next five weeks people will be able to hand in offensive weapons such as flick knives, butterfly knives and swords without fear of reprisal.
Secure bins will be left in police stations and other public places such as supermarkets, schools and youth clubs, to encourage people to hand in their weapons.
It is hoped the amnesty, which ends on June 30, will lead to fewer people carrying knives.
…
Kent Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Dave Ainsworth said: “We obviously want to reduce the number of knives and lethal weapons on our streets that are designed to kill or maim, such as combat knives, flick knives and swords.
“Knives can damage and destroy lives, leaving families and communities devastated.”
…
Wrong. People with knives damage and destroy lives. And they don’t need knives to do it. These people have severe mental problems.
“In a survey, 46 per cent of youngsters in Newcastle said they carried around a knife with them. That’s a horrifying statistic.
“We have got to get the message through: this is illegal, it is very, very dangerous. You could end up yourself being injured or, worse still, on impulse inflicting some mortal injury on a friend.”
I remember getting a Christmas present from my teacher when I was in the first grade and six years old. It was a knife and all the boys in the classroom got them. One guy cut his finger a few weeks later but that was the only problem that occurred and that was minor. The people in the U.K. are totally bonkers.
Yet another example of how our right to not be searched without a court order are being violated without any benefit:
CBS4) DENVER Nearly 5 years after Sept. 11, 2001, how difficult would it be for terrorists to get explosives aboard a plane? With billions being spent on airport security, one would hope it would be nearly impossible. But what CBS4 found may have you questioning whether we are really safer.
CBS4 demonstrated 3 years ago how explosive chemicals placed on luggage, a computer and a person could pass through security. The CBS4 Investigates wanted to see what, if anything, has changed. CBS4 began the test by purchasing those same explosive chemicals.
…
After this, the CBS4 team placed even more of the chemicals on the bag. Investigators also packed a lead-lined sack designed to protect film from X-rays. Then an electronic object was placed beneath it. This was to see if security would open the luggage to see what the lead bag was hiding.
The team then went to Denver International Airport.
A CBS4 employee who carried the bag with her purchased a one way ticket in hopes of being placed in the security line for extra screening. She was not.
The bag was placed on the conveyor and passed through the X-ray machine. The Transportation Security Administration screener spotted the lead-lined bag and wanted a second look. They let it through. They did not open it to see what was beneath the lead lined bag. And no one seemed to notice all that powder.
From watching the video I’m pretty sure I know what powdered chemical they used for the tests. If I am correct there is no way the explosive detectors can flag it as dangerous without generating false positives on a very high percentage of the passengers. It’s an unsolvable problem with the current paradigm. If people wish to increase security, rather than just make some people feel good, they need to switch paradigms. Here are my suggestions for increasing airplane security.
For the sheer terror of it – the worst thing you can do to people is aim at their children.
Lee Boyd Malvo
May 23, 2006
Rockville, MD trial of John Allen Muhammad
In response to being asked why Muhammad devised a two-phase plan to shoot as many as six random people each day for 30 days in the Washington area and then target children and police officers with explosives. They planned to place explosives on school buses in Baltimore, kill a Baltimore police officer and then set off explosives packed with ball bearings at the officer’s funeral. Malvo also testified Muhammad hated America, introduced him to the teaching of the Nation of Islam, and thought white people were “the devil”.
[Islamic extremist. Racist. Murderer. Conspiring to murder children. The death penalty is clearly appropriate for Muhammad.–Joe]
Update: Far more details are in the Washington Post article.
It would appear that, despite the screeching of the anti-gun bigots here, the U.S. doesn’t have the most lax or ignored gun laws. Yemen seems to enjoy a bit more freedom in that regard.
“I have cannons, missiles, Kalashnikovs, anti-aircraft guns and hand grenades,” said community leader Mohammed Naji, sitting cross-legged in his house in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. “This is a part of our culture, and a tribesman can give up everything except his gun.”
…
The report said it was relatively easy to obtain surface-to-air missiles in Yemen.
Too bad their culture is so messed up in other ways. Revenge killings are just a bit too crude for my tastes.
It takes a particular kind of nerve to be filmed taking $100,000 in alleged bribe money out of an FBI informant’s car, have the FBI later find the same cold, hard cash wrapped in aluminum foil in your freezer — and then adamantly claim that you have done nothing wrong.
…displaying the cool of a man who keeps his cash in the freezer.
Dana Milbank
May 23, 2006
So $90,000 Was in the Freezer. What’s Wrong With That?
Washington Post
[While this scumbag, Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, needs to be prosecuted this incidents of these sorts of crimes could be greatly reduced by restoring the limits to power to those mandated by the U.S. Constitution. An excess of power, as is now the case, attracts the type of people who will abuse it.–Joe]
The inquisitions, however, are predicated upon the wholly implausible notion that there are people out there willing to bomb the bejeezus out of 300 fellow passengers, yet unable to bring themselves to tell a fib. Either that or the increasing torment is just a canny plot by rabid environmentalists, hellbent on dissuading us from flying at all.
Personally, I find the second more likely. I also think they’re winning.
Carol Sarler
May 21, 2006
Airport security is a farce… I rest my case
The Observer (UK)
We believe the evidence is absolutely clear on this.
This system is expensive and not effective. It’s not the right way to spend dollars on both gun control and crime control.
Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
May 19, 2006
Harper tells Ontario, Quebec to butt out on gun registry complaints
[It’s going to be a rough road getting rid of this dangerous encroachment on civil rights but Harper appears to be determined. Good for him!–Joe]
And remember, only call if your attacker uses racist or insensitive language while beating you to a pulp. After all, according to hate-law advocates, it’s not genuine hate unless the perpetrator makes fun of your heritage.
David Harsanyi
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Hate hotline puts speech on hold
Via Analog Kid.
We cannot rely on the federal government to enact responsible legislation that will prevent criminals from possessing and using guns. In order to create safer streets and neighborhoods in California, we must act now to stop illegal gun trafficking at its source.
Bill Lockyer
California State Attorney General
Lockyer touts gun control Amid area visit, officials push bills
May 16, 2006
[You would think that someone smart enough to get themselves elected to such a high office would realize that government cannot actually prevent things. Government can only punish acts that have already been committed. Never mind the little “shall not be infringed” issue in the Bill of Rights which means Mr. Lockyer is actually admitting to a felony. But as we already know, the law doesn’t apply to ‘them’.–Joe]
Some videos of the plane that hit the Pentagon were released. From the DOD FOIA Requester Service Center:
A year and a half ago I spent a little time debunking that it was actually an explosive charge rather than fuel from the plane that caused the flash on the previous images that were released. These videos should help a little bit on that front.
No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson
[Either Jefferson was wrong or we are not free. Others may come to a different conclusion but I have concluded we are not free.–Joe]
Maine realizes the Federal mandate on Real ID is unrealistic:
AUGUSTA – Two years from now, Mainers wanting to fly for business or pleasure may be barred from getting on the airplane. The federal Real ID act takes effect May 11, 2008, and state officials say there is no way Maine can be in compliance with the law that mandates various security measures dealing with driver’s licenses.
It would cost millions to implement, and new licenses likely would cost more than $100. “I don’t see how we could possibly meet all its requirements. I don’t see how any state could meet all the requirements by the deadline,” Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said. “This is something that could cost a couple of hundred billion dollars to do.”
Dunlap said the Real ID Act was passed a year ago as a result of the 9-11 Commission Report that was critical of the lack of security in obtaining identity documents such as driver’s licenses. But, he said, the Read ID Act has unrealistic schedules and provides little federal funding.
“It is a huge, unfunded federal mandate,” he said, “and it is totally unrealistic in its timelines.”
For example, Dunlap said, Maine has spent years and more than $14 million to set up the new computer system in his office to handle license and motor vehicle registrations. He said the federal law requires that all the states share, through databases, the personal information needed for a driver’s license.
“It simply can’t be done in a couple of years,” he said. Dunlap is joined in his criticism of the law by the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, which issued a report last month critical of the lack of funding and unrealistic implementation schedule.
…
Dunlap said other states are as concerned as Maine. The New Hampshire House has passed a bill to opt out of the law, and its Senate has voted to study it. Other states are considering resolutions calling on Congress to adopt a more realistic implementation schedule.
All the states need to stand up and assert their constitutionally guaranteed powers on this issue. The Federal government is way out of line on this as well as nearly everything they currently do.
I find this amusing. The Puritans in society try to crack down on a victimless crime and the end result is they end up increasing the activity the very activity the were trying to stop. From our neighbors to the north:
TORONTO — A 2005 Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for swingers clubs appears to be bringing out Canada’s more, well, adventurous side.
Those who prefer life closer to the edge of the conjugal bed say the high court’s re-interpretation last December of the definition of indecency has fuelled a growing interest in private clubs that feature group sex, partner swapping, voyeurism and exhibitionism.
…
Five months later, their operators say more aggressive advertising and marketing efforts in the wake of the ruling have attracted significantly more people to their events.
“I think there’s a great opportunity to provide a safe environment where couples can really enhance their sex life,” said Linda Fox, who operates Club Eden in Vancouver.
The same thing happens when there is talk of banning certain types of firearms. The sales of those models and accessories dramatically increase.
In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.
Charles de Gaulle
[I’ll bet Hillary Clinton uses this, or the equivalent, as a daily manta.–Joe]
To get the bad customs of a country changed and new ones, though better, introduced, it is necessary first to remove the prejudices of the people, enlighten their ignorance, and convince them that their interests will be promoted by the proposed changes, and this is not the work of a day.
Benjamin Franklin
1781
[Gun rights advocates still have a lot of work to do.–Joe]
This is a war of civilizations. There is no room for negotiation. Islamofascism needs to be completely and utterly destroyed, both in the death of its adherents, and in the humiliation of a political theory that asserts it has a moral superiority that justifies being in complete control of the entire world.
Clayton Cramer
May 11, 2006
United 93
[Yes. What he said.–Joe]