Is it true that a man who needs an assault weapon to feel like a man is just compensating for the lack of something else? You know what I mean guys.
deeambro
February 4, 2013
Comment to Assault Weapons Ban Likely To Die So That Broader Gun Policy Legislation Can Live
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!—Joe]
…and of mass killings, and most wars.
It has been the thesis on this blog that disarmament has lead to more death by violence than any other single factor. I submit that such an assertion misses a critical point.
This is hard to put into words. Criminals, evil, exists everywhere and in all times. What separates times of relative peace from times of chaos and mass death then? I submit that it is resolve. A state of mind.
Tam recently spoke of a seeming dichotomy between Europe’s tendency toward docility or complacency and Her capacity for mass killing on a grand scale. I say that they are the same thing.
The willingness to go along to get along, the fear of making waves, the unwillingness to stand up and draw a line in the sand, and more importantly the lack of understanding or embracing of basic principles…together, THAT is the cause of chaos and mass death. Disarmament, while critical to the end of mass killing, and being a virtual guarantee of it, is but a symptom of that cause. The criminal element need but wait for the time to strike, meanwhile preaching peace at the cost of freedom. That includes the criminal element that always lurks in the halls and offices of government.
How else do you explain a thousand Jews guarded by a pathetic few Germans, while no one organizes a rush against the guards to easily overpower them? It wasn’t merely the lack of arms, but the lack of hutzpah THAT RESULTED iN the lack of arms. This is currently the state of all of Europe, the UK, and it’s becoming the case in the U.S.
I recently heard a phrase that will stay with me for the rest of my life. “The most powerful weapon of the oppressor is the the mind of the oppressed.” — David Masters quoting Stephen Banta
Intimidation is in the mind of the intimidated, not in the mind or the hands of the bully. Guns are only a factor in the hands of those who aren’t easily intimidated. For the easily intimidated, guns are pretty well worthless. Discuss.
Later we can talk about who’s the more easily intimidated, the self sufficient individual or the desk jokey politician with a team of interns.
Unarmed minority groups die when the armed majority decides to kill them.
Aaron Zelman and Richard W. Stevens
Death by “Gun Control”: The Human Cost of Victim Disarmament
Hartford, WI: Mazel Freedom Press, 201
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
We made it to the ocean this afternoon and almost immediately went for a walk on the beach. I did not bring my chemistry set but we had a good time anyway.
View from our room.
View from our room.
View from our room.
View from the beach.
View of the beach.
Mutant moss. I think we should check on it tomorrow and see if the earth is in danger of being taken over.
From here:
Not just anti-gun but anti-free speech as well.
Thanks to the cartoonist for showing us their true colors.
The measure would repeal Chicago’s assault weapons ban and put public safety at risk.
Brooke Anderson
Spokesman for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.
May 23, 2013
Quinn skeptical of Ill. House concealed-carry plan
[So tell me where is the murder rate higher? Is it in cities that don’t have a “assault weapons” ban like Seattle, Dallas, or Miami? Or is in Chicago?
I suppose it does depend upon your definition of “public”. My guess is that Anderson and Quinn are concerned with the safety of their primary constituents—the criminal elements of Chicago. And that includes those holding government office.—Joe]
Buses and trucks have a much larger turning radius than cars.
Someone at 4th and Olive in downtown Seattle learned the hard way this afternoon:
From here:
I don’t think I have ever heard it was “one tiny step”. But certainly a good case can be made that gun control was required for every genocide.
But the cartoonist isn’t really concerned with the facts. He just wants to dehumanize gun owners. Which, by the way, was also a requirement for nearly every genocide.
Yesterday while walking from the bus stop to my work a guy going the other direction looked at me kind of funny, approached me, and said, “Joe Huffman?”.
In the first couple of seconds I was concerned it was my “stalker” but then I had a glimmer of recognition and said, “And you are?” He replied, “Microsoft, Direct X…”
It wasn’t so much the words but the sound of his voice and matching the face to memories that enabled me to pull out a name without significant pause, “Nick W. Yes, I remember you!”
We had worked together (I think he was my lead) in the late 90’s at Microsoft about 15 years ago. We ended up talking for probably close to 30 minutes. He had left MS before I went back in 2005, worked in NYC for a while, then came back to Seattle and now works for Amazon.
This is the second time I have connected with someone by seeing them on the sidewalk in downtown Seattle. The other time was late last year when I chatted with Jeff O. who I also originally knew from my Microsoft, Direct X days.
Fade in
EXT – DAY – open area not far from Tajemnica
Lag and the Camp Col stand next to the body of the tech level compliance officer, looking down at him and Cooper, then around at the destroyed camp around them. The Camp Col seems a bit dazed, looking at it all. Continue reading
Master guitarist. Another song I wasn’t familiar with until I found it. Thanks for the recommendation, John V.
Mark Knopfler has been playing the six-string for a while, and is generally considered one of the greats of the instrument.
Speaking of serious guitar stuff, a news story just came out that makes the Gibson guitar make raid make sense, in a “Chicago Thug Methods” sort of way.
In the 16 years APPS has been an active state program, 12,000 firearms have been confiscated – about 750 each year. Yet the APPS database shows 40,000 known firearms in the hands of 20,000 prohibited owners, most likely non-violent first offenders. Stated differently, in sixteen years APPS has removed 23% of the known firearms and 0% of the unregistered guns in gang member pockets.
Michel & Associates, P.C.
Memorandum of Law
May 23, 2013
[APPS stands for “Armed Prohibited Persons System”. APPS is California’s technology for matching gun registration records against people who have had their gun ownership rights restricted.
Some of the stories of the abuses of the system will make your blood boil. All the more so because the system doesn’t (and can’t) remove the guns from people that don’t register them to begin with. And if you are familiar with Haynes v. United States you know that violent convicted criminals cannot be charged with the crime of failure to register their guns. But the average person who has never even seen the inside of a courtroom can and will be prosecuted for failure to register their firearms.
It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s just the law you must obey.—Joe]
Found here.
I’m not even sure what the cartoonist is trying to say. Is it that NRA members are empty headed?
Has this guy ever looked at the demographics of gun owners versus the general public? 37% of gun owners are college graduates and 30% have done post graduate work. And this includes people so young they would not have had time to complete college.
In the general population of 25 and older (note the biased sample compared to gun owners!) 40.58% have college degrees and just over 12% have Masters, Doctorate, or professional degrees. There does not appear to be justification for claiming gun owners are uneducated or empty headed.
Hence, I must conclude that the cartoonist is the one who is uneducated based on his willful lack of knowledge on the demographics of gun ownership.
The following is the trailer for the movie some of us helped via Kickstarter last year:
The official website is here.
From the email I received from them this afternoon:
The clock is ticking as our June 20th theater debut nears. We plan to have “Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire” play in limited release in more than a dozen markets across the U.S. And, if one of those dozen markets is not yours, you can actually request to set up your own viewing party through our distributor, TUGG (http://www.tugg.com/titles/assaulted-civil-rights-under-fire). More details to come.
In the meantime, check out the “Assaulted” trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDziWcKQxr8.
And, would you believe that the one and only Ice-T is our narrator!
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeadPatriot and like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deadpatriotfilms.
And, for some fun reading, here’s a link to a FOXNews.com interview with “Assaulted” executive producer and director, Kris Koenig:Thanks for your support.
-The Assaulted Team
Fade in
INT – DAY – Cargo bay
The compliance monitor, a fleshy Caucasian man in his 50s, dressed sharply and looking very official, is walking through the cargo bay with Kwon. Kwon is dressed in a “ship’s uniform” that looks similar to the one Allonia made for herself.
Kwon: It’s a good ship. A few circuits short, but tough and functional. Continue reading
When you blame objects instead of actions, there’s always a new object to blame…
My Gun Culture (@mygunculture)
Tweeted on May 15, 2013
[The more cynical among us will claim this is intentional. Controllers need laws to make more criminals so they can control people easier. I tend to think people like this are just stupid and/or have mental problems.—Joe]
Someone is putting up posters on Capital Hill near Seattle. This is an area that has a demographic that is considerably more gay than other areas. Here is a sample:
The QR code takes you to www.a-human-right.com.
It’s hard to know who’s responsible for putting the posters up all over Capitol Hill. “Nale Dixon,” who’s credited for drawing the cartoon of the gay couple, returns no search results online. The pro-gun website is run by a dude named Oleg Volk, “An American,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s responsible for papering the hill with them. Without someone to credit, it’s impossible to glean the posterer’s intentions.
Perhaps being courted by a traditionally right-wing, conservative movement is refreshing and progressive, but it could also just be really effective concern trolling. What better way to make people feel unsafe in gay-friendly Capitol Hill than by slyly referencing homophobia and hate crimes in pro-gun propaganda plastered on every street corner?
Wow! It’s “impossible to glean the posters intentions” without someone to credit? Are we two worlds each speaking a language the other cannot understand?
They see someone pointing out the utility of being able to defend yourself using a firearm as being “concern trolling”. Would they think the same of advertisements for self-defense classes teaching Kun-Fu instead of Gun-Fu?
The comments are pretty “good” too:
7 These posters are tone deaf to the point of being offensive. I don’t appreciate my rights and concerns being exploited to make a ham-fisted point about gun laws.
15 It’s not that strange when you remember that the “traditionally conservative movement” in question is not in fact an organic movement but an industry lobby group with a lot of deeply emotionally invested fans/customers. These aren’t campaign posters; they’re advertising.
23 Oh, for crying out loud. The joke is on you. This is akin to the anti-gun ads masquerading as pro-gun ads by encouraging women to arm themselves to protect their reproductive rights. The intent here is to point out to pro-gunners that they are arming everyone, not just those who agree with them.
Are these guys in need of psychiatric help for their paranoia or is there that big of a cultural divide? In any case that they see simple messages such as these as some sort of capitalistic/right-wing/homophobic plot it means I’m not sure we actually have a common basis for communication.
Fade in
INT – DAY – Tajemnica’s cargo bay, as it sits on pad D9
Ramp is down, main airlock door is open, daylight streaming in. There are seven trucks on board, including three tankers. One cargo truck is being unloaded, and there is a large pile of stuff where another had been unloaded. The rest have been driven on and parked, still loaded. Continue reading
The bottom line is, Hop, you can’t stop government; you can’t stop this great country, you can’t stop the entrepreneurial spirit.
Sen. Joe Manchin III
May 17, 2013
Collateral Damage: ‘Heck no’ the IRS mess ‘doesn’t help us’ on gun control, Manchin says
[The bottom line is, Senator, you are incoherent and don’t understand the purpose of the Second Amendment. The purpose of the Second Amendment is to stop government when it has become oppressive and I believe it can stop government. And if you push too hard trying to implement gun control there is a good chance we will end up running the experiment to find out which of us is right about government being stoppable.
H/T to This Ain’t Hell and Daniel Greenfield who have their own comments.—Joe]
(of 3D printed gun fame)
On theBlaze TV last night. You can watch the video at the link there.
Of course, if you were a Blaze TV subscriber you’d have seen it, and much more, Monday night.