Another economy has collapsed

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Nightmare becomes reality in Sri Lanka as govt has no choice but to declare economy has ‘collapsed’:

After months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity. Sri Lanka’s prime minister said this morning the country’s debt-laden economy has “collapsed.”

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Sri Lanka’s parliament today that the South Asian country is “facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food. Our economy has completely collapsed.”

I didn’t see the exact words but I strongly suspect the high price of oil on the world market contributed.

There are other economic stressors out there. The most obvious are wheat and fertilizer from the Ukraine/Russia region. There are countless others. Some are ripple effects from the war. Others are from other areas of the world and less direct such as the chip shortage and inflation.

There will be more collapsed economies in the coming months and perhaps years. The ripples and, perhaps even, tidal waves are just over the horizon.

We live in interesting times. Prepare appropriately.

Quote of the day—Gunther Eagleman @GuntherEagleman

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Red flag laws will be determined by people who cant define what a woman is… Let that sink in.

Gunther Eagleman @GuntherEagleman
Tweeted on June 13, 2022
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

There’s probably some truth to this

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Via Ivermectin and Artemisinin @triplecrown777:

One thing people need to understand about extremely kind, nice, and loving people, is that their other side is jus as extreme. It’s the hell they survive that makes them gentle. Don’t mistake their self-control for weakness. The beast in them is sleeping, not dead.

A couple decades ago a coworker from India told me it was well known and taught in the psych classes in his country the person most likely to kill you wasn’t the person easy to anger. Those types calmed down just as quickly and easily as they angered. The person that was always calm, gentle, and soft spoken was very difficult to make angry. But when they did get angry they would kill you even if it was days or weeks later.

My hypothesis for this is that the person who is frequently angry has learned to manage that state of mind from 10s of thousands of incidents growing up. One the other hand, the cool, quiet, gentle type, has hold experiences with extreme feelings of anger which number in the dozens and they are more likely to be overwhelmed by the emotions.

There may be a lesson to be learned here about rioters, emotionally driven anti-gun people and their long suffering victims.

Red flagging the red flags

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For something in a Boston newspaper this is amazingly good:

“Even the best available risk factors can identify only a subpopulation in which the risk of committing a mass shooting is on the order of one in a million.” Are we prepared to curtail the freedom of 999,999 Americans who pose no threat in order to keep the one in a million away from guns?

The sweeping use of red-flag laws to withhold Second Amendment rights from anyone with the social characteristics common to mass shooters is akin to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s order to round up hundreds of thousands of Americans of Japanese descent in order to prevent espionage or sabotage during the war against Japan. Some terrible outcomes might indeed be prevented, but at the price of lost liberties on a wide scale.

Justified

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I don’t see it as a cause for celebration. I view it as the best of the bad alternatives:

As more people get guns and carry permits, Philly sees a sharp rise in homicides ruled justified

Some see increased gun ownership and use in self-defense as bad:

“Guns are becoming too prevalent, whether they’re in the hands of licensed or unlicensed people,” Johnson said. “We’re becoming the Wild, Wild West, and soon everyone is going to have a gun, killing people ― justified or not.”

I think the majority of people realize gun people have been right all these years and are going to give our way a chance.

Worse than a nuke

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There is some truth to this:

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Via Director Dean @PrinzPlaymates.

Not all decades of democratic leadership result in Detroit like results.

But why risk it? Just nuke any city Democrats take over.

Quote of the day—Roberta X

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Be careful what you believe.  Be careful what you wish for.  Dramatic narratives are appealing, but emotional engagement is no assurance of truth.  It’s just the easiest way to manipulate people.  Distrust all cheering crowds, and distrust even more the men and women for whom they shout.

Roberta X
June 12, 2022
A Pause For Reflection
[I am tempted to extrapolate that to say, “Truth does not need emotion to validate itself. Emotional engagement is an indicator you must examine the evidence and logic closely looking for deception and/or error.” But that’s not as succinct.

The problem is that long before we developed logic and formal processes to distinguish truth from falsity we had emotional shortcuts that served us and our ancestors reasonably well as far back as there were pea sized brains. Logic and rational thought is an extremely thin veneer on top of that emotional lizard brain core. People, others or ourselves, can either deliberately or unintentionally bypass than thin veneer and engage that emotional core with minor effort to great effect. It is a wonderful system for generating extremely fast decisions with minimal effort. This works well for probably 99+% of the decisions we make each day. But this emotional core can also override reality. It takes a lot of evidence and effort to correctly conclude the earth is not flat and is not the center of the universe if you have have spent 20 years believing it was flat, motionless, and were certain the sun and stars move in the heavens.

Reality is really, really tough. Don’t let emotion, especially that created by a charismatic leader, degrade your ability to discern truth from falsity.—Joe]

It is better*

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Via UR a Smart Ass, Carl @Ur_a_Smartass_C

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* You recognize the classical reference, right?

.22 LR ammo via Widener’s

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Last month I received an email from Widener’s. This is the important part of our conversation:

I’m reaching out to see if you’d be interested in reviewing some ammo on blog.joehuffman.org. Product reviews are an opportunity to increase website traffic and build a stronger relationship with your audience.

Think of your readers for a minute. They likely see ads for ammunition placed by manufacturers every time they go online. Wouldn’t it be better if they were receiving real information from a trusted resource like your website? Given your experience in the industry, I thought you would be interested in receiving some free ammunition to review.

If you are interested in receiving some free ammo for an unbiased product review. I’m sure we can find a caliber or two to send your way. 

If there’s anything I can help you with, just let me know. Thanks!

—

What type of ammo do you have in mind?

My primary calibers are .22LR (Steel Challenge type matches and practice), .40 S&W (Steel Challenge and USPSA matches) , .223 Remington (precision rifle out to 500 yards), and .300 Win Mag (precision rifle out to 700 yards).

—

Thank you for the fast reply. That sounds great, below is a $250 gift card code for you to use to get started. After you add items to your cart, enter the gift card code and the website will walk you through the rest of the checkout process. Orders are processed through a secure server and fulfilled remotely by our warehouse, so your blogger identity remains anonymous to us.

I ordered 1,000 rounds of CCI Mini-Mags 22 LR 40 Grain CPRN and 500 rounds of Federal American Eagle Suppressor 22 LR 45 Grain CPRN. That was on a Tuesday. The following Tuesday the ammo arrived at my underground bunker in remote Idaho:

image 

I was a little concerned because the package had been damaged in transit. I’ve opened ammo shipments that looked similar to this and found hundreds of rounds rattling around loose in the box.

This time the interior packaging was more than adequate and the ammo was contained:

image

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I’ve fired many thousands of rounds of the Mini-Mags with excellent results. Because of the high reliability it’s the only .22 ammo I use in competition. Hence, I didn’t bother to test it.

I was really interested in the Federal American Eagle Suppressor 22 LR 45 Grain CPRN. Would it work in my somewhat finicky competition gun? I had thought I had my suppressor in my range bag but I couldn’t find it. Without the suppressor to give some additional backpressure I thought there was zero chance of it working. I was wrong. I fired two magazines without even a hint of malfunction and with excellent accuracy.

That was almost a month ago.

Last week I put in an exhaustive search for my suppressor to finish off the review. I finally found the suppressor laying on a shelf in the gun safe rather than in a range bag or gun case like I expected. I went to the range for a late lunch one day (it’s about five minutes from work) and, as I had hoped, I had a few minutes when I was the only person in the bay. I put on the suppressor and took off the ear protection. There was the usual mildly intense pop with the first round then the rest of the rounds were not much more than the sound of the action of the gun cycling. Again, with perfect reliability and excellent accuracy.

Nice!

Thanks Widner’s!

Quote of the day—Nicholas Roske needs to learn to apply himself @DanLoney36

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OK…silent generation? Whatever the hell you were. Thanks for all the impotent killers you trained

Nicholas Roske needs to learn to apply himself @DanLoney36
Tweeted on June 14, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

The quoted tweet was in response to someone saying they were a CCW instructor.

This claim takes some contemplation to even begin to respond to it:

It is not possible to manufacture, distribute or sell an AR-15 safely. We have decades of evidence. Its only use is to kill civilians and children. Its very existence creates a market for murder.

He apparently lives in a alternate universe from the one I am familiar with. In my universe tens of millions of AR-15s are safely in the hands of millions of citizens and are used to fire hundreds of millions of rounds each year. Yet blunt objects are used more frequently to murder people than are killed using an AR-15. And sharp objects such as knives are used far more often than blunt objects. Either all those 100s of millions of rounds malfunctioned or they are being used for something other than to “kill civilians and children”. Hence this guy is delusional and/or an evil liar.

This law expert is also well know for:

Saying an AR-15 is protected by #2A is like saying child pornography is protected by #1A

This one tells you all you need to know about him:

Ashli Babbitt? Love her. I love her so much, I think next time they should make a few dozen just like her

This removes all doubt:

Why are we pretending these #2A scum are human beings?

And this was directly to me before I was blocked:

It’s just a never-ending abyss of moral and intellectual failure with, for want of a better term, “people” like you I don’t care if the vast majority of mass shooters are Whigs. As long as these weapons are legal, children will die. It can’t be any more clear.

This is what he thinks of people who don’t agree with him. He dehumanize them and wants them dead. For more examples see here.

It was an interesting exchange. Links to SCOTUS decisions, criminology facts, and pointing out the errors of his ways were responded to with insults and additional bad legal takes. I had to wonder if he is paid to be a troll. He was clearly way in over his head and just kept going long after I left to go to the range.—Joe]

AR-15s versus tanks and planes

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Via Mrgunsngear @Mrgunsngear

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Via GhostGuns.com @GhostGcom

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See also Boots on the ground.

Self incrimination

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In addition to thinking law enforcement should be going to jail instead of Ms. Taylor I find this interesting because it seems to me there is a 5th Amendment issue here as well a 2nd Amendment issue:

Texas woman arrested in Albany for declaring a firearm to a Delta Airlines representative

Albany County Sheriff has reported the arrest of a Texas woman for Criminal Possession of a Firearm.

On Wednesday, June 15th, at approximately 11:45 AM, Deputies responded to the Delta Airlines ticket counter for a passenger declaring a firearm to a Delta Airlines representative.

Upon investigation, Deputies discovered that Natasia R. Taylor was in possession of a Walther P22, .22 caliber handgun.

Taylor does not possess a New York State Pistol Permit.

Taylor was charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a Class A Misdemeanor.

Isn’t it a self incrimination issue that you are required to declare a firearm under these conditions?

Dark times ahead

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Via Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras:

Changes at a QFC store — apparently for security reasons — have some customers say the store is going too far. Some are worried about safety and exiting in an emergency.

Two Seattle QFC stores now have extensive plexiglass inside, directing traffic for shoppers and limiting how people can exit. The grocery chain told KIRO 7 the changes are “to maintain a safe shopping environment,” but customers believe the goal is to thwart shoplifting.

“It’s like shopping in a dystopian novel or something, it’s really bizarre,” said Chris Mobley, a shopper at the store. “Seems to be a way to annoy customers — it’s really hard to navigate the store,” he said.

A few days ago Barb was at a store (not QFC) not far from our home in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle, and the clerk commented, “There goes one of our regulars. He comes in every day.” It was a shoplifter.

Also, The police aren’t coming, but now in Seattle, they have a name for that:

It’s well known that Seattle police are struggling to respond to 911 calls in a speedy manner. But the notion that “the cops aren’t coming” has become such a routine of city life that they’ve created a new way of tracking their nonresponsiveness.

It’s called the “Z protocol.”

I have to wonder how much of inflation is the result of “defund the police” and related nonsense.

My greatest concern is that at some point many people will to conclude they are stupid for not stealing whatever they want. That will bring some very dark times.

Red flag law memes

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VIa Sean D Sorrentino @SorrentinoSean:

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Via MiguelGGG @MiguelGGG12:

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Via Maga Gang ShawnP @6_OClockShawn:

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Via Meme Space Nine @meme_space_nine:

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Via Mr Dexter Sinister @Mr_Dex_Sinister:

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Via Wise Dalai Lama @MedinaDalaiLama:

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VIa PewPewFF @FfPew:

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Via Claire Balan @CBalan010611 there is this Did the Supreme Court just deal a blow to red flag laws?

Quote of the day—Miguel Gonzalez

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This is an unfortunate example of a religious leader interjecting himself into a political discussion. I understand that is something tempting to do because we all seek popular recognition, especially at his level. But in his statement he fails to see the irony he creates by assigning an almost evil intent to the inanimate object rather than seeking and healing what ails the souls of those who use the object to commit evil which is what he is duty bound to do. It is the equivalent of blaming the cross for the Crucifixion of our Lord.

Miguel Gonzalez
June 4, 2022
Christian Science Monitor: “Has the gun become a sacred object in America?”
[Via an email from pkoning.

Nice analogy! And he did an awesome job handling the questions of the CSM reporter.—Joe]

Quote of the day—THE Red-Headed libertarian™ @TRHLofficial

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The left are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks before they lose their stranglehold in November. Their behavior is reactionary and it’s going to get more insane, more sinister, and more hysterical.

THE Red-Headed libertarian™ @TRHLofficial
Tweeted on June 6, 2022
[This is my expectation too.—Joe]

Indicator of not trustworthy

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She has a great point:

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Of course, as Gideon J. Tucker said:

No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.

Therefore, untrustworthy should be your default view of politicians until conclusively proven otherwise, or they are dead, which ever comes last.

NOW is time to buy

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If you live in or plan to visit Washington state effective July 1, 2022 standard capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds will be illegal to:

manufacture, import, distribute, 22 sell, or offer for sale

Existing magazines in the state can be taken out of the state and then brought back in.

The law has been challenged in court but it is likely to take years to wind it way through the courts and a successful reversal of this unconstitutional law is not guaranteed.

You should seriously consider purchasing all the magazines you expect to need NOW. Here are a few options:

Quote of the day—Burgess Everett

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The group is also planning to bundle $1 million each to a handful of gubernatorial candidates and secretary of state hopefuls, a reflection of the increased focus on top election officials after the still-unfolding fight against false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Burgess Everett
May 17, 2022
MoveOn plows $30 million into ‘Us vs. MAGA’ campaign
[If there was no fraud, then why do they need increased focus on these election officials who gave us fair and open elections?—Joe]

Quote of the day—sacrebleu14 / SA Hinchcliffe @sacrebleu141

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your history in assaulting women, can see why you demand women to be defenseless

sacrebleu14 / SA Hinchcliffe @sacrebleu141
Tweeted on June 6, 2022
[This was in response to a tweet by Andrew Cuomo about supporting gun control.—Joe]