We must join together to defeat the racist Critical Race Theory and other maddened toxins oozing from leftists.
Andrea Widburg
April 27, 2021
When it comes to woke tyranny, are the worms beginning to turn?
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Boomershoot Live is back up
I had problems with the Boomershoot weather station and web cam for the last few months. There were some power issues in January (not enough solar), a web cam died, gophers ate a power cable, and then the webcam went sideways:
Last weekend I got everything is working again just in time for Boomershoot 2021. Here is a picture from this evening
Everything is looking good.
This could be interesting
Arizona Senate to Start Major Audit of 2.1 Million 2020 Presidential Election Ballots
The Arizona Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, is ready to start a major audit of 2.1 million ballots for the 2020 presidential election. The recount will be done by hand this time.
The state Senate said in March that they would be conducting a “broad and detailed” audit, adding that they’ll test voting machines, scan ballots, look for IT breaches, and perform a hand count.
I find this part of the article particularly interesting (emphasis added):
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Sellers told Fann in an email obtained by the Epoch Times that the upcoming audit “is not a joint effort between the County and the Senate Republican Caucus.”
In a response to an April 2 email from Fann, Sellers wrote: “Maricopa County performed the audits of the election required and permitted by law. As required by law they were bipartisan and transparent. There has been no suggestion that those audits were in any way deficient. The County then properly authorized two further forensic examinations of its machines that it was permitted to perform as possessor of the machines.”
He also said that because of the unsettled legal ramifications of the documents, “Maricopa County cannot be involved in supporting your audit as to do so may expose it to liability for which it has no similar legal protection.”
I look forward to the report “in about 60 days.”
Things happen fast
A police officer arrives on the scene to reports of teenage girls trying to stab other girls. Nine seconds after opening his car door the officer draws his gun as the perpetrator chases a girl while trying to stab her. Two seconds after that he fires his first shot as she winds up to stab a different girl. Four shots are fired in two seconds and the perpetrator is on the ground with a knife by her side. That is how fast things happen in real life.
It’s tragic, but everything I see in this video indicates it was a legally justified use of lethal force. Yet we have people saying things like this:
Are these people just ignorant? Or are they evil? It’s difficult to decide given the current data. Regardless of the correct assessment of this set of people (and millions of those who have similar attitudes) I don’t want them in my neighborhood or even in the same state. They are seriously messed up.
Quote of the day—bgugin
You and I both know the cops are all in on guns and the NRA. I see a lot of them as the problem.
bgugin
April 20, 2021
Comment to Can Utah ignore federal laws that restrict gun rights? Lawmakers are asking.
[With an attitude like this you have to conclude they are either delusional in their view of reality and/or are knowingly enabling evil.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Jen Psaki
There’s no reason anyone needs to have an assault weapon. There’s no reason that there shouldn’t be universal background checks to ensure guns don’t get in the hands of people who should not have those guns.
Jen Psaki
White House Press Secretary
April 19, 2021
In first White House TikTok Live, Jen Psaki talks gun control, police reform
[Don’t let your opposition control the topic of the debate. If you’re defending your losing. Turn the above into something like:
There is no reason for common sporting firearms to be banned. There is no good that can come from background checks. If someone cannot be trusted with a gun why are they allowed in public without supervision? The Second Amendment is absolute. If you are working to infringe the right to keep and bear arms I hope you enjoy your trial.
If you only play defense the enemy gets to choose when, where, and how to attack. You need to attack on your terms.—Joe].
Quote of the day—Stephen P. Halbrook
Tyrants, conquerors, and dictators of every breed disarm their subjects in order to dominate and exploit them. It’s an iron law of history.
Stephen P. Halbrook
September 6, 2019
Recalling the Tragic History of Gun Control
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Randall G. Holcombe
The debate on the effectiveness of gun control measures to reduce firearm violence distracts attention from the real motive behind gun control. Nobody wants more gun violence, so focusing on gun violence shifts the debate in favor of gun control. What the proponents of gun control really want is control, and the gun violence argument is merely a means to the end that they actually seek–a disarmed population.
Randall G. Holcombe
April 16, 2021
Isn’t About Reducing Firearm Violence; It’s About Control
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Watson Coleman
Silencers are not tools of self-defense, they are tools of murder, They have no legal application.
Watson Coleman
Congresswoman D-N.J
April 16, 2021
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Colleagues Reintroduce Gun Safety Legislation to Outlaw Gun Silencers
[This is what they think of you. Protecting your hearing is not a legal application of this common safety equipment.
That I and my students have used suppressors for many thousands of shots without anyone being murdered means nothing to these people. They are just making stuff up to avoid the real issue.
The real issue is that suppressors are protected by the Second Amendment. They are considered arms and infringing upon right to keep and bear arms is a crime.
The same arguments these evil people are putting forward about muffling the sound of firearms could be just as well applied to vehicle mufflers.
Get them while you can and work toward prosecuting these criminals.—Joe]
He left out a profession
I am quite perplexed. The first thing I thought of when I thought of the “most durable professions” isn’t even on the list:
Durable Trades: Professions That Have Stood the Test of Time for Hundreds of Years:
The top 10 durable professions, according to Groves, are:
- Shepherd (rancher, livestock farmer, dairyman)
- Farmer
- Midwife
- Gardener (arborist, vinedresser, landscaper, flower farmer)
- Woodworker (cabinetmaker, finish carpenter)
- Carpenter (a builder of structures)
- Painter (siding contractor, wall covering specialist)
- Cook (chef, caterer, restauranteur)
- Brewer (winemaker, distiller)
- Innkeeper (hotelier)
Groves follows up the top 20 list with dozens of professions that received “honorable mentions.” The author cautions that his research focused on historical data rather than projecting which professions might be important in the future. Still, the longevity of professions that made the list are certain to give the readers pause before writing off trades in favor of more modern professions.
Even if he did purposefully (it had to be on purpose, right? Who could forget it?) ignore the world’s oldest profession, it’s still an interesting list.
Quote of the day—Gabriel Keane
A few stores in Brooklyn Center were left unmolested, however: businesses guarded out front by armed civilians.
Despite calls to violent “revolution” by looters, they did not appear interested in a confrontation with determined shopkeepers.
Gabriel Keane
April 13, 2021
Only Stores Left Untouched In Minneapolis Area Riots Were Guarded By Armed Civilians
[Unexpectedly!
Via email from Rolf.—Joe]
Existential threat to Bitcoin
I don’t trust the stability of Bitcoin. I trust it even less than fiat U.S. dollars. I see mining bitcoin as wasting electricity to produce… well, what does “mining” actually turn those gigawatt hours into? Isn’t it simply faith in it’s value by some subset of the worlds population? What if people start losing their faith? Doesn’t the value of Bitcoin decrease exponentially with this loss of faith? Once some sufficiently large number of people lose faith isn’t there a high likelihood of an avalanche of people losing faith? Isn’t it likely Bitcoin will go down in the history books as another Tulip bulb or Mississippi bubble?
There is also the risk of one or more countries declaring it illegal and reducing it’s trading value to near zero in that country.
It turns out there are far more subtle yet greater or equal threats to it’s value: Bitcoin’s Greatest Feature Is Also Its Existential Threat: The cryptocurrency depends on the integrity of the blockchain. But China’s censors, the FBI, or powerful corporations could fragment it into oblivion.
Quote of the day—Sensing Online
That is where we are: politics in America is the literally religious-type quest for power – and for nothing else at all. We are way past (I say years past) the times when effective, enduring compromise was possible. It is not.
I do not see any way to reverse this. I am reminded of a disease I read of some time ago, that once it becomes symptomatic, it is too late to treat it. I think that politically that is where we are now. It seems clear to me that we no longer live in the “United” States of America, and I see no way to regain that.
The question is whether the United States will survive in its present form, or will some kind of dissolution come to pass. Personally, I am not optimistic.
Sensing Online
March 22, 2021
The Priesthood of Politicism Offers Only Damnation
[I’m probably more optimistic than this. But a good case can be made for a pessimistic outcome as well.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib)
Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist.
…
No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.
Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib)
Tweeted on April 12, 2021
[It’s not as stupid as you might think at first thought. Thieves and robbers are the natural allies of socialists and communists. They all steal from (and murder) capitalists. Elimination of the restraints on such criminals enables the destruction of people and property.
This was extraordinarily well demonstrated in the USSR. Tlaib and gang are just using an slightly updated playbook from 1917 Russia.
Prepare and respond appropriately.—Joe]
Quote of the day—U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl
My colleagues and I are working hard to protect the 2nd Amendment. One measure I’ve taken is cosponsoring the Gun Owner Registration Information Protection (GRIP) Act, which would put an end to these two sweeping gun control measures. The GRIP Act would clarify existing law prohibiting the federal government from storing information acquired during the firearms background check process. Additionally, it would clarify the prohibition on the use of any federal funding by states or local entities for the storage or listing of sensitive, personal information related to the legal ownership or possession of firearms.
Jerry Carl
U.S. Representative Alabama’s First Congressional District
April 12, 2021
Carl: The fight to protect the 2nd Amendment
[Even if successful this would hardly “protect the 2nd Amendment”. It would be little more than a gesture in the correct direction.
This is not to say that Rep. Carl and his colleagues are enemies of the 2nd Amendment or even that they do not understand the problem or are not doing the best they can given the current situation.
But what is ultimately going to be required is the repeal of thousands of the laws that infringe the 2nd Amendment and the prosecution of those in government who have, or conspired to, violate our rights. Sure, it would have an extremely low chance of passage at the Federal level today, but how about introducing legislation providing for the funding of Federal law enforcement and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute state officials who have advocated for, passed, and enforced some of the most egregious gun control laws?
Just introducing such legislation will move the Overton Window and be a “shot across the bow” of the current course of gun grabbers.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Chris Harris
Essentially, a safe space for the anatomically challenged.
Chris Harris
April 6, 2021
Facebook comment to Weber County Commission declares ‘Second Amendment sanctuary’.
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!
H/T to Jonathan Sullivan for the pointer.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Charles Hugh Smith
The lesson of China’s Cultural Revolution in my view is that once the lid blows off, everything that was linear (predictable) goes non-linear (unpredictable, fragmented, contingent, emergent, prone to extremes, uncontrollable). If America experiences a Cultural Revolution, the outcome won’t lend itself to tidiness or predictability.
To use an analogy from previous blog posts, if the pendulum is pushed to an extreme, when it’s released, it will reach an equivalent extreme (minus a bit of friction) at the opposite end. That could be an unexpected but entirely foreseeable Cultural Revolution.
Those who claim that can’t happen in America are safely outside the pressure cooker, protected by a delusional confidence that since I’m doing great, everyone is doing great. Since real political agency is no longer allowed, then the pressure will find release outside the political system. It’s just Wetware 1.0 running defaults few recognize.
Charles Hugh Smith
April 9, 2021
Is a Cultural Revolution Brewing in America?
[Interesting hypothesis.—Joe]
ATF director nominee Chipman at Ruby Ridge and Waco
According to Daily Mail REVEALED: Biden’s nominee for ATF head is an anti-gun lobbyist who was at the Ruby Ridge standoff and Waco massacre – and lied about cult members shooting down helicopters.
The picture below is from the article. I’ve also seen this image several other places (here for example—H/T to John S. for the email):
That is the smoldering ashes of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco Texas and 76 of its residents in the background. It takes a special type of person to pose in front of that.
That he also apparently played a part the murders of innocent people at Ruby Ridge should make it clear what type of agency President Biden wants the ATF to be.
Prepare appropriately.
Quote of the day—Doc. Block @MedicPlastic
By nominating the man responsible for Waco, President Biden is sending a message.
He will kill you and your family by burning you alive, just to get your guns.
Doc. Block @MedicPlastic
Tweeted on April 7, 2021
[H/T to Robb Allen.
While it’s plausible, perhaps even certain, President Biden is unaware he is sending this particular message. But that message has certainly been sent.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Frank J. Fleming @IMAO_
Are ghost guns guns useable by ghosts or guns that allow you to shoot ghosts? Because that makes a big difference in whether I want them banned or not.
Frank J. Fleming @IMAO_
Tweeted on April 8, 2021
[As pointed out by Shawn Slipknotyk @slipknotyk06, there is another possibility which should be considered. Perhaps a ghost gun is a gun that shoot ghosts out the barrel.
I think we need to move very slowly on this whole ghost gun banning thing. There are constitutional questions as well. Surely if the guns are for ghosts of U.S. citizens then such a law would be unconstitutional. And if the ghosts were “undocumented immigrants”, once they are in this country don’t they have the same rights to gun ownership as citizen ghosts?—Joe]