How the world sees you
Gerard @Acamus27
Tweeted on February 5, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!
Prejudice is such an ugly thing.
Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Colion Noir @MrColionNoir
My goal was always to make 2A mainstream. Some want to keep the 2A community small. I want it to be so big that there is no more 2A community, it’s just engrained in the culture. I want gun commercials during the Super Bowl. I want big time actors sponsored by gun companies.
Colion Noir @MrColionNoir
Tweeted on February 11, 2022
[+1.
This is compatible with my goal (from May 30, 2019):
A gun is like a book. Possession, use, and purchase is a specific enumerated right. You should be able to be purchase them anyway, anytime, and anywhere.
That is my goal. Get used to it.
We both have more work to do.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Rebecca Leber
Climate advocates point to the polling, the greenwashing, and the policy implications as pressing reasons it’s important that everyone, especially the media, drop the natural gas label.
For Alan Levinovitz, the name natural gas is simply “too dangerous to have around.” Stopping calling it natural gas is the necessary first step for the world to move away from gas as a climate solution.
Rebecca Leber
February 10, 2022
The end of natural gas has to start with its name
[I find it very telling they claim certain words and phrases are “too dangerous to have around”. Isn’t that almost straight out of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty Four”?
The other thing about the article I find very telling is they write about how natural gas/methane is such a potent greenhouse gas then jump into how “natural gas” name has to be removed from our language. They don’t address the combustion products of natural gas versus the alternatives. It’s as if “natural gas is bad because it is methane” without addressing that natural gas isn’t deliberately released into the air. It is a product sold to customers who consume it. If they want express concerns about combustion products (or byproducts of using natural gas in things like plastics) I would consider that mostly fair. But that is not what they do.
They want to repress speech and are deliberately deceptive. That is all I need to know about them to be opposed to their agenda.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Isobel Asher Hamilton
The chip Neuralink is developing is about the size of a coin, and would be embedded in a person’s skull. From the chip, an array of tiny wires, each roughly 20 times thinner than a human hair, fan out into the patient’s brain.
The wires are equipped with 1,024 electrodes which are able to monitor brain activity and, theoretically, electrically stimulate the brain. This data is transmitted wirelessly via the chip to computers, where it can be studied by researchers.
The second is a robot that could automatically implant the chip.
The robot would work by using a stiff needle to punch the flexible wires emanating from a Neuralink chip into a person’s brain, a bit like a sewing machine.
Isobel Asher Hamilton
February 17, 2022
Elon Musk’s Neuralink wants to embed microchips in people’s skulls and get robots to perform brain surgery
[This sounds like such a great idea it should be mandatory… for politicians. The data should be posted on the Internet in real time.
I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader on the feedback to be applied when the dislikes exceed the likes by a factor of two to one.
On a more serious note, I expect there will be people eager to do this. It will depend upon what sort of “apps” are available. Being able to give yourself almost instant orgasm will probably be a best seller with some people. Direct Internet access will be sufficient for others. And the math coprocessor will be the “killer app” for many of the nerds. But I don’t expect the concept will get full market penetration until virtual reality is nearly indistinguishable from the real world.
Just as with recreational drugs Darwin will provide the negative feedback and limit the adoption of this technology.—Joe]
Reloading dies?
If I could afford it, it would be cool to reload for this caliber. It would give Boomershoot a whole new meaning:
Of course I would need a new press and reloading dies. Does anyone know where I could get a press and dies which could handle 16” projectiles?* Oh, I also need a new gun and new range.
* Yes, I know, these projectiles didn’t use a shell casing. I was just making a joke.
Quote of the day—Igor Volsky
The significant increase in gun violence over the last couple of years is simply too hard to ignore and, I do believe the President when he says and when he said that this issue is a priority for him,
Igor Volsky
Founder of Guns Down America
February 14, 2022
‘We’re not asking for magical things’: Anti-gun violence groups launch campaign to pressure Biden four years after Parkland
[Completely ignoring that over 92% of violent crime in the US does not involve a gun. Completely ignoring the “defund the police” component to the increase in violent crime. Completely ignoring the lack of prosecution of violent criminals which are caught. Completely ignoring the early release of violent criminals from prison using the excuse they were in danger of catching COVID-19 while in prison. Completely ignoring gun ownership is a specific enumerated right.
It is not about crime. It is about taking Guns away from ordinary people.
Just as interesting is that there is such a new anti-gun organization. This organization was founded in late 2016. Apparently the half dozen or so other organizations, many of which have been around for decades, weren’t effective enough for Volsky.
What he doesn’t seem to understand is that his message of “building a future with fewer guns” has already been tried by many of the existing organizations. And if they ever get any traction with the politicians gun sales skyrocket. It is an “adaptive response” as explained by Chet just the other day.
And don’t let anyone get away with telling you, “No one wants to take your guns.”—Joe]
Quote of the day—Chet
Antifragile is another name for adaptive response, and it is one reason why models fail to be reliable very far into the future. The other reason is that many processes have probabilistic distribution that are not finite which Talib describes as fat tailed. Fat tailed processes have distributions which have no mean, no variance, or higher moments. Yes, you can compute these values, but they are not meaningful, and the resulting models are GIGO.
Failure to recognize adaptive response and fat tailed processes are major reasons why so much stupidity is going on in our world.
Chet
February 12, 2022
Comment to Quote of the day—Forrest Cooper
[This quote probably isn’t fully understood by more than 10%, at best, of the general population. But it really resonates with me and I wanted to give it more visibility so others who understand it can bask in the awesomeness.—Joe]
Quote of the day—StumpSmasher @SmasherStump
It’s hard to beat a sales pitch of “we’ll reduce your sentences to nothing, defund the police so they don’t stop you, disarm your victims so they can’t resist, and throw in a pile of free stuff at the expense of workers”.
The DNC’s platform is tailor-made for the criminal vote.
StumpSmasher @SmasherStump
Tweeted on February 5, 2022
[Also, as was the case in the early days of the USSR, criminals are the natural allies of the communists and are treated as such by the politicians.—Joe]
Quote of the day—beth @bourgeoisalien
I’m 100% convinced that the reason why right-wing chuds have to constantly talk about gun ownership and violence is because they have micro dicks.
beth @bourgeoisalien
Tweeted on January 17, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday it’s another science denier!
I’m 100% convinced she hears “right-wing chuds” talking in her delusions.
Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Victor Davis Hanson
This governmental freefall has been overseen by a tragically bewildered, petulant, and incompetent president. In his confusion, an increasingly unpopular Biden seems to believe that his divisive chaos is working, belittling his political opponents as racist Confederate rebels.
As we head into the 2022 midterm elections, who will stop our descent into collective poverty, division, and self-inflicted madness?
Victor Davis Hanson
January 19, 2022
Is America Heading for a Systems Collapse
[I’m nearly certain that is the wrong question to ask. It is my understanding that in chaotic times people give their support to “strong” (authoritarian) people who claim they can fix the broken system. Mussolini and Hitler come to mind…
Hence, I think the better questions are:
- “How can we prevent the wrong person from coming to power?”
- “How can we dramatically reduced government power and let the free market fix the mess we are in?”
- “How can we survive the coming collapse?”
- “Where is my underground bunker?”
Prepare appropriately.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Forrest Cooper
In his book, Antifragile Nicholas Nassim Taleb describes his concept as something which gains from disorder or resistance. Having no word to accurately describe something that is the opposite of fragile, he argues that the term robust does not go far enough, and is neutral at best. Antifragility is a trait, whether it be in markets, military strategies, or bone mass, that grows off of the volatility of their environments.
…
The phenomenon that is American Gun Culture has responded to censorship in an antifragile way. This can be seen in the sudden spike in firearms purchasing whenever politicians push for banning certain firearms, as well as by continuing to grow despite political and cultural opposition. While social media platforms normalize censoring firearms-related content, the culture revolving around firearms shows that it doesn’t need their approval to continue thriving.
Forrest Cooper
February 7, 2022
Censorship and Antifragility: Aero Precision
[Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder is a good book. It is a novel, (but obvious in hindsight) way of looking at things. As an engineer it helped me think about the design of reliable systems. It can help the gun rights community think about better responses to attempts at infringements too.
Gab is a good example. They were deplatformed on multiple axis simultaneously and came back stronger than before.
One might also say Boomershoot was an antifragile response to a law introduced by Diane Feinstein. The word did not exist at the time, but it certainly fits the facts.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Emily McCormick
Consumer prices soared by the most in four decades in January, with inflation across the economy showing few signs of peaking even after months of increases.
The Consumer Price Index’s 7.5% annual surge at the start of 2022 was the biggest leap since 1982 and topped already elevated expectations for a 7.3% rise, based on Bloomberg consensus data. On a month-over-month basis, the CPI unexpectedly posted a 0.6% increase for a back-to-back month, whereas economists had been looking for a deceleration. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, also exceeded estimates, showing a 6.0% year-over-year jump in January.
The report served as one of the clearest affirmations that inflation — described as recently as November by the Federal Reserve as “transitory” — has become a persistent feature of the economic recovery.
Emily McCormick
February 10, 2022
What economists are saying about soaring inflation
[We live in interesting times.
Prepare appropriately.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Natasha Abel
Based on the percent of firearms licenses, about 1 to 5 percent of adult residents had a firearms license in Massachusetts counties. But Iwama found no consistent effect of the new legislation on reducing four types of violent crime (murder or nonnegligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, robbery, rape). Her study did find that a one-percent increase in denied firearm licenses and denied firearm licenses following statutory disqualifications increased robberies 7.3 and 8.9 percent, respectively.
While the percentage of denied firearms licenses and firearms license applications had little to no effect on violent crimes, Iwama suggests state lawmakers revisit their legislation to ensure that it is being implemented as intended and address challenges identified. In particular, are these findings the result of a longer-than-expected lag in enforcement following passage of the legislation? Are they due to individuals obtaining firearms in nearby states with looser gun laws? Or is it possible that the 2014 law is being enforced differentially by county?
Natasha Abel
October 22, 2021
Study: Massachusetts Gun-Control Legislation Has Had No Effect on Violent Crime
[Or is it possible that what I and others have been saying, for almost 20 years, gun control has not and will not make the general public safer?
Study after study agrees with me but researcher Janice Iwama confirms the findings of dozens of other researchers using data from all over the country (for example: a 2018 study on background checks and my thoughts on background checks in 2013) and concludes it must be an implementation problem specific to Massachusetts. She doesn’t understand (or believe) that it was never the intention of the law to increase public safety.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Vox Day@voxday
You can cling to all the Big Tech platforms as long as you like. It’s foolish, because they WILL deplatform you. And you can jump to all the “new” gatekeeping platforms run by the same people who run the Big Tech platforms all you like, but you’re not going to find what you’re looking for there either.
Consider this: there is a reason the media, the ADL, and all the other organizations that hate you have been deplatforming and discrediting people like me, Torba, Milo, Owen, Stefan, and Razor for the last 7 years.
And maybe it’s not because we are pure and unmitigated evil haters who hate. Maybe it’s because we actually stand for the Good, the Beautiful, and the True.
Vox Day@voxday
Gabbed on February 4, 2022
[Read that carefully. He didn’t say they were the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. He said maybe they actually stood for that.
I think that is the more likely hypothesis than they are all “pure and unmitigated evil haters who hate”.
There may be some other hypothesis that fits the available evidence better than either but doesn’t matter much. What matters is those Big Tech companies deplatforming people are clearly evil haters who hate.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Adam Kredo
The ATF maintained in its response to the 2021 investigation that the “sole purpose” of its database and ongoing efforts to digitize out-of-business records “is to trace firearms used in crimes.”
More than half-a-million traces were performed in 2021, according to the ATF, and just under half a million in 2020. The ATF, however, says it does not have the ability to determine if the database actually helps solve crimes. The ATF’s National Tracing Center “has no ability to determine the successful prosecution of hundreds of thousands of crime gun traces it completes annually, nor does it have any way to link a trace for a specific prosecution for a particular year,” the agency informed Congress.
Adam Kredo
January 31, 2022
Biden Admin Has Records on Nearly One Billion Gun Sales
[There are number of things of interest in this:
- One billion gun sales!
- The ATF says they can’t even tell us if there has ever been a single crime solved via the tracing of a gun.
- Yet they continue to do a half million gun traces per year – to what purpose?
If the nearly sole purpose was to return stolen property to its rightful owner and they were successful most of the time I would wouldn’t complain too loudly.
If they were instrumental in solving hundreds of thousands of violent and/or property crimes every year I wouldn’t complain too loudly.
Neither of those two scenarios are true.. All evidence indicates the ATF are the criminals.
Prepare appropriately.—Joe]
Quote of the day—AspiringProle @Pamduckling
So obviously got a little dick then.
AspiringProle @Pamduckling
Tweeted on January 16, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday it’s another science denier!
Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Congress of the United States
We would urge that you consider rescinding the proposed regulation that would require FFLs to preserve firearm records older than 20 years. Indeed, the evidence provided by ATF thus far demonstrates that such records likely have little utility in prosecuting crime, yet raise serious concerns about whether ATF is creating a prohibited national gun registry.
Congress of the United States
Signed by 36 members of Congress
Letter from Congress to the ATF
[See also:
- Lawmakers Investigate Biden Admin Over Database Containing One Billion Gun Sale Records (freebeacon.com)
- Biden Admin Has Records on Nearly One Billion Gun Sales (freebeacon.com)
- Biden Admin Lays Foundation For Massive Gun-Grab Exercise, 1 Billion Records Of Gun Sales (tampafp.com)
We live in interesting times. Prepare accordingly.—Joe]
Quote of the day—John R. Lott
With violent crime increasing over the last two years, Americans want a solution. But President Joe Biden constantly frames violent crime as only a gun problem. Again, it was the sole focus of Biden’s speech in New York City on Thursday. Even when he mentions police or prosecutors, it was in terms of enforcing gun control laws.
But this “guns first” approach ignores a basic fact – over 92% of violent crimes in America do not involve firearms. And while Biden blames guns for the increase in violent crime, the latest data show that gun crimes fell dramatically.
John R. Lott
February 4, 2022
Biden’s ‘guns first’ approach to violent crime ignores basic facts
[I’m reminded of the television news several decades ago. When they would report on crime an symbol of a handgun would appear in the corner of the screen during the crime report. It didn’t matter if was burglary, a stabbing, or shoplifting and no gun was involved. They were attempting to make guns synonymous with crime.
The democrats defund the police, fail to prosecute criminals, and then tell us they are going to increase restrictions on firearms. This isn’t stupidity or ignorance. This is evil. As I have said before, this the communist way.
Prepare appropriately.—Joe]
Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated
I run across these sort of things from time to time:
Joe Huffman Obituary
Here is Joe Huffman’s obituary. Please accept Echovita’s sincere condolences.
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Joe Huffman of Wilkesboro, North Carolina, who passed away on February 3, 2022, at the age of 84, leaving to mourn family and friends. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family.
He was predeceased by : his parents, Earl Thomas and Martha Cisco Eller Huffman; his wife Linda Adelaide Ellis Huffman; and his siblings, Patty Sue Wingler and Shelmer Blackburn, Sr..
He is survived by : his children, Patricia Huffman Shacklette (Peter) of Roanoke Rapids and Keith Huffman (Barbara) of Wilkesboro; his grandchildren, Ellis Shacklette, Brad Calloway and Brittany Hemric (Logan); and his great grandchild Mila Hemric.
Visitation will be held on Monday, February 7th 2022 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM at the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church (239 Champion Mt Pleasant Rd, Wilkesboro, NC 28697). A funeral service will be held on Monday, February 7th 2022 at 2:00 PM at the same location. A burial will be held on Monday, February 7th 2022 at the same location.
No known relation. But Huffman’s have been in North America since before the Revolutionary War. I also have a ancestor on my dad’s maternal side which was known to have fought in the Revolutionary War.
That was Captain Jesse Gray. He was born in North Carolina. He fought and was captured at the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780. He later fled to Nova Scotia where he was granted land for his service to the Crown. His great grandson, Frank Carey Sr. was born on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of King’s Mountain. Frank came to America when he was sixteen years old and eventually homesteaded on South Road in 1895.
Boomershoot Mecca, where we manufacture the targets, has a great view of the site of Frank Carey’s 1895 homestead on South Road. This picture is from January 17th of this year: Boomershoot Mecca is just behind the camera. South Road is at the near horizon this side of the trees.
Three of Frank’s daughters purchased the 40 acre field where Boomershoot is now held. One of those daughters was my grandmother. I inherited that 40 acre field.
Quote of the day—Alan Gottlieb
Proponents of these laws, and especially the gun control initiatives passed in recent years, sold the public a bill of goods, and now everybody knows it. Voters were told in 2014 that Initiative 594 would reduce gun-related violence, and today’s data proves they were misled. Four years later, the Seattle-based gun prohibition lobby promised Initiative 1639 would prevent gun-related homicides, and they lied again. In Olympia, anti-gun politicians are pushing more gun restrictions right now, with the same promises.
The billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobby and their allies in Olympia claim that so-called ‘gun violence’ is an epidemic. Frankly, the intellectual dishonesty of the gun control crowd is the real public health crisis.
Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
January 31, 2022
CCRKBA: KING COUNTY, WA GUN MURDERS, SHOOTINGS PROVE ANTI-GUNNERS LIED
[Hmmm… I’m not sure this is true. Can evil people be a “public health crisis”? It’s at least a little bit twisted in the mixing of metaphors, so to speak.
At the higher levels the anti-gun people know restrictions on access to firearms won’t make the general public safer. You can go back for at least 25 years and listen carefully to the speeches by President Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Diana Feinstein, and the media releases by Handgun Control Inc, The Brady Campaign, etc., etc. Typically they word things very carefully such that they usually don’t actually lie with statements about increased restrictions on firearm ownership and use being a net win for public safety. They knew then and they know now that the real reason for the increased restrictions has nothing to do with public safety. They will imply public safety is the reason but they almost never say it.
There have even been cases where they come right out and say they know it. In his book Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy page 107. Dennis A. Henigan wrote:
I am not arguing here that higher rates of gun ownership cause higher rates of crime, violent crime, or homicide. Such causation is difficult to show because so many other factors bear on the incidence of crime. For instance, simple cross-national comparisons of gun availability and crime do not control for the degree to which various countries impose legal restrictions on firearms. It also is difficult to sort out whether high levels of gun ownership lead to high crime rates or whether high crime rates lead to high levels of gun ownership.
Henigan was a HCI and/or Brady Campaign lawyer for years. And he was even acting president for a while. He admits gun ownership rates appear to be uncorrelated with crime rates.
Most of these people are not ignorant or stupid. They are evil.—Joe]