The Committee concludes that the DOE placed its own priorities to further the President’s Climate Action Plan before its Constitutional obligations to be candid with Congress. The DOE’s actions constitute a reckless and calculated attack on the legislative process itself, which undermines the power of Congress to legislate. The Committee further concludes that DOE’s disregard for separation of powers is not limited to a small group of employees, but rather is an institutional problem that must be corrected by overhauling its management practices with respect to its relationship with the Congress.
Since the election I have cried many times, in the shower, in the car, as the conventions that define liberal Western democracy are stripped away by Donald J. Trump, with every distressful appointment, each impulsive outburst. I have embarrassment of grief for a government that is not mine and for a country that does not belong to me. It feels as if we’re mourning the death of an idea called America.
Lisa Pryor
December 16, 2016 Dear America, Why Did You Let Us Down?
[While none of the political parties really offer a path to what I think of as the “idea called America” it would have been worse had Hillary Clinton been elected.
My hypothesis is that Ms. Pryor doesn’t really understand is that the true “idea called America” is well explained in the Constitution and she has some dramatically different concept of what the idea is. Perhaps Ms. Pryor would benefit from an introduction to the concept that feelings do not necessarily reflect reality.—Joe]
The ferry ride was a little unusual, in that I don’t think I have ever been on a ferry when it was snowing:
The roads on the Island became quite slick even though I had AWD and good all-season tires:
And, of course, this means we had snow at the match:
In the video below I first have a video of Thomas shooting (I forget who he was shooting against). With his open class gun and shooting ability he is very difficult to overcome. You can see further evidence of this in the second match of the video. Thomas is on the left and I’m on the right. He has completed his plates when I have my first miss on the next to the last plate. I think I caught sight of his near completion and tried to hurry. Don’t ever hurry in competition. You can’t miss fast enough to win.
Last time, overall, I was beat by Thomas, Steve, and Jeff. I had split the two match ups with Steve, won twice against Jeff, and lost a few others. Jeff did well against pretty much everyone else except Thomas and Steve. Hence I came in fourth. I didn’t’ feel too bad about it as everyone above me was shooting open class guns while I was shooting with iron sights.
This time we were split into two randomly selected groups instead of everyone shooting against everyone else. Jeff, Steve, and I were the best shooters in our group and Thomas was the best in his group (and overall, it’s quite obvious when you see him shoot). So, in my mind, it was all about beating Steve and Jeff for a chance to get into the shoot off between groups against Thomas. And with their open class guns against my iron sighted gun I knew it was going to be tough.
I again split with Steve but this time won all my other match ups in my group. Steve lost the one against me and had one win and one tie with Jeff. This gave me a half point lead over Steve and wining in my group. In the shoot off against Thomas I lost both, badly, but I still was awarded the second place finish.
For second place I received $13. I think this is the first time I have ever received money in a shooting competition. As the entry fee was $10, the ammo was probably $20, not to mention gas and the two ferry rides, I didn’t make any money on the event. I won’t be I going professional anytime soon.
Although difficult for modern man to fathom, it was once widely believed that life was a gift from God, that to not defend that life when offered violence was to hold God’s gift in contempt, to be a coward and to breach one’s duty to one’s community. A sermon given in Philadelphia in 1747 unequivocally equated the failure to defend oneself with suicide:
“He that suffers his life to be take from him by one that hath no authority for that purpose, when he might preserve it by defense incurs the Guild of self murder since God hath enjoined him to seek the continuance of his life, and Nature itself teaches every creature to defend itself.”
Jeff Snyder
2001 Nation of Cowards pages 16 and 17
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
This year many Democrats were advocating for the electors in the Electoral College pledged to Donald Trump to vote for someone else. Their hope was to get those votes to Hillary Clinton or at least remove enough votes from Trump such that the election would be thrown in the House for resolution.
These people should have been careful what they wished for.
three Democratic electors, in Colorado, Maine and Minnesota, initially declined to vote for Mrs. Clinton. Two ended up changing their vote, and one was replaced by an alternate.
I am greatly amused. This was truly an election year for popcorn.
We’ll know the size of their penis by checking out the size of their assault weapon.
SqueekyLeaks @squeekyleaks Tweeted on February 11, 2016 [It’s another Markley’s Law Monday! Via a tweet from Linoge.
One has to wonder why they need to know the penis size of random people. And if they really do have a need why would they examine the contents of someone’s gun safe in a silly attempt to determine it?
Last month Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club had a trial run for centerfire pistol matches using falling plates. These matches will replace the speed steel matches during the winter. They are shot under cover so even with rain and/or snow the shooters can stay dry and mostly sheltered from the wind. There is even a wood stove you can use to warm up when you have a break from shooting.
The match went well and, as expected, there were a few organizational things learned which will be applied to the next match.
They way Holmes Harbor implements these matches is with two racks of six eight inch diameter steel plates at 13 yards. One shooter shoots at the left rack, the other on the right. The start position is with the butt of the gun on the bench in front of the shooters. The first shooter to knock all the plates down gets one point or 0.5 points for each in the case of a tie. Everyone shoots against every other person twice. The person with the most points wins the match. In the video below the first match is with some of the best shooters (Steve and Brian) who participated so don’t take this as what it takes to avoid being embarrassed. And notice that, as usual, you can’t miss fast enough to win. The way to do your best is to take just enough time to make every shot count.
I slowed down one of the strings so you can see and hear things. It’s kind of cool to hear the plate get hit by the bullet, then hear the plate as it falls then bounces.
The notion of political correctness came into use among Communists in the 1930s as a semi-humorous reminder that the Party’s interest is to be treated as a reality that ranks above reality itself. Because all progressives, Communists included, claim to be about creating new human realities, they are perpetually at war against nature’s laws and limits. But since reality does not yield, progressives end up pretending that they themselves embody those new realities. Hence, any progressive movement’s nominal goal eventually ends up being subordinated to the urgent, all-important question of the movement’s own power. Because that power is insecure as long as others are able to question the truth of what the progressives say about themselves and the world, progressive movements end up struggling not so much to create the promised new realities as to force people to speak and act as if these were real: as if what is correct politically—i.e., what thoughts serve the party’s interest—were correct factually.
…
the point of P.C. is not and has never been merely about any of the items that it imposes, but about the imposition itself. Much less is it about creating a definable common culture or achieving some definable good. On the retail level, it is about the American’s ruling class’s felt need to squeeze the last drops of voter participation out of the Democratic Party’s habitual constituencies. On the wholesale level, it is a war on civilization waged to indulge identity politics.
…
The imposition of P.C. has no logical end because feeling better about one’s self by confessing other people’s sins, humiliating and hurting them, is an addictive pleasure the appetite for which grows with each satisfaction. The more fault I find in thee, the holier (or, at least, the trendier) I am than thou. The worse you are, the better I am and the more power I should have over you.
…
America’s progressive rulers, like France’s, act less as politicians gathering support than as conquerors who enjoy punishing captives without worry that the tables may turn.
Lefties always seem especially afraid of Ayn Rand supporters. I think that’s because — at least until recently — Randians were almost the only people on the right who were both unafraid of lefties and willing to call leftism, even in its comparatively mile FDR form, immoral. Both traits can be very triggering.
Ed Driscoll December 13, 2016 ACTUAL HEADLINE IN THE WASHINGTON POST [I think it is also in part because Randians aren’t a good match for many of Lefties usual insults.—Joe]
Make jokes about it long enough, eventually it’ll happen in real life.
Still, I won’t be trading in my guns anytime soon.
No doubt Joe can come up with some self defense training scenarios involving the use of both guns and sex toys. We have umbrella guns. Some entrepreneurs might consider making a dildo gun, you know, in for the case you’re attacked while dildoing. The BATFEIEIO would have to make up another NFA weapon category, Any Other Dildo (AOD) and slap a five dollar tax on it.
The Militia Laws should be repealed and none suffered to be re-enacted, the Arms of all the People should be taken away, & every piece of Ordnance removed into the King’s Stores, nor should any Foundry or manufactory of Arms, Gunpowder, or Warlike Stores, be ever suffered in America, nor should any Gunpowder, Lead, Arms or Ordnance be imported into it without License: they will have but little need of such things for the future, as the King’s Troops, Ships & Forts will be sufficient to protect them from any danger.
William Knox Under Secretary of State in the British Colonial Office 1777 What is Fit to be Done with America? From The Arms Of All The People Should Be Taken Away [The government will protect you! We hear that now and it would seem people have heard that for as long as there have been governments. Upon the first hearing of claims such as these one should take appropriate and vigorous action to remove the people making the claims from power.
See also my post on this over five years ago.—Joe]
For now the citizens of the United States live in two separate realities. As a hypnotist, I doubt any of us can see reality for what it is. My worldview is that we were in one kind of illusion before and some of us moved to another. When it comes to understanding reality, the best we can do is pick a version that does a good job predicting.
My view of reality predicts that the Hitler illusion will wear off in time because Trump keeps refusing to do Hitler-like things. Check my prediction at the end of Trump’s term. I think you’ll see his popularity continue to improve from here.
A shameless plug of self-promotion post. Today only. (14 December)
Castalia House is running a 1+1 Christmas sale: buy one physical book (hardbound or paperback) and get one free Castalia House e-book (details at the link). In fact if you want to buy more than one physical book, you can get an equal number of e-books without limit (well, other than the number of titles they have out, of course). Since Back From The Dead (the first half of The Stars Came Back) is now out in print it’s an eligible item. So if you are a reader, or know readers and are looking for a gift, here’s an opportunity.
The idea that Russia hacked Hillary’s firmware and made her more unlikable and less human has merit.
Robb Allen @ItsRobbAllen Tweeted on December 10, 2016 [It makes sense to me. Russian technology has always been a little rough. It’s mostly functional but it doesn’t have the polish and finish that it needs to be viable in this country.—Joe]
Those of us who know our whites know one thing above all else: whiteness defends itself. Against change, against progress, against hope, against black dignity, against black lives, against reason, against truth, against facts, against native claims, against its own laws and customs.
Don’t ever forget there are certain inalienable rights all humans have.
Well, here is why we always need to have our guard up:
Notice, they didn’t complain about surveillance before. My assumption has been that with a Muslim running DHS, a Muslim DCI, and a Muslim POTUS, the Muslim community was pretty much surveillance-free. Now they know the worm is turning.
What I hope Trump will consider is not stopping at the Muslims, but going a step further. Democrat politicians, liberal political activists, #Blacklivesmatter assholes, global warming cult believers, Democrat contributors, Cuckservative never-Trumpers, mainstream media traitors, and other enemies of the state should all get their own government-funded perpetual proctological exams.
Once you get a government violating the rights of the “deplorables” it is very difficult to get it to stop. Government bureaucracies almost always grow and expand their original scope. Resist the urge to create such agencies to begin with and capitalize on every opportunity to shrink and/or eliminate them, and convict those who violated the rights of others, no matter how much you despise the victims of their crimes.
Instead of enacting, “A person may legally bear arms across state lines,” which officials can violate without repercussion, the law must say, “Anyone who interferes with a person legally bearing arms, shall go to prison and pay a fine.”
