Quote of the day–Traci Hughs

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If we had less guns on the street, more people would be alive today.

Traci Hughs
August 21, 2007
D.C. police spokeswoman
In Study Of Gun Traffic, Va. Stands Out
[She doesn’t address the issue of whether the homicides she is referring to were felonious, justified, or praiseworthy. She doesn’t address the issue of substitution of other weapons as a means of homicide. She doesn’t address the issue of felonious homicides that are committed without a gun that could have been prevented had the victim possessed a gun. And I’ll bet she can’t answer Just One Question. And I don’t think it is a misunderstanding of the English language that throughout the article author, Alison Klein, refers to firearms being seized by law enforcement as being “recovered”. “Recover” means “to bring back to normal position or condition”.–Joe]

Quote of the day–John Perry Barlow

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You do not know our culture, our ethics, or the unwritten codes that already provide our society more order than could be obtained by any of your impositions.

John Perry Barlow
[Barlow was speaking of the Internet but he just as well could have been talking about the gun culture in our country.–Joe]

Stockpiling ammo

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Lots of people have been reporting on the high price and shortages of ammo recently. I know the folks over at Master Blasters Bullets and they told me the price they pay for lead has increased something like a factor of four in the last two years.

And if you are, or will be, into reloading you should buy some bullets before the price goes up again. I know the prices at MBB will be going up very soon and I have my order in at the existing prices.

And stocking up now is a good idea just to help counteract the anti-gun bigots.

Speaking of socopathic dictators

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Recently I posted a quote about sociopaths. Auntie Tam tells us of how one such sicko died a violent death after being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands including:

In 1868, when the allies were pressing him hard, he convinced himself that his Paraguayan supporters had actually formed a conspiracy against his life. Thereupon several hundred prominent Paraguayan citizens were seized and executed by his order, including his brothers and brothers-in-law, cabinet ministers, judges, prefects, military officers, bishops and priests, and nine-tenths of the civil officers, together with more than two hundred foreigners, among them several members of the diplomatic legations (the San Fernando massacres). During this time he also had his mother flogged and ordered her execution, and also attempted to have himself canonized by the local bishops.

Sociopaths; just one of the many reasons gun control fails my Jews in the Attic Test.

Quote of the day–John Gilmore

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The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.

John Gilmore
[This, or a similar, quote is often attributed to John Perry Barlow but Barlow gives credit to Gilmore (and here) for at least the concept if not the exact words. Regardless, this point is being hammered into the psyche of the anti-gun bigots. They no longer have their hand on the throttle of information dissemination. Freedom of information is something some people just can’t tolerate.–Joe]

Xenia’s face is made of rubber

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She tends to put her best face forward but sometimes she is a slacker and just doesn’t care.

Quote of the day–Mac Johnson

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A number of sources on the left held up for praise in the decision the one dissenting judge, Karen LeCraft Henderson, whose opinion that the gun ban was constitutionally permissible was based on at least two stellar deductions. The first was that since the District of Columbia is not a state (as in “necessary to the security of a free State…”), then the 2nd Amendment did not apply in that part of America. This is a wonderful precedent, not only for the District, but also for America’s other territories such a Puerto Rico.

According to this same logic, Amendments 14, 15, 19, 24 and 26 (among others) do not apply in the District either, which means the District is free to a) deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, b) deny the vote to blacks, c) deny the vote to women, d) institute a poll tax, and e) deny the vote based on age. Clearly, Henderson deserves her new status as a liberal hero.

Mac Johnson
Court Rediscovers 2nd Amendment, Liberals Fear Other ‘Rights’ May Soon be Found
March 15, 2007

New version of dasBlog

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I’ve installed a new version of the blogging software. It seems to have fixed the problem I had with comments bringing down the server CPU. It runs just fine on my 32-bit Vista Ultimate home machines. But there are some problems on my website and on my 64-bit Vista machine.

Patience please…

Update: The most serious problems are solved! I can now log in and create/edit posts on the site rather than editing them on my local machine then uploading the new entry to the website, then “touching” web.config to reload the content. The comment preview still doesn’t work and the comment box overlaps the right panel if your screen width isn’t wide enough. But it’s now usable.

TSA fodder

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You can make a crude stun gun from a disposable camera. A better quality flash unit will have a faster recycle time.

There is no limit the number and type of weapons that can be easily made and gotten past the Theater Security Agents (TSA). I’ve already mentioned making dust explosions with flour (powdered coffee creamer works too). It’s long past time to consider some alternatives to existing airplane security.

Handcuffs are just a minor impediment

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Via Bruce:

Unlock Plastic Handcuffs! Police Style!

Honeymoon picture

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Daughter Kim and Caleb are on their (belated) honeymoon. They have sent us over 500 pictures so far. Here is one of the better ones:

As usual Kim is wearing a smile that would make my face hurt, although Xenia claims Kim has my smile.

Quote of the day–Tim Heyne

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It’s a gun. It’s an instrument of death. It’s the most violent, the most vile instrument of death you could have in your house.

[…]

I’d love to be able to take your hand gun.

Tim Heyne
August 16, 2007
TIM HEYNE TURNS TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
From VC Reporter


[Just in case there is any doubt about what the anti-gun bigots really think about guns and what their objectives are. I do give this guy a little bit of slack. He was walking with his wife and best friend when all three of them were shot. His friend and wife both died. That would mess up the mind of anyone. It’s ironic though that the best chance of surviving an attack like that would have been if one or more of the three had been armed and now he is trying to prevent others from defending themselves from a similar attack.–Joe]

He must think he has ESP

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It’s a frequent complaint of mine when dealing with neurotypicals. Some people believe they know something about which they cannot possible know and most often they get it wrong. Garen Wintemute, director of the violence-prevention research program at the University of California, Davis is no different. In an August 12 article in the Star-Telegram, Gun control back as national issue it is claimed:

In 2005 and 2006, Wintemute attended 28 gun shows in Texas (in Dallas and Houston), Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California — areas where he said guns are acquired and later used in crimes in California. Afterward, he urged lawmakers nationwide to put more restrictions on gun shows.

“I would like to see a policy change that makes direct private-party transfers of guns illegal,” Wintemute said. “And I’d like much more vigorous law enforcement presence at gun shows. I noticed the illegal stuff was conducted right out in the open.

“Bad guys had no concern they might be caught.”

What “illegal stuff” did he observe? Whenever I’ve confronted people about this sort of thing it turns out they confuse what they would like the law to be with what the law really is. They frequently claim they saw “criminals” buying guns–but they can’t explain how they knew they were criminals. As near as I can tell they imagined they were criminals. They thought they just knew from looking at someone. Apparently they believe they have some sort of extra sensory perception I guess.

Wintemute should be asked to explain how he knew who the “bad guys” were. Did they have “FELON” tattooed on their foreheads? Or maybe it was their skin color–were they “bad guys” because their skin was black? Or was it because it was white? Did they have their baseball cap on backward? Or were they wearing camo pants?

I suspect Wintemute is just another anti-gun bigot. I sent the following email a few minutes ago. I’ll let you know if he responds.

From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 7:22 AM
To: ‘gjwintemute@ucdavis.edu’
Subject: A question about your study.

 

In the article Gun control back as a national issue you are quoted as saying “I noticed the illegal stuff was conducted right out in the open. Bad guys had no concern they might be caught.”

 

Could you tell me what sort of “illegal stuff” was conducted? And how did you identify people as being “bad guys”.

 

Thank you.

Quote of the day–Joan Burbick

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The mystique of the Western gun rested on an inflated belief in the individual and the power within reach of an ordinary human being.

[…]

The gun has become a fetish–an emotional response to a changing America, the idea that somehow, the social problems of the U.S. will be solved through private gun ownership and a lot more guns.

Joan Burbick
Professor of English and American Studies at Washington State University
Author of Gun Show Nation: Gun Culture and American Democracy
Quotes found at Guns R Us — Is it time to re-examine the West’s fascination with firearms? in Missoula Independent By: Ray Ring August 16, 2007
[It’s interesting to me that Mr. Ring referred to Ms. Burbick as “Jean Burbick” instead of “Joan Burbick”. Typical of an anti-gun bigot–getting the facts straight don’t seem to matter. Please note that Burbick is engaging in a bit of projection with her claim “the gun has become a fetish”. It’s the anti-gun bigots that believe gun regulation have magical power to protect people. And Burbick also overlooks that the concept of individual power, and even the individual itself, is the one distinguishing difference between Western Civilization and all others. For her to denigrate the concept of individual power and rights is to undermine the very basis of our culture.–Joe]

Quote of the day–INITIATIVE 971

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Shall we modify and make new laws such that (A) probation and early release are eliminated, (B) the limit of DUI is set at zero and pictures from advanced technology cell phones with timestamps of drinking or drug taking is acceptable in any court, and (C) all violent offenders must have Global Positioning System (GPS) chips installed in their body by the government. The ATG must sue if non-conformance exists anywhere.

INITIATIVE 971
Washington State
[Some people just won’t be happy until they have a police state.–Joe]

The Second Amendment in Public Buildings

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Here are the results of the poll done by the Lewiston Morning tribune, and which Joe referenced in an earlier post:

Should private citizens be allowed to carry guns into public buildings?

74% Yes
26% No

It shows the most lop-sided poll result currently displayed on the LMT poll page, and the largest number of voters, i.e. more people care about it and their opinions are the most clear.  That’s encouraging as it shows we are making progress, at least in North Idaho where peace and hard work are more important than fear-mongering and scheming.

Now I wonder how many of those who voted “No” are the regular recipients of a government paycheck as compared to the “Yes” voters.  I submit that a disproportionate number of the “No” votes are coming from public employees.  If so, shouldn’t we be hiring servants who protect our rights (or in a worst case scenario, just do nothing) rather than trying to force us to comply with their personal wishes and soothe their irrational fears?

To put it another way; If our public servants are even slightly uncomfortable with us having our civil rights intact, are they right for the job or are we better served by people who are glad for our civil rights and who have the maturity, strength and courage to protect them vigorously?

Cliff hanger

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James and I just finished the last episode of season one of Andromeda. They really know how to do a cliff hanger. The odds are several trillion Magog (really nasty types that think humans are only good for their carcasses to lay eggs in) to “no one left conscious” except one who appears to have switched sides.

James and I are liking it–especially Tyr. Tyr reminds us a lot of Jayne in Firefly only much smarter. But that means he is smart enough to have some tact if it’s needed. Jayne is much more entertaining but as a crew-mate I’d choose Tyr.

Montana visit

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Barb and I are going to be visiting Columbia Falls Montana next month. If you are in the area and would like to meet for lunch or go on a hike in Glacer National Park send me an email and we’ll see if our schedules match.

Not funny

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From the guy that brought us THE WHITETAIL HUNT WITH A MOUNTAIN HOWITZER (my post about it is here) we now have (via ahab at Say Uncle), How to Hunt Feral Cats in Wisconsin with a 12 pound Coehorn Mortar Cannon.

I was okay with the whitetail hunt because the odds of a clean kill were probably better than with a conventional rifle. And while dropping a 2 1/4 pound hard rubber ball on a cats head at terminal velocity is, well, terminal the odds of a head shot from 400 yards away are low. A hit to numerous other body areas is going to result in a crippled cat that might get away before you can put it out of it’s misery.

Doing this sort of crap puts hunters, and gun owners in general, in a bad light. Although I think it would be cool to have a similar toy I do not approve of the activities advocated.

The latest in children’s back packs

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It’s back to school time. Time to buy your child a new back pack. Rated at level II it’s available here.